Handbook of Industrial Automation

Citation

Rigelsford, J. (2001), "Handbook of Industrial Automation", Industrial Robot, Vol. 28 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2001.04928fae.003

Handbook of Industrial Automation

R.L. Shell and E.L. HallMarcel Dekker2000887 pp.ISBN 0-8247-0373-1US $225.00, hardback

Keywords: Automation

The Handbook of Industrial Automation is a comprehensive reference text that provides the essential concepts and methods required for solving technical and managerial problems associated with industrial automation. The handbook is divided into ten parts, with each part containing several chapters on important selected topics. Each chapter is arranged to allow an entire subject to be reviewed.

Part 1 addresses mathematics and numerical analysis and contains chapters covering probability theory, sets and relations, linear algebra, calculus, ordinary differential equations, Boolean algebra, and algebraic structures and applications. Part 2 presents the various techniques associated with measurements and computer control. The three chapters in this section discuss measurement and control instrumentation error-modelled performance, the fundamentals of digital motion control, and in-process measurements.

Automatic control is the focus for Part 3 and includes chapters covering distributed control systems, stability, digital signal processing, and sampled-data systems.

Parts 4 and 5 address modelling and operations research, and sensor systems. Chapters in these sections present a brief introduction to linear and dynamic programming, simulation and analysis of manufacturing systems, Petri-nets, decision analysis, touch force and torque sensors, three-dimensional vision, and industrial machine vision.

Part 6 discusses manufacturing. Subjects covered in this part including the future of manufacturing, manufacturing systems, intelligent manufacturing in industrial automation, measurements, intelligent industrial robots, industrial materials science and engineering, forming and shaping and molding processes.

Material handing and storage systems are covered in Part 7, which also presents automated storage and retrieval systems, containerisation, and robot palletising of fixed and variable sized/contents parcels. Parts 8 and 9 discuss safety, risk assessment and standards, and ergonomics, respectively. The final part of the handbook addresses economic analysis and includes chapters discussing engineering economy, and manufacturing-cost recovery and estimating systems.

Overall, the Handbook of Industrial Automation is a well presented and comprehensive reference text. It presents a variety of useful methods that are suitable for industrial and factory automation applications and will be of use to engineering students, professional engineers and technical managers.

Jon Rigelsford