Fundamentally, there are two types of control loops: open-loop controller, and closed-loop control.
In open-loop control, the control action from the controller is independent of the "process output" (or

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Discrete control (on/off)
One of the simplest types of control is on-off control. An example is a thermostat used on household appliances which either open or close an

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Early history
It was a preoccupation of the Greeks and Arabs (in the period between about 300 BC and about 1200 AD) to keep accurate track of time. In Ptolemaic Egypt, about 270 BC, Ctesibius described a float regulator for a water clock,

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Perhaps the most cited advantage of automation in industry is that it is associated with faster production and cheaper labor costs. Another benefit could be that it replaces hard,

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The costs of automation to the environment are different depending on the technology, product or engine automated. There are automated engines that consume more

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Another major shift in automation is the increased demand for flexibility and convertibility in manufacturing processes. Manufacturers are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch

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Lights-out manufacturing is a production system with no human workers, to eliminate labor costs.
Lights out manufacturing

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