Ever seen a video of a drinks factory filling thousands of bottles an hour without a human touch? That is industrial automation: machines that work on their own based on data from sensors.
Three main components
- Sensors — the machine’s “eyes and ears”: detecting bottles, temperature, pressure or colour.
- Controller (PLC) — Programmable Logic Controller, a rugged industrial computer that decides what needs to be done.
- Actuators — the machine’s “muscles”: motors, valves, pneumatic cylinders, robot arms.
Where can you learn it?
At UWIKA Electrical Engineering, the path starts with Sensors & Actuators and Control & Automation Systems (semester IV), continues to Industrial Electronics and Automation (semester VI), then the electives Logic Control Programming and Robotics. See the concentration Industrial Control & Automation.
