Group of students  - automation lab

Automation

Automation plays an important role not only in industry, but also in our everyday lives, from medical technology to building management.

Our electrical engineering faculty is particularly competent in automation. Close cooperation with industry in the Rhein-Main-Area characterise these focal points. The main focusses deal with current issues in control engineering, robotics, factory automation and the Industrial Internet of Things. Identification of dynamic systems, adaptive controls, process visualisation and bus and control technology as well as sensor and actuator technology are analysed and deepened in theory and practice.

Module Overview

Identifier

Modul Name

Credits

Semester

 
 

common modules

     

M01

Technical Management

5 CP

1

 

M02

Team Project

5 CP

2

 

M03

Internship

30 CP

3

 

M04

Master Module

30 CP

4

 
 

mandatory modules

     

MA01

Safety in Industrial Automation

5 CP

1

 

MA02

Adaptive Control, Modeling and Identification

5 CP

1

 

MA03

Computer Vision

5 CP

1

 

MA04

Advanced Programming Techniques

5 CP

1

 

MA05

Industry 4.0/IIoT and the Digital Factory

5 CP

2

 

MA06

Industrial Robotics

5 CP

2

 

MA07

State Space Control Design

5 CP

2

 
 

elective modules

     

MAwp01

Model-based Real-time Simulation of Mechatronic Systems

5 CP

1 or 2

 

MAwp02

High Level Language Frameworks

5 CP

1 or 2

 

MAwp03

Human Machine Interfaces (HMI)

2,5 CP

1 or 2

 

MAwp04

Autonomous Mobile Robots

5 CP

1 or 2

 

MAwp05

Advanced Graphical Programming of Control Systems

2,5 CP

1 or 2

 

MAwp06

Advanced Sensors for Internet of Things

2,5 CP

1 or 2

 
         

Module Description

Identifier

Modul Name

 

M01

Technical Management

Content of course “Project Management”

This course provides an introduction to professional project management.

It covers the areas

- introduction into industry process models, e.g. CMMi and SPICE,

- project structure, phases, roles and workflow,

- relevant methods for requirements engineering, concept development, realization and testing

- planning and estimation methods,

- risk management,

- project tracking metrics,

- team building and team management,

- change and configuration management,

- quality assurance and reviews,

- agile methods like SCRUM.

 

Content of course “Engineering Responsibility”

This course provides an introduction into legal aspects of engineering and discusses the aspect of engineering responsibility. It covers the areas

- legal and ethical aspects of engineering responsibility

- relevance of penal law, civil law and liability

- patent rights

- employment law

- special liability for safety and security systems

- relevant differences in German, European and international laws

 

M02

Team Project

Content of course “Team Project”

In this course, the students execute a practical project using the methods presented in the module “Technical Management”. It covers the areas:

- practical development of a technical system (project work)

- project management and work package agreement,

- requirements engineering, system design,

- implementation and testing,

- team building and team communication,

- and documentation and presentation of the results.

 

M03

Internship

Content of German Class:

- German Class 1: A1 level or higher

- German Class 2: higher than German Class 1 level, at least A2 level

 

Content of Preliminary Seminar:

- Preparative items (such as regulations and application matters) are presented.

 

Content of Internship:

The student has to solve an engineering task in the area of electrical engineering and information technology under the guidance of an industrial supervisor and an academic supervisor. This internship work can involve one of the following areas:

- Research and development work

- Project planning and design

- Manufacturing, preparation of work

- Assembly

- Test bed, quality control

 

 

M04

Master Module

Module Content

- Practically and/or theoretically oriented scientific work in the area of the chosen major

- Written thesis

- Colloquium

 

Identifier

Modul Name

Credits

MA01

Safety in Industrial Automation

Content of course “Safety in Industrial Automation - Lecture”:

Participants will be exposed to and gain working experience to design, implement, verify and validate safe systems in industrial automation. The course will cover

- Introduction to safety systems in industrial automation

- Basic terminology and standards concerning safety in industrial automation

- Design of safe control systems

- Measures to achieve safe processes and safe products incl. overview of safety devices

- Development of safety related software using safety PLCs: configuration & programming of safety PLCs

- Verification & validation of safety measures in accordance to a standard, e.g. EN ISO 13849

 

Content of course “Safety in Industrial Automation - Lab”:

Practical design and programming of safety programs using safety PLCs and practical verification of safety in accordance to a standard are part of this course:

- Hardware configuration of safety PLCs

- Design, implementation, testing and debugging of a safety program using a safety PLC

- Calculating the safety level required, e.g. performance level required in accordance to EN ISO 13849

- Verification of safety systems e.g. by calculating the performance level achieved in accordance to EN ISO 13849

 

5 CP

MA02

Adaptive Control, Modeling and Identification

Module Content

The course covers the areas:

- Introduction to and classification of Adaptive Control Systems

- Adaptation of Optimal Controllers and Controller Design by Pole Placement

- Dynamic Behavior of Adaptive Control Loops and Configuration Issues

- Modeling of Linear and Non-linear Time-invariant and -variant Dynamic Systems

- Algorithms and Filters for Online Process Identification

- Neural Networks as Memory Blocks for Controller and Process Model in Learning Control Loops

- Computer based applications using Matlab/Simulink

5 CP

MA03

Computer Vision

Module Content

- Image Sensors

- Image formation and digital images

- 3D Sensors and point clouds

- Image enhancement

- Object recognition techniques

- Pattern classification

- Camera calibration

- Stereo vision techniques and algorithms

- Case studies of selected imaging solutions for Automation, Robotics and Industrial Image Processing

5 CP

MA04

Advanced Programming Techniques

Content of course “Advanced Programming Techniques”

Review of fundamental concepts of a widely used object oriented programming language. The course will cover

- introduction to the UML

- OOA and OOD techniques

- class design and class relations in C++,

- C++ operator overloading,

- advanced data structures, design patterns and algorithms

- systematic test techniques

Design aspects like modularity and software re-use will be discussed. Developing software designs using the UML and CASE tools as well as extensive hands-on programming assignments in C/C++ are an integral part of the course.

5 CP

MA05

Industry 4.0/IIoT and the Digital Factory

Content of course “Industry 4.0/IIoT and the Digital Factory”:

Participants will be exposed to and gain working experience to design, implement, verify and validate safe systems in industrial automation. The course will cover

- Goals and Key technologies for modern production

- Basics of Industrie 4.0, IoT and Digital transformation, Structures of modern production

- Product identification systems

- Data acquisition and exchange, e.g. OPC UA

- Product lifecycle management and product data management (PLM / PDM)

- Simulation systems (HIL/SIL, virtual commissioning, material flow and energy consumption simulation)

- Remote control

- Security and safety in industrial automation

- Manufacturing execution systems (MES)

- Enterprise resource planning systems (ERP)

- Assistance systems, e.g. using mixed reality

- Cloud computing including e.g. IoT hubs, cloud services

 

5 CP

MA06

Industrial Robotics

Module Content

The course covers the areas:

- Overview on Applications, Systems and Technologies of Industrial Robotic Systems

- Kinematic and Kinetic Models for Industrial Robots

- Path Planning and Control Algorithms for Industrial Robots

- Integration of Sensors and Multimodal Serving

- Force Control and Human-Robot Collaboration

- Technological Aspects (e.g., Accuracy, Safety issues, Energy consumption)

5 CP

MA07

State Space Control Design

Content of Course „State-Space Control Design – Lecture“:

• Modelling of dynamic systems using state variables

• State space representation of dynamic systems

• Correlation between transfer functions and state space representation

• Structural properties (stability, controllability, observability)

• Canonical Forms

• State space transformations

• Solution of the time-invariant state-space equations

• Design of state feedback controllers

• Design of state observers

• State feedback by optimal control

• Computer based applications using Matlab/Simulink

 

Content of Course „State-Space Control Design – Lab“:

• Exercises on modelling and designing state-space control systems

• Practical programming assignments for state-space applications in Matlab/Simulink

5 CP

Identifier

Modul Name

Credits

 

MAwp01

Model-based Real-time Simulation of Mechatronic Systems

Module Content

Model-based Real-time Simulation of Mechatronic Systems – lecture

This course provides the concepts of model-based real-time simulation and system design.

The course covers the areas:

- Modelling and classification of mechatronic systems

- Application areas, requirements

- Real-time simulation and rapid prototyping methods

- Hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop and processor-in-the-loop

- Experimental validation and testing methods

- Summary, Conclusion and future prospects

 

Model-based Real-time Simulation of Mechatronic Systems – lab

This lab provides projects to design model-based real-time simulation and system design.

The lab covers the areas:

- Introduction MATLAB/SIMULINK

- Software and function development process

- Real-time simulation and rapid prototyping applications

- Automatic code generation

- Experimental validation and testing methods

5 CP

 

MAwp02

High Level Language Frameworks

Module Content

Participants will be introduced to the development of graphical applications using Android and JAVA.

The course will cover

- JAVA language basics

- Threads and synchronization

- Framework tools, f.ex. from Android

- Graphical user interfaces

Practical programming assignments in JAVA and Android will be part of the course.

5 CP

 

MAwp03

Human Machine Interfaces (HMI)

Module Content

• Human senses

• Human perception

• Interaction channels between humans and machines

• General design aspects

• Modeling of user interaction (UML-based architecture design)

• Usability / user experience

• Machine interfaces (widgets, IO, WIMP and post-WIMP interfaces)

• Testing (software, user and field tests)

2,5 CP

 

MAwp04

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Module Content

Introduction to

- Application examples

- Locomotion

- Kinematics of mobile robots

- Perception for mobile robots

- Characteristics of mobile robots in structured and unstructured environments

- Mobile robot localization methods, algorithms

- Planning and navigation, incl. maps, methods for autonomous map generation and obstacle avoidance

- Navigation architectures of autonomous mobile robots

- Showcase demonstration and validation of methods using laboratory systems

5 CP

 

MAwp05

Advanced Graphical Programming of Control Systems

Module Content

• Modeling of user interaction

• LabVIEW Queued Message Handler

• One-to-many communication.

• Managing Software Engineering in Graphical Languages

• Advanced Architectures for Graphical Languages in LabVIEW

• Object-Oriented Design and Graphical Programming

• Performance of Graphical Languages

2,5 CP

 

MAwp06

Advanced Sensors for Internet of Things

Module Content

• The principles of sensor systems

• Sensor limits and restrictions

• Sensor validation

• Sensor types and placement

• Data analysis and filtering

• Sensor algorithms

• Condition monitoring

• Localization and navigation systems

• Deep Learning and Machine Learning

• Blockchain and smart contracting

2,5 CP

 

MCwp03

Network Security

Module Content

Lecture:

• Concept and functionalities of network security

• Specific QoS and security requirements of the mission-critical real-time applications and broadband multimedia network technologies

• Advanced network security technologies (Encryption, Digital Signature, Authentication, Firewall, VPN, Security Gateways etc.)

• Network management systems TMN and SNMP

 

Demo Lab during the lecture:

Demonstration Lab helps to better understand the above-mentioned security aspects and functionalities.

2,5 CP

 

MCwp06

(I)Iot and Cloud Networking

Module Content

Participants will be exposed to gain experience in Internet of Things (IoT) networking, in particular

Smart Home and Cloud-Networks, Smart-Grid-Communication and Cloud based industrial networks.

The course will cover:

Lecture:

- Development trends of the IoT and technological roadmap

- Reference model for IoT networks and Industrial Internet

- General terminology, structure and components of IoT and Cloud networks

- Technological challenges of IoT

- Assessment of network technologies and (new) protocols for Fog and Cloud networks

- Security assessment of IoT networks

- Design cases of Smart Grid/Smart Home and Industrial Internet

IoT-Demo-Lab:

Networks for Smart Home and Smart Industry

 

2,5 CP

 

MMwp02

Safety in Embedded Control Systems

Content of course “Safety in Embedded Control Systems”

Participants will be exposed to and gain working experience with safety standards and safety architectures for embedded control systems. The course will cover

- introduction to safety standards like IEC61508 and ISO26262,

- analysis of safety cases,

- fundamental concepts for functional safety,

- development of fail safe and fail operational architectures

- concepts for avoiding systematic software errors (coding standards like MISRA, reviews, test strategies),

- concepts for dealing with sporadic errors,

- design patterns for freedom from interference,

- analysis of the features of modern safety controllers.

 

2,5 CP

 

MMwp04

Advanced Software Design Techniques

Content of course “Advanced Software Design Techniques”

Review of fundamental concepts of a widely used object oriented programming language. The course will cover

- advanced data and class structures

- differences and interoperability of C and C++

- polymorphism,

- generic programming,

- introduction to the STL, string and stream library of C++,

- coding standards (MISRA),

- software metrics,

- design patterns,

- refactoring techniques,

- extensions of the C++ standard.

Design aspects like modularity, performance and software re-use will be discussed. Developing software designs using the UML and CASE tools as well as extensive hands-on programming assignments in C/C++ are an integral part of the course.

5 CP

 

MPwp03

Stationary & Mobile Energy Storage Systems

Content of course „ Stationary & Mobile Energy Storage Systems”:

Participants will be exposed to and gain theoretical experience with energy storage systems (stationary and mobile solutions). The course will cover:

- Importance of storage systems for modern energy systems and mobility

- General characteristic parameters and technical requirements of energy storage systems.

- Stationary energy storage systems:

- Design and dimensioning of compressed air energy storage systems and application examples in network protection (third level frequency control).

- Design and dimensioning of pump storage energy systems and their application limits.

- Potential of hydrogen energy storage systems: technical feasibility and burden.

- Power-to-Gas solutions and application experience.

- Innovative energy storage solutions (like thermo-electrical energy storage systems, inverse air compressed storage systems in deep water, pump storage in offshore environment) and critical comparison. Technical potential will be critical discussed against series production challenge.

- Methods to choose the most suited energy storage concept as a function of the technical requirement versus costs.

- Mobile energy storage systems:

- Battery cell technologies. Design and dimensioning of battery energy storage systems and battery management systems.

- Design of fuel cells and hydrogen storage

- Double layer capacitors and design and dimensioning of super caps energy storage systems.

- Flywheel storage

5 CP

 

In its meeting on 31.01.2023, our departmental council decided to include the Legal English module in the module catalogue from the summer semester 2023 onwards.
We inform here in advance about the module description for the module  "Legal English".