Build automation is the process of automating the creation of a software build and the associated processes including: compiling computer source code into binary code, packaging binary code, and running automated tests.

Historically, build automation was accomplished through makefiles. Today, there are two general categories of tools:[1]

Depending on the level of automation the following classification is possible:

A software list for each can be found in list of build automation software.

Build automation utilities allow the automation of simple, repeatable tasks. When using the tool, it will calculate how to reach the goal by executing tasks in the correct, specific order and running each task. The two ways build tools differ are task orient vs. product-oriented. Task oriented tools describe the dependency of networks in terms of a specific set task and product-oriented tools describe things in terms of the products they generate.[2]

Although build servers existed long before continuous integration servers, they are general synonymous with continuous integration servers, however a build server may also be incorporated into an ARA tool or ALM tool.

Server types

Automation is achieved through the use of a compile farm for either Distributed compilation or the execution of the utility step.[3] The distributed build process must have machine intelligence to understand the source code dependencies to execute the distributed build.

Build automation is considered the first step in moving toward implementing a culture of Continuous Delivery and DevOps. Build automation combined with Continuous Integration, deployment, application release automation, and many other processes help move an organization forward in establishing software delivery best practices.[4]

The advantages of build automation to software development projects include

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Build automation - Wikipedia

Automation[1] or automatic control, is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching on telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships, aircraft and other applications and vehicles with minimal or reduced human intervention. Some processes have been completely automated.

The biggest benefit of automation is that it saves labor; however, it is also used to save energy and materials and to improve quality, accuracy and precision.

The term automation, inspired by the earlier word automatic (coming from automaton), was not widely used before 1947, when Ford established an automation department.[1] It was during this time that industry was rapidly adopting feedback controllers, which were introduced in the 1930s.[2]

Automation has been achieved by various means including mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, electronic devices and computers, usually in combination. Complicated systems, such as modern factories, airplanes and ships typically use all these combined techniques.

Fundamentally, there are two types of control loop; open loop control, and closed loop (feedback) control.

In open loop control, the control action from the controller is independent of the "process output" (or "controlled process variable"). A good example of this is a central heating boiler controlled only by a timer, so that heat is applied for a constant time, regardless of the temperature of the building. (The control action is the switching on/off of the boiler. The process output is the building temperature).

In closed loop control, the control action from the controller is dependent on the process output. In the case of the boiler analogy this would include a thermostat to monitor the building temperature, and thereby feed back a signal to ensure the controller maintains the building at the temperature set on the thermostat. A closed loop controller therefore has a feedback loop which ensures the controller exerts a control action to give a process output the same as the "Reference input" or "set point". For this reason, closed loop controllers are also called feedback controllers.[3]

The definition of a closed loop control system according to the British Standard Institution is 'a control system possessing monitoring feedback, the deviation signal formed as a result of this feedback being used to control the action of a final control element in such a way as to tend to reduce the deviation to zero.' " [4]

Likewise; "A Feedback Control System is a system which tends to maintain a prescribed relationship of one system variable to another by comparing functions of these variables and using the difference as a means of control.'"[5]

The advanced type of automation that revolutionized manufacturing, aircraft, communications and other industries, is feedback control, which is usually continuous and involves taking measurements using a sensor and making calculated adjustments to keep the measured variable within a set range.[6] The theoretical basis of closed loop automation is control theory.

The control action is the form of the controller output action.

One of the simplest types of control is on-off control. An example is the thermostat used on household appliances which either opens or closes an electrical contact. (Thermostats were originally developed as true feedback-control mechanisms rather than the on-off common household appliance thermostat.)

Sequence control, in which a programmed sequence of discrete operations is performed, often based on system logic that involves system states. An elevator control system is an example of sequence control.

A proportionalintegralderivative controller (PID controller) is a control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial control systems.

A PID controller continuously calculates an error value e ( t ) {displaystyle e(t)} as the difference between a desired setpoint and a measured process variable and applies a correction based on proportional, integral, and derivative terms, respectively (sometimes denoted P, I, and D) which give their name to the controller type.

The theoretical understanding and application dates from the 1920s, and they are implemented in nearly all analogue control systems; originally in mechanical controllers, and then using discrete electronics and latterly in industrial process computers.

Sequential control may be either to a fixed sequence or to a logical one that will perform different actions depending on various system states. An example of an adjustable but otherwise fixed sequence is a timer on a lawn sprinkler.

States refer to the various conditions that can occur in a use or sequence scenario of the system. An example is an elevator, which uses logic based on the system state to perform certain actions in response to its state and operator input. For example, if the operator presses the floor n button, the system will respond depending on whether the elevator is stopped or moving, going up or down, or if the door is open or closed, and other conditions.[7]

An early development of sequential control was relay logic, by which electrical relays engage electrical contacts which either start or interrupt power to a device. Relays were first used in telegraph networks before being developed for controlling other devices, such as when starting and stopping industrial-sized electric motors or opening and closing solenoid valves. Using relays for control purposes allowed event-driven control, where actions could be triggered out of sequence, in response to external events. These were more flexible in their response than the rigid single-sequence cam timers. More complicated examples involved maintaining safe sequences for devices such as swing bridge controls, where a lock bolt needed to be disengaged before the bridge could be moved, and the lock bolt could not be released until the safety gates had already been closed.

The total number of relays, cam timers and drum sequencers can number into the hundreds or even thousands in some factories. Early programming techniques and languages were needed to make such systems manageable, one of the first being ladder logic, where diagrams of the interconnected relays resembled the rungs of a ladder. Special computers called programmable logic controllers were later designed to replace these collections of hardware with a single, more easily re-programmed unit.

In a typical hard wired motor start and stop circuit (called a control circuit) a motor is started by pushing a "Start" or "Run" button that activates a pair of electrical relays. The "lock-in" relay locks in contacts that keep the control circuit energized when the push button is released. (The start button is a normally open contact and the stop button is normally closed contact.) Another relay energizes a switch that powers the device that throws the motor starter switch (three sets of contacts for three phase industrial power) in the main power circuit. Large motors use high voltage and experience high in-rush current, making speed important in making and breaking contact. This can be dangerous for personnel and property with manual switches. The "lock in" contacts in the start circuit and the main power contacts for the motor are held engaged by their respective electromagnets until a "stop" or "off" button is pressed, which de-energizes the lock in relay.[8]

Commonly interlocks are added to a control circuit. Suppose that the motor in the example is powering machinery that has a critical need for lubrication. In this case an interlock could be added to insure that the oil pump is running before the motor starts. Timers, limit switches and electric eyes are other common elements in control circuits.

Solenoid valves are widely used on compressed air or hydraulic fluid for powering actuators on mechanical components. While motors are used to supply continuous rotary motion, actuators are typically a better choice for intermittently creating a limited range of movement for a mechanical component, such as moving various mechanical arms, opening or closing valves, raising heavy press rolls, applying pressure to presses.

Computers can perform both sequential control and feedback control, and typically a single computer will do both in an industrial application. Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are a type of special purpose microprocessor that replaced many hardware components such as timers and drum sequencers used in relay logic type systems. General purpose process control computers have increasingly replaced stand alone controllers, with a single computer able to perform the operations of hundreds of controllers. Process control computers can process data from a network of PLCs, instruments and controllers in order to implement typical (such as PID) control of many individual variables or, in some cases, to implement complex control algorithms using multiple inputs and mathematical manipulations. They can also analyze data and create real time graphical displays for operators and run reports for operators, engineers and management.

Control of an automated teller machine (ATM) is an example of an interactive process in which a computer will perform a logic derived response to a user selection based on information retrieved from a networked database. The ATM process has similarities with other online transaction processes. The different logical responses are called scenarios. Such processes are typically designed with the aid of use cases and flowcharts, which guide the writing of the software code.

The earliest feedback control mechanism was the thermostat invented in 1620 by the Dutch scientist Cornelius Drebbel. (Note: Early thermostats were temperature regulators or controlers rather than the on-off mechanisms common in household appliances.) Another control mechanism was used to tent the sails of windmills. It was patented by Edmund Lee in 1745.[9] Also in 1745, Jacques de Vaucanson invented the first automated loom.

In 1771 Richard Arkwright invented the first fully automated spinning mill driven by water power, known at the time as the water frame.[10]

The centrifugal governor, which was invented by Christian Huygens in the seventeenth century, was used to adjust the gap between millstones.[11][12][13] Another centrifugal governor was used by a Mr. Bunce of England in 1784 as part of a model steam crane.[14][15] The centrifugal governor was also used in the automatic flour mill developed by Oliver Evans in 1785, making it the first completely automated industrial process.[citation needed] The governor was adopted by James Watt for use on a steam engine in 1788 after Watts partner Boulton saw one at a flour mill Boulton & Watt were building.[9]

The governor could not actually hold a set speed; the engine would assume a new constant speed in response to load changes. The governor was able to handle smaller variations such as those caused by fluctuating heat load to the boiler. Also, there was a tendency for oscillation whenever there was a speed change. As a consequence, engines equipped with this governor were not suitable for operations requiring constant speed, such as cotton spinning.[9]

Several improvements to the governor, plus improvements to valve cut-off timing on the steam engine, made the engine suitable for most industrial uses before the end of the 19th century. Advances in the steam engine stayed well ahead of science, both thermodynamics and control theory.[9]

The governor received relatively little scientific attention until James Clerk Maxwell published a paper that established the beginning of a theoretical basis for understanding control theory. Development of the electronic amplifier during the 1920s, which was important for long distance telephony, required a higher signal to noise ratio, which was solved by negative feedback noise cancellation. This and other telephony applications contributed to control theory. Military applications during the Second World War that contributed to and benefited from control theory were fire-control systems and aircraft controls. The word "automation" itself was coined in the 1940s by General Electric.[16] The so-called classical theoretical treatment of control theory dates to the 1940s and 1950s.[6]

Relay logic was introduced with factory electrification, which underwent rapid adaption from 1900 though the 1920s. Central electric power stations were also undergoing rapid growth and operation of new high pressure boilers, steam turbines and electrical substations created a large demand for instruments and controls.

Central control rooms became common in the 1920s, but as late as the early 1930s, most process control was on-off. Operators typically monitored charts drawn by recorders that plotted data from instruments. To make corrections, operators manually opened or closed valves or turned switches on or off. Control rooms also used color coded lights to send signals to workers in the plant to manually make certain changes.[17]

Controllers, which were able to make calculated changes in response to deviations from a set point rather than on-off control, began being introduced the 1930s. Controllers allowed manufacturing to continue showing productivity gains to offset the declining influence of factory electrification.[18]

Factory productivity was greatly increased by electrification in the 1920s. Manufacturing productivity growth fell from 5.2%/yr 1919-29 to 2.76%/yr 1929-41. Field notes that spending on non-medical instruments increased significantly from 192933 and remained strong thereafter.

In 1959 Texacos Port Arthur refinery became the first chemical plant to use digital control.[19] Conversion of factories to digital control began to spread rapidly in the 1970s as the price of computer hardware fell.

The automatic telephone switchboard was introduced in 1892 along with dial telephones.[20] By 1929, 31.9% of the Bell system was automatic. Automatic telephone switching originally used vacuum tube amplifiers and electro-mechanical switches, which consumed a large amount of electricity. Call volume eventually grew so fast that it was feared the telephone system would consume all electricity production, prompting Bell Labs to begin research on the transistor.[21]

The logic performed by telephone switching relays was the inspiration for the digital computer. The first commercially successful glass bottle blowing machine was an automatic model introduced in 1905.[22] The machine, operated by a two-man crew working 12-hour shifts, could produce 17,280 bottles in 24 hours, compared to 2,880 bottles made by a crew of six men and boys working in a shop for a day. The cost of making bottles by machine was 10 to 12 cents per gross compared to $1.80 per gross by the manual glassblowers and helpers.

Sectional electric drives were developed using control theory. Sectional electric drives are used on different sections of a machine where a precise differential must be maintained between the sections. In steel rolling, the metal elongates as it passes through pairs of rollers, which must run at successively faster speeds. In paper making the paper sheet shrinks as it passes around steam heated drying arranged in groups, which must run at successively slower speeds. The first application of a sectional electric drive was on a paper machine in 1919.[23] One of the most important developments in the steel industry during the 20th century was continuous wide strip rolling, developed by Armco in 1928.[24]

Before automation many chemicals were made in batches. In 1930, with the widespread use of instruments and the emerging use of controllers, the founder of Dow Chemical Co. was advocating continuous production.[25]

Self-acting machine tools that displaced hand dexterity so they could be operated by boys and unskilled laborers were developed by James Nasmyth in the 1840s.[26]Machine tools were automated with Numerical control (NC) using punched paper tape in the 1950s. This soon evolved into computerized numerical control (CNC).

Today extensive automation is practiced in practically every type of manufacturing and assembly process. Some of the larger processes include electrical power generation, oil refining, chemicals, steel mills, plastics, cement plants, fertilizer plants, pulp and paper mills, automobile and truck assembly, aircraft production, glass manufacturing, natural gas separation plants, food and beverage processing, canning and bottling and manufacture of various kinds of parts. Robots are especially useful in hazardous applications like automobile spray painting. Robots are also used to assemble electronic circuit boards. Automotive welding is done with robots and automatic welders are used in applications like pipelines.

The main advantages of automation are:

The following methods are often employed to improve productivity, quality, or robustness.

The main disadvantages of automation are:

In manufacturing, the purpose of automation has shifted to issues broader than productivity, cost, and time.

Lights out manufacturing is when a production system is 100% or near to 100% automated (not hiring any workers). In order to eliminate the need for labor costs altogether.

The costs of automation to the environment are different depending on the technology, product or engine automated. There are automated engines that consume more energy resources from the Earth in comparison with previous engines and those that do the opposite[clarification needed] too.[citation needed] Hazardous operations, such as oil refining, the manufacturing of industrial chemicals, and all forms of metal working, were always early contenders for automation.[dubious discuss][citation needed]

Another major shift in automation is the increased demand for flexibility and convertibility in manufacturing processes. Manufacturers are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch from manufacturing Product A to manufacturing Product B without having to completely rebuild the production lines. Flexibility and distributed processes have led to the introduction of Automated Guided Vehicles with Natural Features Navigation.

Digital electronics helped too. Former analogue-based instrumentation was replaced by digital equivalents which can be more accurate and flexible, and offer greater scope for more sophisticated configuration, parametrization and operation. This was accompanied by the fieldbus revolution which provided a networked (i.e. a single cable) means of communicating between control systems and field level instrumentation, eliminating hard-wiring.

Discrete manufacturing plants adopted these technologies fast. The more conservative process industries with their longer plant life cycles have been slower to adopt and analogue-based measurement and control still dominates. The growing use of Industrial Ethernet on the factory floor is pushing these trends still further, enabling manufacturing plants to be integrated more tightly within the enterprise, via the internet if necessary. Global competition has also increased demand for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems.

Engineers can now have numerical control over automated devices. The result has been a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities. Computer-aided technologies (or CAx) now serve as the basis for mathematical and organizational tools used to create complex systems. Notable examples of CAx include Computer-aided design (CAD software) and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM software). The improved design, analysis, and manufacture of products enabled by CAx has been beneficial for industry.[28]

Information technology, together with industrial machinery and processes, can assist in the design, implementation, and monitoring of control systems. One example of an industrial control system is a programmable logic controller (PLC). PLCs are specialized hardened computers which are frequently used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events.[29]

Human-machine interfaces (HMI) or computer human interfaces (CHI), formerly known as man-machine interfaces, are usually employed to communicate with PLCs and other computers. Service personnel who monitor and control through HMIs can be called by different names. In industrial process and manufacturing environments, they are called operators or something similar. In boiler houses and central utilities departments they are called stationary engineers.[30]

Different types of automation tools exist:

When it comes to Factory Automation, Host Simulation Software (HSS) is a commonly used testing tool that is used to test the equipment software. HSS is used to test equipment performance with respect to Factory Automation standards (timeouts, response time, processing time).[31]

Many roles for humans in industrial processes presently lie beyond the scope of automation. Human-level pattern recognition, language comprehension, and language production ability are well beyond the capabilities of modern mechanical and computer systems (but see Watson (computer)). Tasks requiring subjective assessment or synthesis of complex sensory data, such as scents and sounds, as well as high-level tasks such as strategic planning, currently require human expertise. In many cases, the use of humans is more cost-effective than mechanical approaches even where automation of industrial tasks is possible. Overcoming these obstacles is a theorized path to post-scarcity economics.

The Paradox of Automation says that the more efficient the automated system, the more crucial the human contribution of the operators. Humans are less involved, but their involvement becomes more critical.

If an automated system has an error, it will multiply that error until its fixed or shut down. This is where human operators come in.[32]

A fatal example of this was Air France Flight 447, where a failure of automation put the pilots into a manual situation they were not prepared for.[33]

Food and drink

The food retail industry has started to apply automation to the ordering process; McDonald's has introduced touch screen ordering and payment systems in many of its restaurants, reducing the need for as many cashier employees.[34]The University of Texas at Austin has introduced fully automated cafe retail locations.[35] Some Cafes and restaurants have utilized mobile and tablet "apps" to make the ordering process more efficient by customers ordering and paying on their device.[36][spamlink?][37] Some restaurants have automated food delivery to customers tables using a Conveyor belt system. The use of robots is sometimes employed to replace waiting staff.[38]

Stores

Many Supermarkets and even smaller stores are rapidly introducing Self checkout systems reducing the need for employing checkout workers.

Online shopping could be considered a form of automated retail as the payment and checkout are through an automated Online transaction processing system. Other forms of automation can also be an integral part of online shopping, for example the deployment of automated warehouse robotics such as that applied by Amazon using Kiva Systems.

Involves the removal of human labor from the mining process.[39] The mining industry is currently in the transition towards Automation. Currently it can still require a large amount of human capital, particularly in the third world where labor costs are low so there is less incentive for increasing efficiency through automation.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) started the research and development of automated visual surveillance and monitoring (VSAM) program, between 1997 and 1999, and airborne video surveillance (AVS) programs, from 1998 to 2002. Currently, there is a major effort underway in the vision community to develop a fully automated tracking surveillance system. Automated video surveillance monitors people and vehicles in real time within a busy environment. Existing automated surveillance systems are based on the environment they are primarily designed to observe, i.e., indoor, outdoor or airborne, the amount of sensors that the automated system can handle and the mobility of sensor, i.e., stationary camera vs. mobile camera. The purpose of a surveillance system is to record properties and trajectories of objects in a given area, generate warnings or notify designated authority in case of occurrence of particular events.[40]

As demands for safety and mobility have grown and technological possibilities have multiplied, interest in automation has grown. Seeking to accelerate the development and introduction of fully automated vehicles and highways, the United States Congress authorized more than $650 million over six years for intelligent transport systems (ITS) and demonstration projects in the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). Congress legislated in ISTEA that "the Secretary of Transportation shall develop an automated highway and vehicle prototype from which future fully automated intelligent vehicle-highway systems can be developed. Such development shall include research in human factors to ensure the success of the man-machine relationship. The goal of this program is to have the first fully automated highway roadway or an automated test track in operation by 1997. This system shall accommodate installation of equipment in new and existing motor vehicles." [ISTEA 1991, part B, Section 6054(b)].

Full automation commonly defined as requiring no control or very limited control by the driver; such automation would be accomplished through a combination of sensor, computer, and communications systems in vehicles and along the roadway. Fully automated driving would, in theory, allow closer vehicle spacing and higher speeds, which could enhance traffic capacity in places where additional road building is physically impossible, politically unacceptable, or prohibitively expensive. Automated controls also might enhance road safety by reducing the opportunity for driver error, which causes a large share of motor vehicle crashes. Other potential benefits include improved air quality (as a result of more-efficient traffic flows), increased fuel economy, and spin-off technologies generated during research and development related to automated highway systems.[41]

Automated waste collection trucks prevent the need for as many workers as well as easing the level of labor required to provide the service.[42]

Home automation (also called domotics) designates an emerging practice of increased automation of household appliances and features in residential dwellings, particularly through electronic means that allow for things impracticable, overly expensive or simply not possible in recent past decades.

Automation is essential for many scientific and clinical applications.[43] Therefore, automation has been extensively employed in laboratories. From as early as 1980 fully automated laboratories have already been working.[44] However, automation has not become widespread in laboratories due to its high cost. This may change with the ability of integrating low-cost devices with standard laboratory equipment.[45][46]Autosamplers are common devices used in laboratory automation.

Industrial automation deals primarily with the automation of manufacturing, quality control and material handling processes. General purpose controllers for industrial processes include Programmable logic controllers, stand-alone I/O modules, and computers. Industrial automation is to replace the decision making of humans and manual command-response activities with the use of mechanized equipment and logical programming commands. One trend is increased use of Machine vision to provide automatic inspection and robot guidance functions, another is a continuing increase in the use of robots. Industrial automation is simply done at the industrial level.

Energy efficiency in industrial processes has become a higher priority. Semiconductor companies like Infineon Technologies are offering 8-bit micro-controller applications for example found in motor controls, general purpose pumps, fans, and ebikes to reduce energy consumption and thus increase efficiency.

Industrial robotics is a sub-branch in the industrial automation that aids in various manufacturing processes. Such manufacturing processes include; machining, welding, painting, assembling and material handling to name a few.[48] Industrial robots utilizes various mechanical, electrical as well as software systems to allow for high precision, accuracy and speed that far exceeds any human performance. The birth of industrial robot came shortly after World War II as United States saw the need for a quicker way to produce industrial and consumer goods.[49] Servos, digital logic and solid state electronics allowed engineers to build better and faster systems and overtime these systems were improved and revised to the point where a single robot is capable of running 24 hours a day with little or no maintenance.

Industrial automation incorporates programmable logic controllers in the manufacturing process. Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) use a processing system which allows for variation of controls of inputs and outputs using simple programming. PLCs make use of programmable memory, storing instructions and functions like logic, sequencing, timing, counting, etc. Using a logic based language, a PLC can receive a variety of inputs and return a variety of logical outputs, the input devices being sensors and output devices being motors, valves, etc. PLCs are similar to computers, however, while computers are optimized for calculations, PLCs are optimized for control task and use in industrial environments. They are built so that only basic logic-based programming knowledge is needed and to handle vibrations, high temperatures, humidity and noise. The greatest advantage PLCs offer is their flexibility. With the same basic controllers, a PLC can operate a range of different control systems. PLCs make it unnecessary to rewire a system to change the control system. This flexibility leads to a cost-effective system for complex and varied control systems.[50]

Agent-assisted automation refers to automation used by call center agents to handle customer inquiries. There are two basic types: desktop automation and automated voice solutions. Desktop automation refers to software programming that makes it easier for the call center agent to work across multiple desktop tools. The automation would take the information entered into one tool and populate it across the others so it did not have to be entered more than once, for example. Automated voice solutions allow the agents to remain on the line while disclosures and other important information is provided to customers in the form of pre-recorded audio files. Specialized applications of these automated voice solutions enable the agents to process credit cards without ever seeing or hearing the credit card numbers or CVV codes[51]

The key benefit of agent-assisted automation is compliance and error-proofing. Agents are sometimes not fully trained or they forget or ignore key steps in the process. The use of automation ensures that what is supposed to happen on the call actually does, every time.

Research by the Oxford Martin School showed that employees engaged in "tasks following well-defined procedures that can easily be performed by sophisticated algorithms" are at risk of displacement. The study, published in 2013, shows that automation can affect both skilled and unskilled work and both high and low-paying occupations; however, low-paid physical occupations are most at risk.[52] However, according to a study published in McKinsey Quarterly[53] in 2015 the impact of computerization in most cases is not replacement of employees but automation of portions of the tasks they perform.[54]

Based on a formula by Gilles Saint-Paul, an economist at Toulouse 1 University, the demand for unskilled human capital declines at a slower rate than the demand for skilled human capital increases.[55] In the long run and for society as a whole it has led to cheaper products, lower average work hours, and new industries forming (I.e, robotics industries, computer industries, design industries). These new industries provide many high salary skill based jobs to the economy.

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Automation - Wikipedia

We held back on launching Automation into Early Access until the game had a solid, fleshed-out core which the main tycoon part of the game will be based on. We also wanted to make sure we can offer enough content and polish to warrant presenting and selling the game to a larger audience.

Previously we offered an early access version of the game via our website, but this sales platform and distribution channel has been outgrown by the steadily increasing interest in the game, becoming complicated to manage for a small team like ours.

Finally launching the game on Steam Early Access makes possible to speed up development with any additional income, allowing for quicker content addition (car bodies, engines, etc.) than otherwise possible. It also allows us to get additional manpower to the team to tackle the huge job of game balancing and AI programming.

Last but not least, with the major milestones of completing the car designer and engine designer under our belt, the implementation of multiplayer features means using the Steam API for network communications, saving us a lot of double work associated with developing our own networking code first.

We're not known for being good with estimates, but always deliver and are good at avoiding feature creep. Our development process focuses on milestone builds that introduce new features every ~3-4 months and are both beta-tested and reasonably polished-up. Any major problems with these milestones are addressed quickly in hotfixes before we move on to the next milestone.

Quick Facts About Development:

Since Mid 2015, a portion of our team has been focused on porting Automation over to Unreal Engine 4, and the next major update release will be on Unreal, giving huge improvements in graphical quality, performance, UI design and general playablity, as well as giving us the developers the tools to develop Automation better, faster, and maintain it far into the future.

Read more:

Automation The Car Company Tycoon Game on Steam

Idea in Brief The Threat

Automation has traditionally displaced workers, forcing them onto higher ground that machines have not yet claimed. Today, as artificial intelligence encroaches on knowledge work, it can be hard to see how humans will remain employed in large numbers.

The outlook is grim if computers continue to chip away relentlessly at the tasks currently performed by well-educated people. But if we reframe the use of machines as augmentation, human work can flourish and accomplish what was never before possible.

Some knowledge workers will step up to even higher levels of cognition; others will step aside and draw on forms of intelligence that machines lack. Some will step in, monitoring and adjusting computers decision making; others will step narrowly into highly specialized realms of expertise. Inevitably, some will step forward by creating next-generation machines and finding new ways for them to augment human strengths.

After hearing of a recent Oxford University study on advancing automation and its potential to displace workers, Yuh-Mei Hutt, of Tallahassee, Florida, wrote, The idea that half of todays jobs may vanish has changed my view of my childrens future. Hutt was reacting not only as a mother; she heads a business and occasionally blogs about emerging technologies. Familiar as she is with the upside of computerization, the downside looms large. How will they compete against AI? she asked. How will they compete against a much older and experienced workforce vying for even fewer positions?

Suddenly, it seems, people in all walks of life are becoming very concerned about advancing automation. And they should be: Unless we find as many tasks to give humans as we find to take away from them, all the social and psychological ills of joblessness will grow, from economic recession to youth unemployment to individual crises of identity. Thats especially true now that automation is coming to knowledge work, in the form of artificial intelligence. Knowledge workwhich well define loosely as work that is more mental than manual, involves consequential decision making, and has traditionally required a college educationaccounts for a large proportion of jobs in todays mature economies. It is the high ground to which humanity has retreated as machines have taken over less cognitively challenging work. But in the very foreseeable future, as the Gartner analyst Nigel Rayner says, many of the things executives do today will be automated.

What if we were to reframe the situation? What if, rather than asking the traditional questionWhat tasks currently performed by humans will soon be done more cheaply and rapidly by machines?we ask a new one: What new feats might people achieve if they had better thinking machines to assist them? Instead of seeing work as a zero-sum game with machines taking an ever greater share, we might see growing possibilities for employment. We could reframe the threat of automation as an opportunity for augmentation.

The two of us have been looking at cases in which knowledge workers collaborate with machines to do things that neither could do well on their own. And as automation makes greater incursions into their workplaces, these people respond with a surprisingly broad repertoire of moves. Conventional wisdom is that as machines threaten their livelihood, humans must invest in ever higher levels of formal education to keep ahead. In truth, as we will discuss below, smart people are taking five approaches to making their peace with smart machines.

David Autor, an economist at MIT who closely tracks the effects of automation on labor markets, recently complained that journalists and expert commentators overstate the extent of machine substitution for human labor and ignore the strong complementarities that increase productivity, raise earnings, and augment demand for skilled labor. He pointed to the immense challenge of applying machines to any tasks that call for flexibility, judgment, or common sense, and then pushed his point further. Tasks that cannot be substituted by computerization are generally complemented by it, he wrote. This point is as fundamental as it is overlooked.

A search for the complementarities to which Autor was referring is at the heart of what we call an augmentation strategy. It stands in stark contrast to the automation strategies that efficiency-minded enterprises have pursued in the past. Automation starts with a baseline of what people do in a given job and subtracts from that. It deploys computers to chip away at the tasks humans perform as soon as those tasks can be codified. Aiming for increased automation promises cost savings but limits us to thinking within the parameters of work that is being accomplished today.

Smart machines can be our partners and collaborators in creative problem solving.

Augmentation, in contrast, means starting with what humans do today and figuring out how that work could be deepened rather than diminished by a greater use of machines. Some thoughtful knowledge workers see this clearly. Camille Nicita, for example, is the CEO of Gongos, a company in metropolitan Detroit that helps clients gain consumer insightsa line of work that some would say is under threat as big data reveals all about buying behavior. Nicita concedes that sophisticated decision analytics based on large data sets will uncover new and important insights. But, she says, that will give her people the opportunity to go deeper and offer clients context, humanization, and the why behind big data. Her shop will increasingly go beyond analysis and translate that data in a way that informs business decisions through synthesis and the power of great narrative. Fortunately, computers arent very good at that sort of thing.

Intelligent machines, Nicita thinksand this is the core belief of an augmentation strategydo not usher people out the door, much less relegate them to doing the bidding of robot overlords. In some cases these machines will allow us to take on tasks that are superiormore sophisticated, more fulfilling, better suited to our strengthsto anything we have given up. In other cases the tasks will simply be different from anything computers can do well. In almost all situations, however, they will be less codified and structured; otherwise computers would already have taken them over.

We propose a change in mindset, on the part of both workers and providers of work, that will lead to different outcomesa change from pursuing automation to promoting augmentation. This seemingly simple terminological shift will have deep implications for how organizations are managed and how individuals strive to succeed. Knowledge workers will come to see smart machines as partners and collaborators in creative problem solving.

This new mindset could change the future.

Lets assume that computers are going to make their mark in your line of work. Indeed, lets posit that software will soon perform most of the cognitive heavy lifting you do in your job and, as far as the essential day-to-day operation of the enterprise is concerned, make decisions as good as (probably better than) those made by 90% of the people who currently hold it. What should your strategy be to remain gainfully employed? From an augmentation perspective, people might renegotiate their relationship to machines and realign their contributions in five ways.

Your best strategy may be to head for still higher intellectual ground. There will always be jobs for people who are capable of more big-picture thinking and a higher level of abstraction than computers are. In essence this is the same advice that has always been offered and taken as automation has encroached on human work: Let the machine do the things that are beneath you, and take the opportunity to engage with higher-order concerns.

Niven Narain, a cancer researcher, provides a great example. In 2005 he cofounded Berg, a start-up in Framingham, Massachusetts, to apply artificial intelligence to the discovery of new drugs. Bergs facility has high-throughput mass spectrometers that run around the clock and produce trillions of data points from their analysis of blood and tissue, along with powerful computers that look for patterns suggesting that certain molecules could be effective. The last thing you want to do now, Narain told a reporter in March 2015, is have a hundred biochemistsgoing through this data and saying, Oh, I kind of like this one over here. But he also employs a hundred biochemists. Their objective is not to crunch all those numbers and produce a hypothesis about a certain molecules potential. Rather, they pick up at the point where the math leaves off, the machine has produced a hypothesis, and the investigation of its viability begins.

Narain stepped up by seeing an opportunity to develop drugs in a new way. That takes lots of experience, insight, and the ability to understand quickly how the world is changing. Likewise, one interpretation of the success of todays ultrarich Wall Street investment bankers and hedge fund titans is that they have stepped up above automated trading and portfolio management systems.

If stepping up is your chosen approach, you will probably need a long education. A masters degree or a doctorate will serve you well as a job applicant. Once inside an organization, your objective must be to stay broadly informed and creative enough to be part of its ongoing innovation and strategy efforts. Ideally youll aspire to a senior management role and thus seize the opportunities you identify. Listen to Barney Harford, the CEO of Orbitza business that has done more than most to eliminate knowledge worker jobs. To hire for the tasks he still requires people to do, Harford looks for T-shaped individuals. Orbitz needs people who can go really deep in their particular area of expertise, he says, and also go really broad and have that kind of curiosity about the overall organization and how their particular piece of the pie fits into it. Thats good guidance for any knowledge worker who wants to step up: Start thinking more syntheticallyin the old sense of that term. Find ways to rely on machines to do your intellectual spadework, without losing knowledge of how they do it. Harford has done that by applying machine learning to the generation of algorithms that match customers with the travel experiences they desire.

Stepping up may be an option for only a small minority of the labor force. But a lot of brain work is equally valuable and also cannot be codified. Stepping aside means using mental strengths that arent about purely rational cognition but draw on what the psychologist Howard Gardner has called our multiple intelligences. You might focus on the interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligencesknowing how to work well with other people and understanding your own interests, goals, and strengths.

The legendary thoroughbred trainer D. Wayne Lukas cant articulate exactly how he manages to see the potential in a yearling. He just does. Apples revered designer Jonathan Ive cant download his taste to a computer. Ricky Gervais makes people laugh at material a machine would never dream up. Do they all use computers in their daily work lives? Unquestionably. But their genius has been to discover the ineffable strengths they possess and to spend as much time as possible putting them to work. Machines can perform numerous ancillary tasks that would otherwise encroach on the ability of these professionals to do what they do best.

We dont want to create the impression that stepping aside is purely for artists. Senior lawyers, for example, are thoroughly versed in the law but are rarely their firms deep-dive experts on all its fine points. They devote much of their energy to winning new work (usually the chief reason they get promoted) and acting as wise counselors to their clients. With machines digesting legal documents and suggesting courses of action and arguments, senior lawyers will have more capacity to do the rest of their job well. The same is true for many other professionals, such as senior accountants, architects, investment bankers, and consultants.

Take the realm of elder care, in which robotics manufacturers see great potential for automation. This isnt often treated as a nuanced or a particularly intellectual line of human work. We were struck, therefore, by a recent essay by the teacher, coach, and blogger Heather Plett. She wrote of her mothers palliative care provider, She was holding space for us, and explained: What does it mean to hold space for someone else? It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey theyre on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgement and control.

True, hospice care is an extreme example of a situation requiring the human touch. But empathy is valuable in any setting that has customers, coworkers, and owners.

If stepping aside is your strategy, you need to focus on your uncodifiable strengths, first discovering them and then diligently working to heighten them. In the process you should identify other masters of the tacit trade youre pursuing and find ways to work with them, whether as collaborator or apprentice. You may have to develop a greater respect for the intelligences you have beyond IQ, which decades of schooling might well have devalued. These, too, can be deliberately honedthey are no more or less God-given than your capacity for calculus.

Back in 1967, having witnessed the first attempts to automate knowledge work, Peter Drucker declared of the computer: Its a total moron. Its a lot less moronic now, but its relentless logic still occasionally arrives at decisions whose improvement wouldnt require a human genius.

Perhaps you saw a 2014 story in the New York Times about a man who had just changed jobs and applied to refinance his mortgage. Even though hed had a steady government job for eight years and a steady teaching job for more than 20 years before that, he was turned down for the loan. The automated system that evaluated his application recognized that the projected payments were well within his income level, but it was smart enough to seize on a risk marker: His new career would involve a great deal more variation and uncertainty in earnings.

Or maybe that system wasnt so smart. The man was Ben Bernanke, a former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, who had just signed a book contract for more than a million dollars and was headed for a lucrative stint on the lecture circuit. This is a prime example of why, when computers make decisions, we will always need people who can step in and save us from their worst tendencies.

A lot of brain workincluding empathycannot be codified.

Those capable of stepping in know how to monitor and modify the work of computers. Taxes may increasingly be done by computer, but smart accountants look out for the mistakes that automated programsand the programs human usersoften make. Ad buying in digital marketing is almost exclusively automated these days, but only people can say when some programmatic buy would actually hurt the brand and how the logic behind it might be tuned.

Here you might ask, Just who is augmenting whom (or what) in this situation? Its a good moment to emphasize that in an augmentation environment, support is mutual. The human ensures that the computer is doing a good job and makes it better. This is the point being made by all those people who encourage more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. They envision a work world largely made up of stepping-in positions. But if this is your strategy, youll also need to develop your powers of observation, translation, and human connection.

This approach involves finding a specialty within your profession that wouldnt be economical to automate. In Boston, near the headquarters of Dunkin Donuts, a reporter recently peered into the secret world of the Dunkin Donuts franchise kings. One of them, Gary Joyal, makes a good living (if his Rolls-Royce is any indication) by connecting buyers and sellers of Dunkin Donuts franchises. As the Boston Globe put it, Joyal uses his encyclopedic knowledge of franchiseesand often their family situations, income portfolios, and estate plansto make himself an indispensable player for buyers and sellers alike. So far he has helped to broker half a billion dollars worth of deals.

Could Joyals encyclopedic knowledge be encoded in software? Probably. But no one would make enough doing so to put a Rolls in the driveway. Its just too small a category. The same is true of Claire Bustarrets work. Johns Hopkins Magazine reports that Bustarret has made a career out of knowing paper like other French people know wine. Her ability to determine from a sheets texture, feel, and fibers when and where the paper was made is extremely valuable to historians and art authenticators. Maybe what she knows could be put in a database, and her analytical techniques could be automated. But in the meantime, she would have learned more.

Those who step narrowly find such niches and burrow deep inside them. They are hedgehogs to the stepping-up foxes among us. Although most of them have the benefit of a formal education, the expertise that fuels their earning power is gained through on-the-job trainingand the discipline of focus. If this is your strategy, start making a name for yourself as the person who goes a mile deep on a subject an inch wide. That wont mean you cant also have other interests, but professionally youll have a very distinct brand. How might machines augment you? Youll build your own databases and routines for keeping current, and connect with systems that combine your very specialized output with that of others.

Finally, stepping forward means constructing the next generation of computing and AI tools. Its still true that behind every great machine is a personin fact, many people. Someone decides that the Dunkin Franchise Optimizer is a bad investment, or that the application of AI to cancer drug discovery is a good one. Someone has to build the next great automated insurance-underwriting solution. Someone intuits the human need for a better system; someone identifies the part of it that can be codified; someone writes the code; and someone designs the conditions under which it will be applied.

Clearly this is a realm in which knowledge workers need strong skills in computer science, artificial intelligence, and analytics. In his book Data-ism, Steve Lohr offers stories of some of the people doing this work. For example, at the E. & J. Gallo Winery, an executive named Nick Dokoozlian teams up with Hendrik Hamann, a member of IBMs research staff, to find a way to harness the data required for precision agriculture at scale. In other words, they want to automate the painstaking craft of giving each grapevine exactly the care and feeding it needs to thrive. This isnt amateur hour. Hamann is a physicist with a thorough knowledge of IBMs prior application of networked sensors. Dokoozlian earned his doctorate in plant physiology at what Lohr informs us is the MIT of wine sciencethe University of California at Davisand then taught there for 15 years. Were tempted to say that this team knows wine the way some French people know paper.

Stepping forward means bringing about machines next level of encroachment, but it involves work that is itself highly augmented by software. A glance at Hamanns LinkedIn page is sufficient to make the point: Hes been endorsed by contacts for his expert use of simulations, algorithms, machine learning, mathematical modeling, and more. But spotting the right next opportunity for automation requires much more than technical chops. If this is your strategy, youll reach the top of your field if you can also think outside the box, perceive where todays computers fall short, and envision tools that dont yet exist. Someday, perhaps, even a lot of software development will be automated; but as Bill Gates recently observed, programming is safe for now.

Our conversations to date with professionals in a wide range of fieldsradiologists, financial advisers, teachers, architects, journalists, lawyers, accountants, marketers, and other experts of many kindssuggest that whatever the field, any of the five steps weve just laid out is possible. Not all of them are right for a given individual, but if you can figure out which one is right for you, youll be on your way to an augmentation strategy.

You might not get very far, however, if employers in your field dont buy in to augmentation. The world suffers from an automation mindset today, after all, because businesses have taken us down that path. Managers are always acutely aware of the downside of human employeesor, to use the technologists favored dysphemism for them, wetware. Henry Ford famously said, Why is it every time I ask for a pair of hands, they come with a brain attached?

For augmentation to work, employers must be convinced that the combination of humans and computers is better than either working alone. That realization will dawn as it becomes increasingly clear that enterprise success depends much more on constant innovation than on cost efficiency. Employers have tended to see machines and people as substitute goods: If one is more expensive, it makes sense to swap in the other. But that makes sense only under static conditions, when we can safely assume that tomorrows tasks will be the same as todays.

Yuh-Mei Hutt told us that in her small business (Golden Lighting, a manufacturer of residential fixtures), automation has made operations much more efficient. But that means profitability depends now more than ever on the creativity of her people. Her designers need to know about trends in the interior design world and in lighting technology and must find fresh ways to pull them together. Her salespeople rely on CRM software, but their edge comes from how well they connect in person with retail buyers.

In an era of innovation, the emphasis has to be on the upside of people. They will always be the source of next-generation ideas and the element of operations that is hardest for competitors to replicate. (If you think employees today lack loyalty, you havent noticed how fast software takes up with your rivals.) Yes, people are variable and unpredictable; capable of selfishness, boredom, and dishonesty; hard to teach and quick to tireall things that robots are not. But with the proper augmentation, you can get the most out of the positive qualities on which they also hold a monopoly. As computerization turns everything that can be programmed into table stakes, those are the only qualities that will set you apart.

To be sure, many of the things knowledge workers do today will soon be automated. For example, the future role of humans in financial advising isnt fully clear, but its unlikely that those who remain in the field will have as their primary role recommending an optimal portfolio of stocks and bonds. In a recent conversation, one financial adviser seemed worried: Our advice to clients isnt fully automated yet, he said, but its feeling more and more robotic. My comments to clients are increasingly supposed to follow a script, and we are strongly encouraged to move clients into the use of these online tools. He expressed his biggest fear outright: Im thinking that over time they will phase us out altogether. But the next words out of his mouth more than hinted at his salvation: Reading scripts is obviously something a computer can do; convincing a client to invest more money requires some more skills. Im already often more of a psychiatrist than a stockbroker.

Thats not a step down. Its at least a step aside, and probably a step up. The adviser and his firm need only to see it that way and then build on it. For the foreseeable future, prompting savers and investors to make wiser financial choices will not be an automated task.

The strategy that will work in the long term, for employers and the employed, is to view smart machines as our partners and collaborators in knowledge work. By emphasizing augmentation, we can remove the threat of automation and turn the race with the machine into a relay rather than a dash. Those who are able to smoothly transfer the baton to and from a computer will be the winners.

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Home automation is The Internet of Things"The way that all of our devices and appliances will be networked together to provide us with a seamless control over all aspects of our home and more. Home automation has been around from many decades in terms of lighting and simple appliance control, and only recently has technology caught up for the idea of the interconnected world, allowing full control of your home from anywhere, to become a reality. With home automation, you dictate how a device should react, when it should react, and why it should react. You set the schedule and the rest is automated and based off of your personal preferences thus providing convenience, control, money savings, and an overall smarter home. Home automation can also alert you to events that you might want to know about right-away while you are gone like water leaks and unexpected access to your home, or any part of it. At any time, you can grab your iPhone, Android device or other remote control and change the settings in your house as desired.

Over the past few decades many companies have entered the home automation sector...

Control and automate just about every device and appliance within your home whether you are at home or far away. We've all gotten used to controlling our TV from the couch; just wait until you are able to dim the lights as well.

Imagine adjusting the temperature from your bed or controlling the volume of your whole-house audio system from any room. Or imagine the wall/ceiling heater in your bathroom coming on automatically on chilly mornings 5 minutes before your alarm clock goes off so that it is warm when you enter. Many Smarthome products also save energy -- we'll all agree that's a nice convenience.

Always on guard and at the ready, home automation provides security, safeguarding your home. From a security cameras peering eye to a water sensor that will alert you of a possible costly leak, an automated home keeps your property under surveillance so you can react at a moments notice.

We're all used to opening the garage door from the car, but you'll be surprised how much safer you'll feel coming home to a lit home and even turning on more lights from your keyfob remote upon your arrival. With a couple of basic products you can have your whole house light up like Fort Knox when there is motion detected at any corner of your house. Imagine your house sending you an email if there is motion where there shouldn't be any. Or you can have your security system call you if there is an alarm, which might include your typical security alarm or even a low or high temperature or water in the laundry room or basement.

Home automation works efficiently for you, saving money on your utilities and providing overall convenience.

Home automation gets you involved. Set your personal preferences and actions, then sit back and enjoy using the latest in home automation technology. Though such technology is quite complex, it remains completely flexible and user friendly making for a fun experience.High-tech products for the home are fun to use and share with others. Whether viewing visitors at your front door on your TV or tuning your stereo by using voice recognition, you'll find home automation surprisingly enjoyable. And when it comes to impressing the friends, you'll be happy to show off your newfound applications.

With the broad selection of home automation products offered by Smarthome, you can control just about anything you wish in your home. If you have questions about a particular product please contact our expert technical support team - they're happy to help you find exactly what you are looking for.

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Why Buy a Home Automation System?

Editor's note: ADT recently announced the completion of a merger with Protection 1. Although the two companies currently operate independently, both will eventually operate exclusively under the ADT brand. When ADT and Protection 1 complete this brand integration, we will update our home automation system reviews to reflect that information.

The top performers in our review are Crestron, the Gold Award winner; Control4, the Silver Award winner; andSavant, the Bronze Award winner. Heres more on choosing a provider to meet your needs, along with detail on how we arrived at our ranking of 10 systems.

With home automation systems, you can forever banish concerns of overly expensive utility bills and stop wondering whether or not you locked the front door. These high-tech solutions can help make your home into a smart home. In fact, a smart home system can control every light, appliance and compatible peripheral in your home.

This burgeoning industry offers a choice selection of products from respected manufacturers. Weve compiled a list of the best home automation systems available and ranked them based on their offerings in a variety of categories. Our evaluation focuses exclusively on professionally installed automation systems, sometimes called smart home as a service or SHaaS. However, if you want a more-affordable, less-complete option, check out our DIY home automation review. For additional information, see our articles on home automation systems.

Professionally installed home automation is a serious investment, not a hobby or a gimmick. Getting a home automation system is on the same level as remodeling your home in cost and complexity. Our research revealed a few ways you can rein in your expectations so you can find a system that works best for you.

Types of Systems There are two kinds of professional home automation systems in our review: whole-house automation and home security systems. Whole-house automation systems from Control4, Crestron, Elan, RTI, Savant and URC tend to be more expensive but have more features and connectivity, especially in terms of home theaters. Whole-home automation usually requires custom wiring and programming, which can take weeks to prepare in some cases.

Home security systems such as ADT, MONI, Protection 1 and Vivint, primarily focus on home security but offer home automation upgrades. These upgrades do not approach the same level of complexity or customization that whole-house automation companies offer, notably with a lack of home theater integration. This professional solution is usually more affordable and includes home security monitoring. Mobile apps are common in both system types.

A Stable Market with Local Dealers Home automation has existed since the 1970s in one form or another, almost always in luxury homes, businesses and schools. Whole-home systems rely on local dealers, also called integrators, in most states. These dealers act as resellers and install and set up equipment. Home security systems are more widespread with larger installer networks. Only in the last decade have DIY systems appeared, but these havent found traction in many homes.

Worry-Free Compatibility Unlike DIY home automation, equipment compatibility is one less thing to think about when you work with a dealer. The dealer figures out which products work together ahead of time and then offers a variety of solutions that provide the features you want for your home. On the manufacturer side of things, most companies offer every piece of equipment you could want while also supporting hundreds of third-party products.

A Big Price Tag Professional automation systems are a luxury, which should give you an idea of how much they cost. According to CE Pro, a publication for home automation integrators, the average whole-home automation system installation costs around $25,000. Much of this cost comes from hardware such as home theater components and security camera systems.

For simpler projects, you can expect to spend between $2,000 and $5,000 to add smart locks, lighting, thermostats and sensors to a modest home. The cost comes from a combination of an expensive home automation controller and the sheer number of less-expensive devices that can add up quickly. Many home control systems also require custom programming on a home-by-home basis, since few smart homes are alike. A home automation system adds value to your home but not without upfront investment.

Home Theater Integration This is the single most expensive part of a whole-home automation system. This is because of the controllers that allow you to send audio and video to rooms throughout your home. The rest of the cost associated with home theaters comes from audio equipment, such as speakers and amplifiers, and video equipment such as projectors, TVs and AV receivers.

The cost and complexity of the systems in this category limit the amount of hands-on testing we can do. We approach our evaluations from the point of view of a potential customer starting research. Our evaluations are based on discussions with dealers, manufacturer offerings, brochures and in-house research. Most of the differences in professional home automation systems are superficial, but we highlighted the biggest ones we could find.

Customer Education Resources The best home automation companies offer case studies, brochures and galleries. These showcase different projects in which the companys technology played a major role. We looked at the showcases offered by each company to get an idea of what each system can do. Companies with detailed descriptions and multiple examples did better than those that only showed photos of completed projects.

Ease of Finding a Dealer We visited the websites of the companies in our review and looked for ways to contact dealers near our office. The most effective companies have clear calls to action on their homepages. This is usually an interactive dealer map, a form or a phone number you can use to get information. Control4, for example, has a form on its homepage that helps you get a quote, and it is one of the clearest calls to action we saw.

Number of Hardware Partners We looked at each of the companies in our review to get a rough estimate of how many brands work with each automated home system. Manufacturers that support many brands score higher than those that support fewer since they give you more choices. The best home automation systems partner with hundreds of brands. This is important if you have a favorite brand like Bose or Sony that you want to include in your system.

Customer Support Options As a general rule, a dealer is going to be your first, and maybe only, point of contact with some home automation companies. Dealers have an advantage of being available to make service calls to your home but often charge a fee to do so. Since we cant evaluate all of the thousands of dealers across the U.S., we looked at the companies directly to see what they offer in terms of direct customer support. If theres even the faintest glimmer of direct customer support, we gave the company extra credit.

Our evaluation is designed to provide you with useful information that helps you decide which system to use in your home. For our home automation system evaluations, we researched each manufacturers offerings and looked at how the company communicates with its customers. The companies have no input on our evaluation methodology, and our rankings were not shared with them prior to publication.

When you decide you want a home automation system, aside from setting a reasonable budget, there are only two things you need to consider: what and who. Getting what you want is as simple as finding the right focus for your smart home. From there, decide who should install it. Here are a few tips to help you decide the what and who of your smart home system.

Determine Your Focus Focus only on features you want. As a general rule, whole-home automation has elements of control, security, utilities and entertainment. Home security companies offer the first three but have no support for entertainment. These categories are not mutually exclusive; for example, lighting plays a role in all four. Once you have a focus, you can go to a dealer and tell them what you want to do.

Control These devices add convenience by helping you create schedules, rules and smartphone controls. Common examples are light switches, garage door openers, thermostats and window treatments.

Security Technology in this category protects your family, belongings and property by monitoring for and deterring intruders. Examples are door sensors, motion detectors, smoke detectors, smart locks, security cameras and sirens.

Utilities Using these devices, you can improve your homes energy efficiency, which helps you save on gas, electric or water bills. Examples include thermostats, sprinkler controllers, leak detectors and window treatments.

Entertainment These are audio-video devices and home theater equipment. Universal remotes sometimes work with DIY smart homes to control TVs, home audio systems and streaming sticks.

Find a Local Dealer Most major cities have a few home automation dealers. To find the right one for you, its a good idea to get competing quotes from the integrators in your area. With quotes in hand, learn about each dealers certifications, setup process and whether it can help you get security monitoring services.

Certifications Look for dealers that are members of the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association, or CEDIA. CEDIA has a strong code of ethics and helps installers stay up to date with the latest technology certifications. In addition to CEDIA membership, make sure the dealer is certified to work with popular home automation products.

System Setup Choose a dealer only after it gives you a detailed explanation of the changes it needs to make to your home such as removing drywall and installing wiring. If the dealer doesnt give you a written contract of everything it plans to do before it starts, then find a dealer that will. A verbal contract is an invitation to overpriced installations that can bust your budget.

Monitoring Services Ask if the dealer offers home security monitoring or can connect you to a security company that monitors home automation systems. In general, if you dont have door sensors, motion sensors or security cameras, you probably dont need monitoring and shouldnt buy it if the dealer insists.

Whether you use your system as a universal remote or have automatic tasks that run in the background, you can expect to interact with it every day. Idle systems are a great way to underutilize your investment make them work for you. Here are a couple items every home automation system owner should know.

Learn the Ropes Take time to study the manual, mobile app and other tools you have access to. Look at all of the components that make up your system and see how mobile app controls them. By familiarizing yourself with the app, you can find lights, create presets and know where in the menu everything is. In most systems, you can set up schedules to control devices such as your thermostat and exterior lights.

When to Call the Dealer Aside from occasionally replacing batteries in a sensor or dusting off your equipment, there isnt much maintenance you can do on your own without voiding the warranty. If your system is under warranty, you should be able to replace your defective components at no cost. Its possible that you might pay a service fee, even with a warranty check with your dealer to see when they charge for service calls.

If you dont have a warranty, set priorities instead of calling the dealer any time a component stops working. Your highest priorities should fall under security and utilities, which should be fixed as soon as possible after they break. If a security camera fails, your home can become more vulnerable to thieves. Likewise, if the thermostat goes on the fritz, discomfort or high energy bills can result. Control and entertainment devices in the system may be inconvenient if they go offline, but if theres no threat to your security or comfort, you can get them fixed as your budget allows.

Warranty Coverage When you work with a dealer, keep in mind that it may offer a separate warranty from that of the manufacturer. Check to make sure the dealers warranty covers installation, labor and offers coverage for at least a year. For defective hardware, many dealers work with manufacturers to get replacement parts so you dont have to contact the manufacturer directly. The best home automation systems offer lifetime warranties or warranties around three years.

It can be hard to choose a home management system when there are so many good options on the market. Our recommendations come from each systems standout feature, since thats a good baseline to start from in your own research. Our top three home automation systems showcase the best the industry has to offer.

For our Gold Award winner, Crestron, theres literally no project too big. This system is compatible with thousands of products from hundreds of manufacturers, more than any other company in our review. The systems software is fully customizable from top to bottom, which is one of the reasons it expands beyond residential installations into commercial applications at schools, hotels and businesses. It takes an experienced dealer and a lot of time to install a Crestron system.

Control4, our Silver Award winner, is the top residential brand in our review. The system integrates software and hardware seamlessly without the need for a dealer to do intensive programming. This helps bring down installation costs while also creating a capable system that can be expanded by the dealer as your needs change. Control4 offers a strong selection of in-house hardware as well as support for hundreds of other manufacturers. Control4s Composer Home Edition is home automation software that lets you create schedules and custom programs without calling the dealer.

Our Bronze Award winner, Savant, has a design with a lot of visual appeal. The sleek, glossy hardware evokes the same visual cues as Apple products. Not only does Savant Pro have a full line of professional products, but it also has a few DIY smart home products with an entertainment focus. For example, the Savant Remote comes with a high-resolution touchscreen, a simple button layout and voice control, something not found in many universal remotes. The advantage of the DIY remote is that you can get a feel for Savant systems before committing to a full professional installation.

Outside of the top three, RTI was the only other product in our review that had everything we looked for in a good home automation system, helping it earn a Top Ten Reviews Excellence Award. MONI, ADT and Vivint get honorable mention as home automation companies with extensive dealer networks, and they are the only products in our review with lifetime warranty coverage.

Finding the right verdict in this evaluation was tricky. Part of the appeal of professional home automation systems is that they can automate almost anything in your home, which is why we cant make solid recommendations on the hardware capabilities of a particular system over another. However, whole-house automation systems offer a more complete smart home experience than home security systems. Home security systems are a better way to get into professional automation for most people since they dont require complex installation and programming. In the end, the best advice we can give you is to use our reviews to choose the best smart home system for your needs.

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The Best Home Automation Systems of 2016 | Top Ten Reviews

Stay on top of the latest advancements in industrial automation. Plan now to attend May 23-24 in Chicago.

The Automation Conference & Expo is the leading peer-to-peer educational and networking event for industrial automation professionals. As an attendee, youll learn why todays automation innovations are critical for your operation. Our 2017 knowledge exchange will take place May 23-24 at the Chicago Marriott OHare, offering technology end-users the ability to:

- get tips on automation implementation from industrys leading companies - choose from over two dozen educational sessions - network with experts and automation thought leaders - access practical insights from experienced practitioners

Preview our 2017 program here.

This year's program explores todays hottest manufacturing topics, such as:

The Automation Conference & Expo is designed for automation professionals in the process industries, discrete manufacturing and packaging, and includes general and track sessions; in-depth Technology Workshops and tabletop exhibits, staffed by solutions experts.

Who should attend:

Our pre-conference OMAC PackML/TR88.00.02 Workshop will be offered on May 22 by The Organization for Machine Automation and Control (OMAC), taking place from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm. Check back soon for more details.

To receive event alerts, please contact Ashley Friedman.

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"Networking opportunities were tremendous."

"This is a formidable conference. Great presentations, event organization and the right number and quality of attendees."

"Great conference-well worth it thank you!"

"Great chance to meet with a wide variety of people in the automation industry."

"Networking opportunities were very good due to the quality of attendees."

"Chance to meet other professionals and discuss the common issues we all feel."

"Real world examples...hearing about others' successes and failures."

"Learned the latest developments, found trends and future directions."

"Love this event."

Thanks to our TAC sponsors, who help fund this educational scholarship, awarded during The Automation Conference.

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