Page 29 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

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new data functions, and establishing new data bases and distributed
channels—into account. The tools for this control and integration are
available today.
The United States leads the world in inventing new products;
however, many of these new products, ultimately, are manufactured
by other countries. The inability of the United States manufacturers
to compete globally cannot be blamed on low-cost labor in other
countries; more than one-half the trade deficit comes from foreign
industries that pay higher wages. The inability to apply affordable
manufacturing systems for automation can be a contributing factor to
this dilemma.
An affordable manufacturing system is, simply, a system that con-
tains a variety of reliable parts, harmoniously joined together to gen-
erate a specific motion that will achieve a particular manufacturing
operation, directed and controlled by simple and effective sensors
and control systems. Modern manufacturing technology is prevalent
in the design and control of engineering systems and also in applying
the sensory and control technology in production systems to situa-
tions such as product fabrication and assembly.
When considering the design aspect of a system the following
must be taken into account: dynamics, kinematics, statics, and even
styling of parts. All of these play a vital role in forming optimum
manufacturing parameters in system design. Motion generation and
control through various sensors provide a review of manufacturing
engineering concepts from a system’s point of view, directed toward
the manufacturing engineering problems.
Manufacturing engineering plays a key role in translating new
product specifications from design engineering into process plans
which are then used to manufacture the product. As the product is
being designed, manufacturing technical evaluators work with
design engineers to ascertain if sensors and control systems for proc-
ess monitoring and control can be integrated into the design of a sys-
tem, and at what cost. Tolerances, materials, clearances, appropriate
handling of parts, acceptable types and positioning of sensors, and
product assembly times are particularly important factors in this
evaluation because they directly affect productivity, the guidelines of
which are essential to this analysis.
Cost estimates are equally important. If a new process is needed
because, for example, existing processes are deemed too expensive or
incapable of producing the desired product, process engineers would
be asked to either develop a new economical process or to change
product design. Choosing the best alternative could be very difficult
because such a decision is based on many conflicting objectives, for
example, customer specifications, cost, feasibility, timeliness, market
share, parts availability, standard parts, availability of part tooling,
sensors locations, and the like. A well-designed system incorporating
sensors and control technology for the generation of motion for a