Communication and Control

In order for a computer or controller to be useful in automating a manufacturing system, it should be able to communicate with external devices. These external devices might be actuators for controlling a process, sensors for monitoring a process, or the external device might be another computer. Information exchanges among devices require the standardization of the language of communication. A short discussion of different network architecture, many LAN standards, and tools for object identification as barcodes, sensors, transponders, and vision systems are provided in coming sections. Control of communication system and data base management system in CIM is also explained in brief.

Objectives

After studying this unit, you should be able to

• Explained communication and control,
• Describe local area network,
• Define network protocols,
• Identify types of manufacturing sensors, and
• Understand manufacturing database management.