| Industrial control systems have come a long way | | | | vehicle components with a 0.001% degree of |
| in recent years, with computer protocols and | | | | variance, for example. |
| digital interfaces now the norm. Although the | | | | Yet there are many human-controlled industrial |
| overall trend has been towards automated | | | | procedures which are outside the scope of |
| services, the HMI (human machine interface) | | | | industrial automation. At the most basic level of |
| approach continues to be important. Artificial | | | | intellect, a human being still has mental and |
| Intelligence has a long way to go before human | | | | sensory skills which are arguably slightly beyond |
| operators are completely redundant. | | | | the apabilities of even sophisticated computer |
| We at Iconsys have been supplying control | | | | systems. |
| systems since 1987 and have seen many | | | | Tasks dependent solely on human control include |
| changes in that time. Mechanisation, the | | | | strategic planning, safety checks and quality |
| forerunner of automation, allowed human | | | | evaluation (for example the scent, taste or look |
| operators to use machinery in place of muscular | | | | of a product), human-machine interfaces, where |
| effort. Automated control systems removed the | | | | humans work in tandem with automated |
| mental and sensory elements as well. | | | | machinery, include temperature, pressure and |
| People have no need to worry about a | | | | humidity regulation, signs of potential mechanical |
| Terminator-style scenario yet. In the early days | | | | failure etcetera. |
| of industrial automation, the emphasis was on | | | | The automated side of this relationship is |
| maximum yield at minimum cost. However, this | | | | controlled by PLCs, or programmable logic |
| led to poorly-made goods, and an even greater | | | | controllers. These are industry-specific computers |
| reliance on human intervention to do the repairs | | | | which synchronise input flow from sensors with |
| that followed! Today, automated processes are | | | | output flow to actualise events. Such a system |
| focussed on quality and flexibility. | | | | allows accurate and precise control of a wide |
| There are, after all, some things that a machine | | | | range of industrial procedures. |
| will always do better than a human – install | | | | Nonetheless, it is always overseen by a person. |