Today, every engineer interested in manufacturing should have a firm grasp of computer architecture and how digital controllers are interfaced to electromechanical processes to gather information and control machines. The theories of continuous control and discrete control, and their application in manufacturing, are fundamental to designing and working with the next generation of manufacturing systems. The purpose of Computer Automation in Manufacturing: An introduction is to provide a broad introduction to digital control technology and its application in manufacturing automation. It covers the application of this technology from the machine level through the manufacturing cell and shop floor levels, provides broad coverage of subjects beginning with the architecture of computers and controllers, and ends with shop floor applications. Written specifically for engineering students, the book does not require a specialized background and can be used as early as the third year of an undergraduate engineering program. Readers will appreciate the broad scope and integration of topics, as well as the provision of numerous end-of-chapter problem sets.

o Computer Automation in Manufacturing provide instruction in computer architecture, interfacing to mechanical systems, and software development for continuous control and discrete event systems. This is accomplished by presenting theoretical material and hands-on laboratory experiments.