The Importance of Control Engineering in Automation
Summary
It ultimately enables actual automation tasks to be accomplished, even though the controllers themselves are not as immediately obvious to the observer as modern user interfaces. This development continued with electric and electronic controllers, with standard signals and amplifier components playing a crucial role in simplifying implementation and application. In addition to this, however, there was an emphasis on miniaturization of automation components and the improvement in service quality achieved by replacing high-wear mechanical parts with electronics, which was accompanied by a reduction in manufacturing costs. Optimization measures may, for example, be designed to increase cost-efficiency, achieve reproducible product quality or reduce environmental impact by lowering emissions or cutting raw materials/energy consumption. Control engineering as a whole is constantly being enhanced with new functions, driven by the increasing need for continuous improvement of economic and ecological factors and conditions, as well as output quality and plant safety.