University of Moratuwa

Faculty of Engineering

Department of Electrical Engineering

Semester 1 Examination 2024

MSc/PG Diploma in Industrial Automation

EE5217 – System Automation Technologies

Time allowed: TWO Hours ONLY June 2024

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

This paper contains 4 questions in 4 pages.

Answer all the questions.

This is an open book examination.

If you have any doubts to the interpretation of the wording of a question, make your own
decision, but clearly state it on the script.

All questions carry equal marks. Total mark 100 marks.

This examination paper will cover 60% of the final grade.

1
Question 1
a) Control system is a basic element of an automated system.
a. What are the two types of control systems commonly used?
b. Discussing the features of above two types
i. Explain how those can be applied to leadscrew positioning system in
Figure 1.
ii. What are the sensors, actuators and controller you may use in each
control system?

Figure 1. Leadscrew driven one-axis positioning system

[10 marks]

b) Companies undertake projects in automation and computer-integrated manufacturing

for good reasons. What are the reasons for automating? List at least 6 facts.
[3 marks]

c) Automation is not always the right answer for a given production situation. A certain
caution and respect must be observed in applying automation technologies. What are
the three approaches for dealing with automation projects?
[3 marks]

d) Why automation migration strategy is important for a manufacturing company?

Explain three phases of automation migration strategy.
[9 marks]
[Total marks for Question 1 is 25 marks]

Question 2
State necessary assumptions. Show the equations used for calculations. Clearly state the
meanings of the notations you are using.

a) Five forklift trucks are used to deliver pallet loads of parts between work cells in a
factory. Average travel distance loaded is 150 m and the travel distance empty is
estimated to be the same. The trucks are driven at an average speed of 1.12 m/s when
loaded and 1.56 m/s when empty. Terminal time per delivery averages 2.0 min (load
= 1.0 min and unload = 1.0 min). If the traffic factor is assumed to be 0.95, availability
= 90%, and worker efficiency = 0.85, what is the maximum hourly delivery rate of
the five trucks?
[10 marks]

b) A 300 feet long roller conveyor operates at a velocity = 30 ft/min and is used to move
parts in containers between load and unload stations. Each container holds 20 parts.
One worker at the load station is able to load parts into containers and place the

2
 containers onto the conveyor in 30 sec. It takes 20 sec to unload at the unload station.
Determine,
a. Center-to-center distance between containers.
b. Number of containers on the conveyor at one time.
c. Hourly flow rate of parts.
d. By how much must conveyor speed be increased in order to increase flow
rate to 3,600 parts/hr?
[10 marks]

c) Consider the AGVS layout in Figure 2. Vehicles travel counter-clockwise around the
loop to deliver loads from the load station to the unload station. Loading time at the
load station = 0.70 min, and unloading time at the unload station = 0.45 min. The
following performance parameters are given: vehicle speed = 45 m/min, availability
= 0.95, traffic factor = 0.90, and operator efficiency = 0.90.

Figure 2. AGVS layout

Key: Unld = unload, Man = manual operation, dimensions in meters (m)

Determine
a. Travel distances loaded and empty,
b. Ideal delivery cycle time,
c. The number of vehicles required to satisfy the delivery demand if a total of
40 deliveries per hour must be completed by the AGVS.
[5 marks]
[Total marks for Question 2 is 25 marks]

Question 3
a) What is the difference between RFID passive tag and an active tag?
[5 marks]

b) The ideal cycle time of an assembly machine is 5 sec. The parts feeder at one of the
workstations has a feed rate of 75 components/min and the probability that the

3
 components will pass through the selector is 18%. The active length of the feed track
(where the high-level sensor is located) is 350 mm. The low-level sensor on the feed
track is located 100 mm from the station work head. The components have a length
of 12.5 mm in the feed track direction, and there is no overlapping of parts.
a. How long will it take for the supply of parts to be depleted from the high-level
sensor to the low-level sensor once the feeder-selector device is turned off?
b. How long will it take for the parts to be resupplied from the low-level sensor
to the high-level sensor, on average, after the feeder-selector device is turned
on?
c. What are the time proportions that the feeder-selector device is turned on and
turned off?
[10 marks]

c) Think about a car wash.

a. Identify the steps in a fully automated process.
b. List required sensors and actuators.
c. Illustrate how sensors and actuators are connected using a rough sketch.
[10 marks]
[Total marks for Question 3 is 25 marks]

Question 4
a) What are the Type I and Type II errors that can occur in inspection?
[5 marks]

b) Ten samples of size n = 8 have been collected from a process in statistical control, and
the dimension of interest has been measured for each part. The calculated values of 𝑥̅
and R for each sample are given below in Table 1. (Measured values are in mm).

Table 1. Calculated values of 𝑥̅ and R

a. Determine the values of the center line, LCL, and UCL for the 𝑥̅ and R
charts.
b. Construct the control charts and plot the sample data on the charts.
[15 marks]

c) A batch of 1000 raw work units is processed through 10 operations, each of which has
a fraction defect rate of 0.05.
a. How many defect-free units are in the final batch?
b. How many defects are in the final batch?
[5 marks]
[Total marks for Question 4 is 25 marks]

END OF EXAMINATION PAPER