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Mechatronic Engineering Department 14/04/2019 2nd Term

MT308-Industrial Automation - 3rd Year Midterm Exam

Part A: Multiple Choice Questions: Answer only 15 questions -1point/each

1) ------------involves multiple microcomputers connected together to share and distribute

the process control workload:
a) DCS b) SCADA
c) DDS d) None of the above

2) Manufacturing support involves the following activities except ?

a) Business functions b) Plant layout

c) Product design d) Manufacturing control

3) Automation means_________

a) Increased productivity a) Workers controlling machines

b) Assisting and replacing humans c) All of these
by machines

4) Use of modern control technology in automation systems__________

a) Reduces cost
b) Increases yield

c) Improves reliability d) All of these

5) A flexible manufacturing system may be _________

a) very difficult to change when new b) an automated assembly line

products are introduced
c) expensive to alter d) all of these.

6) Manufacturing Control includes the following control functions except ?

a) shop floor control b) inventory control

c) capacity planning d) quality control

7) Which of the following are forms of computer process control?

a) PLC b) DDC
c) SCADA d) all of these

8) Which of the following components are remaining in direct digital control(DDC)?

a) analog controllers, b) set point dials

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MT308-Industrial Automation - 3rd Year Midterm Exam

c) recording and display instruments d) none of the above

9) The use of information technology to monitor and control a physical process is known as

a) process control b) computer-aided design

c) information numeric control d) numeric control

10) Flexible Automation is also called as

a) Soft automation b) Hard automation

c) Fixed automation d) Rigid automation

11) The alternatives in polling format include:

a) entering all new data every polling b) using high-level and low-
cycle level scanning

c) updating the control system with all

data. d) a and b

12) The process industries involves the following activities except ?

a) liquids b) gases
c) parts d) powders

13) ----------------------maintain process performance at a certain level or within a given

tolerance band of that level:

b) Adaptive control
a) Feedforward control

c) Regulatory control d) Sequential control

14) Is a type of continuous process control in which an error must exist in order to initiate
control action:

a) Adaptive control b) Feedforward control

c) Regulatory control d) Sequential control

15) -----------------------------Is a type of continuous process control which is also known as

logic control:

a) Combinational logic control b) Feedforward control

c) Sequential control d) Adaptive control
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Mechatronic Engineering Department 14/04/2019 2nd Term

MT308-Industrial Automation - 3rd Year Midterm Exam

16) In computer process control, ------------------- refers to the periodic sampling of data
that indicates the status of the process.

a) polling b) Interlocks

c) Interrupt system d) Exception handling

Part B: Briefly answer only 10 questions- all questions take equal mark -2.5point/each
1) Define CIM:
CIM is the integration of the total manufacturing enterprise through the use of integrated
systems and data communication coupled with new managerial philosophies that
improve organizational and personnel efficiency.

2) Define automation and what are its types?

Automation may be defined as the process of having machines follow a predetermined
sequence of operations with little or no human labour, using specialized equipment
and devices that perform and control manufacturing processes. Three basic types:

1. Fixed automation
2. Programmable automation
3. Flexible automation

3) What is manufacturing planning and manufacturing control?

 Manufacturing planning: The information and documentation that constitute the
product design flows into the manufacturing planning function. The information-
processing activities in manufacturing planning include process planning, master
scheduling, material requirements planning, and capacity planning.
 Manufacturing Control: Manufacturing control is concerned with managing and
controlling the physical operations in the factory to implement the manufacturing
plans.
 Production planning is a preproduction activity. It is the pre-determination of
manufacturing requirements such as manpower, materials, machines, and
manufacturing process.
 Production control, through control mechanism, tries to take corrective action to match
the planned and actual production.

4) What does each of the letters of CAPP stand for?

 CAPP refers to computer/aided process planning. CAPP is used to overcome the
drawbacks of manual process planning.
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Mechatronic Engineering Department 14/04/2019 2nd Term

MT308-Industrial Automation - 3rd Year Midterm Exam

5) What is the USA Principle? What does each of the letters stand for?
 USA stands for: (1) Understand the existing process, (2) Simplify the process, and
(3) Automate the process.

6) What are the five levels of automation?

 Device level – actuators, sensors, and other hardware components to form individual
control loops for the next level
 Machine level – CNC machine tools and similar production equipment, industrial
robots, material handling equipment
 Cell or system level – manufacturing cell or system
 Plant level – factory or production systems level
 Enterprise level – corporate information system

7) What are the five categories of work cycle programs? Briefly describe each.
a) Set-point control, in which the process parameter value is constant during the work
cycle.
b) Logic control, in which the process parameter value depends on the values of other
variables in the process.
c) Sequence control, in which the value of the process parameter changes as a function of
time. The process parameter values can be either discrete (a sequence of step values)
or continuously variable. Sequence control, also called sequencing.
d) Interactive program, in which interaction occurs between a human operator and the
control system during the work cycle.
e) Intelligent program, in which the control system exhibits aspects of human intelligence
(e.g., logic, decision making, cognition, learning) as a result of the work cycle
program.

8) What are the features of Distributed Control Systems (DCS)?

 Features:
 Multiple process control stations to control individual loops and devices
 Central control room where supervisory control is accomplished
 Local operator stations for redundancy
 Communications network (data highway)

9) What is error detection functions in an automated system?

Error detection – functions:
a.Use the system’s available sensors to determine when a deviation or malfunction has
occurred
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MT308-Industrial Automation - 3rd Year Midterm Exam

b. Correctly interpret the sensor signal

c.Classify the error

10) Name three of the four possible strategies in error recovery

Error recovery – possible strategies:
a.Make adjustments at end of work cycle
b. Make adjustments during current work cycle
c.Stop the process to invoke corrective action
d. Stop the process and call for help

11) What does SCADA stand for, and what are the four components of it?
 The term SCADA stand for Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
(SCADA). A typical SCADA system consists of the following components:
a) a central supervisory computer system capable of collecting data from the
process and transmitting command signals to the process,
b) a human-machine interface (HMI) that presents the collected data to the
system operator(s) and enables them to send command signals,
c) distributed PLCs and RTUs that are connected directly to the process for
data acquisition and control, and
d) a communications network that connects the central computer to the
remote PLCs and RTUs.

12) What is feedforward control? Support your answer with a suitable sketch,
 Anticipate the effect of disturbances that will upset the process by sensing and
compensating for them before they affect the process
 Mathematical model captures the effect of the disturbance on the process
 Complete compensation for the disturbance is difficult due to variations, imperfections
in the mathematical model and imperfections in the control actions
o Usually combined with regulatory control
 Regulatory control and feedforward control are more closely associated with process
industries than with discrete product manufacturing.
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MT308-Industrial Automation - 3rd Year Midterm Exam

13) What is an output interlock? give an example.

An output interlock is a signal sent from the controller to some external device. It is used
to control the activities of each external device and to coordinate their operation with
that of the other equipment in the cell. For example, an output interlock can be used to
send a control signal to a production machine to begin its automatic cycle after the
work part has been loaded into it.

14) What is redundancy ?

The capacity to switch from primary equipment to standby equipment automatically
without affecting the process under control. Redundancy means provision for standby
module. In case of failure of one module is running process, the standby module takes
over.

15) The average part produced in a certain batch manufacturing plant must be processed
sequentially through six machines on average. Twenty (20) new batches of parts are
launched each week. Average operation time = 6 min., average setup time = 5 hours,
average batch size = 25 parts, and average nonoperation time per batch = 10
hr/machine. There are 18 machines in the plant working in parallel. Each of the
machines can be set up for any type of job processed in the plant. The plant operates
an average of 70 production hours per week. Scrap rate is negligible. Determine:
a) manufacturing lead time for an average part,
b) plant capacity,
c) plant utilization.
d) How would you expect the nonoperation time to be affected by the plant utilization?
Name: ID:

Mechatronic Engineering Department 14/04/2019 2nd Term

MT308-Industrial Automation - 3rd Year Midterm Exam