Unit 7 - Automated systems (add more) Flashcards
What is an automated system?
An automation system is an integration of sensors, controls, and actuators designed to perform a function with minimal or no human intervention.
What does an automated system need to work?
- sensors to detect inputs
- a microprocessor
- output devices such as sirens, lights or actuators
What is an actuator?
Actuators are devices that control the operation of machinery. For instance, they may move a
door or shut a valve on a pipe.
What does a sensor do?
a sensor is a device that detects and responds to some type of input from the physical environment.
What is a microcontroller?
Microprocessors are used to control automated systems. Microcontrollers are often used
in automation. These contain RAM, ROM and
a processor all on one unit
What is done with the data provided from the sensors?
Data from sensors is used as inputs for the microprocessor. The data is processed so that actuators are correctly controlled
What sensors and automations are used in transport?
- Cars: pressure sensor: All cars made after 2014 must have a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS). This safety system detects if the tyre has a flat tyre or a slow puncture. It warns the driver so they can stop and get the tyre fixed
- Self driving cars: Fully self driving vehicles are currently used in a small number of places in the world. Many cars are already fitted with abilities such as adaptive cruise control and automatic parking
- Roads: Car cruise control system, motorway signs, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, car parking space monitoring
Railways: Signals, signage, automatic breaking systems, automated train systems, toxic gas sensors in tunnels
Aircraft: Autopilot, air traffic control, systems for check-in, dropping off and collecting baggage
What sensors do cars need for automation or self driving?
The following are likely to be used in
self-driving cars:
- Video cameras
- Radar (Radio detection and ranging – to measure distance)
- Ultrasonic (Uses high-pitched sound to measure distance)
- LiDar (Light detection and ranging – to measure distance)
How does industry use automated system?
to manufacture products or move products around warehouses
Name two examples of industry and
explain how they might use automation
Petrochemicals industry
- This industry uses automation to pump fluids around chemical plants. They are used in the production of fertilisers, chemicals and oil refining into usable fuel
Food industry
- The production of food, packaging and distribution are all automated
How does gaming use automated systems?
Automated systems are essential in gaming
- The program logic, graphics and computer players are all automated
- Various sensors can be located on input devices
- Actuators are able to move seats or simulator cockpits
Give three advantages of automated systems in transport, industry or gaming:
Advantages
- Fewer people need to be employed
- Repetitive tasks carried out with high accuracy and no breaks
- Able to work in dangerous environments (industry)
- More accurate simulation (gaming)
Give three disadvantages of automated systems in transport, industry or gaming:
Disadvantages
- People may lose their jobs or have fewer jobs to apply for
- Automation can be very dangerous if something goes wrong
- It is initially expensive to buy machinery
Name 5 industries that use automated systems:
Industry, transport, agriculture, gaming, lighting, science
Name 4 types of sensor
Ultrasonic, light, button, oxygen, temperature, pressure,…
Name 3 advantages of using automated systems
Fewer people required, work 24 hours a day, are able to work faster/more accurately than people in many tasks
Name 2 disadvantages of using automated systems
High costs to purchase equipment, fewer jobs, mistakes made by machines may be harmful
Name 1 component responsible for processing
instructions in an automated system
microprocessor
Name at least three different areas
where robots are used
Industry – e.g. manufacturing of food and products
Transport – e.g. self driving trains and cars
Agriculture – e.g. sowing, fertilising, harvest and picking
Medicine – e.g. testing and surgery
Domestic – e.g. robot vacuum cleaner and lawn mowers
Entertainment – e.g. toys, robot servers
What are robotics?
Robotics is a branch of Computer Science that incorporates the design, construction and operation of robots
What are the characteristics of a robot?
- They have a mechanical structure or framework
- They have electrical components, such as sensors, microprocessors and actuators
- They are programmable
Do actuators control separate parts of a robots body?
No usually different actuators are assigned to different parts of the body, for example one of one of the legs and a separate on for the arm.
Does a robot have a program in ROM that can’t be change?
Yes
How are robots programable?
Once the robot is made it can be programmed by the user afterwards with buttons or using text
languages or using 3D environments.
Which areas are robots used in the world?
- Industry (economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories.)
- agriculture (Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising livestock.)
- Medicine
- Automated transport systems
- Domestic robots (Domestic - relating to the running of a home or to family relations.)
- Robots in entertainment
What are some specific examples of robots being used in industry?
- Robots have many uses in industry including making and packing products
- Industrial robots are used in Car manufacture
What are the advantages of using robots?
- They are more accurate
- They are able to work without breaks
- They can work in hazardous environments
What are some specific examples of robots being used in agriculture?
- They may be used in sowing seeds, applying fertiliser or harvesting crops
- GPS helps in navigation of tractors
- Drones may be used to survey fields
What are some specific examples of robots being used in medicine? Why are robots used in medicine?
- Robotic arms are able to make incisions, remove tissue and stitch patients
- Where they are currently used they are monitored by a human surgeon
- Robots are used as they are more accurate and don’t have slight tremors like humans do
What are some examples of robots being used in automated transport systems?
Transport systems are automated to the degree that they can be considered as robots:
- Planes have sophisticated auto-pilot systems that are able to take-off, fly and land the plane
- Many trains, especially light rail networks, (at airports or Docklands Light Railway) do not have drivers
- Self-driving cars are currently in development and already available in some cities
What are some examples of robots being used in domestic life?
Domestic robots are able to carry out many household tasks:
- Robot vacuum cleaners may be programmed
to clean certain areas of a house
- Robot lawn mowers are able to cut allocated areas of lawn in a garden
What are some examples of robots being used in entertainment?
- Robot toys mimic animals and pets
Explain how the robot dog Aibo works?
- It has camera sensors on its nose and above its tail
- Other sensors detect stroking
- Actuators control legs and movement
- It has facial recognition and interacts differently
with each person it plays with
What are some advantages of using robots?
- Reduces the cost / need for humans to do the task
- Works faster
- Is more accurate / efficient
- Is able to work in dangerous environments / reduces the risks to humans
- Is able to work 24 x 7 / works without a break
What are some disadvantages of using robots
- The cost of purchasing the robot (or replacing it if it breaks)
- The robot being unreliable / less reliable than a human
- The robot not doing as good a job as a human
- Jobs being lost as a result of the robot
- A loss of contact with real people
Describe three characterists of a robot:
- A mechanical structure or framework
- Electrical components, such as sensors, microprocessors and actuators
- Programmable
Give two advantages and two disadvantages of using robots as company for lonely elderly people:
+ Work 24 hours a day without breaks; + If programmed correctly, can be highly accurate and give consistent results; cheaper than employing humans
- Not as good as humans; - people lose touch with real human contact and may still feel lonely
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems
What are some examples of AI being used?
- Self-driving cars
- Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools
- Speech recognition, including AI assistants
- Conversational help bots
- Robotics
- Healthcare such as discovering new medicines and detecting diseases
- Image recognition
- E-commerce product recommendations
What are some characteristics of AI?
- Collection of data
- Rules for using the data – these rules may be programmed into a program, or the program may discover the rules
- The ability to reason
- The ability to learn or adapt
How are rules used by AI?
Rules are used by AI to determine the answers
to questions
- They may be programmed by a human or ‘discovered’ by machine learning
How is Ai able to use reasoning?
Artificial intelligence is able to use reasoning to find out new information based on the rules it is given
What is an expert system?
An expert system is a computer program that simulates a human expert
What is an example of an expert system?
For example, a website that finds the right future career for you could ask a series of questions before suggesting suitable options
What are expert systems made up of?
- A knowledge base
- A rule base
- An inference engine
- An interface
What is the knowledge and rule base in an expert system?
The knowledge base and rule base are like a database that stores a set of facts and rules. These rules are like IF-THEN statements. For instance, in an expert system that suggests future careers, one rule in the rule base could be:
- IF you like football AND you like talking THEN
we suggest being a football commentator
What is an interference engine?
Controls the steps taken to solve the problem
- You can think of an inference engine as carrying out a large number of IF-THEN type statements to reach a conclusion
What is an interference engine?
Controls the steps taken to solve the problem
- You can think of an inference engine as carrying out a large number of IF-THEN type statements to reach a conclusion
There are two ways for an inference engine to work:
- Forward chaining
- Backward chaining
What is forward chaining?
- Forward chaining – give a number of facts to the system which the inference engine then uses to reach new facts
What is backward chaining?
- Backward chaining – give a goal and then determine the facts that are needed to reach a goal
Is this an example of forward or backwards chaining (interference engine):
Goal: I want to be a doctor
You must not faint if you see blood
You must want to help make people better
You must like people
You must like science
Backwards chaining - the inference engine starts with the goal and then determines all the facts needed to achieve the goal
Is this an example of forward or backwards chaining (interference engine):
Which job would you like?
Do you like science? Yes
Do you like working with people? Yes
Do you want to help make people’s health better? Yes
Do you faint if you see blood? No
You should be a doctor
The inference engine is forward chaining by finding facts to find the following goal
What is the interface?
The interface is the method in which users interact with the expert system
What are some examples of interfaces?
- Web pages
- Chat bots
- Telephone systems
What is machine learning?
Machine learning is where a program is able to automatically adapt its own processes or data. Rather than giving the program rules, a large amount of data is collected by the program and which then makes its own rules
When using machine learning, do you give the AI rules?
In machine learning we don’t give the computer
the rules to detect the difference. Instead we give sets of data for it to learn from. For instance, we could give a set of properties of many example foods for it to learn from
Fill in the gaps with the words beneath
AI stands for ___________. The main characteristics include the collection of ____________, the ability to ___________ and the ability to learn and adapt.___________ systems are one use of AI. Another technique is ___________. Here ___________ is given to a computer program which then creates its own rules.
training data, artificial intelligence, reason, data and rules, machine learning, expert
AI stands for artificial intelligence. The main characteristics include the collection of data and rules, the ability to reason and the ability to learn and adapt.Expert systems are one use of AI. Another technique is machine learning. Here training data is given to a computer program which then creates its own rules.
Name an example of automated systems in gaming:
AI opponents in games
Name an example of automated systems in lighting:
Home control systems (smart home)
Name an example of automated systems in weather:
Airport weather monitoring systems
Name an example of automated systems in science:
Laboratory automation
Name an example of automated systems in agriculture:
Crop harvesting
Name an example of automated systems in industry:
packaging of items to be shipped
What is a scenario of automated systems being used in industry? (refer to sensor, microprocessors and actuators)
- Items in a factory are packed and packaged by an automated production line.
- Sensors are used to detect the sizes of items
- microprocessors ensure that the correct packaging materials are selected
- actuators are used to move the items around to ensure consistent and accurate packaging each time.
What are the advantages of using automated systems in packing items in a factory (industry)?
- Production is much faster
- number of errors can be reduced
What are the disadvantages of using automated systems in packing items in a factory (industry)?
- Fewer jobs as humans are replaced by machinery
What is a scenario of automated systems being used in transport? (refer to sensor, microprocessors and actuators)
- Driverless cars can transport goods and passengers around a city based on start and end point instructions.
- Sensors detect the vehicle proximity to other objects
- microprocessors control factors like speed and direction
- actuators are used to move the steering mechanism
What are the advantages of using automated systems in driverless cars (transport)?
- A huge reduction in road traffic accidents and injuries caused by collisions
- Less traffic congestion
What are the disadvantages of using automated systems in driverless cars (transport)?
- potential for more vehicles on the road if the technology is popular.
- automated cars are very expensive
What is a scenario of automated systems being used in agriculture? (refer to sensor, microprocessors and actuators)
- Automatic harvesting of crops for supplying to shops and supermarkets.
- Sensors detect optimal times for harvesting based on factors such as weather conditions
- microprocessors determine exact locations for the harvest
- actuators are used to carry out the extraction of the goods from the ground
What are the advantages of using automated systems in harvesting crops (agriculture)?
- faster collection of goods
- able to cover a large distance in a short amount of time
What are the disadvantages of using automated systems in harvesting crops (agriculture)?
- automated vehicles and large and expensive
- reduced job opportunities for humans
What is a scenario of automated systems being used in weather? (refer to sensor, microprocessors and actuators)
- Automated monitoring of weather at airports to help predict poor flying and landing conditions.
- Sensors check for potentially dangerous weather such as wind, rain, fog or snow
- microprocessors are programmed to issue relevant Warnings as a result of the data gathered
- actuators can activate emergency systems such as lighting wherever required
What are the advantages of using automated systems in monitoring weather at airports (weather)?
- information about the overhead weather conditions is fed constantly to air traffic controllers
What are the disadvantages of using automated systems in monitoring weather at airports (weather)?
- predictions can sometimes be incorrect, for example if snow is the forecast but it doesn’t arrive.
What is a scenario of automated systems being used in gaming? (refer to sensor, microprocessors and actuators)
- The introduction of artificial intelligence as opponents in computer games.
- Sensors are built into gaming environments where characters interact with human controllers
- microprocessors determine game outcomes and decisions
- actuators are activated in controllers to give haptic feedback, such as vibrations.
What are the advantages of using automated systems in computer games (gaming)?
- the depth of the gaming challenge is increased with computer generated components which behave in a ‘human’ way
What are the disadvantages of using automated systems in computer games (gaming)?
- decreases real social interactions with other humans and can create an almost fictional life
What is a scenario of automated systems being used in lighting? (refer to sensor, microprocessors and actuators)
- Lighting control systems in a house where routines can be preset based on behaviours
- Sensors can detect ambient light levels
- microprocessors run routines based on human requirements
- actuators can activate home equipment
What are the advantages of using automated systems in light control systems (lighting)?
Systems can be taught to react to environmental factors, such as switching lights on and off when the conditions are correct
What are the disadvantages of using automated systems in light control systems (lighting)?
- systems can become complex as they are different from traditional switches
- The lightbulbs and technology also tend to be expensive to maintain
What is a scenario of automated systems being used in science? (refer to sensor, microprocessors and actuators)
- Automated laboratory experiments that can be carried out continuously over many days
- Sensors detect changes in environmental conditions
- microprocessors can calculate required alterations to the experimental settings
- actuators can turn on heaters coolers or water supplies as required
What are the advantages of using automated systems in laboratory experiments (science)?
- Many more repetitions of the experiments and reading data can take place than when humans carry out tests manually.
What are the disadvantages of using automated systems in laboratory experiments (science)?
- if something goes wrong it can be several hours before this is discovered, which could ruin any results collected.
