Pneumatic and Hydraulic Components and Instruments in Automatic Control covers the proceedings of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Symposium. The book reviews papers that tackle topics relating to the use of pneumatic and hydraulic equipment in automatic control. This text discusses topics such as dynamic behavior analysis of pneumatic components by numerical techniques and application of bond graphs to the digital simulation of a two-stage relief valve dynamic behavior. Topics including mathematical modeling of cavitation in hydraulic pumps; pro and contra electro-fluid analogies in digital simulation of fluid circuits; and improvement in accuracy of pneumatic delay are covered as well. This book will be of great use to researchers and professionals whose work involves the designing of automatic control systems.

This volume investigates developments and future trends in transportation research and what effects they will have on society. The coverage is broad; including road (urban and motorway), rail and air-traffic control. The sections deal with safety aspects, modelling and simulation, the use of sensors and image processing. The final section covers the development and implementation of new route guidance systems. This up-to-date information will be of use to transport engineers, urban planners, operations research and systems scientists.

Papers presented at the workshop are representative of the state-of-the art of artificial intelligence in real-time control. The issues covered included the use of AI methods in the design, implementation, testing, maintenance and operation of real-time control systems. While the focus was on the fundamental aspects of the methodologies and technologies, there were some applications papers which helped to put emerging theories into perspective. The four main subjects were architectural issues; knowledge - acquisition and learning; techniques; and scheduling, monitoring and management.

The Symposium presented and discussed the latest research on new theories and advanced applications of automatic systems, which are developed for manufacturing technology or are applicable to advanced manufacturing systems. The topics included computer integrated manufacturing, simulation and the increasingly important areas of artificial intelligence and expert systems, and applied them to the broad spectrum of problems that the modern manufacturing engineer is likely to encounter in the design and application of increasingly complex automatic systems.

This symposium brings together the research from different disciplines of process control, and discusses the problems encountered in the application of automation systems. The papers in this volume analyze the results of theoretical research and how far applications have been developed, new design methodologies and technologies, to give a comprehensive overview of the state of the art of this fast-developing science.

This volume studies the advances of software for computers, their development, applications and management. Topics covered include software project management, real time languages and their uses, and computer aided design techniques. The book also discusses how far artificial intelligence is integrated with business and industry to give a complete overview of the role of computer systems today.

The workshop brought together international experts in the field of robust adaptive control to present recent developments in the area. These indicated that the theory of adaptive control is moving closer to applications and is beginning to give realistic guidelines useful in practical situations. The proceedings also focused on the value of such practical features as filtering, normalization, deadzones and unification of robust control and adaptation.

The twenty-seven papers cover recent advances in both empirical and theoretical aspects of man-machine interaction with special emphasis on the subjects of man-automation and man-computer interaction. They provide information on a subject which has grown rapidly in importance during recent years.

Presents and discusses the various reliability aspects of modern instrumentation systems for industrial processes, with special emphasis given to the influence of human behaviour on systems reliability. Subject areas covered include: the mathematical tools available to assess the reliability of instrumentation systems, their applications and limitations; the way in which theory is put into practice during the design of equipment; the quality control aspects of both hardware and software, and the availability of integrated systems in the field as compared with the design criteria. Actual data, test criteria and maintenance strategies are also included.

This volume investigates the relationship between man and the computer, and how far they are integrated in the modern industrial world. The effects and changes computers have brought about are discussed, including a look at job structures, the function of CAD training and the design and implementation of control systems in engineering industries to give a comprehensive overview of the computer revolution and its future in society.