Oral practice tasks

I. Divide the text into logical parts and entitle each part.

II. Answer the questions:

1. What do the programmed instructions determine?

2. What does the program specify?

3. What does the program consist of in simple systems?

4. What does the program provide for in sophisticated systems?

5. What are programming commands related to?

6. What may a given programming command specify?

7. What is the purpose of the feedback loop? Give an example.

8. How may some of the programmed commands be executed?

9. What is the role of the feedback loop in this case? Give an example.

10. When might the need for feedback control in an automated system arise?

11. What kinds of media may contain the programmed commands?

12. What is the most common means for storing the programmed commands?

13. What is the advantage of computer storage?

14. What are programmable machines capable of making?

15. What is the decision-making capacity contained in?

16. In what form does it function?

17. What are the reasons for providing an automated system with decision-making capability?

III. Speak on the topics:

1. The program functions in automated systems.

2. Feedback control in automated systems.

3. The need for feedback control in automated systems.

4. The kinds of media for containing the programmed commands.

5. The decision-making capacity of programmable machines.

IV. Make a short report on machine programming.

Text 6B

Translate the text in written form using a dictionary:

A new step to unmanned production

A new step to organization of unmanned production is a flexible manufacturing system. This type of production system has appeared in the past few years. In this equipment a central computer controls each separate machine tool and also arranges for the blocks of metal being machined to travel from one machine tool to another by some transport mechanism. The transport mechanism can vary. It can be a conveyer belt that carries parts around the system; it can be a sequence of robots that grab the components and place them in the relevant machine tool at the appropriate moment.

The key factor of this system is its flexibility. Not only does the central computer tell the machines to perform a wide range of functions. It also directs the transport mechanism to carry parts round the system in a manner which the computer decides is the most efficient.

Operating the new system is not too difficult. An engineer sits in a control room with a keyboard equipment terminal and probably two computers — one each to control the transport mechanism and the machine tools themselves. He types into the terminal the details of the parts he wants made, and when is the time for making them. The job for scheduling the work between the various machines in the system is then left to the two computers.

text 6c

Look through the text and do the tasks below:

Decision-making capability of automated systems

There are several reasons for providing an automated system with decision -making capability, including error detection and recovery, safety monitoring, interaction with humans, and process optimization.

Error detection and recovery is concerned with decisions that must be made by the system in response to undesirable operating conditions. In the operation of any automated system malfunctions¹ and errors sometimes occur during the normal cycle of operations, for which some form of corrective action must be taken to restore the system. The usual response to a system malfunction has been to call for human assistance. There is a growing trend in automation and robotics to enable the system itself to sense these malfunctions and to correct for them in some manner without human intervention. This sensing and correction is referred to as error detection and recovery, and it requires that a decision-making capability be programmed into the system.

Safety monitoring is a special case of error detection and recovery in which the malfunction involves a safety hazard². Decisions are required when the automated system sensors detect that a safety condition has developed that would be hazardous to the equipment or humans in the vicinity of the equipment. The purpose of the safety-monitoring system is to detect the hazard and to take the most appropriate action to remove or reduce it. This may involve stopping the operation and alerting maintenance³ personnel to the condition, or it may involve a more complex set of actions to eliminate the safety problem.

Automated systems are usually required to interact with humans in some way. An automatic bank teller machine, for example, must receive instructions from customers and act accordingly. In some automated systems, a variety of different instructions from humans is possible, and the decision-making capability of the system must be quite sophisticated in order to deal with the array of possibilities.

The fourth reason for decision making in an automated system is to optimize the process. The need for optimization occurs most commonly in processes in which there is an economic performance criterion where optimization is desirable. For example, minimizing cost is usually an important objective in manufacturing. The automated system might use adaptive control to receive appropriate sensor signals and other inputs and make decisions to drive the process toward the optimal state.

Notes:

1. malfunction – неправильное срабатывание

2. hazard – угроза, опасность

3. maintenance – техническое обслуживание; эксплуатация

1. Translate the title of the text.

2. Formulate the main idea of the text.

3. Choose the main information from every paragraph.

4. Make up the plan of the text.

5. Write down the annotation of the text in Russian.