Aspects techniques de l'automation

Sous le nom d'automation, la phase présente de l'évolution technologique semble orienter l'humanité vers des modes graduellement « nouveaux » de vie et de travail. Les incidences socio-économiques de la technologie sont nombreuses et sérieuses. Le problème posé par le rythme même de l'évolution technologique revêt déjà un certain caractère d'urgence chez nos voisins du Sud. L'auteur se propose de préparer le terrain pour la discussion de ces grandes questions par une étude sans prétention de certains aspects techniques de l'automation: définition, types et description des développements récents.New words are often a good way to prepare a hearty fight about issues "Automation", as a word, is eight years old. As a fact, some say it is just another phase of good old technological progress, and manage to trace its origins centuries away. Others maintain that "automation" is the second, or even the third "Industrial Revolution", that some of its characteristics are so dramatic as to leave man gasping for breath. On the one side, automation has been prepared by decades of research experimentation, and will not be in full swing before other decades; so, better let things take care of themselves, or even accelerate the process, since only good things for mankind can come out of technological "progress". On the other side, there is a solid regard for the marvels of technology, and, it seems, a genuine belief in the overall goodness of its long-run effects: more job opportunities, better products at lower prices for more people, and so on; but, as is quickly pointed out, "in the long run we are all dead", and no one has ever dared tell how "short" are the "short-run" effects, social, economic, psychological, and so on, of a given phase of the technological evolution.But before the fight gains in heat and size, it may be useful to have a quick look at what the fight is about, namely, the technical aspects of "automation' as it stands today.AUTOMATION DEFINEDAutomation thus covers the increasing use, in both factories and offices, of various types of labor-saving equipment having virtually continuous, and, in some instances, self-regulating operation.THREE TYPES OF AUTOMATIONAccording to Professors Shultz and Baldwin,1 three fundamental developments are the main ingredients of automation; the quotes in this section will refer to their text, unless otherwise mentioned.Where is all this leading mankind, what will be the impact of automation on our society and our economy, what are its natural brakes and what others "should" be added to control its growth, what will management, the unions, and government do about it, these, with dozens of others, are all valid questions. Good answers can be provided only on the basis of a precise knowledge of the technical aspects of automation as it now stands