Design and Integration of an IoT Device for Training Purposes of Industry 4.0

Abstract

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) fully integrate computational and physical processes. Embedded computers and networks monitor and control the physical processes, usually with feedback loops where physical processes affect computations and vice versa. Industry 4.0, otherwise known as the fourth industrial revolution, integrates people and digitally controlled machines with the internet and information technology. The most commonly used terms to describe the new development that is changing the industrial aspects, are Industry 4.0, Cyber-physical Systems, and the Internet of Things (IOT), which pave the way for smart production factories and the digital transformation. Models of CPS of Industry 4.0 (CPSI 4.0) present a high level of combination and coordination between physical and computational elements aiming to improve productivity and decrease production costs. This paper introduces a testbed for a cyber-physical system of Industry 4.0. The testbed is a serial line equipped with sensors to collect data at both the machine and system level. Various tools were utilized to aggregate, analyze, and display this data and prepare it for processing over the cloud. The implemented system leverages many of Industry 4.0 features such as predictive maintenance, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), condition monitoring, communication technology and simple cyber-physical system security. The work presented is the basis for building a larger research testbed that could allow multidisciplinare research projects in this domain.