Research Insight: Developments in Automation

Abstract

Automated systems are usually required to interact with humans in some way. For example, an automatic bank teller machine must receive instructions from customers and act accordingly. In some automated systems, a variety of different instructions from humans is possible, and the decision-making capability of the system must be quite sophisticated in order to deal with the array of possibilities. This article covers the fundamentals of automation, including its historical as well as modern development. Also, a brief description is presented on the development of robotics as a part of modern automation technology.