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TYPES OF AUTOMATION. COMPUTER LITERACY

1. Manufacturing is one of the most important application fields for automation technology. There are several types of automation in manufacturing. The examples of automated systems used in manufacturing are described below.

2. Fixed automation, sometimes called "hard automation" refers to automated machines in which the equipment configuration allows fixed sequence of processing operations. These machines are programmed by their design to make only certain processing operations. They are not easily changed over from one product to another. This form of automation needs high initial investments and high production rates. That is why it is suitable for products that are made in large volumes. Examples of fixed automation are machining transfer lines found in the automobile industry, automatic assembly machines and certain chemical processes.

3. Programmable automation is a form of automation for producing products in large quantities, ranging from several dozen to several thousand units at a time. For each new product the production equipment must be reprogrammed and changed over. This reprogramming and changeover take a period of nonproductive time. Production rates in programmable automation are generally lower than in fixed automation, because the equipment is designed to facilitate product changeover rather than for product specialization. A numerical-control machine-tool is a good example of programmable automation. The programme is coded in computer memory for each different product style and the machine-tool is controlled by the computer programme.

4. Flexible automation is a kind of programmable automation. Programmable automation I reprogram and change over the production equipment for each series of new product. Thin is lost production time, which is expensive. In flexible automation the number of products is limited so that the changeover of the equipment can be done very quickly and automatically. The reprogramming of the equipment in flexible automation is done at a computer terminal without using the production equipment itself. Flexible automation allows a mixture of different products to be produced one right after another.

5. Informed citizens of our information-dependent society should be computer-literate, which means that they should be able to use computers as everyday problem-solving devices. They should be aware of the potential of computers to influence the quality of life.

6. There was a time when only priviliged people had an oppor­tunity to learn the basics, called the three R's: reading, writing, and arithmetics. Now, as we are quickly becoming an informa­tion-becoming society, it is time to restate this right as the right to learn reading, writing and computing. There is little doubt that computers and their many applications are among the most sig­nificant technical achievements of the century. They bring with them both economic and social changes. "Computing" is a con­cept that embraces not only the old third R, arithmetics, but also a new idea — computer literacy.

7. In an information society a person who is computer-literate need not be an expert on the design of computers. He needn't even know much about how to prepare programs which are the instructions that direct the operations of computers. All of us are already on the way to becoming computer-literate. Just think of your everyday life. If you receive a subscription magazine in the post-office, it is probably addressed to you by a computer. If you buy something with a bank credit card or pay a bill by check, computers help you process the information. When you check out at the counter of your store, a computer assists the checkout clerk and the store manager. When you visit your doc­tor, your schedules and bills and special services, such as labo­ratory tests, are prepared by computer. Many actions that you have taken or observed have much in common. Each relates to some aspect of a data processing system.

Notes:

fixed automation — фіксована автоматизація

hard — жорсткий

sequence of operations — послідовність операцій

flexible automation — гнучка автоматизація

information-dependent society — інформаційно-залежне суспільство

computer literacy — комп’ютерна грамотність

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