Cam timerA cam timer or drum sequencer is an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically. It resembles a music box with movable pins, controlling electrical switches instead of musical notes. An electric motor drives a shaft on which is arranged a series of cams or a drum studded with pegs along its surface. Associated with each cam is one or more switches. The motor rotates at a fixed speed, and the camshaft is driven through a speed reducing gearbox at a convenient slow speed.
Feed forward (control)A feed forward (sometimes written feedforward) is an element or pathway within a control system that passes a controlling signal from a source in its external environment to a load elsewhere in its external environment. This is often a command signal from an external operator. A control system which has only feed-forward behavior responds to its control signal in a pre-defined way without responding to the way the load reacts; it is in contrast with a system that also has feedback, which adjusts the input to take account of how it affects the load, and how the load itself may vary unpredictably; the load is considered to belong to the external environment of the system.
Lights out (manufacturing)Lights-out manufacturing is the methodology of fully automating the production of goods at factories and other industrial facilities, such as to require no human presence on-site. Many of these factories are considered to be able to run "with the lights off," but few run exclusively lights-out production. For example, in computer numerical control machining, the presence of human workers is typically required for removing completed parts and setting up tombstones that hold unfinished parts.
Regulator (automatic control)In automatic control, a regulator is a device which has the function of maintaining a designated characteristic. It performs the activity of managing or maintaining a range of values in a machine. The measurable property of a device is managed closely by specified conditions or an advance set value; or it can be a variable according to a predetermined arrangement scheme. It can be used generally to connote any set of various controls or devices for regulating or controlling items or objects.
Foundation FieldbusFoundation Fieldbus (styled Fieldbus) is an all-digital, serial, two-way communications system that serves as the base-level network in a plant or factory automation environment. It is an open architecture, developed and administered by FieldComm Group. It is targeted for applications using basic and advanced regulatory control, and for much of the discrete control associated with those functions. Foundation Fieldbus technology is mostly used in process industries, but has recently been implemented in powerplants.
ProfinetProfinet (usually styled as PROFINET, as a portmanteau for Process Field Network) is an industry technical standard for data communication over Industrial Ethernet, designed for collecting data from, and controlling equipment in industrial systems, with a particular strength in delivering data under tight time constraints. The standard is maintained and supported by Profibus and Profinet International, an umbrella organization headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. Profinet implements the interfacing to peripherals.
Logistics automationLogistics automation is the application of computer software or automated machinery to improve the efficiency of logistics operations. Typically this refers to operations within a warehouse or distribution center, with broader tasks undertaken by supply chain engineering systems and enterprise resource planning systems. Logistics automation systems can powerfully complement the facilities provided by these higher level computer systems. The focus on an individual node within a wider logistics network allows systems to be highly tailored to the requirements of that node.
Refusal of workRefusal of work is behavior in which a person refuses regular employment. As actual behavior, with or without a political or philosophical program, it has been practiced by various subcultures and individuals. It is frequently engaged in by those who critique the concept of work, and it has a long history. Radical political positions have openly advocated refusal of work. From within Marxism it has been advocated by Paul Lafargue and the Italian workerist/autonomists (e.g. Antonio Negri, Mario Tronti), the French ultra-left (e.
Imagination ageThe Imagination Age is the period beyond the Information Age where creativity and imagination become the primary creators of economic value. (In contrast, the main activities of the Information Age were analysis and thinking.) This concept holds that technologies like virtual reality and user created content will change the way humans interact with each other and create economic and social structures.
