Towards the Cognitive Factory in Industry 5.0: From Concept to Implementation

Industry 5.0 (I5.0) represents a shift towards a human-centered industry and emphasizes the integration of human and machine capabilities. A highly compatible concept for enabling the I5.0 implementation is intelligent spaces (ISs), i.e., physical spaces equipped with a network of sensors, which obtains information about the place it observes, and a network of actuators, which enables changes in the environment through computing services. These spaces can sense, interpret, recognize user behavior, adapt to preferences, and provide natural interactions between humans and intelligent systems, using the IoT, AI, computer vision, data analytics, etc., to create dynamic and adaptive environments in real time. The integration of ISs and I5.0 has paved the way for the development of cognitive factories, which transform industrial environments into ISs. In this context, this article explores the convergence of IS and I5.0 concepts and aims to provide insights into the technical implementation challenges of cognitive factories. It discusses the development and implementation of a laboratory replica of a cognitive cell as an example of a segment of a cognitive factory. By analyzing the key points and challenges associated with cognitive cell implementation, this article contributes to the knowledge base surrounding the advanced manufacturing paradigm of I5.0.