Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [automation]

Automation or automatic control, is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching in telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships or aircraft and other applications with minimal or reduced human intervention

Automation or automatic control, is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching in telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships or aircraft and other applications with minimal or reduced human intervention. Some processes have been completely automated. The biggest benefit of automation is that it saves labor, however, it is also used to save energy and materials and to improve quality, accuracy and precision.

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How to water-protect my Arduino?

I am building a watering system with an Arduino. Basically it runs on a track with a hose that drips water down on plants a couple of times every day. Its outside, and water might sometimes get from the leaves of the plants down to the Arduino…
bogen
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Command line interface for KiCAD

Is there a way to produce Gerber files from command line in KiCAD (Linux/Unix) or a tool which can do it for me? The same question for SPICE netlist and BOM xml? I need it to automate this process within a CI-pipelie. GUI is not useable here.
Jan Rosum
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Are there any commercially available PLC's that can compile/ download programs through an API?

My team has decided to use a PLC for controlling an industrial process that requires simple, real-time IO to external devices with minimal processing. However, we expect the exact outputs needed to vary between runs (in fact, a given run will very…
Dragonsheep
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Automate LT-SPICE?

I'm running a lot of simulations in LT-Spice, and I need someway to run them all either sequentially or at the same time. I was going to use Python, but I'm not entirely clear on how I would get past the GUI and open the netlists I have and be able…
Tropical_Peach
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What stages do PCB mass-assembly techniques come in?

There's a spectrum of how you get PCBs assembled. 1) Have a human pick out all the parts, solder them all on by hand, and check them all by eye. Low cost of entry. Good for low-volume high-mix work. Surface mount is difficult/impossible, depending…
Stephen Collings
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Is there an open source IO-Link stack available?

I have been looking at designing a solution around an IO-link master. Does the IO-link Consortium allow for open source implentations of both the master and slave? The documents online seem to give enough info to implement at least a basic feature…
zageek
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Automated test for pushing a pcb mounted mini push button

We have a test that checks whether or a push button works or not, and as of now the test is done manually by hand. My question is how to do this automatically? We have considered using a solenoid to push the button but have some hesitations on…
Heneer
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Do Pick and Place machines check their work?

For example, if a Pick and Place machine accidentally drops a component, will it realize this and grab an identical replacement? The only reason I can think of as to why it wouldn't do this is to save time.
Chris Laplante
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Android Home Automation

I'm trying to do home automation using android app and arduino teleduino. Basically, I'll be doing lights and power plugs. I still cant post images so here' the link to the diagram I saw and will be using. light bulbs OK, but when it comes to the…
yhunz_19
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Programmable power supply

I have been assigned to design a kind of programmable power supply. Can't decide on a way to make it. Need help with this. This is a high level block diagram of the required system: How it works (How it should work) The system will be given 0 to…
Anubis
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Is There An Automatic Precision Screwdriver For Small Works?

I need automatic tool to work with small electronical things but don't know of any good one. I am looking for something like this but of better quality and switch but push forward/reverse button: If anyone uses automatic precision screwdriver and…
Boris_yo
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SSI to RS485 communication protocol

How do I interface a positioning sensor with SSI interface with an OMRON safety PLC with only RS485 interface? I understand both are serial, but would I loose resolution if I interface it?
Kulgaurav Kanade
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Remote Controlled Water Valve

I have been planning on building a rain water collection system for my parents to be used for watering their dogs outside. I thought it would be a cool project to automate the watering process. Basically, it should be gravity fed so there will be no…
user2905256
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What type of electronics is typically used to interface between PCs and custom hardware?

I have tried to make this question acceptable for StackExchange, I am not looking for buying advice, just either examples of hardware that could have been used or the name of types of devices I should be researching. I am very interested in…
B.Baker
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Motorized rotary switch

Motorized potentiometers are easy to find and often used e.g. in music studio equipment, but I could need a similarly motorized rotary switch for a project. I am either searching for the wrong term (are such switches known under a specific name?) or…
jarnbjo
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