Abstract: Publisher Summary
This chapter discusses computers and industrial control. Very few industrial plants can be left to run themselves, and most need some form of control system to ensure safe and economical operation. In many analog systems, a variable such as temperature, flow, or pressure is required to be kept automatically at some preset value or made to follow some other signal. Monitoring/alarm systems can often be achieved by connecting plant sensors to displays, indicators, and alarm annunciators. Early computer systems were based on commercial functions such as payroll, accountancy, banking, and similar activities. It is not essential to have intimate knowledge of how a computer works before it can be used effectively, but an appreciation of the parts of a computer is useful for appreciating how a computer can be used for industrial control. The series of instructions that one needs (called a “program”) has to be written and loaded into the computer. Assembly language programming is still relatively difficult to write, so ways of writing computer programs in a style more akin to English were developed. An output card will have a limit to the current it can supply, usually set by the printed circuit board tracks rather than the output devices. A signal is identified by its physical location in some form of mounting frame or rack, by the card position in this rack, and by which connection on the card the signal is wired to. A PLC system provides a very powerful tool for assisting with fault diagnosis.
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 2
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