Hydraulic and Pneumatic is a fundamental course in the Electrical Automation Technology Professional Group of Changzhou College of Information Technology (CCIT), a provincial-level professional group. However, in the vocational education of this course, there are generally problems such as abstract principles, difficulty in understanding, and students being unable to fully digest them after completing experiments. In 2023, CCIT, Yalong and Famic jointly completed one school level Double-Higher textbook "Hydraulic and Pneumatic Technology" and an all-English textbook "PLC and Pneumatic Control Technology" (CCIT is a Double Higher Education Institution in China). Hydraulic and Pneumatic Technology is a new form of teaching material that includes work knowledge and tasks. Each knowledge point is equipped with three-dimensional resources such as industry application or ideological and political cases, physical photos, structural diagrams, circuit applications and associated QR codes. Based on Automation Studio™ software, Famic technical team completed the drawing of almost all circuits in two textbooks, totaling a number of 110 (the same circuit in both textbooks is not calculated repeatedly). The first textbook has been used for one round, with a printing volume of 440 copies, and has received high recognition from teachers and students. Based on the simulation circuits, equipped with the course leader Tu Qin's voice explanation, it provides great convenience for students to self-study and review. In 2024, it will be published by Beijing Institute of Technology Press. In the officially published textbooks, all circuits use color images based on Automation Studio™, further improving readability.
"We have been using Automation Studio™ at Politecnico di Torino since March 2020 to teach the students in Mechatronic Engineering courses (Fluid Automation). In particular Automation Studio™ has been used for specific tasks and essay projects assigned to the students. Indeed, Automation Studio™ provides a very good simulation environment (e.g., electropneumatic systems) very close to the actual systems. Moreover, the OPC Communication Mode enabled us to interface a realistic 3D animated content with the systems’ digital twin in Automation Studio™ for a synchronized simulation. Thanks to the OPC the digital twin in Automation Studio™ was driven by a ladder logic written in TIA Portal v16, in a well-established communication. Always Famic Technologies gave their valuable support through on line meetings to make the 3D animation and OPC communication more accurate and precise. Also, the OPC communication made it possible to create a link between Codesys and Automation Studio™: it works very well and thus, enables us to test and debug a Codesys ladder. A very interesting and helpful webinar was given by Famic Technologies to explain in detail how their OPC communication feature can be used to establish communication between both platforms. Thanks to the very effective collaboration with Famic Technologies, the projects performed in Automation Studio™ by the students at Politecnico di Torino (Italy) have been successful and it helped them further to improve their understanding of pneumatic systems, ladder logics, digital modeling, system design, communication interface. Many thanks to their team for their uninterrupted availability for assistance."
"I am a mechanical engineer and an individual user of the Automation Studio™ software. I was using the Automation Studio™ Educational (training) version for the last four years. I use the software to train myself in electro hydraulics and also use it to train my technicians when I work on offshore drilling rigs where most of the drilling equipment is hydraulic. The software has a very user-friendly interface and sometimes I use it for troubleshooting as well, when I have problems in the hydraulic equipment, by drawing and simulating an existing design. I strongly recommend Automation Studio™ to anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in hydraulics or to maintenance personnel dealing with hydraulics equipment on a daily basis."
"I am a certified trainer on hydropneumatic automation at Bosch Rexroth in Russia. I am actively use Automation Studio™ while preparing and conducting counseling seminars, as well as while developing corporate trainings and educational material.
Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSE) has been using Automation Studio™ in its professional education courses for many years. It is a great tool for helping industry professionals visualize power transfer and control in hydraulic systems. Recently, students at the Fluid Power Institute have been using Automation Studio™ in their senior design and MSE capstone projects to validate results from dynamometer testing. The correlation between Automation Studio™ simulations and dynamometer testing can be quite good (see video reference below.) The ability to combine electrohydraulic components and PLC is a great feature of Automation Studio™. We are looking to expand the use of this program for our undergraduate students. See video reference: Michael, P. Dai, C. and Rodriguez, K., “Fluid Property Effects on Power Consumption in a Hydraulic System at Low Temperatures”, Proceedings of the ASME/BATH 2020 Symposium on Fluid Power and Motion Control. Paper FPMC2020-2747, September 9-11, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom, (2020) https://msoe.box.com/s/km3lux9dwr8lnew6ruutzzdcx35x96o8 Opposite: A fully integrated simulation of the safety device was created using Automation Studios™. It includes an electrical power supply, ladder logic and a complete hydraulic circuit. System power requirements were studied via simulation and laboratory testing. Several oils were evaluated at extreme low temperatures. Good correlation was observed. These results provided insights for system design and the formulation of low-temperature hydraulic fluids.
"I use Automation Studio for teaching and learning in advanced trade and Industrial Measurement and Control. Its main benefit is ease of use. Students do not take a long time to create useful simulations. By using pre-prepared templates with, for example, just connections missing, then the learning happens during the connection path creation. This is similar to real equipment in our class room practicals where the students don't need to manufacture the items they are provided with for their use and just need to be connected toguether to achieve an outcome. So ease of use of the various libraries and templates is very important."
"Automation Studio™ has opened my eyes to possibilities that I did not think were possible when I first investigated this software package. I know I have only scratched the surface in its use, but I am now getting MSc students to investigate its potential when applied to the learning and simulation of PLCs. I presently use Automation Studio™ to teach and simulate pneumatic systems, whilst also encouraging level 3 students to use the package to simulate their final year projects in Mechatronics and Robotics. As I have said, I know I am only scratching the surface of what this software is capable of, but there are not enough hours in a day to embrace all that it has to offer, hence the reason for getting MSc students involved in developing teaching modules through the use of this software. In my opinion, the software is awesome and I would recommend it to any educational establishment, especially associated with Mechatronics and Robotics."
"I am quite new to Automation StudioTM but from the little I know about the program, I can say it has already been very useful. I have used it both in the basic hydraulic classes and the powershift transmission class. So far, the only features of the program that I have used are the schematic building and simulation and I have found that the students respond well to the simulation of the circuits. I have also made several videos using the simulation record feature. ln the future, I want to learn how to use the program to make some animations to help illustrate hydraulic principles. I also intend to use the program more in the electrical classes."
"I am a lecturer in Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU) based in Malaysia Kuala Lumpur. We have been using the Automation StudioTM software in for PLC and Pneumatics Module for undergrade students for about 10 years. I found the software very suited for the modules as students are simulate their design for their assignment before prototyping it for their demonstration. The students can test many solutions before implementing. As for lecturing is a good visualizing tool on how pneumatics systems work with simulation. The education version comes with a variety of libraries which helps us simulate complex modules without investing a lot on the hardware. The library also includes electro-pneumatics system which is can integrate with PLC control and ladder programming can be used to control the electro-pneumatic system. Currently our students are using the software on our online platform and they can complete the task from home."
"This allows to fully explore the potential from the experimental engineering level equipment - Rexroth DS4 series and WS290, which are supported by the Automation StudioTM simulation software. Thanks to the advantages provided by this software and hardware integration, students can initiate component selection and system design within a realism that fully meet the actual needs of the project during the process of simulation."
"Over the years, the Department of Marine Engineering in the Kaohsiung Marine University has integrated Automation StudioTM in different courses. With Automation StudioTM’s integration of the fluid power, mechatronics and other technologies, plus the excellent dynamic simulation and animation effects, Automation StudioTM not only promotes the students’ interests in learning and at the same time improves their final results."
"I am a professor at the Mechanical Department of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Southeastern of Minas Gerais and undergraduate studies coordinator at the Juiz de Fora campus. I am currently responsible for courses in Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Industrial Automation and Robotics at high school level, for students of integrated and subsequent technical courses, and for undergraduate level students of Mechatronics Engineering. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Electrical Engineering on a subject related to computer simulation of systems in Engineering. I give my lectures at the Automation and Robotics Laboratory, which currently has various equipment and computer systems aimed at optimizing the teaching-learning process for the target audience. In particular, I highlight the wide use of computer simulation tools in all application fields of the laboratory. These features allow a significant improvement in the quality of the classes as they enable the student to build knowledge in a faster, more playful and even pleasurable way. As far as Hydraulics and Pneumatics are concerned, we have been using Automation Studio version 6.3 in the lab since the first semester of 2019 in high school and undergraduate level subjects. In the adopted methodology, the students must elaborate in the software all the proposed activities before proceeding to bench assembly. In this context, it is possible to observe Automation Studio's competence in providing the necessary resources for the development of pneumatic and electropneumatic, hydraulic and electrohydraulic schematics as well as the integration with programming languages for PLCs and even proportional systems. Finally, I also would like to highlight the quality of the technical support provided by the staff of Famictech since the beginning of the Automation Studio 6.3 deployment process. We have at our disposal qualified professionals and we observe their concern in providing a good technical support service to software users."
"I’ve been using Automation StudioTM for a very long time. I have seen its versions evolve from 3.01 to 6.4. Before using it, classes consisted of drawing valves on the board and in notebooks, and imagining the movement of those valves and actuators. Now, I can simulate the circuits in a more realistic way: the student can input the load, flow, pressure and RPM, and obtain very reliable results. This allows the student to become passionate about the subject. The easy way to assemble different circuits and the amount of standardized symbology available in the library makes it possible to design very basic and even more complex circuits. I use it in Hydraulics, Pneumatics, PLC, Electrical, Electro-Pneumatics and Electro-Hydraulics. We are now working on programming with Grafcet, a tool used worldwide, and we connect Automation StudioTM directly to actual laboratory equipment. Compared with other software that I know, Automation StudioTM definitely has a lot more advantages. I recommend it to any university that wants to keep students actively creating and participating in the classroom and at home. It is a powerful tool to validate the teacher's concepts and their explanation."
"With simple CAD software, circuit design is very abstract and you can’t show students upfront what the class and lab expectations or outcome should be. The ability to animate circuits in Automation StudioTM is one of the major reasons why we decided to integrate this software to our curriculum. (...) The efficiency in creating circuits has exponentially increased. With Automation StudioTM, we can now draw circuits in a matter of minutes. The fact that you can animate prepares students for labs. They can test the circuit and make sure it works properly."
"Having explored the Automation StudioTM Online Videos and the recommendation from BTEC awarding body, I believe that Automation StudioTM has all the ingredients needed to equip our students with the right knowledge and skills towards their future career. With Automation StudioTM, our students can now create Pneumatic and Hydraulic circuit diagrams to BS ISO industry standard. It will also provide the students the means of simulating the circuits so that they can analyse the circuits further."
"We have used Automation StudioTM for some years with fluid power and machine automation courses. Automation StudioTM makes teaching and learning more fun and effective because it offers easy ways to do exercises during lessons. Automation StudioTM is easy to use and the possibility to simulate schemes and functionalities increase student understanding on how systems and components are working. In the initial courses, the system technologies are the main focus. During laboratory exercises, students design and test the schemes by using simulation before practical connections on the workbenches. Automation StudioTM also offers more advanced features for proportional and servo hydraulic systems as well as for mobile hydraulics. It´s available for students at home so remote studying is possible. Overall, it is useful as it is a multipurpose software covering numerous technologies and scopes."
"I use Automation StudioTM in my courses of Pneumatics and Hydraulics since 2008. I was searching for a software to create illustrations and animations of systems for my lessons, but also to be used by my students for a more effective learning of technologies. An engineer of the Italian Bosch-Rexroth hydraulics division suggested to me Automation StudioTM and so I tried it and I immediately liked it. With Automation StudioTM, I can create content-rich and flexible learning material to illustrate basic theoretical principles during the lessons with the help of simulations and animations. I also installed it on student computers so we can combine different ways to support students in learning, from the physical implementation of circuits to computer simulation. The libraries that students use during my courses are Pneumatic, Electrical-control, Hydraulic, Proportional hydraulic and Sequential function chart (SFC) / GRAFCET. The ease of use of Automation Studio makes the training of students very fast and this is very important considering the limited time available in the curricular courses. The students are fascinated by the possibility of seeing their circuits working and therefore of being able to easily identify any error. This greatly helps the effectiveness of teaching and consequently my task."