Home automation Banking automation Laboratory automation Integrated library system Broadcast automation Console automation Building automation
Automated attendant Automated guided vehicle Automated highway system Automated pool cleaner Automated teller machine Automatic painting Pop music automation Robotic lawn mower Telephone switchboard Vending machine
Automation is the technology by which a process or procedure is performed with minimal human assistance. or automatic control is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching on telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships, aircraft and other applications and vehicles with minimal or reduced human intervention.
Automation covers applications ranging from a household thermostat controlling a boiler, to a large industrial control system with ten of thousands of input measurements and output control signals.
In the simplest type of an automatic control loop, a controller compares a measured value of a process with a desired set value, and processes the resulting error signal to change some input to the process, in such a way that the process stays at its set point despite disturbances.
Automation has been achieved by various means including mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, electronic devices and computers, usually in combination. The benefit of automation includes labor savings, savings in electricity costs, savings in material costs, and improvements to quality, accuracy, and precision.
