WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
                       DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

                                                                                ET 472 - Automated Control Systems
                                                                                  

Instructor: Dr. Aaron Ball    Office:  332 Belk    Email:  ballaaron@wcu.edu   Office Hours: (See bottom of this page for scheduled office hours).

Course Description:  A study of automation and methods of control including programmable automation, data acquisition and control, process control, and virtual instruments.

Pre-requisite:  ECET 301; MATH 140.

I.   Purpose of the Course:  The goal of this course is to establish a foundation knowledge base related to automation methods and control systems including programmable methods used in automation, data acquisition and control, and process control.

II. Learning Objectives and Outcomes: After completion of this course, students should be able to demonstrate competency in the areas of programmable control systems and data acquisition as evidenced  by the following outcomes:

• Identify, interface and complete circuits using various sensors, actuators, and controllers.
• Develop, execute, test and analyze PLC programs
• Develop, execute, test, and analyze LabView Virtual Instruments (VIs)
• Monitor, control, and analyze real-time data using LabView
• Demonstrate knowledge of automation systems through an applied and integrated control project.

III.  Course Materials

Required Text:  LabView for Everyone,3rd Edition by Jeffrey Travis and Jim Kring ISBN 0-13-185672-3.  Prentice Hall Publishing Co:  Boston, 2007.

Reference Texts:  Siemens S7 Simatic Manuals, PLC ONLINE Reference and Programming Tutorials; LabView manuals and online resources.
Note: Other reference materials will be available in the lab.

Required Materials:  Engineer's Pad (required for lab development).  CDs, Floppys, or flash drives. Note:  You should have two (one for backup).

Laboratory Sessions: Laboratory sessions will tentatively be conducted on a weekly basis, and may include the following activities:

     Demonstrations of components and equipment;
     Programming PLCs, and interfacing;
     Testing of circuit performance;
     Collecting and analyzing system data;
     Developing virtual control panels and programs using LabView
     Developing circuits and integrated systems;
     Presentation and demonstration of laboratory assignments.

IV.  Faculty Expectation of Students and Course Policies

   Statement on Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Western Carolina University is committed to providing equal educational opportunities for students with documented disabilities.  Students who require disability services or reasonable accommodations must identify themselves as having a disability and provide current diagnostic documentation to Disability Services.  All information is confidential.  Please contact Disability Services for more information at (828) 227-2716, lalexis@wcu.edu or 144 Killian Annex.

Academic Honesty Policy

Western Carolina University, as a community of scholarship, is also a community of honor. Faculty, staff, administrators, and students work together to achieve the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense at Western Carolina University because it threatens the quality of scholarship and defrauds those who depend on knowledge and integrity. Academic dishonesty includes:

a. Cheating—Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise.

b. Fabrication—Intentional falsification of information or citation in an academic exercise.

c. Plagiarism—Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of someone else as one’s own in an academic exercise.

d. Facilitation of Academic Dishonesty—Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help someone else to commit an act of academic dishonesty, such as knowingly allowing another to copy information during an examination or other academic exercise. 

 Instructors have the right to determine the appropriate sanction or sanctions for academic dishonesty within their courses up to and including a final grade of “F” in the course. Within 5 calendar days of the event the instructor will inform his/her department head, and the Associate Dean of the Graduate School when the student is a graduate student, in writing of the academic dishonesty charge and sanction.

The department head or graduate program director will meet with the student to inform him/her orally and in writing of the charge and the sanction imposed by the instructor within 10 calendar days of written notice from the instructor. Prior to this meeting, the department head will contact the Office of Student Judicial Affairs to establish if the student has any record of a prior academic dishonesty offense. If there is a record of a prior academic dishonesty offense, the matter must be referred directly to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs.In instances where a program does not have a department head or graduate program director, the Dean or Associate Dean of the college will assume the duties of department head for cases of academic dishonesty. 

 If the case is a first offense, the student can choose to accept the charge and sanction from the instructor by signing a Mutual Agreement with the department head or graduate program director or can choose to have a hearing with the Academic Integrity Board. Within 10 calendar days of the meeting with the student, the department head or graduate program director will 1) report the student’s choice of action in writing to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs, 2) file a copy of the Mutual Agreement (when applicable) with the Office of Judicial Affairs, and 3) inform the student of the sanction or sanctions to be imposed under the Mutual Agreement or inform the student of the procedure for requesting a hearing with the Academic Integrity Board if the Mutual Agreement is not accepted. Mutual Agreements are final agreements not subject to further review or appeal.

 In instances of second offenses, or when the student chooses a hearing, the Office of Student Judicial Affairs will meet with the student to provide an orientation to the hearing process and to schedule a date no less than 10 and no more than 15 calendar days from the meeting for the hearing. The student can waive minimum notice of a hearing; however, extensions are at the sole discretion of the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. Should the student choose not to attend his/her orientation meeting, a hearing date will be assigned to the student.

The hearing procedures will follow the same format as stated in the Code of Student Conduct (Article V.A.5). The hearing body (Academic Integrity Board) will consist of 2 students from the Student Judicial Affairs Student Hearing Board and 3 faculty members. The faculty fellow for academic integrity will be one of the faculty members and will serve as the chair. The other two faculty members will be chosen by the Director of Student Judicial Affairs from a pool of eight faculty hearing officers. Each academic year, each college dean will appoint two faculty members from the college to comprise the pool of eight faculty hearing officers. Hearings will be held in a student’s absence when a student fails to attend the hearing for any reason. The hearing body may impose any sanctions as outlined in Article V.B. in the Code of Student Conduct. Students given a sanction of probation for academic dishonesty will remain on probation at Western Carolina University until graduation.

Following a decision from the Academic Integrity Board, the Office of Judicial Affairs will inform the student of the sanction or sanctions to be imposed upon them and of their right to file an appeal with the University Academic Problems Committee. The appeal is limited to those rules and procedures expressly mentioned in the Code of Student Conduct (Article V.D.2) and is limited to the existing record. If the student does not file an appeal with the University Academic Problems Committee within 5 calendar days, the sanction or sanctions from the Academic Integrity Board will be imposed. The decision of the Academic Problems Committee may be appealed to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Any decision of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs may be appealed to the Chancellor. 

Upon final resolution of a case involving suspension or expulsion, the Director of Student Judicial Affairs will inform the appropriate dean, department head, and the administrator in the One Stop Office who is responsible for University Withdrawals of the sanction. An act of academic dishonesty, including a first offense, may place the student in jeopardy of suspension from the university. A repeated violation or more serious first offense may result in expulsion. Disciplinary records for any act of academic dishonesty are retained by the Office of Student Judicial Affairs for at least five years from the date of final adjudication. These records are available to prospective employers and other educational institutions in accordance with federal regulations.

V.  SAFETY, ATTENDANCE, AND TIMELY SUBMISSION OF WORK

SAFETY:  Students are expected to maintain an attitude of safety at all times.  Special care should be taken to turn off power to equipment and trainers before wiring circuits or opening cabinet doors.  Proper steps must be taken to "power down" before connecting/disconnecting components.  Do not attempt to connect or disconnect components without laboratory instructor approval.

Attendance: Attendance of each class period is very important.  Much of the material that will be presented is not covered completely in the text. Students are expected to attend each class session. No make-up tests or laboratory sessions will be provided except in extreme emergencies or extenuating circumstances.  Any student missing more than three class periods may be penalized as follows:

     1.  A grade of "W" may be assigned if the infraction occurs prior to the legal time to withdraw from the course;
     2.  A grade of "F" may be assigned if the infraction occurs after the legal time to withdraw from the course; or
     3.  The final grade may be reduced by one letter grade as seen fit by the instructor.

Expectations of Timely Submission of Work:
Students are expected to submit work on time! Any work not submitted on time will be subjected to the following penalty:

          1. Late work will receive an automatic 50% grade reduction.
          2. Late is defined as any work submitted after the class period begins.
          3. Any work more than one week late will not be accepted.
          4. The late work policy will be strictly enforced!
          5. If you absolutely cannot attend class, notify the instructor prior to the absence! This is the only way you will be allowed to make up any work!

Students are expected to do their own work! The honor code will be strictly adhered to.  Any student violating the honor code will be subjected to penalties set forth by the university academic honesty regulations. Any student in violation of the honor code will be subjected to the following penalty: 

         1.  A grade of "0" will be assigned to the current work upon the first infraction.
         2.  A grade of "F" for the course will be assigned upon the second infraction.

VI. Grading Procedures and Evaluation: Each student will be evaluated based on four major areas of performance. These areas and percentage of the total grade are shown below:
         2 Tests (@ 20% each)                                        40%
         Notebook and
         Individual Performance Reports/Merit                 10% 
         Labs                                                                   50%
  
Note:  A notebook of all lecture notes, lab activities, and student performance activities is required to be kept by each student. 
           Notebooks will be collected at the end of the term, evaluated, and returned.

Grading Scale:

     93-100  A
     89-92  A-
     86-88  B+
     83-85  B
     79-82  B-
     76-78  C+
     73-75  C
     69-72  C-
     66-68  D+
     63-65  D
     60-62  D-
     0-59  F
 

 VII.  Required  Laboratory Format

There are two versions of lab report formats including a long detailed version, and a short abbreviated version.  Approximately 50% of
your lab reports will be done with each version.  Examples of both the short and long versions are shown in the following section.

Short Version ( Note: An Excel Spread sheet template will be provided via email).

Long Version

VIII.  Tentative Course Topics and Sequence

How to write a laboratory Report
LAB GUIDE WITH EXAMPLES

Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers
LAB 1: Control of an Alarm System Using a Siemens 226 PLC

Data format: Bits, Bytes, Registers and Memory Types
LAB 2:  Parts Tracking Using a Shift Register

Data Blocks, Math Functions, and Binary Control
LAB 3:  Stepper Motor Control

Operator Interface Applications
LAB 4:   Stepper Motor Control and Operator Interface Applications

Applications of PLC Control
LAB 5:  Automated Measuring Station

MID TERM STUDY GUIDE CHECK LIST

Introduction to Allen-Bradley PLCs and Automation Studio
LAB 6:  Automated Clamp and Work Station

Controlling Discrete Robots Using and Simulated AB-PLC in Automation Studio
LAB 7:  Pick and Place Robot Control

Introduction to Graphical Programming and LabView
LAB 8:  Temperature Control and Monitoring, Shift Registers, Writing to Spreadsheets

Math Script Applications for Process Control
LAB 9:  Fluid Processing System:  LabVIEW and Math Script

Controlling Discrete Robots Using LabView
Lab 10:  Menziken Robot Control and Monitoring Using LabView

System Integration:  Implementing PLC Control and LabView Monitoring
Project: Conveyor Control and Monitoring Using a PLC and LabVIEW

Final Exam:  Conveyor Control and Monitoring LabVIEW