Introduction
Cyber physical system (CPS) is a computer system. It is composed of a collection of devices interacting with each other and also communicating with the physical world. It integrates computation and communication aspects with control and monitoring techniques. CPS is also similar to the Internet of Things (IoT), sharing the same basic architecture moreover, CPS presents a higher combination and coordination between physical and computational elements.
Cyber Physical Production Systems (CPPS)
When talking about CPS, it becomes necessary to talk about CPPS. CPPS relies on the newest developments of computer science (CS), information and communication technologies (ITC), and manufacturing science and technology (MST) leading to the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0). CPPS consists of autonomous and cooperative elements and subsystems that are getting into connection with each other in situation-dependent ways. For the implementation of CPPS, there were many architectures that were proposed but the most successful and sought-after is 5C architecture. The figure given below shows the different levels and their roles.
Design, Verification and Validation in Cyber physical systems
In industrial practice, many engineering systems have been designed by separating the control system design from the hardware/software implementation details. The increasing complexity of sensors and actuators make it difficult for the designers to design the system. As technologies evolve to meet the demands of higher performance, smaller size, and lower cost, there are several challenges in the design of chips, packages, and boards that require an integrated analysis and verification methodology, moreover the hardware components must be dependable and reconfigurable. Therefore they have to undergo a process of verification and validation. New models, algorithms, methods, and tools are needed that will incorporate verification and validation of software and systems at the control design stage. Overdesign is currently the only path to safe and successful system certification and deployment. This is a safer approach because it takes care of all corner test cases.
Communication and Networking
Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs) rely on networks that interconnect sensors and actuators to perform the measurement, supervision in different domains. These engineered systems are built by the integration of computational algorithms and physical components. Moreover, a networked CPS device is integrated with communication and networking. These devices can vary from small wireless communicating devices to large systems, communicating locally among themselves or over networks to cloud servers. Communication and networking are an integral part of any system and realizing Networked CPS presents a set of research challenges that need to be addressed in areas such as wireless communications. As a result, it becomes difficult for the designer to design these aspects.
Application Fields
The potential to change the aspects of life is enormous. The following are some of the application fields of CPS:
- Agriculture
- Transportation
- HealthCare
- Defense
- Manufacturing and Industry
- Building Controls
- Military
Conclusion
CPS plays a major role in the design and development of future engineering systems with new capabilities that far exceed today’s levels of functionality, usability, reliability, and cybersecurity. Advances in CPS research is accelerated by the close collaborations in computation, communication, control, and other engineering and computer science disciplines, coupled with grand challenge applications.
