Industrial Automation

Recommended Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to attend the course. However it is desirable that students have knowledge on Physics and Technical Drawing.

Teaching Methods

The theoretical classes intend the explanation of the function, composition and use of the various components, as well as to build hydraulic and pneumatic circuits, and PLC programming.
The theoretical-practical classes will be dedicated to solving real or fictitious automation problems, using the construction techniques of hydraulic and pneumatic circuits.
A large part of the theoretical-practical classes will be conducted in the laboratory, being oriented so that the circuits built can be implemented and tested in bench trials, through computer simulation or programmable logic controller.

Learning Outcomes

Today, we can find products in the market that some time ago had a much higher price. However, they are cheaper because they were produced at a lower cost and exist in large quantities. Automation is one of the activities that contribute decisively to this cost reduction. The use of machinery and equipment that smooth the human labor has existed since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. In the twentieth century appears the equipment operating automatically and in which the interference of man is much smaller than in the case of mechanization, for example, the case of robots. This course will cover the aspects related to the operation itself, in hydraulic, pneumatic and electric areas. The skills taught in this course will enable the student to be able to read, interpret and project an hydraulic, pneumatic or electric (programmable logic controller (PLC)) circuit incorporating any machine or industrial equipment. 

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1- HYDRAULIC

1.1-Principles of  hydraulic forces, application fields, advantages and limitations of hydraulic systems

1.2 - Hydraulic components

1.3 - Classification of hydraulic circuits

1.4 - Elementary circuits

1.5 - Circuits with shut-off devices

1.6 - Sequential moves

1.7 - Circuits which operate at different pressures

1.8 - Circuits with speed variation

1.9 - Analysis and Project of hydraulic circuits

2 - PNEUMATIC

2.1 - Introduction, application fields, advantages and limitations of pneumatic systems

2.2 - Pneumatic components

2.3 – Sequentials methods for project of pneumatics circuits: intuitive method, cascade method  step-by-step method and  Karnaugh’s diagrams

2.4 - Emergency Systems

3 – ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC AND ELECTRO-PNEUMATIC

3.1-Advantages and limitations of electric controls

3.2 - Electrical Control Techniques

3.3 - Electrical elements

3.4 - Grafcet

3.5 - Programmable logic controllers (PLCs).

Head Lecturer(s)

José Luís Ferreira Afonso

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

Manesis, S., Nikolakopoulos, G. - Introduction to Industrial Automation, CRC Press, 2018

Lamb, F. - Industrial Automation: Hands On, McGraw-Hill, 2013

Groover, M. P. - Automation, Production Systems, and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, Pearson, 2015

Ferreira da Silva, A. J. S., Almeida, A. M. - Automação Pneumática, Publindústria, 2014

Pinto, J. R. - Técnicas de Automação, ETEP, 2004

Afonso, J. - Circuitos Hidráulicos - Parte prática, Secção de textos da FCTUC, Revisto 2017

Afonso, J. - Circuitos Hidráulicos - Parte teórica, Secção de textos da FCTUC, Revisto 201

Afonso, J. - Circuitos Pneumáticos - Parte prática, Secção de textos da FCTUC, Revisto 2017

Afonso, J.- Circuitos Pneumáticos - Parte teórica, Secção de textos da FCTUC, Revisto 2017

Hasebrink, J. P., Kobler, R. - Introdução à Pneumática, Festo, Berkheim, 1975.