Adoption Of Cyber-physical Systems Research Articles

Business environment as a determinant in the uptake of cyber-physical systems for facilities management – a Delphi study

PurposeIncorporating digital technologies such cyber-physical systems (CPS) for facilities management (FM) functions is fast gaining attention. However, the rudiments for the effective espousal of such an innovative technology for the delivery of FM tasks have not received scholarly attention. In FM, the business environment is a vital component in achieving organisations’ stipulated objectives. Hence, this study aims to assess the influence of business environment factors in the adoption of CPS for FM activities.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was adopted for the study using the Delphi technique. Experts were selected through a well-defined process that involved certain criteria. The opinions of the selected experts were gotten in two iterations that were subjected to analysis using statistics of measure for central tendency, and interquartile deviation to ascertain consensus among the experts, while Mann–Whitney U test was deployed in checking the difference in the views of the experts.FindingsThe results from the study indicated that eight business environment factors were of very high significance in determining the espousal of CPS for FM, while the other eight factors proved to be high significance. Also, there was no significant difference in the opinions of experts from academic institutions and professional practice.Practical implicationsThe findings from the study would provide insight to organisations saddled with FM activities on the prevailing business environment factors that would be influential in adopting a digital technology such as CPS.Originality/valueThe study contributes immensely to the body of knowledge in the quest for digital transformation in FM delivery. It unveils the significant business environment factors that are influential in the drive for incorporating new innovations such as CPS for FM functions.

Cyber-Physical Systems: Challenges and Future Directions

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) integrate computational algorithms with physical components, enabling advanced functionalities in various domains. This paper explores the challenges and future directions of CPS, focusing on security, safety, privacy, and interoperability. In terms of security, CPS face threats to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, necessitating advancements in intrusion detection, prevention systems, and secure communication protocols. Safety improvements include predictive maintenance and autonomous decision-making systems to enhance reliability and resilience. Privacy-enhancing techniques like anonymization and user-centric controls are crucial for data protection. Interoperability solutions, such as middleware and semantic frameworks, facilitate seamless integration among heterogeneous CPS components. Future directions involve leveraging machine learning and AI for security, integrating digital twins for predictive maintenance, and enhancing user-centric privacy controls. These advancements are vital for the continued development and adoption of CPS in diverse applications.

Cyber—physical systems development for construction applications

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are intended to facilitate the tight coupling of the cyber and physical worlds. Their potential for enhancing the delivery and management of constructed facilities is now becoming understood. In these systems, it is vital to ensure bidirectional consistency between construction components and their digital replicas. This paper introduces the key features of CPS and describes why they are ideally suited for addressing a number of problems in the delivery of construction projects. It draws on examples of research prototypes developed using surveys, field experiments, and prototyping methodologies, to outline the key features and benefits of CPS for construction applications and the approach to their development. In addition, it outlines the lessons learned from developing various systems for the design, construction and management of constructed facilities, which include building component placement and tracking, temporary structures monitoring, and mobile crane safety. The paper concludes that the construction industry stands to reap numerous benefits from the adoption of CPS. It states that the future direction of CPS in construction will be driven by technological developments and the extent to which CPS is deployed in new application areas.

Performance Monitor Counters: Interplay Between Safety and Security in Complex Cyber-Physical Systems

Recent years have witnessed the growth of the adoption of cyber-physical systems (CPSs) in many sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, civil infrastructures, and healthcare. Several CPS applications include critical scenarios, where a failure of the system can lead to catastrophic consequences. Therefore, anomalies due to failures or malicious attacks must be detected timely. This paper focuses on two relevant aspects of the design of a CPS: 1) safety and 2) security. It analyzes in a specific scenario how the performance monitor counters (PMCs) available in several commercial microprocessors can be from the one hand a valuable tool to enhance the safety of a system and, on the other hand, a security backdoor. Starting from the example of a PMC-based safety mechanism, this paper shows the implementation of a possible attack and eventually proposes a strategy to mitigate the effectiveness of the attack while preserving the safety of the system.

The identification of knowledge gaps in the technologies of cyber‐physical systems with recommendations for closing these gaps

AbstractThe paper reports some training, education, and operational findings from an EU Horizon 2020 project that included the production of technology road‐maps for the domain of cyber‐physical systems (CPS). The project reviewed Deliverables from 72 CPS projects, all within Framework Programme 7 and Horizon 2020, including 18 from the ARTEMIS and ECSEL subprograms. This analysis led to the production of a “Knowledge Map” containing 75 technologies identified within the 72 projects as nodes in this map, connected by interoperability links. Filtering this map for each node, in turn, has led, in combination with other parts of the project, to some 48 recommendations for future focus and funding of developments in these technologies to assist in the rapid adoption of CPS in all domains. While the focus has been limited to European Union research and innovation, it is believed that the recommendations are transferable to other regions of the world.

Using Ontology and Standard Middleware for integrating IoT based in the Industry 4.0

Adoption of semantic technologies in the context of automation systems is growing. Semantic technologies can contribute and intensify the machine-to-machine communication, and it has been allowing each time more the collaboration between human and machines. In this sense, semantic technologies have been contributing to adoption of Cyber Physical Systems in the Industry 4.0. In this context, there are plenty of data being generated that has to be integrated between the system components. However, it is important to provide a manner to integrate these objects in an easy and understandable way for the users. This paper presents how it is possible to map industrial elements into a semantic model in order to support services and, also, to allow the communication of these elements with the physical/real system through an IoT middleware. For this proposal, an ontology has been developed as well as an extension of a consolidate IoT middleware to support using these models. The proposed ideas are being evaluated with some industrial case studies and some of the preliminary results are described in the paper.

Cyber- Physical Systems and Education 4.0 –The Teaching Factory 4.0 Concept

Manufacturing, through the Industry 4.0 concept, is moving to the next phase of digitalization. Industry 4.0 supported by innovative technologies such as Internet of Things, Cloud technology, Augmented and Virtual Reality will also play an important role in manufacturing education, supporting advanced life-long training of the skilled workforce. Advanced education, also called Education 4.0, and networked ecosystems will develop skills and build competences for the new era of manufacturing. Towards that, this work will present how the adoption of cyber-physical systems and Industry 4.0 technologies, under the teaching factory paradigm will re-shape manufacturing education, addressing the increased need for highly-skilled employees. A teaching factory paradigm supported by Industry 4.0 technology will be presented, considering the construction of a radio-controlled car.

Design Techniques and Applications of Cyberphysical Systems: A Survey

Cyberphysical systems (CPSs) are new class of engineered systems that offer close interaction between cyber and physical components. The field of CPS has been identified as a key area of research, and CPSs are expected to play a major role in the design and development of future systems. In this paper, we survey recent advancements made in the development and applications of CPSs. We classify the existing research work based on their characteristics and identify the future challenges. We also discuss the examples of prototypes of CPSs. The aim of this survey is to enable researchers and system designers to get insights into the working and applications of CPSs and motivate them to propose novel solutions for making wide-scale adoption of CPS a tangible reality.

Towards Socio-Cyber-Physical Systems in Production Networks

The adoption of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in production networks enables new potential for improved efficiency, accountability, sustainability and scalability. In terms of production and transport processes, materialising this potential requires customised technological concepts, planning and control methods as well as business models. Even though CPS strongly rely on technological advancements, the creativity, flexibility and problem solving competence of human stakeholders is strongly needed for their operation. This paper introduces and reviews the social aspects of CPS and motivates future research towards Socio-Cyber-Physical Systems (SCPS) applied to production networks. In this frame, context-dependent behavioural aspects and implications related to the human stakeholders are delimitated. As a showcase for the relevance of these aspects the deficits arising from an insufficient communication among stakeholders in SCPS are analysed by means of a simulation experiment. The obtained results substantiate the dependence of SCPS on properly considering the aspects related to human stakeholders together with technology.