RoboMine

Quality circle:

A small group of people who normally work as a unit and meet frequently for the purpose of uncovering and solving problems with the quality of the items produced, process capability or process control.

Quarter-decay ratio:

Often considered to be the ultimate underdamped response, quarter-decay ratios occur when the amplitude of the subsequent period is one quarter of that of the current period.

Ramp change:

A forcing function introduced on a system or process input variable in which the level of the variable changes according to a continuous slope. Although not often used for testwork purposes, sometimes a trend in an uncontrollable variable can be extracted to represent a ramp change.

Rapid prototyping:

A series of approaches to obtaining an initial or prototype of a part or assembly quickly. See, for example, stereolithography.

Reaction curve:

An open loop test on a process in which the control variable is allowed to change according to a step change and the reaction of the process is measured. Reaction curves provide information about delay time, process time constant, and process gain.

Real time:

Refers to tasks or functions executed so rapidly that feedback is used to guide task completion. The performance of computations concerning a physical process such that the results are used to control the process.

Re-engineering:

The redefinition of a company's internal processes.

Reverse engineering:

The process of dissecting how a product is manufactured by taking it apart.

Regulator control:

Method to study a control system response to a change in load.

Response time:

The length of time required for a system to arrive at and remain within a set deviation (±X %) of the final steady state value in a transient analysis.

Rise time:

The length of time required for a system to first arrive at the final steady state value in a transient analysis.

Robotics:

The study of the design and use of robots, particularly for their use in manufacturing and related processes.

Robustness:

The ability of a system to remain stable over a large range if changes in system inputs (loads and set points).

Rule-based expert system:

A functional system in which knowledge is stored in the form of simple if-then or condition-action rules.

Sensor:

A transducer whose input is a physical phenomenon and whose output is a quantitative measure of the phenomenon.

Sequence control:

The control of a series of machine movements, with the completion of one movement initiating the next. The extent of movements is typically not specified by numerical input data.

Servo control:

Method to study a control system response to a set point change.

Servomechanism:

An automatic device for controlling large amounts of power by means of small amounts of power.

Servomotor:

A power-driven mechanism supplementing a primary control system operated by a comparatively feeble force.

Set point:

Input to a control system that is the desired level of the output.

Simulation:

(1) A device, system or computer program that represents certain features of the behavior of a physical or abstract system. Vendors of planning and scheduling, forecasting and demand management, and other types of decision support systems make growing use of simulation to compare the consequences of alternative courses of action. (2) A CAD/CAM program that simulates the effect of structural, thermal or kinematic conditions on a part under design. (3) The use of a mathematical model to test various design configurations.

Sine change:

A forcing function introduced on a system or process input variable in which the level of the variable changes by oscillating according to a sine wave. This is done at a variety of frequencies to determine the steady-state or frequency response analysis.

Software:

The entire set of programs, procedures and related documentation associated with a computer.

Solid modelling:

Three-dimensional modelling in which solid characteristics of an object are built into the database so that complex internal structures can be realistically represented.

Stability:

A characteristic of a system in which the response arrives at a steady state value with no further oscillation in the case of a step input change or in which the amplitude ratio of the frequency response over the entire range of frequencies is less than 1.0.

Standardization:

The promotion of conformity by means of a standard; the establishment of criteria for uniform practices.

Statistical process control (SPC):

A quality control method to continuous monitor a process rather than inspection of a finished product, with the intent to achieve control of the process and eliminate defective product.

Statistical quality control (SQC):

A procedure that applies the laws of probability and statistical techniques to observed characteristics of a product or process.

Step change:

A forcing function introduced on a system or process input variable in which the level of the variable changes instantaneously to a new steady state value. This is done to determine the transient response of a system.

Supervisory control:

The use of microcomputers and workstations to accomplish operator interface, data acquisition, process monitoring and some degree of production control.

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA):

A procedure accomplished in an industrial setting by means of a microcomputer in which a data highway (or DCS) provides set-point control through a multi-variable software system.

Supply chain management:

Use of information technology to endow automated intelligence to an ever-growing network of cash registers, delivery vehicles, distribution centres, factories and raw material suppliers. In Australia, the mining industry has set up a web site to manage the purchasing and acquisition of supplies, services, and materials across the industry.

System integration:

Ability of computers, instrumentation and/or equipment to share data or applications with other system components.

System response:

A measure of how a system responds to a particular input change. It may be a transient response to a step or impulse change or a steady state response to a ramp or sine wave change.

System transfer function:

A mathematical function that transforms an input variable into the system output variable.

Throughput:

(1) The rate at which work or production proceeds through a manufacturing factory or processing plant. (2) The rate at which information is processed through a computer.

Time-based competition:

The belief that the first producer and vendor of a product has a significant market advantage, leading companies to adapt their organization in a way to minimize the time it takes to develop a product to exploit this advantage.

Total quality management:

A holistic approach to quality control that stresses the building of manufacturing processes that force their users to confront quality problems, rather than passing them on.

Transducer:

A device that converts signals from one form to another.

Transient response:

The response curve over time of a control system or process reacting to a step change in the set point or process load.

Transportation planning:

A computer program that optimizes assignments from plants to distribution centres, and from distribution centres to stores, by combining systems to ensure the most economical means are employed on a scale that no human planner could match.

Under-damped system:

A control system in which the transient response oscillates around the final steady state value before stabilizing.

Warehouse management systems:

Software that integrates activities performed mechanically and by humans with an information system to effectively manage inventory processes and direct warehouse activities.

Zeigler-Nichols rules:

A set of rules established in the 1940s to calculate controller settings, proportional gain, integral time constant, and derivative time constant, from knowledge about system transient response variables - dead time, process time constant, and process gain.