CFU: 8
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of electrical circuit and electrical machines; basic knowledge of electronics (analog and digital); basic knowledge of closed loop control systems.
Preliminary Courses
None
Learning Goals
The course aims at providing students with the basic approaches related to the design of both industrial automation and power systems. More in detail:
-with reference to automation systems, students are introduced to the various phases of the design process, from the elicitation of the requirements, to the test and validation of the control software by means of plant simulators. At the end of the course, the student will acquire the above mentioned basic principle as well as the programming languages for Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC);
- with reference to power systems, students are introduced to both the features of the technological components and the design methodologies for industrial power systems.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
The course provides students with the methodology for the design and development of automation software to be deployed on Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). The student needs to show that he/she learned the typical requirements that are peculiar for both hardware and software of industrial control systems. The student needs also to show the knowledge of the main design phases of an industrial control system, including the relevance of test and validation of the control logics against a plant simulator.
Applying knowledge and understanding
The student needs to show that he/she is able to formalize the requirements for the closed loop system expressed in natural language, by using formal languages such as the Sequential Functional Chart (SFC). Moreover, by starting from such formalized requirements, the student needs to show that he/she is able to design basic automation logics, develop them by using the programming languages provided by the IEC 61131-3 standard, and therefore to deploy them on a PLC. The student needs also to show that he/she is able to develop simple Human Machine Interfaces (HMI). Eventually, the student needs to show is ability to design the test and validation test for the developed automation logic; the possibility to exploit plant simulator for such tests should be envisaged.
Course Content - Syllabus
- Introduction to industrial automation
- Reference model for industrial automation systems
- Reference functional model control devices
- Control devices
- Requirements
- General purpose control devices
- Specialized control devices
- Sensors and actuators
- Main sensors features
- Motion sensors
- Temperature sensors
- Pressure sensors
- Force sensors
- Hydraulic actuators
- Electric motors
- Signals conditioning and conversion
- Operational amplifiers
- F/V converters
- A/D and D/A converters
- PID regulators
- Control law
- Manual and automatic tuning
- Anti wind-up and bumpless transfer
- Digital PID
- Programmable Logica Controllers (PLCs) and the IEC 61131-3 standard
- Variables and data types
- Programming languages (Structured Text, Ladder Diagram, Functional Block Diagram, Instruction List)
- Program organization units (POUs)
- Sequential functional chart (SFC)
- Supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA)
- Development cycle for automation software
Readings/Bibliography
P. Chiacchio e F. Basile, Tecnologie Informatiche per l'Automazione, seconda ed., McGraw-Hill, 2004.
P.Bolzern, R. Scattolini e N. Schiavoni, Fondamenti di controlli automatici, quarta ed., McGraw-Hill, 2015.
Teaching Methods
The teaching activities will be organized as follows: a) lectures for about 60% of the total hours, b) practical exercise in the classroom based on the CODESYS tool (https://www.codesys.com/) and/or lab activities for about 40% of the total hours.
Examination/Evaluation criteria
Exam type
The module of Tecnologie dei sistemi di automazione e controllo requires both written and oral exam. The written exam aims at assessing the capability of the students to design basic automation software and to tune PID gains. The written exam consists of 1 or 2 exercises that require the design of automation software by using one or more of the graphical programming languages provided by the IEC 61131-3 standard (i.e., Ladder Diagram, Function Block Diagram, Sequential Functional Chart), and possibly by one exercise that requires to tune the gains of a PID. Typically, 3 hours are given for the written exam.
The oral exam is focused on the discussion of the solutions proposed by the students to the exercises of the written exams. Moreover, during the oral examination, the aim is also to assess the knowledge of all the concepts and contents given during the course lectures.
Evaluation pattern
The final mark is weighted with respect to the CFU of each module as follows:
- Module Tecnologie dei sistemi di automazione e controllo, 8 CFU, 67%
- Module Sistemi elettrici industriali, 4 CFU, 33%
The written exam performance is binding to have access to the oral exam. Both the written and the oral exams contribute 50% each to the final mark. Therefore passing the written exam is only a necessary condition to pass the overall exam.