Hello Friends, We are happy to help you for sharing the knowledge on Industrial Automation and we hope that you will really gain the very informative information from this website.
Once you complete your engineering only one question running in our mind and that is " How to get job as a fresher ?".
You will hear many rumours from your environments and society that right now getting job is very critical and recession is going on and lots of other things which can lead you at demotivate. Hence, most of all students initially getting so much depression and ultimately many of them will give up !
Now, due to educational ratio increment and new technology we need to make our self much technically, practically and personality wise sound. There is always opening for freshers but competition has been increased so you must have to prepare your self to crack that competition.
So friends, In this article based on experience and review from many successful people i will guide you, what you should do as a fresher and from where to start. So lets see one by one steps.
1. Search and evaluate current job market with latest technology and make contact of professional & experienced people who can guide you on right path and technology.
2. Decide in which field you want to work, if you are not finding job in your field after trying a lot, contact professional people from LinkedIn or any social network and ask them to guide which would be next good field or technology in which you can get job as per current job market.
3. As a fresher first make good resume/CV with your all required details. For the attractive CV you can find many format from internet.
4. If possible take training for practice exposure from any reputed institute which will help you to make your CV strong. If not possible you can watch YouTubevideos where you will find thousands of tutorials for different technologies for the beginners.
5. Make your professional profile on every job portal like Indeed, LinkedIN, Naukri, Monster, Shine and many others. Here are given link for this job portal.
6. Do not write wrong or fake details in your profile, that will harm you to get shortlist once it will be verified.
7. If you will get offer to work as an Intern then dont think and accept immediately which will help you to learn practical thing and new technology.
8. Once you get offer to work in less salary but its related to your technology or interest field then accept it and initially learn from that and later on you can jump in another company.
9. Initially work hard and dont bother about salary, working hours,social life and life style. You must have to compromise and manage every thing which will help you in future to get your desirable life and culture.
10. Never feel that you are very poor in your work or technology. Every master has started his career as beginner. So learn new thing every day whether its technical or non technical but in future any where knowledge will help you any how. So never stop learning.
11. Always learn from your colleague or team who are working with you and never feel hesitate to ask whatever you want to learn or if you have any query.
While we are dealing with industries controls and automation, communication is must with high reliability, faster and redundancy for the safe and smooth operation. So for that Industries have given different standard communication protocols based on environment, hardware used and critical level.
So Industries have different communication protocols as below.
1. TCP/IP
2. Profinet
3. Profibus
4. RS 232
5. RS 485
6. Modbus
7. HART
8. AS-I
Here we are discussing about Industrial Automation so based on that we will understand the protocols. First we will see the communication systems Hierarchy.
Networking Levels of protocols are also different as per shown below.
1. TCP/IP :-
TCP/IP = Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol is the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a communications protocol
in the private networks ( intranets)
TCP/IP is a two-layered program
– Transmission Control Protocol - Manages the
assembling of a message or file into smaller packets
– Internet Protocol- Handles the address part of
each packet so that it gets to the right destination
2. Profinet
PROFINET is the open and innovative standard
for industrial automation based on the industrial
Ethernet, i.e. you can exchange process data with
your machines as before but instead of using a
fieldbus system, you use the Ethernet as the medium
of communication.
The concept of the PROFINET satisfies all the requirements for industrial automation
technology. You can use PROFINET for your factory and process automations that require
response time under 100 milliseconds. Other applications, like drive technology applications
or clock-synchronized Motion Control, can be served with response time up to less than 1
millisecond. For the purpose of running safety applications, you can use PROFIsafe, which is
part of PROFINET.
PROFINET technology is developed and published by PROFIBUS/PROFINET International
e.V. (PI). It supplements the approved PROFIBUS technology, especially in terms of speed of
data transmission and the use of Information Technology (IT). PROFINET uses IT standards
such as TCP/IP and XML to communicate, configure and diagnose the machines or field
devices.
3. Profibus
PROFIBUS offers functionally graduated communication
protocols (Communication Profiles): DP
and FMS. Depending on the application, the transmission
technologies (Physical Profiles) RS-485,
IEC 1158-2 or fiber optics are available. In the
course of further technical development, the PROFIBUS
User Organization is currently working on
the implementation of universal concepts for vertical
integration on the basis of TCP/IP.
Application Profiles define the options of protocol
and transmission technology required in the respective
application area for the individual device
types. These profiles also define vendor independent
device behaviour.
4. RS-232
The whole purpose of a serial interface is to provide a single path for data transmission wireless or over a cable. Parallel buses are still used in some applications. But with high-speed data so common today, a serial interface is the only practical option for communications over any distance greater than several feet.
Serial interfaces can be used to provide standardised logic levels from transmitters to receivers, define the transmission medium and connectors, and specify timing and data rates. In some cases, they can perform serial-to-parallel and parallel to- serial conversion or specify a basic data protocol.
5. RS-485
The 422 and 485 standards, as
they are known today, are balanced data-transmission schemes that offer robust solutions
for transmitting data over long distances and noisy environments. These standards
don’t specify a logical communication protocol, and are used as the physical
layer specification by many protocols such as Modbus, Profibus, DIN-Measurement-Bus
and many others.
All Novus products that have
serial bus communication follow RS485 standard, due to the advantages it shows
in industrial environments. For being so well known all over the world, it is
easily accepted. Besides they have been used for a long while, it is still
common to find users with some unanswered questions about RS485 and RS422 based
networks. Due to this, we propose this document to present a brief explanation
on important topics for the design, analysis and installation of a
communication networks using the RS485 and RS422 standards.
6. Modbus
MODBUS is a Master/Slave communications protocol and developed by
Gould-Modicon.
The protocol provides for one master device and
up to 247 slave devices on a common line. Each device is assigned an address to
distinguish it from all other connected device.
Only a master initiates a transaction. (query/response
type, or a broadcast/no-response type.)
A transaction comprises a single query and single response frame or a single broadcast frame.
Fixed characteristic : fixed such as frame
format, frame sequences, handling of
communication errors and exception conditions, and the functions performed.
Characteristic : choice of
transmission media, baud rate, character parity, no. of stop bits and the
transmission modes.
7. HART
Highway Addressable Remote
Transducer
HART is a hybrid communications
technology in which a modulated, two-way digital signal is imposed on the
industry-standard 4–20 mA analog signal carrying the primary process variable.
The digital signal conveys
additional process variables, device status and diagnostics information that
can be routed to asset management, process control and safety systems.
This means that HART provides
two simultaneous communication channels on the same wire–the industry standard
4–20 mA channel for fast, reliable and robust control (PV) and a digital
channel for real-time communication of additional process/device information.
8. AS-I
The AS-I (Actuator Sensor
Interface) is matched to the requirements in the lowest level.
AS-I operates actors and
sensors with the first control level and replaces them with cable harnesses,
distributor cabinets and connecting terminal plates. Since then, the AS-I is an open standard. In the meantime, many manufacturers offer
intelligent, AS-I compatible actors and sensors in order to be able to transfer
more information than only 1/0.
AS-I is especially easy in data
manipulation. Field devices are simply clamped into cut terminal technology on
an unprotected 2 way conductive flat cable.
As a result, the installation can then be accomplished by people without any expertise.
AS-I is fast, simple, cost
effective and also future safe because it meets more than half of the world
market’s requirements for sensors from manufacturers that support it.
As PLC programmer you should have basic knowledge of digital and analog fundamentals for input and output addressing. When we are assigning input or output or memory in PLC logic this addressing concept must need to be clear. So lets start here to understand basic concept.
Bit-Byte Word Concepts
What is a bit?
Bit is short for 'binary digit.' It's a single digit in a binary number, and it can be either 1 or 0.
Inside a computer, you can think of a bit as being a mechanical switch, which can be either switched on or off (the earliest computers actually stored information in memory using mechanical switches, with electromagnets to turn each one on or off).
Now if you only have one of these switches, you can only store two different states, on or off. This is useful in itself, you can record that something is either true or false.
But if you have, say, eight of them, you can store 256 different combinations of on and off states between the eight switches.
What is a byte?
A byte is 8 bits. That's the definition. With 8 bits you can store any number between 0 and 255, since there are 256 different combinations of 1 and 0 to choose from.
Why eight bits? The original intention was that, when storing text, 8 bits would be enough to assign a unique number every possible language character you might want to use in your document. The idea was that each character in a file would take up one byte of memory (in most cases, this is still true).
Let's see: there are 26 uppercase letters (A-Z), 26 lowercase (a-z), 10 numerical digits (0-9), 32 punctuation characters and other symbols on a US keyboard, the space character that’s already 94 different characters. Then there's a few characters for creating newlines, a tab character for indentations, there's even a 'bell' character which programs would output in order to make the user's terminal beep. You can see how it all adds up.
In practice, only characters up to 127 were ever standardized (the standard is called ASCII, which stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, because in the early days, one of the eight bits was set aside for error testing purposes (back when computers were far less reliable), and 7 bits only gives you 128 different combinations.
What is a word?
You often hear about 32-bit or 64-bit computer architectures. A word is basically the number of bits a particular computer's CPU can deal with in one go. It varies depending on the computer architecture you're using.
Imagine looking at an imaginary computer's circuitry very closely. On a 32-bit machine, you would see 32 wires running parallel to each other between the computer's memory controller and the CPU, for the purpose of giving the CPU access to one particular word of memory.
Actually, there would be an additional 32 wires (perhaps less) for the CPU to select a particular memory address to access. If a CPU can access 32 bits of memory in one go, then it turns out that it makes a lot of sense to address the computer's memory using ≤32 bits. (This happens to be why the 32-bit version of Windows can't deal with more than 2GB of RAM, but the 64-bit version can.)
Electrical Drive have become the most essential equipment now a days in the electrical motors and other rotating machines. We know that electrical drives mainly accomplish three kinds of work, Starting, Speed control & Braking.
It can be said that the electrical drives enable us to control the motor in every aspect. But control of electrical drives is also necessary because all the functions accomplished by the drives are mainly transient operations i.e. the change in terminal voltage, current, etc are huge which may damage the motor temporarily or permanently. That’s why the need of controlling the drives rises and there are various methods and equipment's to control different parameters of the drives. In very simple words, the systems which control the motion of the electrical machines are known as electrical drives.
A typical drive system is assembled with an electric motor (may be several) and a sophisticated control system that controls the rotation of the motor shaft. Now a day, this control can be done easily with the help of software. So, the controlling becomes more and more accurate and this concept of drive also provides the ease of use.
There are many types of VFD which are based on motors types.
Mechatronics is combination of some engineering fields like mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, instrumentation & control engineering, electronics engineering etc. Originally, mechatronics just included the combination of mechanics and electronics, hence the word is a combination of mechanics and electronics; however, as technical systems have become more and more complex the word has been broadened to include more technical areas.
Mechatronics is a field of study that focuses on the integration of mechanical, electrical, fluid, and computer technologies to control machine movements. Introduced in the early 1970’s by a Japanese firm describes the advent of mechanical equipment (mecha) that uses electronics (tronics) for decision making functions decision making function most often performed by a computer.
Why choose mechatronics?
Mechatronics is not a subject, science, or technology. It is a fundamental way of looking at and doing things. Now a days mechatronics is everywhere in process industries. Every machine is having mechanical setup with some intelligence. To better understand any machine which is having intelligence we should have knowledge of all like mechanical setup, sensors & actuators, electrical component & connections, controller etc. And getting knowledge all of it, is mechatronics. So knowledge of mechatronics is very much important because we are surrounded of mechatronics systems. In industry demand for mechatronics engineer is increasing. Person who knows mechatronics can work in process industries very efficiently.
Where can I work as a mechatronics engineer?
Mechatronics professionals are the technicians and engineers who design and maintain automated equipment. Technicians and engineers conduct their work in laboratories, offices or on-site at manufacturing plants. These professionals work toward the same goal of producing safe and efficient automated equipment. While technicians primarily maintain machinery, engineers are more concerned with the design and development of components and products.
Mechatronics technicians apply their knowledge of engineering to solve technical problems and maintain automated mechanical equipment. This may entail inspecting, troubleshooting and repairing electrical and electronic components. They work beside engineers and scientists, often assisting in the research and development of production. Technicians, as well as engineers, are needed in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, construction, agriculture, aerospace etc.
How I learn mechatronics system?
Mechatronics training programs for beginners are available at the undergraduate level. Those interested in taking their studies to the next level can find master's degree programs in this field.
Students will receive instruction about a combination of electronic, mechanical, computer and control engineering. Many degree programs offer students the chance to engage in practical experience through laboratory work and internship opportunities with local corporations.
Benefits
1. Enhanced features and functionality
2. More user-friendly
3. Precision control
4. More efficient
5. Lower cost
6. Flexible design (reprogrammable)
7. More reliable
8. Smaller
9. Safer For more details to learn about PLC SCADA HMI PI DCS and Industrial Automation Please watch youtube channel " "Automation Revolution"
Instrumentation is the variety of measuring instruments to monitor and control a process. It is the art and science of measurement and control of process variables within a production, laboratory, or manufacturing area. An instrument is a device that measures a physical quantity such as flow, temperature, level, distance, angle, or pressure. Instruments may be as simple as direct reading thermometers or may be complex multi-variable process analyzers.
Instruments are often part of a control system in refineries, factories, and vehicles. The control of processes is one of the main branches of applied instrumentation. Instrumentation can also refer to handheld devices that measure some desired variable. Diverse handheld instrumentation is common in laboratories, but can be found in the household as well. For example, a smoke detector is a common instrument found in most western homes.
Instruments attached to a control system may provide signals used to operate solenoids, valves, regulators, circuit breakers, or relays. These devices control a desired output variable, and provide either remote or automated control capabilities. These are often referred to as final control elements when controlled remotely or by a control system. A transmitter is a device that produces an output signal, often in the form of a 4 20 mA electrical current signal, although many other options using voltage, frequency, pressure, or Ethernet are possible.
This signal can be used for informational purposes, or it can be sent to a PLC, DCS, SCADA system, Lab VIEW or other type of computerized controller, where it can be interpreted into readable values and used to control other devices and processes in the system. Control instrumentation plays a significant role in both gathering information from the field and changing the field parameters, and as such are a key part of control loops.
Importance of process parameters:
Process Parameters (also called a process variable) are certain measures that refer to status of the process (their values indicate whether the process meets the plan or it needs adjustment). In order to obtain effective execution of the process its parameters should stay under continuous control.
The simplest examples of parameters you can find in a manufacturing process are pressure, temperature, and chemical composition – anyone of these may have its desired value that is called a set-point that regulates proper functioning of process elements and operations, while if a parameter deviates from its set-point (goes beyond the acceptable level of variance), then probably a process tends to fail, hence special automatics or human operators should intrude into this process to adjust it and prevent upset.
The Process Variables used in instrumentation are:
Flow - Defined as volume per unit of time at specified temperature and pressure conditions, is generally measured by positive-displacement or rate meters. Units: kg / hr., litter / min, gallon / min, m3 / hr., Nm3 / hr. (gases)
Pressure - Force acting per unit Area. P = F/A. Units: bar, Pascal, kg / cm2, lb. / in2.
Temperature - It is the degree of hotness or coldness of a body. Units: Degree Centigrade, Degree Fahrenheit, Degree Kelvin, Degree Rankin.
Level - Different between two heights. Units: Meters, mm, cm, percentage.
Process control is extensively used in industry and enables mass production of consistent products from continuously operated processes such as oil refining, paper manufacturing, chemicals, power plants and many others. Process control enables automation, by which a small staff of operating personnel can operate a complex process from a central control room.
In reality, the controller is just a partner. A process will respond to a controller’s commands only in the manner which it can. To understand process control you must understand the other partners as well: sensors, final control elements and the process itself. All of these determine what type of response the controller is capable of extracting out of the process.
It is not the other way around Process control is an engineering discipline that deals with architectures, mechanisms and algorithms for maintaining the output of Specific process within a desired range. For instance, the temperature of a chemical reactor may be controlled to maintain a consistent product output. Process control is extensively used in industry and enables mass production of consistent products from continuously operated processes such as oil refining, paper manufacturing, chemicals, power plants and many others. Process control enables automation, by which a small staff of operating personnel can operate a complex process from a central control room.
Components of Process Control
A controller seeks to maintain the measured process variable (PV) at set point (SP) in spite of unmeasured disturbances (D). The major components of a control system include a sensor, a controller and a final control element. To design and implement a controller, we must:
Have identified a process variable we seek to regulate, be able to measure it(or something directly related to it) with a sensor, and be able to transmit that measurement as an electrical signal back to our controller, and
Have a final control element (FCE) that can receive the controller output (CO) signal, react in some fashion to impact the process (e.g., a valve moves), and as a result cause the process variable to respond in a consistent and predictable fashion.
