Industrial Automation: Hands On 1st Edition

Good starting reference book

Great book on automation!

Good general read, but not too useful for a seasoned professional.

Do not believe the 5 star reviews. Nothing hands-on about this book.... Chapter titles and the book title are very misleading.Very basic, very broad and cursory overview. I doubt any technical person would get much out of this book. Maybe it's good for operations folks or sales people with no technical education or training??It is so basic, concepts like AC Motors or Servo Drives get something like 20 sentences each in their description. Or "this is what a fuse is". It is such a broad overview I can't see how this would help any technical person.One, you know has to be fake, 5-star reviewer said "I've been doing industrial control software for 15 years and learned something" .....NO WAY. Absolute bull. No way anyone doing this for even 1 year is going to learn something; there is no way you could get a job doing automation if you did not know the very basic stuff in this book. If you don't know what an AC motor or fuse are there is no way you could do Automation for a living.There are some inaccuracies, bad use of some terminology and some stuff that is just plain out of context.Your best bet for a solid introduction is Bartlett's book "Industrial Control Electronics".**EDIT** The author, I think, posted a comment regarding my review, please read it, then read my reply back to him.

Thank you.

Industrial Automation: Hands On is a comprehensive overview of the wide and varied field of industrial automation. It is not a detailed tutorial; instead, it provides a solid basis so that you will have a good idea of where to start looking for detailed knowledge.The explanations are concise, understandable, and well written. I especially liked the author's tips (and wish there were more).For someone who is new to automation, this book provides a good orientation and aid to getting up to speed. Because of its breadth, it's also valuable to those with experience; I've been writing control software for automated equipment for over 15 years, and I still learned a lot, especially about areas I don't normally deal with such as process automation.It will make an excellent textbook; I can say without reservation that's it's better written than the various textbooks I had to survive back in my college days.I do have mixed feelings about the price; maybe I'm getting too old since I think the now-typical price of ~$50 for soft cover programming books is way too high. If I consider the book as a hardcover textbook, the price is reasonable given what textbooks cost. But even though it's worth it if you're an automation professional, I have a hard time paying this list price out of my own pocket for this book (or any book) -- so try to get a copy for your company library...My rating is Very Good, which translates to about 4.5 stars (so 4 stars would be for Good and 5 stars for Excellent), but since I can't enter that and I'm in a good mood today, I'm rounding up.Note: for those who don't read carefully, let me emphasize again, THIS IS AN OVERVIEW! If you are not interested in an overview, then don't buy it. I do find it useful, especially on the mechanical and process sides since I don't normally have much to do with those areas. If you don't know something exists, you won't know how to search for it: that is value of overviews -- and books still make the best overviews.

Very complete guide, but I would not call it hands on.More like a reference book that discusses and presents all aspect of the field.

Frank Lamb has undoubtedly hit a home run with his book, "Industrial Automation Hands On." From the beginning chapter until the end, he clearly describes the field of automation. His descriptions of the main components that make up automated machinery are right on the money. I have been a mechanical engineer for 37 years and have read many books about automated machinery, but this book sets itself apart from the others. For one thing, Mr. Lamb describes each component of a machine in language that a beginning engineer would understand. Though the material is very technical in nature, he breaks it down so one can comprehend the mechanisms and electronics that go into making up an automated system. With that in mind, I believe this book could be a textbook for a class with the same title for any engineering program at any university. I would highly recommend this book to any engineer, whether mechanical or electrical, and regardless of their years of experience. I can assure you that you will learn something that you didn't know. I also believe this book is very suited for the entry level engineer who is considering a career in the field of industrial automation. This is a great book and a good read.