Smart Automation Frameworks for Industry 4.0 and Beyond

Industry 4.0 refers to the smart automation of the manufacturing industry with the help of information technology. The concept is based on the transition from traditional automation and information exchange toward cyber-physical systems, Internet of Things (IoT), real-time data, machine learning, and cloud computing.

The intelligent infrastructures forming Industry 4.0 include Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) that consist of cyber systems controlling physical machines and communicating with other machines. Every machine has its representation/model on the web, accessible in real time. Digital Twin is a CPPS variant wherein a cyber system models the production process and communicates with various machines to manage production. Collaborative Intelligent Robots (CoBot) perform physical actions for final product creation, fitting into the Industry 4.0 concept by enabling flexible and adaptable manufacturing. Big Data refers to the handling of vast amounts of data generated through the interconnection and data generation capabilities of Industry 4.0 systems.