Emerging Paradigms and Architectures for Industry 4.0 Applications

Abstract

[Abstract]: The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), called “Industry 4.0” in Europe, “Industrial Internet of Things” in North America, or “Made in China 2025” in China, blurs the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds, paving the way to the continuous improvement of manufacturing processes. The 4IR-enabling technologies such as Industrial Cyber–Physical Systems (ICPS), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies, novel computing paradigms (e.g., fog, mist, and edge computing), Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) (e.g., blockchain), digital twins, and augmented/mixed reality technologies, enable novel cyber-secure, resilient, collaborative and human-centric advanced manufacturing systems. This Special Issue aims to report the latest breakthroughs in architectures, paradigms, and applications in the ever-increasing complex ecosystem of smart manufacturing. A total of eleven research papers were published in this Special Issue, approaching several fields of Industry 4.0 paradigm, such as Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) technologies, additive manufacturing, energy harvesting, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Cyber–Physical Systems (CPS), Artificial Intelligence (AI) or cybersecurity.