In industrial production, the popularity of automation and intelligence is getting higher. Let’s take a look at what an automated factory standard is.

1. Controller

Automated factory brain


The controller refers to a master device that changes the wiring of the main circuit or the control circuit in a predetermined order and changes the resistance value in the circuit to control the starting, speeding, braking, and reversing of the motor.

It consists of program counter, instruction register, instruction decoder, timing generator, and operation controller.

It is the “decision-making body” that issues commands, that is, the operation of coordinating and directing the entire computer system.

Commonly used controllers in automation plants include PLC, industrial computer, and so on.

Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), which uses a type of programmable memory for storing programs internally, performing user-oriented instructions such as logic operations, sequence control, timing, counting, and arithmetic operations, and controls various types of machinery or production processes by digital or analog input/output .

2. Robot

Automated factory executor


A robot is a machine that automatically performs work.

It can accept human command, run pre-programmed procedures, or act on principles that are based on artificial intelligence techniques.

Its mission is to assist or replace the work of human work, such as production, construction, or dangerous work.

Robots generally consist of actuators, drives, detection devices, control systems and complex machinery.

3. Servo motor

Muscles that power the automated plant

Servo motor


The servo motor can control the speed and position accuracy very accurately, and can convert the voltage signal into torque and speed to drive the control object.

The servo motor rotor speed is controlled by the input signal and reacts quickly.

In the automatic control system, it is used as an actuator and has characteristics such as small electromechanical time constant, high linearity, and starting voltage.

The received electrical signal can be converted to an angular displacement or angular velocity output on the motor shaft.

Servo motors are divided into two major categories: DC servo motors and AC servo motors.


4. Sensor

Automated factory touch


The sensor is a detecting device that can sense the measured information and can transform the sensed information into an electrical signal or other required form of information output to meet the requirements such as information transmission, processing, storage, display, recording and control.

It is the first step in achieving automatic detection and automatic control.

In modern industrial production, especially in automated production processes, various sensors are used to monitor and control the various parameters of the production process, to operate the equipment in a normal or optimal state, and to achieve the best quality of the product.

Therefore, it can be said that without many excellent sensors, modern production will lose its foundation.

5. Inverter

Automated factory exchanger


The frequency converter is a power control device that controls the AC motor by changing the working frequency of the motor by applying frequency conversion technology and microelectronic technology.

The frequency converter is mainly composed of rectification (AC to DC), filtering, inverter (DC to AC), braking unit, drive unit, and micro processing unit of detection unit.

The inverter adjusts the voltage and frequency of the output power supply by the breaking of the internal IGBT, and supplies the required power supply voltage according to the actual needs of the motor, thereby achieving the purpose of energy saving and speed regulation.

In addition, the inverter has many protection functions, such as overcurrent, overvoltage, overload protection etc.

6. Solenoid valve

Automation factory switch

Solenoid valve

Solenoid valves are electromagnetically controlled industrial equipment. They are the basic components for controlling fluids. They are actuators and are not limited to hydraulic and pneumatic.

Used in industrial control systems to adjust the direction, flow, speed and other parameters of the media.

The solenoid valve can be used with different circuits to achieve the desired control, while the precision and flexibility of the control can be guaranteed.

There are many types of solenoid valves, and different solenoid valves function in different positions of the control system.

The most commonly used are check valves, safety valves, directional control valves, speed control valves etc.

7. Industrial camera

Automated factory eyes

Industrial camera

Industrial cameras are a key component in machine vision systems. The most essential function is to convert optical signals into ordered electrical signals from the AFT-808 compact HD industrial camera.

Industrial cameras are generally installed on the machine line instead of the human eye for measurement and judgment, and are converted into image signals by digital image pickup targets and transmitted to a dedicated image processing system.

The image system performs various operations on these signals to extract features of the target, and then controls the action of the device on the spot according to the result of the discrimination.

8. Instrumentation

Automation plant’s conditioning system


Instrumentation is an instrument or device used to detect, measure, observe, and calculate various physical quantities, material compositions, physical parameters, etc.

Vacuum leak detectors, pressure gauges, length gauges, microscopes, multipliers, etc. are all instruments.

Various instruments and meters need to be applied in an automated factory.

For example, measuring the pressure, liquid level, flow rate, temperature and other parameters required for some control processes requires relevant instrumentation.

9. Automation software

The heart of an automated factory

Automation software

As the industrial control system is connected to the traditional IT management system and the Internet, the general control software, general hardware and general protocols are increasingly used internally.

More common is the SCADA automation software.

The SCADA automation system (supervisory control and data acquisition) is what we call the data acquisition and monitoring system.

It is mainly a system that is supported by computer technology and performs automatic control of scheduling of various production processes.

SCADA automation software can automatically and accurately monitor production for a long time without being supervised, and obtain effective information data from it, providing a powerful evaluation reference for regulatory administrators.

10. Control cabinet

Automation plant’s central system

Control cabinet

The control cabinet also includes many types, including:

  • Electrical control cabinet
  • Frequency control cabinet
  • Low voltage control cabinet
  • High pressure control cabinet
  • Pump control cabinet
  • Power control cabinet
  • Explosion-proof control cabinet
  • Elevator control cabinet
  • PLC control cabinet
  • Fire control cabinet
  • Brick machine control cabinet

Control cabinets for electrical, variable frequency, power, water pump, etc. are involved in the automation plant.

Different control cabinets are selected according to different needs to achieve different control functions.