The nature and characteristics of automation

The nature and characteristics of automation are introduced as follows:

Automation (automation), refers to the machine or device in the case of no one to intervene in accordance with the prescribed procedures or instructions to automatically carry out the operation or control of the process. Automation applications can be divided into: office automation, mechanical automation, information automation, industrial automation, sewage automation and so on, the application is very wide.

Automation technology more widely with the modernization of technology, especially with computer technology and cybernetics, from the automation of physical activities to the development of automation of information activities. Adoption of automation technology can not only liberate people from heavy physical labor, part of the mental labor and harsh, dangerous working environment, but also expand the function of human organs, greatly improve labor productivity, enhance human ability to understand the world and transform the world.

Concept

Automation is a dynamic development process. In the past, people's understanding of automation or the functional goal of automation is to replace human operation with mechanical action to automatically complete specific operations. This is essentially the view that automation replaces human manual labor. Later, with the development of electronic and information technology, especially with the emergence and wide application of computers, the concept of automation has been expanded to use machines (including computers) not only to replace human physical labor but also to replace or assist in mental labor, in order to automatically complete specific operations.

The above concept of automation is also still imperfect. It is a narrower understanding to see the functional goal of automation as the replacement of human physical or mental labor by machines. This understanding has even hindered the development of automation technology to some extent; for example, some people have argued that there is no great need for automation in China because of its large population.

Automation has far broken through the traditional concepts mentioned above, and has a broader and deeper connotation.