Sligo lecturer publishes textbook

on computer-controlled manufacturing

 

 

As manufacturing turns more and more to automation and computer-controlled processes, an Institute of Technology Sligo lecturer has just filled the gap for an engineering textbook explaining how computers can be programmed to control machines.

 

Engineering lecturer Kevin Collins has published the book called PLC Programming for Industrial Automation, which students and engineers working in industry can use as a self-learning tool on automation control. Automation control is part of the ever-growing area of mechatronics, which is computer- and robot-controlled manufacturing, and the book was launched as part of the National Skills Competition in mechatronics, hosted by IT Sligo last week.

 

 “If a machine in a factory, for example, has to fill a bottle with liquid, screw a lid on to it, stick a label on and then put it into a box, that sequence of operations is controlled by a special type of computer called a PLC. This book is about writing programmes for these computers,” Kevin Collins explained.

 

The book will be used as a standard text for mechatronics engineering students and with the increasing importance of automation in industry it is hoped that it will be widely used in education and in industry.

 

To allow the reader to practise the programming skills taught, the book uses a PLC simulator from the Canadian company Trilogi, which the student can download free of charge from the internet.

 

The book is published by Diggory Press and is available from The Book Nest at Rockwood Parade and IT Sligo and worldwide on the Amazon website. Kevin Collins has already translated the book into French and hopes to have this version published in June.

 

Ends

 

Photo caption

 

 

Ends all

 

For further information please contact:

Kevin Collins, tel: 071-9155378, email: collins.kevin@itsligo.ie

 

Press released issued