Due to the growing importance of open- and closed-loop control technology the area of automation technology is taking on an ever greater role in industrial operations. This applies both for standard operations in production as well as for vocational training. Today automation technology almost always involves drive technology, closed-loop control and computer engineering. Due to the rapid developments in microcontroller and computer technology, automation has become one of the most innovative and breathtaking of all the areas of electrical engineering and electronics. Add to that the fact that novel industrial solutions like decentralisation and visualisation require new vocational training systems. Furthermore, the hitherto sheer multitude of manufacturer-dependent software products has been replaced by the international standard IEC1131-3. Contemporary programmable logic controls will now be programmed in accordance with standardised rules. All of these demands mean that there is a need to have the automation technician of today trained on practice-oriented training systems which convey to the student both the latest technology but also endow him or her with the required skills and know-how.
Automation technology