Secondary abstract: |
The diploma thesis is intended for teachers of Technology Education, Computer Science, Robotics and for teachers of Electronics as an optional school subject. In the thesis is presented the detailed description of the industrial controllers – programmable logic controllers (often abbreviated as PCLs). The fact that approximately 10 industrial controllers are made in proportion to one personal computer (PC) make them the most common and widespread sorts of computers. Industrial controllers are programmable circuits with digital or analogue inputs and high-power digital outputs. They operate independently after being programmed in a chosen programme environment on PC.
Industrial controllers are mainly used in the variety of industrial sectors, in different automations of production processes, regulations of physical quantities such as temperature, moisture, pressure, water level, etc. Moreover, industrial controllers are also widespread in entertainment industry, music industry, automobile industry and so on.
In short, they can be found almost everywhere without being noticed by people. Even a little more complex toy has a sort of miniature controller built-in that directs movement of the toy's parts, its sound reproductions and its responses to external impulses.
The first part of the thesis consists of the in-depth description of industrial controllers, their structures and how many different controllers we know. At the end of the first part the division after their purpose of use and efficiency is made.
Controllers excel at their robustness and resistance to almost all outside factors such as moisture, impacts, overvoltages, etc. Furthermore, controllers also excel at their practicability and applicability because they can operate either in combination with PCs or either autonomously as an independent unit.
The purpose of the second part of the thesis is to present the functionality of the controller in practice and to show some examples of its usage that could be useful for subjects in elementary and upper-secondary schools.
Industrial controllers can be found everywhere, therefore, in my opinion, it is very important to present them in technikally-oriented school subjects. |