Automated Systems

Automated Systems
• Automated systems use sensors, a microprocessor and actuators
• Sensors detect changes in the environment and convert them into electrical
signals that can be processed by a microprocessor
• Microprocessors analyse the signals from the sensors and make decisions
based on pre-programmed logic
• Actuators receive signals from the microprocessor and perform actions such
as opening a valve or turning on a motor
• By combining sensors, microprocessors, and actuators, automated
systems can be created that respond to changes in the environment
without human intervention
Here are some scenarios where automated systems
are used

Scenario Advantages Disadvantages

 Reduced labour costs  High initial investment

Industry  Improved efficiency and accuracy  Limited flexibility to changes in production processes
 Increased production rate  Maintenance costs can be high

 Improved safety and reliability  High initial investment

Transport  Reduced labour costs  May not be suitable for all types of transportation
 Improved fuel efficiency  Maintenance costs can be high

 Increased efficiency in planting and harvesting crops  High initial investment

Agriculture  Improved crop yield and quality  May not be suitable for all types of crops or terrain
 Reduced labour costs  Maintenance costs can be high

 May be affected by external factors like interference or

 Improved accuracy in weather prediction
equipment failure
Weather  Ability to issue warnings in a timely manner
 May not be 100% accurate all the time
 Ability to collect large amounts of data quickly
 May require continuous monitoring and calibration
  May not be suitable for all types of games
or game development
 Improved speed and efficiency in game development
 May require significant programming
Gaming  Ability to create complex and interactive games
expertise
 Reduced labour costs
 May be affected by technical glitches or
bugs

 High initial investment

 Improved energy efficiency
 May not be suitable for all types of lighting
Lighting  Ability to program lighting to suit different needs
needs
 Reduced labour costs
 Maintenance costs can be high

 Improved speed and accuracy in data collection and  High initial investment
analysis  May not be suitable for all types of
Science
 Ability to carry out complex experiments experiments
 Reduced labour costs  May require significant technical expertise
Robotics

Robotics is an area of computer science that deals with the creation,

design, and operation of robots.
• Design and Construction:
• Robotics involves the design and construction of robots for various
applications
• Robots are designed using a combination of mechanical, electrical, and
computer engineering
• Robotic design can be customised to meet specific needs, such as factory
automation or household tasks
• Operation:
• Once a robot is built, it needs to be programmed to carry out specific tasks
• Programming involves creating a set of instructions that tell the robot what
actions to perform in a specific sequence
• The robot's sensors are used to detect and respond to changes in its
environment
• Robots can also be operated remotely using a controller
Examples:

• Factory equipment: Robots perform tasks such as welding, painting, and

assembling products
• Domestic robots: These are robots designed to perform household chores
such as vacuuming or mowing the lawn
• Drones: Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that can be used for tasks such
as aerial photography, delivery, and surveillance
Characteristics

• A robot is a machine that can be programmed to carry out a range of

tasks autonomously or semi-autonomously
• Robots have a mechanical structure or framework, which gives them
a physical body that can move and interact with the environment
• Electrical components, such as sensors, microprocessors and
actuators, allow robots to receive information from their surroundings
and respond to it
• Robots are programmable, which means they can be designed to
follow a set of instructions or algorithms, allowing them to complete a
variety of tasks and respond to changing situations
Roles

• Robots can perform various tasks in different areas, such as:

• Industry
• Robots can be used in manufacturing and assembly lines to increase productivity and accuracy
• Transport
• Robots can be used in warehouses and logistics to move and transport goods
• Agriculture
• Robots can be used for tasks such as planting, harvesting, and spraying crops
• Medicine
• Robots can be used in surgical procedures to increase precision and reduce risk of errors
• Domestic
• Robots can be used for tasks such as vacuuming, lawn mowing, and cleaning
• Entertainment
• Robots can be used as toys or in amusement parks to provide entertainment
Advantages Disadvantages

Increased productivity: robots can work High initial investment: purchasing and setting up robots
continuously without breaks or fatigue can be expensive

Consistency and accuracy: robots can perform tasks Maintenance costs: robots require regular maintenance and
with a high level of precision and accuracy repairs, which can add to the overall cost.

Safety: robots can perform tasks that are Lack of flexibility: robots are programmed for specific tasks
dangerous or hazardous for humans and cannot adapt easily to new situations or tasks.

Cost-effective: robots can help reduce labour costs Unemployment: increased use of robots can lead to job loss
in the long run in certain industries.
AI

• Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer science that involves

creating computer systems that can perform tasks that would normally
require human intelligence
• The goal of AI is to simulate intelligent behaviour in machines,
including:
• problem-solving, decision-making, natural language processing
• AI is often used in areas such as:
• Robotics
• Natural language processing
• Expert systems
• Machine learning
• Machine learning is a subset of AI that focuses on giving computers the ability to
learn and improve from data, without being explicitly programmed
• There are different types of AI, including weak AI, strong AI, and superintelligence
• Weak AI, also known as narrow AI, is designed to perform a specific task or set of tasks
• Strong AI, also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), is designed to perform any
intellectual task that a human can do
• Superintelligence is a hypothetical AI that would surpass human intelligence in all areas
• AI has advantages such as increased efficiency, accuracy, and scalability
• However, AI also has disadvantages such as the potential for job loss, biassed
decision-making, and ethical concerns around its use
Characteristics

• Collection of data and rules

• AI systems require large amounts of data to perform tasks
• The data is processed using rules or algorithms that enable the system to make
decisions and predictions
• Ability to reason
• AI systems can use logical reasoning to evaluate information and make
decisions based on that information
• Ability to learn and adapt
• This will mean it can change its own rules and data
• AI systems can be designed to learn from past experiences and adjust
their behaviour accordingly
Components

• There are two main types of AI systems:

• Expert Systems:
• Have a knowledge base
• A database of facts to generate rules that are used to solve problems and make decisions
• Have a rule base
• A set of rules or logic that is used to apply the knowledge in the knowledge base to specific
problems
• Have an inference engine
• A program that applies the rules in the rule base to the facts in the knowledge base to solve
problems
• Have an interface
• A way for users to interact with the system and provide input
Machine Learning:
• The program has the ability to automatically adapt its own processes
and/or data
• Uses algorithms to analyse data and identify patterns or relationships
• The system can learn from the data and improve its performance
over time
• Can be supervised or unsupervised:
• Supervised machine learning uses labelled data to train the system
• Unsupervised machine learning uses unlabelled data
Program Development Life Cycle –
Analysis
Abstraction
• This is the act of removing unimportant details of the problem to
focus on important elements. An example of abstraction would be the
London underground train route map; travellers do not need to know
the geographical layout of the routes, only that getting on at stop A
will eventually transport you to stop B
Requirements

• Identification of the problem: Before tackling a problem, it needs to

be clearly understood by everyone working on it. The overall goal of
the solution needs to be agreed as well as any constraints such as
limited resources or requiring a platform specific solution
• Requirements: To create a solution, a requirements document is
created to define the problem and break it down into clear,
manageable, understandable parts by using abstraction and
decomposition. A requirements document labels each requirement,
gives it a description as well as success criteria which state how we
know when the requirement has been achieved
Program Development Life Cycle –
Design
Decomposition
• This is the act of breaking down a large problem into smaller, clear,
manageable and understandable sub-parts. Sub-parts can be divided until
they are easily solvable and cannot be broken down any further. An example
of decomposition could be getting ready in the morning to go to school
• Step 1: Wake up
• Step 2: Get breakfast
• Step 3: Brush teeth
• Step 4: Put clothes on
• Step 5: Make sure the bag and school supplies are ready
• Step 6: Find transport to school e.g. walk, bus, car, bike, etc
• These steps could be further subdivided, for example, “Step 2: Get
breakfast” would entail:
• Step 2.1 Get a bowl
• Step 2.2 Get cereal
• Step 2.3 Get milk
• Step 2.4 Get a spoon
• Step 2.5 Put cereal in a bowl
• And so on…
• Once the requirements document has been created, developers need
to design the structure and algorithms to solve the problem:
• Structure charts are created to show the breakdown of tasks in a hierarchy
• Flowcharts may be created to visually show how tasks should be carried out
• Pseudocode is created, sometimes from flowcharts, to allow programmers to
easily translate task instructions into programming code
• The design of a solution identifies what tasks need completing, how
to complete the tasks and how each task works together with other
tasks
• A computer system includes several components that work together:
software, hardware, data, networking and people
• Systems can be broken down into sub-systems that can be further
broken down into more sub-systems, until each sub-system has a
single purpose. This decomposition is known as top-down design
Decomposing a system

• To create an overall system and solve a problem, it must first be broken

down into subsystems that are easier to solve and create. The act of
breaking down the problem is known as stepwise refinement
• Decomposing the problem this way creates smaller, more manageable
and more easily understandable sub-parts
• Each sub-system can be assigned to a developer or group of developers
who create subroutines from these sub-systems. Each sub-system can
then be created at the same time, reducing development and testing
time, especially on large projects
• Decomposing the system using stepwise refinement requires developers
to think about four key areas:
 • Inputs: data entered into the system
• Processes: subroutines and algorithms that turn inputs and stored data into
outputs
• Outputs: data that is produced by the system, such as information on a screen
or printed information
• Storage: data that is stored on a physical device, such as on a hard drive
• To solve a problem all aspects must be thoroughly understood by the
developers
• There are many methods used to design and construct solutions. Three
such methods are illustrated below:
Structure Diagrams

• Structure diagrams show hierarchical top-down design in a visual

form. Each problem is divided into sub-problems and each sub-
problem divided into further sub-problems. At each level the problem
is broken down into more detailed tasks that can be implemented
using a single subroutine
Figure 1: A structure diagram
Flowcharts

• Flowcharts show how algorithms can be represented visually in a

diagrammatic format
• Each flowchart has a start and an end with arrows showing the order each
task or instruction needs to be carried out in
• Flowcharts are made of several symbols:
• Terminator symbols: Also known as Begin/End symbols. These indicate where a
flowchart starts and stops
• Process symbols: These show simple actions being performed such as assigning
values or performing arithmetic operations on values
• Processes can also represent other flowcharts or summarised actions. For example, searching or
sorting a list is a complex process which would require its own flowchart. A process symbol could
be used to represent sorting or searching in a separate flowchart. This is represented by a
process with an additional bar on either side of the symbol
• Input/Output symbols: These show the input of data and output of data
• Decision symbols: These symbols are used to decide whether to take one of
two routes by answering a true/false or yes/no question. They can be used for
selection and iteration
• Flow lines: Flow lines use arrows to show the direction of flow and what task
to perform next. Usually these are top to bottom and left to right
Figure 3: Flowchart symbols: terminator,
input/output, process, decision (left to right)