One current trend in computer engineering is microminiaturization. Engineers try to place greater and greater numbers of circuit elements onto smaller and smaller chips. Another trend is towards increasing the speed of computer operations through the use of parallel processors and superconducting materials.

Mechanical Engineering

Engineers in this field design, test, build, and operate machinery of all types; they also work on a variety of manufactured goods and certain kinds of structures. The field is divided into (1) machinery, mechanisms, materials, hydraulics, and pneumatics; and (2) heat as applied to engines, work and energy, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning. The mechanical engineer, therefore, must be trained in mechanics, hydraulics, and thermodynamics and must know such subjects as metallurgy and machine design. Some mechanical engineers specialise in particular types of machines such as pumps or steam turbines. A mechanical engineer designs not only the machines that make products but the products themselves, and must design for both economy and efficiency. A typical example of modern mechanical engineering is the design of a car or an agricultural machine.

Safety Engineering

This field of engineering has as its object the prevention of accidents. In recent years safety engineering has become a specialty adopted by individuals trained in other branches of engineering. Safety engineers develop methods and procedures to safeguard workers in hazardous occupations. They also assist in designing machinery, factories, ships and roads, suggesting alterations and improvements to reduce the possibility of accident.

In the design of machinery, for example, the safety engineer try to cover all moving parts or keep them from accidental contact with the operator, to put cutoff switches within reach of the operator and to eliminate dangerous sharp parts. In designing roads the safety engineer seeks to avoid such hazards as sharp turns and blind intersections that lead to traffic accidents

14. AUTOMATION IN INDUSTRY. FIXED AND PROGRAMMABLE AUTOMATION

Automated production lines

An automated production line consists of a series of workstations connected by a transfer system to move parts between the stations. This is an example of fixed automation, since these lines are set up for long production runs, making large number of product units and running for several years between changeovers. Each station is designed to perform a specific processing operation, so that the part or product is constructed stepwise as it progresses along the line. A raw work part enters at one end of the line, proceeds through each workstation and appears at the other end as a completed product. In the normal operation of the line, there is a work part being processed at each station, so that many parts are being processed simultaneously and a finished part is produced with each cycle of the line. The various operations, part transfers, and other activities taking place on an automated transfer line must all be sequenced and coordinated properly for the line to operate efficiently.

Modern automated lines are controlled by programmable logic controllers, which are special computers that can perform timing and sequencing functions required to operate such equipment. Automated production lines are utilized in many industries, mostly automobile, where they are used for processes such as machining and pressworking.

Machining is a manufacturing process in which metal is removed by a cutting or shaping tool, so that the remaining work part is the desired shape. Machinery and motor components are usually made by this process. In many cases, multiple operations are required to completely shape the part. If the part is mass-produced, an automated transfer line is often the most economical method of production. Many separate operations are divided among the workstations.

Pressworking operations involve the cutting and forming of parts from sheet metal. Examples of such parts include automobile body panels, outer shells of laundry machines and metal furniture More than one processing step is often required to complete a complicated part. Several presses are connected together in sequence by handling mechanisms that transfer the partially completed parts from one press to the next, thus creating an automated pressworking line.

Numerical control

Numerical control is a form of programmable automation in which a machine is controlled by numbers (and other symbols) that have been coded on punched paper tape or an alternative storage medium. The initial application of numerical control was in the machine tool industry, to control the position of a cutting tool relative to the work part being machined. The NC part program represents the set of machining instructions for the particular part. The coded numbers in the program specify x-y-z coordinates in a Cartesian axis system, defining the various positions of the cutting tool in relation to the work part. By sequencing these positions in the program, the machine tool is directed to accomplish the machining of the part. A position feedback control system is used in most NC machines to verify that the coded instructions have been correctly performed. Today a small computer is used as the controller in an NC machine tool. Since this form of numerical control is implemented by computer, it is called computer numerical control, or CNC. Another variation in the implementation of numerical control involves sending part programs over telecommunications lines from a central computer to individual machine tools in the factory. This form of numerical control is called direct numerical control, or DNC.

Many applications of numerical control have been developed since its initial use to control machine.tools. Other machines using numerical control include component-insertion machines used in electronics assembly, drafting machines that prepare engineering drawings, coordinate measuring machines that perform accurate inspections of parts. In these applications coded numerical data are employed to control the position of a tool or workhead relative to some object. Such machines are used to position electronic components (e.g., semiconductor chip modules) onto a printed circuit board (PCB). It is basically an x-y positioning table that moves the printed circuit board relative to the part-insertion head, which then places the individual component into position on the board. A typical printed circuit board has dozens of individual components that must be placed on its surface; in many cases, the lead wires of the components must be inserted into small holes in the board, requiring great precision by the insertion machine. The program that controls the machine indicates which components are to be placed on the board and their locations. This information is contained in the product-design database and is typically communicated directly from the computer to the insertion machine.

Automated assembly

Assembly operations have traditionally been performed manually, either at single assembly workstations or on assembly lines with multiple stations. Owing to the high labour content and high cost of manual labour, greater attention has been given in recent years to the use of automation for assembly work. Assembly operations can be automated using production line principles if the quantities are large, the product is small, and the design is simple (e.g., mechanical pencils, pens, and cigarette lighters). For products that do not satisfy these conditions, manual assembly is generally required.

Automated assembly machines have been developed that operate in a manner similar to machining transfer lines, with the difference being that assembly operations, instead of machining, are performed at the workstations. A typical assembly machine consists of several stations, each equipped with a supply of components and a mechanism for delivering the components into position for assembly. A workhead at each station performs the actual attachment of the component. Typical workheads include automatic screwdrivers, welding heads and other joining devices. A new component is added to the partially completed product at each workstation, thus building up the product gradually as it proceeds through the line. Assembly machines of this type are considered to be examples of fixed automation, because they are generally configured for a particular product made in high volume. Programmable assembly machines are represented by the component-insertion machines employed in the electronics industry.

15. HISTORY OF ROBOTICS

The concept of robots dates back to ancient times, when some myths told of mechanical beings brought to life. Such automata also appeared in the clockwork figures of medieval churches, and in the 18th century some clockmakers gained fame for the clever mechanical figures that they constructed. Today the term automaton is usually applied to these handcrafted, mechanical (rather than electromechanical) devices that imitate the motions of living creatures. Some of the «robots» used in advertising and entertainment are actually automata, even with the addition of remote radio control.

The term robot itself is derived from the Czech word robota, meaning «compulsory labour». It was first used by the Czech novelist and playwright Karel Chapek, to describe a mechanical device that looks like a human but, lacking human sensibility, can perform only automatic, mechanical operations. Robots as they are known today do not only imitate human or other living forms. True robots did not become possible, however, until the invention of the computer in the 1940s and the miniaturization of computer parts. One of the first true robots was an experimental model designed by researchers at the Stanford Research Institute in the late 1960s. It was capable of arranging blocks into stacks through the use of a television camera as a visual sensor, processing this information in a small computer.

Computers today are equipped with microprocessors that can handle the data being fed to them by various sensors of the surrounding environment. Making use of the principle of feedback, robots can change their operations to some degree in response to changes in that environment. The commercial use of robots is spreading, with the increasing automation of factories, and they have become essential to many laboratory procedures. Japan is the most advanced nation exploring robot technology. Nowadays robots continue to expand their applications. The home-made robots (горничная) available today may be one sign of the future

16. MEASUREMENTS

Metric System is a decimal system of physical units, named after its unit of length, the metre, the metric system is adopted as the common system of weights and measures by the majority of countries, and by all countries as the system used in scientific work.

Weights and Measures

Length, capacity, and weight can be measured using standard units. The principal early standards of length were the palm or hand breadth, the foot, and the cubit, which is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Such standards were not accurate and definite. Unchanging standards of measurement have been adopted only in modern time.

In the English-speaking world, the everyday units of linear measurement were traditionally the inch, foot, yard and mile. In Great Britain, until recently, these units of length were defined in terms of the imperial standard yard, which was the distance between two lines on a bronze bar made in 1845.

In Britain units of weight (ounces, pounds, and tons) are now also derived from the metric standard -- kilogram. This is a solid cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy maintained at constant temperature at Sevres, near Paris. Copies, as exact as possible, of this standard are maintained by national standards laboratories in many countries.

International System of Units is a system of measurement units based on the MKS (metre-kilogram-second) system. This international system is commonly referred to as SI.

At the Eleventh General Conference on Weights and Measures, held in Paris in 1960 standards were defined for six base units and two supplementary units:

Length

The metre had its origin in the metric system. By international agreement, the standard metre had been defined as the distance between two fine lines on a bar of platinum-iridium alloy. The 1960 conference redefined the metre as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the reddish-orange light emitted by the isotope krypton-86. The metre was again redefined in 1983 as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second.

Mass

When the metric system was created, the kilogram was defined as the mass of 1 cubic decimetre of pure water at the temperature of its maximum density or at 4.0 °C.

Time

For centuries, time has been universally measured in terms of the rotation of the earth. The second, the basic unit of time, was defined as 1/86,400 of a mean solar day or one complete rotation of the earth on its axis in relation to the sun. Scientists discovered, however, that the rotation of the earth was not constant enough to serve as the basis of the time standard. As a result, the second was redefined in 1967 in terms of the resonant frequency of the caesium atom, that is, the frequency at which this atom absorbs energy: 9,192,631,770 Hz (hertz, or cycles per second).

Temperature

The temperature scale is based on a fixed temperature, that of the triple point of water at which it's solid, liquid and gaseous. The freezing point of water was designated as 273.15 К, equaling exactly 0° on the Celsius temperature scale. The Celsius scale, which is identical to the centigrade scale, is named after the 18th-century Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, who first proposed the use of a scale in which the interval between the freezing and boiling points of water is divided into 100 degrees. By international agreement, the term Celsius has officially replaced centigrade.

One feature of SI is that some units are too large for ordinary use and others too small. To compensate, the prefixes developed for the metric system have been borrowed and expanded. These prefixes are used with all three types of units: base, supplementary, and derived. Examples are millimetre (mm), kilometre/hour (km/h), megawatt (MW), and picofarad (pF). Because double prefixes are not used, and because the base unit name kilogram already contains a prefix, prefixes are used not with kilogram but with gram. The prefixes hecto, deka, deci, and centi are used only rarely, and then usually with metre to express areas and volumes. In accordance with established usage, the centimetre is retained for body measurements and clothing.

In cases where their usage is already well established, certain other units are allowed for a limited time, subject to future review. These include the nautical mile, knot, angstrom, standard atmosphere, hectare, and bar.

17. COMPUTERS

Computer is an electronic device that can receive a program (a set of instructions) and then carry out this program by calculating numerical information.

The modern world of high technology is possible mainly due to the development of the computer. Computers have opened up a new era in manufacturing by means of automation, and they have enhanced modern communication systems.

Personal computers

Personal computers are also called microcomputers or home computer. The most compact are called laptops. They are portable and work on built-in batteries.

Personal computers are designed for use at homes, schools, and offices. At home they can be used for home management (balancing the family finances, for example) and for playing computer games, watching films or listening to music. Schoolchildren can use computers for doing their homework and many schools now have computers for independent learning and computer-literacy studies. In the office personal computers may be used for word processing, bookkeeping, storage and handling of necessary information.

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