Automatic Control in Study Plans at the Faculty of Technology in Zlin

VASEK, Vladimir

Department of the Process Control, Faculty of Technology in Zlin, Nam.T.G.Masaryka 275, 762 72 Zlin, vasek@zlin.vutbr.cz

Abstract: In this contribution there is discussed the study plan “Process Control” for students of the Faculty of Technology in Zlin. There are described the connections with other technology study plans at this Faculty. The students have a possibility to get education in three degrees - bachelor, engineer and PHD degree. All this degrees are oriented to the problems in the automatic control of processes from the area of the plastic, rubber and tannery industry.

Keywords: education, automatic process control

1 From the department history

The first efforts to institute the department of technology processes automatic control at the Faculty of Technology arose in the end of seventies years. In that time this scientific branch was represented in the engineer studies only by means of two courses - “Measuring, Control and Automation” and “Process Control”, since the 1979 also of the course “Automated Control Systems”. These courses was instructed by the small group of Rubber and Plastics Technology Department workers, which in following years took place as the fundamental part of the new department. In these years was evident, that the basic conditions for the new study branch was fulfilled. The conditions as the personal, material and equipment on the one side of problem and the students interest and their industry applicability on the other side. The first group of students for this study plan was coming in the school year 1986-87. At the same time with the new study branch rise was established by the rector of Technical University in Brno at the Faculty of Technology in Zlin the new department the Department of Automated Control Systems. At once began preparatory works for the teaching in the area of the detail courses content, study texts and laboratories equipment. In the spring 1987 the new department received for its use the repaired house as the last necessary condition for its successfully existence and for quality work in the area of education and research. The laboratories were equipped by the modern devices including the computer technique of course adequate to the possibilities of the market these years.

The personal structure of the department developed in the course the thirteen years of its existence. In the time of the department rise there were about nine persons. This structure was necessary for the opening of the lessons for students in one class. In the parallel with the increasing of the study classes was necessary to include to the department new qualificated persons. Next quantity development of the department teachers volume was made by the establishment of bachelor study branch “Automation and Informatics” in the year 1995. Now, in this conditions is the personal structure of the department on the very high quality as follows: 2 professors, 5 associate professors, 9 assistants, 2 technical workers, 17 PHD students and 1 administrative worker. In the pedagogical work are interested together the pedagogical workers and PHD students. Next important persons for the pedagogical process we can see in external workers from Academy of Science in Prague, from other Technical Universities in Czech Republic, from the industry, research centres and firm from Zlin area. These workers help to increase level of our students education.

Three years later the department of process control became one of the profile departments at the Faculty of Technology, i.e. department which gives to the students the special concentrated education in selected scientific branch. Necessity existence of this branch is daily demonstrate when we can see accelerated development of the technological processes automation in the wide spectrum of the industrial environment. Actuality of this branch existence is shown also by the number of graduated students. Till school year 1998-99 graduated at this department about 170 engineers and 40 bachelors. The year number of students in all classes both types of branches engineer and bachelor is on the average 150. Thirteen years after the establishment of the department of process control we can include it between the most important and largest departments at the Faculty of Technology.

The department of process control co-operate all the time with the similar departments at other technical universities in Czech Republic especially with the departments at the Faculties of Machinery Engineering and Faculties of Chemical Technology. Every year are running meetings of the delegates from this departments and there are discussed pedagogical and research problems. These meetings enable healthful development education in the area of automatic control in Czech Republic. Very significant co-operation we can see all the time with the Department of Process Control at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Technical University in Ostrava and in last year started co-operation with the departments of the Technical University in Brno at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering especially in the area of research.

In the introduction was mentioned about basic facilities, which department got in the time of opening its activity. Unfortunately what had own quality thirteen years ago and especially in the technical area, today is this quality lost. That is why for example we had to innovate department computer facility four times. In the other areas is situation similar, but not so stormy. Naturally the innovation possibilities above all depend on the department financial sources. We can see following sources:

• Faculty budget - from this source we carried out most of computer technique innovation, i.e. upgrades and new computers acquisition. Today the department disposes of about 70 computers high quality connected into the local network.
• Grants’ sources - this means we can see as complementary source which enables except grant solving also to support the department budget. From this source we bought many equipment and parts of computers especially for building of transfer units for technological process and computer connection. In the range of grants solving we bought special technology models as laboratory tannery washing machine, laboratory bioreactor, bubble reactor, hydrolysate filtration device, laboratory evaporator, helicopter model, ball on the plate and so on.
• As a very important non financial source we can see in own power production of devices. Many devices for both pedagogical and research using was made this way.

2 Education process

On the Faculty of technology it is possible to study principally in the three forms - bachelor, engineer and PHD. On the department of Process Control there are accredit all forms of studies. In the bachelor one it is the branch “Automation and Informatics” [2]. Study of this branch takes three years. To the first semester there are included general disciplines as Mathematics, Physics, Mechanics, Chemistry and so on. Starting from the second semester is the topic of study concentrated to the problematic of process control. In the last year have students possibility their profilation or to the area of automation of the technological processes or to the area of informatics and computer science. The last semester is determined for the bachelor diploma thesis work out. The main signification of this study form is in the practical aspects of the technological processes control and computer application in various areas of the human activity. For the successful graduates of this study form there is prepared possibility to continue in engineer study plan. The necessary condition for this is the graduation of special class to get more theoretic knowledge.

Engineer study plan “Process Control” [1] takes five years. First two one are common for all other study branches at the Faculty of Technology and their contents are all necessary theoretic disciplines. Remaining three years are intent on the special problematic of the study branch. The structure of courses in special part of study is determined by the requirement to cover all wide problematic of the control in the area of technological processes according plastics, rubber and tannery processing. We can see five main groups of courses which are the most important.

Group of theoretical courses contains strictly theoretic science as Mathematics, Process Control Theory, System Identification, Process Modelling and so on.

Group of hardware courses performed electronics requirements of the branch. There are included courses as Microelectronic, Technical tools for Automation, Hardware of Computers, Digital Systems Diagnostic and so on.

In the software courses group there are included the courses for the programming technology in various computer environment according to the real time systems. These requirements fulfil courses as Object programming, Microcomputers, Operations Systems, System Simulation, Automatic Control Program Support and so on.

Technological group of courses performed the object of the control. In these courses the students get the basic information about technological processes from area plastics, rubber and tannery processing industry, about machines for this processes. These disciplines are very important for Process Control branch students, because mostly the communication between technology and process control workers is usually very troublesome.

The fifth main group of courses can be named as applications group. Here we can find courses which integrate knowledge from previous courses groups. Here the students learn to connect gaining knowledge and to use them for concrete problem solving. The most important part of this group is also the diploma project solving - concrete theoretical or practical problem from the area of the process control. The themes for the diploma works are mostly built according to the projects solved by the department workers in the range of various grants agency. Follows the study plans [4] of special years from third to fifth (level 2).

Year 3

Note
The student has to choose at least 1 course from each of A, B, C, D blocks.

Year 4

Note
The student has to choose 1 course from both A and B blocks.

Year 5

Note
The student has to choose 1 course from both A and B blocks.

SUMMARY OF COURSES TYPES

The branch of the PHD study is named “Technical Cybernetics” [3] and it is common for two faculties of Technical University of Brno - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Technology in Zlin. This study plan gives to the students more information in the area of Automatic Control of technological processes and it is above all intent on theoretical problems of this scientific branch. It covers up wide problematic linear and non linear, continuous and discontinuous, analogue and discrete, deterministic and stochastic, optimal, adaptive, self tuning systems. In the last years it is possible to cover to this problematic also the methods artificial intelligence as fuzzy control, neural networks, genetic algorithms and so on. Applicable area of these research activities is except plastic, rubber and tannery technologies in the next important general technologies as energetic, ecology, chemistry and so on. For this branch is characteristic its interdisciplinary substance and inspiration to generalize special experience for the general using control systems in the wide human activities. Very important component of this branch is computer technology and informatics. Most of modern control systems is built on the basis of same type of computer or group of computers. Also activities in this area are included in described PHD study. It is possible to study this type of education both internal or external way.

3 Research

Scientific and research activity of the department members is oriented to the wide spectrum problems connected with automatic control. The main form of these activities is grants’ solving. During nineties years there were obtained grants from many grant agency, for example in the international area Copernicus, NATO, in the national area GACR, FRVS and also internal FVUVUT. Next possibility in the range especially development activities there is in the industry co-operation to solve concrete automation problems. Research activities it is possible to present in following areas:

• modern methods of automatic control applied for technological continuous and discontinuous processes (adaptive control, robust control, artificial intelligence methods, non-linear system control )
• decentralised computer monitoring and control systems solving ( microcomputers, PLC , PC, industrial PC)
• non electrical quantities measuring and its transfer to the computer executing
• technological processes mathematical modelling and simulation
• centralized heating control solving
• information databases solving

Results of the described grants’ solving are published in the international and national journals and presented at the national and international conferences, workshops and symposiums. In the range of grants solving some members of department reach out several significant successes. Among that we can include appreciation two patents which were the results of the solving concrete technical problem. These results was appreciate in the range of world patent exhibition Brussels Eureka 98 in Brussels. One of them got also appreciation of Belgium Environment and Agriculture Minister. Problematic of tanning wastes processing was appreciate by prestige Rolex Awards for Enterprise.

4 Conclusion

Department of Process Control at the Faculty of Technology in Zlin Technical University in Brno passed through the last thirteen years by the positive development. It proved its own vitality and becomes professional workplace, which is able on the one side to present results of research activity high quality and on the other side to product graduates with the wide possibilities of application in practical conditions of real industrial environment.

References