Intelligent and Sustainable Engineering Systems for Industry 4.0 and Beyond

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0, aims to significantly improve the flexibility, versatility, usability and efficiency of future smart factories. However, the concept of Industry 4.0 is not only limited to the factory but also encompasses the entire life cycle of the product, that is, from production and suppliers, to end users. Industry 4.0 delivers seamless vertical and horizontal integration down the entire value chain and across all layers of the automation pyramid.

Industry 4.0 has its roots in a project for the high‑tech strategy of the German Government back in 2011, which led to the progression of cyber-physical systems into cyber-physical production systems (CPPS). CPPS can make intelligent decisions through real‑time communication and cooperation between manufacturing entities. Smart Factory, which is based on CPPS and artificial intelligence (AI), is one of the key associated initiatives of Industry 4.0. This enables flexible production of high‑quality personalized products with mass efficiency. Another important aspect of Industry 4.0 is sustainable engineering systems that can help make its processes align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Sustainable and intelligent engineering systems such as 5G, Industrial IoT, robotics and automation, renewable energy, logistics and even intelligent waste management can be the main enablers of Industry 4.0.

This is a multidisciplinary book and is meant for anyone with a basic engineering background interested in acquiring a solid foundation in the fundamental concepts and state‑of‑the‑art research trends in Industry 4.0. It explores the application of AI and machine learning as well as sustainable engineering systems, which can be the main drivers for Industry 4.0 and beyond and have a significant impact on the UN SDGs.

Tulsi Pawan Fowdur received his BEng (Hons) degree in Electronic and Communication Engineering with first‑class honours from the University of Mauritius in 2004. He was also the recipient of a gold medal for producing the best degree project at the Faculty of Engineering in 2004. In 2005 he obtained a full‑time PhD scholarship from the Tertiary Education Commission of Mauritius and was awarded his PhD degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2010 from the University of Mauritius. He is also a registered chartered engineer of the Engineering Council of the UK, a fellow of the Institute of Telecommunications Professionals of the UK and a senior member of the IEEE. He joined the University of Mauritius as an academic in June 2009 and is presently an associate professor at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Mauritius. His research interests include Mobile and Wireless Communications, Multimedia Communications, Networking and Security, Telecommunications Applications Development, Internet of Things and AI. He has published several papers in these areas and is actively involved in research supervision, reviewing papers and organizing international conferences.

Dragorad A. Milovanovic received the Diploma Electrical Engineering and Magister degree from the University of Belgrade, Serbia. He was a research assistant from 1987 to 1991 and PhD researcher from 1991 to 2001 at the Department of Electrical Engineering, where his interests include the design of digital communications systems. He has been working as an R&D engineer for DSP software development in the digital television industry. He is also serving as an ICT lecturer and consultant for digital media and medicine/sports/business/arts informatics in the development of innovative solutions. He has participated in research projects and published more than 300 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. He also coauthored textbooks and chapters in multimedia communications published by several publishers. Present projects include adaptive coding of volumetric 3D Video and PointCloud formats and 5G/6G massive/immersive communication.

Zoran S. Bojkovic is a full professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Belgrade, Serbia, a life senior member of IEEE, a full member of the Engineering Academy of Serbia and a member of the Scientific Society of Serbia. He was and still is a visiting professor worldwide. He is the author and co‑editor of more than 500 publications: monographs, books, book chapters, peer‑reviewed journals and conference and symposium papers. Some books have been translated into China, India, Canada and Singapore. He has been a consultant to industry, research, institutes and academia worldwide. His research focuses on computer networks, multimedia communications, 3D video coding, smart grids, green communications, 5G and beyond. He had plenary keynotes and invited talks at international conferences. He is a highly regarded expert in the IEEE, contributing to the growth of the communication industry and society reviewing processes in many books and journals, as well as organizing special sessions and workshops, being General Chair and TPC member at numerous conferences all over the world.