Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain, Paolo Di Sia - Handbook of Smart Materials, Technologies, and Devices - Applications of Industry 4.0-Springer (2022)

Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain
Paolo Di Sia
Editors
Handbook of
Smart Materials,
Technologies, and
Devices
Applications of Industry 4.0
Handbook of Smart Materials,
Technologies, and Devices
Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain • Paolo Di Sia
Editors
Handbook of Smart
Materials, Technologies,
and Devices
Applications of Industry 4.0
With 999 Figures and 216 Tables
Editors
Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain Paolo Di Sia
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science School of Science
New Jersey Institute of Technology University of Padova
Newark, NJ, USA Padova, Italy
School of Medicine
Department of Neurosciences
University of Padova
Padova, Italy
ISBN 978-3-030-84204-8 ISBN 978-3-030-84205-5 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84205-5
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland
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Preface
Industry 4.0 is a digital revolution, concentrated on all digital technologies able to

increase the general interconnection and cooperation of resources (people and IT
systems), with changes affecting the industrial sector and the society in all aspects.
Data assume a primary role in this process, because they are the basis of
any operation. The pillars of this revolution are data, analytics, human-machine
interaction and manufacturing. The common factor is the interconnection between
multiple elements of a system, high levels of communication and the optimal
exploitation of all connected services.
The related enabling technologies concern the set of technologies and services
closest to IT and the operational level.
Industry 4.0 is a revolution that gradually affected a growing number of sectors
(medicine, industry, education, etc.), increasing their digitization level through the
use of modern technologies, and creating an environment in which the processes
will be completely automated.
Global revolutions like this one tend to a general improvement of the conditions
of man and the environment. The ultimate goal should always remain the good of
people and the improvement of everyone’s daily life.
Technology in its essence is neutral, is the way in which we use it that makes the
difference, protecting people by possible general bad uses and by possible further
deterioration of the environment and discrimination of the social conditions.
This book provides and discusses relevant topics and details related to the
Industry 4.0 revolution. It is both an excellent general introduction, and focuses on
important aspects related to smart technologies, robotics, the world of nanotechnolo-
gies, defense, environment, IoT, medicine, smart devices, green and smart materials,
smart farming, sustainability, circular economy.
It is a great effort, one of the most complete works on the subject dealt with, that
can be also seen as the starting point for discussions and insights and can be used
for further developments. The book is dedicated to and helpful for everyone, both
experts in the sector and curious and interested people.
Verona, Italy Paolo Di Sia

September 2022
v
Contents
Volume 1
Part I Industry 4.0: Concepts, Themes, and Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 Industry 4.0 Revolution: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Paolo Di Sia
2 Industry 4.0 Perspectives: Global Trends and Future
Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Antonella Petrillo and Fabio De Felice
3 Changing Manufacturing Landscape: From a Factory to a
Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Karl-Erik Michelsen, Mikael Collan, Jyrki Savolainen,
and Paavo Ritala
4 Karakuri Solutions and Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Mariusz Kostrzewski and Wojciech Jerzy Nowak
5 Use of Smart Technologies on Textile Industry Workers to
Evaluate the Effect of Work Posture on Lower Extremity
Distress in Southern Region of India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
S. Shankar, R. Naveenkumar, J. Karthick, P. Mohan Kumar, and
R. Nithyaprakash
6 Monitoring and Modeling of Cylindricity Error Using
Vibration Signals in Drilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
J. Susai Mary, D. Dinakaran, M. A. Sai Balaji, S. Satishkumar,
and Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss
7 Logic Based Path Planning (LBPP) Algorithm for Robotic
Library System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Sagar Ajanalkar and Harshadeep Joshi
8 Design, Control, and Data Management for Cleaning-in-Place
(CIP) Test Rig Used in Process Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
A. S. Patil, M. N. Dhavalikar, and S. A. Chavan
vii
viii Contents
9 Control and Informatics for Demand Response and

Renewables Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Michael Short
Part II Industry 4.0: Mode of Materials, Technology,

and Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
10 From Industry 4.0 to Pharma 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Reza Ebrahimi Hariry, Reza Vatankhah Barenji,
and Anant Paradkar
11 OHS-Related Risks in an Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Plant . . . . . 237
Mohamed Naceur Ben Aziza, Adel Badri, and Foued Chihi
12 Open-Source Framework Based on LoRaWAN IoT
Technology for Building Monitoring and Its Integration into
BIM Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
A. Martín-Garín, J. A. Millán-García, R. J. Hernández-
Minguillón, M. M. Prieto, N. Alilat, and A. Baïri
13 Metal Additive Manufacturing Technology Applications in
Defense Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Panagiotis Stavropoulos
14 Mechanical Properties of Additive Manufactured Part Using
Fused Deposition Modeling: Influence of Process Parameters . . . . 321
Ramu Murugan, T. Mohanraj, and Lovin K. John
15 Product Lifecycle Management (PLM): A Key Enabler in
Implementation of Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Vinayak N. Kulkarni, V. N. Gaitonde, and B. B. Kotturshettar
16 Zero Waste as an Approach to Develop a Clean and
Sustainable Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Nazia Tarannum, Nikhil Kumar, and Km Pooja
17 Role of Industry 4.0 in Maintaining Sustainable Production
and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
Muhammad Usman Tariq
18 Biomass as Sustainable Material for Bioethanol Production . . . . . 453
Rozina, Mushtaq Ahmad, and Muhammad Zafar
19 Machine Learning–Enhanced Decision-Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
Nikodem Rybak and Maureen Hassall
Contents ix
20 Industry 4.0: Cloud–Assisted Internet of Things Applications

and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
Atslands Rego da Rocha, Igor Leão dos Santos, Letícia Ali
Figueiredo Ferreira, and Augusto da Cunha Reis
21 Anticancer Natural Alkaloids as Drug Bank Targeting
Biomolecules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Kakali Bhadra
22 Mode of Materials, Technology, and Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
Shivani Jakhar, Surender Duhan, Supriya Sehrawat, Atul Kumar,
Sunita Devi, and Sonia Nain
23 IoT-Based Medication Reminder Devices: Design and
Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Alivelu Manga N. and Sathish P.
24 Ionic Liquids: The Smart Materials in Process Industry . . . . . . . . 647
Kailas L. Wasewar
25 Microstructure Analysis and Multi-objective Optimization of
Pulsed TIG Welding of 316/316L Austenite Stainless Steel . . . . . . . 675
Asif Ahmad
26 Role of IoT in Universal Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
Ravindra Singh, Sumedha Seniaray, and Partha Pratim Das
27 Nanobiomaterials Administration in Modernization of
Biological Science: Current Status and Future Potential . . . . . . . . 729
Ashish Singla and Sreedevi Upadhyayula
28 Adoption of Dematerialization Practices in Knowledge
Societies in Order to Achieve Sustainable Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . 779
Fernanda E. D. Palandi and Jamile Sabatini-Marques
29 A Perspective on the Frictional Properties of Soft Materials
as Smart Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795
Vinit Gupta, Arun K. Singh, Nitish Sinha, and Kailas L. Wasewar
30 Butterflies: A New Source of Inspiration for Futuristic Aerial
Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813
Chakravarthi Jada, U. Ashok, B. Pavan, and P. Vinod Babu
31 Significance of Bracing Accessories for Improved
Workability: An EMG Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
S. Shankar, J. Karthick, R. NaveenKumar, and R. Nithyaprakash
x Contents
32 Design, Implementation, and Experimental Study on 3-RPS

Parallel Manipulator-Based Cervical Collar Therapy Device
for Elderly Patients Suffering from Cervical Spine Injuries . . . . . 847
Pavan Kalyan Lingampally and Arockia Selvakumar
Arockia Doss
33 Performance Comparison of Two-Stage LED Driver for Tube
Light Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871
Vandavasi Harikrishna and Ramachandiran Gunabalan
34 Design and Development of Automated Vertical
Farming Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891
Karthik Warrier, Mukundhan Rajendiran, Shrawan Kumaar
Kannan, and R. Ranjith Pillai
35 Research Methodology for Augmenting a Gait Cycle of
Lower-Body Exoskeleton, by Using a Data of Mathematical
Modeling and Motion Study of a Specific User While
Obtaining a Customized Gait for Joint Actuation
of Exoskeleton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927
S. S. Ohol, K. D. Kalantri, Y. M. Pirjade, A. U. Kotkar,
N. M. Patwardhan, D. R. Londhe, and T. P. Shelke
36 Intelligent, Automated, and Web Application-Based Cradle
Monitoring System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953
Priyanka J. Nair and V. Ravi
37 Review on Deep Learning Algorithms in Medical Devices . . . . . . . 967
G. Ananthi and Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss
38 Kinematic Modeling and Analysis of Wheeled In-Pipe
Inspection Mobile Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995
Rajendran Sugin Elankavi, D. Dinakaran, R. M. Kuppan Chetty,
M. M. Ramya, and Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss
Volume 2
Part III Industry 4.0: Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011
39 Cloud Hadoop for Enterprise Collaboration System . . . . . . . . . . . . 1013

Hsiao Kang Lin and Tzu-Jou Liao
40 Smart Devices in Healthcare Sector: Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023
Kanika Sharma, Payal Kesharwani, Shiv Kumar Prajapati,
Ankit Jain, Neha Mittal, Rahul Kaushik, and Nishi Mody
Contents xi
41 Oil and Gas Upstream Sector: The use of IEC-61499

and OPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051
Carlos A. Garcia, Gustavo Caiza, and Marcelo V. Garcia
42 Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Device for Motion Assistance
and Gait Rehabilitation: Design Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083
Jyotindra Narayan, Aditya Kalani, and Santosha K. Dwivedy
43 Fuzzy Membership Functions in ANFIS for Kinematic
Modeling of 3R Manipulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101
Jyotindra Narayan, Sashwata Banerjee, Durgarao Kamireddy, and
Santosha K. Dwivedy
44 Mobile Robot for Gas Leakage Detection System in Pipelines . . . . 1121
Gnana K. Sheela
45 Improved Security Models in Mobile Wireless Vehicle
Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1137
Gnana K. Sheela
46 Machine Learning: An Expert Thinking System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1165
T. Mohanraj, Jayanthi Yerchuru, R. S. Nithin Aravind,
and R. Yameni
47 The Adoption of Industry 4.0 Technologies Through the
Implementation of Continuous Improvement Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1185
Maria Rosaria Sessa, Ornella Malandrino, Giuseppe Fenza,
Gianfranco Caminale, and Claudio Risso
48 IIOT Applications for Sustainable Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1221
S. Kamalakkannan and A. K. Kulatunga
49 Nano-biomaterials as a Potential Tool for Futuristic
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1243
Anuron Deka, Pritam Bardhan, Manabendra Mandal,
and Rupam Kataki
50 Industry 4.0: Applications and Future Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . 1277
Rafael Kunst, Gabriel Ramos, Rodrigo Righi,
Cristiano André da Costa, Edison Pignaton, Alecio Binotto,
Jose Favilla, Ricardo Ohta, and Rob High
51 4.0 Technology for Port Digitalization and Automation . . . . . . . . . 1307
Chalermpong Senarak and Orawan Mokkhavas
52 Textile and Apparel Industry: Industry 4.0 Applications . . . . . . . . 1321
Sanjeev Swami, Debabrata Ghosh, Charu Swami,
and Sonali Upadhyaya
xii Contents
53 Construction Sector: IR 4.0 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1341

Wesam Salah Alaloul, Syed Saad, and Abdul Hannan Qureshi
54 Design of Low-Cost Soft Ankle Exoskeleton Using Soft
Actuators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1391
Kathan Rajesh Sonar, S. Sai Sudeep Reddy, Daniel Schilberg,
55 Robotic Arm for Biomedical Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1415
Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss, Birupakshya Mishra,
Safal Mohammed, Pavan Kalyan Lingampally, and Michael Short
56 Progresses on Green and Smart Materials for Multifaceted
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1439
S. O. Oyedepo, Joseph O. Dirisu, N. E. Udoye, and O. S. I.
Fayomi
57 Determining Technologies Trends and Evolution of
Smart Building Technologies by Bibliometric Analysis
from 1984 to 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1467
Nadia Karina Gamboa-Rosales, Luis Daniel López-Robles,
Leonardo B. Furstenau, Michele Kremer Sott, Manuel Jesús Cobo,
and José Ricardo López-Robles
58 Managing Process Safety and Operational Risks with
Industry 4.0 Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1501
John Lee, Ian Cameron, and Maureen Hassall
59 Lignin: A Renewable Chemical Feedstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1529
Uroosa Ejaz and Muhammad Sohail
60 Emerging Technologies in Diagnostic Virology and Antiviral
Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1545
Goutam Patra and Sumi Mukhopadhyay
61 GTAW Application for Additive Manufacturing and Cladding
of Steel Alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1559
Vishvesh J. Badheka, Vijay S. Gadakh, V. B. Shinde, and G. Bhati
62 Using Smart Mesoporous Silica in Designing Drug Delivery
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1581
Kayambu Kannan
63 IoT-Based Smart Farming System Using MQTT Protocol and
ML Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1613
Sathish P. and Alivelu Manga N.
64 Sustainability of Fusion and Solid-State Welding Process in
the Era of Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1637
Vijay S. Gadakh and Vishvesh J. Badheka
Contents xiii
65 Smart Farming: Applications of IoT in Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . 1655

Anil Kumar Singh
66 Smart Materials in Oil and Gas Industry: Application . . . . . . . . . . 1689
Alimorad Rashidi and Soheila Sharafinia
67 Food Industry: Applications of Digitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1731
Vahid Mohammadpour Karizaki
68 Detection of Tuberculosis and Lung Cancer Using CNN . . . . . . . . 1751
S. N. Hankare and S. S. Shirguppikar
69 Covid-19 or Viral Pneumonia Detection Using AI Tools . . . . . . . . . 1763
M. V. Pachore and S. S. Shirguppikar
Volume 3
Part IV Industry 4.0: Concept of Smart, Intelligent, and

Sustainable Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1775
70 Iranian Small and Medium-Sized Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1777

S. Jithender Kumar Naik, Malek Hassanpour,
and Dragan Pamucar
71 Decentralized Privacy: A Distributed Ledger Approach . . . . . . . . . 1805
Pavlos Papadopoulos, Nikolaos Pitropakis, and
William J. Buchanan
72 Toward a Circular Economy in the Copper Mining
Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1831
Ingrid Jamett, Ernesto D. R. Santibanez Gonzalez, Yecid Jiménez,
and Paulina Carrasco
73 Sustainability Index of Metalworking Fluids in the
Manufacturing Industry for Sustainable Manufacturing . . . . . . . . 1853
Muralidhar Vardhanapu and Phaneendra Kiran Chaganti
74 Wind Energy System: Data Analysis and Operational
Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1881
Vikas Khare and Cheshta J. Khare
75 Biomedical Data Retrieval Using Enhanced Query
Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1921
Muhammad Qadeer, Chuadhery Ghazanfar Hussain, and
Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain
76 Machine Learning Applications for The Tensile Property
Evaluation of Steel: An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1957
Hridayjit Kalita, Kaushik Kumar, and J. Paulo Davim
xiv Contents
77 Business Ecosystem Approach to Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1975

Daniel Alejandro Rossit, Marisa Analía Sánchez,
Fernando Tohmé, and Mariano Frutos
78 Modeling the Dynamics of a Smart Factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1997
Marisa Analía Sánchez, Daniel Alejandro Rossit,
and Fernando Tohmé
79 Robotics in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2021
Ashwin Misra, Anuj Agrawal, and Vihaan Misra
80 Fossil Fuel Combustion, Conversion to Near-Zero Waste
Through Organic Rankine Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2057
A. B. Fakeye, S. O. Oyedepo, O. S. I. Fayomi, Joseph O. Dirisu,
and N. E. Udoye
81 Flow Shop Scheduling Problems in Industry 4.0 Production
Environments: Missing Operation Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2077
Daniel Alejandro Rossit, Adrián Toncovich, Diego Gabriel Rossit,
and Sergio Nesmachnow
82 Smart Packaging: O2 Scavenger for Improving
Quality of Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2101
C. O. Mohan, S. Remya, K. R. Sreelakshmi, Anuj Kumar,
and C. N. Ravishankar
83 Social Responsibility Diagnostics as the Sustainable
Development Basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2123
Iryna Moiseienko, Ivanna Dronyuk, and Igor Moyseyenko
84 Green Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Catalytic Applications . . . . . . 2139
Aniruddha B. Patil, Sharwari K. Mengane, and Bhalchandra
M. Bhanage
85 From Agriculture to Sustainable Agriculture: Prospects for
Improving Pest Management in Industrial Revolution 4.0 . . . . . . . 2171
Farhan Mahmood Shah and Muhammad Razaq
86 Satellite-Based Environmental Impact Assessment of MSW
Dumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2189
Fiza Faizi, Khalid Mahmood, and Wajiha Iftikhar
87 Examining the Impact of Industry 4.0 on Labor Market in
Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2207
Syed Jawad Ali Kazmi and Jawad Abbas
88 Recent Advances in the MXenes for Photocatalytic and
Hydrogen Production Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2219
Ikhtiar Gul, Murtaza Sayed, Maleeha Bushra, Faryal Gohar, and
Qaiser Khan
Contents xv
89 Big Data Analytics and Advanced Technologies for

Sustainable Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2261
Rubab Zahra Naqvi, Muhammad Farooq, Syed Ali Asad Naqvi,
Hamid Anees Siddiqui, Imran Amin, Muhammad Asif, and
Shahid Mansoor
90 Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Industry 4.0:
Revolution for Sustainable Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2289
Syed Ali Asad Naqvi and Rubab Zahra Naqvi
91 Green Nanomaterials: Design, Synthesis, Properties, and
Industrial Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2317
Paulraj Mosae Selvakumar, Samiha Nuzhat,
Mahia Mohiuddin Quadrey, Sherin Monichan,
Rex Jeya Rajkumar Samdavid Thanapaul, and
M. S. A. Muthukumar Nadar
92 Green and Sustainable Battery Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2337
Andrew Ng Kay Lup
93 Circular Economy in Brazil Coupled with Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . 2367
Camila Callegari, Régis Rathmann, Alexandre Skzlo,
Sonia Regina Mudrovitsch de Bittencourt,
Antônio Marcos Mendonça, and Márcio Rojas da Cruz
94 Centrality Measures in Finding Influential Nodes for the
Big-Data Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2393
Sathyanarayanan Gopalakrishnan, Supriya Sridharan, and
Swaminathan Venkatraman
95 A Novel Cluster-Based Routing Technique for Reliable Path
Selection in VANET V2V Communication in 5G Using Upper
Triangular Matrix Lie Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2411
Supriya Sridharan, Sathyanarayanan Gopalakrishnan, and
Swaminathan Venkatraman
96 Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes-Based Micro-fibrillar Polymer
Composite Fiber: A Sturctural Biomimetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2427
Neha Agrawal, Manu Aggarwal, Kingsuk Mukhopadhyay, and
Arup R. Bhattacharyya
97 Industry 4.0: Mode of Materials, Technology, and Devices . . . . . . . 2461
Sardul Singh Dhayal, Atul Kumar, and Surender Duhan
98 Intrinsic Insights of Nanoparticles via Anaerobic Digestion
for Enhanced Biogas Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2481
Puneet Kumar Singh, Slipa Kanungo, Snehasish Mishra, and
Ritesh Pattnaik
xvi Contents
99 Green Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Characterization, and Their

Industrial Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2507
Atul Kumar, Surender Duhan, Sushma Kumari, Sunita Devi, and
Sardul Singh Dhayal
100 Advanced Materials in the Detection of Arsenic from Aquatic
Environment: Advancements in Electrochemical Sensors . . . . . . . 2527
Jongte Lalmalsawmi and Diwakar Tiwari
101 Green Bioenergy for Zero Waste: A Road Toward Clean and
Sustainable Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2559
P. Ujwal, K. Sandesh, and Vinayaka B. Shet
102 Industrial Innovation Through Sustainable Materials . . . . . . . . . . 2577
Gajanan B. Kunde and B. Sehgal
103 Low Energy/Low Carbon Eco-cementitious Binders as an
Alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2619
Abhishek Srivastava, Rajesh Kumar, and Rajni Lakhani
104 Industry 4.0: Applications in Oil and Gas Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2641
Anil K. Saroha and Abhijit Bikas Pal
105 Performance of Blended Mortars Containing Industrial and
Agricultural By-Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2667
Navdeep Singh, Nitin Ankur, P. Ashik Yashi, and Sunny Gupta
106 Green Nanomaterials: Sustainable Approach for
Environmental Remediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2699
Satyajeet Arya, Alka Rathor, Rakhi Tyagi, and Vikas Chaudhary
Part V Industry 4.0: Dangers/Warning Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2717
107 Environmental Side of Fourth Industrial Revolution:

The Positive and Negative Effects of I4.0 Technologies . . . . . . . . . . 2719
Adele Parmentola, Ilaria Tutore, and Michele Costagliola Di Fiore
108 Single-Atom Photocatalysts for Energy and Environmental
Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2751
Akshat Khandelwal, Dileep Maarisetty, and Saroj Sundar Baral
109 Sustainable Development and Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2789
Muhammad Waqar Akram, Khalil Rehman, Syed Mohsin bukhari,
Nida Akram, and Shahla Andleeb
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2813
About the Editors
Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain, PhD, is an adjunct

professor and director of laboratories in the Department
of Chemistry & Environmental Sciences at the New
Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Newark, New
Jersey, USA. His research is focused on the applications
of nanotechnology and advanced materials, environ-
mental management, analytical chemistry, smart mate-
rials and technologies, and other various industries.
Dr. Hussain is the author of numerous papers in peer-
reviewed journals and is a prolific author and editor
of around hundred (100) books, including scientific
monographs and handbooks, in his research areas. He
has published with Elsevier, the American Chemical
Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, Springer, John
Wiley & Sons, and CRC Press.
Paolo Di Sia is currently adjunct professor/senior

lecturer at the University of Padova (Italy). He holds a
bachelor’s degree along with a master’s degree and three
PhDs. His scientific interests span transdisciplinary
physics, classical and quantum-relativistic nanophysics,
nano-biotechnology, nano-neuroscience, theories of
everything, foundations of physics, history, and
philosophy of science.
He is author of more than 300 works to date (papers
in national and international journals, book chapters,
books, internal academic works, works on scientific
web pages, and popular papers), is reviewer of some
academic books, editor of some international academic
books, and reviewer of many international journals.
xvii
xviii About the Editors
He has obtained several international awards and is

member of many scientific societies as well as interna-
tional advisory/editorial boards.
Personal web page: www.paolodisia.com
Email address: paolo.disia@gmail.com
Contributors
Jawad Abbas Department of Business Administration, Iqra University Islamabad,

Islamabad, Pakistan
Manu Aggarwal Directorate of Nanomaterials and Sciences, DMSRDE, DRDO,
Kanpur, India
Department of Textile Technology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar NIT, Jalandhar, India
Anuj Agrawal Delhi Technological University, New Delhi, India
Neha Agrawal Department of Neurobiology, DIPAS, DRDO, New Delhi, India
Directorate of Nanomaterials and Sciences, DMSRDE, DRDO, Kanpur, India
Centre for Research in Nanotechnology and Sciences, IIT-Bombay, Mumbai, India
Asif Ahmad Mechanical Engineering Department, PSIT-Kanpur, Kanpur, India
Mushtaq Ahmad Biofuel Lab, Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam Uni-
versity, Islamabad, Pakistan
Sagar Ajanalkar Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere,
India
Muhammad Waqar Akram Ilama University, Sindh, Pakistan
Nida Akram Department of Management Science, Govt. College for Women
University, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
Wesam Salah Alaloul Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Uni-
versiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
N. Alilat Département Génie Thermique et Énergie (GTE), Université de Paris,
Laboratoire Thermique Interfaces Environnement (LTIE), Ville d’Avray, France
Imran Amin Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotech-
nology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan
G. Ananthi Department of ECE, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai,
Tamil Nadu, India
xix
xx Contributors
Shahla Andleeb Department of Environmental Science, Government College

Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan
Nitin Ankur Department of Civil Engineering, Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute
of Technology, Jalandhar, India
R. S. Nithin Aravind Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of
Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss Design and Automation Research Group,
School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu, India
Satyajeet Arya Faculty of Management Studies, Sri Sri University, Cuttack, India
P. Ashik Yashi Department of Civil Engineering, Dr B R Ambedkar National
Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India
U. Ashok Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Nuzvid, India
Muhammad Asif Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for
Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Vishvesh J. Badheka Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technol-
ogy, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
Adel Badri Industrial Engineering Department, School of Engineering, UQTR,
Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
A. Baïri Département Génie Thermique et Énergie (GTE), Université de Paris,
Laboratoire Thermique Interfaces Environnement (LTIE), Ville d’Avray, France
Sashwata Banerjee Department of Electrical Engineering, Vellore Institute of
Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
Saroj Sundar Baral Department of Chemical Engineering, BITS Pilani K K Birla
Goa Campus, Goa, India
Pritam Bardhan Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur
University, Tezpur, Assam, India
Reza Vatankhah Barenji Department of Industrial Engineering, Hacettepe Univer-
sity, Ankara, Turkey
Mohamed Naceur Ben Aziza School of Management, Université du Québec à
Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
Kakali Bhadra Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Nadia, West
Bengal, India
Bhalchandra M. Bhanage Department of Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Tech-
nology, Matunga, Mumbai, India
Contributors xxi
G. Bhati Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology, Pandit

Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
Arup R. Bhattacharyya Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Material
Science, IIT-Bombay, Mumbai, India
Alecio Binotto IBM Consulting, München, Germany
William J. Buchanan Blockpass ID Lab, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh,
UK
Maleeha Bushra Radiation and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, National
Centre of Excellence in Physical Chemistry, University of Peshawar, Peshawar,
Pakistan
Gustavo Caiza Universidad Politecnica Salesiana, UPS, Quito, Ecuador
Camila Callegari Centre for Energy and Environmental Economics, Universidade
Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ian Cameron School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland,
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Gianfranco Caminale CTO Cyber Security Division, LEONARDO Company,
Genoa, Italy
Paulina Carrasco Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Facultad de Ingeniería,
Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile
Phaneendra Kiran Chaganti Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Insti-
tute of Technology & Science, Pilani Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India
Vikas Chaudhary CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO),
Chandigarh, India
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
S. A. Chavan Analogic Automation Pvt. Ltd, Pune, India
Foued Chihi Department of Finance and Economics, School of Management,
UQTR, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
Manuel Jesús Cobo Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University
of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain
Mikael Collan School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti Univer-
sity of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland
VATT Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki, Finland
Cristiano André da Costa University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São
Leopoldo, Brazil
xxii Contributors
Márcio Rojas da Cruz Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovations (MCTI),

Brasília, Brazil
Michele Costagliola Di Fiore Department of Management and Quantitative Stud-
ies, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy
Partha Pratim Das Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
J. Paulo Davim Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro,
Aveiro, Portugal
Sonia Regina Mudrovitsch de Bittencourt Ministry of Science, Technology, and
Innovations (MCTI), Brasília, Brazil
Fabio De Felice Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Università degli
Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Cassino, Italy
Anuron Deka Department of Energy, Tezpur University,Tezpur, Assam, India
Sunita Devi Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry,
M.K.J.K. Collage, Rohtak, India
M. N. Dhavalikar MIT School of Engineering, MIT ADT University, Pune, India
Sardul Singh Dhayal Department of ECE, Guru Jambheshwar University of
Science and Technology, Hisar, Haryana, India
D. Dinakaran Centre for Automation and Robotics (ANRO), School of Mechanical
Sciences, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai, TN, India
Joseph O. Dirisu Mechanical Engineering Department, Covenant University, Ota,
Ogun State, Nigeria
Paolo Di Sia School of Science, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
School of Medicine, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Padova,
Italy
Ivanna Dronyuk ACS Department, LPNU, Lviv, Ukraine
Surender Duhan Nanomaterials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics,
Deen Bandhu Chhoturam University of Science and Technology, Murthal Sonepat,
Haryana, India
Santosha K. Dwivedy Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India
Uroosa Ejaz Department of Microbiology, University of Karachi, Karachi,
Pakistan
Rajendran Sugin Elankavi Centre for Automation and Robotics (ANRO), School
of Mechanical Sciences, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai,
TN, India
Contributors xxiii
Fiza Faizi Remote Sensing, GIS and Climatic Research Lab (National Centre for
GIS and Space Application), Centre for Remote Sensing, University of the Punjab,
Lahore, Pakistan
A. B. Fakeye Mechanical Engineering Department, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro,
Nigeria
Muhammad Farooq Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for
Jose Favilla IBM Global Markets, Coppell, TX, USA
O. S. I. Fayomi Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Bells
University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria
Giuseppe Fenza Department of Management & Innovation Systems, University of
Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy
Letícia Ali Figueiredo Ferreira Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso
Suckow da Fonseca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Mariano Frutos Departamento de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS),
Bahía Blanca, Argentina
Leonardo B. Furstenau Department of Industrial Engineering, Federal University
of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Vijay S. Gadakh Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrutvahini College of
Engineering, Ahmednagar, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
V. N. Gaitonde School of Mechanical Engineering, KLE Technological University,
Hubballi, India
Nadia Karina Gamboa-Rosales CONACYT – Autonomous University of Zacate-
cas, Zacatecas, Mexico
Carlos A. Garcia Universidad Tecnica de Ambato, UTA,Ambato, Ecuador
Marcelo V. Garcia University of Basque Country, UPV/EHU,Bilbao, Spain
Debabrata Ghosh Operations and Supply Chain Management Area, MIT Global
Scale Network – Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation, Shah Alam,
Malaysia
Faryal Gohar Radiation and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, National Cen-
tre of Excellence in Physical Chemistry, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan
Sathyanarayanan Gopalakrishnan Department of Mathematics, School of Arts,
Science, Humanities and Education, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur,
India
Ikhtiar Gul Radiation and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, National Centre
of Excellence in Physical Chemistry, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan
xxiv Contributors
Ramachandiran Gunabalan School of Electrical Engineering, VIT Chennai,

Chennai, India
Sunny Gupta Department of Civil Engineering, Dr B R Ambedkar National
Vinit Gupta Department of Mechanical Engineering, S.B. Jain Institute of Tech-
nology, Management and Research, Nagpur, India
S. N. Hankare Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajararambapu Institute of
Technology, Rajaramnagar, India
Vandavasi Harikrishna IgrenEnergi Services Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, India
Reza Ebrahimi Hariry Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
Maureen Hassall School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland,
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Malek Hassanpour Department of Environmental science, UCS, Osmania Univer-
sity, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India
R. J. Hernández-Minguillón CAVIAR Research Group, Department of Architec-
ture, Higher Technical School of Architecture, University of the Basque Country
UPV/EHU, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
Rob High IBM Cloud and Cognitive Software, Durham, NC, USA
Chuadhery Ghazanfar Hussain Department of Education, Computer science and
Technology, Punjab, Pakistan
Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain Department of Chemistry and Environmental
Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA
Wajiha Iftikhar Remote Sensing, GIS and Climatic Research Lab (National Centre
for GIS and Space Application), Centre for Remote Sensing and Department of
Space Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Chakravarthi Jada Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Nuzvid,
India
Ankit Jain Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Shivani Jakhar Nanomaterials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics,
D.C.R. University of Science and Technology, Murthal, India
Inorganic Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, D. C. R.
University of Science and Technology, Murthal, India
Ingrid Jamett Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Facultad de Ingeniería,
Contributors xxv
Yecid Jiménez Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Procesos de Minerales,

Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile
S. Jithender Kumar Naik University College of Science, Osmania University,
Hyderabad, Telangana State, India
Lovin K. John Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engi-
neering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
Harshadeep Joshi Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere,
India
Aditya Kalani Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technol-
ogy, Guwahati, Assam, India
K. D. Kalantri Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
Pune (COEP), Pune, India
Hridayjit Kalita Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Tech-
nology, Ranchi, India
S. Kamalakkannan Department of Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, Fac-
ulty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Durgarao Kamireddy Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology,Guwahati, Assam, India
Kayambu Kannan PG and Research Department of Chemistry, Raja Doraisingam
Government Arts College, Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, India
Shrawan Kumaar Kannan Department of Mechatronics Engineering, College of
Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, India
Slipa Kanungo School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technol-
ogy (Deemed to be University), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Vahid Mohammadpour Karizaki Chemical Engineering Department, Quchan
University of Technology, Quchan, Iran
J. Karthick Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering Col-
lege, Perundurai, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
Rupam Kataki Department of Energy, Tezpur University,Tezpur, Assam, India
Rahul Kaushik Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational and
Technical Education, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Andrew Ng Kay Lup School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen
University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Fujian, China
xxvi Contributors
Syed Jawad Ali Kazmi Department of Business Administration, Iqra University

Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
Payal Kesharwani Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational and
Khalil Rehman Department of Environmental Science, Government College
Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan
Qaiser Khan Radiation and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, National Centre
of Excellence in Physical Chemistry, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan
Akshat Khandelwal Department of Chemical Engineering, BITS Pilani K K Birla
Cheshta J. Khare SGSITS, Indore, India
Vikas Khare STME, NMIMS, Indore, India
Mariusz Kostrzewski Faculty of Transport, Division of Construction Fundamen-
tals of Transport Equipment, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
A. U. Kotkar Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Pune
(COEP), Pune, India
B. B. Kotturshettar School of Mechanical Engineering, KLE Technological Uni-
versity, Hubballi, India
A. K. Kulatunga Department of Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, Faculty
of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Vinayak N. Kulkarni School of Mechanical Engineering, KLE Technological
University, Hubballi, India
Anuj Kumar ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, India
Atul Kumar Nanomaterials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Deen
Bandhu Chhoturam University of Science and Technology, Murthal Sonepat,
Haryana, India
Kaushik Kumar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Tech-
nology, Ranchi, India
Nikhil Kumar Department of Chemistry, Chaudhary Charan Singh University,
Meerut, India
P. Mohan Kumar Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering
College, Perundurai, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
Rajesh Kumar CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, Uttarakhand,
India
Sushma Kumari Department of Physics, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of
Science and Technology, Murthal, India
Contributors xxvii
Gajanan B. Kunde Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,

Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India
Rafael Kunst University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo,
Brazil
R. M. Kuppan Chetty Centre for Automation and Robotics (ANRO), School of
Mechanical Sciences, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai, TN,
India
Rajni Lakhani CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, Uttarakhand,
India
Jongte Lalmalsawmi Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences,
Mizoram University, Aizawl, India
John Lee School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Bris-
bane, QLD, Australia
Tzu-Jou Liao Department of Industrial Management, I-Shou University, Kaohsi-
ung City, Taiwan
Hsiao Kang Lin Department of Industrial Management, I-Shou University, Kaoh-
siung City, Taiwan
Pavan Kalyan Lingampally School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute
of Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
D. R. Londhe Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
José Ricardo López-Robles Academic Unit of Accounting and Management,
Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Cadiz, Cadiz,
Spain
Luis Daniel López-Robles Academic Unit of Accounting and Management,
Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico
Dileep Maarisetty Department of Chemical Engineering, BITS Pilani K K Birla
Khalid Mahmood Remote Sensing, GIS and Climatic Research Lab (National
Centre for GIS and Space Application), Centre for Remote Sensing and Department
of Space Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Ornella Malandrino Department of Management & Innovation Systems, Univer-
sity of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy
Manabendra Mandal Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology,
Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, India
xxviii Contributors
Shahid Mansoor Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for

A. Martín-Garín ENEDI Research Group, Department of Thermal Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering of Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU,
Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
Antônio Marcos Mendonça Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovations
(MCTI), Brasília, Brazil
Sharwari K. Mengane Department of Botany, M. H. Shinde Mahavidyalaya,
Tisangi, Kolhapur, India
Karl-Erik Michelsen School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti
University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland
J. A. Millán-García ENEDI Research Group, Department of Thermal Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering of Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU,
Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
Birupakshya Mishra School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of
Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Snehasish Mishra Bioenergy Lab and BDTC, Kalinga Institute of Industrial
Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Ashwin Misra Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
Vihaan Misra Netaji Subhas University of Technology, New Delhi, India
Neha Mittal Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational and
Nishi Mody Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Hari Singh Gour Central
University, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India
Safal Mohammed School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technol-
ogy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
C. O. Mohan ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, India
T. Mohanraj Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineer-
ing, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
Syed Mohsin bukhari Department of Wildlife and Ecology, Faculty of Fisheries &
Wildlife, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
Iryna Moiseienko Financial Department, Lviv State University of Internal Affairs,
Lviv, Ukraine
Orawan Mokkhavas Maritime Transportation Program, Department of Nautical
Science and Maritime Logistics, Faculty of International Maritime Studies, Kaset-
sart University, Sri Racha, Thailand
Contributors xxix
Sherin Monichan Panaiyaanmai (Palmyraculture), The Centre for Self-Reliance

and Sustainable Development, Munnetram Green Industry, Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu,
India
Igor Moyseyenko Department of Theoretical Economics, Lviv Trade and Eco-
nomic University, Lviv, Ukraine
Kingsuk Mukhopadhyay Directorate of Nanomaterials and Technology, DMSRDE,
DRDO, Kanpur, India
Sumi Mukhopadhyay Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Tropical
Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Ramu Murugan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engi-
neering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
M. S. A. Muthukumar Nadar Department of Biotechnology, Karunya Institute of
Technology and Sciences (Deemed to be University), Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India
Alivelu Manga N. Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Osmania University,
Hyderabad, India
Sonia Nain Inorganic Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry,
D. C. R. University of Science and Technology, Murthal, India
Priyanka J. Nair Mercedes-Benz Research and Development, Bengaluru, India
Rubab Zahra Naqvi Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for
Syed Ali Asad Naqvi Department of Geography, Government College University,
Faisalabad, Pakistan
Jyotindra Narayan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India
R. NaveenKumar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering
Sergio Nesmachnow Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de la República, Monte-
video, Uruguay
R. Nithyaprakash Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering
Wojciech Jerzy Nowak Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Literary Studies,
Department of Oriental Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland
Samiha Nuzhat Science and Math Program, Asian University for Women, Chit-
tagong, Bangladesh
S. S. Ohol Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Pune
(COEP), Pune, India
xxx Contributors
Ricardo Ohta IBM Research, São Paulo, Brazil

S. O. Oyedepo Mechanical Engineering Department, Covenant University, Ota,
Ogun State, Nigeria
Sathish P. Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Osmania University, Hyder-
abad, India
M. V. Pachore Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajararambapu Institute of
Technology, Rajaramnagar, India
Abhijit Bikas Pal Honeywell UOP, Unitech Trade Centre, Gurugram, India
Fernanda E. D. Palandi Engineering and Knowledge Management, Federal Uni-
versity of Santa Catarina, Trindade, Florianópolis, Brazil
Dragan Pamucar Department of logistics, Military Academy, University of
Defence, Belgrade, Serbia
Pavlos Papadopoulos Blockpass ID Lab, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh,
UK
Anant Paradkar Centre for Pharmaceutical Engineering Science, University of
Bradford, Bradford, UK
Adele Parmentola Department of Management and Quantitative Studies, Univer-
sity of Naples “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy
A. S. Patil MIT School of Engineering, MIT ADT University, Pune, India
Aniruddha B. Patil Department of Chemistry, Maharshi Dayanand College, Parel,
Mumbai, India
Goutam Patra Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Tropical Medicine,
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Ritesh Pattnaik School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technol-
ogy (Deemed to be University), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
N. M. Patwardhan Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineer-
ing Pune (COEP), Pune, India
B. Pavan Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Nuzvid, India
Antonella Petrillo Department of Engineering, University of Naples “Parthenope”,
Naples, Italy
Edison Pignaton Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre,
Brazil
Y. M. Pirjade Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
Contributors xxxi
Nikolaos Pitropakis Blockpass ID Lab, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh,

UK
Km Pooja Department of Chemistry, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut,
India
Shiv Kumar Prajapati Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational
and Technical Education, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
M. M. Prieto Energy Department, Campus de Viesques, University of Oviedo,
Gijón, Spain
Muhammad Qadeer Department of Education, Computer science and Technology,
Punjab, Pakistan
Mahia Mohiuddin Quadrey Science and Math Program, Asian University for
Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh
Abdul Hannan Qureshi Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Mukundhan Rajendiran Department of Mechatronics Engineering, College of
Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, India
Gabriel Ramos University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo,
Brazil
M. M. Ramya Centre for Automation and Robotics (ANRO), School of Mechanical
Sciences, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai, TN, India
R. Ranjith Pillai Department of Mechatronics Engineering, College of Engineering
and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,
India
Alimorad Rashidi Nanotechnology Research Center, Research Institute of
Petroleum Industry, Tehran, Iran
Régis Rathmann Centre for Energy and Environmental Economics, Universidade
Alka Rathor Institute of Environmental Studies, Kurukshetra University, Kuruk-
shetra, India
V. Ravi School of Electronics Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chen-
nai, India
C. N. Ravishankar ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, India
Muhammad Razaq Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
& Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
xxxii Contributors
S. Sai Sudeep Reddy School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of

Augusto da Cunha Reis Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow
da Fonseca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
S. Remya ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, India
Rodrigo Righi University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo,
Brazil
Claudio Risso Critical Infrastructures, EPC & Large Enterprise – Cyber Security
Division, LEONARDO Company, Genoa, Italy
Paavo Ritala School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University
of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland
Atslands Rego da Rocha Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brasil
Daniel Alejandro Rossit Department of Engineering, Universidad Nacional del Sur
(UNS), Bahía Blanca, Argentina
Diego Gabriel Rossit Departamento de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Sur,
Buenos Aires, Argentina
INMABB UNS CONICET, Departamento de Matemática, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rozina Biofuel Lab, Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Nikodem Rybak School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland,
St Lucia, QLD, Australia
Syed Saad Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti
Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Jamile Sabatini-Marques Engineering and Knowledge Management, Federal Uni-
versity of Santa Catarina, Trindade, Florianópolis, Brazil
M. A. Sai Balaji Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.S.A Crescent Institute
of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Rex Jeya Rajkumar Samdavid Thanapaul Department of Surgery, Boston Uni-
versity School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
Marisa Analía Sánchez Departamento de Ciencias de la Administración, Univer-
sidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), Bahía Blanca, Argentina
K. Sandesh Department of Biotechnology Engineering, N.M.A.M. Institute of
Technology (Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi), Udupi District,
Karnataka, India
Ernesto D. R. Santibanez Gonzalez CES 4.0, Department of Industrial Engineer-
ing, Faculty of Engineering, University of Talca, Curicó, Chile
Contributors xxxiii
Igor Leão dos Santos Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da
Fonseca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Anil K. Saroha Chemical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology,
Delhi, India
S. Satishkumar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Velammal Engineering
College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Jyrki Savolainen School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti Uni-
versity of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland
Murtaza Sayed Radiation and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, National
Centre of Excellence in Physical Chemistry, University of Peshawar, Peshawar,
Pakistan
Daniel Schilberg University of Applied Sciences, Bochum, Germany
B. Sehgal Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Technology and Engineer-
ing, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, India
Supriya Sehrawat Nanomaterials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics,
D.C.R. University of Science and Technology, Murthal, India
Paulraj Mosae Selvakumar Science and Math Program, Asian University for
Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh
Panaiyaanmai (Palmyraculture), The Centre for Self-Reliance and Sustainable
Development, Munnetram Green Industry, Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, India
Chalermpong Senarak Maritime Transportation Program, Department of Nautical
Science and Maritime Logistics, Faculty of International Maritime Studies, Kaset-
sart University, Sri Racha, Thailand
Sumedha Seniaray Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
Maria Rosaria Sessa Department of Management & Innovation Systems, Univer-
sity of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy
Farhan Mahmood Shah Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agricultural
Sciences & Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
S. Shankar Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College,
Perundurai, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
Soheila Sharafinia Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shahid Chamran
University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
Kanika Sharma Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational and
Gnana K. Sheela APJ Abdul Technological University, Trivandrum, India
xxxiv Contributors
T. P. Shelke Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Pune

(COEP), Pune, India
Vinayaka B. Shet Department of Biotechnology Engineering, N.M.A.M. Institute
of Technology (Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi), Udupi District,
Karnataka, India
V. B. Shinde Department of Production Engineering, Amrutvahini College of
Engineering, Ahmednagar, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
S. S. Shirguppikar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajararambapu Insti-
tute of Technology, Rajaramnagar, India
Michael Short School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies,
Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
Hamid Anees Siddiqui Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for
Anil Kumar Singh Department of Life Sciences, Sant Baba Bhag Singh University,
Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Arun K. Singh Department of Mechanical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National
Institute of Technology, Nagpur, India
Navdeep Singh Department of Civil Engineering, Dr B R Ambedkar National
Puneet Kumar Singh Bioenergy Lab and BDTC, Kalinga Institute of Industrial
Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Ravindra Singh Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
Ashish Singla Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Delhi, New Delhi, India
Nitish Sinha Department of Mechanical Engineering, G.H. Raisoni Institute of
Business Management, Jalgaon, India
Alexandre Skzlo Centre for Energy and Environmental Economics, Universidade
Muhammad Sohail Department of Microbiology, University of Karachi, Karachi,
Pakistan
Kathan Rajesh Sonar School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of
Michele Kremer Sott Business School, Unisinos University, Porto Alegre, Brazil
K. R. Sreelakshmi ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, India
Supriya Sridharan Department of Mathematics, School of Arts, Science, Human-
ities and Education, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
Contributors xxxv
Abhishek Srivastava CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, Uttarak-

hand, India
Panagiotis Stavropoulos Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation
(LMS), Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of
Patras, Patras, Greece
J. Susai Mary Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Charu Swami Department of Home Science, Faculty of Arts, Dayalbagh Educa-
tional Institute, Agra, India
Sanjeev Swami Department of Management, Dayalbagh Educational Institute,
Agra, India
Nazia Tarannum Department of Chemistry, Chaudhary Charan Singh University,
Meerut, India
Muhammad Usman Tariq Abu Dhabi School of Management, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Diwakar Tiwari Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, Mizoram
University, Aizawl, India
Fernando Tohmé Departamento de Economía, Universidad Nacional del Sur
(UNS), Bahía Blanca, Argentina
Adrián Toncovich Departamento de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Sur,
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ilaria Tutore Department of Management and Quantitative Studies, University of
Naples “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy
Rakhi Tyagi Institute of Environmental Studies, Kurukshetra University, Kuruk-
shetra, India
N. E. Udoye Mechanical Engineering Department, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun
State, Nigeria
P. Ujwal Department of Biotechnology Engineering, N.M.A.M. Institute of Tech-
nology (Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi), Udupi District, Kar-
nataka, India
Sonali Upadhyaya Department of Management, Dayalbagh Educational Institute,
Agra, India
Sreedevi Upadhyayula Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
Muralidhar Vardhanapu Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute
of Technology & Science, Pilani Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India
Swaminathan Venkatraman Department of Mathematics, School of Arts, Science,
Humanities and Education, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
xxxvi Contributors
P. Vinod Babu Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Nuzvid, India

Karthik Warrier Department of Mechatronics Engineering, College of Engineer-
ing and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu, India
Kailas L. Wasewar Advance Separation and Analytical Laboratory (ASAL),
Department of Chemical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of
Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, India
R. Yameni Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering,
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
Jayanthi Yerchuru Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of
Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
Muhammad Zafar Biofuel Lab, Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam
University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Part I
Industry 4.0: Concepts, Themes, and
Perspectives
Industry 4.0 Revolution: Introduction
1
Paolo Di Sia
Contents
The Fourth Industrial Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Expected Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Costs, Security, and Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Enabling Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Advanced Human-Machine Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Additive Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Cyber Physical System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Big Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Wearable Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Virtual and Augmented Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Applicative Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Smart Home and Building Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Logistic Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Urban Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Professional Figures of Tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
P. Di Sia ()
School of Science, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
School of Medicine, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 3

C. M. Hussain, P. Di Sia (eds.), Handbook of Smart Materials, Technologies, and
Devices, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84205-5_88
4 P. Di Sia
Abstract
Until today, three industrial revolutions have occurred over time; starting from
that of the late 1700s (note for the use of the “machine steam”) to the advent of
the first computers in factories (1960–1970), they have brought a radical change
not only in the production in the industry, but also in the society. Technology has
never stopped innovating. This increasing evolution has been and is still sustained
by man, who seeks progressively advanced tools that improve their existence.
This chapter is devoted to the theme of Industry 4.0 and all aspects related
to it; starting by the birth and the meaning of the term, the author illustrates all
those technologies that have significantly determined the beginning of the fourth
revolution, describing their characteristics, their potential, and some methods of
use in the industrial field and social sphere. Furthermore, important topics such
as ethics, privacy, and security will be considered, in a reality where all data are
shared and saved in remote.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Evolution · Technology · Science · Informatics · Robotics ·

Automation · Reality
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The term “Industry 4.0” derives from the European Industry 4.0 initiative, inspired
by a project thought and done by the German government. The authorship of the
German term “Industrie 4.0” is attributed to Henning Kagermann, Wolf-Dieter
Lukas, and Wolfgang Wahlster, who used it for the first time in a communication,
held at the 2011 Hannover Fair, in which they announced the “Zukunftsprojekt
Industrie 4.0.” Realized at the end of 2013, the project for the industry of future
“Industry 4.0” involved investing in infrastructure, school, energy systems, research
institutions, and companies for modernizing the German production system and
bringing German manufacturing back to world level, making it globally competitive.
So, when we talk about Industry 4.0, we refer to the fourth industrial revolution,
the one characterizing our days. Unlike the revolutions of XVIII, XIX, and XX
centuries, it is not possible to attribute to it a precise period or starting date, but, as a
revolution, it is leading to a change on global scale (https://www.hannovermesse.de/
home; https://www.vdi-nachrichten.com/Technik-Gesellschaft/Industrie-40-Mit-
Internet-Dinge-Weg-4-industriellen-Revolution; http://reports.weforum.org/future-
of-jobs-2016/).
Industry 4.0
The revolution of the early 1970s is known for the entry of electronics and
information technology in the industrial sector, leading to an increase of automation
1 Industry 4.0 Revolution: Introduction 5
levels with consequent raising of production. Industry 4.0, called also the “digital
revolution,” is concentrated on all those digital technologies able to increase the
general interconnection and cooperation of resources (people and IT systems), with
changes affecting the industrial sector and the society in all aspects (Schwab 2017).
Data assume a primary role in this process, because they are the basis of any
operation, a tool that creates value. It is through data that the calculation power of
machines and the motion of today and future economy are determined. The four
pillars of this revolution are the following:
1) Data.
2) Analytics, that is, all those analysis operations performed after data collection.
3) Human-Machine Interaction (HMI), that is, those modalities of man-machine
interface.
4) Manufacturing, also defined as the “bridge” between the digital and the real.
Once data have been collected, processed, and made a usable tool, the last step
is to find the tools for producing goods.
The common factor is the “interconnection” between multiple elements of a

system, high levels of communication, and the optimal exploitation of all connected
services. The related “enabling technologies” are divided in two large groups. The
first one concerns the set of technologies and services closest to IT (Information
Technology):
1a) Cloud: management of large amounts of data on external servers, making the
information available to anyone who has the authorization.
1b) Big Data: analysis of a large amount of data in order to optimize products and
production processes.
1c) Cyber-Security: security during operations on the network and on open systems.
The technologies of the second group are closer to the operational level:
2a) Augmented Reality: It can be applied in any sector; in the industrial sector, for
example, it acts as support for production and maintenance processes.
2b) Advanced HMI: They allow the man to interact with the machine or with the
system in general.
2c) Additive Manufacturing (AM): It covers all the production of manufactured
goods carried out using the 3D printer (Kumar Pabbathi 2018).
Expected Benefits
Industry 4.0 is a revolution that gradually affected a growing number of sectors

(medicine, industry, education, etc.), slowly increasing their digitization level
through the use of modern technologies, and creating an environment in which the
processes will be completely automated. Supported by a specific communication
6 P. Di Sia
system, they are able to exchange data with other systems, monitor themselves,
and act accordingly. Thus, the presence of intelligent machines and equipments is
spreading, bringing more efficiency in their respective application areas.
In the industrial sector, means will be made available contributing improvements
throughout the production line. New technologies are being introduced in every
single step that goes from the processing of raw materials upon the delivery of
finished product. Production will be performed at reduced costs, with greater speed
and avoiding economic problems caused by machine downtime or errors, everything
without negatively affecting the product quality. Robots are programmed to work in
close contact with the man; augmented reality, following step by step the operator,
will make the assembly, maintenance, and testing phases simpler and safer.
In a company, however, to affect productivity and position in market is not just
machinery; especially for big companies, management choices can produce positive
but also negative effects. For this, certain data analysis algorithms (“Data Mining”)
go into help, producing useful results that simplify the activity of the decision-
maker.
On social level, the evolution will not be less, with effects changing many aspects
of our daily life. Many leisure or business activities have already seen the progress
using modern and functional tools. It is sufficient to think of the boom in sales of
“wearable devices,” about 19 million in 2014 (https://www.wearable-technologies.
com/); they allow to monitor the heart rate, to receive calls and messages simply by
connecting to a smartphone. An important role is also assumed by the “embedded
systems” that take care of repeatedly performing specific operations defined by a
software, respecting real time if necessary. They are increasingly present in every
kind of object we use. It is easy also to think of a “smart home,” in which such level
of interconnection is reachable that all electronic devices are visible on the network
and can be managed remotely by the user via smartphone or tablet (Yáñez 2017;
O’Driscoll 2017).
Expanding this concept further, we talk about “smart city,” a city managed
efficiently in every aspect, in order to ensure a sustainable development and a high
quality of life, with development factors like economic activities, environmental
resources, relationships between people, mobility, and method of administration
(Barlow and Levy-Bencheton 2019; Di Sia 2019a).
Costs, Security, and Privacy
The effects produced by an event can have a twofold appearance: favorable and
unfavorable. The introduction of robots in factories brings not only a more efficient
production, but also an inevitable job reduction. The work of a robot often equates
that of 10 men, with the difference that the product will be more precise, less subject
to imperfections. This problem is common to the entire industrialized population of
the world and is caused not only by an increase in technology but also by the request
of the necessary knowledge to take advantage of these technologies.
The possible loss of job is not the only inconvenience of this revolution.
Companies and public bodies must invest increasingly on the protection of cyber
physical and IoT systems, since these open the door to security problems. The
risks in having entire systems connected to each other through the network are an
attack on a weak link to break the whole chain; for this, the protection will become
necessary not only for data and infrastructure that contain them, but also for their
network. The attention to cyber security must be therefore much higher (Di Sia
2017a; Wells et al. 2014).
Studies have shown that most violations are committed by a company supplier
or an employee who has access to privileged accounts; in 75% of cases, it is
sensitive information taken out of the workplace. There are also employees that for
disinterest, habit, or negligence do not care for the data they work on, thus exposing
the company to possible intrusions or data loss.
To solve the problems related to cyber security in business environment, the
following are necessary:
Increased knowledge of the company’s processed data, knowing how to distinguish

important data to those less important, knowing where they are stored, and
knowing methods or software that guarantee a minimum of security.
Awareness of the risks coming from outside, from e-mail with viruses, to possible
access to own server or archive cloud (Vaidya et al. 2018).
Privacy is the tool that has been provided to man to protect their confidentiality.
But with the progress, lots of personal data like health status, political ideals, and
interests become profitable by every operation that one carries out every day making
therefore complex and onerous the control on such data.
Enabling Technologies
Industry 4.0, although global, has not been uniformly implemented among the
various countries both in the timing and in the choice of investments to be carried
out. In any case, it is possible to recognize common elements that initiated the
revolution: Internet of Things, Big Data, Robotics, and additive manufacturing,
through which companies have the possibility of radically innovating their business
model.
Advanced Human-Machine Interface
The human-machine interface (HMI) is the device or software that allows man
to interface with one or more machines. It is therefore possible to supervise and
manage, via a single display or multitouch, the correct operation of any simple or
complex system. The software used plays the important role of “translator” that
shows, in the most user-friendly way possible, all information it receives, making
8 P. Di Sia
them easier for the user to manage machinery (Gorecky et al. 2014; Bannon 2011).
The new solutions provide for remote locations that give the possibility to manage
also a complex system at distance. If before the man-machine interfaces were mostly
used to manage industrial processes, today they are used practically in any social
context. With the Internet of Things all objects can be interfaced with the network,
and therefore remotely manageable.
Additive Manufacturing
The AM is a new technology used for production of 3D objects; one of the principal
reasons of its use is accuracy. In some sectors, such as “prototyping” (for example,
in the medical field) or “hobby,” it has attained a very high level of precision,
at least for now, by milling machines (Gebhardt 2011). The characteristics of the
additive printing that decreed its success are the countless varieties of materials and
techniques usable:
Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA): Stereolithography was one of the first tech-

niques used in AM. It consists of a laser that solidifies portions of liquid resin
contained in a tank. The materials used are mostly epoxy resins photosensitive,
for the creation of transparent prototypes, and high temperature-resistant ceram-
ics (300 ◦ C) (Bártolo 2014).
Multi Jet Modeling (MJM): As in molten deposition, a wax filament is heated
and deposited on the platform of construction. Before depositing the next
layer, the structure is solidified with the use of UV rays (https://3d-labs.de/
mjm/; https://www.3dprintingmaterialsconference.com/3d-printing-materials/a-
comparison-of-transparent-am-materials/).
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM): It is the most known and used technique; it
consists in depositing material using a nozzle. The extrusion nozzle is heated to
the point of get the material malleable but still allows it to cool down in a short
time, thus allowing a horizontal and vertical development of the artifact (Attoye
et al. 2019).
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS): a very popular technique, with which it is possible
to create 3D objects of plastic, glass, ceramic, nylon, and metals. It uses a laser
that welds the particles together of the chosen material (https://laseroflove.files.
wordpress.com/2009/10/dmls_history.pdf).
Color Jet Printing (CJP): This is a professional 3D metal-printing technique in
which the objects are formed by gluing the metal particles and then sintering
them (or melting them). The negative aspects are the need for a separate cooking
phase in a special furnace and high costs; it is therefore indicated for artifacts
of consistent size (https://www.additive-3d.com/Materials-finishes-Colorjet-3d-
Printing.html).
Directed Energy Deposition (DED) uses a laser to dissolve the dust that is slowly
released and deposited by a robotic arm to form the layers of an object (https://
www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/directed-energy-deposition).
The potential of additive printing is endless. In the medical field, this technology
does not only limit itself to prostheses, but also reproduces rigid body structures
such as bones and teeth. The research aims to achieve artificially the soft tissues
of the body making them functional (Zhou and Bhaduri 2019). In the engineering
field, the aviation sector has already started projects for the creation of engine parts
(nozzles, motor blades, and turbines) for aircrafts using materials such as titanium,
aluminum, and nickel-chromium (Jiménez et al. 2019).
Cyber Physical System
The Cyber Physical System is perhaps the computer system that has determined
the beginning of Industry 4.0 because it has been one of the first systems able to
exchange information, in a continuous way, between the physical and the virtual
world. CPSs are composed of different parts working together to carry out certain
operations. These systems must comply control, communication, and computational
capacity; they are software, communication technology, sensors, and actuators for
detection and measurement of phenomena in the real world. Many are already used
in most varied fields: in medical devices, in environmental and critical infrastructure
control systems, in conservation and energy distribution systems, and in smart
facilities in general. The potential and usefulness of CPSs increase if they are
interfaced with the Internet (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/cpse-labs-
3225.html; Kim et al. 2018).
Internet of Things
Internet of Things (IoT) defines the set of smart objects that, in addition to
perform actions of geolocation, processing, acquisition, and identification, are able
to interface with the world of the web and consequently access to all services
they can offer. Every object, like a CPS, is identified by an IP address or by
special labels RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification), QRcode, or NFC (Near Field
Communication) (Di Sia 2016; Di Sia 2019b).
With this technology, the network is used as a means to transmit data to remote
servers or other devices, also interfaced with the Internet. An object classifiable as
IoT can communicate with one or more devices as appropriate. Let us talk then of a
connection:
One to One: It is a more basic and simple functionality than a device IoT can
perform, that is, direct communication with a second device. This is the case of a
car equipped with instruments of self-diagnostics; it is able to send information
to mechanic’s computer.
One to Many: We have larger data transmission; there is a center that instructs many
receiving sensors, based on information which in turn had been received and
processed by them, as some car manufacturers who improve the efficiency of
10 P. Di Sia
cars, already in circulation, based on data collected by them (https://blogmitcnc.

org/2014/08/21/the-tesla-iot-car-case-study/).
Many to Many: It is the most complete form of IoT, in which millions of sensors
communicate with millions of devices creating a dense network of information
capable of managing independently whole activities (Srinidhi et al. 2019).
IoT is therefore an evolution that extends the Internet to real objects and places.
More and more sectors (home automation, robotics, avionics, automotive and
biomedical industry, and telemetry) use an increasing number of devices, connected
to the Internet, for monitoring and then carry out consequent actions. For example,
in urban planning, street lamps can be equipped with sensors that indicate if the
lamp works and detects air quality by informing in an appropriate way the reference
body (Rathore et al. 2016).
Cloud
The cloud is a service provided by a supplier, such as companies or external

providers, which allows any authorized customer to share, store, or process data. A
cloud service must respect certain characteristics, among which global accessibility
is “in primis.” It constitutes the distinctive character of clouding, that is, the access
to information from any terminal and from anywhere in the world (Siebel 2019).
Its use, with the integration of the IoT in society, is further expanding. Many
devices can request a too large memory to be incorporated into some object, or they
need information processed by other microcontrollers; a storage cloud is then used
that can contain hundreds of TeraBytes of data and render them accessible to anyone
with the authorization (Orban et al. 2017).
Big Data
Nowadays, any object connected to the network and any service, online or not,
produces data. The flow of information is then enormous. The term “Big Data”
refers not only to the actual quantity of data, but also to its analysis. A definition of
Big Data is based on three concepts:
Volume: the need to determine the relevant data within a huge amount of data.
Speed: With a data flow that now travels at speed without precedents, it is necessary
to process data fast enough.
Variety: Organizations must confront each other with the huge variety of existing
data (numeric files, files of text, audio, video, data from quotations on the stock
exchange, etc.).
Any type of information can be extracted from the data analysis, useful
to individuals or companies, and it is performed through “data mining,” a
knowledge extraction process from large databases. Data mining uses appropriate
algorithms and techniques such as “grid computing,” “in-database processing,”
and “in-memory analytics,” making information available and immediately
usable in the context of decision-making (Marz and Warren 2015; https://
www.britannica.com/technology/data-mining; http://www.gridforum.org/; https://
searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/in-database-analytics; https://
www.intel.in/content/www/in/en/analytics/in-memory-data-and-analytics.html).
Machine Learning
With Machine Learning, we go beyond simple automation and enter in the field
of artificial intelligence. Machine Learning is similar to data mining; both analyze
large amounts of data from which to extract useful information. What differentiates
these specific analysis techniques are the users: The information obtained with data
mining is exploited in order to make improvements to some operations, while those
obtained through Machine Learning are used by machines. So an object becomes
intelligent not only because it sends and receives data, but also because it is able
to learn from them without the intervention of man, producing more precise and
reliable results. The use of an intelligent system allows to reach, in every sector,
goals otherwise difficult to achieve (Burkov 2019; Géron 2017).
Wearable Devices
Wearable devices are devices or gadgets to be wearable by people and animals. They
have the ability to interact with other devices and to interface with the Internet. They
may be able to save information on the web by connecting, via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi,
to a smartphone. Wearable devices have immediately caught the attention of man.
The best known and most popular are fitness trackers with the main function of
pedometer and sports watches that, in addition to the pedometer, can detect heart
rate, position, watch, and much more depending on the model. There are “smart
clothing,” apparently normal clothing but with special technologies that make them
more functional, for example, HIGH-TECH clothing for monitoring the vitality
parameters of newborns, head-mounted displays for virtual reality, smart jewels,
implantable devices, and many others (https://www.lifewire.com/what-are-smart-
clothes-4176103).
These types of devices have been grouped into some macrocategories defining
their characteristics (https://www.iop.org/explore-physics; Tong 2018):
Complex accessories: To be fully operational, they require the connection to another

device.
Smart accessories: Slightly more autonomous, they connect to the network and can
perform some functions without the support of other devices.
12 P. Di Sia
Smart wearables: They work in complete autonomy, able not only to connect but
also to perform complex actions, such as browsing or downloading.
Robotics
Robotics is an interdisciplinary science requiring the involvement of several dis-

ciplines: informatics, physics, mathematics, psychology, linguistics, automation,
mechanics, and biology. It is devoted to the design and construction of automated
systems for helping or fully replacing man in their duties.
As far as automation is concerned, it has become a reality that involves us in our
daily life; by the primary sector of the industry with robotized arms, we arrive to:
Humanoid robotics: one of the most fascinating research, creating robots

with human features, equipped with artificial intelligence and able to act
autonomously with the help of servomotors and video cameras.
Service robotics: It deals not only with robots that perform useful services for human
beings, for example, carer robots for the elderly, rescue robots, and domestic
robots that clean and cook, but also exoskeletons and robotic prostheses for
rehabilitation postillness or accidents.
Robotics for surgery and medical telepresence: Robots with thin remote-controlled
arms allow minimally invasive interventions to heart, prostate, uterus, and lungs.
As for medical telepresence, possible solutions allow the specialist to visit
remotely the patients.
Educational robotics: It introduces children and young people in the world of
robotics. Many schools in the world have already integrated this discipline
in their course of study (Lynch and Park 2017; https://www.britannica.com/
technology/robotics; Mckinnon 2016).
Virtual and Augmented Reality
The market offers today tools that allow users to see virtual objects while they
maintain a link with the real world. This operation is carried out by the virtual reality
and the augmented reality.
“Virtual reality” is a simulation or reconstruction, generated by a computer, of
life, environments, or real situations, capable of immersing the user in a nonreal
world, involving them totally by stimulating the sense of sight and hearing. At
first, virtual reality was used to simulate some jobs, giving the possibility to train
and practice. Then, wearable instruments were widespread, using them for all
kinds of entertainment such as video games, videos, and navigation on the web.
Virtual reality involves uses that can affect all sectors (Rubin 2018; https://www.
marxentlabs.com/what-is-virtual-reality/).
HTC Vive is one of the most advanced tool (for sale to the public) regarding
virtual reality; using laser environmental sensors, it allows the user to “enter” the
virtual world even with their own body. They will be able to sit, stand up, or run; it is
equipped with camera and proximity sensors for detecting the presence of obstacles
and does not completely detach the person from the real world as it is able to receive
notifications, calls, or messages (https://www.realmore.net/en/htc-vive/).
“Augmented reality” is a technology that adds to already existing objects
digital levels generated by a computer and with which one can interact, images,
information, or instructions that the user can use for their own purposes. In the
web, there are applications supported on this concept; some apps, for example,
are provided by retailers of furniture items and give the possibility to the buyer
to see in real time the arrangement and the style of the future purchase. There are
applications dedicated to the consultation of catalogs, maps with navigator, web
portals for travels, and restaurants and shops reviews (Pangilinan et al. 2019).
As for virtual reality, the tools allowing a person to take advantage of augmented
reality are many and differ in features (image quality, accessory tools, and memory)
and for portability. The most common is the smartphone, as it needs only a camera
(now present in all models) and an application, and smart glasses (https://www.
augment.com/blog/virtual-reality-vs-augmented-reality/; https://www.st.com/en/
applications/virtual-augmented-reality.html).
Applicative Sectors
Smart Home and Building Automation
“Smart Home” is one of the most known sectors because it arouses great interest
among people. It is a field that deals with the introduction of modern technologies
supporting the objects already existing in the home environment. As “objects,” we
refer to those electronic devices falling into the home appliance category such as
oven, washing machine, computer, printers, vacuum cleaner, and many others of
daily use. All these devices, otherwise independent of each other, are interfaced
with the Internet, so becoming visible to all users and systems that can access the
server.
The concept of “visibility” brings a series of benefits that go from wireless
control of entire systems or individual objects to management automated of lighting
systems, security systems, TVs, and other appliances that turn on and off according
to the presence of persons in the room or if they are not used for a specific period.
The resources needed to transform a home into an “intelligent home” are directly
proportional to the size of the building as well as the number of devices to interface
to the network (Di Sia 2020a).
If the idea is to take advantage of new technologies (also of nanotechnologies) on
a greater number of environments or on companies, we are in the field of “building
automation”; this sector has the same objectives: better livability, greater safety, and
14 P. Di Sia
energy savings. The difference is that they are applied on a larger scale as large
industries, offices, or skyscrapers (Di Sia 2014a, 2015a).
Logistic Service
Logistics is a very broad sector in terms of application fields, covering many areas
that also belong to different realities. Logistics is present in telecommunications
and management of the overhead lines (support logistics), but the best known is
the logistics sector tied to the productive one and to all operations connected to it
(Curley and Salmelin 2017).
Operations such as the physical management of materials flow from manufac-
turer to consumer or the coordination of development activities of projects and
systems are being supported and reinforced by intense lines of communication. Any
object will be able to transmit and receive real-time information. Cloud systems
will allow this, capable of supporting large amounts of data and algorithms able to
process them quickly. Many processes will be automated, and companies will be
able to see in real time any kind of information concerning own vehicles and own
goods (Batalla et al. 2016).
Automotive
The Automotive sector is constantly evolving and regroups all integrated systems
(ABS, cruise control, and distance sensors) in a transport means that facilitate and
make safer displacements. The “parking sensors” are an example: starting with
the use of simple cameras or proximity sensors to detect obstacles, up to “Park
Assist” (ultrasonic-sensors technology that detects the suitable parking for vehicle,
executing then the maneuver) and “Trained Parking” (the car is able to get in
a database the favorite parking areas of the driver, selecting the nearest parking
to the current position, in automated way and also without the presence of the
driver on board, who can follow everything from their smartphone) (https://www2.
deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/automotive/industry-4-0-future-of-automotive-
industry.html; Di Sia 2017b; https://www.continental-automotive.com/en-gl/Land-
ing-Pages/CAD/Automated-Driving/Driving-Functions/Trained-Parking; https://
www.bosch-mobility-solutions.com/en/highlights/connected-mobility/connected-
and-automated-parking/). Trained parking is the first step that will lead to the
production of completely autonomous cars, also called “driverless cars.”
Moreover, new systems have been introduced that improve existing ones such
as ABS (assisted braking) and ESP (antiheeling) or simply improve aspects that so
far had not been subject of research, such as new versions of high-beam headlights,
real-time communication between two or more cars and emergency vehicles (https://
www.techradar.com/news/self-driving-cars; https://www.technologyreview.com/s/
520431/driverless-cars-are-further-away-than-you-think/; Taiebat et al. 2018).
Urban Planning
The field of urban planning mainly involves an increase in the grade of livability
in small and large cities as well as energy savings, through the use of alternative
energy sources and less polluting or toxic materials (Di Sia 2014b, 2018). Also
in this sector, embedded technologies and nanotechnology help, carrying out
measurements and data processing: street lamps that, if not working, notify the
reference entity, or that contain systems for the detection of air quality, equipped also
with sensors to assess weather and Wi-Fi repeaters (“multifunction” street lamps)
(https://multipole.com.au/).
They can collect sensitive data for managing the city more efficiently and will
save around 60% in terms of energy consumption. As they are connected to the
Internet, they own an IP address that identifies them, giving the possibility to an
operator of remotely adjusting the light intensity according to the need.
Another area in which the urban sector will intervene is the traffic control:
The systems dedicated to the roads management in the coming years will undergo
improvements making them capable of actively communicating with automotive
products. Installations will be arranged on the streets of the urban center and through
sensors will produce a set of data describing volume and speed of traffic in a given
place (Elhoseny and Hassanien 2019).
School
The new school is an environment completely immersed in the future, in a reality

largely dependent on technology, to which students will have to approach by a
young age. School innovation means “digitalization” and building redevelopment.
In this regard, many schools are already moved, introducing electronic register, new
subjects and modernizing teaching methods, the use of “Oculus Rift” for virtual
reality, and robots (Di Sia 2020b; https://www.oculus.com/?locale=it_IT; Gleasure
and Feller 2016).
Other goals are security and modernization level of environments (classrooms,
laboratories, canteens, etc.), everything respecting the environment.
There will be more focus on new technologies:
Technology courses and laboratories, bringing young people closer to Industry 4.0.
Computational thinking: Already from school primary, children will have the
opportunity to test themselves in theories and programming techniques, the so-
called “coding.”
Technical institutes will see the entry of programs to teach to students using
increasingly sophisticated machines and what characteristics the worker of the
future must have.
New specialized courses and research doctorates on Industry 4.0, including a
percentage with a particular focus on big data (Lehmann and Chase 2015).
16 P. Di Sia
Healthcare
Important changes are taking place in the health sector with the birth of the new
concept of hospital. HealthCare devices will allow to diagnose pathologies, to
treat and prevent diseases, increasing the level of precision, decreasing the bulk,
and having the ability to interface with other devices for an increase in features
such as:
To show clear and specific information.

To improve the patient’s state of well-being during a treatment, reducing the level
of stress (Zaleski 2015).
The “Hospital 4.0” is a technological environment, in which man and machine

will work at close contact, for offering an optimal and active service 24/24 hours.
“Medical devices” perform some functions: administration of drugs, blood
pressure detection, heart rate and sleep quality detection, with the use of a new set of
devices, “Health Watches,” working through apps and relying on digital platforms,
and using also the “telemedicine” that offers assistance to patients from remote.
Many instruments are already in use in some hospitals: operating room robots,
driverless trolleys for transporting goods or meals, and automated pharmaceutical
cabinets (https://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/definition/telemedicine).
Agriculture
Agriculture is a strongly growing sector having as objective more production, to

be able to guarantee food for everyone, without consuming more land and using
less water, seeds, treatments, and energy. All this would be possible thanks to
the use of drones, satellites, agricultural driveless vehicles (HIGH-TECH tractors),
rearrangement of water system to minimize waste, and georeferencing work of
land for determining levels of humidity, pH, phosphorus, nitrogen, and potas-
sium (https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/16/future-of-farming-driverless-tractors-ag-
robots.html). All collected data will be then crossed with surveys and satellite
photos, and processed by software that distribute them to tractors. This can lead to
an increase of more than 20%, with a consequent reduction in the use of fertilizers
by more than 15% (http://theconversation.com/farmers-of-the-future-will-utilize-
drones-robots-and-gps-37739).
Professional Figures of Tomorrow
In Industry 4.0, data and related systems have great importance; with all these
produced data, man will be helped in making decisions, will be recommended in
their purchases, and will benefit of optimal health and education system. Industrial
machinery will be safer and more efficient. To make all this true, it is necessary
to analyze data by creating algorithms able to process increasing amount of
information and to extract always more precise and reliable results. The working
figures of the future will be therefore largely based on “analysis” and “processing.”
Important figures will be the following:
Regulatory affairs : She/he deals mainly with the supervision of authorization

procedures for the products marketing of some companies, as pharmaceutical
ones (responsible for research and production of drugs, veterinary products,
pesticides, parapharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc.), that want to know if their
products are online with current safety regulations.
Business analyst : It is an important figure, because it has the responsibility to
contribute to the implementation of companies strategies through design and
monitoring of the execution and implementation of tools and technologies
already available within the company or within the new ones available on the
market. The main tasks are as follows:
i) Preparation of the business plan.

ii) Identification of the improvement areas in the processes of business, pro-
viding ICT solutions with realization of requirements, specifications, and
processes related to the proposed solutions.
iii) Analysis of information and available documents.
HSE specialist – Health and Safety Executive: This is a professional figure much in
demand as it takes care of maintenance of quality certifications; she/he provides
coordination of all activities related to prevention, protection, and safety at work
within the company, in accordance with current legislation, defining the plans of
ordinary and extraordinary maintenance.
Designer engineer : This is the union of two existing figures: the designer, endowed
with creativity, and the engineer, specialized in disciplines such as electronics,
mechanics, chemistry, or architecture. This figure is dedicated to the production
of prototypes (also with the aid of CAD) and products that can supply solutions
in the social field and that meet the needs of the customer.
Connectivity and cyber security specialist: With the Internet of Things, more and
more objects can communicate and interact through the network; therefore, a
higher level of security is required. This specialist is not dedicated only to
the introduction of sophisticated techniques that prevent data stealing, but is
also interested in the data ensuring integrity and checking for possible losses.
Significant data losses can generate an incorrect analysis.
Business intelligent analyst: Business intelligence is the process that transforms
all kinds of data into “knowledge” then used in decision-making processes.
The analyst applies methods, models, and analysis processes to a large amount
of data, obtaining precise and detailed information, in companies that must
everyday compare numerous data collected from their machinery, products,
18 P. Di Sia
means, and employees, and allows the company to obtain a high return of
investment, lower costs/risks, and timely decisions.
Data scientist and data specialist: The data scientist, expert in statistics, program-
ming and data mining, and data visualization, produces models and performs
analysis and research on the data, in search of notions that can influence in
the matter of business. The data specialist processes the data for the purpose
to produce useful tools in decision-making. It is not the same job; there are
differences between these two tasks:
i) The data scientist asks questions that would help to make everything related
to business more efficient and then proposing possible solutions, while a data
analyst gives solutions to questions asked by a business team.
ii) Both roles are dedicated to write queries, working with a team of engineers
to search for correct data, for data munging, and to obtain information from
the data. A data analyst does not construct statistical models neither works
with Machine Learning or advanced programming techniques, but instead on
business intelligence with appropriate tool/packages.
iii) The data scientist has a good ability about data visualization and the ability
to convert data in a business story (https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/
en/focus/industry-4-0/overview.html; http://www.globalskillsummit.com/
whitepaper-summary.pdf; Botthof and Hartmann 2014).
Conclusions
Revolutions like this one are global and tend, at least from a theoretical point of
view, toward a general improvement of the conditions of man and the environment.
This involves seriousness and fairness in the work, for the sake of science and
technology, thus trying to avoid the entry into play of political interactions that could
decrease the goodness of the work in favor of clientelism and power games. The
ultimate goal is and should always remain the good of people and the improvement
of everyone’s daily life.
It is therefore necessary to reflect on the advent of digitization and on the effects,
both not only positive but also potentially negative, that it brings into company and
in the productive sector, as in the nanotechnology sector, well connected to it (Di
Sia 2014c, 2017c). Very important is in every case the contribution of theoretical
disciplines (Di Sia 2015b, 2019c, 2021a, b).
Questions involving ethics emerge that should not to be set aside, as the advent of
nanotechnology. An example among many others concerns the unmanned car: Who
will be responsible for damages that the car could do? What about the insurance of
such a car?
Various solutions have been studied and are under study. A line says that
consumer protection is not linked to robotics, but to whom to sell the robot
product? Therefore, all sectors should be secured, as well as factories involved in
the construction and sale of the particular product; in the case of a driverless car,
therefore, it is necessary not only to insure passengers, but also builders, software
vendors, connectivity providers, and all persons participating in the circulation of
the vehicle.
We must start from the assumption that technology in its essence is neutral:
It is the way in which we use it that makes the difference, for good or for bad.
There is therefore the need to have a governance that takes into consideration all
problems resulting from the use of advanced technologies and that protects us
all from possible general bad uses and from possible further deterioration of the
environment and discrimination of the social conditions.
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Industry 4.0 Perspectives: Global Trends
and Future Developments 2
Antonella Petrillo and Fabio De Felice
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Evolution of Industry: The Digital Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Report Digital 2020 (We Are Social) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
State of the Art on Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
The Future of Manufacturing: Survey Results and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Survey Objectives and Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Survey Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Challenges, Directions, and Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Research Direction #1: Technical Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Research Direction #2: Social Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Websites References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Abstract
All the countries of the world are experiencing a process of business transfor-
mation and innovation through the use of digital technologies. COVID-19 has
accelerated the digital transformation, but to fully grasp the possibility offered
by this crisis, concrete actions are needed to achieve the digital transformation.
A. Petrillo ()
Department of Engineering, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy
e-mail: antonella.petrillo@uniparthenope.it
F. De Felice
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio
Meridionale, Cassino, Italy
e-mail: defelice@unicas.it

24 A. Petrillo and F. De Felice
The effect of new technologies, in the digital first perspective, will lead not only
to a more efficient system but above all to relaunch the economy, in particular of
some strategic production sectors. The intent of this chapter is to outline global
trends and future developments of digitalization in the perspective of Industry
4.0. Thus, a survey and a literature analysis based on structural and conceptual
frameworks are developed. The result is the definition of understanding current
state of knowledge and to propose future research opportunities in the field of
manufacturing digitalization.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Smart manufacturing · Trends · Perspectives · Challenges
Abbreviations
COVID-19 Coronavirus
CPS Cyber-physical systems
DESI Digital Economy and Society Index
I4.0 Industry 4.0
IoT Internet of things
IR Industrial revolution
RIS Regional Innovation Scoreboard
SMLC Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition
Introduction
An economic system aims to carry out activities to procure the means necessary
for the satisfaction of the needs of all stakeholders (Hernandez-de-Menendez
et al. 2020; Li et al. 2021). Many systems have undergone and are undergoing
profound changes in recent decades due to the advent of automation and digitization
(Jeon et al. 2020). This transformation is called Fourth Industrial Revolution or
Industry 4.0 or again smart manufacturing. However, we are already beginning
to speak, albeit with different meanings, of Industry 5.0. From what we can
imagine, the Fifth Industrial Revolution will be characterized by the presence of new
technologies which, combining the physical, digital, and biological spheres, will
generate consequences in all disciplines and in all economic and productive sectors
(Helmann et al. 2020). We will see the integration of technologies already used in
the past (big data, cloud, robots, 3D printing, simulation, etc.), further enhanced
because they are connected to an intelligent network capable of transmitting digital
data to high speed (Hincapié et al. 2020). We are witnessing the birth of a new
industrial paradigm that is generating significant changes in the way of conceiving
work and man. In this new scenario, empowering people represents a strategic
factor both for the quality of goods and services produced and for the efficiency of
production systems. The implementation of a new production system will obviously
represent a huge change for companies, which already have to face large investments
2 Industry 4.0 Perspectives: Global Trends and Future Developments 25
Fig. 1 Document by years on digitalization. (Source: Scopus, Dec 2020)
today. To remain competitive, one cannot remain indifferent to this epochal change
(Culot et al. 2020; Trstenjak et al. 2020). We cannot miss this opportunity. Today, the
challenges that companies are facing in an increasingly global market concern the
integration of assets and processes; they also require a strategic, flexible, innovative,
and future-oriented vision (Ma et al. 2020; Sasiain et al. 2020). The interest on
the subject of digitalization in the manufacturing context is demonstrated by the
growing number of scientific publications. In fact, a survey pointed out that in
5 years there has been an increase of over 60% in the number of publications as
shown in Fig. 1.
Understanding the state of the art on innovation means analyzing productive,
organizational, and cultural factors from the point of view of the digital revolution
(Farooqui et al. 2020; Bougdira et al. 2020). The opportunity for a sudden
acceleration was undoubtedly provided by the COVID-19 emergency (Bragazzi
2020). Covid19 is a tragic event, also on an economic and social level, which
nevertheless represented a significant change of pace, forcing a march in forced
stages, starting from smart working but not only in the direction of a more decisive
digitization of activities and processes. The current health emergency COVID19
represents and will undoubtedly represent a strong technological accelerator. In
fact, it will be necessary in our opinion: identify new business models, create new
and different technological solutions, create a flexible and transparent corporate
image, and provide new services and products in a globalized way but characterized
by shorter supply chains. These observations motivated us to examine the current
state of research in I4.0. Specifically, our intent was to investigate the following
questions: What is state of the art in research in I4.0? What are the topics and
opportunities for I4.0? Thus, the goal of the present research was to analyze the role
that digital technologies play within the production system in the awareness that
digital innovation also corresponds to a new theme linked to sustainability.
The rest of the chapter is organized as follows: Section “The Evolution of
Industry: The Digital Transformation” tries to outline the evolution of industry until
digital transformation globally by analyzing European and world data on the degree
of technological innovation and the degree of diffusion and use of the Internet and
beyond. Section “State of the Art on Industry 4.0” analyzes the state of the art of I4.0
both from a global perception point of view using some data extracted from keyword
research tools and using Scopus to provide a more academic view. Section “The
Future of Manufacturing: Survey Results and Analysis” presents a proposed survey
analysis and results. Section “Challenges, Directions, and Trends” summarizes the
main challenges, direction, and trends of I4.0. Finally, Sect. “Conclusion” outlines
the main conclusions of the research.
The Evolution of Industry: The Digital Transformation
When we talk about digital technologies applied to the manufacturing sector

and Industry 4.0 in general, we often also come across the expression smart
manufacturing (Shi et al. 2020; Lu et al. 2020). But what is smart manufacturing
and how does it differ from I4.0? To answer this question, it is necessary to mention
the great foreign digital innovation programs of manufacturing: two of them all – the
German one (Industry 4.0) and the American one (Smart Manufacturing Leadership
Coalition). History tells us that the German government was the first in the world
to define a national strategy to support the digitization of its manufacturing sector,
to the point that it is recognized as the paternity of the term Industry 4.0, which
appeared for the first time in 2011 (Oláh et al. 2020; Sommer 2015). What is the
German smart factory based on? At the basis of this program is the concept of
cyber-physical systems (CPS): these systems are composed of thousands of sensors
installed directly on the machinery that allow them to be interconnected and lay
the foundations for the self-regulation of production systems (Elhoone et al. 2020).
Companies that want to follow the principles of Industry 4.0 must move toward the
introduction of CPS in factories, of robots that guarantee high production flexibility,
also based on the analysis of Manufacturing Big Data collected by themselves.
Nearly the same time that the Industry 4.0 program was defined, i.e., in mid-
2012, the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) was formed in the
United States (Bonaccorsi et al. 2020; Corrocher et al. 2020). Unlike the German
government program, the American focus is more focused on these principles: cost
reduction, sharing of practices and technologies, collective definition of R&D areas,
and innovation through collaborative processes (Cioffi et al. 2020). At this point,
the question is more legitimate than ever. Are smart manufacturing and Industry
4.0 the same thing? Conceptually, yes because they refer to a common vision:
that according to which digital technologies are able to enable the interconnection
and cooperation of all the resources used in the factory and along the value
chain (O’Donovan et al. 2015). In other words, both terms mean revolutionizing
the times and methods of production, bringing technologies and strategies to the
factory (Pinzone et al. 2017). Definitely, the German government was the first
in 2011 to define a national strategy (Industry 4.0) to support the digitization
of the manufacturing sector, creating an epidemic effect on all other countries
(De Felice et al. 2018; Xu 2020). This program, the result of the collaboration
of the federal government, technology suppliers, and industry associations with
universities and national research centers, has promoted long-term policies for
the digitization and innovation of the manufacturing sector (Haipeter 2020; Szabo
et al. 2020). The objective is to strengthen German competitiveness. Afterward,
all countries developed a national strategy. Denmark (2012) with the Made plan,
Belgium (2013) with the Made Different program, England with High Value
Manufacturing Catapult, and Holland with Smart Industry (2014) have implemented
plans and actions aimed to stimulate innovation and transformation (Denmark and
England), to demonstrate the feasibility and sustainability of the factories of the
future (Belgium), and to sensitize government, industry, and research centers on
the relevance of the issue (Holland). In 2012, the overseas plan (Manufacturing
USA) comes to life, thanks to the allocation of 500 million dollars, with the aim
of returning to the US production centers of US companies (re-shoring strategy).
The plans and Various innovation programs have been promoted around the world,
including China (Made in China), Japan (Industrial Value Chain Initiative – IVI),
India (Make in India), Canada and Korea (Innovation in Manufacturing 3.0) and
the various research and industrial innovation and the forum to which these gave
rise (El-kaime and Elhaq 2021; Lopes et al. 2019). Figure 2 summarizes the main
national strategies developed in different countries.
There is a general aspect that unites all the strategies analyzed: the use of
increasingly large amounts of data and information and the increasingly pervasive
use of digital technologies to interconnect and cooperate the resources operating
Fig. 2 National strategies on Industry 4.0

within the factory and, broadly, throughout the entire value chain. The goal is to
optimize the 3Ps: products, processes, and people. To do this in the best possible
way, it is necessary to change perspective, exploiting digital to work on new levels
of integration and relationship, keeping the customer at the center of development.
Innovation in the manufacturing industry is characterized by the centrality of
information (Kiraz et al. 2020). From the wishes of customers to the definition of
the offer to get to the production and distribution of the product and the corollary
services, the virtuous circle of information is enabled by technologies. In related
factory, in fact, are not only people to be connected and communicating: as are
all assets. From the materials to the media that carry them, from the plants to the
products, a new generation of sensors enables improved decision-making very data-
driven (Arnold and Voigt 2019).
Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI)
Currently, one of the most discussed issues is that of the digitalization of companies
or the possibility of giving life to absolutely innovative business models from
a smart manufacturing perspective. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the
Digital Economy and Society Index – DESI (https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-
market/en/digital-economy-and-society-index-desi). The DESI monitors a series
of parameters to measure the level of digitization of European countries in five
macro-areas: connectivity (worth 25% of the index), digital skills (worth 25% of the
index), use of Internet by individuals (worth 15% of the index), integration of digital
technologies by companies (worth 20% of the index), and digital public services
(worth 15% of the index) (Kletskova et al. 2020; Poor and Basl 2018). The 2019
data on which the DESI 2020 is based show connectivity goes from 12 to 12.5,
human capital from 8.01 to 8.11, the use of the Internet by individuals from 6.25 to
6.67, the integration of digital technologies by companies from 6 to 6.25, and digital
public services from 9.29 to 10.1 (Fig. 3).
In 2020, all member states showed progress in all the main sectors measured
by the index. But the EU Commission notes that all states should “intensify their
efforts to improve coverage of very high-capacity networks, assign the 5G spectrum
to allow the commercial launch of 5G services, improve citizens’ digital skills and
further digitize businesses and public sector.” Executive Vice President Margrethe
Vestager said, “the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated how critical it is for citizens
and businesses to be connected and able to interact with each other online.” The
main consideration that can be drawn is that it is necessary to increase investments
in digital services and innovations. As part of the plan for the recovery of Europe,
adopted on May 27, 2020, the DESI will have to guide the specific analysis by
country in support of the recommendations on digital. This will help member
states to target their reform and investment needs and prioritize them. According
to the DESI 2020, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands are the top
four countries for global digital performance within the EU, followed by Malta,
Ireland, and Estonia. In the last 5 years, however, the most significant progress
Digital Economy and Society Index, by Main Dimensions of the DESI

15
12.5
10
Score (0 to 100)
7.5
2.5
0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
European Commission,
Digital Scoreboard
Legend
1 Connectivity 2 Human Capital 3 Use of Internet 4 Integration of Digital Te... 5 Digital Public Services
Fig. 3 DESI by dimension (year 2020)
has been made by Ireland, followed by the Netherlands, Malta, and Spain. These
countries also performed well above the EU average based on the DESI 2020 score.
As the pandemic has had a major impact on each of the five aspects examined by
DESI, the Commission underlines that the 2020 results should be read in the light
of the many measures taken by the Commission and member states to manage the
crisis and support the recovery. The report, on the other hand, highlights serious
shortcomings as regards the human capital dimension, as shown in Fig. 4. In this
specific dimension, which includes basic skills for the use of the Internet by the
population and the most advanced skills, Italy is last in Europe. Going into detail,
Italy ranks last in terms of the number of graduates in ICT disciplines, but also in
all other subdimensions it is far below the EU average.
Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS)
The Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) is a regional extension of the European

innovation scoreboard, assessing the innovation performance of European regions
on a limited number of indicators (EU, Regional Innovation Scoreboard Report
2019). The RIS 2019 covers 238 regions across 23 EU countries, Norway, Serbia,
and Switzerland. In addition, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Malta are
included at country level. RIS summarizes the performance based on 17 indicators
(Lilles et al. 2020; Arbolino et al. 2019). These indicators are grouped into four
main types: framework conditions, investments, innovation activities, impacts, and
ten innovation dimensions. Europe’s regions are grouped into four innovation
performance groups according to their performance on the Regional Innovation
Index relative to that of the EU: innovation leaders, strong innovators, moderate
innovators, and modest innovators. The report shows that for most of the 159
2 Human Capital, by Sub-dimensions of 2 Human Capital

90
80
70
60
Score (0 to 100)
50
40
30
20
10
0
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2a Internet User Skills European Commission, Digital Scoreboard
2b Advanced Skills and D...
Fig. 4 DESI by subdimension “Human Capital” (year 2020)
regions, the performance of innovation has improved in the course of monitoring,

which began 9 years ago. Figure 5 shows the Regional Innovation Scoreboard
2019 – relative performance to EU from 2011 to 2019.
It emerges that the most innovative region in Europe is Zürich in Switzerland.
Helsinki-Uusimaa (Finland) is the most innovative region in the EU, followed by
Stockholm (Sweden). Figure 6 shows an overview for 2019 where countries are
classified into four innovation performance groups.
The most innovative regions, on average, perform best on most indicators as
shown in the radar graph below (Fig. 7).
Considering Fig. 5, it is meaningful to note that the strong innovators perform
close to average (between 20% below or 20% above the EU average) on almost all
indicators, except for lifelong learning (127%).
Report Digital 2020 (We Are Social)
A comprehensive look at the state of the Internet, mobile devices, social media, and
digitization is provided by Hootsuite with its annual report “We Are Social” (https://
wearesocial.com/digital-2020). Thanks to this report, it is possible to have an
overview of the digital world, moving from the use of the Internet and social media
at a national and global level to the habits and concerns of online users. The “Digital
2020” report highlights interesting reflections both on the changes taking place in
Fig. 5 Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2019 – relative performance to EU from 2011 to 2019
Fig. 6 Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2019 – overview
the digital scenario and on possible future trends that will also affect social changes
with a view to industrialization. For example, as far as eCommerce is concerned,
the most interesting data is that for the first time mobile purchases exceed those
Fig. 7 Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2019 – average indicator scores by regional performance
group
Fig. 8 Digital around the world in 2020 – We Are Social Report 2020. (Sources: population:
United Nations; local government bodies; mobile: GSMA intelligence; internet: ITU; GlobalWe-
bIndex; GSMA intelligence; local telecoms regulatory authorities and government bodies; APJII;
Kepios analysis; social media: platforms’ self-service advertising tools; company announcements
and earnings reports)
from desktops and laptops. Furthermore, the distinction between online and offline
purchases is becoming increasingly subtle, giving life to omnichannel shopping
experiences, between the real and the virtual world. Figure 8 shows the essential
headline data you need to understand mobile, Internet, and social media use.
Among the trends to keep an eye on are gaming and voice technology. It is
precisely voice-based technologies that have registered an increase of 9% compared
to 2019, thanks to the massive spread of voice assistants such as Amazon Echo and
Google Home, increasingly used regularly by users of all ages.
State of the Art on Industry 4.0
This section presents the descriptive findings first for the nonacademic literature,
thereafter for the academic one. In detail, to analyze the degree of perception related
to the terms “Industry 4.0” and “smart manufacturing,” Google Trends has been used
as a source of valid knowledge for emerging technologies. In fact, it allows you to
know the search frequency on the web search engines for a specific word or phrase.
It is a great source for evaluating the seasonality and changes over time of specific
keyword volumes on search engines. Figure 9 shows the result of investigation from
January 1, 2020 to November 2020 (the period of investigation). The investigation
pointed out that Industry 4.0 is more used and more popular than the term “smart
manufacturing” even if they are generally used indifferently.
It was also interesting to discover the questions people are asking on Industry 4.0
and smart manufacturing. Using AlsoAsked.com, we tried to examine the results.
Figure 8 shows that the most frequently asked question is: “How does Industry 4.0
affect industry?” and “Is Industry 4.0 only for manufacturing?” (Fig. 10).
In our opinion, the results are an interesting starting point to investigate these
aspects in detail. Thus, we conducted on SCOPUS, the largest abstract and citation
database of peer-reviewed literature, a search by using the keywords Industry
4.0 and smart manufacturing restricting to TITLE-ABS-KEY (title, abstract, and
keywords). We used titles, keywords, and abstracts in order to extract very specific
expression describing a technology. Database query highlighted 1763 document
results. Figure 11 shows the trend of publications from 2013 (the first year the first
publication appeared) until now.
It is also interesting to note that 52.1% of the papers are conference papers, 37.4%
are articles, and 3.3% are book chapters, as shown in Fig. 12.
Fig. 9 Google Trends results
Fig. 10 Investigation on AlsoAsked.com

Fig. 11 Documents by year
Fig. 12 Documents by type
It is no surprise to point out that most of the publications belong to Italian authors
(about 14%) and German authors (about 12%) since these two countries are very
active in the development of national strategies and beyond (as shown in Fig. 13).
In fact, starting from March 2017, France, Germany, and Italy have launched a
trilateral cooperation to promote the digitization of the manufacturing sector and
to support the European Union’s efforts in this area. The cooperation involves all
the stakeholders of the national strategies for Industry 4.0 – Plattform Industrie
4.0 for Germany, Alliance Industrie du Futur for France, and Piano Impresa 4.0
for Italy, who signed a common roadmap in Turin on June 20, 2017.
Fig. 13 Documents by country
Fig. 14 Documents by subject area
Regarding the subject area, it is interesting to note that most of the publications
belong to the engineering area (31.8%), followed by computer science (27.0%) and
decision sciences (7.2%), as shown in Fig. 14.
Of course the most used words are Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing/factory,
but by stratifying the data, it emerges that Internet of things and cyber-physical
system are the most used keywords, respectively, with about 27.0% and 18.0% of
1.793 publications (see Fig. 15).
Furthermore, it emerged that important trends for the future of manufacturing are
represented by the following topics: embedded systems, flow control, engineering
education, supply chains, decision-making, life cycle, and predictive maintenance,
as shown in Fig. 16.
Fig. 15 Documents by keywords
Fig. 16 Documents by topics

Definitely, the investigation pointed out that the issue on Industry 4.0 is a very
potential topic at least from an academic and public perception point of view.
However, it is clear that in the case of such a vital topic, a country’s strategies must
be based on the needs of the industrial sector, as detailed in the following section.
The Future of Manufacturing: Survey Results and Analysis
The aim of this section is to outline a survey that we conducted to identify the drivers
of development of manufacturing after the pandemic in the perspective of I4.0. In
particular, the goal of the survey was to analyze the role that digital technologies
play within the national and international production system. We have tried to
answer the following questions: What could be the national challenges for the near
future to reduce the digital divide?
Survey Objectives and Setup
The survey was developed from April to October 2020. Of course, the survey was
conducted online (considering the COVID-19 pandemic) using social networks
(such as LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.). In this way, it was possible to
increase the level of diffusion both nationally and internationally. At present, about
2500 companies have responded to the survey. We asked to interview three different
company areas within the manufacturing companies with the goal of discovering
the needs and innovation priorities but also the challenges these different functions
are facing. Figure 17 shows interviewees by company area.
Survey Results
The survey consists of 30 questions, as follows: section #1, analysis of the

companies under investigation (such as size, number of employees, etc.); section #2,
analysis of “digital” skills; and section #3, needs analysis of the digital innovation.
Fig. 17 Interviewees by
company area (% of total)
Fig. 18 Investment in digitalization perspective
Here below is a summary of the main aspects analyzed and that emerged from the
survey. It emerged that 95% of respondents believe that digital technologies are
useful for their company. In fact, the issues related to digital transformation are
regularly discussed within the company: quarterly in 63% of cases, annually in 15%
of cases, and every 6 months in 15% of cases. The topic is never dealt with in
7% of cases. Generally within the company, leadership for digital transformation is
assigned as follows: 45% IT manager, 23% R&D manager, 17% chief digital officer,
and 15% none. Regarding the IT priorities of manufacturing companies for 2020, it
emerged that IT departments continue to be looking for new infrastructural models
and architectural to support workloads increasingly data-intensive. The renewal
and infrastructural innovation will move towards hybrid models which include the
simultaneous use of on-premise services, on private clouds and on public clouds.
Security continues to cap a key role, for data protection and systems. The investment
made concerned the following sectors, as shown in Fig. 18.
More specifically, the survey pointed out that specific investments were made,
as shown in Fig. 19. About 30% of the investments concern IT infrastructure, and
about 20% concerns web applications, followed by other types of investments.
It is remarkable to note that the most requested figures in work teams on digital
issues are system administrator/engineer (38%) and Big Data analyst (29%), as
shown in Fig. 20.
The enabling technologies used most internally in the company are cybersecurity
(18%), industrial Internet of things (16%), Big Data and analytics (15%), and so on,
as detailed in Fig. 21.
However, some obstacles emerge to digitization such as IT infrastructure obso-
lescence (29%), difficulty in implementing new solutions effectively (23%), and
inadequate legacy (18%), as shown in Fig. 22.
It is very significant to note that according to the interviewees (93%) there
is a close relationship between digital transformation, energy efficiency, and
sustainability. In fact, interviewees believe that it is necessary to make investments
in digital technologies that will have (direct or indirect) benefits in efficiency and
Fig. 19 Detail of investments in digitalization perspective
Fig. 20 Work teams on digital issues
sustainability. In particular, 65% of them believe that it is essential to investe to

improve production processes, 20% to improve internal logistics processes, and
15% to improve the supply chain. The survey shows that companies perceive the
importance of investing in digital innovation with a view to sustainability as well,
since this aspect will represent a key factor in achieving the competitiveness of
the industrial world and beyond. In other words, it emerges that technology is
influencing and will increasingly influence structural changes in the economy and
will promote sustainable efficiency in production systems. The survey highlighted
Fig. 21 Enabling technologies most used
Fig. 22 Obstacles to digitization
some salient aspects for the development of digital transformation. Ultimately,

the criteria of economic, social, and environmental sustainability defined by the
United Nations and consolidated in the 2030 Agenda must become a beacon in the
choices that will determine the development of technologies as tools for building a
sustainable future.
Challenges, Directions, and Trends
The potential economic benefits of Industry 4.0 are undoubted. The industry is
in the midst of a revolution destined to radically change not only the way we
work and the business model but also the lives of all of us for new, possible
applications. The drivers of development after the pandemic can be summarized
as follows: provides digital tool technology and innovative applications, can help
Fig. 23 Driver to digitization
improve productivity, creates a more attractive working environment, and enhances

the employee satisfaction and customers (see Fig. 23).
According to the previous analysis, some specific key challenges have been
defined to do with technological and societal issues, as explained below.
Research Direction #1: Technical Challenges
The great transformation is digitalization, which pervades the manufacturing sector,

with machines becoming able to “talk” to each other, thus offering development
scenarios that were unimaginable only until recently. The first critical issue is
integration in the awareness that the challenge is not played only on the terrain
of the stable connection between machines, objects, cloud applications, and people
but also in the ability and availability to be “contaminated” by new technologies
and new digital services, through a rethinking in the sense of all areas of value
creation (Gowripeddi et al. 2021; Danielsson et al. 2020). The second critical
issue is flexibility to compete on world markets, that is, the ability to adapt as
quickly as possible to the volatility of market demands. The third critical issue
is skills for the future of manufacturing, i.e., the key role of people in facing the
challenges of growing economic, social, and environmental complexities. Skills for
the manufacturing of the future are a global challenge (López Ríos et al. 2020). The
most important effect of the transformation of work is therefore represented by the
growth of skills to carry out jobs of greater added value, more “human,” and this
represents the most important industrial revolution that has ever occurred (Cantú-
Ortiz et al. 2020). Among the top skills, there are digital literacy, intercultural
and disciplinary mentality, ability to manage increased complexity, and constant
openness to change. The fourth critical issue is standardization, legal systems,
and infrastructure configuration (e.g., the expansion of advanced power grids and
communication networks). Industry 4.0 has the potential of becoming the global
language of production. In this regard, the introduction of a uniform industry
standard is especially important (Larrañaga et al. 2020; Müller and Voigt 2020).
Some standardization has already been developed. For example, the reference model
for the intelligent manufacturing architecture of tomorrow’s Industry 4.0 (RAMI
4.0) was presented at the 2015 Hannover Fair.
Research Direction #2: Social Challenges
Digitization and sustainability will be levers on which to focus today and in the
coming years for the development of manufacturing (Riedelsheimer et al. 2021), a
sector that, in the delicate phase of the relaunch after the epidemic, is crucial for
the recovery and the creation of economic and social wealth (Romero et al. 2020;
Bag et al. 2020). The analysis on the importance of sustainability and digital is also
well connected to the pillars identified by the European Union including the “green
deal” and the enhancement of innovation as a fundamental economic driver (Acerbi
and Taisch 2020; Fokaides et al. 2020). Moreover, in this particular moment, in
which the whole world is working on the recovery of the economy after the hard
months characterized by the coronavirus epidemic, technology transfer, research,
and a green look on production are no longer postponed even in the sector. (Leong
et al. 2020; Fatimah et al. 2020).
Conclusion
Nowadays, the size or strength of companies is not enough to be successful: it is

essential to possess the ability to change, adapt quickly, seize opportunities, and
be agile. Production processes are rapidly evolving: new technologies are enabling
machinery and production systems to communicate through IP protocols, without
the need for human interaction, providing the ability to collect and analyze data and
information in real time. Manufacturing companies do not stand addressing only
the challenges related to productivity and satisfaction of customers, but they are
confronting each other also with innovations related to work environments and skills
digital. The rapid and continuous changes in the market, accompanied by a growing
competition, are imposing on manufacturing companies a rethinking of products and
processes, to exploit and enhance all data available inside and outside the company
itself. Data is today at the center of interactions between people, processes, and
technologies and is able to make internal activities more efficient, to enable better
decision-making processes, and to improve the customer experience. Innovation

will increasingly require collaboration and sharing of information between different
business functions. Companies will have to then adopt systems and solutions
capable of enabling this collaboration so as not to remain on the margins of
transformation digital.
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Changing Manufacturing Landscape:
From a Factory to a Network 3
Karl-Erik Michelsen, Mikael Collan, Jyrki Savolainen,
and Paavo Ritala
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
History of Manufacturing: Change Within Factory Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Regime of Accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
From Economies of Scale to Economies of Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
The End of Division of Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Technological and Business Drivers that Underlie Industrial Landscape Change . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Digitalization of Business and Manufacturing Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Automation and Manufacturing Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Additive Manufacturing Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Logistics Optimization and Supply Chain Risk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Proactive Versus Reactive Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Conclusion: Toward Manufacturing as a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the technological, the managerial, and the societal
transformation from the old manufacturing system into the new, discussing the
drivers, the challenges, and the opportunities connected to the transformation.
K.-E. Michelsen · J. Savolainen · P. Ritala

School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology,
Lappeenranta, Finland
e-mail: mikael.collan@lut.fi
M. Collan ()
School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology,
Lappeenranta, Finland
VATT Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki, Finland

48 K. E. Michelsen et al.
The suggestion is that we are moving from a Taylorist-Fordian factory model

towards “Manufacturing-as-a-Network,” which indicates new types of busines
possibilities, risks, and transformative implications to the society at large.
Traditionally, manufacturing happens within factory walls, where a factory is
understood as a place for mass production of goods. It is an assembly of machines
and workers who are organized and managed to maximize efficiency and
productivity. “Manufacturing-as-a-Network” is unlike the factory as we know
it and answers to the needs of the postindustrial society. It is a network structured
to perform specific and tailored products in collaboration with customers, for
customers, and sometimes by customers.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Manufacturing · Factory · Business model · Network
Introduction
The industrial and manufacturing landcape is undergoing a major change. We

are moving from Taylorist and Fordian model of mass production and scale
economies toward a networked and autonomous model of production. In this
chapter, the attempt is to outline the history, the present, and the future of this
development, by focusing on the changes that take place with regards to how
manufacturing is organized. The main argument in this chapter is that the concept of
“factory” is radically changing. Activities that take place in the traditional “factory
floor” or “within factory walls” are being revolutionized by digital technologies
and digitalization and for some industries transform into a digitally controlled
manufacturing network, see Fig. 1.
The change in the industrial landscape which we are witnessing is not only
technical, but socio-technical (Geels 2004). This means that not only digitalization
MANUFACTURING AS A
TRADITIONAL FACTORY HYBRID
NETWORK
Ca. 1850 – Ongoing Ca. 2010 – Future
Future
Manual and semi- Semi-automated mass
Digitally controlled
automatic mass production
network of flexible
production-based manufacturing facilities
autonomous
facilities controlled operating as a part of a
manufacturing facilities
manually operating as supply chain, supported
operating near customers
separate entities mostly by advanced flexible
and based on demand
based on bilateral manufacturing.
supported by high-volume
contracts, supported by
mass production tied to
small scale customization.
the network.
Fig. 1 Transformation from a traditional factory to manufacturing as a network

3 Changing Manufacturing Landscape: From a Factory to a Network 49
changes how industrial work is done, but also who (or what) does the work, how
this work is organized, and how it affects the broader economy and the society.
In Sect. “History of Manufacturing: Change Within Factory Walls”, the history
of production is briefly visited in the context of a factory, informed by Taylorian and
Fordist models of industrial production. The change toward post-Fordian production
is discussed, where the role of a worker is that of a highly skilled operator of and
among increasingly autonomous machines. In Sect. “Technological and Business
Drivers that Underlie Industrial Landscape Change”, the new management models
and technologies that are driving the change toward a networked manufacturing
model are discussed. In Sect. “Conclusion: Toward Manufacturing as a Network”,
the new perspective – which is here called “manufacturing-as-a-network” is
outlined.
History of Manufacturing: Change Within Factory Walls
Regime of Accumulation
In his book The Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1907, Frederick

Winslow Taylor defined the role of the factory as follows: “In the case of a more
complicated manufacturing establishment, it should also be perfectly clear that the
greatest permanent prosperity for the workman, coupled with the greatest prosperity
for the employer, can be brought about only when the work of the establishment
is done with the smallest combined expenditure of human effort, plus nature’s
resources, plus the cost for the use of capital in the shape of machines, buildings,
etc. Or, to state the same thing in a different way: that the greatest prosperity can
exist only as the result of the greatest possible productivity of the men and machines
of the establishment” (Taylor 1911).
Taylor applied scientific method to the study of work. He conducted time-and-
motion studies and based on data, he reorganized the factory work. Taylor’s method
eliminated useless tasks and unnecessary movements and created a comprehensive
management system that reflected scientific ideals of accuracy and precision.
According to Taylor, labor disputes could be eliminated if corporate leaders and
managers adapted a new attitude toward industrial work. Maximizing output would
automatically maximize profits and income for workers and this goal would make
political and ideological disputes obsolete (Warring 1991).
Meanwhile, Henry Ford was building a new manufacturing system at the High-
land Park automobile factory in Detroit. He combined special-purpose machines
with semiskilled labor and organized them along the continuously moving belt. The
assembly line combined several manufacturing concepts into the system that revolu-
tionarized the manufacturing of automobiles. Premanufactured and interchangeable
parts were placed on the moving belt where semiskilled workers assembled them
into the final product. The complex automobile could be manufactured without
delays and optimally the assembly line cranked out a new T-Model Ford every 20 s
(Hounshell 1984).
Mass production system became the dominant industrial paradigm in the USA
during the early part of the twentieth century. It replaced traditional manufacturing
systems, which allowed skilled workers to contribute independently to the final
product. Mass production system subjected workers to the manufacturing process
that utilized economies of scale. As Taylor had promised, the standardized manufac-
turing system brought higher profits for owners and higher wages for the workers.
This in turn improved living standards in industrial societies. New manufacturing
systems required massive capital investments, centralized managerial control, and
industrial hierarchy that copied modes and methods from the bureaucratic state.
Hence, it was no surprise that the industrial landscape was taken over by large,
vertically and horizontally integrated corporations (Chandler 1990).
Henry Ford and Fredrick W. Taylor were idealistic innovators who operated
within a highly competitive American industrial landscape. They tackled the
fundamental dilemma that had troubled factory owners and managers since the
dawn of the industrial revolution. Factories combined human labor and machines
and created, therefore, a series of qualitative and quantitative changes in production
systems. How to organize this combination to maximize the output and productivity,
but without creating labor disputes? Technological developments improved machine
efficiency, but improvements in technology did not bring positive improvements in
human labor (Warring 1991).
Taylor’s system of scientific management tried to find generalized rules of
conduct, based on “laws of nature” that would bring maximum output, high produc-
tivity, low cost, high wages, equitable distribution, reduction of unemployment, and
rapid economic growth (Thompson 1916). Ford, on the other hand, tried to solve
the dilemma by reconceptualizing the production process. He borrowed the idea
of assembly line from other industrial sectors and coupled it with the innovations
in interchangeability, new special-purpose machine tools, standardization, single-
model policy, simplification of design, radical de-skilling of work force, and
centralized control of the flow of work (Hounshell 1984).
Neither Taylor nor Ford was able to solve the problems of division of labor within
the factory walls. Taylor’s ambitious search for one best way found too many human
variables to be generalized as a law of nature. Ford’s ambitious system believed
that if workers would perform only one simple task, they would become parts
of the machine system. However, human labor could not match the tempo of the
machines and frequent speedups by managers created labor disputes. Therefore, the
fundamental dilemma of the division of labor was embedded in the mass production
system. As Wang and Siau (2019) point out, the idea of the factory without human
labor has been long ago elaborated in science fiction literature, but so far it has
been socially and politically too hot a topic to be seriously discussed. Factories
provided salaried work to millions of people and industrial societies depend on high
employment, mass consumption, and tax revenues.
Hence, mass production systems have cautiously moved toward more stream-
lined production systems that require more technology and less human labor. In
the early days, technological innovations took over tasks that required extensive
physical strength and speed. The next steps were machines that performed high
precision tasks. More recently, computers with massive calculation capacity are
installed to control complex, vertically and horizontally integrated production
systems. This has changed the division of labor within factory walls. Tasks that were
previously performed by de-skilled workers are handed over to machines. Human
labor is still needed in tasks that require cognitive skills, planning, and refining
industrial processes, this was already observed by Pine 30 years ago (Pine 1980).
It is often believed that manufacturing systems are shaped by technological
developments only. This narrative is challenged by the historical record: Since
the birth of the factory, manufacturing systems have interacted with political,
economic, and social systems on several different levels. They have reorganized
and reconfigured the human-machine relationship, which affects lives of millions of
people. In addition, they have established regimes of accumulation that determined
economic developments in industrial societies. Finally, manufacturing of inexpen-
sive industrial goods affected the lifestyles and consumptions habits of people living
in industrial societies.
The effects of the mass production system shaped the industrial landscape during
the twentieth century not only in North America, but also in Europe, Soviet Union,
and Japan. When the global political map changed at the end of the millennium,
Fordism spread rapidly to China, India, and other Asian countries, but also to
South America and to Africa. Wherever the mass production system was applied, it
shaped social, economic, and political structures. Large factories, connected to the
distribution, communication, and energy networks shaped the industrial landscapes
and rearranged geographic and demographic structures. As Bob Jessop (1992) con-
cludes, “given that economic activity (mass production system) is always socially
embedded, socially regularized, and socially regulated, the state must be involved
not only in securing the narrow techno-economic conditions for valorization and
labor supply, but also in the broader, socio-economic embeddedness, regularization,
and regulation of economic activities. It is this broader context that provides
the link between economic and social reproduction, between accumulation and
societalization.”
Did Henry Ford and Frederik W. Taylor invent a perfect manufacturing system
that was applicable to all political and ideological systems? Fordism has demon-
strated resilience and adaptability as it has taken over country after country during
the twentieth century. Where Fordism was established, societies have undergone
fundamental structural changes. However, the interaction between the mass pro-
duction system and modern industrial society is not a one-way street. Industrial
societies control, govern, and regulate industrial developments to enhanced social
and economic planning, maintain economic growth, and control social mobility.
Fordism has proved to be one of the most efficient ways to organize mass production
of industrial goods in modern societies. It has also proved to be an efficient way
to ensure macroeconomic growth, full employment, and improvement in social
welfare. Fordism has also successfully promoted urban-industrial development,
which is dominated by middle-class and wage-earning families (Macdonald 1991).
From Economies of Scale to Economies of Scope
What does it take to change the dominant production system? As discussed before,
Fordism has penetrated deeply the structures of modern industrial society. It has
created links to industrial, educational, political, social, and cultural institutions
and shaped the ways of life of millions of people. Industrial societies have become
dependent on Fordism and vice versa. This wedlock between society and industry
is difficult to break without altering social systems, organizations, and modes of
behavior (Boyer and Durand 1993).
What happened to Fordism after the mid 1970s is still an unanswered question.
What is known is that advanced industrial countries went through fundamental
economic changes, because of rapid increases in the oil price. This unexpected
exogenous impulse drove Western economies into a stubborn recession. The tidal
wave flushed over societies, which had become accustomed to a stable economic
growth, increasing wages and profits, and highly standardized, but comfortable
lifestyles. The oil crisis changed the long-term relationship between the mass
production system and the modern industrial nation. Fordism had reduced relative
prices and maintained mass consumption of industrial goods by rationalizing and
standardizing industrial production. This, in turn, was based on the assumption that
low-priced industrial goods, produced in bulk, would always find a consumer (Boyer
and Durand 1993).
Although the oil crisis sparked the economic downfall in the 1970s, it was just
one factor among many that affected the future of the mass production system.
Newly industrial nations in Asia, South America, and Africa had entered the global
industrial landscape and they could offer Fordism abundant resources of low-wage
semiskilled workers. However, as Lipietz (1985) and others have demonstrated,
Fordism adapted a wide variety of shapes when it took over the manufacturing
processes in newly industrial countries. Brazil and other vastly populated countries
in Asia and South America developed a coexistence of relatively modern and
dynamic sectors of production in dynamic urban growth centers and large rural
regions, which supplied factories with low-wage and semiskilled industrial labor.
In China, Fordism entered the era of development that was shaped by major
internal structural changes. Because of its political, social, and cultural background,
the industrial trajectory in China has become more complex than just a regime of
accumulation (Walker and Buck 2007). China provides textbook circumstances for
traditional Fordism with a low-cost labor resource, massive raw material and energy
sources, and a vast population hungry for inexpensive industrial goods. As Lüthje
(2013) points out, the industrial trajectory in China has been characterized by a
coexistence of industrial sectors at various levels of development. There is also
a wide gap separating the urban and the rural populations. According to Lüthje
(2013), “this co-existence of industries, clusters, and regions with predominantly
low-cost and labor intensive production based on rural labor on the one hand, and
those with higher levels of capital intensity and social reproduction with mostly
urban workforce, on the other, can be regarded as a key feature of China’s emerging
capitalism. It is closely linked to a governance of one-party state with both, a quasi-

federal and a highly centralized governance at the same time.”
Hence, after the economic crises in the 1970s and the changes in the global
political landscape during the final decade of the millennium, there was not one, but
many mass production systems coexisting in the world. While traditional Fordism
was adapting itself to the politically, socially, and culturally complex societies in
Asia and South America, the advanced industrial nations in Europe and in North
America, and Japan and South-Korea tried to find ways to get out from traditional
mass production paradigm.
Fordism was no longer a popular term and it was replaced by several new
concepts. Structural crises in advanced industrial nations were identified as an
“era of transformation,” “transition,” “post-modern,” “fifth Kondratiev,” “post-
collective,” and “post-Fordist.” Although none of them could exactly describe the
nature of the change, they all pointed toward the same direction. The era of mass
production and mass consumption had come to an end, and advanced industrial
nations had to find a new industrial paradigm that could satisfy customer needs,
ensure economic growth, and improve the social and the economic standards.
Although there were no inventors like Henry Ford or Frederic W. Taylor available,
advanced industrial nations had a massive technological and intellectual capacity
that could be redirected toward building the new industrial regime (Amin 1994).
Flexible response to the global crises mirrored tensions that had built up within
Fordism for a long period of time. Centralized control, monotonous and standard-
ized work, and “one-size-fit-all” attitude toward consumer needs overlooked the
social, economic, and cultural developments in modern industrial societies. As
living standards improved, people became more aware of individual and private
needs. Mass production of industrial goods was still needed, but there was a growing
demand of tailored, high-quality products. There was also less and less semiskilled
workers available in the Western world, because of demographic changes and
improvements in education.
Large-scale corporation, with the help of national and transnational innovation
systems, developed technologies that lift them up in the technological hierarchies.
Specialized new machines streamlined manufacturing systems and improved quality
of products. These improvements were coupled with the managerial innovations that
emphasized flexible specialization, decentralized management, and tailored solu-
tions for identified customer segments. New manufacturing systems were operated
by trained professionals, who replaced the semiskilled labor force. Monotonous
manual work along the assembly line was taken over by robots and automated
machines, whose operations were managed and controlled by skilled workers and
managers (Tomaney 1994).
As Schumann (1998) defines, post-Fordist system supports a worker, who is
technically autonomous and intervenes in the manufacturing process, if it does not
operate optimally. Hence, post-Fordism introduced a new division of labor within
the factory walls. Human labor was given more independence and freedom, but
the governance of the manufacturing process was handed over to the machines.
As Schumann defines it: “if the technical system should work perfectly, the main
responsibility of a system’s controller is to check and to service the machine. He
himself does a perfect job if succeeds to anticipate deviation and breakdowns in the
technical system and proceeds to initiate prevention.”
Post-Fordism took a radical step away from orthodox Fordism and proceeded
toward a new regime of accumulation. It was dominated by machines and skilled
workers. Mass production systems utilized economies of scale, but the focus was
shifting from quantity to quality. This transition toward economies of scope was
perfected in Japan, where novel mass production systems were developed in the
latter parts of the twentieth century. Lean manufacturing applied principles from
Fordism, but placed them in the new manufacturing concept. As Jürgens and others
(Jürgens 1989) observe, the Japanese manufacturing system builds on flexibility, in
utilization of facilities and minimization of quality problems as they arise. Although
the Japanese manufacturing system depended heavily on technological innovations,
the real significance was not placed in machines themselves, but on how they were
used in the manufacturing process (Sayer 1986).
In summary, we have witnessed that post-Fordism has replaced Fordism as the
dominant manufacturing system in advanced industrial countries during the first
two decades of this millennium. Many corporations have struggled to overcome the
transition from orthodox Fordism to post-Fordism. The dilemma of division of labor
remains as so far there is no consensus on how the problem will eventually be solved.
In fact, post-Fordism has created a permanent unemployment issue for the advanced
industrial countries and potentially doomed them into slow economic growth. In the
meanwhile, orthodox Fordism and its applications are driving economies on high
gear in developing countries.
The End of Division of Labor
Post-Fordism promised flexibility in production and individuality in consumption,

new division of labor within factory walls, and new prosperity to industrial
countries. This promise was fueled by the collapse of the Cold War in early
1990s and the end of the ideologically hostile world. Liberal market economy and
corporate capitalism pushed aside the socialist planned economy. Global markets
were unified by radical innovation in information technologies that made possible
the borderless and continuous flows of goods and capital.
Post-Fordism used the concepts from old mass production systems, but modified
them to satisfy the needs of globalization. It was no longer necessary to central-
ize production and establish hierarchical management structures. It was equally
unnecessary to collect massive stockpiles of raw materials in one location and
hire thousands of workers. With the help of information systems, streamlined
logistics, and automated manufacturing systems, mass production of inexpensive
goods could be decentralized, outsourced, and reorganized to meet the demand of
global markets. As Gambao (1988) has argued, the demand of inexpensive consumer
goods became homogeneous across national borders and continents. This changed
the industrial landscape in the Western world, but also in Asia and other parts of
the world. Domestic markets were no longer safe and protected against the invasion
of inexpensive goods that were manufactured anywhere in the world. In order to
survive, companies had to implement new strategies that emphasized mobility and
flexibility. Factories that were too far from customers, or inefficient, were either
closed or moved to another location, where they could utilize cheap materials, labor,
and energy and where environmental and labor regulation were less restrictive.
At the same time, global companies invested in high-quality production in
advanced industrial countries, which offered skilled labor, research and devel-
opment resources, and high-income customers. As Kern and Schaumann (1987)
point out, a new conscious of qualitative significance of human work perfor-
mance emerged from the aim to design flexible forms of automation. As automa-
tion became the holistic principle in manufacturing systems, it still demanded a
highly skilled and specialized labor force that could collaborate with sophisticated
machines. Hence, the automation did diminish the role of human labor, but it did
not shut out workers from factories. On the contrary, the relationship between
machine and worker became more complex as the intelligent machines challenged
the creative capabilities of skilled workers.
Hence, after a century-long era of mass production, the fundamental question is
still with us. Fully automated factories without workers are no longer a narrative of
science fiction, but a reality in some industries. On the other hand, manufacturing
systems that utilize traditional Fordism are still producing massive amounts of
inexpensive industrial goods. As a result, the division of labor that first existed
within the factory walls is now existing between the advanced industrial and the
developed nations. The remainder of this chapter is about the further changes
expected to take place in the industrial landscape, as the trajectory of post-Fordism
continues along with the rapid rise of digital technologies and automation.
Technological and Business Drivers that Underlie Industrial

Landscape Change
This section describes important technological and business model change drivers
that propel the migration of several industries toward a networked manufacturing
model. The networked manufacturing model is and must be accompanied with a
networked model of business to support it, where each independent company in the
network must have at least break-even profitability for the whole system to work.
The backbone of the networked model of manufacturing (and business) is the
ability to control and manage the network – this is a more complex endeavor,
than controlling and managing of a typical factory, where the activities take place
in a highly concentrated setting. Importantly, from the management and decision-
making point of view, the management of a typical factory is most often optimizing
the activities of separate entities, while the management of a network of a digitalized
networked company is optimization of a dynamic system that composes of several
digitally interconnected subsystems. This digital connectedness carries a potential
for a higher-level system (or supersystem) optimum, while reaching it means solving
several difficult problems.
Reaching a state, where a manufacturing company can be said to be digitally
networked, means mastering and being able to orchestrate many technologies
simultaneously that allow the company to manage the network. These technologies
are digital components of the digital system that is the company and that can to a
large extent all be controlled remotely. In the following subsections important com-
ponents of a digital network–based manufacturing business model are presented.
Digitalization of Business and Manufacturing Processes
Digitalization, that is the implementation of digital technologies to business pro-

cesses and models (see, e.g., Bharadwaj et al. 2013; Setia et al. 2013), refers
to the manual flow of information, whereas automation refers to manual work.
On a small scale, digitalization may only mean the storing of data in a digital
form, but the true potential of digitalization is reachable through the digital flow
of information and knowledge. Here it is important to note that information and
knowledge are not the same as data, as information can be understood as a “recipe”
to do something and knowledge as the wisdom of understanding when and under
which circumstances the recipe should be put to use. Knowledge, in other words, is
information put in a context that typically translates to action. In other words, digital
transfer of knowledge in the sense that is referred to here is the transfer of “orders”
or “requests” from the managing entity to a node, or nodes, in the networked model.
What then underlies the ability to relay orders to nodes in a network and what
are the nodes? A key revelation is to understand that an autonomously functioning
machine, or a robot-operated warehouse, can be a node. Strictly speaking “a
human in the loop” is not a necessity. The ability to relay orders is based on
the interconnectedness of the nodes and the ability to “give orders” in the format
that is understandable to the nodes. These observations may seem trivial when
the ability to communicate requests to a single machine, or node, is discussed,
but the situation becomes much more complex when the ability to communicate
requests to multiple nodes that operate with different underlying technologies (e.g.,
machines for different purposes, machines from multiple manufacturers) and in
different fields (e.g., logistics, warehouses, and manufacturing) is discussed. What
becomes important is the ability to create a direct digital communication interface
with the nodes in the network, while the traditional way to interface the nodes has
been communication between humans through a digital network.
The other side of the coin is the ability to receive information from the nodes,
to be able to understand what the status of the network is, in real time or close
to real time. This means that the nodes and, e.g., the machinery within a node
must necessarily be properly instrumented. This instrumentation falls under the
Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm that is a necessary component of networked
digitalized manufacturing business models. Digitalization, from the point of view
of business and manufacturing processess, opens the possibility for systemic control
and it is within the potential for efficiency gains through this control that possible
breakthroughs can be reached. One can say that digitalization (instrumentation and
digital communication) are a necessary baseline for a fully digital business model
in manufacturing and elsewhere.
Novel management technologies have to be adopted to efficiently control the dig-
italized factory operating in an industrial network. One of the potential technologies
that can be adopted also to management use in the context of a digitalized networked
(manufacturing) company is the “digital twin,” a concept originally coined in the
aviation industry to enhance efficient use of individual airplanes (see, e.g., Ríos
et al. 2015). In a broad sense, as Tuegel, Ingraffea, Eason, and Spottswood (2011)
define the concept, a digital twin is a set of high-fidelity, multidisciplinary, computer
models of unique physical products with their operational history. In essence, this
means that a digital counterpart of a physical entity exists in virtual space, which
can be applied for the purposes of product design, maintenance optimization, and
flexible collaboration between different stakeholders such as industrial customers
and solution providers (see, e.g., Negri et al. 2017; Kostis and Ritala 2020). The
recent literature (Rosen et al. 2015) has extended the idea of digital twins to cover
entire production lines, where the mutual coordination of equipment is needed. For
a review of digital twin technology in manufacturing, the interested reader can refer
to Holler, Uebernickel, and Brenner (2016).
In the context of a networked factory (or manufacturing company), a repository
of digital twins that consists of smaller individually modeled manufacturing pro-
cesses or even single pieces of equipment is of essence. This same fact is already
acknowledged by Li (2018) who names digital twins as one of the cornerstones
of the national digitalization projects of “Industrie 4.0” in Germany and “Made in
China 2025.” Examples of plant-level implementations of a digital twin include
the cases presented in Liu, Zhang, Leng, and Chen (2019) and Zhang, Liu, Chen,
Zhang, and Leng (2017), who propose a two-level simulation of a manufacturing
plant, where a high-fidelity virtual model is constructed and subjected to a dynamic,
random simulation tests to study the robustness of the system. Running plant-
level (or smaller) digital twins for the purposes of asset management today faces
challenges such as: (i) communication between physical and the virtual systems;
(ii) communication between virtual models, especially in cases where more than
one model is in place (see Schroeder et al. 2016); and (iii) general availability
of data issues (see Kunath and Winkler 2018). These issues, together with the
confidentiality of data, are further highlighted, if and when the digital twin networks
consist of nodes that are not under the same owner.
In fact, it may very well be that the ideas that underlie using digital twins to
predictively analyze single machines and to study designs (in the design rather
than in the asset management space) may not be fully compatible with what the
management or “control” aspect of a networked factory needs. This is due to the
“too high fidelity” for the purpose of management. Digital twins are commonly
understood as very hi-fi virtual models that typically exist for single machines
as envisioned originally (see, e.g., Tuegel et al. 2011). Creating a network of hi-
fi models for management purposes is “overkill” from the point of view of the
management needs. A leap in management efficiency can already be reached with
much less detail, and only with information that satisfies management needs. This
infers that for network management purposes a more robust meta-level information
layer is needed that is used to manage the network of digital twins, rather than
using the full information available in the models. First virtual control systems of
production facilities with smart interfaces are already in place and they may be the
direction into which future control systems for networked manufacturing will go.
While the technical solutions for control develop, the discussion about who will
be calling the shots and controlling the network as a whole via the tools is entirely
another issue and depends on how the network is composed. If the whole network
is owned by a single actor the issue may be clear, but when parts of the network
are separately owned the relaxation of control decisions are based on trust and
a common understanding of profit sharing between the network (node) owners.
Further discussion about these issues is left outside the scope of this chapter.
Automation and Manufacturing Robotics
Automation and robotics have been around in manufacturing already for some time.
In fact, automation can be said to be the beginning of modern industry, as it was
the machine automation of cotton mills that is widely perceived as the pivotal
turning point that started the first industrial revolution. Those days of automation
are, however, very far away from what is here envisioned the future will bring,
because modern automation is “full automation” in the sense that manufacturing
machines operate autonomously. Rosen et al. (2015) talk about automatic operation
and autonomous operation. Modern manufacturing robots can be used to reach a
higher level of automation by using autonomous robots that assist and co-work with
digitally operated (or autonomous) machines and with humans and they can be used
to bridge the gaps between automated parts of manufaturing processes. Such robots
are referred to as cobots and their first generation already exists and is operational in
the manufacturing industry (Li et al. 2020). Typically cobots are used in warehouses,
where these are used to complement and to replace humans working in many sorting
and picking tasks.
The ability to create autonomously operating manufacturing equipment, includ-
ing cobots, requires the ability to fuse information from multiple sources (sensors)
at any given point in time. Gabor et al. (2016) point to the ability of digital models to
simulate data and thus produce planned reactions based on the data at hand, instead
of resorting to the use of fixed rule sets. Using machine learning (ML) that does
not require user intervention to tailor action rules may provide good answers for
autonomous operation and simple examples of using ML in manufacturing already
exist, see, e.g., Priore et al. (2006, 2018). Previously using ML has been inhibited
by lack of computing power, but today many of the previous restrictions have been
lifted due to faster communication ability and due to cloud-based fast computing.
Advanced autonomous robots can be given a task (through a digital management
system) that they will then fulfill – from the management system point of view
autonomous parts in the network can be treated as black boxes, only the completion,
or the lack thereof, is relevant information at the high level.
Additive Manufacturing Technologies
Additive manufacturing, often referred to as 3D printing, is a set of manufacturing

technologies that are based on the seemingly simple idea of manufacturing solid
objects by adding materials layer by layer (Ngo et al. 2018). The material addition
technologies are typically based on using liquifiable substances that can be precisely
applied, such as resins and plastics, or on using powders (in connection with metals)
and melting to attach the powder-based material. Melting metal powders can be done
by, e.g., using precision lasers. What makes additive manufacturing very interesting
from the point of view of digitalization is that the machinery is typically digital
and computer operated. In essence, an additive manufacturing device is a universal
manufacturing device that can manufacture any form or shape within the universe
of possible shapes (size and complexity) to meet the customer demands, within
the limits of the machin – this includes highly complex shapes that are otherwise
impossible to manufacture by conventional manufacturing methods. Importantly,
additive manufacturing also allows the use of less raw materials than traditional
manufacturing methods (see, e.g., Ford and Despeisse 2016; Gebler et al. 2014) –
this may be an important issue, especially in cases where the raw material used is
expensive.
Additive manufacturing opens many avenues for developing and making man-
ufacturing more efficient, more tailored (Chiu and Lin 2016), and more flexible
(Achillas et al. 2015). While this is the case, the variety of new business models
around additive manufacturing has been so far quite limited (Savolainen and Collan
2020). Being in possession of a fleet of additive manufacturing machines, or
“stations,” allows a manufacturing network to flexibly produce a large assortment
of components, which allows for a higher level of optimization of the manu-
facturing capacity use. Additive manufacturing has been shown to be able to
exhibit economies of scale (Baumers et al. 2016) and the ability to reach high
capacities is based on a combination of skills that include abilities related to
manufacturing technology, abilities related to the management of the potentially
produced components, and the ability to sell the capacity, or otherwise create a
business that is able to utilize the capacity efficiently. Businesses that may be
supported and that may rely on additive manufacturing of components on an on-
demand basis include the service and maintenance business that relies on the
availabilty of spare parts – there is a natural fit with additive manufacturing and
maintenance, although several unresolved issues exist (Holmström et al. 2016;
Urbani and Collan 2020).
Materials research is a field that is closely connected to additive manufacturing
and will in the future widen the range of different materials that can be utilized in
additive manufacturing. This development allows widening the range of components
and architectures manufactured. Advanced materials such as “advanced” metal
alloys may allow for additive manufacturing of simple machines, or more precisely,
components that have machine-like characteristics. Memory metal alloys, e.g.,
may be used to manufacture shapes that can be operated with electric current or
magnetic fields and that allow the creation of unknown types of active structures
and capabilities in components.
Logistics Optimization and Supply Chain Risk Management
Interestingly, additive manufacturing is not only a revolution of manufacturing, but

most importantly a revolution of logistics (Bogers et al. 2016). This is due to the
fact that the raw materials used by additive manufacturing machinery are standard
powders and liquefiable materials in standardized forms, the logistics and storing
of which are most often cheaper than those of ready parts – especially from the
point of view of the tied-up capital. This also means that a smaller variety of more
standardized items in a larger quantity per item will be needed when manufacturing
happens by way of additive manufacturing technologies.
While additive manufacturing will affect what is being shipped and where, there
will most likely not be an abrupt fundamental change in the way global logistics
work – rather there will be a gradual change that will start from the change in various
niche areas, where additive manufacturing wins ground. For the great majority of
products mass production will remain the most efficient and cost-effective way of
production (even when logistics costs are added) for a relatively long time (Mellor
et al. 2014; Holmström et al. 2016; Savolainen and Collan 2020). This means that
what is known about optimizing logistics will be important also in the future, better
yet, the importance will hardly be erased by additive manufacturing or any other
manufacturing paradigm, as it is not foreseeable that manufacturing could happen
without any raw materials.
Supply chain management is an important piece of the digital manufacturing
puzzle, where just-in-time (JIT) delivery of goods and raw materials is a key issue in
the context of inventory management for manufacturing and businesses also beyond
manufacturing. The drive toward optimizing (minimizing) inventories via efficient
supply chains is also a source of risks, some of which may materialize in situations
of sudden shocks caused by, e.g., pandemics, and which may hamper the ability
of businesses to operate normally. In such cases, the flexibility offered by additive
manufacturing can be used to remedy some of the problems, if the competences and
readiness to do so exist. If the logistic chain cannot provide critical components that
can be additively manufactured, a fleet of additive manufacturing systems can be
turned into producing the critical components. In this way additive manufacturing
technologies also work toward more resilient supply chains (Laplume et al. 2016).
In a digitalized environment, where supply chain disruptions can be identified early
on, firms with additive manufacturing capacity and the skills to use it to dampen the
effects of disruptions may be able to gain competitive advantage.
Proactive Versus Reactive Management
There is increasing potential for competitive advantage creation in adopting pre-

dictive management in manufacturing. The digitalization of equipment in terms
of higher numbers of sensors and real-time data collection form the basis of
implementing the statistical algorithms for predictive management of industrial
equipment. In the realm of supply chain management, the use of predictive risk
management models in networks is also a topic of growing interest (Hallikas
et al. 2002; Seyedan and Mafakheri 2020). Having a predictive management ability
means that management becomes proactive in terms of acting to affect an outcome,
rather than acting as a reaction to something that has already taken place. A field
within manufacturing where proactive management has already shown to create
competitive advantage is predictive maintenance (Urbani et al. 2020). Predictive
analytics–based proactive management will most likely spread also to other areas of
manufacturing.
Traditionally, the data-based management of industrial plants has concentrated
on the existing sets of cumulative history data that serve as material for tuning
predictive analytics. In the case of networked manufacturing, there is no single
fixed factory “entity” that can be used for the systematic and systemic analysis of
deviations. As there are many possible constellations of a network with multiple
complementing nodes that may be used to reach a desired end result it may
be impossible to possess complete data for predictive purposes. This calls for a
different type of approach for system-level predictive management and finding
system-level optimal management actions – one possible direction is the use of
simulation in creating ex ante possibility spaces that allow the identification of
good system (nework) configurations for various situations. If it is not possible to
obtain real-world historical data from the network, a precise-enough model of the
network can be constructed and simulation is used to create the needed data. In large
networks, the problem complexity may become an issue and further simplification
may be required. Techniques such as meta-modeling (Yang et al. 2018) offer
simplification opportunities that may be used to simplify complex manufacturing
model parts to simpler input-output systems from the practical point of view.
In the long run the development toward more automated manufacturing manage-
ment will change the role of the post-Fordian human worker increasingly toward
those of “a maintenance” person who is responsible for carrying out supporting
tasks that keep the automated machine running. This may be viewed as a dystopic
development, where the value of the human input decreases. On the other hand
the construction and planning needed in making the development possible requires
the ingenuity and work of humans for the foreseeable future. With the transfer
of manufacturing to a more networked mode, also a transfer of the required
competences of human resources is taking place.
Conclusion: Toward Manufacturing as a Network
What is argued is that the new networked manufacturing model – fueled with new
digital technologies and management mechanisms as discussed thus far – calls for
viewing modern factory not as isolated nodes connected merely by logistics and
supply relationships, but rather as a developing and dynamic network. In such a
model, there is an increasing demand for organizational and individual abilities in
collaboration and coordination, in addition to the traditional demands of efficiency

and substance skills. Even if the progression takes place at a different pace across
the globe, the argument is that we are witnessing a gradual movement toward the
manufacturing-as-a-network model. What does manufacturing as a network mean?
First, it refers to undertanding the networked factory as a complex adap-
tive system (e.g., Phillips and Ritala 2019). This calls for viewing networks as
“ecosystems”: networks of interdependent actors, technologies, and institutions that
together create value (Aarikka-Stenroos and Ritala 2017). Ecosystems often span
multiple industries and industrial logics, and they include co-specialization of assets
across different complementary actors (Jacobides et al. 2018). From the perspective
of manufacturing as a network, this means that independent factory units of different
sizes are interdependent via digital interfaces, creating potential for moving toward
a seamless web of fully automated industrial landscape that is operating “24/7.”
Such loosely coupled system is thus both distinctive and responsive (Orton and
Weick 1990), allowing for global, scalable, flexible, and generative model of
manufacturing.
Second, manufacturing as a network results in the emergence of new types of
risks. Interdependence among different actors does not only provide flexibility and
scalability to production, but it creates interdependence risks (Adner 2006). For
instance, when one “node” in a manufacturing ecosystem fails to operate, it might
create bottlenecks to other parts of the system. Such risks can be mitigated by
involving slack in the system, e.g., in terms of alternative producers, but on the
other hand, modern production is aiming to cut out slack via, e.g., lean and just-
in-time methodologies. Furthermore, in a large and interconnected ecosystem there
are major risks of incentive misalignment. The higher the number of interconnected
actors in the system, the higher the chance that the incentives to contribute to that
system are not fully aligned as actors adopt different roles. Therefore, the “factory
of the future” needs to balance system-related risks against the benefits of flexibility
provided by those systems.
Third, manufacturing as a network requires new types of management. Unlike
traditional coordination of a firm viewed as a nexus of contracts, modern manufac-
turing networks require “orchestration” – a model of coordination that pursues to
accommodate the incentive structure and division of labor among loosely coupled
actors (see, e.g., Dhanaraj and Parhke 2006). Orchestration of a complex networks
of autonomous machines, technologies, and production elements requires major
orchestration capabilities and skills, often possessed by industrial leading actors
(Ritala et al. 2009; Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Nätti 2018). However, as an
alternative to a hub-and-spoke model, where leading actors aim to orchestrate the
rest of the network, more collective forms of governance could also be adopted
(Fjeldstad et al. 2012).
Finally, there are major social and institutional implications. As already men-
tioned in the introduction, the manual work is increasingly moving to the automated
processes and robots in the networked manufacturing model. This means that the
industrial work moves from supervising machine operations and production lines
toward overseeing the automated systems and training machine learning algorithms,
for instance. Furthermore, there is also continuing demand for managerial skills
in orchestrating (see, e.g., Ritala et al. 2009) networks of actors, and developing
overarching undertanding of how the factories’ and production units roles are
best positioned in a global production network. These progressions mean that the
decreasing demand for manual labor is going to continue, including a “race-to-the-
bottom” in wages, while the remaining positions might increasingly go to highly
paid experts.
To conclude, in this chapter, it is noted that it has been demonstrated how the
changing industrial landcape has moved from Taylorist and Fordist effectiveness and
standardization-based models toward a post-Fordist networked industry model. This
change has been fueled by the surge of new digital and manufacturing technologies
and by the related business models. There are major implications of adoption of
these technologies and resulting ways of industrial production and work. Table 1
summarizes the arguments about how manufacturing as a network differs from the
Taylorist-Fordian view of a factory (manufacturing).
Going forward, one important question is, whether we will witness a move from
loosely coupled industrial governance, where different producers compete against
Table 1 Shift of paradigm from Taylorist-Fordian factory to post-Fordian networked

manufacturing
Taylorist-Fordian view of
factory Manufacturing as a network
Manufacturing takes In a highly specialized, In an industrial network, which acts a
place efficient, and optimized flexibility resource within the
production unit as a part of constraints of economic profitability
global value chain(s). The
operation is constrained by
demand
Underlying business Simultaneously scale Increase production scope and output
logic production volume and quality to gain valuable roles in the
improve quality of the outputs network
Ideal management Coordination and control Orchestration of a loosely coupled
model system; collective autonomous
governance
Role of machinery Automatic, fixed, and manual Autonomous machinery and mobile
and robotics mobile cobots
The main type of Supervising fixed machine Overseeing and developing the
manual work operations automated production systems;
supporting continuous operation of
machines
Payment for manual High wages ensured by Global competition and race to the
work national labor unions bottom in low-tech wages; highly
skilled workers benefit
Risks Demand-related risks, Interdependence risks, replaceability
declining competitivity risks
each other with their networks and ecosystems toward a tightly coupled produc-
tion model. In principle, a tightly coupled system with fully automated supply
and demand, logistics, and manufacturing could be an ideal way for the global
networked manufacturing. This type of a system would minimize slack, waste,
and risks, while maximizing output. However, if such system is highly centralized
among one or few global technology companies, there is risk that the efficiency
gains are reaped as monopoly rents. This would leave less room for competition,
innovation, and diversity. Therefore, it is expected that manufacturing of the future
is run by global “manufacturing networks of the future” – networked production
systems that compete head to head with automation, flexibility, and quality.
To conclude, this chapter helps to track the progression in the industrial landscape
and the changing role of a “factory” from Taylorist and Fordian history toward the
networked, automated, and interconnected future of manufacturing. The arguments
made are based on the existing evidence and progression, but of course the future
development can take alternative paths that have not been taken into account.
Therefore, there is a place for more research that would study the changing aspects
in the industrial landscape from different perspectives.
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Further Reading
https://new.siemens.com/global/en/company/stories/research-technologies/digitaltwin/digital-
twin.html#main-content
https://www.ge.com/digital/applications/digital-twin
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https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/automated-factories-video
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/supply-chains-automation-future/
https://www.3yourmind.com/news/5-keys-to-success-in-a-distributed-manufacturing-model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMdjexWNyg4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caTCRVt77s8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYby_HczyDA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8H1x_OoZBI
Karakuri Solutions and Industry 4.0
4
Mariusz Kostrzewski and Wojciech Jerzy Nowak
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Where to Find Karakuri? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Karakuri Kaizen in Industrial Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Selected Reflections on Karakuri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Abstract
In Japanese, karakuri means “a mechanism,” “a contraption,” or “a trick.”

The word karakuri often refers to karakuri ningyō (automata), constructed
in Japan between seventeenth and nineteenth century, inspired by mechanical
devices such as time-measuring mechanisms (Yamamoto et al (2018a) Karakuri
IoT – the concept and the result of pre-study. In: Thorvald P, Case K (eds)
Advances in manufacturing technology, vol 8. IOS Press, Amsterdam, pp 311–
316). Currently, examples of karakuri, from the Edo period (1603–1867), are an
inspiration to various solutions known under collective term karakuri kaizen.
These low-cost automations are improvement projects that concentrate on
the development of mechanical devices that employ gravity to improve vari-
M. Kostrzewski ()
Faculty of Transport, Division of Construction Fundamentals of Transport Equipment, Warsaw
University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
e-mail: mariusz.kostrzewski@pw.edu.pl
W. J. Nowak
Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Literary Studies, Department of Oriental Studies, Nicolaus
Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland
e-mail: wojjciechnowak@umk.pl

70 M. Kostrzewski and W. J. Nowak
ous industrial systems, such as technological transport systems or production

systems. These low-cost automations use no electrical, pneumatic, or hydraulic
equipment and are not connected to computers, IT networks or any other
elements of the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Therefore, karakuri kaizen is sometimes
treated as development and implementation phase prior to introduction of
Industry 4.0. However, selected solutions, based on karakuri principles, work
more effectively than complex and expensive, digital ones. Karakuri happens to
be used in industry counter to solutions of Industry 4.0, because of their analogue
nature.
The first section of the chapter consists of introduction of selected definitions
(e.g., karakuri, Industry 4.0) and a brief overview of premodern Japanese
clockwork and automata history with description of certain specimens relevant
to the authors’ study. In the second section, the authors present analysis of
interdisciplinary literature search based on renown scientific databases. The third
section focuses on selected solutions of karakuri kaizen in industrial applications.
In the chapter the authors take a challenge to present the less known, early pages
of the story of last-decade Industry 4.0. Therefore, the fourth section is connected
to some reflection on the subject matter. The chapter is finalized with conclusion
and proposals for future research.
Keywords
Karakuri · Karakuri ningyō · Kaizen · Japan · Roller conveyor · Natural

force · Industry 4.0 · Logistics 4.0
Introduction
Robotics and automation stipulated as crucial elements of Industry 4.0 have become
widespread and associated with digital technologies. In the initial section of the
chapter, the authors would like to attempt to present the analog beginnings of
robotics, on example of karakuri ningyō, Japanese premodern automata, focusing
on how one could benefit from this technology and what solution can those primal
robots provide nowadays, in new context of Industry 4.0 and challenges of twenty-
first century.
Since the time immemorial, the technology of contraptions served various
purposes. It was an attempt to understand the mechanisms of the world, by
mimicking its principles in mechanisms representing it. One of the prime examples
of such approach are clocks, on the other hand the technology was an output of
the human drive to create. In terms of inventions, actual or mythical, one of the
most frequently recurring topics is creating a life-like contraption, an artificial
human. The mythical living dolls found their way into fairy tales like Vasiilissa
the Beautiful helper-doll, Pinocchio, golem of Prague (Arsénio et al. 2011). In the
dawn of twentieth century, during the time of second industrial revolution, the divine
4 Karakuri Solutions and Industry 4.0 71
magic powering those man-made entities was replaced by science. In 1920 Karol
Čapek brought to life a name for those machines: a robot, from Slavic robota – labor
(Čapek 2008), the name still being used today. The idea of human-like machine
was followed by Fritz Lang, director of the motion picture “Metropolis” with
Maschinenmensch (Machine-Person) Maria (Lang 1927). Although these robots
existed only as a fiction, where did the Western creators, unbound by technical
limitations of technology, draw inspiration from? “The Nightingale,” a story by
Hans Christian Andersen, gives the reader a hint in a passage describing a parcel
delivered to the Emperor of China: “Made of metal with a key to wind it up, this bird
was clockwork. But what a magnificent clockwork bird it was, covered in diamonds,
rubies and sapphires with a tail of silver and gold. Round its neck was a piece of
ribbon with a note. ‘A nightingale from the Emperor of Japan – though it cannot
compare with your nightingale,’ the note read” (BBC 2010).
Although the clockwork nightingale from the Andersen’s story was fictitious,
there is an actual contraption which could inspire the writer, called the Peacock
clock, created by English clock master James Cox in 1777 on commission by
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky as a gift to Russian Empress
Katherine II the Great (Pyatnitsky 2017). Now the Peacock clock is a part of
Hermitage Museum collection. According to Pyatnitsky (2017), the Peacock clock
combines four independent mechanisms: the owl, the peacock, the cockerel, and the
mushroom clock.
Before considering the main topic of this chapter, it is worthwhile to investigate
the progenitors of robots: the automata. In the chapter, the authors decided to narrow
their scope of research mainly to Japanese unassisted automata from seventeenth
century onwards.
The Cartesian idea of animals as mechanisms was literally embodied in the
complex mechanical devices, mimicking nature and humans called automata. As
the name suggests, they were constructed, as they would act of their own will,
facilitating intricate clockwork techniques. The most sophisticated, still extant
examples of Western automata portraying humans are Maillardet’s automaton built
in London by a Swiss mechanician Henri Maillardet around 1800 (Arsénio et al.
2011), currently in The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia collection and Jaquet-Droz
automata in Musée d’Art et d’Histoire of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland, constructed
by Swiss clockmakers and mechanics: Pierre Jaquet-Droz, his son Henri Louis
and Jean-Frédéric Leschot (Voskuhl 2007). These three automata, namely, the
writer (l’écrivain), the draughtsman (le dessinateur), and the woman musician
(la musicienne), were introduced to the audience in 1774. Each automaton rep-
resents a human figure, performing complex task of either writing, sketching, or
playing an instrument. The choice of these tasks will be relevant to the following
parts of the chapter.
These automata development can be treated as one of the milestones of the
humankind history of technology and industrialization. However, it was not the
European automata themselves, but the clockworks, which directly influenced
the construction of Japanese karakuri from seventeenth century on. The authors
discuss this matter in greater detail later into the chapter. Meanwhile, the following
paragraph focuses on the modern times.
Most of human life, focused on agriculture, commerce, education, health care,
warfare, and industry, depends on relations between humans, society, mechanisms,
and increasingly to machines. As a consequence, the technological development is
causing a growing appetite for all kinds of energy used to drive machines, digital
mechanisms, and devices. As it might be observed in Fig. 1, the energy growth
increases with technological development understood here as growth in number
of transistors per microprocessors (such a measure for technological development
was taken into consideration due to the argument that solutions of Industry 4.0 are
highly depended on the computing power). It is no longer a foregone conclusion
whether or not the reserves of energy will run out, but when they will. Therefore, it
seems necessary to reach more intensively for renewable energy sources, which is a
trivial statement nowadays, and it is much more important to reach for solutions
that do not require an enormous energy input. The statement, despite being of
trivial nature, needs hansei. This Japanese term stands for “self-reflection,” while
statement connected to low energy input may be connected to another Japanese
term, namely karakuri.
The word karakuri has multiple notations in kanji characters (logographic
characters of Chinese origin used in the writing system of Japanese language),
being: 絡繰, 唐繰, 機巧, 機関, 機, 械, 関 (read the same in every case, as karakuri).
The Great Dictionary of Japanese, “Kokugo daijiten” states that the word derives
from a verb karakuru which means “to make something move by pulling a string.”
Such use of the term has been confirmed around the second part of sixteenth century.
Fig. 1 Comparison of number of transistors per microprocessor (data given in billions on the right
ordinate; columns) and global energy consumption (given along left ordinate; data given by solid
line include energy acquired from the following sources: coal, solar, oil, gas, traditional biomass,
other renewables, hydropower, nuclear, wind, biofuels). (Sources: Roser and Ritchie (2013) for
technological development (and additionally number of transistors per microprocessor for 2019
year based on Broekhuijsen 2019; Mujtaba 2019), Ritchie (2014) for global energy consumption)
In the chapter, the authors focus on karakuri ningyō, mechanical dolls (as a reference
to modern karakuri-based solutions), which hereafter will be referred to as karakuri.
Karakuri are animated, mechanical dolls of humans and animals, which use
the principles of clockwork-based mechanisms in performing designated tasks,
described in greater detail further in the chapter. As opposed to abovementioned
Western automata, Japanese karakuri mechanisms are often composed of wood
instead of metal. They do not rely on external power source, but are driven by
mechanical forces, provided by springs, or movement of sand, or water inside them.
In his chapter, Suzuki (1988, p. 42) proposed the following division of karakuri
into four groups:
• Karakuri used in religious worship

• Karakuri designed to be shown to general audience
• Karakuri designed for personal use, which are further divided into those operated
manually, or by means of mechanism concealed in them.
The examples of karakuri for each of those groups will be discussed in detail
further in the chapter.
The karakuri mechanisms were accompanied with and inspired by clockworks
devices (Yamamoto et al. 2018a). Karakuri ningyō has been present in Japan before
seventeenth century (Yokota 2009), yet their heyday was Edo period (1603–1867),
when newly acquired knowledge on technology, including clock making, imported
to Japan from the West provided new possibilities for their further development
and widespread recognition (Yokota 2009). The necessary know-how was acquired
based on experience gained by Japanese during thorough examinations and repairs
conducted on imported clocks. It is worth mentioning after Koch (2020) that unlike
in areas of European influence, the mechanical clocks cannot be characterized by
the same “revolutionary” effect on time-reckoning in Japan. Yet, the mechanical
clocks contributed to development of other sophisticated devices.
The oldest extant clock of European origin on Japanese land is a gift of king of
Spain, Philip III, given to Tokugawa Ieyasu (the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate
of Japan) in 1611 as a token of gratitude for rescuing the stranded Spanish ship
2 years before (Koch 2020). This so-called Western clock, in Japanese yōdokei, is
being preserved at Kunōzan Tōshōgū shrine in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture
(Koch 2020). This spring-driven clock was made in Madrid in 1581 (Koch 2020).
It is worth noticing the evident division of Western clocks from indigenous
clocks, called wadokei. The father of Japanese clocks is considered to be Tsuda
Sukezaemon (Yokota 2009). The mentioned division between Western and Japanese
clockworks is based on the necessity of adjusting the existing mechanism to
Japanese approach on time division at the time. Japanese have shown many times
their skill in adapting foreign technologies and ideas, as well as their sophisticated
refinement for their own domestic use. Wadokei clockwork mechanisms are exam-
ples of such adaptations and refinements.
Although Tsuda is considered to be the father of Japanese clock, the title of
the greatest wadokei designer belongs to Tanaka Hisashige (Yokota 2009). Tanaka
was renown inventor, famous for creating both convenient solutions and numerous
automata, some of which the authors describe in detail further in the chapter.
This area of his work gained him a nickname Karakuri Giemon, which means the
Master of Automata. In Japan his works are widely recognized as groundbreaking
contribution to the country’s technical development. His life and achievements are
presented in Toshiba Mirai Kagakukan in Tokyo (Toshiba Science Museum 2021).
However, the impact of Tanaka’s talent on Japan and the country’s development
is undisputed, and the connections of the Master of Automata to foreign countries
require further investigation.
Andersen’s Nightingale mentioned in the introduction to the chapter presents an
interesting lead, when one takes into consideration, that Tanaka, as great creators
of automatons in Europe (Mayson 2000, p. 14), also constructed a bird automaton,
Hototogisu (the Cuckoo) in 1856 (Toshiba Science Museum 2021).
The prime achievement of Tanaka is the so-called Man-nen jimeishō
(10,000 years self-ringing bell) or simply Man-nen dokei (10,000 years clock),
which is described as perpetual chronometer by Hato et al. (2007). He constructed
this masterpiece in 1851. The apparatus is said to run for almost a year (225 days to
be precise) on a single winding. In 2004, a restoration project aiming at bringing the
clock back to the working condition and creating a replica was launched. The project
proved to be a success. The results were presented in 2005 during Aichi Expo. Year
after Man-nen jimeishō was designated as an important cultural property (Yokota
2009, p. 180).
Man-nen dokei is of particular importance, because constructing it over the
period of 3 years, Tanaka has drawn from his previous experiences of creating
karakuri, as well as benefited from western technology, albeit his work definitely
was not a copy, but a genuine invention, tailored to local demands.
Such approach is reflected in the design of the clock, which has been described
in detail by Hato et al. (2007), Yokota (2009), and others. The authors would like
to narrow the description to the following features of Man-nen dokei: the six clock
faces and the dome.
Each of the faces were displaying different time measurement:
• First face was of a wadokei, explained in greater detail below.

• Second face: solar term with plates for inscriptions of the East Asian lunisolar
calendar.
• Third face: 7 days of the week.
• Fourth face: jikkan jūnishi which is sexagenary cycle of Chinese Astrological
Calendar.
• Fifth face: lunisolar calendar and indicator of phases of the Moon.
• Sixth face: western style clock face.
• Dome with map of Japan showing the position of Sun and Moon during the year.
Such construction resembles the mechanism of European astronomical clocks,

but on a smaller scale. Miniaturization proved to be a skill very profitable for
Japanese industry in the second part of twentieth century onwards.
The first, wadokei face is the most complex and intricate mechanism. The
challenge in this case was to design mechanism that would reflect the irregular
measurements of the time, based on the varying length of the day from sunrise
to sunset, both indicated on the face of the clock, during the year. It was achieved
by fixing the hand indicating hourly units (the hand pointing to lunisolar calendar
units remained mobile), and employing the mechanism of a rotating warigoma –
12 motile plates, serving as hour indicators, in 24-h cycle combined with system
of changing warigoma positions against each other (placing them closer or further
apart) in the yearly cycle, reflecting the alternations in duration of daytime.
In the authors opinion this is an example of an early, groundbreaking design
merging technology with the world Nature, industrial and environmental, organic
approaches.
Man-nen dokei, Tanaka’s opus magnum, is a result of its makers own practice
and experience. However, even those without such extensive background had the
possibility to take a chance on at least re-creating karakuri designs.
It is worth noticing that due to high level of literacy in eighteenth century Japan
(Kanaya 1979), the indirect transfer of knowledge by means of literature has been
possible. From among available primary resources the authors would like to bring
to readers’ attention the following:
• “Karakuri Kinmō Kagami Gusa” (“Notes on the review of automata for begin-
ners”) by Kanchūsen Tagaya, published in 1730 (Tagaya 1730)
• “Kikō zui” (“Illustrated compendium of Automata”) by Hosokawa Yarinao,
published in 1798 (Hosokawa 1796a, b)
• “Ōkarakuri e-zukushi” (“Almanach of great automata in pictures”) by Nishimura
Shigenaga, published in 1758 (Nishimura 1758)
• “Karakuri chigusa no mibae” (“Fruition of thousand types of automata”); author
and date of publication unknown (Anonymous)
The latter two resources present the variety of karakuri descriptions, the former
two serve as open-source manuals on how to construct chosen karakuri and describe
how they work.
The Japanese approach to automata was more egalitarian than the Western one.
Not all automata were concealed in chambers of the noblemen but presented to
the wider audience during festivals and theatrical performances. The most notable
theater group utilizing karakuri ningyō was Takeda Ōmi puppet theatre, falling
under the term of karakuri shown to the general audience, also described as
shibai karakuri, performance automata (Tajima 1983; Yokota 2009). Takeda started
his theatre company in 1662 (Tajima 1983; Yokota 2009), and gained enormous
popularity in several regions of the country. The One of the proofs for his popularity
is highlighted and mentioned in “Settsu meisho zue” (“Depictions of famous places
in Settsu province”), a series of books published between 1796 and 1798, a depiction
of the performance with Dutch in the audience, accompanied by a comment, which
reads “The Dutch were in awe seeing Takeda’s puppet theater” (printed in volume 4
of “Settsu meisho zue”; three Dutch gentlemen presented on the right page and
shibai karakuri on the left page: Akisato and Takehara 1796–1798). Also, whole
series of books depicting, and advertising, the performances (see Nishimura 1758,
mentioned above) were published on Takeda’s karakuri 1 year after the memorable
performance in Edo (present Tokyo). Even after the craze of Takeda’s theater
has ceased, its influence of the karakuri technology and techniques on traditional
puppet theatre bunraku and kabuki theatre are undebatable. These can be observed
in the construction of bunraku puppets as well as in stage contraptions of kabuki
theatre, including revolving stage and variety of trap doors, which contribute to
creating a momentum in the story presented on stage. It is worth mentioning that
shibai karakuri performance were supported with fusuma karakuri (dōgugaeshi) –
a scenography background or scene-changing elements in performances, equipped
with mechanical devices that ensured three-dimensional depth of a scene. In later
years a phenomenon of nozoki karakuri peek-in automata has emerged, yet in
this case interchangeable plates observed through a lens were used, creating a set
similar to European Kaiser-Panorama. The nozoki karakuri device was called also
as Oranda megane (Dutch glasses/spectacles) or nozoki megane (peeping glasses),
whereas the plates were also known as karakuri-e (tricky picture(s)), Toshiyuki
(1998).
Another type of karakuri designed for public display are kairaishi ningyō
(kairaishi means a puppeteer), which were part of the festival floats. The most
renown festival employing karakuri ningyō is Inuyama Festival. The use of karakuri
dates back to 1641, and has been recognized as a part of world intangible cultural
heritage by UNESCO (Inuyama Festival 2016). These types of karakuri were also
animated by group of people operating sets of strings, connected to certain actions
performed by the doll, such as blinking and moving limbs. Placing the automata
atop the floats, resembling high-towered cards, enabled the puppeteers to remain
unseen by the public, Lancashire (2011, p. 195).
The last group is called zashiki karakuri, which means chamber automata (Rani
et al. 2015; Bhanu and Kumar 2018; Paraponiaris and Rodríguez 2019). These types
of karakuri, powered by wind-up spring, were the most intricate ones, despite their
small size, and that is why the authors would like to present detailed descriptions of
a few examples: yumihiki dōji (young archer), moji kaki ningyō (writing doll), and
ocha hakobi ningyō (tea serving doll) (Yokota 2009).
Yumihiki dōji consists of a puppet of an archer boy dressed in historical costume
sitting atop a box concealing a wind-up mechanism, and a shooting target, placed at
a distance from the doll, at which the archer aims. Equipped with three arrows, the
boy collects them, one by one, from the stand and shoots them toward the shooting
target. Due to the use of strings, the movements of the doll are much smoother than
its European counterparts, creating more life-like illusion. Also, the design of the
archer face, adopted from traditional Japanese dolls, as well as referring to the art
of nō theater masks, enabled creating a sense of different facial expressions. An
interesting idea is the design making the archer miss the mark on one the attempts.
From the point of view of user experience, it is interesting to see the machine fail,
and thus familiarize with it more. Two specimens of historical yumihiki dōji exist
to this day, both created by Tanaka Hisashige, mentioned earlier in the chapter,
clock-master and inventor, whose expertise in engineering contributed to the rapid

modernization of Japan (Yokota 2009).
The second mechanism worth mentioning is moji kaki ningyō. This karakuri uses
a brush dipped in ink to write Chinese characters on a piece of paper. The idea
behind this automaton is similar to the European writers, yet, the features of Chinese
scripture, including differences in applied pressure and speed of placing the strokes
of brush on the paper, make the writing mechanism more intricate (comparing for
example to writing boy automaton constructed by Pierre Jaquet-Droz, Henri Louis
and Jean-Frédéric Leschot). To make the movement of limbs and the head less rigid,
the mechanism utilizes strings with weights, which ensure smooth, rounded motion.
In total, four specimens of moji kaki ningyō constructed in nineteenth century exist.
One of them, retrieved to Japan from the USA, is attributed to Tanaka Hisashige.
Another one, holding two brushes (one in hand and one in mouth), was discovered
in 2009 in an old estate in present Nagoya (Suematsu 2012). It is attributed to
Tamaya Shōbei, a karakuri master whose family still produces karakuri automata
(Paraponiaris and Rodríguez 2019).
The next worth mentioning karakuri is ocha hakobi ningyō. This variety of
karakuri is of the highest interest for the authors of the chapter, because, as opposed
to previous examples, this karakuri is not stationary, but it moves in space and
requires human interaction. Ocha hakobi ningyō means tea serving doll, and that is
what this automaton is designed to realize both in terms of form and function. All of
four specimens described in Suzuki (1988) are designed to look like drink-fetching
helpers of the era: boys and girls in traditional hairstyles and clothing, holding a tray
with a cup in front of them. After placing a cup filled with tea on a tray being held
by the doll, it drives toward a “customer” and stops, when the person takes the cup.
When an empty cup is placed back onto the tray, the automaton spins around and
returns the way it came from. Particular feature of this type of automata is deliberate
portrayal of feet, clad in traditional tabi socks, which give the impression of the doll
walking, although it moves on a set of wheels, cleverly concealed by long robes.
The frame and most of the mechanism parts, except wind-up spring is constructed
out of wood. A few specimens are extant, yet none matches exactly the drawings
from “Kikō Zui” (“Illustrated Compendium of Automata”) (the page that presents
such kind of mechanism is given in Hosokawa 1796b).
Other type of less complicated, moving only in one direction, carrying automata
worth mentioning is kani sakazuki-dai, crab goblet stand. Kyokutei Bakin, in
his work “Chosakudō Issekiwa” (“Stories told a certain night at the author’s
pavilion”), published in 1802, gives a detailed description of such automaton, once
a beloved possession of high ranked Kyoto courtesan, Yoshino-tayu the second
(Kyokutei 1802). The description is supplemented with detailed drawings, showing
the karakuri from the above and from the front. The automaton itself is a life-sized
and life-like representation of a crab with raised pincers. It carries the sake-cup on its
body using the same principle as the ocha hakobi ningyō: the weight of a cup set on
the plate in center of automaton’s body triggers the mechanism, and the crab starts
mowing on cogwheels protruding from the belly, sideways, until the cup is lifted.
The cogs in the mechanism assure the movement of the legs resembles the one of
actual, living animal. Interestingly, kani sakazuki-dai is composed entirely of metal,

an exception among Japanese automata, and two existing specimens (both in private
collections: one in the family of Yoshino-tayu descendants, second belongs to Hine
Yukikazu (Niigata City History Museum 2012)) to the authors’ best knowledge both
are in working condition, a rare case, as doll-shaped automata, however extant, are
usually immobile.
The idea of carrying things to the spot of pick-up and returning to the point of
origin is used in modern application of karakuri techniques, as described further in
the chapter.
Prior to describing the possible industrial application of karakuri principles, the
authors would like to consider the presence of historical karakuri in modern Japan.
One of the most important and still valid purposes of karakuri is to foster
curiosity. The sense of marvel merged with playfulness and awe, lead to questions
and explorations in search for solutions to solve a seemingly simple assignment:
How does it work? The pursuit for the answer fosters creativity and stresses the
importance of thorough understanding of the concept and its meticulous execution.
Karakuri are not only valuable sources of know-how, but also a promising vehicle
for education and tuition. Numerous institutions and people engaged in karakuri-
related work, including transfer of knowledge through exhibitions and presentations,
preservation and reconstruction of historical contraptions are taking advantage of
the platform Japanese automata have created to educate in fields, of art, history,
and technology on different level of education (see Tominaga et al. 2019) and
inspire people in various ways, by contributing to enhancement of reliable, historical
solutions, while providing joyful human factor.
The abundance of publications guiding through the process of re/construction
of historical karakuri designs with readily available materials (Hara 2020; Sakano
2001) or pre-produced sets for assembly (Otona no Kagaku 2021), prove that in the
digital age, analog automata are still interesting and beneficial, in the traditional, or
adapted form. Concerning the latter, modern logic puzzles (Karakuri 2021) based
on idea of Akazu-no suzuribako, in-openable calligraphy box made by no one else
but Tanaka Hisashige in 1807 (miraikan) are prized in Japan and abroad, Toshiba
Mirai Kagakukan (2021). They allow exercise of the mind, a vital task in times when
human tend to outsource their abilities onto technologies.
The modern application of karakuri is connected to the term karakuri kaizen
which in short means constant improvement with use of modernized karakuri
applications and the modern application has aroused, albeit still little, interest among
researchers as it can be observed based on Fig. 2. Contrary to digitalized Industry
4.0, karakuri kaizen is equivalent of analogue automation. It is not connected
to all variety of technologies which have been developed recently, for example,
Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT),
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Near-Field Communication (NFC), Fifth-Generation
mobile networks (5G), Global Positioning System (GPS), Wireless Sensor Network
(WSN), robotics as Industry 4.0 does (Liu et al. 2018). It is subjected to simplicity
of physical phenomena and mechanisms from the era before the invention of
electricity, easy to develop and maintain yet complex in the same time. Karakuri
Fig. 2 The last 5 years of developments on the topic of this chapter; number of publications (i)
per consecutive year (y). (Sources: Mašín and Riegr (2016), Sawaguchi (2017), Matsumura et al.
(2017), Mašín and Riegr (2017), Katayama (2017), Yamamoto et al. (2018b), Riegr and Mašín
(2018), Chen et al. (2018), Kit et al. (2018), Arai et al. (2019), Nascimento et al. (2019), Madisa
et al. (2019), Tominaga et al. (2019) Thiptarajan and Lertrusdachakul (2019), Nakagawa et al.
(2020), Prasetyawan (2020), Anggrahini et al. (2020), Riegr and Mašín (2020), Tan Gar Heng
et al. (2020), Malkova and Zadiranov (2020), Chen (2020))
kaizen is applied in various manufacturing subsectors in form of relatively com-

plex mechanical systems that use the elementary phenomena. Mechanisms for
karakuri implementation are as follows: gravity force, magnetic force, friction force,
lever mechanisms, weight-shift mechanisms, gears, spring mechanisms, pulley
mechanisms, roller mechanisms, water jets, seesaws, counterweights, dampers for
energy dissipation, reflection and refraction of light, gas or liquid flow, etc. (Rani
et al. 2015) to name only a few, all applied to transform the initial input into a
different kind of movement (Besiroglu 2017 recalled them all to the following
forces’ terms: force of gravity, clamping force, radial force, tensile force, spring
force, hydropower). Arslankaya and Yonar (2015) described karakuri as energy-
free motion which is not entirely true. Karakuri technology utilizes natural energy
with elemental physical contrivances as Katayama et al. (2019) and Tortorella et al.
(2020) mentioned. Gravity, magnetism, and other forces occurring in nature without
being caused by human activities, work continuously, although vary in values as
these forces’ values depend on latitude, which is related to the shape of the Earth
and the influence of centrifugal force, the nonuniformity of the density of the Earth’s
crust and many other parameters. Therefore, it is not surprising that it can be used
in nontrivial solutions introduced to the industry.
This chapter’s aim is to present such low-cost, analogue yet sophisticated
automation concept of karakuri, in contrary to digital and alike sophisticated
Industry 4.0 concept, which is a leading area of interest in the published book
(karakuri mechanisms are the so-called low-cost automation, Mašín and Riegr
2017; Paraponiaris and Rodríguez 2019). In the second section, the authors present
analysis of interdisciplinary literature search based on renown scientific databases.
The third section focuses on selected solutions of karakuri kaizen in industrial
applications (karakuri kaizen is understood as “a [constant – added by the authors]
improvement by creating simple and low-cost mechanical devices that automates
some parts of the shop floor operations,” Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance
2009; Yokota 2009). Karakuri kaizen is considered as the basis for a sustainable
and efficient manufacturing process in modern Japanese plants (Bock et al. 2019,
p. 8). In the chapter, the authors take a challenge to present the less known, early
pages of the story of last-decade Industry 4.0, and especially karakuri as progenitors
of robotic mechanisms, as described in previous section. In the fourth section, the
authors focus on brief description of reflection on the subject matter. The chapter is
finalized with conclusion and proposals for future research.
Where to Find Karakuri?
As Katayama et al. (2014) deliberated, only a few papers have been published on
the subject matter so far. When the authors of this paper have verified this comment
based on the data gathered in the Scopus database, it became evident that only
seven publications were noted before 2014 (Fig. 3). Katayama et al. (2014) in their
work added that despite the fact of a low quantity in number of research papers
published, international conferences were considered as quite important aspect of
the improvement, sharing, and transfer of knowledge on karakuri. That was one of
the reasons to launch Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance in 1993. The organization
aim is to promote hypotheses, knowledge, and solutions (equipment) connected to
karakuri used in production, logistics, and others technological processes as well
as their design (Katayama et al. 2014). Deep and substantial experience accumu-
lated among leading role industries such as car assemblers and parts suppliers
(conference/exhibition of Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance: Karakuri Kaizen
Kufū Ten translated as Karakuri Improvement Exhibition organized in 2009, METI
2012; Nakano 2005; Saka 2007 – references directly taken after Katayama et al.
2014) drove Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance to prepare Karakuri Exhibition
each year in Tokyo and Nagoya alternatively (references to this information was
taken originally after Katayama et al. 2014, namely conferences/exhibitions events
of Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance: Karakuri Kaizen Kufū Ten translated
as Karakuri Improvement Exhibition organized in 2012 and 2013). As Bhanu
and Kumar (2018) admitted in their elaboration, industrial employees apply ideas
presented during events organized by Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance.
Fig. 3 Number of publications (i) characterized by karakuri keyword per consecutive year (y).
(Source: Scopus database (the database access date: 16 December 2020))
Six years after observations given in Katayama et al. (2014), the authors of this
chapter examined the quantity of publications collected in the Scopus database. The
results are given in Fig. 3. The researchers’ interest is growing each consecutive
year after 2016, and nevertheless currently it seems that actual industrial application
raises more interest within companies than among academic audience. When the
authors checked the keyword of karakuri for all the searching fields, 127 documents
results were returned. Since the interest of the authors was foremost in engineering
application, the scope of search was narrowed to Engineering and the language
of publications was limited to English. These two limitations resulted in return
of 42 documents (notably, before exerting language limitation, only 2 additional
publications were returned, both in Japanese). Among the resulted publication 19
items were indexed as conference proceeding papers, 14 items as journal research
papers, 5 items as books, 3 items as book series, and 1 item only as trade journal
paper.
An attempt to promote solutions outside the Japanese market was also made
by developing diploma projects. As Bhanu and Kumar (2018) mentioned, their
elaboration’s main purpose was to introduce karakuri concept to Europe by means
of various solutions’ presentation which are currently applied in Sweden and
throughout Asia. Bhanu and Kumar (2018) also considered a method to design these
solutions. Also, work by Paraponiaris and Rodriguez (2019) can be mentioned as
such attempt.
At this point, it should be mentioned that although this quantitative examination
presented in Fig. 3 is limited to Scopus database only, it does not mean that during
elaboration of this chapter no other publications were included and considered. On
the contrary, the authors additionally searched for publications in various databases
via internet browser. For example, in Web of Science only 10 publications were
found from 2015 to 2020 (the database access date: 30 December 2020). Whereas,
in Google Scholar database 117 records (66 publications in English) were returned
in the case of “karakuri kaizen” phrase (the database access date: 30 December
2020). Each of these publications has been verified by the authors in terms of the
actual consideration of the karakuri issue in engineering terms. It should be borne
in mind as well that some of the presented publications are during the process of
indexation in recognized scientific databases, therefore the graph given in Fig. 3
may change not only for 2020, but for the previous years as well.
It is worth mentioning that the methodology of this chapter was developed
in order to gather as comprehensive information on karakuri kaizen solutions as
possible within the limited range of time. A library query and a desk research
methodology were conducted. The research was based on both printed matter and
resources available in the World Wide Web, in particular in scientific databases as
Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. All of the analyzed documents were
verified accordingly.
Karakuri Kaizen in Industrial Applications
In this section, the authors describe selected karakuri-based solutions indexed in

the scientific databases as described in methodology description above. At the
end of this section, selected remarkable design methods connected to karakuri
improvement are described.
Rani et al. (2015) faced the problem of frequent power cuts which results
in production downtimes in the case of power-intensive machines. The authors
decided to rearrange tilting unit in the working station by means of employing
gravity for tilting process in such a way that a unit does not require electricity to
operate. Additional value-added aspect of a newly developed equipment design was
reduction of cycle time by one-fourth as no unnecessary downtimes in a tilting
process have been observed. After the use of trial and error method, the authors
introduced air pump coupled with the counter weight fixed on the beam of a
tilting equipment to the design – such solution supported both speed reduction
during tilting down and consequently allowed tilting up (application of pressure)
and returned the machine to its initial position.
Yashvant Khire and Madnaik (2001) developed a karakuri-based mechanism for
forming a corrugated paper carton packages for grapes transportation from flat card
boards. Typically, in such cases either numerous employees or a robot for cartons
folding is essential as Lu and Akella (1999) reported (they developed research
on a SCARA robot for carton folding). The authors of described karakuri-based
paper folding mechanism excluded the need of robotics implementation and reduced
number of employees involved in the process of carton folding. In the authors’
device certain manual operations connected to folding had to be included; however,
a lever (accordingly equipped with spring mechanisms) has performed the most
labor-intensive task. The authors specified all the guidelines for this carton folding
process.
Paraponiaris and Rodríguez (2019) presented in their report all the design
steps for karakuri concept application for redeveloped oil pan assembly station,
to be precise, for transporting heavy parts (oil pans) between two cooperating
assembly lines (oil pan was chosen in the project as a heavy piece to transport in
automotive assembly processes). The simplified visualization of the “self-propelled
cart” designated to transport oil pans between two cooperating parallel assembly
lines is given in Fig. 4. At first, an oil pan is put into position noted as (1) (Fig. 4;
in this solution oil pan works as a trigger, similar to the tea cup in the case of ocha
hakobi ningyō mentioned in the chapter’s introductory section), which causes lifting
of the weight noted as (2) and at the same time lowering a rack (a linear gear).
Cooperation of a rack coupled with a pinion (a circular gear) powers a flat belt which
triggers wheel(s) rotation. The springs noted as (4) protect the shelf on which an oil
pan is placed against excessive decrease. The authors presented essential equations
of motion, FEM analyses, aspects of ergonomics for employees supporting origin
and destination points between cooperating assembly lines (as a result of ergonomic
aspects, a concept sketch of stepping platform for employee fixing small parts onto
oil pan was included).
Fig. 4 Simplified visualization of the “self-propelled cart” concept designated to transport oil pans
between two cooperating parallel assembly lines (the reader is asked to check reference documents
for detailed design of particular solution). (Source: authors elaboration based on Paraponiaris and
Rodriguez (2019), p. 22, 52)
Kit et al. (2018) redesigned the lamps manufacturing assembly line. The authors
initially gathered data and developed the simulation model of assembly line. Then,
after rigorous analysis, three karakuri-based flow racks were incorporated into the
line design (each one for other type of production items, namely base, lens and
reflector loading bay) and at the same time this solution was recommended as
an equipment appropriate to the eliminate unnecessary motion, transportation and
waiting. The operation in this solution starts by pressing down a pedal what allows a
transfer of production items of the same type in continuous manner and controlled in
such a way that the production cycles are aligned. The solution allowed shortening
of production cycle time by several seconds due to elimination of non-value addition
of elementary activities within the described operation.
Presented solution leads to more complex flow racks concept, which is imple-
mented, for example, in Swedish company as Bhanu and Kumar (2018) reported.
This type of warehouse rack serves as a buffer between operations (e.g., between
storing and order picking processes) which is involved with carrying small contain-
ers holding items to be delivered to an employee at an ergonomic height. If one box
(e.g., a tray with materials as given in Fig. 5, noted as (2)) is conveyed from the rack,
the preceding boxes slide down under the influence of gravitation force to make
items available to the employee at the same workstation (Fig. 5, noted as (1)). In the
solution, the operation starts by pressing down a pedal included in the mechanism
noted as (3), what allows a transfer of production items in the same manner as
in the solution presented in Kit et al. (2018). Similarly, as in the case of both
solutions presented in Paraponiaris and Rodriguez (2019) and ocha hakobi ningyō
tray mechanism, a pedal works as a trigger. Karakuri-based solution for handling
operation with use of gravitation force can provide efficient storage and easy
unloading process, especially in the case of heavy items being moved in logistics,
production, and technological processes. In the case of various types of items, boxes
can slide in many parallel “aisles” each of them equipped with independent placon
rollers. Such solution ensures continuous delivery of materials/items, if such rack is
supplied with semi-finished products at its starting point. The alternative version of
the flow rack enriched with karakuri-based solution is so-called zig zag flow rack
presented, for example, in Abdul Halim et al. (2012). In the case of this type of rack,
it is possible for trays with items to slide from a considerable height as a result of
reducing tray speed by using the inclination of aisles with placon rollers alternately
in relation to the following storage levels (tiers, storeys), namely, once left and once
right.
The use of placon roller conveyor is relatively often applied equipment in
karakuri-like solutions. Shamsudin et al. (2019) applied such an equipment in
automotive assembly process in order to decrease the duration of cycle time of
process by reducing the need to walk imposed on employees while performing
their tasks. Obligation to walk long distances interfered with the full cycle time
of the production process and also interfered with a tact time of the whole process.
The researchers suggested introduction of direct items supply (automotive parts)
to particular workstations located along the assembly line. After the solution’s
implementation, the cycle time was reduced by more than 20%. This application is
Fig. 5 Simplified visualization of the karakuri-based flow rack presented in two steps, namely,
(a) and (b) (the reader is asked to check reference documents for detailed design of particular
solution); notations: (1) – workstation, (2) – tray with materials, (3) – mechanism with pedal which
after pushing executes further material flow. (Source: the authors elaboration based on Kit et al.
(2018) (similar solution presented in a loop can be observed in SUS BKK 2016a))
closed to one of the definitions of karakuri as resource saving mechanism (Miyake

2006; Shishir 2010).
In solutions focused on the use of karakuri-based concept, energy applied may
also be reused. An example of such energy reuse is the cooperation between
automated guided vehicles and flow racks. When an automated guided vehicle
moves close to such a rack, the vehicle can release a locking mechanism that
blocks a tray with items from sliding down along placon rollers in a flow rack.
An automated guided vehicle grips the sprocket which, when properly positioned,
releases the locking mechanism of a flow rack and a tray with items slides along
placon rollers installed in a rack, and, under the influence of gravity, is loaded onto
an automated guided vehicle’s storage space.
Some companies operate material handling from handling processes to order
picking ones with karakuri-based solutions applied. Bhanu and Kumar (2018)
reported use of such solutions by several leading Japanese companies. These

solutions refer to the incorporation of low cost racks and shooters (p. 25), conveyors,
work benches, wagons, carts and trolleys (p. 25), corner handling and warehouse
handling solutions (p. 26), products dedicated to production and logistics such as
internal logistics, assembly workstations, transportation, storage and modular sys-
tems (p. 26). As Bhanu and Kumar (2018) mentioned, the representatives of selected
leading Japanese companies disseminated karakuri-based solutions by offering
guided factory tours and courses on logistics systems (p. 25). Bhanu and Kumar
(2018) reported as well that selected companies provided special kits for karakuri
improvement and implementation and even DIY (do it yourself) type software
that allows to design equipment and processes which may facilitate karakuri-
based principles (such offers included blueprints, tutorials, and components; p. 26),
what reminds karakuri construction manuals both ancient as Hosokawa (1796a)
and currently published as Hara (2020) and Sakano (2001). Among the suppliers
of such solutions, the authors reported representatives of European producers
as well, including, for example, German and Swedish manufacturers. As far
as promotion materials are considered, it is worth noting that according to the
conference paper of Katayama (2017), even karakuri improvement DVD was
released to share the knowledge connected to subject matter (Katayama and JIPM
2012).
The concept of karakuri can be implemented both in order to support highly
developed technological processes of heavy industry factories as it was abovemen-
tioned; however, it also applies to in-farm logistics as in Mašín and Riegr (2016),
Riegr and Mašín (2018), Prasetyawan (2020), Allan et al. (2020), etc.
Mašín and Riegr (2016) focused on karakuri trolley’s design which the authors
planned to apply in area of agriculture in order to transport small containers with
vegetables or bags filled with compost or animal fodder from initial to final point of
transport within the plant. The researchers have analyzed characteristics of speed-
time and distance-time based on mechanics’ equations. Acquired solution was based
on well-known physics rule of potential energy of moving trolley with containers
being changed to kinematic energy. The potential energy accumulated into the press
springs coming from a container’s weights (gravitation force) allocated on a trolley
was transmitted through a set of sprockets which caused forward movement. This
proposal did not consider the operations of loading and unloading a trolley. Brief
information on modeling of the mechanical behavior of this karakuri-based trolley
was given in as well, whereas Riegr and Mašín (2018) continued their analyses
and consequently they developed equation of mechanical spring’s oscillations
dampened by Coulomb sliding friction.
Prasetyawan (2020) also suggested using karakuri solution in rural production,
nevertheless the author focused on a particular technological process namely
production of pineapple fruitcake. By using a conveyor, the dough from a stirrer
is transferred through the baking process to the cooling process. At the end part
of the conveyor, the dough is poured into the cooling compartment underneath
the conveyor by utilizing forces of gravity. According to the author, such solution
allows to reduce consumption of electric energy by 45%, nevertheless it is difficult
to include the solution in group of karakuri technology. However, as Weber (2014)

mentioned, gravitational flows are used in order to apply energy-saving concept that
utilizes the flow of gravity and such flow can be operated in a manner to move
bins loaded with parts and components forward, as well as increasing efficiency and
ergonomics of the process. As mentioned above, the term karakuri in technological
processes is defined as sophisticated mechanical structure that applies energy of
natural origin (Katayama 2017; Muñoz et al. 2020). Combining both karakuri and
kaizen terms, improvements in manufacturing settings can be introduced by means
of implementation of mechanical devices that provide automation with limited
use of electrical energy or other external source of power. Such devices rely on
mechanical design which takes advantage of natural forces such as gravitation
combined with pulley systems to automate or semi-automate different activities in
the manufacturing processes. Therefore, the concept of Prasetyawan (2020) is closer
to semi-automated karakuri term than full-scale karakuri itself.
Using less of energy equipment in food industry raise interest of other researchers
as well. Karakuri-based wingko baking equipment was presented in the paper by
Anggrahini et al. (2020) (wingko is a traditional snack from East Java region,
which ingredients are coconuts, glutinous rice flour and sugar). The karakuri-based
baking equipment consists of two placon roller conveyors that utilize gravitational
force to bring a baking tray into and out of a baking machine (the term “baking
machine” refers to Wingking 2.0 which uses karakuri kaizen concept and full
automation). After baking operation is finished and baked wingko removed, an
empty tray automatically comes out of baking machine, and it is filled with batter,
which weights it down. A spring goes down, a metal platform bends and allows
filled tray to move forward and slide onto second conveyor and then it is moved
by force of gravity. The solution supports shortening the duration of wingko baking
process.
Allan et al. (2020) also presented solution based on lean management principles
of karakuri kaizen. The researchers aim was to redesign a typical plant cultivating
factory layout in order to reduce the necessity to move trays with growing plants
from one place to another (places connected to various cultivation processes such
as lighting and watering) and enable the implementation of low-cost, simple
automation. According to the authors, the prototype enabled reduction of vertical
and horizontal moves of trays with growing plants as well as optimized the
space used for the growing area in the plant factory. In the initial part of the
paper, the authors presented several reasonable evidences on why (urban) farming
should be focused on a greener and self-sustainable approach to agriculture. The
authors developed a new structural system that maintains operation abilities of
plant factories and at the same time creates a safer working environment by means
of reduction of reliance on human labor (e.g., tray handling). In order to enable
automated mechanical motion based on gravitational forces, classic inclined plane
was used. The experiment determined mass (noted as (3) in Fig. 6) needed to
move a tray with growing plants and a static coefficient of friction. The result of
the experiment concludes that an angle of minimum 2.25◦ is required to enable
automated mechanical motion. The tilt angle was increased since trays with plants
Fig. 6 Simplified visualization of the karakuri-based conveyor (the reader is asked to check
reference documents for detailed design of particular solution); notations: (1) – a tray with growing
plants, (2) – placon roller, (3) – an additional mass. (Source: the authors elaboration based on Allan
et al. (2020))
are getting heavier while plants are growing and being watered. Certainly, this was
the only part of their solution directly connected to karakuri concept.
Karakuri is implemented by small-scale players to transport or move rather light
objects (parts, items). However, foremostly it is being introduced by bigger players,
for example, by several automotive companies (Paraponiaris and Rodríguez 2019,
p. 4), machines and automotive elements manufacturers, as well as providers of
components and systems for the automotive industry (Bhanu and Kumar 2018),
wire rope industry (Madisa et al. 2019), in order to transport much heavier elements.
This choice of karakuri-based applications is not surprising since material handling
is one of the most important processes in these industries, especially if it involves
movement of heavy components.
Bhanu and Kumar (2018) mentioned several karakuri-based systems operating in
actual applications, for example: load carrying cart with a set of dears and pulleys
as power transmission mechanism, automatic tilting drum with spring and balance
lever as power transmission mechanism, shooter machine equipped with set of gears
and pulley, a trolley/lift which serves as a dolly and as an assembly jig conveyor,
balance lever constructed to support a work space unit facilitating and allowing task
performance to elderly and physically disabled people, thread cutting machine that
assist the manufacture of threads for screws supported by power gear and cam and
follower coupled mechanism as power transmission mechanism.
Productivity and ergonomic aspects of karakuri-based solution were also of
researchers’ interest. Madisa et al. (2019) validated the standards of work accord-
ingly with the tasks’ productivity for karakuri-based improvements of workstation
in a company which manufactures wire ropes. Survey questionnaire among employ-
ees of a company were distributed and based on their answers the authors presented
the level of employees’ satisfaction. Production rate was also improved slightly after
implementation of the solution presented in Madisa et al. (2019).
Development of one of the strongest pillar of Industry 4.0, namely, Internet
of Things (IoT) solutions, is complex, time-consuming, and challenging activity
since software, hardware, and communication modules have to be appropriately
composed (Udoh and Kotonya 2018; Muñoz et al. 2020). IoT solutions’ design was
also an interest of researchers who focused on karakuri concept. Raising popularity

of karakuri concept in technological processes evoked interest of designers in
developing Karakuri IoT design cards (Muñoz et al. 2020). Muñoz et al. (2020)
mentioned after Lucero et al. (2016) that a design process can be supported by
technique connected to design cards used during almost every design phase, from
idea creating through conceptualization up to evolution of a solution to a particular
problem. The goal of Muñoz et al. (2020) was to consider whether shop floor
employees, not directly connected to information technology departments’ pro-
cesses, are able to envision conceptual solutions to particular problems connected to
IoT technologies with support of the karakuri cards developed by the researchers.
Muñoz et al. (2020) described both the way of Karakuri IoT cards development and
selected results of their implementation during a workshop session. Development of
cards started by defining problems and opportunities (Yamamoto et al. 2018b) and
collecting information on types of sensors and technologies to be used on cards’
descriptions and attributes. The original deck was composed of 42 cards until it
was eventually reduced to 27 cards with additional 5 cards (so-called empty jokers;
Muñoz et al. 2020). To show the usefulness of the Karakuri IoT cards serious game,
the authors engaged various methods and tools such as role-play, storyboard, and
gamification. What is worth mentioning, the cards were developed in such form
to provide common language between participants of serious game coming from
different backgrounds (common language is understood here as solutions’ design).
It is worth stressing that, since it is in hand kind of tool (the card deck), it does
not require external sources of energy (the authors of current chapter daresay it is
possible to consider the case of Karakuri IoT cards as a fun fact connected to the
term karakuri).
Karakuri IoT cards were not the first attempt to support the karakuri-based
technologies design. Katayama (2013) (referenced here after Katayama et al. 2014)
presented a template procedure for karakuri analysis, which was designed to
help experts in developing essential mechanisms of karakuri cases. Specification
of this template includes: (1) title of improvement project, (2) company name,
(3) short name of the considered case, (4) objective operation, (5) feature of the
expected solution (e.g., variety of parts’ shape and weight, automatic transportation
of heavy parts), (6) overall structure of karakuri contrivance (given as appropriate
scheme/figure), (7) state definition of karakuri contrivance/device (definitions of
the elements) in and their states of karakuri mechanism, (8) elementary operations,
(9) state and transition of state (given, e.g., as a binary system notation), (10) state
description after transition (presented as concept visualization), (11) sequence of
karakuri operations, (12) elementary mechanisms, (13) functions, (14) provided
values, (15) other merits (Katayama 2013). All the details of each particular
template’s notations are given in the mentioned reference. Moreover, a way of
solutions assessment was given there as well. This template may be of interests
for those researchers and investigators who plan to construct or reconstruct their
solutions into karakuri-based mechanisms.
Selected Reflections on Karakuri
As it was presented in the introduction to the chapter, the modern applications

of karakuri-based mechanisms/solutions invented in Japan had originated from
European-based clockworks and Japanese mechanical dolls known as karakuri
ningyō. Technology has been intertwined with entertainment to finally emerge in
modern times as one of the powerful solutions focused on industrial development.
The analysis of contemporary karakuri-based solutions has allowed the authors of
this chapter to draw several conclusions, presented below.
Reflections on the karakuri-based application allowed to develop several find-
ings:
• In order to design karakuri-based equipment, the researchers and engineers used

analytical methods (e.g., Kit et al. 2018; Mašín and Riegr 2016; 2018; Madisa
et al. 2019; Dewi and Pramono 2019), numerical methods (e.g., Paraponiaris and
Rodríguez 2019; Mašín and Riegr 2016; Riegr and Mašín 2018; Prasetyawan
2020; Anggrahini et al. 2020), simulation methods (for example: Kit et al. 2018)
and methods based on experiments (e.g., Rani et al. 2015; Yashvant Khire and
Madnaik 2001; Katayama et al. 2014; Yamamoto et al. 2018b; Muñoz et al.
2020).
• Karakuri-based solutions as significant part of lean manufacturing serve as one
of the ideas to minimize waste (muda, meaning “futility,” “uselessness,” “waste-
fulness”), which according to Anggrahini et al. (2020) and current chapter’s
authors observations of technological, production, and logistics processes include
muda in areas of transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overprocessing,
overproduction, as well as defects. This waste minimization in karakuri-based
solution is indirect and occurs, for example, through saving energy consumption,
employees’ vitality, used space, and shortening of cycle time for material
handling and accompanying processes.
• Karakuri-based concepts applied in European companies mostly consider mate-
rial handling and flow racks implementation (Paraponiaris and Rodríguez 2019;
Bhanu and Kumar 2018).
• Karakuri-based solutions support reduction of transport, production cycle times,
and operational costs (including initial expenditures), as well as improvement of
material handling, ergonomics at workstations, and reduction employees. Most of
material handling devices, unless these are, for example, platform pallet trucks or
flatbed pushcarts, usually consume substantial amounts of fuel (e.g., fuel-driven
forklift trucks) or electricity (electric forklift trucks, high-bay stacker cranes,
automated storage and retrieval systems and other similar devices) that increase
operational cost of logistics or production company due to daily increase in
costs of energy resources (Kit et al. 2018). However, this is only a part of the
bigger problem. One of the most distinctive features of karakuri-based solutions’
implementation is the reduction of electrical energy consumption in logistics
or production facilities which allows them to achieve minimal environmental
impact (minimization of the contribution to environmental poisoning). Lower
energy consumption serves as contribution to reduction of carbon footprint and

greenhouse gas emissions.
• Karakuri-based solutions do not require high expenditures and operational and
maintenance costs which are certainly lower than in the case of electrified or
digitalized solutions – among the reasons for this type of application is the imple-
mentation of low-demanding components as lever mechanisms, gears, springs,
pulleys, rollers, cams, seesaws, counterweights, dampers and exploitation of
gravity force, magnetic force, friction force, etc.
• Karakuri-based solutions do not require highly qualified personnel, especially
when operations in a particular process are trivial, repetitive, and require quite a
lot of energy and power.
• Currently, a powerful know-how base on the possibilities of using this type of
solutions is accessible in the form of short videos available on the one of the
Internet services: post step (SUS BKK 2016b), eject box (SUS BKK 2016c),
combination of selected karakuri-based operations presented in a loop (SUS
BKK 2016a), karakuri chuter (SUS BKK 2016d) often used at the control airport.
Finally, it is worth noting that a concept corresponding to karakuri has also been
noticed. Sawaguchi (2017) mentioned jugaad (a colloquial Hindi term which means
an innovative solution) as innovative and creative solutions developed in results of
local communities’ necessities in India. The author commented on (karakuri) kaizen
and jugaad in the context of their mutual entanglements and connections.
Conclusion
The authors state that the case of karakuri is a valuable example of how an
inspiration for entertainment, a folly, can translate into smart industrial solution.
In times, when advanced, digital technology is readily available, when the
concept of Industry 4.0 is becoming more and more widespread, examining the
ideas of karakuri can bring valuable, up-to-date insights, especially in terms of
user experience and electrical energy consumption. Depending on the scope of
implementation, one might focus on the outer appearance of the apparatus, and the
way to create it in a friendly and ergonomic way, an aspect worth considering within
the context of prognosed forthcoming demands for life-assisting or merchandising
robots. On the other hand, it is not only the shape itself, but the principles, that could
be used for different applications.
The karakuri-based solutions can be beneficial both for researchers and business
representatives.
The karakuri-based solutions give researchers the following research agendas:
• Analyses of karakuri-based solution mechanics and operating principles

• Analyses of complex technological process with use of karakuri-based equip-
ment in a particular facility
• Continuous improvement, kaizen, of innovative systems, as karakuri-based ones,

aimed at sustainable approach in the contexts of environmental pollution’s
reduction, operational cost and cycle times optimization, working conditions
improvement (e.g., workload reduction, ergonomics improvements), etc.
The karakuri-based solutions give business representatives the following advan-

tages:
• Reduction of expenditures.
• Reduction of operational costs.
• Reduction of electrical energy and fuel consumption.
• Reduction of unnecessary activities in technological, logistics, manufacturing,
and transport processes.
• A sense of being innovative.
• High level of automation and Industry 4.0 solutions especially within the scope
of Internet of Things technologies are adapted by an increasing number of
companies – low cost automation is a good equivalent especially for those of
companies which represent small to medium scale industries (Bhanu and Kumar
2018).
• Cooperation with the researchers in continuous improvement, kaizen, of above-
mentioned innovative systems.
In the era of Industry 4.0 all seems to be heading toward sole reliance on
digitization, full automation – however, it might be worth imagining what would
happen if vibrating electrons suddenly stopped “emitting” electricity? Or, what
would be more likely, if satellites were to become defunct? and the Internet of
Things stopped being reliable? Considering present, unprecedented conditions, in
terms of preparation for potential energy shortages, would it be worthwhile to, yet
again, take interest in the hundred-years old automation, namely karakuri? It is
worth remembering that behind the simplicity of these solutions lie centuries of
experience of engineers, mechanics and craftsmen. It can be stated that it is worth
going back to the “beginning.”
Last, but not least, the interdisciplinary research presented in this chapter is meant
as informative, not evaluative, and the authors do not intend to discredit any of
mentioned or any other author, publication or journal. Above all, the aim of this
publication is to promote the idea of karakuri as one of the possibilities to reduce
energy consumption in industry, production processes, logistics, and transport.
Acknowledgments The study was inspired by the research visit of the first author in Tokai
University, Japan (host department: Department of Navigation and Ocean Engineering, School
of Marine Science and Technology, host professor: Dr. Koichi Shintani, term of the visit: between
December 2019 and February 2020, title of the research grant: “Maritime Economics and Logistics
in the Era of Industry 4.0 and especially Logistics 4.0”), what was a significant opportunity to
explore Japanese culture and study several aspects of engineering and technology.
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the editors for invitation to take participation in
the book project and to the reviewers, who provided helpful comments and insightful suggestions
on the draft of the manuscript.
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Use of Smart Technologies on Textile
Industry Workers to Evaluate the Effect 5
of Work Posture on Lower Extremity
Distress in Southern Region of India
S. Shankar, R. Naveenkumar, J. Karthick, P. Mohan Kumar,

and R. Nithyaprakash
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Hand Screen Printing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Evaluation of Distress on Lower Extremity Among Hand Screen Printing Workers . . . . . . . 102
Study Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Data Collection Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Identification of Critical Work Postures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Instruments Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Data Analysis Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Impact of WMSD on Various Anatomical Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Prevalence of Lower Extremity Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Factors Influencing the Occurrence of Lower Extremity Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Inference from Postural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Rationale Behind the Occurrence of WMSD on Lower Body Extremity
Among Textile Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Abstract
The main aim of this study is to investigate the various factors influencing
the occurrence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among
the hand screen printing (HSP) industry workers. A cross-sectional study has
S. Shankar () · J. Karthick · P. M. Kumar · R. Nithyaprakash

Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode,
Tamil Nadu, India
R. Naveenkumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode,
Tamil Nadu, India

100 S. Shankar et al.
been conducted with 385 workers from 41 hand screen printing units using
modified Nordic questionnaire. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method
is adapted to analyze the work posture and twin axial goniometer is employed to
find the frequency of trunk bending. Seventy-five-point-one percent of workers
participated in the cross-sectional study reported low back pain, 58.7% of
workers reported knee pain, and also 55.6% of workers reported that they were
suffering from severe ankle/feet pain. REBA analysis also indicated that posture
adapted in the HSP process has high risk to health of workers. The study
discusses the effect of working condition such as frequent bending and prolonged
standing on the occurrence of WMSDs on lower extremity disorder.
Keywords
WMSDs · REBA · Hand screen printing · Goniometer · Low back pain
Introduction
Textile industries are one of the traditional occupations in India which generate
annual revenue of 100 billion US $ (Shahi et al. 2020). Indian textile industry
comprises of many unorganized small processing units like dyeing, printing,
knitting, etc. which not only generate revenue but also provide job opportunity to the
people in rural and urban areas (Gautam and Lal 2020). Textile industry demands
high quality of work from its workers within the time frame to stay ahead in the
rising global competition. Workers of these industries are mostly from low economic
profile with low literacy rate; the high job demand and lack of ergonomic knowledge
in the textile industries increase the workers risk of getting affected with work-
related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) (Krishnamoorthy et al. 2019). WMSDs
considerably influence the productivity of the workers by increasing absenteeism
and also has great impact on a country’s economy because nearly 250 billion US $
are spent directly or indirectly for its treatment (Bathrinath et al. 2020).
Hand Screen Printing Process
Hand screen printing (HSP) involves in manual printing of colored design on the
plain cloth using chemical pigments. In HSP industry, workers initially place the
cloth on the table of length 35 meter and fix the cloth on the table by using pins as
shown in Fig. 1a. After that steel frame embedded with silk cloth containing design
template is placed over the cloth. And then chemical pigments are applied on the
cloth using wooden squeegee; this process is done by pair of workers during which
worker from one end of the table wipes down the chemical pigments using squeegee
and pass it to the worker in the other end in order to complete the printing process.
After completing wiping process, they place the steel frame to next position on the
table and repeat the process. During HSP process, workers bend their body more
5 Use of Smart Technologies on Textile Industry Workers to Evaluate. . . 101
Fig. 1 Process of hand screen printing. (a) Placing cloth on the table. (b) Stabling the cloth.
(c) Placing the steel frame. (d) Pouring dye. (e) Applying chemical pigments using squeegee.
(f) Drying the printed cloth
frequently and they repeat this process throughout the working hours without sitting.
Earlier studies about HSP reports that performing repetitive work at awkward
position places the workers of HSP industry at high ergonomic risk (Subramaniam
et al. 2018; Shankar et al. 2019). In HSP industry workers averagely work more
than eight hours a day by maintaining awkward posture and also they work in
standing position throughout the day without enough breaks (Shankar et al. 2017,
2018). Meena et al. (2014) reported that factors like working in poor ergonomic
environment, job demand, and relationship with coworkers affect quality of life
among HSP workers. Lower back, shoulder, and knee of the body were extremely
affected by WMSDs compared with other body region of HSP workers by doing
repetitive work (Meena and Dangayach 2015). Ergonomic assessment is necessary
in screen printing industries in order to reduce the WMSDs.
Several studies conducted with various occupations confirmed that the work
involving high degree of repetitive motion for prolonged period of time influences
the occurrence of WMSDs mostly on the lower body region (Tomita et al. 2010;
Akodu and Ashalejo 2019) (low back, knee, and ankle). A study conducted with
Iranian carpet mending workers also stated that performing their work at awkward
posture for prolonged period of time is the main reason for the occurrence of
WMSDs on lower body extremity (Candan et al. 2019). Study conducted with
male kitchen workers revealed that working in awkward posture and standing for
prolonged period of time is the main reason for occurrence of WMSDs on lower
body region (Subramaniam and Murugesan 2015). The aim of our study is to
investigate the effect of lower extremity disorder among the hand screen printing
industry workers from southern region of India, Tamil Nadu. Up to our knowledge
based on the literature very negligible amount of research studies are only conducted
with HSP industry to report the prevalence of WMSD experienced by HSP industry
workers. But there are no enough studies carried out to find the root causes for
occurrence of WMSDs on lower body extremity, especially low back, knee, and
ankle/feet which is highly affected (Meena and Dangayach 2015; Shankar et al.
2017). In this study, the detail information about the influence of adopted work
posture, working experience, and age of the workers on lower extremity distress is
reported. Since large number of workers depend on this industry for their livelihood
this kind of study to make their workplace ergonomically safe will increase their
productivity and health.
Evaluation of Distress on Lower Extremity Among Hand Screen

Printing Workers
Study Participants
Totally 385 workers with work experience not less than one year and age between 18
and 60 years were randomly selected based on Cochran’s sampling method (Kotrlik
and Higgins 2001; Kothari 2004) from 41 hand screen printing industries located
in various districts of Tamil Nadu, India. Among this population 211 (54.8%) were
male and 174 were female (45.2%). Workers with good health and without any
history of bone dislocation and surgery were only allowed to participate in this
survey. Before conducting questionnaire, aim and scope of the study was well
explained to both employers and workers participated in the study. The oral consent
was obtained from both workers and their employers. This study was conducted in
accordance with ethical guidelines for biomedical research on human participants
provided by Indian council for medical research (Shah 2005).
Data Collection Method
A self-administrative survey was conducted by modifying English version of

Standard Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) into four parts (Kuorinka
et al. 1987). First part of the questionnaire had questions related to their personal
information, second and third section dealt with psychological and medical history,
respectively. Final section had questions related to WMSDs. The survey was done
through face-to-face interaction with the hand screen printing workers in their local
language (Tamil). The procedure of the study was briefed to the workers before
interrogation. Interview was conducted during the break hours in the morning and
noon.
Identification of Critical Work Postures
REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) method is used to identify the

awkward/non-neutral posture maintained by workers during hand screen printing
process (Hignett and McAtamney 2000). For this purpose workers movement and
postures during the printing process were videographed using digital camera (Sony
Cyber-shot). Then REBA scores indicating risk in posture during HSP process
were calculated by considering parameters such as common posture adapted for
trunk (four postures), legs (two postures), neck (two postures), upper arm (four
postures), and lower arm (two postures), coupling factors and load/force transfer
(Kong et al. 2018). REBA score indicated the level of risk present in the present
working posture.
Instruments Used
To find the frequency of bending and trunk bending angle in order identify
the degree of repetitiveness during HSP process twin axial Biometric SG110
goniometer on the lateral side of abdomen and gluteus muscles as shown in Fig. 2
was used. Biometrics DataLog EMG system was used to acquire signal from
twin axial goniometer at 50 samples per second. Eight subjects with mean age of
37 ± 13.83 years, average height of 162 ± 5.27 cm, and weight 61.25 ± 4.36 kg,
who reported low back pain during the questionnaire survey, participated in the
above-said analysis to find the degree of repetitiveness and maximum trunk bending
angle during continuous printing process.
Data Analysis Technique
Data collected through the questionnaire survey was analyzed using the statistical
package for social science (SPSS v. 21). Chi square test, odds ratio, and descriptive
analysis were performed on the given data. Work experience of HSP workers
were categorized into four groups, namely <5 years, 6–10 years, 11–15 years,
and > 15 years. One-way ANOVA test was performed to check the significance
difference between the demographic factors reported in Table 1. Post hoc test was
conducted to find the significant difference among the subgroups.
Fig. 2 Worker attached with

universal goniometer
Table 1 Demographic characteristics of HSP workers

≤ %5 years 6–10 years 11–15 years ≥ 15 years Significance
(n = 72) (n = 94) (n = 83) (n = 136) F (p < 0.05)
Age 28.4 ± 7.3 34.5 ± 7.21 38.69 ± 9.2 46.4 ± 7.12 61.31 SIG
(years)
Weight 57.59 ± 8.28 56.56 ± 6.3 57.04 ± 6.7 57.48 ± 6.5 0.4 NS
(kg)
Height 158.08 ± 7.7 158.5 ± 7.1 156.75 ± 7.6 159.32 ± 8.4 0.1 NS
(cm)
Experience 13.59 ± 8.09 NA NA
(years)
Average 10.8 ± 1.8 NA NA
working
hours/day
SIG Significant, NS Not significant, NA Not applicable
Impact of WMSD on Various Anatomical Site
Demographics
Demographic characteristics of the sample population participated in the cross-

sectional study is shown in the Table 1. Here the analysis of variance test (ANOVA)
was conducted between work experience and other demographic by dividing the
Fig. 3 Reported WMSDs on different body parts in cross-sectional survey
work experience into four groups in order to find the significant difference existing
between the two groups. Result shows that significant difference exists between
work experience and age.
Prevalence of Lower Extremity Disorder
Figure 3, showing the effect of work-related musculoskeletal disorder on different

body sites, indicated that 75.1% of workers (n = 289) were suffering from low
back pain, 66.2% (n = 255) had shoulder pain, and 58.7% (n = 226) had knee pain
followed by ankle and feet pain 55.6% (n = 214), 29.4% reported elbow pain, and
24.2% reported wrist pain. It is clear from Fig. 3 that the low back pain is more
prevalent which is followed by shoulder, knees, and ankle/feet. Compared to upper
extremity region like shoulder, elbow, and wrist the lower body parts experience
relatively more WMSDs. So, we decided to discuss about various factors influencing
the occurrence of WMSDs on lower extremity (low back, knee, and ankle/feet).
Factors Influencing the Occurrence of Lower Extremity Disorder
Low Back Pain

In our statistical analysis, we categorized the workers data into three subgroups
based on their age as: <30 years of age, 31–40 years, and > 40 years of age. Table 2
shows that 18.2% of workers within the age of <30 years had reported low back
pain, 26.5% of workers within the age group of 31–40 years were reported low back
pain, and 28.8% of workers within the age group of >40 years were affected with
low back pain. Here, workers belonging to the age group >40 years had nearly three
times (OR-2.898, CI 1.630-5.151) more chance of getting low back pain compared
to the workers of other age group. Based on the years of experience workers of
HSP industries participated in the survey are grouped into four categories as shown
in Table 1. In that, 28.3% of workers with more than 15 years of experience had
reported severe low back pain (OR-1.548, CI 0.934-2.563) compared to other three
categories. From the results, it was also found that the workers with height < 150 cm
(OR-2.103, CI 1.145-3.862) were highly affected with the low back pain compared
to the workers with height more than 150 cm.
Knee
The questionnaire survey results found that 9.4% of workers belonging to age group
less than 30 years (OR = 0.195, CI 0.122–0.312), 23.9% workers belonging to the
age group of 31–40 years (OR = 2.215, CI 1.337–3.282), 23.1% of workers from
age group more than 40 years experience knee pain (OR = 2.095, CI 1.337–3.282)
(Table 2). It is also evident that the workers belonging to the age group of 31–
40 years and more than 40 years had two times more chance of getting affected
by knee pain compared to the other age groups. Also, the workers with 15 years
of experience had nearly two times more chances of getting affected by knee pain
(OR = 1.980, CI 1.277–3.070).
Ankle/Feet
Increasing age and work experience had great influence on the occurrence of
WMSDs on ankle and feet. Such workers belonging to age group of more than
40 years had two times (OR = 2.448, CI 1.562–3.835) more chances for the
occurrence of WMSDs on ankle and feet, whereas the workers with more than
15 years of experience had nearly two times (OR = 1.909, CI 1.239–2.940) more
chances of getting affected by WMSDs on ankle and feet when compared to
other groups (Table 2). Chi square result (Table 2) shows that there is significance
difference between age and experience. Whereas other factors like height, job-
related stress, educational qualification, and smoking habit did not have significance
with occurrence of WMSDs on lower body extremity.
Inference from Postural Analysis
Table 3 shows the most common work posture adapted during entire HSP process
and their relative REBA score. REBA scores for the aligning of cloth (REBA score
9) and drying of cloth (REBA score 10) processes indicated that posture adapted
has high postural risk and almost requires revision in their work posture. Obtained
REBA (REBA score 12) score for applying the chemical pigments indicates that
posture adapted during this process involves very high risk and needs immediate
revision in the work posture. Whereas stabling of cloth process had medium-level
risk.
Table 2 Association of lower body extremity distress with various demographic factors
Risk factor. Low back pain (75.1%) Knee (58.7%) Ankle and feet (55.6%)
Odds Odds Odds
n (385) % ratio 95% CI p valve n (385) % ratio 95% CI p value n (385) % ratio 95% CI p value
Age
<30 70 18.2 0.340 0.210– <0.05 36 9.4 0.195 0.122– <0.05 37 9.60 0.245 0.154– <0.05
31–40 102 26.5 1.260 0.552 92 23.9 2.215 0.312 83 21.6 1.649 0.390
>40 111 28.8 2.898 0.766– 89 23.1 2.095 1.415– 89 23.1 2.448 1.071–
2.074 3.467 2.541
1.630– 1.337– 1.562–
5.151‘ 3.282 3.835
Experience
< 5 years 46 11.9 0.510 0.294– <0.05 34 8.8 0.587 0.351– <0.05 25 6.50 0.354 0.207– <0.05
6–10 years 70 18.2 0.959 0.883 47 12.2 0.653 0.983 44 11.4 0.635 0.604
11–15 years 64 16.6 1.153 0.562– 49 12.7 1.060 0.409– 55 14.3 1.790 0.398–
> 15 years 109 28.3 1.548 1.637 93 24.2 1.980 1.043 89 23.1 1.909 1.014
0.649– 0.647– 1.077–
2.046 1.736 2.975
0.934– 1.277– 1.239–
5 Use of Smart Technologies on Textile Industry Workers to Evaluate. . .
2.563 3.070 2.940

(continued)
107
108
Table 2 (continued)
Risk factor. Low back pain (75.1%) Knee (58.7%) Ankle and feet (55.6%)
Odds Odds Odds
n (385) % ratio 95% CI p valve n (385) % ratio 95% CI p value n (385) % ratio 95% CI p value
Height
< 150 cm 81 21.0 2.103 1.145– >0.05 53 13.8 0.836 0.542– >0.05 50 13.0 0.840 0.529– >0.05
151– 149 38.7 0.863 3.862 119 30.9 1.089 1.374 115 29.9 1.146 1.335
160 cm 38 9.9 0.704 0.543– 36 9.4 1.449 0.726– 30 7.80 0.964 0.767–
161– 21 5.5 0.674 1.373 15 3.9 0.658 1.633 18 4.70 1.129 1.715
170 cm 0.376– 0.798– 0.543–
> 170 cm 1.31 2.632 1.710
0.305– 0.315– 0.537–
1.487 1.373 2.375
Stressfulness
Low 12 3.1 0.551 0.210– >0.05 10 2.6 0.798 0.317– >0.05 11 2.9 1.116 0.4392.840 >0.05
Very low 30 7.8 0.996 1.442 18 4.7 0.559 2.011 18 4.7 0.629 0.326–
Moderate 211 54.8 1.005 0.468– 21 5.5 0.782 0.289– 23 6 1.104 1.216
High 32 8.3 1.370 2.122 170 44.2 1.474 1.080 156 40.5 1.029 0.569–
Very high 4 1 1.333 0.598– 4 1 2.941 0.406– 5 1.3 1.827 2.139
1.690 1.509 0.655–
0.608– 0. 1.617
3.084 937– 1.667–
0.147– 2.318 2.002
12.07 0.326–
26.559
S. Shankar et al.
Education-
Illiterate 95 24.7 1.861 1.073– >0.05 83 21.6 2.408 1.501– >0.05 81 21.0 2.491 1.563– >0.05
Elementary 132 34.3 1.283 3.226 100 26 1.069 3.863 87 22.6 0.740 3.970a
High school 64 16.6 1.153 0.802– 49 12.7 1.060 0.711– 55 14.3 1.790 0.490–
Degree 11 2.9 1.860 2.053 4 1 0.311 1.607 5 1.30 0.493 1.110a
0.649– 0.647– 1.077–
2.046 1.736 2.975a
0.405– 0.094– 0.158–
8.543 1.027 1.535a
Smoking-
Smoker 50 13.0 1.050 0.567– >0.05 34 8.9 0.735 0.432– >0.05 28 7.3 0.537 0.314– >0.05
Nonsmokers 238 61.8 0.993 1.947 188 48.8 1.322 1.251a 184 47.8 1.799 0.918a
0.504– 0.779– 1.057–
1.728 2.224a 3.063a
a Statistically significant
5 Use of Smart Technologies on Textile Industry Workers to Evaluate. . .
109
Table 3 REBA score calculated during HSP process

Working posture Process REBA score Remarks
Aligning the 9 High risk level-needs soon
cloth on the reconsideration of work
table posture
Stabling of 7 Medium risk level – Needs

cloth reconsideration of work
Applying 12 Very high risk – Requires

chemical immediate reconsideration of
pigments on work posture
cloth
Drying of cloth 10 High risk level-needs soon

fabric reconsideration of work
posture
Fig. 4 Twin axial goniometer result showing trunk bending angle during hand screen printing
process
Rationale Behind the Occurrence of WMSD on Lower Body

Extremity Among Textile Workers
It was found from questionnaire survey that lower body region was significantly
affected with WMSDs compared to upper body extremity as shown in Fig. 2 and
also we found that low back pain is most commonly reported WMSDs in lower
body region which was followed by knee and ankle/feet. Twin axial universal
goniometer recording (Fig. 4) shows that HSP workers averagely bend 36◦ for
applying chemical pigments on cloth using squeegee; it is also found that time taken
for wiping of squeegee operation is 3–4 s and time for moving the steel frame to next
position for performing consecutive wiping process takes 2 s. During the passing of
squeegee across the table for applying chemical pigments on cloth, the workers of
HSP have to bend their trunk forward twice, namely primary bending and secondary
bending within a short span of 6 s for the passing and receiving the squeegee. Thus,
this frequent bending of their trunk might be the reason for the occurrence of low
back pain. Figure 5 shows the magnified view of the goniometer recording showing
primary and secondary bending. Previous studies also confirmed that bending the
trunk more frequently during the work is the main cause for the occurrence of low
back pain (Osborne et al. 2012; Durlov et al. 2014).
Next to low back pain most prevalent WMSD region is knee and ankle/feet
region. Because of these sustained standing and perennial movement during their
work quadriceps femor muscle in the front thigh gets tightened and becomes
inflexible (Lewek et al. 2004; Murray et al. 2015). This injures muscles which
ultimately cause knee pain and the same thing happens to anterior muscle group
which affects ankle and feet. Table 2 shows the results from the present study
which went well with the survey conducted with professionals, whose nature of
job involved continuous movement and repeated motion, reporting pain in knee and
ankle (Reed et al. 2014; Shankar et al. 2015). Important factor greatly contributing
to the occurrence of WMSDs on knee might be the quadriceps angle (Q angle),
since workers of hand screen printing industries have to stand and move repeatedly
Fig. 5 Magnified view of primary bending and secondary bending during squeegee wiping
operation
for performing activities as shown in Fig. 1. In the tasks like placing the cloth on
the table, moving the squeegee, and placing the cloth on the overhead hanger, there
is a chance for an increase in quadriceps angle on a longtime perspective and also it
might impinge a bilateral asymmetry in quadriceps angle (Hvid and Andersen 1982;
Livingston and Mandigo 1999). This increase in the quadriceps angle increases the
risk of knee injury as excess quadriceps angle eventually increases the tension of
muscles in the front thigh that pulls out knee cap which causes the knee to wear,
causing knee injury (Emami et al. 2007). Apart from the above-said nature of the job
in HSP industry another significant finding from the study is that increasing age has
an association with WMSDs on lower body extremity because aging changes the
neurological condition of body and affects its function when it is overloaded and
strained by the prolonged muscle activity (Lauretani et al. 2003). Several studies
also proved that aging has an influence on occurrence of WMSDs (Heiden et al.
2013; Tonelli et al. 2014). It was found from the present study that the workers
who worked in HSP industry for many years (>15 years) were at high risk of
developing the WMSDs compared to the worker with lesser experience due to the
fatigue loading undergone for many years which might reduce the flexibility of their
muscles (Häkkinen and Komi 1983). Statistical studies conducted by Coury et al.
(2002) and Nag et al. (2010) confirmed that the longer job tenure had an effect on
the occurrence of WMSDs.
Findings from work posture analysis using REBA revealed that commonly
adapted postures in HSP industries involve high risk to the health of the workers
and so it recommends reconsideration. This might be due to the awkward posture
involved in the HSP process, such as repetitive motion and frequent bending.
Postural studies conducted with different occupation found that working at awkward
posture causes threat to the health especially in the low back, knee, and ankle/feet
(Le Manac’h et al. 2012; Sarkar et al. 2016). Through direct observation of HSP
process and interaction with HSP workers during the questionnaire survey, we found
that repeated movement, frequent bending of the trunk, and standing throughout
the day were major factors influencing the occurrence of WMSDs among the HSP
workers. Generally, workers of HSP industry print colored design on 600–1000 m of
cloth based on orders received for about 10–12 h a day. Thus, our primary suggestion
is that workers of HSP should be given awareness on proper ergonomic posture and
also they must be trained to perform stretching exercise between the works in order
to increase their muscle flexibility to avoid WMSDs injuries. Another significant
risk factor involved in the work is frequent bending of the trunk. It is not possible to
completely eliminate the bending movement but the angle and frequency could be
reduced through proper ergonomic intervention. Regulating the working hours by
providing micro- and macrolevel breaks and allowing the workers to sit on regular
intervals between the works would also help in reducing the intensity of the knee
and ankle/feet pain.
Conclusion
The present study was carried out on the hand screen printing industry workers
to find the effect of work posture on the work-related musculoskeletal distress
on body lower extremity. Statistical survey carried out using questionnaire survey
reported that low back region is high prevalence to WMSD followed by ankle/foot.
Increasing age, higher work experience, frequent bending movement, and prolonged
standing posture are found to be the risk factors contributing to the occurrence of
WMSD. Work posture adopted using REBA method found that present work posture
adopted during printing process has very high risk and needs immediate change in
the posture in order to prevent the occurrence of WMSD. It is suggested to provide
proper ergonomic awareness and intervention to prevent the occurrence of WMSD.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge the printing industry managers and
workers participating in this study for valuable assistance and patiently reporting during their
working hours.
Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, and
authorship for this Chapter: This study was funded by Science Engineering and Research Board
(SERB) Department of Science and Technology, India, through Fast Track Young Scientist Scheme
Research Project.
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Monitoring and Modeling of Cylindricity
Error Using Vibration Signals in Drilling 6
J. Susai Mary, D. Dinakaran, M. A. Sai Balaji, S. Satishkumar,
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Materials and Methods for Cylindricity Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Cylindricity Measurements Using Vibration Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Modeling of Cylindricity Error Using ANFIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
J. Susai Mary ()

Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: susaimary.eie@crescent.education
D. Dinakaran
Centre for Automation and Robotics (ANRO), School of Mechanical Sciences, Hindustan
Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai, TN, India
e-mail: dinakaran@hindustanuniv.ac.in
M. A. Sai Balaji
Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.S.A Crescent Institute of Science and Technology,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: saibalaji@crescent.education
S. Satishkumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Velammal Engineering College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,
India
A. S. Arockia Doss
Design and Automation Research Group, School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of
e-mail: arockia.selvakumar@vit.ac.in
118 J. Susai Mary et al.
Abstract
Cylindricity is a key factor that affects the assembly and dynamic performance
characteristics of mechanical components. Real-time monitoring of cylindricity
error during machining reduces the wastages and ensures the quality of the
drilled holes. The possible causes of cylindricity error are the run out, mechanical
looseness, misalignment, etc. A novel vibration-based monitoring method to
predict the cylindricity error during drilling process is developed and presented
in this chapter. An adaptive neuro fuzzy system models the cylindricity error with
the peak amplitude of vibration at 1xRPM, process parameters, speed, and feed
as inputs. The experimental study showed that the ANFIS model is capable of
predicting the cylindricity error with 92.4% of accuracy.
Keywords
Cylindricity error · ANFIS · Vibration · Drilling
Introduction
Drilling is a primary machining process for making holes in the component.

Drilling includes 40% of the metal-cutting operations and plays a key role in the
assembly of parts. Drilling finds application in many industries such as aerospace,
manufacturing, and automobile. In all these sectors, thousands of holes are required
for the assembly of different parts using screws, bolts, rivets, etc. (Liu et al. 2012).
Deep hole drilling is a highly complicated process. The stiffness and stability of the
tool makes the tool shaft prone to deflection causing form errors and affecting the
hole quality (Arunkumar et al. 2018). Bad quality holes result in improper assembly
which leads to high cost and waste of time (Aamir et al. 2019).
Cylindricity is a major form error which results in improper assembly
of mechanical parts. Cylindricity describes how the hole surface deviates
from a perfect cylinder with respect to geometrical tolerance in 3 Dimension
(https://www.taylorhobson.com.de/media/ametektaylorhobson/files/learning-zone/
training-material/cylindricity). Some of the direct methods of cylindricity
measurements involve the Radial methods (Adamczak et al. 2011) and Error
Separation Techniques (EST) (Chen et al. 2016). Indirect measurement systems
include vibration, force, current, acoustic emission, ultrasonics, etc. The methods
and advancements in the field of cylindricity measurements are represented in
Fig. 1.
The effects of the cutting force, the feed rate, and the coolant pressure on the
quality of the holes in deep-hole drilling were studied by Aamir et al. The optimal
process parameters were identified through a gray relational optimization technique
(Aamir et al. 2019). A study on the influence of drilling parameters on the tool
wear and hole quality was performed, and it was found that lower cutting speed
and feed rate minimize the cylindricity errors (Sultan et al. 2015). Miguel et al.
studied the optimum combination of drilling parameters for dry drilling of carbon
6 Monitoring and Modeling of Cylindricity Error Using Vibration Signals in Drilling 119
Fig. 1 Methods of cylindricity measurements
fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite materials and observed that at a speed of

105 m/min and feed of 300 mm/min, the cylindricity was considerably increased by
5–91% (Alvarez-Alcon et al. 2020).
A new geometric method for real-time measuring of deep hole’s axis using
ultrasonic thickness measurement was developed by Liu et al., and it was found that
this method can measure the deviation and direction accurately (Liu et al. 2018).
The effects of spindle speed, feed rate, and vibration amplitude on the circularity
error and cylindricity error were studied and simulated. The correlations between
the measured and simulated values for the measurement of circularity error were
quite encouraging (Reddy and Prasad 2016).
From the literatures cited above, it is clear that the cylindricity error in drilling
was measured in off-line, and the effect of various parameters such as speed,
feed, cutting force, and vibration was studied by many researchers. But, an online
monitoring system to predict the cylindricity error is not yet attempted. This paves
the way for this research work on developing an online monitoring system using
Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) models to predict the cylindricity
error in drilling in real time.
Vibration measurements are widely used in the literature for the analysis of
unbalance in the system due to improper holding of tool, overextension of tool,
accumulation of debris, etc., which are also the reasons for tool runout, breakage
of tools, etc. (Dinakaran et al. 2009; Susai Mary et al. 2017; Uddin et al. 2018).
Various machine learning techniques such as Neural Network, Fuzzy Logic, ANFIS,
and SVM (Support Vector Machines) were used to model and predict the tool
wear, run out, surface roughness, etc., (Susai Mary et al. 2015; Susai Mary et al.
2019; Susai Mary et al. 2019). A neural network model to predict the circularity
of drilled holes with different sizes of data set was presented by Umesh et al.,
and the model shows a regression (R) of 0.99718 (Umesh Gowda et al. 2014). An
ANFIS model to predict the hole quality in microdrilling with different features
extracted from vibration signals in wavelength domain was developed and found to
exert a good agreement with the experimental results (Ranjan et al. 2020). A real-
time monitoring to improve the machining efficiency and tool life using ANFIS and
vibration and communication particle swarm optimization (VCPSO) algorithm was
proposed by Xu et al. and was found to be efficient in predicting tool wear (Xu et al.
2020).
This chapter presents an online monitoring method to predict the cylindricity
error of the drilled holes. Vibration signals analysis at the unbalance frequency 1×
RPM is used for detecting the presence of cylindricity error. The feed and machining
speed affect the quality of the drilled holes which are also taken as inputs for model-
ing. The developed model was able to predict the cylindricity error with an accuracy
of 92.4%. The prediction of cylindricity error in online helps in taking corrective
actions thereby saving cost, wastages, and improving the quality of drilled holes.
Materials and Methods for Cylindricity Monitoring
Drilling operations were performed on a 120 mm circular workpiece of thickness

10 mm made of EN24 steel. Circular components with Pitch Circle Diameter (PCD)
drilling are used in many automotive applications as in flange couplings, gears,
etc. The tool chosen is a 6 mm HSS twist drill bit. The machining parameters are
chosen based on ASTM standards. For a 6 mm HSS tool to drill an EN24 steel
workpiece, the recommended range of speed varies from 724 to 1273 RPM and
feed range is 59–191 mm/min. The drilling experiments were performed based on
an L25 orthogonal array with speed ranges of 800, 950, 1100, 1300, and 1450 RPM.
The feed levels were 75, 90,100,130, and 140 mm/min. The machining was done
on an LMW (LV-45) 3 axis milling machine. An accelerometer sensor KISTLER
(Model: 8636C50) was used to measure the vibration signals during drilling. A data
acquisition card (DAC) model (NI9233) was used to acquire the vibration signals
using the sound and vibration module of LabVIEW software. The machining setup
with the positioning of accelerometer sensor and the DAC is shown in Fig. 2.
Based on L25 settings, drilling experiments were carried out and another ten
experiments were conducted for validation purposes. The vibration signals were
measured after each drilling operation, and the cylindricity error of the drilled
holes was measured using a Co-ordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) (Model: Tesa
Micro-hite 3D).
Cylindricity Measurements Using Vibration Signals
The measured cylindricity error values for all the 35 holes varied from 0.011 mm to
0.045 mm. A Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) analysis was performed to analyze the
effects of cylindricity error on the acquired vibration signals. The frequency analysis
of the measured vibration signals showed a sharp rise in peak amplitude at 1×RPM
which is also the unbalance frequency. This shows the presence of unbalance in
the tool which causes the tool to rotate out of axis causing the cylindricity error
Fig. 2 Experimental details
Fig. 3 Sample vibration and frequency signal for circularity error 0.027 mm
in the drilled holes (Uddin et al. 2018). A sample of the vibration signal with the
frequency graphs for minimum and maximum cylindricity errors is given in Figs. 3
and 4. It was observed that at places where the cylindricity error is high, the vibration
amplitude at 1×RPM is also high. The variations of vibration amplitude at 1×RPM
with the cylindricity error are shown in Fig. 5.
It is found that the cylindricity error is high even at other places where the
vibration peak is less, which is due to the influence of speed and feed of machin-
ing (Liu et al. 2012; https://www.taylorhobson.com.de/media/ametektaylorhobson/
files/learning-zone/training-material/cylindricity; Adamczak et al. 2011). Hence,
Fig. 4 Sample vibration and frequency signal for circularity error 0.045 mm
Fig. 5 Variations of vibration peak at 1xRPM with cylindricity error
for better prediction of cylindricity error, the machining parameters, speed, and feed
are also taken as inputs during the modeling of ANFIS. The cylindricity error may
also be caused due the workpiece geometry and tool wear. Hence, in future work,
the properties of the workpiece material and tool wear can also be included as inputs
for modeling the cylindricity error.
Modeling of Cylindricity Error Using ANFIS
ANFIS is an algorithm which finds widespread application and involves a hybrid

modeling technique that includes fuzzy logic and neural network (Susai Mary et al.
2019). Drilling operations are nonlinear, and the vibration signals also change
significantly with changes in circularity of the drilled holes. Thus, ANFIS is
employed in this study to adapt to the fluctuations during machining. The inputs
to the ANFIS model are the peak vibration frequency at 1×RPM and the speed and
Fig. 6 (a) Training output of ANFIS model; (b) validation of ANFIS model
feed of machining. The output of the model is the cylindricity error. The parameters
of the ANFIS model were selected based on the literature and also in a trial and error
basis to select the parameter which gives the best fit for the data. A Grid Partition
Fuzzy Inference System with 2 Gaussian Membership Functions (GMF’s) for speed,
3GMFs for feed, and 3GMFs for peak vibration at 1×RPM were selected.
A hybrid neural network was used for training the network with a maximum
of 500 epochs. Out of the 35 experimental data, 25 data were randomly selected
for training the network and 9 were used for validating the trained network. One
data was left out as it was an outlier. The training and validation error were very
minimum of 0.18% and 7.6%. It was found that the model is capable of predicting
the cylindricity error of the drilled holes with an accuracy of 92.4%. The training
and validation data outputs of the ANFIS model are given in Fig. 6.
The model is suitable for mass production where the machining parameters are
set as constant throughout the production. However, the changes in the process
parameters can be accommodated through a simple data-capturing methodology and

train them for a new set of conditions. The peak frequency considered for ANFIS
input can be changed with respect to the set speed.
Conclusion
This chapter gives a novel online prediction method using the vibration mea-
surements at 1×RPM and machining parameters to detect the cylindricity error
of the drilled holes. The vibration peak amplitude at the unbalance frequency
increases up to 3 times with increase in cylindricity error. The vibration amplitude
and the machining parameters are used as input for the ANFIS model to predict
the cylindricity error with an accuracy of 92.4%. The real-time monitoring is
necessary for accurate machining operations and also to reduce the form errors by
taking remedial actions. A multisensory approach can be adopted in future for the
prediction of cylindricity error to increase the accuracy of prediction.
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Logic Based Path Planning (LBPP)
Algorithm for Robotic Library System 7
Sagar Ajanalkar and Harshadeep Joshi
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Manipulator Arm and Gripper for Manipulation of Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Movable Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Robot Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Graphical User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Book Navigation and Path Planning for Library System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Location Guidance Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Web Application Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Path Planning Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Routing Methods for Path Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Objectives and Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Web Application for Path Planning in a Library System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Add Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Book List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Search Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Navigate Book Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Logic Based Path Planning (LBPP) Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Web Application Based Path Planning Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Development of Mobile Platform Prototype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Conclusion/Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Important Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
S. Ajanalkar () · H. Joshi

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere, India
e-mail: sagarajanalkar@gmail.com; hsjoshi@dbatu.ac.in
128 S. Ajanalkar and H. Joshi
Abstract
Searching a book in a library is one of the difficult and time-consuming tasks.

This is a typical example of a warehouse where frequent storage and retrieval
is required. With the developments in the field of Information Technology, the
graphical representation of the storage of library can help the users to locate the
book faster and provides a digital canvas with digital search options. This can
further help in identifying and suggesting a faster route to the user especially in
the situation when the user is trying for multiple books to be picked up during a
check out.
In the present work, the importance of graphical interface is discussed, which
is developed using open-source languages such as HTML and Java Script.
Also the system is discussed in detail in which, MySQL is used as database
system for storing the details in the Library and in which the optimum path
is identified using Logic Based Path Planning (LBPP) algorithm. The present
aim of the work is to discuss the development of an easy tool for the library
user for locating the books in the library. However, the extension of the work
is intended toward encouragement of the development of a system that can be
used for a robot to be used for library automation system. The work can also
find applications at various shopping malls, warehouses of medical shops and
E-commerce industries, etc. During the practical implementation of the proposed
system, it is proposed to use Internet of Things (IoT).
Keywords
Library automation · ASRS · LBPP · Robotic storage retrieval
Introduction
In the recent past, the serving robots are finding many applications in industrial,
business, and domestic sectors. Library robots, robotic tour guide, robotic nurses,
service robots in E-commerce industries, etc. are few of them. Also Integrated
Shopping Robot (Tomizawa et al. 2007), Restaurant service robot (Yu et al. 2012),
FURO Banquet Hall Setting Robot (F. Vega et al. 2020) are the few examples of
service robots other than library service robots. In nearer future, robots can also be
seen serving the old age people for their routine needs (Behan and O’Keeffe 2008).
Library system is one such area where potential applications of robotic system
can be found. Mainly the large variety of books makes it a complex database
system and thus makes it difficult for the user to locate the required book easily. To
overcome these drawbacks in library system, it is becoming necessary to automate
the process of finding books from the library (Animireddy et al. 2018). More
technological developments are necessary for getting the complete autonomous
library system. Few of the developments are enlisted in this chapter (Fig. 1).
7 Logic Based Path Planning (LBPP) Algorithm for Robotic Library System 129
Inventory management in Self –navigating Autonomous library

library using autonomous library robots using assistance robot using
RFID scanning robot (Li et al. ultrasonic sensors Raspberry Pi &
2015) (Rashid et al. 2017) advancements in natural
Robot navigation using Development of robot speech recognition (Di
Infrared optical projectors using myRIO for Veroli et al. 2019)
(Kuriya et al. 2015) library management Development of LMS with
Library robot interaction using (Angal and Gade android mobile usage
2015-16
2017-18
2019-20
natural language (Fei et al. 2017) (Juanatas and Juanatas
2015) & hand postures Microcontroller based 2019)
(Nguyen et al.2015) library assistant robot Vision based book
for path guidance recognition and retrieval,
Localization and recognition (Animireddy et al. autonomous navigation
of tags applied on books based 2018) and obstacle avoidance
on morphology, local contrast (Yu et al. 2019)
and optical character Robot assistance for
recognition (Chen et al. 2016) locating books in Development of LMS
children’s library (Lin using Graphical User
Use of Internet of Things for and Yueh 2018) Interface (Sawant and
Library Management System Patil 2020)
(LMS) (Dong-Ying Li et al.
2016) Use of modified
algorithms for path
planning and autonomous
robot based inventory
management (Mehta and
Sahu 2020)
Fig. 1 Developments in the field of robotic library system
Introducing automation of library using library service robot is better solution.

In general, library service robot systems may involve main components such as
manipulator arm and gripper, movable platform, robot controller, and graphical user
interface (Comsa et al. 2014) (Fig. 2).
The main components of library service robot are discussed in detail as follows:
Manipulator Arm and Gripper for Manipulation of Book
Manipulator arm of a library service robot is having construction similar to the

human arm. It is used to support the gripper system and to move the gripper system
up to the target book location, from which the book is to be retrieved or restored.
Various type of mechanisms are used for designing manipulator arm and the desired
motion is achieved. One end of the arm is connected to the main body of the service
robot and another end is connected to the gripper system. The manipulator arms has
to carry the payload of the book to be retrieved and the weight of gripper system
along with self-weight. Also it is designed in such a way that it can also resist the
vibrations due to inertia effect.
Grippers are also called as end effectors. This system is positioned at the end
location of the service robot, which directly comes in contact with the object to be
picked up or placed. Grippers are of the types active and passive. Active grippers
are used where closed loop control system is needed and passive grippers are used
in case where open loop control system is needed. In case of active grippers,
various sensors such as Infrared (IR) sensors, load cells, tactile sensors, and/or
vision sensors are fitted on the gripper surface for getting the feedback for smooth
operation of the whole system. In case of passive grippers, the sensors are not used.
Fig. 2 Main components of Library Service Robot
Movable Platform
It is the base platform on which the manipulator arm and gripper systems are
mounted and whole support for arm and gripper system is provided by the base
platform. As in case of service robots, the robots has to move from one location
to another location. For allowing the motion to service robots, the base platform is
enabled with a mechanism which allows the robot system to move. Generally the
base platform is provided with the wheels connected to the electric motors and fitted
on to the base platform for enabling its motion. The mobile platform is designed
in such a way that it can move with maximum possible speed and also with the
maximum payload carrying capacity.
Robot Controller
Controller is the system which controls the operation of end effector, manipulator
arm, and motion of mobile platform. The controller may be a mini computer or a
microcontroller such as arduino or rasberry pi or a special purpose electronic control

unit. The controller unit consisting of number of input-output pins of analog and dig-
ital type, using which it is possible to connect various sensors and also it is possible
to operate the output pins connected to output devices by processing the input data
collected from the sensors attached. Also there are various electronic components
such as analog to digital converters or digital to analog converters, operational
amplifiers, microcontrollers, operational light emitting diodes, transistor-transistor
logic (TTL) converters, etc. are fitted as per the requirement of operation and
functionality. Few of the controllers facilitate the users to operate the output devices
from remote locations with the help of Wi-Fi module using the trending technology
Internet of Things.
Graphical User Interface
User interface like proposed simulation web application, capable of high level
interaction with the system can improve the performance of the whole system.
Desirable characteristics of best user interface are simple to understand, user
friendly, less response time, compatible to users, free from future maintenance
and easy for modifications, etc. In case of complicated work of record keeping
and in case where it is required to keep track of all the associated activities of
service robot, it is always preferable to use an internet of things based graphical
user interface capable of recording the data, processing the data collected, and
presenting the processed data in easily understandable format. User interface can be
developed using various available languages and application development software
available, but it is preferred to use open source application development software.
User interface can be developed as an application to be installed on the computer
or smartphones, otherwise it can be developed as a web application which can be
operated simply from any web browser available in the computer or smartphone
without its installation.
Out of these four main components of the system, user interface plays a vital role
in understanding the system structure to the end user or customer and also plays
a vital role in understanding the customer requirements by the service provider
through detailed analysis of huge data sets collected from the search results and
using various web application based techniques of literature survey. Few of the
useful open source languages and web application development platforms available
are discussed in detail as follows:
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

HTML is an open source language contained in the web browser for presenting
the information to the end user, also it is called as standard or core markup
language in World Wide Web. This language is developed by Web Hypertext
Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) organization. HTML5 is the
latest released version of the HTML language and can be embedded along with
other languages such as CSS, PHP, SQL, JS, Python languages for betterment of
functional operation of the user interface. Also it is widely used for programming
the web applications with reduced complications in day today life for improving the
effectiveness of the systems. HTML Canvas is an element in HTML5 which is used
for presenting and drawing graphics. For showing graphical representation using
HTML Canvas, JavaScript can be used along with HTML (WHATWG 2020).
Cascading Style Sheet (CSS)

CSS is a Style Sheet Language contained in web browser for setting the style
attributes of the font, layout, color of text and background, etc. CSS is developed
by an organization entitled as World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and initially
released in the year 1996. Also CSS 2.1 is the latest revised version of the CSS. The
CSS style attributes can be applied to any web application in three different possible
and optional ways. First one is the internal positioning of the style attributes in the
initial part of the programming of the web application using <style> </style> or
using style {} element syntax. Second one is the external positioning of the style
attributes in the separate file and calling the same in the main HTML file. Third
one is the inline positioning of the style attributes in the program by mentioning
the required set value of style attribute in the program lines separately as per
requirement.
Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)

PHP is a widely used and free scripting language used for creating time dependent
dynamic web applications and mainly used for interacting the server database. It
plays a vital role for establishing a strong connection in between html based user
interface and server database. It is developed by Zend Technologies.
Java Script (JS)

JS is the programming language used in the html based web applications for
performing the specific operations once or multiple times repeatedly. The specific
operations such as mathematical calculation operations can be programmed using
the JS syntax as a specific titled function, further the function is called in the html
program using various loops for repeated number of operations to be performed. For
performing the operations, it is possible to give performance parameter values in the
function as a variable.
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)

JSON is a format used for saving the data such as text, numbers, values or array in
the form of string and it is also used for interchanging the data stored from servers.
The format is also called as data interchange format. JSON is also used to store the
data for the single session on to the browser for quick and temporary operation of
the program. The JSON can be effectively used along with JS for performing any
specific task of the requirement.
Structured Query Language (SQL)

It is very important to create, operate and manage databases for storing huge data
generated from the inputs collected from service provider and end users. For the
same reason a query language is required to handle all the operations related to
database such as creating the database, adding or removing rows and columns in
the databases, storing or deleting or retrieving the data in the database, etc. SQL is
one of the effective and efficient query language to use for the same reason. It is
considered as standard language by ISO as well. This language is useful to operate
the various database servers such as MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, etc.
My Structured Query Language (MySQL)

MySQL is an open source database management system using SQL language for
interchanging the data stored in the database created in MySQL storage library. End
users can access the data stored in the databases using the graphical user interface,
which is using the SQL or other supporting languages at the back end for data
retrieval. Other database management systems are also available other than MySQL
such as SQLite, PostgreSQL, etc.
XAMPP (X-cross Platform, A-Apache, M-MySQL, P-PHP, P-Perl)

XAMPP control panel is the open source and freely available software application
compatible for Windows, Linux and Mac operating system. It is used for web
application development using Apache http server, MariaDB (earlier MySQL)
database management system, and PHP and Perl languages in a single packaged
application. It is possible to check and modify the web application developed using
local host server and also it will be possible then after successful completion of the
web application project on the live server. XAMPP control panel is developed by
Apache Friends Organization and it was initially released in 2002.
In library system, storage and retrieval machine (SRM) is an automated robotic

system which can be used as an automated vehicle for storage and retrieval of books
in the storage rack. Library is one of the warehouse, where one can store the books
instead of goods or products to be delivered. Almost all the systems in library are
similar in context with the warehouses in e-commerce industries, logistic industries
and medical drug storage warehouses, etc.
The chapter is organized as follows: first introduction to the robot library system
using web application development is discussed in detail, then discussed the topics
on existing and proposed location guidance systems, web application development,
path planning algorithm and routing methods for path planning. Further topics
such as objectives, assumptions and use of web application for path planning
are discussed, then the web application developed using LBPP algorithm and its
functioning is discussed in detail.
Book Navigation and Path Planning for Library System
In case of traditional libraries, the printed materials such as reference books, text
books, periodicals, magazines, journals and other reference materials are stored on
the multi-tier shelves (Ozeer et al. 2019). The procedure of issuing and returning the
book is to be carried out manually. Once the user come physically for issuing a book,
the librarian or the user will search the book and arrive at the delivery counter, along
with the book to be issued for keeping the record of the transaction. After arriving
at the counter, barcode on the book is getting scanned by using barcode scanner and
the details of the book are getting displayed on the computer user interface. The
librarian enter the details either in excel sheet or on the library user borrower card
for keeping a track of the book. The similar procedure of keeping record is getting
followed when a user come for returning a book. During this manual process of
keeping the record, the possibilities of errors may be more due to various factors
such as lack of time available, rush of users, pressure of simultaneous work, etc.
(Ozeer et al. 2019; Sawant and Patil 2020).
Dong-Ying Li et al. and A. Ozeer et al. discussed some issues in the traditional
libraries are enlisted and are as follows:
(a) Inventory management of library

(b) Searching printed materials available in the library
(c) Finding the printed materials placed somewhere around from the actual location
(d) Storing the details of newly arrived printed materials and rearranging the already
available details and places (if required) of the books
(e) Security of the printed materials available, in case where user access is allowed
To overcome these issues in the library management, it is advised by Dong-Ying

Li et al. and A. Ozeer et al. to use the trending technology known as Internet of
Things (Dong-Ying Li et al. 2016; Ozeer et al. 2019).
Various users are having different requirements from the libraries. Sastry et al.
enlisted the different user groups of library and their most prioritized requirement of
library. Few of the user groups from them are students including undergraduate and
post-graduate students, Research scholars, Research fellow members, teachers, and
professors. Research scholars, Research fellow members, teachers, and professors
are using library facilities such as scientific journals, reference books, technical
papers, and general reading books, whereas the students use the study materials for
notes preparation and general reading books most preferably (Sastry et al. 2011).
Digital libraries are one of the effective resources of digital materials and a good
alternative for traditional libraries. Da Rosa et al.; Abbas and Faiz compared the two
types of library functionalities based on few performance parameters and concluded
that the digital library is a good alternative for traditional library (da Rosa et al. 2012;
Abbas and Faiz 2013). The results showed that the digital library accessed multiple
times more, number of users increased and rate of accessing per item also increased,
whereas few users out of total users of the traditional library visited during the
period of time taken for observation and only few of the printed materials were
viewed out of total available materials (da Rosa et al. 2012). User Interface (UI)
plays a vital role in increasing the usage of the digital library and for designing the
effective UI, it is necessary to understand the challenges in designing the system.
Sastry et al. enlisted different challenges according to various orientations such as
library user orientation, search orientation, digital content orientation, and network
connectivity orientation (Sastry et al. 2011). Although it is advantageous to use
digital libraries rather than using traditional libraries in terms of many parameters,
but there is always a requirement of the traditional library to store printed materials
for the users who are located near to the library (Abbas and Faiz 2013). Use of the
concept of digitization and automation in the traditional or conventional libraries is
the optimum solution.
The topics enlisted below such as location guidance systems, web application
development, path planning algorithm and routing methods for path planning will
give a brief information about book navigation and path planning for a library
system.
Location Guidance Systems
Library is having wide range of books placed on different locations. Finding a book
in a library is really a tricky problem and it becomes a tedious, time consuming
job for a new user to find a book if it is misplaced by someone. In such case,
for completing the task easily it is necessary to take the help of the librarian or
picker and movers in case of conventional library system. Mikawa et al. proposed a
new form of book guidance system which can make use of laser pointer and voice
assistance system, by which a library user can quickly understand where a search
book results in a library. Since the librarian robot uses the laser pointer and voice
assistance system attached to point a target or direction to the target and assist user
through voice commands, a library user can easily understand the guidance. The
system developed is capable of understanding the language of the user in natural
way, also it start greeting the user for doing welcome of the user. This system
identifies the book location after getting request of the book location search from the
library user and after identification of the book location from available database and
geometrical map of library area, it points out the shelf in which the book is located.
During this pointing out, it helps users to identify the location, so authors have also
worked on gestures of robot (Mikawa et al. 2010). To assist the user who wants to
find and collect the book in the library, a prototype robot was created to help by
Animireddy et al. In the computer-based system, the user’s request is processed
to make the robot notified about the specific shelf or position. The processed
data inform the robot to move along the path which is predefined and during this
movement, robot will scan the books available on the shelf using barcode scanner to
identify the required book. The user is notified after the requested book is identified
(Animireddy et al. 2018). Another service robot specially developed for assisting
library users named “LibRob,” provides users with instructions to locate the book
they are looking at for an interactive way to have a more satisfactory experience.
LibRob can process a search request either by speech or by text and return an author,
topic or title list of related books. LibRob directs them to the shelf containing the
book after the user selects the book of interest, and then returns to its base station
upon completion. Experimental studies show that the robot reduces the time taken to
locate a book by 47.4% and pending 80% of users are pleased (Di Veroli et al. 2019).
Web Application Development
Currently web application development becoming more popular due to its various
advantages such as easy data retrieval, improved effectiveness of system, simplifi-
cation of checking the product availability, etc.
Mandava and Antony reviewed and analyzed three technologies getting used for
the development of web application such as ASP.NET, Open source technologies
such as Linux/MySQL/Apache/PHP and Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE).
After comparison, it is concluded by researcher that the developer may go for
Linux/MySQL/Apache/PHP technology if less amount is available for project, if
project is small, if web application security is needed, if compatible mode of
operation required, and if less time is available for project completion with moderate
performance rate (Mandava and Antony 2012). Navaraja et al. developed a web
application based simulation tool for virtual learning of the kinematics of robotics
and real time online control of robots such as Puma 560 and Movemaster RM-501.
Web application simulation is developed by MATLAB and J2EE technology. Also
for client end web application development, Javascript, Ajax and PHP integrated
with HTML languages are used along with Python and VAL for server end
programming and command transfer for robot functioning respectively (Navaraja
et al. 2016). Development of web application is possible using various languages
such as HTML5, Flash, C/C++, etc. The comparison among these three language
types is discussed by Wang et al. The parameters used for comparison were
openness, visualization effect, production cycle, and enablement on mobile, screen
touch enablement, compatibility, necessity of plug-in, and other. In most of the
cases, the web application developed using HTML5 gives good performance results
In terms of simplicity of programming, least cost due to open source language,
convenience of updating, accessibility through web browser from devices such as
mobile phones, tablet, and computer (Wang et al. 2019).
Hongjiu highlighted the benefits of using a HTML based web application
developed for an enterprise by considering the data mining technology. In case
of E-commerce industries, the huge data getting collected from user end can give
fruitful results for better understanding the need of customers in advance and also
used for taking beneficial decisions for the enterprise (Hongjiu 2013). Harvey
et al. introduced a web application based assistant system for helping the students
virtually 24/7, which is developed using HTML, XAMPP, Program-O, and other
such as AIML (Artificial Intelligence Markup Language). In the system developed,
the avatar animation of female assistant will guide students in the university for
various important aspects such as placement related guidance using text to speech
conversion (Harvey et al. 2016). Such kind of virtual avatar based support systems
will plays a vital role in upcoming days for guiding the users of any system.
Path Planning Algorithm
Path planning is very important for optimization of various performance parameters

such as time required for completing the task, distance travelled by robot, energy
consumption by robot, etc. Also it is useful during obstacle avoidance in case of
multi-robot workspace. According to Raja and Pugazhenthi, the path planning is
divided into two major types depending on the environment information available
before starting the robot motion or during the robot motion: (1) On-line path
planning, (2) Offline path planning. The algorithm plays a vital role in applications
such as surveillance, identification of landmines, atomic power plants, and in planet
investigation (Raja and Pugazhenthi 2012). For developing the LBPP algorithm
in the web application developed, the offline type of path planning is used and
also the obstacle free environment is considered. Sun et al. proposed algorithm
based simulation for path planning of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle (UAV) flight.
The algorithm developed using knowledge of basic mathematics and basic logic of
path planning for optimizing the travelling distance and time required to complete
the flight (Sun et al. 2013). The similar approach is used for the developed LBPP
algorithm in the web application developed for the library system.
Naumov et al. proposed an improved Dijkstra algorithm, which uses an
image captured of workspace from top. The image was then converted to a two-
dimensional matrix form for analyzing the obstacles present in the labyrinth and
to find the optimum path for robot motion planning. Further simulation is created
in a computer for better visualization of the path planning. After simulation, the
complete time required for processing the 1600 × 1013 pixels sized labyrinth and
for presenting the simulation observed was less than 500 milliseconds (Naumov
et al. 2015). M. Korkmaz and A. Durdu used Simultaneous Localization and
Mapping (SLAM) algorithm, GMapping for building real time workspace map,
and a statistical technique one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for comparing
the performance of various path planning algorithms. For comparison, five path
planning algorithms are considered such as A* search algorithm, Genetic Algorithm
(GA), Rapidly exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm, Bidirectional RRT, and
Probabilistic Road Map (PRM) algorithm. After comparison it is concluded by M.
Korkmaz and A. Durdu that for finding shortest path one can go for A* search
algorithm, but it requires large computational time and for the requirement of
better results in terms of time optimization, one can go for the PRM algorithm
(Korkmaz and Durdu 2018). Han-ye, Wei-ming, et al. reviewed the literature on
path planning of robots. From reviewed literature, it was concluded in the paper
that the Genetic Algorithm (GA) based approach is most probably getting used for
path planning and optimization. Also other approaches such as Particle Swarm, Ant
Colony Optimization Algorithms, and Artificial Potential Field algorithm approach

(PSO, ACO and APF respectively) are used widely after GA approach (Han-ye
et al. 2018). Further modification in the ACO using a concept of Killer Nodes is
proposed by Guarnizo and Pineda along with the simulation in unity application for
better visualization and for reducing negative feedback in case of long path planning
problems (Guarnizo and Pineda 2019).
Routing Methods for Path Planning
Various optimization techniques for routing are available, out of which any one best
suited technique can be applied for finding the optimum path. Routing in a library is
similar to the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP), in which the optimum path can
be identified using numerical treatment. In TSP, the optimum path means a finding a
path with minimum travelling distance, with less time consumption or with less cost
involved (Pankratova and Tarashnina 2017; Zia et al. 2018). TSP is applicable where
shortest route is to be identified, where each destination location is to be visited
only once and in the case where the salesman (or salesperson) is to be returned
back to the original location from where salesman started travelling. Generally, the
locations are considered as cities and cost between locations is considered as the
distance (or time) between cities (Hahsler and Hornik 2007). TSP is categorized
into three different types according to various conditions and complexities of the
path planning problems. The types are: (a) Symmetric TSP (sTSP), (b) Asymmetric
TSP (aTSP), and (c) Multi TSP (mTSP). The path planning problem in which the
optimum travelling path is to be identified between ‘n’ cities to be visited only
once during a whole trip, if the to and fro Euclidian distance (i.e., cost) between
all two cities is equal then the TSP is known as Symmetric TSP. On the contrary, for
the path planning problem in which the optimum travelling path is to be identified
between many number of cities to be visited only once during a whole trip, if the
to and fro Euclidian distance (i.e., cost) between any two cities is not equal then
the TSP is known as Asymmetric TSP. Further, if number of salespersons are more
than one and are available at initial city location, from which the travelling needs
to be started. Also in case where all the salespersons are to be utilized effectively
and each city is to be visited only once during the whole trip of salesperson, it is
recommended to use the third type of TSP known as Multiple TSP. The Multiple
TSP may be further utilized for solving the TSP-based path planning problems
in which variable conditions are applied. Varying or fixed count of number of
salespersons, number of cities, number of salespersons available at different cities
or at initial city, number of salespersons finishing their trip at specified city location,
minimum or maximum number of cities to which each salesperson must visit, time
limits for visiting the specified cities, limiting values of distances to be travelled by
each salesperson, etc. are the few conditions to be applied as per the requirement for
the problems of mTSP. TSP has its wide range of applications in day-today life as
well as in industries such as service industries and manufacturing industries. Few of

the applications enlisted are as follows:
(a) Path planning in automated drilling operation

(b) Operation sequence finalization in case of x-ray crystallography and gas turbine
engine overhauling
(c) Path planning of pickers and movers in warehouses
(d) Problems where vehicle routing is required such as school bus
(e) Scheduling problems
(f) Navigation system design (Matai et al. 2010)
(g) Courier delivery services
(h) Receiving and broadcasting television or radio signals, etc. (Hira and Gupta
2010)
If there are ‘n’ number of cities to which a salesman (or salesmen) has to visit
during a complete trip only once and return back to home city, then for deciding the
optimal path in terms of less time requirement, less cost involved, and in terms of
reduced distance to be travelled; it is necessary to find all the possible number of
routes. The possible number of routes for travelling salesman starting from home
city to ‘nth’ city and returning back to home city can be given mathematically
(Eq. 1).
N = (n − 1)! (1)
Where,
N = Maximum number of possible routes for travelling ‘n’ cities.
Also mathematically the TSP can be represented as a linear programming
problem (Eq. 2).

n
n
Z= cij xij (2)
i=1 j =1
Subject to

n
xij = 1
j =1
n
xij = 1
i=1
And
xij = 0 or 1; i = 1, 2, . . . , n; j = 1, 2, . . . , n
where,
cij = Cost or distance or time involved for travelling a salesman from city ‘i’ to
city ‘j’
xij = Constant value either zero (0) or one (1)
xij = 1 in case salesman directly travels from city ‘i’ to city ‘j’
xij = 0 in case salesman does not travels directly from city ‘i’ to city ‘j’ (Hira and
Gupta 2010).
For improving the routing of robots or Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) in
warehouses similar to library systems, many researchers proposed various routing
methods to improve the efficiency of functioning in terms of reduction in material
handing travel time.
Roodbergen and Koster developed a new approach for solving the issues in
the warehouses where order pickers and movers are continuously changing the
aisles. In this chapter, the various approaches are collectively summarized from
literature review and an optimized approach is developed and proposed. The various
approaches discussed in the paper are as follows:
(a) S-Shape approach

In this approach, the SRM will start to move from left aisle and initially it
will pick-up or place the object from the nearest shelf placed in left side. Further
SRM will find the location of nearly placed next object, if the location is in the
same aisle then it will move through the same aisle else it will move to the
next aisle in S-shape path. Once all the pick-up locations are over in the first
cross-aisle, then SRM is instructed to shift the cross-aisle and will again start
the same cycle from left aisle in S-shaped path. The same procedure is allowed
to be followed up to the second last cross-aisle, then for the last cross-aisle SRM
is instructed to follow the cycle in reverse direction, i.e., from right side aisle to
the left most aisle till the initial depot location is not arrived.
(b) Largest Gap Approach
In this approach, the gap is nothing but the distance between two different
object locations from same aisles or it is the distance between cross-aisle and
the object location. Largest gap criteria is used for segregating number of object
locations to be picked in sequence, one is object locations nearest to the back
cross-aisles and next is nearest to the front cross-aisles.
Initially the SRM is instructed to start the pickup or place operation from the
nearest location in the left most aisle, then it will continue picking or placing
objects in the same aisles by changing sub-aisles and then it will change the
aisles through cross-aisles. After that SRM is instructed to pick-up or place the
objects nearest to the back cross-aisles and then instructed to pick-up or place
the objects nearest to the front cross-aisles.
(c) Aisle-by-Aisle Approach
Title of this approach gives a clear idea about the process of pick-up or
placing an object or number of objects. In this approach, the SRM is instructed
to complete the picking or placing task of multiple objects in a first aisle, then
after finishing all the pick-up locations it is instructed to SRM to go for next
aisle till the last aisle. At last after completing all the aisles, it is instructed SRM
to move at the initial depot location.
(d) Optimal Approach
In all the above approaches, it is planned for routing the SRM or also
known as picker or mover during completion of the pick-up or place task. The
optimal approach proposed in an earlier literature was modified and proposed
by Roodbergen and Koster for finding shortest routes using branch and bound
procedure proposed in a literature.
Also it is concluded by Roodbergen and Koster from the results of algorithm

used, that the material handling rate can be optimized by incorporating optimum
number of cross aisles in between shelves. The proposed routing methods can
be used for improving the efficiency of manual material handling (Roodbergen
and Koster 2001). Further, Roodbergen et al. established a design based approach
for improving the layout of warehouse and for applying control strategies in the
warehouse. Also the design-based approach considering optimum routing method
successfully implemented in the company as a case study, where the performance
results improved in terms of reduction in travel distance of manual pickers per unit
order handling (Roodbergen et al. 2015).
Summary
Looking at the current scenario, complete digitization of the library is not the
perfect solution, as traditional libraries have their own importance due to various
conditions such as environmental conditions for study, conditional suitability of
printed materials, etc. Conversion of conventional library system into smart library
system is the perfect solution among all the related categories of library systems.
For converting the conventional library into a smart library, A. Ozeer et al. proposed
a technique of developing a web-based application for locating the printed materials
available in the library (Ozeer et al. 2019).
Web application based simulation is a best technique among other techniques
to guide the location of book or product stored in a library or warehouse. Also it
is possible to keep a track of location of book, availability or non-availability of
book and to optimize the path planning for functioning in the library. Using manual
operation of keeping the record of all the books getting placed in a dynamic library
system is very difficult, where locations of books is continuously changing as per
the categorization of books according to its size, shape, type of book (e.g., hardcover
or softcover) and retrieval frequency, etc. Also the useful record or information has
to be accessible to all its stakeholders from different locations for increasing the
utilization of the system. This is possible by using the concept of Internet of Things.
So it is highly advisable to use the technology of Internet of Things in the library
system which is similar to warehousing system in E-commerce industries.
In all the above library assistance systems and other location guidance systems
discussed, a huge amount of investment is required for guiding the user to identify
the books located in the library system due to building the robot and using paid
software or languages. To build an open source software, which assists a user by
showing simulation is a cost effective solution.
Objectives and Assumptions
The following objectives are considered for developing the LBPP algorithm and
web application:
(a) To search the book with various filters such as book id, title, author, publisher,
or location of book.
(b) To identify the location of book stored with ease.
(c) To simulate the optimum path using web application.
The following assumptions are made for the case study:
(a) Only five books are placed in each storage rack for simplicity, further one can
modify using html code.
(b) Sample library layout containing total (4 × 6) racks is considered.
(c) Lines of different color are used to indicate the path travelled and numbers
indicate the end of path or book location for picking the respective book.
(d) The home location for SRM is considered at location ‘0’.
(e) Black color filled rectangles are the books and while color filled rectangles are
storage racks.
Web Application for Path Planning in a Library System
For guiding the users of library various location guidance methods are proposed
by researchers, those are discussed in earlier topics. Mikawa et al. proposed a laser
pointer and voice assistance-based guidance method for location guidance system,
in which it is stated that the feasibility of the proposed system is to be checked
with two major practical aspects in real life library system. First point was about to
maintain silence in the library system, the point arrived due to the voice assistance-
based guidance system developed and second is the decrement in library users due
to easy availability of Internet and e-books (Mikawa et al. 2010). Both these points
can be answered by using the proposed web-based application for using the library
facility from remote location as well. Also the further modified version of this
application along with scanning mobile robot platform can help the library users to
access the printed form of materials from remote location using Internet of Things,
which is similar to the technology getting used in Industry 4.0.
The simulation-based web application technology is simple way to guide the
users of library for identifying the books. Further it is proposed as future scope
to design and develop the mobile platform, which follow the simulation in web
application and guide the users to navigate book required in the library system. For
achieving this target the following methodology can be adopted.
(a) Select an open source web application framework development tool such as
XAMPP control panel having freeware servers like Apache and MySQL.
(b) Develop an interactive web application for adding booklist with its correspond-
ing locations using open source languages such as HTML, CSS, PHP, Java
Script, JSON, and SQL.
(c) Develop a simulation page using HTML5 Canvas and develop an efficient
Logic Based Path Planning (LBPP) algorithm for optimizing the path planning
problem along with better visualization of simulation.
Web application can be designed and developed as shown in Fig. 3 using open
source languages such as HTML, CSS, Java Script, JSON, MySQL, and PHP. For
running it on local host server, open source local host servers such as Apache
and MySQL can be used which are available in open source application known as
XAMPP control panel. Also the simulation part in user interface can be developed
using html canvas for representing animation for path planning in library system.
The following facilities can also be provided in the ribbon at the left side of the web
application in the form of tabs as shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 Layout of web application for path planning simulation

Add Books
“ADD BOOKS” tab on left ribbon can be provided to add book details such as:
Title of Book, Name of Author, Publisher, and Location of Book. One can add book
details in the html form provided to add details in SQL database table after clicking
on “Add Book” button provided.
Book List
“BOOK LIST” tab on left ribbon can be provided to check the list of added books in
database of books added such as: Book ID, Title of Book, Name of Author, Publisher
and Location of Book. After clicking on the tab, the PHP code can interact with the
table stored in the SQL database to check the details available in the form of html
table.
Search Books
“SEARCH BOOKS” tab in the left ribbon can be provided to search book details
from database using filters. Also one can provide an additional feature so as to get
a list of books after clicking on search button with search keywords and appropriate
filter.
After getting a list of number of books, the facility for selecting multiple books
(up to maximum 4) using checkbox can be provided. After selection using checkbox
and after clicking on “Get Selected,” the location of books can be stored in local
storage. For further simulation, it is required to convert the location details in the
form of string and store the details of location in LOCAL STORAGE using JSON
program.
Navigate Book Location
“NAVIGATE BOOK LOCATION” tab can be provided in left ribbon to visualize the
simulation of path planning for retrieving the number of books in the library system.
For which, it is required to convert the string details in the form of an array from
local storage and give as an input to Logic Based Path Planning (LBPP) algorithm
which can be developed using Java Script, HTML, and CSS program. Further, the
algorithm will estimate the path for retrieving number of books as shown in the
upcoming sections (Figs. 9a, 10a, 11a, and 12a).
Logic Based Path Planning (LBPP) Algorithm
The complete algorithm can be developed in basic two stages:
Stage (I): Initial Setup

The flow chart (Fig. 4), is representing the stepwise functioning of the program
to define and create a baseline for LBPP algorithm. In this algorithm, initially
the X-coordinate and Y-coordinate of the black rectangle representing book in
the html canvas is defined for all the books placed in vertical rectangular shelves
(Fig. 5). The location coordinates of each book and the location ID is stored
as separate array. After selecting the books required from SEARCH tab in web
application, the location ID of selected books getting stored in the local storage
in the form of string. The string stored in local storage is converted into an array
after opening the “NAVIGATE BOOK LOCATION” tab and the array compared
with initially stored array of all the book location ID and coordinates. Finally,
the HTML canvas is defined of size 615 × 450 pixels and stored as a variable.
Further, this defined canvas can be helpful for representing the simulation area
Fig. 4 Flow chart for Stage (I): Initial Setup

Fig. 5 Coordinates in a HTML canvas for understanding of LBPP algorithm
along with initially represented shelves and books in it. After comparison of
arrays and after opening the “NAVIGATE BOOK LOCATION” tab, the color
of specific selected books changed from black to blue for better understanding of
the book location in simulation.
Stage (II): LBPP Algorithm

The logical sequence of instructions is structured and developed in this stage
for representing path planning simulation using html canvas. The canvas of
615 × 450 pixels is considered for better visualization of simulation (Fig. 5).
Again in stage (II) following three sub-stages can be formed for simplicity of
programming and for developing a simulation using html canvas: A – Initial
Move, B – Intermediate Moves, and C – Retrieval Move
A – Initial Move:
The flow chart (Fig. 6),is representing the functioning of algorithm developed
for showing the movement of SRM in simulation from location ‘0’ to location
‘1’, i.e., from home position to the location of first book placed on storage
rack.
The initial move is generated in simulation using the following steps:
(a) Define style attributes for text and SRM at (0, 210), i.e., at location 0
Fig. 6 Flow chart for Stage (II): LBPP Algorithm [A – Initial Move]
In HTML Canvas, it is necessary to define the color and other style

attributes such as font, font size of text written in the SRM as 0 (Fig. 9a),
outline color and outline thickness, etc. Red color is used for representing
SRM at location (0, 210) (Fig. 5).
(b) Draw rectangle at location 0 to show initial position of SRM.
The shape of the SRM is considered as square for drawing the structure
of SRM. Also the dimensions of rectangle are taken as(30 × 30).
(c) Define style attributes for line going at (x1 ,y1 ), i.e., at book location 1
Line color and line thickness are the style attributes defined for drawing
a line from (0, 210) to (x1 ,y1 ). The colour defined here is pink same as
that of the colour used to define style attributes of SRM at (x1 ,y1 ), i.e.,
at location 1, which is helpful for identification of different paths during
overlapping of path over one another.
(d) Draw a horizontal line till (x1 , 210)
After defining style attributes, it is important to use line command to
draw the line used to represent the path of SRM. According to the initial
location, i.e., (0, 210), always there will be forward movement of the SRM
first. So the commands used to draw horizontal line first up to point (x1 ,
210) from initial location (0, 210).
(e) Draw a vertical line till (x1 ,y1 )
After the forward movement of the SRM, it will take a turn either in the
upward direction or in the downward direction depending on the location
of book. For showing this movement of the SRM, it is necessary to draw
the vertical line either moving upward or in downward direction up to
point (x1 ,y1 ) from point (x1 , 210).
(f) Define style attributes same as line for text and SRM at (x1 ,y1 ), i.e., at
location 1
For showing the location of SRM at first book location, it is necessary in
HTML to define the style attributes of the SRM at location 1. The pink
color is defined for representing the SRM same as that of the line drawn
from location (0, 210) to (x1 ,y1 ).
(g) Draw rectangle at location 1 to show final position of SRM.
After defining style attributes, it is necessary to use the draw rectangle
command in HTML to draw the rectangle of same size (30 × 30)
using the style attributes defined in the earlier step at location 1, i.e., at
(x1 ,y1 ).
In parallel, after defining style attributes for line and rectangle the following steps
followed for calculating and storing the distance travelled by SRM during path
planning for initial move.
(a) Define a blank array ‘L’

For storing the data in HTML, it is necessary to use the array command.
The stored values in an array can be further used for plotting the graph
and for calculating the total distance travelled by the SRM.
(b) Store length of line as ‘l1 ’
Using mathematical formulation, length of horizontal line is calculated
from the coordinates of SRM end locations and this length is stored in
newly defined variable ‘l1 ’.
(c) Store length of line as ‘l2 ’
Using mathematical formulation, length of vertical line drawn after
horizontal line is calculated from the coordinates of SRM end locations
and this length is newly defined variable ‘l2 ’
(d) Calculate distance travelled by SRM using formula, L1 = l1 + l2 and Push
value of L1 in an array ‘L’.
Total distance travelled from the initial location of SRM to the first book location
is calculated and the value is stored in the defined blank array ‘L’ using PUSH
command.
B – Intermediate Moves:
The flow chart (Fig. 7),is representing the functioning of program developed for
showing the movement of SRM in simulation from location ‘1’ to location
‘2’, from location ‘2’ to location ‘3’ and/or from location ‘3’ to location ‘4,’
i.e., for intermediate moves as per number of books to be retrieved.
The intermediate move/moves is/are generated in simulation using the following
steps:
(a) Define style attributes for line going at (xn ,yn ) where, n = 2, 3, 4 and
(xn ,yn ) are the x and y-coordinates of the nth book location in canvas.
(b) Depending on number of books selected for retrieval and the location of
book, the path of SRM is decided. For showing this path in simulation after
initial move, i.e., for intermediate move, the style attributes are initially
defined.
(c) If (x(n − 1) = = xn ) is true, draw a vertical line till (xn ,yn
In case the next book selected is placed in a shelf located in the same aisle,
the SRM has to travel along the same aisle. So the x-coordinate will not
change for the next book retrieval. In that case for showing the path to be
travelled for next book, the vertical line is to be drawn from earlier location
to (xn ,yn ).
(d) If (x(n − 1) = = xn ) is false, check for next condition.
If [(10 < y2 < 210 & & (y1 − 10 + y2 − 10) ≤ (210 − y1 + 210 − y2 )] is
true, then first draw a vertical line till (x(n − 1) , 10), next to that draw a hor-
izontal line till (xn , 10) and at last draw a vertical line till (xn ,yn ) (Fig. 5).
(e) If [(10 < y2 < 210 & & (y1 − 10 + y2 − 10) ≤ (210 − y1 + 210 − y2 )]
is false, then go for next condition.
(f) If [(210 < y2 < 410 & & (y1 − 210 + y2 − 210) ≥ (410 − y1 + 410 − y2 )]
is true, then first draw a vertical line till (x(n − 1) , 410), next to that draw a
horizontal line till (xn , 410) and at last draw a vertical line till (xn ,yn ).
(g) If [(210 < y2 < 410 & & (y1 − 210 + y2 − 210) ≥ (410 − y1 + 410 − y2 )]
is false, then go for the last condition.
(h) If (Number of books retrieved ≥ n) is true, then first draw a vertical line
till (x(n − 1) , 210), next to that draw a horizontal line till (xn , 210) and at
last draw a horizontal line till (xn ,yn ).
(i) Define style attributes same as line for text and SRM at (xn ,yn ), i.e., at
location ‘n’.
(j) Draw rectangle at location n to show final position of SRM.
C – Retrieval Move:
The flow chart (Fig. 8), is representing the functioning of program developed for
showing the movement of SRM in simulation from location ‘n’ to location
‘0’, i.e., for retrieval movement of SRM from location of last book stored in
storage rack to home position of SRM.
Fig. 7 Flow chart for Stage (II): LBPP Algorithm [B – Intermediate Moves]
Fig. 8 Flow chart for Stage (II): LBPP Algorithm [C – Retrieval Move]
The final move is generated in simulation using the following steps:
(a) If (Number of books retrieved = = 1) is true then u = x1 and v = y1 .

Using this web application, user can select up to four number of books.
In case of only one book selection, the variables defined (u, v) will store
values (x1 ,y1 ), i.e., coordinates of location 1.
(b) If (Number of books retrieved = = 1) is false then go for next condition.
(c) If (Number of books retrieved = = 2) is true then u = x2 and v = y2 .
In case of two number of books selection, the variables defined (u, v) will
store values (x2 ,y2 ), i.e., coordinates of location 2.
(d) If (Number of books retrieved = = 2) is false then go for next condition.
(e) If (Number of books retrieved = = 3) is true then u = x3 and v = y3 .
In case of three number of books selection, the variables defined (u, v) will
(f) If (Number of books retrieved = = 3) is false then go for next condition.
(g) If (Number of books retrieved = = 4) is true then u = x4 and v = y4 .
In case of four number of books selection, the variables defined (u, v) will
(h) Draw a vertical line from (u + 30, v) till (u + 30, 240).
For showing the return path of SRM to location 0, the vertical line is
drawn starting from end location of SRM to (u + 30, 240)In this case,
to avoid the overlapping of vertical lines in few cases and for simplicity of
understanding the simulation, the offset distance of 30 pixels is taken in
addition to ‘u’.
(i) Draw a horizontal line till (0, 240).
At last, the command used to draw a horizontal line from (u + 30, 240) till
(0, 240) (Fig. 8).
Web Application Based Path Planning Simulation
The web application based path planning simulation for single to multiple book
retrieval processes are shown (Figs. 9a, 10a, 11a, and 12a) which are generated
using LBPP algorithm and html canvas. The graph of relative distance travelled
versus SRM movement to the specified location is shown (Fig. 9a and b) which
is generated after simulation using html chart function. For the same on X-axis, the
location of book to be retrieved is taken, e.g., A102 (where as A1 represents as name
of storage rack and 02 represents the book number from top in the same rack) and
final retrieval movement as Retrieve.
For understanding of the movement of SRM, the following color codes are used:
(a) Pink Color – Movement of SRM from Location ‘0’ to Location ‘1’,
(b) Red Color – Movement of SRM from Location ‘1’ to Location ‘2’,
(c) Green Color – Movement of SRM from Location ‘2’ to Location ‘3’
Fig. 9 Experimental prototype model
a b
Relative distance Travelled in px
266.0
1
265.8
265.6
265.4
265.2
0 265.0
264.8
264.6
264.4
264.2
264.0
A102 Retrieve
Fig. 10 (a) Simulation results for single book retrieval. (b) Graph of relative distance (in pixels)
travelled by SRM
(d) Brown Color – Movement of SRM from Location ‘3’ to Location ‘4’,
(e) Blue Color – Movement of SRM from Location ‘n’ to Location ‘0,’ i.e.,
Retrieval Motion.
There are several routing methods available in the literature. Among those
methods, selection of the proper routing method will decide the effectiveness of
the pick-up and retrieval rate in library system where racks are placed in parallel
orientation. In this chapter, the algorithm developed for one of the combinational
and logical routing method from available literature is discussed for generating
simulation of path planning. The results for S-shaped routing method are calculated
a b
500
450
400
350
1
300
250
B302 E203 Retrieve
Fig. 11 (a) Simulation results for two books retrieval sequentially. (b) Graph of relative distance
(in pixels) travelled by SRM
a b
650
1
600
2
550
500
450
0
400
3
350
300
250
200
A103 C105 F301 Retrieve
Fig. 12 (a) Simulation results for three books retrieval sequentially. (b) Graph of relative distance
for one of the assumed problem for four cases by using numerical calculation
method, whereas the results for routing method used in LBPP algorithm are
simulated using web application developed.
Further, the results obtained from routing methods used for developing LBPP
algorithm and results obtained from S-shaped routing method are compared
(Fig. 13). For routing method used in LBPP algorithm, the distance travelled by
storage and retrieval machine (SRM) is 530 pixels, 1070 pixels, 1575 pixels, and
1940 pixels for one, two, three, and four books retrieval process, respectively, and
for S-shaped routing method, the distance travelled by storage and retrieval machine
(SRM) is 530 pixels, 1370 pixels, 1575 pixels, and 2030 pixels for one, two, three,
and four books retrieval process, respectively.
From this graphical comparison (Fig. 13) of both the routing methods, it is
observed that the percentage optimization of the proposed routing method in this
chapter for the case considered is 7.09%.
The percentage optimization in this case is calculated as follows:
a b
650
1
600
2
550
500
0 450
4 400
2
350
300
3 250
A102 B302 D405 F301 Retrieve
Fig. 13 (a) Simulation results for four books retrieval sequentially. (b) Graph of relative distance

(X − Y )
Percentage Optimization = × 100
X
Where,
X = Total Distance travelled by SRM using S-shaped routing method
Y = Total Distance travelled by SRM using routing method used for LBPP
algorithm
Development of Mobile Platform Prototype
The task of identifying a book located in a huge library is really tedious for the
users of a library and sometimes it’s been a complicated task for librarian to find the
book placed on a changed location. For making it easier and less time consuming,
the simulation based web application can be further embedded along with the
mobile platform (similarly as shown in Fig. 14) to perform the task of locating the
books in case of library system. The similar kind of system can be implemented in
other industries such as e-commerce industries or in warehouses for identifying the
location of product placed somewhere in the workspace easily.
Development of such experimental mobile platform is planned for performing
the motion task similar to the simulation in the web application. For experimental
testing of path planning as per the simulation in web application, the similar model
can be developed as shown in prototype model of mobile platform (Fig. 14).
The Internet of Things (IoT)-based path planning prototype model is mainly
consisting of the following components:
(a) NodeMCU ESP 8266 kit

Internet of things (IOT) is the trending and effective technology used to
implement the projects using internet or wifi network connection. NodeMCU
Fig. 14 Comparison of routing methods using simulation results
is a microcontroller kit which gives sufficient facilities for producing an open

source prototype of IOT based solution.
NodeMCU is a low cost development kit and a firmware used for connecting
sensors and other hardwares using Wi-Fi enabled microcontroller named as
ESP8266. This Wi-Fi System on Chip (SOC) on the NodeMCU development kit
is an open source firmware developed by Espressif Systems. This kit is a good
cost effective solution to operate the hardwares connected to it using General
Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pins provided on NodeMCU.
It consists of 128 kiloBytes Random Access Memory (RAM) and 4
MegaBytes storage memory for storing the program. Also it is enabled
with 2.4 GHz Antenna for better connectivity with other Wi-Fi enabled
devices. Multiple pins are provided as input or output pins, which are used
to interact with the hardwares connected. The Arduino Integrated Development
Environment (IDE) can be used for programming the NodeMCU ESP8266,
whereas Lua script language is used for internal interaction of firmware.
(b) L298N Motor driver circuit module
To control the DC motors and stepper motors, it is necessary to use the
effective motor driver module. L298N motor driver module enables to control
the direction of rotation of motors and to control the speed of motors using pins
provided on the module.
The module uses 12 volt supply for its operation. It is provided with total four
output pins for giving input to the motors named as OUT1 , OUT2 , OUT3 , and
OUT4 . OUT1 and OUT2 pins are used for operating left side motors, whereas
OUT3 and OUT4 pins are used for operating right side motors. Also motor
driver module is provided with four input pins named as IN1 , IN2 , IN3 , and
IN4 for controlling the direction of rotation of motors. IN1 and IN2 pins are used
to control direction of rotation of left side motors, whereas IN3 and IN4 pins
are used to control direction of rotation of right side motors. Alongwith these
input and output pins, additional Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) pins named
as ENA and ENB are provided for controlling the speed of left side motors and
right side motors respectively.
(c) Battery unit as power supply
Power supply is needed for operating NodeMCU ESP8266 kit, L298N Motor
driver module and dc geared motors. Selection of proper battery supply is of
prime importance for getting the required performance of any module. It is
planned to use the 9 volt battery for operating the experimental mobile platform.
(d) Other accessories such as dc geared motors, wheels, electric cables, base plate,
switch, sensors etc.
Four DC geared motors are used and are connected to output pins of L298N
driver module. The wheels are fitted on the shaft of four dc motors. For
switching on or off the power supply ON-OFF switch is used and the male-
female jumping wires are used whenever necessary for making connections.
Further, it is planned to use various sensors for tracking the location and/or
motion of the mobile platform.
The modifications of the web application and embedding the prototype model,
i.e., experimental mobile platform with the web application is in process.
Conclusion/Summary
From the simulation results, it can be concluded that the simulation will help
the users of library system to navigate the book location with ease. This web
application-based system enables users to estimate the path along with distance
to be travelled for retrieval of multiple books. LBPP algorithm developed will
estimate and simulate the path accurately as it was developed by using trial and
error approach. Further, the algorithm can be easily modified for implementing it in
different applications.
The percentage optimization results by 7.09% will give a clear conclusion that
the routing method used for developing LBPP algorithm gives improved results
for reducing the travelling time and cost by reducing the travelling distance for
retrieval process of books in library system. As the web application is designed and
developed using open source languages, it is cost effective solution for managing
and organizing the books in the library. The systems can be further enhanced or
modified to use it in the e-commerce industries, automated warehouses, shopping
malls, medical stores, and in many applications where storage and retrieval is
involved.
As a future scope, one can further implement this sort of technique in various
industries where many number of parts are getting manufactured and keeping record
of storage and retrieval tasks is tedious. In such industries, one can implement such
system for keeping a track of stored and retrieved products.
Important Websites
1. K. J. Roodbergen (2016) Warehouse Layout Optimizer Tool, Interactive Ware-

house Tool and Literature on Warehouse by Prof. Kees Jan Roodbergen http://
www.roodbergen.com/ Accessed 25 Jan 2021.
2. Dilip Kumar Pratihar (2018) National Program on Technology Enhanced Learn-
ing (NPTEL) Online Course on “Robotics” https://nptel.ac.in/courses/112/105/
112105249/ Accessed 26 Jan 2021.
3. Gaurav Raina and Tanmai Gopal (2016) National Program on Technology
Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) Online Course on “Introduction to Modern Appli-
cation Development” https://nptel.ac.in/courses/106/106/106106156/ Accessed
25 Jan 2021.
4. Refsnes Data (1998) Online programming tutorials, reference material and
examples for web application development training https://www.w3schools.com/
Accessed 26 Jan 2021.
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ijgi7030115
Design, Control, and Data Management
for Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) Test Rig Used 8
in Process Industries
A. S. Patil, M. N. Dhavalikar, and S. A. Chavan
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Classification of CIP Based on Number of Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Three-Stage CIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Five-Stage CIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Seven-Stage CIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
CIP System Design: A Case Study in Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Vessel Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Pump Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Selection of Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
PLC Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
SCADA Screen Development and Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
HMI Screens Development and Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Real-Time Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Program Validation on Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Inference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Abstract
Cleaning-in-place (CIP) is a very important aspect of every part of the food,

beverage, and pharmaceutical industry. Sanitation could greatly affect production
A. S. Patil () · M. N. Dhavalikar

MIT School of Engineering, MIT ADT University, Pune, India
e-mail: mangesh.dhavalikar@mituniversity.edu.in
S. A. Chavan
Analogic Automation Pvt. Ltd, Pune, India
e-mail: sushant.chavan@analogic.co.in
162 A. S. Patil et al.
because safety and quality are at stake. CIP refers to the method of cleaning a
piece of equipment or its parts without disassembling them. As some equipment
and machines may be bulky or too complicated to disassemble, it is not advisable
to even remove the parts. Manual cleaning is also not possible for most of the
parts. The proposed work includes the mechanical system design, process flow
design, automation, and testing of the programs of PLC, SCADA, and human–
machine interface systems. This CIP trainer kit would demonstrate the various
PLC logic testing of the respective CIP processes. It also facilitates the training of
newly recruited engineers in aspects of process industries such as food, brewery,
pharmaceutical, chemical.
Keywords
Cleaning in place · Sanitation · PLC logic · SCADA
Introduction
Cleaning is the process of removing the dirt, marks, or any unwanted matter from a
piece of equipment. Nowadays, hygiene and sanitation concerns are becoming one
of the most important for the food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, and chemical
industries. The production system of all these industries regularly contains a number
of processing vessels, storage tanks, piping arrangements, heat exchangers, pumps,
and valves that have to be cleaned regularly. There are various methods of cleaning
this equipment, such as foam cleaning, high-pressure cleaning, mechanical cleaning,
Cleaning-Out-of-Place (COP), and Cleaning-In-Place (CIP). All these cleaning
processes have their own pros and cons, but CIP is the most suitable, most widely
used, safest, and most accurate, efficient, and automated process with minimal
production down time and cleaning costs.
India is the largest milk producer in the world, with 10 million dairy farms,
96,000 local and 15 state dairy cooperatives, along with the 170 milk producers’
cooperative unions. Milk is the largest crop in India, with a market value of 6.5 lakh
crore/annum, which contributes around 26% in total agricultural GDP. Similarly, the
food processing and beverage industry is the fifth largest industry of India, which has
1.77 million employees working daily in 39,319 registered units, which have $29.2
billion fixed capital and $144.6 billion aggregate output per year. This industry has
a 32% share of India’s total food market, 13% of Indian exports, and 6% of India’s
total industrial investment. On the other hand, the Indian pharmaceutical industry
is the world’s largest generic medicine producer with third rank for production
by volume and tenth by value. India has 3000 pharmaceutical companies with a
$20.02 billion domestic market turnover and around $17.27 billion exports. India
also supplies 62% of the global demand for vaccinations. The Indian chemical
industry is the sixth largest producer of chemicals in the world and the third in
Asia. It has 14th rank in the export of chemicals. India supplies 16% of the overall
8 Design, Control, and Data Management for Cleaning-in-Place (CIP). . . 163
world dye demand. The Indian chemical industry has around 80,000 manufacturing
products, 2 million employees, and a market value of $35 billion.
In 2016, Nighot et al. proposed a CIP system for food and beverage industries
with the use of PLC and SCADA. The paper gives basic information about the
automated CIP process, its components, and assembly. Automated CIP is developed
in RSLogix500 and the testing and monitoring is done on the SCADA software
Factory Talkview. The proposed system improves the efficiency, accuracy, and
guarantee of cleaning with respect to the conventional cleaning processes (Nighot
et al. 2015). In 2015, Vaishnavi et al. proposed a CIP system for the pharmaceutical
industry. The paper gives information about the use of CIP in the pharmaceutical
industry, its advantages, a basic flowchart of CIP process, whose program logic is
developed in RSLogix500 and SCADA screen is developed in Factory Talkview
software (Vaishnavi et al. 2015). In 2017, Swapnil et al. proposed use of the
CIP process in the dairy industry. The paper gives the basic principles of the
CIP process to overcome the disadvantages of existing human oriented processes
by using automated methodology. It also provides information about the various
CIP processes, cleaning solutions, cleaning procedures, the basic design, and the
CIP program description used in the dairy industry (Swapnil et al. 2017). In
2014, Thomas and Sathian reviewed the CIP system used in the dairy industry.
It gives thorough information about the various types of cleaning strategies and
cleaning solutions used in the food industry, their cleaning procedures, and cleaning
efficiency. It concluded that reuse of cleaning solutions a certain number of times
improves the cleaning efficiency with the expected accuracy of the cleaning process
(Amitha and Sathian 2014). In 2018, Raj et al. reviewed cleaning validation in the
pharmaceutical industry. Their article focusses on the validation of the CIP process
performed in the pharmaceutical industry to avoid severe hazards formed owing to
contaminations and cross-contaminations occurred in improper CIP processes. It
gives the various validation protocols, their selection criteria, and basics about the
validation report (Raj et al. 2018). In 2010, Alvarez et al. carried out a case study
of an ultra-high temperature heat exchanger and recommended the CIP process
rationalization in the dairy industry to reduce the operating time and effluents of
the CIP process. This CIP process includes a first rinse phase, a chemical cleaning
phase, a detergent rinsing phase, which reduces the effluent by more than half.
The text of CIP is taken several times and a graph of turbidity vs time is shown
(Alvarez et al. 2010). In 2015, Nurgin et al. proposed the CIP process to be used in
the dairy industry. The paper elaborates the basic CIP process and the system with
material selection guidelines, the design of centralized CIP system, and its program
strategy. The overview of the CIP processes is shown on the SCADA screen and the
functioning of it is tested using a logic program (Nurgin et al. 2015).
Figure 1 shows an example of a CIP process used in a yoghurt production station
in the dairy industry. Here, a simple water wash is carried out, along with a caustic
and acid wash.
All this previous work has been done for particular industrial equipment cleaning.
As CIP is a widely used process in different kinds of industries, the generalized
Soft water Sterile water
Drain Drain Drain Drain Drain
Product Caustic Acid Final

Pre-rinsing Rinsing Rinsing
pushing circulation circulation rinsing
Drain Drain
Raw water Caustic circulation Acid circulation
Fig. 1 Process flowchart of cleaning-in-place in a yoghurt production station (Swapnil et al. 2017)
process automation helps newly joined employees, trainees, and interns in their
training.
Cleaning-in-place is one of the important processes that is used in so many
industries. Also, it is one of the best examples of automated processes. Therefore,
the training on the CIP test rig helps the operator to upgrade their knowledge of
industrial process automation. For this purpose, the design and demonstration of a
CIP test rig can perform the desired task with the required output.
Classification of CIP Based on Number of Stages
As per the requirement and sensitivity of the production process various types of
CIP processes are used. There are three main types of CIP processes according to
the number of cleaning stages used: three-stage CIP, five-stage CIP, and seven-stage
CIP.
Three-Stage CIP
The storage tanks of the same product or material are cleaned periodically . This
cleaning is simple washing; thus, it is done using the three-stage CIP process.
Also, the intermediate cleaning of the simple process vessels is carried out with
the help of a three-stage CIP process. The process flow chart of the three-stage
CIP process is shown in Fig. 2, where only three sub-stages or cycles are used for
overall cleaning, which are Pre-Cold Water Rinsing, Hot Water Rinsing, and Post-
Fig. 2 Process flowchart of

three-stage CIP
Fig. 3 System layout of a

three-stage CIP
Cold Water Rinsing. Each cycle contains three subprocesses: Filling, Rinsing, and
Draining. Only the hot water is restored in a hot water vessel and reused for some
cycles. Figure 3 shows the SCADA system layout of the three-stage CIP system.
All the tags are mentioned in the legends table with their respective description on
the upper right-hand side of the screen. Below the legends table all the stages of the
CIP are listed. Three-stage CIP is one of the simplest CIP process and requires a
Hot Water Vessel and a Cold Water Storage Tank along with two inlet valves, two
outlet valves, one drain valve, four level switches, two pumps, one water heater, and
one temperature sensor.
Five-Stage CIP
A five-stage CIP process has two additional stages or cycles compared with the
three-stage CIP process mentioned in Fig. 1, which are the Detergent Cycle and
the Post-Hot Water Rinsing Cycle. All other subprocesses of the CIP are the same
as for three-stage CIP. In five-stage CIP, the recovery of hot water as well as the
detergent solution is carried out; thus, after the rinsing of hot water and detergent

five-stage CIP
solution, the restoration process is carried out. As the additional vessel for the
detergent solution is required in five-stage CIP, the starting phase of CIP contains
two subprocesses: Pre-Filling of Hot Water Vessel and Pre-Filling of Detergent
Vessel. Figure 4 shows the detailed process flow chart of the five-stage CIP process
along with all the subprocesses of each cycle or stage. This five-stage CIP process is
used in intermediate sensitive product vessel cleaning. Figure 5 shows the SCADA
system layout of the five-stage CIP system. All the tags are mentioned in the legends
table with their respective descriptions at the upper right-hand side of the screen.
Below the legends table all the stages of the CIP are listed. Five-stage CIP requires
some additional equipment and instruments compared with the three-stage CIP
owing to the two additional stages. This system requires a Hot Water Vessel, a Cold
Water Storage Tank and the Detergent Vessel along with the four inlet valves, three
outlet valves, one drainage valve, eight level switches , two pumps, one water heater,
and one temperature sensor.
Seven-Stage CIP
The seven-stage CIP process has two more additional stages or cycles compared
with the five-stage CIP process mentioned in Fig. 4: which are the Chemical Cycle
and the Intermediate Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. All other subprocesses of the CIP
are the same as for the five-stage CIP process. In the seven-stage CIP, the recovery
of hot water, detergent solution, along with the chemical solution, is carried out;
thus, after the rinsing of the hot water cycle, the detergent solution cycle, and
the chemical cycle, the restoration process is carried out. As an additional vessel
for the chemical solution is required in seven-stage CIP, the starting phase of
Fig. 5 System layout of five-stage CIP
CIP contains three subprocesses: Pre-Filling of the Hot Water Vessel, Pre-Filling
of the Detergent Vessel, and Pre-Filling of the Chemical Vessel. Figure 6 shows
the detailed process flow chart of the seven-stage CIP process along with all the
subprocesses of each cycle or stage. Figure 7 shows the SCADA system layout of
the seven-stage CIP system. All the tags are mentioned in the legends table with their
respective description at the upper right-hand side of the screen. In the legends table
below all the stages of the CIP are listed. Seven-stage CIP requires some additional
equipment and instruments compared with the five-stage CIP owing to the addition
of two stages. This system requires a Hot Water Vessel, a Cold Water Storage Tank, a
Detergent Vessel, and the Chemical Vessel along with the six inlet valves, four outlet
valves , one drain valve, 12 level switches, two pumps, one water heater, and one
temperature sensor. Here, the detergent solution and the chemical solutions are used
in diluted forms in cold water. The concentrated solutions of the same are stored in
the respective tanks, which are poured into diluted tanks in the correct proportions
through the additional inlet valves for both vessels. The seven-stage CIP is one of
the most complicated CIP processes and it is used when product recipes are changed
or in the cleaning of the most sensitive product vessels.
CIP System Design: A Case Study in Industry
The proposed system contains two cylindrical water tanks with identical dimen-
sions, one cubical water storage tank, five identical on–off valves, two nonreturn
valves, two pumps, and the piping arrangement.

seven-stage CIP
Fig. 7 System layout of seven-stage CIP
Vessel Calculations
The Hot Water Vessel and the Main Vessel are of the same size and shape. Thus, all
the calculations are the same for the both. The volume of each vessel is 250 l. All
the design calculations are made according to the India Standard IS 2825-1969, a
code for an unfired pressure vessel. According to these input data the diameter and
height of the vessel are calculated as follows.
Volume of Cylinder = π r 2 h (1)
where
r = Radius of cylinder
h = Height of cylinder
Considering, h = 2 (Internal diameter of cylinder)

= 2 (di) = 2 (2r) (2)
h = 4r
Putting this value of h in Eq. (1),
Volume of Cylinder = π r 2 (4r)

0.25 = 4π r 3
Inner radius of cylinder = r = 0.27 m
Inner diameter of cylinder = di = 2r = 2 ∗ 0.27 = 0.54 m
Height of cylinder = h = 2(di) = 2 ∗ 0.54 = 1.08 m. From Eq. (2)
Working Pressure = Water Head Pressure

P = ρgh
(3)
= 1000 ∗ 9.81 ∗ 1.08
P = 10, 594.8 N/m2
Design Pressure = Pd = 1.05 P (Bhandari 2017)

= 1.05 ∗ 10, 594.8
(4)
= 11, 124.54 N/m2
Pd = 0.0111 Mpa
Allowable Design Stress = Syt/1.5 (Bhandari 2017) (Ductile Material)

σall = 290/1.5 (SS 316) (5)
σcall = 193.33 MPa
Corrosion Allowance = C
C = 1.5 mm (Indian Standard 1998) . (For normal operating condition)
Efficiency of Weld Joint = η

Class III weld is used with double-welded butt joint with full penetration and
nonradiographed
η = 0.7 (Indian Standard 1998)
Thickness of Pressure Vessel = (2∗σ all∗η−P d) + C

P d∗Di
(Bhandari 2017)
tCylinder = 2∗193.33∗0.7−0.0111 + 1.5
0.0111∗540
tCylinder = 1.522 mm
(6)
• End Closure Calculations
Plain formed head is selected as it requires a minimal amount of forming so it is

most economical and used for inner diameter (Di) < 7 m.

Head Thickness = 0.4 ∗ Di Pd
+C (Bhandari 2017)

σ all
tHead = 0.4 ∗ 540 193.33
0.011
+ 1.5 (7)
tHead = 3.137 mm
Pump Calculations
The suction head and delivery head of the pump are considered as,
Suction Head = Hs = 1.2 m
Delivery Head = Hd = 2.5 m
Therefore,
Total Head = Suction Head + delivery Head

= Hs + Hd
= 1.2 + 2.5
H = 3.7 m
The pump has to fill the vessel in 5 min. The volume of the vessel is calculated,
which is 250 l and is filled with water.
Therefore,
Discharge of Pump = Q = Mass Flow Rate/Time

= (Volume of Vessel ∗ Density of water) /Time
= (0.25 ∗ 1000) /300
Q = 0.833 l/s = 2998.8 lph
Selection of Components
The various components such as sensors, controller, and actuators are used in the
proposed CIP system. The selection of these components is given in Table 1.
PLC Programming
A programmable logic controller (PLC) is basically a controller that can be repro-

grammed and is mostly used for heavy automation systems with harsh operating
environments such as industrial automation. A PLC is programmed in a graphical
programming language called Ladder Diagram or LD or LAD. This programming
can be carried out using various software programs such as Logix 500, Logix 5000,
Studio 5000, with various versions such as version 24, version 28, and version 32.
The proposed system is programmed using Studio 5000 software v. 24, which is the
high-end factory automation programming software with the upgraded new features
and is owned by Rockwell Automation (which was previously known as “Allen
Bradley”). The Input/Output list, which is commonly known as the input/output
(I/O) list of the system, as given in Table 2. According to this, the various sensor
outputs are considered as inputs along with the various switches such as the start
switch, restart switch, and authorization switch. The various actuators mentioned
below are activated through the logic of various normally closed (NC) and normally
open (NO) switches and are mapped at the output side of the logic.
The complete programming of the proposed system is as shown in Fig. 8. There
are 29 rungs with the one end rung. Each rung starts with the start switch (SS_01)
so that the whole program or the system starts whenever the start switch is pressed.
The Start Switch (SS_01) is an NO type of switch, which lights up the attached
output only after the pressing action of the assigned hardware switch or the virtual
human–machine interface (HMI) window switch. The first two rungs, such as the
zeroth rung and first rung, show the programming of two inlet valves of the hot water
vessel (IV_02) and the inlet valve of the main vessel (IV_01). The water filling in
the hot water vessel will start when the zeroth rung gives the output and this happens
when all the NC NO switches attached in the rung are in the ON state. Thus, after
the start switch, the Outlet Valve 02 (OV_02) is used in the rung, which is the output
but is here used as the input in the format of a normally closed type switch so that
it gives output whenever the outlet valve is closed. This condition is used to avoid
the opening of the inlet and outlet valve of the same vessel at the same time. At the
third position of the zeroth rung the Level Switch High 02 (LSH_02_HV) is used,
which indicates the high level of the hot water vessel. This sensor output is used
as the normally closed input switch so that it turns OFF the inlet valve when the
water level reaches the high level mark. After this the equal logic box is used from
the comparison section, which compares the values of Source A and Source B and
gives the output only when both values are equal. Source A is the process counter
reading in real time and Source B is set at the constant value zero. This logic opens
the inlet valve at the time of the filling process. In parallel to this, another equal logic
box is used where current process counter reading (Source A) is compared with the
Table 1 Selection of components

Sr. No. Block name Component name Criteria Description
1 Sensor Level switch Type Float type
Application material Water
Make Baumer
Mounting Side mount
Temperature Type RTD
sensor
Make Baumer
Range −200 ◦ C to 450 ◦ C
2 Controller Software Make Allen Bradley
Name Studio 5000
Version 24.11
Hardware Make Allen Bradley
Model Compact Logix
(L18ER)
Digital input 16
Digital output 16
3 Actuator Valve Type Auto ON–OFF Ball
selection Valve
Make Delval
Pump Type Centrifugal type
Make Kirloskar
Flow rate 300 to 3300 LPH
4 SCADA Software Make Allen Bradley
system
Name FT view
Type View site edition
Version 10.00
Hardware Make Dell
Display size 18.5 inches
Processor Core i3 (10th
generation)
Processor speed 3.6 GHz
5 HMI system Software Make Allen Bradley
Name FT view
Type Machine edition
Version 10.00
Hardware Make Allen Bradley
Type LCD
Display size 4 inches
Resolution 480 * 272
6 Other Non return valve Line size 0.5
mechanical
components
Make Alfa Laval
Temperature range −10 ◦ C to 140 ◦ C
Body material SS 316 L
Table 2 Input/output (I/O) list

Sr. No. Instrument description Tag no. I/O type
1. Limit switch high for main vessel LSH_01_MV Digital input
2. Limit switch low for main vessel LSL_01_MV Digital input
3. Limit switch high for hot water vessel LSH_02_HV Digital input
4. Limit switch low for hot water vessel LSL_02_HV Digital input
5. Temperature transmitter TT_01 Digital input
6. ON–OFF inlet valve for main vessel IV_01 Digital output
7. ON–OFF outlet valve for main vessel OV_01 Digital output
8. ON–OFF drain valve DV_01 Digital output
9. ON–OFF inlet valve for hot water vessel IV_02 Digital output
10. ON–OFF outlet valve for hot water vessel OV_02 Digital output
11. Cold water pump P_01 Digital output
12. Hot water pump P_02 Digital output
constant value two (Source B). Also, the Outlet Valve 01 (OV_01) is connected in
series to it to achieve the restoration of the hot water again in the hot water vessel
after the hot water rinsing cycle. Last, the authorization of the completion of the
CIP process switch is used, which is the NC input switch. This switch keeps the
inlet valve closed until authorization is complete.
The next rung, which is the first numbered in the logic, shows the logic for the
inlet valve opening of the main vessel. This rung is again started with the Start
Switch (SS_01); after that, the two parallel branches go towards the output. The
first branch indicates the opening and closing conditions of the main vessel inlet
valve at the time of Pre Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. This branch contains the Outlet
Valve 01 (OV_01), which is normally a closed input switch and gives the output
only when the outlet valve of the main vessel is closed to allow the filling only
when the outlet is OFF. The Level Switch High 01 (LSH_01_MV) allows the filling
of water in the vessel up to the high mark to avoid the overflow condition. Level
Switch High 02 (LSH_02_HV) allows the filling of water in the main vessel only
when the hot water vessel is filled up to the high level mark, which also indicates
the completion of the filling process. The second branch indicates the opening and
closing conditions of the main vessel inlet valve at the time of the Hot Water Rinsing
Cycle. This branch contains the Outlet Valve 01 (OV_01) as above, along with the
Outlet Valve 02 (OV_02), which is normally an open-type input switch, and allows
the opening of inlet valve 01 only when the opening of the outlet valve of hot
water vessel to avoid the dry running of the second pump. Level Switch High 01
(LSH_01_MV) closed the inlet valve when the high level reached the main vessel.
The third branch indicates the opening and closing conditions of the main vessel
inlet valve during the Post Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. Here, the equal logic box is
used with current reading of the process counter as a Source A and the constant
value two as the Source B, which indicates the Post Cold Water Rinsing Cycle.
This branch closes the inlet valve when the high level is reached in the vessel
Fig. 8 Ladder logic for the inlet valve of the main vessel
with the help of a Level Switch High 01 (LSH_01_MV) sensor reading. Finally,
authorization of the completion of the CIP process switch is used, which is the NC
input switch. This switch keeps the inlet valve closed until authorization is complete.
The next rung, which is second numbered in the logic, is used to program the
rinsing timing of the all cycles of the main vessel. Here, the retentive type of timer
is used, which counts the time when the Start Switch (SS_01) is pressed and the
Level Switch High 01 (LSH_01_MV) is giving the high level output of the main
vessel. The tag name of this timer is TIMER_01, the timer is set for 5 min with
10-ms time resolution, which counts the 3,00,000 counts that is each count for 10
ms. The Accumulator gives the gradually increasing timer reading when the timer
is in the ON condition. When the preset valve and the accumulator value are exactly
equal the Done bit of timer gives the output.
As the retentive type of timer is used here, its reset condition must be given in
the next rung; thus, it is given in the third rung of the logic. Level Switch Low 01
(LSL_01_MV) is a sensor output of a low-level mark of the main vessel, which is
used here as a NO type of input switch to reset the timer. Also, the hardware restart
CIP switch or the onscreen HMI button of the restart CIP resets the timer, as shown
in the second branch of the third rung.
The Count Up counter is used in the fourth rung of ladder logic to count the
subprocesses of the CIP. The tag name of the counter is COUNT1 with preset
3 and accumulator gives gradually increasing readings whenever the Done bit of
the Rinsing Timer (TIMER_01) gives the output. When the accumulator reading is
equal to the preset value, then the Done bit of the counter gives the output.
In the fifth rung, the counter resets when application of hardware or HMI screen
Restart CIP button. Also, after counting all three sub-processes of CIP, the counter
resets by using the condition in the second branch of the fifth rung, which contains
an equal logic box to the process counter (COUNT1) accumulator reading as a
Source A and constant value three as Source B. This equal logic box is followed
by the Level Switch Low 01 (LSL_01_MV), which resets the counter after draining
all the water in the Post Cold Water Rinsing Cycle.
The sixth rung of ladder logic deals with the ON–OFF conditions of the Outlet
Valve 01 (OV_01) of the Hot Water Vessel. As usual, the rung starts with the Start
Switch (SS_01). After that, the Done bit of the Rinsing Timer (TIMER_01) is used,
which opens the outlet valve when the Rinsing cycle is done. After archiving the
lowermost water level in the tank the Level Switch Low sensor gives the output,
which is used here as a NC input switch that finally turns the outlet valve OFF.
Last, the three Equal Logic Boxes are used on the input side in the three parallel
branches, which give information about the current ongoing cycle. This arrangement
also allows the opening of the outlet valve after three cycles only.
The seventh rung, provides the operating conditions for the Drain Valve 01
(DV_01) of the Main Vessel. As usual, the rung starts with the Start Switch (SS_01)
to allow the opening of the valve only when the CIP process is functional. After
the Start Switch, the seventh rung divides into two branches. The first branch
of the seventh rung allows the draining of water from the Main Vessel. For this
purpose, the Done bit of the Rinsing Timer (TIMER_01) is used, which allows the
drain of water only after the completion of the Rinsing Cycle. The Level Switch
Low 01 (LSL_01_MV) is used after the Rinsing Timer Done bit, which keeps the
Drain Valve open until the lowest water level in the Main Vessel is achieved. This
automatically turns OFF the Drain Valve when the Low Level Sensor established at
the lower side of the Main Vessel gives the output. After this Level Switch the two
Equal Logic Boxes are used in the parallel branches, which allows the Drain Valve
to open only after the Pre and Post Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. This arrangement
helps in Restoration of the Hot Water by keeping the Drain Valve Closed at the
time of Hot Water Rinsing Cycle. So to achieve this, the Equal Logic Boxes are
used along with the accumulator reading of the Process Counter as a Source A and
the constant values one and three as the Source B in the respective branches. The
second branch of the seventh rung, specifies the Drain Valve opening and closing
condition at the time of draining of hot water from the Hot Water Vessel. After the
use of the same hot water for the certain period of times, the quality of the water is
reduced below the desired acceptance limit of the reusable water. Thus, after this, the
restored hot water is drained out by using this facility. To achieve this, the Drain Hot
Water Vessel Switch (Drain_HV) is provided on the hardware switch kit, as well as
on the HMI screen to give the command. This command switch is used here in logic
as the NO input switch (Drain_HV), which is then followed by the Level Switch
Low 02 (LSL_02_HV), allowing the closure of the Drain Valve after achieving the
lowermost level in the Hot Water Vessel. The Level Sensor established at the lower
side of the Hot Water Vessel gives the low-level signal, which is used here as the
NC input switch.
The eighth rung of the ladder logic diagram, provides the operating conditions
of the Cold Water Pump (P_01). The rung starts with the Start Switch (SS_01)
followed by the two parallel branches. The first branch of the eighth rung defines
the Cold Water Filling Process in the Hot Water Vessel. Here, the Inlet Valve of the
Hot Water Vessel (IV_02) is used as an NO inlet switch, which allows the pump
to start only when the inlet valve is open. This avoids excess pressure in the fully
closed pipes. After this, the Outlet Valve of the Hot Water Vessel (OV_02) is used
as the NC input switch, which allows the vessel to be filled by blocking the outflow.
The Level Switch High of the Hot Water Vessel (LSH_02_HV) sensor is used as
the NC input switch, which stops the pump when the high level in the Hot Water
Vessel is reached. The second parallel branch of the eighth rung defines the Cold
Water Filling Process. Here, the Inlet Valve of the Main Vessel (IV_01) is used as
an NO inlet switch, which allows the pump to start only when the inlet valve is open.
This avoids excess pressure in the fully closed pipes. After this, the Outlet Valve of
the Main Vessel (OV_01) is used as the NC) input switch, which allows the vessel
to be filled by blocking the outflow. The Level Switch High of the Main Vessel
(LSH_01_MV) sensor is used as the NC input switch, which stops the pump when
the high level in the Main Vessel is reached. Further, in two parallel branches, the
Pre and the Post Cold Water Filling Process is provided by using the Equal Logic
Boxes with Source A as the current accumulator reading of the process counter
(COUNT1) and Source B as the constants zero and two.
The ninth rung of the ladder logic diagram provides the operating conditions of
the Hot Water Pump (P_02). The rung starts with the Start Switch (SS_01) followed
by the two parallel branches. The first branch of the ninth rung defines the Hot Water
Restoration Process. Here, the Outlet Valve of the Main Vessel (OV_01) is used as
an NO inlet switch, which allows the pump to start only when the outlet valve is
open. This avoids the dry running of the pump. After this, the Drain Valve (DV_01)
is used as an NC input switch for blocking the draining of the hot water. Last, the
inlet Valve of the Hot Water Vessel (IV_02) is used as the NO input switch, which
allows the vessel to be filled by avoiding the excess pressure in the fully closed
pipes. The second branch of the ninth rung, defines the Hot Water Filling Process
during the Hot Water Rinsing Cycle. Here, the Outlet Valve of the Hot Water Vessel
(OV_02) is used as an NO inlet switch, which allows the pump to start only when
the outlet valve is open. This avoids the dry running of the pump. After this, the
Drain Valve (DV_01) is used as an NC input switch for blocking the drainage of the
hot water. Last, the Inlet Valve of the Main Vessel (IV_01) is used as the NO input
switch, which allows the vessel to be filled by avoiding excess pressure in the fully
closed pipes.
The tenth rung of the ladder logic diagram provides the operating conditions of
the Heater (H_01). The rung starts with the Start Switch (SS_01) followed by the
Level Switch High of the Hot Water Vessel (LSH_02_HV), which allows the ON
condition of the heater only when the Hot Water Vessel is full of water. After this,
the Less Than Logic Box is used, where Source A is the analog input from the RTD
Temperature Sensor (TT_01) implemented in the Hot Water Vessel and Source B is
the Temperature Set Point (Temp_Set), which can be changed by the HMI Screen.
This arrangement keeps the heater ON only when the Source B reading is less than
the Source A reading, i.e., when the RTD reading is less than the Set Point.
The eleventh rung of the ladder logic diagram provides the operating conditions
of the Outlet Valve of the Hot Water Vessel (OV_02). The rung starts with the Start
Switch (SS_01) followed by the Outlet Valve of the Main Vessel (OV_01) as an NC
input switch, which allows the Main Vessel to be filled. After that the heater is used
as the NC input switch, which opens the outlet valve only when the temperature of
the hot water reaches the set point. The Level Switch Low of the Hot Water Vessel
(LSL_02_HV) turns OFF the outlet valve when the lowest water level in the hot
water vessel is reached. Finally, the two branches provide the two conditions for the
opening of the outlet valve. The first one allows the restoration of hot water after the
Hot Water Rinsing Cycle and the second one allows the drainage of hot water from
the Hot Water Vessel after several uses of the hot water.
From the 12th rung onwards each CIP process and its Sub-Processes are used as
the outputs on the output side to light up the indicating lights in the SCADA as well
as in the HMI screens.
The 12th rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Filling Process
of the Hot Water Vessel. After pressing of the Start Switch (SS_01), the Process
Counter accumulator is at zero, as shown in the Equal Logic Box, with Source A as
a current reading of counter accumulator (COUNT1) and Source B as the constant
value zero, followed by any one of the inlet valves such as the Inlet Valve of the
Main Vessel (IV_01) or the Inlet Valve of the Hot Water Vessel (IV_02) being open.
The output is latched so that it stays in the ON condition whenever the unlatching
condition mentioned in rung 27 is true.
The 13th rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Filling Process of
the Main Vessel under the Pre-Cold Rinsing Cycle. After pressing the Start Switch
(SS_01), the Process Counter accumulator is at zero or at two, as shown in the
Equal Logic Boxes, with Source A as a current reading of the counter accumulator
(COUNT1) and Source B as the constant values zero and two, followed by the
Inlet Valve of the Main Vessel (IV_01), which is used as an NO input switch. The
output is latched so it stays in the ON condition whenever the unlatching condition
mentioned in rungs 27 and 28 is true.
The fourteenth rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Rinsing
Process of the Main Vessel under the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. After
pressing of the Start Switch (SS_01), the Process Counter accumulator is at
zero as shown in Equal Logic Box with Source A as a current reading of
counter accumulator (COUNT1) and Source B as the constant value zero, followed
by the counting bit of the Rinsing Timer (TIMER_01), which is used as the
NO input switch to illuminate the light. The output is latched so it stays in
the ON condition whenever the unlatching condition mentioned in rung 27 is
true.
The fifteenth rung of the ladder logic diagram, shows the start of the Draining
Process of the Main Vessel under the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. After pressing
the Start Switch (SS_01), the Process Counter accumulator is at one as shown in the
Equal Logic Box, with Source A as a current reading of the counter accumulator
(COUNT1) and Source B as the constant value one, are equal, as well as the
Drain Valve (DV_01), which is used as the NO input switch is open, then the
drainage process indicator of the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle lights up. The
output is latched, so it stays in the ON condition whenever the unlatching condition
mentioned in rung 27 is true.
The sixteenth rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the completion of the Pre-
Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. After pressing the Start Switch (SS_01) when Filling
(Filling_01), Rinsing (Rinsing_01), Draining (Drain_01) of the Pre-Cold Water
Rinsing Cycle are complete and when the Filling process (Filling_02) of the Hot
Water Rinsing Cycle starts, then the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle is considered
complete. All the above-mentioned processes are used as the NO input switches so
that they light up the output whenever they are true. The output is latched so that it
stays in the ON condition whenever the unlatching condition mentioned in rung 27
is true.
The seventeenth rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Filling
Process of the Main Vessel under the Hot Water Rinsing Cycle. After pressing the
Start Switch (SS_01), the Process Counter accumulator is at one, as shown in the
(COUNT1) and Source B as the constant value one are equal, as well as the Inlet
Valve of the Main Vessel (IV_01) along with the Outlet Valve of the Hot Water
Vessel (OV_02), which are used as the NO input switches, are open, then the filling
process indicator of the hot water rinsing cycle will light up. The output is latched
so that it stays in the ON condition whenever the unlatching condition mentioned in
rungs 27 and 29 is true.
The eighteenth rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Rinsing
Process of the Main Vessel under the Hot Water Rinsing Cycle. After pressing the
Start Switch (SS_01), the Process Counter accumulator is at one, as shown in the
(COUNT1) and Source B as the constant value one, followed by the counting bit
of the Rinsing Timer (TIMER_01), which is used as the NO input switch to light
up the light. The output is latched so that it stays in the ON condition whenever the
unlatching condition mentioned in rung 27 is true.
The nineteenth rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Recovery
Process of hot water from the Main Vessel under the Hot Water Rinsing Cycle.
After pressing the Start Switch (SS_01), the Process Counter accumulator is at two
as shown in Equal Logic Box, with Source A as a current reading of the counter
accumulator (COUNT1) and Source B as the constant value two, are equal, as well
as the Outlet Valve of the Main Vessel (OV_01), which is used as the NO input
switch, is open, then the Recovery Process indicator of the hot water rinsing cycle
will light up. The output is latched so that it stays in the ON condition whenever the
The twentieth rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the completion of the
Hot Water Rinsing Cycle. After pressing the Start Switch (SS_01) when Filling
(Filling_02), Rinsing (Rinsing_02), Recovery (Recovery) of the Hot Water Rinsing
Cycle are complete and when the Filling process (Filling_03) of the Post-Cold Water
Rinsing Cycle starts, then the Hot Water Rinsing Cycle is considered complete. All
the above-mentioned processes are used as the NO input switches so that they light
up the output whenever they are true. The output is latched so that it stays in the ON
condition whenever the unlatching condition mentioned in rung 27 is true.
The 21st rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Filling Process
of the Main Vessel under the Post-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. After pressing the
Start Switch (SS_01), if the Process Counter accumulator is at two, as shown in
(COUNT1) and Source B as the constant value two, are equal, as well as the Inlet
Valve of the Main Vessel (IV_01), which is used as the NO input switch, is open,
then the filling process indicator of the post-cold water rinsing cycle lights up.
The output is latched so that it stays in the ON condition whenever the unlatching
condition mentioned in rung 27 is true.
The 22nd rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Rinsing Process
Start Switch (SS_01), if the Process Counter accumulator is at two as shown in the
(COUNT1) and Source B as the constant value two, followed by the counting bit of
the Rinsing Timer (TIMER_01), which is used as the NO input switch to illuminate
the light. The output is latched so that it stays in the ON condition whenever the
The 23rd rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the start of the Draining Process
Start Switch (SS_01), if the Process Counter accumulator is at three, as shown in
the Equal Logic Box, with Source A as a current reading of the counter accumulator
(COUNT1) and Source B as the constant value three, are equal, as well as the Drain
Valve (DV_01), which is used as the NO input switch, being open, then the drain
process indicator of the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing cycle will light up. The output
is latched so that it stays in the ON condition whenever the unlatching condition
mentioned in rung 27 is true.
The 24th rung of the ladder logic diagram shows completion of the Post-
Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. After pressing the Start Switch (SS_01) when Filling
(Filling_03), Rinsing (Rinsing_03), Draining (Drain_03) of the Post-Cold Water

Rinsing Cycle are complete with the closing of the Drain Valve (Drain_01),
this indicates completion of the Post-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. All the above-
mentioned processes are used as the NO input switches and the Drain Valve as
the NC input switch, so that they light up the output whenever the processes are true
and the Valve is in the OFF state. The output is latched so that it stays in the ON
condition whenever the unlatching condition mentioned in rung 27 is true.
The 25th rung of the ladder logic diagram shows the completion of CIP process
after completion of all the subprocesses. The rung starts with the start switch
(SS_01), which is an NO-type input switch. After that, the completion switch of
the last subprocess of CIP is used with the NO input switch. Finally, the NC input
switch is used for the Drain Valve (DV_01), which gives the output at the closing of
the drainage valve. This (CIP_Done) output is a latched output.
The 26th rung of the ladder logic diagram unlatches the output of the 25th rung
(CIP_Done). The authorization switch provided in SCADA Screen and the hardware
panel is used here as an NO input switch to unlatch the CIP_Done output.
All the latched outputs of the process indicators are unlatched in the three
branches of the 27th, 28th, and 29th rungs. The restart button is used here as the
NO input switch.
The filling processes of the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle has another special
condition of the opening of the inlet valve of the Hot Water Vessel (IV_02). This
special condition is implemented in the 28th rung by using the NO input switch in
the second parallel branch, whereas the first branch contains the start button as an
NO input switch followed by the restart button as an NO input switch.
Similarly, another special condition is required for the filling process of the Hot
Water Vessel, which is provided in the 29th rung of the ladder logic diagram. The
NO input switch is used for the working of a heater placed inside the Hot Water
Vessel at the second parallel rung, whereas the first branch contains the start button
as an NO input switch followed by the restart button as an NO input switch.
The ladder logic program always ends with the final rung.
SCADA Screen Development and Programming
The SCADA Screen is developed in Factory Talk View (FTView) Local Site
Edition Studio, version 10. There are three subprocesses and one pre-process of
the proposed CIP system, which are shown on the SCADA screen along with the
red and green colored animation facility provided in SCADA development software.
The first window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system before the Start
Switch is pressed, which is provided on the HMI Screen as well as on the hardware
control panel. Currently, all the processes of CIP are in nonworking state; thus, all
the flow lines, the subprocess indicators, pumps, valves, and level indicators show
red lights.
The second window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after starting
the process. The Filling process of the Hot Water Vessel is started by starting the
cold water pump (P_01). The pump takes the cold water from the Storage Tank
Fig. 9 SCADA screen status at the various stages of the proposed cleaning-in-place system
and passes it to the Hot Water Vessel through the green-colored line by opening the
Inlet Valve of the Hot Water Vessel (IV_02). All other valves are currently red as
they are in the closed condition and block water flow through them. The second Non
Return Valve (NRV_02) placed at the outlet of the hot water pump (P_02) blocks the
flow in the hot water pump and the outlet water line. The low-level switches of the
hot water vessel (LSL_02_HV) and the main vessel (LSL_01_MV) are both green,
which shows a low water level in both vessels. Currently, the hot water temperature
reading given by the RTD sensor is zero as there is no water in the vessel and this
is shown by the Temperature Transmitter tag box (TT_02). The middle right-hand
side section shows that the Filling Process is currently going on.
The third window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after starting
the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. The Filling process of the Main Vessel is initiated
by starting the cold water pump (P_01). The pump takes the cold water from the
Storage Tank and passes it to the Main Vessel through the green-colored pipe line
by opening the Inlet Valve of the Main Vessel (IV_01). All other valves are currently
red as they are in closed condition by blocking the water flow through them. The
second Non Return Valve (NRV_02) placed at the outlet of the hot water pump
(P_02) blocks the flow in the hot water pump and the outlet water line. Now the low-
level switches of the Hot Water Vessel (LSL_02_HV) is red whereas the high-level
switch (LSH_02_HV) is green, which shows that the Hot Water Vessel is fully filled
with the water up to the high level where the high level sensor is placed. Similarly,
the low-level switch (LSL_01_MV), as well as the high level switch (LSH_01_MV),
are both red, which shows that the water level is in between the two level sensors.
Currently, the hot water temperature reading given by the RTD sensor is 28 ◦ C,
which is the current water temperature present inside the hot water vessel and is
shown by the Temperature Transmitter tag box (TT_02). The middle right-hand side
section shows that the Filling Process is complete and that currently the Pre-Cold
Water Rinsing Cycle is going on.
The fourth window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after starting
the Rinsing Process of the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. After completely filling
the main vessel up to the upper-level sensor (LSH_01_MV), which is now showing
the green light, the rinsing timer starts counting the time. The timer is set for 5 min,
with 10-ms time resolution, which counts the 300,000 counts that is each count for
10 milliseconds. For this 5-min rinsing time, all the valves, pumps, and flow lines
are red, as there is no any water flow through the system. The Hot Water Vessel is
also completely filled up to the upper level sensor (LSH_02_HV), which is showing
the green light. The heater, which is placed inside the Hot Water Vessel, is now
working and increasing the water temperature gradually from room temperature to
the set point temperature, whereas the water temperature is continuously read by the
RTD sensor placed inside the Hot Water Vessel. The current hot water temperature
is 40◦ C and is shown in the Temperature Transmitter tag box (TT_02). The middle
right-hand side section shows that the Filling Process is complete and that currently
the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle is going on.
The fifth window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after starting
the Draining Process of Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. This draining process of the
Main Vessel is started when the 5-min rinsing process is completed. The outlet valve
of the main vessel (OV_01) and the drain valve (DV_01) are currently open and so
they are showing green. All the other valves are currently red, as they are in the
closed condition and blocking the water flow through them. Currently, the hot water
temperature reading given by the RTD sensor is 60 C, which is the current water
temperature present inside the Hot Water Vessel and is shown by the Temperature
Transmitter tag box (TT_02). The middle right-hand side section shows that the
Filling Process is complete and that currently the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle is
going on.
The sixth window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after starting
the Hot Water Rinsing Cycle. The Filling process of the hot water in the Main
Vessel is started by starting the hot water pump (P_02). The pump takes the hot
water from the Hot Water Vessel and passes it to the Main Vessel through the green-
colored line by opening the Inlet Valve of the Main Vessel (IV_01) and the Outlet
Valve of the Hot Water Vessel (OV_02). All other valves are currently red, as they
are in the closed condition and blocking the water flow through them. The first
Non Return Valve (NRV_01) placed at the outlet of the cold water pump (P_01)
blocks the flow in the cold water pump. The low-level switches of the Main Vessel
(LSL_01_MV) are green, which shows the low water level of the vessels. Currently,
the hot water temperature reading given by the RTD sensor is 80◦ C, which is equal
to the Set Point and is shown by the Temperature Transmitter tag box (TT_02).
As the Set Point Temperature and the RTD reading are the same, the heater is
currently OFF, which prevents overheating or burning of the electric heater. The
middle right-hand side section shows that the Filling Process and Pre-Cold Water
Rinsing Cycle are complete and that currently the Hot Water Rinsing Cycle is
going on.
The seventh window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after
starting the Rinsing Process of the Hot Water Rinsing Cycle. After completely filling
the Main Vessel up to the upper-level sensor (LSH_01_MV), which is now showing
the green light, the rinsing timer starts counting the time. The timer is set for 5 min
with 10-ms time resolution, which counts the 300,000 counts that is each count for
10 milliseconds. For this 5-min rinsing time, all the valves, pumps, and flow lines
are red, as there is no water flow through the system. The Hot Water Vessel is now
empty; thus, the upper-level sensor (LSH_02_HV) is showing the red light and the
lower-level sensor (LSL_02_HV) is showing the green one. The heater, which is
placed inside the Hot Water Vessel is now in the OFF condition. Thus, the current
hot water temperature shown by the Temperature Transmitter tag box (TT_02) is
0 ◦ C. The middle right-hand side section shows that the Filling Process and the Pre-
Cold Water Rinsing Cycle are complete and that currently the Hot Water Rinsing
Cycle is going on.
The eighth window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after starting
the Recovery Process of the hot water under the Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle.
This Recovery Process of hot water is started when the 5-min. rinsing process is
complete. The outlet valve of the main vessel (OV_01) and the inlet valve of the hot
water vessel (IV_02) are currently open; thus, they are showing green color. The hot
water pump (P_02) takes the water from the main vessel through the outlet line and
refills the hot water tank, so it is also showing the green indicator light. All other
valves, pumps, and flow lines are currently red, as they are in the closed condition
and blocking the water flow through them. Currently, the hot water temperature
reading given by the RTD sensor is 80 ◦ C, which is the current water temperature
present inside the Hot Water Vessel and is shown by the Temperature Transmitter tag
box (TT_02). The middle right-hand side section shows that the Refilling Process
of the Hot Water Vessel is going on. As it is the refilling process, it is shown by a
red indicator light for the normal filling process. The Pre-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle
is already complete and the normal Hot Water Rinsing Cycle is going on.
The ninth window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after starting
the Post-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. The Filling process of the Main Vessel is started
by starting the cold water pump (P_01). The pump takes the cold water from the
Storage Tank and passes it to the Main Vessel through the green-colored pipe line
by opening the Inlet Valve of the Main Vessel (IV_01). All other valves, pumps,
and flow lines are currently red, as they are in the closed condition and blocking
the water flow through them. The second Non Return Valve (NRV_02) placed at
the outlet of the hot water pump (P_02) blocks the flow in the hot water pump
and the outlet water line. Now, the low-level switches of the Hot Water Vessel
(LSL_02_HV) are red whereas the high-level switch (LSH_02_HV) is green, which
shows that the Hot Water Vessel is completely filled with water up to the high level,
where the high-level sensor is placed. Similarly, the low-level switch of the Main
Vessel (LSL_01_MV) is green, which shows the low level of water in the main
vessel. Currently, the hot water temperature reading given by the RTD sensor is
80 ◦ C, which is the current water temperature present inside the Hot Water Vessel
and is shown by the Temperature Transmitter tag box (TT_02). The middle right-
hand side section shows that all the other processes are complete and that currently
the Post-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle is going on.
The tenth window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after starting
the Rinsing Process of the Post-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. After completely filling
the main vessel up to the upper-level sensor (LSH_01_MV), which is now showing
the green light, the rinsing timer starts counting the time. The timer is set for 5-min
with 10-ms time resolution which counts the 3,00,000 counts that is each count for
10 ms. For this 5-min rinsing time, all the valves, pumps, and flow lines are red,
as there is no water flow through the system. The middle right-hand side section
shows that all the other processes are complete and that currently the Post-Cold
Water Rinsing Cycle is going on.
The eleventh window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP system just after
starting the Draining Process of the Post-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. This draining
process of the Main Vessel is started when the 5-min rinsing process is complete.
The outlet valve of the main vessel (OV_01) and the drain valve (DV_01) are
currently open and so they are showing green. All the other valves, pumps, and
flow lines are currently red, as they are in the closed condition and blocking the
water flow through them. The middle right-hand side section shows that all the
other processes are complete and that currently the Post-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle
is going on.
The twelfth window of Fig. 9 shows the status of the CIP process after completion
of the draining process of the Post-Cold Water Rinsing Cycle. The CIP Process
Completion Pop-Up message comes up, which shows that the current CIP process
and all its subprocesses are complete. This pop-up window further asks about
restarting the process or closing the CIP process by authorizing the completion
of the current CIP process. The recovered hot water is stored in the Hot Water
Vessel, which shows the full-water level, as the high level (LSH_02_HV) indicator
is green, whereas the main vessel is empty, with the green light shown by the low-
level (LSL_01_MV) indicator. At this stage, all the valves, pumps, and flow lines are
red, as there is no water flow through the system. By authorizing the completion of
the current CIP, the main vessel can be further used for the desired application. The
middle right-hand side section shows that all the subprocesses of the CIP are done.
HMI Screens Development and Programming
The HMI Screens are developed in Factory Talk View (FTView) Machine Edition
Studio of 10th version. The current statuses of various vessels and subprocesses of
CIP are shown on various HMI screens. The various animation facilities as well as
the buttons are used to show the current status of the process. The secure log-in
facility is also provided at the start of the HMI screen.
The first window of Fig. 10 shows the very first window of the HMI. The upper
side of the screen welcomes the operator of the HMI by showing the message
“Welcome to the CIP Test Rig.” The bottom left-hand corner shows the current
date and time, whereas the bottom right-hand corner shows the two buttons. The
first button is for logging into the further control windows of the CIP process. As
security is provided for the HMI controls, the login with the desired log-in ID and
password is compulsory. After clicking on the Log-In button, the middle section of
the HMI screen shows a Pop-Up window named “Log-In As . . . ,” showing the name
of the person who has successfully entered his log-in ID and password. Currently,
no user ID or password is entered so the Pop-Up screen shows the default name
with the message “You are Logging in as DEFAULT.” Below this massage there
are another two buttons, the first one, the Continue button, opens the next window
screen if the log-in ID and password are correct and authorized. The second button
is provided for logging in with another ID, which brings the user back to the Log-
In ID and password entering window again. The Shutdown button provided at the
bottom rightmost corner is for shutting down the HMI screen.
The second window of Fig. 10 shows the Welcome screen of the HMI along
with the Log-In Pop-Up screen, which appears when the operator clicks the Log-In
button on the Welcome screen. The new Pop-Up window opens to enter the Log-
In ID or User Name and the Password. After successfully entering both details, the
operator presses the Log-In or Enter button to check the authorization of the entry. If
the entries are incorrect, the operator can clear the data entry by clicking on Cancel
or the Esc button provided just below the Log-In button on the Log-In Pop-Up.
The third window of Fig. 10 shows the Welcome screen of the HMI along with
the Log-In Pop-Up screen, which appears when the operator clicks the Log-In button
on the Welcome screen. The Log-In ID or User Name is provided here as Ashish
and the valid Password provided in the inbox below. After successfully entering both
details, the operator presses the Log-In or Enter button to check the authorization of
the entry. If the entries are incorrect, the operator can clear the data entry by clicking
on Cancel or the Esc button provided just below the Log-In button on the Log-In
Pop-Up.
The fourth window of Fig. 10 shows the Welcome screen of the HMI. The “Log-
In As . . . ” Pop-Up present at the middle section of the Welcome screen shows the
Fig. 10 HMI screen showing the status of all subprocesses of cleaning-in-place
Log-In ID or the User Name, “Ashish” provided at the previous Log-In screen. This
screen validates the entered Log-In details. Now the operator clicks on the Continue
button to go to the next screen of the HMI.
After the entry of valid log-in details when the operator clicks the Continue
button of the “Log-In As” Pop-Up, the actual working screens of the CIP process
open, as shown in the fifth window of Fig. 10. There are multiple screens that show
the working of the CIP process in various aspects. These aspects are shown on the
left-hand side of the screen as buttons. These buttons bring the operator into the
screen of that aspect . There are four CIP process aspects: Overall System Layout,
Hot Water Vessel, Main Vessel, and the Process Screen, and the last one is the Log-
Out button. The upper side of the screen shows the user name is Ashish along with
the Welcome note. The lower side of the screen shows the four buttons: Restart CIP,
Go Back, Start CIP, and Stop CIP. The Restart CIP button resets the CIP process and
starts it from the beginning by making contact with the restart button (Restart_CIP)
in the logic. The Go Back button brings the user to the previous screen. The Start
CIP button starts the CIP process by latching the start switch of the logic (SS_01).
The Stop CIP button unlatches the Start button (SS_01) of the logic. The middle
part of the screen shows the overall working of CIP along with the layout of the
system. Like SCADA, the green light shows the work in progress, whereas the red
light shows the nonworking state of the line or the equipment.
The next screen of the HMI shows the current status of the Hot Water Vessel, as
shown in the sixth window of Fig. 10. This screen opens when the operator clicks the
Hot Water Vessel button on the left-hand side of the screen. As explained above, the
lower part of the screen shows the four buttons and the upper part shows the user
name of the logged-in operator along with the welcome note. The middle section
shows the status of the Hot Water Vessel in tabular format with the instrument name,
tag name, and current status of the respective instrument with the help of green and
red lights. The temperature sensor (TT_02) also shows the current temperature of
the hot water inside the Hot Water Vessel. Below the table two extra buttons are
provided for this particular screen, which are Change Temperature Set Point and the
Drain Hot Water Vessel. The Change Temperature Set Point button allows the user
to set the new point for the hot water temperature, which is shown in further figures.
The Drain Hot Water Vessel button drains the water inside the Hot Water Vessel by
opening the outlet valve (OV_02) and the drainage valve (Drain_01).
When the operator clicks the Change Temperature Set Point button in the
above screen, the next screen opens along with the Pop-Up window of Change
Temperature Set Point along with the message “Enter New Temperature Set Point”
with a numeric input box and the two buttons at the lower part “Ok” and “Reset,” as
shown in the seventh window of Fig. 10. All other buttons such as the left-hand side
aspect buttons (Overall System Layout button, Hot Water Vessel button, Main Vessel
button, and the Process Screen button, as well as the Log-Out button) whereas the
four buttons in the lower part (Reset CIP button, Go Back button, Start CIP button,
and Stop CIP button) are all the same as mentioned above , as well as the Welcome
note, along with the logged-in user name, are also the same as per the previous
screens.
When the user clicks on the numeric input box the numeric keypad opens, as
shown in the eighth window of Fig. 10. The user enters the new temperature set
point number and clicks the enter button, which is shown at the lower rightmost
corner with the enter arrow. The user can also clear the entered number by using the
lowermost middle button shown by the back arrow. The Esc button is provided at
the lowermost left corner of the keypad to escape from the keypad.
After clicking on the enter button of the keypad, the entered number of the
temperature set point is displayed in the numeric input box, as shown in the ninth
window of Fig. 10. The second confirmation of the set point is provided in the
Change Temperature Set Point Pop-Up window with the Ok and Reset buttons . The
Ok button saves the entered number as a set point and brings the operator to the Hot
Water Vessel screen. The Reset button provides a keypad to enter the new numeric
valve of the set point. All five aspect buttons on the left-hand side, the processing
buttons at the bottom, and the user name with Welcome note are all same as per the
other screens.
The next screen of the HMI shows the current status of the Main Vessel, as shown
in the tenth window of Fig. 10. This screen opens when the operator clicks the Main
Vessel button on the left-hand side of the screen. As explained above the lower part
of the screen the four buttons are shown and the upper part shows the user name
of the logged-in operator along with the Welcome note. The middle section shows
the status of the Main vessel in tabular format, with instrument name, tag name, and
current status of the respective instrument with the help of green and red lights.
The next screen, as shown in the eleventh window of Fig. 10, opens when the
operator clicks on the Process button present on the left-hand side of the screen.
The middle section of the screen shows all the main and subprocesses of the CIP,
along with their working status shown by using green and red lights. The rinsing
time is also shown in the table and increases gradually up to the set time of the
timer. All other buttons, such as the left-hand side aspect buttons (Overall System
Layout button, Hot Water Vessel button , Main Vessel button, and the Process Screen
button as well as the Log-Out button), as well as the four buttons in the lower part
(Reset CIP button, Go Back button, Start CIP button and Stop CIP button), are all
the same as mentioned above. The Welcome note and the logged-in user name are
also the same as per the previous screens.
Real-Time Data Collection
The real-time data of the developed CIP Test rig is stored on an Microsoft Excel
sheet. All the inputs, outputs, and internal relays are mentioned in the table with
their data type, name, description, tag names such as the ladder logic and SCADA
systems and their real-time values. Table 3 shows the sheet of a sample of real-time
data gathered on 23 August 2020 at 10:35 AM.
Program Validation on Hardware
The proposed system is tested and validated on the hardware training kit. The sensor
inputs and switches are mapped to the on/off switches on the hardware. Allen-
Bradley’s Compact Logix PLC is used as the controller where the ladder logic of
the proposed CIP system is downloaded. The outputs are mapped with the hardware
relays and are shown by the LEDs. The ferrule tags on the input–output wires are
provided to map the wires easily. Also, the printed tags are provided on the switches
and relays for easy mapping of the inputs and outputs. One main switch is also
provided on the hardware panel to cut off the main supply in an emergency for
safety purposes. One AC to DC power supply is used to convert the 240 V AC
supply to the 24 V DC supply. This 24 V DC is provided to the PLC and the other
Table 3 Sample of real-time data collection

Date 23-08-20 Time 10:35:00 AM
Sr. no. Data type Name Description Tag name Real-time data
1 Input Switches Start Switch SS_01 1
2 Restart CIP Process Restart_CIP 0
3 Authorize CIP Authorize 0
Process
4 Set Temperature Temp_Set 0
Set-Point
5 Sensors Limit Switch High LSH_01_MV 1
for Main Vessel
6 Limit Switch High LSH_02_HV 1
for Hot Water Vessel
7 Limit Switch Low for LSL_01_MV 0
Main Vessel
8 Limit Switch Low for LSL_02_HV 0
Hot Water Vessel
9 RTD Temperature TT_01 0
Sensor Reading
10 Output Pumps Inlet Pump P_01 0
11 Recovery Pump P_02 0
12 Valves Inlet Valve for Main IV_01 0
Vessel
13 Inlet Valve for Hot IV_02 0
Water Vessel
14 Outlet Valve for Main OV_01 1
Vessel
15 Outlet Valve for Hot OV_02 0
Water Vessel
16 Drain Valve DV_01 1
17 Internal Relay Timer Rinsing Timer TIMER_01 301274
18 Counter Process Counter COUNT_01 1
hardware components of the system. The overall validation system is as shown in

Fig. 11.
The tag data are collected with respect to the time of program simulation on the
software, as shown in Fig. 12. The various tag data are mapped on the graph with
various colored lines. The x-axis of the graph shows the time whereas y-axis shows
the tag values. As all the tag values are in digital form, the tag line moves from
the zero and one value lines as shown on the graph. The yellow line shown on the
graphs is a tag data line of the process counter accumulator; thus, its output varies
from zero to three.
Like Fig. 12, the same timing diagram is developed for the hardware simulation
as shown in Fig. 13. This graph also shows the various tag data, which are mapped
on the graph with the various colored lines. The x-axis of the graph shows the time
Fig. 11 Overall validation system
Fig. 12 Timing diagram of

software simulation data
whereas the y-axis shows the tag values. As all the tags values are in digital form, the
tag line moves from the zero and one value lines as shown on the graph. The yellow
line shown on the graphs is a tag data line of the process counter accumulator; thus,
its output varies from zero to three.
Inference
• Both timing diagrams, showing the simulation data of the software (Fig. 12)
and hardware (Fig. 13), has a time lag of overall 3 s in the hardware system
in comparison with the software. Therefore, the overall error in the hardware
system is 5.56%.
• The proposed automated CIP system has multiple advantages over the various
manual cleaning methods in respect of an increase in safety, cleaning quality,
Fig. 13 Timing diagram of

hardware testing data
efficiency, reduction in production down time, cleaning costs, water consump-

tion, and labor requirements. The proposed system also helps in the automatic
logging of real-time data, which is not possible in manual systems.
• Hence, the proposed system will help to train newly joined employees, college
students, and interns in the industrial automation software and hardware field. It
also helps in various program validations on the hardware, so that the various
errors and data logging can be easily mapped.
Conclusion
The generalized three-stage Cleaning-In-Place process test rig has been successfully
designed, developed, and automated using PLC programming, data acquisition is
performed using the SCADA system and is controlled by an HMI as well as by
the hardware switch panel. Also, the data management is carried out in an MS
Excel sheet, whereas the system is tested and demonstrated by using the software
simulation in Factory TalkView (FTView) Studio.
The test rig would be useful for the three-stage Cleaning-in-Place mechanism of
the dairy, food processing, beverage, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries.
Future Scope
The Internet of Things can be applied in the proposed CIP system in further work.
This system will help to gather real-time and historical data in the desired format,
which may be in the form of tables or graphs. These data can also be gathered
irrespective of user location via the internet facility on any mobile or desktop device
by providing a secure authorization log-in to ensure the safety of the data.
References
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Indian Standards, pp 5–62
Nighot KB, Kunjir RA, Wagh NP, Barure ON (2015) Automation of Cleaning-In-Place for Food
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Control and Informatics for Demand
Response and Renewables Integration 9
Michael Short
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Related Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Smart Grid Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Networked Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Models and Technical Underpinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
General Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Fault-Tolerant Playback Buffer Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Supervisory Controller Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Implementation, Validation, and Illustrative Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Illustrative Example: Model Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Illustrative Example: Statistical Delay Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Illustrative Example: HIL Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Abstract
Following the lead of the UK, many governments worldwide have now made
commitments to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This drive toward
a zero-carbon economy requires many technological and social innovations,
including advancement and accelerated deployment of industrial digitalization
and smart grid concepts. Within the framework of the second digital revolution
known as “Industry 4.0,” the smart grid is an augmented energy distribution
network that enables real-time communications for monitoring, control, and
M. Short ()
School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Teesside University,
Middlesbrough, UK
e-mail: m.short@tees.ac.uk
194 M. Short
protection of energy assets as well as facilitating the physical transfer of energy.

Smart grid and energy storage provide a solution for the integration of renewable
energy assets, which due to their inherent volatility when compared to traditional
forms of generation require careful planning and operation; the coordinated,
end-to-end economic dispatch and optimization of generation, storage, and
demand assets is required along the entire energy value chain. In this chapter,
fundamental and applied research work related to control and informatics for
supervisory control of energy-related assets in IoT-based energy management
systems (EMSs) are described. Key concepts, design procedures, results, and
analysis are presented, along with a summary of implementation activities in the
context of funded research and innovation projects.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Smart energy · Net-zero · Energy management systems ·

Renewables integration
Introduction
In June 2019, the UK government amended the Climate Change Act to commit
to 100% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions – or full net-zero – by 2050
(Energy Catapult 2020). Following the lead of the UK (https://www.gov.uk/go-
vernment/news/uk-becomes-first-major-economy-to-pass-net-zero-emissions-law),
many governments worldwide have now made similar commitments to achieve
net-zero emissions by 2050. This commitment by the UK marks an increasing
commitment to climate change, starting with agreement to the first Kyoto Protocol
in 1997. A timeline of major milestones from 1997 until the current time are
shown chronologically in Fig. 1. This drive toward a zero-carbon economy requires
Fig. 1 Timeline of major milestones leading to UK net-zero commitment

9 Control and Informatics for Demand Response and Renewables Integration 195
many technological and social innovations, including advancement of digitalization

and accelerated deployment of smart grid concepts. With improved connectivity
combined with recent advances in data science, many industries are currently
on the verge of a second digital revolution known as “Industry 4.0” (Isaksson
et al. 2018). The smart grid lies within this framework as an augmented energy
distribution network which enables real-time communications for monitoring,
control, and protection of energy equipment as well as the physical transfer of
energy (Masters 2004; Ekanayake et al. 2012). Principally for economic and
safety reasons, electricity was historically generated by large centralized fossil-
fueled generators and subsequently transported to consumers via unidirectional
transmission and distribution networks. More recent times have seen the emergence
of small- and medium-scaled decentralized generation equipment (typically driven
by renewable energy sources such as solar PV, wind turbines, and biomass combined
heat and power plants (CHP) embedded within the transmission and distribution
networks themselves (Energy Catapult 2020; Masters 2004; Ekanayake et al. 2012).
Renewable energy sources require careful integration onto the electricity grid, and
the network requires careful planning and operation. This is due to their inherent
volatility when compared to traditional forms of generation, and the coordinated,
end-to-end dispatch of generation, storage, and demand assets is required in order
to balance the power system (Energy Catapult 2020; Masters 2004; Ekanayake et al.
2012). In this chapter, previous research work related to control and informatics for
demand response and renewables integration which has been carried out at Teesside
University in the UK is described.
Specifically, the focus of this chapter lies in the application of Industry 4.0
concepts for the integration of semi-controllable (e.g., wind turbines) and fully
controllable (e.g., biomass CHP) renewable generation assets, coupled with the
use of semi-controllable and fully controllable consumption assets (e.g., HVAC
and/or refrigeration systems within buildings) to provide aggregated energy shifting
services and demand response (DR) purposes. The rationale for this is twofold.
Firstly, wind, solar, and biomass energy have been identified as a key source of
renewable energy to be deployed in the UK drive toward net-zero (Energy Catapult
2020; Masters 2004; Ekanayake et al. 2012). Secondly, building stock is estimated
to account for around 40% of global energy consumption, exceeding that of other
major sectors like industry and transportation (Perez-Lombard et al. 2008; Short
et al. 2019). As such, buildings represent the sector with both the largest energy
saving and energy shifting potential for DR applications; the decarbonization of
heat is critical in the UK context, and will rely heavily on the use of residential
electric heat pumps (Energy Catapult 2020) in additional to commercial HVAC.
Figure 2 shows a flowchart of the electricity pathways in the calendar year 2019 in
the UK, indicating the mix of supply and demand (Department of Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy 2020).
A large portion of usage by domestic and commercial users is attributed to
HVAC, and generates between 0.0 kg and 0.4 kg of CO2 emissions per kWh
depending upon time of use (TOU). This dependency upon TOU is due to the mix of
196 M. Short
Fig. 2 Flowchart of UK electricity pathways in the calendar year 2019
supply sources and the availability of renewable or zero emission generation. The
objectives are clearly twofold: firstly, to increase the proportion of the generation
mix which comes from renewable energy in order to reduce reliance upon traditional
forms of generation, which produce GHGs; and secondly, to shift controllable
demand onto time periods in which renewable energy is available. Clearly, the first
objective creates volatility due to reliance upon external factors such as weather
conditions, creating the need for the second, to balance the need for this increased
volatility. Figure 3 shows an example situation of how implicit general demand
management, using building HVAC as an example, can be used to help “flatten”
a demand curve and reduce the need for GHG-emitting peaking units and support
renewable integration. In addition, when adverse events occur (e.g., supply shortfall
due to grid issue or under-forecast of wind), this can be extended to explicit specific
demand response, when one or more assets are surgically targeted to shift demand to
help overcome the adverse event with wider problems such as line trips occurring.
In the chapter, tools and techniques which have found to be useful from a control
and informatics framework to implement such asset management are described.
Specifically, an overview is given of design principles for supervisory controllers
in IoT-based energy management systems.
The remainder of the chapter is organized as follows. Section “Related Work”
presents a review of previous and related work around smart grid informat-
ics and control aspects. Section “Models and Technical Underpinning” presents
the models and techniques for integration and management of energy assets.
Section “Implementation, Validation, and Illustrative Example” describes and
summarizes hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)-based experimental results to illustrate
key concepts in a design example, and also discusses wider work on industrial
implementation in the UK. The chapter is concluded in Sect. “Summary and
Conclusions”.
Fig. 3 Employing building stock HVAC for supply following, demand response, and renewables
integration
Related Work
Smart Grid Communications
Historically electricity generation was typically achieved using several large gener-
ating stations operating in parallel, and with transmission interconnections possibly
spanning several countries for electrical grids; these generators and interconnects
were principally under the supervisory control of only a small number of public
and private bodies (Masters 2004; Bhowmik et al. 2004). Dispatch instructions for
individual or groups of generators (and emergency curtailment commands for large
industrial consumers) were normally relayed over basic communications media,
and would traditionally consist of dedicated duplex channels between a generation
utility and the independent system operator (ISO) for telemetry and telecontrol, with
additional voice/data channels over the public switched telephone network (PSTN)
as a backup (Elgerd 1981).
ICT interfaces enabling real-time information exchange related to the scheduling,
monitoring, control, and protection of the interconnected energy assets is critical
to the concept of the smart grid. It is generally agreed that Internet Protocol (IP)-
based connectivity and Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) will facilitate smart grid
applications, although alternate proposals have been made (Deshpande et al. 2011;
Hopkinson et al. 2009). An emerging concept is that a “utilities intranet” – a data
network which is common to the utilities but isolated and protected from the general
Internet – provides the backbone for such an infrastructure. The utilities intranet
is envisioned to provide for the eventual connection of all regional substations,
equipment, assets, and control centers throughout the smart grid (Deshpande
et al. 2011; Hopkinson et al. 2009). The utilities intranet, and indeed smart gird
traffic in general, has a varying range of quality of service (QoS) and routing
requirements, with stricter dependability requirements when compared to regular
Internet traffic (Khan and Khan 2013). To handle such dependability requirements,
198 M. Short
differentiated services (DIFFSERV), traffic prioritization, and enhanced multicast

UDP/IP concepts (which can be offered by IPv6) need to be leveraged (Deshpande
et al. 2011; Hopkinson et al. 2009; Falk et al. 2013; Short and Dawood 2014;
Dawood and Short 2014). Unfortunately, end-to-end QoS management for wide-
area critical streams spanning multiple control areas is still someway off becoming
a practical reality. Nevertheless, experimental prototyping work has shown that
the IEEE standards on time-sensitive networking (TSN) which are currently under
development may provide a suitable framework for carrying critical traffic over wide
area networks, including those related to the IEC 61850 standards to be described
below (Short et al. 2016). However, the required standards are still in development
and TSN technology is not yet fully functional, and there is not yet widespread
implementation.
Communications with less demanding QoS and dependability requirements are
typically supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and/or machine-to-
machine (M2M) services. In such cases remote data exchanges using standard
UDP/IPor TCP/IP sockets may be employed. Messages may also have to be passed
across network elements which are not directly part of the utility Internet, for
example, at the end most points of the grid may traverse one or more digital
subscriber links (DSL). Care must be taken when such IP-based remote data
exchanges have been employed to implement SCADA applications, for example,
in load/frequency control and bilateral load following, as packet latency (delay),
variability in packet delay (jitter), and packet losses can heavily influence both
performance and stability of the closed loop (Bhowmik et al. 2004; Dawood and
Short 2014). The impact of such degraded control for an energy management utility
is principally an inability to meet contractual power requirements and associated
economic penalties. For the grid and gird operator as a whole, in the worst case
it may result not only in economic issues, but with security issues caused by the
tripping of frequency protection devices and unintentional islanding.
The most critical aspects of the smart grid communications infrastructure
are related to tele-protection and telecontrol applications and feature very high
availability requirements combined with ultralow latency requirements (Deshpande
et al. 2011; Khan and Khan 2013; Falk et al. 2013; Short and Dawood 2014). For
applications such as situational awareness using phase measurement units (PMUs),
allowable worst-case message latencies for PMU data packets are around 40
milliseconds in a 50 Hz electrical system. In tele-protection applications, message
latencies less than 20 milliseconds are required (and in some cases less than 3
milliseconds) can be mandated (Deshpande et al. 2011; Khan and Khan 2013).
In such cases, the IEC 61850 standard has been proposed to provide methods to
help carry and route this more time-critical traffic. The IEC 61850 standard family
was originally created to support modular, low-latency communications services
in substations and runs directly on switched Ethernet networks (International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 2002; Brand et al. 2003). Traffic classes in
IEC 61850 include events (GOOSE messages) and sampled data (SMV messages),
which are directly mapped into raw Ethernet frames using ASN.1:BER (basic
encoding rules). IEEE 802.1Q (priority tagging/VLAN) support at layer 2 is
employed to achieve the required response times and multicast routing. Typically,
industrial switches with support for all protocol aspects and rugged design for the
substation environment are required. Additional traffic classes are also defined,
typically for SCADA and M2M services, and generally feature lower availability
and latency requirements. Implementations in practice favor mapping to protocols
such as the manufacturing messaging specification (MMS) using standard UDP/IP
or TCP/IP directly within the IEC61850 framework, or independently using a
dedicated IP-based SCADA protocol such as IEC 60870–5-104.
Networked Control Systems
Networked control systems do not just appear in energy management and smart grid
applications, but also in areas such as process control and automotive. Research
investigating the links between network performance and its impact on distributed
control systems is several decades old, and research trends mainly include reviews
on latency, delays, and security of networks. The effects of the network delay
(in particular modeling and analysis, and also delay compensation) and the key
roles of bandwidth allocation and packet scheduling for fault-tolerant control
applications are often discussed, as well as cybersecurity issues and network
component integration and/or reconfiguration (Gupta and Chow 2010). All digital
control implementations are susceptible to timing jitter of some sort or another
(e.g., clock inaccuracy or drift and task scheduling effects). However, networked
and/or distributed control implementations are especially susceptible due to queuing
and routing impacts of packet transfers. With the advent and increasing adoption
of (I)IoT concepts, modern networked control applications mostly utilize packet
switching communication mechanisms and protocols since they have many well-
known advantages and economic benefits (for example, scalability, stability for data
transfers over short and long distances, reconfigurable routing, etc.) in comparison
with circuit-switching equivalents. However, the former faces problems related to
packet-dropout, network-induced delays, and packet disordering that encourages
further investigations (Singh et al. 2014).
Performance analysis for smart grids has generally followed this direction, with
recent focus upon system stability (Zhang et al. 2001). In this work, a networked
control scheme and a stability analysis framework to control systems with inherent
oscillatory dynamics such as those present in power systems is presented. The allow-
able data-dropout limit to guarantee a particular closed-loop control performance
is explicitly quantified, and requirements for the communication infrastructure
and protocol for smart grids are suggested. Research focus has also been put
upon playback buffering mechanisms for use in networked control environments,
as described in (Liberatore 2006; Short et al. 2015a). Playback buffers can be
used to ameliorate (or even in some cases almost totally eliminate) network jitter
effects, at the expense of increased latency. This is advantageous for most types of
process plant under networked closed-loop control, since jitter is comparably more
problematic than an equivalent fixed delay (Cervin et al. 2004). Playback buffer
200 M. Short
parameters must be carefully selected for a given application, and taken into account
in any closed-loop analysis, as delays introduce control-theoretic effects such as
unbounded negative phase shift at high frequencies (non-minimum phase frequency
response) into the plant. Such effects can be effectively engineered out of the control
loop using a well-designed predictive controller, as shown in (Short et al. 2015b).
As can be deduced from the previous discussions, until such time that there is
widespread adoption of IPv6 and TSN for smart grid applications, the use of raw
UDP/IP or TCP/IP sockets seems unavoidable for networking applications outside
of substations at the current time (and also short- to medium-term future). Therefore,
methods which both enhance their basic operation and can be compensated for in
the associated control design seem mandated. Such methods are employed within
the presented EMS framework in the next section.
Models and Technical Underpinning
General Configuration
Consider the general arrangement for a cloud-based IoT energy management

system (EMS) as shown in Fig. 4 below. A number of energy-related assets
(controllable supply and demand units, e.g., wind turbines and HVAC) are to be tele-
operated/telecontrolled by an aggregator (EMS) which also interacts with the wider
electricity market. The EMS carries out numerous functions including baseline
supply/demand predictions, spot/balancing market contracts, bilateral contracts,
billing, and ancillary services such as demand response. To implement contracted
Fig. 4 Cloud-based energy management system (EMS) under consideration

Fig. 5 Networked control system (NCS) architecture under consideration
power delivery or consumption requirements, the operator uses telecontrol/tele-

operation via IP links to edge devices located in the vicinity of the energy asset,
interacting with (and in some cases implementing) a local control system. For
example, a local control for a wind turbine principally acts to control blade pitch
angles to regulate output power, while a HVAC control unit principally controls
power delivery to heat exchangers to regulate zone temperature. In this chapter, the
interest is in the design of the supervisory controllers and delay/jitter management
on the IP links.
Next, consider a single-loop control system constructed as a part of such an EMS
as depicted in Fig. 5, with the main EMS components being the trajectory generator
and feedback controller D(z). Let the supply/demand asset under supervisory
control, and its local regulatory/tracking controller be well approximated around the
target operating regions by the discrete-time linear transfer function G(z). The EMS
computes a value to apply to the local asset set point (the main manipulated variable
u(k) in the outer loop), using the controller D(z) acting on the loop error e(k), and
transmits a sampled data representation of this variable to the asset every T seconds
via the network connection. The asset and its local feedback controls are driven
by this command signal and may also experience disturbances. Either in the same
(or another) asset, a measurement is taken every T seconds to produce a sampled
data representation of the controlled variable y(k) every T seconds, which is then
transmitted back to the EMS via the network connection. The controlled variable
is subtracted from the reference signal r(k) emitted from the trajectory generator to
produce the error.
The situation described above reflects many possible configurations for supply
and demand asset control including regulation of contracted power delivery or
consumption, bilateral contracts for supply or demand following, load/frequency
control, and demand response and demand turnup. In each case, sampled data
information is transmitted over the IP network in the forward path and also the
feedback path, in most cases over logically separate communication pathways. Key
to the successful achievement of some of the objectives (e.g., demand response) is
optimization of the set point trajectory, taking into account (for example) weather
forecasts to exploit preheating or precooling effects (e.g., see (Isaksson et al. 2018;
Ekanayake et al. 2012; Short et al. 2019) and the references therein). In some cases,
for example, bilateral following contracts, it will be beneficial to couple two or more
202 M. Short
supervisory control loops at a higher level. Such configurations and optimizations

are secondary functions of the EMS and are not considered explicitly in this chapter.
Fault-Tolerant Playback Buffer Design
Buffer Operation
A simple but effective fault-tolerant playback buffering scheme for transmission and
reception of a sampled data sequence denoted x(k) via a UDP/IP link has previously
been developed (Short et al. 2015a). Under the control of a synchronized clock, at
discrete-time step k in the transmitter node, packet k containing the kth sample of
the signal x(k) is packed into the data payload of a UDP/IP frame, along with the
sequence count k, and appended with a short time history of previous signal values
x(k-1),x(k-2), . . . , x(k-N + 1), where N is the (fixed) size of the receiver buffer.
An encoding format such as ASN.1: BER is applied to pack the data in the UDP/IP
frame, and encryption such as AES 256 applied for security; specific details not
discussed further in this chapter. The frame is then transmitted via Internet to the
receiver.
Let the clocks in both transmitter and receiver be synchronized to a level of accu-
racy +/− ε. For the types of supervisory control systems this chapter is concerned
with typically featuring sample times of the order of seconds, the standard Network
Time Protocol (NTP) can achieve an accuracy level of a few milliseconds, which
should be sufficient in most cases. Let the receiver node have a buffer of size N
samples, and due to this clock synchronization be running in approximate time step
with the transmitter (within accuracy +/− ε < <T) and having knowledge of current
sequence count k. Upon receipt of a valid packet at the receiver node, the receiver
buffer is updated by examining the received sequence count kr and with knowledge
of the current sequence count k, any missing samples of sequence x in the receiver
buffer in the range [k-N + 1, k] are populated using the information contained
within the received packet. The local synchronized receiver clock and receiver count
variable k are employed to shift sequence data for received and buffered values of x
at each time step, and if the main buffer is not empty sample x(k-N) is released as
output. Note that if the buffer is not empty, then a message having sequence count
kr > k-N must have been received, and hence the sample x(k-N) must exist due to
the information redundancy employed by the packetizing scheme in the transmitter.
The motivation for the above buffering scheme, which is displayed schematically
in Fig. 6, is that latency of transmission is fixed at N sample times, with jitter fixed
to accuracy 2ε(<<T). The proposed information redundancy scheme employed in
the transmission of each packet ensures that each sample x(k) is transmitted in N
individual packets over the link, and only one of these packets needs to arrive at
the receiver in order for it to be output, increasing the link reliability significantly
in the presence of statistically independent packet loss and burst sequences less
than N consecutive packet drops. In terms of the overheads, in most applications
the sequence counter and each sampled data signal can be encoded in 16 or 32
bits, making the packet overhead minimal. Such a scheme is employed in the EMS
Fig. 6 Fault-tolerant playback buffering scheme
for transmitting and receiving set point sequences u(k) and sampled values y(k) for
supervisory control. Should the latency in any of the links persistently gives delays
beyond N sample times, a simple overwrite scheme in case of reception with empty
buffer can ensure that the link defaults to best-effort transmission; using statistical
information of measured latency can give insight into effective buffer sizing, which
is described next.
Buffer Sizing
In most cases, it will be extremely difficult or effectively impossible to analytically
determine the worst-case latency that a packet may experience over an IP link, due
to dynamic routing, congestion control, and random cross-flows of traffic. As an
alternative, statistical method to assess the probability that a given buffer size can
be exceeded based upon the results of experimental latency measurements over the
link has been proposed. Suppose that k packets have been transmitted over a link,
and the latency of each packet has been recorded as li , 1 ≤ i ≤ k. Let the empirical
mean and standard deviation in the latency obtained from these samples be denoted
as μ and σ, respectively. Then in the absence of knowledge about the probability
distribution of the latencies (but undersome very mild assumptions regarding the
weak exchangeability of the samples) the probability that the k + 1th observed
latency exceeds a value μ + qσ(for real-valued q > 0) can be bounded by the Saw-
Yang-Mo inequality (Kabán 2012):
q2 + k − 1
P (|lk+1 − μ| > qσ ) ≤ √ (1)
q 2 k2 + k
This inequality is effectively a finite-sample version of Chebyshev’s inequality

and, although conservative, gives meaningful results for test data obtained over prac-
tical timescales (e.g., measured in hours or days) and for confidence probabilities
that are not ultrahigh (e.g., in the region of 0.9999). It may be used to determine the
probability that packet latency μ + qσ will not be exceeded at run time, and with
knowledge of the sample time can be used to specify the required size of a playback
buffer using the relationship N = (μ + qσ)/T for value of k satisfying the desired
probability level.
204 M. Short
Supervisory Controller Design
Suppose that the identified process model is given by the discrete-time pulse transfer
function G(z) = B(z)/A(z), where z = e(α + jω)Ts is the z-transform shift operator.
Assume that the PTF G(z) is formed from the continuous model of the process G(s)
and controller C(s) (if present) via z-transforms with sample time T, using standard
means to incorporate any DAC and ADC. Feedforward and feedback delays due to
buffering are assumed incorporated into the numerator polynomial B(z), and appear
as shifts z-N for a buffer of size N. A method proposed in (Short et al. 2015b) allows
the synthesis of a predictive digital controller D(z) directly from the desired closed-
loop pole specifications encoded in a design polynomial P(z). Assume that B(z), the
numerator of the PTF (including the time delay and any zeros), is to be scaled and
embedded in the closed-loop transfer function as follows:
R(z) kp B(z)
= (2)
Y (z) P (z)
where the scalar kp = P(1)/B(1) to ensure unit gain in steady state. Numerous advan-
tages arise from embedding the open-loop zeros of the process into the closed-loop
response, including the ability to predictively handle time delays embedded within
polynomial B(z), and robustness against inverse response (unstable zeros). Then by
rearranging the closed-loop characteristic equation for the required controller D(z),
the following controller design achieves the specification:
kp A(z)
D(z) = (3)
P (z) − kp B(z)
The relation above was obtained by rearranging the characteristic equation of a

process under unity negative feedback, with the scaling gain kp ensuring that the
resulting controller contains an integrator (Short et al. 2015b). In order to select the
sample time T and design specification P(z), some simple guidelines are as follows.
Concerning first P(z), should the (continuous) response be wished to approximate a
first-order lag type response 1 + τ s, with time constant τ , the specification 1 + pz−1
can be used, with p = −exp(−T/τ ). For desired setting time ts , τ should be chosen
as ts /4.6. For a second-order polynomial of the form s2 + 2ζ ωn s + ωn 2 , with natural
frequency ωn and damping ratio ζ , then the specification 1 + p1 z−1 + p2 z−2 can
be used with mapping:

p1 = −2 exp −T ζ ωn cos T ωn 1 − ζ 2 (4)

p2 = exp −2T ζ ωn (5)
For desired setting time ts and approximate phase margin φ (in radians), ωn and
ζ should be chosen as:
sin (ϕ)
ζ =√ (6)
4 cos (ϕ)
4.6
ωn = (7)
ζ ts
Selection of sample time T can then proceed by choosing a value satisfying

inequality (8), with tro the open-loop risetime of process G(s) and trc the approx-
imate risetime of the closed-loop system, obtained from the design specification as
shown in (9):

tro trc
T ≤ min , (8)
10 10
2.23τ : First Order

trc = 2.23ζ 2 −0.078ζ +1.12 (9)
ωn : Second Order
Thus, from knowledge of the gross statistical properties of the IP links and
dynamics of the local process model – both of which may be determined experi-
mentally – combined with basic specifications for the desired closed-loop response,
a full predictive supervisory digital controller may be easily designed using the pro-
cedure and relations presented in this section. A simple software library (employing
only UDP/IP and NTP elements of the IP stack) provides the informatics framework
to help ameliorate the effects of IP packet loss and give jitter compensation, fixing
the delay to a known, stable value which may be compensated for directly in the
predictive controller synthesis equation. Although the method is principally aimed
at cloud-based energy management systems, it is clear that it may be extended to
other applications involving tele-operation and telecontrol as required.
Implementation, Validation, and Illustrative Example
Research staff at Teesside University in the UK have been developing ICT tools
for smart energy management systems for smart grid applications since 2008, and
the techniques presented and described in this chapter have been implemented
as components in a number of industrial innovation projects both in the UK
and abroad. This research has also underpinned the development of new services
and products by two companies, a formal technology transfer and educational
partnership which is the first of kind in UK, and it has also informed policy
design at the EU level (referred to in two policy documents). Specifically, energy
management system tools developed in the IDEAS (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/
id/600071) EU project have enabled increased economic profits and reduced GHG
emissions from more efficient use of a typical combined heat and power (CHP)
plants, of between A
C53,000 and A C87,000 per annum for a typical 40 MW plant
in the EU. The tools for supply-side energy management developed in that period
206 M. Short
have directly contributed to new commercial product developments, increased

economic profits, and contributed to enabling over 4.2 homes in the UK to be
powered by offshore wind at the time of writing (https://teesbusiness.co.uk/2020/
10/30/pioneering-project-could-help-government-meet-wind-power-pledge/). The
application of the tools for energy management in the DR-BoB (https://cordis.
europa.eu/project/id/696114) EU project have resulted in total savings of 1.67 GWh
of total primary energy across four project demonstration sites in 2018, which is
equivalent to a reduction of 5.87 tons of CO2 emissions. In terms of economic costs
savings, a total benefit of approximately A C13,000 was recorded at these sites (with
corresponding large GHG emission reductions) by shifting energy use onto times
of renewable availability. An illustrative example using HIL simulation is presented
below (reproduced in part from (Short et al. 2015a)), to highlight the design and
implementation of the specific techniques described in Sect. “Models and Technical
Underpinning” of this chapter.
Illustrative Example: Model Configuration
In order to test the elements of the proposed control and communications mech-
anism, a realistic simulation model of a Biomass CHP plant with steam turbo
generator in a microgrid environment has been developed within the framework
of a flexible HIL simulator for smart grid systems (Short and Dawood 2014;
Dawood and Short 2014). The simulation model incorporates communication link
components with configurable fixed packet latency, variable packet latency, and
packet error rate. The importance of such simulation-based testing for smart grid
applications, including the testing and evaluation of dependable communications,
has previously been highlighted (Podmore and Robinson 2010). The model has been
developed using Matlab©/Simulink©. Although dedicated simulation tools (such
as OMNET) are also useful from the perspective of fine-grained communication
network simulation, performance and stability analyses can oftentimes make use of
the higher-level statistical impacts of the network when determining its effects on
control loops. Therefore, the use of course-grained statistical models of the network-
induced delay and jitter are justified and employed in this example (Bhowmik et al.
2004).
The Simulink block diagram of the configuration is shown in Fig. 7. The
model features a per unit (p.u.) single equivalent lumped generator incorporating
a coordinated boiler/turbine control system as the electrical generation side of the
CHP asset (Ordys et al. 1994). The input to the asset is the reference mechanical
power output; the main output is the actual mechanical power output. Although
a real generator has multiple inputs/outputs and is nonlinear over much of its
operating range, the local coordinated control system ensures an offset-free, near-
linear input/output relationship by coordinating and trimming the main inputs
(turbine valve setting, furnace biomass fuel/air input) (Ordys et al. 1994). As such
the main observable dynamics are that of the turbine itself on the electrical side,
Fig. 7 Load/frequency and power exchange microgrid simulation model
and in the simulation, a representative dynamic model for a two-stage turbine with
reheater is employed (Ordys et al. 1994).
The CHP asset is assumed located within a microgrid (non-islanded mode) and is
used – along with a scheduled power exchange (import or export) via a tie-line to a
larger grid – to supply power demand in the microgrid local area. The selected units
were 1 p.u. power = 1 GW and 1 p.u. frequency = 50 Hz. The area configuration
was set using typical representative parameters: The load was assumed to have a
power dependency on frequency of 200 MW per Hz, with inertia of the equivalent
generator of 6 seconds. The tie-line synchronizing coefficient (dependent upon the
reactance of the line) was taken to be 2π/15. When an increase in the local area load
occurs (or equivalently a generation shortfall), there is an instantaneous mismatch
between power supply and demand and kinetic energy is borrowed from the turbine.
This causes the rotational speed of the shaft (and hence the area supply frequency)
to dip.
Extra power therefore needs to be injected to restore the power balance to
a steady state, and eliminate the undesired frequency transient and offset. A
proportional speed governor on the connected CHP generator is assumed present
(such as is mandated to be employed in UK power systems). The governor
proportionally increases/decreases the output power generation in response to
frequency decreases/increases; this loop may be seen in the simulation model (speed
governor). Although this is sufficient in most cases to keep the frequency within
working limits, some frequency offset (known as the “droop”) remains due to the
lack of integral action (which cannot be directly employed in parallel connected
power systems). A 5% droop between no load and full load, which is typically used
in industry, was used in our model by setting the governor gain appropriately. Any
drift in frequency away from the nominal value due to droop leads to phase shifts
between the local frequency and that of the main grid connected by the tie-line
208 M. Short
occurring. Negative/positive phase shifts induce a net power flow into/out from the
microgrid area to restore the power balance and frequency.
It is clearly desirable to keep tie-line power flows within safe limits and as
close as possible to prescheduled (contracted) levels in most instances, and hence
the control objective of the EMS is to monitor and regulate the net power flow
over the tie-line despite local changes in demand (load frequency and power
exchange control). As shown in Fig. 7, the filtered tie-line power measurement is
transmitted via the IP link to the EMS. Real and reactive power flows in the line
are assumed instrumented using regular substation equipment (e.g., that used in
protection relays). This signal is compared to the contracted power flow, and the
error is passed to the regulatory controller D(z). The output of this controller is a
bias/trim signal u(k) which is transmitted via the IP link to the speed set point of
the local asset controller on the biomass CHP plant. In our experiments, we employ
the digital control methodology described in Sect. “Supervisory Controller Design”,
to produce a closed loop with critical damping and ∼ =200 seconds settling time. A
1 second sampling time for the control loop was employed. Two experiments were
considered, one without buffering and one featuring buffering, as described in the
next section.
Illustrative Example: Statistical Delay Model
In order to develop representative delay, jitter, and packet loss statistics for the
IP links in the model, an experiment was carried out to measure the recorded
latency and packet loss statistics experienced by probe packets sent over the public
Internet. A public server in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, was pinged by a client PC
in Middlesbrough, UK, once every second for over 10 days. The physical distance
between the 2 computers was ∼ = 50 KM. The round-trip delays were measured in
each case. The total number of samples was 849,486 with 3,310 packets lost. The
distribution of the latencies obtained was as shown in Table 1. From the raw data
we obtained the mean latency μ = 28.82 milliseconds and the standard deviation
σ = 56.05 milliseconds. From these data we may observe that the majority of the
probability mass is concentrated around the mean with a delay between 20 and 30
milliseconds, but there exists a long tail with delays up to around 2,500 milliseconds
occasionally experienced. Latencies above this threshold were assumed to be losses,
with packet loss probability of 0.0039. The information related to the range and
distribution of delays and packet loss probability was employed to calibrate the
channel model employed in the simulations.
Illustrative Example: HIL Results
Initially, a regulatory controller was designed for the system using the methodology
of Sect. “Models and Technical Underpinning” under the assumption that the
average delay of 28.82 ms in the communication links will result in a single sample
Table 1 Latency statistics Latency L (ms) Probability

for IP link under test
0 ≤ L < 10 0.00000
10 ≤ L < 20 0.00000
20 ≤ L < 30 0.95703
30 ≤ L < 40 0.00884
40 ≤ L < 50 0.00530
50 ≤ L < 60 0.00474
60 ≤ L < 70 0.00365
70 ≤ L < 80 0.00268
80 ≤ L < 90 0.00168
90 ≤ L < 70 0.00142
100 ≤ L < 2500 0.01466
Fig. 8 Power balance error (supervisory control with best-effort IP connection)
delay in both the forward and backward transmission links. A screenshot of the p.u.
error following a 0.2 p.u. change in the local microgrid load is as shown in Fig. 8
below.
Next, the buffering scheme proposed in Sect. “Models and Technical Underpin-
ning” was also implemented. Given the mean latency μ = 28.82 ms and the standard
deviation σ = 56.05 ms, buffer sizes of six samples (6,000 ms) in both forward and
backward IP links were employed; from Eq. (1), it can be verified that the probability
of exceeding this buffer size in any sample is <0.0001. After adding the delays into
the model, the regulatory controller was redesigned for the system incorporating an
extra 12 sample delay into the model. A screenshot of the p.u. error following a 0.2
p.u. change in the local microgrid load is as shown in Fig. 9 below. An identical
random-number seed was employed in the first experiment.
210 M. Short
Fig. 9 Power balance error (supervisory predictive control with buffered best-effort IP connec-
tion)
From Fig. 8 it may be seen that the best-effort case, although having a
significantly reduced average-case delay, suffers quite considerably from the packet
losses and variable latency; the transient is oscillatory and takes over 1,000 s to
decay. This response is in line with previous investigations reported in the literature
(Isaksson et al. 2018). It is interesting to note that the loop remains stable, however,
perhaps due to the critical damping requirement giving the controller a measure of
robustness and reasonably large phase margin. Concerning Fig. 9, however, it may
be seen that the proposed buffering scheme brings a significant improvement; the
transient is now monotonic, has a lower peak value and takes ∼ =200 seconds to decay
when compared to Fig. 8. In this example, the buffering scheme has clearly reduced
the impact of jitter and packet losses; the increase in the average-case latency has
been well handled by the proposed controller design method.
Summary and Conclusions
Many governments worldwide have now made commitments to achieve net-zero

carbon emissions by 2050. This drive toward a zero-carbon economy requires
many technological and social innovations, including advancement of digitalization
and accelerated deployment of smart grid concepts. The coordinated, end-to-end
dispatch of generation, storage, and demand elements is required for renewables
integration, and energy management systems can play a role in achieving this
objective. In this chapter, methods for effective supervisory control of energy-related
assets in a cloud-based energy management system (EMSs) has been described. Key
concepts, design procedures, results, and analysis have been summarized, along
with details of industrial implementation in the context of funded innovation and
research projects.
Some of the concepts described in this chapter have been reproduced and
summarized from a selection of the author’s earlier publications, references (Short
et al. 2019; Short and Dawood 2014; Dawood and Short 2014; Short et al. 2015a, b).
Websites
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-becomes-first-major-economy-to-pass-
net-zero-emissions-law
https://es.catapult.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ESC_Innovating_to_Net_
Zero_report_FINAL.pdf
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/600071
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/696114
https://teesbusiness.co.uk/2020/10/30/pioneering-project-could-help-governmen
t-meet-wind-power-pledge/
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Part II
Industry 4.0: Mode of Materials,
Technology, and Devices
From Industry 4.0 to Pharma 4.0
10
Reza Ebrahimi Hariry, Reza Vatankhah Barenji, and
Anant Paradkar
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Drug Development Life Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Drug Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Preclinical Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Clinical Trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Post-Market Surveillance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Computer and IT Application in Drug Development: Pharma 3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Computer in Drug Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Computer in Preclinical Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Computer in Clinical Researches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Pharma 4.0 Ecosystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Pharma 4.0 and the Need for Data Integrity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
The Requirement of Cloud Computing in Pharma 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
The Need for Artificial Intelligence in Pharma 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
R. E. Hariry
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara
University, Ankara, Turkey
R. V. Barenji ()
Department of Industrial Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
e-mail: Reza.vatankhah@hacettepe.edu.tr
A. Paradkar
Centre for Pharmaceutical Engineering Science, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK
216 R. E Hariry et al.
Abstract
Industry 4.0 is the new industrial revolution that employs cyber-physical technol-
ogy to enhance the smartness of the system. The use of autonomous devices and
systems is vital in drug production and potentially will bring products with a high
level of quality and less cost and time to market. The R&D phase of developing a
new pharmaceutical product or drug is very long and expensive in comparison
with conventional products, so using Industry 4.0-related technologies in the
drug development process might bring enormous benefits to the biomedical and
pharmaceutical industries. This may also open a new window to the regulatory
authorities to track and trace all stages of drug development processes with fewer
efforts. In this chapter, the first different stages of drug development process are
explained, then the use of computers and digital technologies in each stage is
highlighted in detail, and finally, the Pharma 4.0 ecosystem is introduced.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Pharma 4.0 · Intelligent manufacturing · Drug development

process
Introduction
Three major revolutions in the manufacturing industries have already occurred:

Industry 1.0 was introduced when mechanization and steam power were employed
to perform over human power processes, Industry 2.0 was introduced when mass
production and electric energy provided a huge improvement in the productibil-
ity level of manufacturing systems, and Industry 3.0 introduced the power of
automation, computer, and IT to the manufacturing industries. The fourth industrial
revolution has been called Industry 4.0 (Carvalho et al. 2018).
Consider a production system with robots, CNC machines, automatic storage,
and handling systems and operators that communicate with one another using a
computerized network system, and each of them autonomously rearranges their
operation through a cloud-based central decision-maker (Barenji et al. 2012).
Imagine a city where transportation systems, traffic control systems, grid, ports,
healthcare systems, parking, waste management systems, and air pollution control
systems negotiate with each other, and a cloud-based intelligence system arranges
all operations on an optimal level to promote safety and cost issues of the people.
Imagine a health center that can communicate with many different sections, aiming
to provide the finest quality of services. These are a few examples of the future
of Industry 4.0 that could be enabled by cyber-physical systems (CPS) technology
(Vatankhah Barenji et al. 2015).
CPS is defined as computation, networking, and physical processes integration
that aimed to control a process. CPS is a combination of several nodes with
different roles and nature; these nodes adapt itself to a new condition based on
the knowledge available on the system and the feedbacks of the other nodes in a
10 From Industry 4.0 to Pharma 4.0 217
real-time manner. This technology changing the way humans interact with industrial
systems quite looks like the Internet that transformed people’s interaction with IT
and information (Serpanos 2018). Industry4.0 brought intelligence to the systems
using CPS technology. The CPS is composed of many diverse heterogeneous
essentials that require research works to well define each sub-element and its
specifications. The essential technologies are as follows: Internet of things (IoT),
artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing (CC), smart embedded devices, and the
Internet (Ratasich et al. 2019; Radanliev et al. 2020; Chaâri et al. 2016). Although
these technologies are the core for CPS, some other technologies may play a
supportive role, including but not limited to digital twins, cloud manufacturing,
virtualization, and green waste management (Alam and El Saddik 2017; Babiceanu
and Seker 2016; Ma et al. 2019).
Applications of CPS in drug production perhaps have the potential to change
biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies’ control and management systems,
which can be called as Pharma 4.0 revolution. These changes include high-
confidence medical devices and systems, drug design and development, on-demand
drug production, 3D-printed drug products, Logistic 4.0 on drug distribution man-
agement, and green waste management (Wan et al. 2018). It is easy to consider and
adopt new models, such as “collaborative network organizations” and “collaborative
design and development,” for drug production, where timing precision and quality
issues loom slighter. Autonomous networked facilities could intensely enhance
the productivity of the pharmaceutical industry and could potentially bring more
effective defective product detection and recovery. Cyber-physical embedded PAT
could significantly improve the intelligence of the system and product quality,
reducing our dependence on human decisions (Özdemir 2019).
In monitoring, regulatory organizations’ supervision will get benefit from dis-
tributed consensus about the available bandwidth and distributed control tech-
nologies. Consumer networks could be dramatically changed by precision timing.
Distributed real-time quality controllers that integrate sensors and actuators could
change the nature of the real-time release testing (RTRT) system (Internet source 1).
The economic impact of any of these applications would be huge. Pharmaceu-
tical industries today, however, may unnecessarily impede progress toward these
applications. In this chapter, first a brief clarification is given to the Industry 4.0
technologies, and then the computer applications on the pharma and biotechnology
industry are discussed, and finally, the Pharma 4.0 ecosystem is explained and some
(potential) exit applications are summarized.
Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is a new chapter on the industrial revolution that refers to the use of
cyber-physical system technology in manufacturing, aiming to boost the intelligence
of the system with interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time
monitoring. Figure 1 represents a schematic view of CPS. As shown in the figure,
the system contains some physical objectives such as CNC machines, robots,
Fig. 1 Schematic example for the use of CPS in Industry 4.0
automobiles, and designer’s data characteristics (Barenji et al. 2014). Figure com-
puters. This entire physical objective is an embedded device that has connectivity to
the Internet; moreover, these devices are embedded with a processor for decision-
making. The devices in the network should exchange data with the cloud service
for monitoring and control purposes using IoT technology and the Internet (Wang
et al. 2015). To identify a device in the network, IoT technology provides a unique
ID for the nodes of the network. The status of the devices will be sensed by the
sensors and monitored by the cloud service, and the devices will be controlled by
the cloud services using the comments generated by AI tools and shared with the
device through the IoT. The main aim of using CPS is to improve the intelligence of
the resource (e.g., device, human) and the level of integration among the resources
(Delicato et al. 2020).
Drug Development Life Cycle
Drug development is a step-by-step process with sequential stage, including drug

discovery, preclinical studies, clinical trials, approval process, and post-market
surveillance. In the next subsections, each of these steps will be expanded briefly.
Drug Discovery
Drug discovery, which is the first step of drug development process, brings
thousands of potential candidate compounds as a medical treatment. However, only
a few numbers of compounds have been forwarded to the next steps after early
testing (Hughes et al. 2011). Commonly, drug design and discovery are performed
through the following steps:
• Focusing on a disease process and etiologies to discover and identify a proper

target
• Finding or designing a compound that interacts with the specified target to change
disease situations
• Finding possible beneficial effects for lead identification by performing numer-
ous molecular compound tests
• Searching among the unforeseen effects of current treatment protocols, aiming
to find a possible new effect on the target
• Synthesizing a novel compound from existing materials that will be effective in
manipulating the target
Preclinical Studies
Before testing a new compound in humans, it is necessary to find out the efficacy and
potential risks and serious harms of the candidate compound to investigate the safety
and toxicity. These investigations, which are called preclinical studies, are realized
in two main steps: (a) in vitro studies, which are laboratory experiments on cellular
or molecular levels outside of a usual biological surrounding to assess the efficacy
and toxicity of the new compound and identified target, and (b) in vivo studies,
in which the new compound is tested in animals to examine the pharmacokinetics
and pharmacodynamics parameters and efficacy and toxicity. Preclinical studies
should provide detailed information regarding the different aspects of the candidate
compound before testing in humans (Bøtker et al. 2018). Good laboratory practice
(GLP) is an approach that is usually suggested by the regulators to be employed
in the preclinical laboratory studies that are commonly interacted with basic
requirements of research from different points of view, including study conduction,
personnel, equipment, and facility selections, writing protocols, and reports of the
research, operation steps, and the quality management. After preclinical research,
which is not a very large study, the investigators will decide to start or abandon the
clinical research based on the findings of this phase (Guazzaroni Jacobs et al. 2009;
US Department of Health and Human Services and Food and Drug Administration
2005; Abrantes et al. 2016).
Clinical Trials
Although the preclinical studies’ outcomes address drug safety and toxicity con-
cerns on laboratory levels and animals, the new drug interactions with the human
body are not addressed yet. The studies that are referred to as the safety and efficacy
of the new drug on the human body are known as clinical trials. In this stage, the
researchers generally consider the all specific properties of the investigational new
drug from the previous stage and start to realize exactly what they want to achieve
in clinical studies based on the predefined goals. The investigators design different
clinical trials with specific study plans (protocols) to answer the specific research
questions related to the investigational new drug effects on humans (Friedman et al.
2015). Some of the questions are as follows:
• What are the selection criteria for the participants? In which cohorts?
• What is the study size? And its duration?
• To limit the research bias, what is the control methodology?
• What will be the drug usage instructions? In what dosage?
• What will be the assessment approach? When, how, and what type of data will
be collected?
• What will be the review method for the data and what approaches will be used to
analyze?
Clinical trials contain three phases: phase 1 (small-scale) to phase 3(large-scale)

studies. In phase 1, which usually takes several months, few healthy participants are
involved, and the main goal of the study is investigating safety and dosage issues.
In phase 2, which takes a few months to 2 years, the efficacy and side effects are
investigated. The participants of this phase are people with the disease/condition,
and the population reaches hundreds. The longest phase of clinical trials (1–4 years)
is phase 3, with almost a thousand participants with the disease/condition. The goal
of this phase is to monitor the adverse effects and efficacy investigations. Ultimately
after different clinical experiments, the candidate compound will be known as a new
drug, which will be submitted as a new drug application to the regulators for the
approval processes (Pocock 2013).
Post-Market Surveillance
Although the clinical trials provide well safety and efficacy information for a drug
that helps it to be approved by the regulatory authority to go to the market, complete
safety information at the time of approval is impossible since there are some limita-
tions in drug development to monitor and identify the adverse effects. Some safety
concerns about a marketed drug may reveal after years of usage of the product’s
lifetime. Commonly, the regulators and research organizations collect and review
the drug’s problem reports from different sources, such as spontaneous reporting
databases, prescription monitoring, EHR, and patient registries, to conclude to
drop the approval, discontinue the drug, or add some usage or dosage cautions
or serious recommendations. Post-marketing surveillance (PMS) is defined as the
identification and collection of information regarding drugs after their approval for
use in a population, which is very important to protect the patients from serious risks
of a drug in the market (Steinke 2019).
Computer and IT Application in Drug Development: Pharma 3.0
Computer in Drug Discovery
The computer is playing an increasingly important role in many areas of drug

development processes and lifecycles, and it is becoming a convenient tool for use in
drug discovery (Yang et al. 2019). The studies that combine biology and computa-
tional methods bring the opportunities to find out the relationship among biological
target structure, biological activity, and the therapeutic role and the possibility to
generate numerous therapeutically target structures (e.g., membrane and nuclear
receptors, key enzymes, and proteins) (Markowetz 2017). Computer assistance in
drug discovery is called in silico studies that might be categorized as computer-aided
drug design, molecular docking and modeling, virtual screening, and QSAR. These
methods assist the researchers to understand the chemical functions of molecules
and their relations with biological sites and binding affinities (Rognan 2017). The
use of computers in drug discovery also brings the opportunity to screen the existing
libraries of numerous compounds to find a similar structure that fits with a specific
target. The computational methods help to investigate the interactions between a
ligand (a compound which can be marked as an investigational drug) and a target site
(e.g., a cellular receptor or a protein), modify the structure of a ligand for increasing
its affinity, specify action, or decrease toxicities (Leelananda and Lindert 2016).
These methods are more effective when experimental research cannot be done.
With the rise of known compound structures on the data centers, some specific
computational techniques, such as virtual screening, de novo design, and fragment-
based drug discovery (FBDD), have been introduced (Gruyter 2020). Virtual
screening is a computational docking method to find out the compounds that
are fitted with the target protein structure from a large database of compounds.
The success rate of the method is almost at 80% with some false scenarios that
may flop this method (Kontoyianni 2017). De novo design, which is the opposite
process of the screening method, uses the target protein structure to design new
chemical structures. The major issue of using this method is that some developed
structures by this technique may not be reproducible experimentally (Gupta et al.
2018). In the FBDD method, low molecular weight ligands as small fragments are
identified, which can fit with any fragments of the target site or protein structure and
activate them functionally. However, designing a database or library with diverse
and combined functionality to isolate the targets is the main issue with this method
(Erlanson et al. 2019).
Although the computational structural methods and approaches provide some
real-life successes in drug discovery, some issues, such as lack of suitable compu-
tational bioinformatics background for doing calculations robustly and applicable
integrations of computational approaches with data and information, may diminish
their efficiencies (Jarada et al. 2020).
Chemoinformatics, which is another in silico technique, encompasses com-
puter sciences and chemistry, aiming to utilize computational methods to answer
chemical-related problems in biology. This technique is employed to extract and
retrieve the chemical information, search the compound databases, and also mine the
molecular graphs to find meaningful data from chemical structures. Chemical space
exploration, computerized drug synthesis, molecular features and pharmacophore,
and designing of related libraries are some related contexts of chemoinformatics in
drug discovery (Martinez-Mayorga et al. 2020).
Computer in Preclinical Studies
Preclinical studies are a series of laboratory experiments and animal tests aiming
to extract pharmacological data and information. The detailed related data in this
stage should be collected, managed, analyzed, and reported accurately. Computer
in preclinical studies is one of the main enablers for data management and data
analysis of the drug development process. By employing computers in preclinical
studies, the efficiency of the abovementioned steps boosts meaningfully, which
causes to increase productivity and improve time duration (Samsa and Samsa 2019;
Lapinlampi et al. 2017). Generally, computer-based systems, such as chromatogra-
phy data systems (CDSs), laboratory information management systems (LIMSs),
and text information management systems (TIMSs), are some software that are
employed for managing and analyzing the generated data by several stakeholders
and researchers in preclinical studies of drug development processes. CDS, which
sometimes is referred to as a chromatography data management system (CDMS), is
a set of data collection tools that are connected and integrated with chromatography
equipment and collect and manage the generated data online. A CDS will use an
analysis and management methodology on chromatography equipment by acquiring
data from the device, processing the acquired data, storing the data in a database, and
connecting to other laboratory informatics systems. This software automates phar-
maceutical analysis mainly generated by chromatographic devices such as HPLC
(high-performance liquid chromatography), GC (gas chromatography), IC (ion-
exchange chromatography), CE (capillary electrophoresis), and SFC (supercritical
fluid chromatography). Although CDS mainly assists these devices to provide the
data accurately and reliably, the regulatory authorities recently prefer to motivate the
stakeholders and researchers to shift the data-based systems to information-based.
It means that the improvement of such systems and software by employing the
new technologies for different purposes, such as data analysis and signal detection,
is mandatory (Simon 2016). LIMS is a software-based tool that manages the

samples and generates related data from experiments in preclinical studies. This
tool helps the investigators in laboratories to produce reliable results more quickly
by systematizing and automating the workflow, integrating tools, and managing all
generated data. The efficiency of the experiments can also be improved by LIMS
since the generated data is trackable during and after the experiment (Paszko and
Turner 2018). Additionally, this tool also has the following additional capabilities:
• Automation of the workflow to reduce human errors

• Quality control and centralization of data
• Compliance management system
• Reagents and lots of tracking
• Long-term data analysis
• Integration with laboratory equipment and systems
The LIMS tool is also able to manage non-chromatographic data that CDS cannot
handle. To sum up, the LIMS can help to automate the tracking of a sample, assign
the works, and capture, process, archive, and share the generated data (Hunter et al.
2017).
Text information management system (TIMS) is a less used tool in comparison
with the other tools; however, it is a useful computerized tool to enhance the
important text documents in the process of writing, reviewing, auditing, and
publishing the results. However, electronic data and documents are necessary for
this tool (Zhai and Massung 2016).
Although the assistance role of computers in preclinical studies, especially
in electronic data management, is undeniable, accurate regulations should be
considered. The computerized systems are required to be validated regularly to
ensure consistency of intended purpose, accuracy, and reliability. These systems
must be time-based and traceable to real-time monitoring and follow-up of creating,
modifying, or deleting any generated data. Moreover, access to these systems must
be limited to only authorized researchers and personnel (Internet source 2).
Computer in Clinical Researches
The involvement of computers in clinical research and development has been

increasing quickly. These researches and developments are generally categorized
into clinical operation and clinical data management teams and their computerized
systems (Kessel and Combs 2016). Figure 2 represents the computer applications in
clinical research.
The clinical operation team is responsible for conducting the trial. The clinical
trial data management team helps the clinical operation team in the trial process
in many fields, including the case report forms, distributions, patient and inves-
tigating organization recruitments, and approval processes. The operation team
should always monitor the results and outcomes and generated data from trials
Fig. 2 Computer in clinical researches
to provide high-quality data to the management team and the investigators. The
clinical data management team is responsible for managing the generated patient
data of trials. This team is responsible for receiving, storing, managing, and
analyzing the data. Computers have improved the responsibilities of both teams.
Currently, many clinical research organizations and pharmaceutical companies are
shifting their data collection and management systems from paper-based methods
to electronic-based. Furthermore, there are numerous clinical trial management
software with trial and data management tools. These computerized systems, which
can assist both operation and data management teams, are categorized as clinical
trial management systems (CTMSs), clinical data management systems (CDMSs),
pharmacovigilance/drug safety systems, and electronic data capture tools (EDCTs)
(Internet source 2).
The CTMS, which has been designed particularly for the operation teams,
facilitates the storing, managing, and analyzing of generated data of a trial, such
as patient demographics, trial center information, drug accountability, and financial
information. By using this system, patient randomization and enrolment are also
automated (Barlow 2020; Park et al. 2018). Clinical Conductor and Bioclinica are
examples of CTMS.
The CDMS is typically designed for the clinical data management team to help
store, manage, clean, track, and analyze the entire generated data of a trial from
the beginning to the last step, with the capability of tracking case report forms and
different methods of data entry. Depending on the CDMS software, they are able to
use the validation procedures to check the different types of data to be followed up
on by the investigators. Therefore, every action in entering, modifying, or deleting
data can be detectable. Besides, CDMS can create electronic databases that can be
analyzed and submitted to regulatory authorities (Zozus et al. 2017). Longitudinal
Online Research and Imaging System (LORIS) is an example of CDMS. Every
drug, which is investigated in the clinical trial stage, has different toxicity levels and
side effects from mild toxicity, such as skin rash, headache, or insomnia, to severe
adverse effects like prolonged hospitalization, permanent disability, congenital
anomaly, or death. The safety computerized system is a software designed to record,
analyze, provide, and report the information of all forms of side effects, safety risks,
and toxicity concerns to the drug safety team and sponsors immediately. Electronic
data capture (EDC) tools, which replace the traditional paper-based methods, are
designed for the collection of electronic clinical data. By EDC, investigators can
access the CDMS/CTMS over the Internet (Rorie et al. 2017).
Pharma 4.0 Ecosystem
Pharma 4.0 is a manifestation of Industry 4.0 in the pharmaceutical industry and

can be defined as employing the medical cyber-physical system (MCPS) in any
stage of the drug development life cycle (Ding 2018). MCPS refers to life-critical,
context-aware, networked systems of medical tools and devices that are collectively
involved in the treatment protocols of a patient. The main missions of using
this paradigm in the drug development process are to reduce the developmental
costs and cycle time and also to improve the quality of the drug products by
(a) improving the smartness of the contributors (i.e., humans, tools, and devices),
(b) connecting and integrating the smart contributors, and (c) providing real-time
status and awareness information to the stakeholders and the regulatory authorities.
MCPSs employ the technology of cyber-physical systems (CPSs) to provide high-
quality continuous care for patients in complex medical scenarios such as clinical
trials. CPSs are integrations of computation, networking, and physical processes.
Embedded computers and networks monitor and control the physical processes
with feedback loops, where physical processes affect computations and vice versa
(Jankowski 2017).
Figure 1 demonstrates the Pharma 4.0 ecosystem. It shows the process of
collecting big data from several sources into a data pool and then performing
the necessary analytics using AI, ML, or cognitive process to predict streamline
drug life cycle processes. The ecosystem converges two disconnected worlds in the
drug life cycle: embedded tools and devices (ETDs) and cybernetics. As shown
in the figure, the drug life cycle contains three main steps: collaborative drug
development, smart drug manufacturing, and a post-marketing awareness system.
Other stakeholders, including regulatory authorities and clients, are also connected
to the system through cybernetics. Cybernetics employs a wide type of AI methods
and tools for decision-making, communication, and automatic control of the medical
systems. The ecosystem supports a green drug life cycle system, in which the
Fig. 3 Pharma 4.0 ecosystem
medical systems use fewer natural resources, reduce pollution and waste, recycle
and reuse materials, and moderate emissions in their processes.
Steinwandter et al. on the way to Pharma 4.0 provided a review on the current
data science applications at various stages of the bioprocess life cycle (Steinwandter
et al. 2019). An application of Pharma 4.0 in smart drug manufacturing is recently
reported, where the authors proposed a cyber-physical-based PAT (CPbPAT) frame-
work to implement smart manufacturing systems in the pharmaceutical industry
(Barenji et al. 2019). The impact of data analytics technology, digitalization,
Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and continuous manufacturing on
Pharma 4.0 is reported by another work recently (Prajwal et al. 2020) (Fig. 3).
Pharma 4.0 and the Need for Data Integrity
The combination, analysis, and interpretation of huge amounts of structured and

unstructured data and information in different formats to generate trustable and
actionable information are the current strategy of pharmaceutical companies. Data
must also be integrated with the highest standards in terms of authority, quality,
and security to help improve some challenges related to acquiescence and glob-
alization (Elefsinioti et al. 2016). If data integration is performed properly, many
databases can be analyzed frequently to support different goals, such as decision-
making, autonomously using different methods like AI, ML, and natural language
processing (NLP) (Oliveira 2019). Data integration is also vital from a business
perspective for pharmaceutical companies since accelerating drug development with
optimal cost-effective ratio provides quantifiable value that is fundamental. By
enrichment, integration, and management of data generated from historical and real-
time monitoring, pharmaceutical companies and researchers can investigate disease
mechanisms, optimize clinical trials, improve manufacturing efficiencies, and find
new formulation methods more accurately and truthfully. Nevertheless, it should be
considered that with the collaboration of many stakeholders in drug development
processes, such as manufacturers, academic and research organizations, adminis-
trative groups, insurers, and other officials, the complexity of data integration and
security risks rises dramatically.
Research and development processing in the pharmaceutical field take many
years, which need massive data gathering from compound properties, laboratory
results, experiments, dosages, etiology of diseases, and approval requirements. This
data is kept in separate databases, and it makes it challenging for pharmaceutical
companies to utilize vast quantities of data. The integration of the data collected
from several internal functions and external partners is necessary to create a
complete picture for the key stakeholders. With the growth of involved players in
the R&D process, managing a specified centralized database that can access multiple
sources and different databases by pharmaceutical companies seems to be crucial.
Integrating and controlling clinical data in one place can help pharmaceutical com-
panies to make well-versed decisions accurately. With the increasing requirement
for the adoption of digital technologies, the use of regulatory compliance standards
with comprehensive security and traceability to increase R&D efficiency is the key
factor in the drug development process. With the lack of these standards to monitor
and regulate master data and share it among multiple systems (e.g., EHR and EDC),
connectivity and integrity still remain an inherent challenge for pharmaceutical
companies (Lee 2018). The ability to manage and integrate data generated at all
stages of the value chain, from discovery to real-world use following regulatory
approval, is a fundamental requirement for companies. Data integration allows
stakeholders to search for desired data comprehensively, and smart algorithms can
create reports automatically, identifying and validating the compounds and targets,
trusting the laboratory and experimental results more effectively, and monitoring
and controlling the efficacy of the new drug on patients and their safety concerns.
The drug development process is an extensive process with high investment
risks and security issues, which leads to little internal and external collaboration.
Competing research groups ignore each other’s results. By enhancing the collabora-
tion of internal and external partners with predefined access levels, pharmaceutical
companies can extend their knowledge without duplications, while end-to-end
integrations help to improve data sharing and linking, which boost the collaboration
among all stakeholders in drug development, commercialization, and delivery. The
pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies must continue to use cutting-edge
tools, which include sophisticated modeling techniques, to produce a lot of data
and improve the data integration quickly for future innovations, developments,
and personalized medicine. These companies can also deploy smart devices such
as biosensors and smartphones and remote monitoring of patients to gather large
quantities of real-world data for analyzing drug efficacy and safety (Bender et al.
2017). In a robust clinical trial, the combination of smart devices and data sharing
and exchange systems helps to improve the clinical trial design and outcomes while
also increasing efficiency. Dynamic sample size estimation, patient recruitment
improvement, reducing data error and duplication using EHR and EMR, real-time
data access and management, safety and risk management, and also real-world
outcomes are some examples of new technologies in drug development processes
(Lu et al. 2016; Kim and Lee 2017). All of these points show that data integration
is playing a pivotal role in enabling pharma to trim its drug development strategy
while accelerating innovation. Evolving roles and technologies are paving the way
for data integration in the future. There are different ways of data integration, such
as data integration software, tools, and services.
Cloud integration is a series of tools and technologies aiming to connect different
computerized software and applications, systems, databases, and new digital smart
technologies for exchanging and processing data in a real-time manner. This
technology leads to the combination and integration of data as global data that
can be accessed by multiple devices in the network via the Internet (Villari et al.
2016; Chen et al. 2017; Alhussein et al. 2018). Pharmaceutical companies find cloud
computing services very attractive in their product development, manufacturing, and
commercialization since their internal and external partners can access, share, and
manage data more easily with high computing power (Reinhardt et al. 2020).
The Requirement of Cloud Computing in Pharma 4.0
Nowadays , an enormous shift in the generation, consumption, storage, and sharing

of healthcare data is undeniable. Cloud technology in medicine is the best alternative
to paper-based recording systems, which can be very effective and trustworthy
in different fields of medicine. This technology exactly helps the medical man-
agement systems to increase their quality of health services. This prominent role
is very practical for healthcare organizations and medical research institutes in
deploying telemedicine, mobile health applications, remote monitoring tools, and
other advanced healthcare facilities (Chung and Park 2020). Cloud computing is not
only an Internet-based data storage system, but it also creates a real-time network
through which many disruptive technologies, such as AI, smart embedded devices,
and big data, can connect for many purposes, like data integrations, telemedicine,
personalized medicine, clinical researches, EHR and EMR, and AI-based robotics
surgery. These new and smart technologies can work under the purview of the cloud
in medicine (Jin and Chen 2015; Alyass et al. 2015; Joseph and Brown 2017; Bahga
and Madisetti 2013; Atallah and Atallah 2020).
Cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand computing services. In healthcare,
cloud-computing technology is far beyond just a repository system. This computing
service can be an application, a storage system, or a processing power, which is
usually provided over the Internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis, such as software as
a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS)
(Sether 2016; Calabrese and Cannataro 2016). By cloud, healthcare organizations
and companies can optimize their workflows with higher efficiencies and lower costs
to improve outcomes. Besides, better communication and integrity of generated data

among stakeholders in different projects are other advantages. The main impact
of cloud computing on pharmaceutical companies is that it creates a reduced
dependence on internal infrastructures and streamlines operations across the globe.
In some cases, the preference is to do some initial data reduction locally, due to
compliance issues and data protection policies (Doheir et al. 2019; Aziz and Guled
2016).
With the cloud power integrating with the new method, it is possible to find
the compounds with higher affinity and efficacy to biological targets (Lin et al.
2020). For in silico designing methods in which atomic accuracy is needed, the
cloud provides a significant computing power (Keinan et al. 2018), for example,
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which have a complex structure with limited
information. Traditional algorithms are ineffective at validating drug target sites or
finding a proper compound that can bind and activate the receptor successfully
(Salon et al. 2011). However, a combination of new modeling and molecular
dynamic methods with cloud computing leads to finding a promising compound
or a novel site or target of activation, which may not be possible to detect with
traditional methods. Although data security and privacy concerns still exist in
cloud technology (Al-Issa et al. 2019), it can bring potential innovations when it
is employed in different aspects of a drug life cycle. In the preclinical stage of
drug development, the generated data from different sources, like laboratories and
in vivo and in vitro experiments, which are very valuable assets, can be collected
and stored in the cloud in a highly secured and efficient manner. Cloud computing
also provides a unique infrastructure in this field that can help to protect these
kinds of data and much specific software. In clinical trials, one of the main steps of
this life cycle, cloud-based technologies help to increase transparency and real-time
visibility of operations and data. This platform’s cause enhances the collaboration
among investigators, sponsors, and partners. Besides, increasing the efficiency
and speed to conduct trials and decreasing frustration and costs are the valuable
benefits. With cloud computing, the pharmaceutical industry can monitor machinery
from any location – even off-site. Cloud computing is transforming virtually
every facet of modern manufacturing. It provides multiple avenues for driving
competitive advantage in the manufacturing industry. The advantages of cloud
technology in the pharmaceutical industry include but are not limited improving
the quality of generated data, real-time monitoring and control of resources, storing
the information related to a product with higher security and transparency, and better
communication across a wide geographically divided part of a company (Robertson
et al. 2020; Qian et al. 2019).
The Need for Artificial Intelligence in Pharma 4.0
Artificial intelligence in medical sciences and healthcare is rapidly expanding. It is

the use of different software and complex algorithms to simulate human intelligence
and cognition to analyze and interpret comprehensive complicated healthcare and
medical data. Different computerized approaches and techniques have been used by
AI in different fields of medicine, especially in diagnosis and treatment protocols
(Erlanson et al. 2019). Medical AI has been able to detect significant relationships
in the provided data in many clinical conditions to help in the diagnosis, treatment,
or prediction of a medical situation and nonclinical conditions like laboratory
investigations. In medical sciences, this technology is rapidly developing as a
trustable solution for complicated situations. With the development of new smart
devices, such as wearables, smartphones, and biosensors, some techniques of AI,
like deep learning, can deal with the provided big data of such smart devices
meaningfully (Horn 2001).
AI in pharmaceutical sciences and drug development process is associated
with the use of different automated approaches and techniques to replace the
traditional methods that rely on the human brain with these new technologies.
It is not surprising that almost all aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, from
drug discovery and laboratory studies to clinical researches of drug development,
epidemic predictions, remote monitoring, and regulatory supervision, manufactur-
ing processes, and marketing, can apply AI, which leads to increased operational
efficiency and cost-effectiveness. AI can help to design and identify new molecules
based on target validation very effectively (Martinez-Mayorga et al. 2020). Com-
plicated pharmaceutical and pharmacological networks with large databases always
need to solve different complex issues and challenges, and AI is one of the best
approaches to identify obscurant patterns between diseases, drug composition, and
developmental qualities.
Machine learning is currently merging quickly evolving methods in computer-
aided drug discovery. To develop drugs with significant biological and chemical
properties, ML is an applicable tool that mines chemical and biological information
from large databases. To predict the physical, biological, and chemical properties
of new compounds, ML methods use pattern recognition algorithms to establish
generalized mathematical models among empirical results of molecules, which
is quite different from physical models that depend on physical equations, such
as quantum chemistry. Multilayer computational processing (i.e., chemical graph
retrieval, descriptor generation, fingerprint construction, and similarity analysis) is
required to convert a compound structure into chemical information, which will
be used by ML techniques. Each layer has a considerable impact on the quality
of the chemical data and is constructed on the previous layers. Machine learning
techniques can be classified as supervised learning and unsupervised learning.
Supervised machine learning models include regression analysis, k-nearest neighbor
(kNN), Bayesian probabilistic learning, SVMs, random forests, and neural networks
(Lapinlampi et al. 2017). Unsupervised methods include dimensionality reduction
techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA), independent component
analysis (ICA), and several supervised methods that can also support unsupervised
learning, such as SVMs, probabilistic graphical models, and neural networks.
Another family of unsupervised algorithms is clustering algorithms. Realizing
the exploit relationships between chemical structures and their SAR or biological
activities is one of the main application areas for ML in drug discovery. Modern
machine learning techniques can be used to model QSAR, or quantitative structure-
property relationships (QSPR), and develop artificial intelligence programs that
accurately predict in silico how chemical modifications might influence biological
behavior (Lo et al. 2018).
Many physicochemical properties of drugs, such as toxicity, metabolism, drug-
drug interactions, and carcinogenesis, have been effectively modeled by quantitative
structure-activity relationship (QSAR) techniques. QSAR is a strategy of essential
importance for chemistry and pharmacy, based on the idea that when we change the
structure of a molecule, then also the activity or property of the substance will be
modified (Polanski 2019).
The general protocol for constructing QSAR models for drug discovery has been
systematized and consists of several modular steps involving chemoinformatics and
machine learning techniques. The first step is “molecular encoding,” where the
chemical features and properties are derived from chemical structures or lookup
of experimental results. Second, a feature selection step is performed, where
unsupervised learning techniques are used to identify the most relevant properties
and reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector. Finally, in the learning phase,
a supervised machine learning model is applied to discover an empirical function
(either explicitly or implicitly) that can achieve an optimal mapping between the
input feature vectors and the biological responses (Hunter et al. 2017). Computer-
aided drug discovery help researchers to identify a promising compound for
development to enhance the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics information,
such as absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, mechanisms of action,
administration way, side effects and toxicity, demographic variations, and drug-drug
interactions (Lo et al. 2018).
In the drug discovery and development process, a combination of cloud com-
puting power and AI leads to doing the processes faster with low costs and high
accuracy. These advantages are more important when the big companies employ AI
with high computational power of the cloud to assess the different new approaches
to develop conventional medication to new and modern categories at cellular and
molecular levels to verify the drug targets effectively (Zhai and Massung 2016).
The combination of AI and cloud computing results in a perfect match for many
innovative purposes. The successful rate of AI cognitive capabilities and its different
approaches, such as machine learning, increases when large volumes of data and
big data are accessible quickly and cloud technology provides it undoubtedly.
Cloud adoption is directing enterprises to AI, as vendors offer a growing number
of tools and services, without big upfront investments. The cloud and AI blend
perfectly in diverse ways, and according to experts, AI might just be the technology
to revolutionize cloud computing solutions (Kessel and Combs 2016). AI is a
kind of know-how that has the potential to develop present cloud infrastructure
and to enhance the latest cloud computing technologies. Advances in AI and
cloud technologies are helping health and pharmaceutical companies improve
services.
Conclusion
Industry 4.0 indicates the new stage of the modernized industrial revolution with a
high concentration on interconnectivity, flexible automation, artificial intelligence,
and real-time data exchange and sharing using advanced technologies, such as
cyber-physical systems, IoT, cloud computing, big data, and advanced robotics and
virtual reality. Pharma 4.0 is a manifestation of Industry 4.0 in the pharmaceutical
industry. Pharma 4.0 can be defined as the digitalization of pharmaceutical indus-
tries from the supply, production (with planning), and delivery operations’ points
of view by networked firms and uses intensively digital models and ontologies.
The main missions of using this paradigm are to reduce the development costs and
cycle time and to also improve the quality of the drug products by (a) improving
the smartness of the contributing resources (i.e., humans, devices), (b) connecting
and integrating all the contributing resources at any stage of the cycle, and (c)
providing real-time status and awareness information to the regulatory organiza-
tion. Pharma 4.0 is powered by the cyber-physical platform, which enhances the
processing of big data, maximizes the interconnectivity and collaborative robotics,
and optimizes the artificial intelligence and distributed cloud architectures. This
modern digitalization allows pharmaceutical and biotechnological organizations to
change their network policies with higher efficiency and performance in different
aspects. Networked embedded computers control and monitor the drug design,
development, and production processes, usually with feedback circles from cloud-
based computation unit. The economic and societal potential of the paradigm
is vastly greater than what has been realized, and major investments should be
made worldwide to develop the technology. The challenges are still considerable
because pharmaceutical development and production systems should follow the
tough instructions of the regulatory organizations to grasp safety and reliability
requirements. Moreover, the tools used (i.e., PAT, QbD, RTRT) for the design,
monitoring, and control of the drug production system are qualitatively different
from other production industries. For example, the lack of temporal semantics and
adequate concurrency models in computing and today’s “best-effort” networking
technologies make predictable and reliable real-time performance difficult. Software
component technologies, including object-oriented design and service-oriented
architectures, are built on abstractions that match software better than physical
systems. Many applications will not be achievable without substantial changes in
the core abstractions. The current drug development life cycle suffers from the
following:
• The drug development life cycle needs contribution from many contributors
(e.g., device, organization, humans); the employed contributors in the drug
development life cycle are not smart enough and not connected.
• All the decision should be done by humans.
• The cycle is not integrated with regulatory organizations:
– This cycle is very long, costly, and time-consuming (12 years, B$2).
Future drug development life cycle might enjoy from the following:
• All the contributors will be connected and will connect to the cloud computing
unit, where AI tools will be available and ready to make decisions. The
contributors will be much smart.
• The contributors will collaborate; this will neglect the duplicated processes.
• Tracking and tracing of the drug products will be much easier by the regulatory
authorities.
In this chapter, the sequential phase of drug development is explained, the role
of the computer in drug development is highlighted, and the ecosystem of Pharma
4.0 is introduced. It concludes that Pharma 4.0 can be able to improve current drug
design and development processes and verify production facilities by raising the
level of intelligence. To realize Pharma 4.0 more effectively, the new paradigms,
such as PAT (process analytical technology), RTRT (real-time release testing), and
QbD (quality by design), should be rebuilt to embrace physical and computational
facilities in an integrated way.
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OHS-Related Risks in an Industry 4.0
Manufacturing Plant 11
Mohamed Naceur Ben Aziza, Adel Badri, and Foued Chihi
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Industry 4.0: Toward an Industrial Cognitive Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Collaborative Robots: New Contributions Lead to New Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV): New Philosophy and New OHS Challenges . . . . . . . 245
Big Data and Cloud Computing: How Safe Is it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Cyber-Physical System and Internet of Things: Cybersecurity Issues Lead
to Health and Safety Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Learned Lessons and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Limitations of This Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Special Pandemic Mention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Important Field-Related Web Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
M. N. Ben Aziza ()

School of Management, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Trois-Rivières, QC,
Canada
e-mail: Mohamed.naceur.ben.aziza@uqtr.ca
A. Badri
Industrial Engineering Department, School of Engineering, UQTR, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
e-mail: Adel.badri@uqtr.ca
F. Chihi
Department of Finance and Economics, School of Management, UQTR, Trois-Rivières, QC,
Canada
e-mail: Foued.chihi@uqtr.ca
238 M. N. Ben Aziza et al.
Abstract
The concept of industry 4.0 is taking more and more interest among academicians
and practitioners. This concept appeared under several names and visions but for
about the same purpose: improve productivity and flexibility, as part of ongoing
attempts to produce goods within high quality and diversity requirements, while
being the most efficient. The changeover toward the industry 4.0 era is not risk-
free. Safety, which is a big priority for manufacturers, is one of the aspects that
should be seriously considered, during all the steps of the change. Technological
development in manufacturing processes and the integration of new interactive
elements and technologies such as collaborative robots (cobot), automated
guided vehicles (AGV), sensors, and others can have critical consequences. Thus,
it is important to consider the different threats and risks, to be well prepared
for changes. There will be many big challenges. Indeed, physical, mental, and
psychological safety of workers are at stake. Consequences of change are,
already, a big burden. In addition to that, cyber security and information safety
represent another challenge for the implementation of the industry 4.0. The
insecurity-perception linked stress can cause many health issues. Therefore,
to address safety concerns, it is important even vital to have a clear vision
of different risks related to occupational health and safety (OHS) to which
manufacturing companies must face. Moreover, because prevention is always
better than cure, OHS-risk management upon industry 4.0 implementation will
be a good first step to guarantee a safe workplace in the present-day and in the
forthcoming.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Risks · Occupational health and safety · Manufacturing plants
Introduction
The world is changing around us thanks to the rise of knowledge, an evolution

accompanied by newly discoveries, redesigned methods, revolutionary thinking
behaviors, and novel ways of exploiting resources (Fig. 1). This reality is very
clear when it concerns industry. Indeed, since the eighteenth century up to present
days, industry has lived various revolutions that have been prompted whether by
the introduction of new energy sources (like steam for the first industry revolution
or industry 1.0), by the invention of electricity (industry 2.0), by the automation
of the production process (industry 3.0), or by the actual and continuous great
technological development (industry 4.0). Since the transition from craft production
to the use of machines, many concepts have emerged, and the manufacturing
sector has continuously seen the integration of many elements in order to improve
efficiency in order to meet a growing and increasingly demanding customer need.
11 OHS-Related Risks in an Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Plant 239
Fig. 1 Industrial revolutions over the time
The development of technological solutions in manufacturing is, also, a key element

for transition, especially in the case of the industry 4.0 era.
All over those revolutions, challenges, and changes have become manifold.
Qualified human resources, productivity, quality, and safety are the ones among
several concerns of managers whenever change affects workplaces. To face those
challenges, adaptive solutions must be established. The first step to be done is
certainly a good analysis of the situation to understand what and how to deal with the
emergent situation and context. Anticipating risks and preparing a risk management
plan is a crucial element in the management of any project. During this step, it
is important to identify all possible risks, and prepare prevention measures and a
contingency plan to deal with inevitable incidents (PMI 2017). This process remains
of the same importance, if not more, in the case of an occupational health and safety
management plan. It is, therefore, very important to take all necessary measures in
order to avoid incidents that can have a huge and irreversible impact.
Occupational health and safety (OHS) principles are important for any enterprise.
Not only because it has been for several years, one of the most important key
performance indicators (KPI), but also because of the big negative consequences
of occupational accidents and diseases on the overall performance (Tremblay and
Badri 2018). Big work has been done over the last decades to improve safety
and health integrity in manufacturing enterprises. And because effort must be
recompensed, a marked improvement was done, particularly in prevention (Badri
et al. 2018). In OHS philosophy, prevention is considered like a purpose and a goal
and not as a tool to avoid occupational accidents and diseases. Indeed, because of
the significant impact of a workplace accident or disease on the individual and so on,
the enterprise and the society levels, OHS managers, and professionals emphasize
most of their efforts on prevention and risk analysis and management phase.
The implementation of Industry 4.0 is still facing some challenges and problems:
technical issues, standardization, protection of privacy and information security, etc.
(Salgues 2018). Manufacturers opting for Industry 4.0 will have to face several
education gaps and training and qualification requirements (Benešová and Tupa
2017). Emphasis must be placed on the importance and gravity of a careless
transition to the new manufacturing reality. Indeed, the sudden transformation
undergone by industry with the growing use of the Internet of Things can be costly in
terms of security, if manufacturers do not strengthen enough the culture of security
in the daily life of their managers, especially since cyber attackers have gigantic
Fig. 2 Number of publications in the research field per year (Scopus database 2015–2020)
financial resources and very sophisticated material resources (Williams 2018). Other
concerns start to be announced, especially in recent articles, about the precautions
that must be taken seriously in the transition process to the industry 4.0 context.
In fact, to keep the prevention level the highest possible, it is a priority to have
very good overview about risks resulting from the integration of new elements
and technologies in the manufacturing workplace. Many roadmaps and transition
plans have been provided by governments, research institutes, or consultants in
order to help enterprises to have the most fluid shift to industry 4.0 (Jocelyn et al.
2017; Murashov et al. 2016; Drath and Horch 2014). Several researchers have
demonstrated the impact of OSH management on process optimization and on
production costs. This can be a good reason to consider the OSH aspect in the
process of transition to Industry 4.0. So, do we need an OHS 4.0 management?
In the last 5 years, the number of publications focusing on health and safety
challenges in industry 4.0 era keeps increasing (as shown in Fig. 2). It confirms the
pertinence and the importance of this subject study.
Industry 4.0: Toward an Industrial Cognitive Revolution
The industry has gone through several revolutions from the start of the integration
of the steam engine in the eighteenth century to the present day, revolutions
that were marked by a concern for productivity or efficiency. The development
of the industrial sector has been accompanied by the integration of new means,
new technologies, or new sources of energy (Mohamed 2018). In search of
better competitiveness, industry specialists tend to look for creative and innovative
solutions in order to help to increase efficiency. The main purpose is to meet an
increasingly diversified customer demand, while respecting quality and low-cost
requirements. In this context, and for centuries, the industrial world has experienced
several major changes. Industry 4.0, a notion born in Germany in 2011 to qualify the
fourth industrial revolution, follows the trend of the today industrial world (Badri
et al. 2018), a world where cyber is taking an important place in industry, and
where the Internet has allowed organizations to explore benefits of smartness and
connectivity. In this new manufacturing era, industrial reality has changed by way
of cyber-physical systems, collaborative robots, autonomous vehicles, Internet of
Things, big data, etc. (Ghobakhloo 2018).
According to Kusiak (2018), six main elements constitute the pillars of smart
manufacturing: manufacturing technology and processes, hardware, information,
predictive engineering, sustainability, and networking and resource sharing. He thus
studied an example of a tool already used in industry, which is the intelligent vehicle.
It is a connected vehicle that handles or transports matter and shares information
with other vehicles or with an information center. This option allows you to closely
monitor the condition of the vehicle or its location. This makes it possible to more
easily predict breakdowns, failures, or problems, which can, if not taken care of,
cause possible accidents and/or unplanned shutdowns.
The new industrial reality will necessarily have impacts on the way in which
we previously managed production, human resources, transport, etc. In terms of
occupational health and safety, the change in paradigms will result in the birth of
new types of risks which can affect the health and safety of workers, and which
have not necessarily been taken into account in when the design or installation
of new technological elements integrating traditional production systems or those
newly implemented (Bragança et al. 2019; Moeuf 2018). The integration of new
technologies and innovation in manufacturing have, certainly, many advantages,
especially in terms of productivity and quality (Kusiak 2018). Complex and hard
tasks are no longer an obstacle for human workers thanks to devices like robots,
collaborative robots, and exoskeleton. Logistic is also gaining easiness by way of
autonomous and connected vehicles. Many control tasks are becoming simpler and
can be done remotely using the Internet of things. In addition to its contribution to
productivity and competitiveness, the Fourth Industrial Revolution presents itself as
a very effective solution to the problem of an aging workforce. Indeed, according
to the European Commission and the Economic Policy Committee, the number of
people able to work (by reference to working age) will be reduced by 16% by the
year 2050 (Yaşar and Ulusoy 2019).
Manufacturing companies are forced to follow the trend of today’s industrial
world in order to survive. Indeed, it is as smart as it takes to predict the trends of
consumers, stubbornly over quality and variability, and their increasingly complex
needs. In addition, the benefits of adopting Industry 4.0 on efficiency and costs are
very attractive, which allows companies to maintain good connectivity with their
consumer bases, while remaining competitive in the market (Davies et al. 2017).
The changes in the manufacturing realty due to industry 4.0 will necessarily have
an impact on old notions related to education, human, social, and economic aspects.
We are currently talking, for example, of the 4.0 engineer, who must acquire the
adequate skills and training, and must also have a certain flexibility and adaptation
to face the continual changes of the industry, which requires a modification of the
educational system and especially at university level (Benešová and Tupa 2017). On
the other hand, the notion of operator 4.0 or the healthy operator 4.0 refers to the
operator for whom one or more components of Industry 4.0 are used. A well-known
example is working clothes containing censors, GPS, or any other technology

allowing the collection of information giving an idea of the operator’s state of health
(Romero et al. 2018).
Most of the emphasis dedicated to the study of the fourth industrial revolution has
mainly focused on the proposal of integration plans and roadmaps for the innovation
process and on the challenges and issues facing enterprises starting this process.
This was done by neglecting the occupational health and safety aspects and the
great impact of a good OSH management, which has been proven through several
studies previously. Indeed, the change of paradigms in Industry 4.0 will necessarily
have an influence on the practices and definitions of OSH management (Badri et al.
2018).
Sensors help to protect workers by a real-time monitoring of data. Personal
protecting equipment (PPE) can be easily verified to validate their compliance, using
new technologies. Indeed, the addition of sensors in a sensor-based technique to a
PPE leads to collect signals and analyze them. The result can help in prevention
of occupational accidents caused by collisions, electrocution, and injuries. In the
same way, and in a vision-based technique, the use of cameras in the workplace
to record and then analyze images and videos may also help in protecting workers
from occupational accidents and improve their safety by making sure that their PPE
are always compliant (Nath et al. 2020).
Handling heavy parts, which can be dangerous and represent a safety issue
for human workers, is one of the tasks in which new technology can be very
useful. Indeed, exoskeleton in human-centered workplaces (as like as the automotive
industry) are more and more used to support body movement and bringing a solution
to a safety issue. Even if many challenges are to be overcome, related to certifica-
tions, technical specifications, specificity of workers, sectors and workplaces, etc.
(Christian and Carmen 2020).
The industry on a global scale has experienced several revolutions over the
years. From the steam engine, to electrification, to automation, to globalization
and arriving at digitization, every revolution has been characterized by changes,
sometimes radical, in labor practices and standards. This includes occupational
health and safety (OHS). Over the years, the industrial world has experienced an
evolution in OSH prevention beliefs and practices. Indeed, efforts have been made
to better protect workers against dangers in the workplace. This has translated into
a significant reduction in the amount of work accidents, and occupational diseases
suffered by workers each year.
With the arrival of the fourth industrial revolution (industry 4.0), the working
environment has changed. Digitization, the Internet, artificial intelligence, big data,
and other technologies are creating new workplaces. Companies experiencing this
transition are seeing the birth of new types of risk. Suddenly, Industry 4.0 is
making the mission of companies in terms of prevention more complex. Should
we then keep the same current reflexes in an evolving context? Practically, OHS
professionals have no choice. They must adapt their ways of doing things if
they want to continue to protect the life and health of workers and not see the
trend toward improved working conditions reversed. It is important to define and
analyze emerging risks in OHS in the context of industry 4.0 and to propose
integrated approaches to decision-making tools that will come to the support of
company managers involved in a process of transition to Industry 4.0. Adapting
manufacturing processes to the new context has become a necessity without which
workers will face dangers that can threaten their health and their lives. Therefore,
the identification and analysis of new risks is a crucial step after which it will be
possible to understand the challenges and act in this direction to resolve this issue.
All this help to provide tools to OHS decision makers to keep workers in good
health, but above all, alive!
The identification of emerging OSH risks has been the subject of several
studies. A few have focused on cybersecurity as a major cause for concern since a
cyberattack can have very serious consequences on the functioning of a system, the
integrity of information, and on the safety of workers in direct contact with machines
on the floor which can get out of control. In addition, it is an evolutionary risk that
one must review the level of its control continuously, especially as the dangers are
in continuous development (Williams 2018). Other studies have identified the risks
associated with the use of robots and collaborative robots in smart factories. Indeed,
and even if the future of the industry foresees more autonomous and intelligent
machines, the presence of humans on the industrial floor is inevitable and remains
mandatory especially at the level of supervision. The sharing of space between
human and robot makes health and safety management quite a complex task. Indeed,
this new context of collaboration gives rise to new types of risks that may arise, and
which are linked to the evolution of modern production systems (Bragança et al.
2019; Khalid et al. 2017).
In order to assess maturity in Industry 4.0 Schumacher et al. (2016) reviewed
the literature in relation to the available tools, already developed and validated.
They ended up finding five models. After analyzing the gaps and shortcomings
represented by each of the models, they developed a new model which serves
as an extension of what exists, and which will make it possible to cover more
organizational aspects related to the context of Industry 4.0. This model, presented
in the form of a standardized questionnaire, is made up of 62 items grouped into 9
categories or indicators. These indicators measure the maturity of the company in
Industry 4.0. The items are each represented by a question on a Likert scale.
Murashov et al. (2016) have been interested in the introduction of robots and
collaborative robots in the new industrial reality of today and the future. They asked
themselves two very important questions concerning the ethical aspect of the use of
robots: How will the robot’s algorithm be structured when faced with the dilemma of
probability of injury or major damage to humans versus a virtual certainty of “better
productivity and lower cost”? And should this compromise be the subject of a new
OHS standard? On the other hand, the authors stressed the importance of starting
research in order to answer these two questions. They also proposed to consider
proactive risk management approaches developed for other emerging technologies
(e.g., nanotechnology) as examples to be followed by analogy. In a scientific report
(Jocelyn et al. 2017), the safety functions of collaborative robotics, which represents
one of the main concepts of Industry 4.0, have been studied through a theoretical
analysis of the technical documentation of three examples of robots, followed

by four concrete case studies in Quebec. The authors identified three advantages
of collaborative robotics compared to conventional robotics: low acquisition cost,
simplified programming and configuration combining robotics power, endurance
and precision with human intelligence and decision-making. As part of the same
research, new risks related to collaborative robotics have been identified in the
literature: The risks of collisions, due to the sharing of the work area between human
and robot, the risks of MSDs (Musculoskeletal Disorders) and psychosocial risks
caused by mental overload linked to the need for good synchronization between
the human operator and the robot. Following this, the report presents a strategy
for managing emerging risks related to collaborative robotics, which consists of
anticipating these risks and taking precautionary measures: Cognitive ergonomics
to secure movements in the work area, development of kinetics moving parts
of the robot in order to integrate intrinsic safety to the operator in the face of
static collisions, analysis of OHS risks at the robot design stage, bio-mechanical
calculations of the pain threshold and speeds, forces and maximum pressures during
collusion prior to the design of workstations, improved presence detection sensors,
and greater reliability of safety-related control parts.
Collaborative Robots: New Contributions Lead to New Risks
Robots are one of the most significant icons of technological development. Thus,
they have always been a symbol of innovation and technical development since it
was just a science fiction question. The introduction of robots in industrial environ-
ment goes back to the 1970. Since that time, several evolutions and changes have
been made. Indeed, from a basic robotic manipulator arm (mostly in automotive
industry) to a collaborative robot (cobot), the increasing of availability and utility
and the relatively lower cost were the principal reasons of the emerging of industrial
robot introduction in workplaces (Murashov et al. 2016).
In the industry 4.0 context, robots continue to manifest persuasively as one
of the principal pillars of the new industrial era. Even more, robots are gaining
skills, autonomy, smartness, interaction capacity, and usefulness. As the artificial
intelligence is evolving as much, today’s robots are not just passive machines,
but some of them are now able to interact with humans and even take decisions
based on their own data analysis or as an interaction to some human actions.
With progressive adoption of the industry 4.0, plants are using more and more
collaborative robots or cobots. The strength of cobots results from the mix of human
dexterity, flexibility, and problem-solving skills with the strength, endurance, and
precision of a mechanical device like industrial robots (Murashov et al. 2016).
To keep it efficient and useful, it is fundamental that the safety level of cobots
functioning should be the highest possible. Cobot has the specificity of working
in collaboration with human and that their surrounding environment is much
bigger and less easy to identify than other industrial robots with programmed fixed
tasks. That is why issues of safety are more disturbing than ever. There are two
probably hazard sources: ones related to the human worker, and others related to the
workplace (Murashov et al. 2016). A poor workplace design is one of the sources
of uncertainty which can be a cause of injuries and occupational accidents. In the
other hand, human can also perform dangerous actions or neglect some security
instructions if he is unaware of the dangers that he is facing.
Human-robot interaction is defined by the international standardization organi-
zation (ISO) as “information and action exchanges between human and robot to
perform a task by means of a user interface” (International Organization for Stan-
dardization 2016). This interaction between human and cobot in industrial context
can result in two types of issues. First issue is related to cognitive interactions
between human and cobot, while the second is a result of the fact of sharing the
same work zone with a relatively large number of mechanical degrees of freedom,
and so the capacity to move in different ways and directions without big restrictions.
Cognitive interactions between human and cobot can become a source of stress
and anxiety. Indeed, human will have a continuous concern about any eventual
dangerous moves or reactions and a perception of being not completely safe. The
prediction of all the possible moves will be almost difficult, even when some models
of cobot are equipped with more sophisticated staffs which can significantly reduce
the errors of risk. Human worker can still have some fear of missing out. Meanwhile,
safety measures are costly, especially for a small-medium enterprise (SME), and
can represent restrictions when set up. In fact, limiting velocity of a robot motions,
reactive motion planning, or requiring a minimum worker-robot separation distance
can provide a better safety level; nevertheless, this can have some side effects on
work pace or productivity (Zanchettin et al. 2016). Physical harm risks as much
as the psychological impact on humans are present in a collaborative human-cobot
workplace. All the tow can effectively be behind work accidents and eventual mental
health problems (especially stress and anxiety) (Jocelyn et al. 2017; Clarke and
Cooper 2004).
Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV): New Philosophy and New

OHS Challenges
In the industry 4.0 context, transportation and logistics have also undergone several
changes. Logistic 4.0 and supply chain management 4.0 (SCM 4.0) are some notions
introduced to describe the new management principles in the technological inno-
vation context. Increasing autonomy, connectivity, visualization, and optimization
are features characterizing the SCM 4.0 (Enzo Morosini et al. 2019; Strandhagen
et al. 2017). Inside factories, transportation is usually guaranteed by special vehicles
designed for this reason. Those vehicles are gaining autonomy and more movement
freedom in the new industrial workplace. Indeed, conventional transportation
vehicles are using guide tape to keep their predetermined and programmed path.
However, this kind of restriction and limitation is no longer existent in the industry
4.0 manufacturing plant, and vehicles are able to select their path according to a real-
time analysis and an evaluation of many parameters to reach destinations (Yilmaz

and Temeltas 2019).
One of the challenges of AGV is localization. That includes the determination
of initial position, position tracking, kidnapping, position in the idling periods,
etc. (Yilmaz and Temeltas 2019; Fanti et al. 2018). From an OHS point of view,
some sub-problems of localization may represent risks to the physical and mental
integrity of human employees. Kidnapped problem, which refers to a situation when
the autonomous vehicle is carried to an arbitrary location, can easily result from
incidents like a power cuts off or an unexpected collision or uncontrolled skid.
Recovering itself from a catastrophic localization failure or deadlock situation,
knowing initial position, and tracking real-time position are necessary to keep
an acceptable safety level and avoid accidents. And because AGV are smart,
autonomous, and have the capacity to use all the free space in a factory in carrying
out loads from one point to another, the collision risk is higher than for fixed robots
or for vehicles having preprogrammed path and tasks. Humans and machines are
sharing the same working environment and can enter in collision or go beyond
safe limits by accident, especially when AGV management system face complex
tasks and multiple vehicles. The result can be an occupational accident with more
or less significant damages on human on the physical side as like in mental and
psychological sides.
AGV are smart and connected machines with a relatively high freedom level
which let them to take some decision and choices when operating, in order to
optimize tasks or to avoid collision. These advantages can, however, have some dark
sides. In fact, security of algorithms and cyber security can be a major challenge,
not only because of the possible damages which can result from a security attack
but also, and above all, because that kind of incident can put the lives and the
physical integrity of employees in a real and big danger (Clark et al. 2017).
This is in addition to psychological issues, and mental concerns may result from
the insecurity perception of employees who can suffer from anxiety when facing
stressful conditions.
Big Data and Cloud Computing: How Safe Is it?
Data is one of the most important weapons for any decision maker. Indeed, there
is no advantage more useful for managers and employees than to have the relevant
data, knowledge, and information before starting a decision-making process of any
strategic or even simple decision (Li et al. 2019). However, this fact is a double-
edged knife. In fact, there is a limit for a human being assimilation before saturation.
Information overload and infobesity are some of the possible consequences, among
others, of the continuous grow up of information and data quantity and complexity.
Information overload has several negative effects on emotional, mental, and physical
health and it was proven that this consequence deteriorates work behavior (Roetzel
2019). The ubiquity of information and its availability mostly through smart devices
has social and psychological effects on people as it can jeopardize their privacy
and expose their personal lives. This can be a big source of stress for them. Many
pathologies are associated with the integration of new technologies in manufacturing
environment like burnout and exhaustion or impaired judgment and suboptimal
decisions (Knippenberg et al. 2015).
Decision maker attention is more and more demanded and struggles to achieve
the goal of keeping only the most important and prior information and data to be
the most efficient and effective (Knippenberg et al. 2015). Bad decisions can lead,
more or less consciously, to many safety risks as they can cause work accidents. The
limited human capacity to procure, analyze, and process information as well as their
restricted capabilities to bear attention are among constraints that are still relevant in
the new era of industrial revolution, even if they were always being present before
technological revolution (Knippenberg et al. 2015). Attention is very important
when associated to safety. In fact, an inadvertence action can have irretrievable
consequences on employees’ lives or physical integrity.
Meanwhile, cloud computing continues to attract SME and large businesses
due to many advantages like efficiency, agility, cost effectiveness, and boosted
storage resources (Jang-Jaccard and Nepal 2014). This, even though from OHS
point of view, both public and private cloud computing deployment environments,
presents significant risks (Carstensen et al. 2012). Hybrid computing models are also
presenting some security concerns (Catlett 2013). In fact, the changes affecting the
computing environments are impacting security. The move from static (from owned
computing environment, proper and centralized security components and complex,
and even only manual configuration and physical infrastructure change possibility
by the same organization) to dynamic (outsourcing and hosting environment by
third parties) gave birth to new issues. This makes sense, of the fact that when
delegating something, the possibility of losing control may increase. There is no
more one server (one location) and one user (which can be a whole company) but
instead a cloud provider and a cloud user, things that can justify the existence of a
shared security responsibility (Carstensen et al. 2012). A security attack can have
the possibility to access to unlimited resources and compromise data and systems
integrity (Catlett 2013). This kind of circumstances cannot be, by far, a good thing
for mental health and safety of employees since it can be a source of stress and
anxiety as like occupational accidents. In fact, in innovative workplaces, Cyber
security which is a technological safety issue for computer specialists and users
can result in eventual mental health problems. Mental health pathologies such as
anxiety, stress, and information overload and more other pathologies can result from
the change that affects the workplace in the industry 4.0 context. New technologies
and innovation may result in an irritation of employees since it will disturb their
comfort zone. Occupational accidents and health issues can be the consequences of
a non-protected evolution through innovation in manufacturing plants.
Uncertainty, ambiguity, and over-information characterize the actual organiza-
tional world (St-Pierre and Labelle 2017). The Increased complexity of the human
mind thanks to technological progress, and the high number of communication
channels have many benefits, but may also be a big mental health challenge (Karoui
et al. 2013).
Cyber-Physical System and Internet of Things: Cybersecurity

Issues Lead to Health and Safety Problems
Since 1988, when Robert Morris (now, MIT professor) developed the first computer
worm (called Morris worm), security of networks has always been a big challenge
for enterprises and computer scientists. Over the past decades, cyberattacks have
grown in number and have an increasingly severe impact (Jang-Jaccard and Nepal
2014) (cybercrime magazine predicts in their official annual cybercrime report that
damages linked to cyberattacks in the world will reach the astronomical level of
$6 trillion annually by 2021 (Morgan 2019)). Data breach, identity theft, and other
cyber criminality may imperil persons, information, and physical system’s integrity.
In the other hand, embedded systems are also a main part of the new manu-
facturing environment. Characterized by a high level of autonomy and smartness
and being interconnected and connected to Internet, embedded systems are very
vulnerable to cyberattacks. Cybersecurity is a major cause for concern since a
cyberattack can have numerous serious consequences on a system operation, on
the integrity of information, and on the safety of workers in direct contact with the
machines that can get out of hand. In addition, it is an evolving risk that we must
review the level of its control continuously, especially as the dangers are constantly
developing (Williams 2018).
In a world characterized by technological advancement at all levels, security is
becoming a major challenge. Indeed, the security of information systems requires
a grandiose effort to ensure an acceptable level of security and to protect against
possible data theft attempts (Bahl and Wali 2014). Enterprises are, therefore, in a
dilemma: how much to invest in security, knowing that there is absolutely no silver
bullet to total flawless security (Chen et al. 2012). There are many things within the
organization that can be sources of important and confidential data infiltration. One
of the things that can be, if not supported, a weak point in an organization’s security
level are its own employees (Spears and Barki 2010). Indeed, serious consequences
can flow from a fair lack of attention by an employee, and there are many examples
of this. A fairly simple act, like forgetting an unlocked computer, can cost the
organization or its third-party astronomical losses.
Learned Lessons and Recommendations
The fourth industrial revolution is marking the actual manufacturing context by

many paradigms shift. Several notions and methods are still up to date and
should be kept. However, the transition to a smart manufactory in the industry 4.0
environments comes with emergent elements that should be considered linked to
innovation and integration of new technologies and embedded systems. In the OHS
field, it is even more important to be very attentive during the innovation process
because any bad step can have dangerous consequences on the health and safety
of human workers and managers. That is why a special care should be taken in
the analysis and comprehension of emergent OHS risks before it will be late. It is
preferable to have this thought, in the meantime, of the first steps and later during
the innovation process progression.
The transition to the manufacture of the future is a long and demanding process.
Training and recruitment need to be adapted with the creation of more cyber jobs
than traditional jobs. Understanding these needs will greatly facilitate the transition
and operation of smart manufacturing (Kusiak 2018). In terms of occupational
health and safety, the change of paradigms will result in the emergence of new
categories of risks which can affect the health and safety of workers, and which have
not necessarily been taken into consideration at the time of design or installation
of new technological elements integrating traditional production systems or those
newly implemented (Khalid et al. 2017; Bragança et al. 2019; Kohler and Weisz
2016; Badri et al. 2018).
The resistance to change can greatly harm the fluidity and proper functioning of
any enterprise involved in an innovation process through industry 4.0. Accidents
and mental health issues can also result for a bad management of change. To
successfully negotiate this change, it is important to put in place practices that
will help employees to accept it and even commit to it (Iverson 2010), among
these practices, good listening to fears related to change. This allows effort to be
put where it is needed to address these concerns. It is also important to support
the implementation of changes related to the integration of new technologies and
emergent manufacturing techniques throughout the process. Good support will
facilitate acceptance at the employee level and ensure that a good percentage of
change is successful (Davidson 2009).
The concept of learning factory is a new concept used since a little over a decade
in many countries in the world, in academic as in manufacturing environment.
It consists of a revolutionary training and qualification programs indented to
employees or students in special facilities prepared for this purpose. These facilities
may be used as a trial environment to test new technologies or processes integration
and simulate many scenarios before the official implementation or integration
(Schallock et al. 2018). Adapted for industry 4.0, this concept can be used as a
platform to test prevention measures, occupational accidents risk scenarios, and
response plans in case of any OHS event. In addition to the main role of learning
skills and knowledge concerning the manufacturing digitalization (Zarte et al.
2019). A dedicated platform has to be set up, taking into consideration all the
priorities and needed skills to guarantee a safe transition through industry 4.0
(Sackey et al. 2020).
New industrial ways may be unhealthy for workers and managers. They can be
a source of supplementary stress and a fear of missing out perception. This can
be even a cause of occupational accidents. A special care must be taken when
dealing with new technologies and advancements during the adoption of the industry
4.0 turns. Indeed, emergent threats are moving the situation almost under control,
even if big work is still needed, to a situation which risks being out of control.
Many achievements in prevention may be endangered with the rise of new types
of OHS risks linked to the growing integration of up-and-coming technological

advancement in the workplace of SME and big enterprises. A multilevel risk
management plan is one of the options that have managers to enable a real-time
reaction as the risks change. Another important point is to include risk management
in the planning strategy and even in small-level planning (Jong-Wan et al. 2017).
Managers can also opt for more flexible solutions that can ensure a response, at
least in part, in unforeseen situations (Zuscovitch 1983).
To improve cyber security in enterprises, one of the most effective practices will
be training. Indeed, it is very important to properly train employees on the various
errors and spontaneous actions that can be done without paying attention and which
can put the safety of the organization or their own safety at stake. It is also important
to train them on the seriousness of the consequences that may result. This training
must be ongoing to keep employees up to date as this is an area subject to constant
change. It is important to be creative and strategic to be able to convey the message
clearly enough to employees (Kebbel-Wyen 2016). An informational display system
for monitoring can be set up through posters or other visual display tools indicating
safety instructions (Kwon and Johnson 2014). Reminders and indications can be
strategically installed wherever the risk arises and through fairly clear messages
(with photos and clear and attractive writing), in order to maximize viewing and
vigilance of the employees.
Commitment has been shown to play a very important role in the success of
an organization in general (Hon and Grunig 1999). Likewise, it can facilitate the
mission of strengthening the security of information systems within the enterprise.
Thus, engaged employees are employees who take information system security
seriously and work hard to ensure success, at all levels, in their organization (Spears
and Barki 2010). Steps can be taken to increase employees’ sense of belonging
and engagement, among these measures is internal communication. Indeed, internal
communication is one of the ways used to build a bond of trust, which is an
important element in engagement. Communication that must be done on the basis
of honesty and transparency, where face-to-face contact is privileged (Togna 2014).
On the other hand, leadership practices like inspiring a shared vision, leading by
example or encouraging, are practices that have been shown to be effective when
used by leaders to increase the engagement of their subordinates (Metscher et al.
2011).
The management of the collaborative human-machine environment in the case of
using cobots or AGV must be considered very seriously even before the integration
of equipment. Thus, the high complexity level and the uncertainty can make the
work of OHS managers hard. Choosing the right metrics to measure security
distance and movement zones for human and robot, modulating velocity and a
good control strategy are some proposed solutions to improve safety in this kind
of working environment (Zanchettin et al. 2016). On the other hand, cyberattack
scenarios and the impact that can result from every scenario, especially on human
safety, have to be prepared, discussed, and analyzed (Clark et al. 2017). Prevention
is the best way to improve safety and that’s why preparing a good risk management
plan is crucial to prepare countermeasures for any unforeseen event affecting safety
of human employees.
Roadmaps as well as game plans that will be followed by companies wishing
to switch to Industry 4.0 must consider much more than purely technical and
technological aspects. Human, psychosocial, and economic aspects must be taken
into consideration to avoid unintended consequences on workers and managers. A
multidisciplinary study of the best techniques and efficient means for a progressive
adaptation of the human workforce to the new reality and to the existence of
intelligent and autonomous equipment in the workplace (Badri et al. 2018).
Jocelyn et al. (2017) presented a strategy for managing emerging risks related
to collaborative robotics, which consists of anticipating these risks and taking these
precautionary measures:
• Cognitive ergonomics to secure movements in the work area.

• Development of the kinetics of the moving parts of the robot in order to integrate
intrinsic safety to the operator against static collisions.
• Analysis of OSH risks at the robot design stage.
• Bio-mechanical calculations of the pain threshold and of the maximum speeds,
forces, and pressures during collusions before the design of the workstations.
• Improved presence detection sensors.
• More reliability of the safety-related control parts.
The transition to Industry 4.0 must be put in its economic, social, and cultural
context. Society 5.0, a concept that was born in Japan in 2016, designates the
current and especially future intelligence society in which physical and cyber spaces
intersect. In this society, several sectors are changing with the integration of artificial
intelligence and innovation (Salgues 2018).
A passage without precautions toward the manufacture of the future can have
harmful consequences. Indeed, the sudden transformation of industry with the
growing use of the Internet of Things can be costly in terms of security, if
manufacturers do not sufficiently strengthen the culture of security in the daily life
of their employees, especially since cyberattackers have gigantic financial resources
and very sophisticated material resources. Manufacturing enterprises must end the
culture of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” It is important to revolutionize the culture
of safety, by offering more training, better adherence to best practices and industry
standards and more openness, transparency, and a high level of collaboration
(Mohamed 2018).
Limitations of This Work
The analysis and the results presented and discussed in this work are done with a
specific background. Advantages and challenges of OHS in the industry 4.0 era are
examined from an occupational risk management system and a human perspective
only. OHS regulatory, legislative, and economic perspectives will be examined in

future contributions.
Technologies and computer science advancements were not considered from
technical and technological side, but as a cause of other health and safety issues.
Special Pandemic Mention
The world is going through a historical event right now. We have to go back to the
year 1918 to relive a similar event, when the Spanish flu claimed the lives of millions
of people (between 50 and 100 million according to estimates) (Taubenberger and
Morens 2006). Several repercussions on the economy are often expected during and
after such events. The industrial sector is one of the sectors that will be affected
by the COVID-19 pandemic (the disease caused by the Corona virus discovered
in China at the end of 2019). Indeed, currently, several methods and techniques
of manufacturing and manufacturing management are starting to be called into
question, methods that have proven good performance and several advantages in
productivity and quality, such as just-in-time production, global supply chains, and
overseas subcontracting. In general, several questions arise regarding the capacity
of the modern world to cope with a pandemic of this magnitude.
In the industrial sector, health and safety aspects represent a grandiose challenge
in this type of situation. Several sectors considered necessary (such as the food
industry, the pharmaceutical industry, or that of medical equipment) must continue
to operate at the same rate, if not at a higher rate, to ensure the supply of
people, companies, and hospitals. On the other hand, the workers of the companies
concerned must remain healthy and not be contaminated. This is the only way
to keep the business running. Contamination of a single worker can have serious
consequences for the entire business, including closure. The most worrying subject
in these kinds of circumstances is, without a doubt, that of prevention.
Since the first characteristic of a pandemic is rapid contagion, the first concern
will therefore be to limit the contagion and to ensure the safety of people.
This is done by following several recommendations made by the World Health
Organization (WHO), such as respecting the rules of hygiene or social distancing. In
industry, prevention, being a basic pillar of the management of occupational health
and safety (OHS), continues to remain important. It is even more urgent than ever
to consider the aspect of workplace health in all industrial activities.
With the changes affecting industries with the advent of Industry 4.0, the
management of OSH was about to change. The integration of new technologies has
several advantages, even if precautions must be taken and changes in regulations and
risk management are required (Badri et al. 2018). These technologies allow, among
other things, to minimize dependence on humans in several tasks and to have the
possibility of remote control (Mohamed 2018).
In these circumstances, one question arises: can Industry 4.0 present solutions to
the problems of OSH in the era of the pandemic?
Conclusion
The rise of the new information and communication technologies (NTIC) in the
several last decades has made a revolution in many activities and sectors from the
everyday routine to the highest technological sector. The main reason for that is that
technologies are making things faster, simpler, and effortful. Some other tasks are
simply being possible thanks to the usefulness of new technological advancements.
Internet, cloud computing, robots and cobots, artificial intelligence, and many other
technologies are changing our lives every day.
Industrial world, like other many sectors, is also seeing the impact of this
tendency by the continuous integration of new technologies is manufacturing. By the
year 2011, this change affecting manufacturing reality was started to be considered
as the beginning of a new industrial era which was named industry 4.0 to refer to
a fourth industrial revolution. A new era distinguished by connectivity, autonomy,
and smartness. Many tasks were delegated to robots instead of humans. Machines
are connected to each other and to the computer and we are now speaking about
the Internet of Everything. Data is bigger and more available and there is no need
to worry about storage thanks to big data and cloud computing. Controlling many
activities are now possible from the comfort of the divan using Internet. Additive
manufacturing and 3D printing is changing efficiency notion and making things
easier and costless.
An analysis of the new physical risks associated with the integration of new
technologies in the manufacturing environment as part of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution has become imminent. Risks due, above all, to sharing the workspace
with intelligent machines that interact and have the possibility of being autonomous
and of moving around. This can increase the danger of collision and confusion.
An analysis which will lead to a better appreciation of emerging risks, which will
help managers and OHS specialists to prepare well for the new industrial reality
and not lose the knowledge gained in prevention. In addition, a fairly complete
understanding of the changes affecting the manufacturing environment is more than
necessary to maintain a high level of prevention. Indeed, the integration of new
technologies also has a psychosocial and mental effect on workers, which must be
taken into consideration in a process of transition toward what can be called the
factory of the future. A readjustment of training activities is very important for a
smooth transition without damages.
In the other hand, there are challenges and concerns about the too fast change
of industrial context in the last few years. Technical implementation challenges,
financial challenges, regimentation challenges, and cyber security challenges are
some of the principal inquires which were identified by recent research studying a
perfect and safe transition to industry 4.0. Several recommendations were given to
ensure this transition. Occupational health and safety management are undergoing
some effects of the change of the workplaces in the new manufacturing era. To keep
a good control on prevention, as the main pillar of a successful OHS management,
it is important to understand the whole picture and the state of the art of the
industry 4.0 transitions on different aspects of OHS management in manufacturing
plants. And that is the main goal of this study. One of the most important
conclusions is that OHS cannot be dismissed from any industry 4.0 roadmaps. Thus,
OHS 4.0 should be considered as one of the most important components of any
transition plan; otherwise it will be too late to think about it when changes take
place.
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Important Field-Related Web Sites

https://osha.europa.eu/
https://ww1.issa.int/fr
https://www.ilo.org/global/lang%2D%2Den/index.htm
https://www.inshpo.org/
https://www.irsst.qc.ca/
https://www.iso.org/
https://www.ohscanada.com/
https://www.ohsglobal.ca/
https://www.osha.gov/
https://www.pmi.org/
https://www.worksafebc.com/
Open-Source Framework Based on
LoRaWAN IoT Technology for Building 12
Monitoring and Its Integration into
BIM Models
A. Martín-Garín, J. A. Millán-García, R. J. Hernández-Minguillón,

M. M. Prieto, N. Alilat, and A. Baïri
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Materials and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Test Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Description of the Developed Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
End User Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Validation of the Gateway Performance and Monitored Values Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
A. Martín-Garín () · J. A. Millán-García

ENEDI Research Group, Department of Thermal Engineering, Faculty of Engineering of
Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
e-mail: alexander.martin@ehu.eus; j.millan@ehu.eus
R. J. Hernández-Minguillón
CAVIAR Research Group, Department of Architecture, Higher Technical School of Architecture,
University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
e-mail: rufinojavier.hernandez@ehu.eus
M. M. Prieto
Energy Department, Campus de Viesques, University of Oviedo, Gijón, Spain
e-mail: manuelap@uniovi.es
N. Alilat · A. Baïri
Département Génie Thermique et Énergie (GTE), Université de Paris, Laboratoire Thermique
Interfaces Environnement (LTIE), Ville d’Avray, France
e-mail: nalilat@parisnanterre.fr; abairi@parisnanterre.fr
258 A. Martín-Garín et al.
Abstract
Construction industry faces with a relevant challenge to improve its productivity,

and, in this context, new technologies can help overcome this gap. Never-
theless, it is still considered one of the least digitized sectors. Furthermore,
citizen empowerment is becoming increasingly relevant in several areas such
as energy, environment, agriculture, healthcare, and many others. Achieving
these objectives is often a complex task since there are multiple obstacles and
defiances such as high acquisition costs, technological barriers, or the lack of
know-how transfer. Nevertheless, considering these barriers as opportunities,
open-source alternatives are within reach of the society and with it the possibility
to provide solutions to all kinds of projects and innovations. In this context,
this research aims to develop a completely open-source framework for building
monitoring, thus allowing access to real data and providing a decision-making
support. During the research, several technologies have been employed, ranging
from Arduino-based development boards for the implementation of wireless
monitoring devices to single-board computers (SBC) such as Raspberry Pi as
core of the deployed IoT LoRaWAN gateway or the Orange Pi for the server. In
this last SBC, and in order to manage the gathered data, the integration of the
software stack based on Node-RED, the time series database (TSDB) InfluxDB
and Grafana as visualization dashboard was proposed. For the verification of
the system reliability, it has been applied in a case study, and the results show
its correct performance. Taking advantage of the data generated, these were
integrated into the BIM model of the case study given the great importance of
this methodology in the AEC sector. Finally, it is worth mentioning the proposed
system becomes a completely open-source solution, thus offering a real and cost-
affordable alternative for its scalability and mass deployment for building sector
projects and many other scenarios.
Keywords
BIM · Internet of things · LoRaWAN · Construction 4.0 · Open-source

platforms
Abbreviations
ADC Analog-to-digital converter
AEC Architecture, engineering, and construction
BIM Building information modeling
BOM Bill of materials
CLI Command-line interface
GPIO General-purpose input/output
IoT Internet of things
LPWAN Low-power wide-area network
O&M Operations and maintenance
OSP Open-source platforms
PLA Polylactic acid
12 Open-Source Framework Based on LoRaWAN IoT Technology for. . . 259
PoE Power over Ethernet

RPAS Remotely piloted aircraft system
RTD Real-time data
SBC Single-board computer
SSH Secure shell
TSDB Times series database
TTN The Things Network
Highlights
1. Development of a cost-effective and open-source monitoring framework applied
in building industry
2. Deployment of an open source and free access IoT network in the studied area
3. Development of the IoT area applied for building sector
4. Integration of IoT systems into BIM environments
Introduction
The construction industry is among the largest in the world, with about $10 trillion
spent each year on goods and services related to this sector (Barbosa et al. 2017).
Despite this, the productivity of this sector is still far from that of other areas
that have improved significantly. While in the last two decades the annual growth
of labor productivity in the construction sector has been around 1%, the world
economy reached the value of 2.8% and the manufacturing industry 3.6%. All this
shows clear evidence that the AEC sector is facing an important challenge that must
be overcome in order to solve the current needs of society.
According to the report of McKinsey (Barbosa et al. 2017), seven specific actions
could increase the productivity of the sector by 50–60%, and among them, the
promotion of technology and innovation is the one that will have the greatest impact.
However, construction sector is still considered to be one of the least advanced
compared with other sectors (Manyika et al. 2015). In this sense, the AEC sector
is currently undergoing a technological transformation where multiple digital tools
begin to dominate the sector’s panorama and are being applied to the three phases
of the sector’s value chain: design, construction, and O&M. It could be said that
BIM is presented as the backbone tool of this digital transformation process and not
only because it is the architectural design alternative successor to traditional CAD
but also because it is capable of integrating multiple functions that are required in
work processes of construction companies. This means not only staying in simple
3D modeling but also taking advantage of other dimensions from 4D to 7D for
planning/scheduling applications, cost management, sustainability analysis, and
O&M (Eastman et al. 2008).
Simultaneously, other digital technologies are present in the AEC sector although
their use is more specific and not as general as BIM could be. In the area of
architectural surveys, tools such as 3D laser scanners, RPAS, and photogrammetry
are being applied with great success (Xiong et al. 2013; Freimuth and König 2018;
Jiang et al. 2020). These technologies make it possible to obtain high-quality point
clouds of buildings with millimeter precision, a goal that is practically unattainable

using traditional techniques. In addition, these point clouds offer the advantage of
being subsequently integrated into BIM software for high-precision modeling and
with their corresponding derived advantages.
Sensors also have an important role in the construction industry and offer the
advantage that they are now available at a small fraction of the cost compared to
just a few years. This sector is also in a buoyant stage as it offers potential for
exploitation, thanks to its integration together with IoT technology. In recent years,
there has been enormous growth in this sector, being the number of devices con-
nected to the Internet already greater than the number of people in the world (Dave
2011; Says 2015). And this result was expected taking into account the multiple
applications that can be found in different areas such as agriculture, automotion and
mobility, buildings and cities, energy, healthcare, or safety management (Ojha et al.
2015; Mesas-Carrascosa et al. 2015; Rathore et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2019).
Regarding the IoT applied to the smart cities and buildings, multiple uses can be
found. Among them, its application for monitoring needs of energy aspects or indoor
air quality stands out due to its direct relationship with the overall health, comfort,
and the well-being of building occupants (Saini et al. 2020; Lucchi 2020; Johnston
et al. 2019). The advantages that IoT technology offers to the building sector are
evident, thanks to its ability to monitor different parameters in real time that were
not possible until recently. However, it is also important to properly analyze and
select from the plethora of the existing IoT communication protocols to adjust to
the specific needs of each project. The range, data rate, the energy consumption,
and the price itself are relevant aspects that must be considered.
On the other hand, innovative technology also has a clear disadvantage as many
brilliant ideas or projects can be cut short due to lack of funding. The high cost of
cutting-edge equipment is a major barrier faced by many of the scientific research.
However, in recent years, alternatives have emerged, thus allowing to face this
situation through open-source solutions that are applied in multiple areas: industry,
academia, citizenship, and administration. It is evident that in the forthcoming years,
these trends of open software and hardware will acquire increasingly relevance, and
therefore the commitment to these technologies must be clear.
As Pearce et al. argued (Pearce 2012, 2014; Oberloier and Pearce 2018), open-
source alternatives could reduce general costs of scientific hardware by 90–99% if
compared to proprietary technology. This area is experiencing rapid growth, and
therefore a series of academic initiatives related to this topic are being developed,
such as the congress Gathering for Open Science Hardware (Dosemagen et al. 2017)
and peer-reviewed international publications such as Journal of Open Hardware
and HardwareX. More specifically, in the building sector, research is also developed
based mainly on Arduino and Raspberry for environmental data monitoring, control
of energy systems, or monitoring and quality control of construction processes
(Lucchi et al. 2019; Ali et al. 2016, 2019; Karami et al. 2018; Mesas-Carrascosa
et al. 2016; Barroca et al. 2013; Claros-Marfil et al. 2016). In parallel, public
strategies such as OSPP (Mendez et al. 2020) are also being developed for the
development of open-science policy and in order to improve competitiveness at a
global level. All this has resulted in new emerging areas where strategies for citizen
empowerment are promoted through collaborative platforms such as the Collective
Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation (CAPSSI 2020). As a
result, within CAPSSI, several projects have been developed such as open platforms
for air pollution monitoring (hackAIR 2020) or initiatives for engaging citizens in
science and change through own sensor fabrication (MakingSense 2020).
This situation where several technologies and digital platforms coexist makes
it necessary to create frameworks with high adaptability in order to offer specific
solutions to particular needs. Also the high costs of proprietary technology make
it necessary to search for alternatives based on open-source technology. This will
allow the implementation of solutions as open as possible and overcome several
challenges such as the development of low-cost equipment, systems scalability,
and their mass deployment ability. It has also been observed that the research area
related to the combined IoT and BIM technologies is still in nascent stages. While
the presence of IoT in the building environment is growing rapidly, integrating it
with BIM in a systematic way through open standards and systems requires further
research and pilot testing.
Previous works of the authors (Martín-Garín et al. 2018a, b, 2020) in this area
have been focused on the development of monitoring systems based on Wi-Fi and
Sigfox IoT protocols, and the obtained results offered trustworthy performance
(Fig. 1). The requirements of cost-affordable devices, low energy consumption, and
monitoring system based on open source were achieved. However, the developed
solutions did not offer the entire ownership of the monitoring system as it depended
at some point on a free use but proprietary service. In the case of Sigfox, it is
necessary to use its IoT infrastructure which is only free for noncommercial pur-
poses. On the other hand, at the data storage hosting level, the Google Spreadsheet
cloud service was certain limitations and is not optimized for large volumes of
data. Furthermore, this situation could lead to some uncertainty in the possible
change in the policy conditions of services and therefore to a certain dependency
of the service. Finally, the integration of generated data into BIM methodology
was not performed and thus also becomes a gap to overcome. Therefore, this
chapter attempts to address these gaps through the implementation of alternative
technologies that allow to fulfill the required objectives.
Fig. 1 Latest developments on the topic by members of the research group

Additionally, one of the motivations of the present research is also to support

citizen empowering through the development of an open-source-based solution in
order to be able to scale the present research. Also, the lack of studies in the area
of open data and open communication with the integration of BIM and IoT stated
by Bhargav Dave et al. (2018) is another reason for the necessity of more research
in this area. In addition, as can be seen throughout the chapter, the present research
also has as output the deployment of a completely free IoT infrastructure in the area
for citizen use.
Materials and Methods
In order to respond to the current challenges in the area of construction digitization

and the implementation of innovative technologies, it is necessary to present a
consistent method to solve this gap. The introduction section has stated how new
approaches focused on the IoT together with BIM can build new scenarios for the
development of solutions capable to boost the construction sector. Besides, it has
been shown how OSP platforms have become an alternative tool to overcome current
challenges.
This section describes the procedure followed to develop the proposed frame-
work in the present research. For this, the design criteria that have been taken
into account are presented, and the developed architecture of the system is also
explained, focusing on each of the elements used. In general, the entire workflow
of the present research is exposed, including the case study where the proposed
system is going to be tested to verify its correct performance. Later the results and
discussion sections are going to be presented, and finally the conclusions and future
research directions are going to be exposed.
Test Methodology
One of the first steps has been to establish a series of criteria, thus allowing
the development of the roadmap for the current research. With this aim, the
requirements imposed for the development of the present framework are stated:
1. Be based on open-source hardware and software platforms

2. Cost-affordable system
3. Wireless transmission of measurement nodes
4. Have the ownership of the generated data
5. Offer an easy-to-use solution for the end user for the monitored data querying
6. Integration with BIM Software
Figure 2 summarizes the developed methodology to meet the previous require-

ments, and with this objective, a series of technologies have been employed. One
of the main cores has been the use of Arduino ecosystem as a platform for the
Fig. 2 Flowchart of the

research methodology applied
development of monitoring devices due to the wide freedom it offers in this kind of
projects. In addition, thanks to the wide variety of development boards available, it
can be adjusted according to the needs of each project. In this case, the requirements
were to offer the ability for the development of IoT monitoring devices.
Related to this, for the wireless communication of the measurement nodes,
the system was developed under the IoT LoRaWAN protocol. LoRaWAN is a
LPWAN specifically focused for low energy consumption devices with long-range
communication needs and small data transmission volumes. This protocol requires a
gateway for the creation of a private or public network using LoRaWAN to receive
nodes data and then send this data to the server. Thanks to this, the installation
of the gateway provides the property of the network unlike what happens in other
IoT protocols such as Sigfox. In other words, both are IoT LPWAN protocols, but
their main difference lies in the method of deploying the network infrastructure.
Thus, LoRaWAN becomes the IoT communication protocol that better adjusts to
the requirements of this research.
Through this research, and with the aforementioned objective of offering solu-
tions for citizen empowerment, it has been decided to participate in The Things
Network (TTN) (Giezeman 2015) community for the implementation of a public
IoT network. TTN is an open source and free initiative for enabling devices’
connectivity through the creation of a global crowdsourced IoT LoRaWAN network.
At the moment, the community is comprised of more than 120,805 members and
15,418 gateways around the world, being the most trending countries Switzerland,
Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Once data is generated, the objective of the next phase is to collect, store, and
offer the possibility to query the gathered data. TTN provides a network server, and
it also serves to gather temporally the data. However, this data is not permanently
stored. This situation requires the implementation of a tool able to manage all this
information and store all the data; due to this, it was opted to use a SBC. It was
not considered the use of a PC in order to fulfill the objective of developing a low-
cost solution and being a system as compact as possible. As a consequence, the
open-source Orange Pi platform was employed with Armbian OS. This allowed to
use the software stack Node-RED, InfluxDB, and Grafana for the required needs
of collecting, storing, and displaying data, which will be detailed in the following
subsections detailed.
Finally, the implementation of data into BIM methodology would allow to close
the cycle of the framework proposed in this research. Nowadays, Autodesk Revit
(Waterhouse et al. 2019; Waterhouse and Bain 2020) is considered to be one of the
most widely used BIM software in the AEC industry. Due to this, this software was
selected for the integration of the data. Furthermore, Revit has the open-source tool
Dynamo, a visual scripting program environment that allows the development of
customized tools for a wide variety of applications that are not directly accessible
from the BIM software. Many of the uses of this plug-in are for the creation of
specific scripts for the automation of repeated tasks or for the development of
computational designs. Therefore, it was decided to use it for the development of a
specific tool to integrate the monitored data of the IoT devices into the BIM model.
Description of the Developed Framework
The definition of an IoT architecture is not usually an easy task since there is not
a unique consensus (Sethi and Sarangi 2017), and it can be described following
the different layer models (Wu et al. 2010; Khan et al. 2012; Choudhary and Jain
2017). Therefore, in order to present a simplified description, it was considered
to define the elements of the developed IoT architecture according to the three-
layer model, which is constituted of the physical or perception layer, the network or
transmission layer, and the application layer. Figure 3 shows the developed general
IoT architecture for the present research:
Regarding the physical or perception layer of the system, this is responsible for
gathering the information and actuate with the real environment through different
kinds of sensors, actuators, and necessary hardware. The main component of this
layer in the present research has been the monitoring motes. For their design, it
was selected the LoRa32u4 II v1.3 development board of BSFrance company as the
Fig. 3 Developed IoT architecture for building monitoring

core of the system. This board allows the creation of projects under the Arduino
ecosystem, thus allowing to meet the criteria of being an open-source solution, both
at the software and hardware level. The board is based on the Atmel ATmega32u4
AVR microcontroller with 32 KB of flash memory, and it has 20 GPIO, 10 analog
inputs with 10 bit of resolution, and 7 PWM pins. It can be powered up with
the micro-USB port or through a built-in JST-PH connector with a 3.7 V battery.
Another notable advantage offered by this development board is that it integrates the
SX127X module, thus allowing the communication through the LoRa IoT protocol
with a configurable frequency band of 868–915 MHz.
On the other hand, in order to generate data with the node developed, it is required
to implement a sensor. For this, and in order to probe the correct performance, it was
decided to sensorize hygrothermal parameters being also possible to implement any
other type of sensor. The proposed sensor is the widely used DHT22 of Aosong
company. This is a basic and low-cost digital sensor composed by a thermistor for
temperature measurement and a capacitive sensor for the relative humidity. The
measurement ranges are between −40 ◦ C and 80 ◦ C for the temperature with an
accuracy of ±0.5 ◦ C. Regarding to the relative humidity, the measurement range
is between 0% and 100% with a typical accuracy of ±2%. The resolution of both
measurements is 0.1 ◦ C and 0.1%, respectively. The communication protocol of
this sensor is based on one wire, and its operating voltage is between 3.3 and 5.5 V
(Fig. 4).
With respect to the network layer, this is the middleman element responsible for
connecting and transferring the data generated by the IoT devices with the final
Fig. 4 BSFrance LoRa32u4 II development board for the monitoring devices with DHT22 sensor
and LiPo battery
Fig. 5 RAK7244 LoRaWAN gateway based on the Raspberry Pi 4
use. To solve this part of the infrastructure, it was implemented a gateway able to
offer wireless connection to the monitoring nodes through the LoRaWAN protocol.
It was decided to install the eight-channel RAK7244 gateway from RAKwireless
Technology company. It uses the Raspberry Pi 4 with Raspbian-based firmware as
the main core for the gateway which is integrated with the RAK2245 Pi HAT LoRa
concentrator module. In order to improve the coverage of the gateway, it has been
implemented with an omnidirectional 3dBi fiberglass antenna of 360 mm of length.
Finally, for outdoor installation, the gateway was introduced into a water-resistant
IP65 ABS box, with cord grip to go through the PoE network cable and a pressure
equalizer plug. The installation of the gateway was carried out on the rooftop of
the Faculty of Engineering of Gipuzkoa (Donostia) to offer a more direct line of
sight and thus improve the range and signal (Fig. 5). It was necessary to install the
network connectivity in the gateway location through an Ethernet cable, which also
served to power supply the gateway using a PoE splitter.
The application layer is the last element of the developed IoT architecture in the
present research. This is the upper layer and is responsible for the connection with
the end user through an application that depicts the collected data. With that aim, it
was decided to implement the SBC Orange Pi model PC Plus under the OS Armbian
which will work as a server of the system (Fig. 6).
As the Raspberry boards, Orange Pi is an open-source SBC offering great
flexibility for project development and thus is able to meet with the requirements set
for the framework of this research. The main core of the board is the SoC Allwinner
H3 (ARM Cortex-A7 Quad-Core); it has also 1 Gb of DDR3 SDRAM and up to
32 Gb TF card slot where is flashed the Armbian image. With reduced dimensions of
85 mm × 55 mm, the SBC also features several inputs and outputs such as a HDMI
for video and audio output, one 3.5 mm jack audio output, and a GPIO interface
with 40 pins. For communication specifications, the device has an onboard 10/100
Ethernet RJ45 port, a Wi-Fi module, an IR receiver, and three USB 2.0 ports, one of
which is USB OTG port.
Fig. 6 Deployed Orange Pi SBC on the case study
As previously mentioned, the idea of the monitoring system is to develop an

independent platform with its own core, and due to this it was implemented the
SBC Orange Pi PC Plus. First of all, the Armbian OS was installed, specifically
the Armbian buster version 5.4.20, via microSD memory. The SBC was connected
via Ethernet cable to the router to provide Internet connection and allow also
its connection via SSH to install and configure the software stack Node-RED,
InfluxDB, and Grafana through the command-line interface (CLI).
InfluxDB (InfluxDB 2020) is an open-source time series database (TSDB). It is
designed to handle large volumes of time-stamped data generated by IoT devices.
Therefore, this type of database fits to the requirements of the building monitoring
sector where the generation of time-stamped data for real-time monitoring and data
querying is of great relevance. Other features of InfluxDB are that is not necessary
to define schemas up front. The database recognizes the possible changes on the
schema preferences over time. Once InfluxDB was installed in the SBC, it was
created a database though the CLI and SSH and in this way the next phase was
given way with Node-RED.
Node-RED is an open-source and flow-based visual programming tool for wiring
together hardware devices, APIs, and online services (Node-RED 2020). The
service can run locally, in the cloud or on a low-cost device such as Raspberry
Pi or Orange Pi. The workflow is based on a web browser interface that allows the
Fig. 7 Node-RED script for the connection between TTN server and InfluxDB database
wiring of nodes with different functionalities and which are available in the palette.
To proceed with that, it is necessary to use the IP address of the SBC and add the
specific port generated by Node-RED, that is, the port 1880. In this research, Node-
RED was implemented in order to manage and handle received data by the IoT
devices. Figure 7 shows the overall flow developed in Node-RED to obtain the data
from TTN server and its subsequent submission to the previously created InfluxDB
database. In order to collect the data from the sensors, a node was used that connects
to a MQTT broker and allows the subscription to the messages of the specified topic.
For that, it was defined the TTN server with the Application ID and access key.
Finally, it is added an output node to route the message to the created database in
InfluxDB. For that, it is necessary to add the default port 8086 that runs the HTTP
service of InfluxDB and the name of the created database.
Regarding the data query and visualization, it was developed a dashboard through
Grafana (Grafana Labs 2020). It is an open-source web-based interface, which
supports multiple types of databases including InfluxDB. Grafana offers a wide
variety of chart types and allows data queries to be performed using a specified
time range. It also has a large repository of plug-ins created by the community, and it
allows to add new functionalities. Among its features, it also includes the possibility
of adding alerting services with several channels such as email, telegram, Hangouts,
or Slack. As in Node-RED, it is necessary to identify the port 8086 of InfluxDB and
the name of the created database in order to connect both services.
Finally, for the reliability verification of the developed monitoring system, it was
decided to probe its performance in a case study. With that aim, an apartment of a
residential block was selected. This building was built in 1967 and is located in the
city of Donostia-San Sebastian (northern Spain). The apartment has a surface area
Fig. 8 BIM model of the case study and distribution of monitoring devices
of 79 m2 and is west facing, and it is made up of an entrance hall, a living room, a

kitchen, a bathroom, and three bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms and the living room
are exterior spaces, whereas one of the rooms and the kitchen are indoor spaces
connected to the buildings’ light well through windows, and finally the bathroom is
an indoor space without windows. In order to fulfill the aim of the present research,
this apartment was modeled in the BIM software Autodesk Revit to implement and
consult in real time the monitored data with the distributed IoT devices (Fig. 8).
In order to materialize this interconnection between IoT devices and the BIM
model, it was developed a Dynamo script (Fig. 9). The sketch is composed mainly
of two parts. The first one embraces the collection and filtering of data from the
database created in InfluxDB. For this, a web request is performed introducing
as a string the IP address of the SBC and the default port that runs the InfluxDB
HTTP service, that is, the port 8086. The second part is focused on the redirection
of the filtered data to the Revit “element,” where it is desired to include the data
for its visualization. For this filtering, initially, it is necessary to separate the values
sent by each node. Subsequently, within the data of each node, it is only desired to
represent the values of temperature and humidity, and therefore the data of the node
name, the node reference number, and the time value at which the data is obtained
are excluded. Finally, temperature and relative humidity values are separated and
implemented in the Instance Properties table of each Revit Room element. Thus,
the developed IoT architecture would be completely defined, from data collection
to its final application.
270
Fig. 9 Dynamo script for the connection between TSDB and BIM model
A. Martín-Garín et al.
Results and Discussion
End User Application
After the development of the monitoring infrastructure, its implementation was

carried out in the case study. In this section, the details of the monitoring system
per se as a result of the present research are going to be described.
Regarding the installation of the system, it must be the least invasive possible
for the user, and its ease of use must be taken into account. On the one hand,
three monitoring nodes were located according to the scheme already presented
in Fig. 8. The design of the nodes allows them to be located with great freedom
without affecting the user, since it does not have any wiring and does not require an
electrical supply due to the battery of each node. All the electronic components of
the sensors were placed inside a PLA material case (Fig. 10) manufactured through
the BCN3D Sigma printer to allow their quick installation.
One of the sensors was located outside to obtain weather data and was located so
that it had no direct incidence of solar radiation. The remaining nodes were placed
inside; thus, inner conditions of the apartment could be represented. One of them
was located in the living room; in addition to being a common use zone, it did not
have any type of external sun-shading system. Before carrying out the monitoring, it
could be estimated that the room could be in risk of overheating, and it was decided
to place one of the sensors in this location. On the other hand, another of the sensors
would be located in one of the exterior rooms indistinctly since both have sun-
shading from the setback of the facade and awning. Therefore, the location of these
Fig. 10 Developed IoT nodes for building monitoring

Fig. 11 Open-source dashboard implementation through a tablet and Grafana for final-user
empowerment, thus enabling informed decision-making
sensors would allow observing the difference in temperature of the zones with and
without solar protection.
In order to provide a practical solution to the final users, it was implemented a
tablet to visualize the created dashboard with Grafana (Fig. 11). Alternatively, this
information could be also consulted via a PC or a smartphone. This solution allows
to consult monitored historic and real-time data in a user-friendly way. As defined
in section “Description of the Developed Framework,” the design of the dashboard
offers a wide freedom for the configuration of the displayed graphics so they could
be easily modified according to the needs of the user. In this case, the following
graph types were included:
1. An overall scheme of the apartment based on a BIM model to display the last
values received by the sensors and indicating its location.
2. Combined line chart of outdoor temperature and relative humidity according to
the defined time range query.
3. Line charts for temperature and relative humidity in order to consult monitored
historic values of the indoor sensors according to the defined time range query.
4. Carpet plots for mean indoor temperature and relative humidity of indoor sensors
in order to create heat map-like charts and visualize in color buckets the daily and
hourly variations.
5. Scatter plot of indoor relative humidity versus simultaneous temperature in order
to visualize home hygrothermal conditions and offer a preventive basic tool for
moisture-associated risk assessment.
6. Scatter plot with indoor temperature versus simultaneous outdoor temperature. In
this case, air temperature sensors were used, but if operating temperature probes
are included, adaptive comfort graph could be plotted according to the model of
EN 15251 (CEN 2007).
The interconnection between IoT-generated data and the case study BIM model
has been an additional result of this research. The developed script with Dynamo
allowed to make possible this integration (Fig. 12). In this case, as configured, the
collected values are directly implemented into Room elements of Revit. For that, this
data is redirected to the new properties added in the Room Instance. Subsequently,
Fig. 12 Real-time data integrated into the BIM model
these values are also displayed in the Room tag of the plant view, thus allowing the
visualization of the temperature and relative humidity variations.
Hardly an equipment could be easily deployed if its costs were high; due to this,
this topic becomes relevant and is analyzed below. As S. Oberloier and J. M. Pearce
(2018) stated, it becomes also necessary to follow a formal design procedure to
allow other designers replicate the scientific equipment developed in open-source
scientific researches. One of the steps is to include the Bill of materials (BOM) of
the developed system in order to estimate the total cost of the project, and therefore
this is going to be the method to proceed with the analysis.
As detailed in Table 1, the implementation of the framework in this research has
had a cost of 632.06 A C. According to the research of Jáñez Moran et al. (2016), the
installation of ICT for monitoring purposes ranges from 300 to 1000 A C/dwelling.
Even considering that in this project the LPWAN IoT network has been deployed
through the gateway, which implies a large part of the total percentage of the cost,
the total cost of the infrastructure developed is very low. Furthermore, the BOM
includes the cost of a tablet as a panel for displaying the dashboard. This cost
could be omitted since such information could be viewed from any device such
as a smartphone or PC.
Validation of the Gateway Performance and Monitored Values

Analysis
This section will describe the collected results with the monitoring system and the
analysis of the performance of the installed gateway, allowing the validation of
its correct operation. Figure 13 details the collected values during the monitoring
Table 1 Bill of materials (BOM) of the open-source IoT building monitoring framework
Type Item Units Cost (A
C) Purpose
Hardware RAK7244C 1 262.75 Main core of the LoRaWAN gateway
Hardware Fiber glass 1 24.83 High-performance antenna for outdoor
antenna applications
Hardware IP65 ABS 1 16.14 Water-resistance case for gateway outdoor
box installation
Hardware SMA-N 1 2.17 Antenna connection cable
cable
Hardware PoE splitter 1 6.86 Device to power and data supply for the
gateway from via Ethernet cable
Consumables PG9 cord 2 0.30 Cable glands for gateway water-resistance case
grip
Consumables Pressure 1 0.95 To equalize the gateway pressure and avoid
equalizer condensation risks
plug
Consumables Ethernet 1 6.61 Gateway Internet connectivity and power
cable Cat5 supply distribution
20 m
Hardware SBC Orange 1 25.47 Main core for the installed server
Pi PC Plus
Hardware Kit Orange 1 7.16 Power supply, protection box, and heat sinks
Pi
Hardware MicroSD 1 7.38 Memory for the Orange pi
Orange Pi
32gb
Hardware LG G Pad 1 200.00 Panel for Grafana dashboard visualization
10.1
Hardware BSFrance 3 35.13 Development board for Arduino ecosystem
LoRa32u4 and LoRaWAN IoT protocol
II v1.3
Hardware DHT22 3 6.93 Digital temperature and relative humidity
sensor sensor module
Hardware 3.7 V LiPo 3 7.38 Power supply for the sensors
batteries
900 mAh
Raw PLA 1 12.00 Material used to 3D print the monitoring boxes
material filament
∼300 gr
Consumables Diverse 1 10.00 DuPont cables, brass knurled embedded nuts,
small screws, on-off switches, and PPR U clamp
material
Total (A
C) 632.06
Fig. 13 Collected data with the IoT developed system during case study monitoring
period. These results have allowed to detect certain patterns of the thermal behavior
of the apartment and its use by the inhabitants. It also was included outdoor
monitored data in order to show the relationship between indoor and outdoor
conditions.
First of all, it is worth mentioning that the monitored period is from September
16 to 30, 2020. The reason is because this period corresponds to the transition from
summer to autumn and has allowed recording thermal behaviors of great interest.
Regarding the general results of the monitoring campaign, it can be classified into
two parts.
In the first part, there were typical summer outdoor thermal conditions with
high temperatures until the 19th. During this period, it can be detected that the
hygrothermal conditions of the apartment were not too adequate according to
today’s comfort criteria. The results have shown that the apartment was vulnerable
to solar radiation and consequently suffers from certain overheating during the hours
of highest exposure. The users indicated that they always try to use awning solar
protection during the day for the rooms. Nevertheless, they also indicated that not
always the exterior roller shutters of the living room windows were used because
they appreciate the natural lighting during their daily use.
In the second part, starting on the 19th, the outside temperatures began to drop.
This resulted in the reduction of the internal overheating such an extent that as of
day 26 the internal temperatures were around 21 ◦ C. These results show once again
the thermal vulnerability of the analyzed dwelling to external variations, in this
case under cold conditions. The reason for this is due to the low degree of thermal
insulation of the envelope, a characteristic aspect of the analyzed building typology.
On the one hand, as expected, it is possible to detect the effect generated by
greater or lesser solar exposure throughout each day in the measured locations. This
variation is reflected in greater detail between 17:00 and 19:00. The west orientation
of the apartment makes the temperature higher at those hours, therefore. Overall,
node 1 shows higher temperatures compared with node 2. Indoor temperatures show
average values of 23.62 ± 2.10 ◦ C and 23.29 ± 2.27 ◦ C, respectively, while the
exterior was 19.36 ± 3.79 ◦ C. During the monitored period, these slight differences
in the indoor zones are produced in part due the effect of the solar shading.
Nevertheless, it can also been observed that this is not always the case and it is
due to two reasons. On the one hand, the users did not always use the awning; thus,
the temperature at both points was similar. And, on the other hand, the room was
also used as a study area. All the sensitive internal load produced by the occupation,
the computer equipment, and the non-LED lighting generated an increase in the
interior temperature, thus equalizing to the living-room temperature.
On the other hand, regarding the users’ behavior, it could be detected the
effect of the daily routines in the hygrothermal performance of the apartment. At
measurement point 2, as a result of the daily opening of the windows for ventilation
during the first hours of the mornings, the drastic drop in temperature and relative
humidity that is accumulated during the night can be observed. For example, taking
the data of the days 21 and 26, it can be predicted that the window has been kept
open because throughout the morning the temperature has been kept lower, and
therefore the relative humidity is higher compared to the living room.
As defined in previous sections, LoRaWAN is defined as a long-range IoT
communication network protocol. This was one of the reasons for the choice of
this protocol in the present research, which also allows to get a wide area coverage
for the monitoring devices. To ensure the proper performance of the gateway, it was
carried out the analysis of its coverage, and with that purpose the TTN Mapper
service was employed (Meijers 2015). This is a crowdsourced tool to map the
coverage of TTN network allowing online visualization of the aggregated data
through its website. The obtained coverage mapping is presented in Fig. 14. At
urban level (D), the reached range was about 1–3 km. The buildings and orography
of the city of Donostia-San Sebastián have a direct effect in the reached coverage
range. Furthermore, during the coverage mapping, it was also possible to analyze
the maximum coverage in ideal conditions through the light aircraft (B) with airline
route between Reus and Santander airports (A). In this case, the obtained range was
about 49 km (C). This is a clear evidence that the performance of this IoT protocol
increases if a clear line of sight between the gateway and the monitoring node is
encouraged.
Although not the aim of this chapter, an additional issue related with the gateway
was identified during the research. Some of the inspections carried out allowed to
detect the heat dissipation from the gateway. Furthermore, the fact to be installed on
Fig. 14 Range analysis of the implemented LoRaWAN gateway in the Faculty of Engineering
of Gipuzkoa (UPV/EHU): (a) Reus-Santander air route, (b) Diamond Aircraft DA-42 Twin Star
(ec-jzr) and LoRaWAN tracking node, (c) maximum range reached by light aircraft, (d) analyzed
urban range in Donostia-San Sebastián
the rooftop of the faculty leads to higher exposure to solar radiation. This aspect can
affect the performance and reliability of the system, and due to this it is important to
consider specific designs and solutions that could reduce the high temperatures that
occur in the device (Baïri et al. 2017a, b, 2019).
In order to estimate the thermal reliability of the system, some quick inspections
have been made. For the measurement of the gateway indoor air temperature, an
additional DHT22 sensor-based node was used, which was introduced inside the
ABS box. The measurement of the gateway heat sink surface temperature was
performed with the FLIR T640 thermal camera. The recorded values allowed to
detect air temperatures up to 42.80 ◦ C inside the gateway and surface temperatures
of the heat sink around 45 ◦ C (Fig. 15). During the monitored period, excessively
high temperatures did not occur, and therefore the system showed a proper behavior.
This issue requires a more detailed analysis with long-term monitoring to make a
rigorous conclusion. Nevertheless, it is a clear evidence that this situation could
carry a risk if operating temperature limits are exceeded, and therefore effective
alternatives are required to avoid this situation.
278
Fig. 15 Gateway temperature monitoring

A. Martín-Garín et al.
Conclusions
This research has focused on the development of a completely open-source frame-

work for building monitoring to provide an alternative solution to current challenges
in this area. Currently, a plethora of proprietary technology solutions coexist which
often leads to complex situations for the researchers, practitioners, and final users.
The high costs of equipment acquisition, the lack of interoperability between
devices, or the lack of full ownership of the generated data with the devices are some
of the barriers in building monitoring sector. Furthermore, as previously stated,
the progress in open-source-based equipment allows to develop cost-affordable
solutions, and therefore it would facilitate the deployment of this kind of systems
in many communities. As a result, the framework developed in this research
could provide a solution for the previously cited public policies related to citizen
empowerment and open science.
Building monitoring systems requires specific solutions, and the proposed frame-
work complies with it through the proposed innovative tools. During the research,
it has been implemented an IoT architecture based on the LPWAN LoRaWAN
protocol, and it was also used the Arduino and Armbian ecosystems. All this allowed
the development of specific solutions in the perception, network, and application
IoT architecture layers. The employed LPWAN IoT protocol has shown to fit the
requirements of building monitoring, where long-range communication ability and
low energy consumption of the devices are paramount.
Through the implementation of the developed framework for the case study
monitoring, it was also possible to show the correct performance of the system.
The selected software stack NodeRED, InfluxDB, and Grafana allowed to collect
the generated data with the monitoring nodes, store it in the TSDB-type database,
and display it in a created user-friendly dashboard panel. Furthermore, this panel can
be consulted from any device connected to the same network, such as a smartphone
or a tablet as implemented in the case study.
Regarding the monitored results, the deployed system allowed to detect the
vulnerability of the apartment to the thermal variations. It has been shown slight
overheating that occurs in the apartment during summer conditions. The apartment
also did not show comfort conditions in opposite conditions with low outside
temperatures. The inhabitants expressed their interest in the information displayed
by the monitoring system and also the nonintrusive solution because it did not bother
them in any way.
Furthermore, the integration of data between different environments is becoming
a more relevant issue. BIM is considered as one of the current paradigms in the
construction sector to streamline workflows. Therefore, developing solutions in this
area can be the keystone for data exchange in the era of the construction 4.0. Due
to this, during the research and taking advantage of the data generated and stored in
the TSDB database, these were integrated into the BIM model of the case study. The
developed script with the visual programing software Dynamo has proven to be a
powerful tool to connect the monitored data with the BIM model. Overall, Dynamo
has shown to become a great solution where automation of repetitive processes is
required, and it could be solved with the multiple available nodes in the software.
During the progress made in this research, concurrently some new research and
development topics have been detected that could be relevant for future works in
this area.
Energy consumption of the devices is one of the concerns in monitoring systems.
In this sense, energy harvesting is one the cutting-edge topics in this area. The use
of residual energy from various sources could be an alternative for powering this
kind of devices. Small sources of temperature, light, or vibrations can be captured
and stored by means of a previous transformation process through a power-control
circuitry. So, future developments could consider the use of this kind of solutions to
optimize the energy management of monitoring devices.
As aforementioned, continuously powered devices such as gateways could suffer
of overheating problems. This situation could be aggravated if solar radiation has
incidence on the device. In any case, high temperatures have relevant effect on the
reliability of the electronic devices, and therefore its control is of great importance.
The design of heat dissipation methods optimized for this kind of devices or the
implementation of solar radiation barriers could suppose a relevant reduction of the
temperatures that must be analyzed. Also, the monitoring of the system temperatures
with the implementation of alarms when a certain value is exceeded could help to
control the correct operation.
Finally, another additional concern in IoT area is the existing risk of creating
a huge amount of data due to the growth of the number of devices connected to
the Internet. This could lead to the creation of irrelevant data or fat data, making
it difficult to take advantage of collected information. This is where exploratory
data analysis (EDA) techniques could be applied in order to refine the data and
subsequently feed predictive models based on machine learning (ML) and deep
learning (DL) techniques. The construction sector has a large number of applications
where data processing is required, and that is why the fusion of construction and data
science knowledge areas will be a considerable advance for the upcoming years.
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the Department of Economic Development and
Infrastructures of the Basque Government (Spain) through the TDCON4.0 project “Tecnologías y
soluciones para la digitalización del sector de la construcción 4.0” ELKARTEK KK-2019/00075.
Additionally, we would like to thank to Mikel Alberdi Hernández from CIFP Bidasoa LHII for
the offered collaboration and technical support during this research. We would also like to thank
Hugo Kobylarski and Nils Lebreton from the LTIE-GTE of the Université Paris Nanterre for the
developed work during their stage in the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU. Finally, we
are also pleased to extend our gratitude to CESDA University Pilot Training Centre for making
possible to cover the gateway coverage mapping through the light aircraft “ec-jzr.”
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Metal Additive Manufacturing Technology
Applications in Defense Organizations 13
Panagiotis Stavropoulos
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Metal Additive Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Classification of Metal Additive Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Impact of Metal AM to the Life Cycle of a Defense Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Defense Organizations Supply Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Unique Features of the Supply Chain at Defense Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Critical Points of the Defense Supply Chain for AM Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
New Production Paradigms Enabled by AM Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Design Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
In-Field Additive Manufacturing Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Challenges for Integration of AM in a Production Line for Defense Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Process Certification Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Part Certification Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Operating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Framework for Integration of AM in Defense Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Application Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Conclusions and Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Abstract
As additive manufacturing (AM) continues to evolve into a common method of

producing parts for end use, a deeper understanding of this technology is needed
within industry and defense organizations, due to its capability of rapid, delo-
calized, and flexible manufacturing. The awareness of additive manufacturing
P. Stavropoulos ()
Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation (LMS), Department of Mechanical
Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
e-mail: pstavr@lms.mech.upatras.gr
286 P. Stavropoulos
and its potential impact on the organization’s efficiency and effectiveness is on

a rise within the defense organizations. It is therefore crucial for the engineers
and decision-makers to get acquainted with AM in order to learn the capabilities
of the technology and to gain confidence for its implementation within their
manufacturing process. Although a range of possible AM applications can
emerge in the future, one of the most important applications is AM within the
spare part supply chain. This chapter discusses both short time and future benefits
of AM in the perspective of defense organizations, based on a case studies of
spare parts supply chain and an in-field AM experiment of prototypes and custom
spare parts applications.
Keywords
Additive manufacturing · Metal AM · Defence
Introduction
According to the American Society for Testing and Material, additive manufacturing
(AM) is defined as “a process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model
data, usually layer upon layer” (ASTM 2019). It is capable of revolutionizing many
niche areas and it is now mature enough to become an applicable manufacturing
method for defense applications.
A critical asset of AM spare part manufacturing is the reduction of the overall
logistics chain and the need for storage facilities of spare parts as it provides
the ability to manufacture parts on demand at local mini factories, which can
subsequently increase the logistics flexibility. Additionally, a more significant aspect
of using AM is the ability to produce parts at the time the demand arises in-theatre or
at a forward operating base (FOB) close to the location of use, which can reduce the
overall lead time, as the parts do not have to be transported long distances and also
produce only the volume required (González and Álvarez 2018). This can drastically
reduce the downtime of a machine, system, or platform that requires the spare part
to operate and will improve the readiness and operability of the unit and its military
capability.
Compared to subtractive manufacturing technologies, freedom of design, reduc-
tion of mass, and processing of new materials are some additional assets of AM
that provide some supplementary benefits to the defense sector. As a result of these
assets, the investment in AM technologies, in order to introduce the development of
the required infrastructure and machinery and embed them on the military routine,
is now worth considering. The geometry of military parts can be optimized for
a number of performance goals. A weight reduction can be achieved utilizing
the design freedom of AM that enables manufacturing complex designs that have
been created with topology optimization or generative design tools (Lianos et al.
2020a, b). Moreover, thermal optimization of the part or conformal cooling can be
integrated into the design and AM can guarantee that this part is manufacturable,
where conventional technologies, such as subtractive, could not produce it.
13 Metal Additive Manufacturing Technology Applications in Defense. . . 287
Such novel designs and geometries allow substantial reductions in weight and
lower “buy-to-fly” ratios indicating that a lower portion of the raw material that is
used to manufacture a part is lost and considered scrap. Moreover, new components
or modification of existing parts can also be produced and tested in field, after
considering the input of the military personnel, who are the end users that will test
and finally use the new components. This will quickly reduce the “time to market,”
which is the time required from an idea to finally produce an operational part in
this case, which also will improve the military capability. Although a percentage of
the spare parts needed for land, sea, and air operations will still require the use of
traditional production methods and the current infrastructure, AM can improve the
flexibility and be an important supplement to the existing production facilities.
However, the effective and efficient integration of AM technologies in any
industry is not a straightforward task. Although the technology is now mature
enough to have applicability in high value sectors, many aspects are still in a
research level. These aspects are mainly related with process window determination,
equipment integration, and hybridization of AM (Stavropoulos et al. 2020a, b).
These challenges are amplified in the context of defense applications and are also
accompanied by additional ones, which are related to the harsh operating conditions
that the AM equipment will have to withstand. To this end, it is important to identify
the advantages and potential as well as key issues that are linked to the application
of AM in the defense sector, in order to enhance the knowledge of the engineers
working in military applications and provide reliable pathways that have to be
followed for a successful application of AM for defense.
The scope of this chapter is to present the available metal AM technologies, along
with their advantages and limitations, and discuss how the inherent benefits of AM
can be utilized in the spare parts supply chain for defense applications, supported by
related case studies. Moreover, the challenges for integration of AM equipment are
presented and a framework for integration of AM and development of the necessary
infrastructure is provided. Finally, an outlook for future research that will enhance
the applicability of AM technologies in the defense sector is provided.
Figure 1 depicts the recent developments of additive manufacturing for defense
applications, along with some key projects that have been launched and generated a
high impact and innovative solutions on this topic.
Metal Additive Technologies
AM is capable to deliver parts of very complex design with the minimum material
waste. It can be used with a variety of materials, including polymers, ceramics, and
metal alloys. Besides the fact that AM offers increased design freedom, it is able to
manufacture parts with very low environmental footprint. In the last few years, the
AM technology has matured enough so that its applications are progressing from
rapid prototyping to the production of end-use products; thus, it can be considered
as a more mainstream solution to engineering problems. Specifically, metal AM
can nowadays be selected for the manufacturing of structural parts or assemblies on
288 P. Stavropoulos
Fig. 1 Recent developments in additive manufacturing for the defense sector
the field of automotive or aerospace manufacturing, that the weight savings can be
extremely beneficial.
As with conventional manufacturing, many AM processes are now available
and they are different in the mechanism of the deposition of the layers and in the
materials that they are able to use. Some processes produce the layers by melting
or softening materials, for example, fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective
laser sintering (SLS), and selective laser melting (SLM), while some others use
liquid materials that cure and solidify to produce the layers, like stereolithography
(SLA). Each different process has its own applications since they have different
characteristics, which vary generally on the processing speed, the initial cost of the
machine and the cost use, the cost and range of materials, etc. (Gibson et al. 2015).
A classification of metal additive manufacturing processes can be performed,
according to the physical mechanisms that govern the process (Bikas et al. 2016).
Classification of Metal Additive Technologies
Powder Bed Fusion (PBF)

Powder bed fusion (PBF) is a process group, in which multiple fusion mechanisms
can be employed, namely, solid-state sintering, chemically induced sintering, liquid
phase sintering, or full melting (Kruth et al. 2007, 2005). Moreover, the energy
source on PBF can vary between a laser source and an electron beam. The powder is
melted or sintered and then cooled at room temperature. The advantages of PBF are
the high accuracy that it can achieve (relative to other AM processes), the effective
modulation of scanning strategy to minimize cracking, residual stresses and other
defects, as well as the existence of powder that acts as an integrated support structure
during material build. However, for complex designs, dedicated support structures
might still need to be manufactured during the build. For laser-based processes,
usually a pulsed-wave, high power laser is used. The energy source can be fiber,
diode, or CO2 -based laser systems. The process takes place in an enclosed chamber
that is filled with an inert gas to avoid oxidation. The powder chamber is usually
preheated in order to reduce the thermal gradients during material building and thus
the residual stresses that are generated during manufacturing.
Electron beam (EBM) processes are similar to the laser-melting method but an
electron beam is used as an energy source in order to melt the raw material instead
of a laser beam and is only used to manufacture metallic parts. The powder is melted
by a high voltage electron beam, in the range of 30–60 KV. EBM is only possible
in a high vacuum chamber in order to avoid oxidation and can process a great range
of prealloyed metals. Comparing with SLM, EBM can deliver a greater throughput
and usually results in a more uniformly distributed thermal field but in the expense
of surface quality and lower accuracy (Figs. 2 and 3).
Fig. 2 PBF process schematic
Fig. 3 Part manufactured

with PBF process (Prima
Industrie S.p.A 2020)
290 P. Stavropoulos
Directed Energy Deposition (DED)

DED is a group of AM processes that adds material alongside the heat input. The
heat input can either be a laser, electron beam, or plasma arc. The material feedstock
is either metal powder or wire. A carrier gas is used to deliver the powder into
the nozzle, which is an inert gas that can effectively reduce the oxidization rate
(Gokuldoss et al. 2017). Similarly to some Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) technologies
(such as LPBF or EBM), Directed Energy Deposition uses a focused energy source,
such as a laser or electron beam to melt the material. However, the material is melted
at the same time as it is deposited by a nozzle. In a way, the technology is at the
frontier of material extrusion and powder bed fusion. DED systems can differ from
PBF systems as powders used are often larger in size and require higher energy
density (Yusuf and Gao 2017), (Lewandowski and Seifi 2016). This results in faster
build rates as compared with PBF system. However, this leads to poorer surface
quality that may require additional machining. Support structures commonly used
in PBF systems are seldom or never used in DED that often uses multiple axis
turntables to rotate the build platform to achieve the varying features. Without the
need for a powder bed, DED systems can deposit on existing parts (Sing et al. 2020),
with the aim of adding complex, high added-value features on a green-field part,
or repair and remanufacture brown-field parts that have been defected during their
operation (Figs. 4 and 5).
Binder Jetting (BJ)

The process mechanism of Binder Jetting (BJ) has some similar characteristics to
the process mechanism of PBF. In BJ , the material is stored in a powder bed and the
binder is sprayed on it, in order to bond the particles together, as well as providing
interlayer fusion. Both metallic and nonmetallic powders can be used and the binder
can be water- or polymer-based. Since there is no high energy source required,
the BJ process is considered to be significantly more economical than other AM
processes, such as PBF and DED. The printer can have multiple nozzles that eject
binder onto the powder bed, thus significantly reducing the cycle time of the process.
The main issue that is observed in parts that are manufactured with BJ is related
to their structural integrity. In order to optimize their mechanical properties, the
Fig. 4 DED process

schematic
Fig. 5 Component
manufactured with DED
process (Prima Industrie
S.p.A 2020)
infiltration of the part might be required after it is manufactured. Also, for metal
parts, it is required to perform a thermal treatment after the part is finished, so
that the binder evaporates, and the material is sintered. Although Binder Jetting
does not make sense as a manufacturing process for mission critical parts in the
defense sector, it can find applicability either for fast and cheap prototyping or
for manufacturing that will not need to withstand significant mechanical loads. A
significant advantage of BJ that makes it attractive for manufacturing of metallic
parts in significant industries (e.g., automotive) is its very high accuracy compared
to the other metal AM processes (Figs. 6 and 7).
Impact of Metal AM to the Life Cycle of a Defense Part
Metal AM technologies can be a great tool for engineers that has plenty of advan-
tages, compared to conventional manufacturing methods (González and Álvarez
2018). More specifically, the defense sector can benefit from some of the advantages
that can be noted on Table 1.
AM is an enabler of design freedom and design for multifunctionality, which
means that it is able to produce a great range of geometrical shapes that can be
either difficult or nonmanufacturable utilizing conventional machines. An engineer
can design a part that is more feature-packed than usual (Bikas et al. 2019a, b). AM
can enable the design of topology optimized structural parts that contain material
292 P. Stavropoulos
Fig. 6 Schematic of BJ process
Fig. 7 Component
manufactured with BJ process
(Alexandrea 2019)
Table 1 Advantages of AM
Technical merits Operational merits
Design for multifunctionality Delocalization of manufacturing
Ability to process random geometries Just-in-time manufacturing
Merging of subassemblies Produce highly tailored low volume parts
Design freedom Product development with end user
Rapid prototyping Low lead times
On-site repair Sustainability
only where the load path exists or perform thermal optimization of the design
and incorporate conformal cooling with internal fins embedded inside the parts’
structure. Also, assemblies of several components can be merged into a single part,
since the need of splitting the concept in more parts in order to be manufacturable
could be eliminated and thus, the number of total parts on an assembly can be
reduced. Reducing the number of components of an assembly reduces the number
of connections and links between them, which are one of the main causes of
compliance and potential failure points.
An advantage can also be noted on the ability of the AM machines to process
random geometries without the need to setup the machine or change tools, while
being quicker than conventional machines. This benefit can be translated as great
flexibility since this process can rapidly produce various complex engineering parts
that can be manufactured to be end-parts from a single machine.
The product development field can be vastly improved with AM, where end-
users could come up with new ideas to improve their daily routine. After they
become familiarized with this new technology and gain experience, they could start
exploiting the new capabilities provided and convert ideas to functional products.
AM can enable the Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing. The goal of JIT manu-
facturing is to reduce the lead time of a part and reduce the logistics challenges by
having the part ready for delivery only at the required volume and just at the time it is
required. This can be achieved since AM can be cost effective even for lot size one.
Delocalization of manufacturing can be enabled with deployable AM units for
forward bases that would support unique soldier’s needs or special tools and mission
requirements. A great case study can be noted from (Busachi et al. 2018) where a
portable fully integrated system, consisting of an AM machine, a scanner, and the
UI, is proposed, in order to support the soldiers in the field. This solution supports in
improving the flexibility of a military base of operations, but an also be transported
to a remote location during a military expedition.
AM can provide the defense sector the capability to produce highly tailored
products which are designed to fulfill specific needs and might have unique features
but at the same time only need a low production volume. This asset can be game-
changing when special tools are required in the field to perform an operation or when
a prosthetic part needs to be produced, tailored to the unique features of the recipi-
ent’s body, which can be manufactured from bio-compatible metals like titanium.
Deployable AM units can also be developed to support humanitarian or disaster
relief missions with the ability to produce simple but functional parts that will make
the work of the people operating in these fields easier and provide a quick solution
to time critical missions.
A significant aspect of AM is that it makes the part more sustainable (Saxena
et al. 2020). AM can produce a part with near-zero waste material and some AM pro-
cesses require no postprocessing, therefore significantly reducing the environmental
impact of a single part, especially in low production volumes. The fact that one AM
machine can produce a complex part, where conventional methods would require
two or more machines, and that component assemblies can be redesigned and
produced in a single complex structure, further reduces the environmental impact of
the production process. Another sustainability aspect where AM can indirectly con-
tribute is the field of transportation vehicles. Optimizing vehicle parts (aircraft, loco-
motive, large automobiles) towards weight reduction can effectively reduce the fuel
consumption and CO2 emissions of the corresponding vehicle (Kellens et al. 2017).
294 P. Stavropoulos
Finally, the in situ repair capabilities that AM enables can provide a breakthrough
solution in remote and extreme locations, such as a military expedition that might
get cut off from the general defense supply chain due to enemy threats. This can
imply that if a part malfunctions it is not required to be completely replaced, but it
can be repaired with certain AM processes, such as DED, which can act on the part
and repair it by adding material to the place it is required in order to reshape it to a
functional state.
In general, a deployed laboratory can dramatically shorten the development
time from prototype to production. Also, distributed deployed laboratories, tied
with central manufacturing facilities and support from designers and engineers,
can provide an outstanding flexibility during training but also more importantly
on military operations. The AM technology can provide both a tool to accelerate
prototyping and development, but also a distributed manufacturing supply chain.
As mentioned previously, several mature AM technologies have been developed,
with their advantages and limitations, and a wide variety of materials can be
processed with different feedstock forms. This amplitude of resources and the
lack of process knowledge, since AM research has not still provided concrete and
universal decision-making solutions, means that the manufacturing engineer needs
to consider several aspects, in order to appropriately choose the best AM process
for their application.
When the engineer is in the decision-making process regarding the choice of
which AM process to use, there are some basic categories of requirements that need
to be determined (Fig. 8). The decision process is focused on two of the AM decision
aspects, the material requirements and the process geometrical constraints that drive
the selection of AM technology and machine (Bikas et al. 2019a, b).
The material requirements include all the technical demands that the part to be
manufactured has and must be met, in order for it to be fully operational under its
working conditions. The most important specifications can be:
• Yield strength.
• Ultimate strength.
• Young Modulus.
• Melting point.
Fig. 8 Technical requirements

When the above requirements are determined, the engineer can make a safe
decision about the material that the AM machine will use to manufacture the part.
The process geometrical requirements regards all the geometrical characteristics
and features that the part to be manufactured has and they can affect the final
decision on the AM process that will be used to manufacture the part. Some of
the most crucial are:
• Layer thickness.
• Surface roughness.
The technical specifications of mission critical components that are used in

defense applications are very demanding (González and Álvarez 2018); thus, there
are only specific processes of metal AM that are capable of producing high
performance parts. This requires the engineer that makes the decision of what
process to use to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each process and
some of them can be noted below.
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) proved to be ideal for small parts such as fuel
tanks used in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Unmanned Ground Vehicles because
of shortened lead time and low production volume cost advantages. However, the
process is still relatively slow (when compared to EBM for metallic structures,
for instance) and suffers from issues such as nonuniform thermal field distribution,
which might lead to thermal distortion and cracks on the product (Stavropoulos et al.
2019). Despite that, the high degree of accuracy and surface quality that LBPF can
achieve renders it one of the most commonly used metal AM processes. LPBF can
also be perfectly suited for aerospace components, since it can achieve significant
weight reduction through the utilization of complex, optimized designs. Moreover,
LPBF can effectively manufacture the exotic materials that are commonly used in
aerospace applications (nickel-based and titanium alloys).
Electron beam melting (EBM) enables optimization of surface finish, precision,
and build speed simultaneously, building fully dense metal components at the exact
geometry defined by a CAD model, allowing design modifications with minimal
lead time and cost (Gibson et al. 2015).
Directed energy deposition (DED) can be 10 times faster and five times less
expensive than powder bed fusion (PBF) when creating mid-size metal parts (Var-
tanian et al. 2018). Moreover, the DED equipment consists of a compact deposition
head, which can be mounted in various base structures, therefore enabling in situ
operations and repairing of existing components. However, DED suffers from a poor
dimensional accuracy and surface quality that almost always leads to postprocessing
requirements. Furthermore, thermal control in DED is a much more difficult task
than PBF. This leads to a higher defect probability and higher residual stresses on the
end part, which have a detrimental effect in the fatigue performance of the part. DED
can also manufacture effectively most of the materials that are utilized in defense
applications (steels, aluminum, nickel-based, and titanium alloys).
After the evaluation of an AM technology, the next step of the AM decision
process for the complete engineering of a part and its production is the evaluation of
296 P. Stavropoulos
the part’s design manufacturability with the selected AM process. Manufacturability

can be the outcome of the consideration of several factors. On the one hand, it
can be related with the cycle time, where some design changes that make the
slicing of the part less complex can reduce its manufacturing time. On the other
hand, manufacturability can also be related with the successful build of the part,
meaning that the end part will be defect-free. For the technology assessment to get
the greatest possible AM verdict, it is crucial to address the AM manufacturability
concerns of the technology at the early design stages. If an AM friendly design
method is implemented at the early stages of the product development that takes into
account AM manufacturability restrictions, it can increase the manufacturability of
a product (Lianos et al. 2020a, b) and its overall usefulness. The design process
requires multiple data inputs which is used to converge from all the designing
options and decide upon the geometric design features that are the most optimal
for the manufacturing method to be used.
Finally, if the part is deemed as manufacturable with the selected AM process, the
decision of an AM machine should be the final constraint. The list of suitable AM
machines has already been restricted by the AM process, since the machine that
should be selected has to be able to manufacture the product with the previously
selected AM process. To determine the machine selection, the most important spec-
ifications that should considered by the engineer are the build volume capabilities,
the material capabilities, the manufacturing speed, and of course, the cost of the AM
machine. It should be noted that some flexibility on these specifications should be
given, since if a part cannot fit the build table of a machine, it could be split in pieces
thus, some machines could be selected that would not be otherwise considered.
Defense Organizations Supply Chain
Unique Features of the Supply Chain at Defense Applications
The supply chain at defense organizations has some specific features that differenti-
ate it from the supply chains of most industries. Usually, the target during the design
of a supply chain is the minimum possible costs, lowing investment in inventory and
maximizing capacity utilization. But these statements do not apply at defense supply
chain.
First of all, the final product is frequently customized for a specific customer. By
customer, several entities can be considered, such as the whole defense organization,
specific military bases, or even the military personnel that are the end-users of
the products. The customers tailor the equipment based on specific requirements
that stem from each defense application, so that the equipment fits in the desired
field. Also, different defense organizations are able to invest different amounts of
funds for customization of their equipment, which is based on several political or
financial restrictions that the organization or each country has. So, the final parts
that are delivered to various defense organizations may be similar when considering
their main concept and functionalities, but they have different specific requirements.
Moreover, as the end users are few, the supplier of parts for a defense organization
has to support maintenance and repair services after the manufacturing stage.
Another key difference in the supply chain of a defense organization is related to
the constant necessity for spare parts availability. In contrast with other industries,
a stock-out of a defense organization can be detrimental, potentially putting lives
in danger. As a result, supply management practices, such as “just-in-time,” are
traditionally avoided in defense organizations and the use of large inventories is
a common practice. However, depending on the field where an organization is
operating and the complexity of the parts that are involved, the storage capabilities
are reduced, which limits the available inventory. This introduces tight requirements
for the spare parts supply chain, since it has to effectively respond in the fluctuating
demand and supply spare parts to remote locations, in low volumes and on small
producing times (Mourtzis et al. 2008).
Another significant characteristic for the supply chain is the transportation to
the end-user. The consumers are often located in difficult locations, which limit
the ability to deliver the parts with regular transportation infrastructure. So, the
transportation needs special handling in order to deliver the products safely at
the operation point. The need to employ armored transit corresponds to increased
personnel and delivery expenses for the final product (Norberg et al. 2016).
Furthermore, the information security level has to protect sensitive information
regarding the manufactured components, so that third parties will not have access to
it. This factor defines the flow, the transparency and accessibility of the available
information. Information such as the quantity and the location where parts are
needed to be supplied can rapidly change based on the action plans of the defense
organization (Ahmad et al. 2021). However, these action plans might often be
confidential information, which are not shareable with third party suppliers.
The bullwhip effect is a distribution phenomenon in which demand forecasts
supply chain inefficiencies and is one of the most important issues in supply chain
management. Limited information sharing increases the difficulty of reducing the
bullwhip effect and leads to inefficient supply chain management. The bullwhip
effect (or Whiplash effect) phenomenon has been recognized as one of the main
obstacles in improving supply chain performance and received increasing attention
in supply chain management (Li 2013). The difficulty of prediction of the con-
sumption rate and the variation of the demand might increase the magnitude of the
bullwhip effect. The high uncertainty in demand variation for defense organization
increases the complexity of managing the supply chain. The fear of running out of
vital parts leads to ordering larger batches of spare parts than the required amount.
Also, it is still difficult to make a prognosis for the short-term use.
Finally, the size of the defense organization has impact to the capability and
the capacity of the supply chain. A smaller organization can take over tasks
that are more general and the equipment that needs is usual. And metal AM
seemingly makes the most sense for larger organizations, specifically in big part
manufacturing, so that the investment cost of the machinery can be economically
sound (Zelinski 2020a, b). A larger organization can afford more equipment to make
a specific mission, as the times show the needs for unique operations. At the other
298 P. Stavropoulos
side, limited capability and capacity with a combination of tasks requires from the
organization a more flexible logistics system as the expectations changed with a fast
rate (Norberg et al. 2016).
Critical Points of the Defense Supply Chain for AM Integration
Novel technologies can give a big technological precedence to the supply chain of a
defense organization. Additive manufacturing and especially the manufacturing of
metal parts can aid in addressing the requirements and challenges of the supply
chain and provide opportunities for new strategies. Several modifications in the
logistics aspect can be foreseen, since factors, such as stock keeping, the required
number of spare parts, and distribution channels, can change with the addition of
metal AM equipment in the production capabilities of a defense organization. As a
result, it is important to identify the critical points of the supply chain of a defense
organization, where the integration of AM equipment can provide high added value,
as well as the advantages and shortcomings of each option, through a structured
approach taking into account the impact of each option on delivery time and cost
(Busachi et al. 2017).
The following options can be identified in a high level, as far as the integration of
additive manufacturing in the supply chain of a defense organization is concerned:
A. At a specific location out of the organization headquarters that is close to the

current operating location. This leads to short time for shipping at the field and
higher mission performance. From the other side, the AM equipment requires
special handling of raw material and trained personnel to operate the machinery,
which is challenging, due to the lack of experience with such technologies and
their postprocessing methods, as they have not been fully matured yet. This
option is analyzed in detail in Sect. “Field Additive Manufacturing Lab”, along
with its benefits and shortcomings.
B. At a central location where the central distribution point of the supply chain
exists. The main difference with option A is the delivery time. Apart from the
increased distance from the operating point of the defense organization, central
location has to serve a higher number of end-users and therefore the demand
is increased. This requires more complex planning so that the needs of each
department of the organization are effectively served. In any case, both options
A and B require dedicated, trained personnel that will handle the AM equipment.
C. Another option for a defense organization is to become a customer. First, the
organization should make a partnership with an industrial expert to exclusively
produce the required AM components. So, the downtime of the machinery will
be minimized, therefore reducing its impact on the product cost. In that case, the
defense organization is not required to invest for trained personnel, but on the
other hand there are extra costs for prototyping and the delivery time is increased
(Andela and Knofius 2016).
The following figure provides an overview of the supply chain of a defense

organization and how it can be linked with the bull-whip effect (Fig. 9). Moreover,
the three options for integration of AM in the supply chain are indicated into the
figure (Table 2).
Fig. 9 Overview of a military supply chain. (Adapted from (Melman 2018))
Table 2 Benefits and shortcomings of various options for integration of AM in a defense supply
chain
Options Benefits Shortcomings
A Close to operation, very short delivery Transport of AM machine including,
lead times materials, personnel, etc.
Higher mission performance Lack of experience with in situ
Opportunity for distributed manufacturing
manufacturing Extra training need for the staff
Opportunity for infield repair Staff capacity
manufacturing
B Controlling the production process Extra training need for personnel
Prototyping possibilities to fix Staff capacity
problems Longer delivery time than in option A
C Sharing investment costs that reduces Extra costs for prototyping
risk of technological obsolescence Compared to options A and B lead
Knowledge transfer easier about AM times are longer
technology
Less investments related to training
and staff capacity, compared to options
A and B
300 P. Stavropoulos
New Production Paradigms Enabled by AM Integration
Design Innovation
Metal AM has the ability to manufacture complex parts efficiently, with relatively
low cost and with a high strength to weight ratio. Internal channels for optimized
cooling or topology optimized shapes (e.g., lattice structures) can be integrated
in the design of parts and provide the engineer an advantage to design new
components that are working more efficiently and reduce underutilized material
from areas that conventional methods cannot reach. So, metal AM is directly
related with lightweight components with improved properties. Specifically, for
the aeronautical industry, weight reduction translates into more payload, increased
range, and maneuverability of the aircraft.
Apart from manned aircraft, also UAVs play a key role in the defense sector,
since they can be used for detection in the field and operate for several hours while
a pilot should not spend more than 12 hours in the cockpit (Kozera 2018). The
power unit of an autonomous aerial system has to be compact and lightweight. But
some companies discovered limits to the motor effectiveness due to the available
manufacturing processes. At a single-cylinder engine, the cooling efficiency was
limited by the fin geometry which was limited by casting process. So, SLM has been
employed for manufacturing of the motor housing, which gives the chance to design
a motor with thinner and more densely placed fins, increasing their heat evacuation
performance and allowing for higher engine power. Also, the engine mounts were
manufactured through AM, which decreased the weight by 50% compared to the
original part that was provided by the supplier (Zelinski 2020a, b).
Personalization of spare parts is another advantage of AM. In a situation where
universal face brackets for night vision goggles are compromised in terms of
comfort, AM can be used to produce personalized ones. The customized face
bracket makes the night vision system more comfortable for the soldier, compared
to the universal one (den Boer et al. 2020).
Part consolidation is another important advantage that can be achieved through
design for AM. The final assembly gets simpler as it consists of the minimum
parts possible, so that the functionality of the whole assembly is not compromised.
The assembly time and effort are minimized, since it is easier to modify a single-
component product than a system composed of various components. An indicative
example is the fuel nozzle assembly for aircraft jet engines, which can be integrated
into a single part through AM. At a previous design iteration, the assembly was com-
posed of 20 different components and the new integrated design is five times more
durable than the one produced using conventional methods (Cotteleer et al. 2014).
An opportunity for using metal AM to produce large, complex structures is the
building of steel bridges using robots which can deposit material and move to the
next position. Besides bridges, AM is also being tested as a method to potentially
build safe houses or infrastructures at special conditions in the future (Molitch-
Hou 2015), where metal AM can be combined with the capabilities of other AM
processes, which can process construction materials (Foteinopoulos et al. 2020).
Fig. 10 Section view from

an innovative electrical
generator housing for a
military aircraft
(Boissonneault 2018)
Every Forward Operating Base is usually supported by a dedicated hospital. The

innovative designs that are utilizing AM as a manufacturing method in the health
sector can also be extrapolating to hospitals dedicated for defense organizations. The
freedom to iterate designs and manufacture small quantities of them with a low cost
opens new way for faster surgeries and faster patient recoveries. Metal AM methods
can manufacture new implants and medical tools (Zelinski 2020a, b). The parameter
of the customization has an incredible effect at the healthcare applications, as
customized and more complex products can be manufactured in one build (Fig. 10).
In-Field Additive Manufacturing Lab
When a defense organization operates in field, there are special challenges that
are arising, which are related to the unique operating conditions that have been
described in the previous sections. To effectively address those challenges, in-field
additive manufacturing labs propose a series of groundbreaking benefits. Therefore,
there have been several concepts and preliminary attempts to deploy a movable AM
lab that can provide repair or green-field manufacturing services on-site.
When moving between different operating locations, slight modifications on the
equipment might be required, so that it addresses the needs of the current operation.
Moreover, when a defense operation takes place, a minimum stock of key spare parts
is required. In the case of a component failure, where a spare part is not available, the
equipment, and as a result the corresponding operation, needs to be shut down, until
the required spare part is delivered and replaced. An indicative case of a damaged
cooling hose for a Special Forces Craft is an example of an unexpected failure,
302 P. Stavropoulos
where the delivery of the new spare part required at least three weeks. A socket and
new cooling hose design, produced by AM and installed to the craft, rendered the
craft operating after one day (den Boer et al. 2020).
As mentioned earlier, the in-field production translates into a supply chain at the
field or at a nearby location. The delivery of the final part is very fast as the logistics
chain is very short. The in-field production supported by an autonomous container
that is able to produce spare, modified, and new parts can be of high benefit for
the flexibility and mission performance of a defense organization. The modular
container can be transported to various locations, depending on the momentary
needs of the organization and can be located in land or sea. This means that the
container has to be accompanied by the necessary hardware, software, consultancy,
service, and support. This includes CAx (CAD, CAM, CAE, CAPP) software, metal
AM machinery, pre- and postprocessing tools, and communication tools for support
of the operator.
The manufacturing lab can be connected to a network, which provides the ability
for communication between industry, academia, and in-field operators, therefore
optimizing the design and manufacturing process and giving fast solutions to
problems that might arise during production. Depending on the complexity of the
system and parts, the operator’s skills are proportional, since more demanding
components required more skilled AM technicians (Stavropoulos et al. 2020a, b).
Another ability that the AM lab could provide is the use from the defense
personnel to manufacture simple and interim spare parts in field. AM machinery
and dedicated software can provide the ability to an individual with lees expertise
to design and manufacture simple parts. This way, an innovative idea can be tested
immediately through rapidly prototyping, refinement, and concept demonstration at
the point of the execution (Norberg et al. 2016). Moreover, simple but functional
products can also be manufactured as interim solutions to problems or failures of
equipment that might arise.
A special case that is highly linked to the profound abilities of AM to repair parts
that would be considered unrepairable with conventional technologies is hybrid
manufacturing. Hybrid manufacturing, which combines additive and subtractive
processes on a single workstation or at a robot-based system, has drawn significant
industrial attention due to its ability to capitalize on the advantages of independent
processes while minimizing their disadvantages. Reduced production times, desir-
able geometric accuracy and surface characteristics, multiple material parts, and the
ability to repair damaged parts are some typical advantages coming with the use of
hybrid manufacturing. Moreover, hybrid manufacturing and its ability to alternate
between processes until the desired outcome is achieved opens up new opportunities
for building various complex parts with internal and overhanging features, which
cannot be produced using only AM (Stavropoulos et al. 2020a, b).
Most challenges that hybrid machines still face come from the additive side and
its lack of maturity. As a result, and from a technical point of view, there is still
research to be performed in order to enhance understanding of additive technologies
and their interaction with subtractive processes before the full implementation of
Fig. 11 Concept 3D model of AM repair at a forward operating base (Jackson 2018)
hybrid machines can be realized. A better knowledge of the hybrid process is also
essential for the development of a completed Hybrid CAM.
A hybrid manufacturing in-field lab could maximize the potential for exploitation
of AM in the repair operations of the defense sector.
A repair scenario that could provide high added value to a forward operating
base is the development of metal AM machines that can repair any kind of vehicles
(Busachi et al. 2016). The first try for this repair scenario has begun as the Australian
Army announced a $1.5 million investment in a pilot of SPEE3D technology to test
the feasibility of deploying metal AM equipment both on base and in the field. The
industry and academia have collaborated to provide training to military personnel
regarding the AM technologies. This project aimed to significantly increase the
availability of unique parts to the Army compared to what the regular supply chain
can provide (SPEE3D 2020).
The overview of this concept is presented in the figure below. Metal AM
equipment integrated on mobile structures is able to create, join, coat, or repair
several metal parts (Fig. 11). Also, the high scalability of such a solution makes it
very promising for infield manufacturing (Jackson 2018).
Challenges for Integration of AM in a Production Line for Defense

Parts
The costs associated with AM can sometimes be the greatest challenge for its
implementation. Procurement, depreciation, and maintenance are the most impor-
tant factors that influence AM machine costs. However, system readiness is also
304 P. Stavropoulos
important during missions and may outweigh the extra cost related to AM systems
since by not having the systems could cost lives. Thanks to the small production
volumes of the defense sector, AM could be the most suitable manufacturing method
since it is usually used for parts requiring low production volumes. Also, due to
the long-lasting contracts, defense depends on the original vendors for spare parts
which tend to be highly expensive due to middleman costs. Thus, the defense
organizations could benefit from the integration of AM in their production line
due to the lower operating costs of AM. Intellectual property and confidentiality of
information is also a good reason to implement inhouse AM since the information
and the specifications of a confidential product can remain to the same service or
country and not require outsourcing thus decreasing the likelihood of information
leakage.
Process Certification Challenges
Process Monitoring and Control

Methods are needed for in-process monitoring and closed-loop feedback to help
improve consistency, repeatability, and uniformity across machines (Frazier 2010),
(Bi et al. 2013), (Bi et al. 2006). In laser-based AM, temperature of the melt pool
can present great variations, and overheating can occur at points where there is
no solid material around to dissipate heat, influencing material structure (Craeghs
et al. 2010). Eventually, the effect of all occurring problems can be seen in the melt
pool behavior (Craeghs et al. 2011). Melt pool temperature can be measured using
pyrometers (Bi et al. 2006), infrared image acquisition systems, or CCD cameras
(Craeghs et al. 2012). Measuring the melt pool width requires the application of
optical sensing devices, such as photodiodes and CMOS cameras (Craeghs et al.
2011). In situ sensors are an area that should be examined to provide nondestructive
evaluation and enable early defect detection, particularly related to thermal control
especially on the cooled down surface (Fig. 12).
Material Inspection
Multimaterial manufacturing is important for defense, but also can be challenging
for sustainability and reusability since some of the remaining raw materials after a
batch cannot be reused to manufacture another part, especially if the raw material
has changed. When utilizing a machine for varying materials on a small-time frame
or manufacturing multimaterial spare parts, the user must be aware of mixing
different materials with each other. As a result, the reuse of powders is difficult, and
AM poses the risk of causing more consumption of raw materials and more waste.
In short, the material usability challenge can be addressed by constant inspections
of the raw materials.
Standardization
Standardization is an important issue for new manufacturing processes. Specifically,
it is crucial to separate and define the requirements for manufacturing systems and
Fig. 12 Infrared
thermography during laser
scanning
machine operators. Therefore, there are two DIN standards addressing these issues.
The DIN35224 (DIN 2018) described a first draft for a standard for a machine
compliance test of powder bed fusion AM machines. In this standard, a procedure
is determined, which ensures that all processes influencing machine components,
such as the mechanical components, laser, scanner, etc., do not have any defects and
conform to certain range of predefined thresholds. Also, for the user qualification of
machine operators, a second draft has been defined, which includes procedures for
health suitability and practical training sufficiency of the machine operator. These
two basic standards could be used to create an AM standardization process for
reproducible quality parts. The quality of the part can be finally checked by several
nondestructive testing (NDT) processes, like fluorescent penetrant inspection (FPI),
CT-scans, etc.
Metal AM Material Handling Safety

Metal powders used in AM processes are microscopic in size (< 100 μm) and often
pose toxicity, reactivity, combustibility, and instability hazards when in dust clouds.
The identified health hazards regarding the exposure limits were found to be:
• Inhalation of AM powder dust can be carcinogenic once combined with other

heavy metals.
• Dermal exposure to AM powder.
• Eye Damage from laser or EBM head.
• Powder Dust Fire and explosion Metal Fire.
• Improper disposal of AM waste materials, which can contaminate soil and
groundwater reserves.
In order to reduce the aforementioned health hazards, the following techniques

should be considered adopting:
306 P. Stavropoulos
• Personal protective equipment (PPE): During material deposition, an operator

is often exposed to hazardous materials. PPE is worn to shield an operator from
possible exposure to powder dust. Each material requires different PPE. The
Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for a specific material together with proper training
provide the best guidance. Most commonly a full-face shield is used combined
with respirators (with correct filters).
• Dust exposure, fires, and explosions: If powders are handled incorrectly, they
can form dust clouds leading to possible fires and even explosions. Proper
standard operating procedures (SOPs) and fire suppression procedures are crucial
to minimize the risk involved.
• Emissions: Each AM process will create some form of emissions. These could
be in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ultrafine particulate,
soot, or condensate from the high temperature lasers melting metal powder, or
even the resulting radiation from some materials emitting during the printing
process. Proper shielding, proper ventilation, and operator training are critical to
mitigating these risks. To avoid soot buildup, the chamber should be cleaned after
every build and the soot should be wiped down with a damp cloth.
• Laser radiation: Radiation from the high-power laser can burn skin and damage
retinas. Machines have to be equipped with windows and doors that block
radiation to prevent these injuries. Operators can also wear approved masks or
goggles for further protection.
Also, a facility shall be informed and well prepared to handle powder materials
long before performing AM operations. In order to be safe, the following must
requirements must be met:
• Standard operating procedures (SOPs): These are the “now what do we do”
instructions for various activities or emergency instructions if an incident occurs.
These are often developed by a facility safety official or subject matter expert
(SME).
• Hazard identification: This activity is completed by a facility team to review an
entire process, from start to finish. Each step is evaluated along with identifying
specific hazards that could be introduced by the raw materials or AM process.
A hazard identification report covers processes beginning with material coming
into a facility progressing to finished parts and disposal of the waste. The more
detailed in the report, the better.
• Equipment fire extinguishing: The high fire risk locations where AM powder is
spotted – storage units, transportation, and containers within the AM machines –
must be equipped with fire sensors and the appropriate auto triggered extinguish
system.
• ESD damping flooring: An electrostatic discharge can trigger a fire when
combined with fine metallic powders, so an industrial facility focused on powder
AM should ground flooring near powders to avoid ESDs and potential fires.
• Filtration: Local exhaust ventilation close to powder handling activities (should
be HEPA-filtered and fire/explosion appropriate). Also industrial water-flooded
filters and water-based cleaning systems can be used to collect and suppress metal
dust.
• Disposal: Handling and disposal of all waste materials (including cleaning
materials/gloves) must be performed in compliance with all applicable federal,
state, and local regulations.
Part Certification Challenges
Since defense applications are operating at land, air, and sea, they face some strict
certification requirements for their products and assets (Bastiaans et al. 2015).
Therefore, it is highly recommended to investigate the possibilities of having the
AM system certified, so that it can produce parts that can be applied to military
systems.
Quality requirements of a product are specified based on the functional require-
ments of the product and customer expectations (Hapuwatte et al. 2016). Surface
quality of AM products is found to be a concern due to the staircase effect caused by
layering and the build orientation effect (Wang et al. 2013), (Turner and Gold 2015).
Metal AM materials’ mechanical properties (such as stress-strain, ductility, fatigue
properties, and microstructure) have been analyzed in the literature (Wang et al.
2013), (Dutta and Froes 2017) and have been found to have different directional
properties when compared to conventional manufacturing parts. Therefore, in order
to have repeatable results, material behavior must be fully understood, to high levels
of confidence, for even the simplest component. Therefore, some material related
properties of AM should be monitored or analyzed:
• Strength under the full range of possible temperature and environmental condi-
tions.
• Mechanical fatigue.
• Creep behavior.
• Flammability.
• Smoke release and toxicity.
• Electrical and thermal conductivity.
• Chemical sensitivities.
• Appearance on varying lighting conditions.
Quality Assurance (QA)

QA systems have to be implemented in order to ensure that the material is free from
defects and guarantee the final part quality. The raw powder material, in addition
to the powder certificates provided by the suppliers, is subjected to further testing,
like producing small test builds, to make sure that the material still conforms to
its specification. If some powder that remained from a previous build is reused,
some characteristics like grain size distribution or oxygen content are checked to
make sure that the original specifications remain the same. QA on the manufacturing
308 P. Stavropoulos
system can be proposed, like periodic calibration cycles of the sensor systems and a
predefined periodic maintenance of the machine.
Operating Conditions
AM in Cold Climate
The first FFI Mobile Manufacturing Lab for testing of AM in the field was
established in 2015 and tested out during the NATO exercise Cold Response in
February/March 2016, at Ørlandet, Norway military airbase. A standard 20 feet
NATO container containing fused deposition modeling (FDM) AM machines, along
with computers and equipment for design and analysis and pre- and postprocessing
tools necessary for the production of parts and new/modified parts. The container
was insulated and heated to keep a constant working temperature of around 22 ◦ C
but did not contain any tools to control the humidity or other environmental factors.
The main goals of the demonstration were to establish a complete system for rapid
prototyping in the field and examine capabilities of the utilization of AM in the
spare parts supply chain. Concluding from this demonstration, AM was deemed as
suitable for military operations, for prototyping, and for making parts and systems
on the field (Norberg et al. 2016).
AM at Sea
The long distances and harsh weather conditions of the seas make AM a fitting
technology for floating manufacturing laboratories since supply of spare parts
may play a relevant role in planning and execution of military operations. Thus,
FFI was invited by the Royal Norwegian Navy to attend the FLOTEX military
exercise, which took place in the northern part of Norway in November 2016. AM
machines, as well as tools for design and analysis, were installed on board one of
the Norwegian Coast Guard ships “KV Barentshav.” The main goal for this exercise
was to learn more about the challenges related to AM at sea. Some of them can be
the accuracy of the process and the quality of the final parts, since the ship moves
and vibrates when sailing but also the environmental conditions at sea (such as
temperature, humidity, and salt) are far from ideal and may alter the mechanical
properties of the produced parts.
The results of this demonstration were that the machine’s accuracy and final part
quality is not significantly affected when produced during sailing on board a ship.
It should be noted thought that under rougher sea states, this conclusion could not
apply and in general it should be a good practice to implement a stabilization system
for the AM machine, in order to avoid any problems (Øyen 2017).
AM in Hot and Dusty Conditions

As part of the European Defense Agency (EDA) study “Additive Manufacturing
Feasibility Study & Technology Demonstration” (González and Álvarez 2018), a
self-sustained container, containing different AM machines was created and put
to the test, as well as tools for design, pre- and postprocessing of the produced
components. During the “European Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Course for
2017” (EAATTC17-3) in June 2017, the aforementioned container was transported
by land to the military air base in Zaragoza, Spain, and real time demonstration of
spare parts manufacturing was conducted under relatively hot and dusty ambient
conditions with the goal of showcasing the current possibilities and capabilities of
in-field manufacturing of spare parts and products using AM technologies.
A study, which supported the work done in the EDA project, was performed by
FFI on characterizing standardized test specimens manufactured in the field which
concluded that there was no significant reduction or change in mechanical properties
noticed for the parts manufactured in field compared to those produced in controlled
factory conditions (Thorvaldsen et al. 2018).
Framework for Integration of AM in Defense Applications
As it has been presented in detail in the previous sections, integration of additive

manufacturing in the supply chain of a defense organization presents a wide range
of opportunities for innovation and benefits of the operation of the organization.
However, it comes with significant complexity in terms of equipment integration,
personnel training, process design and standardization, and safety aspects. It is
not possible to provide general rules to guide this process and the feasibility of
integration of AM in a defense supply chain has to be examined in a case-to-case
basis. However, this section aims to present a framework that could guide engineers
working in defense organizations on which aspects should be considered and how
they affect the different stages of the integration process, when examined their
particular case.
The design of a manufacturing system is a very complex task, since its main goal
is to much successfully the inputs (design, materials, energy) to the required outputs
(specific performance measures). The performance measures can be related to cycle
time, product quality, investment and operating cost, as well as system flexibility
(Chryssolouris 2006). A starting point for the design procedure can include a set of
fundamental questions that need to be answered, in order to decide if the integration
of AM will be an effective solution. These fundamental questions are the following:
• “Do I have parts that could be improved through production by AM?” This is the
first question that must be answered and examines the added value that can be
brought to the design of a part, as mentioned in Sect. “New Production Paradigms
Enabled by AM Integration”. The engineers should consider if there are parts in
the operation of their organization that can be redesigned or repaired with AM,
also taking into account AM buildability rules.
• “Are there special conditions that have to be taken into consideration and
would increase investment costs?” As mentioned, the operating points of defense
organizations present special challenges that have to be considered, taking into
account the requirements and standards for safe deployment and use of AM
equipment.
310 P. Stavropoulos
• “Does it make sense from a financial perspective to integrate AM?” Investment

cost for AM equipment and subsequently equipment for postprocessing and
quality assessment can be very high depending on the process, reaching up to
a few millions of Euros for metal AM parts. Therefore, the potential economic
benefits of AM integration must be carefully calculated, also taking into account
the added value it can provide to an existing part, if it is redesigned.
The proposed framework takes into account some key aspects that are related
with the implementation of additive manufacturing in a production line. These
aspects are tailored to the specific application by a series of required information
that determine the suitability of AM for this application. Finally, these aspects
provide feedback to the engineers on what considerations they should make in
order to successfully integrate AM in their production line. The following essential
information needs to be determined:
• Part information which is related to the actual design of the part and if it
complies with the manufacturability rules of AM, as well as its material and
technical specifications.
• Operating point information which is related with the structure of the operating
point where AM equipment is foreseen to be installed. Information related to the
operating conditions and available personnel in the specific operating point must
be determined, as well as the need for potential transportations of the whole AM
equipment between different locations in the case of a forward operating base.
• Supply chain information is related to the specifics of the supply chain of each
department of a defense organization. The predictability of spare part demand
and the logistic costs that are related with spare part procurement must be
determined to define if AM can increase the flexibility of the supply chain. Also,
the logistic costs of the existing supply chain need to be considered, in order to
determine if integration of AM is a viable alternative.
The following considerations must be taken into account for successful integra-
tion of AM:
• Equipment considerations which are related with the procurement of the

actual AM equipment, along with the necessary software and process planning.
Moreover, the required postprocessing and quality assessment equipment need
to be considered as well. Finally, standardization of equipment is an important
consideration.
• Personnel considerations. As mentioned in previous sections, operating AM
systems is not always a straightforward task, especially for manufacturing
complex and mission critical tasks. Therefore, appropriate training is crucial
for the safe and successful use of AM systems. Moreover, personal protective
equipment needs must be considered depending on the AM process selected.
• Workplace considerations which are mainly related to the modifications
required to the operating base, in order to support the safe integration of AM
equipment, complying with international safety standards.
The inputs and outputs mentioned above can be linked through the proposed
framework by carefully examining six specific aspects of the AM technology and
how these are fed by the inputs and affect the outputs.
• Process and machine selection: The selection of the appropriate process is

driven by the part information and the operating point information. First of all,
the design and material of the part will limit the engineer to specific processes
that can process the required materials and build the specific features that the part
exhibits. Moreover, the technical requirements of the part will drive the selection
between different AM processes, by prioritizing aspects, such as structural
integrity dimensional accuracy and surface quality. The operating conditions and
the potential need for mobility of the AM equipment can influence the need
between feedstock materials (e.g., wire might be preferred instead of powder
for very humid environments). Finally, the required build volume for the parts
that will be manufactured, as well as the potential for mobility, will influence
the selection of the base structure of the AM system (Cartesian machine tool or
industrial robot). This in turn affects the procurement of the suitable equipment
as well as the supporting software tools that need to be acquired, so that the
equipment will operate seamlessly.
• Equipment installation: After the procurement of the required AM equipment,
the installation aspects need to be taken into account. This is affected by
the operating conditions of the machinery. Environments with high humidity
or with high vibrations (e.g., equipment operating in rough sea) will require
special equipment to be built in the operating point to provide a dry and stable
environment for the AM systems to operate in. Moreover, the mobility aspect has
to be considered here that might lead to specific fixtures for the equipment to be
built, in order to allow fast and seamless transportation of the equipment. This
will directly influence and define the required modifications that are necessary to
be performed in the workplace to support the integration of AM equipment.
• Standardization: When mission critical components for defense applications
are considered, standardization of the parts is of utmost importance. This is
related with their compliance with the required specifications, as well as the
consistency of their properties. The technical specifications of the part determine
the properties to be standardized, in terms of material properties, dimensions,
etc. This in turn leads to the establishment of testing processes and quality
control operations to validate the conformity of the part with its specifications.
However, even if the conformity is achieved one time, the consistency of the
part in terms of this aspect should be guaranteed. This defines the required
training procedures for the personnel and modifications at the workplace that
will guarantee that the materials procured and the way that they are handled,
stored, and processed will deliver consistent parts. Moreover, depending on
their physical mechanism and feedstock material, AM processes have already
established standard operating practices that need to be followed to ensure safe
operation of AM equipment. These practices define the required training for the
personnel and procurement of personal protective equipment for the operators,
as well as workplace standardization procedures.
312 P. Stavropoulos
• Manufacture: After the selection of AM processes and equipment is defined,

the process design comes in to place to ensure successful manufacturing of the
parts. Process recipes for specific materials have to be sourced from literature
or technical experts and new process recipes have to be designed and tested, if
required. Knowledge bases to store and access this information efficiently have
to be developed, in order to support the training of the personnel.
• Postprocessing: Necessary postprocessing steps, such as part cleaning, powder,
support, and baseplate removal, are inherent in AM processes and have to
be considered for the integration of AM. The corresponding postprocessing
equipment needs to be procured to support the AM process. Depending on
the part that has to be manufactured, additional postprocessing steps might be
required, which stem from its technical specifications. These postprocessing
steps might be material removal, thermal treatment, or other. Subsequently the
corresponding postprocessing equipment should be procured and the personnel
of the organization should be training regarding its use.
• Quality control: Even after optimizing the AM process and achieving consistent
builds every time, the technical requirements of mission critical parts result in
the need of quality control for each part that is manufactured, in order to ensure
that it conforms to the corresponding standards. Therefore, the related equipment
(metrology, NDT, etc.) should be procured and installed and the personnel of the
organization should be trained regarding its use.
Fig. 13 Framework for integration of AM in a defense organization

The framework mentioned above can guide the engineers of defense organi-
zations, in order to define the aspects that need to be considered for integration
of AM in their supply chain (Fig. 13). By following this framework, a virtual
prototype of the foreseen AM production facility can be designed with great detail,
through the use of virtual engineering tools (Ovtcharova 2010). Then a thorough
analysis of the costs and benefits that come with such a production facility should
be performed, in order to define if such an investment is economically viable, and
if such a development would provide a competitive advantage to the organization
and be sustainable in the long run, through established metrics and indicators (Lanz
et al. 2014).
Application Fields
There are several opportunities to manufacture novel designs and spare parts
through metal AM process, both for the defense equipment suppliers and users.
So, the changes for the supply chain are interesting, as well as the commercial
exploitation of AM (Andela and Knofius 2016). Also, new opportunities are
provided from distributed manufacturing. Metal AM is a recent development in
manufacturing technology, and with the combination of digitization together with
the infrastructural developments, it can change the nature of manufacturing (Srai
et al. 2016). Subsequently, four categories of case studies are discussed.
A collaboration of ARL Manufacturing Science and Technology Branch suc-
ceeded to produce an impeller fan that used in the powertrain of an M1 Abrams
tank. That Abrams tank was operating in an erosive environment that resulted in
a need for regular repair of the impeller. The impeller can be manufactured with
higher surface hardness through LPBF. The harder surface prolongs the service
life of the part at the specific application. The opportunity to manufacture this
component in field provides a significant ability to manufacture and replace the
part, as soon as the performance of the tank is reduced. After the maintenance of
the tank with the new impeller, the old one could be repaired with the technology of
the hybrid manufacturing and make the damaged part ready for use again. Another
use from the army is the heavy equipment that is used for construction applications.
Most of these machines use sprocket and chain drivetrains. After some hours of
use, the sprocket cannot efficiently deliver the required power and they require
restoration. So, an advanced surface treatment as through laser cladding can be
applied to repair the sprocket (Liu et al. 2017). An innovative case study is the
manufacturing of explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics through AM. There are
explosive materials that can be mixed with an inert binder material and deposited
through a nozzle to form the final shape of the explosive component (Collins 2019).
Moreover, based on a case study of the US Marine Corps (Mendoza 2016), utilizing
AM for manufacturing munitions provides the ability to tailor the design of the
314 P. Stavropoulos
Fig. 14 Design of
lightweight structures with
improved properties (Centre
for Defence Enterprise,
United Kingdom 2015).
explosive, so that their impact is confined to a targeted area, reducing the risk of
unwanted damage (Fig. 14).
Maintainers at Hill Air Force Base in Utah installed an additive manufactured
bracket, made of titanium, on an operational F-22 Raptor. The corrosion-resistant
part was used to replace an aluminum bracket in the kick panel of the aircraft
cockpit. It was the first operational use of an additive manufactured part on an
F-22 and happened just months after the Rapid Sustainment Office installed 17 AM
parts, including both polymer and metal components, on a C-5 Super Galaxy aircraft
(Collins 2019). Another air force case is the simplification of parts. Typical rocket
engines are constituted from a variety of components. Using the capabilities of metal
AM, the component can be reduced up to 67% and the reduced cycle time is 15 days
versus 14 months of traditional parts (Seymour 2014). A case study provided by
EOS and Airbus has shown how AM can heavily impact the lifecycle of an aircraft,
even through modification of the simplest components. Utilizing AM and topology
optimization on the design of a nacelle hinge bracket, it was possible to reduce
consumption of raw materials by 25% and the CO2 footprint over the whole lifecycle
of the part by almost 40%. This in turn resulted in a weight reduction of 10 kg per
plane (González and Álvarez 2018).
An important case that has been identified for naval applications is mainly related
to engine repair. The mechanical components of the diesel engine wear out after a
number of loading cycles, thus reducing the performance of the engine. Moreover,
potential malfunctions of the lubrication system of the engine will lead to instant
destruction of several engine components, such as pistons, valves, connecting rods,
bearings, and crankshafts. When such failures occur on board, rendering the ship
unusable, the spare part needs to be transported to the ship from a central location,
which leads to immense transportation expenses, due to the size of the spare parts
required and the remote locations that the ship might be. The ability to repair failures
on-board with equipment that is readily available in the ship is of high interest and
provides a significant advantage to the defense organization. Such cases have been
Fig. 15 AM as an innovative
technology for medical
implant manufacturing
(Renishaw plc n.d.)
investigated with the use of laser cladding for in situ repair and remanufacturing of
crankshafts (Torims et al. 2015) and cylinder heads (Liu et al. 2016) of the diesel
engines.
Another case study providing high value to defense organizations is related with
healthcare. The research on bio-compatible materials that can be processed with
AM provides new possibilities for innovation in the medical sector. The medical
facilities of the forward operating bases have to be operated under much higher
pressure than conventional healthcare facilities, also with less equipment available.
AM is able to remove some of the traditional constraints that are linked with
conventional manufacturing methods and enable new possibilities to manufacture
medical devices for the orthopedic, implantology, and dentistry fields. The surgeries
have a decisive role to the health of the patient, so the surgical instruments have to
meet the surgeon’s needs. Next to that, metal AM can give an advantage to design
and manufacture one-off instruments as quick as possible (especially considering
in-field manufacturing), which also are economically feasible to build them. Due to
the capability of metal AM to produce complex shapes, an extra functionality can
be added to the joint replacements, spinal implants, and craniomaxillofacial (CMF)
implants (Fig. 15). AM can manufacture implants in significantly lower cycle times
than conventional processes, with optimized materials offering a longer operating
life for the implant, therefore benefiting the patients tremendously (Renishaw
plc n.d.).
Conclusions and Outlook
In this chapter, an overview of the metal AM technologies that are applicable for
defense organizations and their impact to the lifecycle of a defense part has been
provided. The specific challenges and unique features of the supply chain of defense
organizations provide unique opportunities for integration of AM technologies in
different points of the supply chain that can provide competitive advantage to the
defense organization. This competitive advantage is enabled by the new production
paradigms that are introduced by additive manufacturing, affecting the design and
316 P. Stavropoulos
development phases of a part, enabling distributing manufacturing, and providing

the opportunity to build flexible manufacturing systems through innovative solu-
tions. Moreover, in-field, mobile manufacturing facilities can enhance the flexibility
and performance of forward operating bases.
However, these opportunities come together with challenges and increased
complexity of a foreseen manufacturing system. Especially in the case of the defense
sector, certification of machinery and produced parts is a complex task, requiring
exhaustive quality control procedures. Moreover, the harsh operating conditions that
are present in military operations imply that the equipment should be tailored to the
specific application it is going to serve.
To this end, a framework for integration of AM in defense applications is neces-
sary to guide engineers on how to approach this technology. It is crucial to provide
an overview of all the processes and technologies linked with additive manufactur-
ing, as well as potential parameters that must not be overlooked when designing a
manufacturing system that incorporates AM as the core manufacturing process.
There are several case studies considering the integration of AM in defense
applications and even more conceptual designs that are highly innovative, and some
of the most interesting among them have been presented in this chapter. However,
it is evident that AM technology is not yet fully mature and it requires even more
in-depth research, when defense applications are considered. It is certain that the
future holds very interesting and innovative applications that will be presented. The
developments in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, big data, and rapid networking
capabilities are expected to be directly linked with additive manufacturing, creating
manufacturing clusters, and broad repositories containing process knowledge. This
is definitely expected to impact the way that AM-based solutions for defense
organizations are designed, especially when considering the approach of in-field
manufacturing labs.
Online Material for Further Reading

There is an amplitude of online material that is available in open-access form,
where the interested reader can source useful information regarding the application
of metal additive manufacturing in the defense sector. The official website of the
European Defense Agency (EDA n.d.) contains publications and reports regarding
this topic, as well as news regarding related projects that are being launched.
Also, the website of Defense Media Network (Defense Media Network n.d.)
publishes case studies on innovative applications of AM in the defense sector.
Apart from official defense organizations and websites dedicated to the defense
sector, several companies that provide services to the defense industry provide
useful resources related to AM for defense applications in their official websites.
Deloitte (Deloitte n.d.) is such an example, where several case studies on additive
manufacturing of defense parts can be sourced. Finally, there is an amplitude of
websites that are focused on additive manufacturing in general, where specific
information regarding application of AM in defense can be sourced, such as 3Dprint.
com (3Dprint.com n.d.) and 3D Printing Industry (3D Printing Industry n.d.).
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Mechanical Properties of Additive
Manufactured Part Using Fused Deposition 14
Modeling: Influence of Process Parameters
Ramu Murugan, T. Mohanraj, and Lovin K. John
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Additive Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Generic Process of AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Fused Deposition Modeling Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Process Parameters of FDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Influence of Build Orientation on the Tensile Behavior of FDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Influence of Process Parameters on Other Mechanical Behavior of FDM Samples . . . . . . . . 333
Influence of Raster Angle on the Mechanical Behavior of FDM Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Abstract
Additive manufacturing is a promising technology and a potential tool of the

future engineering and industry on account of its flexibility in product design
and manufacturing. AM technology has taken a leap with the advancement
in Fused Deposition Modeling, the most commonly used and least expensive
technology capable of producing faster prototypes of complex product designs
with considerable accuracy. The mechanical and geometrical behaviors of the
printed parts are governed by numerous process parameters, the most influential
of them being building orientation and raster pattern. This chapter presents an
overview of the effect of various process parameters like build orientation – such
as flat, on-edge and upright orientations – and raster pattern on the mechanical
properties of the printed parts, mainly, the tensile strength, compressive, flexural,
R. Murugan () · T. Mohanraj · L. K. John

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa
Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
e-mail: m_ramu@cb.amrita.edu
322 R. Murugan et al.
and impact studies conducted on specimens of different materials printed using

the FDM process.
Keywords
Fused deposition modeling · Process parameters · Raster angle · Build

orientation · Mechanical behavior
Introduction
Additive manufacturing (AM) is considered the future of the manufacturing domain

and is expected to bring a new revolution in product design and manufacturing. AM
is a technology that rapidly expands its application in various domains. AM, also
denoted as 3D Printing, produces physical products directly from CAD data based
on a layer-by-layer approach based on different technologies. As the components are
produced layer-wise, the complexity in geometry will not be a constraint in contrast
to traditional manufacturing. Adding more complexity in the existing product does
not add any additional cost while using the AM process which makes this process
more attractive in different fields like aerospace, medical, automobile, etc. AM gives
more flexibility in design changes providing shorter lead time in product design.
AM technology also has few limitations such as low productivity, low strength, low
stiffness, and anisotropy. To enhance the quality of the AM parts, process parameters
can be optimized with Taguchi and Response Surface Methodology design of
experiments (Shankar et al. 2019; Suganeswaran et al. 2020). The implementation
of FDM in different domains is shown in Fig. 1.
Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is the least expensive AM technology which
extrudes thermoplastic filament and produces faster prototypes of complex geome-
tries with reasonable accuracy. The mechanical and geometrical properties of the
parts produced using FDM technology depend on numerous process parameters and
complex to understand the combined effects. This chapter deals with the description
of the mechanical behavior of samples made using the FDM process with a range of
the most important process parameters. The current development of FDM is shown
in Fig. 2.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a manufacturing technique, where physical objects

are built precisely from their three-dimensional CAD models in layer-by-layer
manner. Compared to the conventional machining process, most of the AM
techniques tend to produce the parts based on the additive (material addition)
process than the subtractive (material removal) process (Pham and Dimov (2001).
The most attractive characteristic of AM is that it can build complicated 3D
geometries precisely without adding additional cost to the process. In conventional
14 Mechanical Properties of Additive Manufactured Part Using Fused. . . 323
Automotive
Education &
Aerospace
Research
Fashion Manufacturing
Application
sectors of
FDM
Consumer
Industrial
Goods
Architecture Medical
Fig. 1 Implementation of FDM in various domains
manufacturing, most of the billet material will be lost, thus making the AM process
energy efficient. AM also can fabricate multiple parts in a single setup and thus mass
customization is possible. Aerospace industries have adopted AM as an economical
and rapid solution for manufacturing complex parts. AM technology has been
classified based on the type of raw material being used and the type of heat source
used. Accordingly, the different AM technologies are, namely, fused deposition
modeling (FDM), stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), selective
laser melting (SLM), laminated object manufacturing (LOM), direct laser metal
sintering (DMLS), digital laser processing (DLP), electron beam melting (EBM),
binder jetting (BJ), etc. Additive manufacturing processes are classified based on
the nature of raw material being employed in the system, namely, solid, liquid, and
powder.
Solid-based AM systems use raw material in solid nature like filament, sheet,
and laminates. The most common solid based system is FDM (thermoplastic
filaments are fused by a nozzle and selectively laid) and LOM (sheets made of
paper/cardboard are laid as several layers and the outer boundary of each layer is
Mechanical Strength
Advancement in
& Environment
Post Processing
FDM Machine
Development
Dimensional
Sustainable
Techniques
Accuracy
Advanced & Unprocessed
3D Concept
Orientation
Part/Build Time
Process Parameter
Part Build
Models &
Material Fabrication
Optimization
Fig. 2 Current developments in FDM process
cut using a laser source). The sheets have adhesives on one side thus get bonded on
applying small force.
One of the common liquid-based AM systems, stereolithography (SLA) uses a
photosensitive resin as the raw material. The resin is cured by exposing it with laser
along the contour of the part to be fabricated. The wavelength of the laser will be in
the ultraviolet range and the process of curing is called photopolymerization. SLA
could achieve very good part accuracy and good surface finish compared to other
technologies of AM. Based on the type of optic system, type of source, and type of
polymer, there are other types of liquid-based AM such as digital laser processing,
two-photon polymerization, and polyjet.
Powder-based AM system uses raw materials in the form of fine powders
which is solidified based on the mechanism of sintering or melting. Based on the
mechanism of consolidation, nature of the heating source, and type of material,
powder-based system is classified as SLS, SLM, EBM, DMLS, binder jetting, etc.
Nanomaterials, polymer nanocomposites, and functionalized nanomaterials are also
found to have significant impact on the manufacturing industry (Hussain 2018,
2020a, b, c).
Generic Process of AM
AM using any of the technologies mentioned above has the following six process
steps as depicted in Fig. 3. AM process initiates by the creation of a CAD model for
the physical object to be built using any conventional CAD modeling package. The
Fig. 3 Generic process chain of the AM process
CAD model could also be created or reverse engineered from any existing physical
model by using 3D laser scanners. All AM system understands CAD model as an
STL file format, which is abbreviated from the first AM process developed using the
stereolithography technique. The STL is also referred to as Standard Tessellation
Language by the AM community. STL conversion can be done using any software
package, and during this conversion process, all surfaces of the 3D CAD model will
be converted into triangular facets. So a typical STL file consists of data about the
vertices of all triangles and the outward normal vector of each triangle to denote its
orientation. All other CAD information such as geometrical details, material, and
rendering features will be neglected in the STL file and thus the file size will be
light compared to the CAD file. The accuracy of the STL file can be increased by
mentioning an appropriate resolution/tolerance setting during its conversion from
CAD.
The next step in the AM process is to slice the STL file into multiple layers as
AM is a layer-by-layer manufacturing process. AM machines have their proprietary
slicing software or users can rely on any open-source slicers. Using this slicing
software, the different process parameters of AM such as build orientation, layer
height, geometrical scaling, part stacking in case of building multiple parts, and
support requirements can be set. This preprocessed data is sent to the AM machine
and it builds the first layer based on the contour of the first slicing, and the
subsequent layers are laid over the previous layers. Finally, the model is removed
from the bed, cleaned, and post-processed for any finishing requirement.
Fused Deposition Modeling Process
Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is a widely used and cheapest additive manu-
facturing process. The raw material, mostly thermoplastic, will be in the form of
filament which is supplied to an extrusion nozzle (Fig. 4).
The extruder head is moved along the surface of the bed for each layer to the
required profile based on the slicing code. During its motion over the table, it lays
a slender bead of extended plastic to form each layer. The solidification is induced
by the part cooling fan and/or natural convection thus sticking to the layer below.
More details like machine specification, materials, and animation are available in
the webpages (What is FDM technology? 2020; How Fused Deposition Modeling
(FDM) 2020; Fused Deposition Modeling 2020).
Fig. 4 Schematic of fused deposition modeling

Process Parameters of FDM
The geometric and physical behaviors of parts manufactured using the FDM process
depend on its process parameters. Though several parameters govern the physical
behavior of the FDM process, the most significant parameters are discussed below:
(a) Layer thickness: Thickness of each layer being sliced in the slicing software.
Usually smaller layer thickness gives a better surface finish and takes a
considerable amount of time for printing and decides the number of layers to
be print. As a thumb rule, taller parts take more time when fabricated through
the FDM process.
(b) Build orientation: Angle/orientation at which the parts are positioned in the
build platform while being 3D printed. This angle is defined during the slicing
procedure based on the dimension of the part being fabricated and the build
volume of the machine being used. As the part orientation decides the direction
of each layer, it defines the strength of the component along its functional
direction. Also, in some situations, suitable part orientation is decided to
accommodate the part dimension within the build volume. Figure 5 shows the
different part orientation commonly used for investigation on the influence on
the mechanical properties.
(c) Infill percentage: Volume% of components being filled with the build material
depending on the prototyping requirement. Functional prototypes may require
infill % up to 70–80% to have sufficient strength, whereas it is sufficient to have
15–20% of infill % for physical prototypes which will be used only for visual
checking.
(d) Raster angle: During the FDM process, the outer periphery of the sliced layer
is extruded first and then the printer starts filling the inner volume. During this
process, the extrusion pattern in terms of angle can be defined which is called
“Raster angle” as depicted in Fig. 6. In some slicing software, the raster angle
will be defined as 0/90◦ or 45/−45◦ to have better behavior in longitudinal as
well as transverse direction. In the above cases (0/90◦ or 45/−45◦ ) the layers are
extruded alternately between the two angles while printing. The software also
has the option to use any customized raster angle or combination of angles.
(e) Extruder temperature: This is the temperature at which the filament is being
extruded through the nozzle. This temperature depends on the melting tempera-
ture of the filament material being used. The most common FDM material, PLA
requires an extruder temperature in the range of 180–210 ◦ C.
(f) Bed temperature: 3D printed parts/layers are extruded on a horizontal platform
called bed. To have better adhesion between the very layer of material being
extruded and the bed surface, the appropriate temperature needs to be set for
the build platform. This temperature also in turn depends on the material being
used. For PLA material, the part bed temperature will be in the range of 45–
60 ◦ C.
Fig. 5 Standard orientations

in FDM
(g) Printing speed: It is the speed at which extrusion is done and the usual printing
speed will be approximately 50 mm/s.
(h) Extrusion width: It is the width of single extrusion made through the nozzle and
it depends on the nozzle diameter (Fig. 7). This extrusion width will be usually
specified in terms of the percentage of nozzle diameter. The amount of material
squeezing out of the nozzle will be adjusted to arrive at the intended extrusion
width.
Influence of Build Orientation on the Tensile Behavior of FDM
Though the different parameters govern the physical and geometrical properties of
the FDM process, the most influencing factors like building orientation and infill
pattern on the mechanical behavior of FDM samples are analyzed and discussed
in this chapter. Mechanical behavior such as tensile strength, Young’s modulus,
compressive strength, flexural strength, and impact strength of FDM samples are
considered for the study. Most of the slicing software uses the infill pattern of
45◦ /−45◦ or 0◦ /90◦ as the default infill pattern. According to this pattern, the
layers are extruded alternately between 45◦ and −45◦ or 0◦ and 90◦ to have better
properties in both longitudinal and transverse directions. To have an insight into the
Fig. 6 Process parameters of FDM
Fig. 7 Extrusion width in the

FDM process
influence of build orientation on the mechanical behavior of parts produced through

FDM, tensile test results as per ASTM D638 (Fig. 8) are carried out. Results of
the tensile test on 3D printed samples using the standard orientation of Flat (F), On
Edge (OE), and Upright (U) depicted in Fig. 5 are summarized in Table 1.
The results will be used for determining the most influencing orientation on the
tensile behavior of FDM samples.
Table 1 shows a comparative study of the tensile properties in different build
orientations. In most of the materials studied, the on-edge build orientation shows
higher tensile strength and Young’s modulus than flat and upright orientations.
The differences in values between on-edge and flat orientations are considerably
less when compared to the difference of either of the orientations with an upright
position.
Fig. 8 Tensile test specimen as per ASTM D638
The build orientation shall be in such a way that the longest contours are
arranged in a direction parallel to the applied load. In upright orientation, the layer
arrangement (both contours and raster’s) is perpendicular to the direction of the
applied load, causing poor adhesion between the layers, and this accounts for the
fragile nature of the sample, resulting in parts fracturing at lower stresses. Further,
while printing on upright orientations, they are printed with supporting material
around them, giving a nonuniform cross-section, resulting in a rough structure,
which could make it even more fragile.
On-edge and flat orientations, being extruded along the direction of the applied
load, show better tensile properties than that of upright orientation. Further, on
comparing on-edge and flat orientations, the tensile strength is higher for on-edge
build orientation. The width of the specimen is longer than the thickness. Therefore,
while printing with on-edge build orientation, the number of contours achieved is
higher when compared to that of flat build orientation. This makes the on-edge
printed sample stronger and more rigid.
Flat build orientation showed intermediate mechanical properties when com-
pared with the other two build orientations. The lower thickness, leading to a lower
number of contours printed, accounts for the lower values of mechanical properties
than the on-edge orientations. Also, the increased surface area for raster printing on
flat orientation leads to a weakened inter road bonding when compared to that of the
on-edge orientation.
Further, while studying the different raster orientations, the 0◦ /90◦ (cross) raster
orientation shows better tensile properties than +45◦ /−45◦ (crisscross) orientations.
When the tensile force is applied to the cross samples, the 0◦ -raster layup takes up
the load directly since the raster is parallel to the direction of force leading to a
higher tensile behavior. In a crisscross pattern, the raster formations are not parallel
Table 1 Influence of building orientation on the tensile properties of FDM parts

Mechanical Properties
Raster Build Tensile Young’s Mod-
Sl. No. Material Angle Orientation (MPa) ulus (MPa) References
1 ABS (+45/−45) Flat 32.8 1.96 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
2 16.3 – (Montero
et al. 2001)
3 13.7 – (Es-Said
et al. 2000)
4 18.3 – (Fatimatuzahraa
et al. 2011)
5 16.9 1.28 (Ziemian
et al. 2015)
6 34.5 (Dawoud
et al. 2016)
7 28.5 1.81 (Tymrak
et al. 2014)
8 33 1.85 (Ebel and
Sinnemann
2014)
9 36.4 0.83 (Fernandez-
Vicente
et al. 2016)
10 ABS Flat 11.8 – (Ahn et al.
P400 2002)
11 ABS Flat 29.7 2.11 (Croccolo
M30 et al. 2013)
12 ABS On edge 31.9 2.02 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
13 ABS Upright 30 2.04 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
14 PLA Flat 61.7 3.82 (Qattawi
2018)
15 52.3 3.36 (Tymrak
et al. 2014)
16 42 2.6 (Ebel and
Sinne-
mann 2014)
17 45.57 – (Liu et al.
2017)
18 ULTEM Flat 70.6 – (Byberg
9085 et al. 2018)
19 On edge 75.8 – (Byberg
et al. 2018)
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
20 Upright 31.3 – (Byberg
et al. 2018)
21 PC Flat 45.9 2.1 (Domingo-
Espin et al.
2015)
22 56.6 1.89 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
23 35.7 1.58 (Smith and
Dean
2013)
24 51.9 1.63 (Hossain
et al. 2013)
25 On edge 54.6 2.41 (Domingo-
Espin et al.
2015)
26 61.1 2 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
27 29.6 1.18 (Smith and
Dean
2013)
28 Upright 45.6 2.26 (Domingo-
Espin et al.
2015)
29 44.3 1.77 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
30 20.6 1.37 (Smith and
Dean
2013)
31 PP Flat 28 1.1 (Carneiro
et al. 2015)
32 Copolyester Flat 42.5 – (Abouzaid
et al. 2018)
33 ABS (0/90) Flat 33.5 2.02 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
34 18.2 – (Montero
et al. 2001)
35 18.53 – (Fatimatuzahraa
et al. 2011)
36 33.1 – (Dawoud
et al. 2016)
37 29.5 1.74 (Tymrak
et al. 2014)
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
38 ABS P400 Flat 12.2 – (Ahn et al.
2002)
39 ABS On edge 30.7 1.91 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
40 31.1 – (Garg and
Bhat-
tacharya
2017)
41 ABS Upright 30.9 2.05 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
42 PLA Flat 54.9 3.38 (Tymrak
et al. 2014)
43 42.38 – (Liu et al.
2017)
44 PC Flat 44.3 1.62 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
45 53.6 1.82 (Hossain
et al. 2013)
46 PC On edge 57.9 1.95 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
47 PC Upright 42.4 1.63 (Cantrell
et al. 2017)
48 PP Flat 32.5 1.25 (Carneiro
et al. 2015)
49 Copolyester Flat 28.6 – (Abouzaid
et al. 2018)
to the direction of the applied tensile load. Hence the load is distributed across
the raster bonding instead of raster’s weakening the crisscross pattern and giving
a slightly lower tensile strength than cross orientation.
Influence of Process Parameters on Other Mechanical Behavior

of FDM Samples
On further study, the influence of process parameters on other mechanical properties

of FDM was reviewed. The specimens used and the results obtained are represented
in Fig. 9 (a), (b), (c) and in Table 2. Test specimens with cylindrical and prism
shapes as represented in Fig. 9a below were studied as per the ASTM D695 standard
to determine the compressive strength. The flexural strength of the samples was
studied as per ASTM D 790 with a test sample of a standard rectangular shape as
in Fig. 9b. Test specimen with notched specimen geometry as depicted in Fig. 9c is
Fig. 9 (a) Compressive test specimen, (b) flexural test specimen, and (c) impact test specimen
preferred for determining the toughness/energy absorption as impact tests as per the
ASTM D256 standard.
Table 2 highlights the comparative study of mechanical properties such as
compressive, flexural, and impact behavior. Crisscross orientation (+45◦ /−45◦ ) has
a lower number of voids/air gaps compared to cross-orientation (0◦ /90◦ ). These
voids will act as a stress concentrator and affect the strength of the samples.
In crisscross orientation the roads are stacked between +45◦ /−45◦ so the path
of the roads is perceived to be more rigid and stronger because the bonding
arrangement crosses one another in opposite directions making a denser and solid
structure, reducing the number of air gaps. So, the crisscross orientation shows
higher mechanical properties when compared to cross structure orientation.
Compressive test studies conducted clues lower values of compressive strength
for on-edge orientation than that in flat and upright orientations due to the buckling
of layers in on-edge build pattern. However, the samples with flat build orientation
also showed lower values due to interlayer sliding, whereas upright orientation
showed a better result as the layers are sequenced along the direction of loading.
Still, on a general observation, the flat build and upright oriented specimens give a
better result for the compressive test than the on-edge oriented specimen.
On studying the flexural strength, the samples with crisscross orientation show
a higher strength when compared with cross orientation. This is due to the higher
degree of molecular orientation which gives higher flexural values than the sample
with orientation parallel to the applied load. Cross orientation samples have 0◦ and
90◦ layers thus the orientation of the structure is parallel and perpendicular with the
applied load alternatively, whereas in crisscross orientation the layers are neither
Table 2 Influence of building orientation on the mechanical properties of FDM parts
Sl. No Material Raster Angle Build Orientation Mechanical Properties References
Compressive
(MPa) Flexural (MPa) Impact (kJ/m2 )
1 ABS (+45/−45) Flat – 33.1 – (Es-Said et al.
2000)
2 – 78.18 27.45 (Fatimatuzahraa
et al. 2011)
3 PLA Flat – 74.01 23.85 (Liu et al. 2017)
4 PEEK Flat – 45.2 – (Wu et al. 2015)
5 ULTEM 9085 Flat 85.8 66.5 – (Motaparti 2016)
6 94.3 102.3 – (Byberg et al.
2018)
7 ULTEM 9085 On edge – 115.4 – (Byberg et al.
2018)
8 65.3 86.7 – (Motaparti 2016)
9 ULTEM 9085 Upright 91.9 47.5 – (Byberg et al.
2018)
10 ABS (0/90) Flat – 71.46 15.49 (Fatimatuzahraa
et al. 2011)
14 Mechanical Properties of Additive Manufactured Part Using Fused. . .
11 PLA Flat – 72.38 23.18 (Liu et al. 2017)

12 PEEK Flat 60.4 56.1 – (Wu et al. 2015)
13 ULTEM 9085 Flat 85.4 69.8 – (Motaparti 2016)
14 ULTEM 9085 On edge 72.8 91.3 – (Motaparti 2016)
335
perpendicular nor parallel with the applied load making it stronger than the cross-
orientation sample.
Further, the on-edge build orientation gives higher values of flexural strength than
in flat orientation. In flat orientation , the load is applied in a direction perpendicular
to the printed raster. On applying a flexural load, the top surface experiences
compression, and the bottom surface experiences tension. Since the tensile load
acts along the direction of the raster in the bottom surface, the aligned raster’s are
pulled apart rupturing the bond between them and in turn deforming and fracturing
the specimen. While applying flexural load across on-edge orientation, the load acts
on the contour on the top and bottom surfaces which experiences compression and
tension, respectively. Here the raster’s are not being pulled apart, instead, they are
stretched as the tensile load on the bottom of the specimen acts along the length of
the raster’s.
Impact tests show a higher strength in crisscross orientation in comparison with
the cross-orientation. This may also be due to the higher density of beads oriented
perpendicular to the direction of applied load and lesser number of voids achieved
in crisscross orientation than cross orientation.
Influence of Raster Angle on the Mechanical Behavior of FDM

Parts
A detailed study was done for beads/roads stacked in raster angles other than the
commonly used 45◦ /−45◦ and 0◦ /90◦ . The results are compiled in Table 3.
Table 3 depicts a study of the mechanical properties of raster orientations in raster
angles other than the most commonly used or default raster orientations.
The study takes us to the conclusion that the parameter combination of 0◦ raster
and on-edge build orientations shows the highest values for various mechanical
properties due to the denser structure in the direction of the applied load achieved by
the deposition of raster’s and contours. The +45◦ /−45◦ raster orientations are built
with alternatively changing layers, hence it was expected for greater strength of the
parts; however, the incomplete filling proves the reason for the lower performance.
On an overall evaluation it was inferred that the 0◦ raster orientation proves
better than the default +45◦ /−45◦ as well as 0◦ /90◦ raster orientations due to the
incomplete filling and lesser density of the specimen in the latter. Further, the 90◦
raster orientation shows the lowest values of mechanical properties since the load is
applied in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the raster’s and contours.
Conclusion
Fused deposition modeling is the most commonly used additive manufacturing

process for making faster prototypes. Most of the domestic and industrial-grade
thermoplastic could be processed using this technology. This process is considered
the least expensive and simple AM technology which is available in a wide range
Table 3 Influence of raster orientation on the mechanical properties of FDM samples

Sl. Materials Raster Build Mechanical Properties Ref
No Angles Ori-
enta-
tion
Young’s
Modu-
Tensile lus Compressive Flexural Impact
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (kJ/m2 )
1 ABS 0 Flat 15.75 – – – (Wang
et al.
2007)
2 ABS 0 Flat 37 2.3 – 62 – (Durgun
and
Ertan
2014)
90 32 2.1 – 60 –
3 ABS 0 Flat 19 1 – – 17.9 (Górski
et al.
2015)
5 18.2 1.07 – – 13.5
10 18 1.06 – – 8.6
15 18.1 1.05 – – 5.2
20 18.1 1.05 – – 3.1
25 16.1 1.15 – – 1.95
30 13.8 1.06 – – 1.2
4 ABS 0 Flat 26.4 1.08 – – – (Uddin
et al.
2017)
5 ABS (0/90/ Flat 11.7 1.07 – – – (Bellini
45/−45) and
Güçeri
2003)
6 ABS 0 Flat 29.3 1.69 – – – (Love
et al.
2014)
7 ABS 0 Flat 32.56 – – – – (Onwubolu
and
Rayegani
2014)
45 34.61 – – – –
8 ABS 0 33 – – 45.2 – (Raut
et al.
2014)
45 Flat 30.3 – – 38.6 –
90 30.7 – – 30.7 –
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
No Angles Ori-
enta-
tion
Young’s
Modu-
9 ABS 0 Flat 21 – – – – (Montero
et al. 2001)
90 10.03 – – – –
10 ABS 0 Flat 20.6 – – 44.4 – (Es-Said
et al. 2000)
45 7 – – 31.1 –
90 9.3 – – 19.6 –
(0/45) 14 – – 32.2 –
11 ABS 0 Flat 25.15 1.49 – – – (Ziemian
et al. 2015)
45 10.11 1.04 – – –
90 9.16 1.04 – – –
12 ABS (30/−60) Flat 33.2 – – – – (Dawoud
et al. 2016)
(75/−50) 33.6 – – – –
13 ABS 45 Flat 18.1 – – – – (Vidakis
et al. 2016)
14 ABS Honey Flat 14 0.85 – – – (Ebel and
comb Sinnemann
2014)
15 ABS 0 Flat 38.76 2.17 – – – (Letcher
et al. 2015)
45 35.82 2.19 – – –
90 31.64 2.17 – – –
16 ABS Honey Flat 36.1 0.8 – – – (Fernandez-
comb Vicente
et al. 2016)
17 ABS 0 22.6 1.65 – – – (Ravindra
Plus babu et al.
2018)
30 21.9 1.71 – – –
45 Flat 24.5 1.88 – – –
60 21.8 1.6 – – –
90 21.9 1.49 – – –
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
No Angles Ori-
enta-
tion
Young’s
Modu-
18 ABS 0 Flat 10 0.6 59.3 122 – (Hernandez
P 430 et al.
2016)
19 ABS 0 15.66 – 16.2 34.29 0.367 (Sood et al.
P400 2010, 2012)
30 Flat 15.89 – 14.9 33.07 0.447
60 18.09 – 16.8 39.24 0.395
20 ABS 0 Flat 19.7 – 39.7 – – (Ahn et al.
2002)
P400 90 2.77 – 34.5 – –
21 PLA 90/180 Flat 11 1.75 – – – (Torres
(aligned) et al. 2016)
45/135 21.4 2.19 – – –
(biased)
22 PLA 0 Flat 73.6 3.91 – 46.3 (Chacón
et al. 2017)
23 PLA 0 Flat 50.4 – – – – (Kung
et al. 2018)
45 52.7 – – – –
24 PLA 30 37.9 – – – – (Rinanto
et al. 2018)
45 Flat 38.8 – – – –
60 37.1 – – – –
25 PLA 0 53.59 – – – – (Pei et al.
2015)
45 Flat 48.37 – – – –
90 43.39 – – – –
26 PLA Honey Flat 17.5 1.32 – – – (Ebel and
comb Sinnemann
2014)
27 PLA 0 Flat 49.18 – – 82.98 23.28 (Liu et al.
2017)
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
No Angles Ori-
enta-
tion
Young’s
Modu-
28 ULTE 0 53 – – – – Bagsik
(Schöpp-
ner and
Ktp 2011)
M 30 Flat 44 – – – –
9085 45 46 – – – –
29 ULTE 0 – 93.6 124.9 – (Byberg
et al. 2018)
M 90 Flat 56.1 – 100.1 58.3 –
9085
30 ULTE 0 46.83 2.01 – – – (Zaldivar
et al. 2017)
M 45 Flat 42.97 2.12 – – –
9085
31 ULTE 0 Flat 59.4 – – – – (Fischer
M and
9085 Schöppner
2017)
32 PEEK 0 Flat 40.4 0.522 – 68.2 101.2 (Deng
et al. 2018)
33 PEEK (30/−60) Flat 41.8 – – 48.5 – (Wu
et al. 2015)
34 PC (+30/ Flat 41.5 1.84 – – – (Cantrell
−60) et al. 2017)
(+15/ 54 1.78 – – –
−75)
35 PC 0 Flat 59.8 2.08 – – – (Hill and
Haghi
2014)
15 44.7 1.96 – – –
30 38.9 1.74 – – –
45 Flat 24.1 1.36 – – –
60 24.3 1.46 – – –
75 18 1.35 – – –
90 19 1.42 – – –
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
No Angles Ori-
enta-
tion
Young’s
Modu-
36 PC 45 Flat 50.3 – – – – (Masood
et al. 2010)
60 48.5 – – – –
90 47.2 – – – –
37 PC (30/−60) Flat 52.4 1.66 – – – (Hossain
et al.
2013)
38 PA 45 Flat 47.5 1.4 36.4 66.1 – (Knoop
et al.
2015)
39 PP 0 36 1.35 – – – (Carneiro
et al. 2015)
45 Flat 32 1.1 – – –
90 33.5 1.2 – – –
40 Co- (60/−30) 41 – – – – (Abouzaid
polyester et al. 2018)
(75/−15) Flat 40.3 – – – –
41 ABS 0 On 23.93 – – – – (Wang
edge et al. 2007)
42 ABS 0 On 35 2.15 – 54.5 – (Durgun
and Ertan
2014)
90 On 34 1.98 – 53 –
edge
43 ABS 0 22.9 1.14 – – 29 (Górski
et al.
2015)
5 21.3 1.33 – – 19.5
10 On 21.1 1.31 – – 12.4
15 edge 21.6 1.13 – – 8
20 18.9 1.26 – – 5.3
25 17.4 1.34 – – 3.5
30 17.3 1.15 – – 2.2
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
No Angles Ori-
en-
ta-
tion
Young’s
Modu-
44 ABS 0 On 37.9 1.54 – – – (Uddin et al.
edge 2017)
45 ABS (0/90/ On 16 1.65 – – – (Bellini and
45/−45) edge Güçeri
2003)
46 ABS 0 On 23.55 – – – – (Onwubolu
and
Rayegani
2014)
45 edge 24.3 – – – –
47 ABS 0 On 35.5 – – 34.5 – (Raut et al.
2014)
45 On 28.5 – – 28 –
90 34.3 – – 39.6 –
48 ABS 0 On 31.5 – – – – (Chockalingam
et al. 2016)
30 edge 30.7 – – – –
60 30.26 – – – –
49 ABS 0 30.3 1.77 – – – (Ravindrababu
et al. 2018)
30 On 26.4 1.8 – – –
Plus 45 edge 28.7 1.95 – – –
60 25.3 1.92 – – –
90 28.9 1.87 – – –
50 ABS 0 On 32.7 2.18 – – – (Türk et al.
Plus -P edge 2017)
430
51 PLA 90/180 On 15.1 2.46 – – – (Torres et al.
(aligned) 2016)
45/135 edge 7.4 1.6 – – –
(biased)
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
No Angles Ori-
enta-
tion
Young’s
Modu-
52 PLA 0 On 78.4 3.92 – 61.1 – (Chacón
edge et al.
2017)
53 ULTE 0 On 66.2 – 96.79 – – Bagsik
(Schöpp-
ner and
Ktp 2011)
M 30 edge 60 – – – –
9085 45 62 – – – –
54 ULTE 0 On 89 – – 123.5 – (Byberg
et al. 2018)
M 90 On 61.6 – – 105.3 –
9085
55 ULTE 0 On 71.03 2.48 – – – (Zaldivar
et al. 2017)
M 45 edge 47.52 1.77 – – –
9085
56 ULTE 0 On 71.5 – – – – (Fischer
M edge and
9085 Schöpp-
ner 2017)
57 PA 45 On 49.6 1.41 28.7 67.8 – (Knoop
edge et al. 2015)
58 ABS 0 Upright 13.34 – – – – (Wang
et al. 2007)
59 ABS 0 Upright 8.68 1.1 – – – (Uddin
et al. 2017)
60 ABS (0/90/ Upright 7.61 1.39 – – – (Bellini
45/−45) and Güçeri
2003)
61 ABS 0 Upright 7.61 1.31 – – – (Love
et al. 2014)
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
No Angles Ori-
enta-
tion
Young’s
Mod-
Tensile ulus Compressive Flexural Impact
62 ABS 0 Upright 19 – – 28.2 – (Raut et al.
2014)
45 22.5 – – 27.4 –
90 17.1 – – 36.4 –
63 ABS 0 14.1 1.1 – – – (Ravindrababu
Plus et al. 2018)
30 12.5 1.09 – – –
45 Upright 13.5 1.02 – – –
60 12.9 1.12 – – –
90 11.4 1.04 – – –
64 ABS 0 Upright 14.8 2.06 – – – (Türk
Plus –P et al. 2017)
430
65 ABS P 0 Upright 9.36 0.74 45.5 59.8 – (Hernandez
430 et al. 2016)
66 PLA 90/180 Upright 36 2.28 – – – (Torres
(aligned) et al. 2016)
45/135 26.8 3.1 – – –
(biased)
67 PLA 0 Upright 46.6 3.36 – 32.4 – (Chacón
et al. 2017)
68 ULTE 0 40 – – – – (Schöppner
and Ktp
2011)
M 30 Upright 42 – – – –
9085 45 39 – – – –
69 ULTE 0 Upright 32 – 90.9 64.2 – (Byberg
et al. 2018)
M 90 – – 93.3 64.9 –
9085
70 ULTE 0 Upright 38.48 2.03 – – – (Zaldivar
M et al. 2017)
9085
71 ULTE 0 Upright 44.5 – – – – (Fischer
M and Schöpp-
9085 ner 2017)
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
No Angles Ori-
enta-
tion
Young’s
Modu-
72 PC 0 Upright 23.08 – – – – (Gajdoš
et al. 2016)
(45/90) 35.25 – – – –
73 PA 45 Upright 31.9 1.41 39.2 60.5 – (Knoop
et al. 2015)
of build volumes. This chapter explores the influence of the basic and prominent
process parameters on the mechanical behavior of fused deposition modeling
samples.
Most of the available studies on the influence of FDM process parameters are
carried out based on tensile behavior. FDM samples are built using the three
common part orientations namely flat, on-edge, and upright. From the study, it is
inferred that on-edge and flat orientation showcases better tensile behavior (Tensile
strength and Young’s modulus) with a cross (0◦ /90◦ ) raster pattern. The compressive
strength of the FDM samples is observed to be better with upright orientation having
the layers perpendicular to the direction of load. As the layers are stacked up along
the direction of compressive loading, it behaves to have better resistance in that
direction. About the flexural behavior, a 0◦ raster angle as well as a crisscross
(45◦ /−45◦ ) pattern with flat orientation demonstrates better behavior. Several other
raster orientations/patterns have been investigated on the mechanical behavior of
FDM parts. Future directions such as achieving near in-plane isotropic behavior
using suitable raster patterns have good scope for further exploration in this area.
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Product Lifecycle Management (PLM):
A Key Enabler in Implementation 15
of Industry 4.0
A Key Enabler in Implementation of Industry 4.0
Vinayak N. Kulkarni, V. N. Gaitonde, and B. B. Kotturshettar
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Digital Manufacturing: A Global Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Industry 4.0: The Smart Era of Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Internet of Things (IoT) in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Cyber-Physical System (CPS) in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Big Data Analytics in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Additive Manufacturing in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Simulation in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Robotics in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Horizontal and Vertical Integration in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
PLM in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Benefits of Incorporating PLM in Industry 4.0 Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Challenges and Future Directions for PLM in Industry 4.0 Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Journals/Conference Papers/Book Chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Abstract
Today’s manufacturing world is experiencing a complete transformation from

semi-digitalization to fully digital manufacturing scenario with an intervention
of Industry 4.0, representing the smart era. Internet of things, cyber-physical
systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics, simulation,
V. N. Kulkarni () · V. N. Gaitonde · B. B. Kotturshettar

School of Mechanical Engineering, KLE Technological University, Hubballi, India
350 V. N. Kulkarni et al.
robotics, augmented reality, virtual reality, horizontal and vertical integrations,

and other related technologies can act as core enablers for creation of smart
factories. A successful implementation of Industry 4.0 for developing new
age smart digital manufacturing environment demands careful interactions and
exchange of information between different enablers via digital thread and
digital twin technologies. Data plays a vital role for all enablers in Industry
4.0 scenario. The biggest challenges related to data in Industry 4.0-related
smart factories are safety, protection, retrieval, and sharing, as the same data
is commonly used by different collaborators. Product life cycle management
(PLM) can be a key enabler in Industry 4.0 for all such data-related issues
through its unique and proven core capabilities. This chapter initially highlights
the importance and challenges of different enablers in Industry 4.0 context and
further reviews different applications of PLM in Industry 4.0. Benefits of PLM
for fourth revolution manufacturing industries have been discussed. Challenges
along with future directions of PLM have been mentioned towards the end of the
chapter.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Digital manufacturing · Smart factory · Data protection ·

Product life cycle management (PLM)
Introduction
Industries started to replace agriculture and played a vital role in societal economy
when mechanization was introduced during the first industrial revolution (Industry
1.0), nearly three centuries ago. The economy accelerated slowly, as the railroads
were introduced after the inception of steam engine. Further, the advancement
in technology happened a century later when gas, oil, and electricity started to
replace coal and marked the beginning of second industrial revolution (Industry
2.0). This revolution is considered to be turning point in the upliftment of the
economy because the inventions in the field of automobile and aerospace started to
happen during the end of second revolution. Even though Industry 2.0 marked the
beginning of many inventions, most of them were still mechanized, and few of them
ended up being semiautomated, until the beginning of third industrial revolution
(Industry 3.0). The start of Industry 3.0 changed the way the world looked at
industries due to the invention and development of computers and continuous up
gradations in the field of electronics and communications. Synergistic integration
of mechanical components with different electronics and electrical components
with proper blend of information and instrumentation technology started to happen
during this era. Further, the inventions and usage of programmable logic computers
(PLCs), electronic chips, and different types of robots in industries opened up the
new areas in the field of automobile, aerospace, military, biotechnology, etc. The
third industrial revolution is also said to have opened up the research capabilities
15 Product Lifecycle Management (PLM): A Key Enabler in. . . 351
Fig. 1 History of industrial revolution
in different areas such as space technology, industrial automation, etc. Today, the
world is standing near the door steps of fourth industrial revolution (I4.0/Industry
4.0). The level of automation is found to be increasing step by step from the first
revolution to the second revolution and took a big jump in the third industrial
revolution. Although complete automation happened during the end of Industry 3.0,
with continuous advancement in smart components such as smart sensors and smart
actuators, along with booming IT solutions, Industry 4.0 is expected to digitalize
the entire manufacturing sector in the years to come (Zhou et al. 2015). Figure 1
shows the history of industrial revolution and transition of technologies from the
first industrial revolution starting from the eighteenth century to the fourth industrial
revolution of the twenty-first century (Henning 2013).
The human intervention in I4.0 will be almost minimal and exterminated in
many cases due to the improvement in the communication level and self-monitoring
activities using Internet of things (IoT) and large-scale machine-to-machine (M2M)
interactions. Even though the third revolution marked the beginning of automation
to greater extent due to advancement in mechatronics approach, the automation level
of this revolution is not enough for complete digitalization of the manufacturing
sectors. Today, there is an immediate need for self-diagnosis, self-monitoring, self-
configuration, and even self-optimization capabilities in the automation level of
Industry 4.0 (Schutze et al. 2018).
The credit of introducing the concept of Industry 4.0 to the world should
definitely be given to the Germans, as they tried to initialize the concept of Industry
4.0, nearly a decade ago in the year 2011–2012 (Marjanovic et al. 2017). Inter-
connection, information transparency, technical assistance, and decentralization
decisions are being identified as four key design principles integral to Industry
4.0. When the principles such as interconnections and information transparency are
the key design principles in the upcoming Industry 4.0, then, obviously, the data
security, intellectual property protection, and cyber threat are the areas of concern.
But at the same time, it has to be observed that information transparency and
interconnections are not just about the information protection within the factory or
manufacturing sector but is more concerned about the virtualization and building the
digital model within the system using interoperating smart sensors, smart actuators,
advanced processors, and Internet of things. Creation of smart factories for complete
automation and exchange of data in manufacturing technologies forces Industry
4.0 to include the recent technologies of cyber-physical systems, Internet of things,
cloud computing, and related areas (Hozdic 2015).
Industry 4.0 is a huge concept and can have its impact in almost all upcoming
areas; especially, its impact can be surely visualized in the sector of digital
manufacturing. The manufacturing sector will undergo a drastic change in the years
to come and involves huge automated tools for fast, rapid, optimized, and secured
processes. Overall, the concept of I4.0 will lead toward digital transformations of
existing manufacturing process (Stentoft et al. 2019). No doubt that the Industry
4.0 will transform the manufacturing sector with the help of big data analytics,
simulation, autonomous robots, augmented realities, additive manufacturing, cloud
computing, cybersecurity, IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), and related technologies,
but managing the entire resources, with proper data management, and keeping all
these technologies intact is utmost important. The concept of smart factories can
be set up with the full-fledged implementation of product life cycle management
(PLM) system, which can act as a bridge between the latest technologies used
in I4.0 and the enterprise asset management (Liu et al. 2020). The capabilities
of the existing PLM system are also being extended with the introduction of
artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. The integration of shop
floor activities in the industries can be neatly and systematically connected with
the rest of supply chain and enterprise management with the upgraded PLM
technologies. Figure 2 shows the development of PLM platform from Industry
3.0 to Industry 4.0. Initially, the capabilities of PLM were limited to computer-
aided drawing (CAD), engineering data management (EDM), and product data
management (PDM) aspects. But toward the end of third industrial revolution,
PLM started to capture the manufacturing and other industrial sectors by improving
its capabilities in the area of collaborations, data security, project management,
variant management, etc. Further, the new fourth revolution is causing a paradigm
shift in the PLM capabilities due to the integration of PLM with ERP, SCM, and
advancements in IOT, big data, artificial intelligence, and related key technologies.
The usage of PLM system in I4.0 not only helps in the digitalization of the factory
but can even enhance the supplier and customer relationships. The required action
areas of I4.0 to digitalize the manufacturing sector, related core enablers, and their
related implementation challenges will be explained in the further sections of the
chapter. The focus of this chapter will remain toward the role of PLM as a key
enabler for implementation of Industry 4.0 in manufacturing sector for creation of
smart factories.
Fig. 2 Development of PLM platform from I3.0 to I4.0
Digital Manufacturing: A Global Perspective
Digital manufacturing or smart manufacturing is the main theme of Industry 4.0,

and different countries have established their own programs to execute I4.0 into
the manufacturing domain. The European Union (EU) and the German government
are promoting I4.0 program, whereas the USA has set up smart manufacturing
leadership council (SMLC), and technologically advanced countries like Japan,
Korea, and China have established their own national programs to promote the
concept of smart manufacturing.
Integrating new apps, technologies, and services plays a key role in the competi-
tive world of digital manufacturing. Europe initiated a commission in the year 2016
to implement and enhance the capabilities of EU’s edge over in the area of digital
technologies. The European commission tried to address and focus on mid-cap and
small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to make use of modern technologies
and adapt themselves to the upcoming I4.0 trend to meet the requirements of
today’s market conditions. The agenda of the commission was also to exchange the
knowledge, skills, and know-how between academia and industry using the existing
research projects and case studies of the real world (Fonseca 2018).
The world is looking at Germany as the center point for introducing I4.0
discipline in manufacturing domain. Organizations from Germany have started
collaborating actively with their partners from both developed and developing
countries like Japan, Italy, Australia, France, India, etc., to enable the bidirectional
readiness and smooth systematic uninterrupted transition toward I4.0 perspectives.
On the other hand, China with its ambitious goal of “Made in China 2025”
strategy has started collaborating with many organizations from Egypt, India, Brazil,
Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. The technologically advanced countries like

Germany and China are trying to set up the regional hubs for Industry 4.0 technology
transfer in the host countries through the collaboration (Xu et al. 2018). Apart from
Germany, China, and the USA, countries like Japan who are known for their quality
products throughout the world are now trying to continuously update themselves
in the area of manufacturing and move toward smart manufacturing concept. The
Japanese quality philosophies and concepts such as kaizen, poka-yoke, JIT, etc., are
widely applied worldwide. Now Japan is stepping toward the concept of Society
5.0, which focuses on digitalization of the industries from the societal point of view
(Shiroishi et al. 2018). Due to the introduction of AI and related new technologies,
Japanese are trying to connect industries and exchange information even outside the
organization with the concept of “connected industries.” Many developing countries
are yet need to fully understand the concept of smart manufacturing and Industry
4.0 technology. The Government of India is trying to implement new strategies
and paradigm shift for SMEs and mid-caps of the countries and also trying to
attract the investors through its “Make in India” scheme (Iyer 2018). Many leading
Universities in India are now trying to offer courses on AI, big data analytics,
automation, soft computing, PLM (product life cycle management), ERP (enterprise
resource planning), etc., for developing the future work force to adopt I4.0 in the
manufacturing domain (Kulkarni et al. 2020).
Industry 4.0: The Smart Era of Manufacturing
Different technologies and their related applications have started to emerge in the
manufacturing sector due to the upcoming Industry 4.0 trend. The research in the
area of I4.0 is still under progress, and new updates in its body of knowledge
are getting updated on the regular basis. But to date there is no fixed success
formula available for the successful implementation of Industry 4.0 concept in
manufacturing sector. Both industries and academia are trying hard to fix up the
best possible and optimal way of introducing I4.0 as quickly as possible. Many
conferences and symposiums are being organized worldwide to create awareness in
the area of new Industrial 4.0 revolution. Creating smart models, smart products,
smart factories with smart manufacturing capabilities, smart services, and smart
logistics are few of the primary action areas under Industry 4.0 umbrella (Nunes
et al. 2017). Figure 3 shows primary and secondary smart action areas required in
Industry 4.0 smart era.
Researchers believe that smart manufacturing is going to be the hallmark
of future industrial revolution (Crnjac et al. 2017). Smart manufacturing is the
technology-driven production process, where in advanced sensors, control system,
predictive engineering, artificial intelligence, cyber-physical systems, etc., are used
to integrate the assets of manufacturing of today and tomorrow. Smart manufac-
turing is not just related to the usage and application of these latest technologies to
the production system; instead, it concentrates on the overall change in the organiza-
tional mindset, where the procedures for handling business and training/maintaining
Fig. 3 Action areas of Industry 4.0 smart era
of workforce are also considered to be the key points. The twenty-first century smart
manufacturing is trying to focus, integrate, and respond to “customers” throughout
the manufacturing supply chain. On the other side, smart manufacturing focuses
on minimizing the usage of materials and energy and maximizing the environment
sustainability, health, safety, and economic competitiveness (Bryner 2012). The
traditional way of handling the manufacturing will no longer fit into the I4.0
discipline. Very selective and best practices may be retained from Industry 3.0,
and many conventional practices will be soon obsolete in this upcoming industrial
revolution. Industry 4.0 demands the future workforce to be equipped in two or
more than two interdisciplinary specializations. Some of the core enablers for the
action areas of Industry 4.0 can be categorized as future skill sets required for the
successful implementation of I4.0 (Pinzone et al. 2017). The core enablers for I4.0
implementation are summarized in Fig. 4. Roles, requirements, and challenges of
some important enablers are discussed further.
Internet of Things (IoT) in Industry 4.0
Currently, IoT has been successfully implemented in the fields of smart infras-
tructure, health care, supply chains/logistics, smart home, elder care, agriculture,
military, security and privacy, etc. (Trappey et al. 2017). Supply chain organizations
Fig. 4 Core enablers for Industry 4.0
are incorporating IoT to improve the product traceability by reducing the counter-
feiting.
A particular category of IoT which mainly focus on its applications in today’s
modern industries and intelligent machining is termed as industrial Internet of things
(IIoT) (Sisinni et al. 2018). Most of the assembly lines in industries are soon going
to be equipped with IoT/IIoT, which will be capable of gathering real-time data
based on the live updates of the environment. The IIoT can also enable fail-safe
technology when implemented along with smart sensors and smart actuators and can
be an important part of proactive maintenance/predictive maintenance. Real-time
feedback mechanisms such as vibrations, humidity level, acoustic level, temperature
etc., can be empowered in the I4.0 scenario with the help of robots incorporated
with IoT/IIoT facilities. Monitoring of different manufacturing processes in industry
such as production quality, energy management, maintenance, etc., can be done
using IIoT (Civerchia et al. 2017). IoT and IIoT are sure to add its value for real-
time optimization of supply chain, network, energy management, and production
processes. 24/7*365 days uninterrupted Internet services, reliability, interoperabil-
ity, networking, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, and security and
confidentiality of data can be considered as some of the important challenges of
applications of IIoT in Industry 4.0 scenario.
Cyber-Physical System (CPS) in Industry 4.0
IoT is about connecting the things to the Internet, while cyber-physical system is
the integration of computation, physical process, and networking. The concept of
cyber-physical system further gave rise to cyber manufacturing or cyber-physical
production system (CPPS), where the transparent information systems are used to
provide reconfigurability, maintain productivity, and facilitate asset management.
In modern manufacturing and industrial automation context, CPPS can be referred

to various manufacturing processes from design and simulation to control and
verification. By using the power of big data analytics, CPS can be used for
improving both the quality and productivity in manufacturing (Mueller et al. 2017).
The new technical system paradigm is being driven by today’s computing
power combined with the capabilities of wireless communication. In CPPS, the
IT elements are systematically collaborated and designed to control the electronic
and mechanical physical objects. Internet data infrastructure is a must for both
CPS and CPPS. The main functionalities of CPPS are to acquire real-time data
from the physical world and provide appropriate feedback information from the
cyber space (Lee et al. 2015). Along with it, CPPS is also responsible for
construction of cyber space using computational analytics capability and intelligent
data management system. Cloud computing and wireless sensor networks are the
technologies connected closely to CPS and IoT. The performance of CPS enhances
with proper IoT, Internet of source (IoS), and Internet of data (IoD). Outages
of production due to insufficient and nonavailability of data, data protection and
security, industrial sabotage, and industrial broadband structure can be some of
the upcoming challenges in implementation of CPS in manufacturing scenario of
Industry 4.0 revolution.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Industry 4.0
The cognitive functions such as learning and problem-solving that are associated
with the human mind can be mimicked using AI (machine intelligence). AI
can further intersect with manufacturing to create intelligent manufacturing (IM),
sometimes referred to as industrial AI. AI concepts such as artificial neural networks
(ANN), multi-agents (MA), evolutionary algorithms like differential evolution
optimization, fuzzy logic, simulated annealing, etc., are being used in many of the
manufacturing disciplines in I4.0 scenario.
Data plays a vital role in application of AI for manufacturing. Huge data needs
to be collected via different types of sensors, and further the data needs to be
processed, controlled, and distributed to the next stage for the purpose of decision-
making. Basically, the machine is given intelligence through the machine learning
(ML) algorithm, through which the data is processed for predicting the behavior.
The specific learning technique in ML through which the data is analyzed is called
“supervised learning.” Various trends and different patterns are identified via trained
algorithm, and the further decisions are taken. The advantage of AI is that the
data can be shared simultaneously to many machines both within and outside the
organization. These data shared with operators or supervisors will help to prevent
the damage or loss before they happen. Another important application of industrial
artificial intelligence is the predictive maintenance (Bajic et al. 2018). Based on the
real-time data, robots are now able to take decisions to optimize the production floor
processes due to the application of AI in robotics. Manufacturers are using AI in the
design phase as “generative design,” where the set of possible configurations and
solutions are available based on the input of the designer. ML algorithms provide
additional improvement to the generated solutions to arrive at most feasible optimal
solution.
Predictive maintenance, real-time monitoring, reducing the forecasting errors,
reducing the labor cost and inventory, improved supply chain management, predic-
tion of remaining useful life of a machinery, and consumer-focused manufacturing
can be listed as some of the advantages of implementing AI in I4.0 revolution (Yao
et al. 2017). Application of AI in I4.0 is not free from challenges. Upgrading the
knowledge base, understanding high level of automation, deep learning, machine
translation, audio-video analytics, language processing, etc., can be highlighted as
the challenges for adopting AI in today’s modern manufacturing systems.
Big Data Analytics in Industry 4.0
In I4.0, the human intervention is least, and the machines are empowered to
decide and take decisions based on the feedback mechanism available. Data and
its analytics play a critical role in such situation. The data that is collected,
analyzed, and utilized in industries is termed as industrial big data. In industries,
data can be generated by components, machines, systems, interface between human
and machines, machine-to-machine interface, surveillance cameras, IoT devices
working inside the plant, information from cloud, information from smart sensors,
feedback from actuators, etc. In new industrial 4.0 revolution, smart factories are
planning to use data from different types of sources to its full potential, and it’s also
assumed that the data generated from various sources in industries might possess
some important business values. Immediately after the generation of data from
machine, the data can be detected by appropriate tracker and further sent to cloud
or database, based on whether the data has to undergo higher analytics or to be
stored for future analytics. The information that is processed is further utilized for
either resource optimization or gaining some meaningful insights or for making
better decisions (Dubey et al. 2016). Figure 5 shows different impacts of big data on
manufacturing in Industry 4.0.
Big data allows industries to manage the risk within the organization and risk
arising from suppliers and contractors. Due to small mistakes, many companies
have faced huge losses on account of warranties and recalls. Big data ensures
possibility of either avoiding or foreseeing warranty and recalls issues in the
organization, resulting in savings of the capital (Gokalp et al. 2016). Apart from core
manufacturing activities, big data is also being used for operational and maintenance
activities of warehousing and transportation in logistics.
Although big data analytics provides many benefits in I4.0 discipline, such as
high flexibility, availability of real-time and used data, reduction in errors and
downtime, etc., it has few challenges for its implementation because it requires
huge capital investments, trained professionals, excessive storage space, and lack
of real-time intelligence tools.
Fig. 5 Impact of big data on manufacturing in Industry 4.0
Additive Manufacturing in Industry 4.0
A recent and novel production system introduced in design and manufacturing is 3D

printing or additive manufacturing (AM). The machining requirements of today’s
industries are very complex in nature. Applications in the areas of automobile,
aerospace, medical, etc., have lots of products in their basket with very complex
design. Additive manufacturing is found to be most suitable technology in such
cases. In addition, additive manufacturing is responsible for higher efficiency,
rapid prototyping, material saving, and decentralized production. The drawbacks
of traditional machining with subtractive manufacturing and combinational of
several processes have been overcome by AM technology. Additive manufacturing
fabricates the component in fewer steps and lesser material wastage, which leads
to higher cost-to-benefit ratio. Different 3D printers with different capabilities can
be employed simultaneously and controlled over a common computer system at a
time. All the interconnected 3D printers are being controlled and modified online
without much configuration with a single control unit. This is possible due to the
latest advancement of information technology in I4.0 revolution (Dilberoglu et al.
2017).
Some of the major advantages of additive manufacturing over traditional manu-
facturing are that the material wastage in additive manufacturing is reduced over
40% compared to the earlier methods and also more than 90% of the leftover
parts can be successfully recycled. AM provides great flexibility to the designers
to design the complex parts and also to vary and experiment the part design.
AM has added advantage of reducing both labor and material cost involved in
production. Although AM has many advantages, it is characterized with many
obstacles for its implementation in I4.0. Imperfections, machine cost, production
time, size limitations, and material limitations are some of the challenges in the
implementation of AM in I4.0 scenario (Haleem and Javaid 2019).
Simulation in Industry 4.0
The power of simulation is being experienced in Industry 4.0 scenario, where the
operation of a real system or any proposed system can be successfully mimicked
before its implementation. The risk-free environment of simulation can help
companies to estimate its return on investment in a better way. The simulation
concept used in the industrial environment is termed as manufacturing system
simulation. Typically, till the end of third industrial revolution, the concept of
simulation was used mainly during the stages of product design and verification
and was underutilized for the further stages of their value chain process. I4.0 tries to
explore the capabilities of simulation in the manufacturing stage as well. Simulation
experts try to simulate the manufacturing processes and their sequential operations
before they are physically done. It is a known fact that the installation, erection, and
commissioning of new manufacturing plant facilities along with its production line
and processes can often be costly and very expensive. Hence, applying simulation
approach to such systems can surely yield enormous benefits (Pattar et al. 2019).
The digital revolution has now given rise to concept of virtual factory (virtual
copy) and is basis for the so-called digital twin technology. The new paradigm uses
simulation throughout the manufacturing process, covering entire life cycle of the
product. The models that are developed in virtual factories are smart, corrective,
and predictive models that can learn on the past data available, self-correct, and
self-adjust according to the predictive programming adopted. This is possible due
to the advanced ML technology and extensive use of evolutionary optimization
techniques. Researchers are also experimenting to combine simulation concept with
lean and optimization techniques in upcoming I4.0 context. The extensive use of IoT
in simulation has given rise to the concept of Internet of Simulation (Rodic 2017).
Overall, the use of simulation in manufacturing context can identify and reduce
the bottlenecks, resulting in increase of throughput. Optimization of labor involve-
ment can create cost-saving opportunities. The validation of the proposed model can
be successfully carried out before actual implementation, resulting in lowering the
risks of investment (Pattar et al. 2020). But the major challenge in implementation
of system simulation is that one model and one program do not fit all the
industries. High level of customization is required for manufacturing simulation.
The application of IoT and CPS to the simulation models in I4.0 context can be
another challenge for simulation experts across the globe.
Robotics in Industry 4.0
Robots have been replacing humans in many industrial tasks and are achieving better
and faster production with reduction in cost. It’s time to redesign the robots, update,
and make them more suitable and compatible with latest trends of IoT, CPS, data
analytics, AI, and ML technologies in I4.0 scenario. The smart robots in I4.0 context
need to respond and interact with other robots installed in the factory floor as well
as collaborate with humans in digital factories of tomorrow (Lee et al. 2014). The
cost of high-quality and precision sensors, controllers, and actuators has become
cheaper. This can be an added advantage for robot developers to incorporate more
and more smart sensors and actuators into their development process.
The smart factories allow industrial robots to collaborate with human workers
over a communication network. But still the research in human and robot interaction
is under progress because the working space for both human and robot is shared
and this can cause safety issues in the future (Colgate et al. 2008). The robots
in I4.0 scenario may make use of CPS technology for collision avoidance, auto-
speech control, auto-planning, self-decision, etc. Robots with wireless connections
and private cloud facility, fixed up with highly intelligent sensors and actuators, may
be employed for the purpose of robot to robot interactions in smart factory approach.
With the advancements in artificial intelligence and ML algorithms, robots are being
designed to track and evaluate its own health and have abilities of self-awareness
and self-maintenance. These advanced robots have high impact on manufacturing
processes and business models. Mass customization, high production, flexibility,
and quality improvement are some of the advantages of new age robotics in Industry
4.0 (Bahrin et al. 2016). Integrating robots to technologies of IoT, CPS, big data, AI,
and ML technologies may not be an easy task for the robotics engineers of smart
factories. New production paradigms, reconfiguration of automation technologies,
and designing of new tasks in assembly lines using robotics are much required in
smart factory concept. It may take another two decades to see a full-fledged robotic
factory floor without human intervention.
Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) in Industry 4.0
The entire production chain in I4.0 can be geared up by proper usage of simulation
models and augmented reality in conservation with right data available from IoT
and CPS. Industries have already started to use AR/VR technologies for virtual
design, training programs, and important test scenarios (Boulanger 2004). Certainly,
the applications of AR/VR are more than design and training purposes. AR/VR
technologies can be successfully implemented for maintenance in smart factory
approach using suitable cloud-based system and support the related technicians and
supervisors involved. Real-time sensors can be installed on machines as “diagnostic
intelligence” applications and extract the information through AR at operational
and enterprise levels. Similarly, AR/VR can be implemented for planning and
control of production plant, safety, and security of modern production systems,
resource management, product design, strengthening collaborations between human
and machine, machine-to-machine communications, etc. (Esengün and İnce 2018).
AR/VR technologies need to be integrated with enterprise systems in the future for
better collaborative model and detailed evaluation of entire product life cycle or
system life cycle.
Horizontal and Vertical Integration in Industry 4.0
In Industry 4.0 approach, horizontal integration envisages the connections between

enterprise systems and networking of CPS resulting in high level of automation,
operational efficiency, and greater flexibility in production processes. The horizontal
integration can be executed in production floor, across multiple production lines
in the form of management execution systems and across the whole supply chain
process (Chukalov 2017).
The entire logical layers in the industries such as R&D, design, production,
quality, sales, marketing, etc., are tied up using vertical integration. The data
sharing between all departments becomes smooth, resulting in higher productivity
and improved quality of the manufactured products. Some of the challenges in
horizontal and vertical integrations in I4.0 are establishing single source of truth,
data security and privacy, end-to-end visibility, and so on. Vertical integration can be
best achieved with proper and full-fledged installation of digital PLM system, which
has the capability to connect the entire value chain across all the logical layers of
smart factories.
Product Life Cycle Management (PLM)
A life cycle of a product starts from very first stage of idea generation to the last
stage of product disposal. It’s very difficult and time-consuming to manage the
entire complex life cycle of a project. Traditionally, these stages were managed
manually using sequential approach. Serial work flow, departmental organization
structure, and piecemeal improvements were observed as few of the issues in
traditional sequential work environment. In serial work flow environment, the
product requirements start with marketing team and then goes to the design team
for conceptual design and sequentially proceeds to production planning, purchase,
quality, and other departments resulting in data loss, failure of products, rework, and
other non-value-added activities. Various other problems peep into the departmental
organizations due to poor communication, uncoordinated performance targets,
departmental disputes, and use of specialist jargon resulting in customer dissatis-
faction. The traditional environment is much affected by piecemeal improvement,
where each department is busy in improvements related to their departmental work
and is least bothered about its impact on the other departmental activities. The
invention of PLM concept caused the paradigm shift in the year 2001. PLM was then
realized to be an effective way to manage the business activity across the company
(Stark 2016).
Earlier, many companies faced different types of problems to manage their
business activities such as delay in production, over cost, high rejection rates,
too many recalls, high failures, high development cost, etc. Due to the nature of
sequential engineering approach, there were many understanding gaps between each
department within the organization resulting in high wastes and product recalls.
Even the main cause for long product development and customer complaints can
be linked with sequential engineering approach. Therefore, to overcome all these

difficulties of conventional sequential approach of managing a product life cycle,
there was a PLM paradigm shift. A new PLM paradigm is a formally defined
business orientated holistic life cycle which is highly product focused and digitally
joined up process for maintaining the company’s product. A new PLM paradigm
is completely cross-functional and makes use of product data management (PDM)
system for managing the data across the life cycle of a product.
The use of PLM systems in modern industries is increasing year by year in
an exponential manner. Today’s industries are aware of the application of PLM
systems to their business activity. The PLM systems have spread across different
types of industries ranging from discrete and process manufacturing industries to
distribution- and service-based industries. Many multinational companies and SMEs
are now a part of PLM family across the globe (Saaksvuori and Immonen 2008).
Figure 6 shows different types of industries using PLM systems for managing their
business activities.
The industries mentioned in Fig. 6 use PLM systems for various activities and
different applications. Some of the initial advantages that attract industries to use
PLM systems are as follows:
• Entire product across its life cycle or the entire project management activities can
be managed through PLM system alone.
• The whole product portfolio can be well structured using PLM approach.
• The product innovation and its intellectual property can be saved safely through-
out the process via PLM.
Fig. 6 Different types of industries using PLM systems

• A product design process requires different types of collaborative work and

support from both within and outside the organization. PLM can provide safe
collaborations in such situations.
• Providing exact product information and its visibility and control throughout the
product development process can be made easy, and the product requirements
can be effectively managed in PLM context.
Many resources can be managed using PLM environment at high volumes.

Proper plan, appropriate strategies, and smart tactics have to be made in PLM
systems to handle the varying nature and complex changing relationships between
components, products, and customers. Different types of organizational structures
such as departmental, pyramid, flat, hierarchical, functional, hybrid, geographical,
product-focused, project-based structures, and even virtual structures can be man-
aged through PLM environment. Many people are required for developing and
supporting a product in its entire life cycle. People in industries such as software
developer, designer, product developer, filed engineer, service engineer, project
manager, quality manager, validation engineer, business analyst, marketing analyst,
database administrator, accountant, etc., work in the PLM environment in all stages
of product development life cycle. A huge amount of data is generated by all
these people working in PLM environment throughout the life cycle process. These
data are considered as the asset to the organization and hence need to be used
very carefully and strategically wherever and whenever required in the product
development process. The quality of the product is directly dependent on the quality
of the data and related information available. The slightest error in product data
can cause small to medium to large damage to the product. Different types of
product data such as CAD geometry, NC programs, wiring diagram, engineering
drawing, flow charts, patent reports, analysis results, user manuals, part list, costing
data, etc., are managed using PLM environment. Therefore, PLM activities are
dependent on a strong product data management (PDM) system, which can provide
the right kind of information at right time. PLM and PDM functions can be
successfully employed for different applications such as rapid prototyping, process
mapping, project management, knowledge management, bill of materials (BOM)
management, requirements management, etc. A cross-functional PDM system in
PLM is very useful in managing the product data throughout the product life cycle
(Abramovici 2007). One agenda of the entire team in PLM system is to focus
thoroughly on the success of products because the rule of PLM paradigm says,
“As soon as possible the voice of the product has to be listened at the same time,
the voice of the customer should not be forgotten,” whereas the previous paradigm
before PLM was to just “Listen to the voice of the customers.”
PLM in Industry 4.0
Digital transformations play a vital role in the success of today’s modern man-
ufacturing industries. The efficiency and productivity of modern industries are
being constantly improved day by day. Digitally integrated networked processes

are the key criteria in I4.0 scenario. Digital models of different processes such
as production, product, supply chain, and related services are highly essential for
developing an integrated networked process. PLM has a potential to enable the
digital transformations and can play a key role in keeping these digital models
up to date as per the requirements throughout the life cycle of a product. But,
unfortunately, PLM has been mistaken as a solution that is taken care by IT teams.
With such myths, organizations cannot achieve better results using PLM systems.
It should be clearly known to the industrialists that the digital PLM can deliver a
huge amount of visibility and traceability of product and production information
throughout the life cycle of a product. Figure 7 highlights PLM as a key enabler in
successful implementation of I4.0-based smart factories in coming days. Although
there are different enablers in I4.0 context as discussed earlier in the chapter,
PLM is the one which has the capability to connect different enablers and act as
a key to open the lock of I4.0 smart factory system. The main vision of I4.0 is
to have end-to-end digital chain right from product development and production
planning to actual production, logistics, and service. Due to the advancement in IIoT
and data analytics, I4.0 context enables real-time connectivity with the customers.
Fig. 7 PLM as key enabler for Industry 4.0 smart factory

The customer insights and product performances can be monitored throughout the
products life cycle (Vila et al. 2017).
Many new problems which are never seen before are sure to pop up in I4.0
revolution. Especially, the design and manufacturing team will face new complex
problems and challenges related to integration issues of electronics, mechanical,
and related software elements. Accessing the data generated from IoT, ML, AI, and
digital twins can be a difficult task. But unless these data are properly collected and
analyzed, they are of no use in I4.0 setup. This is where the role of PLM comes
into the picture. PLM can act as a central repository for all the data required to run
an Industry 4.0-based smart factory. The data can be automatically updated using
cloud PLM and can be retrieved whenever and wherever required across the entire
value chain. A feedback loop mechanism between the beginning and finishing of
product life cycle can help industries to practice preventive maintenance and execute
superior and smart inventory management system. Different applications areas of
PLM in I4.0 can be seen in Fig. 8. Few important application areas of PLM and
their benefits along with challenges are discussed further.
PLM for Collaborations in Industry 4.0 Scenario

Business models in manufacturing industries are changing continuously from
the concept of make-to-order to innovate-to-order. Industries are striving hard to
speed up the process of product development and are eager to improve their
revenue through life cycle efficiency by enhancing both capability and capacity
of manufacturing and supply chain process. Hence, to support such business
models, many key technologies have been changing from last few decades. Key
technologies such as mass production, flexible manufacturing systems, product
Fig. 8 PLM application areas in Industry 4.0

customization, and product knowledge management have been tried in earlier

revolutions. The twenty-first-century I4.0 concentrates on the key technology of
PLM. In the business model of innovate-to-order, there arises a situation where
companies need to collaborate closely with other manufacturers, suppliers, and
customers to meet the demand of quickly changing market conditions in real-
time environment (Pol et al. 2008). The virtual design teams and different supply
chain partners are geographically scattered. On the other hand, I4.0 has huge data
arising from IIoT, CPS, and other smart technologies involved. The whole product
development process in such scenario is completely dependent on concurrent
engineering process. Design engineers, production engineers, quality engineers,
market executives, sales representatives, managers, supervisors, and other related
staff in an organization need to come under one umbrella and work toward product
development in Industry 4.0 scenario. In such cases, collaborations between people
within and outside the organization become inevitable. At the same time, the data
and processes have to be streamlined under I4.0 context. PLM is the best choice
under such circumstances. Figure 9 shows the collaborative model of PLM that can
be used for collaborating a parent organization with their internal members and with
companies outside their organizations.
The following tasks can be performed using collaboration approach in PLM
system:
• Create a dedicated workspace for a project and add all the related members to it.
Members can collaborate with each other and share the information securely in
the created workspace.
Fig. 9 PLM collaborative model in Industry 4.0

• Folders can be added to the workspace and can be further expanded by adding
various subfolders to it. Multiple ownership access can be provided to access the
workspace depending on the type of project assigned to it.
• Proper routes can be set from the start to the end of the task, so that the approval
process in product development process stays on track. Tasks within a route can
be sequential or parallel. Routes can help to track the progress of the project.
• Any members assigned or added to a workspace can opt for subscribe option, so
that they can keep themselves updated on the latest activities of the project.
• Many issues arise when working in a collaborative work environment of I4.0
context. Such issues can be successfully raised through PLM via collaborative
application, and the owner of the project can assign the people to solve the issue.
The person assigned to solve the issue can solve it by providing suitable reference
documents.
• The entire life cycle of an issue from the initial create state to the final closed
state can be monitored via collaboration application of PLM system.
• A common document model can be used during collaborations within and
outside organization. Sometimes suppliers and partners need to be involved in
a particular project, and the organization may need their help to complete the
project. Therefore, the model helps collaborators to create, upload, download,
edit, revise, version, and delete the documents.
One of the biggest advantages of PLM collaboration application in I4.0 context

is the auto-versioning of documents. As the data gets regularly updated in fourth
revolution smart factories, it’s important to know the latest document/file. The auto-
versioning system of PLM helps to keep the file updated with latest version assigned
to it. Meanwhile, the older versions are also maintained in the database and can be
retrieved anytime wherever and whenever required during and after the completion
of a task or a project.
Data Protection in Industry 4.0 Via PLM

Digital transformation in manufacturing industries is at different stages based on
the preparedness of the industries. The modernized smart factory floors are fixed
up with many numbers of sensors, wireless technologies, IIoTs, ML, AI, data
analytics, etc. Although these high enablers contribute toward success of I4.0 smart
factories, no factory should attempt to fix up these technologies until they are
prepared to handle the data properly. Data breaching is among the top problems of
manufacturing industries across the globe, especially in advanced countries. With
the mindset of open factory environment consisting of many suppliers, business
partners, and collaborators, the biggest threat to the organization is always the
data theft. Any manufacturing industry aiming at implementation of I4.0 should
give highest priority to data security and cybersecurity activities. Figure 10 shows
different advantages of PLM system for data management activities.
Data needs to be protected from being accessed by unauthorized persons. As
I4.0 is a complex process, data flow can happen from many sources, and hence
confidentiality of the data should be taken care of (Li et al. 2015). Apart from data
Fig. 10 Data management in PLM system
protection from unauthorized persons, unanticipated and unintentional modification

of data has to be avoided. Availability of data to the concerned team whenever
required saves times and helps in speeding up of product development activities.
Even though many persons are given access rights in the system, authenticity is
also required, because the person authenticated has the power to change or modify
the data and other members can just have a look at data and information but
cannot modify it. PLM system can play a vital role in I4.0 context with regard to
data security and intellectual property protection. There are many situations during
product development stages, where the collaborations between individuals, teams,
departments, organizations, suppliers, customers, etc., are required and data sharing
between collaborations becomes inevitable. But the fear of data and intellectual
property theft is the area of concern in such situations (Ranchal and Bhargava 2013).
PLM can provide the following features to protect data and intellectual property
during collaborations:
• A proper document library can be created, and different document families can
be added to the library. Further, the document families can consist of various
documents. A document library can have life cycle stages starting from creating
documents, reviewing, approving, locking, and making it obsolete.
• There are many engineering and development parts which cannot be considered
as documents. Such parts have to be classified under part family and part library.
If there are data related to administrative and other activities apart from specific
document and engineering parts, then they have to be separately saved under the
heading of general libraries.
• A document/part saved in libraries can be downloaded, modified, and uploaded
very securely in PLM platform. The downloading and uploading options are
termed as check-in and checkout functionalities in PLM terminologies. Once the
document is revised and uploaded back, the versioning of the document happens
automatically.
Therefore, data can be secured, and only authorized person can access the data
in PLM platform if it is implemented in an appropriate manner.
Bill of Materials (BOM) Management in Industry 4.0 Via PLM

Lots of challenges and complexities are involved in handling bill of materials
for any design and manufacturing industries. The engineering design department
owns the BOM, whereas it is further authored by manufacturing department as
manufacturing BOM (MBOM). Basically, BOM is made available as read only to
the manufacturing department, and these people develop it into MBOM as many
consumables and manufacturing procedures need to be added to engineering BOM
(EBOM). In Industry 4.0 scenario, the reuse of existing data pertaining to EBOM
and MBOM will increase, and engineers from both design and manufacturing teams
keep on modifying it as per new requirements. Traceability of the data plays an
important role in such cases because the existing data in EBOM/MBOM should
not be recreated, but instead it should be reused effectively to save the product
development time. The third revolution PLM owns EBOM, whereas the fourth
revolution PLM is supposed to have both EBOM and MBOM into its structure. As
EBOM and MBOM work together in new system as a concurrent design process
in I4.0 context, managing the change process becomes challenging. Parts and
specifications are created by design team, and there may be change request from
manufacturing team. In such situations, both EBOM and MBOM from design and
manufacturing teams can be connected via the common PLM platform to raise the
change request and manage the change as per the requirements (Youquan et al.
2011).
Working with different design parts, creating and attaching specifications for the
parts, creating BOM, releasing different parts, raising change request, modification
as per request, re-release of changed parts using engineering change management
(ECM) process, and generating final reports have been made easy using PLM
approach.
The following BOM creation and engineering change management activates can
be achieved using PLM platform:
• A new EBOM creation can be done with the available CAD drawings or can be
created with the help of existing BOM details using clone option.
• Both CAD platform and PLM platform can be synchronized with each other.
• List of parts of assembly mentioned in EBOM can be seen in the hierarchical
manner as parent and child object for easy understanding.
• Replacing, repositioning, or re-sequencing of any parts in EBOM is made easy

in PLM environment.
• Change requests can be raised, and related change orders can be created to
pinpoint the exact changes required.
• According to the request, the new parts can be created, or old parts can be revised
and can be further sent to manufacturing department.
The flexible EBOM structure and change management functions in PLM are
definitely going to help both design team and manufacturing team in smart factory
setup of I4.0 scenario.
Project Management in Industry 4.0 Via PLM

Industry 4.0 is not just expected to introduce new technologies for the development
of smart factories; instead, it will create a new style of management with different
organization structures. Project managers need to play a main lead within this
new scenario. The project teams in I4.0 context will be extremely delocalized,
and people from different disciplines, different specializations, different regions,
different cultures, and different backgrounds collaborate together to execute a
project. The time to market is expected to decrease, and the project teams need
to quickly adapt to the changing market condition. Therefore, project managers
need to upgrade themselves with new PLM-based project management technology
for better handling and quicker completion of the projects. Different project
management activities can be digitalized in I4.0 scenario; project managers need
to work on new programs consisting of different types of projects. PLM project
management functionalities help project managers to create a new work space
for each program and add different projects under their respective programs. A
systematic schedule can be created, and related members can be added for the same.
Different experiments related to projects, different issues, and baselines can be
managed with less ease in PLM system. Monitoring the progress of overall program
and specific project can be simplified by creating routes and completing the tasks.
Apart from all these basic fundamental activities of project management, PLM gives
the benefit of handling advanced project management activities such as managing
risks, managing resources, working with time sheets and calendars, managing
quality objects, and assessing and tracking the progress of project (Eastham et al.
2014).
Some of the advanced project management functions that can be performed using
PLM platform are as follows:
• A project manager can calculate risks associated with the tasks based on risk
probability numbers (RPN) and allocate a person to solve that particular risk.
This can be considered as a preventive management activity in I4.0 scenario.
• As I4.0 projects are complex in nature, resources required to execute the project
are important. PLM system has an option to create a resource pool, so that the
resource manager can track the availability of required resources and allocate the
same to the execution of a project.
• Budgeting is one more task of a project manager, which consumes a huge amount
of time than expected. PLM platform has made budgeting easy by providing
budget templates to create the budgets. The project template comes along with
the budget structure, and the same can be edited, modified, or revised based on
the type of requirement.
• I4.0 expects fast product development and lesser time to market. Therefore,
tracking time spent across any projects adds value to the agenda. Hourly, daily,
and weekly time sheets can be monitored and tracked resulting in better project
management.
• Once the tasks related to projects are monitored and tracked, then it becomes easy
to evaluate the all-round performance of a project and check whether the project
is on proper track and within the allotted time frame. PLM system can assess
projects based on the parameters, such as resource, schedule, cost, and risk.
Both fundamental and advanced project management functionalities in PLM

platform can enhance the project activities and result in timely completion of project
in I4.0 scenario.
Variant Management in Industry 4.0 Via PLM

Individual customization of products according to the needs of the customers is
the trend of today’s product development. Additionally, customers demand the
customized product to get delivered in short period of time. Due to increase in
the demand for customization, there is a sharp rise in manufacturing of variety
of products in a single organization. I4.0 context will surely help companies to
deliver the customized products to customers within short span due to involvement
of many updated and recent technologies. Data such as CAD models, drawings,
EBOM, MBOM, and related documents needs to be tracked and controlled for
its effective utilization in variant management activity. Software tools such as
product data management in PLM can support to store, track, and control data
in such situations. PLM can be the best and safe choice for variant management
application. PLM system allows to create different product configuration by creating
product portfolios and managing the product variability (Kreimeyer 2012). Project
manager can define the product line, define project phases and milestones, and
define requirements of different product portfolio and variant dictionary based on
the market condition and customer demand. The metadata available in the PLM
platform help the manufacturers to release the products faster to market and can save
their time by not reinventing the wheel. Many templates, basic designs, fundamental
drawings, old data, etc., can be reused, modified, or revised according to the new
needs and changing demands of the customers. PLM system tends to maintain
and manage different variants in a systematic and organized manner. Variant
management functions in PLM can be explored by different types of industries
engaged in developing variety of products in Industry 4.0 scenario.
Traceability Requirements Management in Industry 4.0 Via PLM

Individual identification and location of each and every component across value
chain is now possible with the advancement in CPS and other related technologies
in I4.0 context. A complete value chain can be organized and controlled over the
entire life cycle in the intelligent smart factories of tomorrow. Tracing of each
component is to be ensured to guarantee the safety and quality in today’s complex
manufacturing situation. The detailed information of components origin, storage,
present status, and location should be instantly retrievable. In I4.0 smart factory
scenario, with smart sensors, smart controllers, and smart actuators, tremendous
amount of data is generated, creating difficulties for storage, tracing, and retrieval in
the future. According to new studies, traceability should not be limited to trace and
track activity; instead, it should be useful to ensure both product quality and safety
in smart factory concept.
Traceability is very much required for requirements management, which is
a continuous process throughout the product life cycle. There will arise many
situations in fourth revolution industries, where stakeholders and project team
members interact with each other and their requirements throughout the project keep
on changing with an intention to deliver high-quality products. The PLM platform
helps industries to elicit the needs of stakeholders, analyze, interpret, allocate,
verify, validate, and manage requirements. The system also helps in controlling the
changes in the requirement and has the capability to monitor the progress and gen-
erate traceability reports. Many PLM systems adopt systems engineering approach
of RFLP (requirement, functional, logical, and physical) model during controlling
and monitoring of requirements engineering process (Heber and Groll 2018).
Benefits of Incorporating PLM in Industry 4.0 Context
PLM offers huge benefits for the industries incorporating it wisely in I4.0 scenario.
The following are some of the direct benefits of incorporating PLM platform:
Collaborations: Collaborating with different team members, suppliers, and other

business partners is made easy with PLM platform, where reviews and feedback
related to design and manufacturing can be received quickly and thus accelerate
the product development rate.
Productivity improvement: Most of the design and manufacturing processes are
streamlined in PLM platform, and therefore many non-value-added activities
are automatically removed. All the data related to design, production, quality,
logistics, etc., are made available under common platform, reducing the time to
search, track, and reuse it throughout the life cycle process.
Single source of truth: PLM allows original equipment manufacturers (OEMs),
partners, and suppliers to access same and reliable data available in central
repository. All collaborators can access the live and updated data resulting in
less rework and low rejection rate.
Continuous quality improvement: The progress of product can be tracked along its
entire life cycle, and the whole organization can be connected under common
umbrella of PLM resulting in quality output of the product. The real-time
information received from sales and marketing team along with feedback from
customers allows the team to recheck the product development activities and
ensure quality production.
Data storage and protection: PLM platform reduces the paperwork throughout the
product development process and encourages to go digital. The digitalization of
data in PLM platform helps in safe storage, faster tracking, and quick retrieval of
data whenever needed. Many intellectual properties can be protected using PLM
platform in I4.0 smart factories.
Customer satisfaction: Success of any business is directly proportional to its
customer’s feedback. Service team can attach the customer feedback directly
to the PLM platform, and this data can be viewed and reviewed by design,
operation, production, and quality teams. These teams can take suitable action
on the feedback and work continuously to improve customer satisfaction.
Shorter time to market: The faster production cycles, easy and quick access to data,
feedback from suppliers and customers, concurrent engineering approach, and
proper project management capabilities of PLM platform can reduce the time
taken to develop a product resulting in shorter go-to-market time.
Change management: Managing a change request can be a time-consuming task
in product development process. PLM platform can provide ultimate options
for change management activities due to better centralized and streamlined
collaboration and approval process throughout product life cycle and entire
project via common workspace environment.
Cost reduction: Overall production cost of a product can be brought down using
PLM platform. Rework can be avoided due to proper collaborations and single
source of truth, resulting in reduced scrap. The existing data from central reposi-
tory can be reused for new designs and new variants with little modifications.
Documentation for audit: Documentation of all the data related to various pro-
cesses, standard practices, risk and resource management, drawings, alterna-
tive designs, EBOM, MBOM, scheduling and budgeting, etc., is streamlined,
sequenced, and permanently stored in PLM platform and is made available in a
single click during and after product development process avoiding traditional
paperwork. The whole documentation process can be made digital and hassle-
free using PLM platform in I4.0 scenario.
Challenges and Future Directions for PLM in Industry 4.0 Context
There are plenty of challenges for implementing PLM in modern manufacturing

industries. Also, these challenges through light on new dimensions on improvement
areas for PLM to adapt it for I4.0 context. Also, the challenges encourage PLM to
integrate with other technologies (Zhao and Yu 2013; Tao et al. 2018; Singh and
Misra 2019). The following are some of challenges and future directions for PLM
implementation in Industry 4.0 scenario:
On-cloud PLM: PLM was introduced to manufacturing organizations as on-premise

installation. Due to the advancement in Internet facilities worldwide, on-cloud
PLM is supposed to replace the conventional on-premise PLM throughout manu-
facturing industries in the days to come. The main challenge here is to understand
whether the manufacturing industries are updated and ready to incorporate on-
cloud PLM, as they need to upload their design- and manufacturing-related
data and intellectual properties on the service providers cloud. Manufacturing
organizations yet need to get full confidence on the service provider business
models, and also the rules and regulations regarding intellectual property (IP)
protection has to be modified and strengthened to suit the new on-cloud service
requirements.
New Architecture: High level of complex problems in I4.0 smart factory setup
cannot be addressed by existing PLM architecture. Experts prefer to have open
and multilayer architecture in place of conventional PLM architecture to adopt
PLM in new advanced manufacturing conditions. PLM needs to be adopted in
the condition where smart factories are controlled using automatic smart sensors
and smart actuators with a smaller number of human interventions. The artificial
intelligence and machine learning algorithms are to be used in PLM systems to
make it more suitable for modern manufacturing conditions. Many modeling and
optimization techniques need to be incorporated in PLM structure.
Configuration and Customization: Debate on requirements of configuration and
customization option in PLM system is never ending. Many PLM implementers
and service providers argue that customization is a key feature in PLM to
make it more suitable for different types of organizations, whereas there are
few top PLM developers who are against customization but prefer to have
only configuration options. But when PLM is supposed to play a key role in
I4.0 implementation, both configuration and customization of PLM systems are
challenging and inevitable. Manufacturing procedures, organization structures,
level of I4.0 readiness, and employees skill set differ from organization to
organization and from country to country. Therefore, it’s always better that the
PLM developers provide the options of both configuration and customization
for better implementation of PLM according to the need and requirement of
clients.
PLM and ERP Integration: Integration of data from one system to another is
a challenge. Maintaining and relying on single source of truth is very much
essential for future smart industries. To maintain their data safe and IP protected,
PLM software has to be integrated with other important systems involved
in manufacturing process. PLM should act as central repository by receiv-
ing information from ERP system. Proper ERP and PLM integration ensures
organizations to have full control over its competencies. Managing design and
development of product along with purchasing and resource planning processes
becomes advantageous for both preorder and post-order phases for sales and
production of business needs by appropriate ERP-PLM technical integration.
Integrating this end-to-end business process often has a problem of deciding
on which platform implementation should happen first: either PLM or ERP.
Whether the financial aspects of ERP have to be given first preference or product
development aspects of PLM? In reality, both PLM and ERP implementation
should go hand in hand for successful integration using master data. Many PLM
and ERP vendors, technicians, and consultants are trying their best to integrate
PLM and ERP using single source of truth in Industry 4.0.
PLM in Digital Twin: As IoT and CPS have become highly pervasive in I4.0
scenario, digital thread and digital twin have gained significant importance over
couple of years. Mirroring a physical object or entire life cycle process is a
need of an hour in recent I4.0 manufacturing companies. Digital twins are
high-level simulation models of real-time physical systems that can be tested,
monitored, and controlled remotely to predict the performance and process
changes using “what if” conditions. Data generated from digital thread can
be considered as heart of digital twin process. Digital thread can be used for
single source of truth in digital twin process. Different elements such as smart
sensors, smart actuators, high-level communication network, and a common data
repository system like PLM along with advanced machine learning techniques
contribute toward successful implementation of digital twin in I4.0 context. The
combination of digital thread using PLM for single source of truth and digital
twinning process can give seamless benefits for any manufacturing industry.
Physical products in factories, simulated virtual products in digital space, and a
proper information communication between these physical and virtual products
using PLM system can make digital twin a true success model.
Integrating and Moving Towards Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE):
Multidisciplinary product development process is always considered as difficult
tasks in any organization, as team members from different domains such
as mechanical, electronics, computer science, electrical, robotics, etc., come
together for development of a product. Defining proper requirements, program
plans, identifying risks, setting targets, and establishing decision models are
very challenging in such concurrent, continuous, multi-domain, and cross-
product development approach. The downstream product development model
requires proper bonding of PLM and product architecture. The visual models in
MBSE allow the organizations to simultaneously evaluate their multiple systems
modifications and find out the errors in the early system development life cycle at
minimal cost and minimal risk. Integration of PLM with latest MBSE approach
can improve productivity and quality of product through structured engineering
processes. Organizations moving towards MBSE should consider both PLM and
MBSE as complimentary approaches used to address their product development
challenges.
Conclusions
The fourth industrial revolution is expected to digitalize entire manufacturing sector

in the years to come. The future of manufacturing is dependent on effective and
efficient usage of modern machines and latest computer technologies. The main
theme of I4.0 context can be considered as digital manufacturing which gives rise to
construction of smart factory concept. Although I4.0 has originated from Germany,
its importance and implications have spread across the globe, where both developed
and developing countries are on the edge of implementing I4.0 approach to their
manufacturing sectors. The fourth revolution basically concentrates on action areas
of building smart models, smart products, smart factories, smart manufacturing
processes, smart logistics, and smart services through different enablers such as
IoT, CPS, AI, AM, robotics, AR/VR, horizontal and vertical integration, simulation,
digital twin, ML, ERP, PLM, MBSE, etc. PLM has the potential to connect many
enablers and become a key enabler for successful implementation of I4.0 in smart
factories of tomorrow. The impact of these core enablers and PLM on I4.0 can be
summarized as follows:
• Most of the assembly lines in smart factories are going to be equipped with
IIoT and supporting technologies, which can gather real-time data based on live
updates of the environment using smart sensors and smart actuators.
• Data from all sensors, actuators, controllers, and other devices can be collected
and controlled by CPS technology.
• AI, ML, and big data analytics will act as backbone for successful I4.0 imple-
mentation in modern manufacturing industries.
• Research on additive manufacturing is on peak, and additive manufacturing can
be a game changer in I4.0 scenario in the years to come.
• Simulation and digital twin concepts can reduce bottlenecks and increase
throughputs resulting in lesser rejection rates.
• PLM can act as key enabler for successful implementation of I4.0 concept
in today’s manufacturing industries. Industries such as automobile, aerospace,
pharmaceuticals, etc., have already implemented PLM into their product, and
system life cycle management and other industries are inspired by their success
stories and have started to follow their footsteps.
• Collaborations of parent organization with its partners, suppliers, customers, and
sister concerns are important in I4.0 context. Effective and efficient collaboration
approach is possible through PLM platform.
• IP protection, data safety, and authorized access are the key features of PLM
platform related to data security issues.
• BOM management, program management, project management, variant man-
agement, traceability requirements management, etc., are few application areas
of PLM systems in I4.0 context.
• Adopting PLM to I4.0 context can result in better change management, bet-
ter data handling, shorter time to market, less rework, lower rejection rates,
productivity improvement, and better quality of products leading to customer
satisfaction and increased profit.
• Developing new architecture, implementing on-cloud PLM, configuration and
customization of PLM platform, and integrating PLM with different other
systems can be considered as challenges and key research areas in the future.
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Zero Waste as an Approach to Develop
a Clean and Sustainable Society 16
Nazia Tarannum, Nikhil Kumar, and Km Pooja
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Concept of Zero Waste: Why Zero Waste (ZW)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Zero Waste Approach via Sustainable Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
Zero Waste and Design of Sustainable Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Waste Typology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Zero Waste Index (ZWI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
3R Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Classification and Evaluation of Zero Waste Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
Approaches for Recycling of Zero Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Waste Generation and Sustainable Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Strategy for Management of Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Generation of Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
Collection of Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
Processing of Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Disposal of waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Recycled Content and Recycling Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Metabolism of Linear to Circular Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Urban Metabolism and Waste Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Municipal Waste Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
Challenges and Opportunities in Transformation of Cities into Zero Waste Cities . . . . . . . . . 415
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
Related websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
N. Tarannum () · N. Kumar · K. Pooja

Department of Chemistry, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, India
382 N. Tarannum et al.
Abstract
Zero waste is a revolutionary idea for challenging the problems of waste

within our whole society. The revolutionary zero waste schemes promote a
comprehensive method of waste management and waste resource recovery. To
achieve the overarching objectives, zero waste frameworks are useful for the
creation and implementation of systemic activities of management of waste.
Mostly, we are living in a western society and have everything we ever dreamed
of except one thing, that is, sustainability. The globalization and fast economy
growth have created large quantities of waste and have drawn global attention.
The utmost need is to utilize these wastes into materials which can be of
potential application. A virgin material is converted into waste via four steps –
extraction, manufacture, distribution, and then consumption and at last we finally
get waste. Large amount of energy is required for the extraction from raw
materials which creates enormous amounts of industrial waste, water pollution,
and environmental damage and lead to global warming. To achieve the idea
of zero waste, some techniques like eco-labeling and eco-design should be
implemented from raw material extraction for disposal. The strategy of zero
waste contains no incinerators and no mega landfills and says yes to sustainable
society. The concept of 3R’s is well known but responsibility is the fourth R of
this system which plays the main role to the sustainability. In this context, the
chapter is planned to focus the cause of this problem and how a significant step
toward resolving the issue can be taken by zero waste strategy.
Keywords
Sustainability · Zero waste · 3R approach · Sustainable material · Waste

management
Abbreviations
ABS Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
ASP Activated sludge process
CDL Container deposit legislation
CLSM Controlled low strength materials
EPA Environmental protection agency
EUWFD European Union Waste Framework Directive
FAB Fluidized aerated bed
FWRP Food waste recycling program
HDPE High density polyethene
IWD International waste data
LDPE Low density polyethene
mld Million liters of each day
MBBR Moving bed bio-reactor
MSW Municipal solid waste
NEA National environmental agency
PP Polypropylene
PVC Polyvinyl chloride
16 Zero Waste as an Approach to Develop a Clean and Sustainable Society 383
PS Polystyrene
PA Polyamide
SBR Sequential bed reactor
UNSD United nations statistics division
UASB Upstream anaerobic sludge blanket
WFS Waste foundry sand
ZLD Zero fluid release
ZWM Zero waste manufacturing
ZWD Zero waste design
ZWF Zero waste framework
ZWIA Zero waste International Alliance
Introduction
The management of zero waste describes the integrated view of waste management
which identifies the waste like an asset created during the transitional period of
cycle of its utilization. The zero waste initiatives can be extended to cities, schools,
enterprises, the home, and industrial sectors as they incorporate multiple partners,
not just those interested in the surrounding but also in technical viewpoints (Saima
et al. 2020). Also, the sustainability is upheld by reduction in cost and environment
protection in terms of management of waste and also handling back into the
manufacturing cycle. To retrieve chemicals, zero waste term was applied by Dr.
Paul Palmer. One of the most investigated concepts is zero waste but in recent
decades it is the most dubious topic in the research of waste management. Zero
waste is described as “a system to design and manage products and a process for
waste removal and material retention and rehabilitation, not burning or burying.”
Waste was dealt as a social problem and also as an onus (Zaman 2015a). The
traditional method of system of waste management which primarily depends on
sites crucially damage by polluting our whole environment so demanding an
efficient and improved system of waste management with the narrow exception
in developed countries. Thus, by applying industrial symbiosis, the aim of zero
waste management, “up cycling,” or recycling is to utilize and use assets within the
circular economy model with the minimum degradation of environment, depending
on the principle of no-waste from the nature. There are several studies based
on the development of frameworks of waste management, including legislative,
hierarchical, and decision frameworks. The principles of 3R (recycling, reuse, and
reduction) are among the best three in the waste ranking and are studied as the
primary standards of the supportable waste administration framework. The symbolic
material flux of the waste system is shown in Fig. 1, when the output waste is used.
According to the ZWIA, zero waste is described as “managing and designing
products and processes systematically to eliminate the materials and waste, conserve
and recover all resources and not burn or bury them.” An efficient and improved
management of waste system is necessary because of the traditional management
of waste systems which mainly depends on landfill and significantly damages our
environment by polluting it which occurs in the few exceptional countries in North
Design
Marketing Raw material
Processing
Manufacture
Reuse
Recycling Consumption
Sorting
End of Life
Reduce
Collection
Source
separation
Incineration Landfill
Fig. 1 Representation of the symbolic material flux of the waste system
America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. In this manner, waste is a social issue so it
needs social strategies or advances to settle it. Thus the primary point of zero waste
is to burn through and use assets inside a circular model of economy, with least
debasement of environment by the use of recycling or “up cycling,” and modern
advantageous interaction depends on nature’s “no-waste” guideline (Zaman 2015b).
A system of waste administration structure is basic for a fruitful administration of
waste management leading to enforcement of successful planning strategy. Various
studies have been directed on the advancement of waste administration systems
including decision, legislative, and hierarchical framework. The main aim of this
chapter is to distinguish the key core values of zero waste that help to manufacture
a key zero waste structure. The reason for the strategic zero waste structures
is to direct waste administration policy and chiefs while creating and proposing
waste administration procedures and arrangements. The chapter highlights the zero
waste approaches and various strategies adopted to manage them. It also discusses
the challenges and opportunities in transformation of cities in zero waste cities.
In the development history of the waste management system, there have been
six major innovations. Different technologies, tools, and methods can be used to
discover these developments. Figure 2 shows the scheme of waves of innovations in
management systems.
Concept of Zero Waste: Why Zero Waste (ZW)?
The emerging study and evolving concept of zero waste is a contentious circle of
conversation across waste management, metropolitan evolution advancement, and
construction (Zaman 2016). Wastes are generally considered as worthless goods by
Fig. 2 The scheme of waves of innovations in management systems
industry and also by society. The World Bank announced that the (2012) standard
of 1.3 billion tons of MSW produced globally by urban areas is predicted to be
twice by 2025 to 2.2 billion tones. Such forecast supports the current trend of
market demand, population growth, and urbanization. This is actually a fallacious
vision if a person realizes and understands how the waste can harm environment
and also has a price. The consequences of climate change, including biodiversity
loss, deforestation, enhancement in air, soil, and water pollution and reduction in
materials and resources, have been generally recognized as a result of extreme use
of unsustainable methods of production. Almost 20% of waste can be recovered or
recycled every year where the world’s waste created is around four billion metric.
About 75% of regular assets are expended in metropolitan territories covering just
around 2% of the surface of world, yet producing 70% of global waste. The actual
means of waste creation is the depletion of natural resources, land pressuring, energy
and water usage, and environmental pollution. The approach to make a move on to
a status where everything is converted into useful goods, no more material to be
waste, is called zero waste.
There are a number of aspects that affect the generation of waste and urban solid
waste composition like culture and norms, coverage area, and policy of management
of waste. The World Bank appraises that 20–50% municipal budgets in developing
countries invest on waste management of solid. Nearly, 80–90% of budget for
waste management is accounted for garbage collection in countries with poor
economy. Problems faced at all levels of management of solid waste like collection,
impermanent disposal, final disposal, and transport where these issues appear to
improve at the end point of landfill (Meidiana and Gamse 2010). Societies assume
a significant part in management of waste that depends on idea of zero waste. The
presence of garbage removal will dodge the material from winding up in the landfill
in light of the fact that the real material that is not waste however can likewise be
changed into other usable things. However, considering the social and ecological
opportunities credited to reusing, it is assessed that just one-quarter to 33% of the
complete 3.4–4 billion tons of industrial waste and municipal solid waste generated
yearly is right now reused around the world (Cobo et al. 2018).
Thus, IWD reports that after more than four decades of making a substantial
contribution to the generally agreed waste hierarchy principles, there are as yet
substantial hindrances to understanding the specified priorities: reduce (top), recycle
(middle), or residual disposal (even lowest). The net result is that the polluting
and harmful linear model commonly explained as “take-make-waste” still transits
much of commodities that flow through the global economy dispose (Ghisellini
et al. 2016). As of now, the development of more circular economy is compelled
by a quick ascent in financial stocks, an accentuation on recycling as opposed
to decrease/reuse, and an expected 44% of handled materials that are burned for
energy supply. The waste management industry covers and consumes the idea
of propagating “fire, flush, or excursion” paradigm confining human culture to
direct material flow rather than encouraging the development of a more circular
economy. Instead of extoling the alleged specialized advancement of changing
removal frameworks (like as disinfecting, or extricating energy from cremation or
improving landfill) zero waste sees these improvements as affirmation of cultural
catch to a weak and unreasonable financial model.
Zero Waste Approach via Sustainable Material
The term “zero waste” is fortified persistently for both buyers and makers to
obtain feasible techniques so as to lessen their squandering to help in building a
superior world. In the previous years, specialists have featured different methods
to handle actual waste, and synthetic substances that are typically created from
this kind of waste are more basic and limitedly revealed. ZWM is accepted as
a guide for eventual fate of assembling and handling waste. Waste is an ensured
part of any urbanized scene and the waste administration has existed for quite a
long time. The accessibility, industrialism, unpredictability, and rapid assembling
of consumer items prompted exponential growth in unreasonable degrees of waste
material yields. Now, the waste industry is identified as an underutilized industry of
resources in its own way of rights, growing focus on waste with inherent economic
values. In the developed world, formal and informal practices of recycling have
appeared as a dominant force, central to most programs of management of waste.
Furthermore, growing focus on entrepreneurialism and economic innovation during
on-going occasions of continuous global development has additionally observed
more monetary strategy center on the management of waste. The universe of the
executives of waste is moving ceaselessly from reusing and customary landfill

of both modern and civil waste toward strategy of integrated waste. Zero waste
target programs and 100% redirection from landfill are continuously noted with
expanding land costs and metropolitan densities in large urban communities over
the world. Sustainable production, outcomes, and circular economy programs and
consumption behaviors all support new principles in waste policy intervention and
governance structures (Doris 2019).
Moreover, environmental guidelines, material shortage, and expenses are like-
wise creating a consciousness of eco-design benefits in connecting end of life waste
materials as returned/reused contributions to various phases of creation. Zero waste
is considered as an objective that is both visionary and even pragmatic to manage
individuals to mirror maintainable common cycles where all disposed off materials
are assets for others to utilize. The meaning of zero waste is managing and designing
objects and processes to trim the toxicity and volume of waste to recover and
conserve all resources and not to bury or burn them. The implementation of zero
waste will diminish all discharges to water, air, or land that may be a danger to
human, plant health, or creatures. One process that has been educated as method
tending to local people is the idea of “Zero Waste.” As per the Zero Waste Alliance,
the zero waste way of thinking depends on a shut circle framework with waste
materials filling in as a likely wellspring of crude material. In this manner, there
would be zero waste during the creation cycle and zero waste discharges to land,
air, or water (Colon and Fawcett 2006). Material and consumption of energy assets
is on the ascent in both the developing and the industrialized world. So as to continue
this development and actualize assets for people in the future, there is a necessity to
product design that are anything but difficult to recondition subsequent empowering
of various use cycles. Processes are required that can achieve this multiuse while
producing zero waste. There may be various difficulties and hindrances to acquire
this vision of zero waste with multiuse; one such test is the improvement of
a recuperation of item foundation that will decrease momentary effects because
of existing items and will be sufficiently strong to recover results of things to
come. This chapter discusses the boundaries to build such a reuse and recuperation
framework. The primary point is to acquire zero waste and product multiuse. The
improvement of shut circle item life cycles will require the different utilization of
segments and items while creating no material waste during any of the multiuse
stages. Table 1 presents the zero waste manufacturing through recycling of waste as
discussed below.
In fact, as energy, material, and waste costs rise, ecological proficiency upgrades
will have driving advantage than at any other time. Further, sustainable material
flow is impacted by numerous elements as shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, it is
recommended that components, for example, ecological issues, cultural help, fabri-
cating, item plan, financial aspects, accessible recuperation innovations, appropriate
investigation strategies, and utilization examples, can impact the sustainability. In
considering our approach of a zero waste material/item life-cycle and product
multiuse, every one of these variables will affect our ability to acquire the points
(Quijorna et al. 2012).
Table 1 Zero waste manufacturing through recycling of wastes

Property of Improvised
Approaches material applications of
Material used for investigated recycled
S. No recycled recycling after recycling material References
1. HDPE, PP, and Mixed in the Thermal and Recycled Elzafraney
PVC concretes energy materials is et al. (2005)
cement used to
enhance the
thermal
properties of
concrete
2. Shredded Mixed in the Strength With the Parasivamurthy
plastics concretes addition of (2007)
cement plastic
materials
mechanical
strength
increases
3. Natural fiber Compression Mechanical Composite Lei et al.
and HDPE molding and properties exhibited the (2007)
melt blending lower thermal
process stability and
lower
crystallization
peak
temperatures
4. ABS with high Injection Shear rate and Reduction in Boronat et al.
and low molding temperature the viscosity of (2009)
viscosity grade materials (low
grade) with
raising in the
number of
cycles and for
high grade
materials melt
viscosity is
increases
5. ABS Injection and Thermal, Impact strength Perez et al.
extrusion mechanical, slightly (2010)
molding and rheological decreases but
technique properties tensile strength
and melt
viscosity
remains same
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
6. PP Injection Melt viscosity, Melt viscosity Aurrekoetxea
R(Polypropylene) molding chemical with the et al. (2011)
structure, recycling
fracture and process
tensile decreases but
properties, with recycling
crystallization other
behavior properties
increase
7. HDPE Blended in the Strength With the Vanitha et al.
concretes addition of (2015)
cement plastic
materials
mechanical
strength
increases
8. HDPE, 90- Extrusion Metallurgical/ Impact strength Singh et al.
HDPE+10-Fe mechanical slightly (2016b)
powder, LDPE properties like decreases but
and 94- porosity, break tensile strength
LDPE+6-Fe strength, peak and melt
elongation, viscosity
shore D remains same
hardness
9. Nylon-6 waste Extrusion Density, With the Singh et al.
volume, and addition of (2016c)
no. of plastic
investment materials
casting mechanical
coatings strength
increases
10. Waste tile Mixed in Pozzolanic Waste tiles Ay and Unal
cements properties of used for (2000)
tile and volume reducing coast
stability, and also have
density, all the
strength, pozzolanic
setting time, properties
particle size,
and specific
surface area
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
11. Steel fiber Mixed in the Test of Reduction of Rapoprt et al.
concrete permeability permeability (2001)
(reinforced) by steel fiber
12. Carpet fibers Stone matrix Mechanical Toughness Putman and
and waste tire asphalt properties values Amirkhanian
improves (2004)
13. Chromium- Post-tanning Enzymatic With the Mu et al.
containing operations of hydrolysis and addition of (2003)
waste leather leather various alkali plastic
treatment processing were compared materials
process mechanical
strength
increases
14. Tire waste Mixed in the Micro and High Bignozzi and
rubberizes mechanical compressive Sandrolini
concretes structure strength (2006)
behavior
15. Waste glass Blended in Strength Enhancement Ismail and
concretes properties and in the overall AL-Hashmi
ASR expansion strength (2009)
16. Steel solid Mixed in the Workability Strength Abbas (2011)
wastes concrete test and increased but
(reinforced) compression workability test
17. Steel fibers Mixed in Mechanical Enhancement Shende et al.
concretes properties in the overall (2012)
strength
18. Lathe waste, Mixed in Mechanical Enhancement Murali et al.
empty waste concretes properties in the overall (2012)
tin, caps of soft strength
drink bottle,
powder of
waste steel
19. Lathe scrap Mixed in Mechanical Enhancement Vijayakumar
concretes properties in the overall et al. (2012)
strength
20. Natural coarse Mixed in Compressive With the Murthi et al.
aggregate, fly concretes strength and addition of (2015)
ash, and steel ultrasonic plastic
slag aggregate pulse velocity materials
test mechanical
strength
increases
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
21. Steel scale and Mixed in Mechanical Steel blended (Alwaeli 2016)
chips concretes properties in with
concrete
cement to give
improve
compressive
strength
22. Scrap tiers Blended in Mechanical With the Sengul (2016)
concretes properties addition of
plastic
materials
mechanical
strength
increases
23. Ceramic Calamine On physical Flexural Taha et al.
product process tailings and mechanical strength (2016)
properties increased but
effect of firing porosity an d
water
absorption
decreases
24. The foundry Blended in Strength The Khatib and
sand before concretes compressive Ellis (2001)
casting, white strength of
fine sand concrete
without the reduces on the
addition of enhancement
coal and clay, in the amount
and the of foundry
foundry sand sand
after casting
25. Automotive Boustead life Reduce the Reduction in Backhouse
industry cycle analysis casting weight the foundry’s et al. (2004)
environmental
impact
26. Fabric filters Fabrication of Coal With the Siddique
controlled low combustion addition of (2009)
strength product’s plastic
materials effect (fly ash, materials
(CLSM) wood ash, sand mechanical
cement and tire strength
rubber scrap increases
have been
investigated
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
27. Fabric filters, Aluminum Environmental Texture Neto et al.
scrubbers and pressure die impact in terms channels and (2009)
the utilization casting plant of pollution wet scrubbers
of alternative had an
agents or enormous
techniques potential to
diminish metal
emissions,
comparative
with unabated
circumstance
and it is
likewise in fact
conceivable to
change the
sources of info
or mass
courses
through the
system
28. Waste foundry Blended in Leachate With the Siddique et al.
sand concrete characteristics addition of (2010)
plastic
materials
mechanical
strength
increases
29. Titanium Dentistry Mechanical With the Bauer et al.
properties addition of (2010)
plastic
materials
mechanical
strength
increases
30. Waste foundry Mixed in the Compressive Reduction in Guney et al.
sand high strength and tensile properties (2010)
cement strength,
concrete elasticity
modulus
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
31. Fly ash and Green self- Mechanical 0–100 sand was Sahmaran et al.
Foundry sand consolidating properties supplanted with (2011)
concrete WFS and 0–7%
development of Portland
concrete was
supplanted with
fly debris
32. Waste Blended in the Compressive Strength Siddique and
foundry sand high strength and tensile properties of Singh (2011)
cement strength, mixtures of
concrete elasticity concrete
modulus, enhance with
shrinkage the
enhancement of
foundry sand
concrete
33. Waste Blended in the Strength, A marginal Singh and
foundry sand high strength permeability increment in Siddique
cement and ultrasonic quality and (2012a)
concrete pulse velocity toughness
of sand properties of
plain cement by
addition of
WFS
34. Waste Mixed in the Strength and Incensement of Singh and
foundry sand high strength abrasion the strength and Siddique
cement resistance abrasion (2012b)
concrete properties resistance
properties with
the addition of
WFS
35. Waste Mixed with the Microstructure WFS is used for Basar and
foundry sand readymade and mechanical the Aksoy (2012)
concrete leaching enhancement of
good quality
concrete
36. Waste Blended in the Mechanical Extrusion Quijorna et al.
foundry sand red clay bricks and physio- properties (2012)
and Wales chemical during forming
slag properties
Society
Methods Environment
Factors influencing
Recovery
Economics
sustainable Technology
materials flow
Manufact
Design
-uring
Usage
Fig. 3 Factors influencing sustainable materials flow
Zero Waste and Design of Sustainable Society
The holistic zero waste concepts are utilized in manufacturing and design phases.
Moreover, there are very limited studies available that defines “zero waste design.”
The ZWD has been mostly tested and actualized in industries of fashion (Carrico
and Kim 2014). ZWD is one of the central viewpoints of obtaining zero waste aims
because it reduces unnecessary creation of waste at the first phase of production
process via production principles and green engineering. The designs experts
mostly see ZW creation as a combination of lean creation measures, cradle to-
cradle plan standards, and mechanical nature that lessens waste at the period of
creation (Phillips Paul et al. 2011). The waste by-products are further utilized
via industrial symbiosis produced during process of manufacturing. From the all-
encompassing perspective, techniques of eco-effectiveness and zero waste are not
conflicting to one another; rather they can be stronger and advances comprehensive
improvement of manageability. The zero waste manufacturing of product and design
is a principle factor in acquiring zero waste objectives since zero side effect
assembling guarantees up-cycling by dodging waste at the creation site (López et al.
2020).
Waste Typology
Waste is defined as an unavoidable by-product of most of the human activities.

The investigations of zero waste spread a wide scope of waste typologies from
municipal to radioactive waste. The literature shows 45 zero waste examinations
(47%) directed to municipal waste, 38 investigations (40%) concerned modern
waste (counting mechanical waste-water treatment), 6 examinations (6%) were on
risky waste (counting electronic and radioactive waste), 5 examinations (5%) were
on mining waste, and 2 investigations (2%) were on conventional waste. It is clear
that zero waste examinations secured a wide scope of waste typologies (Ahmad
et al.). All through the district, the chief wellsprings of strong waste are private
families and the business, horticultural, modern, and institutional and development
areas. A breakdown of strong waste sources and typologies is given in Table 2. For
the purpose behind this view, these sources are characterized as offering ascend to
four significant classes of waste: industrial waste, municipal solid waste, hazardous
waste, and agricultural waste.
Zero Waste Index (ZWI)
The ZWI is a tool to quantify the virgin material’s capability to be balanced by the
management of ZWF. One of the significant points of the idea of zero waste is zero
consumption of the normal assets. Accordingly, estimating the exhibition of the zero
waste cities would in the long run measure the assets that are devoured, separated,
recuperated, reused, squandered lastly fill in for original materials and balance asset
removal by the administration of waste frameworks. Equation (1) shows the formula
for ZWI calculation. Nonetheless, the redirection pace of waste does not exhibit
the substitution proficiency of virgin material in the administration arrangement of
waste, which is a very useful in preservation of worldwide normal assets (Haeruddin
and Batare 2020). Subsequently, ZWI is a forefront device to quantify replacement
of virgin material by the executive’s frameworks of waste. Internationally, by
calculating the ZWI, the probability to estimate the virgin material balance and the
possible consumption of characteristic assets is presented. The ZWI is additionally
a helpful instrument to think about various administration frameworks of waste in
various urban communities and it gives a more extensive perspective on the possible
interest for virgin materials, carbon contamination, water in a city and energy. The
ZWI is an exhibition marker to evaluate the general presentation of the executive’s
frameworks of waste.
n
WMSi ∗ SFi
ZWI = 1n (1)
1 GWS
where:
WMSi = amount of waste managed by system i (i = 1,2,3- - -)

n = amount of waste recycled, avoided, treated etc.
Table 2 Source and typologies of solid wastes

S. No. Source Typologies of solid wastes Typical waste generators
1. Residential Paper, plastics yard waste, Single and multifamily
metals, special wastes (like dwellings
white goods, bulky items,
batteries, consumer
electronics, tires, oils),
hazardous households wastes,
food wastes, cardboard,
textiles, wood, leather, glass,
ashes
2. Commercial Cardboard, wood, glass, Stores, restaurants, office
paper, plastics wastes, buildings, hotels, markets, etc.
hazardous waste, special
wastes, metals, food
3. Construction and Steel, dirt, wood, concrete, Road repair, new construction
demolition etc. area sites, demolition of
buildings, renovation sites
4. Process Scrap materials, slag, Refineries, power plants, light
industrial process wastes, and heavy manufacturing,
off-specification products, chemical plants, processing
tailings and mineral extraction
5. Industrial Packaging, demolition and Heavy and light
construction materials, ashes, manufacturing, construction
housekeeping wastes, food sites, fabrication, chemical
waste, hazardous wastes and power plants
6. Institutional Same as in commercial source Hospitals, government
centers, schools, prisons
7. Municipal services Tree and landscape Landscaping, beaches, parks,
trimmings, beaches, sludge, street cleaning, other areas of
street sweepings, general park recreation, waste water, and
waste, and other recreational water treatment plants
areas
8. Agriculture Agriculture wastes, spoiled Orchards, dairies, farms,
solid wastes, hazardous crops, vineyards, feedlots
wastes like as pesticides
Note: S. No. 1 to 7 are incorporated as municipal solid waste
SFi = substitution factor for different waste management systems based on their
virgin material replacement efficiency
GWS = total amount of waste generated (tones of all waste streams)
recyclables weight
Diversion rate = ∗ 100 (2)
garbage weight + recyclables weight
where:
recyclables = waste that is reused, recycled, composted, or digested

garbage = waste that is landfilled or incinerated
The ZWI depends on the material worth that can supplant the virgin material
information sources conceivably. The replacement of water, energy, and ozone
harming substance discharged is likewise considered with the replacements of
material. Replacement esteems for material, water, greenhouse gas, and energy
discharges have been removed from the existence cycle information base of various
life cycle evaluation devices. The material sum and assets are identified with the
technological advancement used in the material recuperation cycle for various
materials replacement and administration frameworks. Despite the fact that waste
anticipation is the key part in ZWI yet quantitative estimation of waste counteraction
(Muhammad et al. 2019) is still lacking.
3R Approach
The standards of 3R are considered as the establishing standards of supportable

waste administration framework and they are among the main three in the waste
hierarchy. The meaning of 3R is reduction, reuse, and recycling. In the EUWFD,
the “3R” standards have been stretched out to five stages of the waste pecking order
that is reusing, anticipation (evasion), recuperation (counting energy recuperation),
reuse, and removal (Fig. 4). Among 3R, Responsibility is the fourth R, which clasp
the way to supportability. We require network duty, singular obligation, proficient
obligation, modern responsibility, and political obligation to manage waste.
The 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) approach is one of the noble attempts that
could be enforced to manage waste. By using 3R approach, a declining volume of
the waste from its source is duly expected so that the volume of waste stocked
in final disposal is also declining. An implementation of 3R approach, as close
as possible to the waste source, can also reduce transportation expenses to the
final destruction. Further, this program can be important to optimize utilization of
waste and to maximize its potential bearing economic value and fulfilling real job
demands. Figure 5 shows the comprehensive waste management: community-based
zero waste:
The technique of zero waste contains no expendable society, no incinerators, and
no to landfills and says yes to sustainable society. The deliberate use of the 3Rs
in each sort of waste generator can make considerable commitments to meeting
the entirety of the mainstays of maintainability in a few areas around the globe.
Moreover, proficient plan of these techniques can assist with acquiring significant
decreases in the amounts and kinds of materials requiring final removal and in
this manner add to moving toward zero waste release. As has been illustrated, the
3Rs are basic segments of an incorporated strong waste administration plan. An
Disposal
Reduce
Development Use
3R
Recycle Reuse
Production Construction
Major aspects of ZWM
Wastes recycling Sustainable manufacturing

o Plastics/ Polymer waste o Recent trends in forming
o Electronic and electric waste operation
o Machining scrap, glass, tires, o Recent trends in foundry
ceramics waste etc. o Recent trends in machining
Fig. 4 Representation of 3R approach and major aspects of zero waste manufacturing
appropriately planned arrangement can make sizeable commitments to economical

waste administration and help arrive at the target of zero waste (Cossu et al. 2005).
Classification and Evaluation of Zero Waste Study
The investigation recognized the accompanying six measures to characterization:

(1) publication time, (2) publication type, (3) study of geographical location, (4)
consideration of waste types, (5) key research aspects, and (6) extent of the study
(with respect to the zero waste concept). The examination made a decision about the
degree and significance of the zero waste contemplates dependent on (1) utilization
of terminology of zero waste, (2) use of zero waste with no further clarification, (3)
use of zero waste with an incomplete clarification, and (4) broad use of zero waste
with a lot of conversation. An all-encompassing zero waste life cycles extensively
Technical and
operational aspects of Reduce
waste management
Stage of planning
Availability of the Reuse

waste management
Stage of Implementation facilities
3R Zero Waste
Stage of Control Community’s role
and monitoring aspect in the waste
bank Recycle
Stage of Evaluation
Living
envirronmental
Waste Bank
wellness aspect
Fig. 5 The comprehensive waste management: community-based zero waste approach
incorporates seven stages: (1) asset extraction and handling, (2) design of product,
(3) producing, (4) utilization and generation of waste, (5) management of waste,
(6) treatment of waste, and (7) garbage removal. The examination considered all
stages of zero waste life and assessed every investigation to recognize the degree,
significance, and degree of the zero waste contemplates. Point by point grouping
and assessment of the investigations are introduced in Table 3.
Approaches for Recycling of Zero Waste
There are a few choices accessible to treat plastic waste which includes re-expulsion
(essential process), reuse, substance reusing (tertiary cycle), and mechanical reusing
(known as auxiliary cycle), and energy recuperation (quaternary cycle) as discussed
in Fig. 6. Several developments have been made for appropriate utilization of
plastics waste for different applications. The recycling of plastic waste leads to
the generation of material that can be used again (Al-Salem 2009). Plastics give
significant well-being, security, and supportability benefits. They help to improve
expectations for everyday comforts, cleanliness, and nourishment around the globe.
They are broadly utilized in medical care, development, transport, hardware, farm-
ing, and game. Plastics are regularly connected with dispensable and expendable
bundling. Yet, numerous items have extraordinary and long haul utilization, as
lines, window outlines, athletic gear and material (eg. plastics, glass, wood etc.),
for instance. Most utilize less assets and have a lower-carbon impression than
the glass, paper, and metal they have supplanted. For example, effective plastic
protection and lightweight plastic parts in vehicles and planes spare energy and
keep away from CO2 discharges. Also, plastics are basic in the development of
environmentally friendly power, for example, wind turbines and sunlight-based
boards. Electronics are intricate gadgets which are developed of a wide assortment
of material constituents. These undesirable electric products are comprised of
Table 3 Classification and evaluation of studies of zero waste

Article Geographical Study
S. No. type Waste type location Study focus scope References
1. A Industrial Generic Production of zero Wrona and
waste waste and plant Julien (1997)
2. A Industrial Generic Zero waste ◦ Maedgen and
waste production of Hunt (1998)
steel
3. R MSW USA Zero waste ⌂ Connett and
movement Sheehan
(2001)
4. A MSW USA Sullivan (2001)
5. A Hazardous Generic For radioactive ◦ Ciampichetti
waste waste zero waste et al. (2002)
options
6. A Industrial Generic Zero waste ◦ Wang et al.
waste process as a coal (2003)
pulverized
combustion
7. CP Industrial Generic Concept of Van Kempen
waste recycle (2003)
8. A MSW Australia Zero waste Tennant-Wood
programmers and (2003)
events
9. A MSW New Zero waste ⌂ Mason et al.
Zealand programmers and (2003)
practices
10. A Industrial Japan Zero waste factor ⌂ Morioka et al.
waste and Industrial (2003)
ecology
11. A Industrial Generic Green engineering Anastas Paul
waste production and and
design Zimmerman
Julie (2003)
12. CP MSW Taiwan Market creation Chen and
and Houng (2004)
collection-based
on community
13. A MSW China Waste avoidance Chung and Lo
education and (2004)
preferences
14. A Industrial Generic Zero waste ◦ Hu et al.
waste emission (2004)
15. A Industrial South Treatment Jewell et al.
waste Africa technology of (2004)
zero waste
16. A Mining Chile Zero waste ◦ Gonzalez et al.
waste process (2005)
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
17. CP MSW India and Zero waste ⌂ Kumar et al.
China recycling for zero (2005)
waste
18. A MSW Singapore Through greening ⌂ Lang (2005)
of industry zero
waste and zero
landfill
19. A MSW Taiwan Recycling Lin and Lin
activities and (2005)
waste legislation
20. N Hazardous Generic For radioactive ◦ Zucchetti
waste waste zero waste (2005)
options
21. A Hazardous Generic For radioactive ◦ Zucchetti and
waste waste zero waste Sugiyama
options (2006)
22. A Industrial Thailand, Industries ◦ Oosterveer
waste Vietnam environmental et al. (2006)
performance
23. A Industrial Vietnam Industrial ⌂ Dieu (2006)
waste ecosystem for
zero waste
24. A Generic Generic Cradle to cradle ⌂ Braungart et al.
design and (2007)
eco-effectiveness
25. A Generic Generic Cradle to cradle ⌂ Braungart
design (2007)
26. N MSW Australia Cleaner and Clay et al.
Recycling (2007)
programs
27. R MSW Italy, Zero waste ⌂ Connett (2007)
Australia, agenda for
USA, sustainable
Canada society
28. A Mining India Applications ◦ Dey and
waste based on Bhattacharyya
multi-product (2007)
zero waste of coal
mines
29. A MSW India In tourism ⌂ Dileep (2007)
industry waste
management
30. A MSW Japan Industrial ecology ⌂ Fujita and Hill
for zero waste city (2007)
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
31. A MSW Generic For circular Greyson
economy (2007)
economic
instruments
32. A Industrial Generic Production of ◦ Grishina et al.
waste Zero waste and (2007)
process
33. A MSW South Strategy of waste Karani and
Africa management Jewasikiewitz
(2007)
34. A Industrial Generic Zero waste ⌂ Khan et al.
waste process (2007)
technology
35. A Industrial Generic Sustainable ⌂ Krajnc et al.
waste assessment (2007)
indicator and
production
36. A Industrial Slovenia Production of zero ⌂ Krajnc et al.
waste waste with (2007)
environmental
performance
37. A Hazardous EU and Product Nicol and
waste North stewardship and Thompson
America extended producer (2007)
responsibility
38. A Industrial Generic Through closed ⌂ Orecchini
waste energy resources (2007)
cycles zero
consumption
39. A Industrial Generic Nano Uskokovic
waste technologies for (2007)
zero waste
40. CP Industrial Generic In zero waste Whitlock
waste society zero waste Drury et al.
management (2007)
41. A Industrial Generic Zero waste ◦ Bochek (2008)
waste technology for
polymer
42. A Industrial Austria Process ◦ Lindorfer et al.
waste technology of (2008)
zero waste for
metal industry
43. A MSW South Zero waste ⌂ Matete and
Africa strategy and Trois (2008)
models
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
44. CP MSW USA Zero waste ⌂ Stave Krystyna
dynamic system (2008)
45. A MSW Greece Holistic waste ⌂ Zotos et al.
framework and (2009)
strategy
46. A MSW Taiwan Econometric ⌂ Weng et al.
modeling and (2009)
consumer
behavior
47. N Hazardous USA, Crime and ◦ Interpol (2009)
waste England informal e-waste
recycling
48. A Industrial Taiwan Knowledge Huang and
waste management and Shih (2009)
environmental
performance
49. A Industrial Generic Supply chain ⌂ Ball et al.
waste management of (2009)
zero waste and
production
50. CP Mining Brazil Zero waste coal ◦ AmaralFilho
waste mining et al. (2010)
51. A Industrial Generic Emission Gravitis et al.
waste technology for (2010)
zero waste
52. A MSW South Zero waste ⌂ Snyman and
Africa treatment Vorster (2010)
methodologies
and model
53. A MSW Taiwan Zero waste ⌂ Young et al.
environment (2010)
54. A MSW Australia, Barriers and ⌂ Zaman and
USA, challenges in zero Lehmann
Sweden waste (2011b)
55. A MSW Australia, In zero waste city ⌂ Zaman and
Sweden material flow Lehmann
(2011a)
56. A MSW England Evaluation tool ⌂ Timlett and
and recycling Williams
behavior (2011)
57. A Industrial Generic Zero waste gas ◦ Shao et al.
waste emission (2011)
58. A Industrial South Water treatment ◦ Randall et al.
waste Africa process for zero (2011)
waste
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
59. A MSW England Zero waste places ⌂ Phillips et al.
and strategy (2011)
60. A MSW Australia, Zero waste ⌂ Lehmann
Denmark, economy and (2011)
Egypt, sustainable
India, Brazil consumption
61. A Industrial Malaysia Industrial Haslenda and
waste symbiosis and Jamaludin
process of zero (2011)
waste
62. A MSW England Waste prevention Gentil et al.
environmental (2011)
consequences
63. A Mining Generic In petroleum ⌂ (Dusseault
waste industry zero (2011)
waste discharge
64. A Industrial Generic Process ◦ Antrekowitsch
waste technology of and
zero waste for Steinlechner
metal industry 2011)
65. A MSW Generic Barriers in the Bartl (2011)
development of
zero waste society
66. RA Industrial Asia Water treatment ◦ Ahmad et al.
waste process for zero (2012)
waste
67. RA MSW USA For zero waste Carvill (2012)
movement
kerbside waste
collection
68. A Industrial Europe Symbiosis, ⌂ Curran and
waste industrial Williams
network, zero (2012)
waste system
69. A Hazardous Romania Industrial David and
waste chemical process Kopac (2012)
for zero waste
70. A MSW Brazil Reverse logistic Fehr (2012)
for zero waste
management
71. A Mining Generic Recovery process ◦ Liu et al.
waste for zero waste (2012)
72. A MSW Japan Society of Yoshida et al.
material cycle (2012)
73. A Industrial Thailand Industrial ⌂ Chavalparit
waste ecosystems nature et al. (2013)
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
74. A Industrial Generic Fashion design for Townsend and
waste zero waste Mills (2013)
75. A MSW Australia, Resource ⌂ Zaman and
Sweden forecasting from Lehmann
zero waste (2013a)
76. A MSW Australia, A performance ⌂ Zaman and
Sweden evaluation tool for Lehmann
zero waste index (2013b)
77. RA MSW Generic Evaluation of zero ⌂ Zorpas and
waste Lasaridi (2013)
78. A MSW Australia Indicators for zero ⌂ Zaman (2014a)
waste
79. A MSW Australia Performance ⌂ Zaman (2014b)
assessment by
using zero waste
index
80. N Industrial Thailand Zero landfill Usapein and
waste waste Chavalparit
(2014)
81. A Industrial USA, Sustainable ◦ Hiranandani
waste Australia, practices and (2014)
Nether- policies
lands, South
Africa
82. RA MSW England Zero waste ⌂ Cole et al.
programs and (2014)
strategy
83. A Industrial Generic Zero waste Chiang et al.
waste sequestration (2014a)
84. A Industrial Generic Apparel design Carrico and
waste for zero waste Kim (2014)
Note: Publication type: A-article, R-report, E-editorial, RA-review article, CP-conference proceed-
ings, N-note; Scope and relevance of zero waste study: ◦ – Zero waste term is used without any
further supportive argument, – Zero waste concepts are used with a limited or short argument,
– Zero waste concepts are used with a considerable amount of discussion, ⌂ – Zero waste
concepts are used within a holistic zero waste management system
metals, plastics, glass and different stuffs and added substances, of which some are
hazardous (Cui and Forssberg 2003).
In present time, the vast majority of the plastic wastes are being reused by
utilizing this strategy. Especially in the UK, around 250,000 t of plastic waste was
created in mid-2000s, 95% of which was essentially reused. The plastic is ground
down, re-processed, and exacerbated to create another part that might possibly
be equivalent to its unique use in mechanical recycling. This cycle was advanced
Pallesting Extrusion Injection molding Drawing Shredding
Mechanical
Primary Secondary Tertiary Quaternary Incineration
Chemical Thermolysis
Chemical Energy Pyrolysis Gasification

recovery recovery
Hydrogenation
Heterogeneous Homogenous Chemolysis
Cracking Gasification
Methan- Glycol- Alcoho- Hydro-
olysis ysis lysis lysis
Thermal Catalytic Hydro
Fig. 6 Various approaches to recycle plastic wastes
and popularized everywhere on the world, harking back to the 1970s. Mechanical
re-cycling of solid waste must be carried out on single-polymer plastic, for example
PS, PP, PA, and so mechanical re-cycling included various strides in waste planning
and treatment therapy, subsequently being an expensive and an energy exceptional
cycle. The advancement in mechanical reusing measure includes size decrease of
plastic to beds, powder or pieces, which is accomplished by processing, pounding,
or destroying. Further, the polymer waste is turned around into its oil/hydrocarbon
segment in simpler monomers and polyolefin which can be utilized as crude material
for generation of new polymer and petro-synthetic industry (Singh et al. 2016c). The
compound reusing can be sorted into cutting-edge measures like pyrolysis, gasifica-
tion, fluid gas hydrogenation, thickness breaking, reactant splitting, and utilization
of plastic waste. In addition, the energy recuperation measure was discovered
especially to be a feasible answer for plastic waste all in all and civil waste. Various
ecological concerns are related with this strategy, primarily emanation of certain
air poisons, for example, NOx , SOx , and CO2 . In the past 20 years, a decent lot of
deeds have been done in the field of reusing of polymers/plastics by the different
scientists. From the main examination gathering, Siddique et al. explored different
utilizations of waste material and reused plastics materials on the new and solidified
properties of cement. The impact of reused and plastic waste on mass thickness, air
substance, usefulness, and shrinkage quality, parting rigidity, modulus of versatility,
sway obstruction, porousness, and scraped area opposition was additionally talked
about by them. Also, Singh et al. expelled nylon-6 waste and created fortified
intertwined testimony demonstrating design for venture projecting applications.
Some other previous specialists have additionally directed their examinations on
reusing plastics materials in various cycles and activities. The plastic waste utilized
in different methods may express the thermal as well as mechanical properties and
build the effectiveness of framework.
Waste Generation and Sustainable Consumption
Sustainable asset utilization is one of the primary conditions for moving toward zero
waste objectives. Shockingly, a scant number of studies have sufficiently tended to
the issues and difficulties related to over-utilization and waste issues. The aspiring
zero utilization idea considers materials that become helpful without vanishing their
ability to take care of the framework again in the wake of being utilized. Along
these lines, the idea of utilization itself is supplanted by one of utilization when
assets are embedded into closed circles frameworks. A number of studies (Bartl
2011) tended to existing over-utilization patterns, hindrances, and the requirements
for feasible conduct to accomplish zero waste objectives. Numerous examinations
recommend that over-utilization prompts produce unreasonable waste. Wahab and
Lawal (2011) proposed sustainable utilization practices for responsible consumption
of undesirable waste. It is conceivable to keep away from and forestall undesirable
squander making and smart utilization of waste.
Strategy for Management of Waste
All three of the widely agreed sustainability goals – economic well-being, envi-
ronmental conservation, and social well-being, are achieved by zero waste strategy.
Using even less new raw materials and sending no waste materials to landfills will
be a zero waste strategy. The zero waste strategic plans should direct the solid waste
management systems of the city and the way future decisions are taken on waste
management. To achieve zero waste strategy, city programs, rates, and contractual
and financial commitments and policies should be developed. The main objective
of zero waste strategic plans is to achieve the following opportunities: reduction in
toxicity and volume of waste, for the recovery of materials expansion of recycling
and composting related services, product and materials reuse, adoption of incentives
and policies to achieve zero waste. The management of waste includes the actions
and activities require to waste management from its generation to its final disposal.
This includes the generation, collection, processing, and waste disposal together
with regulation and monitoring of the management process of waste.
Generation of Waste
As per the reports, Victoria has a State populace of just under five million individuals
and the waste age rate in 2004/2005 was 9.9 million tons relating to a normal
pace of waste age of roughly 1980 kg for every individual every year from both
civil and modern sources. This is average of other high utilization States. The
previous 10 years have seen Victorians make a huge conduct move to reusing and
asset recuperation in both the home and the work environment, moving ceaselessly
from the removal economy. In 2004/2005, the level of the complete waste stream
which was reused arrived at 55% and added up to 5.4 million tons of recuperated
resources. In 2005, the Victorian government endorsed a methodology for Victoria
to move toward zero waste and accomplish a 75% and large reusing rate and
a yearly decrease in absolute waste age of 1.5 million tons by 2013 (National
Packaging Covenant Council NPCC). Increasing populace, blasting economy, fast
urbanization, and the ascent in network expectations for everyday comforts have
enormously quickened the strong waste age on the planet, particularly in non-
industrial nations. The worldwide volume of solid waste is assessed around 11
billion tons for each year in 2011 and per capita solid waste age is roughly 1.74
tons/annum on the planet. Then again, alongside the huge strong waste age, a huge
measure of common assets is drained regularly because of the appeal for new item
request (Menikpura et al. 2013). Worldwide, 120–130 billion tons of characteristic
assets are devoured each year and create around 3.4 to 4 billion tons of municipal
solid waste. Production of any waste drains characteristic assets, utilizes water and
energy, places pressure ashore, contaminates the climate, and, ultimately, makes an
extra financial expense for dealing with the waste.
Collection of Waste
According to the UNSD, “Wastes are materials that are not prime products (that
is products produced for the market) for which the generator has no further use in
terms of his/her own purposes of production, transformation or consumption, and
of which he/she wants to dispose. Wastes may be generated during the extraction of
raw materials, the processing of raw materials into intermediate and final products,
the consumption of final products, and other human activities. Residuals are
recycled or reused at the place of generation are excluded.” Collection of waste is the
part of waste management process. It is the solid waste transfer from the use point of
view and disposal to the landfill or treatment view point. The curbside collection of
recyclable materials is also a part of collection of waste. In economically developed
countries household waste will be left in recycling bins or waste containers prior to
collection by a waste collection machine. In some towns, barges are used for waste
collection. However, wastes are left in bags or bins at the road side in developing
countries. A variety of collection systems are used based on respective municipal
requirements accordingly. Each collection method (as represented in Fig. 7) has
compatible container systems and vehicles with dedicated loaders.
Simple
emptying
method
Exchange
method
One way
method
Collection
methods
Other collection
system
Nonsystematic
collection
Special collection
system
Fig. 7 The collection method of waste
Processing of Waste
Waste processing implies physical alteration of waste to make it more compatible

with the technologies used in the treatment process. Waste processing helps to make
the best possible profit from any functional aspect of the solid waste management
system. To derive full economic value, it needs a proper range of equipment and
techniques for each element. Bailing, compaction, metal segregation, shredding,
drying, and so on are different methods used in waste processing. There are
a number of different methods involved in waste treatment and processing. In
addition to the operational, structural, and technological waste management steps,
the following should also be taken into account: controlled landfilling, chemical-
physical conversation, recycling process, thermal treatment, mechanical treatment,
biological treatment, by definition, fall under the heading of physical treatment
through the use of physical techniques to alter the composition and processing of
waste. Thermal and mechanical treatment can be distinguished. A conversion of
material represents any recycling process. Thus the recycling process is a process for
the development of new products. It defines the secondary raw material production
process and compares a set of activities that include the collection, processing,
sorting, or transformation of used materials into usable products. Both these actions
lead to a reduction in amount of waste that needs to be disposed of. Therefore the
aim of any recycling process is to reuse or use waste material in order to minimize
the waste amount. The importance of this recycling process is that the separation
begins with the disposal of waste. At the beginning of the process, the separation of
waste facilitates the handling of waste and helps to improve the efficiency of waste
treatment facilities.
Pond-based frameworks are commonly utilized for more modest limits of 20
mld or less, while for bigger limit treatment plants the inclination is for ASP or
its variations and comparable frameworks, for example, UASB, FAB, MBBR and
SBR. For huge plants of limit more noteworthy than 50 mld, the inclination is to
utilize either SBR or ASP with methane power age office. Organizations are likewise
utilizing ZLD framework – a cutting-edge innovation to sanitize and reuse for all
intents and purposes the entirety of the wastewater delivered. Front line patterns
incorporate expanded water reusing and reuse projects to decrease water utilization
and release needs, execution of strong waste (muck) decrease and waste-to-energy
ventures, utilization of cutting-edge treatment advancements, and an attention on
lessening energy costs related with wastewater treatment. At times, makers are con-
solidating to make basic gushing treatment plants to improve wastewater treatment
financial matters. The expense of a waste water treatment plant relies upon two main
variables – the nature of crude influent and the nature of the getting medium. Most
urban communities in India do not have managements to treat excreta of human or
substance modern waste. Besides, these treatment plants are innovatively in reverse.
With time, the amount and normal conditions for waste water release has definitely
changed. In present status, most waste water plants are out of date and require
more up-to-date innovation and limit extension. A significant factor that frustrates
treatment of waste water is inaccessibility of land area for making new plants. Land
is hard to find in metropolitan India and furthermore a pricey product. Accordingly,
urban communities and towns are thinking that it is hard to oversee and treat the
immense amounts of waste produced consistently. Development and upkeep costs
are significant obstacles as well. As per the administration report, during the 1990s,
when the original treatment of sewage plants was fabricated, they cost Rs 20 lakh
to Rs 30 lakh for every mld. Today, similar plants cost near Rs 1crore for every
mld to fabricate. India’s deficiency of treatment of sewage would need enormous
speculation, if just green field alternatives are thought of. “Retrofit” or up-degree
of existing wastewater treatment plants can tackle issues of expanded limit just as
requirement for better quality. Retrofitting can be characterized as expansion of new
innovation or highlights to more established frame works.
Ultrafiltration films of low-pressure that can be adjusted downstream of air
circulation frameworks of existing plants offer numerous advantages of limit
extension and better gushing properties. Barely any preferences of retrofitting with
film innovation include: (i) better profitability of treatment plants of waste water,
(ii) decrement in per unit working expenses, and (iii) significant enhancement in
qualities and properties that can make effluent reusable in non-potable applications.
Disposal of waste
As indicated by state enactment, city committees are committed to exhaust general

waste containers week after week, and reusing waste receptacles fortnightly shows
a schematic stream graph of metropolitan solid waste administration in Adelaide.
The gathered recyclable materials products are moved to reusing enterprises in
Australia and abroad. Just glass, solid, blocks, soil, black-top, food, lumber, and
garden organics are re-processed in South Australia. Other recuperated materials,
for example, plastics, paper, non-ferrous metals, steel, materials, and elastic, are to a
great extent reprocessed interstate or abroad (Zero Waste 2007). The neighborhood
City Corporation offers waste types of assistance to residents and gathers waste
from family units by means of kerbside waste assortment frameworks. Casual waste
recyclers reuse jugs and jars from public waste canisters in parks, regions, and
side of the road zones because of discount frameworks. All recyclables (bottles,
plastics, metals, glass, etc.) are shipped off reusing enterprises for remanufacturing
new items. Family unit waste is gathered and shipped off depots for recuperation
handling. The neighborhood reusing enterprises have been advanced by the zero
waste of state methodologies, and subsequently, a noteworthy sum nearly 2,000,000
tons (82%) of waste is dealt with generally in South Australia, 5% (123,250
tons) is dealt with recycled substance and reusing rates interstate, while 13%
(325,177 tons) is transported abroad. Ten out of 19 city committees in the Adelaide
metropolitan zone offer few type of nursery waste assortment framework. Around
35% (157,000) of all houses in metropolitan Adelaide have a nursery waste
assortment administration.
The greater part of the depots in South Australia acknowledges practically a
wide range of waste including perilous; however, just electronic or electric waste
can be saved for nothing (IWS 2013). There are nine landfill destinations at present
working in the metropolitan territory. The complete limit of these locales is around
43 million tons of putrescible garbage removal and their foreseen life expectancy is
until 2030. In non-industrial nations, open unloading is normal; there is additionally
an acknowledgment that this is lacking. Endeavors are in progress to control tipping
or to execute sterile landfilling so as to limit natural pollution (Sakai 2002). If
not strategically disposed of, non-biodegradable and hazardous waste, such as
radioactive remains, will potentially cause irreparable harm to the environment and
human health. Waste management, the principal growth and industrialization, has
become a matter of concern. Here are a few waste disposal methods are discussed
below:
(i) Landfills: The most widely used waste disposal system used today is the
dumping of everyday waste/garbage into landfills. This waste management
method focuses emphasis on the burial of waste in the soil.
(ii) Recycling: Recycling is the method of transforming waste goods into new
products in order to reduce the use of fresh raw materials for energy usage.
Recycling is aimed at reducing energy use, reducing landfill volumes, reducing
air and water pollution, reducing emission of greenhouse gases, and maintain-
ing natural resources for future use.
(iii) Composting: Composting is the simple and natural method of bio-degradation
that takes organic waste, that is, leftovers of plant and garden and kitchen waste
and transforms your plants into nutrient-rich food.
(iv) Incineration: The burning of waste materials requires incineration. The waste
material is heated to very high temperatures using this technique and is
converted into materials such as fire, gas, ash, and steam.
Recycled Content and Recycling Rates
The expanding volume of strong waste in landfills adds to exceptional degrees of

environmental issues, for example, water and soil tainting by means of filtering
of substantial metals, and air contamination through discharge of ozone harming
substances. Given that the measure of worldwide waste has expanded ten times over
the previous century and is required to be twofold by 2025, it is earnest and basic
to redirect waste from landfill through reusing and treating the soil which can help
moderate the negative effects of waste and recuperate valuable materials from land-
fills. For example in Canada, the general redirection pace of family unit waste (e.g.,
blended paper, plastics, glass, metal, and natural issue) is assessed to be around 33%
while the rate for the US family is around 35% (Environmental Protection Agency,
2013). This rate is well beneath the potential 75–90% redirection pace of family unit
waste which could be recouped and reused (Geyer et al. 2017). South Australia has
ineffective and long history of actualizing CDL, which started in 1977. A complete
124 affirmed assortment terminals are worked statewide, 40 in the Adelaide munic-
ipal area and 84 in local South Australia, for the arrival of bundling compartments.
A 10 penny discount is paid for each holder, which is the reason casual recyclers of
waste are assuming a significant function in reusing jugs and plastic compartments
from side of the road and public parks. Figure 8 represents a case of such casual
waste reusing the accessibility of formal waste assortment administrations.
The ascent of such casual assortment inside conventional waste administration
frameworks proposes the viability of positive budgetary motivations. Casual recy-
clers are for the most of the part reusing from the side of the road and public
containers. Despite the fact that this assortment is casual and intentional, the
framework is coordinated with the proper waste administration frameworks in light
of the fact that casual waste gatherers return compartments to gather the discount
from a conventional waste reusing stop. The reusing rate shows the exhibition of
waste administration frameworks in a city (Teo 2007). Adelaide has been effectively
actualizing CDL strategy for in excess of three decades. The nations with mostly
good economy rely on clean landfill and cremation. Formal waste recycling services
are just accessible in the high-salary nations with are cycling pace of 22% and low
reusing rates (under 3%) for nations from other pay gatherings. During 2000, the
National Environmental Agency (NEA), Singapore, figured a scope of procedures
and projects like reusing business and modern wastes, advancing reusing within
Fig. 8 Recycled content and casual waste reusing
community territories and schools, 3P (public, private, and public, government)

activities, and an assortment of public mindfulness programs. In the ensuing 5 years,
the reusing rate was expanded from 40%to 49%, and waste (home-grown and non-
home-grown) age was reduced by 8%, to 7000 tons for every day in 2005. The NEA
has been articulated the objectives of “Towards Zero Landfill” and “Towards Zero
Waste” (Chang et al. 2013).
Metabolism of Linear to Circular Society
In a “linear” metabolism which is characterized as an urban world process has a

clear resource in-put and waste out-put. On the other hand in circular cycle, there
is nearly no waste and almost everything is re-used. Girardet characterizes this
as a natural world process. Girardet emphasizes that the accelerated use of linear
metabolisms in urban environment is creating an impending global crisis as cities
grow.
Urban Metabolism and Waste Management
Urban metabolism is a system in which material flows are taken as analysis unit to
describe patterns of transformation of natural resources in cities. Analysis of urban
metabolism has been employed in industrial ecology area to find ways to enhance
the continuity of these flows. But urban metabolism has not adequately engaged with
the institutional and political contexts that form and are affected by urban material
flows because of its focus on the environmental efficiency of the urban system as a
whole.
Environmental pressure indicators: The ecological footprint of a metropolitan
territory is determined by computing the yield components of the materials utilized
in the urban economy. Ozone harming substance outflows are calculated by figuring
the carbon dioxide emanation factors of the petroleum products devoured and the
burned squanders.
Material use intensity and resource efficiency: The all-out materials utilized
by each financial activity represent its material force. This is a measure of the
normal asset efficiency of the activity when looked at for changed districts. Another
measure of profitability is achieved by computing economic information with the
material power. The converse of this proportion speaks to the resource efficiency
of a metropolitan economy or financial activity (ton/$). Urban digestion uncovers
the similar resource intensity of metropolitan zones so as to give the most effective
courses toward asset effectiveness and security of access for a differing scope of
urban communities (Chiang et al. 2014b).
Waste management: Building up a metropolitan round economy requires inter-
ests in waste recuperation and material trades between organizations (mechanical
advantageous interaction). The potential for such systems can be resolved through
material stream bookkeeping and demonstrating with waste input – yield tables. The
elements and sort of interest in waste and item end-of-life preparing foundations rely
upon waste creation conjectures. A comprehension of the elements of the material
streams in a metropolitan framework is especially pertinent for anticipating the
requirement for waste the executives foundations, as their ability over the coming
many years will be founded on stock models that speak to inflows and surges of
various sorts of items and substances, considering the development and oldness of
items dislodged in the market (e.g., development materials, metals from apparatus
and machines, and plastics) (Chang et al. 2008).
Municipal Waste Management
Throughout the most recent 20 years, waste pickers of Pune have made remarkable
change in their city waste management framework and in their own lifestyles. These
casual area authorities of recyclable materials shaped an association to secure their
rights and carry nobility to their deed. The association has been so fruitful that
it has permitted them to execute entryway to-door collection, waste treatment for
organics and source division, all while improving waste picker occupations and
conditions for working. Decrease and reusing activities, for example, maker duty
and pay-as-you throw are being executed. This chapter presents an investigation
evaluating the impact of as of late executed MSW recycling and decrease the board
systems on the qualities of waste feedstock (for incineration) in Taiwan. Through

the intermittent examining of two ordinary MSW incineration plants, proximate and
extreme examinations were led concurring to standard techniques to investigate the
impact of MSW decrease and management of recycling methodologies on burning
feed waste attributes (Waste in the City 2017).
While actualizing these techniques and planning for future MSW the executive’s
frameworks, it is critical to consider the changes that may happen in the organization
and qualities of MSW after some time. These programs give impetuses to diminish
the MSW amount development rate. It was noticed that the reused material portion
of MSW created in 2001 was from 6.8%, but was 32.4% in 2010 and will increment
steadily by 2–5% yearly soon. However, food waste was up to 9.7% in 2010 after
the total FWRP was executed. The researched waste treatments with energy and
material recuperation permit significant advantages of greenhouse gas discharge
decrease.
Challenges and Opportunities in Transformation of Cities into

Zero Waste Cities
Overall urban areas are quickly extending, making noticeable ecological and social
difficulties. The age of waste is one of the focal worries in metropolitan agglom-
erations, especially in the worldwide South, where deficiencies, nonattendances,
and shortcomings shape the neighborhood squander the executive’s framework.
Lopsided geographic improvement has made evident spaces of prohibition and dis-
regard. Accordingly, casual and sorted out waste pickers participate in specific waste
assortment and reusing, serving their locale and the climate. These commitments
are still generally unrecognized and unaccounted. This part starts with stressing the
difficulties of metropolitan development, utilization, neediness, and waste. In the
worldwide South, consistently a great many casual waste pickers recover recyclables
from family waste to procure their living. In doing so they make a significant com-
mitment to lessening the carbon impression of urban communities, recouping assets,
improving natural conditions and well-being making occupations and pay among
poor people, especially in low-salary private areas. Present utilization driven society
creates a huge volume of waste consistently. Ceaseless consumption of regular
limited assets by metropolitan populace is leading the globe to a questionable future.
Hence, to forestall further exhaustion of global assets maintainable utilization and a
key waste administration framework would be needed. It is clear that a noteworthy
number of worldwide nonsustainable assets like as mercury, tellurium, and cadmium
will encounter lasting deficit in worldwide supply within the following decades. The
idea of the zero waste cities incorporates a 100% reusing of city solid waste and a
100% recuperation of all assets from waste materials. This investigation has been led
with a training dependent examination procedure. Practice-based fabricated climate
research incorporates case-based, proof-based, and execution-based exploration
modes (Jung 2011).
Conclusion
Rapid economic growth and globalization have created large quantities of waste
and have drawn worldwide attention due to possible environmental impacts and
waste of resources, such as illegal dumping and cross-border movement of industrial
waste, informal recycling of e-waste, loss of food and greenhouse emissions, and
consumption of resources. Therefore the concept of zero waste is an important
way of addressing solid waste issue. In order to reuse all materials, zero waste
seeks to encourage the redevelopment of resource life cycles. Significant attempts
have already been made in municipalities, businesses, and individuals to provide
several good ideas for the potential development of zero waste. Decision makers
and waste experts use different metrics in order to assess the efficiency of waste
management system. Waste management, green city, and zero waste indices have
been used in past decade to assess a city’s efficiency as a key indicator. Certain key
techniques, such as eco-design and eco-labeling, should be implemented from the
extraction of raw materials to final disposal in order to achieve zero waste. Beyond
recycling, zero waste management for solid waste, industrial waste, construction
waste, and electronic waste would move to the relatively unknown territory of the
higher end of waste management such as eco-design, eco-labeling in the close loop
chain and clean development. A preventive strategy can be ironically blocked by
the attempts of the world to reduce its problems. Zero waste, sustainability, and
sustained economic development cannot as currently practiced be accomplished.
The proposed solution seems viable and feasible; it does, however, call for a change
of thought. People have always been creative and changed the shape of the world,
but it remains to be seen how simple minds can alter. In the planet, the majority of
people are now suffering from a growing amount of worse consequences. Before
everybody is ready, all of these impacts are not guaranteed to remain tolerable. So,
in this context, the chapter is planned to focus the cause of this problem and how
a significant step toward resolving the issue can be taken by zero waste strategy.
The chapter has successfully highlighted the zero waste approaches and various
strategies adopted to manage them. It has discussed the challenges and opportunities
in transformation of cities in zero waste cities.
Related websites
http://www.bioenergyconsult.com
http://www.wastedive.com
http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/print/volume-11/issue-2/features/
waste-management-2030.html
https://www.d-waste.com/
http://www.epa.gov/waste/nonhaz/municipal/hierarchy.htm
http://www.nanotechnologydevelopment.com/news/green-refineries-will-off-zero-
waste-products.html
http://www.unisa.edu.au/research/zerowastecentre
https://zerowasteeurope.eu/2013/09/the
http://www.zerowin.eu/
Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge University Grant Commission

(UGC), New Delhi (201819-NFO-2018-19-OBC-UTT-74058) for financial assistance.
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Role of Industry 4.0 in Maintaining
Sustainable Production and Services 17
Muhammad Usman Tariq
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
Industry 4.0 and Underpinning Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
“Additive Manufacturing” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
“Simulation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
“Cloud Computing” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
“Industrial IoT” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
“Cybersecurity” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Industry 4.0 and Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
Sustainability in Manufacturing Products Opportunities and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Sustainability in Manufacturing Products and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Uses of Sustainability in Manufacturing Products and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Scopes of Sustainability in Manufacturing Products and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Smart Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Technical Influence of Smart Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Influence of Smart Production on Economic System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Social Influences of Smart Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Influences of Smart Production System on Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
How Industry 4.0 Can Manage Sustainable Production? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
Advanced Management and Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
Sustainable Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
The Impact of Sustainable Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Advanced Management and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Important Websites for Further Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
M. U. Tariq ()
Abu Dhabi School of Management, Abu Dhabi, UAE
e-mail: m.tariq@adsm.ac.ae
426 M. U. Tariq
Abstract
Industry 4.0 has acquired recognition from the industries and governments
around the globe. The industries face the challenge of producing products from a
finite set of natural resources to compete with the rising demand. Frequently,
the sustainability effects of Industry 4.0 and the process of contribution to
sustainable financial and social advancement are grabbing attention. Advance-
ments in Industry 4.0 can affect the business sector entirely by modifying
how the products are created, dispatched, and abandoned. From an industrial
point of view, companies are trying to implement technological innovations
and developments. Industry 4.0 can also affect supply chain functions, business
procedures, and structures. In this technological era, industries need to integrate
sustainability with flexible changes in the products and services. There are
nine significant domains of Industry 4.0: additive manufacturing, advanced
manufacturing, Industrial IoT, cloud computing, simulation, augmented reality,
cybersecurity, big data analytics, and customer profiling. Sustainability in man-
ufacturing is dependent on the following 6Rs: “reduce, remanufacture, recycle,
reuse, recover, and redesign.” The concept of sustainability in manufacturing
products incorporates procedures and systems that are efficient to manufacture
products of good quality and services, utilizing reduced but sustainable resources
secure for workers, consumers, and surroundings. These products and services
should be able to alleviate social and environmental effects throughout their
entire life cycle. Industries are using artificial intelligence techniques to achieve
competitive advantage and provide sustainable services through chatbots, robots,
and kiosks for service automation. Sustainable service defines the identification
of significant elements that customers require, and service should be according
to the visions of the procedures of the company.
Keywords
Sustainability · Industry 4.0 · Production · Process improvement
Introduction
The main goal of Industry 4.0 is to achieve enhanced productivity and operational
efficiency with improved levels of automation. In the sectors of services and
production, Industry 4.0 plays a vital part in improving performance. The different
functions of Industry 4.0 are mostly dependent on Internet technology and improved
algorithms. Industry 4.0 considers the technological process of efficient knowledge
management application and advancement (Haseeb et al. 2019). The concept of
Industry 4.0 is dependent on the element of Smart Manufacturing. It depends on
the acceptance of advanced technologies to accumulate information in actual time
and examine it, delivering important data to the Smart Manufacturing System.
The advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT), analytics, and big data helps
17 Role of Industry 4.0 in Maintaining Sustainable Production and Services 427
Fig. 1 (salesforce)
to create the idea of the “Cyber-Physical System” in Industry 4.0. The idea of
Industry 4.0 consists of a very complicated technological architecture of the Smart
Manufacturing Systems, which is the base of the revolutionized industrial era. So the
efficient application of Industry 4.0 is still the main concern of researchers (Frank
et al. 2019). The last 5 years revolution of Industry 4.0 technologies is shown in
Fig. 1.
Industry 4.0 explains the method to create a modification from traditional
machine-dependent manufacturing to advanced Smart Manufacturing. Clear guide-
lines implementation is required to understand the concept of Industry 4.0. It will
help the industries enhance their products and services according to customers’
requirements to attain a competitive position in the market (Oztemel and Gursev
2020). Industry 4.0 has acquired recognition from the industries and governments
around the globe. The industries confront the challenge of producing products from
a finite set of natural resources to compete with the rising demand. Constantly, the
sustainability effects of Industry 4.0 and the process of contribution to sustain-
able financial and social advancement are grabbing attention. Sustainability is a
wide idea acknowledging various characteristics of the world. It does not restrict
“environmentalism”; it also includes safeguarding social and financial capital.
Many scholars have studied the concept of sustainability and made an important
contribution to the conception and actualization of its three basic foundations
of financial, social, and environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability
428 M. U. Tariq
is majorly associated with sustaining the world’s environmental equilibrium, the

stability of natural resources consumption, and reclamation. Financial sustainability
defines endless financial growth with the process of safeguarding social and
environmental resources. It explains the concept that financial development should
not diminish the natural resources. Financial development should depend on the
balance of natural resources, financial capital, environment systems, and social
capital. Social sustainability is the procedure of acknowledging and handling
the negative and positive environmental, technological, and economic impacts on
humans. Social sustainability’s utmost objective is the formation of stable and
balanced communities where each individual is saved from differentiation and
has an approach to human rights and necessities like medical care and safety.
Sustainability is essential because of a basic cause: the world’s environmental
system and the adequate human’s lifestyle cannot sustain without the acceptance
of sustainability. Consequently, the sustainability effects of Industry 4.0 justify the
complete recognition of researchers ahead of industrial reformations followed by
unpredicted social, financial, and technological changes. Despite its initial stage, the
unpredicted or unplanned outcomes of Industry 4.0 and the technological revolution
on social, financial, and environmental sustainability anticipate being sequential
(Ghobakhloo 2020). Industry 4.0 combines different technologies as it can have
interactions between subgroups of developed technologies like Artificial Intelligent,
and advancements in sensors have permitted the progress of collective robots that
help humans perform certain activities (Olsen and Tomlin 2020). It is associated
with advancements of “Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)” based on the three prior
amendments prevailing to mechanization, electrification, and information technol-
ogy. CPS are systems that are managed by software-based computers and networks.
It is incorporated with smart machines, digital factories, and smart warehouses that
have been evolved digitally and highlight “integrated end-to-end information com-
munication technology.” It permits production to be composed more compliantly
and uses the chances provided by modified management and control procedures
(Kerin and Pham 2019). Industry 4.0 demands reconceptualization and reevaluation
of how services or product production is sold or furnished in the supply chains.
It will navigate important systematic conceptual progression and development for
operation management and supply chain (Koh et al. 2019). Advancements in Indus-
try 4.0 can affect the business sector completely by modifying how the products are
created, dispatched, and abandoned. From an industrial point of view, companies
are trying to implement technological innovations and developments. Industry 4.0
can also affect supply chain functions, business procedures, and structures. In this
technological era, industries need to integrate sustainability with flexible changes
in the products and services. Industry 4.0 allows industries to create sensors,
the international cyber networks of machines, and flexible facilities for enhanced
methods of exchanging and controlling data. It will let the industries to become
flexible and create smart value chains. The enhancement of the business sector’s
general performance includes improving business functions as the material, design,
machine developments, the life cycle of products, and supply chain management.
Industry 4.0 allows customer satisfaction by fulfilling customers’ requirements
in the supply chain (Franciosi et al. 2018). The implementation of Industry 4.0
allows monitoring in real-time and managing prime specifications of production

like status, energy usage, use of material, customer orders, and suppliers’ data.
Sustainability and Industry 4.0 are the latest developments in the industrial sectors
for improvements in the products and services to develop a sustainable environment.
It is supposed that Industry 4.0 will be an advanced business attitude that can
support the business sector and society to progress to sustainable development.
Sustainable industries have a huge diversification of sustainability significance,
like adequate usage of resources and technology. Managers need to understand the
concept of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 includes various characteristics and challenges
in a sustainable industrial culture (Luthra and Mangla 2018).
Industry 4.0 and Underpinning Technologies
The concept of Industry 4.0 was introduced in 2011 by “German Association

Industrie 4.0.” The association included some scholars, lawmakers, and executives,
who suggested Industry 4.0 grounded in industry digitalization procedures. The
basic concept of Industry 4.0 is performing business activities by implementing
advanced technologies which can support industries to maintain interconnections
between their machines, supply chains, production factors, products, and require-
ment of customers. It helps to share information in real time. The idea of Industry
4.0 was first supported by the German government, which applies to the “High-
Tech Strategy 2020 for Germany.” Later, various countries started to implement the
concept of Industry 4.0. For example, the United Kingdom launched the “United
Kingdom CATAPULT High-Value Manufacturing.” It strategically surrounds edu-
cational institutes and industries to elevate the foundation of advanced technologies
in the United Kingdom’s manufacturing industries.
Furthermore, the United States of America’s “Manufacturing USA,” France’s
“Industrie du Futur,” and the Dutch’s “Smart Industry” policies allowed annual
benefits, advanced financing, and tax reductions to firms focusing on formulating
industrial developments in compliance with the Industry 4.0 vision. Recently, Italy
initiated the Industry 4.0 plan to grow private and public research and development
expenses for businesses’ automation. The aim of Industry 4.0 is to enhance the
automation and integration of business procedures vertically and horizontally. So
in this way, operational data, logistics, customer-product interactions, and market
needs will be accessible in real time. A smart business will work simultaneously
with the suppliers and customers in the industrial environment, which will make it
easier to monitor the connections between supply chain management and business
functions. Several advanced technologies are required to achieve this objective, and
these latest technologies should ensure compatibility between divergent information
technology systems to reduce execution expenses and the time required for the
processing of information. So it is vital to recognize the most applicable solutions to
transform the Industry 4.0 (Ardito et al. 2019). The enabling technologies in Indus-
try 4.0 are “advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, augmented reality,
simulation, cloud computing, Industrial IoT, cybersecurity, big data analytics, and
customer profiling.”
430 M. U. Tariq
“Advanced Manufacturing”: Advanced manufacturing uses the latest methods

and techniques for enhanced productivity in the production sectors. Advanced
manufacturing objectives are increased output, value-added solutions, high-quality
products, market competitiveness, and increased flexibility. Advanced manufactur-
ing helps reduce inventory, the number of units, time to achieve market targets,
and less-used machinery. Conventional manufacturing formulates on the usage
of low-flexibility production plants. In contrast, advanced manufacturing includes
adaptable production techniques which entirely use production plant to become
more productive and constructive. Even though there are still some situations where
conventional techniques are better, like anticipated manufacturing runs, advanced
manufacturing can adapt to changing manufacturing requirements and increased
demands of customization experienced by the industry without the requirement
of an increased investment of capital. Advanced manufacturing incorporates all
domains of the supply chain from idea to end life of product and depends on
“information communication technology” to gather the production and business
functions into a productive task. There are three groups of technologies involved
in advanced manufacturing: “efficient production, effective organization, and intel-
ligent production” (Jin et al. 2017).
Efficient Production: It includes designing, advanced production, control, sim-
ulation, and physical/computer modeling. The focus is on working at the same
time instead of linear engineering. Related technologies involve “near net shape
manufacture, machine, and joining techniques, prototyping, and precision casting”
(Jin et al. 2017).
Intelligent Production: It includes the usage of information communication
technology in production and relevant supply chain systems. Furthermore, intelli-
gent machines are manufacturing-oriented, production plants, system implemen-
tation for prolonged life, and productive use of manufacturing resources with
significant observation, restoration, and maintenance plans (Jin et al. 2017).
The Effective Organization: It includes the effective strategies and utiliza-
tion of production resources. It allows both material resources and knowledge.
Related topics involve virtual suggesting and organizations, concentrated provision
and resources, new firms, evaluation plants, management of knowledge and e-
commerce, and reading. Focus on this domain is on the utilization of technology
to increase the engagement and effectiveness of organizations. Advanced manufac-
turing relates to the advanced technologies that companies implement to produce
enhanced products, for example, robotics, automation, CAM, and CAD solutions
(Griffin et al. 2019).
“Additive Manufacturing”
In this technological era, industries require the latest technologies for manufacturing
to get a swift solution for raising flexibility, productive value chain, and enhanced
energy consumption. Industry 4.0 acts as a practical solution by using the latest
information technologies to enhance productivity. Additive manufacturing is the
technique adopted by Industry 4.0 to implement Smart Manufacturing measures

(Mehrpouya et al. 2019). It includes the technologies that help develop three-
dimensional objects by controlling layers digitally (Urhal et al. 2019). Additive
manufacturing acts as a significant part of Industry 4.0. By using Computer-Aided
Design (CAD), it manufactures three-dimensional products as it uses materi-
als, one by one, to manufacture a solidified product. It utilized various stuff,
for example, ceramics, plexiglass, metals, chemical substances, and some other
materials. Various technology adoptions in additive manufacturing are “Multi-Jet
Printing (MJP), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Electron Beam Melting (EBM),
Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), Inkjet 3D Printing (IJP), Stereolithography
(SLA), Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM), ColourJet Printing (CJP), Fused
Deposition Modeling (FDM), and Polyjet 3D Printing (PJP).” It produces a custom-
made product according to the demands of the customer in reduced time with
reduced cost. Because of the resilient design and production, it is easy to develop
a new product speedily. This technology provides an option to manufacture a
product layer by layer, and waste reduction increases. Industry 4.0 provides
smart production, which is the main element of this revolution. This evolution’s
fundamental objective is the ease of customization, enhanced chances of innovation,
profitableness, effectiveness, and safety management. Industry 4.0 is based on the
concept of automation using various machines and advanced technologies like cloud
computing, Cyber-Physical System, IoT, big data analytics, etc. It is the procedure
of capabilities for manufacturing, supply chain, and customer care. It helps in
various management functions. Additive manufacturing is the basic segment which
contributes extensively to the fourth industrial revolution. It helps in the reduction of
waste, which has a great and positive impact on the environment. Additive manufac-
turing is used as a significant technology to finish the assigned tasks in Industry 4.0.
It is the combination of £-dimensional printing and design software to finalize the
production. It is a crucial production technique to achieve excellent results. Additive
manufacturing is an advanced procedure that stores the stock in an automated form
and the production task completion when needed. It is a feasible approach to the
development of a product and alters the entire manufacturing framework. In this
procedure, production is automated using the software, so there is reduced human
effort. Additive manufacturing can achieve success in smart industries (Haleem
and Javaid 2019). The impact of additive management on the environment is very
effective. It helps in maintaining sustainability during production when compared
with conventional production techniques. The uses of sustainability by using
additive manufacturing are the efficiency of resources, product, and reorganized
supply chains. Even though additive manufacturing provides countless distinctive
abilities in the production procedure, it should simplify production in industries like
“manufacture and design” (Mehrpouya et al. 2019) .
“Augmented Reality”: It is the leading technology for implementing the idea
of Industry 4.0. Augmented reality helps to diminish the space between the actual
and digital world. Augmented reality allows humans to retrieve the digital world
using information placed in front of the actual world. It places between the actual
and virtual world, and it accelerates the actual world without altering it. In various
432 M. U. Tariq
industries, the selection of applications is wide. Augmented reality can be adopted

for designing and production applications, the assemblage of operations in pieces
of training, and virtual instruction system for employees. In supply chains, “pick-
by-vision” is a significant idea that uses augmented reality to specify collection
locations and quantity. Other domains where augmented reality can be used involve
storehouse functions. It includes assurance of quality, observation, and data pro-
curement using life-engineering services and invasion of instructions. Application
of augmented reality has also been witnessed in “human-robot collaboration” for
various services like improved safety.
Some more augmented reality applications are “interactive robot trajectory
planning and simulation and planning collision-free paths in robot planning.” The
critical elements of augmented reality are camera, user interface, visualization tech-
nique, and a tracking system. Four basic visualization techniques are accessible for
augmented reality systems: projectors, handheld devices, head-mounted displays,
and static screens. It depends on the task whether the visualization should be
moveable or static. They allow the workers to go around and retrieve information
that helps to perform functions swiftly. The augmented reality technology enables
virtual objects to be positioned correctly within the actual world. The camera is the
significant sensor of the augmented reality system that connects the virtual world
to the actual world. The augmented reality user interface allows communication
from both ends of the system to the user and delivers feedback. The essential
element is the visualization system depending on the user (Masood and Egger
2019). The overall implementation of augmented reality in Industry 4.0 is related
as it significantly enhances the communication in the design of the product and
development in manufacturing. It supports to recognize and ignore designing in
the initial stages of development procedures. It helps in time and cost reduction
for industries. Augmented reality is a useful technique for enhancing and boosting
product development procedures on Industry 4.0 (De Pace et al. 2018). These
systems are currently digital solutions in their first stage. They evolve the ecosystem
among employees in a technological interface with virtual objects in the actual
world to advance people’s thinking about reality (Gattullo et al. 2019).
“Simulation”
It helps in industrial development in many ways. Simulation helps to reduce

waste and time by increasing resources and effectiveness in production. It supports
generating revenues and efficiency during manufacturing procedures. It also plays
an integral part in designing the products. Moreover, as technology complications
increase, experienced employees are required in the businesses and can be trained
using simulation. Also, safety is the primary concern because of the development of
automatic machines in production. The data helps create intelligence and smartness
in production, and simulation helps in data analytics for retrieving knowledge and
understanding. Simulation is used in Industry 4.0 by different methods (Gunal
2019). It helps CPS and smart production and provides the following advantages:
Resource, Time, and Waste Reduction and Increase in Efficiency: Simulation

allows the most appropriate configuration in procedures and optimal decision-
making in CPS. The smart industry is a derivative of CPS. In smart industries,
machines can interact with each other and contemporize the procedures. The
working machine can notify other machines about the level of task processing. So
the other machines can prepare themselves for the approaching tasks. The routine of
jobs is set by using smart machines. Machines get connected because of advanced
algorithms. Depletion in the “work-in-progress” inventory because of the enhanced
exchange of information in supply chain management is another advantage of
simulation. When the machines used in production are synchronized, work-in-
progress decreases. Simulation helps in regulating parameters of synchronization
(Gunal 2019).
Reduced Costs and Increased Productivity: Cost reduction helps to increase
revenues plus productivity in production. Robotic technology is used for enhancing
productivity. Robots can perform repetitive tasks better than humans. Simulation is
adopted by robots for growth and assessment. Vertical and horizontal integration
systems can help in enhancing productivity and increasing profits. In the vertical
integration, there is a link between the machines in a factory. They have information
about the situations of machines as well. In horizontal integration, the factory has
information about the suppliers and consumers. The link of information between
machines and suppliers is essential for optimal resource usage (Gunal 2019).
Personalization in Requirements of Products: In this era, the requirement for
products has been modified. The requirements come in bulk, which means the
production systems have to manufacture many products or customized products with
different preferences. It is impossible to fulfill all the demands with the traditional
manufacturing system because customization for bulk production is impossible. In
the current era, simulation can help in customized mass production by using 3D
printing procedures. CAD is also used for designing and simulation software to help
the design by checking its integration (Gunal 2019). It explains that technologies
can be used in the operations in the simulation of production methods (Shpak et al.
2019).
“Cloud Computing”
Cloud computing is essential for the enduring progress of Industry 4.0. Cloud
technology supports to store and incorporate information for the firms, whereas it
also offers a road map for easily accessible collaboration to accelerate and process
tasks for the Industry 4.0. Cloud computing supports the firms to adopt the swiftly
transforming technology. Because of the incorporation of automation and artificial
technology in the industry, cloud computing provides a way for firms to deal
with the change without losing data. Cloud has an exceptional storage capacity,
computing ability, and networking capability over the Internet. Computing services
allow the integration of automation, IoT, and robotic technologies to help advanced
departments for the long term. Advanced applications for cloud computing are
434 M. U. Tariq
useful for particular needs. Cloud computing helps when industries have to maintain
a large amount of data. It acts as a medium for all types of industries to survive
the market competition. Industry 4.0 is managed with the incorporation of the latest
resources and advanced technology. Cloud computing remains a successful business
when the industries transform with advanced technology. Cloud computing is a
powerful technology that is modifying the method of data management. Industries
can easily discuss and share information instead of hiding or suppressing it from the
market competitors. It helps in evolving mediums of communication, which will
be useful for industrial development. Cloud computing has limitless capabilities
of storage. So more data is needed. They will meet more requirements for the
appropriate firm to make the data approachable and applicable. It allows the sharing
of software and hardware resources through the Internet. It will help to share and
access information easily (Lee et al. 2019).
“Industrial IoT”
The use of intelligent sensors to increase production and industrial procedures is

known as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). It supports intelligent machines
and actual time analytics to benefit from the data that traditional machines have
generated in the industrial world for ages. The basic concept behind the Industrial
Internet of Things is that intelligent machines are better than human beings
at controlling and investigating data in actual time. They help in sharing data,
which is essential for the decision-making process of businesses swiftly and
correctly. Intelligent sensors allow companies to capture issues and problems
earlier and retention time and money besides assisting “intelligent business efforts.”
Especially in production, the Industrial Internet of Things detains the possibility
of sustainability, controlled quality and green practices, value chain trackability,
and overall efficiency of SC management. In industry 4.0, IoT can process the
following: enhanced field service, asset tracking, predictive management, and
energy management (de Man and Strandhagen 2017). The usage of IoT technologies
is in the procedures which are demand and supply focused. The Industrial Internet
of Things is a network of smart devices that connects with specific systems that
observe, accumulate, share, and investigate data. Every ecosystem of the Industrial
Internet of Things comprises:
• Smart assets that can recognize, coordinate, and save data about themselves
• Infrastructure for general or private information
• The application that produces information about business from unprocessed data
“Edge devices” transfer information precisely to the infrastructure of data com-

munications, where it is transformed into reasonable information on how a specific
machine is working. Then the information is used for anticipated maintenance and
to manage other business procedures. The basic advantage of the Industrial Internet
of Things manages firms with anticipated maintenance. Companies can use actual
time produced from the system of Industrial Internet of Things to anticipate issues
in machinery. For instance, before the appearance, firms take the necessary action
to recognize those problems before machines collapse. Another essential advantage
is the enhanced field service. Industrial Internet of Things systems support field
services, and skilled employees recognize suspected customer equipment problems
before they turn into a massive problem, so the employees resolve them. Customer
satisfaction enhances with the Industrial Internet of Things. When products are
integrated with IoT, the producer can retrieve and investigate how consumers utilize
their products, letting producers and designers of products manage future Internet
of Things systems and enhance customer-specific product frameworks. The usage
of IoT technologies in the procedures which are demand and supply focused allows
the interconnections between machines and devices that adopt different methods
and structures to allow real-time data access through the supply chains (Wang et al.
2020).
“Cybersecurity”
Cybersecurity is a fundamental challenge for firms that adopt Industry 4.0. Industry
4.0 suggests using smart, incorporated Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) intending to
automize all the industrial activities from designing products to the maintenance.
Industry 4.0 relates manufacturing to information technologies and integrates
product and procedure data with machine information, allowing machines to interact
with each other. There are some potential security threats while organizations
connect with the communication network over the Internet. These threats are
reviewed in the substantial analysis of wired and wireless networks. To provide
defense and protection from these threats, various strategies are adopted. Crypto-
graphic measures and applications are implemented to counter these security threats.
When these applications are incorporated into the network system to attain reliable
exchange of information, there is a requirement to evaluate the efficiency of security
solution to delivery monitoring in actual time for the protection and control (Von
Solms and Van Niekerk 2013). The procedure of integrated Cyber-Physical Systems
in the industrial world creates a significant security challenge as these systems were
not created with security. Previously, production systems were secured because
they were isolated from physical control. In this era, systems are interconnected
with wireless or wired technologies for data processing. Production elements
interact using private networks with specific principles; still, there are chances of
cyberattacks. Because of the increased use of the Internet and connectivity, it is
imperative to protect crucial data. So technologies that provide reliable and private
connections are meaningful (Corallo et al. 2020).
“Big Data Analytics and Customer Profiling”: In Industry 4.0, much infor-
mation is extracted from various sources like customer management system, supply
chain management, and equipment used in the production. Big data is the concept
for any method to manage a huge amount of data involving transfer, security,
analysis, privacy, search, storage, visualization, and curation. Big data’s capacity
436 M. U. Tariq
is continuously changing from terabytes to petabytes to zettabytes and is mostly

explained with the amount of information used over computers to operate in a
limited period. The basic terms used within big data are “3Vs”: variety, volume, and
velocity. Volumes refer to the amount of processed velocity data that explains the
processing speed of the data, and variety refers to processed data types. So the “3Vs”
need big data techniques to manage a large amount of data, swiftly generate it, and
the capacity to manage large amounts of data. The volume is the most important
element because a more accurate calculation can be done with a large amount of
data by using a limit theorem. The velocity is significant because data is captured
from sensors, business activities, and interactions. If related methodologies cannot
manage the data faster than the data receiving speed, it will not be possible to
investigate a lot of the data. The variety is significant because beneficial patterns
are easier to be generated if monitored from various angles. There are some other
“Vs” as well other than these “3Vs” like value and veracity. Veracity refers to the
accuracy of the data.
There are different reasons to accumulate data like machine failure, incorrect
input, and troublesome process of data ETL. If the data is saved incorrectly, it can
affect the decision-making process negatively. Value refers to the social impacts of
data, and the primary factor for big data is the values. The concept of big data is
not novel. Back in the 1980s, there were many data-handling issues. However, with
the concept of Industry 4.0 and advancement in the data-handling techniques, big
data is becoming the reason for profit maximizations (Xu and Duan 2019). Customer
profiling and big data analytics involve managing a large amount of data and helping
in the decision-making procedures during real time (Bonnard et al. 2019).
Industry 4.0 and Sustainability
The creation of value in industries is based on the fourth industrial revolution known
as Industry 4.0. The progress succeeds in the third industrial revolution, which
appeared at the start of 1970 and was focused on information technologies and
electronic mediums. The progress to Industry 4.0 has a positive impact on Industry
4.0. It is grounded on the development of intelligent factories and intelligent
products and services integrated with the Industrial Internet of Things. Also, the
latest business frameworks are dependent on the underpinning technologies of
Industry 4.0. The progress to Industry 4.0 enables numerous chances for attaining
sustainable production using large sets of data and information technology frame-
work. Smart technology and digitization is the application of dual-end solutions
using information technologies that are integrated with a cloud. In the production
system, the smart coordination with Cyber-Physical System (CPS) functions in a
self-functioning manner. They are grounded on integrated components of machines
like sensor technologies used for the collection of data plus actuators for effecting
physical procedures. Cyber-Physical Systems are smartly connected and constantly
exchange information over virtual connections in real time (Stock and Seliger
2016). The cloud computing is itself adopted in the Internet of Things and services.
Being a segment of the social-technician system, Cyber-Physical Systems are

adopting interfaces with human-machine interaction with workers. Those models
of value creation, which are organizations incorporated with intelligent data, will
grow intelligent factories. Smart industries are producing smart products and being
equipped with energy from intelligent grids and natural resources, the material
performance during the life cycle of the product, and the connection of the product’s
life cycle by smart supply chain methods (Beier et al. 2020). The flow of intelligence
in various domains of value creation connections in Industry 4.0 is exchanged over
the cloud. Smart data evolves by modeling the information from big data, which can
be utilized for understanding and decision-making procedures during the product’s
life cycle. Smart industries are utilizing integrated Cyber-Physical Systems for the
creation of value. This allows the intelligent product to organize itself when required
during production procedures and its flow in the factory by exchanging information
with Cyber-Physical System (CPS). The intelligent product has data about its needs
for the production procedures and equipment for production. Smart supply chains
are utilizing Cyber-Physical Systems for helping the flow of material inside and
outside the factories. They are monitored in an integrated manner based on product
requirements. A smart grid evaluates the generation of energy by suppliers with the
use of renewable energies according to the requirements of customers. Resources
like water, materials, energy, and products can be analyzed more effectively based
on smart value creation frameworks. With the environmental advantages, Industry
4.0 has a great chance of recognizing the industrial creation of value on the
three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental. Within
Industry 4.0, the latest advancement of business frameworks allows the use of
intelligent data and offers sustainable services (Kiel et al. 2017). Sustainable
business frameworks have more positive effects and less negative effects on society
and help solve environmental issues as well. Efficiency levels classify sustainable
business frameworks in the long term. The connection of networks of value creation
in Industry 4.0 provides advanced chances for recognizing closed-loop life cycles
of products. It enables the ease of interactions between products and resources and
between various factories. The closed loops allow the recycling and reutilizing
of products. There are various approaches to the sustainable industry dealing
with Industry 4.0 are the adoption of information communication technology.
For training this works more effectively with augmented reality, enhancing the
motivational levels by allowing creativity with the establishment of Cyber-Physical
System based approached in the organization or adopting the concept of gaming
software based on artificial intelligence to enhance decision-making procedures,
implementing incentive systems for the employees to enhance extrinsic motivation,
for example, using smart data to record feedback mechanisms. The sustainable
organization focuses on the effective use of products and materials by focusing
on CPS’s basic domains, which is responsible for the self-dependent supply chain.
Resource efficiency is the major advantage of Industry.4.0. The sustainable system
for effective resource allocation in Industry 4.0 helps create proper production
procedure chains or adopt the latest technologies (Luthra and Mangla 2018).
Sustainability has been proven as a significant concern in the global market.
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The ignorance of the factors related to sustainability has created a huge loss in
the production sector. It is witnessed that developed countries have completely
attained sustainability in their production sectors. Still, there is a low rate of
adoption of sustainability in developing countries. The current business system
provides the latest technologies such as cloud computing, advanced manufacturing,
additive manufacturing, simulation, big data analytics, Industrial Internet of Things,
and augmented reality. These technologies come under the umbrella of the term
Industry 4.0. It is important to observe how these technologies help in maintaining
sustainability. It is imperative to investigate the underpinning technologies that help
in adopting sustainability (Yadav et al. 2020).
Sustainability in Manufacturing Products Opportunities

and Concepts
Sustainability in manufacturing is dependent on the following 6Rs (“reduce,

remanufacture, recycle, reuse, recover, and redesign”) rather than the 3R approach,
which is “recycle, reduce, and reuse.” The 6R method “reduce” relates to reducing
the efforts of utilizing the resources and consumption of energy during production,
which may result in the reduction of waste during the stage of usage. The concept
of “reuse” relates to the utilization of the products or the parts produced previously
after their first life cycle, which reduces the consumption of resources. “Recycle”
is the procedure of reutilizing the utilized materials anticipated as wastes into
new products. Considering the “recover,” it is used at the end of the first life
cycle, when parts are accumulated and then disassembled, cleaned, and composed
for the succeeding life cycle. “Redesign” relates to using methodologies like
“Design for Environment” to redesign the inventory to maintain it for further use.
“Remanufacture” involves the reutilization of products used previously, reinstating
into the first stage by recycling parts. There are many attempts made to create
models for the implementation of sustainability in production and services. Lately,
many guidelines for supply chain management, production, and manufacturing have
been developed. Regardless of these frameworks, the manufacturers need to realize
the significance of evolving sustainable procedures and products. To efficiently
combine the concept of sustainability into production, an enduring dedication over
the whole process is needed. Sustainability in production can be explained in three
stages: research, development, and commercialization.
• Research: Necessities for early assessment of unequivocal sustainability like the

resource, pollution, and energy use. It should anticipate and ignore conceivable
sustainability problems during the life cycle of the product.
• Development: Improvement of environmental performance with an emphasis on
adequate equipment combination and framework utilizing reasonable techniques
• Commercialization: Interaction between consumers, suppliers, and retailers to
recognize viable issues in the life cycle of the product and reform it when needed
The latest production technologies are also used to achieve authentic and sus-
tainable procedures. Additive technologies can be utilized as a sample of production
procedures that had been previously used for quick models. It decreases the number
of production stages proceeding in a substantial depletion in energy and waste
consumption. Another sample of the use of the latest technologies in sustainable
production is a laser-based machine, which helps extend tool life. It also improves
the surface stability against scrape and consequently extends the product (Braccini
and Margherita 2019). The development in using these methods and other methods
like “minimum quantity lubricant (MQL)” will allow effective big-scale production,
helping in business durability and environmental effect. It is important to explain
the sustainable production idea before exploring the opportunities and uses of
execution. Sustainable production varies from general production concepts because
it examines the “Triple Bottom Line (TBL)” basis, which concurrently considers
the ecosystem and social and financial dimensions. It is an examination tool
presented by John Elkington in the middle of 1900, which was the first measuring
technique to concurrently quantify the scope to which sustainability characteristics
are accepted, previously impossible in traditional methods. The acceptance of this
approach modifies the assessment procedures and design from financial procedures
to comprehensive procedures. Production procedures created for sustainability do
not contemplate the financial standard as the only viewpoint to be enhanced, but
they also consider the social and environmental aspects. Such combinations also
need a well-suited evaluation attitude, and correspondingly, traditional “life cycle
analysis (LSA)” is improved with the Triple Bottom Line principle to judge for
financial, social, and environmental aspects. This upgradation is known as “life
cycle sustainability.” LSA’s concept discovers the environmental effect of any
service or product from the crude state material until the state of disposal. It is
also identified as the concept of “Cradle to Grave.” Although such an idea expresses
enhanced maturity, it cannot retrieve the social and financial characteristics (Fig. 2).
So the other two approaches of assessment of the life cycle have been presented.
They are “life cycle cost (LCC) and the social life cycle assessment (LCSA)
(Abubakr et al. 2020).
The LCC emphasizes the financial factors of the product during its life cycle.
It can be segmented into interior expenses and social and environmental LCC.
Contrarily, the LCSA evaluates the impact of the product on labor, customers,
community, and humanity. The LCSA presents an optimistic capability to examine
the TBL’s three characteristics, yet it bears the lack of direct explanation for the
TBL measures. It is particularly true in the composition of financial and social
characteristics because they express low maturity compared to the environmental
case (Heijungs et al. 2013).
A model was developed by Saad et al. (2019) to evaluate sustainability in
the production procedures by utilizing qualitative and quantitative measures for
each characteristic of the TBL. They were able to generate measures for each
characteristic and regulate interconnections and pressures for all of them, enabling
a comprehensive approach to the issue. A compatible decision-making method was
adopted to evaluate the interconnection between various measures and decide points
440 M. U. Tariq
Fig. 2 Abubakr et al. (2020)
Policies Community
Procedures Engagement
Sustainable
Support for Environmental
Sustainability
Manufacturing Control
Concept
Sustainable
Design
to classify various substitute procedures and select the suitable one. All the measures
plan to analyze the three features of TBL quantitively. Furthermore, it cannot be
attained without recognizing the important factors to explain the sustainable product
concept. “Design, engagement, control, and support” are the significant factors for
generating such concepts (Fig. 3). So the challenge in evaluating sustainability is
about exploring measures that can allow a clear depiction of these factors (Saad
et al. 2019).
The opportunities for implementing sustainability in the production can be repro-
duced in various characteristics. These characteristics involve energy consumption,
expenses, waste management, and the impact on the environment, safety, and health
(Fig. 4). These aspects are connected to three sustainability dimensions involving
environmental, social, and economic aspects (Fig. 4). It should be explained that
the interconnection among these factors is significantly important for the means of
human interests and use of natural resources, including environmental measures.
Figure 5 mentioned above explains the interrelated idea between environmental,
social, and economic control. The social-economic technique is influenced by
society to upgrade constantly although the community requires to recognize how
its actions can impact the ecosystem. Therefore, the necessary methods to reduce
its effect on the ecosystem are proceeded by implementing state laws. This type
of connection can efficiently cover the track to achieve important phases for
sustainability in production. It is impossible to achieve it without the knowledge
about basic factors to explain sustainability in production. As depicted in Fig. 3,
design, engagement, control, and support are the key factors for generating such
an idea. So the problem is that the evaluation of sustainability is about to measure,
presenting these factors’ actual presentation (Abubakr et al. 2020).
442 M. U. Tariq
Sustainability in Manufacturing Products and Services
The concept of sustainability in manufacturing products can be explained as

incorporating procedures and systems efficient to manufacture products of good
quality and services utilizing reduced but sustainable resources that are secure for
workers, consumers, and surroundings. These products and services should alleviate
social and environmental effects throughout their entire life cycle (Machado et al.
2020).
Uses of Sustainability in Manufacturing Products and Services
• Reduction in costs because of efficient resources and improvement in regulatory

compliance
• Enhanced reputation of the brand
• Access to new markets
• Labor retention by maintaining a captivating workplace
• A long-lasting organizational approach by generating opportunities to retrieve
capital and finances for the organization (Petala et al. 2010).
Scopes of Sustainability in Manufacturing Products and Services
• Technologies used for manufacturing focus on how products are manufactured

based on the procedures and equipment used, known as “machine tool facility,”
interconnected with product engineering, planning in the factory, and operational

management.
• The life cycle of products focuses on the design of products and services related
to engineering design. It provides the scope for understanding what is to be
produced.
• In an organization’s context, value creation networks emphasize the networks
used for manufacturing interconnected with the business activities, financial, and
knowledge management.
• International impacts of manufacturing explain the modification methods used
for sustainable manufacturing with exploring the effects of manufacturing on the
world involving economy, society, and environment.
Various attributes can help implement a sustainable manufacturing strategy,

including the evolution of processes, the firm’s culture and internal situation,
policies, adequate design plans, and employers’ engagement for technology and
sustainability (Machado et al. 2020).
Smart Production
Smart production is a system that can automatically diagnose the health of manu-
facturing systems and automatically designed projects with regular improvement,
which leads to the required efficiency enhancement. Smart production may work in
two segments, which are “semiautonomous and fully autonomous.” In the semiau-
tonomous segment, the operations manager explains the objective of improvement
and allows the application of the smart production-designed improvement task on
the industry floor. In the fully autonomous segment, the objective of improvement
is a computer within the smart production system without the involvement of
management. To achieve this, a smart production system must generate information
related to business, dispersed between all the levels of the firm (Alavian et al. 2020).
Industry 4.0 is grounded on the captivating idea. Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS),
the integration of the virtual and physical spheres, IoT and IoS, will unanimously
have an uncontrollable effect on every domain of Industry 4.0, being anticipated
to take significant measures before the events occur. The industry can now start
to explain their production framework and then organize a modification guideline.
Technological, social-environmental, and economic effects of smart production
system is continuously striving to enhance the quality of living. The industry has
been progressing to maintain high-quality life. There are rapid advancements in
the industry to support to attain a high quality of life. There is less sustainability
in the existing advancements in production. These advancements help in climate
change and the reduction of fuels. However, death rates and retirements decrease
the skilled workforce. Industry requires sustainability in the production plan to
pursue the manufacturing of good-quality products. So Industry 4.0 is a feasible
plan to initiate sustainability in manufacturing. The adoption of Industry 4.0 in the
production domain has various effects.
444 M. U. Tariq
Technical Influence of Smart Production
The traditional production system involves a single line that produces a particular
kind of product. There is an open-circuit carousel transporter with the ends of
input and output, and the machine works across the line. In many situations, there
is no interaction between machines in the line of production. On the contrary, a
smart production system aims to produce various kinds of products simultaneously.
The carousel transporter is a closed-circuit belt assisting various routes in the
production. There is an interconnection between machine, information technology,
labor, and products with an enhanced speed system of networks in a smart system
of production. The maintenance becomes easier with the use of big analytics.
Individuals worldwide can work collectively to accomplish mending tasks as
people and machines can interconnect using cloud. There are regulatory functions
accountable for disseminating smart objects that acquire the capability to systemize
themselves to handle the dynamics of the system. In the traditional systems of
production, the reconfiguration of machines is executed manually. At the same time,
smart systems in production can be automatically reconfigured to produce numerous
products.
Influence of Smart Production on Economic System
The main objective of a manufacturing industry is to be a market-competent

organization. So it is essential to evaluate the impacts of smart production sys-
tems economically. The preliminary application is a way costly than applying a
conventional open-circuit system for production. As per Moore’s Law, the expense
of advanced technologies will continuously decrease, whereas the quality will
continuously get better. The expense of operation during customization will be
decreased compared to the scheduled production because of tractability, energy
efficiency, and accessible resources (Birkel et al. 2019).
Social Influences of Smart Production
In smart factories, there is no requirement for labor to perform regular duties.

The human workforce has to perform new tasks. CPS can communicate, so there
is a decreased requirement of direct communication in some specific domains.
Subsequently, the communication between machines will increase. Even though
the role of humans is still significant for planning, controlling, and distributing
functions. The application of smart production will generate the requirement of IT
specialists. As the IT domain will need experienced individuals to plan, develop,
use, and keep network programs in good condition, so there will be an increase in job
openings in IT. In production industries, instrument operators and other laborers are
facing the challenges of losing jobs. The enhanced requirement for extremely skilled
professionals suggests that outstanding aptitude measures should be available.
Moreover, educational prospects in educational institutes, training delivered by

firms, and training provided at the job programs are significantly significant. Basi-
cally, for developing countries, investments in advanced training and educational
opportunities are of ultimate significance. When there would be a requirement of
trainers, job opportunities will also increase (Bag et al. 2018).
Influences of Smart Production System on Environment
Because of smart engineering in the production procedure, there is waste reduction,

low consumption of energy, and reduced overproduction. The smart industry’s
supply chain adopts the “pull principle,” which signifies that crude material or semi-
furnished product is demanded. The system of production in the manufacturing
industry orders the necessary parts automatically. Material is ordered during reduced
sale prices. Industries are connected with the power plants and strategize energy-
concentrated jobs when there are natural resources like winds or solar energy.
Companies or households then consume excess energy. The smart system of
production will demand massive data centers to develop and assist the needs of
networks. These centers will consume a tremendous amount of energy resources,
and it will affect the environment negatively. New instruments will be required,
which will overburden the environment (Waibel et al. 2017).
How Industry 4.0 Can Manage Sustainable Production?
The latest development in the industrial and production procedures known as

Industry 4.0 and its underpinning technologies like the Internet of Things, cloud
computing, simulation, big data analytics, additive manufacturing, and advanced
manufacturing have a strong effect on the environment and sustainability. The
smart technologies adopted in Industry 4.0 help monitor resource distribution and
management; the effective use of materials and natural resources helps enhance
high-quality data, which may lead to more reliable management of environmental
accounting and reporting. It may help to attain an environment-friendly and
sustainable manufacturing system. The anticipated benefit to the environment is
decrease in pollution, which will positively impact the implementation of Industry
4.0. Furthermore, new firms can attain sustainability with the use of innovative
services. The benefit of value creation concerning the environment can also enhance
the use of interconnection and recycling management (Bonilla et al. 2018).
Advanced Management and Production
In the smart production system, system orientation is adopted rather than job
orientation. The dependency during operations is increased, and the expense of
integrating the production system becomes consequential because of the loss in
the opportunities of sales. As the complications in the technology increase, a more
446 M. U. Tariq
complicated organizational framework is developed to control the complexity of the

equipment, system, and capabilities. In this way, productivity may increase. The
technological modification and physical changes in the production process demand
changes in the organizational system as well. Alterations in the management
framework and function are related to:
• The environment during work, involving the management the work features
which have an impact on the skills of the employees
• Development and progressive significance of technological support groups that
are responsible for controlling, planning, and industrial production
There are some other modifications such as:
• Composite organizational frameworks

• Reallocation of the supervision role based on the procedure basis
• Switching the roles of workers based on their skills
The following implications are related to these modifications:
• The stage where technological advancement is implemented helps to examine the

level where organization disruptions take place.
• It is of significance to investigate the modification included in the improvements
of the manufacturing system.
• The level where technological modifications appear is dependent on the time
for significant management groups to adopt the changes (Michalisin and Aken
2010).
Sustainable Services
A customer-oriented business’ objective should be to maximize profits and perform

them without affecting the environment. It explains the business sector’s objective
in the twenty-first century on how to enhance customer satisfaction levels without
environmental destruction. The way to decrease environmental degradation is to
replace the material used to adopt services that provide customers with satisfaction
and value but diminish in capability and reduce waste (Halme 2012). The concept
of service sustainability is grounded on the creation of value and reforming, which
includes adopting advanced skills, attitudes, and capabilities for the procreation and
delivering value to the consumers. As the recent focus is on customers and societies
play a significant part in the institutional change, the sustainability of services
depends on appropriate procedures and advanced frameworks. In Industry 4.0,
sustainable services are considered a competitive advantage because they enhance
existing customers’ loyalty and create customer attractions that are a source of profit
maximization (Horng et al. 2018). Sustainability is a significant concept in this era.
However, it impacts many other factors other than the environment, and it relates to
an approach that suggests that the efficiency of a product to continue to perform its
function for a longer period enhances the reputation of organizations (Chou et al.
2016).
The Impact of Sustainable Services
To achieve competitive advantage and provide sustainable services, industries are

using artificial intelligence techniques, including chatbots, robots, and kiosks, for
service automation. Sustainable service defines the identification of significant
elements that customers demand, and they are according to the visions of the com-
pany’s procedures. For example, company’s techniques to meet the requirements
of customers must not affect the company’s vision. Employees are responsible for
maintaining the balance between sustainable service and maximization of profits for
the company. There must be a profitable creation of enhanced customer experience,
and the delivery of sustainable services is a procedure of system involvement. To
achieve competitive advantage and provide sustainable services, industries are using
artificial intelligence techniques, including chatbots, robots, and kiosks, for service
automation (Um et al. 2020).
Advanced Management and Services
Industry and ecosystem are now linked together to enhance stability, supporting
the environment and social and economic divisions. In this way, industries and
production systems incorporate the environmental impacts in their strategies. It
evolves the concept of an enhanced product-service approach. The management of
these services provided for maintenance is available for after-sales of the product;
intrinsic services are provided for the product’s functioning. The maintenance
services are offered in all parts of the world. The second phase is to enhance these
maintenance services to enhance environmental sustainability (Iung and Levrat
2014).
Conclusion
This research aims to recognize the impact of Industry 4.0 to enhance sustainable
production and services. This research has addressed different benefits of Industry
4.0 in the management of sustainable products and services. The research explains
nine major domains, Industry 4.0: additive manufacturing, advanced manufacturing,
Industrial IoT, cloud computing, simulation, augmented reality, cybersecurity, big
data analytics, and customer profiling. This research has investigated how these
underpinning technologies are helpful in the adoption of advanced information
technology procedures. Research reveals that Industry 4.0 is the main component
in the progress of sustainable products and services. The underpinning technologies
448 M. U. Tariq
such as additive manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, Industrial IoT, cloud

computing, simulation, augmented reality, cybersecurity, big data analytics, and
customer profiling have a positive impact on the adoption of advanced information
systems and technology, which helps in promoting the sustainable performance
of organizations. All the underpinning technologies have important impacts on
enhancing sustainable services and products. These impacts include asset manage-
ment, enhanced marketing, swift deliveries, management of supply chain, customer
satisfaction, reduced costs, and increased revenues, which ends in the organization’s
profit maximization. Improved procedures for decision-making are also attained
with the adoption of Industry 4.0. It helps in achieving competitive advantage and
environmental sustainability. The adoption of advanced technology improves the
performance of organizations. But for the adoption of advanced technology and
to get maximized profits from Industry 4.0, the frameworks and procedures of the
organization must be collaborative. If the frameworks and procedures of industries
are not collaborative, it will hinder the adoption of technology and can impact
sustainability in the production and services in a negative way. The prospects and
opportunities for sustainable production and service are described in this research.
Sustainable products allow competitive advantage, and this market shift depends on
the user adoption of Industry 4.0. Current research also discussed organizations’
responsibilities that can help them adopt the concept of Industry 4.0 to attain
sustainability in products and services. As the competition has increased, it is
imperative to manage costs and to generate revenues on large scales. Industry 4.0 is
considered as a socio-technological concept. Production systems have many effects
on the consumption of energy and resources, environmental sustainability, and,
eventually, society. This reason highlights the importance of sustainable production
which helps in maintaining sustainability in society. Maintenance procedures must
guarantee the reliability, equipment safety, and reliability of carrying out sustainable
functions. Moreover, maintenance can incorporate a sustainable objective. The
current research was conducted with a critical review of previous studies.
Important Websites for Further Information
1. https://www.salesforce.com/ap/blog/2020/03/apac-what-is-the-fourth-industrial-
revolution-4IR.html
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/09/02/what-is-industry-4-0-
heres-a-super-easy-explanation-for-anyone/
3. https://www.i-scoop.eu/industry-4-0/
4. https://iot-analytics.com/the-leading-industry-4-0-companies-2019/
5. https://industryeurope.com/industry-4-0-the-ultimate-guide/
6. https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/files/2020-06/UNIDO%20Background
%20Paper%20on%20Industry%204.0_FINAL_TII.pdf
7. https://www.henkel-gcc.com/en/spotlight/features/industry-4-0
8. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ch/Documents/manufacturing/
ch-en-manufacturing-industry-4-0-24102014.pdf
9. http://i40.semantic-interoperability.org/
10. https://www.bcg.com/capabilities/operations/embracing-industry-4.0-rediscover-
ing-growth
11. https://www.machinemetrics.com/blog/why-industry-4-0-is-important
12. https://iiot-world.com/industrial-iot/connected-industry/nine-challenges-of-
industry-4-0/
13. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/industry-
40-reimagining-manufacturing-operations-after-covid-19
14. https://www.cgi.com/sites/default/files/white-papers/manufacturing_industry-
4_white-paper.pdf
15. https://www.bearingpoint.com/en/our-success/insights/industry-4-0-and-iot-
insight/
16. https://www.rolls-royce.com/country-sites/india/discover/2018/industry-4-0-
and-indian-manufacturing.aspx
17. https://www.sealsystems.com/blog-why-industry-4-0-will-be-important-in-
2020/
18. https://www.edx.org/course/industry-40-how-to-revolutionize-your-business
19. https://www.asteelflash.com/newsroom/industry-4-0-ems-companies/
20. https://linchpinseo.com/trends-industry-4-0/
21. https://www.sme.org/technologies/articles/2020/july/how-smart-processes-fit-
into-industry-4.0/
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Biomass as Sustainable Material for
Bioethanol Production 18
Rozina, Mushtaq Ahmad, and Muhammad Zafar
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
Biomass Resources of Bioethanol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
First-Generation Feedstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Second-Generation Feedstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
Third-Generation Feedstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
Fourth Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
Properties of Bioethanol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
Process of Bioethanol Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
Microorganisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Biocatalyst for Ethanol Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
Abstract
This chapter deals with the solid biomass which is an economically feasible,
eco-friendly, potentially renewable, and sustainable source of energy. In this
chapter we tried to evaluate biomass resources (agricultural, forest, and other
waste biomass) for bioethanol production from first-, second-, third-, and fourth-
generation feedstock. Biomass conversion technologies have been reviewed.
Conversion of carbohydrate-based biomass into bioethanol by fermentation
using yeast or other microorganisms is the most promising alternative to meet
demand of biofuel production. Presently, molasses (a by-product of sugar) is the
most commonly used biomass for bioethanol production. There is substantial
availability of both food and nonfood agricultural and forest biomass resources
Rozina () · M. Ahmad · M. Zafar

Biofuel Lab, Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
e-mail: zafara@qau.edu.pk
454 Rozina et al.
worldwide that can address to energy crises, reducing the cost of fossil fuel by
providing ethanol to existing petroleum refineries for blending. There are great
research prospects for the production of bioethanol concerning high value added
products, using stress resistant strains of yeast and bacteria and cost reduction for
installed distilleries. It is suggested that new refineries should be installed along
with advancement of the existing ones and additional research is to be carried out
to assess bioethanol-based fuel and petroleum products in the world.
Keywords
Bioethanol · Sustainable material · CO2 emission · Energy · Feedstock
Introduction
Present worldwide energy demand, exhausting fossil fuel reservoirs, and rise in
global warming due to increase in greenhouse gases discharge stirred human’s
responsiveness toward substitutes to petroleum-based fossil fuels. It has been
predicted that world’s total energy consumption and CO2 emission are expected
to be 80% higher by 2030 than the present levels (Saboori et al. 2014). Biofuels
are striking, renewable, and alternative resources of energy that have significant
potential to replace fossil fuels (Rozina et al. 2017a). A substantial growth in biofuel
sector has been detected in last decade in order to achieve energy requirement
at global level. Liquid biofuels comprise bioethanol and biodiesel that can be
consumed in transport vehicles. Energy efficiency of biofuels differs intensely
according to the feedstock or plant species used climate of the region and techniques
of production. A significant increase in the global production of biofuel has taken
place in last decade mainly due to rise in oil prices and environmental concerns like
changing climate. One of the main techniques that have been studied to reduce CO2
emission from motor vehicles is the blending of gasoline with ethanol (Annamalai
2013). Bioethanol has a reduction rate between 40% and 60% in GHG emission
as compared to gasoline (Wang et al. 2012). The United States and Brazil represent
80% of bioethanol (ethanol produced from biomass) production from sugarcane and
corn (first generation feedstock). Sugarcane and corn both are C4 plants and have
high potential to convert atmospheric CO2 to polymer like starch, cellulose, and
hemicellulose during photosynthesis (Ishola et al. 2013).
The use of methanol in this process makes the biodiesel an incomplete renewable
biofuel. Methanol is industrially produced from fossil fuel sources, which can be
replaced by bioethanol that is produced from plant-based residues by integrated
biorefinery approach, hence making the whole process of biodiesel synthesis
completely renewable and somewhat affordable (Martinez-Hernandez et al. 2014;
Lam and Lee 2011). Sugar-based fermentation for bioethanol production is called
“first generation” bioethanol while bioethanol produced from lignocellulose of raw
material is called “second generation” bioethanol (Kang et al. 2014a). In measuring
the global production of ethanol and biodiesel during 2010, it was 35 and 87 billion
18 Biomass as Sustainable Material for Bioethanol Production 455
liters, respectively, and expected to rise over 58 and 161 billion liters by the year
2020. However, there is still limitation in the development of biofuels industry due
to the absence of economic expertise (Zhu and Zhuang 2012). Biorefinery approach
is an integrated, effective, flexible, and renewable biomass dispensation that is
likely to reduce economic barriers resulting in completely renewable biodiesel fuel.
Biorefinery concept is considered as an important renewable fuel to replace fossil-
derived fuels (Zhu et al. 2014).
Bioethanol synthesis is generally carried out by fermentation process using cer-
tain fungal species, that is, Saccharomyces cerevisiae or bacteria like Zymomonas
mobilis, and carbon dioxide is released as a by-product. Lignocellulosic biomass
(agricultural residue and forest residue) is mainly composed of compactly arranged
cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin (Karimi and Chisti 2015; Karimi and Pandey
2014; Du et al. 2009). These complex compounds are linked with one another
through hydrogen bridges, ether or ester bond, or other inorganic substances in
small amount. Lignin gives strength and stiffness to the cell walls. A high content
of lignin in biomass is mostly unfavorable for bioethanol production. Globally,
various processes of lignocellulose pretreatment have been developed including
chemical treatment (base or acid), physical treatment (steam explosion or radiation),
solvent treatment, and mixed treatment of these methods (Olofsson et al. 2008).
Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass without pretreatment results in low yield due
to resistance offered to enzymatic hydrolysis by crystalline cellulose. Therefore,
alkaline pretreatment using sodium hydroxide is required in ethanol production from
second-generation lignocellulosic biomass (i.e., softwoods, hardwoods and agricul-
tural biomass) to de-lignify the feedstock and make the cellulose more accessible
for microbial activity. Although it needs great amount of sodium hydroxide and
large volume of waste water still, the process is easy to implicate as it does not
require complex reactors (Wan et al. 2011). Sodium hydroxide used in pretreatment
can be recovered and reused consequently minimizing chemical waste disposal
(Karimi et al. 2013). Besides, it generally utilizes lower temperatures, pressure,
and residence time and produces lower concentration of inhibitors (Li et al. 2010).
Pretreatment with solvent is more useful compared to thermal pretreatment by
producing less inhibitory compounds and less degradation of carbohydrates (Zadeh
et al. 2011). Pretreatment is considered as a “key process” that makes ethanol
production economically feasible from lignocellulosic biomass. Saccharomyces
cerevisiae is the most commonly used fungus used in alcoholic fermentation
(Petrova and Ivanova 2010).
This agricultural feedstock can be replaced by less expensive nonedible lig-
nocellulosic raw materials like perennial grasses. Besides, forest residue, stover
(wheat and rice straws), macro algae, waste papers, and wood pulp residue can be
potentially converted into biofuels. Waste biomass of forest is a significant supply of
raw material which may contribute to economy of rural communities by providing
jobs and creating an additional source of income. However, an extensive removal
of biomass from forests can reduce the accumulation of organic matter, lowering
the capacity of the soil to retain water and hence reducing productivity of the
forest. Bioethanol is produced from biomass through fermentation by means of
456 Rozina et al.
specific species of bacteria like Zymomonas mobilis or yeast like Saccharomyces

cerevisiae in oxygen free conditions releasing CO2 as by-product. The frequently
used methods for bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass include
steps like pretreatment, acid or enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, and ethanol
distillation (Tao et al. 2011). Pretreatment can be physical (steam explosion or
radiation), chemical (base or acid), or biological. Alkaline pretreatment is the
chemical process based on chemical reaction between alkali and biomass that is used
to reduce lignin content in biomass and disrupt the cellulose structure by producing
swelling affect and increasing the internal surface of cellulose to make it easily
accessible for hydrolysis step. It contributes to 30–40% of the total cost of ethanol
production (Kang et al. 2014b). No pretreatment is required to produce bioethanol
from first-generation feed stock like sugar and corn. Whereas industrial ethanol is
petrochemically produced from ethylene by acid-catalyzed hydration (Monceaux
et al. 2009).
Bioethanol is a promising and proximate carbon neutral renewable energy
resource. It is used as an engine fuel and fuel additive in internal combustion
engines. It is environment friendly (having low impact on climate change) and
reduces emission of CO2 gas. It is used as octane enhancer and oxygenated fuel
mix in unleaded gasoline for cleaner combustion. Bioethanol has properties that are
suitable for spark ignition in IC engines.
Bioethanol is the most commonly used liquid biofuel. The United States, Brazil,
and China are the largest producers of bioethanol in the world. Brazil produces
bioethanol mainly from sugarcane while the United States process it from corn
(Goldemberg 2013). Recently, ethanol production as a biofuel in Brazil from
biomass is the most successful substitute to fossil fuel to reduce dependence on
oil and greenhouse gases emission (Bertrand et al. 2016). The United States and
Brazil together produce 94 billion liters of ethanol/year, accounting for a total
of 85% worldwide production. Currently, the United States exceeded Brazil as
world’s largest bioethanol producer. Renewable fuel association analysis of 2016
revealed that the United States produced 15,330, Brazil 7295, European Union
1377, and China 845 millions of gallons of ethanol (Renewable Fuel Association
(RFA) 2019). Brazil has developed flex-fuel car technology which can run on
100% hydrous ethanol or on various blends of ethanol and gasoline. In 2015,
the production of flex-fuel car and light vehicles in Brazil represented 85.45% of
the total production (ANFAVEA 2016). Ethanol blends replaces toxic additives
in gasoline, such as oil-derived benzene and tetra ethyl lead. Nowadays, gasoline
contains 27% blending of anhydrous ethanol (http:/978-3-030-84205-5/epure.org/
media/1215/epure_state_industry2015_web.pdf). In European nations maize is the
primary feedstock used for ethanol production. In 20 EU member states includ-
ing France and Germany, France has the highest number of ethanol production
plants followed by Germany and Poland. Only 10% of the ethanol produced was
traded internationally in 2014, rest of it was consumed domestically as transport
fuel in vehicles (Fig. 1) (https://bioenergyinternational.com/biofuels-oils/ethanol-
development-in-china).
2018
2017
2016
2015 Rest of world
2014 Canada
2013
China
2012
Europe
2011
2010 Brazil
2009 USA
2008
2007
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000
Fig. 1 Global ethanol production (https://bioenergyinternational.com/biofuels-oils/ethanol-

development-in-china)
China is world’s fourth largest producer of bioethanol. China accounted for 3%

of the total ethanol production in 2015 or 0.81 billion gallons and is intending to
expand its production by setting a target of 10 million tons capacity by 2020 (Ghosh
2016). However, Chinese ethanol industry is still at initial development stage.
China National Cereals Oil and Foodstuff Cooperation (COFCO) founded National
Biofuel and Research Center in 2010, in order to enhance ethanol production from
lignocellulosic biomass. It had a total ethanol production capacity of 960,000 tons
accounting for 47% of domestic production (Numjuncharoen et al. 2015). Nigeria
has a potential of about 7.5 million tons/annum of cassava residue as industrial raw
material for bioethanol production. A number of various biofuel related programs
have been planned to address sustainability issues. Thailand being an agricultural
country supports the production of bioethanol from biomass. Thailand produced
322 million US gallons of bioethanol in 2016 (Aradhey 2016).
Canada is the fifth largest producer of bioethanol with a production of 436 billion
gallons observed in 2016. Ethanol in Canada is produced from corn and wheat.
Canada has become leader in the development of lignocellulosic-based feedstock
(agricultural residue and forestry waste) conversion to bioethanol. An ethanol
expansion program (EEP) has been launched by Canadian government for domestic
production of bioethanol and to reduce emission of GHG. Potential feedstock for
bioethanol production in Canada includes wheat straw, corn stover, switchgrass,
poplar, and wood residue.
India contributed 225 billion gallons to the total world bioethanol production
in 2016. India is producing bioethanol from sugarcane molasses and partly from
grains. India exported 164 million liters of ethanol worth $125 million in 2015.
458 Rozina et al.
Current average ethanol blending in India is at the rate of 1.9% by parasternal

petroleum companies (Saeed et al. 2014).
Biomass Resources of Bioethanol
The term “biomass” refers to all types of organic materials obtained from plant and
animal resources. It literally means living matter (Cannon and Sperling 2009). It
comprises of forest residue, agricultural resources, and agricultural residue, algae,
and municipal solid waste, industrial, and other waste materials. The biomass
material used in bio-refining is called feedstock. The biomass feedstock is classified
into four generations: first, second, third, and fourth generation. All these four gen-
erations of feedstock have potential to produce considerable amount of bioethanol
(Table 1).
Environmental benefits of bioethanol are documented worldwide; it substantially
reduces emission of GHGs when used in automobiles and increases vehicles
efficiency. Although current petroleum policy is offering best incentives, still further
improvement is needed by formulated biofuel-related policies and their implantation
and potential from both private and government sectors. Domestic policy biases
and export obstructions should be overcome and current industrial setup needs to
be improved with technological innovation for future development of bioethanol
as renewable energy resource. The introduction of bioethanol as alternative fuel to
petrol and diesel in Pakistan will enhance its domestic consumptions.
Renewable energy resources like wind, solar, hydel, and biomass energy have
the potential to fulfill the energy demand. Although the production capacity has
significantly increased in agricultural, commercial, industrial, and domestic sectors,
still it is not sufficient to meet the current requirement.
Table 1 Sources of sugar for ethanol production

Generation Sources Carbohydrates Hydrolysis product
First Crops A: Sucrose Fructose + glucose
B: Starch Glucose
Second Plant waste and C: Cellulose Glucose
residue
D: Hemicellulose Glucose + galactose + man-
nose + xylose + arabi-
nose + others (L-rhamnose,
uronic acid)
E: Lignin Lignol (coniferyl, sinapyl,
coumaryl)
Third Algae C: Cellulose Glucose
E: Glucose, xylose, galactose, –
fucose
Keeping in view environmental concerns, efforts have been made to ensure

energy security and sustainability. Special measures are underway to expand power
sector fuel, reduce prices, and achieve less oil-dependent power generation through
development of renewable energy resources like hydel, coal, wind, and solar energy.
It is needed to initiate mega projects to explore naturally existing ethanol potential.
Present research on biomass resources focused on their potential for bioethanol
production using both first- and second-generation feedstock. Recently, limited
information on biomass technologies and biomass conversion in to bioethanol is
available.
First-Generation Feedstock
Bioethanol production from direct sugar conversion into ethanol using crops
like sugarcane and sugar beet and indirectly from starch of corn, wheat, rice,
potatoes, and cassava through fermentation followed by distillation is called first-
generation bioethanol and the feedstock used is called first-generation feedstock.
First-generation feedstock (food crops) such as sugarcane and beet are largely
used for bioethanol production worldwide. It contributes 60% to the total world’s
bioethanol production. First-generation feedstock that has potential for bioethanol
production in Pakistan includes the following.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane can be utilized directly in the production of ethanol and has potential to
yield 70 l of ethanol/ton. However, it is not directly used in the production of ethanol.
About 80–85% of sugarcane crop is used in the production of sugar where molasses
is produced as a by-product. Molasses produced are utilized for the synthesis of
ethanol in distilleries of sugar industries. This is further diluted to 15–10% by
adding water and subjected to fermentation reaction and then distillation. Total cost
of ethanol production from molasses is lower comparatively. The United States
and Brazil are the largest producers of bioethanol from sugarcane. They together
contributed 86% of bioethanol production in 2010. Brazil reduced carbon monoxide
emission from 50 g/km in 1980 to 5 g/km in 1995 by introducing ethanol in
automobiles. This was made possible by encouragement of Brazilian government by
implementation of policies about production and consumption of ethanol (Shaaban
and Petinrin 2014).
Maize
Agricultural countries of the world produce millions of tons of maize. It is also
known as corn. It has a high productivity rate and is cultivated widely. In favorable
environmental conditions, maize is also one of the major feedstock that contributes
bioethanol production. Depending on the procedure used, 30 kg of maize produces
10–13 l of pure bioethanol. Maize accounts for approximately 8.4% of the total
world’s ethanol production (Liska et al. 2009). It is estimated that ethanol produced
from maize can reduce 40% greenhouse gas emission. Maize is a major feedstock in
460 Rozina et al.
the United States for bioethanol production. In the United States, ethanol produced
from maize cleared up 48–49% of greenhouse gases emission and saving 1.5–
1.8 of energy balance. However, maize is a food crop and its utilization has not
been favored for bioethanol production outside the United States. Moreover, maize
crop utilizes great amount of fertilizers and pesticides, hence consuming fossil fuel
energy. In hydrolysis stage about 41.60 GJ of energy/ha of maize is consumed but
relatively little amount of water (3–4 l of water/liter of ethanol) is utilized (Regassa
and Wortmann 2014).
Sweet Sorghum
Sorghum is a multipurpose crop. It is used as cereal, forage, and sweet type. It
is one of the draught tolerant crops. Sorghum cultivars are regarded as one of the
efficient biomass feedstock for bioethanol synthesis as it possesses readily available
fermentable sugar within the hollow stem of plant body. Therefore, there is no
need of pretreatment for conversion of starch to sugar, thus giving it an economic
advantage over other starch-based crops. It has an ethanol production potential of
up to 1319.82 gallons/ha but seasonality issue limits its use as a feedstock. Four
largest producers of sorghum in the world are the United States (18.68%), Nigeria
(17.12%), India (11.2%), and Mexico (9.8%). The stalk of sweet sorghum has a rich
source of fermentable sugar which is extracted as juice for bioethanol production
(Shoemaker and Bransby 2010). Sorghum juice is conventionally used for alcohol
production. According to the estimated report of World Agricultural Supply and
Demand, about 26% of domestic sweet sorghum is used in the production of
bioethanol (Rozina et al. 2019).
Wheat
Wheat is one of the starchy feedstock that has potential of bioethanol production.
Starch molecules are polysaccharides made up of long chains of glucose molecules
which are linked together by covalent bonds. Pretreatment is required to convert
these complex polysaccharide molecules into simple sugars to make it easily
accessible for fermentation by microbes. However, wheat is used as food at wide
scale in world and can produce food versus fuel competition.
Cassava
Cassava is another starchy feedstock resource for bioethanol production. Apart from
sugarcane, cassava produces largest amount of carbohydrates. Starch content of cas-
sava depends on type of cultivar, field management, and age. Starch content in roots
increases after an optimal period of 12–15 months. Cassava needs comparatively
warm weather and requires a period of 8 months for growth, and harvesting takes
place after 10–14 months. However, it is considered as first-generation feedstock of
bioethanol in direct competition with food. Despite this, its waste residue (bagasse)
is nonedible and can be used for ethanol production. There is need to increase annual
productivity of cassava by encouraging extensive cultivation in warm temperate
parts of the world (Jagessar 2016).
Sugar Beet
Sugar beet contributes about 16% to the world’s total sugar production. Juice of
sugar beet can be directly used in ethanol production without pretreatment as it
contains simple molecules of sugar, providing another option for sustainable energy
resource. Average yield of sugar beet is 29.7 tons/ha. It requires eight to ten times
irrigation during growth period. It is sensitive to both excess of water and draught.
It thrives best in loamy soil with neutral pH. Molasses produced can be utilized in
ethanol production as it contains sufficient amount of sugar (Walia et al. 2013).
Sweet Fruits
Sweet fruits like mangoes, banana, and watermelon are the sugar feedstock. Waste
of these sugar materials can be effectively utilized for bioethanol production. Fruit
mash of banana, pineapple, and mangoes fermentation in absence of additives
resulted in higher yield of ethanol (Bracht et al. 2014). Banana mash produces
highest yield of ethanol followed by pineapple and mangoes. Banana is one of the
major fruit crops of various countries. Walia et al. (2013) produced bioethanol by
fermentation of mango peels and found it comparable with conventional gasoline
(Romaní et al. 2012). A lower production cost can be achieved by producing ethanol
from food processing waste which is commercially and environmentally viable. No
pretreatment is required when mango pulp is used. However, in case of mango fruit
peel pretreatment is required.
Second-Generation Feedstock
Second-generation feedstock are those biological materials that are not used directly
or indirectly as a source of food and the bioethanol produced is called second-
generation bioethanol. It includes nonedible residue of food crop for ethanol
production like wheat and rice straw or nonedible plant or animal biomass like
forest residue, grasses, agricultural residue, wood pulp residue, industrial waste,
animal waste, municipal trash, and garbage. Second-generation feedstock reduces
food versus fuel competition (Table 2). Pretreatment of biomass is required before
processing it for fermentation to breakdown lignocellulosic backbone and prepare
simple sugar molecules. A list of second-generation feedstock for bioethanol
production in Pakistan is given below.
Agricultural Residue
Agricultural waste like corn stover, wheat and rice straw, barley, corn cobs, heads
and stalk of sunflower, tomato and orange peel and wood. These all constitute
lignocellulosic biomass. It is important source of energy for both domestic and
industrial purposes. In Asia and Europe wheat straw is an abundant agricultural
residue for bioethanol production (Rozina et al. 2017b; FAO 2012). In developing
countries rice residue contributes the highest (31%) and it includes 27% straw and
4% husk followed by sugarcane (30%), bagasse 16%, and 14% top leaves, maize
residue contributes 15% (13% straw and 2% cob) and wheat 11% (FAO/IFAD 2005).
462 Rozina et al.
Table 2 Composition of lignocellulosic material

Type of
lignocellulosic
Serial no. material Cellulose Hemicellulose Lignin References
1. Hard wood 40–55 24–40 18–25 Duku et al. (2011)
2. Sapwood stems 45–50 25–35 25–35 Duku et al. (2011)
3. Switchgrass 45 31.4 12–20 Duku et al. (2011)
4. Miscanthus 40 18 25 Duku et al. (2011)
5. Corn stover 35–40 17–35 7–18 Duku et al. (2011)
6. Wheat straw 30 50 15 Duku et al. (2011)
7. Rice straw 36–47 19–25 10–24 Duku et al. (2011)
8. Cotton seed hairs 80–95 5–20 0 Duku et al. (2011)
9. Newspaper 40–55 25–40 18–30 Duku et al. (2011)
10. White paper 85–95 0 0–15 Duku et al. (2011)
11. Barley bran 23 32.7 24.4 Irfan et al. (2014)
12. Sugarcane 40.19 26.42 25.15 Irfan et al. (2014)
bagasse
13. Corn cobs 31.7 34.7 20.3 Irfan et al. (2014)
14. Corn leaves 37.6 34.5 12.6 Irfan et al. (2014)
15. Eucalyptus 46.3 17.1 22.9 Irfan et al. (2014)
globulus
16. Eucalyptus 40.2 15.67 26.9 Rozina et al. (2017b)
grandis and FAO/IFAD
(2005)
17. Nut shells 25–30 25–30 30–40 Rozina et al. (2017b)
and FAO (2012)
18. Leaves 15–20 80–85 0 Rozina et al. (2017b)
and FAO (2012)
19. Primary waste 8–15 24–29 Rozina et al. (2017b)
water solids and FAO (2012)
20. Coastal Barmuda 25 35.7 6.4 Rozina et al. (2017b)
grass and FAO (2012)
21. Sorted refuse 60 20 20 Rozina et al. (2017b)
and FAO (2012)
22. Solid cattle 1.6–4.6 1.4–3.3 2.7–5.7 Rozina et al. (2017b)
manure and FAO (2012)
23. Swine waste 6 28 – Rozina et al. (2017b)
and FAO (2012)
Lignocellulosic biomass typically contains 50–80% of carbohydrates in the form

of polymers of 5C and 6C (Fig. 2). However, the percent yield of bioethanol
from lignocellulosic biomass is low as compared to first-generation feedstock.
Bioethanol synthesized from biomass is considered as sustainable as these materials
do not compete with food crops. Various technologies are used for the conversion
of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol, that is, pretreatment, hydrolysis, and
Fig. 2 Composition of lignocellulosic biomass
fermentation. Residue collected at the time of harvest are called primary or field-
based residue while those that are produced alongside product at the time of
processing are called secondary or process-based residue. Both types of residue have
high potential for energy production depending on the mode of handling (Pensria
et al. 2016). Irfan et al. (2014) produced 77 g/l from sugar bagasse, 62 g/l from rice
straw followed by 44 g/l from wheat straw.
Forest Residue
Forest is the great source of biomass that contributes substantially to nation biofuel
resources. It contains wood processing co-products and waste like wood trimmings,
unusable timber such as veneer rejects, veneer log cores, slabs, edgings, and other
residues from carpentry. It does not need cultivation and is harvested alongside
forest resources. Forests generate great amount of woody biomass. Forest residue
is divided into two categories: aboveground biomass and belowground biomass.
Aboveground biomass include all living biomass growing above soil like branches,
foliage, seed, bark, and stem while belowground biomass include all living root and
underground stem. Forest biomass can be utilized for industrial purposes providing
opportunity to renewable energy resources to provide a reliable fiber supply and
add to domestic economies. Forest-based companies should be installed to produce
liquid biofuels and other biomass materials by the development of biorefineries.
464 Rozina et al.
Urban Waste and Other Wastes

There is enormous amount of polluting waste everywhere. It includes municipal
solid waste, industrial waste, food waste, and animal waste. Urban waste and other
by-products are rich sources of biomass and have potential of biofuel production.
They do not require cultivation and irrigation and hence do not cause fuel versus
fuel competition. Utilization of this urban waste as renewable energy resource
can decrease ground water pollution, air pollution hazards to environment, and
human health. Municipal waste generation is highly influenced by population
size, their activities, and income level (Nigam and Singh 2011; Bhatia 2014).
Industrial, commercial, and household activities determine the type, concentration,
and amount of municipal waste. It contains both biogenic and non-biogenic
components. Biogenic components can be treated by anaerobic digestion. Current
research estimated that a city of one million people produces sufficient organic
waste of 1300 tons/day that has potential to produce 430,000 l of ethanol/day.
Food industry wastes are solid and liquid wastes which are generated by food
industries, restaurant, and hotels. It includes waste food, peelings and remnant
of fruits, vegetables, and crops. Increase in population of the world increases the
production of food-related waste biomass. Liquid food industrial waste contains
sugar, starch, and other dissolved organic materials. These food processing waste
contain high carbohydrate content and can be fermented to produce bioethanol
or biogas (http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/alternative-fuels/fuel-facts/ethanol/3493)
(Hendriks and Zeeman 2009). There are countries with massive population of
livestock (cattle, goat, sheep, cow, buffalo, horse, donkey, camel, mules, etc.). They
produce 2.5 million tons of waste in a day which can be efficiently utilized for
biofuel production to increase sustainability and raise economic status of rural
communities. Need is to develop proper management system and technologies by
government as well as private organization (Zhang et al. 2015).
Grass Species
Grasses constitute one of the potential lignocellulosic resources of bioethanol
production in second-generation feedstock. Grasses have percentage of fibers which
can be converted into biofuels using different biomass conversion techniques like
cellulosic fermentation to ethanol. Grasses are less expensive than molasses and
cassava starch. They need no proper care and grow widely in cultivated and uncul-
tivated areas. Bioethanol production from grass takes place in three major steps like
pretreatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation. Grass species that are used for cellulosic
ethanol production include switch grass, miscanthus, reed canary, and giant reed
(Arundo donax) (Hahn-Hagerdal et al. 2006). Most of them grow on marginal lands
and thus will not be able to compete with food crops. Napier Pakchong grass residue
has potential for bioethanol production through a series of experiments.
Third-Generation Feedstock
Third-generation feedstock is the biomass without extensive use of land like

microalgae and sea weed. Currently, great consideration is given to algae as an
alternative energy resource for bioethanol production. They have high concentration
of sugar and rich biomass. The concept of algae as a renewable energy source is too
old and dates back to 1950s. Microalgae require less amount of water as compared
to terrestrial crops and hence reduce load on fresh water resources, its cultivation
need no pesticide and insecticide application and can survive in harsh environmental
conditions (Liu et al. 2019). Microalgae reduce emission of greenhouse gases to a
great extent. It is estimated that 1 kg of dry algal biomass uses about 1.83 kg of
CO2 . They can be cultivated in saline, blackish, coastal sea water, or nonarable land
without causing any competition with congenital agricultural resources. Kawaroe
et al. (2015) produced bioethanol from cellulose of Gracillaria verrucosa and red
algae E. cottonii. They obtained 21.56% and 17.04% ethanol from 1 kg mass of
Gracillaria verrucosa and 1 kg of Euchemia cottonii, respectively (Kawaroe et al.
2015). They recommended macro algae (sea weed) as a potential feedstock for
bioethanol synthesis. Sea weed bioethanol can add to nation economy by provision
of renewable biofuel energy.
Extensive research has been conducted in last decade on use of algae as a
source of bioethanol and biodiesel production (Ohgren et al. 2005; Sassner et al.
2006). Chlorella vulgaris is a species of microalgae that is considered as promising
feedstock for bioethanol production. It has the ability to accumulate 37% of starch.
Other species include Chlorococum species are used as a feedstock for bioethanol
production.
Fourth Generation
Genetically modified species cultivation for biofuel production with higher amount
of carbohydrates is called fourth-generation feedstock. They have greater capacity
to consume higher amount of CO2 of the environment during photosynthesis and
produce immense amount of sugar and lipids.
Properties of Bioethanol
Bioethanol is a renewable and reliable fuel produce from biomass and can burn
completely and cleanly more than gasoline or diesel fuel. It can reduce greenhouse
gas emission up to 62%. Ethanol is also known as gasohol. It is a liquid fuel which
is chemically composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Ethanol is produced by
direct fermentation of sugar like glucose, fructose, and sucrose of food grains while
starch of cellulose and hemicellulose in other biological feedstock is required to
hydrolyze simple sugars and then fermented into liquid with the help of yeast or
bacteria. Yeast takes up only 7% energy of sugar while rest of 93% is converted
into ethanol (Cui et al. 2014). Molecules of ethanol have the ability to be easily
remove from water during distillation process as its boiling point (78 ◦ C) is too
lesser than water (100 ◦ C). Ethanol can be of different types based on application,
that is, fuel grade ethanol or industrial ethanol. Ethanol used as fuel is known as
gasohol. Gasohol is dehydrated to obtain high octane and water free alcohol for fuel.
466 Rozina et al.
Its properties are appropriate for spark ignition IC engines. It has motor octane
number (MON) of 90 and Research Octane Number (RON) of 109, on average
99 compared to 91 for regular gasoline. It has density of 789 kg/m3 and molar
mass of 46.0 6 g/mol. However, it has low cetan number which can be enhanced
by addition of ethyl hexyl nitrate or diterbutyl peroxide which acts as an emulsifier
(Hahn-Hägerdal et al. 2007).
Process of Bioethanol Production
Feedstock need to be carefully stored and conditioned after delivery to ethanol plant
to prevent early stage fermentation and contamination by bacteria. Simple sugars
are made available by pretreatment process depending on the type of biomass used
and the process of pretreatment.
Pretreatment
Pretreatment is an essential delignification step in synthesis of ethanol from
lignocellulosic biomass as a result of which cellulose becomes more accessible
for hydrolysis step and lignin content is reduced (Fig. 2). Pretreatment alters
the biomass macroscopic and microscopic size and structure into submicroscopic
structure to ensure rapid and effective hydrolysis of carbohydrates into fermentable
sugar. Lignocellulosic biomass is hydrolyzing in two steps.
First Stage Hydrolysis

In first step of hydrolysis lignocellulosic matrix is broken down to release cellulose
and hemicellulose. Hemicellulose is hydrolyzed to produce various types of simple
sugars like xylose, galactose, arabinose, arabinose, and mannose. Four types of
pretreatment processes, that is, physical, physiochemical, chemical, and biological
treatment, are used. Alkaline extraction and carbonic acid treatment showed best
results. Steam explosion and dilute acid prehydrolysis are the most commonly
used methods followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. Although steam explosion is a
widely used method, it has some limitations like incomplete break down of lignin-
carbohydrate matrix resulting in the production of degradation products that reduce
the efficiency of hydrolysis and fermentation. In order to further increase solubility
of hemicellulose and reduce production of inhibitors sulfuric acid or carbon dioxide
is added to pretreatment mixture.
Chemical contamination reduces overall yield of ethanol production. Reaction
inhibitors like sulfuric acid and acetic acid are needed to remove and neutralize
sugar before fermentation. Pretreatment is a costly process and accounts for 33% of
the total cost (van Zyl et al. 2007).
Second Stage Hydrolysis

In the second stage of hydrolysis, further degradation of cellulose into simple sugar
like glucose takes place. This conversion takes place with the help of acid treatment
or cellulase enzyme. The conversion process of cellulose and hemicellulose can
be demonstrated by reaction of glucan (for hexoses) and xylon (for pentoses) with
water. Theoretically, a maximum yield of 1.136 kg hexoses and 1.111 kg of pentoses
are produced per kg of glucan and xylon, respectively.
Hexose : (C6 H10 O5 )n + n H2 O → n C6 H12 O6 (1)
Pentose : (C6 H8 O4 )n + n H2 O → n C5 H10 O5 (2)
Types of Pretreatment
Techniques used for pretreatment are usually divided into three different types, that
is, physical, chemical, and biological pretreatment.
Physical Pretreatment
Physical pretreatment includes uncatalyzed steam explosion, mechanical commina-
tion, and liquid hot water pretreatment (LHW) and high energy radiation (Mussato
et al. 2012). Other types of physical pretreatment like proton beam irradiation,
microwave reactor, and steam explosion are under investigation. It does not require
chemicals. The uncatalyzed steam explosion method, which is also known as auto-
hydrolysis, is one of the most commonly used methods. Only steam water is
use in this method. In this technique lignocellulosic biomass is hydrolyzed under
high pressure saturated heat for a particular time period. During this method,
hydrolysis of hemicellulose takes place by organic acids like acetic acid and other
acids released from acetyl or other functional groups of biomass particles. In
liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment method water is maintained in liquid state
at high temperature under pressure. This pretreatment method has great enzymatic
digestibility for biomass and about 80% of hemicellulose is removed in feedstock
like corn fiber and sugarcane bagasse. Wet oxidation method of pretreatment
involves a reaction between oxygen and water at a high temperature and used as
an alternative to steam explosion method. It has been proved to be more efficient
for some biomass because cellulose backbone gets open well during this process
(Sathesh-Prabu and Murugesan 2011). Comparatively, lesser amount of by-products
is produced in this process.
Chemical Pretreatment
In chemical pretreatment method biomass is need to be comminuted by methods
like chipping, grinding, and milling. Small biomass pieces are then mixed with
acid or base. Chemical method with basic or acidic catalyst is proved to be an
effective method of hydrolysis at high temperature. In these processes lignin-
cellulose-hemicellulose interaction is disrupted and hydrolyzed to their monomeric
constituents and hence increasing digestibility of cellulose. Both dilute and con-
centrated acids are used for hydrolysis. Higher xylose yield is obtained with dilute
acids.
Acid-catalyzed pretreatment basically solubilizes hemicellulosic fraction in
liquid phase. Liquid mainly contains mannose, small amount of xylose, arabinose,
468 Rozina et al.
glucose, and galactose for soft wood while solid phase contains cellulose and lignin.
Fungal derived cellulases ß-glucosidases have been observed to show maximum
cellulase activity at ∼50 ◦ C and pH value of 4.0–5.0. However, it varies depending
on the type of enzyme used and time of hydrolysis (Ohgren et al. 2005). Production
cost of enzyme is still too high and to be reduced.
Alkaline pretreatment is one of most commonly used method of hydrolysis. This
method is primarily a delignification method in which great amount of hemicel-
lulose is solubilized. Alkaline pretreatment commonly uses low temperature and
pressure even at ambient conditions as compared to other pretreatment technologies.
However, pretreatment time is too long (hours and days) than other pretreatment
processes.
In ammonia fiber/freeze explosion (AFEX) method, biomass is exposed to hot
liquid ammonia under high pressure for a specific time period and then sudden
release of pressure. This sudden release of pressure results in the breakdown of
lignocellulosic backbone leading to increase in biomass digestibility. In AFEX pre-
treatment method simultaneous delignification of biomass solubilizes hemicellulose
and decrystallizes cellulose.
Biological Pretreatment
In biological pretreatment microorganisms such as white-brown, soft-rot fungi
and bacteria solubilize lignocellulosic biomass by modifying its chemical and
structural composition to make it more amenable for digesting enzymes. Biological
pretreatment method is environment friendly and cheap in cost; however, this
process is too slow and most of the lignin solubilizing microorganisms also utilize
or solubilize cellulose and hemicellulose to grow.
All these pretreatment methods have ability to result in high of cellulose fraction
up to 100% and maximum recovery of sugar from lignocellulosic biomass. No
generalized method of pretreatment is possible due to a variety of lignocellulosic
biomass. AFEX pretreatment, wet oxidation method, and liquid hot water treatment
method is considered best for agricultural residue (Tomas-Pejo et al. 2008), while
steam explosion method worked well in both forestry and agricultural residue.
Enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in glucose yield >90% and xylose >80% both with
and without addition of an acid catalyst (Kang et al. 2013).
Fermentation
After obtaining simple sugar by hydrolysis conversion of these into ethanol take
place with the help of microorganism during fermentation stage. Fermentation
is a type of biological process in which hexoses and pentoses of carbohydrates
are converted into ethanol by a variety of microorganisms like yeast and bacteria
(Wu et al. 2010). Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis are the
most commonly used microorganisms in fermentation. However, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae cannot metabolize xylose into ethanol. Other types of yeast and bacteria
are under investigation for their conversion of xylose into ethanol.
Hybrid species of fungi are being produced using genetic engineering that can
produce large amount of hydrolysis enzymes, that is, cellulase, hemicellulase, and
xylanase, which could convert agricultural (corn and wheat stover, rice straw, and
sugarcane bagasse) and forest residue into fermentable sugar. Moreover, genetically
engineered microorganisms can efficiently ferment hexoses and pentoses into
ethanol (Liu et al. 2013).
There are various methods of integration of hydrolysis and fermentation:
• In separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), both steps are carried out
in different reactors. Liberated cellulose is treated in different reactors for
hydrolysis into simple sugar and then subsequent fermentation. It has advantages
like facilitating optimization of separate rectors and selection of appropriate
microorganisms for fermentation. However, it needs high cost investment for
separate reactors; secondly inhibition of high concentrate glues fermenting
microorganisms becomes difficult.
• Other alternative methods include separate hydrolysis and co-fermentation
(SHCF) and simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) in which
both hexoses and pentoses are fermented in same reactor by same strain of
microorganism. These can significantly reduce cost investment being economical
and increase commercial production of lignocellulose ethanol in short time .
Purification
Bioethanol produced at fermentation stage is needed to be purified to reduce water
content. Commonly ethanol produced from second-generation feedstock is in the
range of 3–6% only which is very low as compared to 12–15% from first generation
feedstock (Zhu et al. 2014). Additional distillation efforts are required to improve
purity of bioethanol and remove access water content.
Microorganisms
Microorganisms are required to hydrolyze lignocellulose hydrolysate to ethanol in

industrial fermentation at broad substrate range which produces ethanol with high
yield and productivity. There is need of microorganisms which are high tolerant
to ethanol and inhibitors formed during pretreatment process. Scientific efforts are
continued to produce such hybrid microorganisms that could efficiently ferment
xylose into ethanol (Hu et al. 2014). Some groups of bacteria and yeast are able
to convert pentose sugar into ethanol but with low productivity. Moreover, xylose
fermenting yeast like Pachysolen tannophilus, Candida shehatae, and Pichia stipites
usage at large scale is hindered by their sensitivity to higher concentration of
ethanol. Careful monitoring of microaerophilic condition, sensitivity to inhibitors,
and inability to ferment xylose at low pH is required. Yeast and bacteria have
different metabolism pathways for xylose fermentation. In case of bacteria, xylose
isomerase enzyme converts xylose into xylulose which is phosphorylated through
pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) (Hendriks and Zeeman 2009) while in yeast
xylose is first converted into xylitol and then to xylulose by xylose reductase
and xylitol dehydrogenase enzyme where NADPH and NAD+ act as cofactors.
470 Rozina et al.
Certain filamentous fungi have been observed with the ability to ferment simple
sugar such as glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, and arabinose found in biomass
hydrolysate. Some species of fungi like Monilia, Fusarium, Rhizopus, Aspergillus,
Neocallimastix, and Trichoderma have been observed to possess ability to convert
cellulose into ethanol (Hahn-Hagerdal et al. 2006). Currently, research is carried
out on genetic transformation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis
to improve its fermentative performance on pentose sugar. Efforts are made to
produce recombinant strains of yeast and bacteria to add to the need of industrial
fermentation. In this regard first strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was obtained
through the introduction of for xylose metabolism from Pichia stipitis (van Zyl et al.
2007). Another strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was generated by introduction of
genes encoding xylose isomerase from Thermus thermophilus bacterium (Wu et al.
2010). Thermoanaerobaterium saccharolyticum (obligatory anaerobic bacterium)
has been modified genetically to improve ethanolic fermentation (Kang et al.
2014a). Emphasis is given to generation of strains that would efficiently utilize
pentoses and are resistant to high ethanol concentration.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most commonly used microorganism for indus-
trial ethanol production. It has exhibited great efficiency to convert lignocellulosic
hydrosylate biomass to ethanol (Karimi et al. 2013). However, Saccharomyces cere-
visiae cannot ferment xylose to ethanol. Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have
been acquired with improved capacity of xylose utilization through mutagenesis,
breeding, or adaptation (FAO/IFAD 2005) [77]. It was done by the introduction of
Pichia stipitis genes XYL1 and XYL2 encoding xylose reductase and xylitol dehy-
drogenase respectively in combination with XKS1 encoding xylulokinase (ZK) in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These transformed industrial strains of Saccharomyces
cerevisiae are capable to convert non-detoxified lignocellulose hydrosylate into
bioethanol (Kawaroe et al. 2015).
Biocatalyst for Ethanol Production
Investigation showed that carbon-based solid catalyst can efficiently convert ligno-
cellulosic biomass into bioethanol. Such catalysts carry functional groups like –
SO3 , –COOH, and –OH which result in higher activity than acid catalysts (Table 3).
Carbon-based sulfonated catalyst can replace the conventional corrosive H2 SO4
catalyst for fermentable sugar production than commercial catalysts [89]. Various
feedstocks like bamboo, cotton, nutshell, and starch are used to derive catalysts for
ethanol production.
Wu et al. (2010) utilized biocatalysts derived from bamboo, cotton, and starch
for ethanol production. They observed a comparatively lesser yield of fermentable
sugar compare to other waste biomass-derived catalysts (Wu et al. 2010). Kang
et al. (2013) found out from their investigation that lignocellulosic-derived cata-
lysts are more promising than in terms of catalytic stability than acid catalysts.
Waste biomass-derived catalysts have higher reusability and are cheaper in cost.
Table 3 Biomass-derived solid acid catalyst for bioethanol production

Catalyst
Biomass Catalyst Application: reusability Fermentable
type name Bioethanol (cycle) sugar yield (%) Reference
Lignin Hydrochar From inulin Five 65 Nigam and
Singh
(2011)
Bamboo # BCS From cellulose Three 16.71 Wu et al.
(2010)
Cotton # BCS From cellulose Three 19.8 Wu et al.
(2010)
Starch # BCS From cellulose Three 4.6 Wu et al.
(2010)
Nut shell # CBS From cellulose More than nine 59 Liu et al.
(2013)
Sucralose # CBS From cellulose Nine 55 Hu et al.
(2014)
Lignin-derived hydrochar catalyst gave highest bioethanol yield of 65%. It showed

moderate surface area and acid strength resulting in maximum ethanol yield. It has
the ability to be used up to five successive cycles without further purification (Kang
et al. 2013). Liu et al. (2019) concluded from their research that glucose-carbon
and sucrose carbon hold greater catalytic activity than nut shell derived sulfonated
carbon for crystalline cellulose hydrolysis (Liu et al. 2019). It is because of its
lower content –SO3 H functional group than –OH group in sulfonated nut shell
catalyst. Sucralose-derived catalysts are proven to be highly effective for hydrolysis
of biomass due to the presence of –Cl and SO3 H group, making it more accessible
to biomass cellulose to act upon (Chakraborty et al. 2016). These biocatalysts have
potential to replace commercially synthesized catalysts which account for high cost
productivity. Moreover, it will make bioethanol production a completely renewable
process. However, there is great need of scientific investigation and production of
such biocatalysts and then their practical implication in ethanol industry (Saeed et al.
2014).
Problems Related with Production of Bioethanol

There are some problems related with production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic
biomass which are encountered by first-generation feedstocks. During pretreatment
and hydrolysis stage certain chemical inhibitors, that is, furans such as
furfural and 5-hydroxymthylfufural (5-HMF), and phenol such as vaniline,
4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, and syringaldehyde, are produced which need to be
removed to get maximum conversion during fermentation. Saccharomyces
cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis are the most promising microorganisms that
succeed to survive in high ethanol concentration. These are also moderately tolerant
to acid, sugar, and other inhibitors making it commercially popular for industrial
472 Rozina et al.
fermentation. Genetically engineered acid resistant strains of these organisms

should be produced to further deal with inhibitors and enhance ethanol yield under
stress conditions.
Conclusion
This review identifies biomass resources for ethanol production and their potential
to deal with the current energy demand. A wide variety of resources like agricultural
crop residue, forest residue, municipal, and other waste are obtainable resources of
biomass distributed throughout the country in different ecological zones. Bioethanol
is an incentive source of energy which can add to reduction of release in greenhouse
gases to the environment and can substitute fossil fuels.
Fuel energy demand is increasing each year. Direct use of sugarcane for ethanol
production yields 70 l of ethanol/ton of sugarcane. Development of bioethanol tech-
nology will bring a considerable foreign exchange saving. Currently, researchers
have focused on biomass resources and their potential for bioethanol production
using both first- and second-generation feedstock. Recently, limited information on
biomass technologies and biomass conversion in to bioethanol is available.
Bioethanol is a promising and proximate carbon neutral renewable energy
resource. It is used as an engine fuel and fuel additive in internal combustion
engines. It is environment friendly (having low impact on climate change) and
reduces emission of CO2 gas. It is used as octane enhancer and oxygenated fuel
mix in unleaded gasoline for cleaner combustion. Bioethanol has properties that are
suitable for spark ignition in IC engines.
First-generation feedstock that has potential for bioethanol production includes
the following: sugarcane, maize, sweet sorghum, wheat, cassava, and sweet fruits.
Second-generation feedstock are nonedible residue of food crop for ethanol pro-
duction like wheat and rice straw or nonedible plant or animal biomass like forest
residue, grasses, agricultural residue, wood pulp residue, industrial waste, animal
waste, and municipal trash and garbage.
The valuable third generation feedstock resources can be utilized for ethanol
production. Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis are the most promis-
ing and commonly used microorganisms that succeed to survive in high ethanol
concentration. First-generation feedstocks are directly subjected to fermentation
while pretreatment is an essential delignification step in synthesis of ethanol from
lignocellulosic as a result of which cellulose becomes more accessible for hydrolysis
step and lignin content is reduced. Various techniques used for pretreatment, that is,
physical, chemical, and biological pretreatment, are discussed. Ethanol production
from these feedstocks has potential to be valuable substitute to gasoline.
Ethanol production can contribute to economy by providing job opportunities
especially in rural communities. There is great potential to capitalize on ethanol
fuel production due to presence of forest and crop land resources. Development of
ethanol industry would create construction and operational jobs and strengthen rural
economy of the world.
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Machine Learning–Enhanced
Decision-Making 19
Nikodem Rybak and Maureen Hassall
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
Defining Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
Artificial Neural Networks and Deep Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Data Pre-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Source Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
Data Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
Pre-processing of Variable Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Pre-processing of Categorical Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
Missing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
Data Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
Data Representativeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
Section Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
Type of Machine Learning Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Supervised and Unsupervised Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Classification Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
Regression Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
Clustering Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
Anomaly Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Example Application: Machine Learning-Based System for Real-Time
Inattention Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
Aims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
Deployment Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
Application Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
Section Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
N. Rybak ()
School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
e-mail: n.rybak@uq.edu.au
M. Hassall
School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
e-mail: m.hassall1@uq.edu.au
478 N. Rybak and M. Hassall
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
Abstract
Machine learning comprises a broad range of analysis methods that can be

applied to artefacts such as data, images, and sound recordings to produce
insights or findings. This chapter describes what machine learning is and how it
works. It then provides an example of real-world application of machine learning
to address industry problem. The chapter concludes by discussing important
considerations when using machine learning methods to ensure that quality
results are produced, and these results are validly interpreted.
Keywords
Computer vision · Deep learning · Machine learning · Neural network ·

Supervised learning · Unsupervised learning
Introduction
Just as the twentieth century was the age of electricity, the twenty-first century is
the time of artificial intelligence with its applications regularly occupying leading
positions in the rankings of the fastest developing, most important or most ground-
breaking technologies of the last decade, e.g., speech to text systems, AI-based
search engines, predictive and recommendation software engines, and autonomous
vehicles to name a few.
Thanks to the development of information technologies, in particular technolo-
gies of data generation, storage and processing, the amount of digital data is almost
doubling every 2 years (Bibri 2019). This means that although the main source
of data are the current activities of companies and institutions, more and more
of this data is generated and analyzed automatically, by computer systems. This
data contains not only a detailed description of the activities of companies or
institutions, but also, to a large extent, a description of the world that surrounds
us. The information hidden in this data is of great value, and only the methods of
extracting it are needed.
The importance of the value of data is significant and should not be ignored.
To obtain and sustain operational excellence in this rapidly changing, increasingly
competitive, and more complex world, industry practitioners need to leverage
Industry 4.0 technologies. One set of Industry 4.0 technologies that can be deployed
to extract maximum values from the data is machine learning (as shown in Fig. 1)
which is explored in this chapter.
The chapter begins with a brief overview and concise definitions of machine
learning as a subdomain of computer science. Then important issues related to
19 Machine Learning–Enhanced Decision-Making 479
INDUSTRY 4.0
TECHNOLOGY
Advanced Industrial
Advanced Data Cyber Physical
automation and Internet of
Analytics Systems
robotics Things
Big data and

Artificial
predictive
Intelligence
analytics
Machine
Learning
Deep Learning
Fig. 1 Outline of Industry 4.0 technology
data exploratory analysis as a first stage of any practical machine learning imple-
mentation are outlined. Next, the chapter discusses important machine learning
algorithms and data transformation methods. Each method receives its theoretical
background as well as examples of real-world industry applications. The third part
of the chapter offers a detailed case study of machine learning-based system that has
been developed to detect industry practitioners’ situational attention thereby aiding
decision making related to safety and operational efficiency. To conclude, thoughts
are offered regarding the use of these technologies in future studies and implications
for industry.
The objectives for this chapter are twofold, firstly to offer a thorough introduction
to machine learning tools for readers who do not have a computer science
background, and secondly to present a set of useful machine learning-based
technologies for supporting efficient and effective decision-making in real-world
implementations.
Defining Machine Learning
Machine learning (ML) is a subdomain of artificial intelligence (AI), which is part

of a broader field of computer science. Whereas AI encompasses wide-ranging
and very diverse concepts like knowledge representation, reasoning, planning and
Fig. 2 Timeline of Machine Learning
manipulation, the machine learning subdomain typically focuses on learning from

data and pattern recognition. There has been numerous theoretical developments
and discoveries in other fields like neurosciences that were essential to get to current
stage (see Fig. 2).
The main objective of machine learning is to deliver mathematical models and
algorithmic solutions that can be utilized to solve problems like those that are too
demanding to be represented as standard mathematical problems.
An example of such problems is recognizing the patterns of facial expressions
within an image containing a human face. This function can be performed by
a mature human brain with almost no effort, but remains a daunting task to be
represented as a mathematical problem due to its vast and mostly unconstrained
complexity (Rybak et al. 2017a).
To understand how machine learning has revolutionized the field of computer sci-
ence requires briefly looking into previous solutions. In the past, pattern recognition
methods used mainly hand-engineered features to quantify the data. For example, in
image processing tasks previous algorithms executed feature extraction separately
on each image in a dataset according to predefined image descriptors, returning a
vector to quantify the content of an image. The next step in the process was to extract
significant structures from a dataset, by performing “flat” statistical inference on
received vectors.
Traditional hand-engineered image descriptors endeavored to encode features
such as color, texture, or shape (Szeliski 2010). Other broadly utilized methods
were key point detectors (FAST, Harris, DoG to name a few) and local invariant
descriptors (e.g. SIFT, SURF, BRIEF, ORB, etc.) (Nixon and Aguado 2019). Some
traditional image processing methods like Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG)
proved to be efficient at detecting objects in images when the rotation of an object
within an image did not significantly vary from what the classifier was trained on
(Dalal and Triggs 2005).
In all abovementioned approaches, a process was predefined to encode the exact
characteristics of an image (i.e., color, shape, texture, etc.) and quantify it. Given an
input matrix of pixels, one would apply this hand-defined algorithm to the pixels,
and in return receive a feature vector quantifying the image contents – the image
pixels themselves did not serve a purpose other than being inputs to the feature
extraction process. The feature vectors that resulted from feature extraction were
what was truly important as they served as inputs to traditional pattern recognition
models.
The machine learning methods use a different approach for locating patterns
within an image. In place of hand-engineered instructions to extract specific
features, these features are repeatedly learned from the training process completed
on examples for each instance.
There is a no one source with curated resources summarizing and presenting
most recent developments in machine learning. Nevertheless, important information
and latest updates can be found on industry’s dedicated research and development
websites – Google, IBM, and Microsoft.
Artificial Neural Networks and Deep Learning
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are a specific class of machine learning

procedures conceptually based on the manner in which biological neural structures
process signals. ANNs are sets of mathematical tools recently utilized with great
success to tackle various classification problems, including speech, images, medical
diagnostics, and other signal data (Al-Shayea et al. 2013; Alanis et al. 2019; Amato
et al. 2013; Bekey and Goldberg 2012; Cichocki and Unbehauen 1993; Damper
1997; Haykin 1994; Hertz et al. 1991; Jain and Vemuri 1998; Rezzoug and Gorce
2003; Wasserman 1993).
Deep learning is the latest development in machine learning. Deep learning meth-
ods and techniques scale up the size and complexity of traditional ANNsstatistical
methods to create increasingly richer functionality. Deep learning models contain
dozens or hundreds of hidden sampling layers, whereas previously ANNs only had
a few, meaning that deep learning models are capable of hierarchical learning where
simple concepts are learnt in the lower layers (e.g., lines, shapes) and more abstract
patterns in the higher layers of the network (e.g., faces, objects).
A typical instance of the application of deep neural networks to computer
vison are tasks like handwritten character recognition which automatically learns
discriminating patterns from images by sequentially assembling layers vertically.
Lower level layers of the trained network represent configurations of corners and
edges, whereas high level layers learn more abstract relations between shapes to
discriminate between characters. Therefore, the key aspect of deep learning is that
patterns extracted on a level of each layer of neural network. They are automatically
learned from data itself utilizing a general-purpose learning procedure.
In many applications, deep learning algorithms are now considered the most
powerful classifiers and are currently responsible for pushing the state-of-the-art
forward in areas such as computer vision, natural language processing, or signal
processing – subfields that traditionally leverage machine learning (Goodfellow
et al. 2016).
In summary, machine learning algorithms learn from data, create connections,
search relations, discover patterns, create new examples, etc. on the basis of well-
defined and well-curated data sets. The selection of machine learning algorithms,
their parameterization and learning process with the use of curated training data
is only one stage of this process, which additionally is most often not the most
significant one when it comes to the impact on the end results. Figure 2 provides an
overview of the steps required to develop a machine learning solution. Typically, the
most significant step of this process is performing data analysis and pre-processing
to obtain the well-defined and well-curated data.
Therefore, before moving on to discussing categories of specific machine
learning algorithms and examples of their implementations, firstly a closer look
will be taken at the methodology of the first stage of any machine learning project,
namely, data analysis and pre-processing; and in the subsequent section practical
issues related to models training and models evaluation will be discussed (see
Fig. 3).
Data Pre-processing
This chapter section intends to introduce the Reader with the first stage of
implementing solutions from the scope of machine learning – data analysis and
pre-processing. This is a crucial step in deploying valid models because “its output
Fig. 3 Diagram overviewing stages of machine learning solution
can only be as accurate as the information entered into it” as per the garbage in –
garbage out or rubbish in – rubbish out principle (Branch 2016).
The first stage of data pre-processing is Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA). EDA
is an approach created within a field of computer science as a result of combining
statistics, database technologies, algorithmics, and data visualization. The purpose
of EDA is to assist in formulating hypotheses about the sources and causes of
observed phenomena. The algorithmics is a study of design and efficiency of
algorithms. The most important role under algorithmics is currently played by deep
learning.
The sources of data for the data science experiments can be constituted by
transaction databases, so called data warehouses, big data systems, analytical
systems, documents in various formats, image, audio and multimedia files, websites,
or network services – virtually every source of data can be used provided that it is
possible to transform data originating from that source into tabular form.
The tabular form is exceptionally universal. In tables consisting of vertical
columns and horizontal rows, you can write not only usual numerical data, but also
images (numerically coded values of subsequent pixels will be stored in specific
table columns), spectrograms acquired on the basis of voice signal transformation,
or text (relevance phrases are divided to be saved in separate columns or rows).
The tabular interpretation of source data by the data exploration algorithms, with
few exceptions, is the same as its basic statistical interpretation. Rows (records)
represent observations (analyzed cases) while columns represent their attributes
(variables).
Source Data Analysis
Data exploration algorithms are exceptionally susceptible to the quality of source

data. The universal GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) rule, according to which the
processing of incorrect data will be incorrect regardless of the correctness of data
processing procedure, is exceptionally important with reference to data exploration
(Liu et al. 2017).
Because it is impossible to create a universal tool that will detect incorrect data,
the quality evaluation and appropriate preparation of source data constitute as a
necessary condition of successful implementation of machine learning solution.
Firstly, the usefulness of data in solving stated problem should be evaluated – the
data should not be modified at this stage.
When evaluating the data quality, it is relevant to find answers to three basic
questions:
1. What information are included in source data?

2. Can those data be used to acquire a solution to stated questions?
3. What problems are to be expected during the creation of exploration models for
such data?
Next, the errors found in data must be removed – the purpose of this stage is
to adjust the training data to technical requirements of its exploration models. At
the end, the data should be adjusted to the stated problem – this stage consists of
implementing new information into the training data by transforming them.
Data Attributes
Object attributes are called variables. Variables are divided into numerical (quanti-
tative) and categorical (qualitative).
Only digits can be values of numerical variables and additionally:
1. The collection of available values can be countable and has exceptionally great
number of values (like, e.g., age in days) or can be uncountable (e.g., length):
numerical variables, the value collection of which is uncountable, are called
continuous while such numerical variables, the value collection of which is
countable – number of values is definite despite the big amount – are called
discrete.
2. These values can be compared with each other (e.g., 2 is greater than 1).
3. It is possible to determine the distance between values (e.g., by calculating the
difference between them).
4. It is possible to conduct arithmetic operations, such as adding, multiplying, or
averaging, on them.
The values of categorical variables can be digits or data of a different type (e.g.
text data), but:
1. The collection of available data is always limited (e.g., up to 12 in case of

months); for this reason, the categorical variable values are called states.
2. If these values can be compared with each other in a reasonable way (e.g., danger
level), then the categorical variable is called sequence. Otherwise, it is a regular
categorical variable (as in case of, e.g., genders).
3. The determination of a distance between values is possible only under an adopted
model (e.g., distance between colors in an adopted color palette).
4. It is impossible to conduct direct arithmetic operations on them.
In the next subsections pre-processing of both variable and categorical data is

discussed.
Pre-processing of Variable Data
Variables can adopt a single or multiple value. Single-value variables are otherwise
known as constant variables. Because they carry no information with them, they
should not be used in the data exploration process.
Before the constant variables from training data collection is removed, one
should check whether or not a given variable is a single-value variable in a given
test or in the whole collection of source data – if certain variable values occur
exceptionally rare (e.g., once per 1,000,000 cases) then one most likely will not
find it in a test counting 10,000 rows.
A completely different class is constituted by variables with nonrepeatable
values. Although such variables (such as employee identification number) clearly
identify objects, but this dependency has no practical value for prediction models
due to the nonrepeatability of their values.
The third type of variables unusable by prediction models are monotonous
variables. The values of such variables are constantly increasing or decreasing. Such
type of variables occurs exceptionally often, for example:
1. Values of all variables related to time (such as time of event, report issuance date)
are increasing.
2. Values of many variables not directly related to time are also increasing or
decreasing – to such variables belong, e.g., invoice numbers.
Because values of such variables are continuously increasing or decreasing, they

must be transformed to use them as output variables for data exploration models. If
this step is ignored, then the training data (data that served as a basis for teaching
the model) will differ from data used for prediction.
The distribution of numerical variable values is analyzed with the help of
descriptive statistics and graphics (Fernández-Delgado et al. 2014).
Fig. 4 An example of
descriptive statistics used to
visualize accuracy of
regression model and present
detected data points. X-axis
presents observed (actual)
numerical values and Y-axis
presents values predicted by
the regression model. Colors
indicate model accuracy for
each data point. Darker colors
indicate more accurate
prediction
Descriptive statistics can be used to determine quality and representativeness of

source data. They determine a central tendency, spread (dispersion), and symmetry
of numerical variable values distribution. These parameters can then be discussed
with an expert from a given domain (domain expert), to determine quality and
representativeness of source data.
The simplest way to learn the most important descriptive statistics is to visualize
the data set (see example of data visualization in Fig. 4).
Visualizations of the data help prompt discussions with the domain expert around
the validity of the data especially the outliers, the completeness of the data (e.g., is
there missing data) and the representativeness of the data as a measure of real-life
scenarios.
Aside from descriptive statistics, the following are also useful in the evaluation
of data (both numerical and categorical):
1. Number of all existing variable values.

2. Number of unique variable values.
3. Number of missing variable values.
Pre-processing of Categorical Variables
The distribution of categorical variables is evaluated with the help of frequency

tables or histograms. They contain information about frequency of occurrence for
specific states and allow to evaluate the distribution of categorical variables.
The objective information quantity measurement methods were developed by
Claude Elwood Shannon (Shannon 1948). Shannon’s methods quantify information
and use the concept of entropy to quantify the uncertainty involved in categorical
variables. The evaluation of usefulness of data is significantly influenced by the
amount of information contained in variables. This general definition will be
explained further on examples.
The smallest information unit is bit (Binary digIT). Because bit can adopt one of
two values (0 or 1), one bit communication carries at most one piece of information,
two bits allow to convey four pieces of information, etc.
Although information can be measures using different methods, the most often it
is expressed with the help of bit quantity. The maximum quantity of information is
calculated as log2 (number of possible states).
For example, four pieces of information can be saved using 2 bits, 16 pieces –
using 4 bits, and saving 100 pieces of information requires 7 bits. In practice, the
number of information contained in data is smaller than it would result from the
number of bits, which in turn results from the redundancy of numerous information
channels. For example, the sentences written in English contain approximately half
of redundant (repeated) information.
The measure of uncertainty in data sets is entropy – average amount of
information attributable to a single message from information source.
Let’s assume that someone plays a game consisting of drawing a number from
1 to 10 and the task is to guess whether the selected number is even or odd. If the
drawing is honest, then the player has a 50% chance to win.
The number of possible states for this system is 2 (winning or losing), and the
number of information saved in it is equal to –log2 2, that is, 1 bit. Both states are
equally probable in this lottery. In order to calculate the amount of information
conveyed in the message about winning, one must calculate how many bits of
information are contained in each single message and then multiply the acquired
number of bits by the probability of its occurrence. In this case the single message
contained –log2 0.5 (= 1 bit) of information and the chance to win was 50%.
multiplying −1 by 50% gives −0.5 – the message about winning (as well as message
about losing) carried 0.5 bit of information.
Let’s change rules of the game – the player has to guess the number instead of
guessing whether it is even or odd. In this game the chance to win is equal to 10% (1
out of 10 numbers) and the risk to lose is 90%. Now the message about winning will
be a greater surprise than previously and therefore it should carry more information.
In order to check it, let’s count the quantity of information conveyed in win and loss
messages:
• Number of possible systems states is still 2.

• The probability of winning is 10% and probability of loss – 90%.
• The total quantity of information about winning is –log2 0.1, that is, −3.32 and
quantity of information about losing is –log2 0.9, that is, −0.15.
• Multiplying the total quantity of information in both states by the probability
of their occurrence gives the quantity of information conveyed in win and loss
messages: the win message carries −3.32 · 10% = 0.32 bit of information; the
loss message carries −0.15 · 90% = 0.136 bit of information.
Let’s notice that this time the total quantity of information in the system amounts
to 0.32 + 0.13 = 0.47 bit, which is 0.03 bit less than the previous system contained.
The majority of this information is hidden in the win message.
The first system (game, in which chance to win was 50%) was characterized by
maximum entropy – the probability of occurrence of each state was the same. The
entropy of second system (game, in which the chance to win was 10%) was smaller
and therefore that system contained less information.
Missing Data
The evaluation of missing data should be started from determining whether such
data are unknown or nonexistent. Typically, in databases both cases are present
and presented using the NULL value, even though the reason they are missing is
different as per the following:
1. Unknown value occurs in reality, but has not been measured – for example, if one
does not know where exactly an accident happened, then the value of Location
attribute will be NULL.
2. The nonexistent value does not occur in reality – for example, if a given person
did not participate in an accident, then the value will not exist and will also be
saved as NULL.
The missing data could be also represented using substitute values, for example,
unknown age can be saved as 0. Such substitute NULL values are most often the
default column values or empty series of symbols. If a certain value occurs signif-
icantly more often than other values and it would result from domain knowledge,
then it probably represents missing values.
The result of evaluating missing data should be the acquisition of responses to
the following questions:
1. Do substitute NULL values occur in source data?

2. If yes, then were all substitute NULL values identified and replaced with other
values (e.g., Missing value)?
3. Is it possible to fill the unknown values?
4. Does the fact that a given value is missing carries with it a valuable information?
The answers to these questions will help to improve knowledge of attribute values
distributions, correlation analysis, and domain expert’s knowledge not only defining
missing values, but also substituting them with different values.
Data Visualization
Descriptive statistics are often more difficult to interpret when compared to graphic
summaries. Moreover, the variables may have the same range, mean, and standard
deviation and yet possess different distribution of values. Generally speaking,

descriptive statistics are a significant simplification and do not contain as set
of information on data (Chatfield and Xing 2019). Therefore, the correct data
evaluation is possible in numerous cases only with the use of data visualization.
Data visualizations are the more helpful, the more data distribution differs from
normal distribution. In particular, distributions other than uni-modal distributions
(i.e., such as normal distribution with single dominant) are difficult to analyze using
descriptive statistics. For example, if a distribution is bi-modal (distribution with
two dominants) and the most often occurring values are extreme (e.g., 5 and 50),
then the mean value and median will not have a special meaning because they will
not represent an average case – in such set one deals with two different average
cases.
Let’s imagine a data set of potential customers. If their age distribution is bi-
modal, then it means that one deals with two different groups, for example, teens
and elderly people, who probably differ from each other, and thus building a single
model, especially linear or logistic regression model, on the basis of such data
will be a bad solution. Graphic presentation of variables also allows to analyze
dependencies between variables.
Data Representativeness
An important factor, on which the success of implementing a machine learning

solution depends, is the representativeness of source data. The source data more
often is a trial rather than collection of information on a given subject (population).
At first glance it may seem that the greater the trial is, the greater chance there
is that it covers all types of modelled cases and therefore it represents the whole
population better. However, there are two exceptions to this rule.
Firstly, if data are collected in specific conditions, then the size of a trial should
not exceed 10% of population. Why? Because the greater trial will reflect a local
characteristic of data collection place or time more accurately. The generalization to
a whole population will be unsubstantiated, e.g., when the studies were performed
only in one company. Such trial is often called “burdened trial,” that is, that cases
selected to it are not usual for a broader population.
Secondly, the size of a trial influences the level of trust to study results. Therefore,
it happens that in order to achieved a set trust level (e.g., 95%), observations are
added to the experiment until the results achieve this level. In correctly conducted
machine learning solution implementations, the size of trial is determined at the data
evaluation and preparation stage.
The assumption that source data constitute as trial means that aside from
measurement error one also must take into account the method, in which this trial
has been selected.
There are two main types of measurement errors:
1. Regular error (bias), which over- or underestimates all measurements – for

example the lengths of sections measured with inaccurate measure will be either
under- or overestimated.
2. Accidental error (noise), which results in accidental change of measurements

despite the fact that the measured size had the same value. If source data are
burdened by such error, then models can contain dependencies not occurring in
reality and returned predictions will be inaccurate and unreliable.
Data evaluation methods presented in this chapter should be applied a. o. in order

to detect a measurement error. In addition, the evaluation of accuracy and reliability
for machine learning models conducted post factum by separating test data also
allows to detect measurement errors that were overlooked earlier.
The errors most often made during selection of trial include: preferring more
easily accessed observations (e.g., cases from one country) and not taking missing
observations into account (e.g., fact that certain devices did not send data or portion
of people selected to participate in a survey did not answer questions).
In order to protect ourselves from such errors, the data should be selected at
random. There are three drawing methods:
1. Random selection of trial from population.

2. Division of data into subsets containing similar cases followed by random
selection of trials from all subsets (layer selection method).
3. Division of data into homogenous clusters followed by random selection of trials
from certain clusters.
The problem of unfamiliarity with attribute values distribution in the whole

population is solved thanks to the phenomenon of similarity to the real distribution.
The phenomenon consists of increasing the size of variable values distribution trial
until it will reach the same as the distribution of whole population. Increasing the
trial size after crossing this border will not cause the change of distribution.
Section Conclusions
Source data used in machine learning implementations must have a tabular form and
they should be transformed to this form.
The results of final model entirely depend on source data, in particular on their
representativeness, thus their usefulness must be examined – models built on the
basis of those data can have a great impact not only on companies’ financial
decisions, but also on human health and life (Raghupathi and Raghupathi 2014).
The evaluation of source data aims at better understanding them and in con-
sequence building better machine learning models. Since the interpretation of
machine learning models results can be difficult (e.g., complex models of reinforced
decision-making trees, support vector machines, or deep neural networks), a detailed
statistical evaluation of source data and exploratory data analysis are necessary and
most important stages in implementing ML solutions.
Type of Machine Learning Models
The following section of the chapter describes the subsequent stage of implementing
a machine learning solution – selection of model category and specific algorithms
under a given category. It also discusses real world industry applications in the
context of decision making for each presented main categories. All specific machine
learning solutions fall into two main groups – supervised and unsupervised learning
which will be discussed in the next subsections. The specific categories of machine
learning models can be further divided into five categories:
1. Classification
2. Regression
3. Clustering
4. Prediction
5. Anomaly detection
These 5 categories of machine learning will be discussed in subsections that

follow the discussion of supervised and unsupervised learning.
Supervised and Unsupervised Learning
As discussed above, the term machine learning is used in a very general form and
concerns mostly general techniques of extrapolating trends in big data sets or ability
to predict new data on the basis of what had been learned during the analysis
of already known data. It is an exceptionally broad definition that covers several
different techniques. Machine learning techniques can be roughly divided into two
big groups: supervised learning and unsupervised learning.
The first machine algorithm class is named supervised learning (Caruana and
Niculescu-Mizil 2006; Reed and Marks 1999). It utilizes a set of labelled data
in order to classify similar data without labels. Supervised learning assumes the
presence of human supervision over the creation of function rendering the system
input to its output. The supervision consists of creating learning data set, i.e.,
pairs:
• Input learning object (e.g., vector).

• Answer desired by the supervisor (e.g., specific numeric value).
The purpose of such model is to learn predicting the correct answer to set
stimulation and generalize cases learned as cases with which the system had no
prior contact. Supervised learning is frequently used in industry to model technical
processes. Insert example.
Labelled data are data that have already been classified while non-labelled data
are such data that have not been classified yet.
The second machine learning algorithm class is defined with name unsupervised
learning (Baldi 2012; Barlow 1989; Ghahramani 2003). In such cases, data is not
labelled in advance, but instead the algorithm is allowed to draw conclusions. One
of the most often used and possibly the simplest examples of unsupervised learning
is grouping also known as clustering. It is a technique, in which an attempt to divide
data into sub-clusters is made.
The algorithm divides data into sub-clusters, which constitute as various classes
in the context of the data set. In order for the clustering technique to work, each
element in each group (also called a cluster) should be characterized by high
similarity degree within a class and low similarity degree in relation to other classes.
Grouping can work for any number of classes and the idea of grouping methods
such as k-means consists of finding k-source data subsets, the elements of which are
closer (more similar) to each other than to any other element outside of their class .
Obviously, in order to execute this type of task it is necessary to define what closer
or more similar means, that is, it is necessary to define certain factor, which defines
a distance between points.
Unsupervised learning works thanks to the discovery of hidden internal data
structures. Those structures, and not labels attached to them, allow a correct
classification.
Classification Algorithms
Classification in machine learning refers to the problem of predictive modelling,

in which the class label is predicted, using mathematical algorithms, for a given
example of input data. From the modelling point of view, classification requires a
training data set with numerous examples of input and output data, which can be
used for learning. Therefore, it is the most prominent group of supervised learning
algorithms.
The model will use the training data set and calculate the best way to render
input data examples to specified class labels. Training data set must be sufficiently
representative for a problem and contain multiple examples of each class label.
Classification predictive modelling algorithms are evaluated on the basis of their
results. The accuracy of classification is a popular measure used to evaluate a model
performance on the basis of predicted class labels.
There are the following distinct subgroups of classification algorithms:
• Binary classification.
• Multi-class classification.
• Multi-symbol classification.
• Imbalanced classification.
Binary Classification
Binary classification refers to classification tasks which have two class labels. The
examples of binary classification tasks are:
• Clients’ credit capacity testing.

• Detection of spam.
• Product quality control.
• Process quality control.
Usually, the binary classification tasks cover one class that constitutes as a normal
state and another class, which constitutes as abnormal state. Normal state classes are
assigned to class 0 label, while abnormal state classes are assigned to class 1 label.
A common practice is to model the binary classification tasks using a model, which
predicts Bernoulli’s probability distribution for each example.
Certain algorithms are specifically designed for a binary class and do not natively
service more than two classes; the examples cover variation of logistical regression
and support vector machines (SVM) algorithms.
Multi-class Classification
Multi-class classification refers to classification tasks which have more than two
class labels. The examples cover, e.g.:
• Identification of people on the base of facial recognition.

• Classification of emotions based on facial expression.
• Classification of subject’s mental states based facial expression (e.g., detection
of multiple stages of fatigue).
• Classification of people activity type (aggressive person, calm person, etc.)
• Optical sign recognition.
• Optical character recognition.
Unlike binary classification, multi-class classification does not include defini-

tions of normal and abnormal results. Instead, the examples are classified to one of
array of known classes.
The number of class labels can be substantial in case of some problems. For
example, the model can predict a photo as belonging to one of thousands or tens of
thousands of faces in the facial recognition system.
Problems related to the prediction of word sequence, such as text translation
models, can also be recognized as a special type of multi-class classification. Each
word in the sequence of predicted words covers a multi-class classification, in which
the size of dictionary defines the number of possible classes that can be predicted
and which can have the size of tens or hundreds of thousands of words.
Part of the algorithms designed for binary classification can be adjusted for use
in case of multi-class problems. It is related to the use of a strategy that focuses
on adjusting numerous binary classification models for each class in comparison

to each other class or a single model for each class pair. In section “Example
Application: Machine Learning-Based System for Real-Time Inattention Detection”
(Case study), a closer look will be taken at instances of using advanced, deep
learning-based fatigue detection system.
Multi-Symbol Classification
Classification of multiple labels refers to those classification tasks that have two
or more class labels, in which one or more class label can be predicted for each
example. It differs from binary and multi-class classification, which predict only
one class label for each example.
A common practice is to model multi-symbol classification using a model that
predicts multiple results, where each output is adopted as Bernoulli’s probability
distribution (Weisstein 2002). Basically, it is a model that creates multiple binary
classification predictions for each example.
Classification algorithms used in both binary and multi-class classification
cannot be used directly in multi-symbol classification. Another approach is the use
of a separate classification algorithms to predict labels for each class.
Imbalanced Classification
Imbalanced classification refers to those classification tasks, in which the number of
examples in each class is distributed unevenly.
Usually the imbalanced classification tasks are binary classification tasks, in
which the majority of examples in training data set belongs to a normal class while
a small portion of examples belongs to the abnormal class.
The examples cover:
• Detection of frauds.
• Prediction of rare events.
• Medical diagnostic tests.
These problems are often modelled as binary classification tasks although they
may require special techniques. These special techniques can be used to change the
composition of samples in a training data set through partial sampling of major class
or excessive sampling of major class (Huang et al. 2016; Tang et al. 2008).
Classification and clustering are the main ideas standing behind numerous other
machine learning techniques and subjects. The ability to classify and recognize
certain types of data allows to implement the techniques described above in other
computer science areas, such as computer vision, natural language processing,
signal processing, building predictive economic or market models, and other areas.
Regression Algorithms
Regression is the second, next to classification, most commonly used in industry

implementations machine learning method. Similarly, to classification, it is a
supervised learning method. The purpose of regression is to find a model, which on

the basis of known data will be able to calculate missing values sufficiently accurate.
Input variables can be numerical or categorical. If output variable is numerical, then
its will be calculated. If it is a categorical variable, then the prediction result will be
the probability of given state’s occurrence. The simplest type of regression is linear
regression while the simplest linear regression model is a model with one x input
variable and one y output variable. In such case, the purpose is to find a function,
which will return the y value on the basis of x value.
Thus, the purpose of regression in machine learning is to find a function which
will calculate output variable values as accurate as possible on the basis of input
variables, or in other words, it will minimize the differences between calculated
and real values: ei = yi – f(xi ) should be as small as possible. The θ (theta) cost
function received using this method allows to calculate a difference between model
and training data, that is, a difference between real output variable values and those
calculated by the data exploration model (see Fig. 5).
The regression error can be calculated as a sum of their absolute values or sum
of their squares.
In practice, the most often applied method is the sum of squared errors (SSE)
because the cost of making an error shows a nonlinear (square) growth along with
error value in numerous applications. For example, losses resulting from incorrect
estimation of product delivery delay by 30 min are few times greater than those
for 10-min error. The SSE value can be calculated from equation from J.H. Ward’s
article (Ward 1963):
Fig. 5 An example of on
output of regression model.
X-axis presents observed
(actual) numerical values and
Y-axis presents values
predicted by the regression
model. Colors indicate model
accuracy for each data point.
Darker colors indicate more
accurate prediction
n 1 n 2
SSE = xi2 − xi (1)
i=1 n i=1
where n is the number of observations xi is the value of the i-th observation and 0 is
the mean of all the observations.
The lower the SSE value will be, the more accurate the model will be. Therefore,
one should select the initial parameters in a way that minimizes the SSE value –
this task can be automatically solved by the dedicated data exploration algorithms
(Ward 1963).
At this point it is worth to highlight a difference between prediction and
extrapolation in regression models. Prediction consists of calculating the value
of output variable for input variable values falling within training data values.
Extrapolation is the use of the same model to calculate output variable value for
yet input variable values falling outside training data values. The standard data
exploration model evaluation methods consist of using test data to calculate an error,
so therefore on their basis the accuracy of extrapolation results cannot evaluated –
this is another reason why each implementation of solutions from the scope of
machine learning should start from evaluation and data preparation.
Linear regression should be used only when:
• There is a linear dependency between input variables and output variable.

• The distribution of errors is close to normal.
• The error variability is fixed (homoscedasticity of errors).
The applications of regression cover solving such problems as:
• Problem of commercial agent, who wants to know the profit of partnership with
a given customer.
• Problem of service supervisor, who is interested in time necessary to repair a
given device.
• Problem of marketing department manager, who would like to know how many
people will visit the company’s website within the next month.
• Problem of pharmaceutical company, which would like to evaluate the influence
of developed medication on the state of health of patients.
• Problem of insurance company, which would like to define the risk of client’s
death.
• Problem of vehicle lending company, which would like to determine the number
of damages on the basis of customer’s historical data.
Regression models are also used for classification. Instead of assigning cases to
specific classes (e.g., classifying potential borrowers as risky or trustworthy), the
degree of risk related to granting a loan is evaluated (in a 0% to 100% scale).
Such solution has a significant advantage, namely, it allows to organize cases in
terms of prediction results, for example, sort the list of potential borrowers in such
a way that the most trustworthy people will be shown first and the least trustworthy
people will be shown last. Thus, regression not only allows to classify cases (e.g.,
people, for whom the risk of granting a loan exceeds 65%, will be described as
risky), but also the choice of cases on the basis of their evaluation (e.g., loan will be
granted to 55% of customers, who have the lowest risk).
The output variable in regression models does not have to be numerical, e.g.,
Poisson’s regression models and sequence regression were created with a view of
categorical sequence variables (Land et al. 1996).
Neuron networks can be used for regression and their domain are problems,
which require detection of numerous concurrent dependencies between various
input variables in order to solve them. Specific layers of deep neuron networks can
carry out specific tasks, such as filtering, convolution, or selection of data originating
from previous network layer (Qiu et al. 2014).
Clustering Algorithms
This section will focus on discussing clustering algorithms (cluster analysis). Unlike
classification and regression algorithms presented heretofore, clustering algorithms
are unsupervised learning algorithms. Unsupervised learning focuses on finding
patterns in a data set without already existing labels and at minimal human
intervention.
Let us take a look at the idea of clustering as machine learning method shown on
an example – organizing a scientific conference. Several applications from potential
speakers have been already received when we realized that we forgot to divide
speakers according to the subject of their presentations. Luckily, speakers provided
in their applications information about themselves, including the name of institution
where they work, titles of published scientific articles, and research interests. If
that information could be used to create clusters, that is, groups of people with
similar interests, then these clusters could be used to create specific conference topic
streams.
The advantage of clustering is the fact that such distribution takes all input
variable into account at the same time. It is important because if one would try
to manually divide speakers into groups, then the selection of some attribute is
required, e.g., scientific discipline under which the speakers published the most
papers, in contrast clustering algorithms will assign speakers to groups while
taking any and all available information into account and then it will independently
evaluate their impact on the clustering output result.
Similarly, to other machine learning techniques, it must be however based on
the Ockham’s razor principle. One should always bet on the simplicity of solution
when the effectiveness of an algorithm meets the requirements. However, in case of
clustering, the empirical data may be unavailable. When the clustering algorithms
acts as a search tool, one can only assume that the data set reflects a precise process
of generating data samples. If this assumption is true, then the best solution turns out
to be the determination of number of clusters that maximizes the internal cohesion
(density) and external separation. This means that occurrence of isles should be
expected, the key components of which contain certain mutual and partially unique
properties.
The two main groups of methods used for clustering tasks are: principal
component analysis and cluster analysis. The principal component analysis is used
to reduce the dimensionality of data through discovery and rejection of properties
that carry the least amount of information. Cluster analysis is used to group and
segment data sets with common attributes in order to extrapolate dependencies
occurring in them. Cluster analysis identifies similarities in data and allows to group
data that were not labelled, classified, or categorized. Because cluster analysis is
based on the presence or lack of such similarities in new data, it can be used to
detect anomalies – data, which do not belong to any group.
The most important clustering algorithms are:
• centroid algorithms also known as k-means,

• k-nearest neighbors algorithm based on the KD trees and ball trees,
• fuzzy c-means algorithm.
Centroid and k-Means Algorithms

In order to properly understand the rules of using these algorithms, a new term has to
be introduced – centroid. Centroid method has its roots in geometric decomposition;
it is a representative of a given cluster or, in other terms, the center of a given group.
If all variances of i → 0, then the distribution will be reduced to the form
of Dirac deltas that symbolize the perfect unit impulse centered in a specific point
(Raju 1982). In such situation, one of the reasons to determine the correct cluster
is to find the shortest distance between an example and centers of all clusters,
that is, all centroids. This technique is also based on a so-called double rule that
should be taken into account in case of every clustering algorithm. Clusters must be
determined in a way that maximizes:
• Cohesion within cluster core.

• Separation of specific clusters.
This means that the aim is to mark areas with high density that are clearly
separated from other areas. If it is impossible to fulfil that condition, then one must
move towards an attempt to minimize the average distance between examples and
centroid within each cluster. This property is known as inertia .
High inertia values suggest small cohesion because it is probable that too many
points belong to clusters, the centroids of which are located too far. This problem can
be solved by minimizing inertia. However, the computational complexity required
to find this minimum is exponential (centroid algorithm is classified as NP-difficult
problem). An alternative solution used in the centroids model is Lloyd’s algorithm
(Lloyd 1982). It is iterative and starts from the selection of k random centroids
followed by their correction until a stable configuration is achieved.
Therefore, the centroid algorithm is intuitive and also turns out to be useful
in numerous applications, however, two significant factors should be taken into
account. The first factor is the convergence acquisition speed. It is easy to prove that
each initial designation of centroids leads to a convergence point, but the number of
progresses depends to a great degree on their selection and there is no guarantee
that the global minimum will be found. If initial centroids are located close to
end centroids, then the algorithm will require only few progresses to implement
adjustments, but if their choice is completely random, then it will often result in a
very large number of iterations. In case of N examples and k centroids, a Nk distance
should be calculated in each progress, which in turn leads to small accuracy.
The second relevant aspect is the fact that unlike the next algorithm analyzed in
this section (KNN), in the centroid method one must immediately set the number
of expected clusters. In certain situations, it is a secondary problem as the most
appropriate value of the k parameter is already known. However, if the data set is
multi-dimensional and our knowledge on possible number of groups is too limited,
then the determination of clusters number might be risky. A good solution is to
analyze the end inertia for various numbers of clusters. If the maximization of
internal coherence is expected, then the small number of clusters will lead to
increased inertia. The goal is to try to set the greatest value that is below the
maximum tolerance threshold. In theory, one should also designate k = N. In
such case we deal with zero inertia because each point becomes a centroid of its
own cluster, however, large k values transform the cluster analysis scenario into a
fragmented system that is not suitable for catching properties of a uniform group. It
is not possible to define the rule for kmax upper limit, but it can be assumed that this
value is always smaller than N. The best choice is done through the designation of k
value, which minimizes inertia, for example from a scope between 2 and kmax .
K-Nearest Neighbors Algorithm(KNN)

This algorithm belongs to a family of instance-based algorithms while the method-
ology is frequently called learning from examples. This category differs from
remaining categories in the fact that it does not constitute as a real mathematical
model. The inference process progresses through direct comparing of new examples
with already existing ones (known as instances).
The k-nearest neighbors algorithm is easy to adjust to the cluster analysis
tasks. According to the KNN algorithm philosophy, similar examples should have
common properties. For example, the recommendation system can group users with
the help of this algorithm and for a new user it can search users, who are more like
that user (e.g. on the basis of previously made purchases) in order to recommend
the same product category. In general, the similarity function is defined as inversed
distance or as cosine measure.
Unfortunately, the classic KNN algorithms (also known as brute-force algo-
rithms) can significantly slow down with great number of examples, because it
is necessary to calculate all distances between point pairs in order to be able
to generate the complete model. The number of those points for M number of
operations is equal to M2 , which often constitutes as unacceptable value (e.g., if
M = 1000, then each query requires calculating a million of distances). To be
more precise, if calculating a distance in N-dimensional space requires N number of
operations, then the total computational complexity is equal to O(M2 N), which is
allowed only for small values of both parameters (M and N). Thus, other methods,
such as KD tress or ball trees, are used in the case of large number of instances in
order to minimize the computational complexity.
All queries in the KNN algorithm can be treated as search problems, thus
one of the most effective ways to reduce the total complexity is to transform the
data set into hierarchical structure. In the KD tree (single-dimension data), the
mean computational complexity of a query is equal to O(logM) because one can
assume that there are almost identical number of elements in each branch (if the
tree is completely imbalanced, then all elements are implemented in a sequence
and the final structure contains only one branching, which in turn results in the
computational complexity adopting mentionedO(logM) form). To be precise, the
actual complexity is slightly greater than O(logM), but this operation is always much
faster comparing to the classic KNN algorithm, the complexity of which is O(M2 ).
An alternative solution is the ball trees algorithm. The basis here is constituted
by the concept of reorganizing a data set in such a way that this set will become
almost impervious to multi-dimensional examples. Here, such ball can be defined
as a collection of points, for which the distance from central instance is smaller
or equal to a set radius. Starting from the first main ball, one can create in it
socketed derivative balls and stop the process after achieving a set height. The basic
condition is that the point must always belong to a single ball. This way allows
the computational complexity to adopt the form of O(N logM) while taking into
account the cost of n-dimensional distance and the algorithm itself does not deal
with the curse of multi-dimensionality. The structure here is based on hyperspheres
and therefore, the only operation required to search the appropriate ball is the
measurement of distance between the instance and centers starting from the smallest
balls.
Both KD and ball trees can constitute as efficient algorithmic structures, which
reduce the complexity of KNN algorithm queries. However, during model learning
it is important to take into account both the k parameter (that usually defines mean
and standard number of neighbors calculated in a given query) and maximum tree
height. The discussed structures are not applied in common tasks (e.g., sorting) and
their efficiency is maximized when all required neighbors are located in the same
subordinate structure (with size K < < M in order to avoid a hidden use of the classic
KNN algorithm). In other words, the role of a tree is to reduce the dimensionality of
search space by dividing it into appropriately small areas.
Fuzzy c-Means Algorithm

The differences between K-means and KNN clustering algorithms have been
discussed. Therefore, the issue of clustering from the perspective of fuzzy logic
can be explored (Pedrycz and Gomide 1998). The classic logic sets base on the
law of excluded middle, which in terms of clustering can be formulated as follows:
instance xi can belong only to one cj cluster.
Contrary to other methods, techniques using the fuzzy logic allow to define
asymmetric sets, which are not described using continuous functions (e.g., trape-
zoidal). This way one receives a greater geometrical flexibility. The fuzzy C-means
algorithm constitutes as a generalization of classic centroids algorithm and is
characterized by so-called soft allocation and flexible clusters.
Unlike the centroids algorithm, the sum is not limited to points belonging to a
defined cluster because the weight factor causes the contribution of furthest points
(wij ≈ 0) will be close to zero. Contrary to the centroids method, no exclusions are
imposed. Owning to this a given example can belong to any number of clusters with
various affiliation degrees.
Prediction
Regardless of utilized algorithm, the task of prediction models is to fill out missing
data, that is, responding to predictive queries. For this purpose, models are created
using historical data while counting on the fact that the data exploration algorithms
used in them will learn to fill out missing data about new cases. For example, model
built with the use of decision-making trees can classify new transactions as fraud
attempts or legal transactions on the basis of their properties characterizing previous
fraud attempts and properties characteristic for legal transactions. All predictive
models concern the future in this meaning.
Let us review the case of company selling insurance from accidents caused by
engaging in winter sports, as an example of using a predictive model. It is known
from experience that the greatest number of sold insurances is attributable to winter
season, so one can prepare for increased demand during this season with appropriate
advance. However, exactly how many insurance policies will be sold this year? It
is also known that the company has the greatest turnover in June – however, to
what degree an increased sale in first quarter will translate into sales results in other
seasons of the year? What impact will have an increased sale on the sale of other
insurances and worse sales results in one region of a country will influence the sales
of identical insurance policies in other regions? Let us also assume that there is a
plan to release a new type of insurance on the market and the aim is to evaluate the
influence of that decision on the sale of remaining products. Problems of these types
can be approached by using the predictive models.
Machine learning algorithms presented so far did not take the order of observa-
tion into account in any way. Forecasting on the basis of time series consists exactly
of predicting future values on the basis of previous variable values, or to be precise,
on the way those values changed.
The time series has a systematic and accidental component. The systematic
components are described by the following parameters:
• Trend, that is, a long-term tendency to single-direction changes (increase or

decrease) of values or a fixed level, which occurs when the series has no trend
and values fluctuate around a fixed level.
• Period, under which it is possible to differentiate cyclical fluctuations (fluctua-

tions around a trend or fixed level that repeat in a set time period) and recurring
(long-term fluctuations around a trend or fixed level).
In the decomposition of time series, it is also helpful to calculate the auto-

correlation factor (ACF)(Bence 1995; Hong and Satchell 2015):
• If subsequent ACF values are getting closer to zero and then fluctuate around it,
then the time series contains a fixed component.
• If subsequent ACF values are getting closer to zero and then adopt negative
values, then the series has a trend.
• If subsequent ACF values are fluctuate around zero and then are significantly
greater than zero after certain amount of time, then the time series contains
seasonal fluctuations.
Forecasting consists of calculating future variable values on the basis of its

previous values. The simplest forecast model is linear auto-regression. It was already
presented in the previous section that regression consists of estimating a variable
value on the basis of values of other variables. The general regression formula is as
follows:
y = f (w, x, y, z) + ε (2)
where y is the explained variable (dependent), w, x,y, z are explaining variables

(independent), and ε represents the random component.
A more advanced forecast method is the ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated
Moving Averages) model, which assumes a non-zero auto-correlation for random
component, which quite often leads to more precise forecasts (Contreras et al. 2003;
Hillmer and Tiao 1982).
As the model’s name suggests that it is a combination of auto-regression (AR)
model with moving average (MA) model. The ARIMA model has a chance to be
precise if strong or at least partial auto-correlations occur in time series.
Both auto-regression and ARIMA model forecast future values by summing their
historical values. The use of artificial neural networks for forecast purposes allows
to replace a nonlinear sum with activation function, such as, e.g., tanh. Nonlinear
models received in such way are characterized by greater stability and accuracy of
long-term forecasts, but short-term forecasts can be less accurate than in the case of
using auto-regression or the ARIMA method (Zhang 2003).
Forecasting requires an exceptionally thorough analysis and preparation of data.
Otherwise, the acquired results can be unusable. It should also be taken into account
that the accuracy of forecast models often is worse than accuracy of regression
models. Therefore, if one has additional data at disposal, it is worth to consider
the modelling of a problem using the nonlinear model.
Anomaly Detection
Anomaly detection , often related to detection of standing out elements, is a task

focusing on identification of objects, events, or observations, which significantly
stand out from the expected model occurring in uniform data sets. Anomaly
detection concerns the prediction of unknown information. Each time invalid
information inside data is found, it is usually called an anomaly or outlier element.
Nevertheless, those two terms are often used alternatively, in fact they mean two
different concepts.
The outlier is a correct data point, which significantly differs from average or
median within a distribution. It can be something very unusual, like, e.g., a modern
passenger car using 30 liters of fuel during one-hundred-kilometer drive, but this
result still falls within borders of reality.
Anomaly is a datapoint or measurement generated by a process other than the
process generating remaining data.
The upkeep of a defined pattern of outlier is a signal that something has changed
in the system that is monitored. Actual anomaly detection occurs in the case of
observing regular deviations in the source data generation process.
This also has implications during initial data processing. Contrary to what is done
during solving of numerous machine learning problems, one cannot simply filter all
standing out elements in case of anomaly detection. Nonetheless, caution should be
exercised during effort to determine the nature of such elements. An effort to filter
incorrect data elements, remove noises, and normalize the remaining data should be
made. The final goal should be an attempt to discover novelties in processed data.
Anomalies can occur in every system. From the technical point of view, it is
always possible to find an event, which was not seen before and which does not
occur in historical data of a given system. Detection of such event in certain contexts
may have great consequences (both positive and negative).
Anomaly detection can be used to recognize activities of potentially criminal
nature.
Anomaly detection in a network detection can help in search for external break-
in or suspicious user activity – e.g., activity of employee, who accidentally or
intentionally introduces great amounts of data outside of the company’s intranet.
Anomaly detection mechanisms can also be used to detect actions of a hacker
opening connections on nonstandard ports and (or) protocols. Anomaly detection
can be used in a specific Internet safety case to stop the spread of new malware
applications. For this purpose, all that has to be done is to take a look at increases in
movement at untrusted domains.
Another similar example are verification systems implemented in online social
platforms or by financial institutions. Dedicated software security teams can develop
machine learning solutions to measure each action or action sequences and evaluate
how far they are in comparison to the behavior median of other users. The system
will ask for additional verification every time the algorithms marks a specified
action as suspicious. The usage of these techniques may significantly reduce the
phenomenon of personal data theft and provide better privacy protection.
The discovery of inconsistencies generated by human behavior is one of the most

popular applications of anomaly detection mechanisms, but at the same time it is
one of the most challenging. On one hand there are domain experts, data engineers,
and machine learning engineers designing advanced anomaly detection systems.
On the other hand, there are hackers, who understand the rules of the game and
examine opponent’s moves. Therefore, systems of such type require a great deal
of knowledge about given field and should be designed in a proactive and dynamic
way.
Anomaly detection systems operated manually (e.g., by analysts) do not scale
well and usually are not general enough. Deviations from normal behavior are not
always obvious. Sometimes the analyst might have difficulties with memorizing the
entire historical data to provide effective assessment, which is the base of anomaly
detection. The situation gets even complex if the anomaly pattern is hidden within
abstract and nonlinear data relations. The demand for intelligent and fully automated
systems capable of learning on complex interactions and ensuring a precise real-
time monitoring is the next area for innovations in the domain of machine learning.
Example Application: Machine Learning-Based System for

Real-Time Inattention Detection
In this final part of the chapter, an in-depth examination of a case study is presented.
The case study discusses step by step implementation of machine learning model to
solve real world industry problem – automated detection of workers’ fatigue. The
application is based on authors’ previously published research on deep learning-
based face analysis (Rybak 2020; Rybak and Angus 2021; Rybak et al. 2017a).
Aims
This project pioneered the development of a prototype, deep learning-based technol-

ogy for measuring and reporting an individual’s situational attention, with the aim
of using this technology to enhance real time risk assessment to prevent inattention
and inattention-related accidents and injuries in high hazard industries. Measuring
workers’ situational attention should deliver improved decision making, safety, and
production related outcomes for various industries.
Background
The importance of managing inattention, distraction and fatigue has been rec-
ognized by industry. For example, a mining industry report published in 2007
identified that over 65% of vehicle accidents and injuries in mining processes are
directly related to drivers’ fatigue and drowsiness (Mining 2007). Similarly, driver
distraction has been reported as a contributing factor in both fatal and serious injury
crashes on public roads (Lee et al. 2008).
Significant amounts of work have gone into driver and heavy equipment operator
fatigue detection and management. However, research into fatigue and distraction
detection for other safety critical decision-making is yet to be explored to the same
degree in other safety critical industries such as the aviation industry (Morris et al.
2018), healthcare industry (Gander et al. 2007), and maritime industry (Jepsen et al.
2015).
Safety and production critical roles such as control room operator, inspector,
dispatcher, maintainer, and lone worker often require personnel to move and divert
attention between competing cues across different spatial distances, timeframes,
and levels of details. Measuring the attention/inattention for these non-driver, safety
critical roles has additional challenges to measuring driver fatigue and drowsiness.
Firstly, the head and eye positions of drivers are relatively fixed in space and over
time whereas other safety critical roles may be required to move eyes, heads and
bodies to monitor processes and obtain the information required to make decisions.
In addition, drivers are often in clean air cabins where the light levels are quite
predictable whereas other safety critical roles may incur conditions with variable
levels of light.
Mental and physical exhaustion of workers, which is a category of general
fatigue, constitutes a significant risk in many high hazard industries. Such exhaus-
tion may be a result of insufficient amount of sleep or the necessity to remain
concentrated for long periods of time while under increased stress, which is either
caused by having to perform highly complex operations in difficult conditions or
the monotony that sets in while performing laborious, repetitive tasks. This state
manifests itself as fatigue, the typical symptoms of which are sleepiness, lowered
concentration and alertness, slower reactions, and impaired perception (Krueger
1989), (Caldwell et al. 2018).
Using well-known, efficient bio-signal analysis methods (such as EEG, ECG,
and GSR) for the assessment of the aforementioned symptoms, e.g., an EEG
electrode cap that would show statistically significant changes in alpha and theta
brain rhythms during a state of decreased alertness (Eoh et al. 2005). However, it is
impractical to use such technologies in the typical work conditions of high hazard
industries due to the difficulty wearing body sensors and in measuring signals in
many work contexts.
A much more practical approach in terms of simplicity of obtaining diagnostic
information involves using inattention and fatigue symptoms visible on the face of
the examined person, which can be obtained with computer vision methods and –
on the classification level – machine learning techniques.
This form of process for fatigue recognition has been a subject of interest in the
field of computer vision for over 20 years. The first studies from 1990s describe
a methodology that relies on eye activity and uses a measure called PERCLOS
(PERcentage of eyelid CLOSure over time) to detect fatigue (Grace et al. 1998;
Tock and Craw 1996; Veeraraghavan and Papanikolopoulos 2001).
Despite the many innovations that have appeared in subsequent years, the
methodology was always based on standard processing methods, a major element
of which was “feature engineering” that required an expert description of the image
with a vector of parameters, which was then used to create a detector.
The most common feature extraction methods in fatigue monitoring use a

geometric approach, where the information on the state of the face is obtained
by locating its specific shapes (e.g., corners of the mouth during a yawn) and
characteristic points (Alioua et al. 2014; Lu and Wang 2007; Tang et al. 2016).
Geometric features may include distances between such points, angles created
by lines linking these points or distances between the points with a specific facial
expression and the points on the reference image with a neutral face expression.
Such features are popular due to their easy interpretation and calculation speed
(given that they are detected in the image). An alternative approach involves using
features that determine appearance of the face area, which contain pixel intensity
values. An example of such is the holistic approach that treats the entire image as
a pixel matrix, which is used to create numerical feature vectors by means of data
reduction methods known from biometry, e.g., eigenfaces, which relies on Principal
Component Analysis (PCA) (Bergasa et al. 2008).
In yet another approach, feature calculation is based on pixels within extracted
areas that contain characteristic elements of facial expressions. Here, LBP (Local
Binary Pattern) texture detector should be mentioned, where the feature vector is
a histogram of the image created by means of thresholded description of a single
pixel’s neighborhood in the form of 0 s and 1 s (Y. Zhang and Hua 2015). For feature
generation, classic image filtering method with predefined masks with various scales
and orientations is also frequently used, e.g. Gabor filter masks (Fan et al. 2008).
Due to the fact that potential users of a fatigue detection system are highly
different from one another, e.g., in terms of age, facial features, or facial hair, an
arbitrary expert description resulting from the aforementioned “feature engineering”
will provide relatively unreliable outputs.
The innovative approach proposed in this research project suggest using an
entirely different image processing technique for the above-mentioned purpose,
namely, automatic search of distinct information using a convolutional neural
network. Such an approach falls within the subject of deep learning, which is
currently the most advanced area of research in the field of modern machine learning
(Schmidhuber 2015).
A typical instance of applied deep learning is the Convolutional Neural Net-
work (CNN) applied to computer vison tasks like facial expression recognition
which automatically learns discriminating patterns from the regions of images
by sequentially assembling layers vertically. Lower levels layers of the trained
network represent configurations of corners and edges, whereas high level layers
learn more abstract relations between shapes to discriminate between patterns. In
many applications, CNNs are now considered the most powerful image classifiers
(Goodfellow et al. 2016).
Machine Learning-Based Methods

The Convolutional Neural Network method uses a different approach for locating
patterns within an image. In place of hand-engineered instructions to extract specific
features, these features are repeatedly learned from the training process completed
on thousands of examples for each instance. This approach is a type of multi-class

classification discussed in section “Multi-class Classification.”
More importantly, this approach is based on multi-level representation learning,
achieved by combining relatively simple nonlinear segments that each transform the
representation at one step (starting with the raw input of pixels) into a representation
at a higher, more abstract level.
This work extended upon previous research which found that highly efficient
retrieval of information regarding the operator’s psycho-emotional states in the
control room is made technically feasible by continuous visual and acoustic data
acquisition and real-time machine learning-based analysis and pattern recognition
(Rybak et al. 2017b).
The development of CNNS for detailed classification of facial expressions
changes are currently key challenges in the fields of computer vision and machine
learning. This project focuses on the development and verification of machine
learning techniques, and it is anticipated that results from the project would form the
basis for future development of technologies targeted to specific application areas
(e.g. aviation, maritime, media, health industries).
Previous Machine Learning-Based Approaches

There is a number of studies devoted to the use of convolutional networks in vision
systems designed for monitoring subject’s facial expressions. Such networks are
used both for automatic detection of face in the image and subsequent identification
of fatigue, its particular symptoms or driver’s inattention (Yuen et al. 2016a, 2016b;
Zhang et al. 2015).
A popular application of convolutional networks mentioned in the literature is
the detection of face rotation angles in different planes and thus recognition of the
direction of sight, which allows for detecting distraction or sleep state (Rangesh
et al. 2018; Ribarie et al. 2010; Vora et al. 2017, 2018). Using this approach also
allows for detecting yawning (Ribarie et al. 2010) and closed eyes (Yan et al. 2015)
based on images of face areas that represent mouth or eyes, respectively.
Furthermore, one study (Yan et al. 2015) proposed using convolutional networks
for detecting such activities as eating or talking on the cell phone, which may
distract the driver. A slightly different approach is based on the systems in which the
convolutional network was supposed to differentiate between the state of fatigue and
nonfatigue (binary classification) instead of detecting specific symptoms of fatigue
to perform multiclass classification (Dwivedi et al. 2014; Huynh et al. 2016; Park
et al. 2016).
In the study presented by Dwivedi et al., a relatively shallow convolutional
network is implemented, and the input data consists of a single image instead of time
series representations. Park et al. proposed a method of fatigue assessment based
on three simultaneously operating convolutional neural networks with different
structures that are used to process the same image. The result of classification
is determined by integrating output data of individual networks. Huynh et al.
introduced a three-dimensional convolutional neural network to process a sequence
of multiple images at the same time instead of a single image. This approach allows
for assessing fatigue based on features established for the entire sequence of camera
image frames, which definitely seems to be a reliable solution. It is, however, likely
to be significantly more computationally expensive when compared to methods
using two-dimensional networks. Its other disadvantage seems to be the requirement
of using high-quality and well-curated video sequences.
Deployment Approach
The presented study developed a CNN-based method of processing face images

based on the symptoms of fatigue recognized in the literature, which are signaled
by specific facial expressions in certain regions of face.
It was first established which of the symptoms described in the literature are the
most effective with proposed automatic classification technique, secondly authors
identified the degree of occurrence of these established symptoms and then adjusted
the CNN attention to selected facial regions.
Therefore, it should be noted that presented case study also encompasses issues
related to physiology and psychology, e.g., establishment of a measure of actual
fatigue based on the frequency of symptoms while considering the possibility that
these symptoms may not appear in some people. The research material consists of
images captured using popular inexpensive cameras fitted with a lens designed to
capture image in visible light range (Ghoddoosian et al. 2019).
The dataset was subsequently pre-processed utilizing a narrowband filter
adjusted dynamically to the wavelength of the illumination. The selection of the
dataset including this spectral range and image capturing setup is dictated by the
necessity to monitor faces in different light conditions (day and night lighting
conditions) in possible future system industry implementations.
The preliminary results obtained in the task of recognizing images representing
neutral face expressions suggest that a properly designed convolutional network is
able to automatically – only based on the provided images – extract facial regions
and features that are further used for decision making. Up to this point, the learning
process in such research projects used entire face images obtained from a subset
of materials provided by project participants, which were then cut out using the
Viola-Jones method.
The structure of a convolutional network is based on layers, the amount and
size of which depend on the complexity of the recognition task (Krizhevsky et al.
2012; Schmidhuber 2015). Due to the nature of the input data (image data) and
currently used training methods, it is common to use models with dozens of layers,
the selection of which in the described task of recognizing three classes (normal
state, maximum fatigue state, and intermediate state) is defined dynamically by the
size of the processed images and receives raw values of their pixels, which are then
exposed in the learning process along with information on their attribution to certain
classes. Layer size is the height and width of input images, which must be made
uniform at the preliminary preparation stage.
The inputs of each neuron are connected to a changing number of pixels of the
input image that create local, rectangular receptive fields of the defined dimensions
or to a specific number of elements in the preceding layer.
At the training stage, each set of neurons is assigned a specific weight, which
is identical for every neuron belonging to that set. Therefore, image processing
performed by a trained convolutional layer can be equivalently replaced with image
filtration by means of convolution, which uses neurons (filters) with defined weights
(coefficients). The set of all images created through the process of convolution will
constitute a feature map.
The result of the operation performed a convolutional layer may include negative
values, which is eliminated by a nonlinear activation function, ReLU (Rectified
Linear Unit). This function leaves out all positive pixel values, only changing
negative values into zeros. Its presence in deep learning networks is justified by
the necessity to minimize the calculation of values in classic activation functions,
which is the case, e.g., for the sigmoid function.
Networks that use a ReLU-type activation function are trained several times
quicker than networks based on classic functions (Glorot et al. 2011). The operation
of combining multiple results from a neighborhood in feature maps into a single
feature is performed by a reducing layer. This layer performs statistical filtration
within a mask with the defined dimensions, providing a specific statistic such as
maximum value (so-called MaxPooling) and mean value. All masks that process
image in this way do not overlap. Although no training process occurs in this layer,
the possibility to select an appropriately large step for mask shifting allows for
reducing the dimensions of feature maps (minimized feature maps), which helped
to improve training speed.
Furthermore, if another convolutional layer is applied after it, the reducing layer
gives the neurons a possibility to cover a larger area of the image and thus form
additional feature representations. The above proposed network architecture also
demonstrates high resistance to shifts of reference images, which was already
verified in authors’ previous study (Rybak et al. 2017a).
The last pooling layer will be an input layer for several neuron layers, with each
neuron being connected to all neurons (outputs) of the preceding layer (a so-called
Fully Connected layer).
The last layer of this type aggregates information from all preceding layers
and closes the structure of the automatic feature generator. The number of its
output nodes is equal to the number of recognized classes. In order to provide a
classification decision, the output fully connected layer is subjected to activation
with a function that is formally identified as a separate layer called SoftMax.
The SoftMax function calculates the probability of belonging to a given category
for every neuron from the last fully connected layer, which in this case means
belonging to one of three classes describing the fatigue level observed on the face.
In order to include the possibility of occurrence of over a dozen of identified
fatigue symptoms at the same time, the solution simultaneously uses multiple
independent detectors, with each detector making a decision for a symptom it is
assigned to react to, i.e. detecting the degree of intensity of a given symptom or
diagnosing the normal state.
The reduction of the number of symptoms in the training process occurs only if it
does not result in decreased precision/sensitivity of the system and at the same time
it speeds up training and detection.
The project includes an attempt to train and verify the adopted network structure
in a sequential, 10-cross validation manner. In this way, it was possible to obtain an
independent result of detection for all subjects.
The assessment of the degree of network training and its generalization ability
with regard to processing the testing data was performed by means of an error
matrix, also known as confusion matrix. The error matrix is a square matrix, where
the rows represent the established classes while the columns represent the decisions
made by the classifier. Elements of this matrix can be expressed as absolute values
or percentages. Such an approach, unlike global measures, reliably includes the
instances of confusing the established symptoms with the normal state.
To obtain the fastest operation speed at the stage of recognizing new cases –
real-time operation – each detector adopts the simplest network structure that gives
the best possible precision of recognition. This is achieved by means of a method
known as pruning a trained network. It is feasible to implement such a pruned model
on mobile device (see Fig. 6).
Since it is common to see the phenomenon of overtraining in networks pro-
grammed to operate with a large number of iterations, the training process was
organized so that it stopped automatically when the average rate of successful
recognitions for 20 iterations reaches at least 95%.
Fig. 6 The CNN model for

fatigue detection can be
implemented on mobile
devices
Authors hope that developed system will be implemented for real world opera-
tion, where it will detect and identify the established symptoms in online mode. The
observed short-term false alarms appearing due to the natural facial expressions
appearing during normal work, conversation, etc. will be used for further devel-
opment of the system and improvement of classification effectiveness in the field
conditions. Based on previous studies, it is expected that the aforementioned facial
expression may temporarily produce an appearance similar to the detected fatigue
symptoms, but is it possible to eliminate its influence by filtering a sequence of
probabilities established for the subsequent frames by the SoftMax layer.
Application Outcomes
There are three classes of states provided as labels in utilized dataset (Ghoddoosian
et al. 2019):
• Alert: Subjects were advised that being alert meant they were experiencing no
signs of fatigue or drowsiness (label 0).
• Low Vigilant: This class encompasses subtle instances when some symptoms of
fatigue appear, or fatigue is present but no effort to keep alert is required (label 1).
• Drowsy: This state means that the subject needs to actively try to not fall asleep
(label 2).
Owing to the fact that there are no well-defined, gold standard evaluation
procedures for fatigue detection systems, the model is compared with the results
presented in the original article introducing utilized samples.
The system achieved an averaged accuracy of over 86%. This is an improvement
over the highest accuracy presented in baseline study which was 82% accuracy
reached on label 2 samples (Ghoddoosian et al. 2019).
Section Conclusions
This case study presented machine learning pipeline to build an industry specific
prototype software, scientifically tested to demonstrate its ability to detect, assess,
and provide feedback to operators on their level of situational attention and, as a
result, enhance decision-making process.
The solution is significant in that it has the potential to improve situational
awareness which should lead to fewer accidents and improved production outcome
and therefore assist in maximizing the safety in the high hazard industries.
The proposed system will operate in a non-interruptive, non-intrusive, and non-
contact manner, and it will not require changes in the operators’ environments as it
can utilize already installed equipment (cameras and mobile devices).
Summary
Machine learning involves using computers to automatically process and analyze

large data sets. This approach can be applied not only by research centers, but
also by companies operating in a wide variety of sectors from private to public and
manufacturing sectors to trade.
As long as relevant data are at disposal, properly conducted exploration allows
to gain knowledge that would otherwise be not available. Furthermore, the accuracy
and reliability of the rules obtained by means of the machine learning-based systems
can be measured and objectively assessed before they are applied. Determining
the validity and understanding the uncertainty of the outputs is also important
information for decision makers to know.
In summary, a typical process of building machine learning model consists of
the following stages that were described in the sections “Data Pre-processing” and
“Type of Machine Learning Models” of this chapter:
• Defining the problem to be solved in the context of the data available.

• Collecting the necessary source data – in addition to data warehouses, dedicated
big data systems or social networking platforms are becoming increasingly
popular sources of data.
• Assessing the collected data in terms of its usefulness for solving the problem
raised.
• Preparing (removing excessive and redundant information) and augmenting the
source data for specific data exploration models.
• Designing and building machine learning models.
• Evaluating the models created and selecting the best of them in relation to the
established criteria.
• Deploying the chosen model to solve the problem.
There are some problems that cannot be solved in an algorithmic manner. For
example, the image recognition – one still cannot describe precisely how this
process occurs in the human brain, and without knowing the algorithm, it is not
possible to implement it in any programming language. However, this does not mean
that it is not possible to teach a computer to recognize images, which is evidenced
by the case study described in this work.
Attempts to algorithmically solve many other real-world problems would not
only be very complicated but also highly ineffective in practice. A good example
of such problems is the issue of detecting possible financial fraud. Even after
successfully encoding all the rules under which a transaction should be classified
as an attempted fraud, one would get an extremely complicated software system (in
addition to the general rules, account rules specific to the person concerned should
be taken into account). What is worse, rules of this kind often change (users do not
behave in the same way at all times and fraudsters adjust their actions to circumvent
the implemented safeguards), so if one would want the software to be effective, it
would require to update it in real-time.
Another type of problem that cannot be solved in a purely algorithmic manner

are the systems that are unscalable, either because of the amount of data processed
or the complexity of the algorithm. An example can be the recommendation systems
commonly used by all online stores.
The solution to all these problems is to use the machine learning approach.
Instead of writing algorithms that would perform specific tasks in a specific way,
companies can collect data that describes the expected results (images with a
description of their content, sets of transactions with information on whether or
not they were an attempt to fraud or the history of purchases made by customers)
and use it as training data for an appropriate machine learning model.
The model thus created will respond to such predictive queries as “identify the
objects present in the image,” “assess the risk of a transaction being an attempt to
fraud,” or “recommend to a given user the goods that are most likely to be of interest
to the client.”
In this chapter authors have presented the methods of creating such systems, with
particular emphasis on data exploration methods as the most important stage of any
machine learning solution application.
It seems that after overcoming multiple technical limitations, a small number of
machine learning specialists – expert programmers with appropriate background
in the field of advanced statistics and geometry, able to build from scratch the
architecture of machine learning models, train models, evaluate their learning
progress, and implement them to solve practical problems in industry – have become
the main inhibitor of machine learning adoption in industry.
This shortage of machine learning specialists frequently results in machine learn-
ing development tasks being assigned to software engineers without appropriate
background in mathematics as well as information and knowledge theories.
With the advent of machine learning solutions industry implementation, a change
in the role of domain experts in the machine learning engineering process has been
witnessed. Despite not having formal training, domain experts may find themselves
collaborating on machine learning models’ development.
An example of challenges in collaboration between machine learning engineers
and domain experts is a large discrepancy in terminology used by both groups. This
problem can be in part tackled by starting any interaction with the introduction
outlining terminology originating in machine learning that is commonly used in
the development of ML-based systems.
Secondly, domain experts employ various software artefacts such as cloud-
based micro-services, frequently without a clear picture of their purpose and
without adequate knowledge on the internal workings of such solutions. This
may cause unexpected and unwanted outcomes when it comes to decision making
processes.
The adoption of understanding of machine learning-based software development
as well as sound knowledge on statistical methods by domain experts is thus crucial
for the efficiency and safety of operations. Therefore, industry-based education
strategies aiming at strengthening the cooperation between machine learning engi-
neers and domain experts, by offering domain experts a high-level understanding
of machine learning practices and artifacts, would enable more effective and safer
implementations of ML models to enhance decision making.
Glossary
ARIMA Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average – class of

algorithms for forecasting a time series. As the model’s
name suggests that it is a combination of auto-regression
(AR) model with moving average (MA) model.
Algorithmics Subfield of computer science. Study of design and effi-
ciency of algorithms.
Centroid Machine learning method that has its origins in geomet-
ric decomposition; it is a representative of a given cluster
or, in other terms, the center of a given group.
Entropy In information theory, average amount of information
attributable to a single message from information source.
Extrapolation It is the use of the same machine learning model to
calculate output variable value for input variable values
falling outside training data values.
Labelled data In machine learning, data that have already been catego-
rized.
Prediction In machine learning, calculating the value of output
variable for input variable values falling within training
data values.
Probability Distribution Function used to compute the likelihoods of occurrence
of various observation outcomes.
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Industry 4.0: Cloud–Assisted Internet of
Things Applications and Challenges 20
Atslands Rego da Rocha, Igor Leão dos Santos,
Letícia Ali Figueiredo Ferreira, and Augusto da Cunha Reis
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
The Cloud-Assisted IoT Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
CIoT Infrastructure Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
CIoT Virtualization Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
CIoT Application Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Cloud-Assisted IoT Application Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Cloud Manufacturing Application Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Healthcare 4.0 Application Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Agriculture 4.0 Application Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Challenges and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
Abstract
Combining the Industry 4.0 paradigms of the Internet of Things (IoT), edge
computing, and cloud computing in the form of a three-tier architecture, the
paradigm cloud-assisted IoT (CIoT) recently emerged. The CIoT paradigm is
strongly based on the virtualization of physical sensing devices and on the
instantiation of virtual nodes hosted in one of the three tiers of its infrastructure
to provide data to applications. Several types of applications can use the CIoT
to obtain its data. Examples of such applications are the ones that pertain to
the manufacturing, healthcare, and Agriculture 4.0 application domains. In the
A. R. da Rocha ()
Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brasil
e-mail: atslands@ufc.br
I. Leão dos Santos · L. Ali Figueiredo Ferreira · A. da Cunha Reis
Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
e-mail: igor.santos@cefet-rj.br; leticia.ferreira@aluno.cefet-rj.br; augusto.reis@cefet-rj.br
520 A. R. da Rocha et al.
manufacturing domain, the virtualization of physical manufacturing resources

(e.g., machines, tools, and facilities) and, thus, the instantiation of virtual
manufacturing resources, organized into virtual factories, can provide the on-
demand use and efficient sharing of capabilities from the physical manufacturing
resources among multiple users. The healthcare domain works as a network with
numerous instances, processes, departments, routines, and services integrated
and connected. This domain shares various resources to achieve a unique
goal: assure the well-being of the population by providing proper care. In the
Agriculture 4.0 domain, the combined use of the IoT, virtualization of resources
(sensors, robots, and machines), and big data are trends to create digital farming
and support decision-making in several essential agriculture activities. In this
chapter, the CIoT paradigm will be discussed as an infrastructure to support those
three application domains under the paradigm of Industry 4.0. Challenges that
emerge from CIoT applications will be discussed, and finally, it is pointed out to
future research directions.
Keywords
Internet of things · Cloud computing · Healthcare · Agriculture 4.0 · Cloud

manufacturing
Introduction
Since the Hannover Fair occurred in 2011, there has been an increasing interest in
the discussion of the topic Industry 4.0 by the academic community. Industry 4.0 is
a term that refers to the fourth industrial revolution. This revolution is characterized
by the emergence of a novel industrial paradigm, where manufacturers aim for
decentralized, integrated, automated, and waste-averse production systems. This
paradigm supports simultaneously, through intensive use of information and com-
munication technologies (ICTs), high levels of product personalization and highly
flexible mass production of the same customized products. This phenomenon is
called mass personalization and is an advance in relation to the mass customization
typical from the third industrial revolution (Tsai et al. 2020; Ghobakhloo and Fathi
2019; Wang et al. 2017).
Among the main novel ICTs used in Industry 4.0, several authors (Tsai et al.
2020; Ghobakhloo and Fathi 2019; Wang et al. 2017) cite the Internet of Things
(IoT) and cloud computing (Atzori et al. 2010; Vaquero et al. 2008), which are
key technologies for the discussion in this chapter. Regarding the IoT, its first
definition, according to Atzori et al. (2010), comes from the vision that “things”
are objects identified by RFID tags, merely. In recent years, such definition evolved,
now considering a global-scale networked infrastructure, that links a diverse set
of devices, the smart things. Smart things are, for instance, smartphones, laptops,
smart sensors, and household appliances. They can provide capabilities necessary
to support the development of novel cooperative services in IoT (Atzori et al.
20 Industry 4.0: Cloud–Assisted Internet of Things Applications and Challenges 521
2010). Smart things in the IoT infrastructure are highly heterogeneous, in terms
of functionalities and network protocols.
On average, more than 30 billion IoT connections are expected by 2025 (Lueth
2020). Since it achieved a global scale, the IoT is a key technology to support new
solutions to mitigate traditional global problems. Problems may comprise energy
efficiency, safety, and health of the global population. Thus, the IoT copes with the
goal of building the smarter (greener) planet (Hopper and Rice 2008). However, this
global scale imposes a challenge to the IoT. How to ensure the manageability of the
IoT network infrastructure? And how to handle the high volume of data generated
by the smart things connected to this global infrastructure (Rao et al. 2012)? The
answer to these challenges may reside in the cloud computing paradigm (Vaquero
et al. 2008).
Based on Vaquero et al. (2008), it is possible to define clouds as a large
(virtually unlimited) pool of user-friendly (and virtual) computing resources, which
can be reconfigured dynamically to serve a variable load from users. In the cloud
computing paradigm, clouds are exploited in a model of pay-per-use that is mediated
by service-level agreements (SLAs). More extensively, Liu and Wassell (2011)
highlight six key features over which this paradigm works: (i) virtualization (hides
from clients the heterogeneity of infrastructures, platforms, and data), (ii) scalability
(dynamically reconfiguring clouds to serve a variable load), (iii) usability (user-
friendly interfaces), (iv) reliability (response to failures), (v) security (of data that is
sensitive), and (vi) a business model (based on pay-per-use).
Moreover, Liu and Wassell (2011) define the services provided by clouds into
three levels: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and
software as a service (SaaS). In the lowest level (IaaS), virtual units built on physical
computing resources (such as processing and storage) are provided to users. In the
middle level (PaaS), cloud platforms for building cloud applications are provided to
users. Finally, at the highest level (SaaS), cloud applications are exposed. Thus,
clouds have what is necessary to help to surpass the challenges of IoT. Thus,
it became interesting to combine clouds and the IoT into a two-tier architecture
(Madria et al. 2014; Santos et al. 2015b).
However, the IoT applications still faced another challenge, regarding their
response time in the two-tier architecture. The response time of an IoT application
comprises the time for communicating the data to the cloud, the time of processing
by the cloud, and the time for the cloud to transmit the feedback to the IoT appli-
cation. Although the cloud can process huge amounts of data within a reasonable
time for IoT applications, such applications had to communicate to the centralized
cloud data centers through multiple hops to have their data processed and to receive
the feedback. Thus, the communication times involved were not satisfactory to IoT
application requirements, having a crucial impact on their response time. To surpass
this challenge, the fog computing paradigm emerged (Yi et al. 2015; Banijamali
et al. 2020).
Fog computing refers to enabling computing at the network’s edge. Thus, it is
possible to enable new applications and services for the IoT with low response time.
Fog nodes may be smart edge routers that provide its processing speed, through
multiple cores and built-in storage. In this way, the traditional routers become smart
and, thus, potential servers. In fog computing, fog nodes exist, which are the either
physical or virtual devices positioned at the network edge that provide services like
centralized clouds, but with reduced delay. Fog nodes can be either resource-poor,
such as a Raspberry Pi, or resource-rich, i.e., actual high-scale servers (Yi et al.
2015; Banijamali et al. 2020).
Fog nodes cooperate to produce the services required by the IoT in a distributed
fashion and are strategically positioned to provide low response time in communica-
tions. However, the processing and storage capabilities of the fog are lower than the
capabilities of the cloud. Thus, IoT applications must be designed to have this trade-
off in mind. IoT applications with strict response time requirements (more important
than computation requirements) can be met by the fog. Meanwhile, applications
with intense computation requirements (more important than the response time
requirement) can be met by the cloud (Santos et al. 2018; Li et al. 2017).
Therefore, the two-tier architecture was extended to comprise the fog computing
tier, resulting in a three-tier architecture. This three-tier architecture thus combines
the Industry 4.0 paradigms of IoT, fog computing, and cloud computing. This
architecture received different names, behind which figures the same concept. The
Cloud of Things (Aazam et al. 2014; Li et al. 2017), the Cloud of Sensors (Madria
et al. 2014; Santos et al. 2015b, 2018), and the cloud-assisted IoT, more recently
(Sajid et al. 2016; Wang et al. 2020). Figure 1 highlights the recent developments
in the literature regarding the cloud-assisted IoT. This chapter refers to this three-
tier architecture by the name of cloud-assisted IoT (CIoT). The cloud-assisted IoT
Three-tier
proposals:
Three-tier Cloud- • Aazam et al. (2014)
assisted IoT: • Li et al. (2017)
• Santos et al. (2018)
• Fog/edge computing
• Wang et al. (2020)
Two-tier
proposals:
• Madria et al. (2014)
• Santos et al. (2015b)
• Sajid et al. (2016)
Two-tier Cloud-
assisted IoT:
• Sensor Networks
• Cloud Computing
• Internet of Things
Fig. 1 The last 5 years of developments on the topic cloud-assisted IoT (CIoT)
paradigm is strongly based on the virtualization of physical sensing devices. Thus,

it foresees the instantiation of virtual nodes (VNs) that can be hosted in one tier
of the three-tier architecture (sensors/IoT, edge, and cloud tiers) to provide data
to applications. This instantiation occurs according to the rules of a cloud-assisted
IoT virtualization model and according to the requirements of the applications. For
instance, applications may have strict response time requirements, requiring that
VNs are instantiated on either sensors or edge tiers to speed up communications
by shortening distances (in the number of hops) among communication devices and
applications. As another example, applications may require the execution of high
amounts of computation to obtain their data, and the response time may not be a
strict requirement. In this last case, the instantiation of VNs to provide data to these
applications can occur in the cloud tier (Santos et al. 2015b, 2018).
This chapter has the objective of reviewing and discussing application domains
of the cloud-assisted IoT (CIoT), raising challenges in these applications. As in
every industrial revolution, the fourth industrial revolution introduces changes in
every sector of the economy (and society), not only in manufacturing (the secondary
sector of the economy). Thus, it is relevant to discuss applications of the Industry
4.0 technology of cloud-assisted IoT beyond manufacturing. In this sense, an
application domain from the primary sector (Agriculture 4.0) and an application
domain from the tertiary sector (healthcare) were also selected to be discussed in
this chapter (Ravina-Ripoll et al. 2019). The possibility of selecting applications
from the three different sectors of the economy to discuss is a clue of the extent of
the impact of the cloud-assisted IoT in the economy, but do not limit it, since there
may be other applications of the cloud-assisted IoT in society. This chapter thus
contributes by discussing how several applications, from three different application
domains, can use the cloud-assisted IoT and by raising associated challenges.
This chapter is organized as follows. Besides this introductory section, Sect. “The
Cloud-Assisted IoT Models” discusses the CIoT models. Section “Cloud-Assisted
IoT Application Domains” discusses the manufacturing, Agriculture 4.0, and health-
care CIoT application domains. Finally, Sect. “Challenges and Future Directions”
discusses challenges in the three CIoT application domains and points out future
research directions, concluding this chapter.
The Cloud-Assisted IoT Models
The discussion in this chapter is centered on the concept of the cloud-assisted IoT
(CIoT), as one of the concepts that enable Industry 4.0 and support its applications.
Therefore, it is first necessary to define the concept of CIoT formally. This section
was designed to fulfill this objective, based on the literature.
Following a didactic strategy to define the concept of CIoT, a division of
this concept into three parts was considered: (i) infrastructure, (ii) virtualiza-
tion, and (iii) applications. Where virtualization is performed over the infras-
tructure, applications use the virtualized infrastructure. Theoretical models for
each of these parts are described in this section, following a bottom-up strategy.
Therefore, Sect. “CIoT Infrastructure Model” describes the CIoT infrastructure

model, Sect. “CIoT Virtualization Model” describes the CIoT virtualization model,
and Sect. “CIoT Application Model” describes the CIoT application model.
CIoT Infrastructure Model
The CIoT infrastructure comprises three tiers, things, fog, and cloud tiers (respec-
tively referred by the acronyms TTier, FTier, and CTier), that form a communication
backbone (network) that links data sources and applications. Each tier comprises
computational entities (called nodes) that differ among tiers regarding resource
constraints and communication delay to the TTier (Banijamali et al. 2020; Santos
et al. 2018; Li et al. 2017).
The computational entities of the TTier, called thing nodes (TN), are typical
things that make up the IoT. For instance, TNs can be the physical sensor and
actuator nodes (either wireless or not), laptops, smart devices such as smartphones
and smart watches, smart vehicles, and wearable devices. In addition, TNs can be
virtual entities (software instances) running on top of physical TNs. For instance,
consider a physical smart fridge that is equipped with physical wireless smart
sensors, those last endowed with local sensing and processing capabilities. A virtual
counterpart of this smart fridge can be created using the available data and services
provided by its sensors. This virtual counterpart (a virtual) can be stored logically
within the own physical wireless smart sensors to provide smart fridge’s services.
An example of such services is to respond to queries by applications (a data
provisioning service) about the contents of the smart fridge and its energy efficiency
(Fensel et al. 2017; Li et al. 2017; Dinh and Kim 2016; Santos et al. 2015b; Verdouw
et al. 2013).
The computational entities of the FTier are called fog nodes (FNs). Physical FNs
can be, for instance, from a low-cost small-sized computer (closer to TNs) to smart
network devices endowed with computational capacities, such as smart routers and
switches, edge servers, and clusters of desktop computers (closer to CNs). Virtual
FNs are software instances, such as virtual machines, provided by a fog computing
virtualization model and running on physical FNs (Bellendorf and Mann 2020;
Santos et al. 2018; Li et al. 2017; Pham and Huh 2016; Bonomi et al. 2012).
The computational entities of the CTier are called cloud nodes (CNs). Physical
CNs are high-performance computing servers and data centers that form large
clusters within specific locations of the network. Virtual CNs are software instances,
such as virtual machines, provided by a cloud computing virtualization model, and
running on physical CNs (Bülbül et al. 2021; Liu et al. 2020; Santos et al. 2018).
Given the definitions of TNs, FNs, and CNs, it is important to mention one
important issue. The issue relates to the resource constraints of TNs, in comparison
to the more resource-rich FNs and the virtually unlimited resources of CNs, what
defines the tier each one fits. This classification is reflected in Fig. 2. The TNs
have constrained computation, communication, and energy resources, since they
are frequently miniaturized, mobile, and battery operated. FNs and CNs are, in
Cloud Tier (CTier) Network

Network Infrastructure 3
Infrastructure 5 VCN VCN
VCN VCN
Fog Tier (FTier)

Network VFN VFN
VFN Network
Infrastructure 4 VFN Infrastructure 3
VFN
VFN VFN VFN

VFN
VFN
VFN
VFN
Things Tier (TTier)

VTN VTN
VTN
VTN VTN
VTN
VCN Virtual Cloud Node
VTN
VTN VTN
VTN
VTN VFN Virtual Fog Node
Network Network Network
Infrastructure 1 Infrastructure 2 Infrastructure 3 VTN Virtual Thing Node
Fig. 2 Three-tier CIoT infrastructure model. Communication links among physical FNs and
physical CNs are represented, while links among physical TNs, and physical TNs and physical
FNs, had their representations suppressed for the sake of simplicity. However, consider that
physical TNs are connected among themselves, and at least one physical TN in an NI serves as
a sink node and gateway to one of the bottom-most physical FN, so that the other physical TNs in
the NI can access the edge of the fog network
turn, more resource-rich devices than TNs. They are connected to a stable power
network and to a stable communication network infrastructure and have no physical
dimension limitations. What differs the tiers of FNs and CNs is the scale of
computational resources (such as processing power and memory), which is greater
for the CNs, and the communication delay to reach the TTier, which is also greater
to CNs, imposing a trade-off. Supporting the TTier by the CTier allows processing
data faster than by the FTier. However, the results will be returned with a greater
delay (Bellendorf and Mann 2020; Santos et al. 2018; Li et al. 2017; Pham and Huh
2016; Bonomi et al. 2012).
Figure 2 shows the possible logical classification of each node within the tiers
of the CIoT. However, it hides the complexity of the physical topology of the
CIoT infrastructure. Meanwhile, Fig. 3 shows details of the physical topology of
the CIoT infrastructure that are hidden in Fig. 2. By observing Fig. 3, one is able
to understand how the CIoT infrastructure can be dynamic and organic, in both the
physical and virtual realms simultaneously. The CIoT infrastructure can grow by
adding, respectively, new physical and virtual TNs, FNs, and CNs to the network.
Moreover, physical TNs are described in terms of processing speed, total
memory, bandwidth, list of sensing and actuation units, remaining energy, network
TTier and FTier CTier

VTN
VCN
VFN
VTN
VTN
CTier
VFN VTN
VCN VFN
VCN
VTN
VTN
VFN VFN
VFN VFN VFN

VFN
VFN
VTN
VTN
VTN CTier
VCN VCN Virtual Cloud Node
VFN
VFN Virtual Fog Node

VTN
VFN
VTN
VTN Virtual Thing Node
Fig. 3 CIoT infrastructure physical topology
identification, and location. Meanwhile, virtual TNs, physical and virtual FNs, and
physical and virtual CNs are described in terms of processing speed, total memory,
bandwidth, network identification, and location (Santos et al. 2018).
Physical and virtual TNs, FNs, and CNs are owned and administered by CIoT
infrastructure providers (InP). They are part of network infrastructures (NIs) that
sum up to compose the CIoT infrastructure. Physical TNs, FNs, and CNs are
deployed over an area and connected by either wireless or cable links (supported
by the Internet), so that every node pertains to one or more NI. The InPs define the
physical and logical (administrative) boundaries of their NIs (Santos et al. 2018).
The deployment of virtual TNs, FNs, and CNs on their respective physical
hosts is transparent to the three-tier CIoT infrastructure and is handled by typical
virtualization models of IoT, fog, and cloud. As in Dinh and Kim (2016), the
CIoT infrastructure is agnostic to the IoT, cloud, and edge computing virtualization
models adopted to provision of the virtual TNs, CNs, and FNs. The CIoT follows the
principle of overlay virtualization, seen in the work of Khan et al. (2016). Thus, the
CIoT virtual nodes (VNs) are built in an overlay layer, over already virtual entities
(the virtual TNs, FNs, and CNs). In such model, the whole CIoT infrastructure is
offered through overlay virtualization. According to Khan et al. (2016), overlay
networks are advantageous: they are distributed, lack a centralized control, and
allow sharing of resources, thus being CIoT virtualization candidates. Thus, CIoT
VNs are built on the available virtual TNs, CNs, and ENs. Therefore, the virtual
entities of each tier of the CIoT infrastructure are the ones over which the CIoT
virtualization model, described in next subsection, runs.
CIoT Virtualization Model
The concept of CIoT virtual nodes (VNs) considers that such entities are abstract
representations of capabilities (including data, computation, and communication
capabilities) of the CIoT infrastructure. The VNs are allocated to provide data
to applications’ requests, fulfilling their requirements. In this sense, VNs link the
CIoT infrastructure and CIoT applications. The VNs are computational entities,
which are implemented as instances of software, analogous to typical IoT resources
(Zhang and Chen 2015), that run on top of the TTier, FTier, and CTier. Examples
of attributes of CIoT VNs are processing power, memory, bandwidth, geographic
location coordinates and identification of its host, and the list of underlying nodes
(virtual TNs, FNs, and CNs that compose the VN). These are all functions of
the properties of respective underlying nodes. To manage the VNs, since their
instantiation to their operation, a virtualization middleware is necessary. The most
important functions of this middleware are described in this section, along with the
main properties of VNs (Banijamali et al. 2020; dos Santos et al. 2019; Santos et al.
2018; Khalid et al. 2014; Madria et al. 2014).
In the virtualization middleware of the CIoT, there is a resource provisioning
function that performs the instantiation of VNs and calculates each of their
properties. Resource provisioning can be either proactive, i.e., InPs instantiate
VNs and configure their services apart from CIoT operation and independently
on application requests (prior to their arrival in the CIoT), or reactive, i.e., the
instantiation of VNs occurs dynamically and automatically, in response to the
arrivals of requests during the CIoT operation. In addition, a resource allocation
function exists in the middleware, with the objective of allocating resources (VNs)
to provide data to the applications during the operation of the CIoT and its VNs.
Moreover, a task scheduling function is responsible for coordinating the underlying
CIoT infrastructure of each VN, during CIoT operation, to obtain the necessary
data to be further allocated to an application. The resource provisioning, resource
allocation, and task scheduling functions can be either centralized, running on a
central virtual TN, FN, or CN, within the respective middleware component and
solving a globally defined problem, or decentralized, running partly within the
respective middleware components of each VN and solving a localized/distributed
problem through collaboration of VNs (dos Santos et al. 2019; Santos et al. 2018).
It is important to mention that the VNs can publish and update, proactively, all
their information in the TTier, FTier, and CTier, upon changes in their information,
by communicating new information to the virtualization middleware. However,
the middleware, which instantiated VNs, has the information regarding all VNs,
allowing it to also sharing VN information among TNs, FNs, and CNs reactively
to either an application request or a detected change in a VN. A standard, such as

the sensor modeling language (Yuriyama and Kushida 2010), for describing VNs’
information can be used, which abstracts the heterogeneity of underlying devices
and protocols (dos Santos et al. 2019).
The CIoT virtualization model can be information fusion based (Fig. 4), such
as Olympus (Santos et al. 2015b). In this case, each VN represents an information
fusion technique (Farias et al. 2016; Nakamura et al. 2007), is able to provide data
as the output of this technique, and is capable of performing sensing, processing,
or actuation on the CIoT infrastructure as required to produce the output data
of the VN, i.e., performing a data update through task scheduling (Santos et al.
2018). A data update activates and establishes communication routes among
underlying virtual TNs, FNs, and CNs composing the VN, transparently to users and
applications. Task scheduling approaches that fit the characteristics and specificities
of the CIoT can be found in literature (Li et al. 2014; de Farias et al. 2013; Chengjie
Wu et al. 2012). The output data provided by CIoT VNs comprises raw sensing
data and/or processed data (by the information fusion technique of the VN) and/or
control actions data (feedback data or acknowledgment data in the case of actuation
M
VTN
D VCN
M VFN
VTN M
F VTN
F M
F
VCN D VFN
VFN VTN
D M
M VTN
M F
VTN
VFN
VFN
D
VFN Measurement level
F
VFN M CIoT Virtual Node
VFN
D
M Feature level
VTN
VTN F CIoT Virtual Node
M
VTN F D
Decision level
F M
VFN VCN
CIoT Virtual Node
VFN
M
VCN Virtual Cloud Node
M VFN Virtual Fog Node

VTN
VFN
VTN VTN Virtual Thing Node
Fig. 4 Examples of compositions of Olympus virtualization model’s virtual nodes (VNs), in an

overlay network in the CIoT. Lines represent that a VN is composed either by another VN or by
virtual TNs. Thus, in this figure, communication links are not represented
tasks). The output data of a VN is, thus, in a given information fusion level, i.e.,
measurement, feature, or decision (Nakamura et al. 2007). Moreover, the output
data of a CIoT VN is of a single data type. Each data type existing in the CIoT
is, ideally, unique, thus defined by its unique description. A data type may be, for
instance, a damage detection indicator, represented in a data structure (for instance,
a multidimensional matrix, vector, or a single integer of a given number of bytes),
collected for a specific civil structure, such as a bridge or wind turbine, for instance
(Alves et al. 2017; Santos et al. 2016). A data type also defines the information
fusion technique and the input data types necessary used to calculate it (dependences
among data types). Several VNs can provide data in a same given data type. It is
the responsibility of InPs to define and describe to users, and their applications,
the data types existing in the CIoT. Thus, a request, of an application, to a given
data type can be met by the provisioning of data of this data type, where such
provisioning is performed by a VN. To perform this provisioning, each VN has
the implementation of a service of data provisioning, with such implementation
corresponding to functions necessary to acquire and process the provided data
(according to the information fusion technique of the VN) in response to application
requests (dos Santos et al. 2019; Santos et al. 2018). The model that governs the
CIoT applications is described in Sect. “CIoT Application Model”.
CIoT Application Model
The CIoT application model is based on a workflow approach, inspired by the

research field on web services (Chirichiello 2008; Ganesarajah and Lupu 2002).
CIoT applications are modeled as time-based (Li et al. 2017), i.e., applications
define the moment in time for demanding data from the VN. CIoT users model
applications as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) of workflow, where each node of
an application graph is a request to a given data type (Li et al. 2017, 2013).
A request is, thus, a logical interface that links to, and demands data from, the
data provisioning service implemented by VNs. Thus, requests are abstract, i.e.,
they have no implementation of information fusion techniques or services. Such
implementation is accomplished by the VNs and is under responsibility of the
InPs that instantiate (provision) the VN, either reactively or proactively, through
the implementation of the resource provisioning process of the CIoT virtualization
middleware (dos Santos et al. 2019; Santos et al. 2018). Figure 5 shows an example
of an application with six requests modeled as a DAG.
A request has (i) a list of identifiers of predecessor and successor requests (the
list of predecessors is possibly null, when the request is the first in the DAG
of the application), (ii) a given data type requested (called the output data of
the request), and (iii) a non-negotiable requirements list and levels of negotiable
requirements that must be fulfilled by VNs in their data provisioning. Precedences
among requests are defined by the data dependence between two or more requests,
i.e., a request’s input data may depend on the output data of one or more requests.
Non-negotiable requirements (e.g., the data type) must be completely fulfilled by
R4 Request
I Input data
R1 O I R1 O
M F
O Output data
I R2 O I R4 O USER
F Measurement level
D
M CIoT Virtual Node
R1 O I R3 O
M F Feature level
F CIoT Virtual Node
D
Decision level
CIoT Virtual Node
Fig. 5 Example of application, modeled as a DAG, and comprising six requests
VNs, while negotiable requirements (e.g., data freshness) allow a given level of
partial fulfillment (Perera et al. 2014). Data updates calculate data of a given data
type and improve its data freshness (dos Santos et al. 2019; Santos et al. 2018).
In turn, an application, as a whole set of its requests, has (i) the moment in time it
arrives in an application entry point (AEP) in the CIoT, (ii) a given level of priority in
relation to other applications, and (iii) its list of requests. An AEP may be positioned
(and run) in a given virtual TN, FN, and CN, being a part (a software component)
of the virtualization middleware. In addition, multiple AEPs can exist in the CIoT,
while an application arrives with its set of requests in the CIoT through only a single
AEP. Applications can arrive, for instance, from user devices (such as smartphones
or PCs) connected directly (or through the Internet) to a FN. Upon the arrival of
an application in the CIoT, the virtualization middleware can proactively search
(according to an implementation of the resource allocation process by the InPs) by
the data types and VNs that provide this data type, which can be alternatives to meet
the application requests. However, there is also the possibility of VNs proactively
disseminate their information periodically in the CIoT, to the resource allocation
component (dos Santos et al. 2019; Santos et al. 2018).
An application manager subsystem (AMS), a component of the virtualization
middleware, has the main functionality of allowing users to develop applications.
The AMS allows users to select the relevant data types available in the CIoT and
to express the requests to such data types. The AMS may use service discovery
methods in literature (Perera et al. 2014) to discover data types and data provisioning
services. In addition, the AMS may use domain specific languages (DSL) or
semantic queries (Fuentes and Jiménez 2005) to express requests (Santos et al.
2018).
The application workflow defines the flows of data among VNs in the CIoT
and, consequently, the work performed by VNs to obtain this data. One possible
implementation of procedures to handle applications in the CIoT is described
as follows. After its development in the AMS, the application joins the CIoT
through an AEP that runs a resource allocation algorithm to assign the requests to
VNs. When assigned to VNs, the requests are transmitted and join the respective
VNs’ queues of requests. Now consider a single request X in a VN Y queue.
When selected in the queue by the VN Y to run, the request X activates the data
provisioning service of the VN. Then, the data provisioning service of VN Y waits
for the input data to arrive in it, from other VNs to which the predecessor requests of
request X were allocated. With the input data available in VN Y, the VN Y calculates
its output data locally through complementary local data collection (if necessary)
and execution of its information fusion technique. Finally, the data provided by the
VN Y is assigned as the output data of the request X, and thus the request X is
finally met. Suppose request X is a final request in the application graph. In that
case, the VN transmits the output data of the request X to the application users,
located in the original AEP where the application arrived. Otherwise, the output data
is transmitted to the VNs that hold successor requests, and the process is repeated
in these VNs. Moreover, data reuse, i.e., reuse of data (either input or output data)
of a given data freshness level (negotiable requirement), can be implemented in
the data provisioning service of a VN. This can avoid unnecessary data updates
(reexecutions of the information fusion technique) and thus improve the response
time and energy consumption of the CIoT (dos Santos et al. 2019; Santos et al.
2018). In Sect. “Cloud-Assisted IoT Application Domains” application domains of
the CIoT, whose models were described in this section, are described.
Cloud-Assisted IoT Application Domains
This section describes possible application domains of the cloud-assisted IoT, which
are cloud manufacturing, in Sect. “Cloud Manufacturing Application Domain”;
Healthcare 4.0, in Sect. “Healthcare 4.0 Application Domain”; and Agriculture 4.0,
in Sect. “Agriculture 4.0 Application Domain”.
Cloud Manufacturing Application Domain
Under the paradigm of Industry 4.0, the manufacturing application domain has
recently realized the emergence of the paradigm of cloud manufacturing (CM).
As the cloud-assisted IoT paradigm, this paradigm is also based on virtualization,
however, in terms of virtualization of physical manufacturing resources (machines,
tools, humans, and facilities, for instance). The instantiation of virtual manufac-
turing resources (VMRs), organized into virtual factories (VFs), can provide the
on-demand use and efficient sharing of capabilities from the physical manufacturing
resources among multiple users (each one emitting its production orders) (Zhang
et al. 2014).
The CM paradigm architecture provides components that implement methods for
ensuring, for instance, the man-to-man, man-to-machine, and machine-to-machine
communications and allocation of the capabilities of the physical resources to the
production orders emitted by users. Therefore, the cloud-assisted IoT paradigm can
play an essential role in supporting the CM paradigm by providing data required

by the VMRs and CM architecture components to perform their attributions (Zhang
et al. 2014).
In this section, the joint use of CM and CIoT paradigms will be referred to as the
paradigm of cloud-assisted IoT manufacturing (CIoTM). A possible architecture for
the CIoTM will be discussed, based on the original CM architecture from the work
of Zhang et al. (2014). Benefits of joining both models are, for instance: (i) benefits
of the inclusion of fog computing, missing in the original CM architecture, bringing
reduced response time to applications; (ii) better energy efficiency of CIoTM
devices in general and lifetime extension for battery-operated devices, through data
reduction achieved through information fusion (Santos et al. 2016, 2018; Li et al.
2017; dos Santos et al. 2014); and (iii) integration of CM with other application
domains that can be served by the same CIoT infrastructure, because VNs providing
data to the CM applications can also provide the same data to other applications
from different domains, thus improving data reuse in a same standard format across
multiple application domains, fostering the integration of applications, cooperation
among applications, and reduced energy consumption (Santos et al. 2018; Li et al.
2017). Moreover, the CIoTM paradigm can be applied to several types of production
processes. This section also briefly discusses the application of CIoTM in these
types of production processes. Specifically, this section discusses more deeply the
application of CMCIoT on the continuous process of wind energy production in
wind farms.
This section describes the cloud manufacturing paradigm (CM), in Sect. “The
Cloud Manufacturing (CM) Paradigm”; the cloud-assisted IoT manufacturing
(CIoTM) paradigm, in Sect. “The Cloud-Assisted IoT Manufacturing (CIoTM)
Paradigm”; the cloud-assisted IoT manufacturing (CIoTM) applications, in
Sect. “Cloud-Assisted IoT Manufacturing (CIoTM) Applications”; and the specific
application in a wind farm, in Sect. “Cloud-Assisted IoT Manufacturing (CIoTM)
in a Wind Farm”.
The Cloud Manufacturing (CM) Paradigm

The CM is a new paradigm of manufacturing that is strongly based on communi-
cation networks and virtualization. Cloud computing is used by this paradigm to
expose to users the capabilities of physical manufacturing plants and their physical
manufacturing resources as services (called CM services) to users. As such, the
capabilities can then be managed and operated in an intelligent manner. Under this
concept of CM, sharing of physical manufacturing resources and manufacturing
capabilities among multiple users becomes possible. Besides that, CM services
show characteristics such as (i) safety, (ii) reliability, (iii) high-quality, (iv) low-cost,
and (v) on-demand provisioning (Zhang et al. 2014).
The CM architecture comprises five layers, as described by Zhang et al. (2014).
These are, from top-down, the application, middleware, service, perception, and
resource layers. The application layer of the CM architecture is responsible for
abstracting a variety of specific application interfaces, for various manufacturing
industries. Different users (classified as cloud operators, manufacturing resource
users, and manufacturing resource providers) access on-demand cloud services

through the application layer. CM applications may support the whole life cycle
of products and provide cloud-end customized interfaces (Zhang et al. 2014).
The middleware layer of the CM architecture has the main attribution of
supporting core components and their functions for the operation of manufacturing
capability services. Some core components are responsible for the management of
functions of cloud service, knowledge, cooperation, platform running, transaction,
failure, and energy, for instance (Zhang et al. 2014).
The service layer of the CM architecture comprises virtual CM resources and
CM services. The primary attribution of this layer is to promote virtualization of the
manufacturing resources and capabilities, providing the respective cloud services
and thus forming the pool of CM services (Zhang et al. 2014).
The perception layer of the CM architecture has the primary goal of sensing
physical resources of manufacturing and capabilities of manufacturing, connecting
them to the edge/cloud network and the Internet. The use of technologies such as
the IoT is proposed in this layer. These technologies enable the connection of a wide
variety of manufacturing resources and capabilities to the above layers (Zhang et al.
2014).
The resource layer of the CM architecture refers to the physical resources of
manufacturing and their capabilities. Physical manufacturing resources can be,
for instance, machining centers, machine tools, knowledge, and data. In turn,
the formation of capabilities occurs with resources, people, and knowledge. The
capability is necessary to complete a manufacturing task. Capabilities can be, for
instance, design, simulation, and product capabilities, as well as other life cycle-
related capabilities of the manufacturing process (Zhang et al. 2014). Section “The
Cloud-Assisted IoT Manufacturing (CIoTM) Paradigm” describes the integration
of CIoT and CM paradigms, considering the architecture of CM described in this
section.
The Cloud-Assisted IoT Manufacturing (CIoTM) Paradigm

Figure 6 shows the integration of CM and CIoT paradigms, in terms of their
concepts. From top-down, it is first necessary to distinguish CM applications and
CIoT applications. The application layer of the CM architecture, as described in
previous section, remains intact. Its main goal is to provide access to the virtualized
manufacturing resources and capabilities by users. CIoT applications, in turn,
are described by their workflows (DAGs) that orchestrate VNs in the CIoT. The
CIoT applications emerge in the middleware layer of the CM architecture. It is
suggested that CM middleware functions are performed through data requests and
analysis from the service layer. Thus, CM middleware functions drive the CIoT
VNs, defining application requests to them. In turn, VNs provide data, through
their data provisioning services, to CM middleware functions. CM application and
middleware layers are typically performed by the CTier, according to Zhang et al.
(2014), with no direct involvement of the TTier. However, it is suggested that the
FTier can also perform CM application and middleware layers, according to the
requirements of CM applications regarding response time.
CM Application Layer
FTier CIoT Application

CTier workflow
CM Middleware Layer
Measurement level
M
CIoT Virtual Node
CM Service Layer Feature level
D M
F F
D CIoT Virtual Node
D M TTier
FTier Decision level
D
CM Perception Layer VTN VTN CTier CIoT Virtual Node
VCN VCN Virtual Cloud Node

VFN
VFN Virtual Fog Node

CM Resource Layer
TTier
VTN Virtual Thing Node
Fig. 6 Integration of the concepts of CIoT and CM
In the CM service layer, the virtualization of the manufacturing resources and

capabilities is performed through the instantiation of CIoT VNs. This layer is
the ideal candidate to hold the CIoT VNs, because CIoT VNs can, through their
information fusion techniques implemented, perform sensing, data processing, and
control actions over the manufacturing resources and capabilities, allowing some
level of interaction with them, while returning data through their data provisioning
services. Thus, it is suggested a data-driven virtualization model of manufacturing
resources and capabilities in the CM services layer. So that this model allows the
integration of the CIoT models described in Sect. “The Cloud-Assisted IoT Models”
and the CM architecture from Sect. “The Cloud Manufacturing (CM) Paradigm”. It
is important to mention that VNs in this layer can be built on top of any virtual TN,
FN, or CN. Thus, elements of the TTier, FTier, and CTier are present at this layer
of CM.
In the CM perception layer, figures all the communication infrastructure of the
TTier, FTier, and CTier of the CIoT. Thus, this level supports all the necessary
technologies to connect the manufacturing resources and capabilities to CIoT VNs
in the service layer. Physical and virtual TNs, FNs, and CNs are present in this
layer. Most of the CIoT infrastructure is part of the CM perception layer. The part
that does not fit the perception layer composes the resource layer. In the resource
layer, specific smart things (physical and virtual TNs) from the CM domain exist,
representing manufacturing resources and capabilities. Thus, the TTier is divided;
part of it is in the perception and service layers, while the other part (specific of
the CM application domain) is in the resource layer. It is important to mention that
it is being considered that manufacturing resources and capabilities are physical
and virtual smart things, respectively, because capabilities may be soft in their
conception, while manufacturing resources may be real physical machines, for

instance. Next section raises potential applications of CIoTM.
Cloud-Assisted IoT Manufacturing (CIoTM) Applications

Manufacturing resources and capabilities are provided to users through CM (Zhang
et al. 2014). Since the CIoT paradigm can integrate to the CM paradigm, as
discussed in Sect. “The Cloud-Assisted IoT Manufacturing (CIoTM) Paradigm”, it
is possible to suggest the same to the CIoTM paradigm. It is also possible to consider
that different manufacturing processes, with specific manufacturing resources and
capabilities, besides specific characteristics of production volume and variety, can
consequently benefit from the CIoTM (Chambers 2015). Thus, CIoTM applications
in the manufacturing application domain can be classified into the type of production
process to which they are designed. The types of production processes are project,
jobbing, batch, mass, and continuous.
Project production processes are characterized by the lowest production volume
and highest production variety among all the types of production processes (in
general, projects result in unique products). Examples of project production process
are the ones from naval industry (e.g., shipyards), aerospace industry (e.g., aircraft
construction), and civil construction (e.g., bridge building). In such processes,
manufacturing resources (equipped with sensors) have strong mobility requirements
that must be considered by the CIoTM, since they frequently move from storehouses
to where the final product (project) is being assembled. Multiple types of data can
be extracted from sensors in the product, which generally has large dimensions,
thus with large sensing area requirements and low mobility requirements, to be
provided through VNs to CIoT applications and, thus, to CM middleware functions.
In addition, manufacturing resources (for instance, tools, machine tools, and human
resource teams) can also have sensors deployed, collecting data that is also highly
variable due to the flexible nature of resources.
Jobbing production processes are characterized by not so variable products
as in the project production process and a higher production volume. The main
difference of this process to other production process is the need to share resources
among products. In each product, the transforming resource operates similar
transformation operations, however, individualized by product. Examples of jobbing
production processes are the ones from tailoring, sawmill, furniture, and specialized
toolmaker industries. It is usual, in this production process, that resources have
fixed positions within functional departments, which group resources according to
their capabilities. Therefore, sensors installed in manufacturing resources usually
have no mobility requirements, and information from the departments can be more
easily obtained by fusing information from the multiple similar resources in them.
Products run through long and complex routes among departments, according to
the sequence of operations (performed by the departments) they must go through.
Mobility of sensors in products is, thus, a strong requirement in this kind of
production process.
Batch production processes are characterized by an average volume of goods
standardized in batches. Each batch follows a predefined sequence of operations,
and manufacturing resources are more specialized (in terms of the operations they
can perform) in comparison to jobbing and project processes. Examples of batch
production processes are the manufacture of clothing and footwear on a small scale
(consider differentiated products, such as a shirt factory, which produces the same
model, in different colors and sizes) and the production of components that feed
an assembly line. In batch production process, it is possible to monitor and take
decisions to whole batches, not requiring that each product has sensors installed
on it. However, fusing information from multiple products within batches is still a
possibility. Moreover, manufacturing resources generate data with lower variability
in relation to jobbing production process.
Mass production processes are characterized by large-scale production of highly
standardized products, with repetitive activities and stable demand. Examples of
mass production processes are the ones from large-scale and standardized textile
products, automotive products, and ceramic products. The mass production process
considers a manufacturing resource structure that is highly specialized and not very
flexible (in terms of the operations they can perform on products), in comparison
to previous production processes. Thus, resources equipped with sensors can be
monitored more easily, generating data with lower variability than batch production.
In this kind of production process, the steady product flow is more important to be
monitored, thus manufacturing resources and the assembly line are more important
to be equipped with sensors and monitored than the products individually. Although
advantages may still exist in monitoring products individually, this monitoring is
more costly than in previous production processes, since the production occurs in
large scale.
Finally, continuous production processes are characterized by the impossibility
of identifying products individually (discretely). The production flow sometimes
cannot be interrupted. Products and operations (processes) are interdependent. And
high volumes of products must be allocated to production, to justify the fixed cost
related to the operation. It is the most inflexible production process. Examples
of continuous production processes are the ones from industries of oil and gas
extraction, water treatment and distribution, chemicals, and electricity production.
In next section, an application of CIoTM in a continuous production process of wind
power is described.
Cloud-Assisted IoT Manufacturing (CIoTM) in a Wind Farm

In this section, the scenario of application of CIoTM in a wind farm will be
described, with the entities of the CIoT infrastructure described, the VNs’ and
data types’ description, and a CIoT application workflow description, designed
to support the CM middleware function of failure management. This section is
concluded with a discussion on the possible CM application to expose to users the
manufacturing resources (wind turbines) from this scenario.
In continuous production processes, such as wind power production in wind
farms, the product flow’s properties can be monitored (and not discrete units
of products) regarding power quality, for instance, along with manufacturing
resources’ (such as power lines and wind turbines) properties, regarding structural
health (Alves et al. 2017; Santos et al. 2015a). The application scenario described
here will focus on physical TNs that are the wind turbines equipped with sensors,
those last capable of measuring acceleration in their positions on the wind turbine.
Virtual TNs can be instantiated and run over the physical TNs, representing the
wind turbine virtually. In turn, physical FNs, such as smart routers, can be installed
in random positions within the large area covered by the wind farm, forming a
communication backbone that links to the Internet at a point in the frontier of the
wind farm. From this point on, the fog network may comprise several heterogeneous
physical FNs, toward the physical CNs. Physical FNs host, each, a virtual FN
with its representation. Physical CNs are data centers located far away from the
wind farm, somewhere on the Internet, linking several wind farms geographically
dispersed in a hypothetical country of large dimensions.
One first type of VN (at measurement level) that can be instantiated on virtual
TNs is the VN that provides a data type named “A” which consists basically of
raw acceleration data. This data type A is defined by a data structure with the
fields: (i) given fixed sampling rate used in acquisition, (ii) fixed number of samples,
(ii) values of acceleration for each sample, (iii) identification of the wind turbine,
and (iv) relative position in the turbine. The information fusion technique that
implements the obtention of this data type A consists of reading the accelerometer
samples and, possibly, applying filters for suppression of noise on this acquired
data (a measurement level information fusion technique). A second type of VN
(at feature level), also instantiated on virtual TNs, provides data type “B,” which
is a local damage detection indicator, calculated through an information fusion
technique seen in dos Santos et al. (2014). A third type of VN (at decision level), also
instantiated on virtual TNs, provides data type “C,” which is a warning, issued in
case of local damage detection on the wind turbine. A fourth type of VN (at decision
level), also instantiated on virtual TNs, provides an actuation feedback, which may
shut down the wind turbine in case of damage detection. Data type D depends on C,
which depends on B, which depends on A. An application workflow, linking these
four data types as specified, can be periodically issued to the CIoT VNs mentioned,
to periodically assess the turbines and try to detect damage. This verification can
occur several times a day, imposing low communication overhead and requiring
little processing within the own virtual TNs, thus allowing local decisions of VNs
on their virtual TNs. If damage is detected, the actuation foreseen in data type D
can shut down the turbine immediately and issue an actuation feedback to users (the
user in this case is the failure management component of the CM middleware, which
may be in a virtual FN or CN), avoiding disasters of larger dimensions (Alves et al.
2017; dos Santos et al. 2014).
A fifth type of VN can be instantiated on virtual FNs and provides the data type
“E,” which is a damage localization coefficient (dos Santos et al. 2014). And a sixth
type of VN can also be instantiated on virtual FNs, providing a data type “F,” which
is a damage extent determination coefficient (dos Santos et al. 2014). Data type F
depends on data types E1, E2, . . . En, which are data type E variations, calculated
for several different positions in a wind turbine. As well, each data type E depends
on data types B1, B2, . . . Bn. The point is that damage localization and extent
determination is done for a cluster of sensors positioned in different locations on the

structure, according to dos Santos et al. (2014). However, localization and extent
determination of damage must be determined fast enough to allow fast response in
case of damage occurrence. Thus, the FTier is the ideal candidate to handle this
greater amount of computation, with faster response than the cloud. The VNs at the
virtual FNs that calculate data types E and F perform tasks of cluster heads in the
localized algorithm presented by dos Santos et al. (2014). Application workflows
can be defined to data types E and F and their variations, with also demanding
periods of execution, since data flows through the TTier and FTier. Finally, a data
type “G” that depends on data type “A” can be defined, which is the result of a
detailed structural properties’ analysis of each wind turbine in the wind farm. A
VN providing data type G can be in a virtual CN. And an application workflow can
request data types A (with variations A1, A2. . . An) and data type G. Processing and
providing data type G requires huge amounts of data and transmission of such data
to the cloud. However, the structural analysis is not focused on deciding on damage
detection fast. But it is interested on studying the structural behavior of the wind
turbine during long periods of time. Data type G must be interpreted by a structural
engineer, which can study the evolution of damage that occurs slowly over time.
This application runs periodically, but can occur once a day, week, or month, and
thus does not require fast response. Moreover, the CN can perform analysis across
multiple wind farms, drawing the state of damage of the whole wind power system
of a country (dos Santos et al. 2014).
Finally, the failure management component of the CM can process the data
from all the data types mentioned previously and help managing which physical
wind turbines will compose the virtual manufacturing resources (wind turbines) that
will be exposed to users. Based on the analysis (information fusion techniques) of
each data type, and the states of damage of each physical wind turbine, new sound
physical wind turbines can be selected to compose an existing virtual wind turbine
dynamically, allowing the virtual wind turbine to operate continuously. Prediction
of damage can also be performed, allowing the change of physical wind turbines
to occur predictively. Thus, the continuous production flow of wind power is never
cut due to failures (damages) in wind turbines of the wind farm. A CM application
can use the virtual wind turbine to provide electricity to a given user, and thus, the
continuous flow of electricity is ensured by the failure management component of
the CM middleware. Concluding this section, it is emphasized that several examples
of applications (regarding CIoT and CM applications) were raised in this section,
suggesting clearly the possibilities of data reuse and use of each tier of the CIoT
for meeting each kind of application. However, the applications in the scenario
described in this section are not limited. Several other applications in manufacturing
can be raised, either by reusing the data types and infrastructure described or by
expanding them, since the CIoT infrastructure and virtualization model are scalable
(Santos et al. 2018). Other applications in different production processes can also
be raised, using similar concepts described in this section. Finally, other types of
CM services can be also be designed, fitting the service categories in Zhang et al.
(2014).
Healthcare 4.0 Application Domain
The healthcare sector (HCS) works as a network with numerous components

(companies, instances, processes, departments, routines, and services) integrated,
connected, and sharing various resources to achieve a unique goal: assure the well-
being of a population efficiently delivering proper care. These components and
their interaction produce a scenario of unexpected and dynamic outputs that may
or may not behave differently to its initial conditions and can create new and
emergent behaviors and unintended consequences. Therefore, the multiplicity of
its configuration and the complex behavior of this sector require not only efficient
resource and asset management and process and quality control solutions but also
reliable and capable ways to deal with huge amounts of new data and information.
What is also important to reinforce is that these needs are closely related. The
high volume and diversity of data and data sources that can be received from the
system by sensors or other connected devices in a to-be robust analytical HCS
environment will make available the information needed for not only monitoring
said environment but also making decisions around staffing, resourcing, financial
considerations, health programs, operational planning, and as a basis for public
health policies. These monitoring and decisioning can be extended to learning
and, possibly, automation as we go from a state of changing analog to digital
data (digitization) to digitalizing the workflow and using technology to produce
new capabilities. Moreover, the nature of the processes involved in the sector call
for quick answers and, sometimes, real-time solutions. In this scenario, and with
the development of information technology, smart healthcare technology emerges
as the employment of technology to connect people, resources, and institutions
related to the HCS to actively manage and respond to a medical ecosystem’s needs
intelligently.
But before getting into that, it is important to understand the HCS. As the key
characteristic of the HCS is to provide (and produce) health-related services, it is
possible to classify such services according to their types using a “service structures
classification” (regarding flexibilization and labor intensity) that is analogous to
the “manufacture structures classification” previously used for the manufacturing
application. The broadness of the HCS allows it to fit throughout all types of
services. Services provided by hospitals and emergency departments (ED), and
surgeries in general, are often classified as professional services as there is a high
degree of labor intensity and a high degree of interaction with the patient. In
contrast, laboratory analysis and mass vaccination campaigns, for instance, can
be categorized as mass services as, in the first case, its processes are previously
designed, without the direct participation of the patient at the time of providing, and
in the second case the patient is handled through the stages of the linear process as
in a mass production logic. Thus, it is possible to see that all types of services can be
found within this particular HCS. These distinct classifications corroborate with the
diversity of the HCS, especially when considered that there are cases in which more
than one classification can be perceived within the same installation or configuration
(labs are running inside hospitals, for instance).
Similarly to what happened with the service classification, it is possible to

observe the healthcare sector through the lens of production systems configuration
and perceive its wholesome as being project-oriented, where each output (patient)
is unique in its requirements and resources used. However, the HCS can also inherit
characteristics from other classifications, such as job shop-oriented processes for its
high variety of clinical cases, low volume of patients being attended simultaneously,
use of general-purpose machines and facilities for distinct procedures and exams,
employment of highly skilled human resources, and a large inventory of materials,
medications, machinery, etc. availability. For both cases and types of classification,
these different “heritages” can extend throughout its chain of processes, installa-
tions, and configurations (chains refer to the existent interconnections among them)
according to the particularities of each one of them.
Given these parallels and classifications, it is easier to perceive the heteroge-
neousness and complexity of applications of the HCS as well as its several and
distinct components. Moreover, this heterogeneousness also shows how a singular
place, such as a hospital or an ED, have diverse needs regarding other two main
domains: patient-related (based on the patients themselves and the care provided to
them) and process-related (based on the processes and routines running to make this
care possible and efficient). These two domains are intertwined and all decision-
making in the HCS must consider both. Thus, the objective of this chapter is to
take a close look at the operations, routines, and processes that support the care.
However, it is important to acknowledge that the high-touch and patient-centered
aspect of the HCS is still considered, but understanding that operational efficiency
is a key factor for the quality of care as well.
Regarding decision-making, another way of looking at the HCS is looking at
its managerial and hierarchical levels. Despite how a HCS-related domain operates
in means of customization/flexibility or volume, service, or production, they all
depend on structured decision-making, planning, and control to operate properly and
efficiently. Frameworks decompose this hierarchy into three administrative levels:
strategic (SL), tactical (TL), and operational (OL) (Bittencourt et al. 2017). These
levels guide the decision by not only assigning responsibility to distinct players but
also by determining the period of impact (long, medium, and short term), time of
response, detailment of information and data frequency, contact with the operation’s
edges, and degree of impact to the patients.
Considering the smart healthcare domain, the administrative hierarchical levels
share similar characteristics with the three tiers/layers of the CIoT: CTier, FTier,
and TTier. Analogous to the SL, the CTier is on the top of the hierarchy and is more
centralized. SL requires huge amounts of data and information and, therefore, higher
computational resources. The long-term decisioning that happens in the SL is better
suited to the CTier, which has a greater delay than the other tiers but a more efficient
data processing capacity. The FTier is also the intermediate layer responsible for
data transformation and distributed storage and network management and control.
The FTiers is closer to the operations as it is more local and spread in distinct
environments, which is comparable to the TL. Its lower response when compared to
the CTier makes it more adequate for quick responses and even on-time decisions,
which can be suited for middle-complex decisions that require faster responses,
such as the one happening in the TL administration. Finally, the TTier devices are
not suitable for making big autonomous decisions as their computational capacity
enables quick, narrowed resolutions that can be helpful in specific situations.
Therefore, it can be well suited to local and operational decisions from the OL.
As both the hierarchical levels and the CIoT can be classified and understood
based on response time, data aggregation, and decision capacity and responsibility,
we hypothesize that there might be a correlation between strategic, tactical, and
operational decisions and how they are positioned in the CIoT. Also, we understand
that the dynamism and complexity of the HCS create some intersection and overlay
between these hierarchies organizations and that the flexibility and dynamism of the
data processing layers enable a fluctuation of application among the SL, TL, and
OL levels of a HCS organization.
The IT interconnection and the presence of devices and technologies based on
CIoT is also being recognized as a solution for underlying governance policy-
making. The integration and exchange of health information and data helps predict
patterns, finding optimized solutions and establishing healthcare as a service and
an infrastructure working in a cloud-based system. Regarding policies, technology
is not only influencing decision-making and operational performance but how the
system itself is going to behave in terms of data integration and security. Therefore,
understanding how a government administered public healthcare system currently
works becomes a necessary step to understand how it can be inserted and placed in
a smart environment.
Healthcare Applications
The way a healthcare system is organized dictates how its multiple healthcare
applications are organized and their decisions are spread out on the hierarchical
strategic framework. Therefore, before untangling these applications, it is important
to highlight which type of system will guide this work.
Worldwide, there are only 15 countries that implement universal public health-
care with full state support. Among them, Brazil is a country of continental
dimensions with the fifth great world population characterized by its multi-ethnic
aspect and a recent democratization process. Brazil has a structured political system
composed of multiple parties and three levels of independent governments that make
decisions at federal, state, and municipal scales. As the country started to establish
its political dynamic, it has developed a dynamic, complex public health system
(the Unified Health System or SUS), which is based on the principles of health as a
citizen’s right and the state’s duty. This system allows coordination, integration, and
resource transfers among its three decision levels as it is based on a decentralized
policy that grants autonomy of the decision to each one of them (federal, state, and
municipality) committed and guided by a set of universal health policies, goals, and
responsibilities. Moreover, the delivery of care set by this HCS is threefold into
primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care integrating public and private health
organizations.
To manage the decentralized policy, frameworks for government decision-

making were expanded. The extension of these levels (federal, state, and municipal)
is similar to the hierarchical strategic framework (strategic, tactical, and operational)
that is of interest in this discussion. Also, the political structures of the Brazilian
health system were groundbreaking innovations as they enabled a greater number
and variety of stakeholders to take part in the decision-making process and defined
areas of institutional responsibility more clearly, making the SUS a role model
health system worldwide.
Like any other HCS, the Brazilian healthcare system (or SUS) is defined by its
complex behavior, multiple nature, and heterogeneous applications. As its premise
is integration and strategic coordination, there is an urge for efficient management
that requires the support of informatics, data, and information technology systems
and infrastructure. However, in the process of digitization versus digitalization, most
of the SUS is still facing the digitization phase (Gava et al. 2016). This lack of
support and capabilities is still one of the biggest challenges facing hospital and
healthcare management personnel, healthcare professionals, and informatics experts
alike in Brazil, both in terms of procedural design and accessibility. Therefore, it is
important to position the SUS as a complex but still most analogic health system
that, to the best of our knowledge, could benefit from the exploration of its variety
of data points and sources in a cloud-based system.
Given this context, in this section, we will attempt to draw the correlations
between the levels of cloud technology and strategic decisions to propose an
architecture framework that distributes the decisions of the HCS around the different
layers of a cloud-assisted IoT-based system. To this end, the Brazilian HCS will
be represented and described by means of some of its applications in which each
performs a decision-making process in healthcare management.
The applications were sorted out based on their decision level and described
according to their current performance policies on the Brazilian healthcare system
as stated by the Healthcare Law (Law 8080/90) (BRASIL 2011), Ministry of Health
(MOH) (BRASIL 2020), Family Health Programme, Brazilian Mobile Emergency
Care Service (Ministério da Saúde 2003), Pact for Health (Ministério da Saúde
2006a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i), DATASUS (Ministério da Saúde 2006a), and Localiza
SUS (Ministério da Saúde 2020a).
Application A: Healthcare system budget planning: the HCS responsibility is
decentralized and divided among the three governmental spheres and their counsels
and secretariats. In the union sphere, the SUS is administered by the Ministry
of Health, responsible for levying taxes and social contributions and repassing
them to state and municipal funds. It is also responsible for defining the Global
Financial Ceiling (GFC), which value, for each state and each municipality, is
defined based on the Granted and Integrated Programming (GIP). In the states, the
SUS is administered by the Regional Health Departments and State Secretariat of
Health, which is responsible for controlling the health budget for the entire state
and repasses resources to the municipalities as well as levying taxes and social
contributions for the state. Also, the states manage the States’ Financial Ceiling
(SFC), which is composed of the sum of the Financial Ceilings of Assistance
(FCA), Health Surveillance (HS), and Epidemiology and Disease Control (EDC).
In the municipalities, the SUS is administered by the Municipal Secretariat of
Health, which is responsible for managing the resources received by the federal and
state spheres and repass a fraction of the municipal budget to health programs. All
decisions and budget plannings are independent but yet integrated with the superior
spheres.
Application B: Capacity planning of ambulance services: the Mobile Emer-
gency Medical Service (SAMU) aims at guaranteeing care delivery, appropriate
transport, and patient referral to the SUS and can be free requested by telephone
nationwide. The MOH is held accountable for acquiring the ambulances and
equipment for basic and advanced life support so they could be later transferred
to states and municipalities.
Application C: Ambulance bases location decision: the base location decision
is made at the municipal level and takes into consideration response time, demand
points, distance from points of interest (hospitals and 24-hour Emergency Care
Units, for example), and relocation costs. Removing ambulances from their old base
to a new base would be an operational level decision (low degree of aggregation: for
each ambulance).
Application D: Ambulance orientation and diversion: ambulance diversion
(AD) is required due to patient preference, lack of appropriate facilities, equipment
or specialty, or (most common) crowding and overcapacity. In periods of the surge,
be it predictable or not, AD is used by EDs and hospitals to reorientate patients and
avoid tardiness and waiting.
Application E: National Immunization Program (NIP): the NIP runs at the
national level and is responsible for creating and managing vaccination campaigns,
eradicating diseases in the country and elaborating strategic measures to acquire,
distribute, and standardize the use of special immunobiological agents.
Application F: Allocation (distribution) of medicaments and drugs or mate-
rials to each link (hospital) in the healthcare supply chain: the National Medicine
Policy, as any other Brazilian healthcare policy, contains the responsibility of
each government hierarchical level. It is the duty of the municipality and their
secretariats, through integration with state and federal government, to supply and
provide required medicaments to the hospitals under their administration. These
medications must follow the National List of Essential Medicines (RENAME).
Application G: Scheduling of elective surgeries in a surgical center: Schedul-
ing surgeries for a surgery center can be a tricky task of assigning start times to all
surgery-related activities for each individual patient besides the surgery time itself,
and it depends on capacity, resource availability, and urgency. It can be a strategic,
tactical, or operational activity based on the approach taken. In this case, the focus
is on elective surgeries planned within 1 week (or two).
Application H: Hospital procurement planning: Brazilian hospitals spend
over 50% of their budget on the acquisition of supplies and goods. According
to Medeiros e Ferreira (2018), procurement and purchasing are a core activity in
healthcare as it requires special care regarding storage and the risk of deterioration.
Also, as the SUS purchasing process is decomposed throughout its hierarchical
chain with decentralized responsibilities, this specific application is taking into

consideration only the procurement planning of public hospitals under the SUS
management.
Application I: Hospital supply acquisition: This application refers to placing
the order request of the required supplies at the end of the procurement planning. As
for public hospitals, there is a public purchasing policy in which all the acquisitions
of supplies and medications are done through public bidding. In this case, this
application is the publication of the public bidding for the required supplies and
goods.
Application J: Organizational Human Resource Planning: the human
resource for health management, regulation, and planning is the role of the
Secretariat of Labor and Education Management in Health (SGTES), created and
run under the MOH. Among several actions, the SGTES develop a comprehensive
HR information system, plan and execute the Work Management National Policy
for SUS, perform the work regulation, and oversee the HRH management at state
and municipal level. All SGTES actions are at the federal and strategic level.
Application K: Hospital planning of on-call teams and shifts: Hospital
administration (a.k.a. nurse chief, clinic chief, resident chief, surgeon chief, etc.)
is usually responsible for organizing on-call teams and work shifts of their staff.
Because of the unpredictability of the demand, the dynamics of the work, and the
public health employment flexibility, this is an operational and recurrent task in the
hospitals. Shift and on-call schedules are done weekly.
Based on these descriptions, Table 1 presents the complexity of the decision
established according to the scope (federal, state, municipal, local), decision
planning time frame (short, medium, and long term), level of data aggregation (low,
medium, high), and hierarchical level of the decision for each application.
As stated, the SUS is a decentralized system that distributes and shares its deci-
sions throughout its hierarchical levels (federal, state, and municipal). Therefore, the
same application can be taken on the strategic, tactical, or operational decisioning
level depending on the impact of the decision, the decision-maker, and its coverage.
Applications Distributed into the CIoT Tiers

Keeping in mind how the current state of the healthcare system works, this section
will explore how the CIoT could be inserted in this scenario in the future and,
therefore, how the applications might work then.
According to how the applications are placed throughout the hierarchical levels,
a parallel was established between them and the type or level of responsibility of
each tier of the CIoT. This parallel is based on which level the decision would be
made. To this end, a system was drawn in which the filled circle indicates where
a final decision was made, the empty circle represents where a partial decision is
being made, and the dash represents that there is no decision being made at this
level. Table 2 presents how each application might distribute their decisions on each
level.
Decisions of applications running at the strategic level may be the responsibility
of the CTier since they need more information and usually aggregates huge amounts
Table 1 Healthcare Management Applications classification

HSC Level of Hierarchical
Applica- Time data aggre- level of the
tions Scope frame gation decision References
A Federal, 1 year High Strategic (Ministério da Saúde 1996;
state, and BRASIL 2011; Vargas et al.
munici- 2015; Segatto and Béland
pal 2019)
B Federal 1 year High Strategic Ministério da Saúde (2003)
and O’Dwyer (2013, 2016)
C Municipal 1 month Low Tactical Ministério da Saúde (1996,
2003) and Nogueira and
Castilho (2016)
D Local Online Low Operational Pham et al. (2006),
Ramirez-Nafarrate et al.
(2014), and Baek et al.
(2020)
E Federal 1 year High Strategic Domingues et al. (2012)
F Municipal 6 months High Tactical Clavel et al. (2018) and
Anjomshoa et al. (2018)
G Local 1/2 weeks Low Operational Riise et al. (2016), Clavel
et al. (2018), and Anjomshoa
et al. (2018)
H Local 1 month Low Tactical Longaray et al. (2018) and
Medeiros and Ferreira
(2018)
I Local 1 day Low Operational Longaray et al. (2018) and
Medeiros and Ferreira
(2018)
J Federal 1 year High Strategic Buchan et al. (2011) and
Oliveira (2015)
K Local 1 week Low Operational Oliveira (2015), Alves et al.
(2015), and McElroy et al.
(2020)
of data that can be supported by the computational capacity of this level. Also, as the
response time is longer, there is more time for processing and collecting data from
different sources along the way. However, there are some exceptions. For instance,
applications requiring tactical decisions can be placed in the CTier if they have a
high degree of data aggregation, such as Application F.
As the physical nodes of the FTier are closer to the applications, the FTier is often
responsible for aggregating data for tactical decisions. Also, since the fog structures
are not linearly arranged and they can have several levels that intermediate the
application and the CTier, they are flexible to support decisions that need different
response times. However, they may only be responsible for lower amounts of data
than the amount required by strategic decisions.
Table 2 Decision matrix throughout cloud-assisted IoT levels

HCS applications CTier responsibility FTier responsibility TTier responsibility
A • ◦ -
B • ◦ -
C ◦ • -
D - ◦ •
E • ◦ -
F • ◦ -
G • • ◦
H - • ◦
I - - •
J • ◦ -
K - • -
TTier devices have low computational capacity and quick response time and can
usually take over operational decisions. In most applications, they will be replacing
mechanical tasks and releasing manpower and human resources that can put more
effort into tactical and strategic activities.
Another exception for this logical representation is Application G. Even though
it refers to an operational decision and has a low aggregation of data, it needs
information from higher levels, such as patient demand from the whole system (as
SUS cover all the country); at the same time it needs data and information about
assets availability and capacity, which is usually stored by the FTier as they are
more dynamic. Therefore, the final decision is shared by the CTier and the FTIer.
TTier devices do not have the computational capacity for this type of decision.
These special cases demonstrate that, even though there is a similarity between
the hierarchical levels and the CIoT structures, some flexibility can support the
complexity and dynamism of the healthcare sector. This dynamism is closely related
to the overlay virtualization and the sense that the healthcare applications can either
run on a specific tier or be between layers.
First of all, it is important to highlight that all CIoT levels are responsible
for collecting and transmitting data, merging and aggregating data, and providing
communication infrastructure to enable the decision-makers to collaborate in the
decision-making process. Therefore, for instance, a purchasing decision made in
Application I would be communicated to Application H, a level above on the
hierarchical chain of decision.
CIoT VNs for the Healthcare Applications

CIoT VNs can represent the data required from healthcare applications previously
described. Each application VN contains a set of data types, and the VNs must be
placed in the CIoT tier responsible for the decision. The responsible tier for each
application was defined in Table 2.
For Application A (strategic budget planning), for instance, the VN is composed
of several types of data that come from the strategic steps for elaborating and
modeling the integrated regional planning. First, there is the re-evaluation and re-
definition of the health regions that, based on cultural, financial, and social data,
besides communication and transportation infrastructure data, group municipalities
to elaborate similar health plannings and actions and define the minimum services
of care present in each region. Then, there is the collection of data regarding the
health situation of each region and the elaboration of the HealthMap, which aims
to gather and systematize the region’s health information to serve as a basis for
situational analysis. This step uses the data from current assistancialist parameters.
Next, there is the definition of interventions based on guidelines, objectives, goals,
and indicators that portray the commitments of federated entities in the organization,
shared health actions, and services within the scope of the health region, with a
focus on health outcomes. After, it is elaborated on the General Programming of
Health Actions and Services, which allows harmonizing the physical and financial
quantities of health actions and services to be developed within each region. With
the definition of priority interventions, which includes the definition of the respon-
sibilities and goals of each federated entity in the execution of actions and services
in the health region, the definition of budgetary and financial responsibilities begins.
The inputs that help define these responsibilities are the following: the Annual
Health Program of each entity, the Action Plans of the Strategic Networks (Rede
Cegonha, Urgency and Emergency Network, Psychosocial Care Network, among
others) and the resources of the Surveillance in Health and Primary Care, among
others. For the federal government, financial data depends on GFC, taxes, and social
contributions. As the federal government is responsible for repassing the funds for
the state and municipal spheres, it has to define and explicit the SUS financial
automatic flows for each governmental sphere. Also, it has to communicate with the
internal and external institutions and the health counselings. Due to the complexity
of the system and the number of entries, the financial data is extensive. However,
the decentralization of the HCS allows a better share of resources and data between
each administration hierarchical level, which helps the information flow between
the CIoT layers. Because of the huge amounts of data that compose the financial
matrix, the VN of Application A is better suited in the CTier, where its decisions are
made. It takes heavy computational resources not only to aggregate but to integrate
the diverse amounts of information and data required. The inputs needed to define
the financial budget can also be allocated in sub VNs in the FTier, supporting the
CTier in this application.
Each application has to define its own VN based not only on the data type but the
processing methods for the data. The well definition of the VNs allows a functional
node allocated in the required CIoT tier.
Agriculture 4.0 Application Domain
In this section, the cloud-assisted IoT paradigm is presented as an infrastructure to

support data management for Agriculture 4.0 domain applications. The combined
use of the Internet of Things, virtualization of resources (sensors, robots, machines,
aerial images), and machine learning are trends to create a digital representation of
the farm and support decision-making in several essential agricultural activities. In

Agriculture 4.0, one of the main goals is to improve productivity and reduce costs.
A digital farm representation supports choosing an ideal supply chain management
plan to apply minimum quantities of resources required and target particular areas,
such as water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Several agriculture systems are used to
choose an ideal supply chain management plan. Specifically, in precision irrigation,
it is one of the most water-intensive agricultural activities globally, which have been
increasing over time. The new trend blockchain integrated into the cloud-assisted
IoT paradigm is applied in recent agriculture activities such as transportation and
logistics, creating a unique interaction mode in the supply chain.
Definitions and Technologies

Agriculture 4.0 is the fourth evolution in farming technology. Smart agriculture,
smart farming, digital farm, and digital agriculture are terms frequently used
interchangeably in this context. They refer to the digital representation of the farm,
in which data are monitored and analyzed to support an accurate decision about
the cultivation issues related to several agricultural activities: seeding, irrigation,
harvesting, crop maturity rotation, storing, transport, and logistics. One common
characteristic between these terms is the virtualization of sensors, robots, unmanned
aerial vehicles, and machines to achieve a digital representation of the farm. Cloud-
assisted Internet of Things is frequently used as infrastructure to the virtualization
approaches since it refers to the thing nodes connected to the Internet, which is able
to monitor and share data. More thing nodes have been connected to digital farming
in recent years, such as tensiometers and temperature sensors, weather stations,
plant health sensors, drones, robots, and machines. For instantiation, various virtual
thing nodes enrich the digital representation of the farms providing a large portion
of data related to weather (and meteorological data), crop (type, cycle), irrigation
system (water demand, irrigation period), plants health (diseases and plagues), and
soil (moisture, temperature, nutrients). Thus, data volume, variety, and velocity
are changing over the year on the fields. Analyzing and interpreting data and its
intrinsic variability, both spatial-wise and time-wise (particular characteristic to the
IoT devices), are more complex and accurate.
Recently, the CIoT and machine learning have been integrated to support
accurate decision-making. The data analysis module can interpret all different kinds
of data related to the whole supply chain in the past and the present and perform
predictions to make more accurate decisions. According to Zhai et al. (2020), there
are four relevant areas to apply prediction techniques aiming to prepare farmers
for the inherent agriculture uncertainty: (i) operations to be performed to improve
product quality; (ii) climate change to manage crop and avoid unnecessary risks;
(iii) potential symptoms and early signs about possible occurrences of pests and
diseases to avoid crop losses; and (iv) market fluctuations (consumers demands and
the price trend of agricultural products).
In Agriculture 4.0, one of the main goals is to improve productivity and reduce
costs. Digital farming supports choosing an ideal supply chain management plan to
apply minimum quantities of resources required and target particular areas, such as
water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Several agriculture applications are used to choose
an ideal supply chain management plan. Therefore, specific and well-known vari-
ables help estimate resource consumption or prepare farmers to handle uncertainty.
Forecast of the specific variables can be crucial to enhance the management plan.
Specifically, smart irrigation is one of the most water-intensive agricultural activities
globally, increasing over time. Reference evapotranspiration is a crucial determinant
for predicting water demand for smart irrigation applications. According to Braga
et al. (2019), evapotranspiration is the simultaneous occurrence of evaporation and
transpiration processes in a crop. This coefficient is usually an input parameter
to machine learning techniques for making decisions related to irrigation systems.
Several works (Braga et al. 2019; Torres et al. 2020; Nagappan et al. 2020) propose
machine learning-based models to estimate the reference evapotranspiration using a
reduced-feature model (fewer sensors) in comparison with the conventional methods
used in the agriculture domain in order reduce systems costs. In this context, the
evapotranspiration parameter plays a vital role in system agriculture to decision-
making related to suitable irrigation to increase water-saving and reduce system
costs.
Leveraging machine learning to data analytics in CIoT applications is a potential
approach to support accurate decision-making, forecasting several parameters,
and handling uncertainties in digital farming (or similar terms frequently used
interchangeably). However, machine learning techniques adopt historical data as
a training set – historical data containing valuable information to improve decision
accuracy. Therefore, in general, it is necessary for a previous step of farm monitoring
and data set creation to enable learning successful experiences. How more extensive
the historical database is, more machine learning approaches are enabled, and the
greater the chance of learning successful experiences.
Applications
Several CIoT applications for digital farming have the challenge of optimizing and
automating agricultural processes such as irrigation, transportation, and logistics. In
this context, some developed applications and its CIoT infrastructure are discussed
as follows.
Smart Irrigation Application

Campos et al. (2020) propose the SmartGreen, a cloud-assisted Internet of Things
framework, which provides soil and meteorological data monitoring to support
decision irrigation management. The framework performs data analytics to obtain
precision irrigation information. The solution also provides a prediction model
based on machine learning to estimate the matric potential using meteorological,
crop, and irrigation data. The prediction model can be used in fields without
(partially or totally) tensiometers to determine the moisture used in an irrigation
management plan.
Regarding the CIoT infrastructure, data collecting and monitoring are performed
on the thing nodes equipped with tensiometers on the lowest layer. Thing nodes
are powered with small solar panels. Virtual nodes enrich the framework with
moisture data in three depths to analyze the moisture on different soil levels and,
consequently, irrigation needs. Climatic data (solar radiation, evapotranspiration,
rain precipitation) from virtual nodes are also taken into account to support irrigation
decisions. Concerning actuators, thing nodes can be installed in the fields such as
the water pumping system, in which virtual thing node can control the surfaces
to be irrigated (period and start time), the pressures to be expected, and the rates
of drippers. Processing, IoT analytics, and decisions are performed on the edge
or cloud nodes. These activities of the SmartGreen are distributed on these two
upper layers. Based on Torres et al. (2020), the framework identifies and removes
outliers and uses a fusion data mechanism distributed in levels to optimize data
quality and improve decision-making. Specifically, in Agriculture 4.0, fog nodes
are not always a resource-rich device compared to cloud nodes. Fog nodes can have
constrained computation and mainly constrained communication in comparison
to a cloud node. Farms are far from cities in general; therefore, there are issues
related to Internet connectivity or cellular networks to deliver a reliable service.
Moreover, in general, several digital farming solutions include low-cost hardware
(e.g., Raspberry devices) as geo-distributed fog nodes managed in a distributed
network. The farm can be a large region, and thus, it can be monitored, controlled,
and managed divided into regions. Fusion data and partially distributed decisions
performed at the SmartGreen fog level are also beneficial since they can decide and
actuate in irrigation systems or punctual decisions and day-to-day terms decisions.
It is essential to mention that fog nodes are geographically internal to the farms,
significantly reducing the traffic to the cloud node, processing time, and latency.
In general, it occurs a holistic vision of the context and sophisticated decisions in
the cloud nodes. The prediction model aforementioned is a module implemented on
cloud nodes.
Logistic and Transport Application

Torky and Hassanein (2020) track as one of the top predictions the integration of
Blockchain with IoT in global supply chain management by 2030. The new trend
blockchain integrated into the cloud-assisted IoT paradigm is applied in recent
agriculture activities, creating a unique interaction mode in the supply chain. In
this context, several emerging approaches for logistics and transportation have been
discussed. Danco Davcev and Mitreski (2018) present an approach that leads to
trust, transparency, and information flow to the applications and services within the
food supply chains. Blockchain technology addresses security to the supply chain
system in the entire process cycle of production, transport, and food distribution
on the market. Blockchain is a distributed ledger for recording transactions with
a timestamp between several devices in a network. Blockchain identifies the
unique device entities, and the identity information is immutable. Thing nodes are
responsible for monitoring the crops, farms, and weather. Data processing occurs
at the fog nodes in the CIoT infrastructure. A trusted packaging identifying the
product is available. The identifier is associated with the food transport data, which
must be available to the consumer, about reliability and safety. Thus, the consumer
can order, monitor, and control the food products specifying the source, quality,
delivery place, and other requirements. Consequently, blockchain enhances the

management capabilities allowing better interactions of farmers/producers with the
consumers. So, this technology enables every transaction to be recorded, replicated,
and available for each part of the food supply chain and communicate with
consumers via CIoT infrastructure. Regarding the payment, blockchain can also
help the customer enabling the crypto payment for agro trading or logistics, as
presented in Dasaklis et al. (2019).
Despite the benefits of leveraging the blockchain in Agriculture 4.0 applications,
it is essential to mention that scalability is a well-known challenge of blockchain
technology. Moreover, the decentralized algorithm of blockchain often requires
extensive resource consumption (processing and energy), while thing nodes are
resource-constrained. For digital farming, the integration of CIoT infrastructure
in three tiers (things, fog, and cloud nodes) and blockchain is a potential design
pattern, and it is applied in several other works. In this context, blockchain can
work as a database from different nodes (things, fog, and cloud) and monitor
the transactions. According to Torky and Hassanein (2020), blockchain can be
leveraged for providing trust and security as missed links in this kind of integration
approach. On the other hand, fog and cloud nodes are acceptable to overcome the
resource-constrained issues of the thing nodes.
Challenges and Future Directions
This section aims to review and discuss the general challenges that emerge from
applications based on CIoT infrastructure. Finally, it points out future research
directions and specific challenges for cloud-assisted Internet of Things applications
in the Industry 4.0 paradigm discussed throughout the chapter: manufacturing,
healthcare, and agriculture.
The virtual thing node concept presented in the CIoT system provides a digital
representation of a physical thing concept. In a holistic view, a set of VNs provides
the digital representation of a specific application domain: manufacturing, health-
care, or agriculture. A common challenge between the Industry 4.0 application
domains is to specify and develop a significant number of VNs with the actual states
of the corresponding physical things representing the desired domain adequately.
This aspect involves interoperability, complexity, cooperation in a standardized
way, efficient modeling, data formats, and data analytics. Besides, suitable models
still are lacking in many domains. Moreover, the intrinsic constraint resources
(computing, storage, and energy) of thing nodes result in some challenges, such
as developing security and interoperability requirements. Heterogeneous types,
massive volume, and real-time velocity of data produced by VNs result in data
analytics challenges. Besides, video and image sensors are prevalent in Industry
4.0 (e.g., diseases and plagues for image detection). Local processing of this kind
of data is challenging. Offloading to fog or cloud nodes can be a solution. However,
the transmission of the tremendous volumes of data is a challenge since high
bandwidth consumption is a bottleneck of wireless communication networks and
resource constraint devices (mainly energy). A hybrid approach of local processing

and offloading is often successful.
Other issues that are set under consideration are inherent to the Industry
4.0 application domain discussed in this chapter: manufacturing, healthcare, and
agriculture. Concerning the manufacturing domain, a well-known challenge is the
highly fragmented data generated in several product life cycle processes across
industrial sectors, Dai et al. (2019). Therefore, further sharing of data is required
for improving data fusion and data analytics techniques. Upgrading of factories
is another challenge since thing nodes firmware might be upgraded massively and
periodically due to security patches. Firmware updates are usually downloaded from
a central server, and it is a bottleneck limiting according to Dai et al. (2019).
The main concern and challenges in the healthcare domain are ensuring data
security (confidentiality, authentication, and integrity) and preserving patient pri-
vacy. The vulnerability of CIoT infrastructure poses security challenges not even in
the thing nodes but also in the edge network (fog nodes) and cloud environments.
Moreover, the requirements of healthcare applications are defiant because they often
need highly reliable transmissions and real-time delays to deliver medical data.
Moreover, the requirements of healthcare applications are defiant because they often
need highly reliable transmissions and real-time delays to deliver medical data.
Regarding Agriculture 4.0 domain, well-known challenges in farms are discussed
several times in the last years, such as intermittent communication issues, energy
constraints devices, distance from cities, and markets. Other challenges that emerge
from this application domain are increased food productivity due to the popula-
tion growth that directly impacts water scarcity and soil degradation. Moreover,
according to Zhai et al. (2020), other upcoming challenges need to be also handled
correctly:
1. User-friendly graphical user interface for farmers because they are not familiar
with computer systems and algorithms;
2. Improving decision-making support for the life cycle of Agriculture 4.0 accord-
ing to the duration of agricultural activities (short-term, mid-term, long-term)
in an integrated way for day-to-day, seasonal, or yearly decisions to be more
enriched. Respective examples are scheduling daily irrigation activities, a reason-
able period for fertilizer application based on their experiences, and machinery
pieces for replacement based on monitoring the status. Improving decision-
making support can suggest, for example, integrating two of these activities into
a new activity: fertigation, a process that combines fertilization, and irrigation.
3. Handling uncertainty mainly meteorological conditions that have a huge influ-
ence on crop and resource consumption (water and fertilizers);
One future research direction is integrating blockchain and CIoT platforms for
improving solutions related to the challenges discussed in this section. Blockchain
can improve security on CIoT applications, specifically data integrity and privacy.
Moreover, blockchain and CIoT in three-tiers is the apparent potential in distributed
environments for Industry 4.0 applications. One motivator CIoT application is
product tracking since it is partially overlapped between manufacturing, healthcare,

and agricultural domains. Product tracking applications based on blockchain and
CIoT concepts can monitor the entire manufacturing chain, as can also monitor the
logistics and transport of pharmaceutical products and the track food chain.
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Anticancer Natural Alkaloids as Drug Bank
Targeting Biomolecules 21
Kakali Bhadra
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Natural Alkaloids with Reference to Anticancer Effect: Its Sources and Types . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Targeted Biomolecules by Anticancer Natural Alkaloids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
Anticancer Natural Alkaloids Targeting Nucleic Acids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Anticancer Natural Alkaloids Targeting Cellular Proteins, Enzymes,
and Growth Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
Carbohydrate Target by Small Molecules as Anticancer Alkaloids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
Anticancer Natural Alkaloids Targeting Lipid Metabolism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
Abstract
Alkaloids are low-molecular-weight nitrogen-containing natural products mostly

found in plant and some microorganisms and restricted to few animals also.
Historical evidence over time suggests the use of alkaloid both as a medicine
and toxicant. The widespread distribution and their wide exhibit of structures
make the classification of the alkaloids difficult. Several natural alkaloids
display antiproliferation and antimetastasis consequences for different kinds of
malignant growths both in vitro and in vivo. This section highlights on the
naturally derived alkaloids with potential anticancer properties, highlighting the
targeted biomolecules, viz., targeting nucleic acids of different conformation
and its associated enzymes, cellular proteins, growth factors, carbohydrates, and
lipids. The same natural alkaloids have been accounted to have different target
biomolecules for the inhibition of progression and metastasis of specific cancer
K. Bhadra ()
Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India
560 K. Bhadra
cells. Since cancer is a disease process driven by many aberrant oncoproteins

related to multiple pathways of signal transduction, single-target therapeutic
approach is not going to lead to a successful translational application. Thus,
development of multitarget agents is an urgent quest for the treatment. Based
on these informations, this study may be of prospective use in a framework to
design novel anticancer drug molecules for improved therapeutic applications
in the future. But further research and clinical trials are necessary before final
acceptance.
Keywords
Natural alkaloids · Anticancer · Targeted biomolecules · Nucleic acids ·

Cellular proteins · Lipid metabolism
Introduction
Through adaptive evolution of hundred million years, several toxic plants, poi-
sonous microorganisms, and venomous animal species have developed an enormous
number of strong affinity and stable natural-based compounds, which have been
isolated and identified with time. Some of these natural compounds possess the
capacity to explicitly bind to human receptors/target and have an extraordinary
potential to be used as novel model drug candidates for many varieties of diseases,
including cancer (Habli et al. 2017). Designing drug molecules to ameliorate human
disease is an overwhelming yet thrilling undertaking. In the last two and half
decades, many biomolecular researches have been centered around certain types
of distinctive molecular targets on cells, which can be perceived by natural-based
biomolecules, to uncover their utilization in various parts of clinical forecast and
remedial applications. Progress in biological sciences has led to the improvement of
new targeted agents, including drugs targeting defective DNA repair, such as PARP
inhibitors; drugs targeting angiogenesis; and immune checkpoint inhibitors such
as anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies, receptor proteins, and many more. There are four
significant classes of natural macromolecules that make up most of a cell’s mass,
viz., proteins 10–15%, lipids ∼2%, carbohydrates ∼3%, and nucleic acids 5–7%,
and each one a significant part of the cell performing wide exhibit of capacities.
Hence, these biomolecules have an expansive scope of applications in targeted drug
delivery and have gone to the forefront in recent years. Figure 1 shows the action of
few recently studied anticancer natural alkaloids suppressing cancer by modulating
multiple signaling pathways targeting different biomolecules.
Drug development describes the process of developing a new molecule that
effectively targets a specific weak point in a cell. This process involves specific
preclinical development and testing, followed by trials in as many person/humans as
possible to determine the efficacy of the drug in terms of pharmacokinetic, pharma-
codynamic, and pharmacogenomic status of the molecule to determine its ultimate
therapeutic status. This chapter highlights the significance of natural alkaloids as
21 Anticancer Natural Alkaloids as Drug Bank Targeting Biomolecules 561
Fig. 1 Anticancer natural alkaloids restraining cancer by modulating multiple signaling pathways
targeting different biomolecules
anticancer drug molecule targeting its specific biomolecule. We intend to reveal

insight into promising developing characteristic alkaloids that could be conceivably
converted into the clinical anticancer drug molecule. With time, there is rising
enthusiasm, looking for better natural origin anticancer drug molecules with high
effectiveness and low toxicity. The vast majority of the chemotherapeutic agents,
due to their nontargeted actions and toxicity on normal healthy cells, are frequently
confined, requiring search for newer drugs having more noteworthy possibility.
Drug discovery from natural sources requires a multidisciplinary approach in which
the achievement is to a great extent reliant on an all-round picked set of varied
assays. Recently, in search for the development of new drugs, the pharmaceutical
industry is progressively depending on bioinformatics. To upgrade and optimize the
study time and being less expensive, the computational investigations have the bit
of leeway over other techniques. There are two approaches in natural product-based
drug discovery, viz., forward pharmacological approaches and reverse pharma-
cological approaches (Viana J de O et al. 2018). The forward pharmacological
approach, which is a more traditional way of drug discovery, first determines
functional activity by detecting phenotypic changes in complex biological systems
based on in vitro and in vivo bioassays and then characterizes the molecular target
of the active compounds, while the reverse pharmacology starts by identifying a
promising pharmacological target against which compounds are screened, and then
the obtained promising compounds are validated by in vivo and in vitro assay. The
choice of the assays determined by the study objectives should optimally combine
simplicity with good sensitivity and reproducibility.
562 K. Bhadra
Natural Alkaloids with Reference to Anticancer Effect: Its Sources

and Types
Historically, natural alkaloids have been a proven source of drugs with therapeutic
potency, and even today, they are considered to be an important pool of novel drug
leads for future. Next to terpenoids (∼28%), alkaloids (∼23%) are probably the
largest groups of secondary plant metabolites, being present in several economically
important plant families. Plant alkaloids, due to their toxicity, act as defense
compounds against pathogens, predators, and herbivores. In general, toxic effects
of the alkaloids are dependent on dosage of application, duration of exposure,
and individual characteristics, such as affectability, site of activity, and formative
stages. It is also suggested that alkaloids may serve as nitrogen storage and act
as protective agents against harmful effects of ultraviolet light (Matsuura and Fett-
Neto 2017). Plant alkaloids constitute both taxonomically and chemically extremely
varied groups of compounds. As a result, many different types of classifications
are possible. They are basic and contain one or more nitrogen atoms with a
marked physiological action on different animals. Generally, in view of structures,
alkaloids can be classified into quinolines, isoquinolines, indoles, tropanes, steroids,
pyrrolidines, pyridines, and pyrrolizidines. Other grouping system is connected
with a family of plant species that they occur. Broadly, it is divided into two
groups: heterocyclic or typical alkaloid like hygrines, symphitine, nicotine, atropine,
cocaine, quinine, berberine, sanguinarine, vinblastine, boldine, beta-carboline, etc.
and non-heterocyclic or atypical alkaloid such as hordenine, colchicine, mescaline,
etc. True alkaloids are of rare occurrence in lower plants like pteridophytes and
gymnosperms. Among them, the lycopodium, ephedra (ephedrine), and Taxol
alkaloids have medicinal interest (Eduardo Sobarzo-Sanchez 2015). Induced cyto-
toxicity of some alkaloids such as vinblastine, vincristine, vinflunine, topotecan,
and Taxol have been clinically used in cancer therapy (Habli et al. 2017). FDA has
already approved Taxol (paclitaxel), isolated from the bark of Taxus brevifolia, and
vincristine, which is isolated from the leaves of Catharanthus roseus, as anticancer
drug. Taxol and vincristine are used widely against pancreatic, breast, and non-
small cell lung cancers (Seca and Pinto 2018; Zhang et al. 2014). These plant-based
natural alkaloids prevent cancer mainly by regulating multiple signaling pathways
targeting different biomolecules resulting in the restraint of the induction of
carcinogenesis, initiation of cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy or differentiation,
and inhibition of metastasis and angiogenesis (Lu et al. 2012). In most cases,
amino acids such as lysine, arginine, tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine act
as precursors for the plant-based alkaloids. A couple of changes can transform the
above amino acid precursors to the secondary metabolites (O’Connor 2008).
Furthermore, many cyanobacteria, fungi, algae, marine sponges, and tunicates
have been found to be a source of alkaloids, many of which can possibly compete
with potential anticancer plant alkaloids and are in clinical trials or in clinical
use. They possess different anticancer activities including induction of apopto-
sis and cytotoxicity, antiangiogenic, antiproliferative, tubulin polymerization, and
suppression of topoisomerase activities (Tohme et al. 2011). Steroidal alkaloid,
cephalostatin 1, isolated from marine tube worm Cephalodiscus gilchristi is one of

the most potent anticancer small molecules affecting the mitochondrial membrane
potential inducing apoptosis (Moser 2008). It also induces DNA fragmentation
and inhibits protein synthesis (Dey et al. 2019). Two alkaloids derived from
tunicates, aplidin and trabectedin, are already in phase II cancer clinical trials.
Aplidin initiates ROS-mediated cytotoxicity with G1 arrest and PARP (poly ADP-
ribose polymerase)-mediated apoptosis, causing cleavage of caspases 3 and 9
with the release of cytochrome c (Cuadrado et al. 2003; D’Incalci and Galmarini
2010), while trabectedin causes DNA alkylation, S-phase cell cycle arrest, RNA
polymerase II breakdown, upregulation of CCL2 (a potent chemokine for mono-
cytes), and downregulation of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and IL-6
(interleukin 6) (Tohme et al. 2011). Apart from these, marine tunicates are blessed
with wide range of other anticancer alkaloids like ascididemin, granulatimide,
lamellarin D, lissoclinidine B, and polycarpines (Anderson et al. 1997; Dasson-
neville et al. 2000; Fedorov et al. 2004; Pla et al. 2008). The molecules are reported
to show various mode and mechanisms of anticancer effects including inhibition
of topoisomerases 1 and II, cell cycle arrest, and generation of different apoptosis-
inducing factors like upregulation of BAX and P53. Marine sponges are equally rich
sources of these biologically active secondary metabolites with anticancer effect of
unique and diverse chemical structures. Among them, hemiasterlin, kuanoniamine
A, neoamphimedine, renieramycin M, spermatinamine, and variolin B are few most
important anticancer alkaloids (Tohme et al. 2011). Alkaloids such as halichondrins
B and E are isolated from marine sponges like Halichondria okadai. Halichondrin
E-7389 (eribulin mesylate) has been used against breast cancer (Fang 2004). Few
marine algae like Lophocladia sp. produces lophocladines A and B that were
tested for their cytotoxic effects on various cancer cell line like NCI-H460 lung
cancer, neuro-2a neuroblastoma, MDA-MB-435 breast cancer cell line, and NCI-
H460 lung cancer cells (Gross et al. 2006). Marine cyanobacteria also possess
number of bioactive secondary metabolites with anticancer potency. Apratoxin,
hectochlorin, and lyngbyabellin are few alkaloids isolated from different genera
of cyanobacteria species (Russo and Cesario 2012; Tohme et al. 2011). Some
endophytic bacteria have been isolated to produce the anticancer alkaloid camp-
tothecin and 9-methoxy camptothecin from Miquelia dentata Bedd. Camptothecin
is a quinoline alkaloid extracted from ornamental tree Camptotheca acuminata,
which is a classical inhibitor of eukaryotic topoisomerase I (Heinrich et al. 2012;
Shweta et al. 2013).
Targeted Biomolecules by Anticancer Natural Alkaloids
Cancer is a broad group of diseases, involving uncontrolled cell growth. Through the
formation of novel oncogenes, the improper overexpression of normal oncogenes,
or by the underexpression of tumor suppressor genes, malignant transformation
occurs. It is through the lymphatic or bloodstream that the cancer spread to other
distant parts of the body (Hanahan and Weinberg 2000; Wu et al. 2016). As a
564 K. Bhadra
result, different cell, tissue, and organ systems are affected. Hence, cancer therapy
varies by patient, tumor type, and location. Among its different treatment options,
chemotherapy is one of the treatment with one or more cytotoxic antineoplastic
drugs or chemotherapeutic agents as part of a standardized regimen. Chemotherapy
in the form of targeted therapy is the highlighted part of this study that targets special
molecular differences between cancer and normal cells. Figures 2, 3, and 4 represent
few anticancer natural alkaloids isolated from plants, marine invertebrates, and
microorganisms, and Table 1 shows the collated list of anticancer natural alkaloids
and their targeted biomolecules as described in the text in detail.
Anticancer Natural Alkaloids Targeting Nucleic Acids
DNA/RNA → mRNA → protein, this represents the general gross outline of

the transfer of information within the cell. The processes of differentiation and
carcinogenesis may both be viewed as alterations of this information transferred
(Goldthwait 1960; Maiti and Suresh 2010; Brahmachari 2015). The cancer cell
possesses a hereditary defect in the normal mechanism of control of cell division.
Since nucleic acids are chemical basis of heredity in the cell, it is sensible to presume
a modification in nucleic acids in the process of carcinogenesis. Deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) functionally serves as the long-term storage of genetic information of
the cell which leads to the cellular target of many therapeutic molecules (Maiti and
Suresh 2010; Brahmachari 2015). Equally significant are ribonucleic acids (RNA).
The emerging information of the essential role of cellular RNA in widespread
biological processes and as an integral part of many viral genome has prompted
a developing enthusiasm in the molecule as a possible target for therapeutic
involvement (Bhadra and Suresh Kumar 2011a). The interest in understanding
the basics of DNA and RNA interaction with small molecules results from the
need to develop new compounds, particularly natural product, which have the
ability to target the genome artificially at specified sequences or structures for
curing many genetic diseases including cancer through efficient and less toxic
chemotherapy. Even multifunctional nucleic acid, Apta-miRNA, is a modified
noncoding oligonucleotides, base-pairing with individual microRNA molecules,
and is applied for tumor cell treatment (Pofahl et al. 2014). The efficiency and
therapeutic potential of biologically active small molecules very much depend on
to identify their bio-target especially the active sites, its strength, and specificity of
binding. Alkaloids represent such class of interesting small molecules abundantly
available in nature showing remarkable medicinal applications as anticancer agents.
Some of the Biologically Significant and Important Nucleic

Acid-Binding Anticancer Natural Alkaloids
DNA interaction with small molecule can be classified into irreversible covalent
interactions and reversible non-covalent interactions. Covalent interaction essen-
tially involves base modifications, alkylation, and cross-linking of strands, strand
breakage, etc., resulting in mutations. Non-covalent associations can be further
Table 1 List of anticancer natural alkaloids and their targeted biomolecules

Compounds Sources Targeted biomolecules/mode of action References
2-D-glucose Synthetic Target glucose transporters, GLUT-1 Hossain and
paclitaxel analogue of Andreana 2019
Taxol (isolated
from the bark of
Taxus brevifolia)
Aaptamine A benzonaph- Upregulate p21 transcription in Tohme et al.
thyridine alkaloid p53-mutated human osteosarcoma MG63, 2011
extracted from inducing G2/M cell cycle arrest
the marine
sponge Aaptos
suberitoides
Apratoxin A Marine Block the fibroblast growth factor receptor Russo and
and B cyanobacteria (FGFR) pathway via the inhibition of the Cesario 2012;
phosphorylation of the signal transducer Tohme et al.
and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in 2011
a time- and dose-dependent manner, thus
inhibiting the upregulation of antiapoptotic
genes like BclxL and the activation of the
cyclin-dependent kinase CDK2. This lead
to antiangiogenic effects due to its ability
to antagonize the FGFR pathway.
Ascididemin, Marine natural Inhibit topoisomerases I and II Fan et al. 2019;
granulatimide, alkaloids Anderson et al.
lamellarin D, 1997;
lissoclinidine Dassonneville
B, and et al. 2000;
polycarpines Fedorov et al.
2004; Pla et al.
2008
Berberine Peumus boldus DNA/RNA damage and p53-dependent Maiti and
and Lindera apoptosis; targeting G-quadruples; Suresh, 2010;
aggregata. telomerase inhibition; induces MDM2 Brahmachari
Distributed in self-ubiquitination and degradation by 2015; Bhadra
several botanical inhibiting MDM2-DAXX-HAUSP and Suresh
families like interactions; modulation of histone Kumar 2011a;
Berberidaceae, deacetylase to induce growth arrest and Bhadra and
Papaveraceae, apoptosis; inhibitor of Hsp90; reported to Kumar 2011b;
Fumariaceae, suppress the growth of colon cancer cell Ganesan and Xu
Menispermaceae, lines, HCT116 and KM12C, by inhibiting 2018; Zhang
and many others the glucose uptake and transcription of et al. 2010; Song
glucose metabolic genes, GLUT1 (glucose et al. 2018;
transporter 1), LDHA (lactate Arunachalam
dehydrogenase A), and HK2 (hexokinase et al. 2016; Siva
2); improves hyperlipidemia and fatty liver and Babu 2014;
by the activation of AMPK (AMP- Mao et al. 2018;
dependent protein kinase) in liver and Gao and Chen
muscle tissues. It also regulates the lipid 2015; Kim et al.
metabolism through inhibition of fatty acid 2009
synthetase and 5-tetradecyloxy-2-furoic
acid (TOFA), inducing apoptosis in cancer
cell.
(continued)
566 K. Bhadra
Table 1 (continued)
Betaine Is found in many Improve lipid homeostasis in obesity by Sivanesan et al.
foods, including participation in mitochondrial oxidative 2018; Zhang
spinach, beets, demethylation; reported to alleviate et al. 2020
and whole grains hepatic lipid metabolism via regulating
the expression profile of microRNA-182
in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Boldine Peumus boldus Telomerase inhibition Ganesan and Xu
and Lindera 2018
aggregata
Briofilin Steroidal alkaloid Increases Bax protein expression; Dey et al. 2019
suppresses Bcl-2, caspase-3 initiation,
and segmentation of poly (ADP-ribose)
polymerase-1 (PARP-1) in HeLa cells
Camptothecin Extracted from Classical inhibitor of eukaryotic Heinrich et al.
ornamental tree topoisomerase I 2012; Shweta
Camptotheca et al. 2013
acuminata
Cephalostatin 1 Isolated from Affecting the mitochondrial membrane Moser 2008;
marine tube potential inducing apoptosis. It also Dey et al. 2019
worm induces DNA fragmentation, inhibits
Cephalodiscus protein synthesis, and uses
gilchristi Smac/DIABLO for inducing apoptosis.
Chelerythrine Chelidonium Inhibiting the telomerase activity and Liu et al. 2017
majus L. promoting cancer cell death via binding
with human telomeric G-quadruplex
structure
Cryptolepine Isolated from Topoisomerase inhibition Fan et al. 2019
Cryptolepis
sanguinolenta
Dicentrinone Ocotea Topoisomerase inhibition Fan et al. 2019
leucoxylon
Evodiamine A quinolone Reported to inhibit STAT3 Lu et al. 2012
alkaloid, isolated phosphorylation and regulate
from the Chinese downstream molecules to induce
herb Evodia apoptosis in breast cancer cells; induces
rutaecarpa both caspase-dependent and
caspase-independent apoptosis,
downregulates Bcl-2 expression, and
upregulates Bax expression in some
cancer cells; reported to induce cell
death by the Fas ligand (Fas-L)/NF-κB
signaling pathways
Fascaplysin Isolated from Is a selective inhibitor of CDK4 with Song et al. 2018
marine sponge IC50 value of 0.35 μM. Based on
molecular modelling, it is reported to
inhibit CDK4 by binding to the ATP
pocket of the kinase.
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
Halichondrin B Marine Topoisomerase inhibition; shows tubulin Tohme et al.
and E sponge-derived polymerization action 2011
alkaloid isolated
from
Halichondria
okadai
β-Carboline Isolated from the Induce nucleic acid fragmentation, Sarkar and
alkaloids: Banisteriopsis cellular ultra morphological changes, Bhadra 2018;
Harmalol, caapi (family: decreased mitochondrial membrane Bhattacharjee
harmaline, and Malpighiaceae) potential, upregulation of p53 and et al. 2018;
harmine and Peganum caspase-3, generation of ROS (reactive Sarkar et al.
harmala (family: oxygen species), a significant increase 2020; Ahmad
Zygophyllaceae) in G2 /M population, and topoisomerase et al. 2020
inhibition
Hemiasterlins Derived from the Exhibit antiproliferative effects against Tohme et al.
marine sponge murine leukemia p388 cells, human 2011
Hemiasterella glioblastoma U373, human mammary
minor carcinoma MCF-7, and human ovarian
carcinoma HEY by binding to tubulin at
nanomolar concentrations and inhibit
their polymerization, causing mitotic
catastrophe and ultimately apoptosis
Hymenialdisine Isolated from the Inhibit cyclin-dependent kinases Song et al. 2018
and debromohy- marine sponge through competitive inhibition at the
menialdisine Stylotella ATP-binding site. These two
aurantium compounds were known to be active in a
wide range of CDKs, particularly
CDK1, CDK2, and CDK5.
Largazole Macrocyclic Inhibition of histone deacetylases Tohme et al.
depsipeptide (HDAC) 2011
alkaloid from
cyanobacteria
Lunacridine Lunasia Amara Topoisomerase inhibition Fan et al. 2019
Lycorine Found in various Targeting histone deacetylases (HDAC) Li et al. 2012
Amaryllidaceae
species, such as
the cultivated
bush lily (Clivia
miniata), Lycoris,
and daffodils
(narcissus)
Manzamine Isolated from Noncompetitive inhibitor of ATP with Song et al. 2018
sponge binding to GSK-3β at IC50 value of
Acanthostrongy- 10.2 μM
lophora
(continued)
568 K. Bhadra
Table 1 (continued)
Matrine Found in It affects proteins involved in cell Lu et al. 2012
Sophora proliferation or apoptosis, such as
flavescens Ait E2F-1, Bax, Bcl-2, Fas, and Fas-L
and S. japonica
Meridianins A–G A group of Selectively inhibit CDK1, CDK5, and Song et al. 2018
marine indole other various protein kinases involved in
alkaloids isolated cancer and other disease
from marine
tunicate Aplidium
meridianum
Naamidine A sponge-derived An apoptosis-targeting natural Tohme et al.
alkaloid compound; provokes cell cycle arrest at 2011
identified from G1 phase through stabilization of the
Leucetta p21 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor
chagosensis (CDK2), activation of the initiating
caspases 8 and 9, and PARP cleavage
Neoamphimedine Xestospongia sp. Topoisomerase inhibition Tohme et al.
2011
Nuciferine Found in Improves dyslipidemia in vivo through Zhang et al.
Nelumbo PPARα/PPARγ coactivator-1α pathway 2018
nucifera leaves
Oxymatrine Found in sophora Reported to alleviate hepatic lipid Zhang et al.
roots primarily metabolism via regulating the 2020
from Sophora expression profile of microRNA-182 in
japonica nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
(kushen)
Palmatine Distributed in Photooxidation of DNA, targeting Maiti and
several botanical G-quadruples Suresh, 2010;
families like Brahmachari
Berberidaceae, 2015; Bhadra
Papaveraceae, and Suresh
Fumariaceae, Kumar 2011a;
Menispermaceae, Bhadra and
and many others Kumar 2011b
Piperine and Extracted from Reported to inhibit STAT3 Chen et al. 2020;
piperlongumine Piper nigrum L. phosphorylation and regulate Tinoush et al.
and Piper downstream molecules to induce 2020; Matsuda
longum L., apoptosis in breast cancer cells; et al. 2008
respectively targeting markers related to cancer drug
resistance; inhibit lipid droplet
accumulation in mouse macrophages by
inhibiting cholesteryl ester synthesis
Alkaloids with From the marine Novel HIF-1α/p300, transcription factor, Song et al. 2018
pyrroloimino- sponge inhibitors
quinone ring Latrunculia sp.
structure
Saframycin A Isolated from Forms a nuclear ternary complex with Gao and Chen
marine tunicates GAPDH (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate 2015; Azam
dehydrogenase) and DNA et al. 2008
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
Sanguinarine Isolated from the DNA/poly(A)/poly(U).Poly(A)* poly(U) Maiti and
Papaveraceae binding, targeting G-quadruples, perturb Suresh, 2010;
family, which microtubule assembly dynamics through Brahmachari
includes tubulin binding, and induces intrinsic 2015; Bhadra
Sanguinaria apoptosis in the presence of Bax. The and Suresh
canadensis L. weakened interaction of MELK and Kumar 2011a;
and Chelidonium STRAP is necessary for the Bhadra and
majus L. transactivation of Bax from cytosol to Kumar 2011b;
mitochondria. Induces apoptosis in the Gong et al.
multiple myeloma cells via inhibition of 2018; Akhtar
JAK2/STATs signaling; potent et al. 2019; Lu
suppressor of NF-κB activation induced et al. 2012
by TNF, interleukin-1, phorbol ester,
and okadaic acid
Shearinine A, D, Isolated from Inhibit EGF (endothelial growth factor) Tohme et al.
and E Penicillium in HL-60 2011
janthinellum
Solamargine Steroidal alkaloid Reported to upregulate TNFR-1 (tumor Dey et al. 2019
necrotic factor receptor-1) to induce
apoptosis
Spongiacidin C From the marine Targeting ubiquitin-proteasome system Song et al. 2018
sponge Stylissa
massa
Staurosporine Produced by Is reported to be a broad-spectrum Tamaoki et al.
Streptomyces protein kinase inhibitor 1986
bacteria
Tetrandrine Isolated from the Activation of glycogen synthase kinase Lu et al. 2012;
root of Stephania 3β (GSK-3β), generation of ROS, Kumar and
tetrandra activation of p38 mitogen-activated Jaitak 2019
protein kinase (p38 MAPK), and
inhibition of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling
might contribute to the anticancer
effects. It holds a great promise as an
MDR (multidrug resistance modulator)
for the treatment of P-gp-mediated
MDR cancers.
Trabectedin Derived from Causes DNA alkylation, RNA Tohme et al.
tunicates polymerase II breakdown, upregulation 2011
of CCL2 (a potent chemokine for
monocytes), and downregulation of
VEGF (vascular endothelial growth
factor) and IL-6 (interleukin 6)
Variolin B Marine sponges, Targeting markers related to cancer drug Tohme et al.
a pyridopy- resistance 2011
rrolopyrimidine
extracted from
Kirkpatrickia
variolosa
Yohimbinic Rauwolfia Topoisomerase inhibition Fan et al. 2019
serpentine
570 K. Bhadra
Fig. 2 Chemical structures of alkaloids extracted from plants
categorized in terms of intercalation, groove binding, and outside binding. RNAs, on

the other hand, are highly versatile molecules that can fold into secondary structures
and conformations like simple single- and double-stranded structures with A-form
to complex structural motifs like hairpin loop or cloverlip structure that could be
potential drug-binding pockets.
Isoquinoline alkaloids, berberine, is broadly distributed in various botanical fam-
ilies like Berberidaceae, Papaveraceae, Fumariaceae, Menispermaceae, and many
others. Several reports on the anticancer property of berberine against different cell
Fig. 3 Chemical structures of alkaloids extracted from marine invertebrates
lines are available (Maiti and Suresh 2010; Brahmachari 2015). The dose-dependent
effect of berberine on cell cycle inhibition and apoptosis in human leukemia HL-60,
Balb/c 3 T3 cells, and human osteosarcoma cells by inducing DNA damage and
apoptosis of p53-dependent prostate cancer cell death have been reported. Since
1950s, a large number of research group has initiated the berberine-DNA interaction
(Bhadra and Suresh Kumar 2011a). Subsequently, Maiti and coworkers, Bhadra
et al., studied the interaction of berberine with different natural and synthetic DNAs
using multi-spectoscopic and calorimetric techniques and proposed that the alkaloid
prefers AT sequences by partial intercalative mode of binding. A strong interaction
of berberine to DNA oligonucleotides was also reported by NMR and modeling
studies of Mazzini et al. to show groove binding mode. Bhadra et al. explored
the binding characteristic of berberine-DNA complexation using UV spectroscopy
and characterized that at low-bound alkaloid concentrations, the molecules bind
cooperatively with nucleic acid having almost equal percentage of AT and GC
572 K. Bhadra
Fig. 4 Chemical structures of alkaloids extracted from microorganisms
sequences while the binding was noncooperative to DNAs with inherently high AT
or GC sequences. With polynucleotides, on the other hand, the binding was observed
to be cooperative with poly(purine)poly(pyrimidine) sequences, while with alter-
nating purine-pyrimidine sequences, a noncooperative binding phenomenon was
observed (Bhadra and Suresh Kumar 2011a). Complexation of berberine was
shown to perturb the circular dichroic spectra of DNA and polynucleotides, and
the bound alkaloid molecules acquired induced optical activity to varying extents
depending on the base pair composition and sequence. Various binding parameters
of berberine DNA complexation obtained from fluorescence spectroscopy, thermal
melting, and viscometric analysis were also presented. Energetics of interaction
of berberine to various DNAs using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was studied. Interaction of berberine with
poly(A) has been investigated by Maiti and colleagues and Yadav et al. Surprisingly,
a stronger affinity of berberine to single-stranded poly(A) over B-DNA and t-
RNA structures was observed. Later, Giri and Kumar from a careful analysis of
the berberine-poly(A) complexation confirmed the noncooperative binding model
without any self-structure formation. However, berberine has been found to show a
weak interaction with yeast t-RNA molecules by Islam and Kumar from a variety
of photophysical techniques. The binding affinity, conformational aspects, and
energetics of the interaction of berberine with four single-stranded RNA polymers,
viz., poly(G), poly(I), poly(C), and poly(U), were studied. Berberine binds strongly
with poly(G) and poly(I) with an order of 105 M−1 , while its binding was practically
nil with poly(C) and poly(U). Further, detailed spectroscopic and calorimetric report
regarding binding of berberine with double-stranded RNA polynucleotides, viz.,
poly(A).poly(U), poly(I).poly(C), and poly(C).poly(G), was performed by Islam
et al. Among the three double-stranded RNA polynucleotides, the AU sequences
showed highest binding with berberine. Thermodynamics of the interaction was
favored by both positive entropy and negative enthalpy changes. Negative heat
capacity, Cpo , changes in all the systems are related to the hydrophobic forces
in the complexation. Sinha et al. have reported a weak interaction of the alkaloid
with the double-stranded RNA poly(C).poly(G). Berberine was shown to interact
strongly (K ∼ 105 M−1 ) with the poly(U).poly(A)* poly(U) RNA triplex using
various biophysical techniques (Bhadra and Suresh Kumar 2011a).
Unlike berberine, palmatine attracted the attention of researchers only recently
probably due to its low level of occurrence in plants. Studies revealed that palmatine
like berberine easily binds to DNA and induces DNA photooxidation via singlet
oxygen (1 O2 ) generation. Palmatine has potent antitumor activity against HL-
60 leukemic cells. The first report on the DNA interaction of palmatine was
that of Bailly and coworkers who identified DNA as a potential bioreceptor for
this alkaloid. This study based on absorption and fluorescence on natural DNA
suggested both intercalation and external stacking of the alkaloid on complexation.
Palmatine via singlet oxygen formation causes photooxidation of DNA. It was
Bhadra et al. (2007) who gave the first detailed investigation on the interaction
of palmatine with natural DNAs and synthetic polynucleotides. The multifaceted
study employed competition dialysis, spectrophotometry, spectrofluorimetry, ther-
mal melting, circular dichroism, viscometry, and isothermal titration calorimetry
techniques (Bhadra and Suresh Kumar 2011a). The study suggested the base and
sequence selectivity of the alkaloid to be toward AT sequences. The DNA binding
affinity of palmatine was revealed to be higher than that of berberine. Subsequently,
the thermodynamics of palmatine-DNA complexation was also investigated in
details. Bhadra et al. supported the intercalative mode of binding by hydrody-
namic studies where change in specific viscosity was higher for AT polymers.
In addition to this, palmatine showed an unwinding angle of 15◦ with covalently
closed superhelical Col E1 DNA. Dong and coworkers have also investigated
the interaction between calf thymus DNA and palmatine and proposed a mixed
mode, viz., intercalative and groove binding for palmatine-DNA complexation.
Like berberine, palmatine also showed cooperative and noncooperative mode of
binding. Energetics of the complexation suggested that the complex formation in
most cases was exothermic and favored by both entropy and enthalpy changes,
while in case of the AT polynucleotides, the same was predominantly entropy
driven (Bhadra and Suresh Kumar 2011a). Further, study of palmatine and berberine
with some oligonucleotides by electrospray ionization mass spectroscopic technique
indicated that palmatine exhibited a stronger binding compared to berberine, and
this was in concordance with Bhadra et al. Palmatine binds specifically and
strongly to poly(A) in a noncooperative manner. A binding affinity of the order
of 105 M−1 was observed by spectroscopic and ITC techniques. The interaction
was found to be exothermic and entropy driven with a moderate free energy
change. No self-structure formation was reported in ss poly(A). Among other single-
stranded RNAs, palmatine showed strong binding to poly(G) and poly(I), while
among double-stranded RNAs, highest binding was reported with poly(A).poly(U)
that was of the order of 106 M−1 , exothermic and entropy driven. The binding
of the alkaloid to double-stranded poly(A) was very weak. Detailed studies on
574 K. Bhadra
palmatine-t-RNA complexation was performed by Islam et al. Cooperative binding,

thermal stabilization, and perturbation of the RNA conformation and induction
of optical activity in bound palmatine molecules were reported. Palmatine has
also been reported to interact with triplex RNA, poly(U).poly(A)* poly(U), with a
binding order of 105 M−1 using various spectroscopic and calorimetric techniques.
Benzophenanthridine isoquinoline alkaloids, sanguinarine (Maiti and Suresh
2010; Bhadra and Suresh Kumar 2011a), a natural alkaloid isolated from San-
guinaria canadensis L. and Chelidonium majus L., belonging to family Papaver-
aceae, generate wide varieties of biochemical and pharmacological effects including
its use in cancer prevention. The alkaloid is known to induce apoptosis in various
cell lines. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain its antiproliferative
activities. Results clearly correspond the cytotoxicity of sanguinarine to DNA-
intercalating ability to induce DNA strand breaks and other DNA-damaging effects.
It was Maiti and colleagues who first established the DNA-binding ability of
this alkaloid by intercalative mode by spectroscopic and viscometric experiments.
The binding affinity of sanguinarine to DNA was reported to be of 105 M−1
(Maiti and Suresh 2010). Out of the two forms of sanguinarine, the charged
iminium form is the DNA binding moiety. The alkanolamine form does not bind
to DNA, but in presence of large amount of DNA, significant population of iminium
form is generated from the alkanolamine form. Results from different biophysical
techniques including NMR also suggested a strong GC base pair preference of
this alkaloid. Sanguinarine converts the left-handed Z-form DNA cooperatively
to the bound right-handed B-form. Energetics of the iminium form was evaluated
under various salt and pH conditions by isothermal titration calorimetric technique
with natural and synthetic DNAs. Unlike its DNA interaction, little information is
available regarding its binding with RNA. Sen and Maiti studied the interaction of
sanguinarine with double-stranded RNA structures of AU and IC sequences using
various biophysical tools. The interaction of sanguinarine with single- and double-
stranded poly(A) came from the contribution of Giri and Kumar. Cooperative CD
optical and DSC melting profiles of the complex were provided as clear evidence
for self-structured induction of poly(A) by the alkaloid. Triplex RNA binding of
sanguinarine was studied by Das et al. who suggested intercalation of the alkaloid
to poly(U).poly(A)* poly(U).
Another class of natural alkaloids, beta-carbolines, are equally wide group
of natural and synthetic indole alkaloids that hold a common tricyclic pyrido
indole ring structure, investigated by Shi et al. (2001), Farouk et al. (2008); and
many more, possessing a different degree of aromaticity. Beta-carboline alkaloids
were originally isolated from the Banisteriopsis caapi (family: Malpighiaceae) and
Peganum harmala (family: Zygophyllaceae) that are being utilized traditionally
as an herbal drug in the North Africa and the Middle East. Moreover, numerous
beta-carboline alkaloids have been isolated from the marine invertebrates including
tunicates, soft corals, hydroid, and different sponges. The beta-carboline alkaloids
can be classified on the basis of the saturation of their nitrogen (N)-carrying, six-
membered ring. The partially or completely saturated ones are known as dihydro-
beta-carbolines like harmalan, harmalol, harmaline, and tetrahydro-beta-carbolines
or THBCs, respectively, whereas the unsaturated ones are named as fully aromatic
beta-carbolines like harmine, harmane, norharman, harman, and harmol. Beta-
carboline alkaloids are well known for their several biological activities including
anticancer and antitumor activities (Sarkar and Bhadra 2018; Bhattacharjee et al.
2018; Sarkar et al. 2020). Interaction of beta-carboline alkaloids with DNA (Sarkar
and Bhadra 2018; Bhattacharjee et al. 2018; Sarkar et al. 2020) has been explored by
many researchers. Sarkar and Bhadra studied the two structural forms of harmalol
and their interaction with CT DNA, where the protonated form showed strong,
intercalative mode of binding. They further investigated the sequence-specific
binding of harmalol highlighting hetero GC followed by hetero AT-specific binding.
It showed both cooperative and noncooperative binding with DNA sequences,
and ITC profiles showed both enthalpy- and entropy-driven binding with DNA
sequences. The alkaloid was further reported to show maximum cytotoxicity on
HepG2 with IC50 of 14 μM (Sarkar and Bhadra 2018; Bhattacharjee et al. 2018;
Sarkar et al. 2020).
G-quadruplexes are an unusual conformation of DNA with runs of guanines and
that are purine rich having four-stranded structures. G-quadruplex structures can
inhibit the activity of the enzyme telomerase (vide infra), which adds telomeric
repeats to the ends of chromosomes and maintains the proliferation of cancer cells.
Thus, proliferated tumor cells can be made inactive by telomerase inhibition. Small
molecules that can stabilize the quadruplex structure by binding may act as potential
anticancer agents (Bhadra and Kumar 2011b). The idea of investigating natural
alkaloids as ligands, interacting and stabilizing quadruplex structures in telomeres,
is a current approach for therapeutic intervention. Bhadra and Kumar presented
a complete structural and thermodynamic profiles of the binding of isoquinoline
alkaloids like berberine, palmatine, coralyne (a synthetic isoquinoline alkaloid), and
sanguinarine with G-quadruplex. The results highlight the importance of specific
structural elements, particularly the planarity, in the small molecules in stabilizing
quadruplex DNA structure for developing better quadruplex targeted therapeutic
agents (Bhadra and Kumar 2011b).
Targeting Enzymes, Viz., Topoisomerases I and II, Telomerase, DNA

Polymerase, and RNA Polymerase Associated with Nucleic Acids
DNA topoisomerases are the key enzymes for DNA replication and repair and
have been regarded as target enzymes for many anticancer drugs in clinical
use. Ascididemin, granulatimide, lamellarin D, lissoclinidine B, and polycarpines
are some of the marine natural alkaloids reported to inhibit topoisomerases I
and II (Fan et al. 2019). Topotecan and irinotecan are synthetic analogues of
camptothecin, a natural alkaloid, and are FDA-approved anticancer drugs against
ovary, colon, and lung as topoisomerase inhibitors. Furthermore, indoquinoline
alkaloid like cryptolepine isolated from Cryptolepis sanguinolenta; quinoline alka-
loid lunacridine from Lunasia amara; beta-carbolines alkaloids like harmaline and
harmine; aporphine alkaloid dicentrinone from Ocotea leucoxylon; indole alkaloid
yohimbinic isolated from Rauwolfia serpentine, and many more (Fan et al. 2019)
are some of the well-accepted topoisomerase inhibitors. Eribulin mesylate, an
576 K. Bhadra
analogue of the macrocyclic polyether halichondrin B, a marine sponge-derived

alkaloid, has reached phases I and II cancer clinical trials for breast cancer
through targeting topoisomerases (Tohme et al. 2011). Another natural compound,
neoamphimedine, isolated from Xestospongia sp., also has a unique mechanism of
action as a topoisomerase inhibitor both in vitro and in vivo. Apart from these,
targeting telomere and inhibition of telomerase are an equally viable, effective, and
alternative route to achieve effective arrest of cell proliferation, hence enabling the
researchers to develop potent ligand derivatives to initiate better diagnostic studies
for biomedical applications. Telomerase is a protein involved in cancer where it
is present in 85 to 90% of all cases. Taking advantage of this fact, inhibition of
telomerase activity by stabilization of the telomeric DNA quadruplex structure as
a new treatment in human cancer therapy is very significant. Aporphine alkaloid
boldine from Peumus boldus and Lindera aggregata and isoquinoline alkaloid
berberine from Berberis vulgaris and Coptis chinensis are some of the natural
products as telomerase inhibitors (Ganesan and Xu 2018). It was further found that
chelerythrine, a benzene alkaloid isolated from the herb Chelidonium majus L., also
inhibits telomerase activity and induces cancer cell death by binding with human
telomeric G-quadruplex structure (Liu et al. 2017). Though direct target of DNA
polymerase by anticancer natural alkaloids has not yet been reported, major strategy
in chemotherapy is to use DNA-damaging agents (vide supra) to inhibit processive
DNA polymerases, though trabectedin, a natural alkaloid, reported to cause RNA
polymerase II breakdown.
Anticancer Natural Alkaloids Targeting Cellular Proteins, Enzymes,

and Growth Factors
Targeting Kinases Related to Tumor Proliferation, Progression,

and Metastasis
Targeting specific oncogene kinases of signaling pathways are expected to be the
promising strategy related to the formation and progression of tumor.
Protein kinase C (PKC) are family of kinase enzymes that by the phosphorylation
of hydroxyl groups of threonine and serine amino acid residues regulate the
function of other proteins. Investigation with natural and synthetic compounds
that can inactivate PKC is in high need for therapeutic applications. For example,
chelerythrine has been evidenced to possess effective antitumor effect on different
cancers, like breast, colon, and prostate (Chmura et al. 2000). The mechanism of
action involves several pathways in a concentration and time-dependent manners
to induce apoptosis. Chelerythrine activates JNK/p38-MAPK (c-Jun N-terminal
kinase-mitogen-activated protein kinase) pathways in HeLa cells (Yu et al. 2000),
MEK signaling pathway, and mitogen-activated protein kinases and upregulates
downstream kinases (p90RSK) in human osteosarcoma cells (Yang et al. 2008).
It also causes G1 phase cell cycle arrest and bimodal cell death in human leukemia
HL-60 cells (Vrba et al. 2008). Moreover, chelerythrine acts as a specific inhibitor
of protein kinase C (PKC) and causes apoptotic cell death in tumor (Liu et al.
2017). Another natural alkaloid, staurosporine, produced by Streptomyces bacteria,

is reported to be a wide-spectrum protein kinase inhibitor (Tamaoki et al. 1986).
The cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are family of serine-threonine protein
kinases whose activities are required for the cell cycle. These are misregulated
in almost 60–70% of human cancers. Intensive screening for the identification
of natural alkaloids as inhibitors of CDKs, which display high selectivity and
proficiency, is in high demand. These inhibitors are antiproliferative agents that
arrest cells in G1 and/or G2/M phases of the cell cycle such as berberine (Lu
et al. 2012); evodiamine, a quinolone alkaloid and a bioactive compound isolated
from the Chinese herb Evodia rutaecarpa (Lu et al. 2012); piperine (Lu et al.
2012); harmalol; harmaline (Ahmad et al. 2020), and many more. Hymenialdisine
and debromohymenialdisine are the alkaloids isolated from the marine sponge
Stylotella aurantium. They have been reported to show competitive inhibition at
the ATP-binding site and thereby inhibit cyclin-dependent kinases (Song et al.
2018). Another marine natural product, fascaplysin, isolated from marine sponge,
is also a specific CDK4 inhibitor by binding to the ATP site of the kinase and
has a IC50 value of 0.35 μM. Fascaplysin inhibit the proliferation of endothelial
cells and prevent angiogenesis (Song et al. 2018). Another group of marine indole
alkaloids, meridianins A–G, connected to an aminopyrimidine ring. They have
been isolated from marine tunicate Aplidium meridianum, consisting and found to
selectively inhibit CDK1, CDK5, and other protein kinases involved in cancer and
other disease. Like the abovementioned alkaloids, meridianins A–G also bind to the
ATP pocket of protein kinases and act as ATP competitive inhibitors (Song et al.
2018). Sanguinarine is also reported to induce apoptosis of human lens epithelial
cells by increasing ROS (reactive oxygen species) via the MAPK (mitogen-activated
protein kinase) signaling pathway (Zhang and Huang 2019). Apratoxin A and B
from cyanobacteria showed promising in vitro anticancer activities against many
human tumor cell lines including LoVo colon cancer cells and nasopharynx human
carcinoma KB cells. Apratoxin causes inhibition of cell cycle at G1 phase leading to
apoptosis. It further induces apoptosis by blocking the FGFR (fibroblast growth fac-
tor receptor) pathway via the inhibition of phosphorylation of the signal transducer
and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in a dose- and time-dependent manner
and induces apoptosis, thus inhibiting the upregulation of antiapoptotic genes like
BclxL and the activation of the cyclin-dependent kinase CDK2. These effects may
explain antiangiogenic effects of apratoxin due to its ability to antagonize the FGFR
pathway (Tohme et al. 2011). The benzonaphthyridine alkaloid aaptamine extracted
from the marine sponge Aaptos suberitoides upregulates p21 transcription in p53-
mutated MG63 human osteosarcoma cell, inducing G2/M cell cycle arrest, making
p21 an interesting target for chemotherapy (Tohme et al. 2011).
The insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is also a potential therapeutic
target for cancer. They are involved in tumor cell proliferation, survival, and
invasion. Inhibitors of IGF-1R are useful for the treatment of solid tumors, including
non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, and ovarian carcinoma. IGF-1R
signaling is transduced through two main pathways: (a) the RAS/RAF/MAP kinase
pathway and (b) the phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway. Evodiamine
578 K. Bhadra
possesses anticancer activities by causing the cell cycle arrest or apoptosis and
suppressing the angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis in a variety of cancer cell
lines in micro- and nanomolar level and in Balb-c/nude mice model (Lu et al.
2012). Evodiamine has effect on tubulin polymerization (Lu et al. 2012) and has
been reported to cause cell death by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt/caspase
(Lu et al. 2012). Isoquinoline alkaloid, berberine, causes dose-dependent, inhibiting
proliferation and induces apoptosis of human osteosarcoma cell line, U20S cell.
Berberine inhibits PI3K/Akt activation which, in turn, results in upregulation of Bax
and PARP expression and downregulation of Bcl-2 and caspase 3 initiation (Chen
2016). Compared to other anticancer drugs, the cytotoxic effectiveness of berberine
is much lower, with an IC50 of 10 μM to 100 μM depending on the cell type and
duration of the treatment (Lu et al. 2012). Indole alkaloids, shearinine A, D, and
E, sourced from Penicillium janthinellum, are thought to inhibit EGF (endothelial
growth factor) in HL-60 (Tohme et al. 2011).
Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β), a serine/threonine protein kinase
that has been broadly involved in critical cell biology processes, is a promising
multipurpose kinase for cancer therapeutic target. A complex alkaloid, manzamine,
isolated from sponge Acanthostrongylophora, was shown to be a noncompetitive-
specific inhibitor of ATP with binding to GSK-3β at IC50 value of 10.2 μM (Song
et al. 2018). Based on molecular modeling, it was suggested that phenylmethy-
lene hydantoin (PMH-1) isolated from the Red Sea sponge Hemimycale arabica
could be successfully docked into the binding pocket of GSK-3β and control the
invasive breast malignant growth by suppressing Ki-67, CD31, p-Brk, and p-FAK
expression in tumor samples. Another natural bisbenzylisoquinoline plant alkaloid,
tetrandrine, extracted from the root of Stephania tetrandra, was reported to have
wide array of medicinal importance including its anticancer effect in micromolar
amount. Activation of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β), generation of ROS,
activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), and inhibition of
Wnt/beta-catenin signaling might bestowed to the anticancer effects of tetrandrine.
Tetrandrine also actively upregulates p53, p21, p27, and Fas; downregulates Akt
phosphorylation, CDKs, and cyclins; modulates the members of the Bcl-2 family;
and initiates caspases (Lu et al. 2012).
Targeting Tubulin Polymerization

Hemiasterlin, originally derived from the marine sponge Hemiasterella minor,
exhibits antiproliferative effects against human glioblastoma U373, mammary
carcinoma MCF-7, murine leukemia p388 cells, and human ovarian carcinoma HEY
by binding to tubulin at nanomolar concentrations and inhibits their polymerization,
causing mitotic catastrophe and ultimately apoptosis (Tohme et al. 2011). But the
in vivo effect of hemiasterlins shows high level of toxicity; hence, synthesis of new
analogues with enhanced drug efficacy is in demand. Sanguinarine is also reported
to bind with tubulin and perturb microtubular assembly dynamics. Halichondrin B,
a marine sponge alkaloid, is also reported to show tubulin polymerization action
(Tohme et al. 2011).
Targeting Apoptosis-Related Biomarkers

Apoptosis is a highly synchronized, complicated set of multibranched, multistep
pathways with many checks and balances, induced by various stimuli and defined
by a series of distinct biochemical and morphological changes. Inhibition of
cell proliferation and increasing apoptosis in tumors are the effective ways to
eliminate tumor growth and prevent cancers. Drug with a good anticancer potential
should have the ability to induce apoptosis in cancer cells and is considered as
one of the essential features of the anticancer drug. Mitochondrion-controlled
intrinsic pathways or receptor-controlled extrinsic pathways can trigger apoptosis
(Dey et al. 2019). Various natural alkaloids activate apoptosis through different
pathways in specific cancer cell line. Beta-carboline alkaloids have been reported
to induce fragmentation of nucleic acid, ultra morphological changes of cellular
organelles, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, p53 and caspase-3 upreg-
ulation, generation of ROS (reactive oxygen species), and a significant increase
in G2 /M population that has made hepatic carcinoma HepG2 cells more prone
to apoptosis than uterine carcinoma HeLa cells. Steroidal alkaloid, cephalostatin
1, uses Smac/DIABLO for inducing apoptosis (Dey et al. 2019). Smac/DIABLO
is a mitochondrial protein that neutralizes one or more members of apoptosis
inhibitory proteins. Smac enters the cytosol from mitochondria during apoptosis
triggered by UV- or γ-irradiation (Adraine et al. 2001). Another steroidal alkaloid,
briofilin, suppresses Bcl-2 and caspase-3 initiation and upregulates Bax protein
expression and segmentation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) in
HeLa cells (Dey et al. 2019). Solamargine has been reported to upregulate TNFR-
1 (tumor necrotic factor receptor-1) to induce apoptosis (Dey et al. 2019). The
tumor necrosis factor (TNF) represents a multifunctional group of pro-inflammatory
cytokines which trigger signaling pathways for cell survival, apoptosis, inflam-
matory reaction, and cellular differentiation. Isoquinoline alkaloid, sanguinarine,
induces intrinsic apoptosis in the presence of Bax. The weakened interaction of
MELK (maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase) and STRAP (serine-threonine
kinase receptor-associated protein) is necessary for the transactivation of Bax
from cytosol to mitochondria. The accumulation of Bax in the mitochondria
induces MOMP (mitochrondrial outer membrane permeabilization), which causes
the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol from mitochondria (Gong et al. 2018).
Sanguinarine treatment of multiple myeloma cells leads to downregulation of the
antiapoptotic proteins including Bclxl, XIAP, Bcl-2, and cyclin D. In addition, it
also upregulates proapoptotic protein, Bax. It basically induces apoptosis in the
multiple myeloma cells via inhibition of JAK2/STATs signaling (Janus kinases,
JAK, signal transducer and activator of transcription proteins, STAT) (Akhtar et al.
2019). It remarkably sensitizes breast cancer cells to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-
related apoptosis inducing ligand-mediated apoptosis (Lu et al. 2012). Piperine and
piperlongumine extracted from Piper nigrum L. and Piper longum L., respectively,
in combination, were reported to suppress STAT3 phosphorylation and control
downstream molecules to cause apoptosis in breast cancer cells (Chen et al. 2020).
Quinolone alkaloid, evodiamine, has been found to rapidly enhance ROS followed
by mitochondrial depolarization that induces apoptosis (Lu et al. 2012). Evodiamine
580 K. Bhadra
induces both caspase-dependent and caspase-independent apoptosis, upregulates

Bax expression, and downregulates Bcl-2 expression in some cancer cells. Another
natural alkaloid, matrine, a major active compound found in Sophora flavescens Ait
and S. japonica, has been evaluated in in vitro 4 T1, H22, MNNG/HOS, and BxPC-
3 cells and in in vivo BALB/c mice model. It affects proteins such as E2F-1, Bax,
Bcl-2, Fas, and Fas-L involved in cell proliferation or apoptosis (Lu et al. 2012).
Matrine at 50–100 mg/kg inhibits MNNG/HOS xenograft growth and brings down
the pancreatic tumor volumes. In addition to this, it also inhibits the proliferation
of various types of cancer cells such as hepatoma G2 cells, K567, and SGC-7901
cells through apoptosis (Lu et al. 2012). Naamidine, a sponge-derived imidazole
alkaloid identified in Leucetta chagosensis, is another example of an apoptosis-
targeting compound (Tohme et al. 2011). Naamidine stimulates caspase-dependent
apoptosis in tumors cells through both extrinsic and intrinsic cell death pathways
by interruption of mitochondrial potential. It causes cell cycle arrest at G1 phase
through stabilization of the p21 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CDK2) and
stimulation of the initiating caspases 8 and 9 and PARP cleavage. Furthermore,
naamidine cleaved the effector caspase 3 through p53-independent mechanism both
in in vitro and in vivo model (Lu et al. 2012).
Targeting Transcription Factors Controlling Expression of Cancer Gene

Transcription factor is a protein that binds to selective DNA sequence and regulates
gene expression by promoting or suppressing transcription which plays important
role in the development and metastasis of cancer. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-
1) is one such tumor prospective factor related to tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis,
metabolism, and angiogenesis and is one of the most potent targets for treating
various cancers. Alkaloids with pyrroloiminoquinone ring structure from the marine
sponge Latrunculia sp., which were identified as novel HIF-1α/p300 inhibitors,
interrupted the protein-protein interaction between HIF-1α and p300 and actively
inhibit the growth of HCT 116 and prostatic carcinoma cell lines in vitro models. It
has been reported that the alkaloid berberine induces MDM2 self-ubiquitination and
degradation by inhibiting MDM2-DAXX-HAUSP interactions (Zhang et al. 2010).
MDM2 (mouse double minute 2) homolog is encoded by the MDM2 gene in human.
It is moreover a negative regulator of the p53 tumor inhibitor. Disruption of the
regulatory functions by MDM2 is a viable strategy to reactivate p53 (Song et al.
2018). NF-κB, a dimer protein, is another inducible transcription factor; plays an
important role in the regulation of immunological, inflammatory, and carcinogenic
responses; and has become a major molecular target in drug designing. NF-κB
belongs to the Rel family, which includes RelA (p65), RelB, c-Rel, p50 (NF-
κB1), and p52. Evodiamine has been reported to activate Fas ligand (Fas-L)/NF-κB
signaling pathways and cause cancer cell death (Lu et al. 2012). Sanguinarine is
also a potent suppressor of NF-κB activation induced by phorbol ester, okadaic
acid, TNF, and interleukin-1 (Lu et al. 2012). Moreover, it efficiently inhibits the
signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 activation (STAT-3); modulates the
members of the Bcl-2 family; activates caspases and upregulates death receptor 5
(DR-5); downregulates CDKs, cyclins, MMP-2, and MMP-9; and upregulates p21,
p27, and phosphorylation of p53.
Targeting Histone Deacetylases to Cause Genomic Instability

Through the repressive influence on histone deacetylation transcription, histone
deacetylases (HDACs), a group of epigenetic enzymes, control gene expression.
They remove acetyl groups from an N-acetyl lysine amino acid on histone and
allow the histones to cover the nucleic acid more tightly. The dysregulation of DNA
methylation and acetylation of the lysine residues on histone tails result in genomic
instability of tumor cells (Song et al. 2018). Hence, HDACs are probable therapeutic
targets for cancer treatment. Plant alkaloid berberine has been reported to induce
apoptosis and growth arrest in the A549 cell line by causing modulation of histone
deacetylase (Arunachalam et al. 2016). Another natural plant alkaloid, lycorine,
which is a toxic crystalline alkaloid belonging to family Amaryllidaceae, causes
HDAC inhibition in K562 cells and causes cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase (Li
et al. 2012). Macrocyclic depsipeptide alkaloid, largazole from cyanobacteria, also
suppresses histone deacetylases (HDAC) and exhibits anticancer activity (Tohme
et al. 2011).
Targeting Ubiquitin-Proteasome System for Cancer Therapy

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is a highly regulated mechanism of intra-
cellular protein degradation and turnover. Through the combined actions of a series
of enzymes, ubiquitin-activating enzyme (E1), ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2),
and ubiquitin-protein ligase (E3), proteins are marked for proteasomal degradation
(Song et al. 2018). Ubiquitin-proteasome system is involved in the regulation of
important processes of carcinogenesis; hence, targeting the ubiquitin-proteasome
system has been a therapeutic strategy in clinical treatment of cancer. Spongiacidin
C, a pyrrole alkaloid, derived from the marine sponge Stylissa massa has been
identified as the first natural USP7 inhibitor with a IC50 of 3.8 μM (Song et al.
2018). Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 7 (USP7) is a human deubiquitylating enzymes
(DUBs), which affects the stability and degradation of cellular proteins. USP7
can deubiquitylate Hdm2 and consequently degrade p53. Hence, inhibiting USP7
stabilizes p53 in cells through degradation of Hdm2 and results in the restraint of
cancer, and thus, USP7 is an emerging oncology target. The ubiquitylation of protein
is reversed by deubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs) and leads to deconjugation of the
ubiquitin chain.
Targeting Heat Shock Protein (Hsp90) Related to Oncoprotein

Maturity
Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a chaperone protein that helps other proteins
to fold properly, stabilizes heat stressed proteins, and assists in degradation of
protein. It acts as an evolutionarily conserved molecule that plays essential role
in apoptosis, cell survival, proliferation, and cellular homeostasis. It also stabilizes
582 K. Bhadra
a number of proteins required for tumor growth. Evidence shows that Hsp90 is
often uncontrolled in many solid tumors, like lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast
cancer, and hematological malignancy. Hence, Hsp90 has been recognized as an
important target in cancer therapy. Based on computer modelling and docking
studies, berberine has been assigned as a natural inhibitor of Hsp90. The ATP sites in
Hsp90 such as Gly121, Asn92, Asp79, Asn37, and Leuc34 were selected as targeted
amino acids and reported to be inhibited by the alkaloid, thereby suppressing the
growth of tumor cells which might contribute to the chemopreventive potential of
the alkaloid (Siva and Babu 2014).
Targeting the Markers Related to the Cancer Drug Resistance

Cancers often develop resistance to traditional therapies. The increasing number
of these drug-resistant cancers demands further research and development. It is
influenced by drug target modification, drug efflux, drug inactivation, cell death
inhibition, DNA damage repair, epigenetic effects, inherent cell heterogeneity, or
any coalition of these mechanisms. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is one such known marker
as multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) or ATP-binding cassette subfamily B member
1 (ABCB1) and belongs to ABC transporter family. Therefore, exploration of
alkaloids as anticancer compounds, which could suppress these ABC transporter
proteins, is an effective approach to reverse resistance and further ameliorate the
therapeutic efficacy. In mice with MDR, MCF-7/adr, or KBv200 cell xenografts,
coadministration of tetrandrine has been found to increase the anticancer activity
of doxorubicin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, and vincristine without a significant increase
in toxicity. Hence, tetrandrine holds a great promise as a MDR (multidrug resis-
tance) modulator for the treatment of P-gp-mediated MDR cancers (Kumar and
Jaitak 2019). Variolin B, a pyridopyrrolopyrimidine extracted from Kirkpatrickia
variolosa, is cytotoxic both in micro- and nanomolar concentration against several
human cancer cells, including human leukemia cells and ovarian, intestinal, and
colon carcinomas which are usually resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic
agents due to high levels of Pgp expression (Tohme et al. 2011). Furthermore,
harmine, piperine, and piperidine are some of the anticancer alkaloids reported to
show MDR reversal effects (Tinoush et al. 2020).
Carbohydrate Target by Small Molecules as Anticancer Alkaloids
Carbohydrates are known to play significant roles in cancer metastasis in addition to

a large number of other biological and pathological processes. Accumulated glucose
and increased metabolism encourage several characteristic features of cancer. In
cancer cells, regardless of the availability of the oxygen, a large amount of glucose
can be converted to lactic acid, and this phenomenon is known as Warburg’s
effect (Hossain and Andreana 2019). Hyperactivated glucose uptake and aberrant
glycolytic metabolism are considered as a hallmark of cancer cells. On the surface
of tumor cells, overexpressed extracellular tumor-specific carbohydrate antigens
(TACAs) are considered biomarkers for cancer detection and have been prioritized
for the development of novel anticancer drugs. However, detail regulation of the
glucose metabolism of cancer cells is still poorly understood.
Overexpression of glucose transporters (GLUTs) in cancer cells ameliorates
higher glucose consumption than that of normal cells, and this fact has opened new
windows for targeted chemotherapy in many cases, and accordingly, many natural
alkaloids have been selected as anticancer agent (Gao and Chen 2015). Berberine,
a natural alkaloid with tumor-selective anticancer effects, as described earlier, has
been shown to upgrade glucose uptake in metabolic tissues and cells. Berberine
has been reported to control the growth of colon cancer cell lines, HCT116 and
KM12C, by inhibiting the glucose uptake and transcription of glucose metabolic
genes, GLUT1 (glucose transporter 1), LDHA (lactate dehydrogenase A), and
HK2 (hexokinase 2). Study further indicated that the protein expression of HIF-
1α (hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha), a well-known transcription factor critical
for cancer cell with dysregulated glucose metabolism, is inhibited by berberine in
HCT116 cell line. Furthermore, berberine treats colon cancer cells via suppressing
mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin)-dependent HIF-1α protein synthesis,
which provides not only a novel mechanism for the development of berberine as
anticancer drug molecule (Mao et al. 2018).
Some groups target GLUT-1 and have conjugated sugars at different positions
like glycoconjugated prodrug, 2-D-glucose paclitaxel. After cellular uptake, these
prodrugs are cleaved by the hydrolytic enzymes to release the active drugs for
controlling tumor cells (Hossain and Andreana 2019).
Another natural alkaloid, saframycin A, isolated from marine tunicates has been
reported to have potent anticancer effect by forming a nuclear ternary complex with
GAPDH (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase) and DNA (Gao and Chen
2015). GAPDH, as a glycolytic enzyme, catalyzes the conversion of glyceraldehyde
3-phosphate to 1, 3-diphosphoglycerate. Moreover, GAPDH physically associates
with APE1 (human apurinic and apyrimidinic endonuclease), an essential enzyme
involved in the repair of abasic sites in damaged DNA, as well as in the redox
regulation of several transcription factors. This in turn converts the oxidized APE1
to reduced form and thereby reactivates its endonuclease activity to cleave abasic
DNA sites (Azam et al. 2008).
Anticancer Natural Alkaloids Targeting Lipid Metabolism
Recent studies disclosed that disorders related to lipid metabolism play significant
role in carcinogenesis by exploiting various abnormal gene and protein expression
and dysregulation of cytokines and signaling pathways. Once the homeostasis
between lipid anabolism and catabolism is disturbed, organisms will develop
metabolic disorders that leads to diseases like hyperlipidemia, obesity, and cancer.
Natural alkaloids such as piperine, betaine, oxymatrine, berberine, nuciferine,
and various analogues of nigellamines and dolabellane have been found to be
promising candidates for metabolic diseases to improve lipid metabolism-related
584 K. Bhadra
abnormalities. Lipid intake includes high-fat diet intake or endogenous intake

of fatty acids which in turn upregulates VEGF (vascular endothelial growth
factor) and promotes angiogenesis via recruitment of M2 macrophages, thereby
causing cancer cell proliferation. High-fat diet increases levels of IGF (insulin-
like growth factor), microRNA-130a, and various pro-inflammatory cytokines,
such as interleukins IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-α), EMR1
(macrophage markers such as EGF-like module-containing mucin-like hormone
receptor-like1), CR4 (complement receptor 4), and TLR-4 (toll-like receptor),
promoting cancer cell proliferation. High-fat diet also accelerates cancer cell
proliferation through activation of MCP-1/CCR2 signaling. Endogenous intake
includes LPA (lysophosphatidic acid), PUFAs (ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids),
and fatty acid. Decreased expression of mRNA encoding LPA5, one of G protein-
coupled receptors, accelerates proliferation and infiltration of mammalian cancerous
cells. Levels of EDPs (epoxydocosapentaenoic acids), a metabolite of ω-3PUFA
produced by cytochrome P450 enzymes in tumor cells, are significantly increased
by PUFAs, and as a consequence, expressions of pro-oncogenic genes like C-myc,
Axin2, and C-jun are reduced in cancer tissues that leads to the inhibition of cancer
growth. Intake of fatty acid also increases the expression of B-scavenger receptor,
CD36 (cluster of differentiation 36), a member of cell surface fatty acid receptors
that affect cancer metastasis.
Berberine improves hyperlipidemia and fatty liver by the activation of AMPK
(AMP-dependent protein kinase) in liver and muscle tissues. AMPK activation is
required for increasing fatty acid oxidation. It also regulates the lipid metabolism
through inhibition of fatty acid synthetase and 5-tetradecyloxy-2-furoic acid
(TOFA), inducing apoptosis in cancer cell. Berberine-dependent decrease of
dyslipidemia in obesity causes alteration in hepatic and muscular gene expression
programs that enhance fatty acid oxidation and reduce lipogenesis or hyperlipidemia
(Kim et al. 2009). Piperine has been found to suppress lipid droplet accumulation
in mouse macrophages by inhibiting cholesteryl ester synthesis (Matsuda et al.
2008). It significantly reduces the concentration of serum lipids in obese rats to near
normal levels and elevates high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in the serum. Betaine
is another compound found in many foods, including spinach, beets, and several
whole grains. Betaine and choline ameliorate lipid homeostasis in obese condition
by participation in mitochondrial oxidative demethylation (Sivanesan et al. 2018).
Nuciferine, found in Nelumbo nucifera leaves improves dyslipidemia in vivo
through PPARα/PPARγ coactivator-1α pathway (Zhang et al. 2018). Oxymatrine
found in sophora roots primarily from Sophora japonica (kushen), both in vivo
and in vitro, was reported to alleviate hepatic lipid metabolism via regulating the
expression profile of microRNA-182 in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (Zhang
et al. 2020). Lipid-lowering drugs and anti-lipid peroxidation treatment may be the
starting point for improving or curing lipid metabolism-related diseases. Further
clarification with molecular mechanism between lipid metabolism and malignancy
is essential for developing novel therapeutic agents and diagnostic biomarkers for
human cancers.
Concluding Remarks
Alkaloids have gained ascending popularity as emerging herbal medicines due to

their incontestable physiological properties. They possess great potential as effective
bioactive compounds for drug discovery with remarkable antitumoral and anticancer
properties. The advantages of these natural compounds are their low toxicity, high
efficacy, and background knowledge that made us to understand and exploit them
as effective therapeutic agents against the disease process. This is possible by
understanding their target-specific binding and structure-activity relationships. In
this chapter, up-to-date knowledge on the biological evaluation with promising IC50
concentration and target-specific binding aspects of some of the most important
anticancer natural alkaloids are presented. These natural drug candidates act through
different methods of activity; some cause damage of DNA molecule, regulate the
PI3k/Akt signal transduction course, and raise the levels of ROS, while others
initiate a caspase or an MAPK pathway reaction in cells. Nonetheless, many
act by cell cycle arrest at different checkpoints and downregulating the NF-κB
endurance pathway. Even few drugs lead to the stabilization of G-quadruplexes
while others go about as inhibitors of the p-glycoprotein ABCB1 and acting as
causative agents against drug resistance in cancer cells. These molecular approaches
speak to the reason for further developed advanced research on these alkaloid
molecules. Significantly, many of these natural alkaloids could be toxic to human
beings. Henceforth, the future challenge would be to make use of the chemical
diversity of these alkaloids in order to investigate their cytotoxic selectivity to a
large number of cancer cells as well as healthy normal cells and to identify possible
targets for improved treatment plan in cancer patients. Such fascinating outcomes
warrant more in vivo testing of these compounds as this could yield all the more
encouraging and promising results. The elucidation of these recognition mechanism
of target-specific binding with the biomacromolecule and the availability of a large
volume of experimental results of these prodigious molecules may provide useful
guidance for drug designing for their development as potential therapeutic agents in
the near future.
Acknowledgments KB is indebted to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Government of India 37 (1538)/12/EMR-II; U.G.C., Government of India 41-1434/2012(SR) and
DST-RFBR, 2017-19, DST/INT/RUS/RFBR/P-254 for the financial support. The author is also
grateful to DST-PURSE, DST-FIST SR/FST/LSI-467/2010C) and PRG, University of Kalyani,
2021–22 for the partial financial support.
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Mode of Materials, Technology,
and Devices 22
Shivani Jakhar, Surender Duhan, Supriya Sehrawat, Atul Kumar,
Sunita Devi, and Sonia Nain
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
Nanomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
Methods of Synthesis of Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
Chemical Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
Immobilization Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
Properties of Nanostructured Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Physical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Chemical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Characterization Techniques of Nanostructured Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Surface Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
S. Jakhar
Nanomaterials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, D.C.R. University of Science and
Technology, Murthal, India
Inorganic Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, D. C. R. University of
S. Duhan () · A. Kumar
Nanomaterials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Deen Bandhu Chhoturam University
of Science and Technology, Murthal Sonepat, Haryana, India
S. Sehrawat
Nanomaterials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, D.C.R. University of Science and
Technology, Murthal, India
S. Devi
Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, M.K.J.K. Collage, Rohtak,
India
S. Nain
Inorganic Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, D. C. R. University of
592 S. Jakhar et al.
Surface Morphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

Surface Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Crystallography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Cosmetics and Sunscreens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Nanocomposites as Sensing Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Catalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
Abstract
Sensors are the fabricated devices that easily respond to any input due to
the significant physical alteration in the surrounding atmosphere. The smart
performance of a sensor is in correspondence to the sensing material used in its
manufacturing. Nanomaterials are the targeted approach and preferable choice
of scientists in recent times due to their tremendous desirable characteristics
properties in sensing industry.
According to ISO and ASTM standard guidelines, we can define nano-
materials as the materials having the particle size within the range of 1 to
100 nm covering its one, two, or all three dimensions. Nanoparticles can be
categorized as organic, inorganic, and carbon-based nanostructured particles
with their nanoscale particle size dimensions, which have much advanced and
improved characteristics properties as compared to when equal mass of same
substance is produced with larger size dimensions. Because of their nanoscale
sized particles, nanomaterials as a sensing material show many improved desired
properties like sensitivity, stability, durability, swift response/recovery time with
respect to input from the change in surrounding atmosphere, low hysteresis,
significantly increased surface area, etc. There are various literature reported
practices adopted for the synthesis of nanostructured particles, which can be
broadly classified into three major categories, namely, physical method, chemical
method, and mechanical method of synthesis; each one is intended to produce
much amended sensing material. These methods of synthesis are still evolving
over the years to produce advanced sensing materials to fabricate smart sensors.
Another broad classification of nanoparticles includes various methods into
bottom-up and top-down approach of synthesis. Sol-gel, spinning, chemical
vapor deposition (CVD), pyrolysis, and biosynthesis methods of synthesis are
the part of bottom-up approach, whereas mechanical milling, nanolithography,
laser ablation, sputtering, and thermal decomposition methods belong to top-
down approach of synthesis. In recent years, due to greater surface area of the
synthesized material with hydrothermal and nanocasting, chemical methods of
synthesis of nanoparticles are extensively used by researchers and scientists.
22 Mode of Materials, Technology, and Devices 593
Further the synthesized nanoparticle is investigated by various characterization

techniques like powder X-ray diffraction technique including both low and wide-
angle patterns, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, analysis of N2
adsorption and desorption isotherms from BET for enhanced surface area, and
energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Finally, this chapter deals with the great utility
and applications of the nanostructured particles in various fields.
Keywords
Nanocomposite · KIT-6 · Cubic mesoporous · Hydrothermal · Hysteresis ·

Sensor
Introduction
According to the definition defined by Gopel and Schierbaum (Zhao and Ning
2001) “sensors are devices that receive a signal or stimulus and responds with an
electrical signal.” Presently the advanced research in sensing industry is mainly
focused on practical increase in the reliability factor, stability factor, and effective
lowering of production and manufacturing cost of sensing material and sensors
that will further transform the chemical as well as physical change into electrical
signals. For the same, a variety of sensing materials have been produced and
characterized for further investigation for the fabrication of smart sensors (Zhao and
Ning 2001). With a significant comparison in characteristics and desirable properties
for an effective and practical sensor, metal/metal oxide-doped nanomaterials have
emerged as a major sensing material comprising of great mechanical endurance and
chemical resistivity in variable atmospheric conditions showing stable and repetitive
electrical changes. They have great applicability as humidity and gas sensors as their
sensing material (Zhao and Ning 2001; Faraday 1857). A sensor mainly has three
components for the sensing mechanism to function, namely, receptor, transducer
part, and lastly operation mode. The porous surface of the sensing material acts
as the receptor in the sensor fabrication that quickly responds to any significant
physical any chemical change in the variable atmospheric conditions. Therefore,
all the sorption processes comprising of adsorption and desorption part or any
chemical or physical reaction will take place on the surface of metal/metal oxide-
doped nanocomposite. Physical adsorption, that is, physisorption, and chemical
adsorption, that is, chemisorption, both processes define the adsorption mechanism.
In case of chemisorption courses, there is electronic transfer of water molecule
and the solid material for humidity sensing. In contrast, there is no transfer for
physisorption process. Both processes also depend on the reaction temperature. As
a consequence, this adsorption of water molecule in humidity sensing will results in
significant alteration in the diminution layer of sensing material which are further
converted into electrical signals by the transducer part of the sensor having great
impact of mesoporous framework of the sensing film. The porosity of the sensing
material and particle size of synthesized nanocomposite mainly govern the output
signals which are mainly in the form of electrical signals. Other than humidity
and gas sensing, the mesoporous metal/metal oxide-doped nanomaterials have
huge practical applications like cosmetics and sunscreens, electronics, catalysis,
health and medicine, agriculture and food, renewable energy and environmental
remediation, construction, and most importantly in sensing industry in the designing
of various smart sensors like humidity and gas sensors. This chapter involves
detailed description about the target achievements of the present reported research
work comprising of detailed synthesis and characterization techniques of the various
nanocomposite materials and various diversified humidity sensors describing need
of humidity measurement.
The precise humidity level calculation, using modern technology developed
advanced humidity sensors, is a very important phenomenon for the control of
various humidity-dependent industrial activities and mechanized systems. The
usage of microelectronics and computers can be significantly counted in the
design and fabrication of advanced humidity devices. In the understanding levels,
nanoscience can be explained as the science involving the study of transformation
of a substance present at atomic, molecular, and macromolecular size to a nanoscale
size having physical and chemical properties largely different than its manufacturing
materials and further involves investigation, characterization, and applications of the
synthesized material in designing humidity devices with controlled shape and size
at the nanometer. Due to great applications in research and medical, the synthesis
and investigation of nanocomposite is a huge emerging research area for scientists
with great funding from governments of all countries.
In the prehistoric times, nanoparticles have great application as a dye substance
in ceramic materials (Zhao and Ning 2001; Faraday 1857; Postma et al. 2001; Tans
et al. 1997); and for the treatment of disease like dipsomania, arthritis, etc., gold
nanoparticles were used intensively as a therapy material. After studying all these
applications, near about in nineteenth centuries, various series of research exper-
iments were done for synthetization and investigation of nanoparticles (Faraday
1857; Postma et al. 2001; Tans et al. 1997). Many experiments and research work
were done to improve the properties and desired characteristics of the synthesized
nanoparticles materials. With the help of modern-day progressed scientific technol-
ogy, scientists now can easily alter any substance present at atomic level to upward
scale to attain a material of desired properties.
In parallel to demand of the civilization, there were many scientific technologies
being developed by scientists to synthesize a material with superior properties that
are very much specified in nature for the manufacture and fabrication of humidity-
sensitive devices. This development in scientific technologies is very important to
attain high level human comfort. This all development is achieved at a great pace
in past few years. Still there is scope of great improvisation and development in
the humidity sensitive devices manufacturing technology. With the advancement of
technology in nanoparticles, there is great scope of advancement in the discipline
area of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and mathematics. The field
of nanoscience and nanotechnology is a vast area encompassing synthetization,
characterization, investigation, analysis and further applicability in the field of sens-

ing, catalysis, medicine, and target drug delivery using nanocomposite substances.
As stated earlier, a vast utility and significance of nanoparticles can be seen from
ancient times mainly in the field of catalysis and target drug delivery mechanism
in medical area. For the advancement and development of nanostructured particle
devices, the major phenomenon is the construction and design of atomic particles
to a miniature scale. Nanoparticle technology is the path to the production of next
age of microelectronics. For instance, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)
are the base materials for the manufacturing of devices like single electron transistor
(Postma et al. 2001; Tans et al. 1997) and field effect transistor (Keren et al. 2003;
Tans et al. 1998; Martel et al. 1998) that were developed in past few years and
demonstrated as simple logical circuits in the form of proto type (Bachtold et al.
2001; Collins et al. 2001; Rueckes et al. 2000; Derycke et al. 2001). Further many
interdisciplinary investigations on nanostructured materials are done on the basis
of material nature to enhance the involvement of various scientific technologies
comprising of physics, biochemistry, surface chemistry, clusters, catalysis, computer
technique including various modeling systems, etc.
Nanomaterials
A science-oriented approach based on material is the great findings of nanomaterial

fields. This field of research area includes the analysis of morphological features of
the substances minimized to nanoscale size. It studies the materials with morpho-
logical features belonging to nanoscale having properties specifically derived with
respect to their nanosized magnitudes. Nanoscale-sized dimensions can be defined
as a scale equal to one thousandth times of a micrometer scale. Nanomaterials
research field area is also about the learning of various characterized properties that
are derived after reducing the scale size to nanoscale. The vast research area in
the nanoscience is very important to make significant changes in the sensing world
technology of the sensors.
Nanomaterial term is comprising of an enormous variability of nanostructured
substances with containment of nanometer range dimension. The structural nano-
materials characteristics of nanomaterials are in between those of atoms and bulk
materials. In the manufacture and fabrication of novel advanced devices, semicon-
ducting nanostructured materials show improved derived properties. As electrical,
optical and chemical properties can be tuned with nanosized particle in a wide range.
Metal oxide semiconductors have attracted much attention on the size-dependent
phenomenon. In recent years, metal oxide semiconductor nanoparticles received
considerable attention as active components in a wide variety of basic research
and technological applications due to their improved electric, optical, and magnetic
properties compared to their bulk counter-parts. The infinite possibilities that
nanotechnology has on the production of nanomaterials are going to significantly
alter the material world. Due to their nanometer size, nanomaterials are already
known to have many novel properties. Due to their small dimensions, nanomaterials
have extremely large surface area to volume ratio, which makes a large fraction
of atoms of the materials to be on the surface or interfacial atoms, resulting in
more surface dependent material properties. After producing the nanomaterials
comparable to Debye length, there is significant notice in the change in desired
properties of the nanostructured materials due to change in the surface properties
of the materials (Ogawa et al. 1982; Luth 1995). Further we can say that as with
many new technologies, there seems to be a lack of complete understanding when it
comes to how nanoparticles change the properties of materials. Over the past decade,
nanomaterials have been the subject of enormous interest (Cao 2004; Knauth and
Schoonman 2002; Edelstein and Cammarata 1998; Rao et al. 2004). Nanomaterials
have a great application in the field of industries, biomedical industry and electronic
industry, because of their extremely small structured size. As a result of huge
funding and investments from government as well as private universities, there is
formation of many cooperative associations at individual as well as community
stages. There are many structured formations of nanomaterials like composite mate-
rials, ceramics, and polymeric materials having notable difference in their structure
because of their size and variable dimensions. Because of variable characteristics
structured properties and applications of nanomaterials in the biomedical industries,
in electrical and mechanical industries like for the formation of batteries, in the
packaging industries, and in automobiles industries. Figure 1 illustrates the progress
chart due to growth in nanotechnology science.
Therefore, now we can clearly define nanomaterials as the materials with very
minute size preferably in the range of 1–100 nanometers in all the dimensions.
Generally, the stability of highly stable substances can be altered and reduced to
a great level by increasing the surface area to volume ratio by making the size
infinitesimal small to include in the category of nanomaterials. Therefore, after
reducing the size significantly to a level of 100 nm, there is noticeable change in the
physical as well as chemical properties and the group of substances is characterized
as nanomaterials. There are many methods that are used for the production of
nanomaterials like sol-gel route, hydrothermal method, nanocasting practice, etc.
Because of variable characteristics, structured properties and applications of
nanomaterials in the biomedical industries, in electrical and mechanical industries
like for the formation of batteries, in the packaging industries and in automobiles
industries. The first usage of nanomaterial was claimed by General Motors for the
application in exterior automotive for the running boards in mid-sized vans. Further
manufacturing minute electronic circuits in the year 2001 was regarded as the
most important scientific development in the year of 2001 in the molecular special
edition of Journal Science. It is clear that researchers are merely on the threshold
of understanding as well as development and that a great deal of fundamental work
remains to be done. Further there is variation in the characteristic properties for
nanostructured materials mainly because of two main important phenomena. First
reason is identified as the comparatively much larger surface area as compared
Fig. 1 Graphical abstract

to the equal mass produced the same material in the larger particle size. This
will further result in the enhanced stability and significant increase in chemical
reactivity affecting the electrical as well as mechanical strength with enhanced
properties. Secondly, the quantum effect shows a much greater impact on the
electrical, mechanical, optical, as well as magnetic behavior of the material present
at nanoscale level. The nanoscale dimension of the nanostructured materials can
extend up to one, two, or all the three dimensions. Therefore, in simple words, we
can say that the main goal line of nanotechnology and nanoscience is to produce
new nanostructured materials with enhanced characteristic properties. Therefore,
the various areas covered under the nanoscience field of study can be identified
as in sensor industry, drug development, and information and communication
technologies.
Methods of Synthesis of Nanoparticles
The various literatures reported applied practices, in the synthesis of nanostructured

materials, are the said determinant factor for the particle size and specific surface
area. The main classification of the adopted synthesis techniques as reported in the
literature can be divided into two main broad fields:
(a) Chemical Methods Proceeding via Bottom-up Approach

(b) Physical Methods Proceeding via Top-down Approach
Chemical Methods
The nanostructured product obtained via chemical practice is very much specific and
versatile substances in controlling the specific surface area and size of the nanoscale
particles. The great homogeneity level can be achieved by chemical methods by
mixing the base substances at the molecular level. The whole chemical approach
includes various methods as mentioned below:
(a) Precipitation methods:

(i) Hydrothermal method of synthesis
(ii) Emulsion precipitation method
(iii) Co-precipitation method
(iv) Sol-Gel method
The end product of all the above methods is in the form of precipitate.
(b) Immobilization methods:

(i) Citrate complexation gelation method
(ii) Penchini chemical method of synthesis
Precipitation Methods
(i) Hydrothermal synthesis method or solvothermal synthesis: The prominent
usage of hydrothermal procedure is its relatively very low processing temperature
of hydrothermal treatment, which plays determinant role in controlling the pore size
and surface area of synthesized nanoparticles. The hydrothermal method can be
defined as the derivation of single crystals from the aqueous solutions at very high
pressure because of their enhanced characteristics mineral solubility. This adopted
hydrothermal treatment for the synthesis of nanostructured materials has major
desirable characteristics like proceeding of the crystal growth without usage of any
catalyst to activate the reaction, comparatively low reaction proceeding temperature,
eco-friendly reaction having product and by product production, greater enhanced
specific surface area of the synthesized and very low production cost with very
less hazardous properties. The proceeding of the reaction at very low reaction
temperature is very specific for the production and functioning of micro as well as
plastic electronics. The dilution of water and aqueous solutions is done at relatively
high pressure, that is, approximately 80 MPa to 300 MPa, mainly to dissolve metal
oxides, metal silicates, and sulfides, which have very minimal solubility at normal
temperature and pressure conditions. The determinant factors that play a major role
in impartation of desirable characteristics properties of the end product and enhance
the rate of reaction in terms of reaction kinetics are the starting pH level of the
reaction medium, the time interval, and value of constant maintained temperature
and pressure of the proceeding reaction. The steel walled autoclaves, with ability
to maintain high pressure and temperature conditions inside the container, are
used for the synthesis of nanostructure materials. To achieve the targeted high
specific surface area and other desirable characteristic properties, firstly all the
reactants will be under hydrothermal treatment at constant room temperature with
the noticeable enhancement in the crystallization of available amorphous phases
of the reactants during hydrothermal treatment (Komarneni et al. 1993; Meskin
et al. 2006). Then the achieved suspension will be shifted to steel walled autoclave
to achieve and maintain the high-pressure conditions for the proceeding reaction
without maintaining any temperature rise. Same approach is used in various
chemical synthesis methods, for example, hydrothermal ultrasonic, electrochemical,
microwave, having major rewards as compared to other conventional methods.
Another major advantage of hydrothermal treatment is the stability and formation
of various metastable phases due to very low reaction proceeding temperature.
Also, the time attained in the completion of a hydrothermal process is much less
as compared to any other conventional method.
Emulsion Precipitation Method

In the emulsion precipitation method , as the name of the process suggests, there is
formation of an emulsion phase comprising of having high thermal stability, by the
addition required and calculated amounts of surfactants into a phase of water and
oil. This emulsion system has many droplets which further have atoms in it. For the
formation of thermally stable precipitate, the active exchange of reactant species
through the droplets is mandatory. Also, according to Einstein-Smoluchowski

equation, “The normal rate of the particle growth is faster than the equivalent rate of
exchange between droplets.” This further results in the decreased emulsion growth
as well as retards the formation and agglomeration of larger molecules due to very
less nucleation process as compared to other homogeneous systems. The surfactants
also play a major role in deciding the droplet dimensions and enhance the thermal
stability of the formed emulsion. After the water extraction, to attain particle
stability, many other multi additives are used. In the nanostructured materials
synthesis process, firstly the oil phase like containing cyclohexane, heptane, etc.,
is mixed with multisurfactants like octanol, tergitol, etc., and following the removal
of organic phase, there is proceeding of dispersal of particles. Further calculated
addition of water is done to obtain a turbid emulsion by dynamic shaking. And
the stirring was done for a couple of hours after the dropwise addition of emulsion
into the alcoholic alkoxides solutions . Then to remove all the formed micelles, the
filtrate was passed into the acetone after solvent extraction. Thus, the obtained solid
product was dried completely after removal of organic phase and calcination was
done to further transform into nanostructures spinals. The major advantage of this
process is the resistance in formation of larger molecules and comparatively great
retardation in agglomeration of particles during emulsion formation in its bubbles
and that too at very low proceeding reaction temperature (Wouundenberg 2001; Tai
et al. 2001). Further to achieve all the desired characteristics properties of the end
product, firstly there is formation of the mixture by atomic level mingling resulting
into precipitation formation and then the chemical homogeneous mixture is obtained
during the enhancement of the reaction for the formation of oxide precipitation
having many components. There is also a drawback to overcome during emulsion
precipitation process which is the segregation of phase partially due to possibility of
precipitation at various levels and with different kinetics during subsequent reaction
processing which can be termed as co-precipitation of different precursors.
Co-precipitation Method
The formation of precipitate, from the homogeneous solvent during the synthesis
process of nanostructured materials, totally depends on the size of particles having
nanoscale dimensions. In the proceeding of the reaction, firstly the dissolution of salt
like chloride, fluoride, nitride, of inorganic metal is done in water medium. These
inorganic metal cations find their stability with water of crystallization molecules in
their complex structure which can also be regarded as metal hydrate compounds
like Al (H2 O)3+ or Fe (H2 O)6 3+ . These inorganic metal hydrates will then be
mixed with the solution having basic medium, for example, the solution of sodium
hydroxide (NaOH). After the condensation of the hydrolyzed particles, the uniform
repetitive washing was done which further followed by drying and calcination to
get the end desired product. Briefly there are two levels of the co-precipitation
process. It starts with the agglomeration of impurities because of particle growth
during precipitate separation process and then redeployment of the same happens
between the solvent medium and the formed particle precipitates. During the very
first level, the trapping of impurities can take place at two possible spots: the first
one is on the surface which can be termed as surface co-precipitation and the
second one is inside the forming particles which can be termed as volume co-
precipitation. In case of growth of nanostructured particles comprising of a fixed
crystal structure, there are two very possible locations of localization of impurity
particles in the case of volume co-precipitation, that is, in the locality of crystal
defects arena or on the surface of formed crystal phase in its crystalline structure.
Further there is noticeable transference of impurity particles to the medium having
precipitates. After the supersaturation condition is achieved or when the medium
having substance particles is super cooled, there observed co-precipitation takes
place at the end of the reaction. The kinetics of the reaction, the reaction proceeding
and precipitate separation temperature, duration of the reaction (can extend from
seconds to hours), the chemical purity of the reactant species, etc., determine the
characteristic properties of the desired end product (Schleicher and Friedlander
1996).
Sol-Gel Method
The sol-gel synthesis method is very popular in ceramic designing and manu-
facturing industry as well as in arena of material science. The sol-gel process
proceeds through a wet-chemical route. This method of synthesis of nanostructured
materials and metal oxides exhibits major advantages in comparison to other
literature-reported synthesis methodologies. This practice provides better homo-
geneous phase throughout the solution, very low reaction proceeding temperature,
continuous maintained stoichiometry throughout the reaction medium, more flexible
atmosphere for the formation of multilayer or monolayer films, and differently
structured nanoparticles. Further the next major step lies in the decantation of
the solvent. The end product gel can be obtained in various forms with different
chemical and physical properties like aerogel, cryogel, etc. The noticeable point is
that throughout the sol-gel synthesis process, the specific nanodimensions of the
nanostructured materials remain preserved with specifically high specific surface
area. Sol-gel method is based on the principle of suspension of solid reactant atoms
approximately in the size dimensions of 0.1–1 μm in a solvent medium existing
in liquid state. This dispersion mechanism lies in the explanation given by the
Brownian motions. The dispersion of both solid and liquid mediums results in the
formation of gel which gives a network of solid-state having liquid particles also
resulting in a colloidal solution.
Major returns of the usage of sol-gel method of nanoparticle formation are as
under:
(a) There is formation of a thin film acting as bond coating for the protection of
metallic nanostructure.
(b) This coating is also corrosion resistant and provides the same protection
throughout the reaction process.
(c) The desired shape of nanostructured product in the end state of gel can be
obtained with varying geometries like films, nanorods, etc.
(d) The end desired product is in highly pure state because of the property dissolu-
tion of the precursor material into the solvent and to form a gel like medium by
hydrolysis whose composition is highly specific and can be controlled to a great
extent.
(e) The sintering process happens at relatively very low temperature, mainly at 200–
600 ◦ C.
(f) Further this method is very economical, eco-friendly, and with very simple
approach for the production of high effective coatings.
Every method has its advantages and disadvantages to exhibit. Due to many
limitations, the sol-gel method has never resembled its potential at industrial level
because of its very low porosity control mechanism, and stability of nanostructured
end material is very less because of weak bonding, low exhibiting resistance, and
high permeability tendency. In the sol-gel process firstly, the precursor is present
in the form of colloidal solution, termed as sol, for the network of polymers which
are in the form of gel. Typical precursors exist in the form of chlorides, nitrates,
oxides, etc., of metals, which further proceeds with the mechanism of hydrolysis and
polycondensation reactions. In this chemical method of synthesis, there is gradual
transformation of “sol” precursor into the gel form having two phase system of both
solid and liquid which have their morphologies values ranging from atomic level to
particles to further derived polymers (Gusev 2007; Philippou 2000).
To recognize the gel-like properties of the end product, a given interval of
time was provided for the sedimentation process to occur in the colloidal solution,
followed by decantation of extra fluid (Brinker and Scherer 1990; Wright and Som-
merdijk 2001). For the sedimentation process and phase separation, centrifugation is
also a better option. Further solvent removal is done by drying leading to noticeable
shrinkage. The kinetics of the solvent removal and separation process is totally
obtained by porous character of the gel. Many structural changes can be executed in
the phase formation mechanism to exhibit the final geometry and porosity of the end
product. Further this will be used as precursor for the formation of many geometry
varying nanostructured materials like ceramics, nanorods, nanopowders, films, etc.
Immobilization Methods
Citrate Complexation Gelation Method

Here in this method, the stability of metal ions is achieved by using the organic
networked precursor medium, to obtain oxide powder of very fine texture through
the heating process (Yu et al. 2003). Compositions with more than one compo-
nent are prepared through this method whose homogeneity is good along with
stoichiometric control. Poly-chelates between carbon-oxygen legends of citric acid
and metal ions are used here in this method. When we heat these chelates with
an alcohol which is polyfunctional then they show polyesterification. Here in this
method, evaporation is the stage when chelating process occurs and the precursor
medium of metallic salts and citric acid undergoes evaporation. If it is heated even
more, then a glassy gel is produced which is a viscous resin and it is rigid and
transparent in nature (Grandqvist and Buhrman 1976). Immobilization of various
metal ion mixtures is seen when the making of this rigid system is in its initial stages.
Hence, during consequent calcinations, formation of different oxide compositions
through segregation is highly minimized.
Penchini Method
This is a method through which fine dispersed complexes are formed which are
very homogenous. The polymer gel is also an intermediatory result as a product.
The basis of this method is:
(A) Extreme blending of the positive ions.

(B) Formation of polymer gel through conversion of previous solution which is a
controlled process.
(C) Polymer matrix is removed.
(D) Oxide precursor is formed which is highly homogenous.
The solution of citric acid along with ethylene glycol is introduced with alkoxides
or metal salts and it is asynthetic process (Tai and Lessing 1992a, b; Kakihana
and Yoshimura 1999). The balancing of the ions which have different behavior is
believed to be done by citric complexes’ formation and its results are comparatively
good distribution of ions. The separation of components during the later stages of
the process is also prevented. 100 ◦ ´ is the temperature above which citric acid
polycondensation starts along with polycondensation of ethylene glycol and this
results in the formation of citrate gel which is a polymer. Pyrolysis and oxidation
of polymer matrix start when the temperature is more than 400 ◦ ´, which results is
production of carbonate precursor (X-ray amorphous oxide). For the desired product
which is more homogenous and with more dispersion, then the precursor should be
heated more. Nowadays this method is used more for the synthesis of following
materials:
(A) Dielectric materials

(B) Fluorescent and magnetic materials
(C) High temperature superconductors
(D) Catalysts
(E) For the deposition of oxide films and coatings
Major advantages of this process are comparatively more simplicity, the condi-
tions of the process that are not affected the with the chemical nature of positive ions
formed in the product, comparatively lower temperature required for the processing
of the precursor, and this leads to the completion of the process with absence
of sintering and this results in formation powders of refractory oxides which are
nanocrystals in structure.
Low Temperature Combustion Methods (LCS)

This is one of those techniques which saves a lot of time and is very effortless
and energy vise very efficient way for the production of powders which are ultra-
fine (Li et al. 2003). The basis of this method is combustion after gelling. The
combustion is of an aqueous medium which contain salts of the metal we desire
and some fuels which are organic in nature. The product so formed is very fluffy
and has large volume and the surface area is also very large. For example, we can
use salts like metal nitrates and fuels like urea, citrate acid, or polyacrylic acid. The
fuel more commonly used is citrate acid because of its double functions, as a fuel or
reductant and can also be used as a chelating agent. The thing that majorly affects
the condition of calcination and the crystallites thus produced is the molar ratio of
fuel to nitrate. To prepare the crystalline powders which have homogeneity and have
a nanoscale primary particle size, we have to control this ratio and temperature for
calcination (Zhang et al. 2010).
Properties of Nanostructured Materials
There are many physical and chemical properties specific to nanostructured

materials.
Physical Properties
The observed physical properties for nanostructured materials are imparted by its
varying color, different ultraviolet light absorption, transmission in comparison to
intensity of light, reflection and refraction tendencies. Nanostructured materials
display high thermal stability, greater electrical and mechanical strength, enhanced
elasticity, flexibility, malleability, and ductility. Further, nanostructured materials
exhibit intensive properties as a semiconductor, conductor, and superconductor
with significant conductivity values. Many carbon-based nanomaterials are totally
resistant to ultraviolet light degradation and have high frequency shielding with
noticeable sensitivity towards any change on atmospheric humidity, sunlight, air,
and any other volatile substances in the atmosphere (Tenne 2002; Huang et al. 2010;
De Volder et al. 2013; Fawole et al. 2016).
Chemical Properties
The various chemical reactions of nanostructured materials, on the basis of chemical

reactivity and chemical nature towards the target molecule, reveal the chemical
properties of the nanocomposites. The sensitive behavior towards any variation in
moisture content of the atmosphere, heat or any other volatile substance, corrosive-
resistant chemical behavior, various oxidative and reductive intermediate reactions,
antibacterial and antifungal properties are some of the observed chemical properties
of nanodimensioned materials (Bogutska et al. 2013; Ruales-lonfat et al. 2015;

Carlos et al. 2013)
Characterization Techniques of Nanostructured Materials
Size
The determination of size of the particle of nanostructured materials is very

important parameter to characterize for the category revelation of whether nano-
, micro-, or mesoporous materials. The most commonly used characterization
techniques to determine the particle size in the synthesized nanocomposite materials
are scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy
(TEM). These two microscopic techniques are specific to revelation of size in case
of particles only, whereas diffraction methods comprising of laser are specific to
that same of bulk solid nanomaterials (Marsalek 2014; Sharma and Rao 2014). The
samples present in liquid state have their size determination using centrifugation
and photon correlation spectroscopy. For the samples that of in gaseous state,
normally scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) is used for particulate matter size
determination.
Surface Area
The specific surface area as well as the ratio of specific area to volume determination
of the synthesized nanoparticles is very important parameter to enhance the desired
chemical reactivity and characteristics properties of the produced samples. The
method used for the determination of specific surface area is known as Brunner-
Emmett-Teller method (BET) analysis.
Composition
The analysis of chemical as well as elemental composition of the synthesized

nanoparticles is a very important parameter to characterize for the determination
of how pure the formed sample is and what will be the efficiency of the formed
substance as a highly performed sensing material. The removal of foreign elements
as impurities is highly important to enhance the efficiency and performance of the
sensing material as the foreign elements can result in further reaction to contaminate
the solution. The method used for compositional determination normally is X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (Sharma and Rao 2014).
Surface Morphology
The surface morphology plays a very crucial role in the determination of structural
features and geometric shape of the sample and of pores present in it, for example,
conical, hexagonal, octahedral, cylindrical, spherical. Also, the crystallinity and
amorphous layout of the sample surface is also discussed. The common techniques
used for the revelation of surface morphology are SEM and TEM (Marsalek 2014;
Sharma and Rao 2014; Bzdek et al. 2016; Hodoroaba et al. 2014). In the case of
samples being present in liquid state, there is tendency to get accumulated on the
surface, whereas when the sample is present in gaseous state, the arresting of the
particles is done in an electronic manner or by doing filtration to obtain SEM and
TEM characterization photographs.
Surface Charge
The charge present on the surface of the synthesized materials is very important
aspect to analyze as it decides the quantum of interaction with the targeted molecule.
The instrument used for the determination of surface charge is zeta potentiometer.
The stability of the produced materials after dispersion in the solution is also
determined (Marsalek 2014; Sharma and Rao 2014; Bzdek et al. 2016; Hodoroaba
et al. 2014). For the sample in gaseous phase, differential mobility analyzer (DMA)
instrument is put in a functional manner to reveal the surface charge.
Crystallography
The arrangement and shape of unit cell present in the crystalline solid predicts
its crystallinity and the analysis of the came is termed as crystallography. This is
determined using powder X-ray method which is comprised of two subcategories,
that is, small angle X-ray diffraction (SXRD) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction
method (WXRD) (Yano et al. 1996).
Applications
Nanoparticles have a very vast range of practical usage applications in the present
scenario. Here are some important applications of nanostructured materials dis-
cussed briefly towards the establishment of smart sensor.
Cosmetics and Sunscreens
Normally sunscreens are used to protect the skin from harmful ultraviolet rays from
the sun which have cancerogenic properties and very harmful for the skin. But the
old conventional sunscreens lack in providing the long-term stability and protection
towards UV rays. But many nanostructured materials have vast usage in this arena,
for example, titanium and zinc oxide special property to reflect the harmful UV rays
in the atmosphere residing totally transparent to light passing other than UV rays.
This property makes these nanoparticles extra suitable for their usage as pigments
in advanced sunscreens. There are many seen usages of iron oxide as pigment in
various branded lipsticks (Wiechers and Musee 2010).
Electronics
Many nanoparticles in the crystalline state are used vastly in electronics items
to improve the display features in terms of larger size and brightness in modern
advanced electronic items. Because the display features of electronic items demand
lager display size with enhanced brightness, which further intensifies the usage of
nanoparticles to fulfill all the technological demands. Many developed advanced
light emitting diodes (LED) contain zinc selenide, lead telluride, cadmium sulfide,
etc., in the form of nanoparticles to enhance display features (Teng et al. 2008).
Whereas the electronic items like phone, laptops, etc., which can be port easily
from one place to other have different desired features to fulfill like extremely light
in weight, compact size with long lasting batteries. Many nanoparticles in crystalline
state like hydrides of nickel and other alkali and alkaline metals can be used in the
fabrication of separator plates in batteries in the form of foam named aerogel which
is specific to enhance the battery capacity to store much greater energy. Further
these nanostructured crystalline materials are larger in specific surface area also
which reduces the charging time significantly (Published et al. 2016).
Nanocomposites as Sensing Material
Various nanoparticles and metal/metal oxide-doped nanocomposites reveal a great

enhancement in the electrical conductivity values because the greater surface area of
the nanostructured materials and mesoporous structure of various nanocomposites
provide larger number of pores sites for better adsorption of water molecules in case
of humidity sensing and other volatile gaseous particles in case of gas sensing. The
porous structure of the nanocomposites is responsible for charge transfer from the
host nanoparticles to the adsorbed species like any gas particles like of NO2 and
NH3 or to water molecules for better binding and enhanced stability to reflect the
sensing mechanism (Liu et al. 2011).
Catalysis
The nanostructured materials possess much greater surface area, which results in
the exhibition of catalytic activity. During many chemical reactions, nanoparticles
behave as great catalyst towards the fast progression of the chemical reaction
because of their high surface to volume ratio (Crooks et al. 2001; Ganesh and
Archana 2013). Some of the very famous known applications of nanoparticles as
catalyst are in the reduction of NiO to metallic form of nickel using Pt nanoparticles,
usage of Pt nanoparticles in the self-propelled catalytic converters.
Medicine
The delivery of the particular drug to the specific cell is known as targeted drug
delivery and nanoparticles play a very crucial role in the medical field as a targeted
carrier for the drug using improved nanotechnology (Mudshinge et al. 2011). The
overall side effects observed with the usage of nanoparticles as drug carrier are
very negligible in count and can be significantly controlled by varying the drug
dosage at the targeted place only which also making the drug very cost efficient.
Nanotechnology is also a very efficient method in the repairing action mechanism
of the dented tissues leading to their reproduction. Further for the artificial organ
grafting, tissue engineering is a very effective technology as proved in the case of
evolution of bones in the framework of carbon nanotubes (Shinde et al. 2012). The
usage of right amount of gold nanoparticles in mental fitness boosting medicines
is very common from the ancient Ayurveda times (Laad and Jatti 2016; Nazari and
Riahi 2011).
Food
In the food industry, there is a great demand for advanced techniques with improved
production, processing, and packaging methods. Nanotechnology plays a crucial
role in achievement of all the required goals in food industry. The improvement in
production, processing, protection, and packaging of food is attained by implement-
ing nanotechnology as the coating of some nanocomposites has great antimicrobial
properties to reflect (Xu et al. 2007). Also, the prominent canola oil production
factories use nanoparticles in the form of nanodrops, an additive for incorporating
vitamins as well as minerals in the food.
Construction
The durability and mechanical strength of the construction concrete material can
be improved to a great extent by using nanosilica (SiO2 ) nanoparticles which also
makes the construction process way more cost and time efficient with improved
safety (Machado et al. 2015). The mechanical strength can also be enhanced by
adding hematite (Fe2 O3 ) nanoparticles. New modified steel can be obtained by
producing nanosized steel with enhanced tensile as well as mechanical strength in
constructing cables (Machado et al. 2015). Next highly used material in the con-
struction industry is glass. Titanium dioxide has great disinfecting and antifouling
properties, also acting as a catalyst in the form of coating for chemical reaction
involving the breakdown of organic pollutants and other harmful VOCs in the
atmosphere (Machado et al. 2015). Also, the corrosion resistivity and self-healing
phenomenon of paints can be achieved by the addition of calculated quantity of
nanoparticles. The nanoparticles-added paints have water repellent hydrophobic
nature which further makes these paints very efficient to make coating layers on
metal pipes to make resistant from salt water action (Machado et al. 2015). These
are also very cost efficient, economical, and very environment friendly.
Conclusion
With the great applicability of nanotechnology in our day to life and in the
manufacturing and fabrication of many smart devices, there is great increase in
research and modification by scientists and funding industries perspective. Further
there is great scope of investigation and research in the terms of nanocomposite
synthesis methods for improvement in specific surface area, enhanced adsorption
capacity, high thermal and mechanical stability, durability and highly performed
smart sensing devices with negligible hysteresis, swift response, recovery time, and
high sensitivity.
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IoT-Based Medication Reminder Devices:
Design and Implementation 23
Alivelu Manga N. and Sathish P.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Block Diagram of the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
NodeMCU ESP8266 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
System Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
Introduction to IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
Architecture of IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
Block Diagram of IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
Implementation of IoT-Based Medicine Reminder System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Arduino IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Installation Steps to Arduino IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Salient Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
Blynk App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
Configuring SMTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
System Flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Project Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
Interfacing Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
A. M. N. () · S. P.
Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India
e-mail: alivelumanga_ece@cbit.ac.in
614 A. M. N. and S. P.
Abstract
IoT (Internet of Things) refers to a system of Internet-connected devices which

are capable of sending and receiving the data without human intervention. This
technology enabled the remote monitoring in healthcare sector which leads
to keep the patients safe and heathy, and ensuring to deliver superlative care.
Some people apparently should be taken care by the caretakers and other family
members. This is not provided by everyone in today’s life. So, they may forget
to take medicines at the right time and may also forget what medicine has to
be taken. This project aims to develop a device which alerts the patients to take
medicine at right time in an efficient manner. The proposed system has a facility
which alerts the patients to take medicine on time and also acknowledges the
medicine intake through a Gmail notification. In the proposed system, the alarm
is set up with the help of Blynk app indicating the patient to take the medicine.
The IR sensor interfaced with the microcontroller unit determines the patient
medicine intake. The sensor detects the hand movement of the patient when he
opens and takes the medicine from the slot provided. The corresponding message
is sent to the caretaker via Gmail based on the IR sensor status.
Keywords
IoT · IR sensor · Blynk app · Gmail
Introduction
Nowadays healthcare has become a burden for systems that are dealing with an
ageing population, the incidence of chronic diseases, and rising expenditures. The
rising incidence of chronic diseases and the ageing population require a dispro-
portionate amount of healthcare resources. In the world, about 75% of healthcare
dollars go to chronic disease care and two out of every three Medicare recipients
suffer from at least two chronic diseases. More than 40% of world population
suffers from chronic conditions, often with no cure in sight, which can get hugely
expensive. When a patient has a chronic illness, continual health monitoring is more
vital than prevention and wellness. Several device manufacturers and other parties
are attempting to address this problem by integrating the various streams of data
required to accurately monitor the health of a patient with a certain illness. The
pressure for relief will grow as the population ages with approximately 10,000 new
patients estimated to enroll in medical care every day for the next 15 years. Using
the concepts of IoT, Android Application, and cloud computing in patients or their
caretaker’s smart phone, the patient can view his/her medication status. Healthcare
sector is continuously updated with extensive technologies. The growing healthcare
challenges include the rise in chronic diseases and limitations on the capability of
the hospitals, doctors, and service providers to deliver quality healthcare services
in order to improve patient health. Internet of Things (IoT) technology is one
of technologies along with artificial intelligence and machine learning and many
23 IoT-Based Medication Reminder Devices: Design and Implementation 615
Fig. 1 Statistics of Global IoT Health Market. (Source: https:/978-3-030-84205-5/appinventiv.

com/blog/iot-in-healthcare/)
more. IoT with its own benefits include real-time monitoring, providing accuracy
in collection of data and tracking patients activities, meeting the requirements of
the users. IoT helps in the healthcare sector at different phases, from making an
appointment with the doctor, analyzing the patient condition, and communicating
the condition of the patient using mobile application. These changes focus on the
individual needs of people, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of medical
care, and represent the future development direction of modern medicine science.
The statistics of Global IoT Health Market and forecast is shown in Fig. 1.
Smart healthcare arose from IBM’s (Armonk, NY, USA) concept of “Smart
Planet” proposed in 2009. Simply described, Smart Planet is an intelligent infras-
tructure that detects information using sensors, transmits it over the Internet of
Things (IoT), and processes it using supercomputers and cloud computing. It has
the ability to coordinate and integrate social processes in order to achieve the
dynamic and sophisticated management of human civilization. Smart healthcare is
a healthcare delivery system that leverages wearable devices, the Internet of Things,
and mobile Internet to dynamically access information, connect people, materials,
and institutions in the healthcare ecosystem, and then manages and responds to
those needs. Smart healthcare can foster interaction among all stakeholders in the
healthcare industry, ensuring that participants receive the services they require,
assisting parties in making informed decisions, and facilitating resource allocation.
In a nutshell, smart healthcare is a higher level of medical information architecture.
Chronic diseases have risen to the top of the human disease spectrum and
have become a new epidemic since the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Chronic diseases have a long course of illness, are incurable, and expensive to
treat, thus disease health management is crucial. The traditional hospital and
doctor-centered healthcare management approach, on the other hand, appears
to be failing. Patient self-management is emphasized more in the new health
management approach under smart healthcare. It stresses patient self-monitoring in
616 A. M. N. and S. P.
real time, real-time health data feedback, and timely medical behavior modification.
The rise of implantable/wearable smart devices, smart homes, and smart health
information platforms linked by IoT technology offers a solution to this problem.
Advanced sensors, microprocessors, and wireless modules in third-generation
wearable/implantable devices can intelligently sense and monitor numerous phys-
iological indicators of patients while reducing power consumption, enhancing
comfort, and allowing the data to be coupled with health information from other
channels. It decreases the disease’s related dangers while also making it easier for
medical institutions to track the disease’s prognosis. The advent of smart phones,
smart watches, and other similar devices has provided a new vehicle for this type
of surveillance. Biosensors have been tried to be integrated into smartphones. Users
can use a high-performance smartphone to improve portability even more. In order
to make a really useful smart pillbox it had to be easily integrated with the recent
sweeping smart technologies. While at the same time it had be fit for the elders
and their limited knowledge and experience to implement the ease of use. Size and
portability were also an important fact that one need to keep in mind (Fasahate
2018).
Block Diagram of the System
The block diagram of the IoT-based medicine reminder system is given in Fig. 2.
The number of IR sensors used depends upon the number of slots in the box. Each
IR sensor is placed near the slot such that it detects the hand movement and also
each LED is fixed on each slot indicating that the pill has to be taken from that
particular slot. The buzzer which is given as the output to the Blynk app rings at
the time of the event created. The LED on one of the slots will turn on. The LEDs
connected to each slot are also controlled by the Blynk app. The patient takes the
pill from that slot. The IR sensor detects the hand movement as soon as the patient
takes the pill from the slot. After few minutes, i.e., according to the input time given
in the program, a mail is sent to the caretaker. Depending on the IR sensor output
the message in the mail changes. If the IR sensor detects the hand movement the IR
value reads “1” and the message says that patient has taken the medicine, else IR
value reads “0” and the message says that patient has not taken the medicine.
The healthcare industry is always evolving with new technologies. The rise in
chronic diseases, as well as limits on hospitals, doctors, and service providers’
ability to give good healthcare services in order to enhance patient health, is
among the major healthcare concerns. Internet of Things (IoT) technology is one of
technologies along with artificial intelligence and machine learning and many more.
IoT, with its own set of advantages such as real-time monitoring, data collecting
accuracy, and patient activity tracking, matches the needs of users. IoT assists in the
healthcare industry at several stages, including scheduling a doctor’s appointment,
assessing the patient’s status, and transmitting the patient’s condition via mobile
devices. These changes focus on the individual needs of people, thereby improving
the efficiency and quality of medical care, and represent the future development
Fig. 2 Block diagram of the system
direction of modern medicine science. Elderly people need to take so many tablets
in a day. This leads to forget them to take medicine at sometimes. It will be difficult
for them to remember the medication schedule if the consumption is multiple times
(https://www.ns-healthcare.com/analysis/iot-in-healthcare/). There are many people
who require constant assistance, whether they be our old, family members, or those
with special needs (Hayes et al. 2006). Elders are more impacted by the timing of
taking a medicine. In order to avoid any dysfunction or sickness, timing is critical.
Yet, as people age, their vision and memory deteriorate. What if the patient has
dementia such as Alzheimer’s. Some people may forget to take their medications
on time or may forget what medications they need to take. It is required to discover
a simple, portable, and efficient solution to eliminate the causes of constant need
for surveillance, such as nurses, or the chance of a missed dose. Pill boxes do exist;
however, the majority of them have limited uses, are unsuitable for older people,
or are too large to carry around. To be considered smart, it must be connected to
the Internet via a wireless network, which allows it to connect to the Internet for
future applications and integration. It is also distinguished by the vast range of
Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth or any other field communication, which eliminates the
need for any cables or wired connections, which is what makes it portable in the
first place (Kumar et al. 2018). It is connected to the mobile phone over the same
network, which allows you to select the dosage interval and notify you in a variety of
ways when the dose is due. A buzzer with an LED as a tactile reminder is included.
NodeMCU ESP8266
NodeMCU is an open-source Lua-based firmware and development board designed

specifically for IoT applications. Firmware is included in which it runs on Espressif
618 A. M. N. and S. P.
Fig. 3 NodeMCU pin description. (Source: https://i2.wp.com/randomnerdtutorials.com/wp-

content/uploads/2019/05/ESP8266-NodeMCU-kit-12-E-pinout-gpio-pin.png?quality=100&strip=
all&ssl=1 )
Systems. ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC and hardware are based on the ESP-12 board.
The ESP-12E module on the NodeMCU ESP8266 development board contains an
ESP8266 chip with a Tensilica Xtensa 32-bit LX106 RISC microprocessor. This
microprocessor runs on an adjustable clock frequency of 80–160 MHz and supports
RTOS. To store data and programs, the NodeMCU consists of 128 KB RAM and
4 MB flash memory. NodeMCU can be powered using micro-USB jack and VIN pin
(external supply pin). It has interfaces for UART, SPI, and I2C interface (Fig. 3).
Features
• It consists of Tensilica 32-bit RISC CPU Xtensa LX106Microcontroller.
• Its operating voltage is 3.3 V.
• Input voltage ranges from 7 V to 12 V.
• It has 16 digital input/output pins (DIO).
• One analog input pin.
• One UART and one SPI.
• One I2C and flash memory of 4 MB.
• 64 KB of SRAM and clock speed is 80 MHz
• USB-TTL based on CP2102 is included onboard, enabling plug n play and PCB
antenna.
Working Principle of ESP8266

The ESP8266 WIFI Module is a self-contained system on chip with an integrated
TCP/IP protocol stack that can connect any microcontroller to Wi-Fi. The ESP8266
may run a program or offload all Wi-Fi networking activities to a separate CPU. This
module provides sufficient onboard processing and storage to be used with sensors
and other applications. Its excellent on-chip integration means that external circuitry
is kept to a minimum, and the front-end module is designed to take up as little PCB
space as possible. The ESP8266 offers APSD support for VoIP applications and
Bluetooth coexistence interfaces, as well as a self-calibrated RF that allows it to
work in any environment and no extra RF parts.
System Peripherals
Infrared (IR) Sensor

An IR sensor is an electronic system which emits light in order to detect objects
in the environment. An infrared sensor can detect motion as well as measure the
heat of an object. An IR LED (light emitting diode) serves as the emitter, and an
IR photodiode serves as the detector. The photodiode is sensitive to infrared light
of the same wavelength as the IR LED. As infrared light strikes the photodiode, the
resistances and output voltages change in relation to the intensity of the IR light.
A typical infrared detection system consists of five fundamental components: an
infrared source, a transmission channel, an optical component, infrared detectors
or receivers, and signal processing. Infrared sources include infrared lasers and
infrared LEDs with specified wavelengths.
There are two types of IR sensors:
(i) Active IR sensor.

(ii) Passive IR sensor.
Active IR Sensor
Active infrared sensors are made up of two parts: an infrared source and a detector.
LEDs and infrared laser diodes are examples of infrared sources. Photodiodes and
phototransistors are examples of infrared detectors. The infrared source’s energy is
absorbed by an object and lands on the infrared detector.
Passive IR Sensor
Passive infrared sensors are basically infrared detectors. Infrared sensors that are
passive do not have an infrared source or detector. They are divided into two
categories: quantum infrared sensor and thermal infrared sensor. Infrared energy
is used as a heat source in thermal infrared sensors. Thermal infrared detectors
include thermocouples, pyroelectric detectors, and bolometers. Infrared sensors of
the quantum kind have a better detection efficiency. It is faster than infrared detectors
620 A. M. N. and S. P.
of the thermal kind. Quantum style detector’s photo sensitivity is wavelength

dependent.
IR Sensor Working Principle

Infrared transmitters are classified according to their wavelengths, output power, and
response time. An IR sensor consists of an infrared LED and an infrared photodiode,
which are referred to as a photocoupler or optocoupler when used together.
IR Transmitter or IR LED
A light emitting diode (LED) that produces infrared radiation is known as an
infrared transmitter. Although an IR LED appears to be a regular LED, the radiation
it emits is invisible to the naked eye. An IR LED serves as the emitter, while an IR
photodiode serves as the detector. An IR LED emits infrared light, which is detected
by the IR photodiode (Fig. 4). The resistance and output voltage of the photodiode
alter as the temperature rises.
When the IR transmitter emits radiation, some of it reaches the object and is
reflected back to the IR receiver. The sensor’s output is determined by the intensity
of the IR receiver’s reception.
Light Emitting Diode (LED)

An LED is a type of PN junction diode that emits light. It is made up of
semiconductor and is specially doped. Two of the most widely used semiconductors
for LEDs are aluminium indium gallium phosphide (Al, In, GaP).
Minority carrier electrons are doped into the p-region and corresponding majority
carrier electrons are doped into the n-region when the forward biased current IF
is applied through the p-n junction of the diode. In the p-region, electron-hole
recombination causes photon emission (Fig. 5).
Photons (i.e., light) are produced by electron energy transitions through the
energy gap, known as radiative recombinations, while phonons are produced by
shunt energy transitions, known as nonradiative recombinations (i.e., heat). The
dominant wavelength emitted by an LED system is used to describe its color (in nm).
Red:626–630 nm, red-orange: 615–621 nm, orange: 605 nm, and amber: 605 nm
are the colors produced by AlInGaP LEDs (590–592 nm). Green (525 nm), blue-
green (498–505 nm), and blue are the colors produced by InGaN LEDs (470 nm).
Fig. 4 IR sensor working.

(Source:https://robu.in/ir-
sensor-working/)
Fig. 5 Light emitting diode.

(Source:https://www.pintere
st.com/pin/44705270049166
1611/ )
The temperature of the LED p-n junction affects the color and forward voltage of
AlInGaP LEDs. The luminous intensity decreases as the temperature of the LED
p-n junction rises, the dominant wavelength changes to longer wavelengths, and
the forward voltage drops. From 20◦ –80 ◦ C, the difference in luminous strength
of InGaN LEDs with operating ambient temperature is minimal (about 10%). The
dominant wavelength of InGaN LEDs, on the other hand, varies with the LED
drive current; as the LED drive current rises, the dominant wavelength shifts toward
shorter wavelengths.
Buzzer
The buzzer is a small but effective component for adding sound to our
project/system. Its small and compact two-pin configuration allows it to be used
on a breadboard, or even a PCB, making it a popular component in most of the
electronic applications.
There are two forms of buzzers available in the market. The one shown here is a
simple buzzer that produces a continuous beep sound when powered; the other form
is a readymade buzzer, which is bulkier than this and produces a beep. Beep, beep.
Beep, beep. It produces sound due to an internal oscillating circuit. But it is the most
widely used type of buzzer.
This buzzer can be used by simply connecting it to a DC power supply between
4 and 9 volts. A simple 9 V battery can also be used, but a controlled +5 V
or +6 V DC supply is preferred. The buzzer is usually connected to a switching
circuit that turns it on and off at predetermined times and intervals.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

LCD stands for liquid crystal display and is commonly used to display various
values in various electronic projects and devices. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs)
use liquid crystals to produce visible images. A simple LCD module used in DIY
electronic projects and circuits is a 16 × 2 liquid crystal display. There are two rows
in this LCD module, each of which contains 16 numbers. There are 16 columns
622 A. M. N. and S. P.
Fig. 6 16×2 liquid crystal

display. (Source: https://
www.theengineeringprojects.
com/wp-content/uploads/
2019/11/Introduction-to-
16x2-LCD-Module.jpg)
in this module due to the two rows. These modules have a VA dimension of
66 × 16 mm and a thickness of 13.2 millimeters. It runs on a voltage of plus five or
three volts (Fig. 6).
Features
• Functioning voltages range from 4.7 V to 5.3 V.
• It uses one milli Amp current for operation.
• LCD can display alpha numeric values.
• There are two rows each of 16 characters.
• Every character is of 40 pixels.
• It supports on four- and eight-bits mode.
• It displays two colors in screen backlight (i.e., green and blue).
Fig. 7 DS3231 RTC module interface. (Source: https://components101.com/asset/sites/default/

files/inline-images/DS3231%20RTC-Module-Interfacing-Circuit.png)
Real-Time Clock (RTC) Module

RTC modules are essentially TIME and DATE remembrance systems with a battery
setup that keeps the module operating in the absence of external power. The TIME
and DATE are kept up to date as a result of this. As a result, one can get correct
TIME and DATE from the RTC module at any time.
DS3231 RTC Module Features

The DS3231 RTC module interface is shown in Fig. 7.
• DS3231 RTC counts seconds, minutes, hours, and year.

• Accuracy: −2 ppm to +2 ppm for 0 ◦ C to +40 ◦ C, −3.5 ppm to +3.5 ppm for
−40 ◦ C to +85 ◦ C.
• ±3 ◦ C accuracy in digital temperature sensor
• Two time-of-day alarms.
• Programmable square wave output.
• Register for aging trim.
• I2C interface with 400KHz frequency.
• Consumes low power.
• It has automatic power failure battery switch circuitry.
• CR2032 battery backup with two- to three-year life.
• Portable size.
Introduction to IoT
Nowadays, the Internet has spread to almost every corner of the globe and is shaping
human life in unprecedented ways. Entire world entered into an age of far more
ubiquitous connectivity, with a wide range of appliances connecting to the Internet
and living in the “Internet of Things” (IoT) period. This word has been described in
624 A. M. N. and S. P.
a variety of ways by various writers. Let’s take a look at two of the most commonly
used meanings. The Internet of Things, according to Vermes and colleagues, is
essentially an interface between the physical and digital worlds. Using a variety of
sensors and actuators, the digital world communicates with real world. The Internet
of Things is also described as a paradigm in which computing and networking
capabilities are embedded in any kind of imaginable object, according to another
definition. These features are used to query the object’s state and, if possible, to
modify it. IoT is a term used to describe a digital environment in which almost all of
the devices and appliances in use are linked to a network. One should work together
to complete complex tasks that require a high level of intelligence. The Internet
of Things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and
other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network
connectivity which enable these objects to connect and exchange data (McCall et al.
2013).
Sensors and actuators are the devices that enable people communicate with their
surroundings. To generate usable insights from the data acquired by the sensors,
it must be intelligently stored and analyzed. Note that the term sensor is used in
a broad sense; a mobile phone or even a microwave oven can be considered as a
sensor if it delivers information about its current state. An actuator, such as the
temperature controller of an air conditioner, is a device that is used to effect a
change in the environment. Data storage and further processing can take place either
at the network’s edge or on the remote server. If data preprocessing is possible,
it is usually done at the sensor or another nearby device. The data is usually
transferred to a distant server after it has been processed. The data storage and
processing capabilities of an IoT item are also limited by the available resources,
which are frequently limited due to power, computational capability constraints
size, and energy. As a result, the primary research challenge is to ensure having
the appropriate data at the required level of precision. Along with the challenges
of data collecting and handling, communication is also a problem. Because IoT
devices are typically located in geographically separated places, communication
between them is primarily wireless. Communication methods are essential to the
research of IoT devices in this case because reliably transferring data without too
many retransmissions is a major issue. Following the processing of the obtained
data, some action must be taken based on the derived inferences. Actions may take
a variety of forms (Pawar et al. 2014).
Actuators enable us to change the physical environment directly. Alternatively,
one might do this virtually. For example, one can send some information to other
smart devices. The process of effecting a change within the physical world is often
dependent on its state at any point of time. This is called context awareness. Since an
application may behave differently in various contexts, each operation is considered
in light of the context. The central infrastructure of an IoT architecture consists of
sensors, actuators, compute servers, and communication networks. However, there
are several software considerations to be made. To begin, a middleware that can bind
and manage all of these disparate components is essential. To link so many different
devices, a lot of standardization is required (Kavya et al. 2018).
Healthcare, wellness, education, culture, social life, energy efficiency, environ-

mental monitoring, home automation, and transportation are all areas where the
Internet of Things has applications. IoT systems have greatly reduced human effort
while also improving overall quality of life (Minaam et al. 2018).
Architecture of IoT
IoT is made up of devices that collect data. They are all Internet-connected gadgets,
which means each one of them have an IP address. They range in sophistication
from self-driving cars that transport 16 goods around production floors to simple
sensors that monitor building temperatures (Fig. 8) (Salgia et al. 2015).
They also include personal devices such as fitness trackers that track how many
steps people walk each day. To make that data valuable, it must be collected,
processed, filtered, and analyzed, all of which can be done in various ways. The
data is collected from the devices and sent to a central location. Data can be moved
wirelessly or across wired networks using a variety of ways. The data can be
delivered via the Internet to a data center or cloud with data storage and computing
power, or it can be staged, with intermediary devices gathering the data before
sending it on. Data processing can take place in data centers or the cloud, but this is
not always possible. The delay in delivering data from the device to a remote data
center is too significant in the case of important devices such as shutoffs in industrial
settings. Sending data, processing it, evaluating it, and returning instructions can
take an excessive amount of time. Edge computing can be used in these situations,
where a smart edge device can accumulate data, analyze it, and construct solutions
Fig. 8 Architecture of IoT. (Source: https://www.zibtek.com/blog/iot-architecture/)

626 A. M. N. and S. P.
as needed, all within a short physical distance, reducing time. Upstream connectivity
is available on edge devices, allowing data to be sent to be processed and stored.
Block Diagram of IoT
IoT Gateways
An IoT gateway is a solution for allowing IoT communication, which is usually
device to device or device to cloud. Usually, a gateway is a hardware computer
that houses application software that performs critical functions. The gateway, at its
most basic level, enables the links between various data sources and destinations
(Fig. 9).
Comparing an IoT gateway to your home or office network router or gateway
is an easy way to visualize it. This type of gateway allows you to communicate
with your devices while still maintaining security and providing an admin interface
where you can perform simple tasks. This is what an IoT gateway does, and much
more. IoT gateways have developed to perform a wide range of functions, from
data filtering to visualization and complex analytics. These intelligent devices are
assisting in the current wave of IoT development. An IoT gateway serves as a
network router, connecting IoT devices to the cloud. Most gateway devices delivered
traffic in only one direction at first: from IoT devices to the cloud. In today’s world,
a gateway device is often used to handle both inbound and outbound traffic. Inbound
traffic is utilized for device management tasks including changing device firmware,
while outbound traffic is used to deliver IoT data to the cloud. Some IoT gateways
are more than just traffic routers. Before transmitting data to the cloud, a gateway
device can be used to preprocess it locally at the edge. As a result, the device may
deduplicate, summarize, or aggregate data in order to reduce the amount of data
Cloud
Server
Wireless
communication
Temperature
Humidity
IoT
Gateway/Frame
Pressure Mobile app
work
Motion
Lux
Fig. 9 Block diagram of IoT. (Source: https://iotdunia.com/iot-architecture/)

that needs to be sent to the cloud. This can have a significant impact on network
transmission costs and response times (Kliem et al. 2012).
Sensors and Controllers

Sensors are crucial in the development of IoT solutions. Sensors are the devices
which detect and replace external data with a signal which can be understand
by both humans and machines. Sensors have enabled data collection in almost
any environment and are currently employed in a variety of industries, including
nursing care, industrial, logistics, medical care, transportation, agricultural, disaster
protection, tourism, regional companies, and many others (Abbey et al. 2012). With
the expansion of fields in which sensors play a key role, the market for a variety of
sensors is still growing (Zanjala and Talmaleb 2015). IoT sensors are used to detect
and quantify a variety of physical events, including heat and pressure, and also the
five human senses such as sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
Implementation of IoT-Based Medicine Reminder System
Arduino IDE
Writing code and uploading it to the board is simple with the open-source Arduino
Software (IDE). Any Arduino board can be used with this software. The Arduino
integrated development environment is used to create Arduino programs (IDE). The
Arduino IDE is a piece of software that runs on your computer and allows you
to create sketches (the Arduino equivalent of a programmer) for various Arduino
boards. The Arduino programming language is built on processing, a very simple
hardware programming language that is akin to C. The sketch should be uploaded
to the Arduino board for execution after it has been written in the Arduino IDE.
Installation Steps to Arduino IDE
Ensure that the board is ready to accept the software via USB cable.
Step 1 − To begin, you will need an Arduino board (any board will do) and a
USB cable. You will need a typical USB cable (A plug to B connector) to connect
an Arduino Uno, Nano, Diecimila, Duemilanove, or Mega 2560 Diecimila, similar
to what you would need to connect a USB printer, as illustrated in Fig. 10
If you are using an Arduino Nano, you will need an A to Mini-B cable instead,
as indicated in Fig. 11.
Step 2: Download Arduino IDE Software

From the Arduino official website’s download page, you can download several
versions of the Arduino IDE. You must choose software that is appropriate for
your operating system (Windows, IOS, or Linux). Unzip the file once it has finished
downloading.
628 A. M. N. and S. P.
Fig. 10 Universal serial bus

cable. (Source: //rarecom
ponents.com/store/image/
cache/data/0-1197-22-500x
500.jpg )
Fig. 11 Mini-B cable.

(Source: //rarecomponents.
com/store/image/cache/data/
0-1197-22-500x500.jpg)
Step 3: Power up your Board

The Arduino Uno, Mega, Duemilanove, and Nano all use the computer’s USB port
or an external power supply to get their power. Make sure your Arduino Diecimila
is set to draw power from the USB port if you are using one. To select the power
source, a jumper, a little piece of plastic that slides onto two of the three pins
between the two terminals, is employed. Using the USB cable, connect the Arduino
board to your computer. The green power LED (labeled PWR) should light up when
turned on.
Step 4: Launch Arduino IDE

You must unzip the folder after downloading the Arduino IDE program. The appli-
cation icon with an infinity label can be found inside the folder (application.exe). To
launch the IDE, double-click the icon.
630 A. M. N. and S. P.
Step 5: Open your First Project

• Create a new project.
• Open an existing project example.
Select File → Example → Basics → Blynk to open an existing project example.

For this example, one of the Blink instances is chosen. It uses a timer to switch
the LED on and off. Any other example from the list can be chosen.
Step 6: Select your Arduino Board

Make sure you choose the correct Arduino board name that matches to the board
connected to your computer to avoid any issues while uploading your software to
the board.
Go to Tools → Board and select your board.
Step 7: Select your Serial Port

Select the serial device on the Arduino board. From the Tools menu, choose Serial
Port. COM3 or above is most likely (COM1 and COM2 are hardware serial ports).
Disconnecting your Arduino board will reveal the entry that vanishes, which should
be the Arduino board. Connect the board to the computer and select the serial port
you want to use. Reconnect the board and choose the serial port you want to use.
Step 8: Upload the Program to your Board

Simply click the “Upload” button in the environment now. The RX and TX LEDs
on the board will begin to flash after a few seconds. If the upload is successful, the
message “Done uploading” will show in the status bar.
Salient Features
(i) The Arduino IDE has a text editor that allows users to create sketches. The
procedure is straightforward and uncomplicated. Furthermore, the text editor
contains additional capabilities that make the experience more dynamic.
(ii) Users can get their projects documented using the program.
(iii) Users of the Arduino IDE can share their sketches with other programmers.
(iv) Hundreds of libraries are included into the software. The Arduino community
created and freely shared these libraries.
(v) While the tool is designed particularly for Arduino boards, it also supports
third-party hardware via native connections.
(vi) A board administration module is included in the program, allowing users to
select which board they want to utilize. They can effortlessly select another
choice from the drop-down menu if another board is required. PORT data is
automatically updated anytime the board is modified or a new board is selected.
632 A. M. N. and S. P.
NodeMCU Libraries
#Include <ESP8266WiFi.H>
The Wi-Fi library for ESP8266 was created utilizing the ESP8266 SDK and
the Arduino Wi-Fi library’s naming conventions and overall functionality phi-
losophy. As the number of Wi-Fi functions translated from ESP8266 SDK to
esp8266/Arduino expanded, it became clear that it is required to give separate
documentation on what is new and extra.
#Include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.H>
The Arduino module and editor are unable to communicate with the LCD’s I2C
interface. The Liquid Crystal I2C library, which can be downloaded separately,
contains the parameter that allows the Arduino to transmit commands to the LCD.
Use the Arduino IDE’s Sketch > Include Library > Add.ZIP Library... to install the
Liquid Crystal I2C library (see example). Point to the Liquid Crystal I2C-master.zip
file that you downloaded earlier.
#Include <RTClib.H>
The RTC records information such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, dates, months,
and years. It also adjusts for months with fewer than 31 days and leap years
automatically. The clock can be set to either 24 h or 12 h (with AM/PM). There are
additionally two programmable time-of-day alarms and a programmable square-
wave output. The RTC is communicated with using an I2C interface with a fixed
address.
#Include <Wire> -Library for I2C Communication-

You can use this library to communicate with I2C/TWI devices. The SDA (data
line) and SCL (clock line) are on the pin headers near the AREF pin on Arduino
boards using the R3 configuration (1.0 pinout). Two I2C/TWI ports are available on
the Arduino Due. SDA1 and SCL1 are close to the AREF pin, while pins 20 and 21
have an additional one.
634 A. M. N. and S. P.
#Include <SPI.H>
In this library, the Arduino serves as the master device, allowing you to commu-
nicate with SPI devices. Microcontrollers interface with one or more peripheral
devices across short distances using the synchronous serial data standard serial
peripheral interface (SPI). It can also be used to communicate between two
microcontrollers. When using an SPI connection, there is always one master device.
Blynk App
Blynk is an iOS and Android app that allows you to control Arduino, Raspberry Pi,
and other web-connected devices. It is a virtual dashboard where you may drag and
drop widgets to construct a project’s graphic interface. Everything is quite easy to
set up, and you will be fiddling in just 5 min. Blynk is not tethered to any certain
board or shield. Instead, it is about giving you the freedom to utilize whatever
equipment you want. When your Arduino or Raspberry pi is connected to Wi-Fi.
Blynk will get online and helps to get ready for Internet of Things. The Internet
of Things was a driving force behind the development of Blynk. It can remotely
manage devices, display sensor data, save and visualize data, and do a range of
other things (Kliem 2012).
Components of Blynk App

The three major components are:
Blynk app: By combining our numerous widgets one can create many amazing
features.
Blynk server: This is an interface between the smartphone and hardware and
communication is carried out. You have the option of using our Blynk Cloud
or setting up your own Blynk server on your own computer. It is free and open
source, with the ability to support tens of thousands of devices. It can even run
on a Raspberry Pi (Fig. 12).
Libraries
Blynk libraries: These libraries enable communication with the server and handle
all incoming and outgoing commands for all popular hardware platforms.
Configuring SMTP
SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) is a framework for automatically sending and
receiving massive amounts of email from remote places. Developers and marketers
typically use it to save time when sending emails in a secure manner due to its
Fig. 12 Blynk app components. (source-https://docs.blynk.cc/images/architecture.png)
speedy and dependable service. Its servers and data centers are located all over the
world, allowing it to select the closest server and so deliver the fastest service. It
can be used in IoT projects to automatically send emails when a specific activity is
completed. By using SMTP2GO, email warnings when the flame sensor detects fire
are send.
Setting up SMTP2Go
Go to https://www.smtp2go.com/ and click on Try SMTP2GO Free.
Fill in your name, email address, and password, then click Submit. Then you will
be taken to a screen where you will be asked to activate SMTP2GO.
Go to your inbox and select the SMTP2GO-received message. Select Activate
Account from the drop-down menu.
Now type in your username, which is your email address, and your password.
Your username will appear on a new page. These login and password should be
saved in a notepad file because they will be used later in the Arduino IDE code.
Now select Users from the drop-down menu under Settings. Your user name and
SMTP server information will appear on a new page. The SMTP server and SMTP
636 A. M. N. and S. P.
port should be saved because they will be used in the Arduino code to connect to
the SMTP server (Majumder et al. 2017).
Encoding to Base64 Value

One must encrypt login and password into Base64 before sending them to the
SMTPTOGO server. Use https://www.base64encode.org/ to encode them. To gen-
erate the encoded values, simply input the login and password you want to encode
into Base64 and click Encode. The encoded values should be copied and saved.
If your user name is “sender@xyz.com,” for example, type “sender@xyz.com” in
the provided text box and then click “encode.” “cGFzc3dvcmQ=” is the Base64
encoded value. Do the same thing with password.
By following the above steps, username and password in Base64 format can be
obtained to use them as Wi-Fi credentials in program source code.
System Flowchart
The libraries and header file required for RTC module, LCD, Wi-Fi, and Blynk app
are included in the program. The baud rate for the controller should be set up as
9600. The required credentials should be given for Wi-Fi to send the notification via
Gmail. After giving the credentials the Wi-Fi gets connected. The LCD interfaced
with RTC module displays the date and time continuously. The buzzer rings
according to the time given in the Blynk app. The IR sensor interfaced with the
microcontroller unit reads the digital value of IR pin. The RTC module compares
the time with the given input time (Polities 2016). Based on the status of the IR pin
the mail is sent to the caretaker displaying the corresponding message (Fig. 13).
638 A. M. N. and S. P.
A smart medicine reminder box is included, as well as sensors for health moni-
toring and diagnosis. A smart home-based medicine box with wireless connectivity
allows patients and caregivers to communicate more effectively. The suggested
system includes a feature that reminds patients to take their medicines on time. The
box is remotely connected to the Wi-Fi and delivers notifications to the caregiver
via Gmail in order to make timely modifications (Tsai et al. 2017).
Project Setup
The LCD interfaced with RTC module displays the date and time continuously. The
buzzer rings at the given input time in the Blynk app which alerts the patient to take
medicine. After opening the medicine box, the patient takes the medicine from the
respective slot. This is indicated with the help of LED connected to each slot. The IR
sensor detects the hand movement and after few minutes, i.e., according to the time
setup in the program, the mail is sent to the caretaker displaying the corresponding
message (Fig. 14).
Interfacing Modules
LCD and RTC Module with NodeMCU

LCD and RTC modules are connected to NodeMCU for timing information. The
liquid crystal display(16×2) interfaced with the real-time clock module displays
the time and date (Fig. 15).
Start
Include libraries and header files sensor status is given by the

required for RTC module function irvalue=digital Read(irpin)
,WiFi,Blynk app,LCD display
Set up WiFi
and Baud rate RTC time comparison
now. Hour () ==given hour &&
now. Minute==given_minute
False
Declare the corresponding

GPIO pins for LEDs in each slot
and variable irpin=0 to read True
irsensor value
irvalue==0
WiFi
connection
False True
True
Mail sent saying patient

False
has not taken the medicine
LCD displays time on the screen
obtained from RTC module using the
function (Date Time.now==RTC.now())
Mail sent saying that patient has

taken the medicine
Buzzer rings according to the
time specified in the Blynk app
Stop
Fig. 13 Flowchart of the proposed system
Buzzer with NodeMCU

The hour is obtained to the controller with the help of Blynk app. Events (Alarm)
are created in the Blynk app and the buzzer is connected to one of the GPIOs of
the controller. The buzzer rings at that particular instant of time (Fig. 16).
IR Sensor with NodeMCU

IR sensor detects the object in the surroundings by emitting the light. IR sensor
can detect the object as well as the motion of the object. Figure 17 shows the
photodiode of the IR sensor detecting the hand movement by turning on the in-built
light emitting diodes (LED). Figure 18 shows that there is no motion detection, i.e.,
LED is off.
640 A. M. N. and S. P.
Fig. 14 Overall project setup
Fig. 15 LCD and RTC

module interfaced with
NodeMCU
Fig. 16 Buzzer interfaced

with NodeMCU
Fig. 17 IR sensor detection

of hand movement
Fig. 18 IR sensor status is 0
Medicine Reminder through Blynk App

One of the GPIO pin is given as the output for the Blynk app. This can be switch ON
and switch OFF according to the time in the event created. In this way the buzzer
rings at a given time alerting the patient (Fig. 19).
Acknowledgment Via Gmail

The sensor detection helps us to know the patient’s consumption of pill by sending
the corresponding message via Gmail. If the sensor detects the hand movement it is
considered that the patient has taken the medicine and the corresponding message
is sent. If the hand movement is not detected, the message is sent via Gmail saying
that the patient has not taken the medicine (Fig. 20) (Slagle et al. 2011).
Deployment of the Proposed System

The LCD interfaced with the RTC module displays the date and time (Fig. 21).
642 A. M. N. and S. P.
Fig. 19 Set up reminder

using Blynk app
Fig. 20 Mail received to the caretaker

Fig. 21 LCD displaying

timing information
Fig. 22 Distribution of pills

in the slots
The box is divided into three slots (Fig. 22). Each slot is provided with an IR
sensor and a LED. The LEDs are controlled by the Blynk app and they turn on each
slot indicating that the particular slot pill has to be consumed. The IR sensor in each
slot determines the hand movement and sends the notification via Gmail.
Summary
The components and characteristics of an embedded system are discussed including

the importance of the processor in a system. The debugging tools in an embedded
system and also the criteria for choosing a microcontroller are explained. The
domain of the proposed system’s Internet of Things is also explained with its
evolution over the years. Different ways of communication in IoT are also explained.
644 A. M. N. and S. P.
NodeMCU which is the microcontroller unit for the proposed system is described
with its specifications and working. The system peripherals LED, LCD, RTC
module, and IR sensor are also discussed along with their features and working
principles. The working principle of the proposed system is explained with the
help of block diagram. Arduino IDE software required for the system design is
explained with installation steps. The libraries required for the system to run are
also discussed. Blynk app which helps in reminding the patient to take the medicine
is discussed briefly. Installation steps for Blynk app and how to create a reminder
is also explained. The results of the proposed chapter are also heighted in the
last chapter. The deployment of the proposed system is shown and the working is
explained.
The developed medicine reminder box assures the medicine intake of the patient
according to the specified duration. It also reduces the effort of remembering the
medicine which has to be taken as the LCD displays the timing schedule. An
efficient algorithm is developed which helps the patient’s medicine intake at right
time. With the help of this system there is no need of continuously monitoring
the patient so that in the absence of caretaker, the patient can take pill. The LED
connected to each slot indicates the patient which pill should be consumed. The
IR sensor interfaced with the microcontroller ensures the consumption of pill. The
developed medicine box is cost efficient. Further, this work can be extended, not
only in health sector, but also in industrial and automotive applications where time
management is crucial. In order to develop efficient patient monitoring system, the
designed system can be connected to other sensors to sense temperature, pulse, etc.,
thereby connecting to the system interface so that it may be placed in a nursing
station and the pill details of various patients are recorded in the system.
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Ionic Liquids: The Smart Materials
in Process Industry 24
Kailas L. Wasewar
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
Ionic Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
What Is Ionic Liquid? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Classification of Ionic Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
Advantages over Organic Solvents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
Applications of Ionic Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
Separations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
Analytical and Chromatography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
Electro Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663
Other Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Few Important Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Abstract
It is mainly considered that the chemical process and allied industries are
responsible for environmental pollution. It is true to some extent; hence it is
the role of scientists and engineers to fulfill the social expectations by providing
sustainable design and development of chemical processes so that there must
be less generation of hazardous materials and hence less negative impact on
environment. Ionic Liquids (ILs) and IL-based materials are the promising
alternative to conventional and traditional materials. ILs and IL-based materials
K. L. Wasewar ()
Advance Separation and Analytical Laboratory (ASAL), Department of Chemical Engineering,
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, India
e-mail: klwasewar@che.vnit.ac.in
648 K. L. Wasewar
have been emerged as smart materials in process industry because of many

unique properties of ionic liquids such as almost zero vapor pressure, non-
flammability, and tunable physiochemical properties for a particular application.
The basic properties which can be tuned for specific applications are thermal
phase behavior, thermal stability, viscosity, conductivity, etc.
Keywords
Ionic liquids · Smart material · Tunable properties · Applications · Process

industry
Ionic liquids (ILs) comprise the combination of various cations and anions, and
these liquids are different from ionic solutions (a molecular solvent salt solution
having melting point less than or equal to 100 ◦ C). As per available literature,
alternatively ionic liquids are termed as room-temperature molten salts, ionic melts,
fused salts, organic ionic liquids, nonaqueous ionic liquids, liquid organic salts,
molten salts, and ionic fluids. Ionic liquids are a kind of green and novel com-
pound having wide application in the area of chemistry, biotechnology, chemical
engineering, pharmaceutical areas due to their unique properties such as tunable
polarity, non-volatility, and high stability. ILs are majorly classified based on cations
as imidazolium, pyrazolium, pyrrolidinium, pyridinium, phosphonium, ammonium,
morpholinium, piperidinium. Further ILs may classified as conventional, function-
alized (mono, dual), renewable, superbase, polymerized, biomaterial, supported IL
membranes and materials, reversible, etc.
Since last few decades, ILs have been widely employed into many industrial
applications which includes biomass processing, electrolytes, electropolishing and
electroplating, lubricants, solar cells, biological systems, chromatography, fuel
cells, in catalyzed reaction, solvent, in membrane, in microwave-assisted reactions,
esterification reactions, synthesis of many chemicals, separation, pharmaceutical
(therapeutic, drug delivery, anticancer, antiviral), electrochemistry (electrolyte, fuel
cells, metal plating, solar panels, battery), environment (pollution treatment, green-
house gas, green solvent), materials (nanomaterials, liquid crystals), engineering
(coating, polymer, textile, nuclear, additives, engineering fluids), energy (biomass,
biofuel, bioenergy), chemistry (analytics, physical, reaction), biotechnology (pro-
tein purification, bioreaction, bioprocess), electronic, heat storage, surface and
colloid, propellants, solvent, separation, catalyst, and many more.
In the present chapter various aspects of ILs, its origin and characteristics,
classification and types, synthesis, and various applications in process industry as
a smart material have been discussed.
Introduction
The world population has been increasing day by day and hence the globalization
for the development of the society. There have been a wide range of products used
in day-to-day life including utilities, medical, food, and other important products
24 Ionic Liquids: The Smart Materials in Process Industry 649
Fig. 1 Number of publication for 2009–2018 based on Web of Science search (permission taken
for Singh S. K., Savoy A. W., Ionic liquids synthesis and applications: An overview, Journal of
Molecular Liquids 297 (2020) 112038, 1–23 from Elsevier)
and materials. The increase in the consumption of these materials forced to develop
new materials to fulfill global demands. It can be observed that in our day-to-day
life various products, materials, and services are used which includes food products,
paints, drugs, agrochemicals, dyes, biomolecules, and high-tech substances. These
are mainly associated with process industry, where chemicals are used for the
production of materials and specific products. These chemicals are an integral part
of the day-to-day life in today’s world. Scarcely, no industry can be found without
the use of chemicals and also no economic sector without chemicals as it plays a
very significant role in industrialization.
Ionic liquids (ILs) are mainly fluids which comprise totally ions (cation and
anion). Ionic liquids are adaptable fluids having wide potential and alternative
applications in the fields of separation processes, catalytic reactions, and electro-
chemistry, etc. In the last decade, there has been drastic improvement in publications
based on various topics and category of ionic liquids and their applications (Figs. 1
and 2) (Singh and Savoy 2020).
A lot of research work has been performed on ionic liquids since more than
last ten decades. The Google Scholar search on “Research papers on Ionic Liquid”
have been performed year wise, which include books, book chapter, review article,
research papers, short note, editorial, concept notes, patents, technology, and other
papers. Figure 3 shows the growth in research in ionic liquids since 1960, and it
can be observed that there have been significant exponential increases in research
on ionic liquids since 2000.
Ionic liquids mainly comprise cation (organic) and anion (inorganic or organic).
These are more attractive due to their tunability of properties by the almost infinite
cation-anion combinations and make them as designer solvents (EURARE 2020).
650 K. L. Wasewar
Fig. 2 Publications on ionic liquids in various areas for 2009–2018 based on Web of Science
search (permission taken for Singh S. K., Savoy A. W., Ionic liquids synthesis and applications: An
overview, Journal of Molecular Liquids 297 (2020) 112038, 1–23 from Elsevier)
Ionic liquids have distinctive properties observed from a complex interplay of

Coulombic, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals interactions of their ions. Ionic
liquids are often considered as green solvents due to their exceptional properties as
compared to other solvents. These ionic liquids comply with the principles of green
chemistry. There are more than 108 combinations of cations and anions, which can
be possibly made to have target-specific ionic liquids.
Worldwide, the society has been looking for clean, efficient, and ecofriendly
ways of sustainable developments; the ionic liquids may be promising alternative
to conventional solvents (mainly organic) having many advantages because of inim-
itable thermal, physical, chemical, and biological features (Singh and Savoy 2020).
Ionic liquids have wide applications in the field of process and allied industries.
In general, the sustainable development or green chemistry directs the avoidance
or reduction of environmental pollution and waste at various laboratory, pilot, and
industrial scales. It also explores the development and design of environment-
friendly and economical approaches which may improve the required yield and
reduce the waste generation in the process. The synthesis of ionic liquids is not
straightforward; it requires sophisticated equipments and controlled conditions to
get desired ionic liquids. Various synthesis methods for different ionic liquids have
been discussed in literature (Singh and Savoy 2020).
Fig. 3 Number of research documents since 1960 based on Google Scholar. (Source: Google
scholar searched on “Research papers on Ionic Liquid” referred on 18th May 2021)
In the present chapter various aspects of ILs, its origin and characteristics,
classification and types, synthesis, and various applications in process industry as
a smart material have been discussed.
Ionic Liquids
What Is Ionic Liquid?
Ionic liquids can be defined as salts that exist as liquids below 100 ◦ C or even at
room temperatures. Ionic liquids have basically organic cations and inorganic or
652 K. L. Wasewar
Fig. 4 Few cations for various ionic liquids
organic anions linked through various kinds of bonds. The common cations and
anions used for ionic liquids for various applications are listed in Figs. 4 and 5.
Ionic liquids are also named as room or ambient or room or low-temperature ionic
fluid or molten salts or neoteric solvent or liquid organic salts (Singh and Savoy
2020).
Origin
It was mentioned in the literature that ionic liquids were first time introduced in 1914
as ethyl ammonium nitrate [EtNH3 ][NO3 ] having a melting point of 12 ◦ C (Sugden
and Wilkins 1929; Singh and Savoy 2020). The powder of alkyl pyridinium chloride
at little hot condition was added in aluminum chloride, and clear colorless liquid
was formed; this was invented by Frank Hurley and Tom Weir (Rice Institute of
Texas), which was later considered as ionic liquid (Zhang and Shreeve 2014, Singh
and Savoy 2020). The development of ILs during that period was still inquisitive
and remained for four to five decades. A few review papers on various standpoints
have been presented in the literature (Welton 2018; Angell et al. 2012; Wilkes
2002).
Fig. 5 Few anions for various ionic liquids
Classification of Ionic Liquids
Ionic liquids can be classified based on cation, applications, and mainly structure.
The ionic liquids based on structural evaluation are classified as conventional ionic
liquids, basic ionic liquids, task-specific ionic liquids, polymeric ionic liquids, protic
ionic liquids, energetic ionic liquids, bio-ionic liquids, neutral ionic liquids, switch-
able polarity solvent ionic liquids, metallic ionic liquids, chiral ionic liquids, and
supported ionic liquids (Singh and Savoy 2020). The structural classification of ionic
liquids has been summarized in Fig. 6.
Advantages over Organic Solvents
Ionic liquids have many superior characteristics and properties over conventional
organic solvents, which have been widely used for various applications in process
654 K. L. Wasewar
Fig. 6 Typical classification of ionic liquids
industry. These properties are mostly superior (Fig. 7) as compared with most of
the conventional organic solvents. The typical superior features of ionic liquids are
(Singh and Savoy, 2020):
• Mostly liquid at a wide range of temperatures

• Solvating ability
• Negligible vapor pressure
• Non-flammable
• Non-volatile
• Liquids for a wide range of temperature as compared to water
• Intrinsic ionic conductors
• High electrochemical range (maximum >4 V)
• Tunable hydrophobic and hydrophilic behavior
• Exceptional properties for lubrication and hydraulic applications
• Tunable basicity and acidity
• High thermal stability
• Mostly colorless and polar
• Mostly poses low viscosity
• Good solvent for a wide range of inorganic and organic materials
• May be used in high vacuum system
• Easily recycle
Fig. 7 Few features of ionic liquids
• Good shelf life

• Highly polar
• Non-coordinating
• Conductivity
Applications of Ionic Liquids
Ionic liquids have various exceptional properties making them a promising and
potential material for numerous applications including process industries and other
allied industries. In process industries, it has been employed for separations, reac-
tions, electro processes, analytical, chromatography, and many other applications.
Separations
Separations have a significant role in process industry and contributing almost

more than 50% production cost. Ionic liquids are a promising alternative to
conventional solvents due to their few superior properties. Ionic liquids have been
656 K. L. Wasewar
successfully used for separation of biologically relevant compounds, organics,

proteins, hormones, alkaloids, vitamins, antibiotics, aromatic hydrocarbons, sulfur
compounds, CO2 , various metals, etc.
Separation of Biologically Relevant Compounds

There are many compounds which can be obtained by fermentation such as
organic acids or directly from natural methods, and these compounds may be
building block chemicals or starting material in chemical, cosmetic, food, and
pharmaceutical industries. Organic acids are important building blocks for a range
of other chemicals in industry and are produced in considerable volumes (Sprakel
and Schuur 2019). These compounds have been separated using many ionic liquids
(Marta’k and Schlosser 2008; Marques et al. 2013).
The lactic acid extraction was investigated using trihexyltetradecylphosphonium
cation with bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinate (Cyphos IL-104) or chloride
anions (Cyphos IL-101), and performance was better than organic solvents. Cyphos
IL-104 was employed for the separation of butyric acid, and many fold higher effi-
ciency was observed as compared to lactic acid using organic solvents (Marta’k and
Schlosser 2008). Tetracycline was removed efficiently from synthetic fermentation
solution using tetrabutylphosphonium chloride, which can extract tetracycline from
synthetic solution (Marques et al. 2013).
Separation of Organics
Separation of various organic compounds from aqueous and organic phases is
mostly performed by solvent extraction due to its operation at ambient conditions.
Organic solvent possesses many drawbacks such as expensive, toxic, and flammable
nature. Ionic liquids have been considered as an alternative and potential solvent for
the extraction of organics and other separation applications of metals, alkaloids,
and proteins (Khazalpour et al. 2020). Ionic liquids have been employed for the
removal and separation of various organic compounds by extractive distillation,
aqueous biphasic systems, liquid–liquid extraction, liquid phase micro-extraction,
supported liquid membranes, etc. (Poole and Poole 2010).
Various ionic liquids have been studied by extraction for the separation of
organic compounds. Few of these ionic liquids are trihexyltetradecylphosphonium
dicyanamide(P666,14 [N(CN)2 ]), trihexyl tetradecyl phosphonium chloride, tri-
hexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide P666,14 [NTf2], tri-
hexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis-2,4,4-(trimethylpentyl)phosphinate P666,14 [Phos],
for the separation of aromatics, guaiacol, microalgae lipids, L-tryptophan,
b-carotene, rhodamine 6G, caffeine, astaxanthin, terpenes, and terpenoids. The
exhaustive and critical review on the separation of organic compounds using ionic
liquids has been available in the literature (Poole and Poole 2010).
Separation of Proteins
Proteins have major application in biopolymers having more than 20 amino acids
(Schindl et al. 2019). Ionic liquids were successfully employed as solvent for
the processing of keratin protein, and few of these ionic liquids are [AMIM][Cl],
[AMIM][N(CN)2 ], [C4 C1 Im][N(CN)2 ], [C4 C1 Im][Bu2 PO4 ], [C4 C1 Im][Br], etc.
Ammonium-based commercial ionic liquid Ammoeng 110 with phosphate buffer
was used for the aqueous biphasic separation of various proteins myoglobin,
lysozyme, trypsin, albumin, and myoglobin, and 83–100% extraction was observed
(Dreyer et al. 2009). Ionic liquid, 1,3-dialkylimidazolium bromide [C4,6,8 MIM]Br
was employed with phosphate buffer for the extraction of cytochrome c, trypsin,
albumin, and γ-globulin proteins by aqueous biphasic separation with 75–100%
extraction efficiency (Pei et al. 2009). The removal of human serum, myoglobin,
and immunoglobulin G was investigated using ionic liquids of alkyl-substituted
phosphonium-[NTf2 ] (Pei et al. 2007). The exhaustive review describing various
ionic liquids and their application for the processing of proteins has been presented
in literature (Schindl et al. 2019).
Separation of Hormones, Alkaloids, and Vitamins

The content of human urine was determined in terms of testosterone and epitestos-
terone with 80–90% extraction using 1-methyl-3-butylimidazolium chloride and
K2 HPO4 (He et al. 2005). Caffeine and nicotine alkaloids were isolated 100%
from human urine using 1,3-dialkylimidazolium chloride with K3 PO4 (Freire
et al., 2010). Vitamin B12 present in human urine was measured using 1-hexyl-
3-methylimidazolium chloride with K2 HPO4 having 97% extraction efficiency
(Berton et al. 2012). Ionic liquid butyl-methyl-imidazolium chloride with K3 PO4 or
KH2 PO4 was employed for the selective extraction of quinine from human plasma
(Flieger and Czajkowska-Zelazko 2015).
Separation of Antibiotics
The development and use of suitable downstream separation processes for the sepa-
ration of antibiotics from fermentation broths is one of the challenging technological
issues. The aqueous biphasic separation of penicillin G from fermentation broth
with more than 90% efficiency was observed using BMIM BF4 and NaH2 PO4
(Lui et al. 2005). The extractive separation of mydecamycin, azithromycin, and
roxithromycin were performed using aqueous biphasic separation system containing
1-butyl,3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIM BF4 ) and salts as NaH2 PO4 ,
Na2 HPO4 , NaCl, Na2 SO4 , Na2 CO3 , and NaOH with a recovery of 89–96% (Han
et al. 2010).
Separation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons

The separation of various aromatics such as BTX (benzene, toluene, xylene)
from other hydrocarbons is challenging because of close boiling points and also
formation of azeotropes (Werner et al. 2010). Liquid–liquid extraction is useful
for less than 75% aromatic content, and extractive distillation is most suitable
for 65–90% aromatic content. For higher concentration of aromatics, azeotropic
distillation is more favorable (Werner et al. 2010). These approaches have the
drawbacks of mainly high energy requirements and back extraction. Ionic liquids
658 K. L. Wasewar
may overcome these issues and may be the potential solvent for the separation of
aromatic hydrocarbons.
The liquid–liquid extraction of a naphtha cracker feed having various aromatics
were investigated using 1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium [PF6 ], [EMIM][EtSO4 ], and
1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium dicyanamide. The results were compared with com-
mercial sulfolane. Almost 50% saving in cost were observed for this application
(Meindersma et al. 2006). Better performance of ionic liquid-based separation
for ternary hexane/benzene/[EMIM][NTf2 ] system was observed as compared to
current process (Arce et al. 2007). Ionic liquids have high technical potential to
extraction aromatics from hydrocarbon streams. Further modification in structure of
ionic liquids is needed to achieve higher capacities and selectivities.
Fuel Desulfurization
Sulfur compounds have significant environmental and health effects. Sulfur contents
in various forms in different organic streams are an issue of environmental concern,
and it is necessary to reduce to certain permissible level. Bo¨smann et al. (2001)
employed the ionic liquid first time for the removal of sulfur compounds from liquid
fuel. Later on different types of ionic liquids have been used for the removal of
sulfur compounds from various streams (Dharaskar et al. 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019;
Wasewar 2012, 2013). A critical review on the contribution of ionic liquids for
desulfurization of liquid fuels has been presented in literature (Ibrahim et al. 2017).
Metal Separations
Globally, water pollution can affect ground water or surface water by industrial
or domestic effluents which have been one of the most alerting and disturbing
issues of environmental concern. Toxic and hazardous metals, metal ions, and their
compounds can be separated or recovered by extraction using various solvents. In
this method, metal-contaminated aqueous phase is allowed to mix with extractive
phase, which is mostly immiscible with aqueous phase. Metals as pollutants are
distributed in both the phases, and extractive or solvent phase is enriched selectively
with the desired metal. These solvents are suffering with toxicity, flammability, and
volatility; hence alternative ecofriendly solvent needs to be found due to environ-
mental issues related to conventional organic solvents. Ionic liquids (ILs) are one of
the possible and potential alternatives due to non-volatility and non-flammability to
conventional toxic organic extractant in separation process (Khazalpour et al. 2020).
Ionic liquids have been considered widely for the separation of metal
ions. Trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium cation-based ionic liquids have been
employed for the separation of various metal ions. Cyphos IL-101 (tetrade-
cyl(trihexyl)phosphonium chloride) in hexane and toluene was employed for the
efficient removal of Au(III) and also Pd(II) from acidic solution (Cieszynska
and Wisniewski 2010). The separation of Zn(II) from Fe(III) was performed
by membrane having metal ion carrier as trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium
chloride (Cyphos IL101) or bis(2,4,4-trimethylphenyl)phosphinate (Cyphos IL104)
(Baczyn’ska et al. 2018). The aqueous biphasic system having ionic liquid
tetrabutylammonium bromide with (NH4 )2 SO4 was investigated for the removal
of Cr (VI), and 97% recovery was obtained (Akama and Sali 2002).
CO2 Capture and Gas Separation

Carbon dioxide is one of the key contributors to greenhouse gases (GHG), and its
emission is increasing exponentially. Amine technology for the capture of carbon
dioxide has certain drawbacks including cost, energy, etc. Other methods such as
membrane, cryogenic, and biological are also of interest but not technically or
economically feasible at large or industrial scales. In view of this, ionic liquids (ILs)
are the one of the best alternatives for the conventional and other technologies. In
recent years a lot of studies revealed that ionic liquids can be effectively used for
the capture of carbon dioxide.
The first-generation or conventional ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
hexafluorophosphate ([C4 mim][PF6 ]), was employed first time for the 0.6 mole
fraction capture of CO2 at 40 ◦ C and 8 MPa (Blanchard et al. 1999). [hmpy][Tf2 N]
was studied to understand the solubility of various gases, and the trend of
SO2 > CO2 > C2 H4 > C2 H6 > CH4 > O2 > N2 was observed at 298 K, where
carbon dioxide has higher solubility except sulfur dioxide (Anderson et al. 2007).
Generally, conventional ILs are not able to capture CO2 efficiently; hence efficiency
can be improved by functionalization of ionic liquids (Ramdin et al. 2012; Cui
et al. 2016). Functionalized ionic liquids were obtained by performing the reaction
of tetrabutylphosphonium hydroxide [P(C4 )4 ][OH] with amino acids (glycine,
l-alanine, l-b-alanine, l-serine, and l-lysine). The absorption was observed in less
than 100 min, and capacity was retained till four cycles (Yang et al. 2011).
The conventional and functionalized ionic liquids have the drawbacks of tech-
nical complexity, high amount of energy demand, and loss of solvents in large
quantity, and these can be overcome by supported ionic liquids. The ionic liquids
as membrane materials having [Tf2 N], [CF3 SO3 ], chloride, and dicyanamide as
anions, and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium [Emim] and trihexyltetradecylphospho-
nium [THTDP] as cations were employed for the separation of CO2 from N2 and
(CH4 ) (Scovazzo et al. 2004). The highest permeability of carbon dioxide was
observed for [Emim][Tf2 N]. Carbon dioxide was selectively separated from helium
by using [Hmim][Tf2 N]-based supported ionic liquid with higher permeability and
selectivity as compared to most of the membranes (Ilconich et al. 2007). The
exhaustive critical review on CO2 capture using ionic liquids has been presented in
the literature (Zhang et al. 2013). Carbon dioxide was captured and removed using
various conventional, task-specific, supported in membranes, and polymerized ionic
liquids.
Reaction
Reaction engineering is the heart of chemical process industries, where the perfor-
mance of reaction and reactor decides the downstream processing and hence overall
660 K. L. Wasewar
production cost. Ionic liquids have promising and potential application in reaction
as catalyst, solvents, and additives.
Catalyst and Additives

Ionic liquids are capable to dissolve many transition metal complexes which
are used as catalyst. Interaction of transition metal complexes with ILs provides
reactivity, and it is essential to understand it for the selection of suitable ionic
liquids (Werner et al. 2010). Wilkinson’s catalysts RhCl(TPP)3 (where TPP = triph-
enylphosphine) in [BMIM][BF4 ], [BMIM][PF6 ], and [BMIM][AlCl4 ] were used
for hydrogenation of cyclohexene. Hydrogenation of cumene, chlorobenzene, ben-
zene, ethylbenzene, and toluene were investigated using [H4 Ru4 (η6-C6 H6 )4 ][BF4 ]2
(Dyson et al. 1999, 2003; Werner et al. 2010).
Ionic liquids can be a promising replacement for conventional catalysts in many
reactions (Khazalpour et al. 2020). The exhaustive review of the application of ILs
in reaction as catalysts and additives was presented (Rádai et al. 2018; Amarasekara
2016). Ionic liquids can be used as acid catalyst, basic catalyst, organocatalyst,
and soluble support for various reactions. Ionic liquids have been extensively
used in various kinds of reactions such as substitutions, alkylations, acylations,
esterifications, oxidations, reductions, additions and cycloadditions, eliminations,
condensations, halogenations, cross-couplings, Saucy–Marbet reactions, protec-
tions and deprotections, and others (Rádai et al. 2018).
Triphenyl(propyl-3-sulfonyl)phosphonium cation and trifluoromethane sulfonate
anion based ionic liquid [TPPSP][OTf] has been employed to carry Hantzsch
synthesis of polyhydroquinolines and acridines by the condensation reaction of
b-ketoesters, 1,3-diones, ammonium acetate, aldehydes, and aniline derivatives
where recycle of ionic liquid is easily possible (Vahdat et al. 2016). Tributyl(3-
sulfopropyl)phosphonium hydrogen sulfate (TBSPHS) ionic liquid was used as
catalyst to synthesize 1,5-dihydro-2H-pyrrol-2-one derivatives to perform the reac-
tion among aromatic aldehydes, pyruvic acid, and anilines (Yarie et al. 2018).
In the presence of ionic liquid catalyst/solvent (4-sulfobutyl)tris(4-sulfophenyl)
phosphonium hydrogen sulfate, the multicomponent synthesis was performed for
12-aryl-8,9,10,12-tetrahydrobenzo[a]xanthen-11-one derivatives (Janardhan et al.
2012). There are numerous examples ionic liquids used as catalysts (Khazalpour
et al. 2020). Various supported ionic liquids as catalysts have been reviewed
in literature (Romanovsky and Tarkhanova 2017). Supported ionic liquids were
employed as catalyst for different reactions such as oxidation of sulfur-containing
compounds, phenol oxidation, synthesis of metal nanoparticles on the surface,
reactions of haloalkanes, Heck reactions, Suzuki reaction, hydroamination of
unsaturated compounds, Sandmeyer reaction, isomerization of hydrocarbons, and
gas phase alkene hydrogenation reactions.
Solvents for Synthesis and Catalyst Applications

The ionic liquids are promising alternatives to organic solvents for synthesis
and catalyst applications. The critical review on room-temperature ionic liquids
has been presented for synthesis and catalysis (Hallett and Welton 2011). ILs
can be used as aedium for various kinds of reactions including electron transfer
reactions, transition metal catalyzed reactions, microwave assistant, acid-catalyzed
reactions, substitutions, addition, base or nucleophilic reactions, elimination, acid
base reactions, and more.
Analytical and Chromatography
Analytical and chromatographic applications are important in many industries

including pharmaceutical, drug, chemical, food, and other allied industries. Ionic
liquids can be a promising alternative for conventional solvents, support, mobile
phase, additives, etc., for analytical and chromatography.
Analytical Chemistry
Ionic liquids can be used as the stationary phase for the separation of various organic
compounds. The type of anions and cations used and their characteristics have
a significant effect on selectivity and solubilization of compounds. Due to a few
specific and tunable properties of ionic liquids, these can be employed in separation
and analytical science and chemistry (Khazalpour et al. 2020). Due to some environ-
mental concerns, ionic liquids can be alternative and have the potential environment
friendly in the area of analytical chemistry which includes chromatography, spec-
trometry, sensing, isolation, extraction, electro-analysis, micro-extraction, analysis
of metal ions, bioanalytical, environmental, gas chromatography, high-performance
liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, etc. (Singh and Savoy 2020).
Tributylethylphosphonium diethylphosphate [P2,4,4,4 ][DEP] was used as
gas chromatography stationary phase for various organic solutes and water
(Kro’likowska and Orawiec 2016). In reversed-phase high-performance liquid
chromatography, quaternary ammonium- and phosphonium-based ionic liquids
were considered for analysis. Trioctyl(3/4-vinylbenzyl)phosphonium chloride was
employed as modifier in capillary columns of silica-based monolithic (Moravcova´
et al. 2018).
Liquid Chromatography
Liquid chromatography is mostly used for analytical separations. Liquid chromatog-
raphy can be operated for separation in various modes: reversed phase, normal
phase, hydrophilic interaction, ion pair, ion exchange, etc. (Huang et al. 2013).
Mostly, reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) separation has been used
(more than 90%).
For the analytical separation and analysis of ionizable or polar compounds, it
has the problem of band broadening, band tailing, asymmetric peak, irreproducible
retention time, and low efficiency. These problems can be overcome by using more
adaptive adsorbents as stationary phase and also by addition of solutes to mobile
phase. ILs can be used to resolve the above issues, and it can be the promising and
potential substances for liquid chromatography (Huang et al. 2013). The addition
of IL in mobile phase as additives shows improvement in separation efficiency, and
also it does not have any influence on the pH of the mobile phase.
662 K. L. Wasewar
The few different ionic liquids used as additives in mobile phase are
[C4 mim][BF4 ], [C6 mim][BF4 ], [C8 mim][BF4 ], for the targeted analysis of
Ephedrines, b-Lactam antibiotics, heterocyclic aromatic amines, Catecholamines,
Cytosine, thymine, adenine, 6-chlorouracil, L-his, L-tyr, L-phe, and DL-try,
N-carbobenzyloxy-D-phe and D-try, etc. Usage of ILs as additives in mobile
phase resulted in decreased band tailing and broadening, improved resolution and
retention, and good separation with sharp peaks, more favorable than a common
additive. The ILs employed to modify silica stationary phase are [Cnhim][BF4 ],
[C4 mim][Br], [C1 pim][Br], [C4 pim][Br], etc., for the analysis of ephedrines,
tanshinone, peptide aromatic carboxylic acids, etc., which resulted in the reduction
of retention time and fast separation (Chitta et al. 2010).
Gas Chromatography
Ionic liquids have been considered for gas chromatography stationary phase due
to their low volatility and high thermal stability (Berthod et al. 2008). At early
stage, ILs, ethylpyridinium bromide, and ethylammonium nitrate were investigated
for characteristics as a stationary phase. Better selectivity of columns with these
stationary phases was obtained for H-bond-capable and polar solute (Pacholec and
Poole 1983). Enhanced efficiency and selectivity were observed for non-polar and
polar solutes using imidazolium-based ILs.
The ILs, methoxyphenyl[MIM][TfO], and [BMIM][TfO] were investigated as a
stationary phase in gas chromatography, and better performance was observed with
increased thermal stability and also better film formation. The gas chromatography
capillary columns were prepared by using solvent properties of ionic liquids
([BMIM][Cl]) having cyclodextrins (di- and per-methylated) as chiral selectors.
Capillary Electrophoresis
Salts as support electrolytes are used in capillary electrophoresis. Ionic liquids
(viscous and conductive salts) cannot be directly used as a solvent in capillaries
because of high current, low voltage, and electric field. Hence ILs can be applied on
walls of capillary as coatings. Ionic liquids are used in capillary electrophoresis
as wall covalent coating, as background electrolyte and dynamic wall coating
in aqueous capillary electrophoresis, as background electrolytes in nonaqueous
capillary electrophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatography with ionic liquids,
and use of chiral ionic liquids (Berthod et al. 2008).
In capillary electrophoresis, ionic liquids are used to reduce the interaction
between analytes and the capillary wall. Propyl methyl imidazolium chloride
([PMIM][Cl]) was coated by covalent bond on silica capillary for the separation
of sildenafil from its metabolites (Qin and Li 2002). Also, the separation of DNA
fragments, and alkyl phosphonic acids and esters was performed by using modified
similar kind of capillaries (Qin and Li 2003). Ionic liquids are also used in capillary
electrophoresis as background electrolytes which are adsorbed on capillary walls
due to hydrophobic nature of cation of ionic liquids. [EMIMBF4 ] and [BMIMBF4 ]
were employed for the separation and determination of monohalogenated phenols,
anthraquinones, flavonoids, nicotinic acids, and some bioactive flavone derivatives.
For nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis, the liquid phase has very less polarity
than water. Ionic liquids were also used for the separation of phenols, polyphenols,
aromatic acids, and water-insoluble dyes.
Electro Processes
Various processes and operations can be enhanced by using different aids including
ultrasound, magnetic field, and electric field. Ionic liquids have application in
various electro-driven processes such as gas sensor and analytical chemistry.
Electrochemical Gas Sensor

Ionic liquids have wide electrochemical window and good stability and conductivity,
which are essential for electrochemical sensor application. Various electrochemical
techniques like voltammetry, chronoamperometry, impedometry, and condcu-
tometry can be used to make electrochemical sensors such as chemosensors,
actuators, biosensors, and gas sensors (Pau et al. 2020). The electrochemical
sensors for various gases mainly CO2 and other gases have been studied using
different ionic liquids such as 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium acetate [C4 mim][Ac],
1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide [C2 mim][NTf2 ],
methylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [C4 mpyrr][NTf2 ], 1-butyl-3-
methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [C4 mim][NTf2 ], 1-butyl-3-
methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [C4 mim][BF4 ], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
trifluoromethanesulfonate [C4 mim][OTf], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hex-
afluorophosphate [C4 mim][PF6 ], and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride
[C6 mim]Cl.
Electrochemistry
ILs have some specific properties: high thermal stability, good conducting elec-
trolytes, a wide range of electrochemical potential, high viscosity, a wide range
of solids to liquids, tunable solubility, etc., which make them suitable for various
applications of electrochemistry (Singh and Savoy 2020). Properties of IL and
electrode play a significant role on the performance of electrochemical devices
where basically three associations are considered: conductivity, viscosity, and
electrochemical potential of ILs. The phosphonium-based ionic liquids have been
considered more for electrochemical applications because of high thermal and
chemical stabilities, having low viscosities relative to other solvents, and high
electrical and thermal conductivities in contrast to other ionic liquids (Khazalpour
et al. 2020).
Electrophoresis
Ionic liquids with lower UV (ultraviolet) absorption at a short wavelength
having higher thermal stability are considered for mobile and stationary phases
in electrophoresis which significantly improve the resolution and separation. In
capillary electrophoresis, ionic liquids may be considered as exceptional additives
664 K. L. Wasewar
in electrolytes which can change electro-osmotic flow and hence improvement

in charged ion separation (Khazalpour et al. 2020). Various ionic liquids,
tributyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride [P14444 ]Cl, octyltributylphosphonium
chloride [P8444 ][Cl], tributyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride and acetate,
tetrabutylphosphonium chloride ([P4444 ]Cl, tributyl(hexadecyl)phosphonium
bromide ([P16444 ]Br, and triisobutylmethylphosphonium tosylate ([P1444 ][OTs]
were used in capillary electrophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatog-
raphy, capillary electrokinetic chromatography, and electrokinetic capillary
chromatography.
Other Applications
Biodiesel Production
The oil extracted from various animal and vegetable sources are one of the non-
polluting alternative energy sources. These oils cannot be used directly in existing
combustion engines; hence oils must be converted to biofuels. These oils mainly
contain triglycerides and can be converted to biofuels by pyrolysis (cracking),
microemulsification, and transesterification. Transesterification is the most popular
process for the conversion of oils into biodiesels. The catalyst plays an important
role in transesterification reaction and has certain irregularities (Andreani and Rocha
2012). Ionic liquids are the new generation catalyst with potential applications in
various segments of chemical industry, and also it can resolve the issues of catalyst
in transesterification.
Ionic liquid with 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation was employed for
biodiesel production by lipase-catalyzed transesterification with methyl acetate and
[BMIM][PF6 ] as co-solvent. The use of ionic liquid improved the lipase activity and
stability, and also it avoids enzyme deactivation. Twenty three different ionic liquids
were demonstrated for the production of biodiesel by methanolysis of soybean by
lipase, and the maximum yield of 80% at 50 ◦ C in 12 hrs was obtained with 1-ethyl-
3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanosulfonate ([Emim][CF3 SO3 ]) and methanol
(Ha et al. 2007).
The Brønsted acidic ionic liquids having 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium or
1-butylpyridinium cations and the ionic liquid 1-(4-sulfonic acid) butylpyridinium
hydrogensulfate ([BSPy][HSO4 ] were investigated for transesterification of cot-
tonseed oil with methanol for biodiesel production with 92% yield in 5 hrs at
170 ◦ C (Wu et al. 2007). Soybean oil was used for the production of biodiesel in
the presence of triethylammonium chloroaluminate ([Et3 NH]Cl/AlCl3 ) with 98.5%
conversion in 9 hrs 70 ◦ C (Liang et al. 2009). The ionic liquid has several advantages
in biodiesel production such as easy in operation, low catalyst (IL) cost, high yields
of desired product, and reusability (Andreani and Rocha 2012).
Space Technology
The space age was begun in the late 1950s, and hence there has been growth of
space industry with innovations in various space technologies. The major areas for
innovations are rocketry, spacecraft design, and satellite technology having various
engineering and science domains which include computer technology, material
science, robotics, analytical technology, and process intensification (Nancarrow
and Mohammed 2017). The major drawback of ionic liquids is the high cost,
which restricts its application in bulk volume; hence high value application to be
considered and that is space technology (Nancarrow and Mohammed 2017). In the
last few years, ionic liquids have been used in space technology, and it is the novel
development for the application of ionic liquids. Ionic liquids have been employed
in space technology in electrospray thrusters, lubricants, hypergolic fluids, and high-
performance composite materials.
Electrospray/colloid thrusters (electric propulsion engines) provide electrostatic
acceleration of liquid propellants. Electrospray has high efficiency and specific
impulses but very low thrust as compared to chemical system (Carroll 2015).
Various ionic liquids were studied as electrospray thruster propellants in com-
bination of various chemical compounds or alone. The investigated ionic liq-
uids are [C4 mim][GaCl4 ], [C2 mim][NTf2 ], [C2 mim][C(CN)3 ], [C2 mim][BF4 ], and
[C2 mim][N(CN)2 ]. Ionic liquids can be used as hypergolic fluids which are high-
energy propellants. These are used in spacecraft maneuvering systems and rocket
engines having a fuel and an oxidant. Ionic liquids investigated for hypergolic
fluids are C4 mim][N(CN)2 ], 1-methyl-3-propargyl-imidazolium dicyanamide, and
[PC1im][N(CN)2 ]. In aerospace technology, lubricants have very specific properties
including thermal stability for a wide range of parameters, good heat transfer
properties, high resistance to radiation, and high resistance to oxidation. Ionic
liquids studied for this application are [C6 mim][NTf2 ] and [C6 mim][BF4 ].
Many ionic liquids are stable for the wide range of temperature, and hence
C8 mim][PF6 ] and [C4 mim][BF4 ] were investigated as a promising fluid for heat
transfer fluid in space applications. The phase change materials suitable for space
thermal control should have high phase transition latent heat, high specific heat,
high thermal conductivity, low vapor pressure, small change in volume in the
phase transition, high density, long-term stability, non-explosive, non-toxic, non-
flammable, non-corrosive, chemically stable, and relatively low cost. Ionic liquids
with suitable above-said criteria for phase change material in space application,
[C16mmim ]Br and [C16 mim]Br were studied (Zhua et al. 2009).
Starch Chemistry
Starch is found mainly in plants as energy source having wide application in chem-
istry, paper, material, pharmaceutical, fermentation, and food industries. Starch
is one of the promising renewable materials for various processing with low-
price and biodegradability. Due to biodegradability of starch, it can be one of the
best replacements to many synthetic polymers. Organic solvents are required for
dissolution and other processing of starch.
Ionic liquids can be alternative to organic solvents and found it as an excellent
solvent for the derivatization, dissolution, and plasticization of starch (Ren et al.
2020). Different ionic liquids [Bmim][Cl], [Amim][Cl], [Emim][Cl], [Bmim][Br],
[Hexmim][HCOO], [Emim][Me2 PO4 ], [Mmim][(MeO)HPO2 ] have been used for
666 K. L. Wasewar
the dissolution, plasticization, and derivatization of starch of maize, potato, rice,

wheat, barley, potato, etc.
Surfactant Chemistry
Ionic liquids have also been considered in surfactant industry as modifiers (Khaz-
alpour et al. 2020). Ionic liquids based on imidazolium and phosphonium were
employed as surfactant modifier agents in cationic exchange reaction for making
organic modification in synthetic clays, which have better thermal and mechanical
strength and stability as compared to conventional quaternary ammonium salts.
Nanoparticle Stabilizers
Ionic liquids have been used in the synthesis of metal nanoparticles as stabilizers.
Various nanoparticles (titanium oxide, AgI, Pd, copper oxide) have been synthe-
sized using different ionic liquids ([P666,14 ][NTf2 ], [P666,14 ]Cl, tri-t-butyl(decyl)-
phosphonium tetrafluoroborate). Most of these nanoparticles stabilized in ionic
liquids have been used as catalysts in various reactions (Khazalpour et al. 2020).
Polymer Science
It was observed first time that the imidazolium, ammonium, and phosphonium
cation-based ionic liquids can be considered as plasticizers for preparing the
polyvinyl chloride to obtain flexible-grade polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Lowering
of glass transition temperature was observed for 20% plasticization using ionic
liquids with good resistance for leaching and migration and better thermody-
namic compatibility (Khazalpour et al. 2020). Various ionic liquids based on
imidazolium and phosphonium cations have been investigated as catalyst additives
for the photopolymerization of polyethylene glycol-400 dimethacrylate (PEGDM)
and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDM). The polymerization of epoxy-
networked polymeric materials was performed using reactive additive as tributyl
(ethyl) phosphonium diethyl phosphate and trihexyl (tetradecyl) phosphonium bis
2,4,4-(trimethyl pentyl)-phosphinate (Nguyen et al. 2014).
Drug Delivery
Ionic liquids have potential to solve many critical problems in pharmaceutical
industry. Ionic liquids can be employed in pharmaceutical applications as solvents,
alternative media, to solve polymorphism problems, novel ingredient, and in drug
delivery. There are many challenges in the pharmaceutical sector especially in
drug delivery systems where skin permeation, stability, drug solubility, and their
administration are of major concern (Caparica et al. 2018). Ionic liquids have certain
properties which enable them to be suitable to increase the solubility and loading
of drug, and permeation of relevant drug through suitable delivery practice. The
exhaustive review on the application of ionic liquids in drug delivery system is
available in literature (Omar 2016).
Two ionic liquids, [Hmim][Cl] and [Bmim][PF6 ], were used to prepare oil–
water phase by incorporating in stable emulsion which observed the antimicrobial
activities at more than 5% ionic liquids with higher penetration in skin (Dobler
et al. 2012). Further, antimicrobial properties and penetration of drug in the skin
of emulsion gel were investigated for [HPyr][Cl], [CDHP], and [Emim][EtSO4 ]
in 4-hydroxybenzoic acid propyl ester, caffeine, and testosterone (Santos et al.
2017). Various microemulsion gels were prepared using [Bmim][Br], [Bmim][PF6 ],
[HOEIM] [Cl], and [Bmim][C12 SO3 ] in different drugs including 5-fluorouracil,
etodolac, tween 80, span 20, and dencichine to investigate the ex vivo permeation
(Goindi et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2018). Ionic liquids may improve the penetration
by many folds, and hence it has promising application in drug delivery systems.
Lubricants
Synthetic lubricants are high-molecular-weight complex chemical compounds hav-
ing specific application in engine, gear, and other machineries as lubricants. The
performance of the lubricant depends on the base oil and other additives having
specific designed and targeted properties, and hence lubricants have significant
role in machineries. Additives are mainly responsible for enhancing the specific
performance including fire resistance, antioxidant, extreme pressure, dispersant, etc.
Numerous additives are considered to increase the performance of lubricants, and
ionic liquids may be new and promising additives.
Ionic liquid tetraalkylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate was investigated as lubri-
cants on still/Al (Kajdas 1994). During the slide of surfaces, the complex tribo-
chemical reactions taken place (Khazalpour et al. 2020). The double bilayer
type of the structure of the ionic liquids presented good lubricity as similar to
graphite and molybdenum disulfide (Liu et al. 2006). The tribological properties
of [N12 ,H,H,H][Cl], 1-methyl-3-hexylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate and 1-ethyl-3-
hexylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, and other ionic liquids, were investigated using
SRV ball on disk configuration.
Batteries
Due to the diminishing nature of fossil fuel, it is essential to look for the cleaner
alternative energy sources, and rechargeable batteries specially lithium ion batteries
(LIBs) are considered as one of the most promising candidates since 1991 of
their appearance in the market (Yang et al. 2020). It has wide application in
various electrical and electronic devices including aerospace and so on. The key
component in such type of batteries is electrolyte. The electrolyte is responsible for
fast ion transport and satisfactory electrochemical and chemical stability. There are
few safety issues due to thermal instability, flammability, and leakage possibility
(Yang et al. 2020). The conventional organic liquid electrolytes are flammable
and corrosive having serious safety issues, and also they are not able to stop
dendrite growth, which may cause short circuiting. Conventional flammable liquid
electrolytes are not suitable for next-generation lithium metal batteries with stable
performance, high energy density, and excellent safety (Yang et al. 2020). The solid
electrolytes instead of liquid electrolyte are expected to resolve safety issues by
reducing side reaction interface and hence increasing the life of the battery. Solid
668 K. L. Wasewar
polymer electrolytes have advantages of processability, flexibility, and adhesion

with electrodes. The hybrid electrolytes (HEs) are electrolytes with over two
components, and it is expected to improve room-temperature ionic conductivity,
mechanical strength, and electrochemical properties.
Ionic liquids are the combination of cation and ions with tunable properties
having ion conductivity, non-flammability, good thermal stability, wide electro-
chemical window (up to 5–6 V vs. Li+/Li), and non-volatility. ILs have been
used in many electrochemical application includes batteries, supercapacitors,
dye-sensitized solar cells, and fuel cells to increase the performance. ILs
along with polymers and polymeric ionic liquids used as solid electrolytes
in lithium ion batteries have been reported (Yang et al. 2020). ILs used are
1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide (EMimFSI), 1-ethyl-3-
methylimidazoliumtriluoromethanesufonate (EMITFSI), tetrabutylphosphonium 2-
hydroxypyridine (TBPHP), 1-methyl-1-propylpiperidinium bis(trifluoromethanesul
fonyl)imide (SiO2PPTFSI), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfon
yl)imide, N-methyl-N-butyl pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethansulfonyl)imide, N,N-
diethyl-N-(2-methoxyethyl)-N-methylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide,
N-butyl imidazole, etc., with PEO, PVDF, HFE, etc. (Yang et al. 2020).
Biological Aid
Solvents are used at many stages in preparing the drugs. Ionic liquids can be one
of the best suited alternatives to conventional organic solvents, and ionic liquids
have been getting more and more attention as reaction media in the last few years.
Ionic liquids have exceptional and tunable chemical and physical properties and also
have high biological activity. Because of such kind of outstanding and attracting
properties medicinal scientists, ecologists, and biochemists are significantly more
interested to explore the applications of ionic liquids as biological aid (Singh and
Savoy 2020). There have been antimicrobial and cytotoxic biological activities of
ionic liquids having applications in drug delivery and drug synthesis.
Phosphonium- and ammonium-based ionic liquids were explored to investigate
the cytotoxicity and anti-tumor activity using human tumor cell of NCI 60 lines.
The therapeutic applications can be controlled by tuning the cation and anion com-
bination and also with different substitutes. The ampicillin anions combined with
cations (ammonium, imidazolium, phosphonium, and pyridinium) were investigated
for anti-tumor activity. The used ionic liquids shows antiproliferative effects against
various tumor cell lines. The mono-, di-, and trisubstituted triphenylamine-based
phosphonium ionic liquids were found to have antibacterial activity for Gram-
positive and Gram-negative bacteria (Brunel et al. 2018).
Engineering
The application of ionic liquids in engineering field was reported almost three
decades ago mainly on extraction (Singh and Savoy 2020). Ionic liquids can be
employed in many fields of engineering due to their unique properties, which
may be resulted in molecular hydrogen bonding, Coulombic, and van der Waals
interactions.
Rare Earth Elements Extraction

Ionic liquids can also be employed for the extraction and processing of minerals
and metals. This is called as ion metallurgy. Ionic liquids as designer solvents
can be applied in numerous processing steps for extractive metallurgy of rare
earth elements. Ionic liquids are alternative to conventional solvents for efficient
and ecofriendly processes in metallurgical industry for dissolution-separation and
production of rare earth elements. Ionic liquid (HbetTf2 N) was used for Bauxite
residue leaching from Rödberg and Greece ore from Norway to extract rare earth
elements (EURARE 2020).
Conclusion
Ionic liquids have many promising and tunable properties which make them alter-
native in numerous applications. Ionic liquids are one of the potential substitutes to
various conventional volatile organic solvents, mineral bases, mineral acids, solid
acids, and many other applications. Ionic liquids may be a popular option because
of non-corrosive, ecofriendly nature as green compound used in many organic
transformations and processes in process industry. The typical applications of ionic
liquids are mentioned in Fig. 8. Ionic liquids have flexibility to modify chemical,
thermal, physical, and biological probable properties, which could be obtained by
tuning various combinations of cations and anions. The interest of academicians,
scientists, engineers, and industrialists has been toward ionic liquids in the last few
decades.
There have been many suppliers for ionic liquids for commercial as well as
research purposes, which make them more prospective green solvent for further
applications. The few suppliers for ionic liquids are Merck KGaA/EMD Chem.,
Cytec, DuPont, Solvent Innovation, Accelergy, Sigma-Aldrich, Nippon Gohsei,
Chemada, Solchemar, Kanto Chemical Co., ACROS, IoLiTec, Scionix, SACHEM,
BASF, etc. (Plechkova and Seddon 2008). Due to tunable and designer nature
of ionic liquids, these chemicals have been used in a wide range of applications
including solvents, catalyst, medium, etc. Furthermore, ionic liquids have been
explored to know the scope and potential for wide applications in process industries
in sustainable ways in various fields such as solvents, energy storage, analytical,
catalysts, electrodes, polymers, and medical aids.
Due to negligible vapor pressure of ionic liquids, they are not contributing to
air pollution and hence it is a green alternative solvent to conventional organic
solvents, which are generally flammable, volatile, and toxic. As a result of this,
numerous investigations have been performed on the application of ionic liquids as
novel green solvents to replace well-established conventional solvents for specific
applications. There is completely no question that the exceptional properties of ionic
liquids present great potential to make improvement in various existing engineering
applications or to develop attractive novel and new ones.
Based on the wide application of ionic liquids in process industry, ionic liquid
offers a vast prospective for more safer, more efficient, more better, or completely
670 K. L. Wasewar
Fig. 8 Few applications of ionic liquids
new approaches for process industry and also for other engineering and industrial
applications. But much more is needed to be achieved and developed to realize
all promising opportunities of ionic liquid applications. Designed ionic liquids for
specific application having optimized structures, better and useful physicochemical
and engineering data, superior theoretical and experimental prediction tools, and the
development of dedicated process units and devices are needed.
Few Important Websites
1. Ionic Liquids – Organic Chemistry Portal

https://www.organic-chemistry.org/topics/ionic-liquids.shtm
2. Ionic liquids: a brief history | SpringerLink
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12551-018-0419-2
3. Uses of ionic liquids | Koei Chemical Co., Ltd
https://www.koeichem.com/en/en_product/ion/use.html
4. IoLiTec · Ionic Liquids & more
https://iolitec.de/en/products/ionic_liquids?gclid=CjwKCAjwy42FBhB2EiwAJ
Y0yQiwymSs1_xGZiltYxaF4Vk28MD4d8BoCcizVg6N0vUMb2oZNLKRGM
RoCKdsQAvD_BwE
5. Ionic Liquids Market Analysis | Recent Market Developments ...
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ionic-liquid-market-
163716481.html
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Microstructure Analysis and
Multi-objective Optimization of Pulsed 25
TIG Welding of 316/316L Austenite
Stainless Steel
Asif Ahmad
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
Steps in RSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678
Selection of Base Material and Their Mechanical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
Input Parameters with Their Working Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
Design of Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
Statistical Analysis for Bead Width Using RSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
Development and Evaluation of Regression Equation: Bead Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
Adequacy Check of the Mathematical Model for Bead Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
Perturbation Plot (Bead Width) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
Response Surface Plot: Bead Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
Conclusion: Bead Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689
Statistical Analysis for the Depth of Penetration Using RSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690
Development and Evaluation of Regression Equation: Depth of Penetration . . . . . . . . . . . 690
Adequacy Check of the Mathematical Model for the Depth of Penetration . . . . . . . . . . . . 692
Perturbation Plot: Depth of Penetration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
Response Surface Plot: Depth of Penetration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
Microstructure Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
Mechanical Property Before PWHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
Mechanical Property After PWHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702
Optical Micrograph of Base Metal and Weld Metal Before PWHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704
Optical Micrograph Weld Metal After PWHT at 800 ◦ C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705
A. Ahmad ()
Mechanical Engineering Department, PSIT-Kanpur, Kanpur, India
676 A. Ahmad
Abstract
A good-quality weld should have enough penetration, desired microstructure,

and bright welding profile without any spatter. Modern welding technology
started just before the end of the nineteenth century with the development of
methods for generating high temperatures in localized zones. In this study, we
have used pulsed TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding. In this work, the weld
quality comprises of BW (bead width), DOP (depth of penetration), and its
microstructure, which influence the output parameter, i.e., mechanical properties
like ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and % elongation. To obtain a good-quality
weld, it is, therefore, essential to control the input welding parameters. Tradi-
tional one factor at a time method of analysis is time-consuming and does not take
into consideration the interaction effects between the input parameters; hence,
optimization method with a total of 30 experiments was conducted using CCD
of response surface methodology (RSM) to determine the optimum combination
of each output process. Experimental data were analyzed by RSM using Design-
Expert statistical software version 18. The statistical and analytical steps used in
RSM are ANOVA; the second-order polynomial regression equation is used to
develop mathematical model and response surface plots of the interaction effects
of the factors to evaluate optimum conditions for bead geometry and mechanical
properties. The linear, quadratic, and linear interactive effects of the input process
variables on the output response were calculated, and their respective significance
evaluated by ANOVA test. The p-value was used as the basis for measuring the
significance of the regression coefficients, and values of p less than 0.05 signified
that the coefficient is significant, otherwise insignificant. The adequacy of the
model was tested by the coefficient of determination (R2 ) value as compared
to the adjusted R2 value. The optimal parameter was obtained for BW (170 A,
90 A, 125 Hz, 50%) and DOP (160 A, 80 A, 100 Hz, 45%). After optimization,
microstructure characterization has been done on 316 austenite stainless steel
weld specimen before and after PWHT (post-weld heat treatment) to see the
change in microstructure and to determine the effect of PWHT on tensile strength
and on percentage elongation.
Keywords
Tungsten inert gas welding · Response surface methodology · Analysis of

Variance (ANOVA) · Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT)
Introduction
The traditional method of selecting one parameter is a time-taking process and

therefore not considered nowadays in the manufacturing industry; hence, an opti-
mization technique concerns the design of experiment (DOE) such as CCD of
response surface methodology (RSM) to establish an optimum condition for tensile
25 Microstructure Analysis and Multi-objective Optimization of Pulsed. . . 677
strength (Myers Raymond and Montgomery 2002). In this study, the surface plot
is used to explain the main and interaction effect of the process parameter to
identify the optimum parameter with their values. RSM is a widely used statistical
technique in process optimization (Box and Draper 1987). RSM is a collection
of mathematical and statistical techniques useful for analyzing problems in which
several independent variables influence a dependent variable or response and the
goal is to optimize the response. RSM helps the study of interaction among
experiment variables within the range studied, allowing a better understanding of
the process while reducing the experiment time and cost (Myers Raymond and
Montgomery 2002). A novel RSW system of dissimilar materials of 6008-T66
aluminum alloy and H220YD galvanized high-strength steel was developed (Zhang
et al. 2015), and the morphology of welding electrodes was optimally planned. The
macrostructure, microstructure, and mechanical properties of welded joints with
optimized electrode parameters have also been studied. In contrast with the hybrid
spot-welded and bonded joints, Campilho et al. (2012) tested the experimental and
numerical welding criteria to test hybrid spot-welded and bonded single lap joints.
The interaction between the process parameters and the geometry of the welding
bead is nonlinear and complex. It is particularly difficult to determine the extent of
the contribution of the individual process parameters to the performance. It is still a
puzzling issue that allows operators to only consider the state of the welding process
according to practical manufacturing knowledge, maps, and handbooks (Fukuda
et al. 1990; Qin et al. 2015; Dhas and Kumanan 2011). The Taguchi philosophy was
used (Datta et al. 2008) to investigate the best parametric configurations to obtain the
desired weld bead geometry and HAZ-related measurements. In two major fields,
Taguchi tackles consistency: off-line and digital quality management. To predict the
process parameters for gas metal arc welding, multiple regression analysis may be
used (Tarng and Yang 1998; Lee and Rhee 2000; Lee and Um 2000). The use of the
quasi-oppositional Jaya algorithm for the optimization of welding processes was
implemented (Rao and Rai 2017), while Kim and Rhee (2001) and Dey et al. (2009)
recommended the use of generic algorithm (GA). Furthermore, Moradpour et al.
(2015) used a non-dominated genetic sorting algorithm (NSGA) to investigate weld
penetration, bead width, and bead height in the submerged arc welding operation,
while Xu et al. (2015) used the RSM to correlate weld bead geometry in the narrow
gap of oscillating arc all location during gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). The
effect of the process parameters’ interaction was also analyzed. The minimization
of the weld region was perceived (Kanigalpula et al. 2015) as a result of bead
width and bead penetration. Using a generic algorithm, the constraint optimization
problem was solved. On the other hand, Parida and Pal (2015) concentrated on
the use of fuzzy logic and Taguchi technique in friction stir welding to optimize
multiple weld output properties. Experimental design and regression analysis is the
most widely employed tool for evaluating process models (Sharma et al. 2018;
Sun et al. 2017; Eller et al. 2016; Banerjee et al. 2016), while fractional factorial
techniques have been used to measure the dimensions of the weld bead in automated
submerged arc welding (Gupta and Parmar 1989; Nielsen et al. 2015). If not
regulated, welding processes can create major distortions in the final welded geom-
678 A. Ahmad
etry that cause dimensional control loss, expensive rework, and production delays
(Michaleris 2011). Dobrota (2014) and Raghavendra and Kumar (2015) identified
the variables that can influence the welding process into two groups, namely,
variables that can be regulated (welding current, welding voltage, welding speed,
base material surface cleanliness, electrical arc length, preheating temperature) and
variables that cannot be controlled (size and temperature of the heat-affected zone,
mechanical tensions from welded joints, leakage of molten material). In order to
get the required welding hardness without distortion reaching allowable limits, this
work implements a constructive means of regulating welding parameters. The goal
of the work is to use Taguchi modeling and RSM simulation techniques without
costly laboratory trials to model and refine welding processes. The simulated
welded components exhibited outstanding strength characteristics and light weight
with allowable distortion after effective design. This would decrease the cost
of production and improve the efficiency, consistency, and reliability of welding
processes for welding. In addition, the evolved model offers the most feasible
combination of welding process parameters that, at optimum speed and expense,
will deliver the best welding. The application of these research results will not
only fulfill the quest of manufacturing industries to strike the right balance between
cost and efficiency but will also include design data and predictive model for the
manufacturing industries of rail cars and other manufacturing industries that use
welding as a collaborative tool to decide the optimum solutions during welding.
This improves the integrity of the weld, avoids re-welding, or is a scrap for welding
operations. During the assembly of rail car parts, the implementation of the built
model would improve the efficiency of welding operations.
Steps in RSM
• Identifying the important process control parameter

• Finding the upper and lower limits of the control variables
• Developing the design matrix
• Conducting the experiments as per the design matrix
• Recording the responses
• The development of mathematical models
• Calculating the coefficients of the polynomials
• Checking the adequacy of the models developed
• Testing the significance of the regression coefficients, recalculating the value of
the significant coefficients, and arriving at the final mathematical models
• Presenting the main effects and the significant interaction effects of the process
parameters on the responses in two- and three-dimensional (contour) graphical
form
• Analysis of results
Selection of Base Material and Their Mechanical Properties
“316 sheets of 100 X 75 X 4 mm stainless steel are autogenously welded with a

butt joint without edge preparation” (Ahmad and Alam 2018), as seen in Fig. 1.
Tables 1 and 2 provide the chemical composition and mechanical properties of the
316 stainless steel sheets.
Fig. 1 Base metal AISI 316 stainless steel
Table 1 Chemical composition of the base material (wt %)

Grade 316 C Mn Si P S Cr Mo Ni N
Min. – – – – – 16.0 2.0 10.0
Max. 0.08 2.0 0.75 0.045 0.030 18.0 3.0 14.0 0.10
Table 2 Mechanical properties of 316 stainless steel

Tensile Tensile Yield Elongation Hardness
strength strength strength, (% in
(MPa), min 0.2% Proof 50 mm), min
(MPa)
Rockwell, Brinell, HB
HR B max max
564 MPA 515 205 40 95 217
680 A. Ahmad
Table 3 Independent parameters with their levels for CCD

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Input parameter Factor symbol −α −1 0 1 α
Peak current (I) P 140 150 160 170 180
Base current (I) B 60 70 80 90 100
Pulse frequency F 50 75 100 125 150
(Hz)
Pulse-on time (%) T 35 40 45 50 55
Input Parameters with Their Working Range
From the literature survey (Peasura 2015) and research work done in the past,
the most important process parameters are having a greater influence on bead
geometry and mechanical properties. AISI 316 stainless steel sheets of dimension
100 × 75 × 4 mm were used for the butt joint. Peak current, base current, pulse
frequency, and pulse-on time are input parameters used for this experiment (Myers
Raymond and Montgomery 2002). Input parameters with their levels are given in
Table 3. The experiment was carried out at an optimum in the laboratory (Ahmad
and Alam 2019).
Design of Experiment
The experimental design for this investigation is CCD and the response measured
by RSM (Kim et al. 2005). To optimize the process parameter of pulse TIG
welding, examine the combined effect of four different input parameters on bead
geometry and mechanical properties and drive a mathematical model. Five-level,
four-parameter CCD which include 24 = 16 factorial point plus 6 central points and
2 × 4 star point (24 + 2*4 + 6), with a total of 30 experiments, were made in this
investigation as shown in Table 4. The framework for the four factors was ranged
between five levels (−α, −1, 0, +1, and +α) (Kim et al. 2005; Ahmad and Alam
2019).
Statistical Analysis for Bead Width Using RSM
CCD was used to experiment by varying the input process parameter. The exper-
iment was performed by varying input parameters using experimental design
CCD. The experiment has been conducted according to different combinations of
parameters as shown in Table 5. The experiment results obtained from CCD were
fitted to the polynomial regression equation developed by Design-Expert software
18.0 (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019).
The statistical steps followed are ANOVA, regression analysis, and response
surface plots of the interaction effects of the parameters to evaluate optimum
Table 4 Design of experiment or central composite design arrangement

Factor symbol Actual factor
Run Std A B C D P B F T
9 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 150 70 75 40
17 2 1 −1 −1 −1 170 70 75 40
12 3 −1 1 −1 −1 150 90 75 40
28 4 1 1 −1 −1 170 90 75 40
16 5 −1 −1 1 −1 150 70 125 40
1 6 1 −1 1 −1 170 70 125 40
20 7 −1 1 1 −1 150 90 125 40
11 8 1 1 1 −1 170 90 125 40
8 9 −1 −1 −1 1 150 70 75 50
24 10 1 −1 −1 1 170 70 75 50
5 11 −1 1 −1 1 150 90 75 50
18 12 1 1 −1 1 170 90 75 50
14 13 −1 −1 1 1 150 70 125 50
6 14 1 −1 1 1 170 70 125 50
27 15 −1 1 1 1 150 90 125 50
23 16 1 1 1 1 170 90 125 50
3 17 −α 0 0 0 140 80 100 45
15 18 α 0 0 0 180 80 100 45
7 19 0 −α 0 0 160 60 100 45
26 20 0 α 0 0 160 100 100 45
19 21 0 0 −α 0 160 80 50 45
4 22 0 0 α 0 160 80 150 45
29 23 0 0 0 −α 160 80 100 35
22 24 0 0 0 α 160 80 100 55
10 25 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45
2 26 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45
13 27 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45
25 28 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45
21 29 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45
30 30 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45
conditions for the bead geometry and mechanical properties. The linear, quadratic,
and linear interactive effects of the input parameter on the bead geometry and
mechanical properties were calculated, and their respective significance was eval-
uated by ANOVA test (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). The p-value was
used as the basis for measuring the significance of the regression coefficients; values
of p less than 0.05 signified that the coefficient is significant, otherwise insignificant.
Each response variable of the experimental planning was fitted to a second-order
polynomial equation generated by Design-Expert and presented in Eq. (1):
682 A. Ahmad
Table 5 CCD, experimental value bead width
Exp. value
Factor symbol. Actual factor. bead width
Run. Std A B C D P B F T
9 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 150 70 75 40 2.79
17 2 1 −1 −1 −1 170 70 75 40 2.41
12 3 −1 1 −1 −1 150 90 75 40 2.14
28 4 1 1 −1 −1 170 90 75 40 2.94
16 5 −1 −1 1 −1 150 70 125 40 2.52
1 6 1 −1 1 −1 170 70 125 40 2.29
20 7 −1 1 1 −1 150 90 125 40 3.10
11 8 1 1 1 −1 170 90 125 40 2.57
8 9 −1 −1 −1 1 150 70 75 50 2.33
24 10 1 −1 −1 1 170 70 75 50 3.12
5 11 −1 1 −1 1 150 90 75 50 2.62
18 12 1 1 −1 1 170 90 75 50 2.35
14 13 −1 −1 1 1 150 70 125 50 3.35
6 14 1 −1 1 1 170 70 125 50 2.69
27 15 −1 1 1 1 150 90 125 50 2.48
23 16 1 1 1 1 170 90 125 50 3.59
3 17 −α 0 0 0 140 80 100 45 2.78
15 18 α 0 0 0 180 80 100 45 2.64
7 19 0 −α 0 0 160 60 100 45 3.38
26 20 0 α 0 0 160 100 100 45 2.75
19 21 0 0 −α 0 160 80 50 45 2.43
4 22 0 0 α 0 160 80 150 45 3.65
29 23 0 0 0 −α 160 80 100 35 3.14
22 24 0 0 0 α 160 80 100 55 2.66
10 25 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.88
2 26 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.21
13 27 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 2.61
25 28 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.23
21 29 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.85
30 30 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.42
n=4 n=4 n=3 n=4

y = b0 + bi xi + bii xi2 + . bij xi xj + ε (1)
i=1 i=1 i=1 j =i+1
where y is the estimated response (bead geometry and mechanical property)
n = no. of input parameter

b0 = Constant
bi = Coefficient of linear (A, B, C, and D)
bii = Coefficient of quadratic (A2 , B2 , C2 , and D2 )

bij = Coefficient of cross-product (A*B, B*C, C*D, and A*D)
ε = Random error
x = ith term of independent variable
Development and Evaluation of Regression Equation: Bead Width
The correlation between process parameters and output response was obtained
by using CCD (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). The second-order
polynomial regression equation was fitted between the output response and input
process parameter (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). From the ANOVA
result shown in Table 6, it has been found adequacy of the model is suitable to
analyze the experimental value.
The regression equation based on the regression coefficient of ANOVA results is
shown in Eq. (2):
Table 6 ANOVA: bead width

Sum of Mean
Source Coefficient squares df square F-values p-value
Model 3.03 2.05 14 0.1466 3.02 0.0208 Significant
A 0.0140 0.0047 1 0.0047 14.45 0.0468
B −0.0402 0.0388 1 0.0388 1.61 0.2245
C 0.1806 0.7830 1 0.7830 3.61 0.0017
D 0.0340 0.0277 1 0.0277 2.51 0.1341
A×B 0.1003 0.1610 1 0.1610 1.34 0.26
A×C −0.0791 0.1000 1 0.1000 0.15 0.70
A×D 0.0809 0.1048 1 0.1048 5.44 0.03
B×C 0.0934 0.1397 1 0.1397 0.15 0.70
B×D −0.0741 0.0878 1 0.0878 6.684 E−15 1.00
C×D 0.0928 0.1378 1 0.1378 0.6020 0.45
A2 −0.1179 0.3810 1 0.3810 0.5805 0.46
B2 −0.0291 0.0233 1 0.0233 5.22 0.04
C2 −0.0347 0.0331 1 0.0331 5.22 0.04
D2 −0.0710 0.1382 1 0.1382 0.58 0.46
Residual 4.80 15 0.3201
Lack of 2.30 10 0.2300 0.4598 0.8616 Not
fit significant
Pure 2.50 5 0.5003
error
Cor total 6.85 29
R2 = 0.997409, adjusted R2 = 0.994991
684 A. Ahmad
Bead width = 3.03 + 0.0140A − 0.0402B + 0.1806C + 0.0340D

+ 0.1003AB − 0.0791AC + 0.0809AD + 0.0934BC
(2)
− 0.0741BD + 0.0928CD − 0.1179A2 − 0.0291B 2
− 0.0347C 2 − 0.0710D 2
To obtain a statistically significant regression model p-value, if p-value <0.05,

then mathematical model is significant (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al.
2019). In this case, A, C, AD, CD, B2 , and C2 are significant model terms. The
model reduces to Eq. (3), after eliminating the insignificant coefficients. After that,
predicted value for all the combination of input parameter is obtained as shown in
Table 7:
Bead width = 3.03 + 0.0140A + 0.1806C + 0.0809AD + 0.0928CD

(3)
− 0.0291B 2 − 0.0347C 2
Adequacy Check of the Mathematical Model for Bead Width
ANOVA represents that the polynomial regression equation was significant to repre-
sent the relationship between input parameters and output parameters (Ezekannagha
et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). The adequacy and significance of the established
model were also elaborated by the high value of the coefficient of determination (R2 )
value of 0.997409 and adjusted R2 0.994991 for the development for the developed
correlation.
Figure 1 indicates that the developed regression model by using Design-Expert
18.0 represents good correlation experimental value and predicted value since all the
points are very close to the line of perfect fit or line of unit slope (Ezekannagha et al.
2017). Also, the investigation of residuals to validate the adequacy of the model was
performed. Residual is the difference between the observed response and predicted
response. This analysis was examined using the normal probability plot of residuals.
The normal probability plot of the residuals shows that the errors are distributed
normally in a straight line and insignificant as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
Perturbation Plot (Bead Width)
The perturbation plot shows the effect of all the parameters on a single plot
(Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). A perturbation plot to compare the effect
of all the process parameters at the center point on bead width is presented in Fig. 4.
It has been noted that bead width increases as peak current (A) is increased and then
bead width decreases. It is also evident from the plot that the bead width decreases
Table 7 CCD predicted value: bead width

Run Std A B C D A B C D Predicted value Residual error
9 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 150 70 75 40 2.81 −0.02
17 2 1 −1 −1 −1 170 70 75 40 2.63 −0.22
12 3 −1 1 −1 −1 150 90 75 40 2.49 −0.35
28 4 1 1 −1 −1 170 90 75 40 2.71 0.23
16 5 −1 −1 1 −1 150 70 125 40 2.95 −0.43
1 6 1 −1 1 −1 170 70 125 40 2.46 −0.17
20 7 −1 1 1 −1 150 90 125 40 3.01 0.09
11 8 1 1 1 −1 170 90 125 40 2.92 −0.34
8 9 −1 −1 −1 1 150 70 75 50 2.68 −0.34
24 10 1 −1 −1 1 170 70 75 50 2.82 0.30
5 11 −1 1 −1 1 150 90 75 50 2.06 0.56
18 12 1 1 −1 1 170 90 75 50 2.61 −0.26
14 13 −1 −1 1 1 150 70 125 50 3.19 0.16
6 14 1 −1 1 1 170 70 125 50 3.03 −0.34
27 15 −1 1 1 1 150 90 125 50 2.95 −0.47
23 16 1 1 1 1 170 90 125 50 3.18 0.41
3 17 −α 0 0 0 140 80 100 45 2.53 0.25
15 18 α 0 0 0 180 80 100 45 2.59 0.05
7 19 0 −α 0 0 160 60 100 45 3.00 0.39
26 20 0 α 0 0 160 100 100 45 2.84 −0.09
19 21 0 0 −α 0 160 80 50 45 2.53 −0.10
4 22 0 0 α 0 160 80 150 45 3.26 0.40
29 23 0 0 0 −α 160 80 100 35 2.68 0.46
22 24 0 0 0 α 160 80 100 55 2.82 −0.16
10 25 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.03 0.84
2 26 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.03 0.18
13 27 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.03 −0.42
25 28 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.03 0.19
21 29 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.03 −1.18
30 30 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 3.03 0.38
with the increase in base current (B) because no melting is done during this stage.
It can be noticed that, from this plot, bead width increases as pulse frequency (C)
increases. It is also noticed from the plot that bead width increases as a pulse-on
time increases (D) and then decreases.
Response Surface Plot: Bead Width
The 3D surface plot and 2D contour effect is developed by Design-Expert 18.0

statistical software which represents the interaction effect between input process
686 A. Ahmad
Predicted vs. Actual
3.5
3
Predicted
2.5
1.5
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

Actual
Fig. 2 Plot of experimental vs predicted value BW
parameters and BW (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019) as shown in Figs.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The linear interactive effect of peak current and base current is
positive as given in Table 4, and BW is increased as the value of the above parameter
is increased as shown in Fig. 5a of 3D surface plot and Fig. 5b of contour plot
(Ezekannagha et al. 2017). BW is increasing with simultaneously increasing peak
current and base current to about 180 and 100 A, respectively, beyond which the
value of BW declined.
The coefficient of linear interactive effects of peak current and pulse frequency
is negative, as given in Table 4, i.e., BW is increased as the value of the above
parameter is increased as shown in Fig. 6c of 3D surface plots and Fig. 6d of contour
plot (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019).
The BW declined beyond the peak current of 180 A and pulse frequency of
125 Hz, respectively. The coefficient of the linear interactive effect of peak current
and pulse-on time is positive as given in Table 4, and BW is increased as the value of
the above parameter is increased as shown in Fig. 7e of 3D surface plot and Fig. 7f
of contour plot (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). BW is increasing with
simultaneously increasing peak current and pulse-on time to about 180 A and 50%,
respectively, beyond which the value of BW declined. The coefficient of the linear
interactive effect of base current and pulse frequency is positive as given in Table 4,
Normal Plot of Residuals
99
95
90
Norm al % Probabilit y
80
70
50
30
20
10
5
-3.00 -2.00 -1.00 0.00 1.00 2.00
Externally Studentized Residuals
Fig. 3 Normal probability plot of residual BW
and BW is increased as the value of the above parameter is increased as shown in

Fig. 8g of 3D surface plot and Fig. 8h of contour plot (Ezekannagha et al. 2017;
Moi et al. 2019). BW is increasing with simultaneously increasing base current and
pulse frequency to about 100 A and 125 Hz, respectively, beyond which the value
of BW declined.
The coefficient linear interactive effects of base current and pulse-on time are
negative as given in Table 4, i.e., BW is increased as the value of the above parameter
is increased as shown in Fig. 9i of 3D surface plots and Fig. 9j of contour plot
(Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). The BW declined beyond the base
current of 100 A and pulse-on time of 50%, respectively.
The coefficient linear interactive effect of pulse frequency and pulse-on time is
positive as given in Table 4, and BW is increased as the value of an above parameter
is increased as shown in Fig. 10k of 3D surface plot and Fig. 10l of contour plot
(Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019).
BW is increasing with simultaneously increasing pulse frequency and pulse-
on time to about 125 Hz and 50%, respectively, beyond which the value of BW
declined.
688 A. Ahmad
Perturbation
4
3.5
C
bead width (mm)
B DB
3
AD A
C
2.5
1.5
-1.000 -0.500 0.000 0.500 1.000
Deviation from Reference Point (Coded Units)
Fig. 4 Perturbation plot for bead width
Fig. 5 Surface plot (a), contour plot (b) of the interaction effect AB on BW
Fig. 6 Surface plot (c), contour plot (d) of the interaction effect AC on BW
Fig. 7 Surface plot (e), contour plot (f) of the interaction effect AD on BW
Conclusion: Bead Width
Peak current and pulse frequency are the most significant process parameter that
affects the BW as indicated by their highest F-values given in the ANOVA (Table 3).
The optimum conditions are the peak current 170 A, base current 90 A, pulse
frequency 125 Hz, pulse-on time 50%, and optimum bead width (BW) at this
optimum condition that was predicted to be 3.18 mm. To validate the predicted
optimum values, experiments were carried out at these optimum conditions as
shown in Table 8. The experimental value of 3.23 mm agreed closely with that
obtained from the regression model . Therefore, the regression model developed is
satisfied.
690 A. Ahmad
Fig. 8 Surface plot (g), contour plot (h) of the interaction effect BC on BW
Experimental value−predicted value

% Error = P redicted value ∗ 100
% Error = 3.23−3.18
3.18 ∗ 100 = 1.57%
Statistical Analysis for the Depth of Penetration Using RSM
CCD was used to experiment by varying the input process parameter. The exper-
iment was performed by varying input parameters using experimental design
CCD. The experiment has been conducted according to different combinations of
parameters as shown in Table 9. The experiment results obtained from CCD were
fitted to the polynomial regression equation developed by Design-Expert software
18.0 (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019).
Development and Evaluation of Regression Equation: Depth

of Penetration
The correlation between process parameters and output response was obtained
by using CCD (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). The second-order
polynomial regression equation is fitted between the output response and the input
process parameter. From the ANOVA result shown in Table 10, it has been found
adequacy of the model is suitable to analyze the experimental value.
The regression equation based on the regression coefficient of ANOVA results is
shown in Eq. (4):
Fig. 9 Surface plot (i), contour plot (j) of the interaction effect BD on BW. Surface plot (k),
contour plot (l) of the interaction effect CD on BW
Table 8 Confirmatory test: bead width

Prediction Experiment
Level (170 A, 90 A, 125 Hz, 50%) (170 A, 90 A, 125 Hz, 50%)
Bead width mm 3.18 mm 3.23 mm
DOP = 1.13 + 0.0025A − 0.0275B + 0.0737C + 0.0142D + 0.0375AB

− 0.0406AC + 0.0356AD + 0.0444BC − 0.0456BD + 0.0325CD
− 0.0824A2 − 0.0461B 2 − 0.0599C 2 − 0.0918D 2
(4)
692 A. Ahmad
Predicted vs. Actual
1.6
1.4
Predicted
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6

Actual
Fig. 10 Plot of experimental vs predicted value DOP
To obtain a statistically significant regression model p-value, if p-value <0.05,

then mathematical model is significant (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al.
2019). In this case, A, C, AC, BD, A2 , and D2 are significant model terms. The
model reduces to Eq. (5), after eliminating the insignificant coefficients. After that,
predicted value for all the combination of input parameter is obtained as shown in
Table 11:
DOP = 1.13 + 0.0025A + 0.0737C − 0.0406AC − 0.0456BD

(5)
− 0.0824A2 − 0.0918D 2
Adequacy Check of the Mathematical Model for the Depth

of Penetration
ANOVA represents that the polynomial regression equation was significant to repre-
sent the relationship between input parameters and output parameters (Ezekannagha
et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). The adequacy and significance of the established
Table 9 CCD experimental value DOP

Factor symbol Actual factor Exp. value
Run Std A B C D P B F T bead width
9 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 150 70 75 40 0.861
17 2 1 −1 −1 −1 170 70 75 40 0.691
12 3 −1 1 −1 −1 150 90 75 40 0.586
28 4 1 1 −1 −1 170 90 75 40 0.946
16 5 −1 −1 1 −1 150 70 125 40 0.756
1 6 1 −1 1 −1 170 70 125 40 0.656
20 7 −1 1 1 −1 150 90 125 40 1.021
11 8 1 1 1 −1 170 90 125 40 0.776
8 9 −1 −1 −1 1 150 70 75 50 0.681
24 10 1 −1 −1 1 170 70 75 50 1.061
5 11 −1 1 −1 1 150 90 75 50 0.761
18 12 1 1 −1 1 170 90 75 50 0.646
14 13 −1 −1 1 1 150 70 125 50 1.096
6 14 1 −1 1 1 170 70 125 50 0.816
27 15 −1 1 1 1 150 90 125 50 0.726
23 16 1 1 1 1 170 90 125 50 1.156
3 17 −α 0 0 0 140 80 100 45 0.891
15 18 α 0 0 0 180 80 100 45 0.791
7 19 0 −α 0 0 160 60 100 45 1.151
26 20 0 α 0 0 160 100 100 45 0.821
19 21 0 0 −α 0 160 80 50 45 0.681
4 22 0 0 α 0 160 80 150 45 1.181
29 23 0 0 0 −α 160 80 100 35 0.881
22 24 0 0 0 α 160 80 100 55 0.726
10 25 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.321
2 26 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 0.936
13 27 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 0.771
25 28 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.086
21 29 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.196
30 30 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.461
model were also elaborated by the high value of the coefficient of determination (R2 )
value of 0.997409 and adjusted R2 0.994991 for the development for the developed
correlation.
Figure 11 indicates that the developed regression model by using Design-Expert
18.0 represents good correlation experimental value and predicted value since all the
point is very close to the line of perfect fit or line of unit slope. Also, the investigation
of residuals to validate the adequacy of the model was performed. Residual is the
694 A. Ahmad
Table 10 ANOVA: DOP

Sum of Mean
Source Coefficient squares df square F-values p-value
Model 1.13 0.7230 14 0.0516 1.10 0.04250 Significant
A 0.0025 0.0002 1 0.0002 4.667 0.049
B −0.0275 0.0182 1 0.0182 0.1028 0.5429
C 0.0737 0.1305 1 0.1305 1.76 0.01157
D 0.0142 0.0048 1 0.0048 0.3875 0.7529
A×B 0.037 0.022 1 0.0225 0.4804 0.4988
A×C −0.040 0.0264 1 0.0264 0.5638 0.0464
A×D 0.036 0.0203 1 0.0203 0.4336 0.5202
B×C 0.044 0.0315 1 0.0315 0.6727 0.4249
B×D −0.045 0.0333 1 0.0333 0.7112 0.0412
C×D 0.032 0.0169 1 0.0169 0.3609 0.5570
A2 −0.082 0.1862 1 0.1862 3.98 0.047
B2 −0.046 0.0584 1 0.0584 1.25 0.2817
C2 −0.059 0.0984 1 0.0984 2.10 0.1678
D2 −0.091 0.2310 1 0.2310 4.93 0.0422
Residual 0.7025 15 0.0468
Lack of fit 0.3837 10 0.0384 0.6017 0.7691 Not
significant
Pure error 0.3188 5 0.0638
Cor total 1.43 29
R2 = 0.997409, adjusted R2 = 0.994991
difference between the observed response and predicted response. This analysis was
examined using the normal probability plot of residuals. The normal probability plot
of the residuals shows that the errors are distributed normally in a straight line and
insignificant as shown in Fig. 12.
Perturbation Plot: Depth of Penetration
The perturbation plot shows the effect of all the parameters on a single plot
(Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). A perturbation plot to compare the
effect of all the process parameters at the center point on bead width is presented in
Fig. 13.
It has been noted that DOP peak current (A) increases and then DOP decreases.
It is also evident from the plot that the DOP decreases with the increase in base
current (B) because no melting is done during this stage. It can be noticed that, from
this plot, DOP increases as pulse frequency (C) increases. It is also noticed from the
plot that DOP increases as a pulse-on time increases (D) and then decreases.
Table 11 CCD predicted value: DOP

Run. Std A B C D A B C D Predicted value Residual error
9 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 150 70 75 40 0.849 0.012
17 2 1 −1 −1 −1 170 70 75 40 0.789 −0.098
12 3 −1 1 −1 −1 150 90 75 40 0.722 −0.136
28 4 1 1 −1 −1 170 90 75 40 0.812 0.134
16 5 −1 −1 1 −1 150 70 125 40 0.924 −0.168
1 6 1 −1 1 −1 170 70 125 40 0.702 −0.046
20 7 −1 1 1 −1 150 90 125 40 0.974 0.047
11 8 1 1 1 −1 170 90 125 40 0.902 −0.126
8 9 −1 −1 −1 1 150 70 75 50 0.832 −0.151
24 10 1 −1 −1 1 170 70 75 50 0.915 0.146
5 11 −1 1 −1 1 150 90 75 50 0.522 0.239
18 12 1 1 −1 1 170 90 75 50 0.755 −0.109
14 13 −1 −1 1 1 150 70 125 50 1.037 0.059
6 14 1 −1 1 1 170 70 125 50 0.957 −0.141
27 15 −1 1 1 1 150 90 125 50 0.905 −0.179
23 16 1 1 1 1 170 90 125 50 0.975 0.181
3 17 −α 0 0 0 140 80 100 45 0.794 0.097
15 18 α 0 0 0 180 80 100 45 0.804 −0.013
7 19 0 −α 0 0 160 60 100 45 0.999 0.152
26 20 0 α 0 0 160 100 100 45 0.889 −0.068
19 21 0 0 −α 0 160 80 50 45 0.741 −0.060
4 22 0 0 α 0 160 80 150 45 1.036 0.145
29 23 0 0 0 −α 160 80 100 35 0.733 0.148
22 24 0 0 0 α 160 80 100 55 0.790 −0.064
10 25 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.129 0.193
2 26 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.129 −0.193
13 27 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.129 −0.358
25 28 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.129 −0.043
21 29 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.129 0.068
30 30 0 0 0 0 160 80 100 45 1.129 0.333
Response Surface Plot: Depth of Penetration
The 3D surface plot and 2D contour effect is developed by Design-Expert 18.0

statistical software which represents the interaction effect between input process
parameters and DOP (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019) as shown in Figs.
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. The coefficient of the linear interactive effect of peak
current and base current is positive as given in Table 10, and DOP is increased as
the value of an above parameter is increased as shown in Fig. 14a of 3D surface
plot and Fig. 14b of contour plot (Ezekannagha et al. 2017). DOP is increasing with
696 A. Ahmad
Normal Plot of Residuals
99
95
90
Normal % Probability
80
70
50
30
20
10
5
-2.00 -1.00 0.00 1.00 2.00
Externally Studentized Residuals
Fig. 11 Normal probability plot of residual DOP
simultaneously increasing peak current and base current to about 180 and 100 A,
respectively, beyond which the value of DOP declined.
The coefficient of the linear interactive effect of peak current and pulse-on time is
positive as given in Table 8, and DOP is increased as the value of an above parameter
is increased as shown in Fig. 16e of three-dimensional surface plot and Fig. 16f of
contour plot (Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). DOP is increasing with
simultaneously increasing peak current and pulse-on time to about 180 A and 50%,
respectively, beyond which the value of DOP declined.
The coefficient of the linear interactive effect of base current and pulse frequency
is positive as given in Table 8, and DOP is increased as the value of an above
parameter is increased as shown in Fig. 17g of 3D surface plot and Fig. 17h of
simultaneously increasing base current and pulse frequency to about 100 A and
125 Hz, respectively, beyond which the value of DOP declined.
The coefficient of linear interactive effects of base current and pulse-on time is
negative as given in Table 8, i.e., BW is increased as the value of an above parameter
is increased as shown in Fig. 18i of 3D surface plots and Fig. 18j of contour plot
Perturbation
1.6
1.4
depth of penetration (mm)
1.2
C
B
AD D BA
1 C
0.8
0.6
0.4
-1.000 -0.500 0.000 0.500 1.000
Deviation from Reference Point (Coded Units)
Fig. 12 Perturbation plot of DOP
Fig. 13 Surface plot (a), contour plot (b) of the interaction effect AB on DOP
(Ezekannagha et al. 2017; Moi et al. 2019). The DOP declined beyond the base
current of 100 A and pulse-on time 50%, respectively.
698 A. Ahmad
Fig. 14 Surface plot (c), contour plot (d) of the interaction effect AC on DOP
Fig. 15 Surface plot (e), contour plot (f) of the interaction effect AD on DOP
The coefficient of the linear interactive effect of pulse frequency and pulse-on
time is positive as given in Table 8, and DOP is increased as the value of an above
parameter is increased as shown in Fig. 19k of 3D surface plot and Fig. 19l of
simultaneously increasing pulse frequency and pulse-on time to about 125 Hz and
50%, respectively, beyond which the value of DOP declined.
Fig. 16 Surface plot (g), contour plot (h) of the interaction effect AD on DOP
Fig. 17 Surface plot (i), contour plot (j) of the interaction effect BD on DOP
Microstructure Analysis
AISI 316 austenite stainless steel undergoes microstructural change during welding
or when they are exposed to high temperatures. In this study, the subject of the
investigation was the effect of post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) on mechani-
cal properties of AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel weld metal. Steel plates of
75 × 100 × 4 mm were welded by pulse TIG welding. The tensile strength increased
and impact energy values decreased with the increasing PWHT temperature. The
weld metal microstructure was examined before and after through an optical
microscope and a scanning electron microscope. It demonstrated the presence of
700 A. Ahmad
Fig. 18 Surface plot (k), contour plot (l) of the interaction effect CD on DOP
790.00
Tensile Strenght MPa
780.00
700, 782.28 800, 784.34
770.00
760.00 600, 766.11
750.00
900, 754.13
740.00
730.00
600 700 800 900
Annealing Temperature °C
Fig. 19 Effect of annealing temperature on tensile strength
austenite, ferrite, and micro-slag inclusions before PWHT and that of the sigma
phase after PWHT (Mudali and Dayal 2000). Microstructural changes caused
by welding and PWHT are responsible for changes in the mechanical properties
of welded joints (Sireesha et al. 2003). The information on basic cooling rates
is particularly significant if unwanted stage changes are to be dodged. Three
intermetallic stages most oftentimes experienced in AISI 316 austenite stainless
steel are sigma phase, chi phase, and laves phase. At higher temperatures, ferrite
may change to a hard and brittle sigma phase and reduce impact energy, ductility,
and corrosion resistance. During the use of AISI 316 austenite stainless steel, it is
subjected to fracture. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a microstructural analysis
of the welded joint, the significance of microstructural investigation of weld and
base metals after welding, and PWHT needs to be accentuated. This work is focused
on the effect of annealing temperature on the mechanical and microstructural
properties. The main objective of the work were to establish mechanisms of
occurrence of intermetallic sigma phase and determine how mechanical properties
and impact energy of austenitic stainless steel AISI 316 weld metal were affected
by precipitation of sigma phase. The delta ferrite content of base and weld metals
was measured using Feritscope. It has determined that ferrite is magnetic, while
austenite is not.
Mechanical Property Before PWHT
Mechanical properties of the base and weld metals before PWHT tested at room
temperature are given in Table 12. For base metal and welded joint, five numbers of
experiments have been performed to determine tensile strength (MPa), % reduction
in area, and impact energy (J) of base metal, i.e., austenitic stainless steel AISI 316.
From Table 12, it is found that the tensile strength of the welded joint is higher than
base metal before PWHT. % reduction in area and impact energy of base metal are
higher than a welded joint. Figure 19 represents the effect of annealing on tensile
strength. Hardness test results for base metal and welded joint before PWHT are
given in Table 13. Base metal (BM) hardness was 162.8 for HV30 and 154.8 for
HV1. Welded joint hardness HV30 for BM, HAZ, and WM was found to be 162.8,
188.3, and 219.8, respectively. Welded joint hardness HV1 for BM, HAZ, and WM
was found to be 150.3, 197.2, and 234.8, respectively.
Table 12 Mechanical properties of the base and weld metals before PWHT
Base Base metal
metal joint Welded Welded
tensile reduction in Base metal joint tensile joint Welded
strength the area impact strength reduction in joint impact
Sr. no. (MPa) (%) energy (J) (MPa) the area (%) energy (J)
1 518.64 70.1 248.38 676.17 53.39 93.58
2 518.62 71.125 248.37 676.16 54.8 96.57
3 518.61 69.1 248.36 676.15 53.8 96.56
4 518.64 71.1 248.39 676.14 55.82 96.55
5 518.63 70.1 248.4 676.12 56.21 96.56
Average 518.628 70.305 248.38 676.148 54.804 95.964
Table 13 Hardness test results for the base metal and welded joint before PWHT
Hardness Hardness
HV 30 HV 1
BM HAZ WM BM HAZ WM
Base metal 162.8 154.8
Welded joint 162.8 188.3 219.8 150.3 197.2 234.8
702 A. Ahmad
Mechanical Property After PWHT
The tensile strength of the welded joint after PWHT at different temperatures is
given in Table 14. There is a remarkable increase in tensile strength as annealing
temperature is increasing; this is because of precipitation of sigma phase. At anneal-
ing temperature of 800 ◦ C, average tensile strength was found to be 784.34 MPa as
shown in Table 14. Figure 20 represents the effect of annealing on tensile strength.
% reduction in the area of the welded joint after PWHT at different temperatures is
given in Table 15.
There is a remarkable decrease in % reduction in the area as annealing temper-
ature is increasing; this is because of precipitation of sigma phase. At annealing
temperature of 800 ◦ C, average % reduction in the area was found to be 11.48% as
shown in Table 15. Figure 21 represents the effect of annealing on % reduction in
area.
Table 14 Tensile strength of the weld metals after PWHT at various temperatures
The
temperature Tensile Tensile Tensile Tensile Tensile
of annealing strength strength strength strength strength
(◦ C) (MPa) 1 (MPa) 2 (MPa) 3 (MPa) 4 (MPa) 5 Average
600 766.148 766.15 765.98 766.13 766.12 766.11
700 782.24 782.261 782.282 782.303 782.324 782.28
800 784.32 784.33 784.34 784.35 784.36 784.34
900 754.13 754.131 754.132 754.133 754.134 754.13
50
45
% reduction in area
40 600, 43.18
35
700, 36.7
30
25
20
15
10 900, 13.64
5 800, 11.48
0
600 700 800 900
Annealing Temperature °C
Fig. 20 Effect of annealing temperature on % reduction in area

Table 15 % Reduction in the area of the weld metals after PWHT at various temperatures
The temperature Reduction Reduction Reduction Reduction Reduction
of annealing in the area in the area in the area in the area in the area
(◦ C) (%) 1 (%) 2 (%) 3 (%) 3 (%) 4 Average
600 43.1 43.1 43.2 43.2 43.3 43.18
700 36.7 36.6 36.8 36.7 36.7 36.7
800 11.4 11.5 11.4 11.6 11.5 11.48
900 13.7 13.6 13.8 13.6 13.5 13.64
Fig. 21 (a) Shows an optical micrograph of welded metal before PWHT at 20 μm. The weld
metal microstructure before PWHT consists of austenite and ferrite with micro-slag inclusion. (b)
Optical micrograph weld metal after PWHT at 800 ◦ C
704 A. Ahmad
Optical Micrograph of Base Metal and Weld Metal Before PWHT
The microstructure that advances in a weldment is heterogeneously inferable

from the temperature slope related to the welding procedure and the compound
inclination, which is generated during that procedure. The resulting cooling rates
will diminish with the increasing distance from the fusion boundary, prompting the
development of different non-balanced microstructures. Ideally, austenitic hardened
steels will show a single stage that is kept up over a wide temperature go. In any
case, a completely austenitic microstructure is more delicate than the one containing
a limited quantity of ferrite. Figure 21 shows an optical micrograph of AISI 316
austenite stainless steel base metal. The small amount of delta ferrite has grain size
7.64 and average grain size 657 μm2 with 1454 grain/unit. In this work, the base
metal microstructure differed from the microstructure of the weld metal.
Optical Micrograph Weld Metal After PWHT at 800 ◦ C
The weld metal microstructure after PWHT consisted of austenite grains with
sigma phase particles is shown in Fig. 21b at 20 μm. Sigma phase particles were
observed at ferrite and austenite grain boundaries. The sigma phase morphology
was usually equiaxed. The presence of sigma precipitates in microstructure can lead
to degradation of corrosion resistance, localized stresses at the interfaces between
sigma particles and the matrix, altered crack propagation behavior, and reduced
fracture toughness.
Conclusion
Peak current and pulse frequency are the most significant process parameters that
affect the BW as indicated by their highest F-values given in the ANOVA (Table 6).
The optimum conditions are the peak current 170 A, base current 90 A, pulse
frequency 125 Hz, pulse-on time 50%, and optimum bead width (BW) at this
optimum condition that was predicted to be 3.18 mm. To validate the predicted
obtained from the regression model. Therefore, the regression model developed is
satisfied.
Table 16 Confirmatory test: bead width

Level (170 A, 90 A, 125 Hz, 50%) (170 A, 90 A, 125 Hz, 50%)
Bead width mm 3.18 mm 3.23 mm
Table 17 Confirmatory test: DOP

Level (160 A, 80 A, 100 Hz, 45%) (160 A, 80 A, 100 Hz, 45%)
DOP mm 1.086 1.129

% Error = 3.23−3.18
3.18 ∗ 100 = 1.57%
Peak current and pulse frequency are the most significant process parameters
that affect the DOP as indicated by their highest F-values given in the ANOVA
(Table 10). The optimum conditions are the peak current 160 A, base current 80 A,
pulse frequency 100 Hz, pulse-on time 45%, and optimum depth of penetration at
this optimum condition that was predicted to be 1.129 mm. To validate the predicted
obtained from the regression model. Therefore, the regression model developed is
satisfied.
% Error = 1.129−1.086
1.086 ∗ 100 = 3.9%
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Role of IoT in Universal Design
26
Ravindra Singh, Sumedha Seniaray, and Partha Pratim Das
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
Universal Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Objective of Universal Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
Definition of Universal Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
Universal Design Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716
Universal Design as a Problem-Solving Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716
Internet of Things [IoT] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
IoT Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719
Characteristics of IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719
Application of IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720
IoT in Today’s World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
Relationship Between U.D. and IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727
Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728
Abstract
As per the United Nations (UN), more than 500 million people suffer from one or
the other kind of disability worldwide (to name a few, mental, physical, sensory
deficiency, etc.). The disability may have a negative impact on individuals’ work
environments and their general inclusion in human resources. To enhance the
quality of life of such persons and solve their problems, it would be great if
universal design (U.D.), along with the Internet of Things (IoT), becomes an
integrated part of the current design practices. Products are available in the
R. Singh () · S. Seniaray · P. P. Das

Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
e-mail: ravindra@dtu.ac.in; sumedhaseniaray@dtu.ac.in; parthapratimdas@dtu.ac.in
710 R. Singh et al.
market, especially for elderly or differently abled people, to make their lives
easier. However, a specifically designed product for differently abled people
(DAP) and specially abled people (SAP) is perceived by many users as a product
meant only for the disabled or elderly; such a product is not considered a
mainstream product. To enhance the ecosystem’s universality, IoT acts as a
pivot in bridging the gap between real and virtual worlds. The use of IoT and
sustainable development would possibly reduce the prejudices associated with
products, services, and the environment. Integration of IoT into the initial design
phase would help build a universal ecosystem accessible to all sets of people in
terms of basic needs.
Keywords
IoT · Universal design · Quality of life · Inclusive design · Design approach
Introduction
According to the United Nations (UN), more than 500 million people suffer from
one or the other kind of disability around the globe (to name a few, mental,
physical, sensory deficiency, etc.). The disability may have a negative impact on
the work environment of individuals as well as on their general involvement in the
workforce. To enhance the quality of life of such persons and solve their problems,
it would be nice if universal design (U.D.) becomes an integrated part of the
current design practices. It is advisable that the design of any product, environment,
and service is usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the
need for adaptation or specialized design (Balaram 2011). Ron Mace coined the
term “Universal Design.” He explained how the universal design process could be
incorporated into the product design process to make universal design accessible to
people with or without disabilities (Ostroff 2011). A universally designed product
can be described as a product or environment used by a majority of the population,
say, for example, differently abled people, specially abled people, fully abled
people, etc.
The main focus of the universal design is not to make people fit to the product,
system, and environment but to make a product or environment fit the people
(Afacan 2011). To achieve this, considering the needs of different user groups,
the product efficiency should be increased, and essential cautions must be taken to
make the product, system, and environment usable and reliable for all users (Afacan
2011). This philosophy represents the condition that the products, services, and
environment should reach all groups of users and that various user groups should
use the products, services, and environment easily and conveniently. Fulfilling this
condition, i.e., enhancing the life and people’s welfare to the highest level, is the
task of the designers and manufacturers (Türk 2014). A universal design may bind
all user needs and help the designers develop products for all users. Von Hippel
26 Role of IoT in Universal Design 711
(Hipple 1986) suggested that to develop a universal product, the designer should
consider the lead user back in the mind while designing the product. Existing
studies are not sufficient to provide much information about the critical elements of
universal design and its principles. However, some studies had shown the potential
of universal design toward its functionality, usability, and performance. Some
researchers found that universal design principles, mainly based on usability to
evaluate the existing products and environment, also lead the design process (Plos
et al. 2012). Saito states that the universal design principles focus on performance to
enhance the applicability to the majority of people (Saito 2006). In universal design,
the primary focus has mainly been on the function of the product. Universal product
design seems more complicated to convince all stakeholders because many think
that the universal product would not be successful. In fact, some users found the
appearance of a universal product to be disgraceful or awkward to use (Aslaksen
et al. 1997).
A key challenge for any designer is incorporating all user sets with and without
disability into the predesign phase. The universal design concept is to design a
product, service, or environment accessible to all sets of users regardless of abilities,
age, sex, etc. Despite advancements in this field, there are gaps in the design process,
which can cater to a broad spectrum of user sets. Suppose we look at today’s design
process, which is very customized and focused on specific user segments that fail
to cater to all sets of users, including DAP, SAP, and fully abled people (FAP). To
improve the quality of life of diverse user sets and solve their daily routine problems,
it would be a great assistance if universal design (U.D.), along with the Internet of
Things (IoT), becomes an integrated part of the current design practices. Today, in
many developed and developing nations, there are indications that U.D. and IoT are
going to be an essential part of humans, as shown in Fig. 1. This chapter discusses
the new ecosystem of universal design and its applications.
Universal Design
This section presents the background of universal design and coverage of different
methods along with the work done to develop universal design and study of the
current scenario of universal design. The concept of universal design emerged
during the disability rights movement in the 1960s, intending to include differently
abled people (DAP) into society’s mainstream by providing equal opportunity
and abolishing discrimination based on disability. US architect Ronald L Mace
coined the term universal design in the 1980s. Universal design has slowly gained
acceptance in its 30 years’ history, but it has seen an uneven adoption. The universal
design remains a strategy that has been implemented by different sectors of personal
and public domains for context-specific framed purposes. The overall universal
design journey, mainly in the USA, the UK, Japan, and India, is shown in Fig. 2
and Table 1 (Balaram 2011; Ostroff 2011; Afacan 2011).
712 R. Singh et al.
Smart Smart Intelligent Smart

Building Home/Office Transport wearables
Fig. 1 Applications of IoT
Fig. 2 Universal design timeline

Table 1 Universal design timeline (Timetoast 2022; Singh and Tandon 2016)
Date Event Description
Oct 1961 Barrier Free In 1960, specifications for barrier-free design were
Design published. It was a compendium of over 11 years of
disability ergonomic research. In 1961, the specifications
became the first Barrier Free Design Standard called the
American National Standard, A1171.1. It was the first
standard to present the criteria for designing facilities and
programs for the use of disabled individuals
Aug 1968 Disability Rights The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s inspired the
Movement Disability Rights Movement that greatly influenced the
legislation of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. These new laws
prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities
and provided access to education, public places,
telecommunications, and transportation
Sept 1968 Architectural Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 mandated the removal of
Barriers Act of obstacles to the employment of people with disabilities in
1968 the physical design of buildings and facilities. The Act
required all buildings designed, constructed, altered, or
leased with Federal funds to be made accessible
The 1970s By the 1970s, parts of Europe and the USA were beginning
to move beyond the emphasis on special solutions tailored
to individuals and toward the idea of normalization and
integration
Sept 1973 The US The US Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination
Rehabilitation Act on the basis of disability in programs conducted by Federal
of 1973 agencies, in programs receiving Federal financial
assistance, in Federal employment, and in the employment
practices of Federal contractors. The standards for
determining employment discrimination under the
Rehabilitation Act are the same as those used in Title I of
the Americans with Disabilities Act
Oct 1984 CAST: Center for CAST is a nonprofit research and development organization
Applied Special that works to expand learning opportunities for all
Technology individuals, especially those with disabilities, through
Universal Design for Learning. CAST is also known for
articulating the principles of Universal Design for
Learning, an educational framework to guide the design
and implementation of a curriculum that meet the needs of
all learners, including those with disabilities
May 1988 Technology- Congress passed this legislation to increase access to,
Related availability of, and funding for assistive technology through
Assistance for state efforts and national initiatives. The 1998 law
Individuals with reaffirmed that technology is a valuable tool that can be
Disabilities Act of used to improve the lives of Americans with disabilities
1988
(continued)
714 R. Singh et al.
Table 1 (continued)
Feb 1990 Americans with This guarantees equality and opportunity for persons with
Disabilities Act disabilities in the areas of employment, state, and local
government services, and public transportation and public
accommodations. The Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (ADA) reinforces and extends the requirements of
Sect. 504 to public programs and services, regardless of
whether or not they receive Federal funds
Oct 1990 Individuals with The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is
Disabilities a US Federal law that governs how states and public
Education Act agencies provide early intervention, special education, and
related services to children with disabilities. It addresses
the educational needs of children with disabilities from
birth to age 18 or 21 in cases that involve 14 specified
categories of disability
1991 Design Age In 1991, the design implications of the aging population
were launched at the Royal College of Arts (RCA) in
London (UK) under Design Ages
May 1992 1992 Increases access to assistive technology require that Federal
Reauthorization agencies’ electronic and information technology is
of the accessible to people with disabilities
Rehabilitation Act
Sect. 508
1997 The thrust toward universal design in Japan has been fueled
by economics and as well as social interest
Jan 1999 Helen Hamlyn HHC, a permanently endowed research center at Royal
Centre (HHC) College of Arts, London, launched in 1991. HHC has built
upon a core theme of designing of an aging population
Jan 2001 No Child Left The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a US Act of
Behind Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public
2001 (NCLB) schools. It supports standards-based education reform,
which is based on the belief that setting high standards and
establishing measurable goals can improve individual
outcomes in education
Nov 2002 International In Japan, a new voluntary organization was formed to make
Association for a comfortable living environment
Universal Design
(IAUD)
Nov 2004 Reauthorization The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is
of the IDEA a US Federal law that governs how states and public
(Individual with agencies provide early intervention, special education, and
Disabilities related services to children with disabilities. IDEA has been
Education Act) reauthorized and amended a number of times, most recently
in December 2004, which contained several significant
amendments
Oct 2009 National Centre Founded in 2009, the National Center on UDL supports the
on UDL effective and wide-scale implementation of UDL by
(Universal Design connecting stakeholders in the field and providing
for Learning) resources and information
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
Jun 2011 Universal Design Universal Design India Principles are developed at the
India Principles National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India, in 2011 to
(UDIP) (Abir match with seven U.D. principles and contextualize them to
Mullick, Anjlee address the local/regional requirements
Agarwal, Balaram
S., Debkumar
Chakrabarti,
Gaurav Raheja,
Haimanti
Banerjee, Rachna
Khare, 2011)
Objective of Universal Design
The prime aim of universal design is to increase the probability of improving

the quality of life for a diverse population (Preiser 2011). The versatile design
delivers products, services, and an environment that reduces or eliminates the need
for specialized, expensive, and very complex assistive products (Connell et al.
1997). It also reduces the prejudicial effect by providing the same channel to
the fully abled people. Furthermore, it also provides assistance to people with
disabilities and society as a whole (Connell et al. 1997). The concept of universal
design lies in developing mainstream products and services for people with and
without disabilities (Connell et al. 1997; Levine 2003), which is impossible with
conventional approaches. To achieve the same integration of various domains like
innovative technologies (IoT), sustainable design, frugal innovation, etc. can make
the universal design more diverse and versatile.
Definition of Universal Design
Universal design has different expressions. Some consider introducing a unique

feature for the particular user in the product design domain. The universal design
differs from assistive technology as in universal design; the objective is not to design
specialized devices or products for persons with special needs, which is the assistive
technology’s aim. The magnificent outline of universal design was introduced in
Universal Design Handbook (Türk 2014) and Universal Design New York (Levine
2003). A standard definition of universal design can be found in the Universal
Design Handbook, which states universal design as, “Designing of a mainstream
product, environment, and services that are usable by people with a diverse range
of abilities within the roughest condition without the need for special adaptation
design” (Connell et al. 1997; Heylighen and Bianchin 2013). Everybody benefits
from universal designs and not just the people with a permanent or temporary
716 R. Singh et al.
Fig. 3 Example of universal design
disability or special needs. Ramps and curb cuts are some of the prime examples
of universal designs (Fig. 3).
For the same concept in Europe, the term Design for All (DfA) has been
used, which states, “Design for All is design for human diversity, social inclusion,
and equality” (Edward and Jordana 2012). Another term, “Inclusive Design,” is
popularly used in the UK, which includes “The design of mainstream products and
services that are accessible to, and usable by, as many people as reasonably possible
without the need for special adaptation or specialized design” (Edward and Jordana
2012).
Universal Design Principles
A team of researchers and architects gathered at North Carolina State University

and formulated seven principles of universal design as shown in Table 2 (Connell
et al. 1997), which helps to include diverse populations into design consideration
during the initial design process (Fig. 4).
Universal Design as a Problem-Solving Approach
The U.D. approach provides a detailed plan on designing a service, product, and
environment to readily use them by all sets of individuals regardless of their abilities.
The core objective is to deliver the same stage for all sets of users with the
concept of universal design. Universal design is a design philosophy that intends to
embrace individuals that have been neglected in the process of product development.
Disability can have a negative impact on the work environment of individuals
Table 2 Universal design principles

S.
No. Principle Description Guideline
1. Equitable The design of a 1a. Provide the same means of use for all users
Use product should be 1b. Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any user
useful and 1c. Make provisions for privacy, security, and
marketable to people safety equally available to all users
with diverse abilities 1d. Make the design appealing to all users
2. Flexibility in The design should 2a. Provide choice in the method of use
Use accommodate a 2b. Accommodate right- or left-handed access
wide range of and use
individual 2c. Facilitate the users’ accuracy and precision
preferences and 2d. Provide adaptability to the userspace
abilities
3. Simple and The use of design 3a. Eliminate unnecessary complexity
Intuitive Use should be easy to 3b. Be consistent with the user expectations and
understand, intuition
regardless of the 3c. Accommodate a wide range of literacy and
user’s experience, language skills
knowledge, 3d. Arrange information consistent with its
language, skills, or importance
current 3e. Provide effective prompting and feedback
concentration level during and after task completion
4. Perceptible The design should 4a. Use different modes (pictorial and verbal
Information communicate the tactile) for redundant presentation of essential
necessary information
information 4b. Maximize “legibility” of essential information
effectively to the 4c. Differentiate elements in way that can be
user, regardless of described
ambient conditions 4d. Provide compatibility with the variety of
or the user’s sensory technique or devices used by people with sensory
abilities limitation
5. Tolerance The design should 5a. Arrange elements to minimize hazards and
for Error minimize the errors: most used elements, most accessible;
hazards and the hazardous elements eliminated, isolated, or
adverse shielded.
consequences of the 5b. Provide warnings of hazards and errors
accidental or 5c. Provide fail safe features
unintended actions 5d. Discourage unconscious action in tasks that
require vigilance
6. Low The design should 6a. Allow user to maintain a neutral body position
Physical be used efficiently, 6b. Use reasonable operating forces
Effort comfortably, and 6c. Minimize repetitive actions
with minimum 6d. Minimize sustained physical effort
fatigue
7. Size and Appropriate size and 7a. Provide a clear line of sight to important
Space for space should be elements for any seated or standing user
Approach provided for 7b. Make reach to all components comfortable
and Use approach, reach, for any seated or standing user
manipulation, and 7c. Accommodate variations in hand and grip size
use, regardless of 7d. Provide adequate space for the use of
the user’s body size, assistive devices or personal assistance
posture, or mobility
718 R. Singh et al.
Fig. 4 Universal design principles
as well as on their general inclusion in the workforce (McAdams and Kostovich

2011). To tackle problems of all sets of users and improve the quality of life, it
would be advisable and wise if the universal design (U.D.) is incorporated in the
current design practices. The designer has to make sure that the users have an equal
opportunity to be a part of all the social activities and society by designing a product
inclusive of several inabilities. Designers and manufacturers are developing the
products as per the users’ needs and abilities. However, as per the current practice,
most manufacturers and designers are fixated on confined individual groups during
the product development process. Such design practice does not cater to all user
groups nor does it address the diversities among them and, as a result, fails to present
the universality of the product(s), thus sternly reducing its potential, which leads to
a loss not only in its acceptance but also its marketable value.
Internet of Things [IoT]
We have all heard of the Internet of Things, or IoT. But what exactly is IoT? IoT
is the new evolution engine of the information and communications technology
industry that has ignited global enthusiasm. Imagine everything in our physical
world is flawlessly connected, securely connected, everything connected. IoT helps
bring the data processing and analytics along with the power of the Internet to the
real world of physical objects. It is not separate from the Internet but is a part of it
(Lin et al. 2017). It comprehends many aspects of our lives – from connected houses
and cities to connected vehicles and roads to devices that monitor an individual’s
behavior. Succinctly, the IoT is the concept of connecting any device (having an
on/off switch) to the Internet and other connected devices. The Internet of Things
is a massive network of connected people and things, all of which collect and share
information in the way they are used, considering the environment around them.
As more and more services grow extensively, IoT evolves from merely a promising
technology to an issue appropriate to everyday life. So-Eun Lee et al. (Lee et al.
2017) have described the IoT differently based on the variety of fields where IoT is
being used. Accordingly, IoT is defined as 1) intelligent objects, 2) an extension of
the Internet, 3) global network infrastructure, and 4) interaction of information.
IoT is referred to as an intelligent object or intelligent objects. These objects
comprise communication technologies and integrated within the communication
network to “intelligently” connect us, the users to the devices to make our task
easier and feasible ultimately. IoT as a smart object helps us process and store
data and interact with other intelligent devices, systems, or humans. Some of the
functionalities of IoT as an intellectual object include it provides work support, that
is, it helps us make our work or task more viable and be done intelligently. It also
helps us manage, control, and plan with the help of automated digital data, and
finally, it helps us broaden our vision by reducing the gap between the real world
and the digital world.
IoT is an extension of the Internet. It provides interoperability among the various
devices connected and communicating; thus, it creates a network or community
of interacting devices connected to the Internet. IoT makes it possible for us
to share information by linking things, people, and intelligent objects with this
interoperability. Sensors can be used for the objects to interconnect or interact with
each other.
IoT Timeline
From smart home devices to Fitbit watches, IoT devices continue to torrent the
consumer market. Before we move to the various aspects of the Internet of Things,
we can go through the time series of the generation of IoT as shown in Table 3
(Madakam et al. 2015).
Characteristics of IoT
Table 4 represents the seven vital characteristics of IoT, namely connectivity, things
(sensors or devices used), data, communication, intelligence, action, and ecosystem.
720 R. Singh et al.
Table 3 Internet of Things timeline

Year Activities
1990 First IoT device
John Romkey introduces a toaster, which is considered the first IoT device, was
connected to the Internet with the help of a computer via TCP/IP protocol
1994 Wearable Internet-connected camera
Steve Mann created a wearable Internet-connected camera, one of the first cameras on
the World Wide Web
1999 Internet of Things
Kevin Ashton coined the term “Internet of Things” during a presentation of RFID
(Radio Frequency Identification). From this point on, industry leaders began to
experiment more with connecting devices to one another
2000 First Internet-enabled refrigerator
LG announces one of the first smart household objects, that is, Internet-enabled
refrigerator.
2003: “Internet of Things” – more widely used
Significant companies started replaced M2M (machine to machine) and started using
IoT extensively
2008 IPSO Alliance
A nonprofit organization launched the IPSO Alliance to endorse the use of IP in
networks of “Smart Objects” and to enable the Internet of Things
2010 IoT gains popularity
IoT got recognized by tech giants. China stated IoT as a critical industry to tackle
financial issues
2011 Gartner adds IoT to the Hype Cycle (Blosch and Fenn 2018), which helps track the
lifecycle of technologies
2013 IoT devices start using sensors
Google created advanced smart glasses called Google Glass
2014 First smart city
Dublin became the first IoT city that utilizes IoT devices for improving city
functionalities, like smart bins, a carbon-neutral stadium, and sensors for sound
monitoring
2016 First IoT malware
2017 IoT devices are more widely used
In 2017, 8.4 billion IoT-based devices were recorded, which was a hike of about 31%
2018 Healthcare industries
IoT enters healthcare and health insurance companies
Application of IoT
IoT applications (Singh and Tandon 2016) promise to bring together the devices
or users closer to cooperate and connect and share the digital information more
effectively. There are numerous IoT applications as it is adaptable to virtually any
technology proficient in providing relevant information. Some of the applications of
IoT include (Preiser 2011):
Table 4 IoT characteristics

S. No. Characteristics Definition
1 Connectivity A connection is required when linking the IoT devices and
the hardware and the sensors and other required electronics
2 Things Things are the devices or anything that can be connected as
(Sensors/Devices) these things contain sensors and sensing materials that can
attach or connect with any other device
3 Data Data or information that we accumulate is the first step
toward intelligence action in the Internet of Things world
4 Communication Things or devices get connected so that they communicate
data that can further be used for analysis. This sort of
communication can happen either for longer distances or
shorter distances – for instance, Wi-Fi or a network
technology like LoRa (Long Range)
5 Intelligence In IoT, intelligence is the capability of the IoT devices to
sense and make a connection, and the intelligence is
gathered from big data analytics or artificial intelligence
6 Action Action is the consequence of intelligence. Actions were
performed after gathering and analyzing all the information
from the connected devices
7 Ecosystem The ecosystem is the environment conjoining various
aspects like goals, communities, technologies, etc., based on
which the Internet of Things comes into the picture
1. Wearables
2. Smart cities
3. Healthcare
4. Smart home appliances
5. Industrial automation
Wearables
Wearables play an integral role for IoT applications and probably is the initial
industry in which the IoT had treaded in and employed IoT as its service (Fig. 5).
Wearables are small electronic and energy-efficient devices equipped with sensors
to collect and share information. Devices like smartwatches, virtual reality gears,
and fitness bands to track our heart rate are a few of the many wearables being
used extensively nowadays (John Dian et al. 2020). classified the wearables into
four major categories: (i) health, (ii) sports, (iii) tracking, and (iv) safety. For health
treatments, IoT rehabilitation devices support patients with disabilities in order
to improve and maintain their mental and physical abilities. Health monitoring
wearables include biopotential sensors to measure the ECG, EEG, and EMG;
biochemical sensors; and motion sensors like a gyroscope. Pulse oximeter sensors
help measure the blood oxygen level using PPG (photoplethysmography) signals.
Activity recognition and sports activities can also be measured with the help of
IoT wearable devices, like Fitbit, that can track the type of physical activity that
a person is performing, such as running or walking, exercising, and monitoring
722 R. Singh et al.
Fig. 5 IoT and wearables
the performance on a treadmill. Such wearables also help track sleep activity and
daily physical activities like going up and down the stairs. One or more sensors are
implemented within these tracking IoT devices to detect human physical activities.
The user or the wearer of these devices gets a summary of the activities they
were involved in to understand their performance and quality of the progress. IoT
wearables nowadays are vital when physical tracking of the person is required by
determining the wearer’s location from time to time. This is important in various
applications like locating a senior citizen in a care home. Sensors in these devices
locate the user with the help of wireless signals, which tell us about the person’s
positioning. Safety is another category where wearables are most useful as it helps
provide a safe environment to the user.
Smart Cities
IoT is now widely used in many cities for traffic management and monitoring. We as
users can use our mobile phones as sensors as they can collect and share information
from our cars, which in turn can give you statistics and conditions related to the
traffic on the route and provides us with an estimated time to reach the destination;
this can be achieved with the help of applications likes Google Maps (Fig. 6). Smart
parking is another IoT application in cities that can help the driver locate a parking
spot. This is done with the help of sensors embedded in the parking spots, which
detects if a vehicle is parked in that particular spot or not. If a parking spot is
Fig. 6 Smart cities
available, the driver may receive a message stating the nearest free parking slot.
In 2016, the Polish city of Lublin was awarded the Smart City of the Year for
their related public transport project: an innovative passenger information system
that installed GSM and GPRS devices on the city’s busses that transmitted real-
time data, which was then displayed at bus stops and to online applications. Video
surveillance is the most commonly used intelligent device which is widely used by
police for traffic controlling or identifying a theft or any criminal activities.
Healthcare
The use of wearables and sensors can be interconnected to patients, which helps
allow doctors and healthcare professionals to monitor the patient’s health even
outside the health centers or hospitals. Another use of IoT in healthcare by smartly
keeping track of the distribution of beds. IoT devices can be used by patients,
physicians, and also by hospitals. Fitness bands are the most common wearable
IoT device used by patients to tracks certain health information like blood pressure,
oxygen level, heart rate, etc. IoT enables healthcare professionals to be more vigilant
and connect with the patient more proactively. This could help the physicians
identify suitable treatment for the patient. Depression and mood-monitoring is
another application of IoT that can help track the patient’s mental state so that the
patient and the doctor are more aware of the mental health difficulties that the patient
is going through.
Smart Home Appliances

When we talk about home appliances, IoT-based devices that we can probably first
think about is Alexa by Amazon or HomePod and AI companion Siri by Apple Inc.
724 R. Singh et al.
Fig. 7 Built environment for all
These are now being used to automate our homes by merely asking the device to tell
us what time it is or the weather or play your favorite music – removing physical
barriers from the built environment for better accommodating all users, as shown
in Fig. 7. Such devices help track and monitor the processes being performed at
home. They can also be considered to be cost- and energy-saving mediums as we
can get detailed statistics about the energy consumption of each smart device, and
then accordingly we can optimize the usage. Convenience and comfort is another
aspect which makes us humans adapt IoT-based smart home appliances.
Industrial Automation
This is the field where IoT has grown its roots more deeply. For faster and
steady development of the industries, IoT applications play an essential role in the
current scenario. It provides game-changing solutions to the industry to manage,
communicate, and keep track of the data for all intents and purposes. Some of
the IoT applications in the case of industrial automation include smart tracking for
products in transit, provide on-time notification to the users in case of any deviations
in the deliveries, active monitoring throughout the supply chain management,
packaging optimization, etc.
IoT in Today’s World
Observing all of these applications, IoT gives us a sense of using smart devices
and leading a more intelligent, fast, and smart living. IoT (Parvaneh et al. 2019)
has become an integral part of our lives as it minimizes human efforts in so many
aspects of life. It also helps us make better decisions and analyses, including finding
an appropriate route to reach the destination. As all the devices are interconnected
and communicate and collect more and more information, it gives us a better means
to make better decisions. It also helps reduce the workload, which the traditional
systems and mechanisms were incapable of. Increasing the efficiency of the work
could also lead to saving of resources and money. Thus, we can rightly state that IoT
is creating a variety of changes in our lives by connecting us to millions of devices
that were previously inaccessible and isolated.
Relationship Between U.D. and IoT
As mentioned earlier, IoT bridges the gap between the real and the virtual
environment; in the same way, one can also point out the same for U.D. as
bridging the gap between the FAP and DAP (including SAP). Combining these two
perspectives can lead to some fascinating combinations. The integration of IoT and
U.D. systems opens up the possibilities for numerous kaleidoscopic dimensions.
These combinations can bridge a substantial gap that is present in today’s products,
services, and systems. The accessibility and universality required in a system of IoT
may further be validated by mapping each system with the principles of U.D.
U.D. is sometimes looked at with prejudice for the DAP; however, with the
combination of IoT, it becomes completely experiential/aspirational for the FAP
users. A question may arise about the feasibility or viability of an IOT-integrated
U.D. system from the point of view of the cost of the products or services. The
validation of consolidated systems may answer these questions as compared to the
segregated systems in use. Suppose this integration can be looked at in a pragmatic
way. In that case, it can be seen that this combination creates an ecosystem of
users where they are not only limited to the people who are using the device, but
also consists of the caregivers. These concerned guardians are taking help of these
resources for their better well-being, as shown in Fig. 8. It can be further observed
that the same ecosystem also has the users using these devices as an aspirational
product for enhancing their experiential realities.
Speaking of some combinations, let us look at the use of smart bands where
the user settings can be varied from children with locomotion issues to the elderly
with special needs. The GPS used in these bands can be used for keeping track
of the diverse user set so that any mishap can be immediately notified and prompt
help can be provided. The targeted users of such smart bands can range from kids,
elderly to the DAP. Focusing on some use case scenarios, kids wandering off while
not under supervision and patients with dementia who may lose their way to the
visually challenged trying to navigate their way around a city block are examples of
an integrated system. However, if looked at in an aspirational way, these same bands
can motivate one to explore a new route across the morning jogging trail.
The real-time synchronization of vital statics from these bands for any person
going beyond the reach of the caregivers can be instantly notified if there is a
726 R. Singh et al.
Fig. 8 Relationship between Viable Design

U.D. and IoT
Universal Internet of
Design Things
decrease in the vitals in the likes of BP, heart rate, oxygen saturation, etc. And the
same band in today’s post-COVID scenario may become a very reassuring resource
with all vital statistics to be worn at all times for the well-being and goodwill of
everyone.
DAPs who have good locomotion capabilities aspire to be fully independent in
their day-to-day activities. However, maybe because of visual/auditory challenges,
they have to take the help of others. One such case is shopping for daily needs where
small payments are needed to be made. Such users often might be cheated upon due
to their inability or limited abilities to keep note of the amount of cash transacted.
The introduction of smart bands for numerous transactions on integration with the
IoT U.D. system can become a common platform for all such users. Moreover,
keeping the post-COVID scenario in mind where people prefer digital transactions,
it becomes straightforward to integrate the payments, tickets, receipts, etc., with the
help of smart band transactions. The no-touch transactions will be able to add a layer
of aspirational assurance to the user set.
The concept of smart homes can also be looked at from a similar ecosystem.
Security is always the essential attribute of a home, which differentiates between
a house and a home. Using smart devices to operate the doors leaves users in a
tranquil environment about their houses’ security, reassuring them against all odds.
The same integrated system can be informed and connected at all times if there is an
emergency with the elderly or kids. Users with visual/auditory challenges can use
the same system to aspire for independent living.
Many a times, one gets that feeling of having left the geyser on or the gas
switched on after they have headed out for a vacation and this feeling is really
dampening to the spirit of holiday. However, most of the times, these switches are
checked and double-checked well before leaving for a long holiday. Now, if one
has to leave elderly, or a differently abled child or pets at home and head to office,
there is very little control of the situation that might occur. The smart switches can
be really reassuring to the caregivers. These switches can be a big advantage for
use by the elderly or the ones with locomotion disabilities as well. The milk need
not spill over again because the gas can be turned off from the wheelchair in the
living room or from a different city. And in case one leaves the house empty over a
weekend, the smart integrated system can give a reassurance that home is all good.
Protocols during mishaps such as fire safety, burglary, bad weather, etc. can also be
managed with the integration of smart apparel with smart homes. The users wearing
these smart apparels can be instantly notified of the upcoming dangers saving them
to respond quickly to the impending danger.
Looking at the versatility and the truly universal nature of IoT products, it may be
seen as a way of life for people without bias for ability or disability. The examples
mentioned above help create an ecosystem among the users where there is no
differentiation between a FAP, SAP, or DAP. The same product used by a DAP or
SAP to perform a day-to-day task becomes an aspirational product for the FAP. The
world is moving toward a future where aspiration has become a necessity, and in
times like these where we have to stay isolated and yet connected, IoT has become
a basic need.
Conclusion
Coming back to the challenges of a designer incorporating the different user sets for
the design and development of a product with or without universality, the case here
seems to have made these lines thinner and more accommodating. The prejudicial
lens of looking at U.D. products only for the DAP and SAP will become archaic.
IoT brings in this change by combining the worlds of reality and virtuality into
one. The scenarios reflected upon in the portions above further add to this line of
reasoning that U.D. and IOT system integration is feasible and viable for business in
the long run. The use case of IoT is further complemented by the universal user set,
which comes into the picture. It enhances and enriches the aspirational as well as
the experiential aspect of the user ecosystem. An aspect of exploration can be there
in understanding the ethical layers, where these lines can be made more transparent
for a further seamless experience. The user ecosystem amalgamates in the direction
of the universal domain, fusing the real world and the virtual one into a universally
acceptable, accommodating, and assuring system for all.
Websites
1. https:/978-3-030-84205-5/blog.iiconsortium.org/2015/07/the-7-principles-of-
the-internet-of-things-iot.html
2. https://www.washington.edu/doit/universal-design-process-principles-and-
applications
3. https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/universal-design-cast
4. http://designforall.in
5. https://www.i-scoop.eu/internet-of-things-guide/internet-of-things/
6. https://hqsoftwarelab.com/blog/the-history-of-iot-a-comprehensive-timeline-
of-major-events-infographic/
728 R. Singh et al.
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Nanobiomaterials Administration
in Modernization of Biological Science: 27
Current Status and Future Potential
Ashish Singla and Sreedevi Upadhyayula
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731
Classification of Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733
Ceramic-Based Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734
Semiconductor-Based Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 736
Silica-Based Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737
Polymeric-Based Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737
Carbon-Based Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738
Metal-Based Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
Lipid-Based Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740
Manufacturing of Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
Top-Down Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
Bottom-Up Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742
Some Other Routes for the Preparation of Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743
Nanoparticle Bioproducts Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744
Particle Size Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745
Morphological Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745
Surface Charge Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746
Separation and Purification of Nanoparticle Bio-products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746
Application of Nanobiomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747
Overcoming the Multidrug Resistance (MDR) of Cancer Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747
Nanodelivery Systems for Overcoming the Current Problems for Central
Nervous System (CNS) Disease Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751
Therapeutic Applications of Nanomaterials as a Gene Delivery Carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 752
Gold Nanoparticles (AuNP)-Based Drug Delivery and Molecular Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . 755
Administration of Advanced Nanomaterials-Based Vaccines to Address
Infectious Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758
Utilization of Nanomaterials in Biofuels and Bioenergy Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761
A. Singla · S. Upadhyayula ()

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
e-mail: sreedevi@chemical.iitd.ac.in; Sreedevi.Upadhyayula@chemical.iitd.ac.in
730 A. Singla and S. Upadhyayula
Nanomaterials Specific Applications in Food Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763

Potential Risk Associated with Use of Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766
Future Challenges and Industrial Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768
Abstract
Nanobiomaterial is a broad area, which mainly consists of two terms, nano and
biomaterial. Biomaterials can be described as natural or man-made materials
consisting of biological components that may be from interdisciplinary scien-
tific fields including material science, biofuels and bioenergy, pharmaceuticals,
biology, genetic engineering, drug delivery, chemistry, etc. However, biological
materials have wide range of applications yet the development of technology and
new discoveries in the field of science require development of novel biomaterials
and their systematic application. Here the use of term nano or more specifically
nanotechnology takes its role.
Nanotechnology is a field of research and innovation concerned with mate-
rials, devices, and particles on the atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale.
The evolution of high standard biomaterials could be advanced by utilizing the
newer generation applications of nanotechnology such as nanoparticles for drug
delivery, nanocatalysts for biofuels production, nano-assemblies, or scaffolds for
tissue and stem cell engineering. Contemporary technological expansion in the
advancement of revolutionary speculative techniques for advance microscopy
as well as for x-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman
spectroscopy, etc. has led to the investigation of substance at nano-level. Further-
more, it is strongly anticipated that healthcare, pharmaceutical, and bioenergy
sectors can be remarkably upgraded by inspecting, envisioning, recognizing,
refining biological materials, operations, and functions in the nanocsale domain.
A considerable number of these approaches utilize nanoscale materials or
nanobiomaterials for evolving distinct specifications demanded by these bio-
logical systems or processes. In this chapter, a comprehensive outlook of the
field “nanobiomaterials” and a detailed overview of the numerous applications
of nanobiomaterials are also discussed. In continuation, a specific presentation
about various nanobiomaterials, their synthesis, their potential implementation,
and finally their future prospects are also explained.
Keywords
Nanotechnology · Biomaterials · Health care · Pharmaceutical · Biofuels ·

Bioenergy
27 Nanobiomaterials Administration in Modernization of Biological. . . 731
Introduction
Nanotechnology is multifaceted field of science and is advancing swiftly all over the
globe as a robust technology. Nanobiomaterials make the foundational part of nan-
otechnology and nano-sciences employment. The administration of nanotechnology
includes a large multidisciplinary field of research and development enterprises
which has significantly expanded in the entire world in the past few years. Nanoscale
substances can be defined as a group of material, which are of sizes at least less
than around 100 nm. It commands the material at atomic scale, and therefore,
the specifications like hardness, durability, and strength of substance are majorly
influenced under the scale of nanometers (10−9 m). This considerably small size
gives a large proportion of surface to volume ratio and provides ample active sites
for different reactions to take place. These nanoparticles or nanobiomaterials have a
capability to be transformed into various shapes that have enlarged their utilization
in multiple areas (Lee et al. 2009). Furthermore, nano-size biomaterials have quicker
reaction rates with higher success ratio as compared to larger particles or molecules
(Taniguchi 1974; Lubick 2008). In addition, nanomaterials exhibit exceptional
optical, magnetic, and catalytic properties which make them desired candidates for
application in numerous interdisciplinary field of sciences such as medicine and
pharmaceuticals, bioenergy and biofuels, combating infectious diseases, in gene
therapy and as drug delivery agent, as a biopolymer, and many more (Kargozar
and Mozafari 2018; Bheemidi et al. 2011). With time, nanotechnology has made
significant advancement in the field of biological sciences and nanobiomaterials
synthesis as represented in Fig. 1.
Nanotechnology has wide applications in many other fields, majorly in the
deteriorating and corrosive environments in the form of nano-structured covering (in
coal fired boiler, hydro turbine blades, etc.), nanocomposite substances, cutting and
sharpening tools, nanofluids (to increase heat transfer rates of fluid), construction
stuff, and in automotive industries (https:/978-3-030-84205-5/en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Industrial_applications_of_nanotechnology) to supplement the efficiency of
specific apparatus, and nanotechnology is utilized in almost all the offshoots of
science and technology including but not limited to biological science, physics,
chemistry, biochemical, environmental science, materials science, textiles engineer-
ing discipline (Fakruddin et al. 2012). In addition, nanoparticles are specifically used
as nano-biocatalysts (NBCs) in the field of biotechnology and chemical engineering
such as mesoporous catalysts for enhancing selectivity to ethanol from syngas
conversion (Lopez et al. 2015) which assist in tightly connecting the advanced
nanoscience and biochemical fields with each other. Along with utilization and
applications in various areas of biological sciences, there has been significant
progress in reports and research publications in the field of nanobiomaterials
(Fig. 2).
Fig. 1 Advancement and utilization of nanotechnology in different fields of science (Bayda et al.
2020)
35 32.6
% share of publications concerning nano zinc oxide 30.8
29.3
30
26.0 27.1
25 23.4
Percentage share
21.9
20.3
20 18.7
17.9
15
10
0
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
April
Year
Fig. 2 Trend of publications in the field of nanomaterials researches (Wojnarowicz et al. 2020)
The potential to analyze and modify the distinctive properties of nonmaterial

enhances the usefulness of its all classifications. However, due to increased demand
to produce nanobiomaterials and their commercial applications, matters associated
with their toxicity are not explored deeply (Ganguly et al. 2018). Therefore,
along with classification and applications it is also required to justify the essential
understanding spaces linked to the threat evaluation of nanoparticles and nano-size
materials in the surrounding habitat.
This chapter provides a broad overview of the different classifications and various
approaches for synthesis of nanobiomaterials, along with it is principally focused
on development and application of nanobiomaterials in the biomedical science,
curing infectious diseases, cancer treatment, and neurobiology. It emphasizes the
need for a more stringent approach to better integrate chemistry, biology, and
nanotechnology for solving many aspects of environmental biotechnology and
liquid fuels production. Presenting a brief outline on nanobiomaterials having
specific application in food microbiology, medical devices, drug delivery, etc. this
chapter may be of help not only to clinicians, specialists in cardiology, and surgeons
but also to students in chemistry, medicine, and biotechnology who would like to
explore in depth and know more about interdisciplinary aspects of nanotechnology.
Classification of Nanobiomaterials
Nanomaterials can be classified into two main categories depending upon their
appearance and anatomy, such as integrated or amalgamated and dispersive materi-
als. However, among these types, integrated nanomaterials have been further bifur-
cated into different subgroups. Furthermore, one-dimensional dispersive arrange-
ments of the nanoscale are defined as nanopowders and nanoparticles. The nanopar-
ticles can be further categorized as nanotubes, nanocrystals, super-molecules,
nanoclusters, etc. (Fig. 3).
The nanomaterials are classified as “0” dimensional (0-D), “1” dimensional
(1-D), “2” dimensional (2-D), or “3” dimensional (3-D) based upon the size of
material. For example, nanoplates are the good specimen of 1-D nanoparticle while
nanoplates having two separate longer dimensions are known as nanoribbons. In
addition, nanofibers are considered as two-dimensional nanomaterials which can be
further molded in nanotubes (hollow nanofibers) and nanorods (solid nanofibers).
However, nanoparticles do not have any significant difference between its longest
and shortest axis and have all its three dimensions at the nanolevel.
Depending upon the type of substance accommodated by the nanomaterials they
are further categorized as nanocomposite, nanofoam, nanoporous, and nanocrys-
talline materials. Nanocomposites can be defined as materials containing, minimum,
one chemically or physically marked region with at least one-part nanoscale
dimensions. However, foams holding a solid or liquid matrix, packed with a
gaseous phase and at least one of the two phases is of nanoscale dimension, are
called as nanofoams (https://www.elprocus.com/nanomaterials-classifications-and-
its-properties/).
Nanopores are solid materials with small holes and dimensions on the nanolevel
while crystalline materials or grains with size less than 100 nm can be consid-
ered as nanocrystals (https://www.elprocus.com/nanomaterials-classifications-and-
its-properties/). Furthermore, based on the type of supporting material used for the
Fig. 3 Overview of various types of nanoparticles. (Note: Adapted from (Khan et al. 2019) with
copyright permission from Elsevier)
Fig. 4 Classification of nanobiomaterials based on supporting material
synthesis of nanomaterials or nanobiomaterials they are further classified as shown

in Fig. 4.
Ceramic-Based Nanobiomaterials
Ceramic nanomaterials are nonmetallic inorganic solids, prepared via sequential

heating and cooling. They are synthesized in various forms such as porous,
hollow, amorphous, polycrystalline, or dense (Sigmund et al. 2006). Hence, these
nanoparticles attract increasing recognition from experts and researchers because of

their high utilization in photocatalytic degradation of dyes, imaging, and catalytic
applications (Thomas et al. 2015).
Semiconductor-Based Nanobiomaterials
Semiconductor nanomaterials can be considered as materials having specifications

between metals and nonmetals, which has significantly enhanced its utilization
in various areas, as can be confirmed from the previous studies (Ali et al.
2017; Khan et al. 2017). These nanoparticles hold wide band gaps which make
them preferred materials in different areas where tuning their characteristics
based on bandgap regulation can be achieved for photo-optics, electronic
devices (Fig. 5), and photocatalysis (Sun et al. 2000). Additionally, a range
of semiconductor nanoparticles possess unique utilization in water splitting
because of their required bandgap and band edge adjustments (Hisatomi et al.
2014).
Fig. 5 Semiconductor-based nanoparticles (Fu et al. 2019)

Fig. 6 Organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials (Silva et al. 2019)
Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanobiomaterials
Hybrid organic–inorganic nanomaterials can be considered as robust impersonates

of natural arrangements (Fig. 6). These complex natural occurring compounds
achieve their characteristics through a multiplex, million-year natural selection
upgraded pyramidal congregation, which is highly challenging to reproduce. More-
over, a quality research has exhibited that a specific amalgamation of two prominent
components (polymethyl methacrylate as the organic component and aluminum
oxide as the inorganic component) in a hybrid construct mimics natural strength-
ening process to gain fracture toughness and high strength of ∼30 MPa·m1/2 and
∼200 megapascals (MPa) (Munch et al. 2009).
In hybrid nanomaterials, the organic part varies from uncomplicated organic
fragment to newfangled molecular construction (Ananikov et al. 2017) and organic
polymers (Gómez-Romero 2001; Gon et al. 2017). However, the inorganic segment
which are generally adjustable at the atomic level may consist of different inor-
ganic fractions, ranging from monometallic varieties to aggregates and nanoscale
inorganic particles up to enlarged stages (Gómez-Romero 2001; Schubert 2010;
Rao et al. 2008). The amalgamation of organic moieties with inorganic parts
demonstrates a convenient and flexible way for the evolution of essential novel
properties (Gómez-Romero 2001; Gon et al. 2017). Organic segments utilized as
construction material for hybrid nanomaterials are exceptionally tunable. However,
where inorganic fractions are concerned, hybrid materials open tremendous ways
Fig. 7 The preparation mechanism diagram of PTSA-SiNPs (Jiao et al. 2020)
by allowing the direct incorporation of metals in the polymer framework for the
synthesis of coordination polymers (Ananikov et al. 2012; Cariati et al. 2006).
Silica-Based Nanobiomaterials
Silica-based nanoparticles possess the wide scale of attainable sizes and can be
manufactured in the form of stable particles ranging from 5 to 2000 nm (Fig. 7).
The highly preferred technique for manufacturing silica-based nanoparticles is
the Stöber method (Gubala et al. 2020), in which particles at the nanoscale are
synthesized using a sol-gel technique. The process consists of hydrolyzing and then
condensation of silicon alkoxides, for example, tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), in
the presence of a catalyst (Gubala et al. 2020). Silica nanoparticles have extensive
applications in nanotechnology because they are convenient and economical to
synthesize. Their external features, porosity, and capability for aggregation make
them preferred materials for bio-component analysis and dissociation, providing
suitable channel for drug delivery process. Moreover, they can also be utilized as
safety and biocompatible pharmaceutical supplements.
Numerous dye-doped silica nanoparticles (DDSNs) have been synthesized by
enclosing several fluorophores into silica nanomatrixes (Gubala et al. 2020). Silica
nanoparticles have also been developed and doped with either organic dyes such as
rhodamine 6 G (R6G) and tetramethylrhodamine (TAMRA) or inorganic dyes such
as Rubpy and Osbpy.
Polymeric-Based Nanobiomaterials
These are generally organic nanoparticles referred to as polymeric nanomaterials

(PNP) in earlier literature (Mansha et al. 2017). They are chiefly modulated in the
shape of nanospheres or nano capsules. Nanospheres are mostly matrix fragments
which exist in solid form and have the capacity for absorption of other molecules
at the external border of their spherical surfaces. In the case of nanocapsules, solid
material is completely engulfed within the nanoparticle (Rao and Geckeler 2011).
Polymeric nanoparticles are robust in their action and thus have been widely studied
and used (Abd Ellah and Abouelmagd 2017; Abouelmagd et al. 2016).
Dendrimers
These nanomaterials are class of polymeric nanoparticles which are constructed
from branched components. The external surface of a dendrimer has several chain
endings, which can be customized to perform accomplished chemical functions
(Tomalia et al. 1985; Newkome et al. 1985). This characteristic also plays specific
role in catalysis, and additionally three-dimensional dendrimers possess internal
apertures inside them so that other compounds could be positioned, which could
be utilized for drug delivery.
Composites
Composites join nanoparticles with other nanoparticles or with large-scale mag-
nitude materials. Nanoparticles, including nanoscale clays, have already been
adjoined to products extending from packaging materials to auto parts, to strength
thermal, barrier, mechanical, and flame-retardant properties (McAdam et al. 2008;
Mihindukulasuriya and Lim 2014).
Carbon-Based Nanobiomaterials
These types of nanomaterials mainly consist of carbon, generally taking the shape
of a hollow spheres, tubes, or ellipsoids (Jeevanandam et al. 2018). Globular and
elongated carbon nanomaterials are termed as fullerenes, while cylindrical shaped
are pronounced as nanotubes (Fig. 8). These nanoparticles offer several potential
applications encompassing upgraded films and coatings, lighter and stronger mate-
rials, along with use in electronics (Zaytseva and Neumann 2016).
Fullerenes
They comprise of nanomaterials that are made of spherical vacant enclosures
resembling allotropic forms of carbon. Fullerenes have generated potential indus-
trial attention because of their versatility and structure, high strength, electrical
conductivity, and electron affinity (Astefanei et al. 2015). Some well-researched
fullerenes containing C70 and C60 carbon chain have diameters of 7.648 nm and
7.114 nm, respectively (Saeed 2013).
Carbon Nanotubes
They are ellipsoidal, cylindrical structures with 1–2 nm in diameter and predicted
to be metallic or semiconducting materials based on their properties and size
(Aqel et al. 2012). Structurally they show similarity with graphite sheet spinning
Fig. 8 Carbon based nanomaterials (Trong Tam 2020)
upon it. The rotating sheets can exhibit single to multiple walls and hence
termed as double-walled/multi-walled/single-walled carbon nanotubes. These are
broadly manufactured by accumulation of carbon predecessors particularly the
atomic carbons, evaporated from graphite by electric conduction or laser on the
metallic fragments. Furthermore, they have also been manufactured using a specific
chemical vapor deposition technique termed as CVD (Elliott et al. 2013). Because
of their exceptional mechanical, physical (like intact tubular form) as well as
chemical properties, they have specific applications in nanocomposites for several
industrial administrations including fillers (Saeed and Khan 2016), gas absorbents
in environmental cleaning of harmful gases (Ngoy et al. 2014), and as supporting
material for various organic and inorganic catalysts (Letlhogonolo et al. 2011).
Metal-Based Nanobiomaterials
Metal nanoparticles are chiefly synthesized from metal precursors and are recog-
nized for surface plasmon resonance properties (Fig. 9). These exhibit exceptional
optoelectrical characteristics and can consist of nanoparticles of gold, quantum
dots, silver nanoparticles, and metal oxides for, for example, titanium dioxide.
Quantum dots can be defined as firmly loaded semiconductor crystals consisting
of hundreds or thousands of particles, of the order and size of 1–2 nm to some
hundred nanometers. Any change in size and shape of quantum dots alters their
optical characteristics (Hu and Zhu 2015). Nanoparticles of noble and alkali metals
Fig. 9 Metal-based nanoparticles (Sánchez-López et al. 2020)
such as Au, Ag, and Cu possess wide band of absorption falling in the visible range
of the sun’s electromagnetic spectrum.
The size, shape, and external features controlling the production of metal
nanoparticles is essential in today’s revolutionary world (Dreaden et al. 2012)
as their unique optical characteristics are useful in several research areas. For
example, gold nanoparticles layering is broadly utilized in sample preparation in
Scanning Electron Microscopy for magnifying the electronic surge which assists
in securing best quality SEM images. Moreover, gold nanoparticles, being human
anatomy friendly, have importance in drug delivery and molecular imaging which
is specifically discussed in applications section of this chapter.
Lipid-Based Nanobiomaterials
These nanoparticles particularly consist of lipid fraction and strongly utilized in

different pharmaceutical and clinical applications. In general, lipid nanoparticle is
physiologically globular with its diameter varying from 10 to 1000 nm. Similar to
polymeric nanoparticles, lipid-based nanoparticles (Fig. 10) consist of a lipid solid
core surrounded by an external matrix containing soluble lipophilic particles which
is stabilized using surfactants or emulsifying agents (Rawat et al. 2011).
Lipids nanotechnology (Mashaghi et al. 2013) is an interesting area focusing
on the fabrication and manufacturing of lipid-based nanoparticles for numerous
uses including in cancer treatment, drug delivery (Puri et al. 2009), and targeted
medicinal release in central nervous system diseases (Gujrati et al. 2014). For
example, investigation of bacterial toxins such as tetanus, cholera, and botulinum
was undertaken using engineered GT1b or GM1 ganglioside-comprising liposomes
which come in the size limit of ∼ 120–130 nm and highly utilized for targeting
specific toxic agent. In another example, fluorescently labeled (rhodamine dye)
liposomes were successfully used to target minute amount of toxins (1 nm) by
utilizing fluoro-immunoassay (Singh et al. 2000).
Fig. 10 Various forms of lipid-based nanoparticles. (Note: Adapted from (Gan et al. 2013), with
copyright permission from Elsevier)
Manufacturing of Nanobiomaterials
Nanomaterials can be synthesized using an individual component or may be

consisting of large number of elements which can further be reformed or activated.
Depending on the process of manufacturing, different types of nanomaterials out of
0-D, 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D can be synthesized. Moreover, in previous studies nanomateri-
als have also been manufactured using chemical, physical, or biological techniques
(Dhand et al. 2015). Two major processes for the synthesis of nanomaterials are
widely adopted (Gleiter 2000), which are depicted in Fig. 11 and described below.
Top-Down Approach
This procedure is mainly pertinent to ceramic and metallic nanomaterials. However,

this technique demands substantial amount of raw material with significant loss
of matter and, therefore, large amount of waste production. The milling process
essential for this technique requires very high heat pressure application to the
starting material which necessitates the use of cryogenic liquid to circumvent stress
Fig. 11 Diagrammatic representation of top-down and bottom-up approaches for nanoparticles

synthesis (Barabadi et al. 2019)
and enhance the brittleness. However, sometimes in this technique contamination of

the vessel by erosion becomes unavoidable. Moreover, nanoparticles procured using
this technique usually displays polydispersity and indigent uniformity in particle
configuration (Trotta and Mele 2019). Anodization, photolithography, and plasma
etching are some other examples of top-down technique.
Bottom-Up Approach
This technique is dependent on integrating atoms or molecules for getting the

expected final nanomaterial. This process involves reactions in the liquid and
gaseous phase, but it is expensive, complicated, and time taking. However, in
any situation this approach results in the synthesis of much regular particle shape
and size. Some of the examples of this technique involve gas-phase process,
sol–gel procedure, chemical vapor condensation, flame-assisted ultrasonic spray
pyrolysis, sputtered plasma processing, gas condensation processing, laser ablation,
and microwave plasma processing (Iravani 2011). Among these, gas-phase process
is most widely used on commercial level to synthesize nanomaterials in both film
and powder form and nanotubes and fullerene are the most prominently obtained
nanomaterials utilizing this procedure. Contrarily, the liquid-phase process has the
benefit of using lower temperature than the gas-phase process. However, it is pos-
sible to get nearly complete monodisperse nanomaterials, yet some polydispersity
is still observed. Moreover, it is necessary to mention that size distribution is one

of the essential characteristics to be pointed out and taken into consideration while
categorizing nanomaterials (Trotta and Mele 2019). Based on the dependence of
nanoparticles size either on mass concentration or number of particles classification
changes accordingly.
However, for safety purposes, size distribution based on number is considered
as more careful choice. Because the fundamental particles of the raw material can
form massive units including more stable agglomerates using adhesion phenomena.
Moreover, the major variation is that in massive units the total surface area does not
alter to a larger extent in contrast to individual particles. Instead, large aggregates do
always possess less total surface area in comparison to original particles. In addition,
large agglomerates can easily be bifurcated into smaller units using ultrasound light
(Trotta and Mele 2019).
Some Other Routes for the Preparation of Nanobiomaterials
Nanoparticle-based products have also been manufactured using different type of

molecules including polysaccharides (alginate or agarose), synthetic polymers, and
proteins (albumin, gelatin, legumin, vicilin). These materials are also mainly used in
the synthesis of biological materials because of their unique inherent degradability
and biocompatibility characteristics. However, from the above specified molecules
gelatin and albumins have been most prominently used (Jahanshahi et al. 2007).
Four major routes for the preparation of these nanoparticles are as follows.
Water-in-Oil (W/O) Emulsification Technique

The chief techniques for the synthesis of nanoparticles from bio-based large
molecules includes W/O emulsification followed by phase-separation in a liquid
medium by incorporating a desolvating agent and/or required pH tuning (Jahanshahi
et al. 2007). In this approach, albumin-based aqueous solution is converted into an
emulsion using oil extracted from plant (e.g., cotton seed oil) at room temperature.
Mainly, during this process raw solution is converted into homogeneous emulsion
using a high-speed mechanical homogenizer. Thereafter, this emulsion is slowly
added drop by drop to substantial amount of preheated (above 120 ◦ C) oil. This
procedure will cause fast evaporation of water and irreversible dismantling of
albumin resulting in the formation of desired nanoparticles, which in then suspended
in cold-ice bath.
Coacervation (Desolvation) Process

Coacervation techniques have been adopted as one of most prominent methods
from long time for nanoparticle-based biological products synthesis (Khanbabaie
and Jahanshahi 2012). However, in the emulsification technique, extraction of
surfactants (used for emulsion stabilization) and oily residues are carried out
by using organic solvents which are detrimental to the environment. Therefore,
another technique known as coacervation process is mostly preferred in which
small particles in aqueous medium are formed by desolvation, and thereafter,

conjugated using a cross-linking agent, for example, glutaraldehyde (Khanbabaie
and Jahanshahi 2012). To confirm the success of this technique operating parameters
and raw materials needs to be carefully selected. Researchers, industrialists, and
academics are making lot of efforts to develop better coacervation techniques and
improving the performance of existing ones.
Heat-Assisted Gelation Mechanism

Heat-assisted (thermal) gelation is one of the successive procedures which includes
unfolding of proteins using heat followed by protein–protein interlinkage including
hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic, disulfide, and sulfhydryl exchange reaction
and hydrogen bonding. In some of the investigations, spherical shaped core–
shell form nanogels (about 100 nm) have been synthesized using thermal gelation
process. More specifically, in such studies ovalbumin and lysozyme solutions of
a 5.3 pH were mixed and subsequently the pH of the final solution was adjusted
to 10.3 and the solution was continuously stirred while heating (Yu et al. 2006;
Elzoghby et al. 2012).
Nano Spray Drying Procedure

Recently, pharmaceutical companies have embraced the spray drying process for
manufacturing dry powders from a liquid solution. However, in contrast of tradi-
tional spray dryers which uses pressure nozzles and rotary atomizers for producing
the spray droplets, this contemporary nano spray dryer (NSD) uses a vibrating mesh
technique for forming fine droplets (Lee et al. 2011). In this technique, the crystal-
driven piezoelectric spray head is connected to a spray cap which consists of a
narrow-perforated membrane (a spray lattice) possessing an assembly of accurate
micron-sized cavities. When this actuator is operated at an ultrasonic 60 kHz
frequency, the lattice begins vibrating downward and upward, administering large
number of correct size droplets through the cavities and forming aerosols (Elzoghby
et al. 2012). The choice of lattice stuff depends upon many aspects including
(Kreuter 1994): (a) natural characteristics of the drug, for example, stability and
liquid solubility; (b) required size of the nanoparticle; (c) external surface features
including charge and permeability; (d) magnitude of toxicity, degradability, and
biocompatibility; (e) reactivity of the desired product; and (f) expected drug release
capacity.
Nanoparticle Bioproducts Characterization
Nanoparticles of natural products are identified by particle size distribution, mean

diameter of particles, charge on the surface, and morphology in general (Leroueil-
Le Verger et al. 1998). Explanation regarding characterization of nanoparticles has
been discussed below.
Particle Size Characterization
The particle size distribution and diameter are the most significant properties of
nanoparticle-based systems (Jahanshahi 2007). Especially, particles of submicron
level size (i.e., nanoparticles) have many benefits over microparticles for drug deliv-
ery applications (Kreuter 1991). Generally, nanoparticles possess comparatively
higher intracellular upholding capability in respect of microparticles and therefore
have wider applicability and accessibility to target because to their mobility and
small size. For example, body disposition reports have revealed that nanoparticles
of size greater than 230 nm deposits in spleen because of small size of its capillaries
(Kreuter 1991). Moreover, various lab scale studies have also explained that cellular
uptake of nanoparticles is also dependent on its particle size (Desai et al. 1997;
Zauner et al. 2001). In addition, some cell lines allow the passage of only submicron
nanoparticles but not the larger size microparticles, for example, nanoparticles
have the capability to cross blood–brain barrier resulting into opening of compact
joints of hyperosmotic mannitol, which helps in providing sustained transport of
therapeutic molecules and essential drugs for strenuous diseases like brain cancer.
This is because small size particles possess more surface area with major portion
of drug concentrated near the particle surface, resulting in quick drug release. In
contrast, bigger particles possess larger cores allowing the enclosure of more drug
and slow release (Redhead et al. 2001). In addition, larger particle size also affects
polymer degradation; for example, in some of the lab scale studies it was found
that the PLGA polymer degradation rate increases with increase in size of the
particle (Dunne et al. 2000). On the other hand, small size particles hold larger
risk of agglomeration during transportation, storage, and nanoparticle spreading.
Therefore, it is always challenging to construct nanoparticles with maximum
stability and smallest possible size.
Morphological Characterization
Modification of the morphological and physicochemical characteristics of sub-

stances at the nanolevel has great capability to transform biomedical, electronic,
clinical, and therapeutic applications. Due to wider utilization of nanomaterials it
is also essential to ascertain specific toxicity of nanomaterials. It is required for
establishing results of cell culture and animal models along with making correlation
between physicochemical characteristics and toxicological responses. However, the
nanoparticle morphology is investigated using two techniques, scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) (Rahimnejad et al. 2006;
Rahimnejad et al. 2009). The scanning force microscope (SFM) or atomic force
microscope (AFM) has a high-resolution of the level of a nanometer, greater than
1000 times that of the optical diffraction limit. SEM possesses the needed resolution
at the scale of nanometer for analyzing at the sub-micrometer level and is critical to
investigate the particle morphology. During analysis, electrons interact with atoms
in the sample bringing out signals which consist of information about the sample
composition, electrical conductivity, surface topology, and other properties.
Surface Charge Characterization
Besides the nanoparticles size distribution, their surface features and hydrophobicity
decide the amount of component (mainly proteins, e.g., opsonin) to be absorbed
into the blood. When nanoparticles are suspended intravenously into the body,
they can be easily perceived by the body defense systems, and then released
through the circulation by phagocytic cells (Müller and Wallis 1993). Many
techniques have been outlined and applied to investigate the surface manipulation
of nanoparticle-based natural products. The effectiveness of surface manipulation
can be determined either by analyzing the density of the functional groups, surface
charge, and increase in surface hydrophilicity. One of important techniques used
to determine the surface changes is to measure zeta potential (ξ) of the liquid
solution consisting nanoparticles. Zeta potential is an electrical potential affected
by particle constitution and liquid medium of its suspension. The central factor
affecting zeta potential measurement is the colloidal stability (Khanbabaie and
Jahanshahi 2012) and the interconnections between individual components plays a
critical role in fixing colloidal stability of final product. Moreover, the zeta potential
measures the particle repulsive forces because most of the fluidic colloidal systems
are sustained by electrostatic repulsion. Therefore, if the repulsive force is more
between particles, then there are less chances that they will come close to each other
and form an larger agglomerate (Khanbabaie and Jahanshahi 2012). It is known that
the surface charge prevents conjugation of the individual particles and therefore
nanoparticles with zeta potential above (+/−) 30 mV are considered to be most
stable in liquid suspension (Khanbabaie and Jahanshahi 2012). Furthermore, the
zeta potential has also been used to investigate whether an active charged material
is adsorbed on the surface or enclosed in the center of the nanocapsule (Mohanraj
and Chen 2006).
Separation and Purification of Nanoparticle Bio-products
Most of the biochemical processes for synthesizing clinical diagnostic or biochem-

ical products include the purification of peptides and proteins from types of sources
including yeast, bacteria, naturally occurring tissue extracts, or fluids from mam-
malian cell culture (Jahanshahi et al. 2004). Nanoparticle-based biological products
are separated using a combination of ultra-filtration and ultra-centrifugation tech-
niques which are generally size dependent, along with contaminated and waste
feedstock including cell lysates from microbial cells and animal cultures limit the
effectiveness of these processes. Specifically, these kinds of purification techniques
consist of multiple operational units, including different chromatographic processes
to confirm the safe extraction of contaminants and major impurities. In addition
each step in the extraction protocol affects the overall economics of the process by
enhancing process time, and operational cost may also result in loss of final product
yield. However, individual operation in the purification procedure depends on the
final product yet cautious selection, and integration of different unit operations at
the initial stage may help in decreasing the total number of steps needed (Jahanshahi
et al. 2004). Furthermore, essential nanoparticle-based biological products that
demand purification steps, especially for gene therapy applications (Aubert et al.
2003), include plasmid DNA and viruses, such as retroviruses, adenoviruses, and
adeno-associated viruses (Lorens et al. 2001).
Application of Nanobiomaterials
The substantial engrossment for nanomaterials in various fields is well reported in a

number of publications in this discipline (Trotta and Mele 2019). Administration of
nanomaterials is spreading quickly, and today, around one-third of the nanomaterials
manufactured globally find utilization in skin care products particularly in sunscreen
formulations. Besides that nanomaterials have wide range of utilization and appli-
cations (Fig. 12) in extensive list of products including: (1) biomedical sciences, (2)
cancerous treatment, (3) daily used home products, (4) diseases of central nervous
system, (5) as a drug delivery agents, (6) clothes and textile industry, (7) healthcare
products, (8) high quality nutritional supplements, (9) packaging and maintaining
quality of food, (10) nano-fertilizers, (11) animals medicines, (12) specific use
building materials, (13) defense equipment, and (14) electronic items, etc. (Trotta
and Mele 2019).
Recent applications of nanobiomaterials in biomedical science
Although biological materials find wide range of uses in pharmaceutical and
clinical sciences field including drug delivery, contact lenses, bone and dental
implants, stem cell and tissue engineering, yet limitations of traditional natural
substances necessitate the development of novel biological materials based conju-
gated structures. The evolution of better-quality biological material based devices
or structures could be advanced by exploring the uses of nanoscale structures such
as nano-assemblies or scaffolds for stem cell and tissue engineering or targeted drug
delivery (Hasirci et al. 2006). Therefore, it is highly expected that health sector can
be significantly advanced by critical analyzing, investigating, and re-configuring the
natural processes, functions, and structures at the nanolevel. Nanotechnology offers
an elementary role in the advancement of biological material dependent medical
and healthcare devices. Through these uses, nanotechnology serves as a building
material for bridging the gap between nanoscience and biology.
Overcoming the Multidrug Resistance (MDR) of Cancer Cells
Multidrug resistance has become most challenging fact these days by which
diseased cells escape from drugs and tumor cells evade chemotherapy. Large
Fig. 12 Application of nanoparticles in various fields (Jeyaraj et al. 2019)
number of factors, extending from ones acting at cellular level including faulty cell
death system, wrongly selected molecular targets and higher expression of efflux
transporters, to the ones acting at physiological level including less extracellular pH,
development of undesired tumor vasculature, and higher interstitial fluid pressure
plays a major role in development of multidrug resistance (Patel et al. 2013).
Nanoparticles-based drug delivery system has become considerably important and
necessary these days due to number of undesired or unexpected facts associated with
natural materials-based bio-preparations including instability and poor solubility of
therapeutic molecules and increasing pollution and chemicals usage in the natural
surroundings. The biology of solid tumors confers plenty of obstacles for successful
treatment. However, by doing this it also opens a way for the specific application
of nanotechnology. Moreover, nanoscale materials of size up to 400 nm offers
attractive solution for protecting, carrying, and delivering essential therapeutic
molecules and drugs with desired properties to the specific site (Patel et al. 2013).
The nanoparticles generally consist of biodegradable, nontoxic constituents and

provide different loading capacities based on the application. They have relatively
very small particle size, show extended circulation, and can be used to target site
or diseased organ in the body. The principal benefits of nanoparticles-based drug
delivery system is that they can deliver drug to the specific site which have relatively
less stability and solubility and in this way enhance drug bioavailability and
effectiveness along with reducing toxicity and undesired accumulation (Torchilin
2007).
Controlling Cellular Factors Responsible for MDR

As discussed, there are numerous factors acting at cellular level are responsible for
multidrug resistance of cells. However, higher expression of drug efflux transporters
is the mainly observed multidrug resistance phenomenon during clinic diagnosis.
These efflux transporters for drug are also usually expressed in ordinary tissue
to regulate homeostasis of different biological processes. Hence, it is required
to suppress the overexpression of these transporters in cancer cells along with
significantly reducing the expression to normal tissues.
Many scientific experiments have been performed to divert the encounter of drugs
to efflux transporters. For example, dox-tethered reactive gold nanoparticles have
been synthesized and studied for turning around the MDR on MCF-7/ADR cells.
These types of nanoparticles have been developed to deliver the drug dosage in
highly acidic cell system. Such kinds of nano-preparations (dox-tethered responsive
gold nanoparticles) successfully exhibited targeted delivery of doxorubicin along
with reversal of the MDR (Wang et al. 2011). However, for this technique to be
effective, nanoparticles are developed to escape the drug efflux transporters for
successful delivery of therapeutic molecules at targeted site. Hence, many research
groups are also focused on delivering desired therapeutic molecules with either gene
silencer or drug transporter inhibitors.
Targeting DNA Repair Mechanism

Furthermore, an amalgamation of doxorubicin and mitomycin C enclosed sequen-
tially inside contemporary lipid-based polymeric nanoparticles demonstrated har-
mony in cell virulence against the MDR MDA435/LCC6 human beings breast
cancer cells. Particularly, it was exhibited that this harmony corresponded with
higher synthesis of DNA double strand breaks and following apoptosis (Shuhendler
et al. 2010).
Targeting Hypoxia
Hypoxia and hypoxia-induced factor (HIF) specifically HIF-1α are mainly respon-
sible for MDR of the cancerous cells, and these are solely found in hypoxic cancer
cells (Zhou et al. 2006). It has been noticed that the EGFR is upregulated in
cancer cells due to asphyxia, making it a preferred prey. Lately, EGFR-attacking
nanoparticles have been developed by constituting a poly (ethylene glycol)/poly (D,
L-lactide-co-glycolide) epidermal growth factor receptor-attacking peptide (PLGA/
PEG/ EGFR-peptide) assembly for internalization in polyepsilon-caprolactone
(PCL)-based nanomaterials. These integrated nanoparticles help in delivering a

conjugation of lidocaine/paclitaxel in ovarian and breast tumor cells of humans,
with the considerable depletion in the MDR and certified the use of a combinatorial
technique (Milane et al. 2011). Moreover, numerous research have been performed
to overturn the asphyxia-induced cisplatin obstruction in cancer cells (Shapira et al.
2011). Hence, multi-hydroxylated metallo-fullerene nanoparticles were utilized to
deliver cisplatin and were aimed at cisplatin-resistant human prostate tumor cells.
MDR cells viability reduced and the cancer cells growth was inhibited as analyzed
in vivo (Wang et al. 2006; Yin et al. 2008).
Targeting Extracellular pH
One of the most extensively researched nanomaterials is the stimuli-sensitive
nanoparticles. Majority of such processes subsume a pH-element that becomes
protonated at the low extracellular pH and in the end disrupt the nanoparticles
and emancipate the specific drug. However, a novel strategy has recently been
outlined dependent on pH-transmuting polymer polymethacrylates (PMA)-grafted
polyamidoamine (PAMAM) to activate drug delivery in reaction to the low pH
cancerous cell microenvironment. Moreover, cancer selectivity was attained by
targeting the folate receptors. As a result, drug delivery at the tumor affecting tissue
and consequently cancer inhibition was observed in tumor affected mice (Shen et al.
2012).
Stability of Nanoparticles During Drug Delivery

To deeply understand the capability of nanoparticles as drug delivery agents
substantial work has been done and collected vast knowledge in past few decades
(Patel et al. 2013). For instance, several prospective therapeutic agents that were
formerly considered to be non-feasible because of less stability and/or low solu-
bility are now recognized as preferred options by conjugating with nanomaterial
transportation base. Nano preparations are considered a prospective support for the
transportation of very active macromolecules including proteins and nucleic acids.
Specific characteristics of nano-preparations can be utilized based on type of cell
targeted (Patel et al. 2013). Furthermore, it provides advanced treatment options
along with precise drug dosage delivery.
For example, polymeric micelle nanoparticles possessing a central-cartridge
construction are impulsively synthesized by amphiphilic copolymer. The outer
cartridge is hydrophilic, while the central core-I is a hydrophobic drug reser-
voir possessing a hydrophobic complex copolymer. The hydrophilic cartridge
restricts protein adsorption, which reduces the involvement of polymeric micelles
I in reaction with foreign body while upgrading drug solubility (Kataoka et al.
2001). Furthermore, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) can undertake higher
amounts of therapeutic molecule because of having large surface area and more pore
volume. To get desired and sustained response drug particles are delivered using
mesoporous pores for improving drug stability. However, MSNs provide protection
to the drug molecules and thus improve the solubility of hydrophobic drugs which
can be further modified depending on the site of action and desired purpose. Action
of specific drug on cancer cells depends on reaction with molecules including

monoclonal antibodies, folic acid, peptides, glycoproteins, and nucleic acids which
suggests a way to precisely and efficiently deliver drugs on the targeted site (Trewyn
et al. 2007; Mamaeva et al. 2013).
Nanodelivery Systems for Overcoming the Current Problems for

Central Nervous System (CNS) Disease Therapy
CNS disease treatment options hold a large portion in clinical diagnosis and
pharmaceutical sciences and therefore require adequate attention. However, drugs
acting on CNS diseases possess lower success rate along with more development
times making them highly challenging to work on. Therefore, they are getting
increased attention among government and academic institutions and private indus-
tries. Moreover, the ongoing treatment techniques are not efficient in curing CNS
disorders and can only temporarily alleviate some of the symptoms. Several CNS
diseases including gliomas, psychiatric issues, pain, neurodegeneration, etc. are
being treated using peptides, nucleic acids, peptides, and monoclonal antibodies.
There are a number of factors that restrict their entry into market including cost of
biosynthesis, poor solubility, and in vivo instability (Mcgonigle 2012). Furthermore,
macromolecules find difficulty in crossing blood–brain barrier and endothelial
capillary cells limiting majority of the drugs to reach at specific target.
Therefore, nanotechnology is being successfully utilized to regulate these chal-
lenges. Nanoparticles including liposomes, nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparti-
cles, albumin and polymeric nanoparticles are mainly reported to cross blood–brain
barrier (Van Rooy et al. 2011). After intravenous injection, these nanoparticles
containing desired drug can cross the barriers and leads to a successful drug loading
into cancerous cells (Moghimi et al. 2005). Furthermore, these drug transportation
techniques can be modified on external surface using PEG (for extended circulation
times) or Chimeric proteins (Pardridge 2006) or targeting receptors for antibodies,
particularly, for the brain (immunoliposomes) (Pardridge 2006) to synthesize
multidisciplinary nanoparticulate. Some of the examples of nanoparticles-based
CNS drug delivery system are as follows.
Liposomes
These can be considered as unnatural phospholipid vacuoles which can be devel-
oped for successful enclosure and effective transportation of essential therapeutic
molecules. However, unaltered lipid-based nanoparticles are quickly removed from
body by reticuloendothelial cell system (RES) and therefore long-circulating and
modified liposome particles take their role (Musacchio and Torchilin 2011). To
facilitate targeted delivery of liposomes, modified by PEG, to the brain, they can
be modified further using various ligands such as monoclonal antibodies against
fibrillary (glial) acidic proteins, human insulin receptors, or transferrin receptors
(Laquintana et al. 2009; Pardridge 1999). Transferrin conjugated liposomes are
known to specifically transport the desired drugs such as 5-Flurouracil to the
mice cerebrum and expected to be confiscated by receptor-arbitrated endocytosis

(Soni et al. 2008). In a mice prototype of Parkinsonism, OX26 immunoliposomes
ensured the medicative response resulting in reversible calibration of striatal tyro-
sine hydroxylase articulation, in this way representing the transcytosis-arbitrated
transportation over the blood–brain barrier (Zhang et al. 2003).
Solid-Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs)

These nanoparticles are stabilized by surfactants and liquid conjugated scattering of
lipid-based nanoparticles which hardens upon chilling. These consist of lipid state
distributed in a liquid atmosphere (Barchet and Amiji 2009). SLNs modified by
polyethylene glycol (PEG) are demonstrated to infiltrate the blood–brain barrier
and allow for substantial transportation of therapeutic molecules to the central
nervous system (Zara et al. 2002). The successful utilization of PEG modified solid-
lipid nanoparticles for delivery of anticancerous molecules such as doxorubicin and
camptothecin for cerebrum has been extensively tested recently (Wong et al. 2007;
Blasi et al. 2007).
Polymeric Nanoparticles
Polymeric nanoparticles are solid colloidal particles created from polymeric sys-
tems. These nanoparticles are made from biocompatible polymers that encapsulate
or adsorb drugs for prolonged release (Barchet and Amiji 2009). Polysorbate 80-
coated poly-n-butyl cyanoacrylate nanoparticles have been formulated by emulsion
polymerization process to target selectively rivastigmine or tacrine to the CNS in
Alzheimer’s disease (Di Stefano et al. 2011).
Oil-in-Water Nanoemulsions
Nanoemulsions are water-in-oil (W/O) or oil-in-water (O/W) based mixtures for-
mulated using surface-active agents (surfactants) water and edible oils, where the
size of core is decreased to the scale of nanometers (Sarker 2005). The versatility of
nanoemulsions is based on the different types of oils and surface modifiers that can
be used. For instance, oils rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) play
a very significant role in overcoming many biological barriers (Ganta et al. 2010).
Therapeutic Applications of Nanomaterials as a Gene Delivery

Carrier
One of the prime concerns for efficient drug transportation process is delivering the
requisite drug dosage at the targeted site. However, poor dispersion, unproper drug
dose release, and need of efficiency are some of the limitations with traditional drug
transportation approaches. Therefore, presently, nanomaterial-based bioproducts
have taken major role. For instance, the clinical science and biomedical field it finds
utilization for gene transportation and drug delivery vehicles (Lakshmana Prabu
et al. 2017). Two main types of vehicles such as nonviral and based on virus are
(a) Drug loading
Synthesis
(b)
Nanoparticle
Drug
Polymer Ligand attachment
Nanoparticle
delivery
Blood vessel
(b) Active targeting
Location of cancer
Receptor
Healthy cells
(a) Passive targeting
Cancer cells
Fig. 13 Administration of nanoparticles as a gene delivery agent (Ahlawat et al. 2018)
being utilized in gene transportation using hereditary material including siRNA and
nucleic acids (RNA & DNA).
However, the fundamental process being utilized in gene transportation is
insertion of gene encrypting the protein which can modify the function of gene
or possesses the capability to treat or arrest the advancement of disease. Moreover,
nanomaterials surface characteristics such as exterior charge, size, and shape play
a significant role in efficient gene transportation (Fig. 13). For delivering the
gene at the desired location different characteristics including basic properties of
polymer, biodegradability, biocompatibility, solubility, particle size, and surface
characteristics have to be examined. Furthermore, targeted gene transportation
has been utilized for curing different disorders including cardiovascular diseases,
cancer, AIDS, etc. (Lakshmana Prabu et al. 2017).
Various gene delivery mechanisms
Plasmid DNA
Presently, it can be considered as the most frequently utilized DNA source for
specific gene transportation. It follows the fundamental procedure that after insertion
in the cell nucleus the plasmid DNA strand transcribes into essential gene which is
translated into desired protein required for cell expression to cure life-threatening
diseases (Lakshmana Prabu et al. 2017).
RNA Interference
This mechanism finds the utilization of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and microR-
NAs (miRNA) for specific applications. For example, miRNAs can be considered
as compact non-inscribing nucleic acid molecules which find applications in and

accountable for expression of protein after it has been translated (Lakshmana Prabu
et al. 2017).
Small Interfering RNA

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) can be fabricated to specifically target gene expres-
sion than long double stranded RNA as they consist of only 21–23 nucleotides.
siRNAs are well capable to obstruct specific gene function even without requirement
to inhibit the interferon function. For instance, this specific gene expression
inhibition is essential otherwise it is capable to regulate and obstruct siRNA function
in mammalian cells. In this way it finds specific applications to treat many infectious
and life-threatening diseases including tumors (Raftery et al. 2013; Rana 2007; Guo
et al. 2010; Van Rooij 2011).
Limitations to Be Overcome for Developing Ideal Genetic Vector

However, to obtain higher degree of cell transfection and getting a proficient vector
system, two main challenges must be considered for constituting efficient gene
delivery vehicle. In addition in many of the gene transportation techniques including
chemical, physical, or viral, these two common limitations must be controlled as
specified below.
1. The first challenge is the choice and fabrication of minimum risk carrier
molecule which is essentially required to transport nucleic acids to specific cells.
Conventionally, chemical vehicles have the capability to reach out at target site
and integrate with specific cells while viruses comprise the natural capability due
to their body defense mechanism to identify and transfect the targeted cells and
perform desired function, for instance reticulo-endothelial system (RES).
2. The other challenge is the entry of desired nucleic acid molecule via plasma
membrane into cell. However, for fulfilling this role chemical vehicles or
physical vectors must have to disturb the internal vesicular membranes or plasma
membrane while viruses achieve this responsibility using inherent biological
process (Jin et al. 2014).
Targeted Drug Delivery

Whenever nanoparticles carrying desired gene or drugs are administered into the
body, they have the capability to flow inside blood vessels after bypassing the
epithelial cells obstructions before reaching the target site. Moreover, nanoparticles
also possess the capability to hide from cardiovascular system using intracellular or
transcellular process or paracellular pathway at continuous vascular endothelium.
Therefore, it must be verified that nanomaterials are successfully transported to
the targeted diseased region of body without negatively affecting nearby normal
cells. For instance, the distance between fenestration sites on the endothelium cells
normally varies between 2 μm and 100 nm which is considerably higher than
the space between normal cells, that is, 2–6 nm. Hence, nanoparticles possess
the capability to transfect fenestrations and enhance desired drug application at
targeted cancerous site which is also termed as “Enhanced permeation and retention
(EPR) effect” (Adiseshaiah et al. 2010; Gaumet et al. 2008; Maeda et al. 2000).
Furthermore, transportation of drug at targeted site can be classified into two main
types: passive targeting and active targeting.
Passive Targeting
Passive targeting process majorly targets the cells which are progressing in the
direction of drug transporting nanocarriers. Passive targeting process is extensively
utilized in the transportation of cells such as macrophages, dendritic cells, and
neutrophils as an inactivated antigen molecule or vaccinating agents. This system
targets the cells which drift toward the nanoparticles-based vehicles sustaining drug
molecules and does not essentially requires these carriers to be of nanometer scale
(Hedley et al. 1998).
Active Targeting
However, active targeting system is based on logical fabrication of nanocarriers
possessing appropriate surface features and chemical combining approach to par-
ticularly receptors of target cells. Furthermore, such advanced targeting approach
finds application in augmenting the accumulation of nanocarriers at infected and
diseased sites (Merdan et al. 2002; Cannon 1997).
Gold Nanoparticles (AuNP)-Based Drug Delivery and Molecular

Imaging
Gold-based nanoparticles (Au NPs) have gathered attentiveness and provide explicit
precedence in clinical and environmental sciences amid different types of nanomate-
rials illustrated above. This is because Au NPs offer a range of electrical and optical
properties based on their configuration and dimensions, and we can manufacture
Au NPs with different configurations, spanning from cage-like, spherical, and rod
shape with measurement varying from 1 nm to around 100 nm (Verissimo et al.
2016). Moreover, being negatively charged Au NPs can be smoothly amalgamated
with majority of the natural molecules including genes, targeting ligands, and drugs
(Fratoddi et al. 2015) and are non-poisonous and biostable (Hainfeld et al. 2006). In
addition, Au NPs possess well- defined surface features, microscopic quantum tun-
neling effect, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) bands, and ultra-small size (Kumar
et al. 2013). Due to the above-listed and many other potential characteristics gold
nanoparticles are preferably utilized in different fields such as molecular imaging,
clinical diagnosis, biosensing, and more specifically as a drug delivery agent.
The exterior surface of gold nanoparticles can be modified with different
biological molecules including peptides, antibodies, nucleic acids, etc., and because
of this specific application Au NPs find utility in clinical sciences. Furthermore,
the feature of Au NPs surface functionalization using covalent and noncovalent
interactions permits specific natural bonding which has various applications in
biosensing and clinical diagnostic areas.
Au NPs for Drug Delivery

Drug substances or antibiotics can bind with Au NPs by physical absorption
or through covalent or ionic bonding. Aggregation of Au NPs with therapeutic
molecules enhances drug efficiency and thus makes a significant part in endocellular
diseases therapy (Saha et al. 2007; Gu et al. 2003). For example, methotrexate
(analog of folic acid) conjugated with 13 nm colloidal Au particles has special
application as anticancer drug by inhibiting the growth and regeneration of tumors
(Chen et al. 2007). This process involves overnight incubation for the conjugation
of methotrexate particles on the surface of gold nanoparticles and it has also been
found that engrossment of methotrexate is more when bound to gold nanoparticles
than in free form.
Moreover, in one of prominent research considerable and enhanced effect on drug
resistance cancerous cells was observed by doxorubicin (DOX) conjugated Au NPs
when attached using pH-reactive connector (Wang et al. 2011). Since such types
of Au NP-DOX aggregation permits DOX secretion within the cell compartments
and direct effect on tumor cells. Furthermore, the exterior surface of Au NPs can
be altered by utilizing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a linker. Both hydrophilic and
hydrophobic properties of modified micelle confirm higher consistency of Au NPs
in biological conditions and ensure multiform combinations on AuNPs.
Au NPs for Gene Delivery

For the cure of acquired as well as hereditary disorders gene therapy can be
considered as efficient technique (Miller 1992). Gold nanoparticles offer viable
opportunity for nucleic acid transportation because these can be modified in
different configurations including nanorods, nanofibres, and nanospheres for this
motive. Au NPs secure DNA and RNA segments from deterioration by nucleic
acid degrading enzymes. Moreover, contemporary researches have suggested that
Au NPs can efficiently transfer various kinds of double stranded DNA (dsDNA),
oligonucleotides, single strand RNA (ssRNA), plasmid as well as single strand
DNA (ssDNA) which can impart superior biomedical reactions. For instance, Au
NPs integrated with small interfering RNA and oligonucleotides furnish excel-
lent characteristics which construct them as efficient gene controlling candidates.
The above specified outcomes exhibit significant contribution of the Au NPs
and oligonucleotide conjugate in development of gene transportation therapy and
translational research (Kim et al. 2012).
Au NPs for Protein Delivery

Au NPs also find applications as nanovehicles for delivering desired therapeutic
protein because the surface interaction between gold nanoparticles and proteins
opens new routes in biological and clinical sciences. For instance, in one of studies
Au NPs have been conjugated with chitosan for transporting insulin (Bhumkar
et al. 2007) as chitosan covered nanoparticles firmly engross insulin on their
exterior and are highly efficient for a transmucosal transportation of insulin.
Furthermore, contemporary researches tested the efficiency of apolipoprotein E or
human serum albumin integrated gold nanoparticles in intravenous injection. And

the outcome indicated that protein integration significantly decreased liver retention
in comparison to citrate conjugated gold nanoparticles. Thus, the abovementioned
studies distinctly indicate that sturdy integration of gold nanoparticles with natural
components enhances the efficiency and specificity of conjugated drug for particular
diseased body part or organ indicating a significant application of nanotechnology
in biomedical sciences and clinical diagnosis (Schäffler et al. 2014).
Au NPs for Vaccine Delivery

Conventional vaccines are highly efficient but have some restrictions due to their
production, distribution, and limited action. Contemporarily, Au NPs are widely
utilized to develop advanced vaccines because of their extending configurations,
dimensions, and adjustable surface characteristics and extensive benefits over
conventional vaccines. For example, one of the studies demonstrated the treatment
of encephalitis using Au NPs-based vaccines (Demenev et al. 1996). Moreover,
some of the suitable configurations and features influence Au NPs interconnections
with specific receptors and makes them multifunctional. Latest researches have
highlighted the utilization of AuNPs in vaccine development against acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or HIV (Liu and Chen 2016). For instance, Xu
et al. utilized three surface-modified Au NPs as HIV-1 Env DNA plasmid vaccine
adjuvants in AIDS treatment (Xu et al. 2012). Similarly, one of the previous study
fabricated aptamer (Apt)-integrated Au NPs (Apt-Au NPs) is efficient in inhibiting
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase enzyme (Shiang et al.
2013). Furthermore, till now many outstanding studies have been performed in
this area by some of renowned scientists such as Sun and Xia (2016), Comber
and Bamezai (2015), Dykman and Khlebtsov (2017), Ilinskaya and Dobrovolskaia
(2016), and Marques Neto et al. (2017).
Au NP-Based Molecular Imaging

Administration of gold nanoparticles in molecular imaging has grown expeditiously
in previous decade which is capable to furnish highly sensitive pathological
and physiological details for specific disorder identification. Different types of
imaging techniques including ultrasound (US)/magnetic resonance (MR) imaging
and optical imaging/computer tomography (CT) imaging have been evolved for
disorder identification. However, in comparison to other facilities surface-enhanced
Raman scattering (SERS) has the benefit of providing superior accuracy, no damage,
invasion and label, and high sensitivity molecular prognosis. In the SERS technique
gold nanoparticles have specific application as intracellular probes to estimate drug
delivery by targeting different cell organelles such as nucleus, mitochondria, and
endosomes (Huefner et al. 2014). However, for SERS-dependent identification and
particular tumor attacking, some contemporary tags having biological consistency
with dimeric congregation of spherical Au NPs have been identified (Indrasekara
et al. 2013). Moreover, it has also been verified that cell encapsulated Au NP-based
dimers consist of higher explicitness for cellular identification with distinguished
stability. Therefore, in comparison to conventional fluorescence imaging SERS-
dependent cell recognition is quicker and more efficient. Furthermore, peptide-

activated Au NPs conjugated with SERS have been fabricated as novel nuclear
targeting nanoprobes with specific application in living cells (Xie and Ma 2009).
In addition multimode or dual mode imaging is necessary for precise disease
diagnosis, and Shi et al. have also documented the identification, manufacturing,
and utilization of gadolium-integrated Au DENPs (Gd-Au DENPs) for dual phase
MR/CT molecular imaging (Wen et al. 2013). For faster MR/CT imaging of kidney,
liver, mouse bladder, and heart within a time span of 45 min, single nanoparticles-
based process possessing dual components of Au NPs and Gd (gadolium) revealed
both X-ray attenuation in CT scan mode and r1 reflexivity in MR imaging mode.
In addition, an outstanding congregation-inspired outflowing (AIE) red dye into
DSPE-PEG2000 polymer and nanoprobe (MNPAPF Au) aggregated Au NP has
been developed in dual-phase fluorescence/CT imaging (Zhang et al. 2015).
Administration of Advanced Nanomaterials-Based Vaccines

to Address Infectious Diseases
The cyclic outburst of pandemic infectious diseases has uplifted the evolution of
successful vaccines to the ranking of a world healthcare cover. Live attenuated
microorganisms, inactivated toxins, or dead microorganisms are being used as
carriers for the synthesis of effective vaccines (Naiman et al. 2001; Epstein
et al. 2011; Saha et al. 2013). However, contemporarily DNA vaccines or subunit
vaccines which conceal foreign body pathogenic proteins are being tested as
novel vaccine candidates (Luke et al. 2011; Norton et al. 2012). Instead of rapid
growth, advancement is required in development of traditional vaccines due to
several reasons including high toxicity, inherent in vivo instability, capacity to
generate weak immune response, and the requirements for injecting multiple doses.
Therefore, nanotechnology-based approaches have taken their role in advanced and
more effective vaccine synthesis by overcoming these limitations and strengthening
the humoral and cellular mediated immune responses. Such increased response
is due to the nanoscale sizes of nanoparticles leading to absorption by mucosa-
associated lymphoid tissue, phagocytic cells, and gut-associated lymph tissue
causing systematic antigen presentation and recognition. In addition, it offers an
opportunity of altering and reforming the external surface of nanocarrier molecules
allowing the transportation of antigens to targeted site or cell surface receptors for
generating the enhanced immune response.
Moreover, in addition to interdisciplinary approaches comprising use of var-
ious areas of sciences including chemistry, biology, clinical sciences, virology,
textile engineering, computation and statistics, nanomaterials dependent remedies
and approaches possess a significant potential to supplement and expedite the
response and action against covid-19 virus infection as well as similar forthcoming
epidemics (Weiss et al. 2020). The nanoscale molecules or nanocarriers used for
advanced vaccines manufacturing comprises variety of configurations, sizes and
surface characteristics (Peek et al. 2008). In various researches, nanomolecules
are developed to co-transport both an adjuvant and antigen (Dunkle et al. 2013),
because nanocarriers can ascertain the smooth delivery of adjuvants and antigens
to particular immune cells (Demento et al. 2012; Gregory et al. 2013). However, a
number of nanoscale molecules have been fabricated and tested for their utilization
in transportation of both adjuvants and antigens to specific immune cells as along
with uptake of antigens enough adjuvant action is essential for generating successful
immune response.
Nanodelivery systems for vaccines
Liposomes
Since the time it was for the first time reported that liposomes have the capability
to act as immunological agent or adjuvants (Allison and Gregoriadis 1974), and
liposome-based nanocarriers have been widely tested for utilization in vaccine
transport process. Till now around eight liposome-dependent vaccines are in process
of clinical trial or have been certified to be used by human beings (Watson et al.
2012). Moreover, the fundamental characteristics of liposome-based nanoparticles
including their composition, structure, and size can be modified depending on the
characteristics of vaccine element to enhance the immune response. Liposomes
nanoparticles consist of biologically stable phospholipid bilayer and are proficient
in delivering both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules. These characteristics
allow the transportation of both adjuvant and antigens. The external surface features
of lipid-based nanoparticles can be altered utilizing the essential and active lipid
constituent as a part of phospholipid bilayer. These surface-altered lipid nanocarriers
have been specifically developed to co-deliver immunomodulating agents; target
immune cells and increase both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses to
enhance the potency of lipid-based vaccines (Kim et al. 2014).
Emulsions
For a long time emulsions have been tested as adjuvant constituent and contem-
porarily experimented as vaccine transportation agent. Moreover, emulsions are
dissipation of two or more liquid solutions consisting of emulsifiers, oil, and binding
materials which cannot be blended together. Two main types of emulsions can
be formed including oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions, the former of which
is chiefly used for adjuvant preparation. However, M59 is the prominent vaccine
adjuvant emulsion consisting of Span 85, squalene oil, and Tween 80 in a citrate
buffer. Hence, MF59-adjuvanted cyclic flu vaccine (Fluad™) was certified in 1997
in Europe (O’Hagan 2007) and can successfully enhance the immune response in
young children and newborn babies (Vesikari et al. 2011).
Synthetic Polymer-Based Nanodelivery Systems

Polymer-based nanocarriers were tested as a vaccine transportation vehicle to
take benefit of their capability for regulated delivery of adjuvants and antigens
to the target site. Polylactic-coglycolic acid (PLGA) is the most prominently
utilized naturally degradable synthetic polymer at nanolevel with a comparatively
extended record of clinical use (Thomas et al. 2011). The PLGA-based nanoparticle
size can be varied along with surface modifications for utilization as vaccine
carrier for specific use in mucosal, systemic, and oral transport. These alterations
and deliverance routes of PLGA were represented to influence immune response
generating capability of enclosed antigen particles. For example, utilization standard
sized aerosolized PLGA or poly (L-lactic acid) dependent nanoparticles for pul-
monary hepatitis B virus vaccine development were found to enhance the immune
response (Thomas et al. 2011). Moreover, nanoparticles of sizes more than 500 nm
prompted the production of antigen-specific secretary IgA more efficiently than the
nanoparticles (<500 nm) in mice.
Natural Biopolymers-Based Nanodelivery Systems

Natural biopolymers, such as chitosan and pullulan, are being tested as antigen
or vaccine transportation vehicle. For vaccine transportation chitosan represents
unique characteristics such as adjuvanticity and mucoadhesiveness which helps
in generating enhanced immune response. Chitosan is biodegradable, nontoxic,
and biocompatible which helps in imparting positive charge that promoting endo-
cytosis. Moreover, the mucoadhesive property of chitosan is being utilized for
intramucosal vaccine transportation. For example, in a contemporary research it has
been suggested that N-trimethyl chitosan nanomolecule transporting a configured
antigen OVA displayed longer stability and higher IgA antibody titer in nasal
mucosa as compared to PLGA-based nanocarriers delivering the similar antigen
(Slütter et al. 2010). Furthermore, intramuscularly injected N-trimethyl chitosan-
dependent vaccine model exhibited immune responses which were corresponding
to those produced by PLGA-dependent vaccine. These outcomes demonstrated
the significance of mucoadhesiveness in vaccine transportation for increasing the
generation of mucosal immunity.
Carbon-Based Nanodelivery Systems

Carbon-based nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes are contemporarily tested
as antigen transportation vehicles (Scheinberg et al. 2013). These delivery molecules
are nondegradable, insoluble, and like bacteria in shape and size. For example,
carbon nanotubes are less toxic, have the capability to carry multiple antigens,
are not inherently immunogenic, and are quickly recognized by antigen-presenting
cells. These characteristics assist the possibility of utilizing carbon nanotubes as
antigen transporters. Furthermore, utilization of single walled carbon nanotubes
(SWCNTs) has been previously tested by Zeinali and colleagues in vaccine transport
processes (Zeinali et al. 2009).
Revolutionary applications of Nanomaterials in Environmental Sciences:
Applications of nanomaterials for environmental protection will bring break-
through progress in uplifting the quality of air, water, and soil. Nanomaterials
are researched in photocatalytic degradation of water pollutants and sensing and
detecting soil pollutants. However, there are potential risks also associated with
nanomaterial use for these purposes which are also briefly elaborated (Shan et al.
2009).
Utilization of Nanomaterials in Biofuels and Bioenergy Sector
The primary energy consumption in this world today is dominated by conventional

fossil fuels including coal, crude oil, and natural gas (Senjyu and Howlader 2016),
which eventually led to sustainability problems due to their decline and dangerous
environmental impacts and also huge price fluctuations (Lijó et al. 2019). Hence,
research boomed in unearthing alternative energy sources and second generation
biomass has come up as an excellent alternate having a potential for around
80% of the renewable energy produced (Strzalka et al. 2017). It can also be
easily reserved and utilized for generating electricity and heating fuels whenever
needed. The various types of gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels generated from
natural source together are termed as bioenergy. Despite all these encouraging
and lucrative alternatives, there are many hurdles and technical barriers to before
continuous process development and commercialization of these bioenergy options.
The first step is to solve the high energy materials problem for which nanomaterials
are the most promising candidates with their large surface areas and impressive
characteristics of crystallinity, proficient preservation ability, strength, durability as
well as adsorption capability (Nizami and Rehan 2018), which can be exploited in
both noncatalytic and catalytic processes for bioenergy generation and also pollution
mitigation. There are several indirect and direct administrations of nanomaterials
in bioenergy generation especially on biological reactions synthesizing biofuel
is reported with nanomaterials including nanotubes, nanofibers, and metal-based
nanoparticles (Sekoai et al. 2019). However, nanoparticles that are generally utilized
as catalyst support material play important role in improving the anaerobic mixed
culture activity, decreasing the number of inhibitory compounds, and assisting in
electrons transferring to enhance the process yields. Nanocrystals, nano-magnets,
and nanodroplets are also utilized as fuel additives that can improve the blending
efficiency of many biofuels with diesel and petrol (Palaniappan 2017) without the
need for the existing engine modification.
Nanotechnology in Bioenergy Production from Microalgal Biomass

Microalgae with a variety of photosynthetic species are extensively studied as
essential candidate for third-generation biofuels production (Khoo et al. 2019;
Chew et al. 2017). The specific characteristics such as capability to absorb more
carbon dioxide, growing in hard environments, and high growth rate have made
microalgae a most preferred material for biofuel generation. In a study conducted by
Duraiarasan, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) immobilized with cellulase have been
utilized for extracting the microalgae cell wall for lipids production (Duraiarasan
et al. 2016). The maximum biodiesel yield of 93.6% was attained under optimum
growth conditions. However, in a similar research metal oxide MgO related to
cellulase enzyme in place of magnetic nanoparticles to increase the hydrolysis
cellulose enzyme of Chlorella sp. CYB2 and maximum glucose production of 91%
was achieved through this route. Furthermore, in one of the previous studies it has
also been found that super paramagnetic nanoparticles assist in the withdrawal of
bio-oil for biodiesel production from Chlorella vulgaris. Nonetheless, there is still a
requirement for techno-economic analysis regarding the utilization of these assisted
nanoparticles in large-scale industrial production of biodiesel.
Nano-Additives in Biodiesel for Diesel Engines

Nanomaterials have been studied to be utilized as nano-supplements on fuel
resources because of their especial characteristics of nanofluid which influence
different characteristics including cetane number, flash point density, viscosity,
and appreciably other. Some researchers have tested the consequences of physic-
ochemical characteristics of biodiesel utilizing metal-oxide nanoparticles as a fuel
supplement (Sajith et al. 2010). The existence of these metal-oxide nanoparticles
function as an oxygen buffer causing synchronous oxidation action of hydrocarbons
by decreasing the harmful NOx emissions. Metal-oxide nanoparticles display a high
surface-to-volume ratio which enhances the fuel effectiveness of this biodiesel in
comparison to that in traditional powder configuration. The outcomes exhibited that
more quantity of these metal oxide nanoparticles enhances the fluid layer strength
and viscosity whereas less fuel density is unable to lubricate the fuel injection
pump which will result into effusion and effortlessly outwear, decreasing the fuel
distribution efficiencies. Distinctly, this exhibits that metal oxides nanoparticles are
heat stable to assist hydrocarbon oxidation reactions and nitrogen oxide depletion
(Sajith et al. 2010). Moreover, the blending of nanoscale metal oxides with fuel
enhances the calorific value and cetane number emanating improved combustion
performance. Previous researchers have shown that silica- and alumina-based
nanoparticles enhance the combustion value of biodiesel engines (Mehta et al.
2014). Despite advantages, the main concern of nanoparticles is high manufacturing
cost which obstructs the industrialization of nanofluids. However, nanoparticles as
fuel supplements have not yet been implemented on an industrial scale. Issues of
nanoparticles assembling, fixing, and wear-off are still under scrutiny and demand
efficient exploitation of nanofluids to magnify their efficient utilization.
Application of Mesoporous Nanoparticles for Bioethanol and FAMEs

Production
One of the most commercialized fuels synthesized from renewable resources is
ethanol, which is used as a pure fuel or blended with gasoline. An essential
stage in the ethanol production from biomass through Fischer-Tropsch process
is the final catalytic conversion of syngas to ethanol. But, the major obstacle in
this route is the selectivity of catalyst to ethanol or any other specific higher
alcohol along with enhanced syngas conversion efficiency. Few research groups
have reported using mesoporous kind of catalysts for the conversion of syngas to
fuels including ethanol (Lopez et al. 2015). Researchers like Feyzi and Kuo worked
with inserting metal nanoparticles in porous materials and also nanosized catalysts
(basic) in cellulose and hemicellulose deconstruction and subsequent production
of fatty acids methyl ester (FAME) (Feyzi et al. 2013; Kuo et al. 2013). The
inorganic nanoparticles exhibit extraordinary characteristics for use as catalysts,
such as large specific surface area, pore size, acidic strength, and number for
high catalytic activity in heterogeneous reactions (Kondo et al. 2005). Synthesis

of mesoporous nanoparticles by techniques that allow excellent control of the final
particle morphology and size as well as uniform metal dispersity is achieved by
Wu et al. (2013). Furthermore, several experimental techniques have been used to
evaluate the catalytic performance of these catalysts (Lopez et al. 2015), but further
and more detailed characterization is desired.
Nanomaterials Specific Applications in Food Science
Nanotechnology is the leading up-to-date technology allowing endowment,

expansion, and long-lasting influence on food, agriculture, and healthcare sectors
(Fig. 14). Supplementation of nanomaterials has the capability to produce and
package safer, healthier, and best-quality effective foods having limited or longer
shelf life. However, wastage of food is one of the main concerns of food industry.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization documented that more than
1.3 billion metric tons of eatable food is wasted or lost each year all round the
world majorly due to poor transportation, storage, inferior post-harvest process,
gap in supply chain, and end user wastage of food (Tricco et al. 2019). Aside from
increasing the food manufacturing rate, it is necessary to manage wastage of food to
Fig. 14 Nanomaterials application in food science. (Note: Adapted from (Mustafa and Andreescu
2020) with copyright permission from Royal Society of Chemistry)
rectify the issue of food calamity created due to environmental issues and increasing
population. Moreover, the main reason for food deprivation is bacterial infection
and food deterioration which decreases the food standard resulting in reduced shelf
life of food products, deteriorating food condition and security, and enhancing the
threat of food generated disorders (Sperber 2009).
Nanotechnology is better than traditional food processing techniques resulting
in enhanced food shelf life, avoiding contamination, and providing improved food
standard (Fig. 12). The intuitive utilization of nanotechnology for advanced food
production can considerably influence the food accessibility, texture, consistency,
and taste which are obtained through moderation of surface charge of food
nano-additives, particle size, and possible aggregate development. Some of major
applications of nanotechnology in food science are as follows.
Nanotechnology in Food Processing

Nanofood can be mentioned as the food produced by utilizing nanotechnology
applications in production, preservation, packaging, and processing of food. Nan-
otechnology can play significant role and possess huge capability to process food
after its harvesting. This increases food taste, uniformity, appearance, and bio-
accessibility or disguise the displeasing smell or flavor, and alter the surface
features, size dispersal, prospective aggregate generation, and particle size (Powers
et al. 2006). Nanotechnology is also utilized for the synthesis of food consisting
low sugar, salt, and fat to circumvent food-borne disorders to live a healthier life. It
has been documented that TiO2 and silicon dioxide (SiO2 ) are authorized as food
supplements in large amount, for example, E171 and E551 (EFSA Scientific Com-
mittee 2009). Nano-additives based approach such as use of bio-nanoencapsulated
quercetin (biodegradable poly-D,L-lactide) has been utilized to enhance the storage
life of tomato and subsequently can be used to improve the durability of other
fruits and vegetables (Yadav 2017). Some of the usual examples highlighting
use of nanotechnology in commercialized nano-based products are canola active
oil, aquanova (micelle to increase the dissolution of vitamins A, K, D, C, and
E), green tea, neosino capsules, nutralease (consolidate nanocarriers to contain
drugs and nutraceuticals), omega fatty acids, and beta-carotenes. In similar manner
nanocapsules possessing tuna fish oil, nanoceutical slim shakes, fortified fruit juices,
and oat nutritional drinks are some of the intensively traded nanotechnology-based
foods in Australia, Japan, China, and the USA that are synthesized at industrial scale
(Poças et al. 2008).
Nanotechnology in Food Packaging

Nanoparticles administration in the food packaging has immense capability to carry
antibacterial polypeptides and thus possess significant antibacterial activity and
acts as shield to protect food from bacterial damage. Nanomaterials-based food
packaging substance synthesized from starch colloid covering is enclosed with
antibacterial agent, which provides resistance from microbes by regulated secretion
of antibacterial substances from advanced packaging substance (Sorrentino et al.
2007). For example, antioxidants, anti-browning agents, flavors, enzymes, and other
bioactive substances based nanoparticles are utilized to enhance the durability of

opened packaged food materials (Cha and Chinnan 2004; Weiss et al. 2006). In
addition metal oxide based nanoparticles such as zinc oxide, carbon, iron, silver,
carbon, silicon dioxide, titanium oxide, and magnesium oxides are extensively used
as antibacterial agent and in particular circumstances as food additive (He et al.
2019). Moreover, the incorporation of energetic nanoparticles into the polymer grid
enhances the presentation of food packaging material and furnishes specific char-
acteristics including antibacterial, antioxidant, and protective properties resulting
in longer resilience of food products (Sorrentino et al. 2007). Enclosure of garlic
oil in PEG covered nanoparticles has specific action against pests in stored food
products (Yang et al. 2009). Furthermore, the longevity of the food product has
been effectively enhanced by incorporating ε-polylysine in phytoglycogen octenyl
based nanoparticles (Scheffler et al. 2010).
Nanodelivery-Mediated Nutraceuticals
Nanomaterials generally possess small particle size but large surface area per
unit weight which increases the solubility, bioavailability, and biological activity
of enclosed food product (Yadav 2017). For example, nanoscale sized zinc and
iron materials utilized in the nutraceutical transportation increased the accessi-
bility and decreased the texture and shade alterations in final material. How-
ever, nanomaterials-based nutraceuticals possess both medicinal and nutritional
supplement which are produced by nanoformulation-based approach and uti-
lized in herbal products, bioactive substances, functional foods, and dietary sup-
plements (He et al. 2019). Various approaches and nanoparticle shapes have
been utilized for transportation of nutraceuticals including nanofibers, fullerenes,
nanowhiskers, and nanotubes. These nanomaterials-based combinations are trans-
ported through microemulsions, nanosensors, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs),
liposomes, biopolymer-based nanoparticles, microgels, monolayers, and cubosomes
(Cushen et al. 2012).
Potential Risk Associated with Use of Nanoparticles
Recently, well-engineered nanomaterials are concisely configured and reported at

the molecular level to bring out novel properties that cannot be visualized in their
bulk and conventional counterparts (Jeevanandam et al. 2018). This engineered nano
and nanobiomaterials are for specific end purposes like smart fertilizers, soil/water
remediation, or for application as biosolids to lands. However, there are potential
risks associated with above applications including affecting soil fertility and/or
organisms’ adverse health, through manifestation in the food chain. Researchers are
collecting data on these effects and interactions with organisms in natural waters,
sediments, and soils, especially at environmentally relevant exposure concentrations
(Khan et al. 2015; Hou et al. 2013; Priester et al. 2012; Lead et al. 2018).
More mesocosm-level tests (Colman et al. 2013) will improve our insights into
these engineered nano and nanobiomaterials effects on living organisms and the
ecosystem in general.
Summary
This chapter explores and details the classification, manufacturing, characterization

of nanobiomaterials and their utilization in various fields of modern biological sci-
ence. The principal challenge is designing nanobiomaterials which show conformity
to the desired application and can be developed to a commercial scale. This research
topic is an amalgamation of two different fields of science, namely, nanomaterials
and biological science and is necessary for industrial production of nanobiomateri-
als. The coalescence of nanoparticles with biological materials is safe, ethical and
environmentally sustainable process. Further, use of top-down as well as bottom-
up approaches along with nano-spraying, thermal gelation techniques, distinct
materials including organic-inorganic hybrid, ceramic, polymer, carbon and lipid-
based robust nanoparticles with enhanced efficiency can be synthesized for a
targeted purpose and application in medical sciences.
Due to a large number of nanomaterials possessing distinct characteristics, only
the most important ones having wider applicability are described in this chapter.
Several of their features such as particle size, morphology and surface-charge
characterizations are detailed in this chapter which will help industrial groups to
set-up safer production of nanobiomaterials in biomedical science.
There is a spurt of growth of design and production of nanobiomaterials or bio-
logical nano-devices with immense potential for the advancement in identification
and cure of human physiological disorders. There are numerous applications of
nanobiomaterials in medical science including treatment in multidrug resistance of
cancer cells, gene and drug delivery, molecular imaging, central nervous system
disease therapy, curing infectious diseases and forming nanomaterials-based vaccine
which are highlighted in this chapter. Another principal approach which is in use but
requires further advancement is to design and manufacture magnetic nano-devices
which can be targeted and remotely managed on the site of tumor or infection.
Use of nanomaterials in bioenergy production from algal biomass has also been
covered in this chapter alongwith their application in the conventional diesel and
biodiesel engines. These nanomaterials also play an important role in the food
industry both in food processing with enhanced nutritive food quality as well as
in the much needed food packaging.
All the advantages of nanomaterials and nanobiomaterials comes with a risk
factor of a possible adverse effect on the soil quality, other lower organisms survival
affecting the food chain. These risks need to assessed thoroughly and minimized so
that the miriad of advantages these materials offer can be utilized without disturbing
the ecological balance.
Future Challenges and Industrial Potential
During the past two decades, nanomaterials have played a considerable role in
industrial development. In fact, we would anticipate supplying many advancements
and new opportunities for the global economy from advances in nanotechnology
(Huang et al. 2017). With the prospective administration of nanomaterials in
the coming time, the nanobiomaterials could be potentially utilized in multiple
areas, including biomedical sciences, drug delivery agents, molecular diagnosis,
environmental sciences, food sciences, biofuels and bioenergy generation, etc.
Nanomaterials also have applications in clinical sciences, central nervous system
(CNS) disease therapy, and cancerous treatment, supported by their particle size,
surface features, less toxicity, better stability, and good compatibility with the
biological institution (Huang et al. 2017).
However, there exists various challenges in applying these approaches, and
there are debates regarding the possible risk of nanoparticles due to their size,
deep acting ability, and higher reactivity. The foremost immediate challenges are
the prospective chronic and acute harmful effects in CNS diseases and anticancer
therapy (Kostarelos et al. 2009). For example nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes
can damage the respiratory and cardiovascular systems (Lam et al. 2004; Proffitt
2004), and they can enter into the CNS using the blood–brain barrier leading to a
spread of various diseases related of sensory organ (Service 2004; Lam et al. 2006;
Nel et al. 2006). Moreover, toxicity of CNTs to lung tissue has also been confirmed
in mice (Mitchell et al. 2009; Renwick et al. 2004). This is because nanomaterials
can be connected with the external surface of biological membranes by electrostatic
forces or adsorption and they can cause potential damage to cells by producing
reactive oxygen species, resulting in protein denaturation, lipid peroxidation, DNA
damage, and ultimately necrosis (Zhang and Karn 2005; Lanone and Boczkowski
2006; Hoshino et al. 2011).
Although it is expected to take some more years to commercialize this technol-
ogy, yet products utilizing nanoscale substances for various industrial applications
are addressing toward clinical phase trials. However, among many only some
ranges of materials are certified by the US Food and Drug Administration, and
really few nanomaterials are further accepted to enter phase III clinical testing or
allowed to get inside the market (Huang et al. 2017). For example, far from being
commercialized are consolidated nano-electronic devices, which assure fascinating
biomedical and clinical uses such as implantable sensors which analyzes and report
health conditions. Hence, the eternal toxicity of nanomaterials to living world must
be potentially examined. Continuing research efforts might not be favorable to the
various applications of nanomaterials and commercial administration unless the
toxicity issues are sorted out.
Toward the route of industrialization, nanotechnology’s paramount responsibility
is its novelty. Novel materials are mainly recognized due to their originality if they
are resourceful and mesmerizing (Mazzola 2003). But providing nanotechnology
in the beginning phase of industrialization, only some investors are ready to

take risk and invest in this technology. However, nanomaterials manufacturing
has been transformed for large-scale synthesis and a number of other compa-
nies including Sumitomo, Tokyo, Japan, and Carbon Nanotechnologies, Houston,
TX, USA, are mainly manufacturing carbon nanotubes and fullerenes on large
scale (Mazzola 2003). But the assembly of consolidated nanoscale appliances is
considered a complicated process which involves utilization of number of micro
scale devices. Moreover, it is generally considered that nanotechnology could
significantly remodel other biological sciences and most importantly biomedical
science, but the reality is that it would take number of years to accomplish these
acceptances. Hence, a most practical approach would be to recognize a marketplace
for the final products and advanced devices that can currently be made available
utilizing nanotechnology (Mazzola 2003).
Furthermore, administration of nanotechnology for mankind healthcare requires
an interdisciplinary effort supported by ethical, social, and clinical acceptances
along with many extensive and result-oriented studies being dedicated to this
sector (Huang et al. 2017). However, nanotechnology possesses strong commercial
potential, yet its industrial application is far from destination or still in beginning
phase. In addition, nanotechnology is being extensively researched and is on the
particular focus of academia, where contemporary experiments and procedures
are being developed to expedite the speed of innovation with the efforts of
multidisciplinary teams and experts (Mazzola 2003). Therefore, it is anticipated that
humans will truly enjoy nanotechnology and nanobiomaterials within forthcoming
time.
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Adoption of Dematerialization Practices
in Knowledge Societies in Order to Achieve 28
Sustainable Outcomes
Fernanda E. D. Palandi and Jamile Sabatini-Marques
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780
Dematerialization in a Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784
Stage 0: Personal Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786
Stage 1: Knowledge Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787
Stage 2: Personal Consciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788
Stage 3: Social Metabolism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788
Stage 4: Ethics of Life Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789
Stage 5: Dematerialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 792
Abstract
At the beginning of humankind, there were purely humans and natural environ-
ment. Since then, human beings have used materials to create tools leading to
new technologies available to human evolution. The urbanization and industrial-
ization process that the planet has been suffering is nothing more than a process
of converting natural resources into a variety of artificial capital to meet human
needs. When one seeks to understand environmental problems more deeply, it
becomes clear that the culture of consumption – the cultural aspect of materi-
alization and the excessive use of materials – is one of the fundamental causes.
Human life in the knowledge age must obey the trend of systematic reduction of
material inputs brought by current reality. The linkages between consumption
and economic development are central to the challenge of dematerialization.
F. E. D. Palandi · J. Sabatini-Marques ()

Engineering and Knowledge Management, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Trindade,
Florianópolis, Brazil
e-mail: fernanda@labchis.com; jamile.sabatini@abes.org.br
780 F. E. D. Palandi and J. Sabatini-Marques
The introduction of new business models based on use (represented by more

services and technologies) rather than appropriation (materials) is one of the
possible actions that enable the implementation of dematerialization strategies.
Also, material consumption does not lead to happiness. Humankind does not
want things anymore but the experiences and means achieved with those things.
Indeed, every breakthrough in human civilization has been driven by a fundamen-
tal development in the Science of Materials. Each period of transition was marked
by the development of new material-processing techniques. Dematerialization,
which characterizes the transition to the knowledge age, is also marked by the
development of new techniques in material science, where more (intangible) can
be done with less (tangible).
Keywords
Dematerialization · Technology · Knowledge · Sustainability · Material

science
Introduction
About two million years ago, hominids known as Homo habilis and Homo erectus
began to wander the Earth. In the beginning, they were surrounded by things they
had not created. It was purely them and the natural environment (Leakey et al. 2012).
From then on, they began to use their skills in choosing materials to create tools.
These tools served as extenders of human functions, such as using animal skin to
protect them from cold weather, and knives to aid the hands and teeth. Each new
skill and tool created was a new technology available to human evolution (Kelly
2010).
Since then, human beings have used materials for survival and evolution.
Civilization only is what it is, and it only has what it has, through new discoveries
in the Science of Materials. These findings shaped the world, and the way society
interacts with it (Spaldin 2017). The urbanization and industrialization process
that the planet has been suffering is nothing more than a process of converting
natural resources into a variety of artificial capital to meet human needs. Artificial
capital accumulates continuously in society in its physical forms, which build the
indispensable material basis for all production and consumption activities (Zhang
et al. 2017).
A transition to sustainability must address the macroscale of human, economic,
and material properties, honoring the historical forces that shaped them (Fischer-
Kowalski and Steinberger 2017).
When one seeks to understand environmental problems more deeply, it becomes
clear that the culture of consumption is one of the fundamental causes. In the past, it
was thought that the problem was particularly in the production and consumption of
resources and the pollution it caused. But since production is directly converted into
public and private consumption, solutions must also be concentrated in the cultural
aspect of materialization, in which the behavior of society is based (Ropke 2001).
28 Adoption of Dematerialization Practices in Knowledge Societies in. . . 781
This cultural aspect of materialization is characterized by the consequence it

brings: The amount of material (assets) a person possesses gives her status, so this
is a cultural issue (Ausubel 1994). In the opposite direction of a mere consumer
role, the new concept of the prosumer has emerged. To be a prosumer means
to participate, to select, and to express an opinion; in this scenario of dynamic
circulation of knowledge and information, the prosumer is both consumer and
producer at the same time. For this reason, it is a market influencer even in the
development of products and services, since its choice structure is in accordance
with its principles and values (Marques and Vidigal 2018). It meant a migration
from passive consumers to highly skilled creators and collaborators.
Human life in the knowledge age must obey the trend of systematic reduction of
material inputs brought by current reality. This trend comes from several sectors: the
economy, as a result of recurrent crises; the technology, with the innovation of new
materials; and the cultural and political sector, as the focus for environmentalism
in lifestyle. The use of materials by humans is one of the main drivers of global
environmental change. The linkages between the use of materials and economic
development are central to the challenge of dematerialization, i.e., to dissociate the
use of materials with the economic growth (Carrillo 2004; Steinberger et al. 2010).
Thinking only about reusing a product does not guarantee an environmental
benefit. For reuse to be effective, there must be a demand for these goods, and
therefore rethinking the entire product strategy. Particular attention should be given
to the efficiency and long life of the product. These actions could and should be
voluntary by the industries, but if they are not, policies should be established to
increase the responsibility of those who manufacture and who consume. Thus,
a policy based on dematerialization can lead people to change their culture and
become more concerned about the final destination of products (Ausubel 1994;
Cleveland and Ruth 1998; Cooper and Gutowski 2015).
When dealing with the problem of waste generation, factors such as the reduction
and/or elimination of the waste in the generating source and the direct reuse, i.e., the
reincorporation of the residual materials in the production line, must be considered,
without loss of value with the application of waste management (Raupp 2006).
There is also the speech of “green” tax reform. The defenders advocate a
tribulation that aims to tax virgin materials in order to encourage the reuse and
circularity of materials in the production lines. They argue that the taxation
for the consumption of virgin materials and energy from nonrenewable sources
can promote low-carbon solutions and may drive toward regional and circular
economies, as opposed to the global and linear economy (which requires fuel-based
transportation for the processing of goods). Along these lines, natural resources
including human labor would no longer be taxed, or expense would be reduced
and be much smaller compared to nonrenewable sources, giving incentives to work
harder and to create more wealth from fewer “new” resources.
Greater efficiency of natural resources results in greater wealth for society and,
consequently, a higher GDP. Also, since the government is the driving force behind
dematerialization, tax policies can guide the use of technology and knowledge
instead of materials for non-noble uses. And, from the economic point of view,
safe access to natural resources is essential for industrial competitiveness and
consequently social economic sustainability (Bigano et al. 2016; Mancini et al.

2015; Stahel 2013).
Another way to dematerialize is with the services products. An example of how
services products work is exposed by Romero and Rossi (2017), where instead of
buying products, customers pay to use them while the manufacturer remains the
owner of the product, providing value-added services over its life cycle and thus
ensuring product liability. In any case, service products must always design the
appropriate material flows to promote their circularity, always prioritizing waste pre-
vention before considering reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and landfill (Corvellec
and Stål 2017). The Service-Dominant Logic defines that this society is service-
based, as anticipated, but that the materiality of services must be systematically
acknowledged, questioned, and approached for it to be dematerialized (Vargo and
Lusch 2016; Corvellec and Stål 2017).
The United Nations Environment Programme in 2017 created a guide named
“Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information” where the goal is to
create a global consensus on the provision of information to empower consumers’
choice. They should be able to select their consumption according to the available
information regarding production, use, and disposal. It shows that sustainable
consumption and production must be supported and practiced by all actors in
the chain, in social, economic, and environmental terms. In the meantime, the
Replenish method by Tia Kansara et al. (2018) is an individual measure of how
much humankind return to nature – while methods that assess how much humans
take from nature are the ones mostly used, this one checks how much is given
back. It is a way of rethinking human relationship with nature, “a call to action”
on ecological service to nature.
The introduction of new business models based on use rather than appropriation
is one of the possible actions that enable the implementation of dematerialization
strategies and circular and shared economies, for example (Gnoni et al. 2017). The
adoption of services as products can help guide companies and societies to change
the linear view from cradle-to-grave to cradle-to-cradle (McDonough and Braungart
2010). The combination of the dematerialization culture with circular systems
brings numerous advantages, such as recovery, remanufacturing, and recycling
of materials, reducing waste generation and emissions, and guaranteeing broader
access to high-technology products.
Cleveland and Ruth (1998) believes that one’s understanding of the mechanism
and extent behind material use patterns is limited. Schoer et al. (2012) argue that it is
a common pattern for producers to hide information about the production cycle from
their consumers, emphasizing the need to focus on the knowledge of production
chains and to encourage dematerialization. This choice of accounting methodology
and goal setting should be guided by the political objective of dematerialization,
reduction of environmental impact, and security in the reserve of resources (Mancini
et al. 2015).
Carrillo (2014) understands dematerialization as the trends of digitization;
servitization (a reinterpretation of manufacturing as a service); virtual and aug-
mented reality; 3D printing; and Internet of things; among others. The theory
of dematerialization as the idea of consuming fewer materials with the help of

technology develops as a way of guiding society through the resolution of the
planetary problems humankind has caused.
Being in the age of knowledge, economy will be represented by more services
and technologies than materials. Indeed, it is also important to be attentive to the way
services and technologies are produced and executed so that their own conception
is based on the assumptions of dematerialization. Services and technology together
reduce the need for materials and can lead to a systematic reduction of environmen-
tal impacts (Cleveland and Ruth 1998; Bartelmus 2003; Magee and Devezas 2017).
Fachinelli et al. (2017) point out that public policies are concentrated in the
productive system, relating their material-based products to economic development
and growth theory. Technology has been demonstrating that immaterial factors are
fundamental in modern life and can elevate people’s living conditions as opposed to
material-intensive economics.
The 2011 United Nations Report on decoupling can be translated to finding
alternatives to changing the parameters the economic performance of nations is
measured. The report points out that dematerialization is ongoing, with economic
growth supported by the decreasing use of materials, energy, and low pollution rates,
that is, material resources are being used more efficiently per unit of wealth (Fischer-
Kowalski et al. 2011; Abramovay 2012).
But why is humanity consuming less material? On the one hand, there are
economic reasons for scarcity and a growing list of materials with minimal or no
availability. On the other hand, there is not only the awakening of environmental
awareness based on scientific studies, but also the awakening of the inner question-
ing that leads humans to see themselves as part of a whole. In addition, it is no
longer about moving, rearranging, mining, burning, refining, and stacking atoms.
The greatest inventions used today are stack information, not heavy atoms. The
most complex technologies are also the lightest and least “material” ones (Carrillo
2014; Kelly 2010).
For these reasons, the debate has intensified today; it is not only a matter of
volume – extraction of large volumes of materials, processing of large volumes of
materials, consumption of large volumes of materials, or large volumes of materials
being discarded – but it is also social, political, and ethical. Questions such as
“is this cycle of extraction, processing, consumption and disposal happening in an
ecosystem that should instead be preserved? Is there contamination of tributaries,
land and air? Is there a positive return to the society where this cycle is taking place,
with investments in health, education and infrastructure? Are politicians aware and
working for environmental or only monetary preservation?” should be asked.
Hence, dematerialization can be seen and adopted as the link between the
variation in economic manifestations of the volume of materials processed globally
and the ways of living and understanding the cultural process in which matter yields
the main role to information. Instead of only material objects (manifestations of
matter and energy generating sensory records), also the perception of these objects
such as emotions and their psychological elaborations comes to dominate everyday
life (Carrillo 2015).
According to Carrillo (2004), dematerialization is not only the reduction in

the volume of input and output material, but also the minimization of individual
ownership of materials, where the emphasis is placed on obtaining experiences
rather than acquiring objects: more value, less mass. Thus, dematerialization is the
process of the knowledge factor being increased in natural processes.
Primarily, there are psychological reasons to dematerialize. There is now clear
evidence that, beyond a certain point, material consumption does not lead to
happiness. Although a certain level of consumption is imperative for the survival
of modern society – which in addition to the basic elements like water, food and
energy, identity, and status is also on the list – increased material consumption does
not produce a high and stable degree of satisfaction and can even increase subjective
dissatisfaction with one’s life (Whitmarsh et al. 2017).
Thus, Carrillo (2014) demonstrates that there is a new understanding of the
relation between knowledge and value. The production of value is no longer based
on physical attributes of matter but on symbolic attributes. Rather than objects
being the result of manifestations of matter and energy which generate a sensorial
and instrumental record, they are represented and interpretated, i.e., the ideas and
emotions built on the perceptions of that object. Knowledge transforms people into
more informed and responsible – aware – citizens, and this therefore can be seen as
a paradigm breaker in societies (Fachinelli et al. 2017).
The use comes to overcome the possession. Humankind does not want things
anymore but the experiences and means achieved with those things. Since human
beings are social and communicative animals, there is a tendency to solve problems
collectively. Therefore, awareness regards the process of consumption of material
and energy, and the return to the environment is a characteristic of the society and
the economy based on knowledge and sustainability (Fischer-Kowalski 1998a).
Dematerialization in a Framework
Combining literature review and research, the authors proposed a framework for
the cultural process of dematerialization, in a sense of levels for the adoption of
dematerialization practices.
It is an interpretative model of the cultural process of dematerialization for
achieving sustainable outcomes in knowledge societies. This model seeks to repre-
sent a spiral, where it starts from stage 0 and progresses to stage 5, dematerialization.
It instigates us to think that this process is cyclical and sequential, where the first is
the basis of the second and the second is the consequence of the first. But it is not
a single, linear, and static process. There are several dynamic actions that happen
simultaneously in space-time.
Each stage is composed of specific characteristics, where stage 0 begins with
personal motivation since the individual needs this inner strength to act toward the
more sustainable practices of dematerialization. Personal motivation is composed of
three elements: wishes (which can be defined as a willingness to want something for
oneself), interests (which is thought to be important, or useful, or that brings some
advantage to us), and needs (which highlights the search for knowledge about what
is necessary for action).
Stage 1 is the atmosphere of knowledge which permeates and belongs to the
individual in all their daily processes and is composed of sensation (which is the first
response when a data reaches the individual), perception (which is the information
that leads the individual to have a perception), cognition (which is the knowledge
that provides an understanding of the patterns), and competence (which is the
individual’s awareness of a context that leads them to act competently).
Stage 2 is the consciousness born in the individual when he/she awakens, when
he/she feels and perceives what happens around them and looks for the reasons.
That is, when they take responsibility for their choices. It is composed of awareness
(emotional triggers psychologically affecting and potentially leading to cultural
changes), experimentation (experience with approaching effect changes attitude),
sense of belonging (humans feel that they belong to nature as they recognize
themselves in it), and value (disseminating the meaning of dematerialization
acquires value for more dematerialized practices).
Stage 3 is social metabolism based on environmental, economic, and social
sustainability and is the result of the flows of matter and energy of the interaction
between nature-society and society-society, as well as the cultural practices that
people adopt in each process. It is composed of social behavior (when interaction
of knowledge with WIN regulates daily practices, shaping social behavior), the reg-
ulatory framework (regulating flows within the economic system, promoting equity
in the social and environmental system), alternative economy (understanding the
logic of economic growth, consumption, flows, and materials cycle), and appropriate
technology (the study of advanced materials and technological uniqueness is the
driver of human life change).
Stage 4 is the life cycle ethics, where the consumer must be aware of the
product cycle and/or service he/she chooses to consume. It consists of production
(origin of the material, processing, workers involved, new environmental design
criteria, sophisticated materials research, and cyclical chain), consumption (seeking
information to understand where the products and services to be consumed come
from), and reincorporation (considers the externalities generated throughout the
product cycle and encourages the extension of its life span).
And the last and fifth stage is that of dematerialization, which involves know-
ing how to adopt more dematerialized practices and producing knowledge and
disseminating it, bringing the results to society in the form of sustainability. It is
composed of the knowledge society (it values collaboration between economies,
promotes knowledge sharing, and has goals for collective well-being and education
of society), sustainable outcomes (conservation of biodiversity with the balance
between humans and the natural environment with the intelligent use of the
resources of the planet), and the cultural process (dematerialization is an itinerant
philosophical school and is linked to existential values and lifestyles) (Fig. 1).
The proposed dematerialization cultural process framework follows the exposi-
tion below, and its spheres will be explained in order of appearance, as stages from
0 to 5.
Fig. 1 Proposed dematerialization cultural process framework
Stage 0: Personal Motivation
Stage zero begins with personal motivation. Personal motivation is composed of

three elements: wishes, interests, and needs.
There are two situations to fully reach the next stage, stage 1: Either the
individual is motivated because she has wishes, interests, and/or needs and seeks
the knowledge she needs to execute the plan that motivates her, or she has a certain
prior knowledge but still needs to find a motivation to use that knowledge in her
day-to-day life.
What has been perceived is that there is no way to achieve sustainable practices
of dematerialization without the individual feeling engaged in it. It is a force that
must spring from within each being, and this moment is unique and special.
Knowledge may be around, but if people do not feel that knowledge is part
of their being, they do not absorb it, nor drink from its source. In fact, the more
knowledge about issues such as sustainability, dematerialization, and knowledge
society pervades the individual, the more likely it will be to awaken them, to bring
motivation for adopting such practices.
Wish, interest, and need are complementary, but having only one is enough to
begin the process.
Stage 1: Knowledge Atmosphere
The knowledge atmosphere is conceptualized by the sensation, perception, cogni-

tion, and competence of knowledge. It is named atmosphere because it permeates
and belongs to the individual in all her daily processes.
Being in a knowledge atmosphere of environmental, economic, and social
sustainability is essential for the individual to adopt sustainable practices of
dematerialization in her daily life. But for this to happen, she must have the need,
the wish, and/or the interest to support their daily motivation and engagement.
Knowledge is essential when focused on action. When the individual receives
different knowledge of what she usually does in their life, a first reaction may be to
be paralyzed by the fact that she does not know exactly what to do in return.
Education can contribute when it is part of a strategy of mobilization, engage-
ment, and action. In addition to immersing the adult individual in this atmosphere
of knowledge, it is necessary to educate children. Children are the vector of change,
and a strategy to be adopted is ecological literacy.
Ecological literacy must place society back into nature, being part of a larger
whole. Society needs to understand that it is part of nature and nature has a slightly
spherical shape and blue color, called Planet Earth, floating in a space hostile to
terrestrial life. In short, it has a limit, it is finite. It is an educational campaign with
immersion experiences where one observes and learns with nature, whose chains
are interconnected and feed it back.
Ecological literacy comes to bring light to the new proposed time period called
the Anthropocene and is characterized by the impact of human action on the
planet composed of complex problems of unprecedented magnitude, putting human
existence at risk. The very notion of sustainability is characteristic of this era.
Ecological literacy must be interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and playful. It
must provide room for creative and motor development, working the capabilities. It
must study the psychological processes of the relation of the human being with the
objects. It must educate so that each person takes responsibility for the externalities
their choices generate. It should stimulate the internal questioning so that the human
being evolves through the study of their acts and feelings.
Because of this understanding that in nature there is no residue or waste and all
cycles interconnect and generate products for others, communities are motivated
to become involved in understanding the supply of their own chains composed of
products and services for their consumption. And so, this recognition of human
species along with the other forms of life and kingdoms acquires value. The
individual feels familiar, and this process begins to make sense to him.
The individual increases their power of knowledge, the community improves,
and society moves toward sustainability.
Stage 2: Personal Consciousness
Consciousness is born in the individual as a result of the intersection between the

atmosphere of knowledge to WIN. It is when the individual awakens, when they feel
and perceive what goes on around them and seek the reasons. It is when they take a
sense of responsibility for their choices and consequences for themselves.
It is noticed that the problems previously listed by literature review and the inter-
viewees’ speech are due to the lack of individual awareness, and this consequently
affects the other levels in community, in organizations, and in governments. Neither
level takes responsibility for the consequences of its consumption.
In fact, humanity is witnessing a surprising evolution of innovations, and
consciousness is not keeping pace with how things change. These consequences
are not being mitigated in time to stop the activity before a profound impact. It is
perceived that in a global way, both society and government and business are not
debating the finiteness of natural resources.
With the knowledge of the effect of their actions on the environment, humans
acquire a perception of global level and naturally approach nature and create this
culture of awareness, this search for learning where it comes from, where it goes,
and why. The path of education and consumer awareness is one of the main tools.
At this level, it is possible and necessary to generate social debates to explore
different possibilities about this anthropocentric problem and to integrate it into the
daily actions of everyday life. Taking responsibility for it, small gestures can be
adopted that impact on the emotional condition of those who perform them.
Usually, the natural process is that when the individual awakens to the fact that
what is around them is part of themselves, their self-knowledge improves. They
begin to unlink their qualities and potentials from the objects they possess. They
begin to reject waste simply because this behavior is no longer part of their being.
So instead of only material objects (manifestations of matter and energy generat-
ing sensory registers), also the perception of these objects as the emotions and their
psychological elaborations comes to dominate daily life.
Stage 3: Social Metabolism
Social metabolism is based on environmental, economic, and social sustainability

and is the result of the flows of matter and energy of the interaction between nature-
society and society-society, as well as the cultural practices that people adopt in
each process. Thus, sustainability is a socioecological tribute that arises through the
interpretation of a society with its natural environment.
For an update on the calculation of flows of matter and energy, not only the social
consequences must be taken into account, but also environmental assets such as
biodiversity, which are endangered for the cultural maintenance of today’s society.
The changes caused by the social metabolism in ecosystems must be soft and
happen on a scale of time and volume that nature is able to support the demands but
not threatening to the well-being of society or even the survival of the human species
itself. Everyone should have equal rights of access to environmental services,
without violating the planet’s load capacities.
Cities are the cluster of the collective, and the identity of local nature must
be maintained with the humanistic conception of urban planning, looking at the
best practices around the world but customizing them to each city. The city needs
to support the collective because the collective adheres to and expands these
sustainable practices of dematerialization.
Consumption is a cultural practice that is within the social metabolism and
today is associated with personal fulfillment. To manage the metabolism of the
material that society demands, and then carry out dematerialization, understanding
the relationship between the use of materials and economic growth is essential.
In order for consumption to be sustainable, in addition to consumer knowledge,
information, and awareness, the means of production must also be adequate so there
is supply, where the consumer can consciously make his choice. Thus, a balance
between consumer practices and production results in a more sustainable and more
responsible lifestyle.
Thus, environmental performance indicators need to analyze material flows in
an interdisciplinary way, providing a powerful tool when knowledge-based devel-
opment aligns with sustainability. This generates knowledge about the consequence
of consumption and awareness to choose what to consume.
The most effective pressure comes from society, since it is the one that pressures
for a more concrete change. True freedom of consumption is what shapes the market
and the government.
Stage 4: Ethics of Life Cycle
It seems obvious that the shift to sustainable practices of dematerialization will

occur when the consumer is aware of the cycle of the product and/or service they
are choosing to consume.
This knowledge comes through tracking the entire cycle of products and services.
Technology should serve as an ally in capturing and sharing data on the origin,
processing, workers involved, and externalities generated.
Dematerialization leads industry and society as a whole to care more about the
ultimate fate of their fabricated items. It suggests new environmental design criteria
and a new generation of sophisticated materials research. Knowledge has to focus on
the development model, on the decision of the entrepreneur when creating a product
or service so that it is adapted to a cyclical chain.
Thus, alternative economics can be a closed-loop economy, achieving sustain-
ability. In a sustainable economy, manufacturing, resources, extraction, and waste
management must be considered together. Manufacturing is integrated into the
economic process in order to meet the human and environmental needs of the
society, with the lowest possible consumption of resources. The optimization of
the total life span of products reduces the depletion of natural resources and,
consequently, the waste. The longer use of products will thus contribute to the
transition to a sustainable society.
For reuse to be effective, there must be demand for these goods, and therefore
rethinking the entire production strategy. Production in an alternative economy
contributes to the qualitative richness in which all products and by-products should
be useful in a closed cycle, with more reuse than recycling to minimize energy
and resource spending. These actions should and must be voluntary on the part of
the industries, but if they are not, policies should be established to increase the
responsibility of those who manufacture and those who consume.
With a systemic view by the city management, spreading the calculations of
social metabolism is also a strategy. To show the population the analysis of the
inflows and outflows of matter and energy of their city expresses the impact that
society generates and what can be improved to be sustainable in environmental,
social, and economic level. It is necessary to show the alternatives to society.
Recognizing the system from where matter and energy, with the waste as by-
product, circulate within the economic and social sphere brings an effective result
of the environmental sphere.
In principle, any reduction in the use of primary materials reduces the depletion
of natural resources as well as the residual and polluting results. The implementation
of these strategies can be stimulated by a change of ownership of the product by
the consumer for the sharing and leasing, encouraging the manufacturer to always
improve their product, reaching long life, closed cycles, and with open information
for the consumer of all related processes.
Stage 5: Dematerialization
It is necessary to teach to think, to understand, and to research dematerialization:

knowing how people can adopt more dematerialized practices and what kind of
impact they have on the economic, social, and environmental dimension; producing
knowledge and disseminating it; and most importantly, bringing the results to
society.
Knowledge of the origin of how society works enables citizens to understand
their possibilities, their space, their rights, and their duties. Knowledge is built from
comprehending the context, developing meaning. To evaluate, judge, and decide
through meanings created by the mind and the society is what characterizes the
human being. History demonstrates the remarkable ability of societies to learn how
to better produce goods and services.
So, what humankind need is a deep cultural transformation of the entire value
system as a precondition for meeting the challenges of a reinterpretation of the
human being on the planet.
The society known is changing into a society of knowledge, supported by
alternative economies and with the predominance of services less material-intensive.
Integrative sustainability indicators are enhancing and developing and will be used
in policy formulation and monitoring. These policies should be welcomed by a
society that calls for a better quality of life together with nature and with more
humane and fair values.
Dematerialization and waste reduction are the result of systems of interaction
between people and technologies. It seems that society is at the stage of sufficient
technical and cultural knowledge for the transformation to a deeply green planet.
Reducing pollution levels is considered a prerequisite, regardless of its relationship
to the regeneration capacity of the environment.
Conclusion
Indeed, from the Neolithic villages to today’s silicon age, every breakthrough in
human civilization has been driven by a fundamental development in the Science
of Materials. Each period of transition was marked by the development of new
material-processing techniques. Dematerialization, which characterizes the transi-
tion to the knowledge age, is also marked by the development of new techniques in
material science, where more (intangible) can be done with less (tangible) (Spaldin
2017).
Some insights can be highlighted in the adoption of dematerialization practices
in knowledge societies in order to achieve sustainable outcomes, but mostly, the
awareness of how much people cost to the world, how heavy it is for the globe
to carry humankind. Each person must plant a tree because humans truly need it,
in order to survive: so that it can provide the air to breathe, the shade for rest, the
barrier against adverse climatic conditions, and the fruit for food. In this way, people
can begin to respect the evolution history of every little thing in the world. For every
element that exists in the universe today, it has a history of evolution for it to be
what it is today and to provide what it provides today. People must learn to respect
the trajectory of both inanimate materials and all forms of life on the planet in order
to not waste them. The environment is circular by nature. Humans have developed
a linear production that does not fit into the planetary system.
In this way, work had to be done to generate a new resource: It is not enough
just to zero in on our impact. It is needed to generate resources through new
technologies, like electricity or production of biogas with local sewage treatment
plants, or even produce a good part of daily food with urban and vertical gardens.
The government should embrace the cause and stimulate the agenda of sustainable
and dematerialized practices, and people must demand that, as well as regulate the
disclosure of information regarding the origin, processing, and disposal of materials.
Everyone should have equal rights of access to environmental services, without
violating the planet’s carrying capacities. It is needed also to seek to understand
the logic of economic growth, consumption, flows, and materials cycle, and to use
technology as an ally in capturing and sharing data about the origin, processing,
workers, and externalities generated in the production of a product or service. If
technology is used as a stimulator of the creation of digital structures that allow
doing more sharing, it must stimulate the market of services.
The goal must be to seek and spread ecological literacy: Be aware that everyone
is a part of something much bigger and educate children to think that way. Science
shows how small humankind is in comparison to the immensity of the universe, and
with humbleness comes knowledge.
As many studies have shown (Whitmarsh et al. 2017), consumption does not lead
to happiness. People must look for new symbols and identifications. They no longer
need to be the most modern car, or the most expensive clothing, or the happiest
photo and many likes. New identifications can come with the wonderful feeling of
helping others, sharing, and being with nature.
And finally, another goal is that everyone must all be more thinking, creative,
artistic, cognitive, sensory, and sensitive. Stimulate unconventional thinking, test
ideas, and try dreams, and of course, all on the basis of compassion, a greater love
for all that surrounds us, of love for life, for this period in which one walks on the
planet, and love and gratitude for Him providing everything needed. In general, it is
perceived that the sustainable practices coming from dematerialization do not arrive
by circumstances, they arrive by the conscience.
Dematerialization is an itinerant philosophical school and is linked to existential
values and lifestyle, where there is a minimization of individual property of
materials, and where the emphasis is placed on obtaining experiences instead of
acquiring objects, generating value with practices of dematerialization. The ways to
live and understand the cultural process of dematerialization is to understand that
matter gives way to knowledge.
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A Perspective on the Frictional Properties
of Soft Materials as Smart Applications 29
Vinit Gupta, Arun K. Singh, Nitish Sinha, and Kailas L. Wasewar
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796
Mathematical Models of Frictional Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800
Modeling of Dynamic Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800
Modeling of Stress Relaxation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800
Modeling of Static Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801
Analysis of Frictional Behavior of Gelatin Hydrogels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802
Analysis of Dynamic Frictional Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802
Analysis of Stress Relaxation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804
Analysis of Static Frictional Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806
Application of Present Study in Development of Smart Materials and Devices . . . . . . . . . . . 807
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808
List of Websites and Youtube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811
V. Gupta
Department of Mechanical Engineering, S.B. Jain Institute of Technology, Management and
Research, Nagpur, India
A. K. Singh ()
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur,
India
N. Sinha
Department of Mechanical Engineering, G.H. Raisoni Institute of Business Management,
Jalgaon, India
K. L. Wasewar
Advance Separation and Analytical Laboratory (ASAL), Department of Chemical Engineering,
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, India
796 V. Gupta et al.
Abstract
Soft solids such as hydrogels and elastomers have found many applications in
smart materials and devices ranging from robotics, drug delivery, adhesives to
shock absorbers. These are generally characterized by the presence of fluid/air
in their three dimensional molecular structures and also possess the ability to
undergo large scale deformation. When a soft block is sheared past on a hard
substrate, it shows stick-slip motion in the form of periodic drop and rise of
frictional stress as well as corresponding shear velocity. However, sliding motion
becomes smooth at the critical velocity and steady sliding follows. In this book
chapter, static, dynamic, and residual stresses of the gelatin hydrogels are studied
with slide-hold-slide friction experiments on soft gelatin hydrogels. It is observed
that static and dynamic frictions increase with shear rate, but residual stress
remains independent of shear velocity. Friction models, based on the population
balance of bond formation and rupture at the sliding interface, have also been
proposed to explain the aforementioned frictional properties. Validity of the
friction models is discussed in view of the proposed scaling laws from the
friction experiments. At the end, possible applications of the present study in
development of smart materials and systems are also discussed.
Keywords
Critical velocity · Dynamic friction · Gelatin hydrogels · Hard surfaces ·

Mesh size · Population balance friction models · Stick-slip · Residual
strength · Strong bonds · Soft solids · Static friction · Slide-hold-slide test ·
Viscous retardation · Weak bonds
Introduction
In recent time, smart materials and devices have played important role in design
and development of new technologies. Smart materials have the ability to change
their properties in response of external stimuli (Prasad et al. 1998; Schwatz 2002;
Torras et al. 2017 Liu et al. 2018; Spaggiari et al. 2019). These materials are also
known as intelligent materials and belong to the family of multifunctional materials
(Prasad et al. 1998; Kamila 2013). Examples of smart materials are soft hydrogels,
liquid crystal elastomers, shape memory polymers, etc. (Cianchetti et al. 2014; Lim
et al. 2014; Kluge et al. 2015; Li and Meng 2015; Huang et al. 2020). These
are generally classified as active smart and semi-active smart materials in Fig. 1
(Kamila 2013; Spaggiari et al. 2019). Smart materials are also classified on basis of
their properties and applications, for instance, bio-inspired materials, smart coating,
thermal reposing materials, self-healing materials, etc., in Fig. 1 (Lenoe et al. 1994;
Xia and Jiang 2008; Ghosh 2009).
Understanding of interfacial properties such as adhesion and friction of smart
materials are also critical for their functional performances in variety of applications
29 A Perspective on the Frictional Properties of Soft Materials as Smart Applications 797
Smart Materials
Semi-active Smart Materials Active Smart Materials
1. Magnetorheological fluids 1. Shape Memory Alloys

2. Electrorheological fluids 2. Magnetic Shape Memory Alloys
3. Magnetorheological elastomes 3. Shape Memory Polymer
1. Soft Materials
Self-healing polumers
2. Bio-inspired Materials (Gecopad) (Delivery Agents,
3. Smart paint & Lubricants Sensor, Soft Robotics
Fig. 1 Presents a schematic classification and applications of different types of smart materials
(Prasad et al. 1998)
(Bhushan and Burton 2005; Bhushan 2008; Pesika et al. 2009; Singh et al. 2012;
Helseth 2014; Jagota and Hui 2011; Kluge et al. 2015; Masuda and Sawai 2017;
Tang et al. 2018). Intelligent adhesives such as gecko pad and smart paints have
been developed based on their ability to adhere with the substrates (Zhao et al.
2009; Pesika et al. 2009; Xia et al. 2013). A unique feature of soft solids is that they
undergo larger scale deformation and show the properties of both elasticity as well
as viscoelasticity (Shull 2002; Creton and Ciccotti 2016). These materials are also
sensitive to temperature and humidity of surroundings.
Friction properties of hydrogels and elastomers are important in many physical
phenomena such as stick-slip instability, self-healing pulses, and Schallamach wave
(Gong et al. 1997; Baumberger et al. 2002, 2003; Yamaguchi et al. 2009; Wang
et al. 2019; Viswanathan et al. 2016;; Thakre and Singh 2018b). It is important
to note that while adhesion is a process of disappearing two contacting surfaces,
friction is basically a shear rupture process that results in reappearance of those
merged surfaces (Persson 2000; Thakre and Singh 2018a, b, 2019). In other words,
adhesion and friction are the just opposite phenomena (Thakre and Singh 2018,
2019). Further, while adhesion is characterized by normal force, friction is primarily
a shear force (Persson 2000). The Johnson, Kendall, and Roberts (JKR) test is often
used to measure work of adhesion as well as work of rupture (Shull 2002; Jagota
and Hui 2011). Noting that work of adhesion of a soft solid is independent of sliding
rate, but that depends on surface energy of the contacting surfaces (Thakre and Singh
2018c). Friction, in contrast, depends on sliding rate and also evaluated as work of
rupture (Shull 2002; Thakre and Singh 2018a, 2019).
Nevertheless, interfacial properties mainly arise owing to formation and rupture
of dangling chains at the sliding interface of the soft solids (Schallamach 1963;
Vorvolakos and Chaudhury 2003; Singh and Juvekar 2011). Slide-hold-slide (SHS)
798 V. Gupta et al.
Fig. 2 Frictional shear stress vs. time of a gelatin hydrogel (c = 6% wt./vol.) on a smooth glass
substrate in a typical slide-hold-slide (SHS) test in direct shear sliding of the gel block. (Adopted
from Gupta and Singh 2016)
test (Fig. 2) is carried out in stable regime on a soft block in direct shear to
measure its static, dynamic, residual stresses, and critical velocity (Baumberger et al.
2003; Gupta and Singh 2016, 2018). Waiting time and shear rate-dependent friction
experiments are generally carried out above the critical velocity, that is, in stable
sliding regime (Baumberger et al. 2003; Gupta and Singh 2016, 2018; Singh et al.
2021).
Figure 2 presents a typical SHS test carried out on a gelatin hydrogel-glass
interface for a fixed hold time of 60s, but at varying shear rates (V0 = 0.5–
5.0 mms−1 ) larger than the critical velocity of 0.15 mms−1 (Gupta and Singh
2016, 2018). The inset plot in Fig. 2 shows that frictional stress increases linearly
with time to its maximum value, before the onset of motion. This maximum value
of friction is often measured as static frictional strength or simply static strength
(Baumberger et al. 2003; Persson 2000). After that, since external pulling velocity
is larger than the critical velocity, the sliding gel block acquires steady dynamic
sliding and corresponding stress is defined as dynamic stress (Baumberger et al.
2003; Gupta and Singh 2016, 2018; Gupta et al. 2018). Further, if the steadily sliding
1
0.8 (a)
0.6
0.4
0.2
shear stress σ (kPa)
0.8
(b)
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.8 (c)
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
time (s)
Fig. 3 Average shear stress vs. time showing the two dynamical behaviors of the system: Stick-
slip at low driving velocity (a) V0 = 0.05 mms−1 (b) V0 = 0.1 mms−1 . Stable sliding at
higher velocity than critical velocity Vcr = 0.12 mms−1 (c) V0 = 0.15 mms−1 . (Adopted from
Baumberger et al. 2003)
block is suddenly stopped, that is, V0 = 0, stress relaxation occurs and stabilizes to
a nonzero but a constant value of frictional stress (Fig. 2). This is known as residual
stress of the sliding system (Baumberger et al. 2003; Gupta and Singh 2016, 2018).
An interesting observation in Fig. 2 is that unlike static and dynamic stresses, the
residual stress remains independent of shear rates (Baumberger et al. 2003; Gupta
and Singh 2016, 2018).
In SHS friction test, if shear velocity is below the critical velocity of the sliding
gel block, stick-slip motion is seen as in Fig. 3 (Baumberger et al. 2003). However,
amplitudes of stick-slip decrease with shear velocity (Fig. 3). This frictional
instability disappears at the critical velocity and steady sliding follows as evident
in Fig. 3c. In this type of unstable sliding, frictional stress and corresponding shear
velocity vary periodically with time (Fig. 3a, b). However, the sliding becomes
stable at the critical velocity Vcr = 0.12 mms−1 in Fig. 3c (Baumberger et al.
2003). It is important to mention that stick-slip is a frictional instability that occurs
owing to mechanical interaction between elasticity of the sliding system and friction
force (Persson 2000). Decrease of friction force at the sliding interface with shear
velocity is a necessary condition for stick-slip instability (Persson 2000). Inertia of
the sliding mass is often taken into account to model stick-slip friction. However,
800 V. Gupta et al.
the rate and state friction (RSF) modeling has shown that stick-slip instability may
be also studied with considering inertia of the sliding mass (Rice and Ruina 1983).
Mathematical Models of Frictional Properties
Modeling of Dynamic Friction
Mathematical models for dynamic, stress relaxation, and static frictions have been
proposed by Singh and Juvekar (2011, 2014, 2021) to explain the experimental
observations in Fig. 2. Using the concept of population balance of dangling chains
at the sliding interface, Singh and Juvekar (2011) have proposed a model for
dimensionless dynamic stress σ̂0 as function of dimensionless shear velocity V̂0 and
adhesion constant u as below

u
exp u
V̂0 V̂0 u u u
σ̂0 = G1 − ln E1 (1)
u+ u
exp u
E1 u V̂0 V̂0 V̂0
V̂0 V̂0 V̂0
During the sliding of a soft solid on a substrate, the dangling chains experience
another type of resistance owing to the surrounding chains which is known as
viscous retardation effect (Singh and Juvekar 2011). The modified form of Eq. (1)
after taking into account the dimensionless coefficient of viscous retardation γ̂
results in

1
exp u e−γ̂ V̂0 G1 u e−γ̂ V̂0 − ln u E1 u e−γ̂ V̂0
V̂0 V̂0 V̂0 V̂0 V̂0
u −γ̂ V̂0 u −γ̂ V̂0
+ γ̂ V̂0 1
exp e E1 e
V̂0 V̂0 V̂0
σ̂0 =
1 + 1 exp u e−γ̂ V̂0 E1 u e−γ̂ V̂0
V̂0 V̂0 V̂0
(2)
Above expression for dynamic stress predicts increasing dynamic stress with
shear velocity, before reaching to a maximum value. After that, dynamic stress
decreases as shear velocity is increased further (Schallamach 1963; Singh and
Juvekar 2011).
Modeling of Stress Relaxation Process
Singh and Juvekar (2014) have also proposed a strong bond friction (SBF) model for
stress relaxation during hold period of SHS experiment. As mentioned above that
in Fig. 2, relaxation stress stabilizes to a nonzero value which is known as residual
or dead stress (Baumberger et al. 2003; Gupta and Singh 2018). Yet, residual stress
is independent of shear rates as evident in Fig. 2. Further, it is also assumed in

the friction model that weak bonds during steady sliding become strong bonds at
a critical time or transition time (Singh and Juvekar 2014). The expression for
dimensionless relaxation stress σ̂0 in terms of creep velocity V̂0 , transition time
twsw , relaxation time constant τ ws , activation length λws , adhesion constant uws , and
constant β is given by Juvekar and Singh (2014) as below
1 z
e G1 (z) − G1 (z1 ) − loge (z11 ) {E1 (z) − E1 (z1 )}
V̂0
z +z
z2 +z3
+ e2 2 2 3 G1 (z3 ) − loge (z12 ) E1 (z3 ) + γ̂ ez {E1 (z) − E1 (z1 )} + eτws β E1 (z3 )
τws β V̂0
σ̂0 =
ez2 +z3
1+ 1
ez {E1 (z) − E1 (z1 )} + τws β E1 (z3 )
V̂0
(3)
where abbreviations
are defined as following:
uw
z= exp −γ̂ V̂0 , z11 = uw , z12 = uw , z22 = uw exp −γ̂ V̂0 βτ ws , z1 =
V̂
0 V̂0 V̂0 βuws V̂0 βuws
z exp V̂0 twsw , z2 = −z ∗ exp V̂0 twsw − 1 and z3 = z22 exp V̂0 βtwsw τws .
In Eq. (3) uws signifies the ratio of adhesion constant of weak bond to strong
bond, that is, uws = uw /us (Singh and Juvekar 2014). It is believed that during
steady dynamic sliding, only weak bond formation occurs in the presence of thin
water layer at the interface. The adhesion constant is therefore generally taken as
unity, that is, uw = 1 in the case of a hydrogel and glass interface. However, due
to bond strengthening during the relaxation process, adhesion constant u becomes
us such that us < u. In Eq. (3), dimensionless transition time twsw signifies the time
elapse before a weak bond becomes strong bond. It is made dimensionless by τ w as
twsw = tws /τ w (Singh and Juvekar 2014). Further, λws represents ratio of activation
length of weak bond corresponding to strong bond, that is, λw /λs and τ ws is ratio of
relaxation time constant τ w /τ s between weak and strong bond (Singh and Juvekar
2014). Dimensionless stress and velocity are again defined as σ̂0 = σ0 /σ ∗ and
V̂0 = V0 /V ∗ , respectively. While β is the ratio of characteristic velocity constant
for weak bond to strong bond that is, β = Vw∗ /Vs∗ , where Vw∗ and Vs∗ are defined
as Vw∗ = kB T /λw τw M and Vs∗ = kB T /λs τs M where kB , T and M are Stefan-
Boltzmann constant, absolute experimental temperature, and stiffness of dangling
chains, respectively (Singh and Juvekar 2014).
Modeling of Static Friction
Earlier, Juvekar and Singh (2016) proposed a model for static friction which was
based on merely rupture of dangling chains at the interface of the soft block. As
a result, the friction model gives rise to over prediction of peak friction in view
of experimental data. However, they have now taken into account both rupture and
formation of chains at the interface. The modified friction model for static frictional
802 V. Gupta et al.
stress σ̂s in dimensionless terms of time tˆ, attached bond fraction X as following
(Singh and Juvekar 2021)

dX σ̂s
= −rs N̂i−1 u−1 1 − (1 − X) N̂i + rs (1 − X) exp
d utˆ (1 − X) N̂i

V̂0 −1 −1 σ̂s
d σ̂s u (1 − X) N̂i + σ̂s (1 − X) N̂i − 1 − σ̂ u exp
(1−X)N̂i
=
d utˆ (1 − X) N̂i + 1/rs
(4)
where the nondimensional terms are defined as X = (Ni − N)/Ni , σ̂s = σs /σ ∗ ,

σ ∗ = Kb V∗ t∗ , rs = N0 M/Kb , N̂i = Ni /N0 (Juvekar and Singh 2016). Parametric
analysis of the system of governing differential equation in Eq. (4) has shown that
static strength varies as logarithm of pulling velocity as well as logarithm of waiting
time (Juvekar and Singh 2016). Nevertheless, a limitation of the friction model in
Eq. 4 is that assumes the bond strength u is the same for old bonds, which formed
during the fixed aging time, as well as newly formed bonds during the rupture
process. It would be interesting to further modify Eq. (4) after considering different
value of adhesion constant for both old and new bonds.
An alternative model for static friction has also been proposed, which is based
on steady state rupture of the soft solid interface (Gupta et al. 2018). It is based
on the assumption that static friction is also an outcome of steady bond rupture and
formation of dangling chains at the interface. This friction model is found to be valid
in low shear velocity regime.
Frictional properties of soft and glass interfaces have also been studied using the
concept of fracture mechanics (Thakre and Singh 2018a, b, c, 2019). This study has
established that friction is basically a shear rupture process (mode II), while mode I
of fracture gives rise to nucleation of crack propagation along the gel/glass interface
in direct shear model (Thakre and Singh 2018a, b, 2019). Energy release rate has
been estimated for static, dynamic, and residual stresses in steady sliding regime,
while also stick-slip instability in unsteady regime.
Analysis of Frictional Behavior of Gelatin Hydrogels
Analysis of Dynamic Frictional Stress
Experimental data extracted from Fig. 2 is curve fitted using weak bond friction
model in Eq. (2) with shear rate in the range of 0.3 − 5.0 mms−1 as seen in Fig. 4.
The regression analysis of experimental friction data is done using lsqcurvefit solver
of MATLAB® . In the case of low gelatin concentrations such as c = 6 & 8%,
dynamic friction data for sliding velocity less than 0.2 mms−1 is not considered
in the present analysis due to viscoelastic effect (Gupta and Singh 2018).
Fig. 4 Regression analysis of experimental data of the gelatin hydrogels with concentrations
c = 6%, c = 8%, c = 10%, c = 12%, and c = 15% with the Hookean chain model in the velocity
range (V0 = 0.3 − 5.0 mms−1 ). (Adopted from Gupta and Singh 2016)
Area density n0 of attached chains during steady sliding is calculated with σ ∗

for a fixed activation length λ = 10−9 m. The plot between n0 and mesh size ξ
is presented in Fig. 5a. It is observed that n0 decreases with increasing ξ and the
scaling law is estimated to be as n0 ∼ ξ −3.86 . This observation is expected as number
density of dangling chains decreases with increase in mesh size ξ for a fixed area of
contact (Gupta and Singh 2016).
The plot in Fig. 5b shows the relationship between viscous retardation coefficient
γ vs. mesh size ξ as γ ∼ ξ 1.99 . Noting that γ is related with nondimensional γ̂
as γ̂ = γ /τ M. Further, coupled relaxation time constant τ and stiffness M of a
dangling chain, that is, τ M is established to be constant as V∗ is taken to be constant
in the present analysis. As a result, γ̂ scales with the same exponent as γ in the
present analysis. On the basis of this result, it is concluded that viscous retardation
effect is important in the case of hydrogels with lower concentrations (Gupta and
Singh 2016).
804 V. Gupta et al.
Fig. 5 (a) Scaling law between attached chains density n0 vs. mesh size ξ of gelatin hydrogels.
(b) Scaling law between viscous retardation coefficient γ and mesh size ξ of gelatin hydrogels.
(Adopted from Gupta and Singh 2016)
Fig. 6 (a) A match between experimental stress relaxation data and strong bond model for gelatin
concentration c = 10% for pulling velocity in the range V0 = 0.5 mms−1 − 3 mms−1 (Inset plot
shows steady dynamic stress vs. steady sliding velocity for c = 10%). (b) A comparative plot for
curve-fitting of all experimental hydrogel concentrations at a fixed V0 = 2 mms−1 . (Adopted from
Gupta and Singh 2018)
Analysis of Stress Relaxation Process
Figure 6a shows the match between experimental relaxation stress and the stress
predicted by the strong bond friction (SBF) model in Eq. 3 for gelatin hydrogel of
c = 10%. The governing differential equations were solved using ode45 solver in
MATLAB® . It is also evident from Fig. 6a that the relaxation stress decreases to
the same level of residual stress irrespective of pulling velocity. This study is also
repeated on other gelatin hydrogels and similar observations are found. Relaxation
stress vs. time data for hydrogels with c = 6% .8%, 10%, 12% and 15% are fit with
the SBF model in Eq. (3) for shear velocity ranging from 0.5 mms−1 to 5.0 mms−1
in Fig. 6b. It is concluded from the plot that tws increases with increasing ξ and the
Fig. 7 (a) Variation of transition time tws with mesh size ξ and the scaling law is established to be
tws ∼ ξ 1.80 . (b) Variation of strong bond relaxation time constant τ s with mesh size ξ and scaling
law is established to be τ s ∼ ξ −4.12 . (c) Variation of activation length λs of dangling chains with
mesh size ξ and scaling law is established to be λs ∼ ξ 1.02 . (Adopted from Gupta and Singh 2018)
scaling law is estimated to be as tws ∼ ξ 1.80 . The numerical value of tws increases
from 9.5 × 10−5 s to 3.28 × 10−4 s as ξ increases from 5.61 nm to 11 nm. The
reason for this observation is attributed to higher density of dangling chains leads to
faster relaxation rate as well as higher residual stress (Gupta and Singh 2018).
Figure 7 presents the result concerning the variation of relaxation time constant
τ s of strong bonds with ξ . It is observed that τ s decreases with increase in ξ
according to the scaling law as τ s ∼ ξ −4.12 . The numerical value of τ s decreases
from 1 × 10−3 s to 5.36 × 10−5 s as ξ increases from 5.61 nm to 11 nm.
Parametric study has also confirmed that residual stress increases with increasing
τ s thereby validating the result in Gupta and Singh (2018).
Figure 7(c) shows the result concerning the variation of activation length λs
corresponding to strong bonds with mesh size ξ . The scaling law has been
established as λs ∼ ξ 1.02 . High concentration gelatin gel results in high density of
attached polymeric chains at the end of relaxation, and that results in corresponding
806 V. Gupta et al.
increase in thermal activation energy. It is therefore justified that λs decrease with

increase in gelatin concentration in the hydrogels or decreasing mesh size.
Motivated by the theoretical prediction of stress relaxation, Singh et al. (2021)
have proposed a simplified stress relaxation model. This fiction model predicts
experimentally observed stress relaxation process in Fig. 6. A significance of the
strong bond model in Eq. 3, prediction of critical velocity at which stick-slip process
disappears. This is because, unlike the dynamic friction model based on weak bond
formation (Eqs. 1 and 2), the strong bond model (Eq. 3) predicts a residual stress at
which stick-slip motion disappears. The strong bond friction model in Eq. 3 could
also be used for studying stick-slip instability (Manuscript under preparation).
Analysis of Static Frictional Stress
The expression for static friction in Eq. 4 is used to predict experimental static
friction vs. time of the gelatin hydrogel with concentration c = 10% (wt./vol.) at
different shear velocity V0 = 1.0–5.0 mms−1 in Fig. 8. The value of σ ∗ =3.6 kPa,
V∗ = 10−3 mms−1 , u = 1, Ni = 1, rs = 50, and gel stiffness Kb = 600 kPam−1 is
obtained after the best curve fit of static friction vs. time data for V0 = 1.0 mms−1
in Fig. 8. After that these values were used for predicting static friction vs. time
Fig. 8 A match between the experimental static frictional stress (discrete points) and the static
friction model (continuous line) of gelatin hydrogel c = 10% (wt./vol.) at different shear velocity
V0 = 1–5.0 mms−1 . (Adopted from Singh and Juvekar 2021)
experimental data for V0 = 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 mms−1 in Fig. 8. It is observed
that the friction model predicts well the peak of static friction (Singh and Juvekar
2021).
It has also been shown that residual stress has no role in static friction since that
remains independent of shear velocity (Singh and Juvekar 2014; Singh et al. 2021).
As mentioned earlier that the value of adhesion constant is taken same for both old
and new bonds in Eq. 4. Nevertheless, it is believed that Eq. 4 should be valid at
a weak sliding interface like gelatin hydrogel and glass surface, wherein adhesion
constant u does not vary much with aging time or shear velocity.
Application of Present Study in Development of Smart Materials

and Devices
The present study should be useful to characterize the interfacial properties of smart
material and devices. There are applications of friction and adhesion, for instance,
smart adhesives soft robotics and biomedical devices (Bhushan and Burton 2005;
Pesika et al. 2009; Shian et al. 2015; Shahsavan et al. 2017; Raut et al. 2018; Shih
and Sung 2019). It has been established that gecko pad is based on formation and
rupture of chains at the adhering surface (Bhushan 2008; Zhao et al. 2009; Wang
et al. 2019).
Static friction is also important for estimating the magnitude of force that will
require for separating the interface involving smart adhesives. As static friction
depends on history of sliding, that is, waiting time and shear velocity, thus further
study is needed to develop the scaling laws similar to dynamic friction and stress
relaxation process. There are applications where dynamic manipulation of friction
is useful (Ohzono et al. 2020).
Stick-slip phenomenon is also utilized in energy harvester and soft robotics
(Helseth 2014; Masuda and Sawai 2017; Wu et al. 2017; Tang et al. 2018).
Understanding of stick-slip behavior is also important for the development of gecko
pads and adhesives (Stark and Mitchell 2019). This particular study is also important
for smart devices which undergo stick-slip instability.
Acknowledgments The authors wish to acknowledge the MHRD, Government of India for
granting funds under TEQIP-II to establish the experimental facility at VNIT Nagpur. We are
also thankful to Professor V.A. Juvekar, IIT Bombay for his invaluable suggestions in the present
study.
Notations
c Gelatin concentration in hydrogel
G Shear modulus (kPa)
Kb Bulk stiffness
kB Stefan-Boltzmann constant
Lm Finitely extensible length
808 V. Gupta et al.
L̂m Dimensionless finitely extensible length

m Mass (kg)
Mwc Molecular weight between cross-links
M Stiffness of dangling chains
N0 Total number of chains at a sliding interface
N(t) Chain density
Ni Initial no. of chains
N̂ Dimensionless chain density
rs Stiffness ratio
rf Rate of bond formation
rb Rate of bond rupture
tw Waiting time (s)
t Time (s)
tˆ Dimensionless time
tws Transition time from weak to strong bond (s)
twsw Dimensionless transition time from weak to strong bond
ta Aging time (s)
T Absolute temperature (K)
u Adhesion constant for weak bond
us Adhesion constant for strong bond
Vcr Critical transition velocity (mm s−1 )
Vc Creep velocity (mm s−1 )
V∗ Characteristic velocity for weak bond (mm s−1 )
V̂ Dimensionless velocity
Vs ∗ Characteristic velocity for strong bond (mm s−1 )
V0 Shear velocity (mm s−1 )
Wadh Work of adhesion
X Attached bond fraction
σ∗ Characteristic stress for weak bond (kPa)
σ̂ Dimensionless stress
ρ Bulk density (kg m−3 )
ξ Mesh size (nm)
β Ratio of characteristic velocity for weak to strong bond
λ Activation length for weak bond (m)
λs Activation length for strong bond (m)
λws Ratio of activation length for weak to strong bond
τ Relaxation time constant for weak bond (s)
γ Viscous retardation coefficient
γ̂ Dimensionless viscous retardation coefficient
σ s∗ Characteristic stress for strong bond (kPa)
τs Relaxation time constant for strong bond (s)
τ ws Ratio of relaxation time constant for weak to strong bond
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List of Websites and Youtube

https://www.technologynetworks.com/analysis/news/gecko-toes-inspire-new-adhesive-296176
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzm7yD-JuyM
Butterflies: A New Source of Inspiration
for Futuristic Aerial Robotics 30
Chakravarthi Jada, U. Ashok, B. Pavan, and P. Vinod Babu
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814
Butterflies as New Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815
Butterfly Communication Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815
Simulations and Robotic Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817
Bflies to Capture Simultaneous Peaks in Multimodal Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817
Bflybots: Multirobotic Platform for Implementing Butterfly Mating Phenomenon . . . . . . 817
Single Source Detection with Various Initial Placements and Stepsizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
Bflybots for Detection and Colocating the Static Light Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Bflybots for Chasing and Interception of Dynamic Light Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821
Comparisons with Existing Optimization Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824
Prospective and Works-in-Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824
Mid-Sea Ship Detection Using Satellite Image Data Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824
Butterflies for Water and Aerial Search Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 826
Simultaneous Earthquake Prediction and Detection with Satellite Constellation . . . . . . . . 827
Analysis and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 828
Related Weblinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829
Abstract
This chapter demonstrates the novel bio-inspired algorithm based on the but-
terflies mating behavior in nature and its implementation in the multirobotic
platform. Based on the butterflies mating strategy, an algorithm named butterfly
mating optimization (BMO) was implemented and also presented virtual simu-
lation results. The real-time experiments were performed on the BMO algorithm
in the multirobotic arena. Various practical experiments were conducted based
C. Jada () · U. Ashok · B. Pavan · P. Vinod Babu

Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Nuzvid, India
e-mail: cv@rguktn.ac.in
814 C. Jada et al.
on the static and dynamic movement of the light source. To evaluate the same
phenomenon, various ongoing and prospective works such as mid-sea ship
detection, aerial search applications, and earthquake prediction were discussed.
Keywords
Butterflies · Aerial robotics · Mating · Bfly · BMO-algorithm ·

Optimization · Swarm-intelligence
Introduction
Nature is the resource for a variety of species. All the species are doing complex
activities with simple and elegant rules for their survival. The collective behavior
of individual species is always a source of inspiration for scientific society. For
example, though tiny in size, ants apply a cooperative mechanism for foraging
and nest building. On the same line of thought, to avoid predators, fish schooling
will apply extraordinary maneuvering. There are other species like birds to travel
longer distances and honeybees to collect nectar, which applies collection behavior.
One branch of that collective cooperation is swarm intelligence (Bonabeau et al.
1999). All agents pose the same rules and capabilities. This equality along with
local cooperation in the agents tremendously leads to achieving global results.
A decade ago, one school of researchers has studied these behaviors and
proposed artificial paradigms, such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) (Eber-
hart and Kennedy 1995), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) (Dorigo et al. 2006),
Glowworm Swarm Optimization (GSO) (Krishnanand and Ghose 2009), etc., are
prominent among them. Among those, some of the algorithms were effective in
detecting global optima and others are capable of locating local optima but the
core aim of all these algorithms is to solve the problem with collective behavior
which is called swarm behavior. Another school of researchers used these models
and designed robotic platforms to detect (locate) multiple signal sources such as
light, fire, plume, odor, etc. The Kinbot (Krishnanand and Ghose 2009) is one such
recent experiment. In the same line of thought, this work presents the proposed
butterfly metaphor (Jada et al. 2016), simulations, and multirobotic experiments.
This chapter also presents several key ideas to implement the BMO metaphor on
various real-time applications.
Figure 1 briefly describes the entire pipeline of the butterfly mating optimization
algorithm and its evaluation. Initial attempts were made towards analyzing the
communication strategies of butterflies in nature. Later, the BMO algorithm was
designed and various virtual simulations were performed to verify the efficacy of
the proposed algorithm. While proposing the algorithm, various comparisons were
made with the popularly known optimization algorithms (like PSO, GSO, ACO).
To mimic the BMO algorithm in the robotic platform, Bflybot was designed and
verified the efficacy of the design by detecting a single light source. In recent
times, work progresses on designing multiple Bflybots to do source localization with
30 Butterflies: A New Source of Inspiration for Futuristic Aerial Robotics 815
Fig. 1 Work flow of butterfly mating optimization
multiple robots; all of them are similar in structural design. Progressively, experi-
ments were performed to detect multiple same and different color sources. To detect
the dynamically varying sources, a few experiments were performed while the light
sources were moving via straight line, circular, and up-down movement. Current
works concentrate on the application of the BMO algorithm in real-time scenarios.
This chapter discusses the importance of the proposed Butterfly Mating Algo-
rithm for the detection/colocation of the multimodal functions. Section “Butterflies
as New Inspiration” briefly describes the inspiration for the formulation of the but-
terfly mating optimization algorithm to mimic the mating behavior of the butterflies
in nature. Section “Simulations and Robotic Experiments” details the simulation
results and the evaluation of the BMO algorithm to colocate the peaks in benchmark
models (three peaks, Schwefel and Rastrigin functions). The section “Prospective
and Works-in-Progress” presents the perspective and ongoing works to check the
efficacy of the BMO algorithm in real-time applications. Finally section “Analysis
and Discussion” discusses the conclusion made by the observations.
Butterflies as New Inspiration
Butterfly Communication Strategies
The essential mode of communication in butterflies mainly happens through either

mating or defense. Two major forms of communications strategies are patrolling
and perching. In case of patrolling, male butterflies continuously search for the
female butterflies by absorbing the UV; based on the UV reflected by the female
butterflies, the corresponding male butterflies recognize the female butterflies. Color
and odor are the main auxiliary traits in patrolling. In perching, male butterflies are
completely stagnant by sitting at the hilltop. The female butterflies that enter into
the region will mate with them. The main attracting parameters in perching are size
and movement. Sometimes, butterflies use the defense mechanism to protect from
predators.
The bizarre flying of butterflies in nature leads to many queries. The state of the
art indicates that butterflies mainly do the communication for the sake of mating
816 C. Jada et al.
Fig. 2 Pictorial representation (a) Patrolling (b) Perching
(Ch et al. 2014; Scott 1973). Butterflies mate based on either patrolling (Fig. 2a)
(where the female butterflies reflect UV to male butterflies depending on distances,
and the male will respond) or perching (Fig. 2.b) (where the male sits at the hill-
top and search in its territory among females passing by, and further they use other
traits such as size and fluttering) to select a mate. Based on these behaviors and
virtual simulations done by Sowmya et al. (Ch et al. 2014), Chakravarthi et al.
(2016) proposed butterfly mating optimization (BMO) for simultaneously capturing
all local optima of multimodal functions. This algorithm basically uses patrolling
mating behavior (Scott 1973) and does not distinguish between male and female
butterflies. Hence, the “butterfly in nature is named as Bfly in the search space.”
Various simulations were performed (Ch et al. 2014) to discard the discrimination
between the male and female butterflies in the BMO algorithm.
The four phases of the BMO algorithm are:
(a) UV updating: Each Bfly updates its UV value by following Eq. 1. In this, each
Bfly will give more preference to present fitness value than previous UV value
by choosing 0 < =b1 < =1 and b2 > 1.
U V i = max {0, b1 ∗ U V i (t − 1) + b2 ∗ f (t)} (1)
where, i = 1, 2, 3,..,N and t is the time step. Here, N represents the number of
Bflies.
(b) UV distribution: Each Bfly distributes its UV to the remaining Bflies according
to the distance from its location by using Eq. 2. Here, the Bfly, which is nearer,
will get more UV value than farthest.
d −1 ij
U V (i→j ) = U V i ∗ (2)

N
d −1 ik
k=1
where, i = 1, 2, 3, . . . ,N; j = 1, 2, 3, . . . ,N; k = 1, 2, 3, . . . ,N and k = i; j = i.
(c) l-mate selection: Each Bfly selects its l-mate (local) as per the UV and fitness
values by following selection procedure in (Jada et al. 2016). Initially, it arranges
all the distributed UV values in descending order and then compares with its UV
which satisfies the Eq. 3, will choose that Bfly as its l-mate.

U V i th Bf ly < U V j th Bf ly (3)
where, i = 1, 2, 3, . . . ,N; j = 1, 2, 3, . . . ,N and j = i.
(d) Movement: Each Bfly moves predefined step-size towards its l-mate. Here, Bs
is the step-size of each Bfly.

xl−mate (t) − xi (t)
x (t + 1) = xi (t) + Bs (4)
xl−mate (t) − xi (t)
where, i = 1, 2, 3, . . . ,N and “t” is the time step.
Simulations and Robotic Experiments
Bflies to Capture Simultaneous Peaks in Multimodal Functions
The BMO algorithm was formulated to capture the local optima of multimodal
functions. To check the efficacy of the algorithm, it was applied on the 3-D
benchmark multimodal functions. Initially, the Bflies are randomly deployed on the
entire search space of three-peaks standard benchmark function. Figure 3a–c shows
the three-peaks function, the emergence of all Bflies, and the UV convergence at
the end of all iterations, respectively. In the same line of thought, the BMO applied
with two other benchmarks functions viz. Schwefel (peaks 15) (Fig. 4) and Rastrigin
(peaks 100) (Fig. 5) to capture all peaks.
Bflybots: Multirobotic Platform for Implementing Butterfly Mating

Phenomenon
To conduct the real-time experiments on the butterfly mating optimization algo-

rithm, a mobile robot, namely Bflybot, was designed (Jada et al. 2018). The Bflybot
will be able to sense/read the light intensity values, distribute the information to all
other Bflybots, choose the local mate (l-mate), and finally move towards the chosen
l-mate in the predefined experimental work space. For all the experiments, the light
sources are considered as the signal sources for detection in two-dimensional work
space. The Arduino Uno (ATmega328P) microcontroller is programmed to interface
818 C. Jada et al.
a b c
Fig. 3 (a) Three-peaks function (b) Emergence of Bflies (c) UV convergence
Fig. 4 Schwefel function convergence and emergence plot
Fig. 5 Rastrigin function convergence and emergence plot
all the sensors for processing the inputs received from the other bots and control the
movement with predefined step size.
As mentioned in the BMO algorithm, initially the Bflybot needs to sense/read
the intensity at their position in each iteration. The light-dependent resistor (LDR)
is used to read the light intensity ahead of it. To increase the effective reading of
intensity at present location, the LDR sensor rotated 360 degrees using a stepper
motor and took the max value of continuous readings. Upon reading the intensity
at current position, each Bflybot updates the UV (intensity) value at the ith iteration
using Eq. 1. The PS2 mouse-based odometry protocol measures the coordinates
at instant locations of each Bflybot. Each Bflybot will share their UV (by following
Eq. 2) and position values to other Bflybots through a wireless Zigbee module (S2C)
(this module can be configured in AT mode using the XCTU software tool). The
L-mate selection process for each Bflybot is done by substituting the UV values
received from other Bflybots in the Eq. 4. Finally, the Bflybot will move towards
the chosen L-mate with a predefined step size. The rotation towards the direction
of chosen L-mate is controlled by the accelerometer (MPU6050). Also, the motor
shield (L293D) is used to drive the DC motors towards the L-mate. Every Bflybot
deployed in the defined work space will exhibit these characteristics to mimic the
BMO algorithm to colocate at the signal source (here light source).
Single Source Detection with Various Initial Placements

and Stepsizes
To do the experiments with a single light source (Jada et al. 2017), a white
background floor with little roughness is chosen, which is considered an arena for
the real-time experiments. In the middle of the arena, a compact fluorescent lamp
(CFL) of 14 Watts was placed, in such a way that the luminescence will be equally
distributed in all the directions. The workspace (arena) considers two circles. The
former one is the outer circle, which is 180 cm diameter for better visualization of
Bflybots working phenomena, and the latter one is the inner circle with 50 cm.
Entering into the inner circle indicates the localization or detection of the light
source. The workspace is divided into four equal parts and each bot will place in
each individual part for the equal distribution of the Bflybots. And the left most
corner is used as an origin (0, 0) for the workspace. Such that Bflybots know their
initial positions in the XY-plane. PS2 mouse is used to update the Bflybot positions
after each iteration. Most often convergence of Bflybots relies on the initial positions
of the bots placements. If the bots are placed near to the source location, they can
converge in minimum elapsed time or else if the bots are placed far away from the
source then the convergence will increase gradually.
After each iteration, each Bflybot has to move a certain distance called step-size.
For initial experiments, we have set the step-size as 10 cm and various experiments
were performed by varying the step-sizes also. Assigning the small step-size leads
to travel a longer path with increase in the convergence time. In contrast to that,
giving the larger step-size leads to poor accurate convergence by decreasing the
search time. After several experiments, we have identified that 10 cm is the ideal
step-size to get the accurate convergence.
The mobile robotic swarm of four Bflybots were prepared, which mimicked the
Bflies in the BMO (Jada et al. 2017). The multirobotic platform is planned to detect
locations of multiple light sources. The Bflybots have designed and prepared to
perform the four phases of the BMO algorithm mentioned in section “Butterflies
820 C. Jada et al.
a b
Accelerometer
LDR
XBEE
Arduino
Motor shield
Mouse
Fig. 6 (a) Bflybot architecture (b) Bflybot Swarm
as New Inspiration.” In brief, UV (light source) updating, distribution, and L-mate

selection were done using the light-dependent resistor (LDR) sensor and ZigBee
module, and movement was done using an accelerometer and mouse-based X-Y
position calibration. Figure 6a, b shows the Bflybot with components specified and
Bflybot swarm, respectively.
Bflybots for Detection and Colocating the Static Light Sources
For conducting the experiments on multiple sources (Jada et al. 2019), the work
space was prepared with an outer circle 115 cm radius and two inner circles with
25 cm radius as shown in Fig. 7. Two light sources (with 14 watts) are hung in such a
way that the illuminated light of each light source is situated on inner circles (indica-
tion that the inner circles are the peaks). The workspace was divided into four equal
quadrants, and in each quadrant, an equal number of bots were placed randomly with
reference to origin. This distribution and deployment of bots in random places at
each quadrant guarantees the maximum coverage of work space. As shown in Fig. 7,
the Bflybots follow the steps involved in the BMO and converge at each light source
(at inner circles) placed in the work space. Here, the initial placement of the Bflybots
will impact the number of bots converging at each light source. Even though the
localization is limited to local regions (converging to nearest light source), the com-
munication between the Bflybots is global (every Bflybot shares their information
with all other Bflybots). This observation is confirmed from the experiments that
the Bflybot near to the local source also moved towards another source at some
particular point of time. They were not confined to a particular portion but instead
they act globally in the workspace based on the intensity distribution.
Similarly, the experiments were extended to detect the multiple light sources
with differences in intensity levels (Jada et al. 2019). To achieve that variation in
intensity levels, two light sources with red and blue color lamps (with 14 watts) are
chosen. As mentioned above, the Bflybots are deployed in the work space randomly.
Upon certain iterations, the bots converged at the two source locations. From these
At t=0 sec At t=45 sec At final position
Fig. 7 Similar color sources convergence at various intervals of time
experiments, it is evident that the Bflybots are able to colocate at the different
peaks (able to identify all the light sources with various intensity levels). With this
inspiration, we made an attempt to detect the dynamically varying signal sources.
For this, the firstmost step is to simulate the proposed BMO algorithm with the
benchmarks functions by varying the peaks with respect to time. For simplicity, one
of the standard benchmarks three-peaks functions is taken into consideration. The
following subsection describes how the varying peaks can be captured at certain
time instances.
Bflybots for Chasing and Interception of Dynamic Light Sources
To cope up with the real-time applications which are dynamic in nature, BMO
algorithm not only detects the static sources but also captures the dynamically
varying sources and is able to adapt the changes in the environment at every instant
of time. BMO algorithm is applied to a dynamically varying three-peaks function
to simulate the results while capturing the peaks varying horizontally as shown in
Fig. 8. The peaks can vary horizontally in each iteration using Eq. 5
⎛ ⎞
3(1 − (x − k))2 e− (x−k) +((y−k)+1) − 10 (x−k)
2 2
− (x − k)3 −
f (x, y, k) = ⎝ ⎠
5
(y − k)5 e− (x−k) +(y−k) − 13 e− ((x−k)+1) +(y−k)
2 2 2 2
(5)
where k is the constraint to shift the peaks horizontally.

These simulation works were extended to implementation with swarm robots,
namely Bflybots. The source(s) moved in different movements like linear, circular,
up and down, etc., to create the dynamic environment in the work-space as shown
in Fig. 9.
Initially experiments on dynamically varying source(s) were started by analyzing
the light sensing capability of Bflybot. Here, a Bflybot was placed in the work-
space and rotated the light source in a circular path as shown in Fig. 10a. The
Bflybot continuously captures the light intensity at the present position. Figure 10b
822 C. Jada et al.
Fig. 8 Three peaks horizontally varying case
a b c
Fig. 9 (a) Linear movements (b) Circular movement (c) Up-down movement
a b
Fig. 10 (a) Circular movement of light source (b) Light intensity variations
shows the intensity variations on various revolutions per minute (RPM) of the
source movement. One crucial observation is that the intensity value depends on
the RPM of source movement. If the light source moves with more RPM then
the intensity at Bflybot may decrease (due to light sensor inaccuracy in capturing
intensity variations).
To extend the same experiments on dynamically varying multisource localization
(Bhattiprolu et al. 2018), two different color sources (pink and green) were chosen
as shown in Fig. 11. Here, the Bflybots capture the light intensity variations of two
sources (moving towards each other) and chase till localization at dynamic source
Fig. 11 Linearly varying multiple signal sources with different color
Fig. 12 Responsive behavior of Bflybots while moving light sources up and down
locations. One of the crucial observations here is that the Bflybots are more likely
to choose their L-mates which are nearer to the light sources at the particular time
instance. Also, the Bflybots follow the light source movement like chasing instead
of localizing at the light source location. This indicates that the BMO algorithm is
likely to adapt to the new changes in the work space. In the same line of thought,
experimenters were performed by moving the multiple sources in up and down
movement as shown in Fig. 12. Here, the Bflybots exhibit the to and fromotion
to up and down movement of light sources. As shown in Fig. 12a, b, the directed
arrows signify the movement of Bflybots towards their chosen L-mate.
Using the multirobotic platform, the abovementioned experiments were con-
ducted to verify the rendezvous phenomena to detect and colocate the static and
dynamic light sources (Jada et al. 2019; Bhattiprolu et al. 2018) and come up with
the following conclusions.
1. When two light sources have similar (Fig. 7) or different intensity levels, the
number of Bflybots convergence at sources depends on their initial positions and
step-size of the individual Bflybots (Jada et al. 2017).
2. The localization of Bflybots was limited to the local region but the communica-
tion among Bflybots was global (Jada et al. 2019).
3. Authors of Bhattiprolu et al. (Bhattiprolu et al. 2018) confirmed that BMO
was able to detect dynamically varying sources (Fig. 9) and experiments were
824 C. Jada et al.
performed to detect maneuvering (circular and up-down) and nonmaneuvering

(linear) movements of the light sources.
Comparisons with Existing Optimization Algorithms
To the best of our knowledge, by using the abovementioned conclusions, we have

identified the following comparisons with existing optimization algorithms.
1. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Glowworm Swarm Optimization (GSO),

and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) are the popular optimization algorithms,
but they have many challenges to implement in dynamic environments. Unlike
the above algorithms, the proposed BMO algorithm is able to implement most of
the challenges that are involved in the dynamic environment also.
2. Compared to PSO and GSO, the BMO algorithm has less tuning parameters,
which reduces the time consumption for the convergence.
Prospective and Works-in-Progress
We have identified several real-time applications to check the BMO efficacy on

them.
Mid-Sea Ship Detection Using Satellite Image Data Set
Ship detection from satellite images can be considered as a simple detection of

high intensity (in grayscale) points against a noisy background. This problem has a
very much impact on the identification of illegal oil spills and monitoring maritime
traffic in the fisheries and commercial transportation civil sectors. Also, these sectors
have the largest industries across the world and a typical control system is needed
in such a way that it can monitor continuously to identify any threats in advance.
However, in reality the noise (like clouds, wave crests, etc.) present in the image
can be detected as a ship based on the color, shape, and brightness. The rate of
false positive rate will increase with respect to the noise present in the image. Also,
there can be a possibility that the ships can be joined together (the shape will fail in
this case as the shape is the aggregation of all ships). To tackle these challenges in
real-time scenarios, several techniques were proposed. In those, the most the state-
of-the-art models are detailed below.
Basically two types of remote sensing techniques are proposed for ship detection:
The former one is synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with capacity to image day
and night under most meteorological conditions and became the state-of-the-art
technique for ship detection (Crisp 2004). In the subsequent approach, authors
of Inggs and Robinson (1999) investigated the use of radar range profiles as
target signatures for the identification of ship targets and neural networks for the
classification of these signatures. Majority of the methods used the SAR data to
detect the ship targets in various scenarios.
To complement existing regulations, Corbane et al. (2008) implemented an
operational ship detection algorithm by using the high spatial resolution optical
imagery, especially the fishing control system. Along with, a comprehensive study
was performed on the recent progress on the detection model and existing prototypes
to classify the small targets. Also testing was performed on panchromatic SPOT5
imagery by considering into account the environmental and fishing context in
French Guiana.
With the help of optical flow and saliency methods, Deng et al. (2013) performed
several experiments and designed an algorithm to detect ship from optical satellite
images, which detect more than one ship targets in the complex dynamic sea
background and show effective results in reducing the false positive rate by
compared to the other traditional methods. This research group also discussed
the detection of moving targets in the image; those are highlighted with the help
of classical optical flow method. By using the state-of-the-art saliency method,
dynamic waves are restrained.
To solve the problems arising with the narrow width of the ship, Yang et al.
(2018) modified the Dense Feature Pyramid Network (DFPN). To predict the
minimum circumscribed rectangle of the object, they have designed a rotation
anchor strategy. Such way the redundant detection region will be reduced and
correspondingly the recall will be improved. To maintain the completeness of
semantic and spatial information, the research group also proposed a multiscale
ROI. Experiments on remote sensing images from Google Earth for detection show
that our R-DFPN-based methods outperform all the existing methods’ performance.
For detecting the small vessels on very high-resolution satellite images by
applying the modern computer vision techniques, Mattyus (2013) proposed a novel
fast method. The detector is able to concentrate on vessels shorter than 20 m. The
vessels are mostly not equipped with AIS and they do not have special interest for
authorities. Those can hardly be detected by SAR vessel detection methods. This
detection method is effective above 8 meter of length. Below this length, a wave
can have a similar shape as a small vessel. The detector runs fast approximately in
a minute for a 16,873 × 14,684 pixels image on a modern multicore computer, thus
enabling near real time application, that is, 1 h from image acquisition to end user.
To extend the scope of BMO for real-time applications, the algorithm is applied
to ship images at mid-sea from Kaggle dataset (Airbus Ship Detection Challenge –
Kaggle) and simulate the colocating nature of BMO. Initially, BMO is applied
to normal images by converting them into grayscale and observed distraction of
colocations in search space due to the noise present in the images. For simplicity,
the images that have less noise are considered for the simulations with the BMO
algorithm. Even though the images are converted to the grayscale, the region where
the ship is actually located has some variations in values. To avoid such variations,
the normalization technique is applied to sharpen the peak of the ship and ground the
other noise in search space as shown in Fig. 13b. Initially the Bflies randomly
deployed in the normalized surface by considering the peak as the ship. Upon certain
826 C. Jada et al.
Fig. 13 Ship detection simulations
iterations, we obtain the colocation of Bflies at the edges of the ship. Further the
boundary can be drawn using the adjacent points located at the edge of the ship.
Figure 13 shows the simulations results and colocation of Bflies at the edges of
the ship. Later, similar experiments are conducted on multiple ships present in the
image to obtain the collocation of Bflies at the edge of each ship. Compared to the-
state-of-art models for ship detection, the BMO algorithm identifies the clouds as
ships because of the noise. But the algorithm is able to identify the ships present in
the images accurately.
Butterflies for Water and Aerial Search Applications
Most of the real-time applications exist in three-dimensional work space. To

simulate and implement the BMO algorithm in a three-dimensional search space, we
move a step forward to solve two kinds of applications. Among those, one is similar
to the Buoys developed in Bouffanais’s lab shown in Fig. 14a. In this the bots are
designed to move on top of water for collection of garbage floating on water. Two
plastic pipes with the same length are fixed to the base of the robot (where the two
plastic pipes are orthogonal to each other). A lightweight plastic box to build the
body of the robot and fixed all the components of the bot inside the box. Each end
of these two pipes was fixed with the propellers and connected to the motors with
25,000 rpm as shown in Fig. 14b. The microcontroller Arduino Uno (ATmega328P)
and motor drivers were placed in the body to control the movement of the waterbot.
As described in the last phase of the BMO algorithm, the movement towards the L-
mate of water can be controlled by the motor drivers. Also, the rotation taken by the
waterbot while moving towards the L-mate can be controlled by the Accelerometer
(MPU6050). For communication with other bots, the XBEE module is used.
Also, we started simulating the experiments in Player-Stage software and then
intended to use a real Quad-rotor swarm in a 3-D environment. Figure 15 gives the
intuition behind the transformation from multi-Bflybot swarm with multi-quad-rotor
platform. As shown in Fig. 15, we are planning to detect a signal source with the help
of four quad rotors, where each one is similar in design and working phenomenon
Fig. 14 Swarm of Buoys developed in Bouffanais’s Lab and Waterbot
Fig. 15 Transformation from multirobotic platform to quad-rotors platform
characteristics, in a way which leads to follow the swarm behavior. Experiments

with multi-quad rotors are especially useful in applications such as detecting the
fire locations in the forest area. Further, the similar can be performed to detect the
multiple sources and dynamically varying signal sources detection purpose too. In
case of fire location detection also, the flame can be spread across the forest in
such cases the locations of global maximum vary with respect to time. In such
cases, BMO effectively works on detecting the dynamically varying signal source
locations.
Simultaneous Earthquake Prediction and Detection with Satellite

Constellation
In this work, it is planned to take seismograph measures and other image-based cues
from satellite constellations periodically and the BMO paradigm will be applied
to predict the possibility of upcoming earthquakes at specific locations on earth.
Initially, the benchmark function (i.e., Sphere) was drawn from Eq. 6 and randomly
deployed the Bflies on the surface. Also, the satellite data were incorporated on the
sphere surface and considered as the fitness. Here, the north and south poles are
considered to be peak and valley, respectively. At certain iterations, it is found that
the Bflies are colocating to the virtual north pole on the sphere, which is nothing but
a peak on the sphere. From these simulations, it is evident that the BMO algorithm
828 C. Jada et al.
Fig. 16 Satellite constellation for BMO application
is able to identify the change in fitness on the sphere surface. With this intuition,
similar experiments will be conducted on the seismograph measures and other
image-based cues to predict the earthquake on earth. Figure 16 shows the simulated
results of colocations on earth using satellite data.
x 2 + y 2 + z2 ≤ r 2 (6)
where r is the radius of the sphere within the domain range [0, 2].
Analysis and Discussion
This chapter presents the various simulation results and the corresponding imple-
mentations in the multirobotic platform for the BMO algorithm. The experimental
results indicate the efficacy of the BMO in detecting static and dynamically
moving light source(s) (Jada et al. 2017, 2019; Bhattiprolu et al. 2018). Several
experiments concluded on varying step-size and initial placements (Jada et al. 2017)
of Bflybots and observed that these variations played a crucial role in light source(s)
detection. Varying initial placements and step-sizes affect the convergence in terms
of time and smoothness (Jada et al. 2017), whereas varying step-size leads to the
variation in the execution time and speed of the Bflybots (Jada et al. 2017). We
have identified suitable comparisons (as mentioned in section “Comparisons with
Existing Optimization Algorithms”) with other popular optimization algorithms.
Unlike other popular algorithms, BMO can be applied to dynamic environments
also. In BMO, the number of tuning parameters was less compared to other
algorithms. And we have also observed that the convergence of BMO is local but
the communication between the Bflybots is done globally.
We also planned to take a step, to present the ongoing and prospective works. In
those, we are planning to embed the model into a multi-quad rotor swarm, which
could be the ultimate reality and suits many practical applications (Bonabeau et al.
1999). The trails on dynamic sources could lead to tsunami location identification
too. BMO can be applicable to both water bot and earthquake prediction scenarios
and some kind of object detection applications by considering the object as a peak.
Related Weblinks
1. https://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/allabout/index.shtml
2. http://www.butterflyzone.org/
3. https://www.monarchwatch.org/biology/pred1.htm
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Significance of Bracing Accessories for
Improved Workability: An EMG Assessment 31
S. Shankar, J. Karthick, R. NaveenKumar, and R. Nithyaprakash
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832
Intervention to Minimize the Musculoskeletal Distress Among Textile Workers . . . . . . . . . . 833
Investigation Protocol for Hand Screen Printing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833
Selection of Muscles and Electrode Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834
Instruments Used for Analyzing Muscle Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835
Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
Measurement Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
Analysis of EMG and Statistical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837
Effect of Ergonomic Intervention on Workability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838
Effects of Footwear and Knee Braces on Muscle Activity Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838
Effects of Knee Braces on Knee Flexion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839
Effect of Time on Muscle Activity Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840
Effect of Time on Muscle Activity Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840
Root Causes and Intervention to Improve Workability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843
Abstract
Textile printing workers, mostly from the rural background, are ignorant about
the ergonomic accessories for their regular activities. Ill effects of the same are
less popular among these workers. Intervention for one of the prevalent disorders
faced by them was predicted. Study was framed to find the effects of intervention
S. Shankar () · J. Karthick · R. Nithyaprakash

Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode, Tamil
Nadu, India
R. NaveenKumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode, Tamil
Nadu, India
in comparison to the conventional conditions. EMG (electromyogram) activities

were recorded for the gastrocnemius and vastus lateralis muscles associated with
lower limb and knee. They were processed using Matlab R2012a and tested for
the effects using SPSS v20. Mean RMS plots showed that the muscle activities
diminished with the introduction of intervention.
Knee braces were found effective in controlling the knee movements and were
found to reduce the flexion by about 31% (approx.). Also, the effects assessed
using SPSS gave positive outcome for significance. Thus, the intervention to
minimize the discomfort during printing activity was implemented, and it (shod
and knee braced conditions) was found to make positive impact on the muscle
activities of lower limb.
Keywords
Intervention · Shod · Knee brace · Textile printing · EMG · Lower limb
Introduction
The workers of any labor-intensive industries tend to exceed their physical capa-
bilities at times and so face a huge risk of musculoskeletal disorders (Younan
et al. 2019). Many professionals, like construction, assembly workers, and other
workers who perform repetitive actions at their workplace, face discomforts due
to ergonomic malfunctions and lack of awareness on ergonomics (Besharati et al.
2020). Works performed without proper knowledge and proper insight might lead
to accidents or severe injuries (Oakman et al. 2019). Also physical workloads play a
huge part in causing discomforts due to posture variations induced by the nature of
the work (Bazazan et al. 2019). The abovementioned conditions are well in accord
with the work of manual textile printing, and those workers face significant amount
of risks for the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders (Shankar et al. 2017a).
Among the important regions of the human body, foot and lower limbs have
notable significance, as they are the only link with the floor for the activities like
standing, running, and walking (Shankar et al. 2017b). Footwear variations were
proved to be significant in causing either positive or negative impacts on lower
limbs depending on the variations imposed (Jaitman et al. 2015; Fitschen-Oestern
et al. 2019). Ignoring proper footwear may impinge the risks of slip or trip at the
workplace (Sinclair et al. 2017a; Dobson et al. 2015). Another important factor
is the nature of the surface; it is to be noted that foot’s health depends on the
combined effects of footwear and surface (Menant et al. 2009) and the surface in
printing unit is usually hard cement floor. Footwear is also important to avoid the
risk of falls, since good footwear is responsible for the minimum foot clearance and
less heel slippage (Davis et al. 2016). The task of concern here is textile printing,
and it involves many awkward postures, and those postures might cause irregular
body and leg movements leading to joint twisting, and that continuous foot impact
might leave strain to the lower limbs (Yamin et al. 2016). Habitual barefoot walkers
31 Significance of Bracing Accessories for Improved Workability: An. . . 833
are prevalent in the rural areas (Vangara et al. 2016), and this condition is found
to affect the arch structure marking an impact on the gait. Screen printing units
are mostly located at rural areas, and significant percentage of people here are
less health conscious (Shankar et al. 2017a; Soni et al. 2016). Thus, ergonomic
awareness is minimal which eventually leads to discomfort risks. Manual textile
printing demands repetitive physical activities from the workers and prolonged
standing and walking throughout their work for a day. Many researchers (Karimi
et al. 2016) investigated the effects of prolonged standing and walking and presented
the need for an awareness and intervention for those workers and work practices
(Bantoft et al. 2015; Parry et al. 2017).
Textile printing done manually is not usually subject to any research and develop-
ment (Shankar et al. 2018a), due to which it lags behind in many features especially
in ergonomics for the workers performing regular tasks. As these industries are
plenty in the rural areas, lack of awareness about ergonomics and safety is prevalent
among these people (Shankar et al. 2018b). Most of the people show attitude similar
to the one discussed by Kelemework, Tora, Amberbir, Agedew, Asmamaw, Deribe,
and Davey (2016) on proper footwear and continue to ignore its ill effects. Also the
prevalence survey done previously found that more than 55% of people involved
in textile printing job experience discomfort over knee and foot (Shankar et al.
2017a). Few previous research study carried out in textile printing industry only
addressed the various factors associated with occurrence of musculoskeletal distress
in different body regions (Shankar et al. 2019). Most of those studies have addressed
the issues on the upper extremity such as shoulder, hand, and low back region
(Shankar et al. 2017b). But no significant studies are carried out to address the
musculoskeletal distress on the lower body extremity especially on knees. EMG-
based ergonomic evaluation of lower limb activities will provide a better inference
on the root cause for knee-based health ailments experienced by printing industry
workers. This study used same assessment methods used in similar study (Jansen
et al. 2003) to evaluate the effects of intervention on the textile printing activity.
In this study, an EMG-based experimental evaluation is carried to find the effect of
wearing shoes and knee braces on leg muscle during continuous printing process.
Intervention to Minimize the Musculoskeletal Distress Among

Textile Workers
Investigation Protocol for Hand Screen Printing Process
Task taken for analysis was screen/textile printing (Fig. 1), where workers initially
spread the required length of cloth on a table and place the stencil with required
design over it and set it at correct position, after which the workers spread dye
poured onto the stencil with the help of a squeegee matching the width of the
stencil. Then the stencil fitted to a frame is lifted and placed on the next area.
The abovementioned actions were performed by the subjects included in the study
Fig. 1 Textile printing

activity
for about 75 m. This was performed on a simulated environment resembling the

printing industry. The length of the table used in simulated setup was about 6 m,
so the subjects covered 75 m in repeated cycles without any break. Two different
trails were considered, first with normal slippers and second with knee braces
and well-cushioned shoes with good arch support. Twelve male subjects (students
from Kongu institution) with active participation in athletics were selected for the
study. It was ensured that they had no accident history and were trained for the
task to be performed during different trails. The mean height of the subjects was
161.08 ± 5.68 cm; the mean weight was 59.42 ± 6.46 kg, and they had an average
foot size of UK 8.5 (US 9; Euro 42).
Selection of Muscles and Electrode Placement
The activities of the muscles associated with lower limb and those in accordance
with the printing task were studied in advance before actual trails. Also, locations
associated with lower limb and knee fatigue, found from literature survey (Rahnama
et al. 2006), were assessed in the simulated setup. From this evaluation, the two
muscles vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius were taken for study. The electrodes
were placed on four different anatomical sites (bilateral on the two muscles).
Electrodes were placed on the respective locations (Fig. 2) based on SENIAM
Fig. 2 Barefoot/slipper
condition and electrode
placement
recommendations (Hermens et al. 1999). Muscle activities were monitored and

recorded dynamically throughout the trails.
Instruments Used for Analyzing Muscle Engagement
Muscle activity during continuous hand screen printing process is recorded using
DataLOG SEMG system, Biometrics, United Kingdom (Karimi et al. 2016; Salas
et al. 2016), that has eight independent programmable channels with about 20 kHz
sampling rate per channel and an automatic anti-alias digital filter operating at
approximately −3 dB at 0.45× sampling rate and a maximum attenuation of
−13 dB above 0.8× sampling rate. During the study, EMG system was interfaced
to a laptop, and the data was recorded. EMG electrode (SX230, Biometrics,
UK) with amplifier’s input impedance of >10,000,000 M Ohms is used here to
acquire data from muscle during continuous printing activities. Only a little skin
preparation is required for placing the EMG sensors on skin, and die-cut medical-
grade double-sided adhesive tapes are used to place EMG sensors on skin. A twin
axial goniometer (SG110, Biometrics, UK) with an accuracy of ±2◦ measured over
a range of ±90◦ was used to measure flexion of knee.
Fig. 3 Shod condition
Intervention
This study intended to analyze the effect of an intervention introduced to the subjects
performing the task of screen printing. Nature of this task induces discomfort over
knee, ankle, and foot (Shankar et al. 2017a), so inspection was done on field, and
it was decided to intervene for the enhancement for subjects’ comfort, thereby
maximizing the workability. Intervention added to the study was shoes and knee
braces considering the physical support required to hold a subject upright for a
prolonged period. Shoes (Fig. 3) used for the study are generally designed for sports,
and it had good arch support with a decent cushion.
Measurement Techniques
Subjects were explained about the purpose of this study and were trained on the
task of screen printing prior to the experimental trail. For the measurement of lower
leg volume, markings were done on their legs similar to the works done by Karimi,
Allahyari, Azghani, and Khalkhali (2016), and it was made sure that it does not get
erased throughout the experimental trials. For gastrocnemius, maximum voluntary
contraction (mvc) was witnessed when there was maximum plantar flexion. Plantar
flexion maximum was obtained when the subjects mimicked the printing action by
standing on their toes with their trunk bent forward to about 40◦ and also their arms
extended to their maximum reach forward. Similarly, for vastus lateralis, maximum
voluntary contraction was obtained when the knee flexion was about 70–75◦ . The
maximum flexion reached during the printing task might not go beyond 50◦ . After
all the above steps, the participants were asked to perform the task defined with a
partner on the other side. The movement of the subjects was from right toward left
irrespective of their dominant hand. Initially, they were asked to perform the task
for 75 m without any support accessories like shoes and knee braces; then, it was
followed by a brief break. Again the same task was repeated with shoes and knee
braces on. These trails might help in understanding the behavior of muscles and
eventually help in finding the better conditions for performing printing activity for a
prolonged period. The experimental trials were approved by the institutional human
research ethics committee.
Analysis of EMG and Statistical Data
Recorded data was filtered and split into nine equal parts, and mean RMS (root
mean square) of the data for individual part was calculated using Matlab R2012a
to analyze the vital information about muscle engagement during printing activity.
Coefficient of variance (CV) of RMS was also calculated in similar manner and was
plotted as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. These plots helped in visualizing the changes
of muscle activity and its variability with time. Statistical analysis was done in
order to validate the experimental observations and make the study more reliable.
Data was tested for normality using Mauchly’s test for sphericity, q-q plots, and
other assumption tests (Dickerson et al. 2015) to find the significance of present
data for repeated measures ANOVA (analysis of variance) using SPSS version
20.0. Influence of footwear condition, time, and combination of time and footwear
condition was estimated and listed (Table 1).
Table 1 Repeated measures ANOVA – summary

Measure Muscle Intervention Time Time/intervention
F p F p F p
Mean VR 2.512 0.152 10.65 0.000* 95.36 0.000*
VL 14.517 0.005* 9.287 0.000* 76.151 0.015*
GR 3.663 0.092 24.47 0.000* 92.86 0.004*
GL 7.379 0.000* 25.48 0.000* 20.53 0.002*
CV VR 33.122 0.000* 75.76 0.000* 50.55 0.891
VL 27.71 0.000* 37.86 0.000* 28.3 0.000*
GR 14.75 0.005* 5.115 0.969 7.354 0.005*
GL 3.11 0.593 15.79 0.244 11.96 0.607
Peak angle 26.01 0.01457* – – – –
Note: CV, coefficient of variance; *p < 0.05
Slippers on Slippers on
VR Shod/Knee braced VL Shod/Knee braced
90 90
80 80
Mean of RMS (% mvc)

Mean of RMS (% mvc)
70 70
60 60
50 50
40 40
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Segments of printing activity
Segments of printing activity
Slippers on Slippers on
GR Shod/Knee braced GL Shod/Knee braced
36
50
33
45
Mean of RMS (% mvc)
Mean of RMS (% mvc)
30 40
27 35
24 30
25
21
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Segments of printing activity Segments of printing activity
Fig. 4 Lower leg muscle activity variation (mean of RMS % mvc) for barefoot and shod/braced
condition (Note: VR, VL, vastus lateralis right and left; GR, GL, gastrocnemius right and left;
RMS, root mean square; mvc, maximum voluntary contraction)
Effect of Ergonomic Intervention on Workability
Effects of Footwear and Knee Braces on Muscle Activity Variation
Figure 4 shows intervention, musculoskeletal distress among textile workers:

the mean muscle activity for the four muscles considered, for which the EMG
was recorded dynamically for 75 m of printing with two different conditions,
viz., barefoot and shod/knee braces. From the repeated measures ANOVA results
(Table 1), it can be inferred that vastus lateralis left (VL) and gastrocnemius left
Slippers on
Slippers on
40 VR Shod/Knee braced
40 VL Shod/Knee braced
35 35
CV of RMS (% mvc)
CV of RMS (% mvc)
30 30
25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Slippers on
Slippers on
GR Shod/Knee braced GL Shod/Knee braced
10 10
8
8
CV of RMS (% mvc)
CV of RMS (% mvc)
6
4
4
2
0 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fig. 5 Lower leg muscle activity (%MVC) variation for barefoot and shod/braced condition
(Note: VR, VL, vastus lateralis right and left; GR, GL, gastrocnemius right and left; CV, coefficient
of variance; RMS, root mean square; mvc, maximum voluntary contraction)
(GL) are significantly influenced by the inclusion of shoes and knee braces to the
subjects. For the muscle activity variation, CV (coefficient of variance) of the lower
leg muscle activity is shown in Fig. 5. Also ANOVA results (Table 1) show that all
muscles considered except GL (p = 0.593) are significant for the effect of physical
modification made to the subjects.
Effects of Knee Braces on Knee Flexion
Goniometer results have shown that the knee flexion varied much due to the use
of knee braces. The flexion varied for every subject due to their own posture
maintenance, according to which the maximum flexion recorded was 42.7◦ and
the minimum recorded was 10.8◦ without wearing any knee brace to restrict the
movement. In that regard, the mean and standard deviation of flexion recorded
before using knee braces was 27.975◦ ± 13.201◦ , and after having their knee braces
on, the mean was 19.55◦ ± 10.576◦ . ANOVA results too supported the above results
by showing significance (p = 0.014) for the effect of knee braces on peak angle
(flexion).
Effect of Time on Muscle Activity Variation
Repeated measures ANOVA test was also used to assess the influence of time on
the muscle activity variation and also the combined effect of time and mitigations
on subjective discomfort. Influence of time is inevitable for all the muscles, and
it was evident from the results (Table 1), where all the muscles shown statistical
significance for its effect. Combined effect of time and shoes was also significant
for the mean RMS values assessed and also their frequency for much higher than all
other considerations with a highest (F = 95.36) for the vastus lateralis (VR) muscle.
Unlike mean RMS, the CV of RMS was not statistically significant for all muscles.
Only VL (p = 0.000) and gastrocnemius right (GR) (p = 0.005) were significant
for the effect of time and mitigation. A contradictory result was achieved in the
gastrocnemius muscle since it has not shown any significance for the influence of
time.
Effect of Time on Muscle Activity Variation
Repeated measures ANOVA test was also used to assess the influence of time on
the muscle activity variation and also the combined effect of time and mitigations
on subjective discomfort. Influence of time is inevitable for all the muscles, and
it was evident from the results (Table 1), where all the muscles shown statistical
significance for its effect. Combined effect of time and shoes was also significant
for the mean RMS values assessed and also their frequency for much higher than all
other considerations with a highest (F = 95.36) for the vastus lateralis (VR) muscle.
Unlike mean RMS, the CV of RMS was not statistically significant for all muscles.
Only VL (p = 0.000) and gastrocnemius right (GR) (p = 0.005) were significant
for the effect of time and mitigation. A contradictory result was achieved in the
gastrocnemius muscle since it has not shown any significance for the influence of
time.
This study also tried in finding the changes in volume of the lower limbs and their
significance. Since the task assigned to the subjects did not take time over 30 min
(for 75 m of printing activity), there were no visible changes of volume witnessed
over the lower limbs. But the measurements taken during each of the trails gave
a glimpse that there were marginal changes in the volume. The marginal changes
only managed to impose 0.28084% (mean) of volume change for the comparative
trails, viz., with and without bracing accessories. Due to the above results, volume
changes were not assessed using ANOVA test.
Root Causes and Intervention to Improve Workability
In general, works performed without protective equipment of any kind might cause
ill effects by several means (Carrillo-Castrillo et al. 2016). In the present case
considered, barefoot or less supportive slipper conditions, in which the workers
practice, might induce risks like plantar flexed foot and might lead to severe ankle
injuries (Sinclair et al. 2016; Beynnon et al. 2001). Shoes were found to provide a
safer support against the odds of abrasion, sprain, and irregular flexion (Squadrone
and Gallozzi 2009). There might be a risk of occurrence of anatomical changes in
the structure of foot by the use of regular slippers. In contrast, shoes limit the motion
in the forefoot region ensuring the minimal usage of its structure (Franklin et al.
2015), which was found helpful among older adults (Chaiwanichsiri et al. 2009).
Thus, the consideration of shoe as an ergonomic intervention, for any job involving
prolonged lower limb movements, might be fruitful (Bolgla and Malone 2004).
Involving in the printing activity for a day would generally make a worker to
stand and walk for at least 80–85% of the total working hours/day in an industry
(Shankar et al. 2017a), which eventually stand as the basic reason for the discomfort
over lower leg (Anderson et al. 2017) and sometimes might induce fatal risks as
shown by Henriksen, Hedegaard, Secher, and Wilcox (1995). The abovementioned
reasons could assert the results of our study where the influence of time was
predominant for all the muscles considered (Fig. 4, Table 1). In such conditions
of prolonged standing necessity, there should be precautionary actions like well-
cushioned footwear or some other ergonomic interventions to minimize the risks
of discomforts for the workers (Karimi et al. 2016). Many interventions related
to footwear and other lower leg supports were found effective in minimizing the
discomforts (Karimi et al. 2016; Lingeswaran et al. 2016; Sousa et al. 2016).
Therefore, in this study, the physical and muscle activity changes for traditional
printing activity were evaluated in relation to the footwear changes and knee
support. During the printing activity, there was reduced muscle activity witnessed
while wearing shoes, which were consistent with previous studies (Karimi et al.
2016). An important factor in this study was the footwear used here provided
support for arches (Hatfield et al. 2016; Chen et al. 2017) too and this might have
been an advantage for prolonged standing and irregular movements.
Muscles monitored in this study for 75 m of printing showed higher activities
for the right and left vastus lateralis muscles during both regular slippers and shod
conditions when compared to the gastrocnemius muscles. But the shod condition
had less activity percentage when compared to barefoot similar to the results
demonstrated by Sinclair, Cole, and Richards (2016). There were no significant
differences in the muscle activity for the VR and GR muscles comparatively (Fig. 4,
Table 1). There are several researches supporting the changes in muscle activity
during barefoot and shod condition, but few showcase the evidences to show that
those changes might not ensure changes in the motor responses (Sacco et al. 2010).
Shod condition might also ensure maintenance of proper sensory feedback, which
eventually helps for the normal gait pattern (Nurse and Nigg 2001). Also it should
be noted that foot strike pattern, which has greater influence on the lower limb
dynamics (Chinnasee et al. 2016), might get regulated to some extent in shod
conditions due to pattern of foot movement taking place in the printing activity.
Another condition imposed in this study is the knee braces which are less expensive
remedy used even without consent of a clinician (Sinclair et al. 2017b); also, they
were found to improve knee alignment.
Coefficient of variance, found to explain the variability among the trails (Bam-
man et al. 1997), might help in assessing the results in a reliable manner. On
that account, from Fig. 5, it is evident that variability is insignificant only with
gastrocnemius muscle on left limb. ANOVA results (Table 1) supported the same.
Present results were in line with the previous findings (Karimi et al. 2016; Bolgla
and Uhl 2007), where significance was noted for the variability. This clearly implies
that footwear modification worked in favor of the subject, which might eventually
minimize the overall discomfort. Also the variability achieved can be attributed to
the change in posture due to shoes and knee braces, since it was proven that foot
posture influences the muscle activity of lower leg muscles (Murley et al. 2009).
Knee braces too should be taken into account for the effects achieved, since it
was proven to have significant effects on knee movements during vigorous tasks
(Hanzlikova et al. 2016).
Influence of time is a factor which could not be ignored in an ergonomic study;
with that in mind, the influence of time and time and footwear conditions were
assessed with repeated measures test. Previous study (Shankar et al. 2017b) on
shoulder muscle among the screen printing industry workers proved that time had
great impact on the occurrence of fatigue for the nature of work they perform.
Those inferences were consistent with the present study of lower limb muscles,
as the task involved prolonged standing and walking similar to the assembly plant
workers (Werner et al. 2010). Consideration of time and footwear conditions was
also important for the present study, which revolves around the importance of
proper footwear usage during work. In that regard, it was found that the influence is
significant for all muscles, but in contradiction variability was significant only for
VL and GR. But appreciable influence of time and shod condition combination was
evident in the plot of mean RMS (Fig. 4), where there was no significant difference
between initial and final percentage mean.
Based on the findings of the present study, shod and braced conditions reduced
the activity level of the muscles studied using EMG, especially the muscles of
left limb. Also the braced condition was found minimizing the flexion (Table 1)
and might ensure a fixed posture avoiding accidental jerks leading to injury. This
combination of abovementioned conditions proved to be impactful in reducing
muscle activity, but there were no significant changes in volume of lower limb for
the considered time span. This leads to a limitation for this study signifying the
need of an evaluation for a longer time span with same methodology. As the study
found to significantly improve the workability, long-term assessment for some other
aspects like venous return, etc., might be done in the near future.
Summarizing, the present study indirectly tried visualizing the lack of awareness
and ignorance among the persons dealing with the screen printing activity as they are
vulnerable to the risks of discomfort and trauma as discussed above. Also, the study
showed the advantages of the introduced ergonomic interventions in comparison to
the previous findings with respect to the irregular activities involved in the screen
printing task. Over the abovementioned merits, there were limitations but with less
impact on the scope of the present study. Gait analysis pertaining the individual
subject’s behavior on different conditions might help in validating the obtained
results with more consistency. Foot strike pattern was talked about based on previous
findings, but including one in the future might be useful in finding the differences
for the wide range of experienced people actually involved in the activity unlike the
subjects considered in the present study.
Conclusion
This study helps us to understand the consequence of wearing of shoes and knee
braces on lower limb, and results are compared to the regular slippers or barefoot
condition while performing printing activities at laboratory condition. From the
results, EMG analysis reported that out of the two conditions, namely, wearing
shoe and knee braces during simulated textile printing activities, the shod condition
shows reduced muscle activities. Obtained results that are analyzed using the SPSS
software also confirmed that wearing of shoes during the printing activity has
better impact than working with knee braces, barefoot, and slippers. In the future,
these findings can be implemented in hand screen printing industry to improve the
working condition and improve productivity of employee by reducing health-related
ailments.
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Design, Implementation, and Experimental
Study on 3-RPS Parallel Manipulator-Based 32
Cervical Collar Therapy Device for Elderly
Patients Suffering from Cervical Spine Injuries
Pavan Kalyan Lingampally and Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848
Anatomical and Biomechanical Considerations and Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
Sensor Interface for Controlling the Cervical Collar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
Abstract
This chapter demonstrates an innovative cervical collar device to facilitate

patients suffering from chronic pain in the neck. The novelty of the collar from
existing collars is this device enables the elderly people to create movement for
the head while the collar is braced to the neck when the user is sitting, standing,
and walking. As part of the treatment, experts suggest that the patient wear a
cervical collar to arrest the motion of the neck, which causes discomfort. The
developed device employs the conventional cervical collar as a frame around the
neck, and in addition to this, parallel structured servo-based electric manipulators
were arranged around the neck frame to support the neck motion. Experimental
studies were carried out by testing the device under no-load condition and
load condition. The experimental data demonstrate that (1) the collar can
perform flexion, extension, and lateral bending for different test subjects and
(2) an analytical approach is implemented to obtain the error while performing
P. K. Lingampally
School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
A. S. Arockia Doss ()
848 P. K. Lingampally and A. S. Arockia Doss
the motions. Based on the comparison between experimental, simulation, and

analytical study, the error obtained along the pitch and roll axis of the head
is 0.5◦ . The results show that the designed collar can effectively increase the
comfort level and may aid in patient’s recovery.
Keywords
Cervical collar · Physical therapy · Parallel mechanism · Electric actuator ·

Range of motion
Introduction
Biomechanics is a field of science that studies the relationship between the motion of
human joints and the forces acting. This assists in the improvement of the diagnosis
of patients and therapies, development of aiding devices and new techniques for
recovery and injury prevention, and also reduction of medical costs. Thereby, virtual
simulations and physical devices are gaining more attention for predicting effects of
medical treatments.
The cervical spine has gained a lot of attention due to major accidents. Major
neck injuries could lead to damage of soft tissues around the neck, and without
proper care, this could lead to death. In India, each year about 20% of the
populations from younger to middle-age groups are treated for the neck pain. Over
the years, neck injury complaints were increased and relatively received global
attention to investigate the problem and provide solution. The studies indicate that
patients neglecting the pain or approaching alternative relief methods could suffice
the pain but the pain usually returns more aggressively. Neck pain should not be
neglected. Early treatment, like rehabilitation, a non-invasive method, can solve the
pain and the root cause of the problem. Noninvasive method is a form of physical
therapy that is used to minimize the agony and maximize the range of motion. This
method of manipulating cervical spine has been in practice by physiotherapists for
patients with head and neck ailments. Neck pain can be associated with dizziness;
unsteadiness due to the age, in the case of elders, which can lead to posture
instability; and head and eye movement control. The other aspect for the cervical
spine pain is due to the whiplash, which is an uncontrolled event in case of the
accidents. For the past decade, military helmets have increased the amount of weight
and also became mounting platforms for numerous combat essential devices, and
also for safety reasons, the motorbike riders are made compulsory to wear helmet
while riding. Without proper knowledge, consumers chose the helmets which are
heavy in weight, and using these over a period of time can expose a person to neck
pain, which if not treated correctly can increase the risk of neck injuries. Employees
and workers aged between 30 and 50 years are the most affected as they get older.
Recent studies theorized that the cause of work-related neck disorders are
prolonged static loads, highly repetitive work, forceful efforts, extreme postures,
and lack of recovery, as well as a combination of the above-stated factors. Neck
32 Design, Implementation, and Experimental Study on 3-RPS Parallel. . . 849
disorders are a result of pain in the neck-shoulder muscles, such as when a worker’s
situation demands high force with the hands, like holding a static load and forceful
manipulation, which requires a high degree of stabilization in the neck-shoulder
area; if this is done repeatedly or for a very prolonged period of time, this results in
neck-shoulder pain. Forced postures at work are a risk factor for neck disorder. A
study discovered musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and shoulders in workers
based on the physical workload and its relationship to the neck and arms. It is
observed that these disorders were associated with head and upper arm postures, its
velocity of motion, and muscular load. There are other occupations that have been
associated with the risk of neck pain. Neck pain is said to be the most expensive
form of work disability. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the neck are
mainly found among people who spend a great amount of time using computers
(e.g., software engineers, researchers, and academicians). This disorder commonly
leads to avail long-term sick leaves and disability pensions in industrial countries.
According to studies, female workers were exposed more to the work-related neck
pain when compared to male.
Anatomical and Biomechanical Considerations and Devices
Cervical spine injuries are posing a major threat to the mortality of the patients
every year all over the world. These injuries are due to fatal accidents while
riding vehicles, natural disasters, and also a degenerative morbidity in spine, which
is a common case for elderly people (Mathur et al. 2015). According to most
people’s belief, neck pain could compromise the neck posture balance mechanism
by damaging the proprioceptive inputs from the neck to the central nervous system
and vice versa. According to a survey of the elderly community, 40.5% are women
and 36.1% are men who suffer from neck pain (March et al. 1998). Neck pain in
the case of aged people affects few sensorimotor functions, such as stability of the
neck holding posture, cervical proprioception, and synchronizing head movement
and eye gaze (Uthaikhup et al. 2012). On the other hand, neck pain in elderly
can be caused by uncontrollable sudden falls of the head-neck due to dizziness.
Mostly, dizziness is the condition attributed due to the aging factor and multiple-
sensorimotor deterioration. The prevalence of dizziness could lead to improper
postural stability in cervical spine and also causes pain. Whiplash is the other
cause of neck pain that occurs as a result of motor vehicle accidents. Often,
whiplash neck-injured patients complain of dizziness and show signs of lack of
coordination between motor sensory systems (Kendall et al. 2015). On the other
hand, disabled people put a lot of physical effort to perform daily activities, for
example, eating, drinking, etc., on their own. According to the clinical studies,
nonsurgical methods are suggested by the clinicians and also preferred by the
patients because of progressive strengthening of muscles around the neck, which is
also economical (Huang et al. 2014). In the current nonsurgical methods, physical
therapy exercises and cervical collar immobilizers (c-collar) are used. However,
while physical therapy can alleviate pain, it may not assist the patient in maintaining
neck posture appropriately in a daily basis, which in return can lead to the postinjury
complications (Lauweryns 2010). Cervical collars are used to stabilize the position
of the head and cervical spine in 0◦ orientation. There are different types of collars
commercially available for treating patients; among them most commonly used
braces are the Philadelphia brace and the stiff-neck collar, soft collars, Aspen collar,
Miami braces, and Minerva braces, which are easy to brace around the neck, but
these braces cause discomfort while using over a period of time.
Most importantly, the cervical collars are not fully adjustable to suit all the
patients’ measurements, which leads to the neck being overextended and also
separation between the cervical vertebrae (Degirmenci et al. 2014). In order to
provide comfort elastic head support for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
patients, a baseball cap with Velcro attachment is used, as shown in Fig. 1, for the
users to aid while standing or walking without putting pressure on the chin (Hansen
et al. 2014).
Figure 2 shows an adaptable collar (head up collar) with adjustable supports (A,
Z, straight, and lateral), where the same collar could be used for different patients,
which also allowed patients to have satisfactory range of motion, flexibility, and
comfort (Pancani et al. 2018).
A 3-DOF hybrid active spherical joint is used to replicate the anthropomorphic
features of the human shoulder to overcome the structural drawbacks in serial
and parallel structures (Mghames et al. 2019). A 3PUU parallel manipulator is
designed and analyzed for bone drilling application, where the kinematic study
is carried out to obtain the maximum and minimum tilt of the platform, and
dynamics study is performed using Lagrangian method for joint forces, velocity,
displacement, and acceleration of the device (Fernandes and Arockia Selvakumar
2018). Comparative experimental studies on positional analysis for TRIPOD and
TRI-GLIDE manipulators were carried out for angular drilling applications, the
Fig. 1 Baseball cap-based

elastic head support system
for ALS patients (Hansen Baseball Cap
et al. 2014)
Velcro attachment
2 in. neoprene strap
“Y” split in strap
Velcro attachment
1 in. suspender clips

Frontal Z Frontal A Straight Lateral

Supports Support Support Support
Fig. 2 The head up cervical collar for ALS patients (Pancani et al. 2018)
obtained results were compared with ADAMS simulation results, and the error
for the manipulators were obtained (Arockia Selvakumar and Arul Kumar 2014).
A 4-DOF parallel link mechanism was proposed with 3- and 1-DOF translation
and orientation, respectively. This architecture provided larger workspace and
singularities, for the mechanism was obtained using Jacobian matrices (Kamada
et al. 2019). A novel single actuator gait assistive equipment is proposed using eight-
bar Jansen mechanism; synthesis is carried out for the generation of ankle trajectory
(Sabaapour et al. 2019).
A 3-DOF PSR parallel mechanism used for an unmanned aerial vehicle to
replicate wave and boat motion and an optimized design parameter were obtained
from the simulation studies in MATLAB (Talke et al. 2019). A four-bar spherical
parallel manipulator-based robotic exoskeleton is designed to decouple and control
motions of the shoulder (Hunt and Lee 2019). Dongsu Wu et al. proposed and
developed a novel 6-DOF exoskeleton using 6-3 UPS parallel manipulator for
head and neck motion assist. The system is controlled using sEMG signals; the
obtained signals are used as an input for training the feed-forward neural network
to evaluate the force and torque required. The developed system could be used
as a rehabilitation device or for virtual reality applications (Wu et al. 2016). Han
et al. developed a 43-DOF general purpose autonomous humanoid robot, which
consists of drive base, torso, arms, hands, neck, and head. The head and neck system
consists of 8-DOF, with the neck having 3-DOF, where the rotation is activated
by an anti-backlash geared motor (Han et al. 2002). Edgar Flores and Sidney
developed a 3-DOF neck mechanism by considering the dimensions of the average
length of an adult human neck as 15.7 cm. They successfully demonstrated that the
proposed device can achieve a pitch angle of −25◦ –39◦ by overcoming limitations
like excessive wobbling and unnatural motions of the head (Flores and Fels 2014).
Francesco et al. developed a 3-DOF tendon-driven neck mechanism in which a steel
spring was used to form a neck bone shape and was surrounded by three steel
tendons separated 120◦ apart. The length of the tendons is tuned with the help of
three motors located at the base, which are controlled using PID to move the head
along the roll and pitch axes (Nori et al. 2007). Eliseo et al. addressed fast gaze shift
toward visual target for the 7-DOF (4-DOF, neck; 3-DOF, eye (camera) movement)
anthropomorphic head, where all are actuated with the help of revolute joints. The
developed prototype successfully achieved saccadic movement without reducing the
oscillation of the head. When the eye makes a rapid movement, the gaze of the eye
is maintained stable until the head moves to the desired position (Maini et al. 2006).
Hao Su et al. developed a humanoid head with face tracking for autism spectrum
disorder by using two cable-driven limbs incorporated with preloaded springs and
a passive limb. The head is provided with 3-DOF and each eye has 3-DOF. A face
tracking algorithm is employed along with Kalman filter to interact with children
(Su et al. 2010). Sabater et al. designed and analyzed spherical humanoid neck using
2UPS-1RU (U, universal; P, prismatic; S, spherical; R, rotational) kinematic chains
(Sabater et al. 2006).
Zhang and Agrawal developed a 3-DOF dynamic brace for measuring head/neck
motion for patients with head drop symptom (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). This
device can perform the normal head motion, like rotation and translation, while
minimizing the position error of the motion (Zhang and Agrawal 2017). Brouwer
et al. designed a fast 4-DOF serial humanoid neck mechanism over the parallel
mechanism because the parallel mechanisms mostly rely on prismatic joints, which
require linear motors or spindles, where the power density of linear motors is small.
To build this mechanism, a differential drive system is used to achieve the head/neck
motions. The system is capable of achieving pitch (±36◦ ), roll (±102◦ ), and yaw
(±49◦ ). The main disadvantage of this mechanism is the complexness of the serial
setup using differential drives (Brouwer et al. 2009). Bingtuan et al. designed a
2-DOF lateral bending spring spine using cable-driven parallel mechanism, where
this mechanism can generate pitch and roll movements. A spring is realized as a
cervical spine in this mechanism. This mechanism generated relatively small lateral
bending angle (Gao et al. 2014). Bayu Setiawan et al. designed a 7-DOF mechanism
for FLoW humanoid, where this mechanism is of three parts: the eye mechanism,
which uses Helmholtz mechanism to support two cameras and provide pan and tilt
movements, the head with the agile eye, and the neck, which uses three-legged
Gough-Stewart platform, where two legs are dynamic and the other is fixed leg. In
this mechanism, the neck has 2-DOF. The workspace for the mechanism is obtained
using forward kinematics equations. By using this mechanism, the approximate
range of motions of the head tilt (35◦ ), swing (14◦ ), and pan (30◦ ) were obtained
(Setiawan et al. 2015).
Hao et al. created a 3D humanoid head model using Pro/E software package,
where the head consists of 12-DOF, which includes eyebrows, eyelid, eyeball,
mouth, and neck movements, and each part has 1-, 2-, 1-, 1-, 3-DOF, respectively.
For modeling the neck, the length is considered as 107 mm. The neck is designed
similar to the human cervical spine serial structure, where the upper neck controls
nodding motion, the central part can perform swing motion, and the lower part
can perform rotation motion. This design obtained a maximum neck movement
range of 60◦ , 45◦ , and 120◦ in horizontal, vertical, and rotational axes (Guan
et al. 2011). Beira et al. designed a robot head as a part of the project RobotCub
(iCub). The neck specifications for the humanoid were 7 cm wide and 9 cm long.
They developed three different neck mechanisms: spring neck, parallel neck, and
serial neck. A 3-DOF serial neck with DC micromotors with planetary gearheads
was opted alongside with an overload clutch system, which was provided to the
robot to increase the robustness while experiencing sudden falls like a child. This
arrangement with the serial neck has more advantages when compared to the other
delicate neck mechanisms (Beira et al. 2006).
Hashimoto et al. developed a mechanism using coil spring that can replicate
movements of the human cervical vertebra effortlessly. McKibben-type pneumatic
actuators are used for rolling and pitching movements, and a DC motor along
with a universal joint is provided at the bottom of the neck for yaw movement.
This mechanism successfully produced flexion (30◦ ), extension (−25◦ ), lateral
bending (±50◦ ), and rotation (±70◦ ) movements (Hashimoto et al. 2006). David
et al. designed and developed a 6-DOF linkage automated neck flexion device
for studying mechanical properties of the spine under cyclic/fatigue dynamic
loading, replacing manual operation of the tester, and proposed two approaches for
controlling the device using PID and dynamic inversion-based controllers. Based on
the complexity of the controller, PID is chosen over the model inversion (Tack et al.
2002). Figures 3, 4, and 5 show research carried out on cervical collars and recent
developments for the past decade.
The goal of this research is to build and validate a 3-DOF parallel manipulator
(platform) for “dropped head syndrome” patients (elderly) suffering from several
neuromuscular degenerative disorder such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
Moreover, the platform must fit to the geometric requirement of the patient head
and neck. The device is intended for daily use and could be used as an exercising
device whenever the patient feels necessary. The device is placed around the patient
neck; the device (platform) is driven by three electric actuator legs arranged parallel
to each other. Parallel platforms (lower mobility) are suitable for replicating the
cervical spine motions; they can achieve 3-DOF. Due to the parallel arrangement,
the structure (device) can provide high stiffness, precise positioning, and high load-
carrying capacity. This device is intended for physicians, surgeons, or orthopedists,
so they can assess the range of motion (ROM) for the patient. On the other hand,
because this device is portable, the patients could use it as a personal exercising
device during their free time.
However, the studies implicate that with continuous physical treatment or
therapy, this condition in the neck may be improved and provide balance while
Fig. 3 Halo for adult and child (https://www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Halo-rings-halo-

cervical-traction-and-vests)
Fig. 4 The Headmaster

collar (http://www.inclusive.
co.uk/headmaster-collar-
p5250#)
manipulating or moving the neck around. But this method needs continuous
assistance from an expert physiotherapist, which is not economical and is costly
for the patients. The patients are supposed to wait till the exercise is performed
manually by the therapist, which is a tedious task. Moreover, finding manual labor
with expert skillset for this kind of work is difficult. In order to overcome, problems
in cervical spine injury patients recovery, it is necessary to develop an aiding device
that meets the patient’s requirement. As this is meant for the patients, the device
has to be well-designed and safely operated using mechatronic systems to serve the
purpose of cause.
This work focuses on the need for design and development of a well-integrated
mechatronics system in c-collar for the patients. A mathematical model of the head-
Fig. 5 Cervigard forward head posture neck collar (https://cervigard.com/product/the-cervigard-

forward-head-posture-neck-collar/)
neck motions were simulated using MATLAB software package. The simulation
aids to optimize the workspace of the c-collar and also helps in determining the
optimal geometry and size of the collar. The obtained simulations have helped to be
useful in the design of the cervical collar. Our method of addressing the problem is a
simple and noninvasive approach. The implemented mathematical model measures
the position orientation of the top platform and the amount of the distance actuated
by all the actuators or legs. Thus, the joints, length, and distance of the links or
legs are obtained. The objective is to fabricate a device for the patients where the
head-neck are supported by electric actuators arranged parallel to each other to aid
in mimicking the normal human head-neck movements and also to provide a device
for their personal usage at an affordable cost.
Cervical collars are globally used to treat trauma patients in emergency situations
and also in therapy sessions. There are numerous varieties of cervical spine collar
devices available in the market, such as halo vests, cervical immobilizers, and
braces. Among them, the Philadelphia collar is the most recommended due to
its design, as this collar is fabricated using plastic, which has supports for the
chin and occipital muscle. This collar is successful in stabilizing the neck and
preventing damage during the time of recovery, but the patients wear this collar
with great discomfort and are willing to remove it as quickly as possible, and certain
numbness is created around the shoulder and also pressure on the chin. Furthermore,
comfortable soft foam collars were designed using cotton, but these collars failed to
control the neck motion (Hunter et al. 2004; Lingampally and Selvakumar 2016;
Lingampally and Arockia Selvakumar 2019). There are no collars for patients
available which provide great comfort level while recovering from unstable cervical
spine injuries.
Table 1 presents the major joints available in the cervical spine; these joints allow
the cervical spine to form a columned structure. C1–C7 are stacked one on top of
the other, which allows the cervical spine to form a columned structure, and these
Table 1 Joints in the cervical spine (Mercer and Bogduk 2001)

S.
no. Joints Location of the joint Movement
1. Pivot joint The skull is linked to the cervical Rotational movement
spine at C1 through synovial joints
termed as the occipital-cervical
joint. C1 and C2 control about 50%
rotation of the neck
2. Facet joint Semi-movable joint; these are Lateral bending
located between two vertebrae to
move the neck in many directions
with minimum friction between
each vertebra
3. Ligaments These are long connecting tissues Flexion and extension
that connect one bone to another.
Several long ligaments connect at
the front (anterior) and back
(posterior) sections of the vertebra.
These ligaments are longitudinally
stretched along the length of the
cervical spine
4. Intervertebral disc joints The disc functions to separate each Compression and
vertebra from each other. The disc expansion
absorbs the shock and distributes
the hydraulic pressure in all
directions within the disc under
loading conditions
joints bind them together while moving the head. Firstly, the joint at C1 (atlas) and
C2 (axis) can produce 50% rotation for the head by using a pivot joint; in order to
obtain rotation movement in our case, we considered spherical joints as an alternate
to produce similar movement. On the other hand, ligaments are the tissues which
are elastic in nature and could provide extension and retraction movements. These
are present at the front and back of the cervical spine. In order to mimic this motion,
electric linear actuators are provided at the front and back of the neck. Finally, the
revolute joints are used as the base joints, which are fixed, and the movements of the
joints are restricted. The junction at C7–T1 (cervicothoracic junction) is considered
as a fixed joint.
This design consists of a chest and chin support in the front section and, on
the other side, an occipital and upper back (trapezius muscle) support, as shown in
Fig. 6. The chin and occipital support platforms constitute together to form the top
(or) movable platform, and similarly, the chest and upper back supports together
form the base (or) fixed platform, and these platforms are connected by adjustable
belts. These platforms are connected by extensible and retractable linear electric
actuators to serve as prismatic links around the neck, as the actuator’s top and base
ends are connected by spherical and revolute joints, respectively. This sequential
arrangement of links and joints lead to RPS configuration.
Fig. 6 Proposed design for Collar Top

the cervical collar (c-collar) Platform
(Lingampally and Arockia
Selvakumar 2018)
Spherical
Joints
Adjustable
Belts
Linear Electric
Actuators
Revolute
Joints
Collar Base
Platform
Table 2 Design parameters Circumference (mm) Regular (330–410)

for cervical collar Height (mm) Large (410–480)
(Lingampally and Arockia
Selvakumar 2019) Regular (80)
Large (120)
The prismatic links are arranged parallel to each other. These parallel configura-
tions are well known for providing high load-carrying capacity, high stiffness, and
precise positions, which are considered to be the benefits when compared to other
configurations (Hostler et al. 2009; Lingampally and Arockia Selvakumar 2019;
Arockia Selvakumar and Arul Kumar 2014; Arockia Selvakumar et al. 2010, 2012).
The design parameters for the collar are shown in Table 2.
The main aim of the c-collar design is to address the following issues:
• Support the patient’s head movement

• Comfortability
• Adjustable supports
• Ease of use
Sensor Interface for Controlling the Cervical Collar
The 3-DoF c-collar is controlled based on the actuation of the linear actuators. Since
the head and neck motion is determined by the C-spine and numerous muscles, it is
crucial to stabilize spine from damaging and disorienting. For this reason, the linear
actuators are used as an actuation system rather than controlled by the sEMG or
sensor-driven actuations. Figure 7 shows the control system and the procedure for
Controller
CROM Arduino
Software
Actuators
Application
Wireless Motor Shield
Small SMPS (5V, 5A)
Lightweight
Cervical Collar yow Measurement
pitch Real-time Monitoring
Linear Actuators roll
Small
Lightweight External Application
ROM Patient’s History
Database
Report
Measurement
Protocol
Patient Practicioner
Fig. 7 Control system for measuring the range of motion using CROM
the measurement of motion using CROM. The sensor used in measuring the angle is
an inclinometer along the head pitch and roll axis to calculate the inclination when
the actuators’ lengths are varied in the program. The 360◦ inclinometer dials are
5.5 cm in diameter and the angles marked with 2◦ increments. The actuators are
operated at 6 DC volts, 100:1 is the gear reduction ratio, stroke length is 100 mm
and repeatability is ±0.5 mm for 100 mm, a potentiometer is used in the motors to
obtain the position of the actuator, and linearity for the potentiometer is less than
2%.
Servo-based linear actuators are used to mimic the head-neck motions. The
servos are connected to a SMPS 5 V, 5A power supply. A servo shield is employed
as an intermediary between the servos and the SMPS to shield the servos from
getting damaged due to fluctuation in power supply. The servo shield is connected
to a microcontroller and the microcontroller to a computer. The computer provides
communication to the microcontroller using a software application, in which the
position of linear actuators can be changed. The modification of code results in
the movement of the actuators, which in turn results in the movement of the head
accordingly. As the user is equipped with a CROM on the head, the positional
change in the lengths of the actuators provides deflection in the inclinometer dials
according to the motion performed in terms of angle (degrees). This method of
controlling the device is easier and effective because the user has total control over
the prismatic joints because of the input provided in terms of length (mm) when
compared to the revolute or spherical joints.
In this study, a total of seven subjects were considered. The four participating
subjects were males and three females, whose ages range from 49 to 65 years, as
Fig. 8 The cervical range of

motion (CROM) device for
measuring AROM (Fletcher
and Bandy 2008)
shown in Fig. 9. Participants were prior informed about the procedure to be carried
out with their consent.
The experimental procedure involves a sequence motion of the head-neck
movement: extension (E), flexion (F), axial rotation (left and right), and lateral
bending (right and left). The CROM is a tool which is capable of measuring the
active range of motion (AROM) of the cervical spine, which is a clinical tool for the
process and approved clinically. This tool uses universal goniometer and universal
inclinometer to obtain the angle of inclination. The CROM comprises of three fluid-
dampened inclinometers. These inclinometers are attached to a lightweight acrylic
frame, where this is shaped to fit the head and is fastened using hook and loop straps.
These inclinometers work when the patient is braced with a magnet to the person’s
upper trunk, as shown in Fig. 8.
Each subject is made to perform each motion twice to make the subject
comfortable to the process. The mentioned motions of the cervical spine are
performed as mentioned below:
(a) Flexion and Extension

The subjects were instructed to perform flexion motion, where the subjects
move their head forward and down till the motion is limited or causes
discomfort, as shown in Fig. 9. For extension, the subjects are made to raise
their chin first and then the head backward, looking up as high as possible till the
motion is limited or causes discomfort, as shown in Fig. 9. During the procedure,
the subjects are restricted to move their shoulders because thoracic movements
could affect the accuracy and precision of the instrument readings.
Fig. 9 Motion of the

head/neck with the designed
c-collar along with CROM
(Arockia Selvakumar et al.
2021)
Inclinometers
CROM
Magnet
Electric Linear
Actuator
(b) Lateral Bending

Subjects were instructed to perform lateral bending motion in each direction
(right and left), as the subjects were made to look straight while the procedure
is performed and to bend their neck in side directions as the ear move toward
the shoulder till the motion is limited or causes discomfort, as shown in Fig. 9.
This procedure is performed on side of the head. As mentioned above, shoulder
movement is restricted.
Simulation study is carried out in MATLAB programming environment, and the

algorithm is discussed below (Lingampally and Arockia Selvakumar 2019; Pardeshi
and Arockia Selvakumar 2017):
Input: Values of the angles θ1 , θ2 , base, and top platform coordinates and the
height between the platforms.
Output: All minimum and maximum possible position values of the top platform
for different angle values.
1. for θ1 constrained in a range.

2. for θ2 constrained in a range.
√ T
3. R1 = [g, 0, 0]T , R2 = − 12 g, 2
3
g, 0 ,
√ T
R3 = − 12 g, − 23 g, 0 , revolute joint coordinates in the 3D plot.
√ T
4. B r1 = [h, 0, 0]T , B r 2 = − 12 h, 2
3
h, 0 ,
√ T
Br
3 = − 12 h, − 3
2 h, 0 , spherical joint coordinates in the 3D plot.
5. A rBi (or) qi = l + AR B r .
B i
6. Pi2 = [Ri − ri ]T [Ri − ri ], calculates the length of the limbs (Pi = 1,2,3 ).
7. Plot the actuation of the links for the different tilt angle values for the top
platform.
8. end for
9. end for
10. find the possible link displacement for the varied tilt angles.
Cervical spine injury has no permanent treatment, which could rapidly cure
the injury; the only possible solution for this problem is by continuous therapy
sessions. This neck brace device is tested on the elderly people suffering from C-
spine injuries, which could occur due to fatal accidents and also by a degenerative
morbidity in spine, which is a common case for elderly people. The objective of this
brace is to deliver full head support during daily activities such as walking, eating,
speaking, and sitting.
Trials were conducted with CROM and the designed collar on test subjects. To
actuate the prismatic joints (active), an inverse kinematic approach is used in coding
the actuators, where the lengths of the actuators are varied and the variation in links
will result in tilting of the top platform (Arockia Selvakumar et al. 2010, 2012), and
the attached CROM to the head will indicate the tilt of the top platform with the
help of the inclinometers. Table 3 provides the measurement of motion under the
load condition on the elderly people with neck brace device. The active range of
motion of the head is measured using CROM. The actuators, which are supporting
the head, were operated at a very low speed (5 mm/s) where the full extension of
the actuator is 100 mm.
The subjects were instructed to perform flexion motion, where the subjects move
their head forward and down. For extension, the subjects are made to raise their chin
first and then the head backward looking up as high as possible. For lateral bending
motion in each direction (right and left), the subjects were made to look straight
while the procedure is performed and to bend their neck in side directions as the ear
move toward the shoulder till the motion is limited or causes discomfort.
Table 3 Active range of Measurement of cervical

motion of test subjects with spine AROM using CROM
the designed c-collar (N = 7)
Active range of motion
(AROM) Trial (Mean ± SD)
Flexion 13.5◦ ± 1.2◦
Extension 20◦ ± 1.3◦
Right lateral bending 20◦ ± 1.07◦
Left lateral bending 22.1◦ ± 1.2◦
AROM active range of motion, CROM cervical range of
motion, N number of test subjects, SD standard deviation
Fig. 10 Link displacement

for 1◦ angle variation for the
top platform 100
X: 250
80 Y: 0
Z: 100
Z (mm)
60 X: -125
Y: -216.5
40 Z: 100
20
0
400
200 400
0 200
-200 0
Y (mm) -400 -200 X (mm)
(a)
X: 250
120 Y: 0
Z: 100
100
X: -125
80 Y: -216.5
Z (mm)
Z: 96.22
60
40
20
0
400
200 400
0 200
-200 0
Y (mm) -100 -200 X (mm)
(b)
The arrangement of the actuators is in this order and is numbered in this order:
actuator 1 at back of the collar and actuators 2 and 3 at the front, as shown in Fig. 12.
For flexion, the actuator 1 is kept constant, and actuators 2 and 3 are varied at an
interval of 5 mm, and the tilt of the top platform is obtained under no-load condition.
In case of extension, actuators 2 and 3 are kept constant and the other is varied. For
right lateral bending, actuators 1 and 3 are kept constant and actuator 2 is varied,
while for left lateral bending, actuators 1 and 2 are kept constant and actuator 3 is
varied. Figure 10 shows the link displacement for 1◦ tilt, where the link is displaced
by 3.78 mm from its initial position.
For 1 mm actuation of the link in case of experimental study, the tilt obtained
for the top platform is 0.24◦ , whereas in the simulation study, it is 0.25◦ along
the Z-axis. A deviation of 4% is observed when compared to the experimental and
MATLAB method.
(a) Load Condition

(Flexion)
140
120
100
Z(mm)
80
60
40
400
200 300
0 200
100
0
-200 -100
Y(mm) -400 -200 X(mm)
(b) Load Condition

(Extension)
160
140
120
Z(mm)
100
80
60
400
200 300
0 200
100
-200 0
-100
Y(mm) -400 -200 X(mm)
Fig. 11 (continued)
(c) Load Condition

(Lateral Bending-Left)
200
150
Z(mm)
100
50
0
400
200 300
0 200
100
-200 0
-100
Y(mm) -400 -200 X(mm)
(d) Load Condition

(Lateral Bending-Right)
200
150
Z(mm)
100
50
0
400
200 300
0 200
100
-200 0
-100
Y(mm) -400 -200 X(mm)
Fig. 11 Workspace for c-collar

Figure 11a–d shows the workspace for the collar top platform, as these values are
obtained from the load and no-load condition study, where the links were actuated
by 5 mm for each step and the inclination is found for the device.
Figure 12 shows experimental validation of the device (Arockia Selvakumar and
Arul Kumar 2014) and full extension of the actuators, with the laser starting at the
origin on the graph when the actuators are extended fully (50 mm) and the laser
pointing at 48 mm, which indicates a 2 mm deviation when the top platform is
translated along the Z-axis. The inclination of top platform is acquired by varying
actuator length by 5mm, the 2nd prismatic joint is actuated where the 1st and 3rd
prismatic joint are kept idle, the tilt of the top platform is obtained approximately
1.2◦ for repeated trials.
The parameters for the collar were designed with MATLAB programming using
forward kinematics by providing joint angles as the inputs for the top platform.
Error obtained in this study is plotted, as shown in Fig. 14. Figure 13 shows the
procedure followed for obtaining angular tilt for the device under no-load condition.
The pitch axis angle for head/neck is obtained between ±12◦ for both the flexion and
extension, whereas for the roll angle, it obtained is between ±21◦ for both lateral
bending right and left. The error obtained from different motions is 0.5◦ , which is
found to be minimum, as shown in (Fig. 14).
During trials on the test subjects, a survey was conducted among 15 elderly
people aging between 49 and 65 to evaluate the performance and comfort level of
the device; 90% of people found the device to be safe and suitable for their needs.
The results show that the collar can substantially aid the elderly people in recovery
and relieving muscle fatigue.
Fig. 12 Experimental validation for the device

Fig. 13 Experimental study

under no-load condition
25
Flexion No load Condition
Flexion Load Condition
Flexion Error
Extension No load Condition
20 Extension Load Condition
Tilt Motions of C-Collar Top platform
Extension Error
Lateral Bending (Right) No load Condition
Lateral Bending (Right) Load Condition
Lateral Bending (Right) Error
(Degrees)
15 Lateral Bending (Left) No load Condition

Lateral Bending (Left) Load Condition
Lateral Bending (Left) Error
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Actuation of Links (mm)
Fig. 14 Motion of the head/neck with the designed c-collar along with CROM
Conclusion
This chapter presents the design of a neck brace, which was determined to aid
elderly people who are suffering from sensorimotor malfunctioning in cervical spine
and help in restoring the standard head motion. A new 3-DOF dynamic cervical
collar was proposed and used for designing the brace. This 3-DOF mechanism was
expected to stabilize the neck-holding posture, provide exercise (head movements),
and relieve stress on the neck muscles while minimizing position errors.
This study presents a new wearable neck brace collar with parallel actuators for
elderly people aiding in head-neck movements. A 3D solid model is developed using
SOLIDWORKS based on the obtained results from the simulation study. In order
to verify the effectiveness of the brace, a preliminary evaluation was conducted
on the elderly people using CROM motion for different head dimensions, and
weights were collected under loaded condition; on the other hand, an experimental
validation is carried out with no-load condition to check the performance of the
device by obtaining the error of the device. A workspace comparison is done
for simulation and for different load conditions. The experimental study shows
4.76% deviation between no-load and load conditions; on the other hand, analytical
approach produces only 4% deviation. The possible deviation is due to different
head dimensions and weight. In case of smaller head dimensions, the initial angle
between the joint varies when compared to the medium and large dimensions
head/neck. This device successfully performed the flexion, extension, and lateral
bending while conducting trials on elderly people.
Future study will be conducted on the amount of strain/pain produced on the
muscle, which will be studied dynamically for elderly people, and also trials would
be conducted on other cervical injuries, like trauma and whiplash patients.
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Performance Comparison of Two-Stage
LED Driver for Tube Light Applications 33
Vandavasi Harikrishna and Ramachandiran Gunabalan
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872
Mono-stage LED Driver Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875
Solitary Stage LLC LED Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877
Design of PFC Boost Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 878
Design of LLC Resonant Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879
Boost Buck LED Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
Boost Converter Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883
Buck Converter Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 884
Input LC Filter Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885
Performance Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886
Websites for References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888
Abstract
A high efficient two-stage light-emitting diode (LED) driver circuit is presented

with good power factor in the input side and a reduced input current total
harmonic distortion (THD) for T8/T10 tube light applications. The LED driver
circuit comprises of an AC-DC diode rectifier followed by a boost and a
buck converter for power factor improvement in the supply side and for load
current regulation, respectively. The boost and buck converters are operated
independently with separate control circuits. The circuit is simple and free from
coupled inductor or fly-back transformer in comparison with a single stage LED
V. Harikrishna
IgrenEnergi Services Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, India
R. Gunabalan ()
School of Electrical Engineering, VIT Chennai, Chennai, India
872 V. Harikrishna and R. Gunabalan
driver topologies. The operation and design procedures are presented in detail
for an 18 W LED fluorescent lamp. The simulation circuit model is developed
and validated to prove the effectiveness of the driver circuit in powersim (PSIM)
simulation environment for 150–-230 V, 50 Hz utility supply. The highest power
factor, lowest input current THD, and highest efficiency are obtained at rated
supply voltage. The performance of the driver circuit is compared with the similar
converter topologies. The two-stage LED driver can be used in energy-efficient
pathway street lighting and indoor lighting applications.
Keywords
DC-DC converter · LED driver · Supply power factor · Total harmonic

distortion
Introduction
Light-emitting diodes (LED) currently draw high value for general purpose high
brightness lighting applications, because of energy redeemable, ecological friendly,
long life, high colorfulness, and fast response. LEDs are extensively used for
traffic lights, vehicle light, flash light, and so on. LEDs are treated as next-
generation illumination source, but the encounters of LEDs are the efficiency,
thermal contraption, and the cost. LED is forced by dc voltage, current controlled
device. Thus it needs to change ac utility source to dc voltage for LED.
LEDs have advantageous characteristic of minor size, longer lifetime, inferior
preservation cost, superior strength against damage, and mercury free. They are
less harmful to our surroundings than conventional lighting sources. The high
splendor LED is the new era of light source, and has been the research area
in recent years, because of its high efficiency of more than 100 lm/W and long
lifetime contrasted with conventional fluorescent, high intensity discharge lights.
The LED gadgets have generally longer lifetime of normally 80,000 hr; however,
the lifetime of LED driver is short. The LED gadgets have generally longer lifetime
of normally 80,000 hrs however the lifetime of LED driver is short since the life
time of electrolytic capacitors is less contrasted and different parts. Since the life
time of electrolytic capacitors is less contrasted and different parts. Distinctive
power converter topologies utilized as a part of the driver circuit of LED have
been designed using multistage operation. But multistage operation requires more
number of components which is directly proportional to more number of losses
present in the driver circuit.
An LED comprises of a chip of semiconducting material treated to make a P-N
intersection. At the point when P-N junction is under sending inclination condition,
an electron discharges energy as a photon when it travels through a hole. The light is
not bright, but in most LEDs it is monochromatic, occurring at a single wavelength.
The output from an LED can range from red (at a wavelength of 700 nm) to blue-
violet (about 400 nm). LEDs are used in remote control, opto-couplers, car lighting,
33 Performance Comparison of Two-Stage LED Driver for Tube Light Applications 873
and LCD panel backlighting. Existing street lighting framework utilizes sodium
and fluorescent lights. Driven lighting has innovatively progressed as a positive
domain benevolent lighting innovation to trade the present vitality wasteful radiant
and fluorescent lights. It additionally replaces the sodium vapor light utilized as a
part of road lighting framework. LED lamps are gaining acceptance in indoor and
public lighting applications because of its longer life, carbon reduction, pollution
free, high color rendering index, and high efficiency compared to gas discharge
and high pressure sodium vapor lamps. LED is a current controlled device hence
special driver circuit is needed to maintain constant current under variation in supply
voltage and avoid luminosity variation.
Numerous driver circuits were developed by researchers for LED lighting
applications for standard power ratings. A passive LED driver circuit was developed
for low power decorative lighting applications with a valley fill circuit using diodes
and capacitors without power electronic switches (Hui 2010). The well-known
buck, boost, fly-back, and galvanic isolated resonant converters were used for
LED applications with input power factor correction (Broeck et al. 2007; 19W
2011; User Guide 2012). The current balancing was achieved in LED driver with
a simple resistor (Khatib 2009) and a capacitor (Zhao et al. 2013). A parallel
inverted buck converter was used to regulate the current of LEDs and for input
power factor correction (PFC) (Kim et al. 2017). Recently, LED driver circuits were
developed without electrolytic capacitors to increase the life time for efficiency
improvement and cost reduction (Valipour et al. 2016). A dual stage driver with
PFC converter (boost) and a three-channel floating converter (buck) was employed
for lighting applications (Athalye et al. 2012). The maximum efficiency of the driver
circuit was 93%. A dual stage LED driver employing a buck converter for voltage
control and a CLL resonant converter for current control was presented (Chen et al.
2015). The circuit efficiency was 96% under maximum brightness. The number
of high frequency transformers, switches, and capacitors made the circuit costly
and complex. A one-and-a-half stage circuit was proposed with an efficiency and
power factor of 84% and 0.98, respectively, at rated voltage in which a fly-back
converter and a buck converter were employed (Valipour et al. 2016). A single stage
converter topology was employed for powering LED street lighting module with
LLC resonant components in a bridgeless PFC converter (Cheng et al. 2015). The
switching losses were minimized by soft switching technique and the efficiency of
the circuit was 93%. A mono stage LED driver circuit was used with a coupled
inductor in the boost converter side for input power factor improvement with a
circuit efficiency of 92% (Cheng et al. 2016) and efficiency was further improved
with soft switching 94.16% (Cheng et al. 2017). A single stage driver circuit along
with a coupled inductor was designed in (Cheng et al. 2014a) for T8 fluorescent
lamp applications in order to provide good power factor in the input side and an
efficiency of 90.6%. The main drawback of the single stage driver with a coupled
inductor is the high voltage surges during turn off time by the leakage inductance
(Cheng et al. 2014a, 2016, 2017). Reliability is a key issue as single stage LED
driver circuit is concerned (Bailey 2011) and brightness control is achieved by
analog control method. To reduce the output voltage variations which causes LED
current ripple, bulky capacitors are needed. The single stage driver circuits are also
complicated (Cheng et al. 2014a, 2015, 2016, 2017). A double or a multistage
LED driver circuit is preferred when reliability and efficiency are more important
than cost. The brightness controls of LED lamps were discussed using variable
frequency control in wireless dimming system (Liu et al. 2020; Zhang et al. 2020)
and pulse width modulation method (Harikrishna et al. 2020). The development of
LED technology with respect to semiconductor material, LED drivers for different
applications, the energy efficiency and the market share are depicted in Fig. 1.
In this chapter, a simple and cost-effective commercially suitable double stage
high efficient LED driver circuit for 230 V, 50 Hz supply is designed and employed
to attain high power factor at the input side with low THD in the input current.
The brightness control is accomplished digitally by double pulse width modulation
(DPWM).
Fig. 1 Development of LED technology

The chapter is organized as follows: The different types of mono-stage LED

drivers are discussed in sections “Mono-stage LED Driver Topology” and “Solitary
Stage LLC LED Driver.” The description of a dual stage LED driver is discussed
in section “Boost Buck LED Driver” with design specifications and performance
analysis. The chapter concludes with major contributions and applications in section
“Conclusion.“
Mono-stage LED Driver Topology
Figure 2 shows the block diagram of mono-stage LED circuit. Figure 3 represents
the power circuit connection of mono-stage LED circuit. The power circuit is mainly
of two stages. In the first stage, a coupled inductor is interconnected to the rectifier
(two diodes and two switches are connected) which works as a boost converter. In
the second stage, the series resonant circuit is connected with the diode rectifier
and followed by an output capacitor filter. The LED series light is connected next
to the output filter. To maintain constant value of sinusoidal input voltage to the
power switches, the utility line frequency is lesser than the switching frequency
of the power switches. Both switches are complementary to each other. During
the conduction mode, the boost converter and diode rectifier voltage drops of the
diodes are neglected. To achieve natural PFC, the coupled inductor is operated in
discontinues mode. The working principle and the relative resultant waveforms for
the LED series light were explained in (Cheng et al. 2016) with a circuit operated in
110 V, 60 Hz.
Fig. 2 Block diagram
Fig. 3 Mono-stage LED driver circuit (Cheng et al. 2016)

To design the couple inductors LPFC1 and LPFC2 , the following equation is used
(Cheng et al. 2014b).
(1)
where:
η – the circuit efficiency

Plamp – the rated power
fs – the frequency of switching
D – duty cycle
Assuming η of 0.9 VAC − rms of 230 V and Plamp of 18 W, fs of 50 kHz, and D of

0.5, the couple inductors LPFC1 and LPFC2 are designed as 6.6 mH.
Figure 4 shows the design of coupled inductors LPFC1 and LPFC2 under different
switching frequencies.
1
fc = (2)
2π Lf Cf
Assuming the cut-off frequency fc is one-fourth times less than the switching
frequency fs , and basing on the above statement, let us assume the input filter
fs = 50 kHz
6.6 mH (Lpfc1 & Lpfc2)

Inductance (mH)
fs = 70 kHz
fs = 120 kHz
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Duty Cycle (D)
Fig. 4 Switching frequency versus duty cycle

inductor Lf as 2 mH. Then, the input filter capacitor is designed using the following
equation:
1
Cf = (3)
(2πfc )2 Lf
The equivalent resistance of the LED lamp is represented by
R0 = Vo /Io . (4)
The fundamental switch voltage VDS2 is given by

√
VDS2 = 2 2VAC−rms (5)
The resonant frequency fs can be expressed as
1
f0 = √ (6)
2π LrCr
To achieve ZVS, the resonating frequency f0 should be less than the switching
frequency f0 . Because of this, the resonant converter resembles as inductive network
.
Solitary Stage LLC LED Driver
The various components and circuits used in the single stage LLC resonant converter
are discussed in this chapter. It combines full bridge ac-dc rectifier, modified
bridgeless PFC converter, and half bridge LLC resonant converter into a solitary
stage circuit. Figure 5 shows the power flow through the LED driver circuit. The
boost converter is said to be an isolated topology and is called as step up/boost
power range. Boost converters are conveniently used as the output voltage is always
greater than the input voltage and the polarity is also same. Thus, it is not isolated
from the input side. There is a large variation in the input and output currents
of a boost converter. Figure 6 shows the power factor correction boost converter.
An active power factor correction technique is used in the circuit for power factor
improvement.
LLC
Utility AC-DC PFC
Resonant LED
AC source rectifier converter
Converter
Fig. 5 Block diagram of a solitary stage LLC resonant converter

Fig. 6 Power factor correction boost converter
Design of PFC Boost Converter
The various parameters associated with boost converter are as follows:
P out
Input power Pin = (7)
eng
P in
RMS input current = (8)
V rms
According to the IEC 1000 the current ripple will be 20% of the maximum
inductor current.
√
Maximum input current Iin = 2 × Iin (rms) (9)
Pout
Maximum output power Iout = (10)
Vout
2 × Iin (max)
Iin (avg) = (11)
π
Vout (max) − Vin (max)

Duty cycle D = × 100 (12)
Vout (max)
Vin (min) × D
Inductance L = (13)
fsw × i
Iout (max) × D
Capacitance C = (14)
fsw × Vout
where
Vout = Output voltage ripple

i = Inductor current ripple
Design of LLC Resonant Converter
The LLC resonant converter allows for ZVS of the main switches which signifi-
cantly reduces switching losses and improves efficiency. LLC resonant half bridge
converters are widely used in consumer electronics, like powering the display panel
of LCD TV. However, the governing principles of an LLC resonant half bridge
converter are far from illusive and instinctive. Figure 7 shows the LLC resonant
converter. The LLC network gain is frequency modulated and the converter can be
operated in three modes depending on input voltage and load current conditions.
At resonant frequency (fs = fr ): Each 50% cycle delivers full power and the
resonant half cycle completes during the half cycle switching time interval. At the
end of half cycle, the current through the inductor ILr reaches the magnetizing
current ILm at which the current through the rectifier becomes zero. The gain of the
tank circuit at resonance is unity with best efficiency and optimized operation, hence
the converter to be operated at nominal input and output voltage and the transformer
turns ratio should be designed as such.
Above resonant frequency (fs > fr ): Each 50% cycle comprises a part of power
delivered to the resonant frequency operation, but it varies as the resonant half cycle
does not complete as switching cycle interrupts. Therefore, the turnoff losses on the
Fig. 7 LLC resonant converter

Fig. 8 Equivalent resonant

circuit
primary side of MOSFETs are increased and hard commutation occurs at secondary
rectifiers. Hence, the converter operates at higher input voltage in order to get buck
operation.
Below resonant frequency (fs < fr ): Each 50% cycle comprises a part of power
delivered to the resonant frequency, and the current through the resonant inductor
ILr reaches the magnetizing current. The freewheeling operation is carried at the
end of the switching 50% cycle. Therefore, conduction losses on the primary side
are increased. The converter operates at low input voltage where a boost operation
is required.
The various components of LLC resonant converter is designed using the
following steps:
The equivalent circuit at resonant condition is shown in Figure 8. The gain is
represented in transfer function.

V oac (s) f x 2 (m−1)

K (q, m, f x) = =
V inac (s) 2 2
m f x 2 −1 +f x 2 f x 2 −1 × (m−1)2 × Q2
(15)
where:

Lr
Q = Quality factor = q = R.
Cr
8Np 2 R
R = Reflected load resistance = Rac =
π 2N s2
Fx = Normalized switching frequency = ff rs
Fr = Resonant frequency = √1
2π Lr.Cr
M= Lm+Lr
Lr
The high frequency transformer design steps are as follows:

Step 1. Calculate the core area and window area of the core
VI
Ac.Aw = (16)
2 × K × Bm × Fs × J
From the product of Ac and Aw, the core suitable for transformer is selected
Step 2. Calculate number of primary and secondary turns
V1
Np = (17)
4 × Bm × Ac × Fs
V2
Ns = (18)
4 × Bm × Ac × Fs
Step 3. Calculate the primary and secondary conductor size
I1
a1 = (19)
J
I2
a2 = (20)
J
Step 4. Calculate the primary inductance and secondary inductance
No.of turns
Inductance = (21)
Reluctance
le
Reluctance (S) = (22)
μo μr Ac
where:
le = effective length of the core

μo = absolute permittivity
μr = relative permeability
Ac = effective core area
Primary inductance (Lp ) = Np S2
Secondary inductance (Ls ) = NS 2s

Mutual inductance (Lm ) = K Lp Ls
The driver circuit for powering an LED module is depicted in Figure 9. It is a

combination of a modified PFC single stage ac–dc converter with a half bridge type
LLC converter into a mono-stage power circuit.
Fig. 9 A solitary stage driver for street lights for LED street-lighting
Fig. 10 Block diagram
Boost Buck LED Driver
Figure 10 illustrates the general block diagram of the dual stage LED driver . The
circuit consists of a bridge rectifier with LC filter in input side, a boost converter
stage in the middle for power factor improvement, and a buck converter stage at
the load side. The first stage of the driver circuit is provided for input PFC (boost
converter) and the second stage (buck converter) is designed for current regulation
of the LED lamp. Figure 11 describes the LED driver circuit diagram.
The operation of the LED driver circuit is divided into three different modes
in a working period. In mode 1, both switches are ON. When switch S1 is ON,
the inductor L1 is energized through the diode rectifier. The capacitor C1 charges
the inductor L2 when switch S2 is ON and supplies power to the load. In mode
2, the switch S1 is in operation and the switch S2 is OFF. The inductor L1 is
energized continuously through the switch S1 and the inductor L2 supplies power to
the load through diode D6 . In mode 3, both switches are turned OFF. The inductor
L1 provides energy to the capacitor C1 and inductor L2 supplies energy to the load
through diode D6 in continuous conduction mode. The capacitor C2 supplies energy
to the load in discontinuous conduction mode. Once the voltage across the capacitor
C1 is less than the supply voltage, diode D5 becomes forward biased. The capacitor
C1 charges to a maximum voltage and mode 1 begins again.
The dual stage LED driver is designed for 18 W at a voltage rating of 60 V and
a current rating of 0.3 A, respectively. The switching frequency of the converter is
50 kHz and the utility supply is 230 V rms, 50 Hz.
Fig. 11 Dual stage LED driver
Boost Converter Design
The output voltage of a full wave diode bridge rectifier is obtained as follows:
√ √
2 2 2 2
Vdc = Vac = 230 = 207 V (23)
π π
With a duty ratio of 0.4, the boost converter output voltage Vo is calculated by
1 Vo 1 Vo
= ; = ; V0 = 345 V (24)
1−D Vi 1 − 0.4 207
The design equations for the boost inductor and the capacitor are as follows:
DVi
Inductor current rippleIL = (25)
fs L1
With D = 0.4, fs = 50 kHz, a ripple current of 20% of the output current, the
boost inductor L1 is calculated by
0.4 ∗ 207
0.2 ∗ 0.3 = ; L1 = 27.6 mH
50000 ∗ L1
DIo
The voltage rippleVc = (26)
fs C1
With D = 0.4, fs = 50 kHz, a ripple voltage of 2% of the output voltage, the

boost capacitor C1 is calculated by
0.4 ∗ 0.3
0.02 ∗ 345 = ; C1 = 34.78 μF
50000 ∗ C1
Buck Converter Design
The output of the boost converter is connected to the buck converter which is equal
to 345 V. The required output of the buck converter is 60 V. The duty ratio of the
buck converter is calculated as
V0 60
D= = = 0.174 (27)
Vi 345
For the smooth functioning of LED, continuous conduction is preferred for the
buck converter. The output inductor L2 is designed by the following equation:
R (1 − D)
Inductor L2 = (28)
2fs
The voltage rating of each LED is 3 V and series of 20 LEDs are connected
to meet the load demand. The cut in voltage of each LED is 2.5 V as per its V-I
characteristics. The current rating of the LED is 0.3 A and remains same in a series
path.
The voltage equation of LED is
VD = ID RD + Vγ (29)
60 = 0.3RD + 50; RD = R = 33.33
33.33 (1 − 0.174)
Inductor L2 = = 27.53mH
2 ∗ 50000
For capacitor design, the following equation is used:
1−D
Capacitor C2 = ; C2 = 0.75 nF (30)
16fs2 L
Input LC Filter Design
The cut-off frequency is assumed as one-fourth of the switching frequency. For a

filter capacitance of C = 0.47 μF, the filter inductor is determined by using the
following formula:
1
fr = √ (31)
2π LC
L = 0.345 mH
Performance Analysis
The converter design specifications are given in Table 1. The circuit is simulated
in powersim (PSIM) environment. The LED driver circuit is connected to the input
supply of 230 V, 50 Hz. For closed loop operation, the PI controllers for input power
factor correction and output current regulation are designed individually. The supply
side voltage and current waveforms are illustrated in Figure 12a. The input current
is continuous and the input power factor is 0.98 at rated input voltage. The output
voltage and current signals of the LED driver circuit under closed loop operation are
presented in Figure 12b. The output dc voltage is 60 V and the current is 0.3 A which
is same as the designed values. The output power is 18 W. The input power factor,
efficiency and THD are obtained for input voltages between 150 and 230 V. At a
rated input voltage of 230 V, high power factor (0.98), low input current THD (11%),
and high efficiency (94%) are obtained. The power factor is maintained between
0.89 and 0.98. Table 2 shows the performance parameters of the driver circuit for
various input voltages. The input current THD is less than 20% for a supply voltage
of 150 V and is 11% at rated voltage. The overall efficiency of the converter is 94%
at rated voltage. Table 3 shows the performance comparison among the LED driver
circuits for similar power rating. It is observed that the power factor remains same
in all the LED driver converter topologies. The projected driver circuit has higher
Table 1 Specifications Parameters Ratings

Input voltage 230 V
Output voltage 60 V
Output current 0.3 A
Switching frequency 50 kHz
Filter inductance 0.34 mH
Filter capacitance 0.47 μF
Boost capacitor 34.78 μF
Boost inductor 27.6 mH
Buck capacitor 0.75 nF
Buck inductor 27.53 mH
Current (A)
Voltage (V)
500 0.2
0 0
-0.2
-500 -0.4
0.55 0.6 0.65
0.5 0.6 0.7 Time (s)
Time (s)
b
80 0.4
Current (A)
Voltage (V)
40 0.2
0
0
0 2 4
Time (s) 0 2 4
Time (s)
Fig. 12 PSIM simulation results: (a) input voltage and current, (b) output voltage and current
Table 2 Performance Input voltage (V) % THD PF %η

parameters with respect to
150 20 0.89 79
input voltages
180 16 0.92 81
200 13 0.96 90
230 11 0.98 94
efficiency than the topologies discussed in literatures. The major factors considered
for the fabrication is the design of inductors. The ferrite core inductors are generally
preferred for medium and high frequency to minimize the eddy current losses. The
LED driver circuit directly connected to the mains can be damaged by switching
transients. The voltage stresses across switches are shown in Figure. 13. The voltage
stress across switch S1 is 325 V. For the same power rating, the voltage stress across
the switch S1 is 950 V in a single stage converter with a coupled inductor (Cheng
et al. 2016). The switching voltage stress is less in Figure 13a as compared with the
single stage driver circuit employing a coupled inductor in Figure 13b. The major
significance of the simulation results are: good input power factor with reduced
current THD, higher efficiency, and less switch voltage stress. Table 4 shows the
cost analysis of the driver circuit with a two stage (Athalye et al. 2012), one-and-a-
half stage (Valipour et al. 2016), and a single stage driver (19W 2011; Cheng et al.
2016) for the nearest power rating. The dual stage circuit presented in this work has
a lesser component count than the other driver circuits. The brightness control is
required for street lighting and automotive head lighting applications. By adjusting
the width of the low frequency signal, the brightness can be controlled.
Conclusion
A dual stage LED driver circuit for tube light applications with a boost PFC
converter and a buck current regulator has been presented. Using the boost PFC
Table 3 Performance comparison (Harikrishna et al. 2020)

Circuit configuration Power (W) % THD Input PF %η
Dual stage LED driver projected in this work 18 11 0.98 94
One-and-a-half stage LED driver (Valipour 20 15 0.98 84
et al. 2016)
Single stage LED driver (Cheng et al. 2016) 18 7.22 0.98 92.42
Single stage LED driver (19W 2011) 19 13.5 0.956 87.7
a b
600
Voltage (V)
Voltage (V)
1000
400
200 500
0 0
-200 -500
0.23008 0.23012 0.23016 0.27754 0.27756 0.27758 0.2776
Time (s) Time (s)
Fig. 13 Voltage stresses across switches: (a) switch S1 , (b) switch S1 (Cheng et al. 2016)
Table 4 Cost analysis

Dual stage One-and-a-
LED driver Dual stage half stage Single stage
projected LED driver LED driver Single stage LED driver
in this (Athalye (Valipour LED driver (Cheng et al.
Components chapter et al. 2012) et al. 2016) (19W 2011) 2016)
Power rating (W) 18 12 20 19 18
No. of switches 2 2 2 1 2
No. of line 4 4 4 4 2
frequency diodes
No. of fast 2 2 3 2 4
recovery diodes
No. of inductors 2 (buck 3 (coupled 1 – 2 (coupled
and boost) and buck) and resonant)
Fly-back – – 1 1 –
transformer
No. of capacitors 2 3 2 2 3
Input filter LC type LC type LC type LC type LC type
Manufacturing Simple Difficult Difficult Simple Difficult
complexity
circuit, high input power factor is achieved. PSIM simulation software tool was
used to build the driver circuit, and simulation results are presented to prove the
effectiveness of the converter. The various types of single stage power converter
circuits are explained in detail in order to understand the concept of two stage
power converter. The performance characteristics of the LED driver have been
evaluated for 18 W at a line voltage of 230 V, 50 Hz. At rated voltage, the circuit
efficiency is 94% with an input current THD of 11%. The input line power factor
is 0.98 at rated supply voltage. The circuit is also tested for wide range of input
voltages between 150 V and 230 V. The performance parameters are compared
with the presented double stage and single stage driver circuits in literatures. The
driver circuit projected in this work is very simple and requires independent control
compared with the single stage drive circuits. The circuit could be designed for
50 W to 150 W by varying the duty cycle for street lighting applications. It is also
preferred for solar street lighting applications in remote areas with battery backup
and automotive lighting applications with dimming control.
Websites for References
https://www.globallightingassociation.org/
https://www.cree.com/led-components/
https://www.ti.com/power-management/led-drivers/overview.html
https://www.ledsmagazine.com/
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Design and Development of Automated
Vertical Farming Setup 34
Karthik Warrier, Mukundhan Rajendiran, Shrawan Kumaar Kannan,
and R. Ranjith Pillai
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892
Related Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895
Systems Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 899
The Vertical Stack System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900
The Stacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901
The Mobile Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 902
The Plant Tray Sensor Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906
Communication Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908
Arena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
Sequence of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911
3.3 Mobile Robot Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913
Robot Alignment Paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920
Observation and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922
Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924
Abstract
Imparting new methodologies into agriculture has become a common order

nowadays. The ever-increasing necessity for food production and availability
to meet the requirements of the growing population forms a strong backbone
to these sustainable new methods. These also propose certain advantages over
traditional agriculture such as requirement for less areas of land, immunity to
K. Warrier · M. Rajendiran · S. K. Kannan · R. Ranjith Pillai ()

Department of Mechatronics Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute
of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: ranjithr1@srmist.edu.in
892 K. Warrier et al.
climate changes, and easy access to urban landscapes altogether leading to an

increase in quality. An apt example of such a method would be vertical farming,
practiced in an indoor environment. The efficiency of these farms is augmented
by automation and the use of robots. The work focuses on developing a modular
automated setup prototype, with intended use in a vertical farm. It discusses
the design and development of key systems, namely, a storage system with
vertical levels for housing the plant modules, known as the Vertical Stack System
(VSS). It also features certain mechanical elements that aid in a smooth transfer
of these modules in and out. A mobile robot is also discussed in the work,
developed to navigate the farm environment and transport the plant modules to
and from the VSS. The robot’s behavior in a virtual and real world is presented
through the use of a simulation model, developed using the kinematics of the
mobile robot, and a computational model, developed using sensor feedback,
respectively. The development of an ingenious system called the Stacker is also
presented. The Stacker is present on-board the mobile robot that is principally
responsible for the transfer of plant modules. Additional work is presented for
incorporating automation into the setup, through a sensor setup for monitoring
and reporting certain environment variables surrounding the plant and through
an interconnected operation. The engineering design of each of these systems is
discussed, and the control strategies, operational setup, and results are presented
later on.
Keywords
Automated vertical farming · Mobile Robot · Internet of things · Automated

storage and retrieval system · Agriculture robots
Introduction
The rapid increase in urbanization and population has led to an amplified demand
in food production, shortage of available land, and food security, as discussed by
the UN (United Nations 2017). (By 2050, roughly 80% of the populace is expected
to live in cities, directly impacting food demand). Traditional agriculture practices
require massive amounts of land for production; they are usually located far away
from an urban landscape and affected by the weather conditions (Smit and Nasr
1992). Vertical farming attempts to solve the limitations of traditional farming.
It is practiced in an indoor environment, based on the technique of controlled
environment agriculture (CEA) (Charron et al. 1996).
This methodology preserves the crops against climate changes, infestation,
pesticides, and pollution (Al-Kodmany 2018). These farms can be developed right
in the middle of a city or an urban landscape, thus reducing the travel costs (Al-
Kodmany 2018). Plants are grown in modules or trays and then stacked vertically
in layers, thus eliminating the requirement of massive lands. These modules
are continuously monitored, through cameras and manual inspection (Benke and
34 Design and Development of Automated Vertical Farming Setup 893
Tomkins 2017). The environment control variables are preserved or maintained at

the desired set points (Pawlowski et al. 2009). Vertical farms support the cultivation
of different varieties of crops such as lettuce, kale, chard, collard, chives, mint, basil,
and small woody herbs (Beacham et al. 2019). Vertical farms allow for more organic
crops to be cultivated, throughout the year production, less use of chemicals and
plant diseases.
The increased demand in productivity from agriculture and decrease in inputs
from labor over time have led to the surge of developments in agricultural
technology. The widespread availability of technology has led to advancements in
automation and robotics in indoor farming. Additionally, due to a reduction in costs
and technology, for example, lower prices of LEDs, capital investments on indoor
farming have seen a steady growth. As can be seen in Fig. 1, there is a clear rise in
the investments made in farm robotics and automation, which has grown four times
in 4 years from 2014 to 2018. The continuation of this trend could lead to added sup-
port to the food industry, contributing to a sustainable future. A number of notable
companies active in the domain are listed in (https://roboticsandautomationnews.
com/2019/05/03/top-25-vertical-farming-companies/22181/).
It is evident from Fig. 2 that the vertical farming market in Canada has and
continues to witness significant developments with the rise of methodologies
Fig. 1 Trend in capital investments in farm robotics and automation (https://www.ft.com/content/

0b394693-137b-40a4-992b-0b742202e4e1)
Fig. 2 Impact of automation on vertical farm market in Canada (©Grand View Research,
grandviewresearch.com) (https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/vertical-farming-
market )
such as hydroponics and electronic devices such as LEDs. Hydroponics is the

method of growing crops without soil, thus eradicating various plant diseases
and permitting easy installations and maintenance. Additionally, it also augments
the yield compared to soil-grown methods due to precise control over nutrient
deliveries. The deployment of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) has also
been predominantly on a surge since 2018, denoted by climate control in the figure.
The fundamental purpose of CEA is to shield and preserve ideal development
conditions during the plant growth period. Various attributes, such as proper
lighting, carbon dioxide, water, humidity, pH levels, and nutrients, are maintained
and monitored. This task is carried out through the use of sensors. For example,
the use of sensors for pH, water, humidity, and temperature reports back data and
also alerts the operator in case of any eccentricities, extremities, or, in some cases,
acts by itself. Sunlight has been a prime factor for the process of photosynthesis.
However, in a controlled environment where access to sunlight can be denied in
certain situations, LEDs are employed as an alternate light source. Availability
of LEDs and its key factors such as the absence of harmful chemicals and lesser
expulsion of heat energy has surged the use of LEDs in indoor farming and is
expected to grow steadily in years ahead.
The design aspect of a typical vertical farm can be thought of as a warehouse
environment. A general warehouse scenario features rack-based storage of loads
in bidirectional fashion (vertical and horizontal). Most often, AS/RS systems are
employed in order to automate the task of load pickup and drop-off. Such systems
significantly are able to reduce labor constraints, increase the use of the available
floor, offer modularity, and increase storage density. AS/RS systems operate on
demand, i.e., a load is stored or picked up only when a command is put forth by
the operator. Autonomous mobile robots or AMRs are also used in warehouses
that put forward traversing the storage racks at varied heights and conducting
operations throughout the warehouse. Loads can be replaced with plant modules,
and thus vertical farms can take up a similar fashion as warehouses. The modules
are equidistant from each other sufficient enough to aid plant growth. Each module
is provided with PAR lights, i.e., photosynthetically active radiation lights. These are
artificial sources of light commonly known as grow lights. It is a band of radiation
on which plant can carry out photosynthesis, having a wavelength between 400 nm
and 700 nm.
As per a report by Agrilyst in 2017, manual labor still accounts for more than
50% of the production costs in vertical farms present across the globe. Automation
can significantly improve a vertical farm’s overall efficiency and has turned into a
requirement for optimization (David et al. 2017). Effective communication between
various sensors and actuators will allow smart control over several processes
involved in farming, such as delivery and inspection and continuous monitoring
of parameters (Monteiro et al. 2018). Robotic systems also play an important role
in automating several tasks in modern farms. Such systems provide precise control,
guidance, and operations (Cheein and Careli 2013; Lauguico et al. (2019)).
Figure 3 shows the current levels of automation trends in the vertical farm
sector. Car automation principles have been used to come up with the framework,
as discussed in (https://www.agritecture.com/blog/2019/5/10/automation-the-
final-frontier-of-vertical-farming#:~:text=The%20majority%20of%20commercial
%20vertical,Level%203%20(conveyor%20automation)). It is to be noted that, at
present, most if not all systems have been focused onto incorporating the third
level of automation, and the present research has been carried out on implementing
the fourth level of automation. In the third level of automation, processes such as
seeding, harvesting, and packaging are automated by machines. The fourth level of
automation would introduce the aspect of cognition wherein the machines have the
knowledge to respond to the plants without human interference.
Related Works
Robotics and automation find themselves surrounded by active research when it

comes to agriculture. Usage of machinery to handle tasks in a farm environment is
long postulated to positively impact efficiency.
Due to their design, vertical farms are implemented in high buildings and can
be intuitively thought of a replica of rack-based warehouse design. Automation has
significantly impacted the operation of warehouses with the use of AS/RS systems,
as was noted (Gagliardi et al. 2014). However, it is important to note that warehouses
contain more than one rack unit; in single shuttle AS/RS systems, the lifting crane
can only traverse along a single passageway at a time, making the retrieval or storage
in inner racks difficult (Fu et al. 2015).
However, multi-shuttle AS/RS systems can traverse the inner aisles effectively
but lead to the requirement of additional space for the entire setup as noted in
Fig. 3 Levels of automation in vertical farms (© OnePointOne, Inc. 2019)
Gagliardi et al. (2014) and can be seen in Mostofi and Erfanian (2018). In order
to construct an efficient vertical farm, compactness and farm output must go hand in
hand. Vertical farms look to raise yield by cultivating crops in a vertically stretched
manner, unlike traditional agriculture which expands the horizontal area; hence, it
is a standard note that these farms will lead to high-rise structures.
Harvesting is an essential operation in agriculture, and the same goes for
vertical farms also. Henten et al. (2002) propose a methodology for automation
in harvesting cucumbers using image-processing. However, this method can be
expensive to implement in lesser developed nations, as was observed in David et al.
(2017). Robot manipulators are also used in a vertical farm environment for pick
and place operations. As seen in (MIT Technology Review 2018), the company
IronOx (https://www.ironox.com) employs manipulators in the farm to pick plant
modules. The use of such manipulators is also seen in Lauguico et al. (2019). These
manipulators are only applicable to a certain level in the farm, owing to their fixed
base.
Henten et al. (2002) proposed the use of an autonomous robot for operation
during a cucumber harvesting task. The robot consists of a manipulator arm resting
on a mobile base. The arm has 7 DOF, and its end effector handles the load without
losing quality. A thermal device is also mounted on the end effector that disables
any spread of viruses when picked. A computer vision system is also included
that detects the cucumber accurately up to 95%. The manipulator is affixed onto
an autonomous vehicle that uses rail guidance for maneuvering between the plant
stacks. However, the authors mention that the maximum possible height of harvest
is 1.5 m above the ground in a high-rise cultivation scenario for cucumber, but this
would not be suitable for a vertical farm as the maximum height could go more than
the specified. Vertically lifting the autonomous vehicle with the arm also cannot be
considered owing to its overall weight.
The feasibility of vertical farms, in general, has also come under scrutiny,
particularly in articles published in Alter (2010) and Cox (2016). The authors
collectively note that the practice would lead to a commotion in the rural farming
sector, supported by the need to train a large workforce. It is also indicated in Cox
(2016) that plants growing only on the topmost level would benefit from solar
radiation. However, it is postulated that vertical farms are not developed in order
to disrupt the normal farming practices; rather, it is practiced to add support to it.
Not all crops can be grown in a vertical farm as was similarly noted in Gonzalez-
De-Santos et al. (2020). Hence, the need for rural farming would exist. Automated
lighting and watering systems also eradicate the issue regarding solar radiation,
as advances in technology have now availed lighting systems for individual plant
modules. Additionally, rotatable collections of plant modules can also help in
increased sunlight, should there be a need, noted in Morrow (2008) and Massa
et al. (2008). It is also believed that the economic costs concerning vertical farm
implementation could be compensated considering the losses incurred by rural
farms owing to climate changes, locusts, and transportation costs, to name a few,
also discussed in Fao (2019).
Chin and Audah (2017) review the effects of minor changes in the surrounding of
the vertical farms that have a huge impact on the plant growth and hence propose a
monitoring system to keep track of the physical conditions of the crops. The system
utilizes BeagleBone Black wireless board connected with ThingSpeak IoT cloud to
display the real-time health conditions. It also provides a remote-control function
to the end users that can facilitate in turning on/off the system. However, for their
entire setup, the authors have used a single BBB controller and varieties of sensors
to measure the external surroundings. This can detect the surrounding conditions in
general, but it cannot be used for crop-specific parameters should different crops be
grown in the setup.
Ziedler et al. (2017) astutely present a complete design of a vertical farming
setup for large applications. The report sheds light on the idea of individual plant
modules with health monitoring systems enabled in each. The report spans over
80 pages and is a comprehensive solution to an introduction to various vertical
farming operations. It depicts the vertical farming scenario when implemented on a
large scale. In such a scale, however, the report underlines that human labor is still
required to handle several processes. This contends the fact that labor is still the
highest contributor to production costs. This could be scaled down with the help of
robots and IoT.
The authors (Rashid et al. 2019) implement RFID-based warehouse management
and object detection and accessing of data remotely with cloud storage in their paper
titled, “Smart Warehouse Management System with RFID and Cloud Database.”
R.F. tags are used on every container and item being stored in the warehouse, and
each container can thus be accessed smoothly. The efficiency increases with cloud
storing facility. NODEMCU is used to process and send the data to the cloud.
The positions of the container are stored in the cloud, which makes accessing it
easier. The authors have used ID-20LA as RFID reader and designated R.F. tags
for each container. However, with vertical farms, identification of containers or
plant modules in the farm could be handled using more straightforward methods
such as barcodes and Q.R. codes. These codes are easier to fabricate and can store
information pertaining to the module, which can then be easily read by a scanner or
the most commonly available smartphones.
Haris et al. (2019) focus on the infrastructural requirements for indoor vertical
farming for the necessary modularity where the proposed system is a service-
oriented platform for three operations, i.e., cloud, fog, and sensors. The authors use
a BLE connection between the sensor board and the fog node and have proposed a
distributed secure network. The modularity allows them to control several sensors
at a time, on each vertical stack.
Khasasi et al. (2015) focus on the importance of automated storage and retrieval
system. Due to rapid industrialization, warehouses are looking for an integrated
automated system that can operate without any interference and improve the
efficiency for better performance. The paper investigates the efficiency of the
devices like Arduino microcontrollers, Bluetooth technology, and servo motors on
working mechanisms of ASRS.
Guptha et al. (2018) discuss about the design of an IoT architecture for the order
picking process. However, other outcomes like real-time tracking and reduction
of cost of operation with safety are also discussed. Considering the difficulty in
handling control practices and competitive business environments implementing
IoT in warehouses is essential.
Berg and Gademann 2000 describe the operation of an automatic stor-
age/retrieval system and examine its control policies. He evaluates the trade-off
between storage space requirements and travel times and studies a new storage
location policy which combines low storage space requirements with short mean
travel times. This report by the author plays a vital role in describing new storage
design aspects that would optimize space and also reduce the time taken to transport.
Smit and Nasr (1992) propose a greenhouse weather regulation system, depicted
as an event-based control. Various wireless sensor networks are used, and event
triggers are generated due to external disturbances, which helps prevent actuator
wear losses. They discuss a greenhouse system with individual wireless sensor
networks, each collecting data over time. Such a system with separate sensor
networks can cater to each plant individually.
Moreover, event-based systems are advantageous because it is not the passing of
time that triggers an action; instead, it is the external event that acts as the trigger.
This promotes a good degree of optimization. This methodology can also have a
good impact on costs as it can cut down energy charges.
On the basis of the abovementioned drawbacks and issues faced and the
observations, the primary focus of the work is to design an automated setup for
operation in a vertical farm. The work undertaken here is to come up with a setup
for automating vertical farming. The work does not directly focus on farming and
cultivating crops; rather, it proposes a mechatronic setup, taking into account the
available setups and the issues they face. In short, we look to provide a design for the
housing of plant modules. The design proposed considers the necessity to retrieve
or store a module during operations easily. A mobile robot model is proposed for
logistics purpose, to operate in the farm without the need of human interference,
and to cater to its tasks. The robot’s design is carefully undertaken to suit the
operation in a vertical farm. The various uses of AS/RS systems in the warehouse
have been studied and have been innovated to fit a vertical farm operation. The
work also directs the ideology that the farm operator need not be manually handling
inspection tasks or in-farm movement in general instead; they are provided with a
space outside the farm where they can monitor plant growth effectively through a
computer. The work also contemplates the various advantages of using a vertical
farm. However, it is to be clearly noted that in this work, vertical farming is
considered an aid to rural farming techniques and not as a direct replacement to
them. The types of crops grown in a vertical farm are currently limited. A degree
of dependence on traditional farming is still very much needed. Overall mechanical
and electronic design, along with control system algorithms, is presented, and the
secondary goal is also undertaken to develop an onboard sensor network which can
be implemented onto the plant module, in order to bolster the practice in general. It
consists of sensors that can map the plant’s environment and transfer the data over
Wi-Fi to visualize it into the computer. Through this work, a point is asserted that
one of the main advantages of deploying an automated vertical farm setup is the
nonnecessity of being available at the farm to monitor it throughout the year; rather,
through the use of wireless connectivity, a modular IoT model can be developed
to interconnect the systems and work at the ease of the operator from anywhere. It
is also described that the use of robotics can increase the overall efficiency of the
farm. In the situation prevailing across the globe currently, such a provision will only
vouch for enhanced safety. Thus, this work discusses about the three main systems,
namely, a Vertical Stack System (VSS), for automatic storing and retrieval of plant
modules, a mobile robot for navigation in the farm and for logistic purposes along
with an auxiliary setup for plant tray transfer (hereon referred to as the Stacker),
and a plant tray sensor setup (PTSS) for capturing and visualizing data about plant
surroundings.
The contents of the chapter are split further into four sections. Section “Systems
Design” elaborates on the mechanical and the electronic design of each system.
Section “Observations” explains the operational setup and discusses control meth-
ods and various observations. Section “Conclusion” provides a conclusion to the
work and a future scope outlining certain other developments that can be inducted
into the existing work.
Systems Design
The mechanical and electronic design features of the VSS, the mobile robot, the
Stacker, the PTSS are discussed in this section, split further as “The Vertical
Stack System,” “The Stacker,” “The Mobile Robot,” and “The Plant Tray Sensor
Setup,” respectively. Additionally, subsection “Communication Interface” describes
a communication interface for communication between the robot, the farm operator,
and the VSS.
The Vertical Stack System
The CAD model of the VSS is shown in Fig. 4. The VSS is designed to
stack plant modules vertically. The outer frame is a cuboidal structure of dimen-
sions 340 × 400 × 600 mm made out of joining aluminum extrusions. The need for
avoiding complex machining tasks in the scenario where the VSS needs to be scaled
up led to the use of aluminum T-profile extrusions of cross section 30 × 30 mm
that provide modularity to the design and make it possible to vary the height and
extend the dimensions (Fiorino et al. 2014). The yield strength, ease of fabrication,
and stiffness are some mechanical properties considered for selecting aluminum
extrusion to construct the VSS. The T-slot profile has a yield strength of 25,000 psi
and a tensile strength of 36,000 psi. Square cross sections of these extrusions deliver
identical strength in the vertical and the horizontal directions. These extrusions
are joined to each other using L clamps and special bolt channel joints inserted
into these channels. The frame is divided horizontally into two columns of width
170 mm each. Each column consists of passive roller channels that are used further
to partition the VSS into two vertical levels. These channels consist of an array of
plastic rollers, connected through their axis to an aluminum C-channel to undergo
free motion. The space between two opposite channels is 170 mm. Each level
has roller channels which are fixed across and between six vertical columns of
extrusions on either side of the structure facing inward. These channels are only
connected to the extrusions and leave a hollow gap between the columns for the
tray’s insertion into the stack by the mobile robot. The roller channels help in
effective load distribution and smooth transfer of plant modules in and out of
the VSS. The partitioning done on the VSS allows for four modules to be placed
Fig. 4 VSS CAD model

on each level. In comparison, a total of eight modules can be housed in the entire
system. The roller channels are also the sole contact areas for the plant modules to
rest.
The Stacker
The Stacker is an ingenious subsystem on board the mobile robot to principally

handle the transfer of plant modules to and from the VSS. The CAD model is
shown in Fig. 5. It has a dimension of 170 × 200 × 60 mm. The Stacker features
a pair of roller channels on either side, on which the plant module is placed. The
module is kept steady on the robot and is then pushed out using a Tray Transfer
Module (TTM) on the Stacker. The Tray Transfer Module consists of two plates
arranged in between the roller channels. The height of the plates is slightly more
than the overall height of the Stacker. This provision is provided in order to hold
the plant modules between the Tray Transfer Module plates and push/pull the plant
module during operation. The Tray Transfer Module’s rear plate features a brass
nut, and a threaded rod of pitch 2 mm, connected at one end to a D.C. motor,
passes through the brass nut. This setup converts the motor’s rotary motion to
linear motion and extends the Tray Transfer Module horizontally. The Tray Transfer
Module thus has the ability to move throughout the length of the lead screw. A
roller bearing is kept at the end of the rod to enable smooth motion. A flexible shaft
coupling of 8 mm × 5 mm diameters on either end connects the shafts of the D.C.
geared motor, and the threaded rod eliminates misalignments and vibrations caused
during the transfer. A set of smooth rods and linear bearings prevent toppling and
misalignments while moving. Once the mobile robot orients itself with the stack,
the Tray Transfer Module moves into the slot between two roller channels of the
stack system and stores or retrieves the trays from the stack.
The whole Stacker setup traverses vertically on the mobile robot to reach the
VSS’s required level where the plants need to be housed. This is achieved via a lift
mechanism consisting of a pair of power screw of each 400 mm in length (Gopinath
2014). The components resulting in the motion include two lead screws in the robot
frame. A roller bearing holds each screw on the frame on one end, and the other end
is held using a flexible bearing conjoint with a stepper motor. The stepper motor
has a holding torque of 4.2 kg-cm with a 1.8◦ step angle, i.e., it takes 200 steps per
revolution. The shaft of the motors has a diameter of 5 mm. Brass nuts are present
at the Stacker’s ends, through which the lead screws have to traverse. The nuts help
in converting rotary motion offered by the screw to linear motion.
The initial design consisted of only one lead screw mechanism along with a
smooth rod with a linear bearing on the sides of the mobile robot for the Stacker’s
motion in vertical direction. However, this design failed to provide a smooth motion
to the Stacker. An immense load is exerted onto the single lead screw mechanism,
leading to misalignments and causing immobility of the Stacker at various lengths
of the vertical path.
Fig. 5 Stacker CAD model (isometric view)
An alternate design, consisting of a dual lead screw mechanism, as a replacement

to the smooth rod can be used to resolve this drawback. The design called for a
synchronous motion of the lead screw setup; this proved to have the better motion to
the Stacker. However, this setup now resulted in a staggered motion of the Stacker
due to the errors in the copper nut and threaded rod alignment. To overcome the
aforementioned problem, a smooth rod was placed at the rear end of the mobile
robot to support the Stacker throughout its vertical motion, as shown in Fig. 6. The
setup enabled the smooth motion of the Stacker.
The Mobile Robot
The CAD model of the mobile robot is shown in Fig. 6. It is 230 × 200 × 400 mm in
dimension and resembles a hollow cuboidal structure with a base. The frame is made
out of aluminum T − profile extrusions of cross section 30 × 30 mm. Corner brack-
ets and bolt channel joints are used to connect the extrusions together. The base of
the robot is made out of an acrylic plastic sheet of dimensions 230 × 200 × 10 mm.
The baseplate is connected to the frame using bolt channel joints, and the top surface
provides space for housing the electronic components, while the bottom surface is
used to connect robot motion elements.
Fig. 6 Mobile robot CAD model
The term “robot motion elements” refers to a collection of components that

perform robot motion in the vertical farm. A pair of planetary-gear-type D.C. motors
are used on the rear end for locomotion. The motors have a torque of 8.1 kg-cm
and a gear ratio of 126:1 with a speed of 40 RPM. The shaft diameter is 6 mm to
which standard wheels of diameter 100 mm are coupled. Considering efficiency and
smooth operation at maximum load, the motor driver is selected to be the Cytron
MDD-10 A. It is a dual-channel motor driver capable of driving two motors at 10 A
constant output. At maximum load, the motor consumes 3.7 A. The direction control
and speed control are achieved through single dedicated pins on the driver, which
makes it convenient for a differential drive mechanism. Swivel Castor wheels of
diameter 60 mm are used in the front to provide omnidirectional steering (Gonzalez-
De-Santos et al. (2020); Siegwart and Nourbakhsh 2004). The robot maintains a
ground clearance of 95 mm. The distance is carefully fixed after determining the
robot’s total weight, speed of the robot, and safe pivoting requirements. The robot
motion elements are shown in Fig. 7.
A total of five motors are used in this work. The motor torques are calculated
prior to selecting the suitable motors. Criteria such as the total weight and time of
operation are considered. Given the radius (r) of the driven wheel to be 0.05 m, the
coefficient of static friction (μ) to be 0.6, and the number of wheels (s) to be 4, the
torque (τ) is calculated as shown in Eq. 2 (Joseph 2015). The total weight (W) on
the robot includes the chassis weight and the load weight, which equals to 160 N:
Fig. 7 Robot motion elements
τ=μ×s×r (1)
τ = 0.6 × 4 × 5 = 12 kg/cm (2)
The consideration taken into account while calculating the required motor torque
is that the robot would require the maximum torque during the initial stages of
motion, i.e., overcoming friction (Joseph 2015). The planetary gear arrangement
provides a shared load distribution, which in turn significantly improves torque
capabilities (Gawande and Shaikh 2014). The overall weight to be lifted on the
Stacker is given by Eq. 3:
Mass of the Stacker : 3 kg
Mass of the plant module ∼ 0.2 − 0.5 kg
Mass of the plant module ∼ 0.2 − 0.5 kg total weight : 3.5 × 9.8 = 34.3 N
(3)
Since the Stacker needs to hold its position at the required level during the
operation, holding torque is preferred over speed. As the vertical motion of the
Stacker is handled by two power screws, actuated by two stepper motors, and
the motion of both the motors at the same time is crucial for a balanced lift of
the Stacker, it is vital to provide synchronous signals and sufficient input power
to both the motors at the same time. The total load on the Stacker is estimated
to be approximately 4 kgs. The motor provides a holding torque of 4.2 kg-cm.
The NEMA-17, being a current-controlled device, consumes 1.5 A at normal load
operation per phase, and it consists of four phases. The current consumption goes
up to 2A at maximum load. It provides a step angle of 1.8◦ .
Thus, in this work, these motors are together controlled by a single driver module.
Considering optimum efficiency at full load, the TB6560 stepper motor driver is
chosen. The driver provides a constant 3A output and offers a large heat sink for
heat dissipation. Both the motors are connected in parallel connection to drive the
driver which maintains a constant current output to both motors. The total weight
to be lifted is 3.5 kg, as can be noted from Eq. 3. Nine switches are available on
board in the TB6560. The DIP switches SW1, SW2, SW3, and S1 are used for
providing varying current values. S2 is used for stop current which is the current
required to hold the motor shaft at a specified position. Switches S3, S4 are used for
microstep settings. Smaller microstep setting provides smooth and quiet operation
of the stepper motor. Switches S5, S6 are used to control the decay settings. The
decay setting determines the driver chip handle for the back EMF from the motor.
For the proposed work, SW1, SW3, and S1 were switched on, while SW2 was
switched off for obtaining a current of 1.5A. S2 was switched off for 50% stop
current. S3, S4, S5, and S6 were switched off for obtaining full step microstep
setting and 0% decay setting for the motor.
The horizontal motion undergone by the Tray Transfer Module to push/pull the
plant module is via a D.C. motor coupled with a lead screw using a flexible bearing.
Only two modes of operation are considered, full extension of Tray Transfer Module
and complete retraction of Tray Transfer Module. Thus, the selected motors as per
Eqs. 1 and 2 are summarized in Table 1.
The planetary-gear-type D.C. motors are also coupled with two-channel incre-
mental encoders. The encoders provide the primary feedback for the navigation and
localization of the robot during the operation. The dual-channel encoders give a
resolution of 7 PPR and output a digital pulse. A gap of 30 mm is maintained
between the two encoders. This is done to avoid interference between the two
magnetic encoder disks (Miyashita et al. 1987).
Table 1 Motor specifications

Motor Manufacturer Operation Specifications Nos.
Planetary-gear Orange Robot motion 8.1 kg/cm, 40 2
D.C. motor Electronics RPM
Hybrid stepper NEMA Stacker lift/ lower 4.4 kg/cm, 2
motor 200 mm/revolution
D.C. geared motor Johnson Tray Transfer Module 150 RPM 1
horizontal motion
Table 2 Driver specifications

Driver For the motor Specifications Nos.
Cytron MDD-10A Planetary-gear-type Motor voltage: 5–25 V, bidirectional 1
D.C. motors control, NMOS H-Bridge, Peak: 30 A
TB6560 Stepper motors Operating voltage: 10–35 V, output 1
current – 3A
L298N D.C. geared motor Supply voltage: 5–35 V, peak: 2A/bridge 1
Fig. 8 Mobile robot electronic circuit
The Arduino Mega is used as the primary controller for the robot. Arduino’s
external interrupts make it possible to capture each tick from the encoder accurately.
The interrupt disables all other communications when triggered. Arduino also
provides a sufficient number of digital I/O pins for the entire operation. Motors are
driven by using suitable motor drivers, as described in Table 2. Speed control of the
robot is also achieved to provide a smooth operation and precise positioning through
pulse width modulation. Out of a total of 54 digital I/O pins on the Arduino, 15 can
be used for pulse width modulation. The electronic schematic is shown in Fig. 8.
The Plant Tray Sensor Setup
The tray used to grow the plant will have a sensor module that will house all
the sensors required for the plant monitoring setup and the battery required to
power the sensors and control module. The tray would also have a separate
compartment to house the extra water leaving the soil. The PTSS is an integrated
Fig. 9 Electronic schematic of PTSS
unit developed to capture certain environment parameters surrounding the plant

module. The setup consists of a soil hygrometer module and a digital temperature
and humidity (DHT11) sensor, which measure the soil water content and the
surrounding temperature and humidity, respectively. The digital temperature and
humidity (DHT11) is a low-cost, small-sized sensor that uses a capacitive-type
humidity sensor to measure the air nearby and outputs a digital signal on the data
pin. New data is received every 2 s. It can measure humidity at a range from 20%
to 80% and can measure temperatures from 0 ◦ C to 50 ◦ C. The moisture of the soil
plays a crucial role in the sprinkler system. The soil hygrometer uses capacitance to
gauge the soil’s water content and provides both analog and a digital output.
A NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi development board is used to acquire data from the
sensors and send the data over to the cloud storage and analytics module (Ubidots
STEM). The DHT11 detects the humidity in the range of 20–80% and temperature
from 0 ◦ C to 50 ◦ C. The sensors, microcontroller, and the battery pack for powering
the setup are housed in a container of dimensions 120 × 50 × 15 mm, which is
then embedded to the plant module/tray. The sensor probe of hygrometer protrudes
outward to immerse into the soil and measure the humidity. In contrast, the digital
temperature and humidity (DHT11) is made to stick outward the container. The
schematic of the PTSS is shown in Fig. 9.
Communication Interface
A communication interface is developed in order to interconnect the systems (VSS,

mobile robot, PTSS) and also to have a single command control over the robot.
Fig. 10 Ubidots STEM graphical user interface (©Ubidots 2020)
For these purposes, a central computer is set up, accessed by the farm operator.
The computer runs an analytics software online (Ubidots STEM) and also asserts
the single command control. Commands relating to the distance to be travelled and
the turns to be taken are not directly supplied to the robot during each operation.
Rather the entire operation is embedded into a command consisting of alphanumeric
codes, which is passed on to the robot wirelessly. Ubidots, under the STEM license,
is a free-to-use cloud service and analytics tool which is commonly used for IoT
applications, especially the ones surrounding agriculture, thus making it a suitable
option for the work. The analytic tools include graphs, plots, set point creation,
and many more. The data sent via the ESP8266 is stored on the cloud provided
by Ubidots STEM and is henceforth plotted in real time for analysis. The tool
allows limited free SMS service as part of alerts sent to the user once a defined set
point is crossed. Thus, graphs are plotted separately for data received from digital
temperature and humidity (DHT11) and from hygrometer. Set points for each data
type are also created, and the SMS service is enabled for alerts. Ubidots STEM is
used to acquire sensor data from the PTSS, as shown in Fig. 10.
Observations
The mobile robot, VSS, and the Stacker are shown in Figs. 11, 12, and 13,
respectively.
The section covers the proposed arena and control algorithms, along with certain
designs.
Fig. 11 Mobile robot
Arena
A typical warehouse environment may consist of multiple storage racks or other

elements in a staggered or a uniform distribution. Its purpose is to form the necessary
action plan for robot movements, taking into account the available information
about the environment. A robust control is required to manage traffic in a busy
warehouse environment. The illustration of a sample proposed arena is shown in
Fig. 14.
The arena was set up in a laboratory, and it consists of a loading area for housing
the plant modules and the central computer along with the operator. The operator’s
location is at the loading area, shown in Fig. 14, where the tray is prepared initially
by the operator and is then placed on the mobile robot. The robot’s home position
is marked by “Mobile Robot” in Fig. 14. The loading area is situated exterior to
the farm, and the operator is provided with a space for monitoring the farm at the
same, such that manual interference during the farm operation can be avoided. The
VSS is placed inside the farm. For a simplified sequence, the VSS is placed at a
nominal distance, and the dashed lines mark the intended robot motion. A11, A12,
Fig. 12 VSS
Fig. 13 Stacker
Fig. 14 Proposed arena of operation
A21, A22, B11, B12, B21, and B22 represent the stop locations near the VSS that
must be arrived at, in order to begin the transfer.
Sequence of Operation
Interconnection of various systems in an indoor environment is the primary neces-

sity for automation. Active exchange of data between these systems and the resulting
decisions improve upon the efficiency. Cyber-physical systems are the main ordeal
in an IoT-enabled workspace (Haris et al. 2019). A connection is established using
Wi-Fi. Whereas a Wi-Fi module can be integrated with the microcontroller on the
robot, the plant trays require a stand-alone and compact controller board providing
wireless communication. The ESP8266 MCU is one such board that provides I/O
pins to receive information from sensors and also can transmit them wirelessly.
In order to visualize the operation that is to take place in the proposed arena, it
can be categorized into two types: “Store” a plant module into a designated level
on the VSS and “Retrieve” a plant module from a level on the VSS, as required
by the operator. The operator has only a single control over the robot. In this way,
it provides a more degree of automation. The Wi-Fi module on the robot receives
information in terms of the stop location and the type of operation from the central
computer, controlled by the operator. The stop locations are as specified in the arena,
in Fig. 14.
The overall sequence of operation is presented in Fig. 15. The robot is pro-
grammed to execute a sequence of motion to reach the desired level. The Stacker is
also programmed to undergo specific motion vertically and horizontally to store or
retrieve the module, as shown in Fig. 15.
Fig. 15 Sequence of operation
The sequence of operation is embedded onto barcodes. The barcode is a

representation of typescripts and digits, explicitly readable by a machine, and for
this work, an android app is additionally used, consisting of a provision to scan the
barcodes and transfer the information onto the robot. Codes, each of length three,
are developed containing specific information, one example shown in Fig. 16.
Fig. 16 Barcode containing

the information for store
operation
The barcode example shown depicts one of the operations, namely, “Store.” The
first character and the second numeric represent the stop location intended, and the
third character depicts the operation (S – store). All other commands pertaining to
the operation are not manually handled by the operator, and these are pre-defined
on the microcontroller.
A specific strategy is developed for the control of the horizontal motion of the
Stacker. This is one of the predominant criteria for the design of the Stacker and
the roller channels on the VSS. As shown in Fig. 4, the arrangement of the roller
channels on each column is made by providing a hollow space between them.
Similarly, a hollow space is provided between the roller channels on the Stacker,
which is later occupied by the Tray Transfer Module setup, as shown in Fig. 5. The
width of this space is 80 mm. The plant module rests on these roller channels. As
per the operation intended, the Tray Transfer Module is made to extend or retract
between the VSS and the Stacker. The space between the roller channels enables
the Tray Transfer Module to have full extension or retraction, along with the desired
vertical motion.
For the “Store” operation, the robot reaches the specified stop location on
the arena. The Stacker is programmed to actuate vertically to the desired height
corresponding to the desired level on the VSS. The Tray Transfer Module then
undergoes complete extension horizontally to push the tray onto the VSS. Roller
channels present on both the Stacker and VSS aid in the smooth transfer. Once
transferred, the Stacker is set to actuate a few steps vertically downward. This step
is crucial for the Tray Transfer Module to lose its grip on the plant module. The Tray
Transfer Module then retracts, and the Stacker goes to its home position on the robot.
For the “Retrieve” operation, once the robot reaches the desired stop location, the
Stacker then undergoes vertical motion to reach the specified height level on the VSS
and then actuates a few steps vertically downward. The Tray Transfer Module then
extends its full length. The Stacker then actuates vertically upward, the same number
of steps it actuated downward priorly. This sequence of motion confirms the grip of
the Tray Transfer Module plates on the plant module, which is now ready to undergo
transfer to the robot. The Tray Transfer Module retracts. With the aid of roller
channels on either side, the plant module is comfortably transferred onto the robot.
3.3 Mobile Robot Navigation
The kinematic equations of the mobile robot form the primary basis for its
navigation. The equations help in developing a mathematical model of the robot
that closely resembles the motion in the real world. Hence, the general model
and the computational model are described here. The general model is used
for understanding and developing a simulation in MATLAB. The simulation is
studied and analyzed before deployment in the real world. This helps capture the
model behavior, given the set of inputs and obtaining its matched outputs. The
computational model consists of a set of equations embedded into the controller
that processes the captured data from the various sensors on board and makes
the decision to plan the motion of the robot. The general model is relevant to a
typical two-wheel differentially driven vehicle; however, the computational model
is pertaining to this mobile robot, not explicitly.
Kinematic General Model

A point P is selected on the robot as a reference to specify the position of the mobile
robot. The coordinates of the point P are {x,y} with respect to the world frame
{xw, yw }. The local frame is given by {xl ,yl }. The angle made by the local frame
with respect to the world frame is given by θ, as shown in Fig. 17.
The pose of the mobile robot is given by
⎡ ⎤
x
ξl = ⎣ y ⎦ (4)
θ
Fig. 17 General representation for kinematic model

The mapping of the motion of the robot along the local frame with respect to the
world frame is done using orthogonal rotation matrix given by
⎡ ⎤
cos (θ ) sin (θ ) 0
R (θ ) = ⎣ sin (θ ) cos (θ ) 0 ⎦ (5)
0 0 1
The angular velocities of the left wheel ωL and the right wheel ωR of the mobile
robot are used to compute the overall linear and angular velocity of the mobile robot.
The linear velocities Vr and Vl are given by

l
VR = ωR R + (6)
2

l
VL = ωL R − (7)
2
where l is the center distance between the wheels and R is the distance from the
instantaneous center of curvature (ICC)
ωR + ωL
Linear velocity υ = (8)
2
VR − VL
Angular velocity ω = (9)
l
The integration of these velocities can be used to compute the pose of the mobile
robot:
Px = v (cos θ ) (10)

Py = v (sin θ ) (11)

Qz = ω(dt) (12)
where Px , Py are the x, y coordinates and Qz is the heading of robot.

The designed CAD model from SOLIDWORKS is imported to MATLAB
using Simscape Multibody. The software recognizes the revolute and linear joints
automatically and will create a block model of the entire system, as shown in
Fig. 19. Simulation of the kinematic model is done to simulate the robot behavior
and response in a virtual world before doing so in real time. Inputs are provided in
terms of the left and the right wheel angular velocities which are then converted
to linear wheel velocities through multiplication with a pre-defined gain. The
simulations were performed to understand and visualize the kinematic model of a
mobile robot by applying different conditions. The mobile robot’s kinematic model
is implemented using the MATLAB and SIMULINK software as shown in Figs. 18
and 19, respectively.
916
Fig. 18 Block representation of kinematic model in SIMULINK

K. Warrier et al.
Fig. 19 Simulated models of the mobile robot
Kinematic Computational Model

The robot is very subtle to the individual wheel velocities – small changes in
velocity given to individual wheel result in varied trajectories. The robot developed
in the work operates based on proprioception, i.e., it uses its internal parameters as
reference for calculating the pose. This methodology is known as dead reckoning.
The robot rotates at its instantaneous center of curvature or ICC which is located
at a distance of D from the center of its two wheels. As Vl , Vr , R, and ω are all
time-dependent, the ICC can be computed using Eq. 13 (Dudek and Jenkin 2001):
ICC = (x − D sin θ, y + D cos θ) (13)

At a forward time instant t + ∂t.

The pose of the robot will be given by
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
x cos (ω∂t) − sin (ω∂t) 0 x − ICCx I.C.Cx
⎣ y ⎦ = ⎣ sin (ω∂t) cos (ω∂t) 0 ⎦ ⎣ y − ICCy ⎦ + ⎣ I.C.Cy ⎦ (14)
θ 0 0 1 θ ω∂t
The mobile robot uses the encoder feedback as the primary source of measure-
ment to compute the distance travelled, the turning angle, and navigation guidance
(Siegwart and Nourbakhsh 2004). The incremental encoder consists of two outputs
denoted as channel A and channel B. These are referred to as quadrature signals due
to the fact that they are displaced by 90 electrical degrees. This allows for a position
as well as direction calculation. The distance travelled is calculated for each wheel
(wheelright dist, wheelleft dist ) by considering the wheel radius (r), right and left
encoder ticks (ticksr , ticksl ), and total ticks per rotation (tickstotal ), shown in Eq. 17
(Cho et al. 2011):
ticksr × 2 × π × r
wheelright dist = (15)
tickstotal
ticksl × 2 × π × r
wheellef t dist = (16)
tickstotal
wheelright dist + wheel lef t dist

Total distance = (17)
2
The angle (θ , heading) of the robot is calculated by considering the distance

travelled by each wheel per tick distlticks , distrticks , previously stored ticks
lef tprevtick , rightprevtick , current ticks (ticksr , ticks l ), and the distance between
wheels (dwheels ), shown in Eq. 20 (Cho et al. 2011):
Sr = distrticks × ticksr − rightprevtick (18)
Sl = distlticks × ticksl − lef tprevtick (19)

Sr − Sl 180
θ= × (20)
dwheels π
And the position of the robot is calculated by
x = Sr × cos (θ ) (21)
Fig. 20 Overall control framework for mobile robot
y = Sl × sin (θ ) (22)
The motion control framework for the robot is shown in Fig. 20.
Quadrature Decoding
Encoders help in measuring the position of the mobile robot. They count the number
of pulses while the wheel is rotating. These types of encoders include the hall
effect encoders, optical encoders, etc. In this work, the hall effect-type encoders
are used as the primary source of information for the robot’s position and speed
control. A magnetic disk is connected to the motor’s rotation shaft, which rotates
with the motor and passes near the two hall effect sensors. When the motor turns
the magnetic disk, the encoder provides an output as a digital pulse. The encoders
have two channels (A and B). Each hall effect sensor produces one output. Hence,
each encoder provides two outputs in the form of pulses per rotation (PPR). The hall
effect sensors have a separation of 90◦ . The output of the sensors is hence 90◦ out of
phase. This output is referred to as quadrature output. This provision of output being
out of phase enables for determination of both magnitudes and direction, both of
which are crucial for the robot. Quadrature decoding technique is employed to count
the pulses and to determine the position and heading. The rising edges and falling
edges count the pulses. There are three types of decoding methods X1, X2, and X4
decoding. X4 decoding is used in the work that counts the rising and falling edges
of both the channels. This method is preferred as it provides better resolution for
position estimation. Figure 21 shows the typical methodology used for X4 decoding
(Negrea et al. 2012).
For rotary encoders, the position is obtained by dividing the number of edges by
the product of PPR and type of decoding:
Fig. 21 Typical X4 decoding procedure
Number of edges
Angular position = (23)
P ulses per rev. ∗ x
where x is the type of decoding

Arduino’s ISR routine is called upon during the task of quadrature decoding.
Arduino provides a set of specific pins (2, 3, 18, 19, 20, 21 on Mega) for interrupt
routines. The channel A of both encoders is connected to Pin 2 and Pin 3. The ISR
blocks all other processes happening in the controller when called so that Arduino
never misses a tick or a count.
Robot Alignment Paradigm
Apt orientation of the robot with the VSS is crucial to transfer the trays with-
out the risk of it falling down. It was observed that a maximum distance of
20 mm could be allowed between the VSS and the robot to initiate a safe transfer;
however, a distance in the range 0 − 10 mm is ideal. Also, the heading of the robot
has to be in line with The VSS. It was observed that the robot, using only encoder
feedback, maintained a distance more than the threshold, and also its heading was
misaligned. A different methodology can be implemented to correct these errors.
A secondary source of measurement for distance and orientation is introduced
using a range sensor and a four-channel I.R. tracing module. Thin black strips, four
in number, are attached at equal distance of 50 mm from each, at the front bottom
end of each column in the VSS. Correspondingly, four I.R. transceiver modules
are attached at the front bottom end of the robot, on its chassis, with each module
maintaining a distance of 50 mm from each other, thus imitating the positions of
the black strips on the VSS. The width of the column in robot is 170 mm, equal
to the width of a single column of the VSS, as described in section “Systems
Design.” The sensors are programmed to have a control over the robot motion once
it approaches the VSS. At this point, the values from the encoder are not considered
as feedback. The range sensor attempts to reduce the distance between the systems
gradually, while the I.R. module acquires the reflected rays. The control algorithm
is adopted and modified in deployment from line follower robots’ principle of
operation (Maniha et al. 2011). The developed algorithm is shown in Fig. 23. An
overall control framework for orientation is shown in Fig. 22.
Fig. 22 Robot orientation using I.R. modules
Fig. 23 Robot orientation algorithm using I.R. modules
Observation and Discussion
In a typical indoor environment, it is not feasible to use GPS for localization. Several
factors such as the block on the signal by the building and interference by concrete
structures deliver poor results for localization using GPS. Thus, internal sensors are
extensively relied upon for the purpose. These include encoders, gyroscopes, and
accelerometers. Other sources may also include external beacons or landmarks or
markers that can be accessed by onboard cameras. However, in situations where
the abovementioned external sources are not used, the method of dead reckoning is
deployed for localization. Dead reckoning estimates the robot’s pose. The primary
sources of information for dead reckoning are wheel odometer sensors. Wheel
odometry is an inexpensive and a direct method for computation; however, it
makes a supposition that rotations of the wheel can be rendered to displacement
(Borenstein and Feng 1996). This supposition fails with only a limited validity
majorly due to wheel slippage. Although there may be an availability for smooth
shop floors in warehouses, yet a simple unevenness on the surface can result
in deteriorations. Thus, though odometry sensors can provide both position and
heading values, the error accumulated grows with time. Other contributing factors
may include misalignment of wheels and futile wheelbase. Encoder errors such as
inadequate sampling frequency and resolution could also be a reason (Borenstein
and Feng 1996). The error in robot heading can be corrected through the use
of gyroscopes. Gyroscopes are used for measuring angular velocity, essentially
rotation, whereas accelerometers are used for measuring linear displacement. The
common issue with accelerometers is their output must be integrated twice to
calculate linear displacement. Thus, even a small drift in measurement rapidly raises
into large position errors (Barshan and Durrant Whyte 1995).
Conclusion
The work focuses on the need of incorporating a degree of automation onto the
current practice methods employed in a vertical farm, through the use of robotics.
Focal attention is given to the engineering design of the systems and not directly
onto farming. Firstly, a VSS is explicitly designed that features roller channels that
act as a base for housing plant modules and also suffice for smooth transfer of
the plant modules in and out of VSS. Secondly, a mobile robot is designed such
that it transports the plant modules within the farm through an ingenious platform
setup on board named the Stacker. The Stacker is designed featuring roller channels
to house the plant module on the robot and to guide while transferring. It also
encompasses a separate setup called the Tray Transfer Module (TTM) which is
actuated to push or pull the plant module. Apart from the aforementioned systems,
additional work is done on the plant module that incorporated various sensors as
a single box unit, embedded into the soil present in the module. These report
certain environment and soil parameters to the operator wirelessly. The operator is
provided with a central computer with an IoT analytics software (Ubidots STEM).
The systems are connected via Wi-Fi with the computer. In the work, the operator
decided upon the time to call the robot for storing or retrieving the plant module,
based on the alerts received from the central computer. This is facilitated using a set
of barcodes embedding information regarding various stop locations on the VSS.
These barcodes are scanned using an android application, connected over Wi-Fi
with the mobile robot that then transfers this information onto the robot to begin
the operation. Simulated models of the robot are priorly developed and studied in
order to capture its behavior in a virtual world. The general kinematic model was
also used for developing the simulation. The computational model is also presented
that helps capture the motion of the robot in the real world. Operation algorithm
for robot operation in a proposed arena is discussed. The robot’s alignment with
the VSS played a crucial role throughout the work, and it was understood that
primary odometer sensors were not sufficient enough to properly align the robot
with the VSS, and hence a secondary algorithm involving the use of infrared sensors,
which are commonly used in line follower robots, is proposed and presented. This
algorithm successfully aided in orientation.
Future Scope
With the increase in the contribution made by robots in every aspect of an industry,
it is anticipated that these robots will also significantly improve the efficiency of
agricultural output, in this case, the vertical farms. The work is aimed at handling
various tasks involved in a vertical farm through the use of a mobile robot,
automated storage system, and a plant monitoring sensor setup. The system is
scalable to industrial standards as it is highly modular. It can be extended to fit
a large-scale production unit with further capabilities such as increased storage
space and growing various types of crops using innovative indoor farming methods.
Automated watering and lighting systems can be implemented, receiving feedback
from the plant sensor setup. Additionally, a control over these systems can be
implemented, considering the type of soil being utilized for cultivations. Method-
ologies such as hydroponics or aeroponics can be implemented as a replacement
for soil-based cultivation, which can then be stacked in vertical layers. The arena
can be divided into an isolated, controlled environment and an exterior chamber
for the operator. The isolated controlled environment consists of the VSS and
the workspace for robot navigation, while the exterior chamber is a room with a
central computer for the operator to monitor the farm. The operator stationed in
this room can monitor the data provided by the plant sensor setup and can control
the parameters (like temperature, humidity, soil moisture, etc.) inside the controlled
environment by regulating the air-conditioning, lighting, and watering systems. The
operator can trigger and send specific commands based on priority tasks, to the
mobile robot wirelessly which is placed inside the controlled environment using
human-machine interface (HMI) which is placed in an exterior room. The control
over the plant growth and the surroundings can be amplified using various other
sensors for monitoring, which can also be utilized to achieve a further autonomy
over the robot. When certain conditions which are set by the operator are satisfied,
the additional plant monitoring sensors can send a signal to the central computer,
which can be used to communicate with the mobile robot, and the mobile robot
autonomously navigates itself in the dynamic environment without any interference
of the operator. The mobile robot can also be further developed to equip a vision
system for smoother navigation. This vision system can include cameras that are
placed on the mobile robot, which can monitor the plants from a close range. These
visuals can be processed through complex machine learning and deep learning
algorithms developed for recognition of the features of the plant such as color, shape,
size, and infections to assess the growth and health of the plant and to detect diseases
in plants. They can also help in decision-making by the mobile robot to retrieve a
plant tray once the plants are ready. Every soil type has its own characteristics which
might not be sufficient enough for plant growth, i.e., Tarai soil is rich in nitrogen and
organic matter but is deficient in phosphate. These need to be manually enhanced

in a traditional farm. However, automated systems can be made use of in a vertical
farm to balance the soil according to the crop’s necessity. This modularity can help
grow a variety of crops in different soil types via autonomously enhancing the soil
properties.
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Research Methodology for Augmenting
a Gait Cycle of Lower-Body Exoskeleton, 35
by Using a Data of Mathematical Modeling
and Motion Study of a Specific User While
Obtaining a Customized Gait for Joint
Actuation of Exoskeleton
S. S. Ohol, K. D. Kalantri, Y. M. Pirjade, A. U. Kotkar,

N. M. Patwardhan, D. R. Londhe, and T. P. Shelke
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928
Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
Gait Cycle Analysis and Torque Estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
Step I: Gait Cycle Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
Step II: Torque Estimations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937
Simulation of Two-Legged Robotic Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943
Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 944
Summary of Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 947
Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 950
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 950
Abstract
Exoskeleton technology has shown its importance in various fields of application

such as military, medical, industrial, and commercial. But wide use of this
technology is limited due to high cost and customized application according to
user. If the exoskeleton has a different gait cycle than the unique natural gait
cycle of user, it will lead to injuries. Customization of exoskeleton gait cycle
can overcome this challenge. Customized gait cycle according to user means the
control unit should provide output in form of position and torque in accordance
to natural gait cycle of unique user. In this chapter, a methodology is proposed
S. S. Ohol () · K. D. Kalantri · Y. M. Pirjade · A. U. Kotkar · N. M. Patwardhan · D. R. Londhe ·

T. P. Shelke
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Pune (COEP), Pune, India
e-mail: sso.mech@coep.ac.in; kalantrikd18.mech@coep.ac.in
Devices, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84205-5_165-1
928 S. S Ohol et al.
and validated to obtain customized gait cycle for exoskeleton using motion
assessment and MATLAB simulation. Validation of methodology is performed
on normal human walking gait cycle. Motion assessment performed in HALEX
(Human Assistive Lower-Limb Exoskeleton) is considered as basic method to
conduct motion assessment of gait cycle for unique user and data obtained from
their experiment considered as base data for position versus time analysis. Latter
data obtained from motion assessment is used as input data to obtain results
from MATLAB Simscape-Simulink simulations using genetic algorithm. The
above method is applied on biped robot to obtain results for normal human
gait analysis. Simulation gives results in both position and torque wrt time.
Torque values are compared with values obtained from mathematical model,
and position values are compared with values obtained from video gait analysis.
Validation of methodology gave satisfactory results, and the latter suggested
method can be used to obtain resulted torque and gait cycle for exoskeleton.
Keywords
Biped robot · MATLAB-Simscape · Genetic algorithm · Exoskeleton ·

Normal human gait
Introduction
If we observe the trend in every industry, we moved from humans to robots and
now we are again moving toward humans. Yes, this is the future; that is right; and
many limitations of humans and robot can be overcome with the combination of
human and robot. This is the basic need of development of exoskeleton technology
in field of robotics. A robot price rises due to necessary improvements in control
flexibility, whereas repeated/monotonous work, dangerous work, and lesser strength
for heavy duty task are not suitable for human workers. The combination of effective
and precise control by human and strength of machines is required to get the
solution for such challenge. Innovative developments of various exoskeletons using
basic technologies of robotics were started in different sectors of applications while
solving such type of challenges.
Exoskeletons are operated by an electric motor, pneumatic, hydraulic, or a
blend of technologies which permit for movement of limbs with enhanced power
and perseverance. The exoskeletons are commonly known as powered armors,
power armors, exo-frames, powered suits, and exo-suit, which are wearable mobile
technology.
Humanlike gait-motion can be obtained if links of the exoskeleton are applied
with predefined position wrt time. Also, the pre-estimated position of various links
wrt actuators is achieved by providing the actuators with preidentified torque related
to specific time. During the research, a methodology/approach is proposed for
establishing a required motion. Then it is authenticated to achieve personalized gait
cycle motion for the exoskeleton using a software of video/motion assessment. The
35 Research Methodology for Augmenting a Gait Cycle of Lower-Body. . . 929
methodology is validated using MATLAB simulation, performed on a sample of

common human’s gait cycle for walking. Motion assessment performed on Human-
Assistive Lower-Body Exoskeleton shall be studied as a basic technique to perform
motion assessment of gait cycle used for any individual person. Then information
achieved from such experiments can be considered as a reference data for posture
and motion analysis study. Then this information obtained from motion assessment
is employed as an input data to achieve required outcomes from simulation study
using Simulink of MATLAB-Simscape by applying a genetic algorithm.
Personalized gait pattern obtained accordingly by using these two steps method-
ology is proposed for further motion assistance. Video/motion analysis using motion
assessment software can be a first phase of the procedure and analysis of data, which
is obtained from motion assessment, and can be a second phase. This data submitted
to X can execute simulation to find torque for real-time gait pattern required for
precise motions of exoskeleton.
A four-step experiment was performed to validate this methodology. Step-I is
motion assessment for obtaining a required gait cycle. Step-II is a formulation of
mathematical model for a human physique during plain walking for achieving a
torque anticipated at different stages of normal human walking. A Step-III is a
simulation for two-legged exoskeleton having a gait cycle feedback obtained from
step-I, to acquire precise estimation of position and torque of the joint at relevant
stages of time. A Step-IV is an assessment of outcomes of simulation obtained from
motion assessment to authenticate the mathematical model and gait cycle which
authenticate torque estimation required at several stages of walking.
Literature Review
Research into the design and development of the exoskeleton is ongoing since the
1960s (Ref Fig. 1). The idea of human motion and strength enhancement through
use of exoskeleton is something that has been frequently depicted in various sci-fi
movies and novels. Applications of exoskeleton technology can be seen in various
sectors such as military, industrial, domestic, medical, and commercial. Customized
solutions/applications according to user and increased cost are the major limitations
for current exoskeleton technology.
A theoretical model of automated exoskeleton was presented by N. Yagn’s in
1890, and he was awarded a patent for his concept design of lower extremity
enhancer (Yagn 1890). This concept model using a long bow could help people
in improvising ability of the user for walking, jumping, and running.
Different physical factors of users like gender, ages, height, weight, lifestyle,
etc. affect human gait cycle. Therefore, customized gait cycle for exoskeleton is
essentially required which can be obtained by a user-specific gait cycle and not a
general one.
While developing exoskeletons, the major concern was achieving the estimated
position quickly, inside the permissible error to follow the trajectory of motion
during normal walking. For use of improper control, a steady-state error because
Fig. 1 Review of exoskeletons
of the gravity and additional considerations, such as a control unit, may contribute
in opposition to any type of disagreements from the users/patients. Muscle spasticity
of various paraplegic patients causes a struggle to match the movements of the
actuators pressing an integrator term for reacting quickly. Therefore, a patient may
get seriously harmed by overriding of the spasticity while moving the joint (DeLeva
1996). Such type of injury may adversely affect the common patient who is using
active exoskeleton as exclusive gait of the person, which is due to overpowered
exoskeleton. A method is needed to develop to get customized gait cycle from a
specific user. This research studied a recorded motion to obtain gait cycle of specific
user and a torque associated to a gait cycle for that specific user using results of
MATLAB simulation.
An inexpensive exoskeleton, Human Assistive (Active) Lower-Limb (/body)
Exoskeleton (HALEX), is discussed by Y. M. Pirjade et al. to provide human
assistance during gait locomotion (Pirjade et al. 2019). HALEX is a hybrid lower-
limb exoskeleton which provides enough DOFs to users while locomotion.
HALEX design model as shown in Fig. 2 is a basic CAD design for simulation.
Motion assessment conducted to study normal human gait for designing control for
HALEX is considered as basic human gait for comparison with result obtained from
simulation of biped robot. P. Naik and S. S. Ohol et al. have published this paper
on full-body exoskeleton that they have designed and developed (Naik et al. 2019).
This exoskeleton is full-body exoskeleton with combination of active-type upper
body powered by pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) while passive-type lower body
provides support to wearer and exoskeleton to carry out tasks. This exoskeleton has
the same DOF in lower body as the model exoskeleton considered for simulation. In
this paper, they have used ANSYS for simulation of exoskeleton. Various load cases
that were simulated in this paper are joint angle, height of rear plate from ground,
and load and load center. Result of this paper also shows importance critical design
of knee joint in lower body of exoskeleton, and one of the future scopes suggested
that powered joints should be developed using advanced technologies like harmonic
drives and planetary gearboxes to overcome mobility issue while carrying payload.
Thus, we have considered HALEX exoskeleton model for simulation as its design
has advance technologies like planetary gearbox for joint actuation. These results
were useful to develop mathematical model for exoskeleton torque requirement.
Fig. 2 Human Assistive Lower-Limb Exoskeleton (HALEX) (Pirjade et al. 2019)
A big number of patients are restricted to wheelchairs owing to spinal cord

injuries, which imposes a limited mobility. It may lead to the risk of secondary
damages and injuries for those patients. Katherine A. Strausser et al. have presented
a paper which states direct use of robotic exoskeleton on patients having spinal cord
injury for gait restoration (Strausser et al. 2010). Exoskeleton, which is powered
externally offers a perfect method to assist paraplegics to go on foot. A battery-
powered mobile exoskeleton is introduced which has hydraulically activated hip
and knee joint at the sagittal plane to support a motion of a related body part of the
user. A standard human walking mimicked by control strategy stimulates position
control of joints to understand average human walking trajectories as per the clinical
gait analysis data.
This paper shows the possibility of risk of secondary injury due to improper
gait training which highlights the importance of actuation of exoskeleton gait with
accordance of human gait motion and reliable input to control unit of actuators at
joints. Results obtained are shown in Fig. 3.
In a Strausser et al.’s paper, use of exoskeleton is mentioned for medical purpose
for spinal cord injuries while a method is proposed which will be beneficial for all
fields of exoskeleton as it talks about customization of gait cycle for all users. To
apply the method suggested in this paper may not be appropriate, since the actual
patient may not be able to undergo through motion assessment step. ( mainly due
to physical limitations). Customized gait cycle for patients can be acquired from
motion assessment data of a volunteer having the same physical parameters as the
patient.
Exoskeleton presented by Strausser et al. is a mobile, battery-powered device
while the method suggested in this paper is a robust method for all types of
exoskeletons irrespective of power source, actuation, control unit, and applications.
CGA Data
60
50
40
Joint Angle (deg) 30
20 Knee
Hip
10
0
-10
-20
-30 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Time (s)
Fig. 3 The range of a hip and a knee joint position required to attain normal human walking is
being exhibited by the CGA trajectories joint angle (Strausser et al. 2010)
The main objective of Strausser et al. in their paper is to reduce secondary injuries
to patients with spinal cord injuries whereas in the present paper main objective
is to customize the gait cycle of exoskeleton, which will be useful for industrial
applications also.
Gait cycle analysis considered by Strausser et al. is a model based on four-step
walking patterns of human walking. The four-step walking model can be understood
as (i) stance, (ii) toe-off or late posture, (iii) swing, and (iv) heel-strike. The model
used in this paper for gait analysis of human normal gait has eight states in walking
pattern, i.e., (i) early contact, (ii) loading reply, (iii) mid stance, (iv) terminal stance,
(v) preswing, (vi) starting swing, (vii) mid swing, and (viii) terminal swing.
Strausser et al. have used clinical gait analysis data to generate trajectories for
walking with some modification in angle at knee and step length to obtain improved
clearance in walking. Whereas in this research, a motion analysis by using sport
video/motion assessment software has been used to generate trajectories data for
walking.
Exoskeletons are useful in various sections of medical applications, e.g., a gait
cycle rehabilitation and helping for strengthening of paraplegic patients. For a
patient, who is using a treadmill, a gait-driven orthosis (DGO) was established
that moves the legs in a physiological way. The orthosis can adjust as per size so
dissimilar patients can practice it. For training the spasticity, the legs of patients can
be trained with DGO with different degrees of paresis as shown in Fig. 4.
Use of a driven gait orthosis (DGO) with treadmill training on patient of
incomplete spinal cord injury to obtain physiological gait patterns was studied by
G. Colombo et al. (2000). Similar to active lower-body exoskeleton, an actuator for
knee and hip joints in this DGO was operated through a position controller. Results
give three averaged trajectories of joint angle for hip and knee joints.
normal
DGO
25 DGO w. FC
joint angle (Deg) 15

5
-5
-15
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of stride
70 normal
joint angle (Deg)
60 DGO
50 DGO w. FC
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of stride
Fig. 4 Results of treadmill training for gait rehabilitation (Colombo et al. 2000)
Generally, all three trajectories are similar. The variations between these three
forms do not surpass the inter-patient/subject deviations. The above gaits were used
as reference to results obtained from simulation biped robot.
The stance and swing stages of regular gait cycle of human being along with
other substages can be understood in Fig. 5.
A special video recorder along with a personal computer is used by James C Wall
and Jack Crosbie to measure the sequential components of human gait for a healthy
person’s walking as per self-chosen leisurely mode, intermediate mode, and faster
walking mode. Their experiment provided evidence for establishing this method
of time-based gait cycle examination, by means of a quality video motion recorder
having a slow speed with playback facility which is reliable together and adequately
precise for motion study of a gait cycle in a hospital (Walsh et al. 2007).
A quasi-passive exoskeleton for lower limb can carry a weight while walking,
which is presented by C. J. Walsh, K. Endow, and H. Herr (Berkeley robotics
& human engineering laboratory). This exoskeleton is without actuators. It has
only ankle joint springs and hip joint springs and knee joint variable damper. This
exoskeleton has a total weight of 11.7 kg (Without a payload) and needs electrical
power of only 02 Watts while walking with a load. They have proven it that the
quasi-passive type of exoskeleton transmits a typical 80% of a total load in the
RIGHT LEFT LEFT RIGHT RIGHT LEFT

INITIAL PRE-SWING INITIAL PRE-SWING INITIAL PRE-SWING
CONTACT CONTACT CONTACT
Time, percent of cycle
Double Double Double

support R. Single support L. Single support
support support
0% 15% 45% 60% 100%

R. Stance phase R. Swing phase
L. Swing phase L. Stance phase

0% 40% 55% 85% 100%
Fig. 5 Time percentage and stages of normal human gait cycle (Wall and Crosbie 1997)
Fig. 6 Ankle and hip

moment for quasi-passive 0
moment (Nm)
exoskeleton (Berkeley
Ankle
robotics & human

-50
engineering laboratory)
-100
50
moment (Nm)
Hip
-50
0 50 100
% of gait cycle
direction of the floor while completing the sole support stage of walking, for a 36 kg
payload. Gait analysis obtained is shown in Fig. 6.
The BLEEX is an abbreviation of a Berkeley’s Lower Extremity Exoskeleton,
which is a first actively autonomous/self-governing lower body exoskeleton having a
capacity of transporting a payload, and was established at U.C. Berkeley (Zoss et al.
2005). Its mechanical design having anthropomorphic aspects has been presented
by A. Zoss, H. Kazerooni, and A. Chu (Riener et al. 2002). A BLEEX possesses
seven DOFs for each leg; four from these are operated by hydraulicly driven linear
actuators. It has discussions on the finalizing of the ranges of motion and the degrees
Fig. 7 Human walking

anatomy (Zoss et al. 2005)
Hip Rotation
(compliant)
Hip Abduction/ Hip Flexion/Extension

(actuated)
Adduction
(actuated) Knee Flexion
(actuated)
Toe Flexion/Extension Ankle Abduction/Adduction
(compliant) (compliant)
Ankle Plantarflexion/
Ankle Rotation
(un-actuated) Dorsiflexion
(actuated)
of freedom. Moreover, it has details of the important design aspects of the major
BLEEX components. Three basic concepts of human body design architecture
(Ref Fig. 7) were discussed in the research: (i) anthropomorphic architecture, (ii)
nonanthropomorphic architecture, and (iii) pseudoanthropomorphic architecture.
R. Riener et al. have mentioned that descending and ascending motions were
the next stage of floor/ground walking; it means, the motion patterns of floor, i.e.,
level walking, are associated to the patterns of descent and ascent in a specific way
(Riener et al. 2002).
Along with the other important kinematic observations, it was also observed that
power required is considerable at knee during ascending stairs; while descending
stairs, power is absorbed at knee (Ref Fig. 8).
Gait Cycle Analysis and Torque Estimation
Step I: Gait Cycle Analysis
Analysis of gait cycle for normal human by video/motion assessment to derive angle
position versus time plot during a gait cycle.
Dartfish company provides video solutions (Ref Fig. 9) (Dartfish). It is based in
Fribourg, Switzerland. This company makes online and offline video software to
facilitate users to see, edit, and evaluate videos for personal and business usage.
The changes in joint angles were recorded for a 21-year-old person using a
treadmill for walking by means of a video camera which is fixed in a sagittal plane.
These captured videos were analyzed for obtaining data of joint angle measurements
using Dartfish Pro, motion assessment software.
The video/motion examination technique is to be used for gait analysis because
it must offer a specific gait cycle for a sole user which will be distinctly separate
from normal gait cycle. Obtaining a tailored output gait for machine/exoskeleton
corresponding to patients is an important stage in this total procedure. A unique gait
cycle for each person takes care of several bodily factors such as height, weight,
Fig. 8 Joint powers while descent and ascent are at minimum, normal, and maximum inclinations
and while walking are of level walking type almost same for all average humans (Dartfish)
body postures, gender, age, etc. The motion analysis completed with a Dartfish
sports analysis computer software is shown in Fig. 10 and 12. It shows readings
of the angle of the knee and hip in relation to the time on the setup of the treadmill.
The outcome with emphasized single cycle in total gait is shown in Figs. 11 and 13.
A video setting of 25 fps, i.e., frames per second, is used, to analyze hip angle and
knee angle.
Figure 11 indicates a single gait cycle as shown in a rectangle. This measurement
happens imitating the similar form over a specific period. It can be observed that
angular measurements at the knee joint angle vary starting with 115◦ up to 180◦ ,
i.e., a range of 65◦ (Fig. 12).
It can be observed from Fig. 13 that a single cycle shown in a rectangle is
replicating the same pattern over a specific time. Angular measurements at the hip
joint angle vary from 160◦ to 200◦ , i.e., for a range of 40◦ .
Fig. 9 Screen of an edit – Dartfish 10 (Dartfish)
As discussed in Fig. 6, a reference gait cycle for average size person is known
to us. This gait cycle for typical common person is a source to confirm motion
analysis process to find distinctive gait of that unique person. Knee and hip angle
measurement positions are shown in a graph (refer Fig. 8). A form of angular
position trends displays inverted shape and begins in the vicinity of zero degree
on account of variations in reference angle for measurement. Thus, the hip joint
ranges from −22◦ to 19◦ , i.e., 41◦ and similarly angular measurements at the knee
joint are from 0◦ to 55◦ , i.e., for a range of 55◦ .
Step II: Torque Estimations
A torque needed for normal human walking with several phases of standard human
gait needs to be calculated using mathematical model.
To obtain the torque involved at different stages from generating a mathematical
model of human body, the following statistics of human height and weight is utilized
as per Tables 1 and 2.
The above data is used to obtain a mathematical model for an average human
with height of 180 cm and weight of 80 kg. It is observed from a motion analysis
that for normal human walking an average gait cycle time is 1 s and length of stride
is 60 cm. The torque required for critical stages in a gait cycle is analyzed. The
Fig. 10 Motion analysis for getting data of various angles of knee wrt time (Pirjade et al. 2019)
required torque at the ankle for a complete gait cycle is insignificant, which can be
observed in modeling.
The following formulas are derived to achieve different torque values at these
secondary levels.
Hip and Knee Torque Calculations for Stance Phase

Maximum torque capacity is required at human joint compared to human walking
torque. Adequate friction between floor and human foot is necessary to make human
Fig. 11 Knee angle measurements – a single gait cycle is shown in a rectangle (Pirjade et al. 2019)
Fig. 12 Motion analysis for

getting a data of various
angles of hip wrt time
(Pirjade et al. 2019)
walk with comfort. In calculation of torque phase, friction has an important role.
During stance stage, vertical and horizontal forces are mutually applied upon joints.
Ave. step distance = 60 cm = 0.6 m
Ave. period of single normal gait = 1 s
Fig. 13 Hip angle measurements – a single gait cycle form is shown in a rectangle (Yagn 1890)
Table 1 Weight distribution in human body (DeLeva 1996)

Mass division of different body parts in human body
Sr. No. Parts Term Average portion (%) Average mass (kg)
Total weight M 100.00 80.00
1 Skull Mh 06.81 05.45
2 Trunk Mt 43.02 34.40
3 Complete arm Ma 4.715 03.77
4 Upper arm Mua 2.630 02.10
5 Forearm Mfa 1.500 01.20
6 Hand Mh 0.585 0.47
7 Total leg Ml 20.37 11.58
8 Thigh Mth 14.47 11.58
9 Shank Msh 4.570 03.66
10 Foot Mf 1.330 01.06

s = u × t + a × t2 /2
0.6 = 0 + (a × 1 × 1) /2
a = 1.2 m/s2
Complete human body mass is M = 80 kg

As we know, Force = F = M × a = 80 × 1.20 = 96.00 N
Table 2 Height distributions in human body (DeLeva 1996)

Height division of different body parts in human body
Sr. No. Parts Terms Average portion (%) Average height (cms)
Total H 100.00 180.00
1 Whole leg L 56.20 101.16
2 Thigh L1 28.10 50.580
3 Shank L2 28.10 50.580
4 Foot L3 14.05 25.290
5 Full arm La 39.30 70.740
6 Head Lh 15.70 28.260
7 Torso Lt 28.10 50.580
Fig. 14 A subphase
“mid-stance” of typical
human gait cycle
Inertial force = I = F = 96.00 N

μ = Coeff.of friction = 0.50
N = Standard regular force required = M × g = 80.00 × 9.81 = 784.80 N
Fmax = Required maximum force of friction = N × u = 0.50×784.80 = 392.00 N
Fc = required force of friction
Friction force is a force to be applied on the ground by human, during walking

phase. Therefore, maximum available friction force (Fmax) should be more than
required friction force (Fc).
A mid stance is the important subphase of stance stage in a complete gait cycle
with maximum torque requirement (Fig. 14).
As per Fig. 13, the following can be the moment acting on the body
Resultant friction acting on human body = Frc = Fc

Resultant moment at knee at hip due to torque = Mrk
Resultant moment of Fc at a knee = Mrc
Resultant moment of Fc at a knee = Mrc
Force necessary for walking at definite speed = F
Torque necessary at knee by actuator = Mk
Torque necessary at knee b = Mk
Mh = F × 0.30 Nm = 96 × 0.30 = 28.80Nm

Mk = Mh + F × 0.80 = 28.80 + 96 × 0.80 = 105.60 Nm
Mk = Mrc = Frc × 0.50 = 105.60 Nm
Frc = 212 N
Frc = Fc = 212 is less than Fmc = 392 N
We got, Mh = 28.80 Nm for a hip joint and Mk = 105.60 Nm for a knee joint
Hip and Knee Torque Calculations at Swing Stage

A pendulum free-type swing motion is observed for the swing phase of legs.
Calculating a torque is required for swing phase which is different torque calculation
wrt stance phase.
Various torque calculations support that terminal swing is an important stage
through maximum torque necessary during a swing stage (Fig. 15).
For hip – an equation of moment is
Fig. 15 Terminal swing

substages for a common
human gait cycle
Mo1 = L1 × 0.50 × sin30 × Mth × g + Msh × g × [L1 + L2 × 0.50]

× sin30 + Mfo × g × [(L1 + L2 ) × sin30 + L3 × cos30 × 0.50]
Mo1 = 50.58 × 0.50 × 0.50 × 11.58 × 9.81 + 3.66 × 9.81
× [50.58 + 50.58 × 0.50] × 0.50 + 1.06 × 9.81 × [(50.58 + 50.58)
× 0.50 + 25.29 × 0.86 × 0.50]
Mo1 = 1436.50 + 1362 + 639 Ncm
Mo1 = 34.40 Nm
As we know, frictional forces are neglected in the calculation of moment and a

foot cannot be in contact with a normal force acting on the ground.
For knee – a moment equation is
Mo2 = Msh ×g×L2 ×0.50×sin30 + Mfo × g × [L2 × sin30 + L3 × 0.5 × cos30]

Mo2 = 454 + 376 Ncm
Mo2 = 8.30 Nm
We get Mh = 34.40 Nm for hip joint and Mk = 8.30 Nm for knee joint
Simulation of Two-Legged Robotic Structure
A modest stick and brick form of two-legged robot-walking body structure is

available in MATLAB. Simulation utilizing Simscape can be used to evaluate results
with motion assessment and torque calculated for this system (The MathWorks
2020; The Global Optimization 2020). Overall, 10,000 trials are performed on the
two-legged robot structure to understand human walking using a genetic-algorithm
with 100 generation and 100 population size. Results can be analyzed according to
primary condition provided at the start of the trials, for genetic-algorithm (Nobile
et al. 2011) (Fig. 16).
Fig. 16 A simple stick and

brick model for two-legged
robot system (Nobile et al.
2011) Hip joint
Knee joint
Ankle joint
For two-legged robot system, the following are the parameters:
Length of thigh = 400 mm.

Length of shank = 400 mm.
System density = 1000 kg/m3 ; it is known that human body density = 980 kg/m3 .
Total weight = 5.588 kg.
The above two-legged model has six DOFs to each leg: (i) hip roll, (ii) hip yaw,
(iii) hip pitch, (iv) knee, (v) ankle pitch, and (vi) ankle roll, same as that of normal
human anatomy required for walking.
Results and Discussion
MATLAB simulation of biped robot results obtained is as below
(A) The hip roll
hiproll
0
Joint Angle [rad]
-0.05
-0.1
-0.15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Joint Torque [Nˆm]
50
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Fig. 17 The MATLAB scores of joint angle(rad) and joint torque(Nm) wrt time(s) of hip-roll
anklepitch
0.8
Joint Angle [rad]
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Joint Torque [Nˆm]
50
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Fig. 18 The MATLAB results of the joint angle(rad) and joint torque(Nm) wrt time(s) of hip pitch
The torque required at hip roll and the angular position can be obtained from Fig. 17.
A single cycle in a gait cycle is shown in the frame. It is observed that a difference
of overall angle all over the noted cycle is −0.15 rad to 0 rad, i.e., a range is 8.6◦ .
Also, it is observed that a range of torque and maximum torque at the joint is 0 Nm
to 20 Nm and 20 Nm, respectively.
(B) The hip pitch
The torque required at hip pitch and the angular position can be obtained from
Fig. 18. A single cycle in a gait is shown in a frame. A difference of entire angle
during the cycle is observed as 0.30 rad to 0.80 rad, i.e., a range is 28.60◦ . Also, it is
observed that a range of torque with a maximum joint torque is −15 Nm to 20 Nm
and 20 Nm, respectively.
(C) The hip yaw
The torque required at hip yaw and the angular position can be obtained from
Fig. 19. A single cycle in a gait is shown in box. It is noticed that the range of joint
-20
x 10 hipyaw
0
Joint Angle [rad]
-0.5
-1
-1.5
-2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Joint Torque [Nˆm]
50
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Fig. 19 The MATLAB results of joint angle(rad) and joint torque(Nm) wrt time(s) of hip yaw
angle and torque needed is negligibly small. Thus, a role of hip yaw for deciding a
gait cycle for the torque required to a standard human walking is insignificant.
(D) The knee
The torque required at knee joint and the angular position can be obtained from
Fig. 20. A difference of overall angle during a cycle is −1.00 rad to −1.50 rad, i.e.,
a range is 28.60◦ . Also, it is observed that a range and maximum joint torque is
0 Nm to 45 Nm and 45 Nm, respectively.
(E) The ankle pitch
The torque required at ankle pitch and the angular position can be obtained from
Fig. 21. A single series in a gait is shown in a frame. The difference of complete
angle during the cycle is 0.40 rad to 0.80 rad; means a range is 22.90◦ . Complete
series and maximum joint torque obtained are −10 Nm to 20 Nm and 20 Nm
individually.
knee
0
Single cycle
Joint Angle [rad]
-0.5
-1
-1.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
50
Joint Torque [Nˆm]
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Fig. 20 The MATLAB results of joint angle(rad) and joint torque(Nm) wrt time(s) of the knee
(F) The ankle roll
The torque required at ankle roll and the angular position can be obtained from
Fig. 22. A particular cycle in a gait is shown in a rectangle. The difference of
complete angle all through the gait cycle is 0 rad to 0.15 rad, i.e., it is 8.60◦ . Total
range and maximum joint torque are −10 Nm to 20 Nm and 20 Nm, respectively.
Summary of Results
1. The result obtained from simulations using MATLAB Simscape together with
genetic-algorithm can offer precise estimations of humanlike gait cycle for
working of exoskeletons or two-legged robots.
2. Motion assessment results show that a human gait obtained with an experiment
using a treadmill setup (refer Fig. 9) found similarity corresponding to the form
of reference gait cycle (refer Fig. 6), for a hip angle of a gait utilizing motion
assessment corresponds precisely to the source gait in terms of its form and
range. A knee angle of gait cycle for motion assessment is similar to a form
of reference gait but in inverted manner. This is due to various reference angles
ankle pitch
0.8
Joint Angle [rad]
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Joint Torque [Nˆm]
50
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Fig. 21 The MATLAB results for joint angle(rad) and joint torque(Nm) wrt time(s) of ankle pitch
for the amount of several motion assessment and reference gaits. The range is
10◦ less than reference gait for knee angle.
3. Different persons have different gait cycles according to their natural human
parameters like gender, age, height, weight, etc. so it is observed that gait cycle
obtained from motion assessment is not matching to a whole average reference
gait cycle.
4. Hip pitch angle of two-legged robotic system’s gait cycle matches with motion
assessment of gait cycle although the range of angle is 12◦ less.
5. Knee angle of gait sequence of two-legged robot system is identical to reference
gait cycle at starting and terminal stages of motion assessment gait cycle, but
gait cycle of two-legged robot is flattened at mid swing stage. So, the range of
the angle varies for 30◦ .
6. Now since mathematical modeling of human average walking is known, a joint
torque necessary at knee at a midstance stage is 105.60 Nm. Also, a max torque
needed for two-legged robot system is 45 Nm at mid stance stage.
7. It is also observed that the torque for knee joint is more than that of the total joint
torque required at the hip joint during the gait cycle for mathematical modeling
and for two-legged robot simulations.
ankleroll
0.15
Joint Angle [rad]
0.1
0.05
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Joint Torque [Nˆm]
50
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time [s]
Fig. 22 The MATLAB results of joint angle(rad) and joint torque(Nm) related to time(s) of ankle
roll
8. It was observed with mathematical modeling that an estimated torque required

at ankle is insignificant; nevertheless, simulation results show that considerable
torque is required at ankle.
Future Scope
1. Using the suggested method and performing simulation on exoskeleton, this

method can be further checked.
2. Results of simulation can be improved by improving material and joint properties
of biped robot system, i.e., modeling them more humanlike material and soft
joints.
3. Simulations results can be improved by using exactly human-like two-legged
robot as a replacement for simple stick and brick illustration, so that the weight
allocation can be obtained similarly like an actual human body.
4. Improvement in the results could be achieved by properly designing a more
detailed cost function and permitting more numbers of iterations to analysis.
Conclusion
1. All the results obtained from motion/video analysis are highly satisfactory for
different test subjects and can be used to achieve customized gait cycle to be
used for exoskeleton for a specific user.
2. MATLAB Simscape simulations with genetic-algorithm shall be employed to
establish gait walking similar to a normal human being, to model human body
motions while the user is wearing an exoskeleton.
3. Simulation results obtained for Torque match to the results obtained for torque
from a mathematical modeling of a normal human walking.
4. From the above approach, generating a personalized gait cycle for an exoskeleton
developed using motion assessment of specific person and MATLAB simulation
can be applied to establish and generate a data of torque values required at each
of the joint actuator.
Acknowledgments Author would like to thank Dr. B.B. Ahuja, Director, College of Engineering
Pune (COEP), for his guidance and support. Also, sincerely thankful to members of Robot Study
Circle, COEP and FABLab of MEIM Department, COEP.
References
Berkeley robotics & human engineering laboratory, “BLEEX”, [Online]. Available: https://
bleex.me.berkeley.edu/research/exoskeleton/bleex/
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Dartfish. https://support.dartfish.tv/en/support/solutions/articles/27000049040-dartfish-10-release-
notes
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29(9):1223–1230
Naik P, Unde J, Darekar B, Ohol SS (2019) Pneumatic artificial muscle powered exoskeleton.
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pp 1–7
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lower limb exoskeleton. Asian J Converg Technol 5(2). ISSN No: 2350-1146, I.F-5.11
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www.mathworks.com/products/global-optimization.html
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Intelligent, Automated, and Web
Application-Based Cradle Monitoring 36
System
Priyanka J. Nair and V. Ravi
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 954
Literature Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955
Working of the Cradle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956
Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956
Algorithm and Working of Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 958
Intelligent Cradle Monitoring System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 962
Web Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 962
Live Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 963
Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 964
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 964
Important Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 965
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 965
Abstract
Studies prove that infant cries are acoustically unique, which provides a wide
area and opportunity for automation in the field of baby care. Infants require
attention all through the day and night, which is practically impossible for parents
to provide. The Intelligent Cradle Monitoring System is a step towards efficient
baby care. Our idea is to harness this to create a system to soothe the baby upon
hearing the baby cry. With features like automatic cradle movement, wet mattress
detection, and the possibility to control and monitor the cradle through Internet,
while viewing the livestream of the cradle with the baby, we believe that the
P. J. Nair
Mercedes-Benz Research and Development, Bengaluru, India
V. Ravi ()
School of Electronics Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, India
e-mail: ravi.v@vit.ac.in
954 P. J. Nair and V. Ravi
Intelligent Cradle Monitoring System is a step towards efficient baby care. The
system alerts the parents through text or call via the Internet when the baby has
wet the mattress or has been crying for a long period of time.
Keywords
General-purpose input/output · Microcontroller unit · Internet protocol ·

Integrated development
Introduction
With an increase in the number of working parents, the need and demand for child
care is also increasing. India is host to a fair amount of child care centers and this
proves that there is a market for a system providing better and efficient child care
with less human intervention.
The Intelligent Cradle Monitoring System allows the parent to be aware of the
baby and its activities without being physically present near them. This system
also finds itself useful in hospitals, helping nurses take care of multiple babies in
maternity wards. Figure 1 presents the recent development in the baby monitoring
and automated cradle system.
Fig. 1 Recent development in baby monitoring and automated cradle system

36 Intelligent, Automated, and Web Application-Based Cradle Monitoring System 955
The proposed system has a microphone that detects the baby’s cry that triggers
the cradle to sway for an appropriate amount of time to let the baby stop crying.
If the baby does not stop crying despite the automatic cradle movement, an alert is
sent to the parents or guardian in the form of a call. The parents can then control the
cradle through the web portal while logging on to the live streaming session of the
baby and the cradle. The parents are also alerted when the baby wets the mattress,
in which case human intervention is required.
The objectives of this proposed model are automatic cradle movement upon
detection of baby cry, live streaming of the cradle via IP Webcam, alert parents
via call if the baby cries for a long time or wets the mattress, and allow parents to
access the cradle at any given point of time through a web portal.
Thus, the Intelligent Cradle Monitoring System is a step towards helping parents
take care of their babies in a more efficient manner.
Literature Survey
Anjikar (Anjikar et al. 2017) designed a smart bassinet that used motion and surface
body detection to detect the baby’s cry and automatically swing the cradle till the
baby stops crying. However, an alarm is used to alert the parents, which produces a
sound that further disturbs the baby. This is not the case in our research, where a call
is being sent to the parents through IoT, thus allowing the baby to sleep peacefully.
Kadu (Kadu et al. 2014) presented the mechanical view of swinging the cradle
without human intervention upon bed wetting by the baby. This chapter served as a
reference for the mechanical connections of the cradle. However, not many sensors
are used for monitoring (Jabbar et al. 2019) the baby and there is no provision to
alert the parents. The Intelligent Cradle Management System alerts the parents via
call when the baby cries or wets the mattress.
Rachana Palaskar (Palaskar et al. 2015) introduced the use of Internet to help
parents/guardians constantly monitor the baby’s sleep schedule and surrounding
parameters. Though the status of the cradle is shown in the web portal, the parents
do not have the access to control the cradle or view the cradle, both of which are
features of the Intelligent Cradle Monitoring System.
Nitin Bhatnagar (Bhatnagar et al. 2016) worked on swinging the cradle auto-
matically upon detection of baby’s cry or wetting of the mattress. The system uses
an alarm for alerting the parents, which limits the range of connectivity and also
disturbs the baby. Our research work uses the TI CC3200 microcontroller, which has
an inbuilt Internet module, allowing for easy access to the Internet, thus extending
the range of connectivity.
Misha Goyal (Goyal and Kumar 2013) focused on an automatic E–Baby Cradle
that automatically sways the cradle based on baby’s cry patterns. The Intelligent
Cradle Monitoring System provides parents with the ability to view the cradle and
control the same through Internet, in addition to the automatic swinging of the
cradle.
Working of the Cradle
Block Diagram
In Fig. 2, the inputs – microphone, camera, and wet sensor and the output – motor
driver connected to the motor, which in turn sways the cradle are shown in Fig. 2.
The microcontroller used is TI CC3200 LaunchXL.
The connections of the inputs and outputs to the controller CC3200 are shown
in the block diagram. The microphone’s audio pin is connected to the GPIO Pin
7, wet sensor to GPIO Pin 6, Motor Driver to Pins 1 and 2, and the camera module
through cloud. The motor driver is then connected to the motor, which further sways
the cradle, upon being triggered by the baby’s cry which is recorded through the
microphone.
In Fig. 3, the flow chart of the entire system is demonstrated. The system once
switched on, checks for Internet access and once connected, shares the port address
for access to the videos and controls (Mitra et al. 2015). If the client logs on to the
web site, then the system waits for an input from the parents and then performs the
Fig. 2 Block diagram of the system

Fig. 3 Flow chart of the system
respective actions. The step by step process is shown in Fig. 4. Else, if the client has
not logged on, then the system acts on the sensor inputs.
Initially, the timer is reset to allow for a timely way of monitoring (Kumar and
Ravi 2019) the baby. Once a cry is heard, the input is compared with the threshold
and if greater, then the time is compared to the threshold time. If both conditions are
satisfied, the cradle is rocked. The automatic movement (Joshi and Mehetre 2017;
Nejkar et al. 2018; Kavitha et al. 2019) of the cradle is described in detail in Fig. 5.
If a sensor input is greater than the threshold, then the alarm module is triggered
and the status of the cradle is updated in the web portal. The process of sending an
alert to the parents is explained in Fig. 6. The response action was observed within
range of 1–2 min of the trigger being observed.
The sensor failure is detected through plausibility. The input from the two sensors
detecting the same value is verified and compared, and sensor failure or mismatch
is detected.
The microcontroller used is the TI CC3200 Simple link Wi-Fi LaunchPad –
single-chip microcontroller unit (MCU) with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity.
Fig. 4 Flow chart of Module 1
For ease of design, the entire system has been split into three modules as
explained below.
1. Automatic cradle movement.

2. Live streaming and parental controls.
3. Call alert through the cloud.
Algorithm and Working of Modules
Automatic Cradle Movement

Figure 4 represents Module 1 which focuses on cradle movement upon detecting
baby cry. A LM393, electret microphone, is used to continuously sense the
surroundings till a voice is heard. Once an input is sensed, the timer is being set
Fig. 5 Flow chart of Module 2
and the input is compared to the threshold value. If the input is not greater than the
threshold, then the microphone continues to sense till another input is heard. Else,
if the input is found to be greater than the threshold and the duration has not yet
reached the fixed limit, the cradle is rocked and a warning alert is sent to the parents
via cloud. If the duration has exceeded the fixed threshold, then the cradle is stopped
and the alarm module is triggered.
If the baby is not crying, the system will continue to monitor the inputs every
5 minutes (which can be configured by the parents).
Similarly, the baby cry is differentiated from other sounds by using appropriate
audio filters.
A 12 V DC gear motor with 60, connected to the motor driver, L293D is used to
sway the cradle.
The threshold value is calculated thus:
threshold = 20 log (Vin/Vo) dB

Fig. 6 Flow chart of

Module 3
where
Vin = voltage value when the baby is crying

Vo = average reference voltage value when the baby is not crying.
Live Streaming and Parental Controls

A feature to allow parents to be able to view their baby and access the cradle
accordingly through a web portal (Rajesh et al. 2014; Mishra 2018; Hussain et al.
2019; Choi et al. 2020). An IP webcam module, which is basically the camera of
any smart phone or a webcam, is set up at the cradle which records the video and
streams it online. IP Webcam turns your phone into a network camera with multiple
viewing options (Lu et al. 2018). The parent can view the baby through the web page
mentioned in addition to selecting the mode of operation for the cradle – manual or
automated.
The processor used for the prototype is of CC3200 LaunchXL which has both
application and network stack on one processor which allows easy accessibility over
cloud (Mnati et al. 2017). The CC3200 uses files specific to TLS/SSL that may be
defined by the user at the application level.
The automated mode basically switches off the system except for the live
webcam, so that the parent can quit the mode when they wish to do so.
The manual mode further has two submodes: one which works with the sensor
readings and another which works based on the instructions provided by the parent.
Figure 5 shows the flow of actions for Module 2, which focuses on live streaming
and parental controls aspect for the cradle.
The program is coded in such a way that the port address for access to the live
streaming of the cradle and the controls of the same are shared with the parents,
every time the program is run. The services of Energia IDE, a rapid prototyping
platform for the Texas Instruments MCU Launchpad, are used to code for the system
(Patil et al. 2018). Once the user logs on to the site, the board acknowledges that
the client is connected and allows the parents to access the cradle. The parents or
guardian can select either automated mode, where the cradle sleeps, or they can
select the manual mode where the cradle functions based on the parent’s inputs or
the sensor-based readings. The cradle is said to be in a particular mode until an exit
message is invoked.
Call Alert Through the Cloud

If the baby cries for a long time or wets the parents, a call is immediately sent to
the parent alerting the parent about the event that triggered the alarm. The cradle is
swayed and the status is updated on the web portal.
The wet sensor also senses for an input continuously. If the sensed input is found
to be greater than the set threshold value, then the cradle is swayed while the alarm
module is triggered and an alert message appears on the web portal.
The wet sensor used has an operating Voltage between 3.3 V and 5 V and has an
on-board LM393 comparator and an on-board power indicator LED, along with an
on-board digital switching indicator LED.
The services of Temboo Cloud, which generates editable software code in stan-
dardized, production-ready blocks for easy-to-implement but powerfully persistent
connections to cloud services, APIs, and devices, are used to alert the parents via
call or text. Nexmo Server, the Vonage API Platform, provides tools for voice,
messaging, and phone verification, allowing developers to embed programmable
communications into mobile apps, websites, and business systems and used in our
research to convert the text generated by Temboo to voice message that is to be sent
to the parents via call.
Fig. 7 Intelligent Cradle

Monitoring System
Intelligent Cradle Monitoring System
This research work was demonstrated through a prototype using the components
and services mentioned in the sections. The prototype was proof to the practicality
of the idea proposed and can serve to customer needs, if scaled accordingly.
Figure 7 shows the snapshot of the Intelligent Cradle Monitoring System which
shows the implementation of the concept discussed. This demonstrates the idea
of a cradle that helps take care of the baby in an efficient manner with less
human intervention. The microphone, wet sensor, motor, camera, motor driver, and
controller can be seen attached to the cradle.
The controller sends signal to the motor, once the input is received from
the microphone or the wet sensor, thus facilitating the movement of the cradle.
Meanwhile, the status of the cradle is being constantly updated on the web portal
and alerts are sent to the parents upon being triggered by inputs. The camera module
constantly records the video of the cradle and streams it through the Internet, unless
switched off by the parents through the web portal.
Web Portal
The web portal has been designed so as to provide parents the access to control
the cradle through the Internet. Once the system is switched on, an IP address is
generated for the access of the web portal. The status of the cradle is also displayed
to help parents control the cradle.
Figure 8 is a screenshot of the web portal that provides access to the parent.
In Fig. 8, the parent has logged on to the control mode that allows the parent to
stop or sway the cradle. This mode is a submode under manual mode. The status of
the mattress and cradle are also being displayed. The mattress is currently displayed
Fig. 8 Web portal screenshot
as being wet and will remain the same till the mattress is changed. The option to
stay or quit is also available.
Live Streaming
An URL is shared to the parents where the video of the cradle is being streamed.
This enables the parents to view the status of the cradle and take necessary actions.
A screenshot of the web page through which a video of the cradle is being
streamed is shown in Fig. 9. This shows the activity of the cradle, whether it is
being swayed or not.
Here are the possible scenarios for the system failure and the respective
mechanism to detect it.
(i) Video not streamed due to camera or network failure: This can be detected at
the backend of the web portal (buffer time = 10 min).
(ii) The cradle is not being rocked despite observing trigger conditions due to motor
failure: This can be detected by the plausibility of two accelerometers placed
on the surface of the cradle.
(iii) Baby cry or baby wetting the mattress is not detected: This is again detected
by the plausibility of the inputs provided by the two microphones and/or wet
sensors.
(iv) Overall system shutdown – The sensor outputs are monitored at the back end
of the web portal every five minutes. If the sensors do not provide plausible
outputs, then the inputs are monitored every minute and warning is sent to
parents.
In all the above-mentioned cases, a warning or an alert is sent to the parents via
call.
Fig. 9 Live streaming snapshot
Future Scope
This system would prove to be extremely useful in day care centers where details of
multiple cradles could be uploaded on the cloud for the parents to be informed. The
control would be with the monitor providing for an easy way of baby care.
Maternity wards in hospitals have a number of cradles that require constant
monitoring. This system would help take care of the babies by constantly monitoring
the multiple cradles and alerting the nurse in charge, thus reducing the amount of
attention required from them.
This system has the advantage of being dependent on the details of the cradle and
not on that of the baby, which makes the updating of details a one-time process and
a fairly easy one.
Conclusion
In this research, a method to monitor the cradle with less human intervention was
demonstrated. Parameters such as the baby cry and the moisture level of the mattress
were taken as inputs to decide whether to rock the cradle or to change the mattress.
The video of the cradle and the status was shared to the parents/guardian. The
parents have the provision to control the cradle through the web portal whose IP
address was shared to them. Overall, the research work proves to be efficient at a
small-scale level.
Important Websites
1. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/232204217.pdf
2. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/project-idea-baby-monitoring-smart-cradle/
3. https://projects.kluniversity.in/Nirmalapasala/iot-based-smart-cradle-with-baby-
monitoring-system-embedded-with-s.odi-iot-devices/-/issues?milestone_title=
Completion+of+project&sort=priority&state=closed
4. http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/28858/
5. https://www.ijcaonline.org/archives/volume160/number5/borkar-2017-ijca-
913053.pdf
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Review on Deep Learning Algorithms
in Medical Devices 37
G. Ananthi and Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 968
Types of Medical Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 971
Medical Device: Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972
Medical Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975
Deep Learning in Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976
K Means Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976
K Means Clustering Subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
Hierarchical Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
Clustering in Hierarchical Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
K Nearest Neighbors Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
PCA Algorithm (Principal Components Analysis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978
Rules in Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978
Dimensionality Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978
Regression Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979
Linear Regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979
Logistic Regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979
Decision Tree Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981
Naïve Bayes Classifier Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981
Support Vector Machine Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981
Positive Reinforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985
Negative Reinforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 986
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 986
Artificial Intelligence in Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989
G. Ananthi ()
Department of ECE, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: gananthi@tce.edu
A. S. Arockia Doss
968 G. Ananthi and A. S. Arockia Doss
Autonomous Surgical Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989

Artificial Intelligence in Surgical Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989
Real-Time Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990
Artificial Intelligence in Robotic Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992
Abstract
The devices used in medical Industry depend on the senor data and medical
images. Using sensor data, the medical data is processed to understand the
patients’ health condition. The medical images can be useful to process the
human health. The Novel Deep learning algorithms are required to process the
data and improve the performance. The Deep learning algorithm is used to detect
disease symptoms at the earlier stage. Deep learning offers considerable promise
for medical diagnostics. Currently, the medical industry requires innovative
ideas to process the large amount of data and improve the quality of service.
Hence, intelligent system is needed to detect the symptoms of the disease.
Deep learning algorithm is proposed for handling large amount of medical
data to classify the disease accurately. The medical data includes patients’
records, insurance records, and medical records for treatment. Deep learning
algorithm is helpful for diagnosis in medical industry. In this chapter, the various
deep learning algorithms that are used to classify the diseases are explained in
detail.
Keywords
Deep learning · Medical devices · Health data
Introduction
The deep learning algorithms can be useful to improve the health care by contribut-
ing earlier diagnosis of diseases. It is a scientific approach that mainly concentrates
on computers learning from data. It is a combination of intersection of statistics
and in turn to learn relationships from data for efficient computational algorithms.
The massive data sets consist of many data points that provide many challenges in
mathematics and computer science fields. The deep learning algorithms have been
employed to classify diseases using medical images with comparable accuracy. This
chapter addresses the various deep learning algorithms for prognosis of diseases
using medical devices. The medical devices applications are automation and semi-
automation of tasks such as medical image segmentation. A large number of datasets
are useful for data mining and are used to uncover the patterns, discovery like drug
target biomarker disease.
37 Review on Deep Learning Algorithms in Medical Devices 969
Artificial Intelligence is an area that allows the computers to resemble like a

human being. Machine learning is accurate at predicting outcomes without being
explicitly programmed. Deep learning used to extract patterns using existing data.
These techniques are very efficient and useful to transform health care from health
data. The advantages are early disease detection, accurate diagnosis, finding of
observations, and development of diagnostics. These algorithms can be useful to
learn the healthcare experience and improve their performance. Software as a
Medical Device is a Software to learn the Patients health data and develop time
to improve care (Unique Device Identification System 2013).
Intuitively, the action plan has been released the medical devices machine
learning software recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (Artificial
Intelligence and Machine Learning in Software as a Medical Device, FDA). The
machine learning algorithms in medical devices are studied in Digital health tech-
nology (Machine Learning Applications in Medical Devices (invetechgroup.com)).
Artificial Intelligence in Medical devices Industries can be explained in the fields
of Management of chronic diseases, medical imaging, AI and Internet of things and
Robotic surgery applications and machine learning in robotic surgery (AI in Medical
Devices – Three Emerging Industry Applications, Emerj).
Hence, deep learning algorithms in robotics medical devices are more futuristic
research work. Several research works concentrate on the motor ability of Artificial
Intelligence and human guidelines for human balance control (Yuan et al. 2020).
Several human push revival schemes from Deep learning algorithm given in Figs. 1
and 2.
Data labeling does not require data in reinforcement learning due to the important
iterations in robots (Bonsignorio et al. 2020). The deep learning algorithms are used
to approximate object from optical tactile sensor input. So, deep learning in health
care has been widely used in medical applications for surgical planning (Chen
and Jain 2020). This book deals with the advances and future of deep learning in
medicine and health care.
Cough signal processing is a new major research area to diagnose covid-19
disease (Wang and Wong 2020). The development of such medical devices is under
major research area. The cough recognition technique is used to detect the position
of cough sounds in real time (Fig. 3).
Based on a cell phone-recorded cough, machine learning models accurately
detect corona virus even in people with no symptoms (Wang and Wong 2020) (Figs.
4 and 5).
Internet of Medical things is the network of smart devices operated by the devices
for human health care and wellness (Baker et al. 2020) (Fig. 6).
Internet of Medical things
• Wearables: wristbands, smart watches, etc.

• Continuous monitoring: activity, heart rate, sleep, location, etc.
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, etc.
Fig. 1 Push recovery strategies (Yuan et al. 2020)
• Real-time monitoring and just-in-time intervention

• Cloud: computing and storage
• Scalable to large cohorts
• Analytics: machine learning and signal processing
• Interpret data and predict outcomes
Fig. 2 Classification of different robots (Yuan et al. 2020)
Types of Medical Software
The Food and Drug Administration requires the label of medical device software to
contain unique device identification regulation (U.S. Food and Drug Administration
2019). The FDA has also published additional guidance documents about specific
types of software that are used in health care and that might be regulated. The
significance of software and hardware medical data systems products is to transfer
the data formats for display in medical devices. These data systems do not modify
the data but display the data and control parameters of the medical data. The systems
are intended for monitoring the patients (Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)
2013). These applications might or might not be regulated, depending on other
functions of the application. The software is applicable for transfer, store, convert,
and display the functions based on regulations.
Software helps to store data converts into a format and is useful to display the
electrocardiogram of a patient. This software is used to control the functions and
device parameters. This software is used to generate alarms related with patients’
health information on a display in medical devices.
Similarly, software that detects and highlights abnormalities (computer-assisted
detection (CADe)) or software that assesses associated disease severity (computer-
assisted diagnosis (CADx)) is considered a device by the FDA and is subject to
regulatory focus.
Fig. 3 Cough signal processing
Clinical decision support system software facilitates clinicians and patients to

identify patient related information to improve the healthcare monitoring system
(Collins and Yao 2018). It consists of several tools that help to improve the decision-
making skills in clinic. The tools contain patient’s data reports, templates for
documents, diagnostics materials, and clinical guidelines. Because of the variety of
CDS applications, as well as an evolving regulatory landscape, some CDS software
might be regulated by the FDA, others might be regulated by the FDA but under
“enforcement discretion,” and some might not be regulated as medical devices.
Medical Device: Definition
The use of medical device prevents diseases based on diagnosis of the patients
and also affects the body functions. It excludes certain software functions such as
data storage, administrative support, and electronic patient records (Medical devices
(who.int)).
Fig. 4 Different coughs
Medical Devices
Examples of Medical Devices and Technologies are Analytical Instruments, Anes-

thesia, Assay Kits, Cardiology, Cell Biology, Cell Counting, Cleaning and Steriliza-
tion, Clinical Emergency Medicine, Cosmetic/Plastic Surgery, Cryogenic, Dental,
Dermatology, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)/Otolaryngology, Endoscopy, General
Hospital, General Practice, General Surgery, Hematology, Imaging, Immunoassays,
Fig. 5 Medical error analysis
Problem Diagnosis Treatment

Traditional Model
Prevention
Walking Running Swimming
wellness Diagnosis
Treatment
Happy Person
New Model Wellness and Preventive Care
Fig. 6 Model analysis
Lab Equipment, Microbiology, Microscopy, Microscopy and Laboratory Micro-

scopes, Molecular Biology, Nephrology, Neurology, Obstetrics, Gynecology, Oph-
thalmology, Patient handling, Pediatrics, Physiotherapy, Prosthetics Radiology,
Refrigeration, Spinal and Orthopedic, Support, Software and Services, Ultrasound
Urology (Blog (emergobyul.com)). The Details of the medical devices and tech-
nology can be explained (50 Best Medical Device and MedTech News Sites,
Blogs – Pannam). In (Applications of deep learning in medical device manufac-

turing – ONdrugDelivery), medical device manufacturing data is used to define a
component and measurement.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Figure 7 shows the market size for medical devices. The Food and Drug Administra-
tion helps in regulating medical devices that diagnose and prevent diseases. Medical
devices are used by healthcare providers to diagnose patients (Medical Devices,
FDA).
Drawbacks in Medical Devices: The obstacles in medical devices are as follows
(PT PHC Indonesia (phchd.com)):
• Lack of Information
• Fascination with technology
• Deference to personal preference
• High costs
• Lack of a single nomenclature
• Marketing practices
• Counterfeiting
• Deficiencies of clinical guidelines
• Inappropriate design
• Misinformation of the device
The advantages of using deep learning algorithms in medical devices is that the
algorithm runs based on patient’s health data and is useful to predict the disease
effectively within a short span of time. No human intervention is required and cost
as well.
612.7
425.5
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Fig. 7 Market size for medical devices (in dollars)

Deep Learning in Medical Devices: The supervised algorithm is useful to

annotate images with normal state or disease state. This algorithm is trained to
recognize the states. After training, if a new image is presented, the algorithm
matches the image to the most similar trained state. The training data sets cover
a large number of disease data collected from patients and different medical devices
(Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) 2013).
Deep Learning in Health Care
Unsupervised Learning
Unsupervised learning offers an important set of tools in Artificial Intelligence
because:
• It allows us to better understand and visualize complex, multidimensional

datasets.
• It succeeds in a situation whether the data is not labeled.
• It paves the road to extending beyond the bounds of human performance by
detecting nuances that are imperceptible to us.
In unsupervised learning, the learning is based on the probabilistic data model.

Based on the past inputs, a machine can be used to estimate the probability
distribution model for an input. The unsupervised learning techniques are clustering
and dimensionality reduction. Clustering means that similar metric data points are
grouped together. Clustering is one of the classifications of unsupervised learning
algorithm that finds the structure of data in uncategorized manner. It then processes
the data and finds the suitable cluster whether data is available inside the cluster. The
clustering types are hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis, singular
value decomposition, k nearest neighbors, independent component analysis, and K
means clustering.
K Means Algorithm
It is a partitioning algorithm in a clustering technique. Data can be combined

together, and one data belongs to a particular cluster. This algorithm is used to
find the maximum value in each iteration. The clusters can be selected based on
the maximum values. The cluster data points are arranged into k number of groups.
If k is larger, it means that there are smaller groups with maximum granularity.
A minimum value of k represents maximum groups with minimum granularity.
This algorithm output is named as labels. This algorithm assigns the data point to k
groups. Each group creates a centroid point. This centroid captures the points and
adds them together to form the cluster.
K Means Clustering Subgroups
• Agglomerative clustering.
• Let us assume that each data is a cluster.
• Based on the distance, it minimizes the clusters in every iteration.
• Large cluster contains the objects finally.
• Dendrogram.
• The height of dendrogram represents the similarity level between the clusters.
Hierarchical Clustering
It is an agglomerative clustering system. Here, each data is treated as a cluster. The

two nearest clusters form an iterative union that can reduce the number of clusters.
Fuzzy Algorithm
Fuzzy sets are a type of overlapping technique for clustering. Each point belongs
to clusters that will have separate membership degree. The data is associated with
membership value. The algorithm is named as Fuzzy C means algorithm.
Probabilistic Distribution
It is the type of unsupervised learning algorithm that uses probability distribution to
form clusters. Examples are represented here.
• “men’s shoe.”
• “women’s shoe.”
• “women’s glove.”
• “men’s glove.”
The algorithm can be clustered into “shoe” and “glove” or “men” and “women.”
Clustering in Hierarchical Scheme
It is an algorithm that consists of cluster hierarchy. All data is assigned to each

cluster. Two near clusters are represented in the similar cluster. This algorithm ends
in one cluster leftward.
K Nearest Neighbors Algorithm
It stores and classifies the new examples based on measures similarity. The
performance of this algorithm works well based on the distance between the
examples. If the distance calculation is nontrivial and training set is large, the speed
of the learning is slower.
PCA Algorithm (Principal Components Analysis)
The principal component is called as base. In higher dimensional space, select a

foundation for the space and choose the score on that basis. Select the subset in
a space consumes minor in size when compared to the unique space. The data
complexity is to be maintained as possible.
Rules in Association
The rules in association allows to connect associations between the data objects
in the large database. It discovers the relationships between variables in the
database. Examples include: People buy home and in turn purchase furniture,
and another group of patients affected by cancer and their grouping based on
gene measurements, shopper’s purchasing histories making groups, movie reviews
making groups based on the rating.
Dimensionality Reduction
It is the process of large dimensional data into a lower dimensional data called
as feature selection (Sutton and Barto 1998). It is helpful to predict diseases. The
dimensionality deals with the number of feature inputs and variables and columns in
the dataset. Dimensionality reduction is nothing but it reduces the features from the
dataset. The dataset contains large number of feature inputs that makes predictive
modeling tough. It seems difficult to make predictions for the dataset training with
a large number of features.
Dimensionality reduction is defined as, “It is a way of converting the higher
dimensions dataset into lesser dimensions dataset ensuring that it provides similar
information.” The machine learning methods are considered as a better predictive
models for classification and regression problems. The applications of machine
learning algorithms are speech recognition, signal processing, and bioinformatics.
It is used for noise reduction, data visualization, and cluster analysis (Fig. 8).
Supervised learning: The machine learning with labeled data is known as
supervised learning. Prediction of discrete values is called classification. Prediction
of continuous values is called regression. The supervised learning examples are
lung disease findings and findings of different body organs from medical images.
It is the process of learning an algorithm to map an input for a particular output.
Labeled datasets are collected. Once the mapping is correct, the algorithm is learned
successfully. Regression and classification are the types of supervised learning
algorithms.
Dimensionality reduction
Techniques
Feature Selection Dimensionality

Reduction
Missing Value Ratio Components/Factors

Projection Based
based
Low Variance Filter
High Correlation Filter
Random Forest
Factor Analysis
Backward Feature Extraction ISOMAP
Forward Feature Selection Principal Component t-SNE
Analysis
UMAP
Independent Compone
Analysis
Fig. 8 Dimensionality reduction techniques
Regression Algorithm
It is a supervised learning that learns labeled datasets and predicts continuous output
for a current data based on an algorithm. Normally, the output in supervised learning
is represented in terms of money, height, etc.
Linear Regression
It is assumed that there is a linear relationship between the input and output of the
learned data. Independent variable is represented as an input variable. Dependent
variable is termed as output variable. If any unknown data is given to the algorithm,
we can use functions, calculate the input, and map the input for the output in a
continuous manner (Fig. 9).
Logistic Regression
A set of independent variables are given to this algorithm and predicts discrete
values. The prediction is implemented using mapped unknown data based on the
Fig. 9 Linear Regression
Fig. 10 Logistic regression
logit function. The output lies between the values zero and one. It predicts the new
data based on probabilistic approach. The classifier classifies one or zero of two
classes (Fig. 10).
Classification is a type of learning algorithm maps, and the current data is
obtained in any one of the two classes in the dataset. The output is represented
in any one of the classes and does not represent in a number.
Types:
• Naïve Bayes classifier

• Decision tree
• Support vector machine
Root
B C
Fig. 11 Decision tree
Decision Tree Algorithm
It classifies based on the feature input values. This algorithm uses the information,
finds the feature from the dataset, and provides the best information assigned as the
root node. It assigns each branch in the decision tree denoted as feature in the dataset
(Fig. 11).
Naïve Bayes Classifier Algorithm
In this algorithm the features in the dataset are assumed to be independent to each
other. This algorithm works very well even in large datasets. Directed acyclic graphs
are used for classification too.
Support Vector Machine Algorithm
These algorithms use statistical learning theory. The algorithm uses kernel based
on learning task that maps input and output. It creates a hyperplane that is used to
classify two different classes (Fig. 12).
Semi-Supervised Learning
Semi-supervised learning is useful to recognize the activity using sensor data in
medical image segmentation. This algorithm helps to learn the human behavior
Margin
Y
Hyperplane
X
Support Vectors
Fig. 12 Support Vector Machines
Fig. 13 Machine learning algorithms
using labeled and unlabeled data. The use of this algorithm is to know if the data is
labeled or unlabeled to change the behavior of learning.
If the labeled data is expensive in supervised learning, semi-supervised learning
can be used in machine learning and data mining. It includes mixture models,
co-training, self-training, graph-based learning, multiview learning, and semi-
supervised support vector machines. Some specific algorithms are generative
models, self-training, S3VMs, graph-based algorithms, and multiview algorithms
(Fig. 13).
1. Self-training
Step 1: The entire data is split into training and test datas. Train the algorithm
based on the labeled data.
Step 2: Pseudo labels are named as highest probability of the predicted class in
unlabeled data.
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Fig. 14 Generative Models
Step 3: Combine the pseudo labeled data and labeled data.

Step 4: Perform the classification metric based on performance measures.
2. Generative Models
Assume labeled data Xl , Yl , each class has a Gaussian distribution (Fig. 14).
Model Parameters:

θ = w1 , w2 , μ1 , μ2 , , (1)
1 2
The GMM:
p (x, y| θ ) = p( y| θ ) p ( x|y, θ )

(2)
= wy N x; μy , y
Classification:
p ( x, y| θ )
p ( y| x, θ ) =
(3)
y p ( x, y | θ )
Fig. 15 S3VMs
3. Semi-supervised Support Vector Machines (S3VMs)
It maximizes unlabeled data margins (Fig. 15).

Assumption: The data in unlabeled one from different classes can be separated
with maximum margin.
Implementation steps:
• Represent 2u possible values of the set Xu.

• Represent Singular Value Machine for each labeled data.
• Represent the Singular Value Machine with the maximum margin value.
4. Graph-Based Algorithms
The graph is represented using labeled and unlabeled data. The heavy edges are
connected using same labeling via instances.
Nodes:
Xl ∪ Xu
Edges:
The weights are calculated by means of features using k nearest neighbor graph,
and unweighted fully connected graph weight decays using distance (Fig. 16).
Graph-Based Algorithms.
Harmonic, Local and global consistency, Manifold regularization and Mincut
algorithms are called as graph-based algorithms.
5. Multiview Representations Algorithms

Fig. 16 Edges
The features are represented as image features and web page text called as
multiple views. In data co-training, train an image classifier and text classifier.
Assume that the classifiers are trained and taught to each other.
Reinforcement Learning:
The reinforcement learning algorithm is used to learn the observations, rewards,
and actions at a specified time (Anwar et al. 2018). This algorithm is used for context
aware symptoms to find the diseases.
This learning algorithm is the type of machine learning algorithm. It is used to
maximize the reward based on actions in a situation. The machines and software
are to find the best path for a particular situation. This algorithm differs from the
supervised learning algorithm because the reinforcement agent decides the task.
Here, the training dataset is absent and is learned based on the experience.
Algorithm:
• The initial state is considered as an input and the model has to be started.
• The possible output has been represented for a specific problem.
• The training has been implemented based on the input. The implemented model
returns the state and hence the user decides to give reward option or punishing
option based on the output.
• This model will continue to learn based on the given parameters.
• Maximum reward has been given for the best solution.
Positive Reinforcement
Whenever an event occurs for behavior, it increases the power and occurrence of the
behavior. The advantages of this approach are that it maximizes the performance
and sustains change for longer period of time. The drawback of this method is to
provide overload of states that can decreases the consequences.
Negative Reinforcement
It is defined as strengthening a behavior if negative condition is ended. It increases

the behavior and provides defiance for the minimum standard performance. The
drawback of this negative reinforcement is it provides minimum behavior.
Applications
1. Robotics for industrial automation

2. Machine learning and data processing
3. Training systems and materials
4. Applicable in known environment model
5. Applicable in simulation model
6. Information about the environment
Deep Learning in Genomics
The genomic technology collects a measurement from individual DNA

sequences to a set of proteins in blood. Deep learning in Genomics takes raw gene
data converts into input data tensors given to the neural network for biomedical
applications. The research challenges include stochastic optimization algorithms
that are useful to predict the protein structure. Deep learning helps prediction from
genetic data which includes traits and disease risk. The prediction phenotype is
used to estimate the intermediate molecular phenotypes in terms of gene expression
and gene splicing to find the downstream disease predictors. The molecules states
consist of proximal signals that are important to predict larger human traits, and
hence more extensive training data needed. The predicted features are useful to
predict splicing and transcription factor binding.
Algorithm:
1. From blood, the DNA is released from the cells.

2. The organ injection fragments are affected by means of graft cells immune
system through bacterial infection and cancer.
3. Biomarker data is affected from noise and needs analysis to find the disease.
4. Deep learning algorithms are useful to improve the quality of DNA sequences,
gene expression, methylation, chromatin profiles and measurements.
Deep Learning in Health Care:
Figure 17 represents the different application areas in deep learning methods.

The categories of application and examples are represented. The relation between
application category and application example is defined.
Fig. 17 Biological system
Biological systems:
Human biological genomic sequences such as DNA and RNA, and bacterial
and viral multiplication and mutation are used to create a predictive model in
deep learning algorithms. The prediction is in the form of gene identification,
protein interaction, biological data, drug composition reaction profiling, and binding
between DNA and proteins.
Challenges in Medical Devices and Deep Learning:
• Medical data representation and transformation

• Handling biomedical data stream
• Medical big data analysis
• Medical big data hardware requirements
• Guarantee the medical devices to maintain high class product quality
• Confirmation of product safety standards and regulatory standards
• Medical devices localization
• Complexity of computation in deep learning
• Multitasking deep learning
• Medical Internet of things and application
• Semi-supervised learning for biomedical big data
Table 1 Sample data and Deep learning

Sample Data Function
Images of the eye fundus Finding the diabetic retinopathy
Histological section images Recognition of cells
Radiology, CT, MRI images Cancer, heart problems
Speech, movement patterns Detecting depression
Diagnoses, gene data, etc. Selection and dosage of medicines
ECG or EEG signals Heart diseases, brain diseases
Internet searches Detecting epidemics
Laboratory values, environmental factors, etc. Disease prognoses
Patients health records Time-of-death prognosis for intensive care
patients
Sample data and deep learning tasks (Table 1):
Machine learning applications in health care:
• Diagnosis and disease identification:
Disease identification is a major research issue in initial stage. The advantage of

deep learning is to diagnose the disease in initial stages.
• Health records improvement:
Healthcare record maintenance is a major research issue.
• The diabetes prediction:
Diabetes is the common and serious disease that causes illnesses. It mostly
damages the heart, nerves, and kidneys. The classification algorithms such as KNN,
Decision tree, and Naive Bayes are used to predict diabetes. Naive Bayes algorithm
is used to improve the performance in terms of computation time.
• Liver disease prediction:
The liver disease is vulnerable to liver conditions and is similar to hepatitis,

cancer and cirrhosis. Using medical big data and machine learning algorithm, it
is a very toughest research area to predict the liver disease. Liver disorder data set is
available in the Indian liver patient data set.
• Artificial Intelligence for finding the best heal

• Making diagnoses via image analysis
• Personalizing treatment
• Machine Learning in medicine is making great progress

• Adjusting behavior
• Medical research and clinical trial improvement
• Leveraging crowd sourced medical data
• Epidemic control
Artificial Intelligence in Surgery
The significance of Artificial Intelligence in surgery is the decision-making ability,

surgical techniques applications in the surgical procedure, complex surgical proce-
dures, instantaneous complications, and the solutions accessible to patients.
Autonomous Surgical Devices
Human surgery is explained by physical and technical variables used to maintain

consistency in surgery. The factors are used to provide functional outcomes, barrier
rates and survival practice in the Medical field.
Artificial Intelligence in Surgical Robotics
The Artificial Intelligence is transformed from existing surgery by autonomous

involvement for treating both acute and chronic symptoms. By incorporating such
methods, the progress has been achieved in preoperative planning, intraoperative
guidance, and surgical robotics.
There will be a transition from laparoscopic surgery into robotic surgery.
Artificial Intelligence is used to implement the capabilities of surgical robots in
terms of autonomy, identify the problems based on the environment and implement
the exact actions without the need for human intervention.
The use of robotic arms permit the surgeons to perform surgery actions with
advantages such as 3-D imaging, ergonomics for the surgeon, the ability to control
the arm and 7 degrees of articulation, at the minimum cost of haptics and the
inability of the surgeon to be in constant contact with the actual patient. Robotic
surgery is a form of invasive surgery, the combination of mechanics and electronics;
however, this is a generalization of robotic surgical systems because the power of
robotic surgery exists to create to create autonomous actions.
Robots are used for surgery, but it is not fully integrated with Artificial
Intelligence. Recently three-dimensional representation of high quality image with
robotics is popular; enhanced lack of restrictions of movement with articulating
hand tools, vibration elimination, and the option of safe suturing in the thin spaces
as in open surgery are the advantages of robotic surgery.
Artificial Intelligence is used in surgical robotics. The deep learning data is
used to automate the behavior programming. Artificial Intelligence decides the
patterns of surgical procedures and enhances practices and robot accuracies for sub-
millimeter precision. Artificial Intelligence is incorporated with machine vision to
analyze scans.
Artificial Intelligence implemented in robots empowers to take the decisions on
their own. The different types of Artificial Intelligence are as follows.
Weak Artificial Intelligence

This Artificial Intelligence is used to create a simulation of human minds and
interactions. These robots provide predefined commands and responses. But, the
robots cannot understand the commands, but they retrieve the appropriate response
if the suitable command is given.
Strong Artificial Intelligence

This type of Artificial Intelligence is used in robots to perform its task by its own.
It does not need any supervision. Once it is programmed, it will perform the task
correctly. This Artificial Intelligence can be used in humanoid robots that sense the
environment and interact with their surroundings.
Specialized Artificial intelligence

This Artificial Intelligence is used when the robot needs to perform only the
specified special tasks. This Artificial Intelligence is used in Industrial Robots which
can perform tasks like painting and tightening.
Real-Time Examples
The Children National Medical Centre in Washington demonstrated a robot conduct

automated soft tissue surgery. The surgery results are shown to be better than a
human surgeon.
The future of robotic surgery provides improvement in the technology used in
the operating room, with the robots abilities to communicate haptic feedback to
the surgeon. This will help for unparalleled sensation and eliminate unintentional
tissue contact and injury. The user interface will connect to the surgeon and provide
access to the patient, sterile in a procedure, employ head mounted three-dimensional
visualization system, and allow the master manipulation of the robot.
Artificial Intelligence in Robotic Applications
Assembly
It is combined with vision systems, Artificial Intelligence helped with correction,
which is used in sectors in terms of aerospace, etc. Artificial Intelligence is used to
help a robot learn on its own such as which paths are best for certain processes while
it is in operation.
Packaging
Robotic packaging uses the Artificial Intelligence for quicker, minimum cost, and
accurate packaging. Robotic Packaging helps to track the robotic system motions
constantly to refine the Robotic System.
Customer Service
Robots use leverage Artificial Intelligence natural language processing abilities to
interact with customers in a human technique.
Open Source Robotics

The users can teach their robots to do custom responsibilities based on their specific
application.
Deep Learning Algorithm Challenges
• Datasets collection in clinics

• Laboratory data collections
• Maintain confidence score to find the disease
Collar Design: This design consists of a chest, chin support in the front section,
and on the other side occipital, upper back (trapezius muscle) support. The chin,
occipital supports or platforms that form a top (or) movable platform and the chest,
upper back supports that form a base (or) fixed platform are connected by adjustable
belts. The platforms connected by extensible and retractable linear electric actuators
serve as prismatic links around the neck. Based on the finalized dimensions, the
cervical collar is fabricated, as shown in Fig. 3. As the patient is supposed to be
wearing the device for the therapy, the weight of the collar is crucial to be very light
in weight. To address this issue, fiber material is used in fabricating the chin and
chest platforms, and a foam cushion is provided under the platform so that while
wearing the device for a long time, it should not cause any kind of discomfort. This
foam cushion can absorb sweat if produced by the patient. The overall weight of
the cervical collar including the joints and actuators is approximately around 400 g
(Figs. 18 and 19).
The CROM comprises three-fluid dampened inclinometers. These inclinometers
(Doss et al. 2021; Lingampally and Selvakumar 2019) are attached to a lightweight
acrylic frame, where this is shaped to fit the head and is fastened using the hook-
and-loop straps, as shown in Fig. 4a and b.
Conclusion
This chapter addresses the deep learning algorithms used in medical devices. The
commercial medical devices are addressed and drawbacks of existing devices are
also addressed. The significance of deep learning algorithms used in medical devices
is also addressed. This chapter is useful for predicting the diseases like covid-19
using deep learning algorithms for medical covid kits.
Fig. 18 Prototype of collar
CROM
Spherical joint
Top platform
Electric linear actuator

(Prismatic joint)
Revolute joint
Base platform
Inclinometers
Magnet
(a) (b)
Fig. 19 (a) Lateral flexion (left), (b) lateral flexion (Right)
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87–101
Kinematic Modeling and Analysis of
Wheeled In-Pipe Inspection Mobile 38
Robot
Rajendran Sugin Elankavi, D. Dinakaran, R. M. Kuppan Chetty,

M. M. Ramya, and Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996
Kinematics of In-Pipe Inspection Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997
Modeling and Analysis of the Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 999
Modeling: A Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 999
Analysis: A Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001
Comparison of Motion Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008
Abstract
Research on in-pipe inspection robots (IPIRs) are gaining attention over a few
decades as their applications are widening in various fields. Developments
in in-pipe inspection robots (IPIRs) are carried out using various types of
locomotion. Each type has its advantages and limitations. In this research, an in-
pipe inspection robot (IPIR) was designed and developed based on wheeled wall
press–type locomotion. A kinematic form of the robotic system is developed
to determine the robot trajectory and angular velocity. Motion analysis was
carried out to find the motion of the robot when it passes through the elbow
R. S. Elankavi () · D. Dinakaran () · R. M. Kuppan Chetty · M. M. Ramya

Centre for Automation and Robotics (ANRO), School of Mechanical Sciences, Hindustan
Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai, TN, India
e-mail: rs.ser0819@hindustanuniv.ac.in; dinakaran@hindustanuniv.ac.in;
kuppanc@hindustanuniv.ac.in; mmramya@hindustanuniv.ac.in
A. S. Arockia Doss
996 R. S. Elankavi et al.
and straight pipes. The results from a motion analysis are taken from the case
study to compare it with existing research. The findings show that the robot can
be employed for in-pipe inspection.
Keywords
Pipeline inspection robot · Kinematics · Motion analysis · Mobile robot ·

Design issues
Introduction
Pipelines are used for transporting fluids and gases which are checked for efficient
functioning to avoid issues like cracks, corrosion, aging, and mechanical damages.
Humans cannot get inside the pipelines, so robots have become the best way to
inspect. Developments in in-pipe inspection robots have seen a lot of improvement
over the last decades. They are classified based on their motion type. The most
used types include pipeline inspection gauge (PIG) (Zhang et al. 2020; Liu et al.
2020), caterpillar-type motion (Kwon and Yi 2012; Zhao et al. 2020), wheel-type
motion (Hadi et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020), screw-type motion (Ren et al. 2019; Nayak
and Pradhan 2014), inchworm-type motion (Kusunose et al. 2020), wall press–type
motion (Feng et al. 2020; Aras et al. 2020), and walking-type motion (Savin et al.
2018; Zagler and Pfeiffer 2003) as shown in Fig. 1. Each type has its advantages and
limitations based on its motion type (Elankavi et al. 2020). The PIG type can move
through the fluid over a long distance, and the time taken for the process is shorter
compared to other types (Zhang et al. 2020; Liu et al. 2020). The caterpillar type
has a tracked wheel that keeps contact with the pipe surface in all kinds of pipeline
environments and it is best suited for passing through T-branch (Kwon and Yi 2012;
Zhao et al. 2020). The wheel type is simple in the mechanism that has less friction
between the robot and the inside surface of the pipe and therefore has high mobility
(Hadi et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020). The screw-type uses the helical motion to move so
that it reduces the damage caused to the wall of the pipe as it does not drag the robot
(Ren et al. 2019; Nayak and Pradhan 2014). The inchworm type has a high gripping
force compared to others (Kusunose et al. 2020). The wall press type is lighter and
smaller in size and has a large contact area (Feng et al. 2020; Aras et al. 2020). The
walking type has minimum slippage and climbs easily on vertical pipes (Savin et al.
2018; Zagler and Pfeiffer 2003). The wheeled type has high mobility compared to
the other type and it is one of the commonly used types in the in-pipe inspection.
The limitation of the wheeled type is its slippage and compared to all other types
of in-pipe inspection robot, the wheeled-type in-pipe inspection robot has minimum
limitations (Elankavi et al. 2020). The wheeled type is further divided into different
types and among them the hybrid type of locomotion is currently used by many
researchers. This locomotion type combines with the other types of locomotion to
form the hybrid type and this is more efficient in crawling inside vertical pipelines
(Roslin et al. 2012).
38 Kinematic Modeling and Analysis of Wheeled In-Pipe Inspection Mobile Robot 997
Fig. 1 Different in-pipe inspection robots (Elankavi et al. 2020)
In this case study, a wheeled wall press–type in-pipe inspection robot (IPIR)
is designed and a prototype was built to study the motion of the robot inside
the pipeline. It involves the kinematics analysis of the wheeled wall press–type
robot. The derived kinematics equation is used to determine the robot trajectory
and angular velocity of the wheels. It also solves the issue of irregular motion by
locking the rotation of the robot body about the circumferential direction when
wheels are mounted 120◦ (Kwon and Yi 2012; Zhao et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020;
Aras et al. 2020; Zhang and Yan 2007) apart from each other, and this was observed
through motion study. It was found that when wheels are mounted at an angle of
120◦ , 104.88◦ , and 135.12◦ apart from each other, the rotation of the robot body
gets locked in the circumferential direction. The purpose of this pipeline inspection
robot is additionally to eliminate human factors from labor-intensive and dangerous
work, which reduces the number of mishaps that occur because of the lack of routine
scrutiny.
Kinematics of In-Pipe Inspection Robot
To derive the kinematic equation for a straight pipe the kinematic modeling of the
pipeline inspection robot from (Kwon and Yi 2012) is used. The coordinate system
and the parameters used for the designed in-pipe inspection robot are shown in
Fig. 2. X, Y, and Z show the global reference frame while the x, y, and z represent
the local coordinate frame that is present at the center of the robot. The unit vector
for the local coordinate is î, jˆ, and k̂.
The linear velocity at each wheel V1, V2, V3 is of varying magnitude at the
elbows and branches. Thus, the robot linear velocity at the center (Vcz ) along the
z-axis is taken, which is accomplished by fetching the wheels (V1, V2, V3 ) average
linear velocity.
Fig. 2 The motion of the

robot inside the pipeline
r
Vcz = (1 + 2 + 3 ) (1)
3
The three wheels’ angular velocities are defined as 1 , 2 , and 3. The
robot body angular velocity about the x- and y-axis is represented as ωx and ωy.
Assumptions are taken to drive the robot:
(i) The normal force “P” between the pipe wall and the robot wheel will always
point to the axis of the local coordinate frame. That is, P1 will always point to
the x-axis.
(ii) All wheels are in touch with the inner surface of the pipe.
(iii) The body of the robot does not rotate around the local z-axis, but moving along
the z-axis is permitted.
(iv) The robot wheel keeps line contact inside the pipeline.
(v) There is no wheel slippage along the horizontal direction.
(vi) The velocities of the three wheels V1, V2, and V3 are the same.
The linear velocity of all the wheels exists at the same time because the wheels
which are mounted on the legs are connected to the same central hub. So, the linear
velocity of the body is given as:
Vcz = V1 = V2 = V3 (2)
The robot total angular velocity vector is given as:
ω = ωx î + ωy jˆ (3)
where,
0.9 r 0.83 r
ωx = 2 − 3 (4)
1.6 a 1.4 a
and
2r 0.44 r 0.56 r
ωy = − 1 + 2 + 3 (5)
3a 1.6 a 1.4 a
Here, “r” denotes the wheel radius and “a” is the distance from the middle of
the wheel to the middle of the robot. In the end, the kinematic connection amid the
˙ a ) = (1 2 3 )T are
input velocity (u̇) = (ωx ωy Vcz )T and the output velocity (
calculated as,

˙a
u̇ = Gua (6)
where,
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
ωx u 0 0.9 r
1.6 a − 0.83
1.4 a
r
1
u̇ = ⎣ ωy ⎦ , Ga = ⎣ − 3a
2r 0.44 r
1.6 a
0.56 r
1.4 a
⎦ , a
˙ = ⎣ 2 ⎦
r r r
Vcz 3 3 3 3
˙ a ) and output velocity (u̇) are
The kinematic connection amid the input (
calculated as:

˙ a = Gua −1 u̇
(7)
From the above equation, for the given linear velocity (Vcz ) and angular velocity
of the body of the robot ωx and ωy. , the angular velocity of the wheels (1 , 2 , and
3 ) of the robot is obtained by solving Eq. (7) .
Modeling and Analysis of the Robot
Modeling: A Case Study
Young-Sik Kwon et al. (2010) designed a three-wheel drive robot with a mechanical
clutch that can pass through the pipeline with an inner diameter of 100 mm. On
the robot, there are three motorized wheel chains, each with a mechanical clutch.
The mechanical clutch is designed using a parallel linkage system. It steers inside
the pipeline using a differential drive mechanism. The robot’s foldable mechanism
allows it to fit into pipes of many sizes. The robot has two types of modules: one
for motion and the other one for retrieval. If in case the robot faces any issues and it
gets stuck inside the pipeline, the robot can use the retrieval mechanism to loosen up
the contact it provides to always stay in touch with the inner surface of the pipeline.
When it loses contact with the pipeline while using the retrieval mechanism the
robot can be pulled out of the pipeline very easily. Ho Moon Kim et al. (2013)
designed a robot that can pass through 150 mm inner diameter gas pipelines.
The mechanism is made up of a single motor and a multiaxial differential gear
system that presses against the wall. It is made to adapt to varied inner geometries
of pipelines, such as elbows, by mechanically regulating the velocities of active
wheels. They compress wheels individually so that when it passes over obstacles,
the robot always has contact with the pipeline surface.
Junghu Min et al. (2014) designed a wheeled-type pipe inspection robot that
can pass through 300–500 mm diameter pipe with many elbows. The robot has
two modules: an active module and a passive module. Each module features three
alternative wheel configurations, each with its mechanism for expanding the wheels.
In pipelines, the robot only needs one active mechanism to pass through the
pipelines. So, this robot has two modules one active and one passive module. The
active module uses motors and the passive module uses springs for compressing the
legs. M O Tătar et al. (Tătar and Pop 2016) present a robot that can adapt to pipelines
having an inner diameter of 220–380 mm. The three wheels are placed 120 degrees
apart from each based on the central axis. A passive approach employing elastic
components is employed to adapt to the pipe’s internal surface. Wen Zhao et al.
(2021) designed a robot that has four wheels touching the ground and it is used for
inspecting underground facilities. Except for the steering, it looks just like a car. It
has a leader robot and a follower robot. The follower robot follows the leader robot
and the connection is set up wirelessly.
Atsushi Kakogawa et al. (Kakogawa and Ma 2018) developed an articulated
robot made of spherical wheels that can easily adapt to varying diameter pipelines. It
bends its body with the help of a torsion spring and uses its force to make the wheel
touch the inner surface of the pipeline. It uses spherical and omnidirectional wheels
to rotate its body and come out of the pipeline if it gets stuck in a cramped space.
H. Tourajizadeh et al. (2021) designed a robot with a manipulator for repairing
the pipelines. He also designed an impedance control for the robot’s manipulator.
The design comes under wheeled type and combines the wall press mechanism for
effective functioning. Three wheels are used to keep the stability of the robot inside
the pipeline. Elizabeth Islas-García et al. (2021) designed a robot with wheels that
imitates a spider. This robot uses the wheels to apply pressure on the walls of the
pipeline for stability. It is designed in such a way that it can pass through horizontal
and vertical pipelines. The parts of the robot are 3D printed and they use springs
to compress and expand. It uses omnidirectional wheels, so when it meets any kind
of obstacle it can easily rotate about the circumferential direction to overcome the
problem. All robots mentioned comes under the wheel type and to crawl through
vertical pipes they use the wall press–type mechanism which enables them to climb
easily (Kwon et al. 2010; Kim et al. 2013; Min et al. 2014; Tătar and Pop 2016;
Zhao et al. 2021; Kakogawa and Ma 2018; Tourajizadeh et al. 2021; Islas-García
et al. 2021).
The authors of this paper modeled a robot using SolidWorks software to compare
it with the existing work. It is made up of polyvinyl chloride as the central shaft. The
two fixed joints, two prismatic joints, six small links, and six legs were 3D printed
Fig. 3 Solid model of the pipeline inspection robot
using polylactic acid (PLA) filament. Six 100 rpm DC geared motors are used to
send power directly to the wheels. Four stainless steel pipe clamps were used to
lock the fixed joint, prismatic joint, and spring in place. Two springs with a stiffness
of 2.2 N/mm are used to supply the required force to the prismatic joint so that the
wheels touch the internal surface of the pipe which helps the robot to move through
the inclined, curved, varying diameter, horizontal, and vertical pipes. Six straight
wheels are given for forwarding motion as shown in Fig. 3. The three legs at the
front and back give the robot better stability to move inside the pipeline. The wheels
and motors are mounted on the robot legs. Rubber wheels are used to ensure high
friction and traction between the wheels and the internal surface of the pipe.
Analysis: A Case Study
Young-Sik Kwon et al. (2010) used Matlab to study the behavior of the wheeled
mechanism when it passes through the pipeline. It is seen from the simulation that
when the clutch wheels touch the pipeline the active and idle wheel lose contact with
the pipe surface. Thus, the clutch mechanism is verified through simulation. Junghu
Min et al. (2014) simulated his proposed robot and found its angular velocity, linear
velocity, wheel velocity, motor voltage, and motor current. The environment used
for his simulation is that the robot should follow through the sequence of pipelines.
The sequence are as follows: straight (950 mm) – curved (703.63 mm) – straight
(700 mm) – curved (703.63 mm) – straight (700 mm) pipeline. The linear velocity
of 90 mm/s and angular velocity of 0.2 rad/s are used as boundary conditions for
this simulation. It is found that the angular velocity of the robot is constant when it
passes through the straight pipeline and is not the same when it passes through the
curved pipelines. The speed of the wheels followed the same trend as the angular
velocity.
M O Tătar et al. (Tătar and Pop 2016) did a simulation using SolidWorks
software with a pipeline having an inner diameter of 300 mm. The working of the
robot mechanism is also verified along with the simulation. Atsushi Kakogawa et al.
(Kakogawa and Ma 2018) simulated his articulated wheeled-type robot and found
that the spring stiffness along with the wheel’s friction plays a vital role in making
the robot move through vertical pipelines. It is also found that the maximum static
friction force acts on wheel 2 and it shows that wheel 2 should be driven using
a motor. H. Tourajizadeh et al. (2021) did a simulation using Matlab software to
verify the kinematics and dynamics of the robot. The same is verified again using
Adams software. It is seen that the results from both the simulation correlate with
each other. Elizabeth Islas-García et al. (2021) carried out a static analysis to find the
pressure applied by the legs on the pipe wall with the help of springs. The elasticity
constant of the element is found along with the analysis.
The authors of this paper carried out motion analysis using SolidWorks by
making the robot pass through a pipeline having an internal pipe diameter of
300 mm and a 90-degree elbow. The parameters needed for this simulation are the
spring stiffness, gravity, and speed of the motor. In both, the examples discussed
below only wheels 2 and 3 are given power while the other wheels are free. Only
two wheels were selected so that we could find the cause of the irregular motion and
rectify the issue.
Example 1
In the first instance, the wheels were mounted 120 degrees apart from each other as
shown in Fig. 4. The angle of the wheels is taken from the literature (Kwon and Yi
2012; Zhao et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020; Aras et al. 2020).
Case 1: The robot enters the straight pipe and reaches the elbow as shown in
Fig. 4a.
Case 2: The robot enters the elbow and the body tries to rotate about the z-axis.
This is because the three legs of the robot are fixed to the sliding joint. Hence when
pressure is applied to wheels all three legs try to compress at the same angle, thus
one of the wheels is unable to maintain contact with the internal surface of the pipe
as shown in Fig. 4b.
Case 3: The robot fails to pass through the elbow because wheel 2 losses contact
with the internal surface of the pipe as the robot tries to enter the elbow which is
circled in red as shown in Fig. 4c.
The angular velocity of wheel 2 vs time based on magnitude when wheels are
placed at 120 degrees apart from each other is shown in Fig. 5. It shows that the
angular velocity of the robot is constant in the straight pipeline and the red line in
the plot shows the entry of the robot in the elbow and straight pipe. It is seen that
there is no change in the magnitude of angular velocity (wheel 2) because the wheel
losses contact with the internal surface of the pipe and hence the wheel starts to
rotate by itself.
a b
Fig. 4 The motion of the robot inside a pipeline when wheels are mounted 120◦ degrees apart
6 09
Angular Velocity1 (deg/sec)
6 07
STRAIGHT
ELBOW PIPELINE
STRAIGHT
6 04 PIPELINE
6 02
6 00
0.00 0.44 0.89 1.33 1.77 2.21 2.66 3.10 3.54 3.98 4.43
Time (sec)
Fig. 5 Angular velocity of wheel 2 vs time when wheels are placed at 120 degrees apart from
each other
Example 2
In the second instance, the robot wheels are mounted at an angle of 120◦ , 104.88◦ ,
and 135.12◦ apart from each other, as shown in Fig. 6.
Case 1: The robot enters the straight pipe and reaches the elbow as shown in
Fig. 6a.
a b
Fig. 6 The motion of the robot inside a pipeline when the wheels are mounted at an angle of 120◦ ,
104.88◦ , and 135.12◦ apart from each other
Case 2: The robot enters the elbow and maintains contact between the wheel and
the internal surface of the pipe, allowing it to move through the elbow by arresting
the rotational motion of the body about the z-axis as shown in Fig. 6b.
Case 3: The robot exits the elbow and enters the straight pipe without the body
rotating about the z-axis as shown in Fig. 6c.
The angular velocity of wheel 2 vs time based on magnitude when wheels are
placed at an angle of 120◦ , 104.88◦ , and 135.12◦ apart from each other is shown
in Fig. 7. It shows that the angular velocity of the robot is constant in the straight
pipeline and the red line in the plot shows the entry of the robot in the elbow and
straight pipe. The magnitude of angular velocity (wheel 2) increases when it passes
through the elbow and comes back to the constant angular velocity when it again
enters the straight pipeline.
The application of this robot is to pass through straight and elbow pipelines for
inspection without any irregular movement about the circumferential direction of
the pipe which helps us to find the exact location and distance traveled by the robot
inside the pipeline.
6 13
Angular Velocity1 (deg/sec)
ELBOW
6 09
STRAIGHT PIPELINE STRAIGHT

PIPELINE
6 05
6 00
5 96
0.00 0.65 1.30 1.95 2.60 3.25 3.90 4.54 5.19 5.84 6.49
Time (sec)
Fig. 7 Angular velocity of wheel 2 vs time when wheels are placed at an angle of 120◦ , 104.88◦ ,
and 135.12◦ apart from each other
Comparison of Motion Study
The motion study in general is the study of motion. In our case, the motion of the
robot inside the pipeline is studied. Each robot follows different types of motion
based on its design. Some use a four-bar mechanism and others use a telescopic
mechanism. There are other mechanisms applied apart from these and each gives
different results during motion study. So, motion study is important for studying the
behavior of robots inside pipelines.
Young-Sik Kwon et al. (2010) tested the robot by making it pass through
pipelines having six elbows. First, the robot’s driving mode is checked by making
it pass through the pipeline in a given sequence, that is, curved-straight-curved-
straight-curved-straight-curved-straight pipeline. Then the robot retrieval mode is
checked after the robot passes through all pipelines and reaches its destination. This
is done by activation the clutch wheel and pulling the wire that is tied at the back
end of the robot. It is seen that the retrieval of the robot is very much easy when
activating the clutch wheel when compared to the retrieval of the robot using the
active wheel and sometimes, we can’t even retrieve the robot. Thus, the driving and
retrieval model of the robot is verified experimentally.
Ho Moon Kim et al. (2013) verified the performance of the robot by making
it pass through horizontal, vertical, and curved pipes. The curved pipes consist
of both horizontal and vertical curved pipes with a curvature of all curved pipes
being 225 mm. It is seen from this research that each wheel’s velocity differs when
passing through a curved pipeline. The velocity of wheels when passing through the
straight pipeline is constant. Thus, there is a difference seen in theoretical velocity
compared to the actual velocity. Junghu Min et al. (2014) used the same environment
that is used in the simulation. The performance of the robot and the proposed PID
controller is verified experimentally. The robot legs compress individually when it
crosses the curved pipeline and this helps the robot maintain its stability by always
maintaining the central axis of the robot with the central axis of the pipe in a straight
line. When it passes through the straight pipeline the angle at which each leg of the
robot is bent is equal on all three sides. When the robot crosses the curved pipeline
one leg compresses at a different angle to the other because of the curvature of the
curved pipe. This is where the spring and the design of the robot play the main role
in making the robot pass through varying diameter pipelines.
M O Tătar et al. (Tătar and Pop 2016) verified the forward and backward motion
of the robot experimentally. This robot can be deployed on horizontal and vertical
pipes. Wen Zhao et al. (2021) tested the performance of the robot chain control
system (RCCS) based upon the visible light communication (VLC) method. It is
seen that the robot provides inspection with high security and decent quality of
communication. Atsushi Kakogawa et al. (Kakogawa and Ma 2018) tested the robot
by making it pass through a pipeline having branched pipes. When the robot needs
to pass through branched pipes it needs to roll inside the pipeline and change the
direction of the bent body to the direction it needs to turn. Thus, the steering
of the robot is easily achieved using the help of omnidirectional and spherical
wheels. Elizabeth Islas-García et al. (2021) developed a prototype using 3D printing
technology and omnidirectional wheels were attached to each of the motors which
helps the robot to roll inside the pipeline. It is seen that the robot occupies most
of the space inside the pipeline. After observing, it is decided that the robot parts,
motors, and camera size should be reduced.
A case study is done to observe the motion and function of the robot inside
the pipeline and a prototype is developed by the authors of this paper. The robot
when passing through the straight and curved pipeline compresses the legs equally
unlike the robot developed by Junghu Min et al. (2014) where the legs of the robot
compress unequally. This robot leg compresses equally even when passing through
the curve because of its prismatic joint design where all the three legs of the robot are
fixed to a single joint. The simulation result is verified by the motion study and it is
observed that the change in the angle of the mounted wheels allowed it to maintain
contact with the internal surface of the pipe and thus during the experiment, the
body did not rotate around the z-axis. The navigation of robots inside the pipeline is
shown in Fig. 8.
Although various motion studies were conducted on wheeled-type in-pipe
inspection robot. The study done by Junghu Min et al. (2014) is very similar to
the case study done here. The comparison between the two motion studies is given
below:
(vii) In our motion study, the robot passes through one curved pipe and in the study
conducted by Junghu Min et al. (2014) the robot passes through two curved
pipes and three straight pipes.
(viii) The angular velocity at the elbow with respect to the x-axis increases (Min
et al. 2014).
(ix) The linear velocity of the robot took about 18 s to catch up to the reference
linear velocity (Min et al. 2014).
(x) The velocity of each wheels changes when it passes the elbow and remains
constant when passing through a straight pipeline (Min et al. 2014).
(xi) The results of motor current and motor voltage were considered in their study
(Min et al. 2014) and in our case study, it is not considered.
Fig. 8 Navigation of robots inside pipeline (Min et al. 2014)
(xii) The legs of the robot compress individually (Min et al. 2014) unlike the robot
done for the case study.
(xiii) The robot (Min et al. 2014) has a PID controller and the case study robot does
not have one.
(xiv) The legs of the robot (Min et al. 2014) compress up to 200 mm and the robot
in the case study can compress up to 100 mm.
Conclusion
Various wheeled wall-pressed-type in-pipe inspection robots were designed, devel-

oped, and researched during the past decade. In this chapter, a case study is done to
study their ability to accommodate pipelines of varying diameters using different
mechanisms. The kinematics for the wheeled wall-pressed-type robot is studied
from previous literature and derived, which for a given linear velocity (Vcz ) and
angular velocity of the body of the robot ωx and ωy. the angular velocity of the
wheels (1, 2, and 3 ) of the robot is obtained. A case study is done by designing
a wheeled wall-pressed-type in-pipe inspection robot that can compress and expand
its leg up to 100 mm. That solid model of the robot is developed using SolidWorks
and motion analysis is done. That when the wheels are placed 120 degrees apart the
robot body tends to rotate at the elbow and this is rectified by changing the angles in
which the wheels are mounted. The design is finalized and a prototype is developed
to observe the behavior of the robot inside the elbow and straight pipelines. It is
observed that the robot locks the rotating motion of the body at the elbow caused
when the wheels are placed 120 degrees apart. The steps used by researchers is
studied and applied in the case study. The results from the case study correlated
with the results from the motion study done by other researchers.
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Part III
Industry 4.0: Applications
Cloud Hadoop for Enterprise Collaboration
System 39
Hsiao Kang Lin and Tzu-Jou Liao
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014
Hadoop for the Syntax and Semantics Cloud Data Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1015
Extract Data from the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016
Load the Extracted Data into the HBase Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016
Transform/Off-Load Data Using Hadoop Hive’s Schema-on-Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1018
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1021
Abstract
Today, a vigorous growth in the creation of digital data communications in syn-

ergistic operating networks. Enterprise collaboration systems face the challenges
of extracting, processing, and analyzing data from multiple cloud services. Dis-
tributed cloud data storage and retrieval via the predefined schema of structured
databases has become increasingly inefficient with the advent of Big Data (varies
in representation from structured to semi-structured and unstructured formats).
The Hadoop Ecosystem System is being adopted to reduce the complexity of
moving data to and from the cloud computing service. In the Hadoop approach,
the solution supports Hadoop Database (HBase) external tables, thereby enabling
users to access data residing on the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS).
In addition, the agile code-free creation of Hadoop Extract-Load-Transform
(ELT) data process to begin analyzing data in minutes, not days or weeks. A
case study is conducted to illustrate that the Hadoop ELT approach for the
H. K. Lin () · T.-J. Liao

Department of Industrial Management, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
e-mail: hklin@isu.edu.tw
1014 H. K. Lin and T.-J. Liao
syntax and semantics cloud data integration and support the provision of flexible
interoperation of global enterprise collaboration systems.
Keywords
Enterprise Collaboration System · Extract-Load-Transform (ELT) · Hadoop

Database(HBase) · Hadoop Hive
Introduction
Enterprise collaboration systems have undergone accelerated changes, driven by

the emerging hyperconnected operating systems that are increasingly relying on
semantic knowledge services (Popplewell et al. 2008; Choudhary et al. 2019).
The EU projects, in particular (FLEXINET: Intelligent Systems Configuration
Services for Flexible Dynamic Global Production Networks 2013–2016), provide
the software services for supporting enterprise collaboration. They apply advanced
solution techniques to the provision of flexible interoperable networks of enterprise
systems. For example, a reference ontology for Product-Service-Production and
Business Models for Production Network of FLEXINET (Palmer et al. 2017, 2018)
integrates different views to a common unified vocabulary and provision of flexible
interoperable networks of global production systems. However, the participating
enterprises within the Virtual Organizations (VOs) need to transform or map
their origin database schema into the common schema/reference ontology/unified
vocabulary to facilitate syntax and semantic data interoperability.
The Hadoop Ecosystem has been adopted for the syntax and semantics cloud
data integration (Nkenyereye and Jang 2017; Schmatz et al. 2018; Zhu and Xu
2020). It is an open source distributed software platform and consists of various
components. There are two primary components at the core of Apache Hadoop
for storing and processing data – the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS)
and the MapReduce/Spark parallel processing framework, and related projects such
as HBase, Pig, Sqoop, and Hive in a simpler, more scalable, and cost-efficient
environment. The Hadoop also provides an alternative approach in which data is
“Extracted” from the web sources, “Loaded” into the HBase database,” and then
“Transformed” and integrated into the desired format in Hive (ELT).
This chapter proposes a novel ELT approach in the form of a set of the
Hadoop tools for information integration across a global enterprise collaboration
system, without the need for mapping into the common/mediated model. A study
was conducted to illustrate that the Hadoop could be adopted across the global
production network of notebook and PCs.
39 Cloud Hadoop for Enterprise Collaboration System 1015
Hadoop for the Syntax and Semantics Cloud Data Integration
Lin and Harding (2007) and Lin et al. (2012) observed that VOs project team
members in different parts of the world each worked using their own preferred
terminology. However, when people are brought together from different groups
or companies, two common types of problem can occur in communications that
share and exchange information. Firstly, that the same term is being applied to
different concepts (semantic problem), and secondly, that different terms may
be used to denote the same entity (syntax problem). In this chapter, we built
a test case involving development of a cloud-based infrastructure for creating,
operating, evolution, and eventually dissolving of flexible interoperable within
global notebook and PCs enterprises. Figure 1, for example, shows that the column
heading “ID” used by Enterprise A has the same meaning as “LineItem” used
by Enterprise B: These two different identifiers exist within different models, but
mean the same thing. For the Common Ontology Model they propose the single
term “Component_ID” that is stored on pre-agreed schema within the collaborative
VOs, while simultaneously sharing information through the transforming/mapping
mechanisms of the common ontology model.
The operation of the Hadoop ELT process is now demonstrated through the
example of new VO projects/new collaborative production in a manufacturing
Fig. 1 Predefined schema transformed into the common ontology model for data integration
resource e-planning task, using Microsoft Azure HDInsight Service. It is a cloud

PaaS (platform as a service) that deploys and provisions Hadoop clusters for the
HDFS/MapReduce/Spark software framework and related projects such as HBase,
Pig, Sqoop, and Hive. Three main steps of the Hadoop ELT process are: extract data
from the web, load the extracted data into the HBase tables, and transform/off-load
data by Hadoop Hive’s schema-on-read.
Extract Data from the Web
The growing popularity of enterprise collaboration systems on the World Wide Web
has resulted in a huge amount of information sources via the Internet. It is necessary
to analyze this big volume of data and extract useful information from the web.
Chang et al. (2006) pointed out that the Internet presents large amounts of poten-
tially useful information, and it is usually heterogeneous and lacking in structure. To
automate the translation of input pages into structured data, considerable effort has
been directed toward the area of information extraction (IE). IE produces structured
data ready for post-processing, which is crucial to many applications of searching
and web mining tools. Moreover, various approaches (Ferrara et al. 2014) have been
proposed to efficiently collect the data with limited human effort. Recently, several
tools have been developed that allow for Web Data Extraction (WDE) using a simple
point-and-click interface to automatically enable the process of extracting specific
text and images from any website into text files, spreadsheet, or a wide variety of
formats, for example, Mozenda (http://www.mozenda.com) and Microsoft Excel
and Win automation (http://www.winautomation.com).
In this chapter, Microsoft Excel’s get external data feature (choose Data > From
Web) is used to focus on WDE from semi-structured documents. Figure 2 shows a
semi-structured web page containing table data to be extracted into the format of
individual partners, and the extracted data is then loaded into our designed HBase
table – VO Production_Resource (VOPR) HBase table (see Table 1).
Load the Extracted Data into the HBase Tables
It is well known that the key characteristic of HBase is called “no schema –
on-write,” which means such systems do not require to the data schema to be
predefined before loading data into HBase (Hou et al. 2015; Chen and Lee 2017).
HBase may offer a better solution for web data extraction and web mining analysis.
According to features proposed by the application, a VOPR table was created
with multiple Column Families (CFs) – enterprise A and enterprise B, etc. Each
partner has been designed to have his own CF that is physically stored together on
the same HDFSs. Moreover, CF can be incrementally created while new numbers
of partners join the project. In HBase, each CF has one or more non-predefined
Column Qualifiers (CQs). Therefore, the individual project partners can use their
own preferred terminology in the newly created CQs.
Fig. 2 A semi-structured page containing table data to be extracted from web page
For example, enterprise A can load its own model and original terminology into
the VOPR by adding four new CQs: EName, ID, Desc, and Quantity with value
of “Micron,” “A9008XUIQ,” “Micron 1TB SATAIII,” and “116,” respectively.
Similarly, enterprise B can load its original terminology into the VOPR by adding
four new CQs: CName, LineItem, P_Desc and Units with value of “USIO,”
“A9009I2F9,” “9 Micron 500GB PCIe,” and “213,” respectively. Table 1 illustrates
how the individual partners can each load their original model into the HBase table.
Records in HBase are stored in the HDFS as:
RowKey-value pairs (RowKey: value) → (NB SSD: Micron), (NB SSD: A9008XUIQ),
(NB SSD: Micron 1TB SATAIII), (NB SSD: 116), etc.
The HDFS itself is a binary file and is not human-readable. HDInsight Service
uses Azure Blob storage as the big data store for HDFS. In this case, the HDFS file
for the VOPR HBase table store resides in a default file system with Azure storage
account for the cluster looking something like Table 2: vopr.txt.
Table 1 The logical VO Production_Resource (VOPR) HBase table
Table 2 The vopr.txt HDFS file
Transform/Off-Load Data Using Hadoop Hive’s Schema-on-Read
Many traditional data systems use the so-called schema-on-write model where users
need to decide on the schema of their data before loading data into their system. This
model would start out by understanding how the data needed to be used, then design
appropriate schemas, and manipulate the data to fit those schemas. In contrast,
“schema-on-read” models do not need to know how the data will be stored. This
means that “schema-on-read” models can load/write data first and then apply the
structure of a schema to the data “on read.” One of the most-cited advantages of the
Hadoop Ecosystem is that it enables a “schema-on-read” data analysis strategy. As
shown in Table 2, HDFS files allow for the storing all the data without understanding
what the data elements are (No schema has been defined yet). A schema to fit the
data needs is built later (see Fig. 3).
The Apache Hive™ facilitates querying, managing and analysis of large datasets
and provides an SQL-like query language called HiveQL (https://cwiki.apache.org/
confluence/display/Hive/GettingStarted). In addition, the Apache Hive™ enables
users to build a custom schema and directly query self describing data. This
approach enables data to flow into the system in its original form/native format,
Fig. 3 Create voprHive table with new custom schema
and then the schema is parsed at read time, allowing for extreme agility while
dealing with complex evolving data structures. In this chapter, Hive’s schema-on-
read capability is demonstrated to show how data is loaded into HBase tables, stored
in HDFS, and managed in the Hive environment, using the Microsoft Azure cloud
platform. In particular, Azure HDInsight deploys Hadoop clusters, which include
HBase and Hive as well as other technologies under the Hadoop Ecosystem. We
created an HDInsight cluster on Azure and ran HiveQL jobs using the HDInsight
query console. This case study describes the creation of:
Loading Data from HDFS to External Hive Table

The first task is to load data from HDFS to Hive. An external temp_vopr table
is created and loaded with the native format data from vopr.txt HDFS files (see
Table 2) into the temp_vopr Hive table. The completed query is shown in Fig. 3,
which shows the Hive’s command in the HDInsight Hive query console.
Creating a New Internal Hive Table with a New Custom Schema

The second task is to create a new internal Hive table called “voprHive” and add
“Custom Schema” to fit the data in the temp_vopr table. The new “voprHive” table
has four columns, namely, Enterprise Name (EName), (Component_ID), Resource
Description (rDesc), and the currently available volume (Volume), shown in Fig. 3.
Extracting the Data from an External Hive Table and Copying It into
the New Schema in an Internal Hive Table
The third task is to extract the data from temp_vopr and copy it into the new schema
in voprHive table. To do this we build up a multi-line query. The four regexp_extract
calls are to extract the EName, Component_ID, rDesc, and Volume fields from
temp_vopr, as shown in Fig. 4.
As mentioned earlier and shown in Table 2, records in the HDFS are: key-value
pairs (rowkey: value) → (NB SSD: Micron), (NB SSD: A9008XUIQ), (NB SSD:
Micron 1TB SATAIII), (NB SSD: 116), etc. The regexp_extract function in Hive
is used to extract the rowkey-value pair and store the value into the newly created
custom columns. The Hive built-in regexp_extract function:
Fig. 4 Add data into voprHive from temp_vopr
regexp_extract (string subject, string pattern, int index)
It is used to read data and returns the string extracted using the pattern. The
“col_value” key is NB SSD and returns first pattern value: Micron, and then stores
it into the EName field. And then, the “col_value” key is NB SSD and returns second
pattern value: A9008XUIQ, and then stores it into the Component_ID field, etc. (see
Fig. 4).
The final task is to execute the query and look at the new “voprHive” table with
the new custom schema in Hive:
Select EName, Component_ID, rDesc, Volume from temp_vopr,
Once the status shows that the job is completed, click the query name on the
screen to see, the voprHive table with the new custom schema, as shown in Fig. 5.
Conclusion
The Hadoop Ecosystem running in the cloud platform is generating new opportu-
nities and presenting new challenges for businesses across every industry sector.
The challenges of data integration incorporating data from the web and other
unstructured data from multiple sources are the most urgent issues facing the suc-
cessful implementation of enterprise collaboration system. Based on our evaluation,
using the Microsoft Azure cloud platform and Hadoop tools for enterprise ELT
processes to achieve collaborative production in an example of a manufacturing
Fig. 5 The voprHive table with new custom schema
resource e-planning task, the greatest benefits derived are in the areas of improved
performance and functionality.
There is still however a time and cost overhead in this method as individual
partners need to extract the rowkey-value pair and store the value into the newly
created custom columns. Using the current manual methods this can be slow. Hence,
a limitation in the research reported in this chapter is the current manual mapping
process which is very ineffective and may cause major barriers to the large-scale use
in information integration for global supply chain’s network. However, likely future
advances in this area should reduce this overhead. These include features for formal
mapping representation, such as algorithms and heuristics to identify similarities
between the two value, machine learning to value match, and knowledge discovery.
These topics are therefore recommended for future investigation.
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Smart Devices in Healthcare Sector:
Applications 40
Kanika Sharma, Payal Kesharwani, Shiv Kumar Prajapati, Ankit Jain,
Neha Mittal, Rahul Kaushik, and Nishi Mody
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1024
Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1027
Orthopedic Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1027
Wearable Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1029
Smart Inhalers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1029
Pulse Sensor Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1031
Temperature Sensing Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
Application of Smart Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
Smart Sensor for Gastrointestinal Tract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
Smart Sensors for Liver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034
Smart Sensors for Lungs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034
Smart Sensor for Eyes Surgery and Its Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
Smart Sensors for Brain Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1036
Cardiac and Motor Activity Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038
Smart Sensors for Parkinson’s Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1040
Devices in Management of Metabolic Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1042
Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1044
Conclusion and Future Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1045
Important websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046
K. Sharma · P. Kesharwani · S. K. Prajapati · N. Mittal · R. Kaushik

Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational and Technical Education,
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
A. Jain ()
Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
e-mail: ankit.jain@iisc.ac.in
N. Mody
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Hari Singh Gour Central University, Sagar,
Madhya Pradesh, India
1024 K. Sharma et al.
Abstract
Today the world is surrounded by an embedded system to build an easier,

convenient, and effective life. The expansion of the Internet of things (IoT)
and the industrial cyber-physical system established by Industry 4.0 concept has
flourished man’s life to bloom up stage by providing benefits to the healthcare
and biopharmaceutical sector with new research and development. Devices with
smart sensor act as an auxiliary therapy in diversified cases with modern tools
and technology which have refined mankind. With the usage of smart devices,
one can now monitor real-time data and get the accurate biological functioning of
the body. Nowadays, wristband equipped with an accelerometer, optical sensor,
and electrodes is most trending among people equipped for predicting the body
functions by sensing temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, sleep pattern, etc.
This chapter highlights the potential applications of smart devices in sundry
clinical scenarios. This chapter focuses on various smart sensors such as smart
orthopedic devices, smart inhalers, insulin devices, pulse sensors, temperature
sensors, cardiac and motor activity monitors and device sensing mechanisms.
Along with this, the employment of these sensors in the healthcare sector for
different body organs like lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract, brain, and heart has
been discussed. Moreover, various challenges faced by the user, in conjunction
with its future perspective, are emphasized.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Smart sensors · Wearable devices · Robots · Neurodegenerative

disease · Metabolic syndrome
Introduction
The embedded system technology has the world in its grip owing to variegated
benefits along with a range of development and paradigms shift. It utilizes advanced
computing technology at a cost-effective range and a better network which connects
people all around the world (Silvestre-Blanes et al. 2020). The healthcare industry is
one of the fastest growing sectors all over the world which not only provides critical
services to patients but also contributes huge revenue to a country’s economy. The
integration of Internet of things (IoT) into embedded technology equipped with
smart healthcare sensor devices helps the patients to obtain an easy, low cost, fast
treatment with modern facilities. The various IoTs are being now interconnected
to cloud technology to solve the issue faced due to low storage and limited
processing capacity. The cloud technology provides huge storage capacity for data
and its processing and analysis (Amin et al. 2019). The unfolding of various new
sensing systems has stepped its significant footprint over technology ranging from
the industrial society to business, and academics to diagnosis; management and
treatment of various illnesses has been simplified because of the commencement
40 Smart Devices in Healthcare Sector: Applications 1025
Fig. 1 Number of publications relating to smart sensors in the last 5 years
of Industry 4.0 (Silvestre-Blanes et al. 2020). This advancement is evident from the
rising number of publications in the last few years (Fig. 1). This has upgraded human
life by increasing the average life span of a person gifting many more valuable years
to lead life happily.
The healthcare monitoring devices with sensors have enhanced the diagnostic
capabilities of diseases, real-time monitoring during treatment, and generalized
monitoring of patient’s health. The number of people who take advantage of
wearable devices has widely increased from 300 million since 2016 to 1,000
million until 2022. The conventional devices used for diagnosis purposes are
costly, inconvenient for the patients, external expertise is required, daily monitoring
is not possible, the wired system makes it messy, it has network connectivity
issues, etc. (Jin et al. 2017). The smart grid achieved by sensing devices is
increasingly becoming very popular among the people as they possess powerful
sensing capabilities to analyze the real-time performance of a device in detecting
the potential failure (Morales-Velazquez et al. 2017). Such an approach ameliorates
the health monitoring structure together with a data analyzer that possesses the skills
to identify high fidelity and detect damage using hardware and software elements.
The admirable properties such as self-diagnosis, better connectivity, and convenient
to use and carry with accurate and reliable sensing signals have captured the market.
The sensing devices used can be simple sensors (passive infrared sensor), wireless
sensing devices (wrist communicators and motion detectors), and sensors fitted to
camera (machine interpretation of an image). The smart sensing device consists of
an embedded microcontroller, micro-processor, algorithmic analyzer to convert the
signals, proliferation network, and diagnostic software. The sensors fitted in the
devices should be highly flexible and ultra-thin, have lower modulus, be lighter in
weight and stretchable, and consist of electrode and substrate embedded inside. The
electrode is made of hybrid material having carbon nanofibers and nanomaterial-
based multi-dimension (An et al. 2017). The microprocessor filters the multiplexed
signals and helps in driving useful information. The useful signals are passed to a
digital converter and monitored by data acquisition computer. The analyzed data
is stored in a digital signal processor having a memory storage capability. Various
connecting devices of sensor and database system such as Bluetooth, maglev porous
nanogenerator (MPNG) (Jin et al. 2017), and many other wireless sensor networking
protocols help in transmitting data to a mobile or computer database depicting the
IoT. It has the likelihood of obtaining bio-signals from sensor nodes and transferring
it to gateway channels through wireless communication portals. The real-time
information received by a database undergoes real-time processing, visualization,
and diagnosis. This sensing device is used medically in various disorders like
diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, cardiac heart failure, lung and liver diseases, kidney
disorders, etc. The main utilization of this sensing device is its utilization in
diagnosing the dysfunction of a particular organ by analyzing its pattern of response
and helping in early treatment if required. A wearable electronic device can monitor
the patient’s health condition, for instance, heart rate, wrist pulse, motion, blood
pressure, intraocular pressure, concentration of glucose in blood, patient strain,
exhaled gas composition, different ions, and biomolecules that exist in bloodstream,
etc. (Kim et al. 2015). The optical fiber is used for preparation of sensors. These are
light in weight, chemically stable, have multiplexing capability, and are compactly
embedded in a soft structure in a wearable device. Various physical parameters such
as angle, refractive index, temperature, humidity, acceleration, pressure, and oxygen
level can be used for diagnosis. Different materials such as are polylactic acid (PLA)
or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), etc.
can be used along with optical fibers for the D printing technology used in sensors.
Various applications can be employed using optical fiber sensor such as bone
decalcification study, stress distribution, intervertebral disc evaluation, dental splint,
cardiac monitoring, pathogen detection, pressure analysis, and prosthesis socket,
joint angle, and plantar pressure monitoring (Leal-Junior et al. 2019). Figure 2
depicts the applications of sensors helping in the diagnosis of dysfunctions in
various body organs.
This chapter will discuss the tenet of smart sensors in various medical fields.
Various devices and utilization of smart sensors in variegated fields have also been
discussed. The potential applications of smart devices in sundry clinical scenarios
have been discussed. Various smart sensors like smart orthopedic devices, Fitbit
watches, smart inhalers, insulin devices, and cardiac and motor activity monitors
which enhance quality of life of users are discussed in this chapter. Moreover, this
chapter also covers perfected robotic surgeries in variegated fields. Wearable devices
in management of neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders are also emphasized.
Various challenges that are encountered during the usage of sensors by consumers
have been thoroughly debated.
Fig. 2 Application of sensor helping in diagnosis of dysfunctions in various body organs
Devices
Orthopedic Devices
Orthopedic disorders are assessed to be a minimum of 4.4% of total diseases and is

serious detriment to major population worldwide especially the older ones (Barrett
and Liebman 2020). The dysfunction of bone as well as ligaments includes injuries
or musculoskeletal diseases affecting bones, joints, muscles, connective tissues,
tendons, ligaments, and also the nervous system, with a maximum percentage of
patients having osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis. Injuries can be marked by a
bone fracture or a ligament tear known as repetitive strain injury or syndromes such
as cubital tunnel syndrome and lateral/medial epicondylitis. The convention method
used for treating such conditions may be temporal resolution and nonintrusive
giving pain to the sufferer and they are also time consuming. Orthopedic sensors
are employed to monitor the recovery of bone as well as tissue regeneration, the
real-time healing capacity of bone and ligaments, and also to check physical and
chemical conditions of bones (Karipott et al. 2018).
Tribocorrosion is frequently encountered by patients who have a surgically
implanted metal device inside their body. Tribocorrosion is an amalgamation of
mechanical process (wear) and chemical process (corrosion) (Mathew M.T. et al,
Wear 2011). About 2.5 million people in America have implanted with a metal
device, and 10% of them suffer due to implant failure. The implant devices often
release metal ions in body leading to tribological activity in a corrosive internal
environment. The discharge of metal ions is undetected until the threshold of pain
felt by the individual is reached due to adverse tissue reaction. The unsuccess of
implant devices needs an urgent flourish of a fast-reliable technique which monitors
Fig. 3 The two modules shown work together to obtain real-time drilling angle information, to
locate the distal hole in real-time (Choi et al. 2017)
the leakage of the metal ions in orthopedic patient (Pichetsurnthorn et al. 2012). The
sensor aids in metal ion detection and monitors the clinical functioning of the device
(Bolotsky et al. 2019). The orthopedic patient can routinely check their condition at
home. The concept of electrochemical impedance along with open circuit potential
test helps in detecting the changes while dissolving metal ions in phosphate-buffered
saline and bovine calf serum as the reference solution. The eddy current and the
associated magnetic field provide a valid prediction of the concentration of metal
ions (O’Hara et al. 2013). Thus, a smart biosensor is an advantageous tool to identify
the metal ion concentrations in orthopedic patients. The navigation system together
with sensor also helps to give a real-time data of a drilling angle to locate distal hole
in a damaged area through the skin for intramedullary nailing in orthopedic surgery
(Choi et al. 2017). Older radiography in accordance to 2D fluoroscopic image limits
its use as a consequence of the exposure of unwanted radiation for extended time. In
new intervention, the module is involved in handling the integrated laser guidance
guided by nine axes inertial sensor with a Bluetooth connector for targeting the point
of insertion in the skin. This technique minimizes the rotation and dislocation of the
patient’s fractured bone and has a great potential toward orthopedic surgery (Choi
et al. 2017). Figure 3 demonstrates the working of sensor in finding the real-time
drilling angle by locating the distal hole.
Practically, the physician cannot monitor the healing process in a fractured bone.
The sensor devices become a gateway that allows close monitoring of fractured bone
healing process. The optical fibers having strain and shear sensor can measure the
pressure felt at the knee amputee socket and help in relief of pain. Wireless sensors
are also inserted along with implant to examine the real-time chemical and physical
context of bones, tendons, muscles, and nearby tissues to study the disease/injury
to the area. Currently, this technique is under investigation by scientists but can
practically soon be available with the effort (Karipott et al. 2018).
Wearable Devices
Wearable devices are electronics equipped with sensors which can be worn on the
body to collect different kinds of health data by sensing the movement, pulse rate,
heart rate, etc. The different wearable devices are available for their respective
purpose such as wearable sensor robotic device, sensor walker device, plantar
pressure device, accelerometer, pedometer, etc. The wearable robotic device is also
used for gait rehabilitation where the sensor device is fit to lower limb (de Fátima
Domingues et al. 2020). The sensor walker can be classified into four categories:
sensor for upper limb, sensor for kinetic assessment of gait, odometry sensor, and
sensor used for environment testing. The foot plantar pressure is used to detect
the pressure generated due to ulceration in foot caused by increase in sugar level.
An accelerometer is fitted inside a sensor that examines the movement or a heart
rate monitor that measures heartbeat. A pedometer is a trending wearable device
used by many health-conscious people, which counts the number of footsteps,
distance traveled, and speed covered by a person. Its significant effect for managing
neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s Disease and metabolic disorders like
obesity and diabetes may also be obtained (Lu et al. 2020). The wristband sensor
can be used to monitor daily activities of an epileptic patient and help in clinical
assessment required during emergency. Due to less monitoring of body functions,
there always remains a gap between the initiation of symptoms and administration of
pharmacological therapy. This hiatus can be overpowered through a wearable device
as it regularly monitors the various bodily data. The wearable sensor transmits
the change recorded for real-time clinical assessment. This helps in monitoring
intervention response, providing customized care, and recommending medication
(Fig. 4) (Godoi et al. 2019).
Smart Inhalers
Smart inhaler is a sensor-based device for measuring the airflow of inhaled gas and
it controls the drug release. Targeting the drug to the affected area of lungs is always
a tough task in respiratory ailments such as asthma and bronchial inflammation.
Traditional gadgets like pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI), an aerosol
inhaler, are commonly used to deliver medicament to the lungs. The efficiency to
deliver a drug is reduced as turbulent mixing produces a large deposition of particles
near the larynx area, making the drug unable to reach the lungs (Pausley and
Seelecke 2008). To surmount such an issue and for smooth distribution of drug in the
lungs, the development of smart sensor devices is emerging as a muse visible area in
Fig. 4 Working of wearable devices in providing wholesome medical care based on remote
monitoring of clinical manifestations in patients
pharmaceutical digital technology. The sensor-based technology results in accurate

dose delivery to the target site and adherence and also stores data received through
IoT in a mobile or a laptop database. Smart inhaler is a wave of improvement for
respiratory care technology for improving patient convenience and outcomes. The
sensor and microprocessor are equipped in devices for inhalation such as meter-
dosed inhaler, inhalation sensor, smart mist device, MDILog etc. (van der Kamp
et al. 2020).
Metered Dose Inhaler

A metered dose inhaler (MDI) is used to deliver the prescribed drug in diseases
like bronchospastic conditions including asthma. The dosage form like solution,
emulsion, or suspension including active ingredient can be administered along
with propellant through a pressurized canister. The asthma attack which involves
bronchodilation can be life-threatening, if an accurate, adequate, consistent dose
with reproducibility is not delivered at each actuation as indicated on the label.
Therefore, a sensor-based inhaler device holds a promise to support and optimize
self-assessment of asthma by counting the doses delivered by MDI. The MDI
is also introduced with a miniaturized pressure sensor with a microprocessor.
The pressure sensor measures the pulse generated at the transfer channel fitted
in a mouthpiece guiding the discharge of formulation in a metered dose. The
microprocessor keeps the record of the dynamics of pressure pulse along with the
count of doses administered through a digital display or audible signal present in
a device. It also avoids the error generated due to false and missing counts, thus
recording the reliable dose delivery (Rocci Jr et al. 2000).
Inhalation Sensor
The traditional cigarettes or alternative chewing gums and nicotine patches are
having some limitations such as cigarettes produce discomfort (carbon monoxide,
coughing, heat, etc.) through the smoke produced while nicotine chewing gums
and patches may deliver increased amount as they produce sensationless effect
due to inhalation of vaporized nicotine solution which increases the urge of
consumption. The inhalation sensor is now invented to conquer the shortcomings
of traditional use and helps to deliver the required amount of diluted nicotine or
(Tetrahydocannabinol) THC solution to the consumer. The sensor is fitted with
a processor, and a memory storage is in-built in it which keeps the record of
the amount of nicotine solution or THC delivered to the consumer. This helps
to diminish the unwanted consumption of nicotine in a safe and efficient manner
(Spinka and Spinka 2015).
Smart Mist Device

The smart mist device possesses the sensing potential of monitoring the inhalation
pattern and records the inspiratory flow grade and inspiratory firing volume. The
device reasons the actuation mechanism of releasing medication from the inhaler
and its accurate administration in lungs. It also logs down the date and time of
administration in its memory and displays it in small LCD screen, thus helping the
healthcare professional to track the patient deeply and help in the effective therapy
of asthma (Lavorini et al. 2010).
MDILog
It is similar device like the smart mist, which is approved by the FDA and provides
accuracy and reliability in delivering a drug through inhalation technique. The
sensing component fitted to a device is a different form of smart mist. The device
additionally includes an accelerometer and sensor to evaluate temperature and
inhaler actuation. The accelerator and temperature sensor also records the date and
time of inhaler shaking and actual inhalation, respectively. MDILog is a wireless
system that is connected to computer easily, and it also possesses a small LCD
screen and auditory tone output for interface (Penza-Clyve et al. 2004).
Pulse Sensor Device
A pulse sensing element is a simple device that offers idea of functioning condition
of a heart. Heart arrhythmias are monitored by a pulse sensor, which measures the
pulse rate sensing by the flow of blood in veins, and the flow rate gives an idea of
the heart’s working capacity. The basic sensor possesses an amalgamation of three
basic pins, namely, ground, Vcc, and an input signal (which is also known as A0
signal). The pin indicates the heart pace and is present in a breadboard or in the
printed circuit board (PCB) attached to a sensor. When it is attached to an Arduino
or with the ESP8266 Wi-Fi module, the LED is in an active state which works either
in 3v or 5v mode. Asada et al. (2002) introduced a ring sensor device fabricated
to assess heart rate along with blood oxygen saturation concentration which is self-
sufficient for its use. The device is worn in fingers, and a unified tactic used is artifact
reduction in motion which obtains the accurate measurements (Asada et al. 2002).
Yan and Zhang (2008) introduced a gadget that helped to record the arterial oxygen
saturation. The application of this device is in accordance with an optical model
that utilizes photon diffusion analysis. The results obtained prove that the novel
algorithm is more robust and shows better execution comparing with the motion
resistant algorithm distinct saturation transform (DST), hence efficient to use (Yan
and Zhang 2008). The pulse sensor is also used to monitor the heart pulse through
the neck arteries. Arduino nano R3, a microcontroller pulse sensor is fit into the
helmet which detects the sleepy state and causes buzzing vibration in ear.
Temperature Sensing Device
The temperature sensing devices measure the body temperature by utilizing sensors.
The developed technology allows the measurement of temperature from any part
of body. The nasal skin temperature reflects autonomic nerve activity and their
measurements help to estimate diverse human psychological and physiological
conditions. Wei et al. (2019) discussed a smart device that records the body
temperature using the backside of body. A 3D printer is utilized for fabricating the
framework which helps in the execution of different tests and in vivo experiments
(Fig. 5). The error values in these devices were found to be less than 0.1 ◦ C from
25 to 40 ◦ C. Young males (10) were chosen to record their body temperatures
using devices fitted to their back which helped establishing relationship with ear
temperature. To assess the fitting of the device, information about the following
parameters were evaluated: the sum of squares due to error (33.0874), R-square
(0.0212), adjusted R-square (0.0117), and root mean square error (0.3998). The
experimental results showed the difference of mean value of error obtained using
the value of ear temperature and assessed core body temperature which was found
to be ±0.19 ◦ C. The mean bias was also obtained to be 0.05 ± 0.14 ◦ C when the
subjects were in a steady state (Wei et al. 2019). The advance wearable strain sensor
in combination with thermal management is used for monitoring the motion and its
management.
Application of Smart Sensor
Smart Sensor for Gastrointestinal Tract
Carcinoma in digestive tract such as stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum,

colon, rectum, etc. is a complex diagnosis in patients who are around 50 years
of age. Till now no such significant method for carcinoma identification at an
early stage has been introduced and it is detected only when a person shows
Fig. 5 (a) 3D model of the shell organization. (b) In vivo experiment for measuring body
temperature from the back of the body (Wei et al. 2019)
some symptoms. Cancer grows and may become metastasized affecting diverse
organs, which leads to low survival statistic of a person. The sensors help to
measure and analyze the peristalsis movement which helps in diagnosing the
abnormality in a user system. A wireless capsule arrangement embedded with a
sensor analyzes real-time physiological parameters. They capture the image and
communicate to processor which computes abnormal motility by comparing the
images. The traditional system of endoscopy is time-consuming and inconvenient
for the diseased. The capsule system helps in surmounting these disadvantages and
also helps in providing a thorough examination of gastrointestinal tract (GIT). This
gadget is provided with capacitive pH, capacitive pressure, resistive temperature
with frequency and pulse width modulated IC circuit, microcontroller, and receiver
that are implanted in a capsule arrangement. Integrated circuit (IC) helps in the
conversion of physiological signals detected in GIT to electrical signals (Arefin et al.
2017). The flexible piezoelectric device is possibly employed for the study of GIT
motility which measures the mechanical variations and energy and thus serves as a
guide for optimal therapeutic intervention (Dagdeviren et al. 2019). For example, in
an emergency where the upper GIT is turned out to be bleeding and needs immediate
attention and treatment, an intracorporeal bleeding detecting sensor will provide
real-time data and quick identification of acute bleeding at the upper part of GIT. The
sensor that is placed within a capsule and is swallowed through GIT diagnoses the
bleeding in the suspected patient. Telemetric communication helps to detect blood
and tracks its activity inside the body. The sensor possesses a phototransistor which
utilizes the optical property (light intensity) of blood to detect its presence and thus
helps in diagnosing the bleeding in upper GIT on a timely basis. The sensor can
also be used to detect the nonmalignant tissue in human intestine. The refractive
index analogue through sensor helps to identify the tissues in the intestine (Sinha
et al. 2020).
Smart Sensors for Liver
Chronic liver ailment is a global issue that impairs the health as well as quality
of life, identified as cirrhosis leading to ascites, gastroesophageal varices, jaundice,
hepatic encephalopathy (HE) , etc. The dysfunction of the liver leads to augmen-
tation levels of biomolecules (Bale et al. 2018). The smart sensor devices assist in
quick identification of increased traces of biomolecules and enhance the life of a
patient. The HE leads to a progressive increase in ammonia due to dysfunctioning
of liver where it is transformed to urea or uric acid through the urea cycle. The
increased level of ammonia reaches the blood and is exhaled out through the breath
while blood reaches lungs for purification. The high-level of ammonia gas can be
diagnosed by a sensor device equipped with CuBr thin film with high selectivity and
sensitivity when exhaled out. This device tracks the liver’s operating status and helps
to support a healthy life (Ishida et al. 2020). The identification of hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC) at the initial phases is beneficial for patient health. For this to
be achieved, the procedure employed for diagnosis should be efficient enough. The
HCC can be identified by existence of a lone polypeptide chain glycoprotein named
α-fetoprotein. Nano optical sensors could be utilized as a detecting device for liver
carcinoma which can assess alpha-fetoprotein in a serum sample of a liver patient.
The nano binucleated Pt(abi)(bpy) emits a strong spectrum in water at a wavelength
of 380 nm. End of the emission spectrum helps in the analysis of abnormality. The
device provides satisfactory results in valuation of nano binuclear Pt(abi)(bpy) for
the detection of liver carcinoma (Attia et al. 2018).
Smart Sensors for Lungs
Congestive heart failure happens due to weak heart muscles and faulty valves
that fail to pump blood to different organs. Such conditions result in pulmonary
edema where fluid accumulates in the lung’s cavity. The doctors diagnose such
conditions through the breathing pattern analyzed by various sounds produced

during breathing. Magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography scan
are employed in diagnosing such conditions. It is an arduous task visiting hospitals,
and moreover the present equipment is costly and needs expertise to operate.
Therefore, a sensor-based device was introduced which allows the patient to assess
the breathing patterns themselves. It is a sound sensor with a good quality signal
processed by 3D printers (Jain et al. 2018a). The sound signals received with
the help of the sensor are recorded by a voice memo application linked to a
smartphone whose data after analysis by using algorithms can be saved in the
computer for further investigations (Jain et al. 2018b; Wong 2020). The smart sensor
also diagnoses the initial lung condition by observing the body temperature and
fingernail color which helps in quick detection of lung condition and helps in the
immediate treatment if required. The illnesses like pneumonia and tuberculosis can
be diagnosed by using temperature and color sensors designed utilizing the Naïve
Bayes method (Maulana et al. 2020).
The patients suffering from asthma, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD), and sleep apnea need constant surveillance of respiration rate. The
most commonly used method for this purpose is ECG signals, Impulse Radio (IR)
UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) radar systems, etc. But these equipment are costly and
need a string signal production and identification system operated by expertise.
A new signaling sensor-based device is introduced which acquires the signals
wirelessly by an indicator through Bluetooth technology employed in a hybrid-spiral
antenna in a multi-material fiber of a cotton T-shirt. The variation in volume of air in
lungs changes the respiratory pattern which could be identified mechanically by the
antenna’s configuration as the chest changes the dielectric property of the antenna.
Smartphones may be coupled with a Bluetooth device that aids in receiving the
respiratory signals and helps in catching any dysfunction of the lungs. Figure 6
depicts a T-shirt fitted with a sensor device implanted in the fabric (Gorgutsa et al.
2017).
Smart Sensor for Eyes Surgery and Its Management
The unstable intraocular pressure leads to injury of optic nerves causing glaucoma
detected at the later stage leading to blindness. The advancement in technology
has introduced a micro- machine capacitive pressure sensor for assessing the
intraocular pressure. The sensor is operatively planted on various areas of the eyes
like cornea and sclera but the anterior region present in the eyes has additional
advantages. There are various techniques introduced for quantifying the external
pressure in the eyes such as wired sensing technique, inductively coupled telemetry,
and intraocular pressure (IOP) sensor. The intraocular pressure sensor continuously
monitors alteration in pressure in eyes by passive LC resonance technique, where
resonance frequency measured by sensor circuit finds a way to sensor capacitance
which relates to external pressure in eyes (Katuri et al. 2010). Lloyd et al. described
a pressure detecting gadget implanted into the aqueous chamber of the eyes for
Fig. 6 T-shirt fitted with a sensor device implanted in the fabric (Gorgutsa et al. 2017)
measuring IOP. The signal is produced via a device which is attached to a wireless
system. The device acquires, processes, and provisionally stocks the information in
the database which is received through sensor and keeps recorded IOP (Lloyd et al.
2005).
The wave sensor is gaining significant interest and advances in assessing and
checking the aberrations in eyes. It is very useful in surgeries like cataract,
conductive keratoplasty, lasik, and corneal correction. An integrated amalgamation
of a wavefront sensor and microscope allows the doctor to assess the wavefront
of the patient. This device supports and maintains the balance of integrated device
during surgery by repositioning it and assessing the optical property of the eyes. A
soft contact lens smart sensor is another device used for checking the tear glucose.
The sensor comprises a microelectromechanical system where sensor features a film
electrode on the contact lens and in the sensing region of the electrode glucose
oxidase is immobilized. The sensor can be held for 50 days and shows efficient
results (Kudo et al. 2012).
Smart Sensors for Brain Disease
Smart sensors are outstanding diagnostic tools that have uses in diagnosing brain
diseases. By now, several technologies have been introduced like smart sensors,
digital devices, and intelligent applications that assist people of each generation to
monitor their health. An approach for an integrated technological solution would
fix issues faced by elderly patients and would lead to reinventing their quality
of life, health, and safety (Uddin et al. 2018). The sensor is used for different
types of brain disorders like brain tumors, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s
disease, dementia, etc. which develop gradually, and thus, it is arduous to recognize
pathological processes in reference to clinical phenotype alone. In a study, AlZubi
Fig. 7 (a) Wearable device-based information gathering procedure. (b) Parkinson disease diag-
nosis functioning procedure framework. [Reproduced with permission from (AlZubi et al. 2020),
4911870189010]
et al. (2020) discussed the heuristic tube optimized sequence modular neural
network (HTSMNN)-based Parkinson disease recognition process. Herein, a deep
brain stimulation smart IoT sensor gadget is positioned on the patient to collect the
brain features (Fig. 7a and b). The data gained is then processed by HTSMNN. The
method inquired the information constantly and freely to anticipate alteration going
on in the brain. The method identified the alterations in brain functioning swiftly,
lowering the prediction delay and in turn enhancing Parkinson’s disease seriousness
(AlZubi et al. 2020).
EEG is a commonly used device for recording the brain activity and diseases
such as Alzheimer’s, stroke, epilepsy, depression, and brain injuries. But it requires
expert opinion for diagnosis which is time consuming. EEG-based diagnosis
integrated with smart sensor device interconnected with cloud technology helps
in smart diagnosis of any brain activity. EEG sensors help to acquire the signals
and transmit them to cloud server for processing. These multimodal sensors
help in sensing the difference in gesture, movement, EEG, facial expression, and
voice which determines patient health. The signals are transmitted by sensors to
processing machine where a pathological detection is performed and immediate
response is decided. The experts analyze the response and take the immediate
treatment required for the patient (Amin et al. 2019). In older adults, mobility
metrics are obtained from sensor recordings which are related to parkinsonism.
von et al. (2019) inspected the productivity of theses metrics to envisage incident
parkinsonism. The patient fastens the sensor on their back and is allowed to walk
32 foot, standing posture, and Timed Up and Go (TUG) tasks. Six out of 12 sensor-
based measures are related to incident parkinsonism (von et al. 2019). To evaluate
AD-related physiological alterations Saif et al. (2019) reported the feasibility of
wearable biosensor (WHOOP). Forty patients with AD and no or nominal cognitive
grievances were selected and out of them 34 convinced to wear a WHOOP. One
patient lost his device. Twenty-four were grouped as usual cognition and were
asymptomatic, six were grouped as subjective cognitive downward, and other three
were amyloid-positive. Sleep-cycle, heart cardiac rhythm alterations, and activism
measures were gathered via WHOOP. Twenty-seven attendees finished the surveys.
Six months later, 24 attendees were contented with WHOOP, and 23 intended to
continue WHOOP. The outcome showed that physiological data obtained via the
device may reveal itself as a reliable technique to monitor cognitive alterations
associated with preclinical AD (Saif et al. 2019).
Cardiac and Motor Activity Monitor
Almost 17.7 million (31%) deaths have been because of cardiovascular disorders
(CVDs) in 2015, as reported. Therefrom 7.4 million have been a consequence of
coronary heart disease, and almost 7 million because of stroke. Early and quick
diagnosis is important for the successful prognosis of these diseases. Many devices
are in use for monitoring continuous cardiac and motor activity. Some examples
include OLAM chest band, chest and headband, Doppler radar sensor lodged in a
manual wheelchair, EPIC electric field sensors, Smart Helmet, Joule Earing, and
cosinuss◦ (Schmidt 2020).
Oregon State University Life and Activity Monitor (OLAM) is a gadget that
offers the potentiality of combining motion figures with heart-rate records, thereby
permitting assessment of tangible physical activity. It involves the employment of a
heart sensor with a 5-axial inertial valuation section which allows concurrent heart,
respiration, and movement surveillance and does not necessitate direct placement
on skin. It consists of a simple, repeatable, robust capacitive electrode. Amplifier
circuits to buffer the weak signal acquired electrode are housed on the top. In the
center, a snap connector is employed to provide mechanical stability. The plate that
is present at the bottom is a solid copper fill, which in turn represents a parallel
plate capacitor along with the body to harness biopotential signals. However, in
this device, the copper fill is not segregated by the solder mask which enables it
to alternatively work as a dry contact electrode. This sensor permits the gadget to
be fully enveloped inside a cloth material without altering the sensing capabilities.
This gadget is fastened on body with a thin chest band giving it a smooth connection
along with the freedom to stretch the user’s movements (Albright et al. 2011). The
same gadget could also be accustomed as a headband, and would continuously
monitor ECG along with EEG. A cardiac respiratory monitor for patients dependent
on wheelchair was introduced by Postolache and coworkers in 2011. This involved
frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW). Doppler radar sensors incorpo-
rated in a wheelchair are employed for the assessment of cardiac, respiratory, and
physical activity of the user. Another radar sensor used to assess motor action via
distance travelled by wheelchair, while the user carries out the manual workings
of wheelchair. The conditioning circuit comprises of active filters together with a
microcontroller supported primary processing component that is configured and put
into practice to convey the information through Bluetooth transmission procedure to
an Android OS tablet computer. Signal treating of Doppler radar assessment channel
signals, graphical user link, data storage, and Wi-Fi data coordination with remote
physiological and physical activity database are the major abilities of the computer
program which is created utilizing Android SDK and Java (Postolache et al. 2011).
EPIC (electric potential integrated circuit ) electric sensors are demonstrated to
be helpful in detecting of physio-behavioral parameters in rodents (Noble et al.
2017). These gadgets provide a cost-effective, noncontact detection by placing the
sensor outside the rodent cages. Plessey semiconductors are an order of ultra-high
resistance and dry-contact capacitive coupling electric field sensors. These high
sensitivity sensors are advertised as capable of use for contact or noncontact-based
identification of proximity to the sensor, movement or specific gestures, and ECG
activity in humans. Each EPIC Plessey PS25251 sensor is 1 cm2 in size with four
pins: Vdd (the positive power supply = +5V), Vss (the negative power supply =
– 5V), Gnd (ground), and output.
Smart Helmet is a helmet that has to be fastened on the head and is incorporated
with sensors that record/monitor EEG (Von Rosenberg et al. 2016). It also consti-
tutes a belt that is supposed to be fastened on the chest which helps in recording
ECG. The sensor for recording ECG is the comparable dry contact electrode.
Similarly, Joule Earing is the device that records cardiac pulse, calorie loss, and
activity level. This has to be employed as a piece of jewelry – earring. However, the
drawback that might be faced is that some people probably do not find it comfortable
wearing as an earring (Joule Earring Backings 2020).
Smart Sensors for Parkinson’s Diseases
Millions of neuronal deaths in particular portions of brain cause Parkinson’s disease.

Symptoms include memory loss, forgetfulness, apathy, anxiety, agitation, akathisia,
mood changes, and other symptoms. Consequently, pharmacological therapy merely
provides symptomatic relief and fails to prevent the advancement of the disease.
Therapeutic supervision of cases has always remained a difficult task majorly
due to dearth of instruments to properly measure therapeutic responses of the
pharmacological intervention and also because of the insufficiency of data of motor
responses displayed by the individual in their daily routine. Patients are often asked
to keep a diary/journal of their motor symptoms when in-home, and this, however, is
often tiring, not accurate, and the patient tends to forget to note down the symptoms
(Ossig et al. 2016). To overcome this issue, implementation of these devices has
been introduced. Various wearable devices like the Ambulsono sensor system,
MercuryLive, Wearable multi-sensor motor unit, finger-based sensor system, and
eGaIT are employed in the control of PD (Bhidayasiri et al. 2014). Supervision
of specific symptoms by various devices is discussed in Table 1. These sensors
most commonly utilize either accelerometer, gyroscope, or both. Gyroscopes are
somewhat advantageous over accelerometer when it comes to measuring rotational
motion because its reading is not affected by gravity, and therefore an amalgamation
is used (Wong et al. 2007). Wearable engineering has offered a way to diagnose
the disposition and intensity of motor and cognitive deterioration, which acts as
assistive devices for surmounting these impairments that produce hindrance in
bodily activities and enhances the capabilities of exercise by keeping a track of
training progression, the optimized exercise “dosing,” and by consolidation of
exercise with varied mental and mood regulation such as through motivational music
stimulation (Jain et al. 2019).
The Ambulsono sensor system (Chomiak et al. 2015) is the engineering that is
harnessed in assessing various parameters in PD patients. Ambulsono is used on the
wrist, thigh, and knee. This system utilizes Apple Operating System (iOS) and runs
off on Gait Reminder App that produces auditory instructions and records step size
using iOS gyro and accelerometer. This device is specifically utilized in the 6-minute
walking test (6MWKT) wherein the patients are instructed to walk for 6 minutes
in a marked space. Although this test has high acceptance, the outcome, without
using this wearable device, was affected by various parameters, not to mention the
time consumed in performing the test. The employment of the Ambulsono sensor
has helped in standardizing and automating this 6MWKT. The same sensor-based
device is involved in another diagnostic test in PD sufferers, namely, the stepping
dual-task test. In this test, the individual is asked to step in place while performing
another cognitive activity. Height of step is the outcome measure. Ambulsono
sensors placed in the ears dispense the instructions for the cognitive activity, whereas
the second sensor which is fastened on the knees records height of steps. Another
sensor used is called MercuryLive. Longitudinal tracking of motor manifestations
in a private setting, which earlier was not possible, can now be done easily by using
of MercuryLive. This system works at 3 ranks – a sensor established information
Table 1 Smart devices used based on symptoms of PD

Symptoms Devices
Tremor Wearable accelerometers/gyrostats, DigiTrac (Doudet et al.
2004), ActiTrac (Ruiz and Bernardos 2008),SomnoMedics
GmbH, Randersacker (Ossig et al. 2016)
MercuryLive (Patel et al. 2011), Wearable multi-sensor motor
unit (WMSMU) (Tzallas et al. 2014), a finger-based sensor
(Bhidayasiri et al. 2014)
Several applications are present for iOS and Android mobile
phones, in accordance to accelerometry, and some apps are
however not regulated and are therefore not approved.
Bradykinesia The same accelerometer/gyrostat sensors are employed in
monitoring/assessing Gait. eGAIT, GmbH, Erlangen,
Germany (Klucken et al. 2013), MercuryLive (Patel et al.
2011), Wearable multi-sensor motor unit (WMSMU) (Tzallas
et al. 2014)
Gait eGAIT, Astrum IT GmbH, Erlangen, Germany (Klucken et al.
2013), Ambulsono sensor system (Chomiak et al. 2015)
Dyskinesia Watch type accelerometers, like PKG, Global Kinetics
Corporation(Griffiths et al. 2012)
Motor function The accelerometer fastened to variegated body parts (Patel
et al. 2011)
Watch-like accelerometers, for example, PKG (Griffiths et al.
2012), a finger-based sensor (Bhidayasiri et al. 2014)
assembling system, an Internet gateway for live streaming and storage of data, and a
user interface for two-way connection among the user and doctor. Another research
involved similar model. A wearable multi-sensor motor unit (WMSMU) is usually
physically fastened on body to monitor daily motor activity. It comprises of four
triaxial accelerometers for every extremity along with one accelerometer/gyroscope
to be fastened on waistline, which would record body movement acceleration along
with angular velocity while turning. All this recorded signal would be received by
a Parkinson Daily Data Set Logger (data acquisition unit), which may therefore be
shared with clinical organization for the betterment of pharmacotherapy (Tzallas
et al. 2014).
Finger-based sensor used by Bhidayasiri et al. (2014) involved a sensor section
attached to a thin wire onto a transmitter which has to be fastened on the wrist.
This sensor is utilized in detection of tremors suffered by PD patients. The sensor
involves the use of a 3-axis accelerometer that can evaluate acceleration in three
translational planes and a 3-axis gyroscope for measuring three angular oscillations
about axes in these planes. For this reason, the whole unit has the capability of
capturing motion with 6 points of freedom. Both sensors are automated to collect
information at the gap of 4 milliseconds and deliver 10-bit resolution digital output
for the accelerometer and 16-bit for the gyroscope, transmitting data wirelessly as
far as 10 meters to a data processor in real-time exploiting a 2.4 GHz Bluetooth
TM radio, or saving the information in a microSD card. This information is then
accessed by the physician to modulate the pharmacotherapy as per starting of the

symptoms (Bhidayasiri et al. 2014).
Embedded gait analysis using intelligent technology (eGaIT) is the sensor-based
wearable device that has been employed to review motor-related gait impairment as
per the Hoehn&Yahr (H&Y) staging. It is identified by shuffling gait, decreased
length of step, inflicted gait commencement, and reduction in gait speed. This
gadget is not directly fastened to the user’s body but on their shoes. It employs
harnessing the similar accelerometer and gyroscope for assessment of sensor signal
with a Bluetooth device for transmittance of data (Klucken et al. 2013). Although
the employment of smart gadgets has been quickly adopted in clinical setting, the
acceptability of physicians or the primary healthcare givers is substantially more as
observed with PD patients.
Devices in Management of Metabolic Disorder
A metabolic disorder is an involved condition noted by insulin resistance, obesity,

dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia. It is classified among the risk
elements for other conditions like cardiovascular disorders, noninsulin-dependent
diabetes mellitus, stroke, chronic kidney disease, and cancers. Managing glucose
levels is very important in preventing many micro- and macrovascular diseases
like cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, and retinopathy along with the slow
recovery of the wound. The crucial endeavor of continuous supervision of patients
specifically those patients who are at higher exposure of being afflicted with
metabolic syndrome, also gathering real-time information and indication from
patients and other individuals, and preventive education to manage the disease,
is still hard and expensive to tackle specifically with the traditional technologies
(Moradi et al. 2018). Earlier, the method for checking the concentration of glucose in
blood was by usually utilizing a needle to prick the finger, which is generally known
as lancet, to capture capillary blood in glucose meter, this method however provided
accurate results but users were often reluctant by virtue of pain experienced, disposal
of the lancet, unable to detect sudden dip or spike of glucose amount and blood
wastage (Gao et al. 2018). Nonetheless, this traditional method was unable to deliver
uninterrupted glucose level supervision.
Advancement in the scope of engineering along with the inception of Internet
of Things (IoT) paved the way for better management of diabetic blood glucose
levels. These advanced sensors are employed as a continuous glucose monitoring
system (CGMS). Variegated gadgets are obtainable for the supervision of metabolic
disorders, ranging from simple sensor devices to collaborative technologies that
promise comprehensive stewardship of metabolic disorders. Devices like GlucoW-
atch, Wearable Graphene-Gold Sweat Patch, Metabolic Syndrome Control and
caring system (MetaSyCar), SugarBEAT® (SugarBEAT, Daily Non-Invasive CGM
2020), 3-μ W CMOS Glucose Sensor, glucose detecting contact lense, optical smart
sensors, automated microneedle drug delivery system, and fluorescent polymeric
nanosensors/smart tattoos, etc. are used (Jain et al. 2013a, b; Jain and Jain 2015;
Jain and Jain 2016; Jain and Jain 2018; Moradi et al. 2018; Prajapati et al.
2019). Lee et al. (2016) amalgamated gold mesh with graphene to enhance its
electrochemical sensitivity and used it as a wearable sweat patch to monitor sweat-
based diabetes. This device shows stretchable property and consists of serpentine
dual layer of gold mesh and graphene that gives a competent electrochemical link
for firm transmittance of electrical signal. The patch perspiration check part, sensing
part, and therapeutic part are employed for delivering drugs transcutaneously. By
thermally activating this patch, we can deliver metformin in animals suffering from
diabetes (to lower glucose concentration in blood) (Lee et al. 2016).
The electrochemical glucose sensor uses amperometric sensors that are linked
with an electrochemical enzymatic approach to constantly quantify the amount of
glucose which is present in interstitial fluid of subcutaneous tissue. Oxidation of
glucose, which is done through glucose oxidase, quantifies the creation of electrons;
the amount of current generated commensurate to the concentration of glucose
present in interstitial fluid. These systems are in reference with the volume of
glucose in ISF and relate to the abundance of glucose present in plasma. In this
arrangement, a very thin needle is introduced in the cellular tissue of the abdomen
to quantify the measure of glucose in ISF or via employment of an external sensor.
The signal that is generated is gathered and treated in an extraneous screen (Torres
et al. 2010). There are many devices that are supposed to be introduced in the body,
whereas GlucoDay® has a sensor that can be positioned extraneously.
Generally, these devices consist of:
(a) A glucose sensor, which is used for diagnosis purpose

(b) An insulin delivery system
(c) A feedback mechanism that bridges between glucose detection and medication
delivery units
Figure 8 depicts the various components of an archetype microneedle-supported

device for the supervision of diabetes, and it is important as it decreases the chances
of hypo- or hyperglycemia in patients suffering from diabetes. In this system,
glucose concentration is monitored at frequent intermissions by glucose sensor and
also the required dose of insulin is injected through an augmented pump (Khanna
et al. 2008).
The measure of glucose present can be sensed topically via the skin through
electro-osmotic flow (reverse iontophoresis), by applying a low degree of electrical
current. This process of iontophoretic extraction has been amalgamated within a
gadget that involves in situ glucose sensor called GlucoWatch (Potts et al. 2002).
The sensing electrode is working in a layer of Pt/C ink, while the sensor and
electrodes are composed of Ag and Ag/AgCl coating. The counter electrode also
serves as the iontophoretic one. The hydrogel discs placed over each sensor are in
connection with the skin and serve as the smart sensor electrolyte and also as the
repositories wherein glucose is gathered. The biosensor chemistry utilizes direct
detection of H2 O2 produced by the reaction of glucose with glucose oxidase (Potts
et al. 2002). It also needs calibration via a single fingerstick test. SugarBEAT® ,
Fig. 8 Elements of a prototypical microneedle-based diabetes therapy system
(https://sugarbeat.com/) like other devices, utilizes the reverse iontophoresis process

for gaining glucose from interstitial fluid. It has an adhesive patch sort of design
which gives the potentiality of daily disposal. Liao et al. (2011) introduced a
noninvasive wireless sensor manifesto for continuous health monitoring. This device
unifies a loop antenna, wireless sensor link, with a glucose sensor. This device has
a reach of 0.18 μ A mm–2 mM. The arrangement consumes current of 3 μW from
1.2 V supply as well as quantifies scope of 0.05–1 mM. The patent has been granted
to Google for a similar, disposable noninvasive sensor-based contact lens that can
discern bioanalytes present in tears (Liao et al. 2011).
The system consists of:
(i) Contact lens, which will function as a measurement unit

(ii) Reader tool, which will transmit the power to the contact lens
(iii) A display device that would transmit the data
This patent explicitly discusses the probability of spectacles, jewelry, or clothing

operating as the reader. The principle requisite is that gadget must be sufficiently
close to either of the lenses, thereby guaranteeing transmission to the reader.
Likewise, mobile phones or computers can function as a display tool.
Challenges
Various psychometric parameters of assessments are crucial in clinical scenarios

of smart sensor estimation, comprising of precision and robustness, dependability
and uniformity, clinical utilization, sensitization to alterations, quality of being
generalizable, and economically feasibility. Several challenges are faced while using
sensors. Calibration and validation is an issue that is frequently encountered. To

calibrate the instrument, there occurs a requirement for the skilled individuals that
should be fulfilled at each occurrence, as a non-calibrated instrument might give
wrong readings. For instance, the problem with the majority of systems that measure
glucose is that they require frequent calibration utilizing traditional method of
finger pricking/capillary testing. Because of this, these sensor-based technologies
act as only supplementary facilities along with capillary quantification of glycemia.
Another challenge that is observed is commercial prices of the device. Some devices
may weigh a higher monetary burden on individual patients. However, in clinical
organizations or alternatively in a collaborative healthcare activity this cost might
be distributed. Nonetheless, these costs would be still lesser on comparing with the
amount the patient would have to spend for the hospital visit, getting himself tested
with traditional and heavy machinery.
Sensors with adhesive electrodes are irritating and uncomfortable to be home
used, ultimately causing low compliance. To assess the cardiac health-related
problems, variegated clinical practices like nuclear myocardial perfusion scan
Echocardiogram (Echo), Electrocardiogram (ECG), computerized tomography scan
(CT), etc are present. However, most clinical practices are either highly expensive
and require special devices are not practicable to be designed using body sensors.
ECG can be detected through body sensors; however, it can only detect the cardiac
electrical activities, which offer little knowledge on various cardiac mechanical
operations like the activity of heart valves, blood circulation into ventricles, and
suppression-relaxation of ventricle walls, etc. Sensors for specifically monitoring
cardiac activity consist of capacitive type noncontact electrodes. Several issues
are encountered in the engineering of these sensors, for instance, the capacitive
electrode shows very high circuit noise floor, it shows much greater sensitivity to
50/ 60Hz line noise, and even slight amounts of motion/friction saturates the signal
(Koydemir and Ozcan 2018). It has been recorded that information gathered by most
wearable devices that are available for commercial use does not fit the performance
scrutiny because of deficiency in dependability and hence their employment are
circumscribed to the introductory detection techniques like surveilling heart rate as
well as blood pressure. Due to insufficiency of acquiring location-specific informa-
tion limited accuracy is observed in wearable devices. Additionally, some sensors
that deliver unrefined data become too complicated to elucidate. Wearable devices
are either supposed to be fastened on wrists or chest functions by utilizing motion
detectors but it depends upon the users’ capability and willingness to wear them.
Conclusion and Future Perspectives
The advent of Industry 4.0 and progressions in the field of IoT has ignited the
ambits of medical fields to a new level. These gadgets offer fine possibilities
in diagnosis, management, and therapy of variegated diseases and conditions by
providing continuous monitoring and real-time data. There are various marketing
tools that are accessible in the stores for commercial use and some are yet in
the labs perfecting upon the designs. Studies that will be planned in future need
to focus on larger sample sizes, different smart sensor devices, and more robust
analytical methods to expand upon these preliminary findings and can assist in
explaining the competencies of the wearable biometric device. Therefore, it is
warranted from future studies to work on sensor positions and angle adjustments
to improve lightness and accuracy. Utilization of infrared thermography for risk
assessment while comparing experiments will be necessary for the employment of
the structure that does not impede the view.
Important websites
• Joule Earring Backings. (2020). http://shopjoule.com/. Accessed 23-09-2020

2020
• https://www.abilifymycite.com/about
• https://www.cognitionkit.com/
• https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/products/sensors/healthcare-sensor-ics.
html
• https://www.peerbridgehealth.com/
• https://www.prescouter.com/2019/12/future-healthcare-smart-sensors-digital-
biomarkers/
• https://www.apple.com/healthcare/apple-watch/
• https://www.wipro.com/en-IN/business-process/what-can-iot-do-for-healthcare-/
Acknowledgment Dr. AJ gratefully acknowledges the financial support as C.V. Raman postdoc-
toral fellowship under the Institution of Eminence (IoE) scheme at the Indian Institute of Science,
Bengaluru (Karnataka), India.
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Oil and Gas Upstream Sector: The Use
of IEC-61499 and OPC 41
Carlos A. Garcia, Gustavo Caiza, and Marcelo V. Garcia
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1052
Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056
Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056
Results from Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1057
State of Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059
OPC-UA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059
IEC 61499 standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1064
OPC-UA And IEC 61499 SIFBs for Integration of Communications within
Industry 4.0 Architectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067
Set of SIFBs for OPC-UA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067
Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075
Conclusions and Ongoing Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1078
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1079
Abstract
Oil production is currently decreasing, prices maintain their downward trend and
extraction and operating costs have not changed as production has decreased,
consequently, it is relevant to carry out initiatives aiming to reduce expenses
C. A. Garcia
Universidad Tecnica de Ambato, UTA, Ambato, Ecuador
e-mail: ca.garcia@uta.edu.ec
G. Caiza
Universidad Politecnica Salesiana, UPS, Quito, Ecuador
e-mail: gcaiza@ups.edu.ec
M. V. Garcia ()
University of Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain
e-mail: mgarcia294@ehu.eus
1052 C. A. Garcia et al.
in the upstream sector of the oil & gas industry. This is the reason why oil
production and exploration companies worldwide are immersed in what the
4th industrial revolution has called digital transformation as a step towards the
increase of efficiency in processes. Taking this definition into account, it can
be inferred that the digital transformation of this industrial sector is closely
related to what is called Industry 4.0, which will allow the oil industry to have
flexible architectures to process different types of raw oil, low automation cost
and optimization of resources generating benefits both at the process, product
and business model level. The aim of this chapter is to show an implementation
of Industry 4.0 architecture in the oil & gas industry using the standard OPC-
UA and IEC-61499 in order to integrate distributed information from wells and
transmit in a secure way.
Keywords
OPC-UA · Industry 4.0 · IEC-61499 · Industry communication
Introduction
The oil and gas industry are currently energy sources that are used worldwide,
according to studies it is estimated that the world demand for oil will remain present
during the next 20 years, despite the initiatives to use renewable energy as shows in
Wanasinghe et al. (2020a, b). The high demand for production, difficult extraction
and operating costs are a challenge that industries face on a daily basis, in addition to
the oil price falls, the oil and gas industries tend to implement smart and innovative
technologies with the purpose of maximizing production and reducing costs as
found in previous studies (Lu et al. 2019; Shinkevich et al. 2020; Wanasinghe et al.
2020a).
When talking about Industry 4.0, one of the concepts that has acquired the
most relevance is the Internet of Things (IoT). The concept of IoT is important
for the digital transformation of the industry. As a general concept it is not new,
at the beginning the Internet was a network of networks that allowed connecting
computers to share data. The term IoT was used for the first time in 1999, referring to
identifiable objects (things) and their virtual representation in a digital infrastructure
(Raza et al. 2018; Khan et al. 2017; Anderson 2017a; Aalsalem et al. 2017a).
In its synthetic definition, IoT is a network that connects the physical (devices)
and virtual (systems) worlds, where millions of devices and systems collaborate
with each other and with others to provide intelligent services (smart) to users.
Although the concept is not new, it is gaining more importance in the industry and in
this field it has been conceptualized as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), where
the things to interconnect are machines, people and objects within the industrial
environment (Lu 2017).
Within Industry 4.0 another enabling technology that plays an important role
is machine-to-machine communication (M2M). M2M is considered to be any
41 Oil and Gas Upstream Sector: The use of IEC-61499 and OPC 1053
technology that allows devices that are in the same network to exchange information
and perform actions in a totally autonomous way. This form of communication is
mainly used for remote supervision of the machine itself and the environment in
which it is located, turning it into a great help in the upstream sector of the oil
industry because the extraction sites are distributed throughout a huge area in the
jungle, desert or sea region (Biral et al. 2015).
In this chapter, the authors must consider M2M as the base level of communi-
cation, while IIoT is using that communication to provide a solution for either the
industrial or the personal field. In the short term, even those aggressively pursuing
Industry 4.0 will have a mix of smart devices and equipment with traditional
products and machines that need M2M communication to guide both the vertical
and horizontal integration process.
A third enabling technology on which Industry 4.0 is based is Cyber Physical
Systems (CPS). CPS is the result of providing the components or physical objects
that we regularly find in our work environment with computing and communication
capabilities, turning them into intelligent objects. This update allows them to surpass
the current simple embedded systems in terms of capacity, security, scalability,
adaptability, resilience and usability, now being able to work together to form
distributed and totally autonomous ecosystems (Monostori et al. 2016; Hajizadeh
2019; Sohraby et al. 2018).
CPS go beyond the concept of IoT as it refers to more complex systems made
up of other systems and that are capable of learning from the interactions they
have with the physical world, in a way that makes environments intelligent. This
concept applied to the industry has been called Cyber Physical Production Systems
(CPPS). CPPS are made up of industrial control devices with extensive computing
and communication capabilities, both local and remote (Kusiak 2018).
Furthermore, the IEC 61499 automation standard promotes a framework for
model-based development for distributed control systems. CPPS devices in con-
junction with IEC 61499 will allow the modeling and development of software and
hardware components for distributed control systems, making easier the collection
and processing of data at the level of sensors and actuators, optimizing predictive
maintenance techniques for equipment and allowing the incorporation of new
control techniques in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry (Patil et al.
2018).
To develop distributed software components, IEC 61499 provides the Service
Interface Function Block (SIFB) model, that allows the encapsulation and abstracts
the user from accessing hardware, communications or resources of the Application
Programming Interfaces (API).
The IEC 61449 standard provides the following characteristics (Dai et al.
2018):
• Portability: support and correctly interpret software components and configura-

tions created by different software tools.
• Interoperability: the different embedded devices can work together to carry out
the functions of distributed applications.
• Configurability: any device and its software components can be configured by

multi-vendor software tools.
• Reconfigurability: involves the ability to modify control hardware and software
during process operation.
• Distribution: allows the distribution of software components in different hard-
ware devices regardless of the provider, which is a necessary requirement given
by the automation industry.
The use of standards such as IEC 61499 and CPPS architectures would imply
considerable savings in the automation hardware used by the oil industry since this
type of technology can be implemented in low-cost devices as found by Castellanos
et al. (2017). Low-cost automation enables new technologies to be incorporated
quickly and with a low impact on company budgets, its main advantages are
the use of hardware from various manufacturers, optimization of production and
incorporation of greater flexibility and individualization of the automation of oil
extraction and production processes.
Another problem that the oil production industry is having in the upstream,
mindstream and downstream cases, is its characteristic of being formed by a
structure distributed in multiple geographical locations very distant from each other,
as mentioned in previous paragraphs. Therefore, there is a clear need to improve
the management of the distributed process, adapting the control system to the
characteristics of multiple locations for the process components, while offering
the possibility of monitoring from different locations and responding to production
demands in real time.
To achieve this, it is necessary to have the possibility of remotely monitoring the
status and evolution of the crude dehydration, transportation and refining process.
In this sense, the oil production industry could additionally benefit from proposals
promoted in the Industry 4.0 as found by de Melo and Godoy (2019). This initiative,
as explained in previous paragraphs, promotes the introduction of factory concepts
such as IIoT which defines a set of technologies for remote access to the production
system and the Internet of Services (IoS), which provide mechanisms for the
cloud-based manufacturing and process virtualization. These initiatives will have
a collective impact on all aspects of manufacturing companies and it is convenient
to introduce these concepts in real industries such as the oil and gas sector (Bassi
2017). The developments during the last years about the use of IIoT into Oil & Gas
industry is shown in Fig. 1.
Industry 4.0 insists on the importance of using consolidated standards to formally
represent the information that is captured, stored and transmitted, and to specify
the communication technologies for its transmission. In this context, the OPC-UA
standard (IEC 62541) is a promising alternative for the implementation of M2M
communications as it has a service-oriented architecture that offers data security
and reliable information models at the same time. Unfortunately, and perhaps due
to the lack of availability of suitable platforms, this technology is not yet widely
used industrially as You and Feng (2020) show.
41 Oil and Gas Upstream Sector: The use of IEC-61499 and OPC
Fig. 1 Developments about the use of IIoT into Oil & Gas industry
1055
OPC-UA uses configuration files for servers to perform data integration at the
plant level. These configuration files must necessarily follow the models of the
plant and the devices that supply the data. Within the standards widely used at
the industrial level we have the ISA95 standard (IEC 62264) and the physical model
of ISA88 (IEC 61512) which propose a hierarchical model where the role that
equipment plays in production processes is characterized. The use of these standards
will make it simpler for the initial configuration files of OPC-UA servers to follow
an information model accepted at an industrial level, allowing a rapid integration of
this communication technology in the Ecuadorian oil industry sector.
Considering the needs identified in the oil production sector, the motivation
for this work is to build bridges between the state of the art and the design of
industrial control applications. This can be achieved through the establishment of
methodologies and the integration of a CPPS platform for their use in distributed
control under the IEC 61499 standard in low-cost embedded devices, and an easily
configurable OPC-UA architecture with servers and clients managed by IEC 61499
applications with configuration files that follow meta-models based on ISA 88/95.
Therefore, the presented proposal allows an easy deployable software platform
destined to remotely collect process data and that enables vertical integration from
the company or business areas to the plant production level.
The design of the document is as follows, section “Literature Review” shows
some related works that have been used as a starting point for this research. Section
“State of Technology” describes the state of the art that introduce the elements
used in the methodology of this research The proposed solution where the IEC-
61499 SIFBs and OPC-UA integration is presented in section “OPC-UA And IEC
61499 SIFBs for Integration of Communications within Industry 4.0 Architectures.”
Section “Case Study” illustrates a case study where an Industry 4.0 architecture is
implemented in an Oil & Gas industry. Finally, some conclusions and future work
are established in section “Conclusions and Ongoing Work.”
Literature Review
This section was based on the review of recent developments and practices in this
area, to address works and methodologies used by other authors and in this way
know the progress at an industrial level, considering the benefits and the impact that
certain technologies provide for the deployment of Industry 4.0 in the oil and gas
industry, where they are leaning towards using cutting-edge technology that allows
them to be more competitive and efficient within the market
Methodology
Based on the specified topic, search equations were performed in different

databases, such as Scopus, IEEE, Science Direct, Springer, ACM, and Google
Scholar. In addition, the selection of the documents to be studied was made
fundamentally based on the content that each of the authors’ ideas contributes to
the development, use, and vision of how Industry 4.0 is being implemented within
O&G companies (OIL and GAS). The scope of the literature review described in
this chapter in the O&G sector. The initial search based on keywords and later we
identify and eliminate articles that do not address the required topic.
Identifying articles started with extensive inquiries about databases of the
scholarly literature of a series of topically essential keywords. For instance, the
following keywords were used, typically in sets of two and groups of three or more
as well: [“industry 4.0” and “oil,” “industry 4.0”], [“gas,” “industry 4.0,” and oil],
[“gas,” “intelligent oil fields,” “intelligent oil fields,” and “pipeline digitalization”],
and [“IIoT in oil and gas”].
Results from Literature Review
The information extracted from each document is based on answering if the use of
Industry 4.0 helps Oil & gas real industries in all the world. Various aspects such as
the fields in which Industry 4.0 is developed for communication integration, process
control, process optimization, advantages, disadvantages, and the gaps of this digital
tool have been considered. On the other hand, a detailed description of the studies
included in the review is presented in the next paragraphs.
Through technological development, the optimization of oil and gas wells is
sought with monitoring in real-time, decision-making through data analysis and
remote control of devices as found in Huiyun et al. (2020), to increase the speed
of exploration and detection, optimization of reserves, acceleration of exploitation,
increase in production, reduction of risks to health and the environment as found in
previous studies Roshani et al. (2017a); Alguliyev et al. (2018).
As Qing and Heripracoyo (2019) shows Industry 4.0 is at the forefront of digital
transformation since it allows the collection, configuration, processing, and analysis
of data in real-time with better visibility and administration capabilities, dealing
with processes such as production, purchases, sales, and logistics. Due to the
advantages that this technology presents, it is being implemented in the oil and gas
industry to take advantage of all its advantages and characteristics, in recent years
digital technologies such as Industrial IoT (IIoT), Big Data, artificial intelligence,
chain of blocks, etc (TOMA and POPA 2018; Nguyen et al. 2020).
IIoT is the massive connection of smart devices and networks with CPS that
comprise cloud computing platforms and has the potential to contribute to economic
growth and global competitiveness Allahloh and Mohammad (2018), in terms of
improving productivity, efficiency, maintenance prediction, etc. as presented by
other studies as Choo et al. (2018); Tyagi (2019). In addition, it aims to take
advantage of open high-bandwidth protocols and low-cost smart grids (Paez and
Tobitsch 2017), and one of the main challenges when applying this technology
is data security in these systems, for which cryptographic techniques can be used
considering that IIoT devices have limited resources.
In the area of oil and gas, the connectivity of the pipelines and processing plants
with refineries is increasingly full of intelligent sensors that is like the nervous
system of the industry (Anderson 2017b; Mangayarkarasi et al. 2019) and all
these data must be analyzed and processed using intelligent control techniques in
order to optimize processes. The transformative trend of IIoT is the link between
connectivity, cloud, and analytical technologies to simplify process automation,
which is essential to improve remote production and monitoring and thus be more
competitive in these difficult times in the oil and gas industry.
The oil and gas industry can use these advancements for 3D viewing on a PC
and this, in turn, can revolutionize traditional oil and gas workflows. The use of
PC technologies will generate greater opportunities for collaboration and faster
response times. Furthermore, web services and technologies will continue to grow,
and the oil industry will substantially increase the number of web applications
developed and used (Evans et al. 2002).
There are various applications and proposals for IIoT within the oil and gas field.
The research works of Allahloh and Mohammad (2018) and Anderson (2017b)
demonstrated that have developed IIoT systems for management and control apply-
ing intelligent control techniques such as Neuro-Fuzzy controllers and integration
with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Systems, Applications, Products in
Data Processing systems (SAP), and predictive and prescriptive analytics techniques
to maximize production.
In addition as found in previous studies Alguliyev et al. (2018); TOMA and
POPA (2018); Zhao et al. (2008) highlight the capabilities of the cloud, big data, and
data mining to provide security solutions and real-time monitoring for IoT that could
be applied in the oil and gas industry. the integration of sensor data, communication
channels for data analysis and management.
As presented in the papers of Tyagi (2019); Wang et al. (2019); Aalsalem et al.
(2017b) shows an intelligent architecture design for management and decision
making with a resource exchange center that has an IIoT system that is designed for
the management of exploration and development of the gas field, they also propose
an intelligent monitoring system based on IoT. Smart IoT objects are capable of
detecting important parameters and thus reporting failure notification and predictive
good maintenance in order to reduce production downtime.
The new smart control techniques for machines have been implemented in
several works to develop intelligent and reliable models, in studies conducted by
Roshani et al. (2017b); Yang et al. (2019); Fath et al. (2020); Eyoh and Kalawsky
(2018) implement neural networks to identify flow regimes and predict volume
fractions, estimate The gas-oil ratio and perform predictive maintenance based on
performance can also be used to give an early warning of third-party threat and even
damage to oil and gas pipelines.
The results have shown that the models proposed in these works exceed the
empirical correlations considered. Ling (2021) presents a gray box and neural net-
work model is presented to predict oil production, the results provide a meaningful
guide and provide a reliable basis for the oil field development plan. Another method
used by Wu et al. (2017) is the knowledge approach driven by thresholds where
an intelligent oil well production architecture is built and a management system is

developed where the results show that it improves the effectiveness and precision of
early warning and the fault alarm.
García et al. (2018) present an architecture for vertical integration based on
cyber-physical systems, under the IEC 61499 standard and using OPC UA, in which
the results showed that it is suitable for use in flexible manufacturing in the oil and
gas industry.
The transport of oil and gas is of great importance worldwide because it allows
the distribution of this from its point of extraction to the processing plants, in order
to avoid leaks or ruptures in the pipes due to the fact that this directly impacts the
ecosystem and economy. There are several jobs where they use different methods
and techniques shown below. Sasloglou et al. (2013) propose an empirical channel
model to optimize the placement of wireless sensors in oil transmission pipelines,
where it is sought to have a minimum number of sensors and the best possible
performance.
Hausamann et al. (2005); McConnell (2007) propose to use unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAV) for the inspection of pipelines and thus reduce the costs and risk
of inspections in addition to analyzing the design of the information operation and
maintenance system of oil and gas pipelines of high availability and long-distance.
Another method used is the one proposed in the studies conducted by Pajany and
Hemalatha (2019); Meléndez Pertuz et al. (2017) whose objective is to detect the
gas leak in the pipeline, monitoring at regular intervals using gas detection sensors
and will pass the information and location to the operator.
Digitization is also used in the management part, as shown by Galiakhmetov
et al. (2020) where it considers the digitalization instruments of logistics business
processes in the selection of the most efficient oil transportation option, which
will allow to considerably reduce the workforce. Furthermore, Shinkevich et al.
(2020); Alguliyev et al. (2016) have carried out a study of the industries and
how digital transformation in conjunction with big data has been used for the
sustainable development of the oil and gas sector, obtaining an architectural model
for integration and big data convergence, business analytics, providing guidelines to
enable companies to digitally transform and implement IoT technologies to optimize
and improve business processes demonstrated by Buhulaiga et al. (2019).
State of Technology
This section will explain all the concepts that will be applied for the development of
the research proposal.
OPC-UA
The latest tools for supervision and management of manufacturing processes

need to collect in real-time information from production means whose operation
is directed (in many cases) by controllers from different manufacturers. Typical

vertical integration investigations usually separate automation systems into different
layers.
The resulting structure is usually known as the automation pyramid. Although
this is a reliable approach, this means that all requests from systems such as:
invocation of functions, data acquisition, data transfer, etc, must be transferred from
one layer to another. When performing this exchange they generally go through
proprietary communication interfaces where they must perform the associated
translations, but sometimes these translations are prone to errors (Kim and Sung
2018).
Despite the existence of communication standards such as OPC-DA (acronym
for Ole for Process Control-Data Access) and programming standards such as the
IEC 61131-3 standard, automatic data capture in the plant tends to be an extremely
complicated and problematic section. The causes of this problem lie in the different
structures, contents and views of the data that reside in each controller and for which
there is still no general rule to follow.
The Unified Architecture (UA), proposed by the OPC Foundation, is capable
of giving a solution to the problems that the integration of data at the plant level
currently has on: how to locate the interlocutor of a communication, how the data,
metadata and metadata of the control logic are identified, and how the information
that must be made visible to other devices is defined. However, all points of view
of the data integration problem at the plant level must be taken into account if the
different manufacturers are to be able to exchange information between them in an
appropriate way (Grner et al. 2016).
OPC-UA provides an industrial interoperability framework of the future. OPC-
UA defines two main pillars that support interoperability: the communications
infrastructure and the meta-model, as seen in Fig. 2. The communications infras-
tructure defines how information is exchanged, and the meta-model defines what
information must be exchanged. The Web Server (WS*) communications infras-
tructure can facilitate its integration with business applications and Internet access.
On the other hand, the use of a binary transmission protocol based on Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) allows efficient data exchange in terms of performance
(Vimos and Sacoto Cabrera 2018). In addition to all this, a series of special
mechanisms defined in the API and in the protocols are integrated to guarantee
reliable communication in the case of working with distributed systems.
The OPC-UA standard consists of 13 different parts of which some have already
been adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission as the IEC 62541
standard. This standard has different chapters which we summarize below: the first
chapter presents a overview of this standard, a broad security concept is presented
in Chap. 2, the Address Space model is given in Chap. 3, Chap. 4 gives its concepts
and abstract services functions, Chap. 5 indicates the model information, technology
mappings in Chap. 6, profiles in Chap. 7, access to data is given in Chap. 8, data
visualization in Chap. 9, method of calls and historical access data in Chaps. 10 and
11, respectively and functionalities for OPC-UA servers in Chaps. 12 and 13 (see
Fig. 3).
Fig. 2 The foundation of OPC UA
Fig. 3 OPC UA Specifications
Information Model from OPC-UA

While the classical OPC standard has a very elementary meta-model because it
is made up of labels in a simple and straightforward hierarchy, OPC-UA offers a
rich information meta-model with object-oriented techniques using more elaborate

hierarchies and with the possibility of creating inheritance instances between them.
OPC-UA provides a standard meta-model, known as Address Space, which can
be used to modify it to define specific Information Models. It is hierarchically
designed and all the higher levels of the OPC-UA servers are designed in the same
way, thereby achieving interoperability between them. The meta-model in OPC-UA
defines the objects to be used: types, variables, data types, etc. (Mahnke et al. 2009).
Also, it has information on the set of instances (or objects) existing in the system
and the type of each one of them. In this way, any system, no matter how complex,
can be fully described employing object-oriented mechanisms. Typically, very few
embedded systems will implement all of the modeling options described above.
By using meta-models, information with known semantics can be exchanged
efficiently instead of simple data. The information model is always present in
an OPC-UA server, in this way the client does not need to have this model
integrated. The idea is that OPC-UA specifies how data is exchanged, while standard
information models specify what information is exchanged. The great interest in
information modeling has generated the impetus to standardize information models
based on OPC-UA. This standard defines a series of web services, which allow the
OPC-UA client to search and edit objects in the address space of a server.
OPC-UA additionally defines a set of abstract services that can be executed
in different communication infrastructures and use the meta-model as a basis to
define the appropriate parameters for the services. The basic information model of
OPC-UA provides the primary object types and access points to the server address
space. Standard or provider-specific information models can be established on the
base information model. OPC-UA already defines various standardized information
models for accessing data, alarms and conditions, programs, historical data, and
aggregate functions. As can be seen in Fig. 4.
It also provides the mechanisms to support multiple information models on one
server. This allows to provide a high level of interoperability because the data can
not only be changed in a simple way between devices, but also with clearly defined
semantics.
Security from OPC-UA

Security is a fundamental requirement for OPC-UA and therefore it is integrated
within the architecture. The mechanisms are based on a detailed analysis of the
threats. OPC-UA manages security with the authentication of clients and servers,
the integrity and confidentiality of the exchanged messages, and the verifiability of
the functional profiles of equipment.
It is based on the architecture shown in Fig. 5. The three levels of security are
user security, application security, and data transport security.
The OPC-UA user-level security mechanisms run once when a session is
configured. The client transmits an encrypted security token, which identifies the
user, to the server. The server authenticates the user based on the token and then
authorizes access to the objects on the server. The OPC-UA standard does not define
authorization mechanisms such as access control lists.
Fig. 4 Comparison between OPC and OPC-UA models
Fig. 5 OPC UA Security Architecture
OPC-UA has security at the application level and is also part of the session con-
figuration and includes the exchange of digitally signed certificates. Two types are
the instance certificates that identify the specific installation of the communication
software and the software certificates that identify the client and the software server
and the implemented OPC-UA profiles. They describe server capabilities, such as
support for a specific information model as Schleipen et al. (2016) shows.
Transport-level security certificates can be used to provide integrity by signing

messages and confidentiality by encrypting messages. This prevents the disclosure
of the information exchanged and ensures that the messages have not been tampered
with.
The security mechanisms are realized as part of the OPC-UA stacks. They are
included in a software package provided by the OPC Foundation and are ready to
be used by the client and the server.
OPC-UA offers a complete solution that meets the requirements of all vertical
layers for access to remote devices. It provides an efficient and secure infrastructure
for communications between sensors and controllers in the automation and control
systems of manufacturing and the processes of the companies. Provides secure
communications using computer industry standards. This allows a multitude of
devices to receive and convert remote data into useful information to make
intelligent decisions. They provide a multi-vendor infrastructure, cross-platform
interoperability, and security for industrial automation environments.
IEC 61499 standard
This standard was created for distributed control systems, including their archi-
tecture and software tool requirements. It was developed as a consequence of the
growing interest in new technologies and architectures to create the next generation
of industrial systems and based on the IEC 61131 standard.
IEC 61499 was designed by the technical committee TC-65 for measurement,
control and automation of industrial processes (TC, Technical Committee), which
belongs to the IEC, the first version being approved in August 2005 (Vyatkin
2011a). This standard defines a generic architecture and a guide for the use of
Functional Blocks (FBs) in Control Systems and Measurement of Distributed
Industrial Processes (IPMCSs).
One of the main objectives of IEC 61499 is to promote the development of
heterogeneous systems composed of control devices from different manufacturers
allowing dynamic reconfiguration, resulting in the modification of the configuration
of a system while the control application continues to run.
IEC 61499 is seen as the next generation of standards in automation systems and
is designed to cover interoperability, portability, and reconfigurability, which are not
covered by IEC 61131-3. At the moment, in industrial practice there are few systems
based on IEC 61499, but nowadays, a large number of research works accept and
use the basic concepts of the standard.
IEC 61499 Specifications

The IEC 61499 standard is divided into the following four sections (Strasser et al.
(2008):
– Architecture: IEC 61499-1 contains the general requirements, definitions and

reference models. In addition to this, it has the rules for declaring the types of
FBs and rules for their behavior.
– Software tool requirements: IEC 61499-2 defines the requirements of the
software tools used for this standard, which support the execution of engineering
tasks in distributed control systems and the specification of the types of FBs.
– Informative Manual: IEC 61499-3 contains the information for the understand-
ing, acceptance and applicability of both the IPMCS architecture and software
tools that comply with the specifications of the standard.
– Rules and Compliance Profiles: IEC 61499-4 contains the definition of the rules
for the development of profiles in accordance with the standard, which specify
the characteristics to implement sections 1 and 2.
Architecture
IEC-61499 defines a generic and hierarchical architecture of models, allowing to
understand the organization of the system and its components. It develops a new
framework for distributed control applications. The models are generic, independent
of the domain and extensible with the definition and use of FBs. The models are:
Functional Block Model (FB), Resource Model, Device Model, System Model,
Application Model, Distribution Model and Management Model.
Functional Block Model (FB) is the smallest element in a distributed control
system. The FB is made up of two parts: head and body. The first consists of a head
that is connected to the flow of events. It accepts input events and generates output
events, as shown in Fig. 6. The second part is the body, which is connected to the
data flow, accepts the input data and generates output data. The dynamic behavior of
the FB is defined by the Execution Control Chart (ECC, Execution Control Chart)
that processes the event inputs and generates event outputs (Vyatkin 2011b).
Fig. 6 IEC-61499
Functional Block Model (FB)
An FB in the IEC-61499 standard remains passive until it is triggered by an input

event, that is, all input events are used to activate a functional block. The FB executes
and produces events and output data as shown in Fig. 6. The ECC describes the
internal behavior of the basic FB instances. It helps the programmer break complex
behavior down into small parts called states. Each state is valid under a certain
set of conditions. The states are associated with one or more algorithms and / or
with output events. The activation of the state implies the execution of the attached
algorithms.
The FB functionality is provided by algorithms. An algorithm can be written in
any of the 5 languages mentioned in IEC 61131-3: IL, ST, LD, FBD and SFC. Also
in other high-level languages such as: C, C ++, Java and Delphi. The algorithm
processes internal and/or external inputs and data, generating output data. Internal
variables or status information are not accessible by the data flow.
Framework platform for IEC-61499

4DIAC™ Framework for Distributed Industrial Automation and Control is an open
source engineering tool based on the Eclipse platform for distributed, reconfigurable
automation and control software. 4DIAC™ was created in 2000 by PROFACTOR
GmbH & Vienna University of Technology.
Development environment: 4DIAC-IDE

The editor is an integrated development environment called 4DIAC-IDE. The
objective of the 4DIAC initiative is to provide tools in accordance with the standard
that allow the establishment of an automation and control environment, based on the
objectives of portability, configurability and interoperability, which are mentioned
in IEC 61499. 4DIAC pursues the following goals (Zoitl and Vyatkin 2009):
– Provide a common basis for development, industrial device and research of IEC
61499.
– Supply a package containing a runtime environment for different embedded
control platforms and the engineering environment.
– Provide real examples at the prototype level to increase the acceptance of IEC
61499 in the industry.
– Provide an incentive for the use of IEC 61499 with industry.
The most relevant characteristics of 4DIAC are: (i) 4DIAC-IDE is an IEC

61499 tool based on Eclipse. It has elementary data types according to IEC
61131-3. (ii) Has event and data connections. (iii) This software has command
configuration (create, write, start according to IEC 61499). (iv) Has communication
FBs (Client/Server, Publish/Subscribe for Ethernet). (v) It can execute basic FBs,
Composite FBs, FBs, SIFBs service interfaces, and adapters. It runs under Windows,
Linux and Solaris platforms.
Execution Environment: FORTE

The 4DIAC runtime environment according to IEC 61499 is 4DIAC-RTE (FORTE).
FORTE is a small portable implementation of a runtime environment according to
IEC 61499 focused on small embedded control devices (16/32 Bit), implemented in
C++ and is portable for multiple platforms (Seilonen et al. 2019). The execution
mechanisms in FORTE allow limited real-time execution of IEC 61499 control con-
figurations triggered by external events, where different parts of the configuration
can meet different real-time constraints and the execution of low-priority processes
does not disturb the execution of the highest priority processes.
In the runtime environment FORTE makes use of an event trigger for scheduling
FBs. The scheduler introduces a queuing approach where all incoming events are
delivered to the target FBs in FIFO order (first in-first out). The event trigger
decouples the FB event sending execution from the receiving block, thereby creating
the blocking period of an FB independent of the network topology (Vyatkin and ISA
2007).
The runtime environment continues to change when it comes to optimization
of execution and implementation of communications interface. FORTE has been
written to work independently of the platform to be used, this allows to make
it easier to use it on various types of hardware and operating system platforms.
The current version of FORTE is supported by the following systems: Windows
(Win32), eCos, POSIX, Lego Mindstorms NXT controller, etc.
OPC-UA And IEC 61499 SIFBs for Integration of Communications

within Industry 4.0 Architectures
Typically, a profile for OPC-UA is designed for vertical integration of industrial

control and automation systems. The use of an OPC-UA architecture allows a
complete description of any automation system data regardless of its complexity.
In this sense, the information described in the Address Space of the OPC-UA server
may be sufficient for most industrial systems. Next, vertical integration at the plant
level using IEC 61499 as a tool to implement and integrate process data using OPC
UA as a communication protocol within the Industry 4.0 architecture is explained.
Set of SIFBs for OPC-UA
This section presents the development of a set of SIFBs that encapsulate the opera-
tions offered by OPC-UA services, following the previously explained methodology.
Service Interface Function Block for implement an OPC-UA server

By using this SIFB it is possible to manage the configuration and operation of a
static OPC-UA server. The OPC-UA server is configured using a file in XML format
and allows integrating the devices at plant level using native protocols of industrial
networks such as Modbus TCP, S7 communications, etc.
Fig. 7 OPC-UA server deployment model
This file follows the CPPS architecture and includes all the essential parameters
for the operation and configuration of the OPC-UA server such as: the URL address,
the URI identifier, name of the provider, the name of the server, the version, etc. The
schema of the XML configuration file is presented in Fig. 7.
This XML configuration file declares the following:
• Server ID (Identification, Server information): This section gives basic infor-

mation about the OPC-UA server such as the domain and its version.
• Access to the Server (Server Access): This element provides access to the OPC-
UA server, since it allows entering the server name, URL address, and URI
identifier. The configuration file depends on the communication stack used for
the server implementation.
• Address Space (NodeTypes, NodeInstances): This section declares the
OPC-UA nodes (types and instances) that constitute the information model
corresponding to the Logical Process Nodes (LPNs), as well as the logical

process data (tags) available in each of the nodes. In turn, this section is made
up of two groups of elements: (i) Types of Nodes (NodeType), here the Types
of Objects (ObjectTypes) and the Types of Data Variables (DataVariableTypes)
associated with them are declared. (ii) The elements of the Node Instances
(NodeInstance) are included in the Object Instances (ObjectInstances) - these are
instances that have already been declared in the Object Types (ObjectTypes) - and
the Data Variables (DataVariables) the which are instances of the Variable Types
(DataVariableTypes). The Object Instances (ObjectInstances) constitute the
LPNs, while the Variable Instances (DataVariables) constitute the tags associated
with the LPNs. The explained can be seen in Fig. 8.
• Field Devices (FieldDevices): This section groups together the definitions of
the field devices to which the server has access. The process data (FieldData)
supplied by each device are also defined. Field devices are characterized by
the communication protocol or the process data access mechanism, and the
information related to it. See Fig. 9.
• Data Mapping (DataMapping): In this section the existing relationships
between the data variables (DataVariables) already declared in the Address
Space section and their corresponding process data (FieldData) of the field
devices (FieldDevice) are defined. An example of the configuration file for the
OPC-UA server in XML format can be seen in Fig. 10.
Once the OPC-UA server configuration file has been explained, we proceed to
explain the SIFB that allows communication at the field level by integrating them
with the OPC-UA protocol. In addition to common events of SIFBs in the IEC 61499
standard such as INIT, REQ, INITO and CNF explained previously (Fig. 11), the
SIFB OPCUA_SERVER also presents the following input and output parameters:
• QI (BOOL): This input data works together with the INIT event to connect or
disconnect the OPC-UA server. If the INIT event is requested, and if QI is TRUE,
the OPC-UA server tries to connect; if QI is FALSE (FALSE), the OPC-UA
server ends its execution.
• CONFIGFILE (WSTRING): Contains the full name of the configuration XML
file.
• QO (BOOL): Reports on the result of the last process executed.
• STATUS (STRING): Provides information on the status of the server.
Service Interface Function Block for implement an OPC-UA server

dynamically
This SIFB allows OPC-UA communication using the native IEC 61499 commu-
nication layer called FORTE CommLayer. This network communication interface
has been designed to be as flexible as possible. The basic steps to design this
interface start from implementing the OPC-UA protocol with libraries developed
in C++ that allow interacting with the standard design given by the norm. The used
communication stack allows to integrate OPC-UA in FORTE (4DIAC RTE), which
1070
Fig. 8 OPC-UA Address Space Meta-Model

C. A. Garcia et al.
Fig. 9 Field Device Model
Fig. 10 OPC-UA Server Configuration File in XML format
is fully scalable, supports multi-threaded architectures, and where each connection

or session is operated by separate threads.
This communication stack can be run on various devices, either in industrial
computers or in low-cost embedded devices such as Raspberry Pi™ or BeagleBone
Black™ cards. The architecture of this implementation is shown in Fig. 12. Here you
can see the different types of FORTE classes and the basic interaction between them.
The class of the Function Block called CCommFB is the only class that interacts
Fig. 11 SIFB for implement

an OPC-UA server
Fig. 12 OPC UA server SIFB implementation architecture
with IEC 61499 applications and allows sending and receiving events based on the
IEC 61499 standard.
The function block and the communication layer implemented are related using
the following data inputs and outputs implemented in the SIFB (Fig. 13):
• ID (WSTRING): It is an entry in the SIFB that is used to implement all

the parameters that the OPC UA protocol needs for its correct configuration.
Parameters are entered as a character string, there are mandatory [m] and optional
[o] parameters. These parameters are described below: Server name (Server
name) [o], its input mode is svr: < servername> the name allows identifying
the implemented OPC UA service; Configuration file address [m] this parameter
is entered using the cnf code line: < configfile> reads a memory file in xml
format which contains the URL, URI, author of the OPC UA server, etc. ; Field
device name [o] use the fd code: < fdname, driver, params, ...> enter the name
of the field device, the industrial communication protocol driver that we use to
Fig. 13 SIFB SERVER OPC-UA dinamically
integrate the variables the process and additional parameters for its configuration;
Process Variable (Process Tag) [o] the input format is tg [num]: < TagName,
Type, AccessLevel, FDName ...> with this line of code we enter process variable
followed by a number and include its name, type variable, its access level, etc.
• SD (ANY): It allows writing the value in the address space of the OPC-UA
server. It is an input memory parameter (parameter - memory tag) [o] it is entered
using the following format sd [num]: < TagName, Type, AccessLevel> as in
the previous case the variable is entered but only found in the memory of the
embedded device to be created. This variable must be accompanied by a number
and include its name, type and access level.
• RD (ANY): Data provided by the server to which it is connected. As in the
previous entry, this parameter is memory tag [o], the input code line is rd [num]:
< TagName, Type, AccessLevel>.
Service Interface Function Block for implement an OPCUA Client Read

This SIFB makes it possible to implement an OPC-UA client capable of syn-
chronously querying variables from an OPC UA server. In addition to the common
events, this SIFB has the following input and output parameters (Fig. 14a):
• URLSERVER (WSTRING): Indicates the URL of the OPC-UA server.

• DATANAME (WSTRING): Name of the variable to be accessed on the OPC-
UA server.
Fig. 14 Different SIFB for OPC-UA Clients. a) CLIENT_READ SIFB b) CLIENT_WRITE

SIFB c) CLIENT_SUBSCRIBE
• RD (ANY): Value of the data returned by the OPC-UA server to which the client
is connected. The type of this parameter is ANY to improve its reuse in any type
of application.
• SOURCETIMESTAMP (DATE AND TIME): Indicates the time information
associated with the element in the source resource.
• SERVERTIMESTAMP (DATE AND TIME): Indicates the time information
associated with the element on the OPC-UA server.
Service Interface Function Block for implement an OPCUA Client Write

This SIFB (Fig. 14b) creates a client for synchronous writing of variables on your
OPC-UA server. It presents the following parameters:
• TYPE (WSTRING): It expresses the data type for the value to be written to the
OPC-UA server.
• SD (ANY): Indicates the value of the data to be written. As in the previous SIFB,
the type of this parameter is ANY in order to increase generality.
Service Interface Function Block for implement an OPCUA Client

Subscribe
Besides the synchronous read and write services, OPC-UA enables the subscription
mechanism. The subscription maintains a local copy of the parameters of the item to
be monitored. These local copies can be altered by updating their properties without
affecting the state on the server. To implement this mechanism, a SIFB has been
created (Fig. 14c) that allows creating subscribing clients to monitor variables from
OPC-UA servers. The input and output parameters of this SIFB are:
• MODE (WSTRING): Two modes are allowed to monitor the OPC-UA server
variables: “REPORTING” and “SAMPLING.”
• PERIOD (ULINT): Sets the sampling period in milliseconds for items in
sampling mode.
• RD (ANY): Provides the value of the monitored elements supplied by the OPC-
UA server.
• SOURCETIMESTAMP (DATE AND TIME): Indicates the Timestamp asso-
ciated with the element of the source resource.
• SERVERTIMESTAMP (DATE AND TIME): Shows the Timestamp associ-
ated with the OPC-UA server element .
Case Study
The case study focuses on Petroamazonas EP, an Ecuadorian public company

dedicated to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. It is in charge of
the operation of 21 Blocks, located in the Oriental basin and in the Litoral area
of Ecuador.
Due to the infeasibility of implementing the system in all the blocks, the design
has been simplified towards the set of wellpads of a specific Block. In our case,
Block 18 has been selected. In this Block there are currently 4 wellpads and each of
them groups approximately between 28 to 30 oil wells. The example aims to obtain
the variables of a production well, specifically, it refers to well PAA-001 whose
scheme is shown in Fig. 15.
The head of the well called x-mas wellhead, labeled PAA-01-01, has two
indicator transmitters: TIT-WPAA01-01 that indicates the temperature and PIT-
WPAA01-01 the pressure of the extracted oil. It also has a production emergency
valve, the SDV-WPAA01-01.
Because the natural pressures of the reservoirs in Ecuador do not provide
enough pressure for the oil to reach the surface, each well uses a BESPA1 electric-
submersible pumping system, which corresponds to element M of Fig. 15. The
equipment BES has two pressure transmitters: PT-BESPA1-01 for the inlet pressure
of the pump (intake) and the PT-BESPA1-02 for the discharge pressure of the pump
(exhaust); three temperature transmitters: TT-BESPA1-01 for fluid temperature, TT-
BESPA1-02 for engine temperature and TT-BESPA1-03 for outlet fluid; a sensor
that measures the motor current, CT-BESPA1-01; The motor voltage is measured
by VT-BESPA1-01 and the FT-BESPA1-01 indicates the value of the frequency of
the frequency inverter, VSD.
Furthermore, the core of the ESP system is composed of a motor (M-WPA01-1),
multi-stage pump (P-WPA01) and a VSD variable speed drive (VSD-WPA01).
Figure 16 shows the current communication system in which the OPC-UA server
is located.
Fig. 15 Electric-submersible
pump system and xmas
wellhead
The design and development of an Information Components (ICs) using the IEC-
61499 architecture and OPC UA communication is a structured, but simple process,
if the following steps are followed: Step i) Decompose the acquisition process of the
field variables in a detailed and hierarchical way to be able to be represented with
the FBs developed for OPC-UA and the existing ones of the IEC 61499 standard.
Step 2) Select the corresponding FBs from the library of OPC-UA or the standard
FBs for all the sub-functions designed in the previous step, then you must create the
instances of the selected FBs, configure their parameters and connect these FBs with
data flow and event flow. Step 3) Validate the entire IC model to avoid errors. Step 4)
Integrate the physical components to the ICs and perform complete communication
tests of the different tags.
As an example of a case study, the design of an IC using the standard FBs and
FBs for OPC-UA communication developed in this work is shown. Figure 17 shows
the architecture of a network of IC FBs. The IC consists of three main modules:
i) the static OPC-UA server, which reads its configuration in XML format; ii) the
dynamic creation of new labels to process variables using the server FB that uses
the FORTE communication layer and, if required, use Atomic Services FBs (Data
Storage, Data Reporting, Data Reading, etc. ) and iii) finally, once the ICs have
been created, the integration of communication services with the field devices must
be carried out using the client FBs (Write, Read, Subscribe) of OPC-UA.
Fig. 16 Electric-submersible pump system and xmas wellhead

Fig. 17 ICs implementation into IEC-61499 Architecture
Conclusions and Ongoing Work
This chapter presents an approach to access to field data in process control systems
using OPC-UA servers in low-cost CPPS architectures while using applications
under the IEC 61499 standard. In this case, the application of this architecture has
been directed towards the oil and gas industry.
The use of this type of architecture helps to introduce new elements about CPPS
within the Industry 4.0 paradigm. The proposed architecture provides an M2M
infrastructure for plant-level communications and the integration of higher-level
devices into the production process. The use of a set of SIFBs is proposed to
implement OPC-UA clients and servers, including subscription mechanisms. These
function blocks allow, in a quick and easy way, the construction of new distributed
applications based on components through programming environments under the
IEC 61499 standard.
Using function blocks to design information components provides obvious and
potential benefits. Perhaps the simplest, but most important, is that the same
information component, which, in addition to being reusable, is applicable in
different industrial processes through software reconfiguration. It is also feasible to
add, remove and replace some functions of an information component in production

when requested by the application requirements.
As future works, the extension of the SIFBs library is necessary to provide the
designer of distributed control systems with a set of networks sufficient to be able to
solve any type of industrial communication, including protocols such as MQTT or
AMQP. The methodologies and tools developed in this chapter open the field for the
possible integration of new tools and functionalities compatible with the IEC 61499
standard.
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Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Device for
Motion Assistance and Gait Rehabilitation: 42
Design Considerations
Jyotindra Narayan, Aditya Kalani, and Santosha K. Dwivedy
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1084
Market Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1088
Preliminary Design of the Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1091
Modifications in the Preliminary Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095
Proof-of-Concept Design of Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096
Comparative Cost Analysis: Preliminary Design Versus
Proof-of-Concept Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1098
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1099
Abstract
As population increases, there is a significant rise in cases of weak muscles

and impaired nerves for elderly age group. In literature, several lower extremity
exoskeleton devices (LEEDs) have been developed to assist the elderly people in
the activities of daily living (ADL). However, due to design and cost constraints,
users are unable to access these devices in many developing countries. Therefore,
there is an emergent need to develop an affordable lower extremity exoskeleton
device with cost-effective design features. This work presents the design factors
associated with the development of the lower extremity exoskeleton device for
motion assistance. At first, a market survey regarding awareness, type, function-
ality, safety factors, and cost of the exoskeleton device is carried out. A list of
design aspects, required for the development of a LEED, is prepared according
to the survey responses. Thereafter, an 8-DOF lower extremity exoskeleton is
J. Narayan () · A. Kalani · S. K. Dwivedy

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India
e-mail: adityakalani@iitg.ac.in; dwivedy@iitg.ac.in
1084 J. Narayan et al.
primarily designed in SOLIDWORKS software for motion assistance and gait

rehabilitation. However, after consulting with institute physiotherapy and man-
ufacturing staffs, few design aspects, like material selection of links, reduction
in transverse DOF, placement of hip, as well as knee actuator and support on
wheeler stand, are modified for cost-effectiveness of the exoskeleton device and
physiological safety of the user. At last, a final design of the 6-DOF exoskeleton
device as a proof of concept is presented and compared with the preliminary
design based on cost involved in various components.
Keywords
Lower extremity exoskeleton devices · Design factors · Market survey ·

Motion assistance · Cost-effectiveness
Introduction
Mobility is a critical requirement to perform the activities of daily living (ADL) in

the life of an individual. However, impairment to the nervous system, stroke effects,
and Parkinson’s disease can lead to mobility disorder in the upper extremities and/or
lower extremities of the human body. Moreover, stroke survivors are always at risk
to lose the ability to move the body limbs partially or completely. According to the
Global Health Estimates, one of the primary sources of disability with the effect
of impaired reasoning is stroke (World Health Organization 2019), and over 13
million cases of strokes per year have been reported in 2019 globally (Lindsay et al.
2019). Estimates of 2015 show that India has a total of approximately 1.8 million
cases of stroke annually (Patnaik et al. 2015), with the number rising each year.
Moreover, the cardiovascular diseases, leading to stroke, are also greatly induced by
environmental factors like air pollution (Hussain 2019). When the loss of sensory
functions gradually increases in the lower extremities of the body, majority of
paraplegic-stroke patients are forced to use a wheelchair to restore their mobility.
A wheelchair device provides limited mobility assistance where individuals sit
and steer themselves to the desired destination. Many of the wheelchair variants
comprise of two motors that actuate the rear wheels to provide forward motion and
direction change. Front wheels provide support and move as required. However,
wheelchair has a major functionality limitation where users have to maintain a
sitting position for a substantial period of time. This advances the problem of
muscle spasticity, chronic pain, and gradual muscle degeneration (Physiopedia
2019). Therefore, an urgent need has emerged to develop a cost-effective lower
extremity device, which can help patients to regain their mobility and retrieve a
healthy gait. Recent technological advancements in powered robotics exoskeletons
can create powerful adjunctive tools for rehabilitation and potentially accelerate
functional recovery. An exoskeleton, referred as a powered wearable mechanical
device, has an anthropomorphic design architecture that enhances the functioning
of the motor operations in the human body (Herr 2009). Lower limb exoskeleton
42 Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Device for Motion Assistance and Gait. . . 1085
Fig. 1 Significant developments in lower limb exoskeletons in the last 5 years
provides augmented support to the patients, assists them in walking, and helps them
in their rehabilitation. These devices are augmented by making all the joints of the
exoskeleton move in a trajectory similar to healthy human gait patterns. Over the
last two decades, various lower extremity exoskeleton devices have been proposed
by the researchers based on ergonomics design (Moreno et al. 2009; Chen et al.
2013; Han et al. 2018; Wang et al. 2020), compliant degrees of freedom (DOFs)
(Kim et al. 2013; Lu et al. 2013; Bartenbach et al. 2016; Ouyang et al. 2016), and
compact actuation (Zoss et al. 2006; Banala et al. 2007; Hyon et al. 2011; Asbeck
et al. 2015; Ouyang et al. 2016; Chen et al. 2018) for the physiological safety of the
user. Within the last 5 years, the significant developments in the field of lower limb
exoskeletons are illustrated in Fig. 1.
An ergonomic design offers the flexibility to the user by allowing unrestricted
motion of the lower limb without any discomfort. Employing ergonomics features,
the interactions between human and elements of exoskeleton device can be under-
stood to optimize the performance of the overall system. The kinematics used in the
design of a lower extremity exoskeleton or orthosis depends on the biomechanics
of the human gait pattern. If the kinematics of the exoskeleton and the human body
is not compliant with each other, then a non-ergonomics internal interaction force
may arise due to misalignment. Moreno et al. (2009) presented a dual-stage analysis
to estimate the interaction between the user and a lower limb exoskeleton. From the
study, it was observed that there is a need for reduced mediolateral reaction forces
for a post-polio patient to acquire a physiological gait. Chen et al. (2013) designed
a wearable exoskeleton for the rehabilitation of the lower extremity derived from
bionic design approaches, which consider the human anatomy and bone surgery.
Carrying out a strategic design for crutches to support lower extremity exoskeleton
devices, Han et al. (2018) performed an experiment with 30 subjects to identify the
significant design improvements based on human-machine interaction (HMI). In a
recent study by Wang et al. (2020), an exoskeleton device, AIDER, is utilized to
confirm the ergonomic design for the user based on the interaction forces involved.
The results proposed that there is a need for improvement in mechanical structure
and control strategy for better ergonomics of the exoskeleton device. In another
recent work on exoskeleton devices, Gupta et al. (2020) introduced a wheelchair-
based sit-to-stand device for paraplegic people. Furthermore, following similar
design principles, a child exoskeleton is designed by Narayan et al. (2020), and joint
actuator torques are estimated using backpropagation neural networks for different
heights of the children.
Another crucial design objective of the exoskeleton device is to achieve the
necessary degrees of freedom for varied applications. In addition to the motion
assistance for paraplegic people, they are also utilized for the industry labor workers
and soldiers to carry the additional loads. Considering lower limb joints of the
human body (trunk, hip, knee, and ankle-foot), the lower extremity exoskeleton
devices are primarily classified into multi-joint and single-joint exoskeletons (Kalita
et al. 2020). The multi-joint exoskeletons are utilized to assist two or more joints
simultaneously, whereas the single-joint exoskeletons are employed to provide
assistance for one joint at a time. Kim et al. (2013) developed a 14-DOF lower
limb exoskeleton to provide gait assistance, having a 3-DOF hip joint, a 1-DOF
knee joint, and a 3-DOF ankle joint for each limb. A force sensor-based hardware
system was installed to measure the center of pressure (CoP) and validated for
a healthy person wearing the exoskeleton device. Lu et al. (2013) developed a
4-DOF novel lower limb exoskeleton, actuated at hip, knee, and ankle joints in
the sagittal plane, for physical assistance and rehabilitation. The hip joint consists
of 2-DOFs for flexion/extension (f/e) and abduction-adduction movement (b/d),
while knee and ankle joint poses a 1-DOF movement each for flexion/extension
and plantar/dorsiflexion, respectively. Bartenbach et al. (2016) introduced modular
and reconfigurable design of the lower limb exoskeletons, which can be extended
up to 4-DOFs per leg: hip (b/d, f/e), knee (f/e), and ankle (f/e). The device
functionality was improved due to the adaptation of different users and a wide range
of applications. In other works on multi-joint exoskeleton devices, Ouyang et al.
(2016) proposed a hydraulic power unit for the rehabilitation of trunk-hip-knee-
ankle-foot (THKAF) while having the advantage of the high power-to-weight ratio.
In the powered exoskeletons, three actuation methods, i.e., hydraulic, electric,
and pneumatic, are conventionally used to move the lower limb joints. A compact
hydraulic actuation-based exoskeleton unit, driven by 2.4 kW two-stroke internal
combustion engine at 13000 rpm, was established to deliver 1.45 kW power
(Ouyang et al. 2016). Another hydraulic-powered device, HUALEX (Chen et al.

2018), is recently designed with load-carrying features and zero load control
approach for military services. However, hydraulic actuators are used seldom
due to its heavy weight and high impedance features. Most of the prominent
exoskeleton devices, viz., BLEEX (Zoss et al. 2006), ALEX (Banala et al. 2007),
and Soft Exosuits (Asbeck et al. 2015), exploited the electric actuators due to
their ease of availability and low maintenance cost. To address the problems of
high metabolic costs associated with electric and hydraulic actuation system, the
researchers introduced pneumatic artificial muscle actuators (PAMs) to run the
exoskeleton devices (Hyon et al. 2011). Employing a hybrid actitation of PAMs
with electric motors, XoR assistive device is developed for mobility assistance to
the elderly people (Hyon et al. 2011). The electric actuator offers the dynamic
compensation, while PAM works as a gravity balancer. Moreover, with the advent of
nanoengineered products and components in electronic industry (Hussain 2018) as
well as their commercialization in different sectors (Hussain 2020), the miniaturized
form of printed circuits can be further used for more compact design of actuation
modules in exoskeleton systems.
Although several functionality aspects of lower extremity exoskeleton devices
have been addressed in the past, there are still few design issues that need to be
extensively enlisted and worked upon. These issues are as follows: adaptability
for different age groups, selection as well as placement of joint actuators, material
selection of device links, and affordability of the device. Moreover, in developing
countries, awareness regarding availability and effectiveness of these devices should
be widely spread to avoid implications during clinical procedures. Therefore, in
this work, a market survey, having questionnaires related to awareness, type,
functionality, safety factors, and cost of the exoskeleton devices, is conducted
to enlist the design requirements of the lower extremity exoskeleton device. A
preliminary design of 8-DOF lower extremity exoskeleton device is proposed based
on the survey responses. To maintain the cost-effectiveness and physiological safety
to the wearer, the device is modified for few design aspects, like reduction in
transverse DOF, material selection of links, placement of hip as well as knee
actuator, and support on wheeler stand. The modifications are carried out after the
consultation with the institute therapists and manufacturing staffs. Finally, a proof-
of-concept design for the lower extremity exoskeleton device is presented along
with a comparative analysis of the involved expenditures in both models.
The organization of the rest of the chapter is as follows. Section “Market
Survey” presents the market survey and responses followed by the necessary
design specifications. In section “Preliminary Design of the Lower Extremity
Exoskeleton Device,” a preliminary design of the lower extremity exoskeleton
is discussed. Section “Modifications in the Preliminary Design” elaborates the
possible modifications in the existing design. A proof-of-concept design for the
exoskeleton is presented in section “Proof-of-Concept Design of Lower Extremity
Exoskeleton Device” along with the expenditure details. Section “Conclusions”
concludes the work of the chapter.
Market Survey
In developing countries, the healthcare industry is lagging behind because of the less
adaptability to the requirements of diverse population. These countries rely heavily
on the imports of medical devices, eventually making such devices expensive and
accessible to select few. Therefore, to understand the market dynamics of a potential
exoskeleton usage, a survey was conducted in the physiotherapy section of an
institute hospital. A total of ten questions were prepared based on age group,
mobility dysfunction, affected extremity, affected extremity segment(s), gait correc-
tion, external assistance, experience with wheelchair, awareness about exoskeletons,
design preferences in exoskeleton devices, and expected cost involved. In the
hospital, 10–16 incomings/day (Mean, 13; SD: ±3) were recorded having the
problem of nerve impairment anywhere in the body. The survey lasted 10 days,
leading to 130 responses from the patients. However, around 30 incomings were not
interested to answer all the questions and left the survey mid-way. With due consent
to the patients, the questions (Fig. 2) were asked to explore the distinct opinions
of nerve-impaired patients for better understanding of design characteristics of
exoskeleton. The technical keywords, like “mobility dysfunction,” “extremity,”
“gait,” “robotic exoskeletons,” “rehabilitation,” “ADLs,” “motion assistance,” etc.,
were explained while asking the questions.
The first question, as shown in Fig. 2a, is asked to understand the age group
of different individuals. It is found from the response that 96% patients were above
50 years of age and 4% of patients were from 30 years to 50 years of age group, who
require assistance from the physiotherapy section. However, out of 100 patients, 88
patients were suffering from mobility dysfunction (Fig. 2b), in which 67 patients
were facing movement imbalance in the lower extremity of the body (Fig. 2c). As
the age increases, mobility impairments are quite prevalent in the lower limb due
to decline in muscle strength and functional strength. Out of 67 patients, 45.8%
patients were having mobility issues in both legs, while 37.5% patients were facing
disorder in one leg only, as shown in Fig. 2d. Around 12.5% patients either were not
aware about the source of gait disorder or did not wish to disclose the same. After
excluding the 12.5% responses, it is evident from Fig. 2e that 76% individuals have
not retrieved the original gait by means of manual therapy though recovered from
mobility impairment. Moreover, the responses shown in Fig. 2f indicate that 59% of
patients (out of 59) received some form of assistance from another person even after
their impairment recovery. Regarding the comfort level with conventional methods,
73.9% patients were disappointed when using wheelchairs, sticks, crutches, etc., as
shown in Fig. 2g. Moving on to the next question, shown in Fig. 2h, about patient
awareness of robotic exoskeletons, it was worth noting that 96% of 59 patients had
no idea of such devices for motion assistance and gait rehabilitation. Thereafter, with
the brief introduction of exoskeleton, 59 patients were asked for their preferences
in the design of such robotic devices to provide complete assistance in walking
and to offer rehabilitation. Nearly all patients had marked for affordability, ease
of maintenance, and lightweight features for the design of exoskeleton devices as
Fig. 2 (continued)
Fig. 2 Questions asked and responses received in the market survey
shown in Fig. 2i. Another crucial design feature responded was adaptability of the
device to different user sizes. Most of the patients had pointed out that the human
body exhibits a wide range of size differences in both skeletal bone lengths and
limb and torso girth; therefore, a single exoskeleton unit must be adaptable to
different users of the same family. As shown in Fig. 2j, the last question reflects
the upper bound of the purchasing capability of the patients. Almost 57% patients
were not ready to purchase the product worth 195,000 INR, and 13% patients were
not sure whether the device will be cost-effective or not. However, the positive
responses from 30% patients reflected that there is still a considerable market scope
for exoskeleton devices.
Although several Indian start-ups have emerged with robotic solutions, there
is still far less awareness about exoskeleton devices and their benefits for motion
assistance and rehabilitation. There is a dire need for effective marketing or
advertising campaigns so that more and more people get to know about this.
Based on the survey responses, the following design specifications should
be considered while designing a lower extremity exoskeleton device for motion
assistance and rehabilitation:
• Design should be ergonomic so that normal motion could not be restricted and
provide comfort to the user.
• The exoskeleton device must be anthropometric, affordable, and lightweight for
the user. The weight of the device can be reduced by employing rated actuators
less than the required and generating certain portion of power via sticks or
crutches or wheeler stands.
• The design should be customizable according to the specific size and weight
requirements of different age groups. As adaptability of the device will be
increased, the number of potential customers could be increased, especially in

developing countries.
• The main focus of exoskeleton device is to achieve the freedom of movement
for the impaired by providing additional locomotion strength. The purpose of the
rehabilitation trainings should be implicitly fulfilled while performing ADLs.
• The design should reflect the cost-effectiveness of the lower extremity exoskele-
ton device by keeping the purchasing and maintenance costs within 195,000 INR.
Preliminary Design of the Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Device
Designing a lower extremity exoskeleton device, the central approach should be

focused to ensure the strength and stability during transmission of the required force
vectors through chassis, frames, and joints. However, maintaining the strength of
the device as well as keeping the mechanical and electric components lightweight
is always a matter of trade-off between these two design features. For a specified
set of motions, selection and positioning of the joint actuators is another crucial
design aspect to be considered in accordance with physiological comfort to the
user. Furthermore, selection of degrees of freedom for each lower extremity joint
also plays a pivotal role in the design of the lower extremity exoskeleton devices.
Although the user might experience more comfort with increased DOFs, providing
all possible DOFs at the initial stage of assistance and rehabilitation may lead to
uncontrolled movements.
In general, as shown in Fig. 3, each human leg comprises of a 7-DOF structure,
with three rotational DOFs at the hip (abduction/adduction (a/a), flexion/extension
(f/e), and hip intra/extra rotation (i/e)), one at the knee (flexion/extension (f/e)),
and three at the ankle (abduction/adduction (a/a), dorsi/planter flexion (d/p), and
ankle inversion/eversion (i/e)). However, to avoid the involuntary motions, 4-DOF
movements are considered in this work, i.e., hip abduction/adduction (a/a), hip
flexion/extension (f/e), knee flexion/extension (f/e), and ankle dorsi/planter flexion
(d/p). Employing the above design aspects in SOLIDWORKS software, the 8-DOF
(six active, two passive) LEED is modeled with waist link, thigh links, calf links,
and foot links as shown in Fig. 4. The proposed device is designed for the average
weight and average height ranging between 55 kg and 90 kg and 152 cm and 182 cm,
respectively. The main objective of the device is to assist the individuals suffering
from weak muscles and impaired nerves. The allowable range of motion (ROM) for
each lower extremity joint in the device is shown in Table 1.
In the CAD modeling of lower extremity exoskeleton device, telescopic links of
cast alloy steel are designed to accommodate people of different heights and body
sizes as shown in Fig. 5a, b. The waist link varies between 180 mm and 220 mm,
the thigh link varies between 330 mm and 470 mm, the calf link varies between
345 mm and 480 mm, and the foot link varies between 180 mm and 260 mm based
on the body ratios of a healthy human (Gupta et al. 2020). The actuation modules
are considered after fixing the weight and height of the human body at the upper
bound. To maintain a fine trade-off among weight, rated torque, and cost involved
Fig. 3 Different joint movements of the lower limb (a) hip abduction/adduction (a/a), intra/extra
rotation (i/e), and flexion/extension (f/e), (b) knee flexion/extension (f/e), (c) ankle dorsi/planter
flexion (d/p), abduction/adduction (a/a), and ankle inversion/eversion (i/e) (Kalita et al. 2020)
Fig. 4 SOLIDWORKS model of preliminary LEED in (a) isometric view and (b) front view
in the hip joint actuator, a DC stepper motor could be a better option. A comparison
analysis for the performance aspects of stepper motor, servomotor, and harmonic
drive is presented in Table 2.
The hip joint’s flexion and extension motion is driven by belt and pulley
mechanism as shown in Fig. 6a. There are three pulleys, i.e., driver, driven, and
idler, connected by a belt. By varying the sizes of the driver and the driven pulley, the
Table 1 Range of motion (ROM) for different lower extremity joints

Lower limb joint Motion Range of motion (ROM, degrees)
Hip joint Flexion/extension 44/−22
Knee joint Abduction/adduction 12/−12
Flexion/extension 80/−5
Ankle joint Dorsiflexion/plantar flexion 15/−25
Fig. 5 Design of telescopic links for (a) thigh and calf segments and (b) waist segment
Table 2 Performance aspects of stepper motor, servomotor, and harmonic drive

Criteria DC stepper motor Servomotor Harmonic drive
Accuracy Accurate Less accurate Most accurate
Cost Less costly than More costly than stepper Very costly (2 lakhs
harmonic drive motor INR/joint)
Weight Less bulky with geared More bulky than stepper Lightweight and very
setup. Not compact in for high torque compact in shape
shape requirement
Torque Easily available for Easily available for low Readily available for
high torques toques high torques
input torque of the DC stepper motor can be reduced. The motor drives the smaller
pulley, which eventually rotates the driven pulley (larger) connected to the hip joint
by keeping the transmission ratio 1.85. The design parameters of timing belt-pulley
drive module, shown in Table 3, are selected or calculated from the catalogue of
Cross and Morse Power Transmission Solutions (2020). The material of the pulley
is stainless steel, while the timing belt is considered to be made of high hardness
synthetic rubber with glass core wire and nylon cloth. The third pulley is exploited
as an idler to maintain the tension in the belt. The size of the idler pulley is kept equal
to the size of the driver pulley connected to the motor drive. Moreover, the idler is
positioned in such a way that the minimum arc of contact would be maintained. The
weight of complete actuation module for driving a hip joint, which includes motor
drive, driver pulley, idler pulley, driven pulley, and timing belt, is estimated to be
16 kg.
Fig. 6 Design of actuation cum transmission mechanism (a) hip f/e, (b) hip b/d, and (c) knee f/e
Table 3 Design parameters of timing belt drive for hip f/e

Design parameters Design values
Transmission ratio 1:1.85
Maximum output torque 120.25 nm
Maximum input torque 65 nm
Output angular velocity 10 rev/min
Input angular velocity 40 rev/min
Driver pulley pitch diameter 60 mm
Driven pulley pitch diameter 122.1 mm
Driver pulley teeth 26
Driven pulley teeth 48
Centre distance between the driver and the driven pulley 225 mm
Timing belt width 50 mm
Belt pitch 8 mm
During the gait initiation, a mediolateral instability arises due to the difference
between the center of mass (CoM) and center of pressure (CoP) for the human
body. To minimize this instability when one lifts the leg, CoM and CoP should
try to move closely with each other for the complete human-device arrangement.
Therefore, abduction/adduction movement is required to achieve the balanced state
in transverse plane while walking. In the exoskeleton design, this transverse motion
of hip joint of both legs is driven and altered with the help of a single motor drive.
The mechanism involves three pinions and a rack, having a total weight of 8 kg,
as shown in Fig. 6b. The pinion at the center is driven by a motor which drives the
rack. The remaining two pinions, connected to the both hip joint, are driven by the
rack to provide b/d motion. The specifications of actuation design for the hip b/d is
presented in Table 4. For the f/e motion of the knee joint, a lead screw-based linear
actuator with 300–350 mm stroke length for 40 Nm rotational torque is utilized as
shown in Fig. 6c. One end of the actuator is placed at the thigh link and other end
at the calf link by maintaining a ratio of 2:1 with respect to the knee joint. For d/p
movement of ankle, a passive joint is designed, having a torsional spring of stiffness
of 6.5 Nm/0 for the upper limit of foot length. Combining the weights of links and
actuation mechanisms, the total weight of the lower extremity exoskeleton device is
nearly 44 kg.
Table 4 Design parameters Design parameters Design values

of timing belt drive for hip b/d
Transmission ratio 1:1
Maximum torque 72 nm
Angular velocity 5 rev/min
Pinion pitch diameter 66 mm
Pinion teeth 32
Rack width 70 mm
Pitch 12 mm
Fig. 7 Design of (a) aluminum slider rails, (b) adjacent placement of hip joint motor, and (c)
linear actuator as an inside arrangement
Modifications in the Preliminary Design
After completion of the preliminary design, suggestions are asked from the ther-
apists of institute hospitals and skilled staffs from the manufacturing workshops.
Following their overall recommendations, few issues are found and need to be
modified in the final design.
The number of control variables can be reduced by eliminating hip abduc-
tion/adduction movement. This movement in the exoskeleton devices, in general,
is not necessary for partial motion assistance and gait rehabilitation. To establish
a balanced relation among less deformation, minimal weight, and high strength,
aluminum-based slider rails are found to be a better alternative for the cast alloy
steel-based telescopic links. In the modified design, three slider rails, as shown in
Fig. 7a, are considered for every thigh and calf link.
As shown in Fig. 7b, the adjacent positioning of hip joint actuator for f/e motion
instead of back side is found to be a more cost-effective alternative. This kind of
actuator placement eliminates the need for transmission mechanism, which overall
reduces the weight of the device by 18 kg. Similarly, the lead screw linear actuator
at the outside of the thigh and calf links could be replaced with ball screw linear
actuator appended at the cuffs from inside for smooth linear motion. The modified
arrangement of linear actuators at knee joint is shown in Fig. 7c.
Although a direct drive for hip joint actuators reduces the overall weight of
the device as compared to timing belt-pulley-based driven mechanism, the load
applied at the hip joint is still high. Therefore, there is a need for wheeler-based
stand module to place the hip actuators on both sides. This provision also fulfills
the requirement of sticks/crutches support responded by the patients in the market
survey. Moreover, considering the responses received in Fig. 3d, the usability of the
device can be more improved by removing the waist link and designing two separate
arrangements for two lower limbs, each having 3-DOFs in the hip, knee, and ankle
joint.
Proof-of-Concept Design of Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Device
After carrying out the modifications in the preliminary design, following cost-
effective design features of a lower extremity exoskeleton device are confirmed.
The proof-of-concept design for the 6-DOF LEED is shown in Fig. 8a.
• Three degrees of freedom are considered in one extremity of the exoskeleton

device for hip f/e, knee f/e, and ankle d/p.
• Aluminum-based slider rails, readily available in the market, are employed for
changing thigh and calf links in case of different heights of the users. A locking
plate is provided to allow the user to adjust the leg length.
• Stepper motors are utilized to directly drive the hip joints without any provision
of transmission mechanism.
• Ball screw linear actuators are placed via cuffs from inside of the extremities to
avoid any obstruction while altering the slider rails for different heights.
• Ankle movements are kept passive by using two torsional springs at both joints.
• A wheeler stand has been added to support the weight of the stepper motors,
which drive the hip joint. Moreover, the stand module satisfies the requirement
of sticks/crutches.
• Another variant of the modified design consists of two separate legs, which are
connected with the stand. This design variant, as shown in Fig. 8b, is consistent
with the survey fact to assist both legs of individuals simultaneously as well as
separately.
Comparative Cost Analysis: Preliminary Design Versus

Proof-of-Concept Design
For any robotic device, increasing the affordability feature often helps to achieve
greater market outreach and longevity in the industry. Furthermore, emerging
instances of muscle weakness and nerve impairments are expected to increase the
application of exoskeleton technology in the near future. However, there is limited
Fig. 8 Proof-of-concept design of LEED with (a) wheeler stand and (b) separate limb arrange-
ments
adoption of this technology in many developing countries due to low per capita
income and availability of cheaper short-term alternatives. Therefore, to understand
the manufacturing and assembly cost involved, a comparative analysis for both
design models of lower extremity exoskeleton device is presented briefly as shown
in Table 5.
In the preliminary design, four alloy steel telescopic links (MISUMI India Private
Limited 2020) are chosen for the development of thigh and calf segments, which
costs a total of 24,225 INR (6056 INR each). In the modified design, the strength of
three aluminum slider rails from the same company is equivalent to one alloy steel
telescopic link, which costs 9318 INR. Therefore, the total amount for four lower
segments is 37,272 INR, with taxes excluded.
Moving further, as per the motor torque requirement of 65 Nm for hip joint
f/e in the preliminary design, a worm-geared stepper motor (Bholanath Precision
Engineering Private Limited 2020) is selected, which costs 32,254 INR including
motor driver. The total cost for two such motors is 64,508 INR, inclusive of motor
drivers. Moreover, the belt-pulley transmission mechanism (Cross and Morse Power
Transmission Solutions 2020) costs 42,888 INR for both hip joints. In modified
design, a worm-geared stepper motor of capacity 120 Nm costs 40,926 INR,
including motor driver, and the total cost for two such motors along with drivers
is 81,852 INR. However, as there is no transmission mechanism in the proof-of-
concept design, the respective expenditure is saved. For hip b/d motion in the
preliminary design, a motor drive and rack-pinion arrangement costs of 22,114
INR and 16,442 INR, respectively, lead to a total of 38,556 INR. However, this
expenditure is saved in the final design due to the elimination of transverse degrees
Table 5 Comparative cost analysis for preliminary and proof-of-concept design

Preliminary design Proof-of-concept
Component Company name cost (INR) design cost (INR)
Telescopic MISUMI India Private 24,225 37,272
links/slider rails Limited
(thigh and calf
segments)
Stepper motor (hip Bholanath Precision 64,508 81,852
joints f/e) Eng. Pvt. Limited
Transmission module Cross and Morse Power 42,888 1000
(hip joints f/e) Transmission Solutions
Stepper motor (hip Bholanath Precision 22,114 0
joints b/d) Eng. Pvt. Limited
Transmission module Cross and Morse Power 16,442 0
(hip joints b/d) Transmission Solutions
Linear actuator (knee Bholanath Precision 32,820 36,910
joints f/e) Eng. Pvt. Limited
Miscellaneous costs Assam Steel and 10,000 15,000
Bholanath Precision
Eng. Pvt. Limited
Total cost 212,997 171,034
of freedom in the hip joint. The above amount of motor, motor drivers, belt-pulley
mechanism, and rack-pinion arrangements is presented without including the taxes.
The costs involved in lead screw and ball screw linear actuator in respective design
models (Bholanath Precision Engineering Private Limited 2020) are 32,820 INR
and 36,910 INR, excluding taxes.
In the preliminary design, the miscellaneous cost for bearings, torsional springs,
hubs, nut-bolts, cuffs, lock plates, etc. is roughly 10,000 INR. However, due to the
presence of wheeler stand in the final design, the miscellaneous costs approximately
15,000 INR. The tubes, plates, and connectors in both design models are fabricated
from steel material (Assam Steel 2020) or chosen (Bholanath Precision Engineering
Private Limited 2020). After estimating all costs incurred in both design models,
the total cost for the final design is observed to be less than 195,000 INR, being
preferable for the users as responded in the last question of the market survey.
Conclusions
Several lower extremity exoskeleton devices have been designed in the literature
for motion assistance and gait rehabilitation in case of weak muscles and impaired
nerves. However, users from many developing countries neither are aware about the
exoskeleton technology nor able to afford it even if they are aware of it. Therefore, in
this work, a market survey has been conducted in the therapy section of an institute
hospital to create awareness about exoskeleton and to ask users of their preferences
for cost-effective design features of the exoskeleton devices. A set of ten questions
have been asked to understand the design features, functionality, and affordability
of such devices. Based on the responses received, an 8-DOF lower extremity
device has been designed with complete actuation modules. Thereafter, few design
modifications, viz., reduction in transverse DOF of hip joint, placement of hip as
well as knee actuator, link materials, and addition of wheeler stand, have been
carried out after taking the suggestions from institute therapists and manufacturing
staffs. At last, a 6-DOF proof-of-concept device has been presented to assist the
patients in pathological gaits. A comparative cost analysis between preliminary
design and final design has also been presented to realize the cost-effectiveness of
the device. This work will serve enthusiastic researchers and therapists to understand
the cost-effective features of the LEEDs during the design process. Future work
could be explored for dynamics and robust control required for gait rehabilitation.
Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the Department of Scientific and Industrial

Research, India, for starting the initiative PRISM (Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Startups
and MSMEs), under which this project is carried out. The authors are grateful to the amiable
support of medical therapist Mr. Kandarpa Jyoti Das, IIT Guwahati, in performing the research
experiments.
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Fuzzy Membership Functions in ANFIS for
Kinematic Modeling of 3R Manipulator 43
Jyotindra Narayan, Sashwata Banerjee, Durgarao Kamireddy,
and Santosha K. Dwivedy
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102
ANFIS Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106
Triangular Membership Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1107
Trapezoidal Membership Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1107
Gaussian Membership Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108
Generalized Bell Membership Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108
Sigmoidal Membership Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108
Kinematic Modeling of 3-DOFs Robotic Manipulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1109
Application of ANFIS for 3-DOFs Robotic Manipulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1112
Comparative Study of Fuzzy Membership Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1114
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1118
Abstract
In this work, a soft computing technique named adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference

system (ANFIS) is employed for kinematic modeling of 3R robotic manipu-
lator. Solving the forward kinematic problem using Denavit-Hartenberg (DH)
parameters is straightforward; however, obtaining inverse kinematic results for
higher degrees of freedom manipulator is computationally expensive. Therefore,
a combined form of artificial neural networks (ANN) and fuzzy logic (FL),
J. Narayan () · D. Kamireddy · S. K. Dwivedy

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India
e-mail: n.jyotindra@gmail.com; dwivedy@iitg.ac.in
S. Banerjee
Department of Electrical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
ANFIS technique, is exploited to show its worth for the inverse kinematic
problem by considering a 3-DOFs robotic manipulator having three revolute
joints. Moreover, ANFIS model is considered with five membership functions
(MFs), viz., triangular, trapezoidal, Gaussian, generalized bell, and sigmoidal.
Thereafter, manipulator’s joint variables are estimated for a semicircular tra-
jectory for every membership function. The joint variables are compared with
analytical inverse kinematic solutions to analyze the response of different MFs.
From the simulation study, it is realized that the most promising order of selecting
MFs for kinematic analysis of the robotic manipulator is Gaussian, generalized
bell, sigmoidal, trapezoidal, and triangular in ANFIS training model. Finally,
a qualitative justification of selecting the MFs in different literature works is
extensively reported.
Keywords
ANFIS · Kinematic analysis · Robotic manipulator · Membership functions
Introduction
From the last three decades, soft computing has significantly evolved to address
the complex mathematical models using different approximation approaches. Soft
computing deals with the limited truth and uncertainty of the system and provides
cost-efficient solutions. Unlike conventional methods, it is found to be more
promising to solve complex problems using intelligent control, optimization, and
decision-based support strategies (Jang et al. 1997). In a study by Zadeh (1994),
soft computing is considered as amalgamation of various methods like fuzzy logic,
artificial neural networks (ANNs), genetic algorithms, etc. In the literature till
date, soft computing technique is utilized in numerous software- and hardware-
based applications like signal processing (Cichocki et al. 1993), automated voice
identification (Komori et al. 1993), manufacturing and automation (Roy et al. 2012),
diseases control (Ulieru et al. 2006), image segmentation (Senthilkumaran and
Rajesh 2009), environmental engineering (Yetilmezsoy 2019), and robot trajectory
tracking (Narayan et al. 2018; Abbas et al. 2019).
Takagi and Sugeno (1993) explained the interpretation of system’s stability
using dynamic model-based defuzzification process. The system identification is
performed for two industrial applications, that is, water cleaning and steel-making
procedures under defined constraints. The classical model of fuzzy logic (Zadeh
1994) was proposed to characterize and simplify the approximate human knowl-
edge. Fuzzy logic is a well-known approach to represent the human understanding
levels using IF and THEN rules based linguistic designs. Bai et al. (2007) presented
the fundamentals of fuzzy logic in image processing, medical engineering, and
control strategies for different industrial processes. Few years later, Nachtegael et al.
(2013) edited a book on mathematical concepts of fuzzy filters for noise reduction,
edge detection, and image enhancement. They have also presented few applications
43 Fuzzy Membership Functions in ANFIS for Kinematic Modeling of. . . 1103
of fuzzy filters in digital image processing (DIP) and lossy image reconstruction.
In the field of industrial image processing, the concept of fuzzy logic has been
exploited to detect the defects of industrial products using X-ray images (Amza
and Cicic 2015). In a different work by Goyal et al. (2016), the formation of fuzzy
models was discussed using subtractive and fuzzy C-Means clustering methods.
Recently, Ali et al. (2021) proposed a fuzzy-based classifier to estimate the bread
quality where fuzzy membership vectors are used to select optimal weights in
relevance vector machine (RVM).
Artificial Neural Network, another knowledge-based model, is driven in accor-
dance with the biological nervous system and the brain. ANN constitutes single or
multilayer neurons in an integrated way to solve the nonlinear relationship between
input and output datasets. This technique has several advantages like adaptability,
better management, and fault tolerance in real-time scenarios. However, the accu-
racy of the predicted results depends on the available input datasets to a great
extent. The prediction of output is done using either supervised or unsupervised
learning algorithms (Hoffmann 2003). The most common learning algorithm is the
Backpropagation algorithm to train the input dataset in neural network architecture
(Goh 1995). ANNs are generally exploited for prediction- and classification-based
applications like error prediction and minimization (Boné and Crucianu 2002),
pattern or data recognition (Ripley 2007), image processing (Zhao et al. 2016), and
solar radiation estimation (Singh and Mittal 2020). The implementation of ANN
model is reported by Mouss et al. (2020) to predict the accretion of crack density and
corresponding length in cancellous bone. Thereafter, they conducted a parametric
study to investigate the effects of load level on crack accretion using the ANN
model. Recently, Narayan and Dwivedy (2021) proposed a Bayesian regularized
BPNN model to estimate the biomechanical movements of lower-limb during
healthy walking. The designed model is built upon the kinematic, spatiotemporal,
and biological parameters of the healthy subjects.
Furthermore, Jang (1993) proposed a significant combination of Artificial Neu-
ral Networks and Fuzzy Logic technique, that is, adaptive-network-based fuzzy
inference system (ANFIS). In the study, ANFIS technique is presented using
hybrid learning approach of IF-THEN rules and specified input-output datasets.
This technique has been utilized in various fields of engineering to predict the
desired output. The recent and significant developments in the application of ANFIS
from last 5 years are shown in Fig. 1. In a study by Lei et al. (2008), condition
monitoring of rotating machinery is done using ANFIS and GA techniques. Maher
et al. (2015) exploited the ANFIS model to predict the surface properties in wire-
EDM process. Over last few years, ANFIS is combined with more nature-inspired
optimization algorithms such as cultural, bees, invasive weed, particle swarm, and
firefly algorithms (Tien Bui et al. 2018; Hasanipanah et al. 2018; Yaseen et al. 2018).
Tien Bui et al. (2018) proposed ANFIS models for flood susceptibility mapping
where the parameters of membership function are optimized using cultural-, bees-,
and invasive weed algorithms. The ANFIS along with particle swarm optimization
(PSO) approach is presented to estimate the fragmentation of rock during mine
blasting (Hasanipanah et al. 2018). A similar kind of model is used to predict
Fig. 1 Recent developments in the application of ANFIS
the electricity prices using hybrid form of mutual information (Gahrooei and
Hooshmand 2019). Yaseen et al. (2018) presented a novel freefly algorithm (FFA)-
optimized ANFIS model to predict the rainfall pattern from the Pahang river. They
further compared the proposed model with the standard ANFIS model and found
the proposed to be effective. In a work on predicting leakage locations throughout
the complicated water distribution facility, Yalçın et al. (2018) proposed an ANFIS
approach as a reliable and affordable solution where the training dataset is formed
using sensorized information of acceleration, pressure, and flow rate at specific
points in the distribution facility. Moreover, literature shows many applications of
ANFIS technique in the domain of robotics (Alavandar and Nigam 2008; Manjaree
et al. 2015; Narayan and Singla 2017; Narayan et al. 2018; Chawla and Singla 2019).
Robots play a significant role for many medical- and industry-based applications
(Kim et al. 1987). The position of robot’s end effector in medical surgery is quite
important for better accuracy and precision (Narayan et al. 2018). The identification
and study for a fragment of a protein in the metabolism of human being is
carried out using robot kinematics (Chen et al. 2020). Although, finding forward
kinematics of any robotic system using D-H parameters is a simple task; however,
estimating the inverse kinematic solutions is computationally expensive. Moreover,
the most common available techniques (geometric, algebraic, and numerical) are
not enough efficient due to the incapability of forming closed form solutions,
undesirable solution convergence based on starting point and nonfunctionality
within the singularity zone (Schilling 1996). Therefore, researchers have started to
explore the ANFIS technique to solve the inverse kinematics problem (Duka 2015;
Manjaree et al. 2015; Narayan and Singla 2017; Narayan et al. 2018; Vu et al. 2018;
Abbas et al. 2019).
For a 3-DOF planar manipulator, Duka (2015) proposed an ANFIS-based inverse
kinematic solution with bell membership function. The simulation results were
verified by planning of circular, square, and triangle-shaped trajectory. However,
the quantitative discussion on the deviation of robot’s end effector from the desired
trajectory was not carried out. In a work by Manjaree et al. (2015), an inverse
kinematic problem is solved for 5-DOFs robotic arm using ANFIS and compared
with analytical approach. Moreover, the solutions are validated with experimental
setup for circular trajectory. They have exploited Gaussian and bell MFs in the
ANFIS architecture for their study. In Narayan and Singla (2017), ANFIS approach
is used to solve the inverse kinematic problem for 4-DOFs selective compliance
articulated robot arm (SCARA). The results are validated with the analytical
solutions and found to be promising. One year later, Narayan et al. (2018) presented
the ANFIS model with generalized bell MF to estimate the inverse kinematic
solutions of a patient side medical manipulator. However, the effectiveness of
different fuzzy membership functions in ANFIS architecture is yet to be explored
for the kinematic analysis of robotic manipulators. In other work on path planning
for 3-DOFs excavator arm, Vu et al. (2018) proposed an ANFIS model to generate
the via-points in joint space while following the desired trajectory. They have
considered two cases where number of fuzzy rules is kept constant and varying
for each joint, respectively. The results with different rules are found to be more
effective. In a recent work by Abbas et al. (2019), inverse kinematic solution of
5R robotic manipulator is carried out and further utilized in the tracking control
as desired trajectory. The proposed approach reduces the computational time and
complexity while tracking the desired trajectory.
In this chapter, ANFIS architecture is explained with different fuzzy membership
functions. Thereafter, a 3-R robotic manipulator is considered for the direct and
inverse kinematic modeling. For a desired semicircular path, the ANFIS-based
inverse kinematic solutions for five different MFs are compared with analytical
solutions. The maximum relative deviation is estimated to analyze the effectiveness
of different membership function. Selecting different MFs in literature for path
planning of the robotic arm is supported by this study. Therefore, this study presents
the clarity on selection of particular membership function in the path planning of
industrial robots.
The rest of the chapter is structured as follows: ANFIS architecture is represented
with explanation of five membership functions in section “ANFIS Architecture.”
The forward and inverse kinematic problems are addressed for 3-R robotic manip-
ulator in section “KinematicModeling of 3-DOFs RoboticManipulator.” Section
“Application of ANFIS for 3-DOFs RoboticManipulator” presents the details of
training dataset and implementation of ANFIS model for considered robotic arm.
Section “Comparative Study of FuzzyMembership Functions” illustrates the inverse
kinematic solutions and generation of desired path for each membership function,
showing a state of comparison. Moreover, the effect of selection of MFs in different
literature works is also presented. Section “Conclusions” underlines the conclusions

and future aspects of the work.
ANFIS Architecture
The augmented neuro-fuzzy strategy, named ANFIS (Jang 1993), is the hybrid form
of fuzzy logics and artificial neural networks. This strategy abridges the inference
system of fuzzy logic with learning capability of neural network for better level
of inference. In ANFIS, backpropagation or hybrid method is exploited to alter
the inferences of the membership functions. A neuro-fuzzy strategy utilizes the
fuzzy-based input variables and non-fuzzy input-based output variables (Takagi and
Sugeno 1993). The ANFIS architecture is demonstrated with five prominent layers:
node layer, membership layer, rule layer, defuzzification layer, and output layer, as
shown in Fig. 2.
The first layer, that is, node layer delivers the input parameters to the next
layer by forming a fuzzy set. The corresponding set acts as an input for the next
layer. The second layer, named as membership layer, evaluates the firing strength
based on multiplication of every membership function with each other. Thereafter,
the respective degree of the input bounds for the third layer is regulated using
a firing strength. In the third layer, that is, rule layer, activation level for each
Fig. 2 Schematic representation of ANFIS structure

Fig. 3 Membership functions
rule is estimated by relating each firing strength with summation of all firing
strengths. In the fourth layer, that is, defuzzification layer, a set of subsequent design
parameters form a linear relationship with premise parameters using IF-THEN rules
and provide resulting output. In last layer, that is, output layer, the ANFIS model
is trained automatically for required MF using least square and back propagation
algorithm.
There are many types of membership function available in the literature (Narayan
and Singla 2017; Sambariya and Prasad 2017). In this work, the considered mem-
bership functions, as shown in Fig. 3, are triangular (trimf ), trapezoidal (trapmf ),
Gaussian (gaussmf ), generalized bell curve (gbellmf ), and sigmoidal (dsigmf ).
The effectiveness of using these membership functions in ANFIS architecture
is compared while solving the inverse kinematic problem of a robotic arm. A
systematic explanation of all the MFs is given below.
Triangular Membership Function
A triangular MF, defined by (1), depends on three parameters ã, b, and ć. These
parameters specify the three corner point coordinates on the x-axis and form the
triangular MF.

x − ã ć − x
a , b, ć) = max min
F (x; , ,0 (1)
b − ã ć − b
Trapezoidal Membership Function
A trapezoidal membership function is illustrated in (2). It relies on four parameters

ã, b, ć, and d̄. These parameters denote the x-coordinates at four corner points which
form the MF. It is to be noted that trapezoidal MF reduces to triangular one for b
equal to ć.

d-−x
F (x; ã, b, ć, d-) = max min x− ã
b−ã , 1, d-−ć , 0 (2)
Since triangular and trapezoidal MFs are made up of straight lines; therefore,
not smooth at corner points. For smooth corners, Gaussian, generalized bell, and
sigmoidal MFs are introduced.
Gaussian Membership Function
As defined by (3), an axisymmetric Gaussian membership function is characterized

by two parameters σ and ã which signify the curve width and distance from the
starting point (origin).
−(x−ã)2
F (x; σ, ã) = e 2σ 2 (3)
Generalized Bell Membership Function
The generalized bell MF is defined by (4), where ã, b, and ć denote the width, shape,
and center of the MF, respectively. In the expression, b is usually positive; however,
it could be negative for inverted bell-shaped MF. The bell-shaped MF comprises
of one extra parameter than Gaussian MF, thereby increasing one DOF to tune the
steepness at crossover positions.
1
F (x; ã, b, ć) = 2b (4)
|x−ć|
1+ |ã|
The Gaussian and generalized bell MFs can easily attain the smoothness
behavior; however, unable to deliver the asymmetric curve. Therefore, the sigmoidal
MF is utilized for the same.
Sigmoidal Membership Function
A sigmoidal MF , specified by (5), depends on two parameters ã and ć. In this MF,
the parameter ã adjusts the slope at the crossover point (x = ć). It could be of open
right or left in shape, based on the sign of ã. For a closed MF, two sigmoidal MFs
can be used.
1
a , ć) =
F (x; (5)
1 + e−ã(x−ć)
Kinematic Modeling of 3-DOFs Robotic Manipulator
For any robotic manipulator or arm with multiple degrees of freedom, the kinematic
modeling can be categorized into direct kinematic and inverse kinematic modeling
(Schilling 1996). In forward kinematic analysis, the position as well as the angular
orientation of the robot’s end effector can be evaluated by employing the joint
variables. On the other hand, inverse kinematic analysis describes the procedure
to obtain the joint angles and offsets for the desired location and orientation. In this
section, following a similar approach given in Narayan and Singla (2017), a 3-DOFs
robotic manipulator with RRR configuration (three revolute joints) is considered
for kinematic analysis. The 3-DOFs robotic arm is designed in the SolidWorks
software, as shown in Fig. 4. The coordinate frames are properly assigned using
D-H conventions, as shown in Fig. 5.
In Table 1, the respective joint and end-effector movements are specified in a
detailed manner. The D-H parameters in terms of joint offset, link length, joint angle,
and twist angles are tabulated in Table 2 for the formulation of direct kinematic. The
analytical approach to estimate the inverse kinematic solutions for the robotic arm
is formulated using algebraic method.
In general, the conversion matrix Kii−1 from frame Fi-1 to the adjacent frame Fi
can be defined as (6):
Fig. 4 CAD model of the 3R

manipulator
Fig. 5 DH frame representation of 3R manipulator
Table 1 Workspace for 3-DOFs manipulator

S. No. Link type Robot segment Movement direction Defined workspace
1. First link Waist Right/left (− π/4): π/4 (rad)
2. Second link Shoulder Right/left (− π/4): π/4 (rad)
3. Wrist Wrist roll Clockwise/anticlockwise (− π/4): π/4 (rad)
⎡ ⎤
Cθi −Sθi Cαi Sθi Sαi ai Cθi
⎢ Sθi Cθi Cαi −Cθi Sαi ai Sθi ⎥
Kii−1 =⎢
⎣ 0
⎥ (6)
Sαi Cαi di ⎦
0 0 0 1
Table 2 DH parameters of 3R manipulator

Link length ai Twist angle α i
S.No. Joint angle Θ i (rad) Joint offset di (mm) (mm) (rad)
1. Θ1 d1 = 400 a1 = 250 π
2. Θ2 0 a2 = 150 0
3. Θ3 d3 = 150 0 0
From Table 2, the D-H parameters are placed in (3) to formulate the direct
kinematic relations for 3-DOFs robotic arm with the product of K10 , K21 , and K32 .
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
.. Cθ1−2−3 −Sθ1−2−3 0 a1 Cθ1 + a2 Cθ1−2
⎢ R . p 1×3 ⎥ ⎢ 0 a1 Sθ1 + a2 Sθ1−2 ⎥
3×3
K30 = ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ Sθ1−2−3 Cθ1−2−3 ⎥
⎣ ... ... ... ⎦ = ⎣ 0 0 1 d1 − d3 ⎦
.
0 0 0 .. 1 0 0 0 1
(7)
where, Cθ i = cos(θ i ), Sθ i = sin (θ i ), Cα i = cos(α i ), and Sα i = sin(α i ),

Cθ i – j = cos(θ i – θ j ), Sθ i – j = sin(θ i – θ j ), Cθ i – j – k = cos(θ i – θ j – θ k ),
Sθ i – j – k = sin(θ i – θ j – θ k ),
Using Eq. (4),
px = a1 Cθ1 + a2 Cθ1−2 (8)
py = a1 Sθ1 + a2 Sθ1−2 (9)
pz = d1 − d3 (10)
where px , py , pz indicate translation in x, y, and z direction, respectively.

After simplifying the above relations, the inverse kinematic solutions, that is, the
joint variables (joint angles in this case) can be obtained in the form of position
variables.

px 2 + py 2 − a1 2 − a2 2
θ2 = ±arccos (11)
2a1 a2

a2 Sθ2 px + (a1 + a2 Cθ2 ) py
θ1 = arctan (12)
(a1 + a2 Cθ2 ) px − a2 Sθ2 py

Sθ1−2−3
θ3 = θ1 − θ2 − arctan (13)
Cθ1−2−3
As it can be clearly observed from Eqs. (11)–(13), obtaining multiple solutions

is a challenging task with analytical approach. Furthermore, if there will be an
increase in degrees-of-freedom, several computational complexities will rise in
estimating the inverse kinematic solutions due to the non-closure form of equations
(Narayan and Singla 2017; Narayan et al. 2018). Therefore, to address these
problems, the intelligent techniques like ANFIS can be used in a promising manner
to evaluate the inverse kinematics solution. This approach guarantees the reduction
of computational cost with the consumption of minimal time.
Application of ANFIS for 3-DOFs Robotic Manipulator
ANFIS technique executes in two stages: training and testing (Narayan et al. 2018).
In first one, the tip coordinates (x, y and z) and joint variables (θ 1 , θ 2 , and θ 3 )
of the 3-R manipulator work as training input and output parameters. Here, three
training datasets are formed as (x, y, z, θ 1 ), (x, y, z, θ 2 ), and (x, y, z, Sθ 1–2–4 ,
Cθ 1–2–4 , θ 3 ), respectively. In first two datasets, five MFs are selected for each input
parameter and comprises of total 125 rules. The effect of wrist roll is considered in
the third dataset leading to the five input parameters. The third dataset also contains
five MFs for each input parameters and having a total of 3125 rules. The fuzzy
rules are formed to institute the knowledge base. After carrying out the numerical
experiment, 10 epochs are found to be efficient for whole training process. As soon
as required tolerance is attained by the architecture, the training procedure turns out
to be stopped. In the testing phase, modifiable limits are utilized due to their adaptive
behavior. Thereafter, the validation with the independent data is carried out in the
second phase. Conventionally, ANFIS exploits two different learning techniques
to correlate the input and output sets; backpropagation- and hybrid-based. In case
of backpropagation-based learning method, a gradient descent algorithm is used to
compute the node error during ANFIS training. On the other hand, hybrid form of
learning method employs a least square method with the gradient descent algorithm
to adjust the errors while training. In this work, the hybrid form of learning is utilized
with the input-output dataset while training the ANFIS architecture.
A detailed implementation of ANFIS algorithm for the robotic manipulator is
shown in Fig. 6. Initially, the input parameters are defined in terms of joint variables
using DH frame assignment. These parameters form an input dataset required during
training of ANFIS architecture. In case of robot path planning, the input dataset is
also known as training workspace which could be less than or equal to the actual
workspace of the robotic arm manipulator. Based on the input dataset, the Cartesian
coordinates (x, y, and z) are computed using forward kinematic equations. Moreover,
if the considered robotic manipulator is planar one, the value in z-direction is
kept constant; otherwise, keep varying with respect to the time. The coordinate
vectors constitute an output dataset in designed ANFIS model. An input-output
training dataset is altogether formed using vectors of joint variables and Cartesian
coordinates. After forming training dataset, fuzzy inference system (fis) models are
generated using specified type and number of membership functions. A separate
Fig. 6 Implementation of ANFIS algorithm (Narayan et al. 2018)
membership function is allocated for every input parameter, that is, joint variable.
The type and number of MF pertaining to the input parameters could be similar or
different at a time. However, in the current study, a similar specification of MF is
kept for all three input parameters at once.
Moving further with fis models, the ANFIS architecture is trained using anfis
syntax for certain number of epochs. The training is carried out with display
settings labeled as 0 or 1 where 0 and 1 suppress and display the error results at
each epoch, respectively. Thereafter, desired trajectory is defined within the trained
input workspace. Invoking the evalfis syntax, the joint variables are evaluated using
desired Cartesian vectors and trained ANFIS architectures. Moreover, the desired
Cartesian coordinates are also fed into the analytical-based inverse kinematic
solutions to compute the joint variables. Finally, the analytical and ANFIS-based
inverse kinematic solutions are compared for permissible error tolerance. If the
deviation of ANFIS-based solutions is within the limits, the results are considered as
satisfactory; otherwise, the tuning of training parameters like dataset range, type and
number of MFs, and number of epochs is carried out. This process repeats itself till
the deviations are found to be satisfactory and attains the permissible tolerance level.
In general, though the allowable tolerance level is considered as approaching to zero,
it varies one application to other. For example, in case of surgical manipulation, the
permissible error could be approximately 10−3 mm as mentioned by Narayan et al.
(2018). In contrast, this error could be in the range of 0.1–10 mm for path planning
of mobile manipulators and humanoid robots.
Comparative Study of Fuzzy Membership Functions
Following the Manjaree et al. (2015), Narayan and Singla (2017), and Narayan et al.
(2018), a desired semicircular path/trajectory for 3-DOFs robotic manipulator is
considered as
x0 = 0;
y0 = 0;
r = 400;
x = x0 + rcosθ ;
y = y0 + rsinθ ;
z = 250
where, −45 ≤ θ ≤ 45 (degrees)
where x0 and y0 denote the manipulator’s base in Cartesian coordinates. The radius
of the semicircular trajectory is represented by ‘r’. x, y, and z denote the position
coordinates in the respective directions. Considering the 3-R robotic manipulator as
a planar one, z coordinate is kept constant with varying x and y positions for the
desired trajectory.
The responses for joint variables (θ 1 , θ 2 , θ 3 ) for the desired path with every
membership function are plotted using MATLAB, as shown in Fig. 7a–c.The
ANFIS-based inverse kinematic solutions for five membership functions along with
the analytical one are shown with six different color based marker type. Total
number of samples (N) used are 90 for all simulation runs. To clearly differentiate
the deviations of ANFIS-based inverse kinematic solutions from analytical one,
magnifier boxes are drawn at 69th, 49th, and 38th sample for θ 1 , θ 2 , and θ 3 ,
respectively. Moreover, percentage relative error for each MF is estimated at the
maximum deviation of every joint angle from the desired one. Table 3 presents the
detailed analysis of the same, where the sample number (at x-axis) for maximum
deviation is shown in the brackets. It can be noted that the maximum deviations are
observed at the starting or near the end of the solutions. This is due to the upper
and lower bounds of training workspace near which predicted solutions are not
Fig. 7 (a) Response of “θ1 ” with “Number of samples.” (b) Response of “θ2 ” with “Number of
samples.” (c) Response of “θ3 ” with “Number of samples”
Table 3 Relative percentage error at maximum deviation

Membership Relative Percentage Error
Function (MF) (θ1 ) (θ2 ) (θ3 )
Gaussian 6.05 (n = 82) 12.23 (n = 82) 11.47 (n = 9)
gbell 7.28 (n = 83) 16.40 (n = 8) 13.95 (n = 9)
Sigmoidal 9.34 (n = 81) 15.20 (n = 81) 18.36 (n = 80)
Trapezoidal 9.55 (n = 82) 21.80 (n = 9) 22.00 (n = 70)
Triangular 16.81 (n = 90) 39.10 (n = 89) 40.97 (n = 89)
accurate. The accuracy of predicting the inverse kinematic solution degrades further
and behaves erratically, especially if desired trajectory is completely out of training
workspace.
It can be observed from Table 3, the relative percentage error at maximum
deviation is found to be lowest with Gaussian MF (6.05, 12.23, and 11.47)
and highest with triangular MF (16.81, 39.10, and 40.97) for all joint variables.
Moreover, the relative percentage errors at maximum deviation with Gaussian and
generalized bell MFs are close to each other as compared to other MFs. The typical
order of MFs with increasing relative percentage error is Gaussian, gbell, sigmoidal,
trapezoidal, and triangular, respectively. However, for second joint variable (θ 2 ), the
relative percentage error at maximum deviation is found to be less with sigmoidal
MF (15.20) in comparison to the bell one (16.40). Furthermore, for Gaussian and
generalized bell MFs, the order of joint variables with increasing relative percentage
error is θ 1 , θ 2 , and θ 3 . The order changes and turns out to be θ 1 , θ 3 , and θ 2 for
remaining three MFs. From the simulation runs, effect of Gaussian and generalized
bell MFs are found to be more promising for kinematic analysis of 3R manipulator.
Following the effectiveness of MFs, a qualitative state of justification for
selecting them can be explored in case of different literature works. For instance,
in Manjaree et al. (2015), total eight combinations of dataset are considered in
view of multiple solutions for 5-DOF robotic manipulator. After computing average
of percentage error, the least values with Gaussian and bell MF are observed for
seventh and fourth dataset. Moreover, in case of tracking a circular trajectory, the
Gaussian MF-based ANFIS model is found to be more effective by 64.12%, 84.16%,
and 98.13% in x-, y-, and z-direction, respectively. In other work by Narayan and
Singla (2017), Gaussian MF is exploited in ANFIS training architecture to predict
the desired and analytical trajectory. The maximum deviation of end-effector from
the desired trajectory is 0.3774 mm, 0.4135 mm, and 0.0027 mm in x-, y-, and
z-direction, respectively. The analytical one is also found to be in close agreement
with the desired trajectory. However, in another work by Narayan et al. (2018), the
generalized bell MF is selected in ANFIS architecture during path planning of a
5-DOF patient-side surgical manipulator. The maximum absolute deviations
between desired an ANFIS predicted trajectory are 1.07%, 1.32%, and 0.19%
in x-, y-, and z-direction, respectively. All the errors are found within the tolerance
level of 10−3 as acceptable in case of surgical procedures. Moreover, for robot’s

home position, the absolute deviation of joint variables with PRRR configuration
is 2.5 mm, 4.22◦ , 0.41◦ , 1.22◦ , and 3.01◦ . It is worth to be mentioned that authors
have applied subtractive clustering method to generate the fis models instead of
grid partitioning due to the number of inputs greater than five. Therefore, it can
be understood that bell MF is more effective than Gaussian one for subtractive
clustering method.
At last, it is worth mentioning that the accuracy of ANFIS-predicted solutions
is not regulated only by selection of MFs, but also depends on other training
parameters such as number of MFs, number of epochs, shape of desired trajectory,
and training workspace.
Conclusions
In this chapter, the significance of MFs’ selection in the ANFIS approach, for
kinematic analysis of 3R manipulator, is studied as Gaussian, generalized bell,
sigmoidal, trapezoidal, and triangular. Initially, the inverse kinematic solutions for
3R manipulator have been estimated for semicircular trajectory using analytical
method. Thereafter, ANFIS technique has been utilized along with five MFs to
prove its worth by performing inverse kinematic analysis for same trajectory. The
avoidance of finding inverse kinematic equations and solving their nonclosure forms
are the noteworthy benefits of ANFIS technique. The effect of five MFs has been
compared with each other, for three joint variables, by evaluating relative percentage
error at maximum deviation. The Gaussian and generalized bell MFs have shown
least relative percentage error at maximum deviation in comparison to other ones.
This comparative analysis has been carried out at lower computational cost than
the analytical approach. However, proper ANFIS training and training parameters
adjustments (epochs, dataset, and number of MF) are required to realize the true
potential of each membership function. At last, the selection of particular MF in
the literature works has been discussed for ANFIS-based path planning of robotic
manipulator. In future, authors will try to analyze the effect of different MFs
for obstacle avoidance and complex trajectories. It would also be interesting to
investigate the bounds of permissible deviations from the desired path with varied
nature of applications. Moreover, as application of ANFIS is mostly limited to the
path planning of nonredundant industrial manipulator; therefore, investigating the
potential of ANFIS approach for redundant ones is another concern which could be
explored in the future.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge the support received from Mechatron-
ics and Robotics Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.
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Mobile Robot for Gas Leakage Detection
System in Pipelines 44
Gnana K. Sheela
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122
Related Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1123
Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126
Data Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1128
Image Enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1128
Histogram Equalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1128
Image Thresholding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1129
Binarization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1129
Feature Extraction and Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1129
Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1129
LCD Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
Thermal Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
SET UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
Mobile Platform Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
Sensing Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
Inspection Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1134
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1135
Abstract
Gas is a matter that is freely moving. Gas can be either in solid state or liquid
state. On compressing under high pressure and transported through pipelines.
Transportation of gas through pipeline can create some difficulties. If the
pipelines undergo any corrosion or any leakage at flanges or joints, the gas will
be leaked. So in order to prevent the leakage, much faster and safer method
should be important. An automated system is required to detect the gas leakage
G. K. Sheela ()
APJ Abdul Technological University, Trivandrum, India
1122 G. K. Sheela
properly. The gas releases a small amount of energy that can only be detected by
infrared radiation. Thermal imaging is a technique is used as a method to detect
the gas leakage because it is used for improving visibility of objects in a dark
environment by detecting the objects infrared radiation and creating an image
based on that information. After obtaining the image using thermal camera it is
converted to thermal image using image processing. The thermal camera captures
the thermal image. This thermal image can only show the area of gas leakage.
The position where the leakage happened can be obtained by using distance
calculation. The distance will be sent to emergency number through GSM. Thus
it creates an alert and makes necessary precaution to prevent further leakage and
to protect from huge disaster to both environment and human life.
Keywords
Robot · Gas Leakage · Thermal Image · Image processing
Introduction
Most of the chemi compounds and gasses are invisible to the human eye. Several
companies work with these substances before, during, and after their production
processes. Most of the companies have strict regulations to trace the gas leakage
to rectify the problem and report any leaks of gaseous compounds. Also there
are regulations regarding the procedures used to carry out. While searching for
potential gas leaks, all systems at the points have to be checked that may or may not
have been identified. These inspections are carried out regularly for identifying the
leakage. Technologies currently in existance to identify the gas leakage may expose
human operators to invisible and harmful chemicals. It will produce inaccurate
measurements. The gases can be toxic or nontoxic. The continuous inhaling of
nontoxic gas can also eventually cause health hazards.
The gas leakage cannot be detected by naked eyes because the energy released
from the object is very small. But can be read by using thermal images. Thermal
imaging technique is used for improving the visibility of objects in a dark environ-
ment. It is done by detecting the infrared radiation emitted by object and creating an
image based on that information obtained. Infrared technology uses the principle of
infrared radiation to measure the temperature and the radiant energy of the object.
Cameras can be used in a number of different ways to inspect industrial field. There
are several benefits for using thermal imaging techniques. Measurements can be
carried out rapidly and at relatively low cost and most importantly problems can be
identified at an early stage.
The research work aims to develop a system that is able to perform inspections
in industrial areas without having to access hazardous areas directly and without
requiring any human presence. The proposed mobile robot can be used for routine
inspections for targeted inspections of specific system parts. The independent
mobility of the system was implemented with various navigation sensors and
44 Mobile Robot for Gas Leakage Detection System in Pipelines 1123
inspection module. This system is also equipped with video and gas sensing system,
which enables to inspect system parts that were difficult to inspect by a human
operator. The development of innovative monitoring system helps to improve the
reliability, efficiency, and it will reduce the cost required for the inspections. At the
same time, it explains technical side, time-consuming, and labor intensive tasks.
Important reason for using the system is that, it will minimize discharges of gas and
other volatile organic substances. The role of leak detection can be evaluated either
in the determination of spill size and dispersion or as a stand-alone element that is
then used to adjust previous consequence estimates. The former approach is logical
and consistent with the real-world scenarios. The benefit of leak detection is indeed
its potential impact on spill size and dispersion (Lukonge and Cao 2020).
Currently existing technologies uses a network of sensors which are held
stationary at particular locations. The main drawback is that gas leakage cannot
be identified correctly. After sensor giving an indication that leakage has happened,
a human operator has to identify the area were leakage occurred. But it will be
with less accuracy. So there occurs a need for robotic system which equipped
with sensors and camera to identify the leakage. A new technology called thermal
imaging is used here. By thermal image processing the area of leakage can be
identified. Figure 1 shows the Flow chart of different gas pipeline leakage detection
approaches.
Related Works
Kamal et al. (2006) introduced Air Quality Index (AQI) system which plays an
important role in conveying to both decision-makers and the general public. The
objective of this method is to investigate the effectiveness of Artificial Neural
Network. BPNN is a method is used to predict the AAQ (Kamal et al. 2006). So et al.
(2007) introduced laser spectroscopic trace gas sensor method for gas detection.
Laser SPECKs integrates miniaturized quartz enhanced photo acoustic gas sensing
technology. This uses an infrared laser spectroscopy technique. Traditional gas
sensing devices has an advantage such that same sensitivity and specificity. This
reduces cost and power consumption. The basic principles behind laser based trace
gas detection methods, design issues, and outlines are the implementation of a
miniaturized trace gas sensor from commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components.
Gas sensor implements quartz enhanced photo acoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS), a
new technology. The merits are high specificity (So et al. 2007).
Wang et al. (2010) developed an ambient air quality monitoring technique with
wireless sensor networks. One of the common poisonous gas is carbon monoxide
produced from the incomplete oxidation of carbon during the combustion process.
Necessary equipment needs to be housed and operated inside a room, and protected
from rain, dust, and sunlight. Thus these preventive issues make this method
complicated, cumbersome, and are expensive (Wang et al. 2010).
Wang et al. (2010) put forward an urban air quality monitoring system based
on the wireless sensor network technology and integrated with the global system
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Pipeline Leakage Detection Methods
Exterior methods Visual/Biological Methods Interior/computatonal

based methods
Acoustic sensing
AUV/Drone Mass/Volume
Accelerometer
Trained
Negative pressure
Fibre optic sensing Dog/Human
Vapour sampling Pressure point

Visual-based bolted
analysis
joints monitoring
Infrared
thermography
Digital signal
Ground penetration
Dynamic modelling
Flurescence
Electromechanical State estimators

impedance
Capacitive sensing
Other methods
Fig. 1 Flow chart of different gas leakage detection approaches (Adegboye et al. 2019)
for mobile communications. The system consists of sensor node, a gateway, and a
back end platform. The advantages are small, easy to set up, and inexpensive. The
performances of WSNs are subject to unit computing speed, memory capacity and
stability of communication, etc. In order to overcome the limitations of hardware,
many issues on WSNs software have been considered, such as routing protocols,
media access control, coverage and power management. Here it proposes an
automatic micro scaled air quality monitoring system for areas with high density
of population and vehicles (Thamrin et al. 2012).
Thamrin et al. (2012) put an idea about Simultaneous Localization and Mapping
Based Real-Time Inter-Row Tree Tracking Technique for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(UAV). This is used for small-scaled unmanned aerial vehicle where substantial
devices or equipment that has enormous weight and size. There is several other
row detection technique, they are vision based, laser-based, and stereo vision-based
techniques which are found to be an accurate row-detection technique. In order
to monitor the autonomic vehicles and robots in correct way, the GPS receiver
allows for precise navigation and localization in the previous implementation (Rossi
and Brunelli 2013). Rossi and Brunelli (2013) developed a method to reveal and
measure natural gas presence in air. The advantage is that it extends the autonomy
of battery powered system. The most important characterization of the sensing
device has been conducted using a range of humidity conditions to demonstrate
the effectiveness of the proposed approach. There are two different duty cycle rates
that are characterized and simulated to demonstrate it. Thus this demonstrates an
innovative strategy for chemo resistive MOX gas sensors. These gas sensors can
achieve ultra-low power performance in environmental monitoring applications.
Thus it achieved a remarkable energy saving in real-time applications where sensors
are always switched on (Rossi et al. 2014).
Rossi et al. (2014) developed a portable Gas Sensing System on UAVs for
Gas Leakage localization. For environmental monitoring and measuring of volatile
chemical concentration gas leakage recognition is important. UAVs are used to
measure spatially distributed gas concentration. This is quite recent and few efforts
have been dedicated to the design of integrated sensing instruments. That aims at the
optimization of crucial features as weight, dimension, and energy autonomy. The
Gas Sensing System (GSS) is a fully autonomous board. That is based on a 32bit
MCU with 30 min autonomy (on its own battery), data storing, wireless connectivity
for real-time feedback, and embeds a custom micro-machined MOX (Metal Oxide)
sensor (Manekiya and Arulmozhivarman 2016).
Adnan et al. (2015) proposed a new technique for gas leakage detection. The
pipelines are operated for a number of years and it will tend to corrode. If the gas
filled pipelines leakage happened, it can lead to explosion. The detection of leak in
gas pipeline is more difficult compared to water because of the poor signal noise
to ratio (SNR). The noise coming from gas flow itself is larger. The geometrical
features can also be one of the noises and make the leak detection in gas pipeline
more complicated (Jadin and Ghazali 2014).
Manekiya and Arulmozhivarman (2016) developed a new technique for leakage
detection using infrared thermography. It is used in many fields such as environment,
military, industry, etc. IR thermography can detect several problems before they
occurs and especially helpful to detect the overloads, worn, and circuit brakes. A
new technique was introduced for the flow detection in pipe lines and extracts the
effected leakage areas in the pipe. There are three ways of transmission for thermal
energy. They are conduction, convection, and radiation. This uses basic concepts
of image processing using MATLAB. IR thermography camera works based on its
spatial resolution. This camera works from a particular distance. Thus the object
should be kept at a particular distance and camera should focus that object. Camera
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can detect the infrared rays emitted by the object. By using thermal equipment, the
object can be detected. IR camera can distinguish the object by cooler area and
warm area showing in the thermal image with a different color of that particular
area (Adnan et al. 2015).
Adegboye et al. (2019) reviewed different leakage detection and localization in
pipeline systems and their strengths and weaknesses are highlighted (Adegboye
et al. 2019). An acoustic emission technology for pipeline (2020) leak detection
has been explained. The recent developments are discussed and compared with
conventional techniques (Lukonge and Cao 2020).
Theory
The leakage of gas in the pipelines is one of the major problem that present economy
faces. The gas leaked can easily spread in atmosphere. This will later cause pollution
and health problems. Figure 2 describes the flow chart of gas leakage detection
system. The system function starts with the detection of gas leakage. So there should
present an automated system with more reliable and safer methods to detect the
leakage. The gas is invisible to naked eye. It can only be identified by using thermal
imaging technology. Because the energy radiated by the gas will be smaller, it can
only be detected using thermal camera. The leakage detection is identified using
sensors. After the gas leakage is identified, the camera captures the image. Then
transmit the image to image processing for identifying the leaked area. If leakage is
identified, a dialog box appears showing the results as gas is detected or not. When
Fig. 2 Flow chart of gas

Start
leakage detection system
Leakage is identified
Capture Image and transmit
Gas detected
No
Yes
Calculate Distance
Send location and alert
Stop
leakage is displayed, the distance from the starting location and current position will
be send as a message to control room.
The thermal imaging technique is used to locate or obtain the image of an
object by using the heat given off by that. It was developed for military purposes
firstly, later this technique was started using for firefighting, medical, security,
transportation, and industries. It works at ambient temperature. Grey scale is a
common nature. The black color is for cold objects. And white color for hot objects.
And the depth of variation indicates the temperature change. Thermal imaging
adds color to the objects. The thermal image is formed based on heat signature.
Thermal imaging technique uses a thermal camera. There is a phased array to scan
the focused light. The phased array is a part of infrared-detector elements. The
detector creates a very detailed temperature pattern called a thermogram. Infrared
thermography is equipment or a method, which detects infrared energy, emitted
from the object and converts it to temperature then displays image of temperature
distribution.
Gaussian filtering is a technique that is used for removing noise in image
processing. Gaussian noise is a white noise. This requires mean and variance as
the additional inputs. It converts the images to blur images and remove noise from
original images. They are also known as linear smoothing filters. The Gaussian mask
comprises certain elements which are determined by a Gaussian function. Gaussian
blur is also known as Gaussian smoothing which is the result of blurring an image
by a Gaussian function. It is a widely used effect typically to reduce image noise
and reduce detail.
There are five steps in thermal image processing. They are data acquisition,
image pre-processing, image processing, feature extraction, and classification deci-
sion. Data acquisition is the process whereby how the data were acquired. In this
step, the tools are used in order to get the data. Image pre-processing can be defined
as the process that we want to enhance and improve the original image to be used
in next process which is called image processing. Image processing is an important
stage in methodology because at this stage the image will be analyzed and digitized
in order to get the desired image. Generally, feature extraction is the process of
creating features to be used in the classification. Classification process is the process
to make decisions based on test and analysis done on the image [18]. The Fig. 3
describes about the block diagram of image processing.
Data Acquisition Image Enhancement Apply Gaussian filter Histogram

Equalization
Image Thresholding Binarization Erosion Classification
Fig. 3 Block diagram for thermal image processing

1128 G. K. Sheela
Data Acquisition
In this step, data were acquired by using an thermal camera and save as AVI
(Audio Video Interleaved) file (Jadin and Ghazali 2014). Thermal camera is used for
collecting data.After recording the video of the gas situation, that video is converted
into image in JPEG image format by using MATLAB coding. There are three states
for the leakages are described in figure. They are before leakage, during leakage
and after leakage. The gas leakage is clearly appeared. The color of the surrounding
changes as the gas released. The problem on using digital camera is that, the changes
of the surrounding color cannot be seen. The hole of the leakage is invisible through
digital camera, so this is the main reason why thermal camera is more preferred
in thermal image processing compared to the normal digital camera. Tracks could
be extracted by video. Video is converted to frame by frame. The pixels with
same thermal signature are grouped. These pixels are later grouped to objects. The
parameters such as the amount of thermal signature similarity, proximity of objects,
etc. are considered for grouping same pixels. Efficiency of track identification using
observed-based counts was tested the tracks within segments of sample video.
The difference in count was a part of parameterization. Original track attributes
including measures of thermal intensity, object size, and rate of travel concerns the
view.
Image Enhancement
Image enhancement means the process that lies on the image pre-processing steps.
This is important in order to remove noise from the original image because most
of the original images are unclear and blurred. Image will be clear in appearance
compared to the original one. RGB image consists of three color arrays which
are red, green, and blue. Thus these color arrays needs to be converted into
grayscale. After this step, the image is enhanced by image filtering and noise
removing.
Histogram Equalization
Histogram equalization is a technique in which the dynamic range of the histogram

of an image is increased. Thus the output image contains a uniform distribution of
intensities. These techniques can be used on a whole image or just on a part
of an image. It redistributes intensity distributions. In this case, if the histogram
of any image has many peaks and valleys, it will still have peaks and valley after
equalization, but peaks and valley will be shifted. Due to this, spreading is a better
term than flattening to describe histogram equalization. Each pixel is assigned a new
intensity value. This value is based on its previous intensity level.
Image Thresholding
The coolest region is identified by using image thresholding. After the binarization
process, it is easy to analyze the image. Images are classified based on the pixel
value in the eroded image. The arrow in the figure shows the area of thresholding
process. After the detection of coolest region, the image is once again converted into
a grayscale image in order to enhance the coolest region. By using thermal camera
the video is recorded and then abstracted to be an image.
The original image is converted to a grayscale image in the first step. After that
the filtering process takes part. Then thresholding process, binarization, process
using im2bw also are applied, but there has no change to the image. The output
is not visible. So we can conclude that the gas leakage does not exist for this image
(Jadin and Ghazali 2014).
Binarization
The Binarization Method is that it converts the gray scale image (0 up to 256 gray
levels) into a black and white image (0 or 1). The binarized image can give more
accuracy in character recognition as compared to original image because noise is
present in the original image. The main problem is that which binarization algorithm
is appropriate for all images. The selection of the binarization algorithm is difficult.
This is true in the case of historical documents images with variation in contrast
and illumination. Two types of algorithms are: (a) Global Binarization (b) Local
Binarization. The global binarization methods use single threshold value for the
whole image and the local binarization method use the threshold value calculated
locally pixel by pixel or region by region (Puneet and Garg 2013).
Feature Extraction and Decision
Feature extraction is the process is the value of the eroded image which is in binary
value. The image will tell that the leakage happened or not based on the feature
extracted. After getting coolest region of the image, the image needs to convert
to binary to easy analysis. Finally, the morphology technique was used in order
to achieve the desired output. The closing and erosion operations are used. In this
project, the image was classified based on the pixel value that we extract in the
eroded image (Jadin and Ghazali 2014).
Description
This section consists of ARM microcontroller (LPC2148), LCD display, motor

driver, GSM, camera, and sensor. The ARM microcontroller is used in this project
because the power consumption is less in this controller. The voltage required is
1130 G. K. Sheela
LCD LCD
SENSOR
DRIVER DISPLAY
ARM
Micro controller
THERMAL (LPC2148) DUAL H
CAMERA MOTOR
BRIDGE
RESET USART GSM
Fig. 4 Hardware block diagram
3.3 V. LCD display is used to display the value of gas sensed by the sensors. The
sensors are interfaced to ADC pin of ARM microcontroller. After sensing the ADC
value, it is converted in to digital values. These digital values are displayed on LCD
display. A camera is interfaced to this controller. This is used to identify the gas
leakage if happened. For the robotic mechanism a motor is interfaced. The motor
is interfaced using dual H bridge circuit. The need for dual H Bridge is that for
proper working of motor; the current should flow in two directions. Only a H bridge
circuit can make current flow in two directions. The message showing the leakage
has happened is send to the control room using a GSM. The GSM is interfaced using
USART (Fig. 4).
ARM Microcontroller LPC 2148 is used. The features are 128-bit wide inter-
face/accelerator that enables high-speed 60 MHz operation, Single flash sector or
full chip erase in 400 ms and Full-speed compliant device controller with 2 kB of
endpoint RAM [20]. Keil software is used for Dual H bridge. L293D is a Motor
driver IC which allows DC motor to drive on either direction. It consists of two
DC motors simultaneously in any direction. It means that it is possible to control
two DC motor with a single L293D IC. Dual H-bridge is a motor driver integrated
circuit (IC). It works based on the concept of H-bridge. Voltage is needed to change
its direction. Then only the motor can rotate in clockwise or anticlockwise direction;
therefore, these ICs are ideal for driving a DC motor. In a single chip there are two
h-Bridge circuit inside the IC. It can rotate two dc motor independently. Its size
is important factor. Based on its size, it is widely used in robotic application for
controlling DC motors.
LCD Display
LCD means Liquid Crystal Display. It is the technology used for displaying in
notebook and other smaller computers. LCD allows displays to be much thinner.
One of the advantages is that it consumes less power than LED and gas-display
displays because it works on the principle of blocking light rather than emitting it.
Thermal Camera
Thermal camera is used to take an image using infrared radiation. The operating
wavelength of a thermal camera is 14,000 nm. The main features are to visualize
gas leaks in real time, it can be used for temperature measurement applications;
inspect without interruption of process and it can reduce inspection time.
SET UP
Mobile Platform Robot
A mobile robot means it is an automatic machine that is capable of locomotion.

They have the capability to move around in their environment and are not fixed to
one physical location. Mobile robots can be autonomous. They can navigate through
an uncontrolled environment. This robot is having a chain driven platform. This
chain driven mobile platform helps to move through any type of surfaces. Thus it
can easily monitor the area of leakage.
Sensing Module
Sensing module consist of a sensor. It is an electronic component. A sensor is always

used with other electronics. Sensors capture the analog value and convert it in to
digital values. Sensors can be of different types for measuring pressure, temperature,
flow parameters, etc. Analog sensors such as potentiometers and force-sensing
resistors are widely used. Sensitivity of a sensor means how much the sensor’s
output changes when the input quantity. Small sensor will improve sensitivity.
Several sensors on combining can form a micro mems systems. The speed of micro
sensors is high.
Inspection Module
The inspection module mainly consists of an thermal camera. This camera detects
the temperature, released by the body, and identify the area where the leakage
occurs. That processed to produce a thermal image on a video monitor. The heat
1132 G. K. Sheela
Fig. 5 Hardware set up
sensed by a thermal camera can be very precisely quantified. An infrared image

without any measurements can be misleading. Thermal image without an accurate
measurement says very little about the condition of an electrical connection or
mechanical part.
The hardware set up for the gas leakage detection system is shown in Fig. 5. This
system moves in a predefined path around the leakage area. It continuously monitors
the pipelines and transmits the information to control room wirelessly. This system
consists of chained mobile platform. Two gas sensors for detecting the leakage.
It consists of GSM module. GSM is used for transmitting the distance where the
leakage has happened.
The image is captured using thermal camera. Then it is transmitted to control
room for MATLAB processing in order to get the thermal image from that. The
image is obtained after using a Gaussian filter. The original image is in the form
of RGB color format. It is converted to grey scale color. Thus the original image
always contains some noises. It will be blurred and unclear. So a Gaussian filter is
used to remove the noise. The Fig. 6 is the result of thermal imaging technique after
the thresholding process. After the image thresholding the coolest region is detected.
This coolest region is considered as the region of gas leakage.
Figure 7 is the thermal image after binarization process. In this process again
the image is converted to binary image for more easy analysis. Thus the region of
leakage is clearly identified.
Fig. 6 Image obtained after image thresholding
Fig. 7 Binary image
Figure 8 gives the final result of image processing. That is, it tells that whether
the gas leakage is detected or not. If leakage is identified then dialog box will appear
on the screen showing that “gas detected.”
The result showing that the gas detected is displayed on a dialogue box. The
distance calculated will be send as massage to the control room by GSM. Thus, an
alert is provided. Also necessary precaution can be taken to avoid further leakage.
1134 G. K. Sheela
Fig. 8 Gas detection results
Conclusion
Gas leakage detection has grown in importance because of safety concerns, a

performance of systems, and health conditions. Leaks can happen because of poor
seals and connections, as well as from inadequate welds. So for the detection
of these dangerous gases, a well-developed detection system should be there. By
replacing a human operator a robotic system can detect the leakage of gas. The
sensors in the robot identify the gas leakage. An alarm will provide the alert.
These interfacing are done using Keil software. The thermal camera can capture the
image. This captured video is then transmitted to image processing in MATLAB.
The thermal images help to identify the gas leaked area more easily. Because the
temperature changes at the point of gas leakage can be identified easily from thermal
image. In MATLAB after image processing, the thermal image will be clearly
visible after the noise removal and binarization process. The leaked area is seen as
white color and rest of the surrounding in black color. The distance from the starting
position to the location of the vehicle will be obtained by distance calculation
method and finally, it is sent as a message to the control room GSM. The simulation
results show that the image obtained after each stage in image processing. Finally,
for easy analysis, the binary image is obtained. Then a dialogue will be displayed
as the final result showing the gas is detected. As instead of sending the message
through GSM it can be obtained in the MATLAB software itself as a result of a
modification.
References
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Improved Security Models in Mobile
Wireless Vehicle Networks 45
Gnana K. Sheela
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1138
Comparative Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1141
L-DRAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1145
CarTALK 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1146
Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1146
System Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1147
Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1148
Zone Flooding Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1152
Zone Diffusion Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1152
Dynamic Time-Stable Geocast Routing in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1153
Chain Collisions of Vehicles Equipped with Vehicular Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1153
A Vertical Handoff Method via Self-Selection Decision Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1154
Mobile Location Estimator Using Extended Kalman-Based IMM
and Data Fusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156
Scalability of Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication with Prediction- based STDMA . . . . . 1158
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1161
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1162
Abstract
The recent developments in technology are growing at a faster pace in numerous

areas. The world’s first driverless public transport system in vehicles is on the
schedule to be implemented in Dubai before EXPO 2020. The majority of
research on data collection using wireless mobile vehicle network emphasizes the
reliable delivery of information. So far various algorithms have been developed
and implanted and different case studies have been conducted till date in the
area of VANET. Various algorithms are analyzed such as TDMA, STDMA, and
G. K. Sheela ()
APJ Abdul Technological University, Trivandrum, India
1138 G. K. Sheela
self-adaptive sensing model. The main purpose of the project is to enhance the
self-adaptive sensing model. The main areas of concern in self-adaptive sensing
model are the security issues. Performance requirements such as packet delivery
ratio and delay are not given prime importance, thus making data collection
ability of vehicular nodes in real application environment inferior. The security
feature was added to self-adaptive sensing model and the performance analysis
was carried out. A comparative study of the algorithms was carried and the results
were analyzed and evaluated. The comparative analysis on throughput, delay,
packet delivery ratio, and routing overhead shows the enhanced capability of
secure data collection algorithm.
Keywords
Hand off · Protocol · Wireless · Vehicle networks
Introduction
The mobile wireless vehicle network attracts more attention in recent years in real
applications. Mobility has brought latest challenges to intelligent vehicle networks.
Since vehicular nodes always are dynamic and since they move faster, routing for
WSN data transmissions may easily loose security and stability. Also, manage with
rapid change of dynamic topology and improving efficiency of data dissemination
are also some urgent issues to be addressed in a wireless vehicle network. Vehicular
networks are the combination of transport systems and the Internet systems formed
with the main motive to increase the safety of passengers, although nonsafety
applications are also provided by vehicular networks. Internet of Things (IoT)
has a subsection called Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET), which in turn has a
subsection called Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET). Internet of Energy (IoE)
is a new domain that is formed of electric vehicles connected with VANETs. As a
large number of transport systems are coming into operation and various pervasive
applications are designed to handle such networks, the increasing number of attacks
in this domain is also creating threats. As IoE is connected to VANETs extension
with electric cars, the future of VANETs can be a question if security measures
are not significant. The present survey is an attempt to cover various attack types
on vehicular networks with existing security solutions available to handle these
attacks. This study will help researchers in getting in-depth information about the
taxonomy of vehicular network security issues which can be explored further to
design innovative solutions. This knowledge will also be helpful for new research
directions, which in turn will help in the formulation of new strategies to handle
attacks in a much better way.
VANETs support a wide range of applications – from simple one hop information
dissemination of, for example, cooperative awareness messages (CAMs) to multi-
hop dissemination of messages over vast distances. Most of the concerns of interest
to mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are of interest in VANETs. Rather than
45 Improved Security Models in Mobile Wireless Vehicle Networks 1139
moving at random, vehicles tend to move in an organized fashion. The interactions

with roadside equipment can likewise be characterized fairly accurately. And
finally, most vehicles are restricted in their range of motion, for example by being
constrained to follow a paved highway. Some of the examples of VANET include
electronic brake lights, which allow a driver (or an autonomous car or truck) to react
to vehicles braking even though they might be obscured (e.g., by other vehicles).
Platooning allows vehicles to closely (down to a few inches) follow a leading
vehicle by wirelessly receiving acceleration and steering information, and thus
forms electronically coupled “road trains.”
VANETs can use any wireless networking technology as their basis. The most
prominent are short range radio technologies like WLAN (either standard Wi-Fi
or ZigBee). In addition, cellular technologies or LTE can be used for VANETs.
Major standardization of VANET protocol stacks is taking place in the United
States, Europe, and Japan, corresponding to their dominance in the automotive
industry. In the United States, the IEEE 1609 WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular
Environments) protocol stack builds on IEEE 802.11p WLAN operating on seven
reserved channels in the 5.9 GHz frequency band. The WAVE protocol stack is
designed to provide multi-channel operation (even for vehicles equipped with only
a single radio), security, and lightweight application layer protocols (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 VANET – an overview

1140 G. K. Sheela
Within the IEEE Communications Society, there is a Technical Subcommittee

on Vehicular Networks and Telematics Applications (VNTA). The main aim is
to enable road and vehicle safety, real-time traffic monitoring, intersection man-
agement technologies, future telematics applications, and ITS-based services. In
Europe, ETSI ITS G5 builds on a variant of the same radio technology with some
adaptations operating on up to five reserved channels in the 5.9 GHz frequency band.
The ETSI ITS G5 protocol stack is designed to provide multi-radio multi-channel
operation, security, and a complex hierarchy of higher layer protocols integrating a
broad range of basic services. In Japan, ARIB STD-T109 builds on a variant of the
same radio technology operating on a single frequency in the 700 MHz band. The
protocol stack provides TDMA operation to split use between road side services and
pure vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
Major issue of TDMA is too much of interference. As the number of vehicles
increases the interference becomes more so that the ability to be implemented lacks
in areas where the number of vehicles is more. Another algorithm that is commonly
used is STDMA, but the main factor of concern of this algorithm is its reliability. So
after a thorough research of the existing algorithms that is being used in this area the
self-adaptive sensing model (SASM) was chosen for the proposed research work.
When bulk information is being transferred, the amount of information the receiver
node gets is also a main factor of concern. Thus adding a security feature to existing
self-adaptive sensing model will thoroughly improve its capability for a wide range
of applications. An efficient data collection algorithm is proposed for mobile vehicle
network environment by taking into account the features of nodes in wireless IoVs,
such as large scales of deployment, volatility, and low time delay. A self-adaptive
sensing model is designed to establish vehicular data collection protocol, which
adopts group management in model communication.
The most favorable aim is to build the more useful, efficient, and safer roads
through vehicular networks by informing basic authorities and drivers in time in
the future. Another target is to implement the advancement of vehicular ad hoc
networking (VANET) wireless technologies. The aim is to secure and to make
possible commercial requests through range of communication systems and/or
other networks which go short to medium. These technologies would support main
concern for critical time secure communication and fulfill the QoS needs of other
multimedia software or e-commerce mobile.
The work is to add a security feature in self-adaptive sensing model and to show a
better performance capability in packet delivery ratio, delay, throughput, and routing
overhead. The packet delivery ratio is improved by the addition of security feature,
thus ensuring secure data transmission. Since, in this the data collected are passed
to a road side unit and then sent to the corresponding node, the stability will not
be affected. Another main objective is data security. Data transmitted in wireless
environment is vulnerable, and intruders can perform attacks like eavesdropping and
active attacks like tampering, spamming, etc. VANET shall satisfy requirements like
authentication of message and integrity, non-repudiation of message, authentication
of entity, access control, confidentiality of message and availability, privacy, and
susceptibility identification.
The scope of the research work is to compare algorithms and to prove that
enhanced self-adaptive sensing model is the best algorithm in throughput, packet
delivery ratio, delay, and routing overhead in VANET. The enhanced self-adaptive
sensing model is the addition of SASM with more security through powerful
encryption and decryption schemes. This approach is used to manipulate the input
data and encode it by using data encoding methodology. Once encoded the approach
encrypts the data and forwards it to the receiver or destination end. The data is
received at the receiver end undergoes the decryption process. A proper analysis of
SASM and enhanced SASM in throughput, delay, packet delivery ratio, and routing
overhead also needs to be studied.
Comparative Analysis
Based on the survey, various algorithms are discussed. The techniques that are used
are explained in Table 1.
The major challenge of WSNs is balancing of loads and lifetime of the network.
A major solution for the above challenges is clustering the networks, clustering
has proven to improve network lifetime. Clustering technology is widely used in
different operational areas but to use it in WSNs it need to be more specific in terms
of WSNs. In (He and He 2010) the authors explain the major challenges and issues
on the deployment of clustering techniques in WSNs.
Existing research on data collection using wireless mobile vehicle network
emphasizes the reliable delivery of information. However, other performance
requirements such as life cycle of nodes, stability, and security are not set as primary
design objectives. This makes data collection ability of vehicular nodes in real
application environment inferior. By considering the features of nodes in wireless
IoV, such as large scales of deployment, volatility, and low time delay, an efficient
data collection algorithm is proposed for mobile vehicle network environment. An
adaptive sensing model is designed to establish vehicular data collection protocol.
The protocol adopts group management in model communication. The vehicular
sensing node in group can adjust network sensing chain according to sensing dis-
tance threshold with surrounding nodes. It will dynamically choose a combination of
network sensing chains on the basis of remaining energy and location characteristics
of surrounding nodes. In addition, secure data collection between sensing nodes is
undertaken as well. It can be represented that vehicular node can realize secure and
real-time data collection. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is superior in vehicular
network life cycle, power consumption, and reliability of data collection compared
to other algorithms.
In this ever-booming technological advancement, the day to day need for IVC
protocols and its applications has become inevitable. IVC protocols are widely used
in different areas such as (Samara et al. 2010):
1. Peer to peer network for web surfing

2. Co-ordinated braking
1142 G. K. Sheela
Table 1 Comparative analysis of various existing techniques

Author Method Merits Demerits Remarks
Younis et al. Node It aids data This method To implement node
(2006) clustering aggregation. It cannot be clustering into WSNs
improves directly need specific
network implemented to clustering algorithm
lifetime WSN due to its
typical
operation
characteristics
Shangguang A vertical It supports the The method can
et al. (2007) handoff VHO among avoid the negative
method via WAVE, impact of service
self-selection WiMAX, and changes and
decision tree 3G cellular movement changes
Cassell et al. Type 3 High reliability Delay due to Highly-probable
(2009) application in deterministic information delivery
intervehicular protocol. Very to an intended group
communication low latency
Yang et al. A vehicle-to- High delivery Medium Services for which
(2011) vehicle ratio for two latency delayed information
communication lane road may result in
protocol compromised safety
Miller et al. An adaptive Very high Lacks Vehicle motion
(2013) peer-to-peer reliability deterministic planning involving
collision communication global optimizations
warning or negotiations and
system that may or may not
involve group motion
regulation
Pijus Kumar TDMA Share the same Create Based on time slots it
Pal et al. protocol frequency interference at is allocated to each
(2014) channel by a frequency user. So when
dividing the which is mobility speed is
signal into directly high it is difficult
different time connected to
slots the time slot
length
Daniel STDMA Based on the Lack of As speed increases
Verenzuela protocol higher priority reliability reliability is a major
et al. (2015) it is organizing issue
Leung et al. VANET Based on secure
(2019) secured
protocol
Muhammad VANET reliable High speed
Sameer Sheikh
et al. (2020)
3. Runway incursion prevention

4. Adaptive traffic control
5. Vehicle formations
Here depending on the IVC applications, a systematic approach has been adopted
to classify these protocols into different categories. As a first step to these approach
with the sufficient background study.
In this system, using Dynamic Source Routing Protocols to perform the suc-
cessful communication between source and destination ends. The protocol adopts
group management in model communication, which indicates that multiple groups
are present in the network and form the grouping nodes with proper request and
response methodology. The security constraint concentration falls into account via
encryption and decryption schemes, with the help of these security manipulations
can perform the successful data transmission between both the ends. Along with
the concept proposed earlier, the attack detection strategies such as Malicious Node
detection scheme are also included. Once the source node starts transmitting data,
the start and end point time is mentioned and the route request is passed to the
next neighbor node. If the neighbor node replies to the request within the particular
point of time, then that node is considered as the next node for further precedence
otherwise it is marked as a malicious node; this kind of node sensing is called self-
adaptive sensing.
Today technology is changing at a pacing rate. Thus it is mandatory for automo-
biles to become intelligent as time progress. A self-driving car is a vehicle that is
capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input. Self-driving
cars can detect surroundings using a variety of techniques such as radar, lidar,
GPS, odometry, and computer vision. Advanced control systems interpret sensory
information to identify appropriate navigation paths, as well as obstacles and
relevant signs. Autonomous cars have control systems that are capable of analyzing
sensory data to distinguish between different cars on the road, which is very useful in
planning a path to the desired destination. Some demonstrative systems, precursory
to autonomous cars, date back to the 1920s and 1930s. The first self-sufficient
(truly autonomous) cars appeared in the 1980s, with Carnegie Mellon University’s
Navlab and ALV projects in 1984 and Benz and Bundeswehr University Munich’s
Eureka Prometheus Project in 1987. Since then, major companies and research
organizations have developed working prototype autonomous vehicles. But still this
has many disadvantages in the time delay, security issues, etc. In order to overcome
this we described an algorithm that overcomes the disadvantages of the previous
algorithms. The algorithm proposed is self-adaptive sensing model algorithm.
In truck platooning application, the lead vehicle sets the pace and communicates
maneuvers to the followers. The followers attempt to maintain a constant time
or distance headway to the vehicle directly in front of them. This can be done
manually by a driver using, for example, a two-second following rule or remaining
50 meters behind the preceding vehicle. However, if the goal is to take advantage
of draft aerodynamics for fuel economy and further increase traffic capacity, it may
be desirable to tighten the vehicle spacing so much that human reaction times are
1144 G. K. Sheela
challenged. To deal with this, each vehicle collects its position coordinates and other
motion data using local sensor inputs and periodically broadcasts this information to
its follower. Each follower computes the relative distance, velocity, and acceleration
to its predecessor and uses these in closed loop control of acceleration and braking
to reduce spacing errors, etc. In addition, the lead vehicle broadcasts its motion data
to all, which use it as a common reference to keep spacing errors from propagating
and amplifying down the platoon’s length. The leader may also broadcast control
messages that reorganize the group or announce path plan changes.
An organizational approach permitted to identify the communication require-
ments unique to each type and focus on the most important protocol design issues
facing developers Multi-channel MAC protocols has recently obtained considerable
attention in wireless networking research because they promise to increase capacity
of wireless networks significantly by exploiting multiple frequency bands (Wang
et al. 2014). However, most of these protocols remain as pure academic interest
since they only exist on paper and in simulation code but have no practical
implementation.
We analyzed the implementation of three representative multi-channel MAC pro-
tocols: asynchronous multi-channel coordination protocol (AMCP), multi-channel
MAC (MMAC), and slotted seeded channel hopping (SSCH) on off-the-shelf IEEE
802.11 hardware.
The major findings of our performance evaluation are:
1. All multi-channel MAC protocols underperform the original 802.11 MAC at low
load.
2. All multi-channel MAC protocols give better performance than the original
802.11 MAC at medium and high load.
3. AMCP performs worst among all multi-channel MACs in one-hop and multi-
hop 802.11b scenario but delivers the best performance in multi-hop 802.11a
scenario.
4. SSCH attains the best results in one-hop scenarios or at low loads but loses
its effectiveness at high loads in multi-hop scenarios. Implementing AMCP,
MMAC, and SSCH on off-the-shelf IEEE 802.11 hardware is an ambitious
endeavor. The implementation of each protocol takes an experienced kernel
developer several months to complete.
The major findings include: first, common techniques for clock synchronization
rely on the exchange of timestamps or broadcast references. However, because
broadcast frames are not protected by RTS/CTS and are susceptible to collisions,
the transmission of timestamps or broadcast references is unreliable under heavy
load. Further, it is very difficult to achieve synchronization accuracy finer than
1 ms using standard hardware and software implementations. We also note that
time synchronization incurs additional implementation complexity and prolongs
the implementation process. Thus, unless time synchronization is available via
an external signal like GPS, a multi-channel MAC that does not rely on clock
synchronization appears attractive.
Second, since channel switching delay on off-the-shelf IEEE 802.11 hardware is

rather large (several milliseconds), it is important to design a multi-channel MAC
protocol that avoids frequent channel switching. Otherwise, the performance gain
realized by multi-channel MAC can be offset by the performance penalty incurred
by frequent channel switching. On the other hand, it is desirable if hardware vendors
can provide IEEE 802.11 hardware with low switching delay.
Third, due to imperfect synchronization and possibly different channel switching
delay, it is possible that a sender arrives at a channel earlier than a receiver. For this
reason, it is recommended that the sender establishes a handshake with the receiver
before starting packet transmission. Similarly, when the receiver decides to leave a
channel, it is recommended that the sender is informed.
Fourth, when devising a multi-channel MAC, a protocol designer should consider
that a node can be simultaneously involved in multiple data exchanges with other
nodes. Special attention is required to avoid lockout and to provide multiplexing
between different flows at a node. This mindset is crucial in a multi-hop topology.
Fifth, a multi-channel MAC generally requires that a node can overhear its
neighbors channel selection. For this reason, control frames are usually transmitted
as broadcast frames. However, since broadcast frames are not acknowledged and
also not protected by RTS/CTS, a protocol design should be as simple as possible
to avoid undesired consequences due to possible loss of control frames. Further,
additional reliable mechanisms need to be provided for the exchange of control
frames.
Z-MAC is a hybrid MAC protocol which combines the advantages of CSMA and
TDMA protocols and has enhanced in terms of bandwidth utilization compared with
other WSN protocols. Z-MAC protocol switches TDMA and CSMA depending on
the contention situation to use the bandwidth effectively. Z-MAC slot assignment
algorithm, DRAND, was designed to adopt a node conflict resolution procedure
based on randomized ODP.
L-DRAND
Lamports bakery algorithm is one of mutual exclusion algorithms that is designed to

prevent concurrent threads entering critical sections to eliminate the risk of data cor-
ruption. The algorithm solves the following conditions assuming N asynchronous
threads:
1. At any time, at most one thread may be in its critical section

2. Each thread must eventually be able to enter its critical section (unless it halts).
3. Any thread may halt in its noncritical section
The problem of the above two is slot allocations did not converged and lots of
packet exchanges by consecutive request retrying in the traffic occurred during the
sessions. By using the proposed scheme, priority control for nodes in the network
can be performed in the MAC layer according to the collected distance measurement
1146 G. K. Sheela
information, and it can also increase efficiency for slot allocation by reducing the
processing time for it, and reduce the system energy consumption, drastically.
CarTALK 2000
CarTALK 2000 is a European Project focusing on new driver assistance systems

which are based upon intervehicle communication. The main objectives are the
development of cooperative driver assistance systems on the one hand and the
development of a self-organizing ad-hoc radio network as a communication basis
with the aim of preparing a future standard (Willke et al., 2009).
The main issues are:
1. Assessment of today’s and future applications for co-operative driver assistance

systems
2. Development of software structures and algorithms, i.e. new fusion techniques
3. Testing and demonstrating assistance functions in probe vehicles in real or
reconstructed traffic scenarios
Theory
The world is moving rapidly and mobility has become an inevitable part of our
life as it is used in the day to day life. Many developments and researches are
going in the area of VANET. Numerous algorithms have been developed and self-
automated vehicles have also come into reality. Several algorithms are being used
in VANET; after a comparison study and analysis, SASM algorithm is taken for the
research study. An improvement in the existing method which improves the overall
effectiveness of self-adaptive sensing model has been done. The new enhanced
self-adaptive sensing model is developed with additional features of security in
it. Comparative analysis of self-adaptive sensing model without security and with
security on the delay, throughput, packet delivery ratio, and routing overhead was
done.
Signcryption is a public key cryptography that simultaneously fulfills both
the functions of digital signature and public key encryption logically in one
step, and with a cost significantly lower than that required by the traditional
“signature and encryption” approach. Discovery of public key cryptography has
made communication between people who have never met before over an open and
insecure network in a secure and authenticated way possible. It enables one person
to send a digitally signed message to another person and the receiver can verify the
authenticity of this message (Sheikh et al. 2020). This scheme uses the private key
of the sender to sign the message and the receiver uses the sender’s public key to
verify the signature. Signcryption provides the properties of both digital signature
and encryption schemes in a way that is more efficient than signing and encrypting
separately. This approach is knows as signature then encryption.
The steps that have been taken into account are as follows:
(i) Creation of VANET Topology: Create a Vehicular Network topology with more
number of vehicles to transmit the message from sender vehicle to receiver
vehicle.
(ii) Implementation of self-adapting sensing model: Implementation of self-
adapting sensing model by using roadside units to transmit the message from
one vehicle to another vehicle. The mobile vehicles are divided into clusters
with each group head as the roadside unit. The message sent from the sender
vehicle and through different vehicles which are chosen based on the energy
and distance of each road-side unit finally reaches the receiver vehicle.
(iii) Performance Analysis of Self Adapting Sensing Model: Packet delivery ratio,
throughput, delay, and routing overhead are measured for self-adapting sensing
model and outputs are analyzed.
(iv) Implementation of enhanced self adapting sensing model: Implementation of
enhanced self-adapting sensing model by using cryptographic technique to
transmit the message from one vehicle to another vehicle is done. It provides
user authentication and identity-based signcryption. Only if the authentication
user and password matches the entire transmission will take place.
(v) Performance analysis of enhanced self-adapting sensing model: Packet delivery
ratio, throughput, delay, and routing overhead are measured for enhanced self
adapting sensing model is measured and outputs are analyzed.
(vi) Comparison: Self-adapting sensing model and enhanced self-adapting sensing
model are compared using parameters such as packet delivery ratio, throughput,
delay, and routing overhead and outputs are analyzed.
System Architecture
The basic algorithm of the proposed enhanced self-adaptive sensing model is shown
in Fig. 2. There are 25 nodes in the network. Assume a source point and destination
point. The main goal is to send packets to the destination. The shortest path is
measured after the information about the path for source and destination. After the
transmission ranges are identified the packets are sent to the neighbor nodes. The
packets are sent to destination taking into account maximum strength of neighbor
nodes. Then, check whether the neighbor node strength is poor or good. Check for
an alternate, if it is poor, repeat the steps again. If it is good, encrypt the data packets
and then forward the packets. Finally, packets reach the destination and the packets
are decrypted. Hence the process has been completed with successful transmission.
Implementation of enhanced self-adaptive sensing model is performed by using
cryptographic technique. The cryptographic technique used is signcryption. In order
for the transmission to take place a username and password is inserted. If the
username and password matches with source file username and password when
logging in, then the transaction will take place if not a command called unauthorized
user will be executed.
The system has been designed through various error and trial methods. Initially
the performance was tried through cygwin software. But it faced many issues
such as it could be performed only through various theoretical equations and the
1148 G. K. Sheela
Source and Found the data

Destination transmission
Nodes {1-25} range to send
pairs are fixed
packets
Check for Alternate

Node and Path and
try to retransmit Poor
Check Verifying Neighbor
Node Nodes
Strength Fixed
Good
Encrypt data Destination Data Received in

Forward
packets Received the Destination with
the packets
Packets and Decrypted Structure
Start
Decryption
Process Completed
with successful
transmission of
packets with
Decryption procedures
Fig. 2 Flowchart of proposed enhanced SASM
graph comparison through trace file was also not possible. Then ns-2.35 Linux
version was installed. There trace file could be done. The encryption technique
studied was Caesar Cipher. It was a shifting algorithm technique, which was a
basic technique with not much security. This was because the cipher text used was
a shifting alphabet. But the alphabet has only 26 letters. And so with some different
arrangements the attacker can easily identify the encrypted file and take the message.
Finally signcryption method was tried.
Analysis
The simulation of the research has been performed through ns-2.35. The VANET
topology has been developed and the model realized is self-adaptive sensing model.
The performance analysis based on self-adaptive sensing model and proposed
enhanced self-adaptive sensing model is done using throughput, packet delivery
ratio, delay, and routing overhead. For simple VANET topology the AODV pro-
tocol is used. This chapter mainly describes about the simulation tool, boundary
parameters, node movements, and performance analysis.
A sequence diagram is an interaction diagram that shows how objects operate
with one another and in what order. It is a construct of a message sequence chart. A
sequence diagram shows object interactions arranged in time sequence. It depicts
the objects and classes involved in the scenario and the sequence of messages
exchanged between the objects to carry out the functionality of the scenario.
Sequence diagrams are typically associated with use case realizations in the Logical
View of the system under development. Sequence diagrams are sometimes called
event diagrams or event scenarios.
A sequence diagram shows, as parallel vertical lines (lifelines), different pro-
cesses or objects that live simultaneously, and, as horizontal arrows, the messages
exchanged between them, in the order in which they occur. This allows the
specification of simple runtime scenarios in a graphical manner. Source check the
Neighbor Node and start communication with that node until it transmits Route
Response to Source Node. If Route Response is established, it indicates that node
is not a Malicious Node. It finds the next shortest path. This process is repeated
until it reaches the destination. Finally packets are sent to the destination. After the
response is received, finally the acknowledgment is sent to the source. Since it is not
a malicious node, the encrypted data from the source is decrypted at the destination.
The packets are moving from the source to destination through the self-adaptive
sensing model routing protocol. According to the protocol, the fixed vehicles nodes
send message Staticnode_Msg to surrounding nodes. Mobile vehicle node receives
message Staticnode_Msg and calculates the distance. Mobile vehicles send message
Mobilenode_Msg to the closest sensing node. All mobile vehicle nodes can find
their sensing nodes. After selecting a fixed vehicle node as the main reference point,
other common nodes are classified into one group.
Each fixed vehicle node will compare to mobile sensing node and then broadcast
message Cluster_Msg. After some time, fixed vehicle nodes receive message
Mobilenode_Msg from neighboring mobile sensing nodes. Now the IDs of mobile
vehicle nodes within the group, the remaining energy and sensing distance can be
known by the fixed node. Mobile nodes can store the information into local neighbor
table. Fixed vehicle node selects a high remaining energy from the neighbor table
and finds the closest sensing node. Sensing vehicle node is selected based on
remaining energy and position. However, common mobile vehicle node will select
a closest fixed node as main reference point. After the group is classified, the node
can send data to specific group head. Boundary parameters are shown in Table 2.
The MAC_802.11 protocol is used. This is used for the short range of commu-
nication, and this protocol is mainly used for the VANET topology. The simulation
time is 30 s. Adjustment of simulation time is possible according to requirement.
Assume a simulation area of 1000*1000 m2 . Within this area the static nodes and
mobile nodes are provided. The constant bit rate (CBR) means that the rate at which
a codec’s output data should be consumed is constant. The traffic is transmission
control protocol (TCP) which is a dynamic reliable congestion protocol that is used
to provide reliable transport of packets from one host to another host by sending
1150 G. K. Sheela
Table 2 Boundary Type Parameter

parameters
Simulator Ns-2.35
Channel type Wireless channel
Antenna type Omni antenna
Link layer type LL
Mac type Mac/802_11
Protocols studied AODV, SASM
Simulation time 30 s
Simulation area 1000*1000 m2
Traffic type CBR (TCP)
Data packet size (byte) 812
Mobile, Init _ Energy (J) 100 (max), 20 (min)
Graph Gnuplot
acknowledgments on proper transfer or loss of packets. TCP requires bidirectional

links in order for acknowledgments to return to the source. The data packet size is
812 bytes. The maximum energy for the mobile nodes is 100 Joules. The energy
decreases as the node is used for transmission. The plotting software used for
analysis is Gnuplot.
In proposed enhanced self-adaptive sensing model, the entire packet transmission
takes place only after the proper authentication. This means that there is a public
key that is known to the nodes where transmission takes place. A comparison takes
place based on the private key and public key. When the comparison matches,
the authentication activates and the encrypted message will be sent and finally
gets decrypted at the receiver side. Taking the different parameters such as delay,
packet delivery ratio, average throughput, and routing overhead into consideration,
the effect of enhancement to self-adaptive sensing model can be clearly studied.
Transmission delay plays a vital role in effective data communication; if the delay is
more, it means that efficient data transmission is not taking place. Delay is calculated
using awk script which processes the trace file and produces the result.
Delay is the difference between the time at which the sender generated the
packet and the time at which the receiver received the packet. Now moving on to
analyze the delay time in self-adaptive sensing model with and without security,
for a smaller simulation time there is a difference of about 15,000 ms. As the
simulation time increases, the difference in delay is about 4000 ms. This is because
as the simulation time increases, it is becoming more dynamic and so the delay
reduces. The conclusion is that adding the security feature in self-adaptive sensing
model reduces the delay time for data communication. In Fig the graph compares
the delay time with the simulation time for self-adaptive sensing model (SASM)
and enhanced self-adaptive sensing model (ESASM). The performance of routing
protocol in mobile vehicle network is simulated on the basis of urban street model.
Life Cycle in data collection of mobile vehicle nodes is compared with TDMA,
STDMA, and ACMAP.
Comparison with different algorithms is performed and is represented by using

a graphical representation. Comparison of lifecycle in data collection for mobile
vehicle nodes is plotted with TDMA, STDMA, and ACMAP algorithms with x-axis
as number of rounds and y-axis as number of vehicle nodes. In ACMAP algorithm,
all nodes communicate within the range of d0. In this case, energy consumption
problem in data transmission can be addressed.
Data forwarding in vehicle network are realized by awareness, which saves much
energy by comparing to one-way communication. However, since STDMA protocol
does not consider relationship between energy attenuation and communication
distance in data transmission, energy of node is easy to use up in short time. In
STDMA, sensing nodes require more energy to form sensing group and record
information of each member node. However, in ACMAP algorithm, mobile vehicle
nodes are responsible for collecting sensing information and sending the fused
information to fixed node. Other tasks such as selection of sensing nodes, TDMA
time slots partition, are finished by fixed nodes which have more energy. Therefore,
energy consumption can be reduced, prolonging network lifetime.
Recent news illustrate the frequent occurrence of pileup crashes on highways.
A predominant reason for the occurrence of such crashes is that current vehicles
(including those equipped with an automatic cruise control system) do not provide
drivers with advance information of events occurring far ahead of them (Sato
and Sakata 2013). The use of intervehicular communication to provide advance
warnings to enhance automotive safety is therefore being actively discussed in the
research community.
Since wireless communication delays are on the order of milliseconds, they
can be considered small, compared with human reaction time delays; therefore,
information of a slowdown is near, which is simultaneously propagated to all the
cars within the communication range, addresses the specific issues of car pileup
crashes and their alleviation. The goal of this chapter is, therefore, to describe how
the slowdown warning system enables pileup crashes to be averted, even in a mixed-
sensing environment, wherein only a limited number of vehicles are equipped with
the warning system.
Thus in general the concept of a slowdown warning system can be briefed as
follows, while driving on a highway, if a car in a platoon abruptly decelerates,
then such a system near simultaneously provides advance information to all the
drivers behind that car. This advance information gives these drivers more time
to react in preparation for the impending slowdown and, accordingly, increases
their headway to the car ahead. This increased headway can alleviate collisions,
particularly pileup crashes. Furthermore, it has theoretically been shown that there
exist conditions wherein even a partial equipage with such a system can be sufficient
to alleviate crashes, even in the unequipped cars. This is because each equipped car,
with its increase in headway, acts as an attenuator that arrests the amplification
of the velocity perturbation of the lead car as it propagates through the line of
cars; therefore, even with a few (appropriately distributed) equipped cars, it is
possible to keep the level of amplification below the threshold that leads to car
pileups. Sufficient conditions governing the requisite number and distribution of
1152 G. K. Sheela
the equipped vehicles that are required to avert pileup crashes are discussed. A
prototype of such a system has been developed and installed in a few cars, and
experimental road tests have been conducted. These road tests have confirmed the
satisfactory work of the slowdown warning equipment.
Vehicular ad-hoc network is an emerging research area focusing on commu-
nication infrastructures that support vehicles and road-signs in distributing road
state data such as information about hazardous road conditions ahead, approaching
emergency vehicles, and traffic delays (Hubaux et al. 2004). Vehicular ad-hoc net-
works combine the areas of sensor networks (data acquisition) with mobile ad-hoc
networks (highly dynamic topology and lack of preexisting infrastructure). One of
the main challenges of vehicular ad-hoc networks is the data dissemination protocols
capable of distributing road-state information among vehicles. This chapter presents
two candidates for dissemination protocols: a zone flooding protocol and a zone
diffusion protocol.
Zone Flooding Protocol
The zone flooding protocol is a variant of basic flooding with three modifications
to limit the dissemination of packets. It can be seen as a special case of flooding-
based geocasting in the sense that the source is located inside the geocast zone.
Traditionally the problem with flooding-based protocols is that they congest the
network with hordes of packets.
Zone Diffusion Protocol
The zone diffusion protocol is based on data aggregation which is a commonly used
technique in sensor networks. Each node maintains an environment representation
(ER) representing the surrounding environment. The ER is updated every time data
arrives from the sensors. To disseminate data the ER is periodically broadcasted.
When an ER is received from another node it is aggregated with the local ER by
merging the information in the received ER that intersects with the area covered by
the local ER. Contrary to the zone flooding protocol, packets are never forwarded.
However, data about the local environment is indirectly forwarded to other nodes
since nodes periodically broadcast their ER. The protocol is thus data-centric as
opposed to node-centric.
The protocols only rely on the assumption that the relevance of information
about a particular phenomenon decreases with the distance to that phenomenon
and can therefore be used in typical vehicular ad-hoc network applications. The
conclusion is that flooding protocol generally achieves better awareness percentage
and information distance than the zone diffusion protocol, but zone diffusion
protocol achieves reasonable performance at a much lower network utilization.
By a crude form of congestion containment, the zone flooding protocol adaptively
decreases the size of the area in which data is disseminated when the networks get
congested. The zone diffusion protocol could be improved by adding congestion

control – either by limiting the dissemination area or by decreasing the number of
broadcasts per second.
Dynamic Time-Stable Geocast Routing in Vehicular Ad-Hoc

Networks
This is a novel time-stable geocast protocol that works well even in too sparse
networks. Moreover, since commercial applications sometimes make it necessary to
change the duration of the stable message within the region, the dynamic nature of a
geocast protocol should allow this time to be extended, reduced, or canceled without
any additional cost. Therefore, we call it a dynamic time-stable geocast, DTSG,
protocol (Liu et al. 2006). It works in two phases (the pre-stable period and the
stable period), and the simulation results show that it works well in its performance
metrics (delivery ratio and network cost).
DTSG is a dynamic time-stable geocast protocol that guarantees delivery of the
message to the intended vehicles entering the region for a certain amount of time.
This time can be expanded or can be canceled by the dynamic characteristic of this
protocol. This is done by the supplementary message without any new effect on the
network cost.
Chain Collisions of Vehicles Equipped with Vehicular

Communications
Improvement of traffic safety by cooperative vehicular applications is one of the

most promising benefits of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). However, to
properly develop such applications, the influence of different driving parameters
on the event of vehicle collision must be assessed at an early design stage.
The model enables the computation of the average number of collisions that
occur in the platoon, the probabilities of the different ways in which the collisions
may take place, as well as other statistics of interest (Liang et al. 2016). Although
an exponential distribution has been used for the traffic density, it is also valid for
different probability distributions for traffic densities, as well as for other significant
parameters of the model. Moreover, the actual communication system employed is
independent of the model since it is abstracted by a message delay variable, which
allows it to be used to evaluate different communication technologies.
The goal is to describe and analyze the risk of colliding for a set of moving
vehicles forming a platoon (or chain) and equipped with a warning collision
system when the leading vehicle stops suddenly. The main practical utility of
this model lays in its ability to quickly evaluate numerically the influence of
different parameters on the collision process without the need to resort to complex
simulations in a first stage. Such an evaluation provides relevant guidelines for the
1154 G. K. Sheela
design of vehicular communication systems as well as chain collision avoidance

(CCA) applications.
This approach proposed and derived a stochastic model for the probability of
collisions in a chain of vehicles where a warning collision system is in operation.
The fact that a warning notification system is used allows us to overcome the
difficulties for obtaining stochastic models for such vehicular scenarios, since we
can assume that all the drivers/vehicles react to the warning message independently,
and therefore, the motion equations can be simplified (Ylianttila et al. 2001). We
also propose a good matching approximation to the exact model to further reduce
the required computations to calculate the vehicle collision probabilities. In both
cases, its validity has been confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations. The model
is independent of the particular communication system employed as long as its
operation can be abstracted and characterized by an appropriate message notification
delay, including communication latency and driver reaction times. Therefore, it
also enables the performance evaluation of different technologies. Indeed, a future
line of this work is to assess the performance of current VANET technology
based on contention (CSMA) MAC protocols for those cases where delay is
actually relevant for the collision process outcome. Similarly, different probability
distributions for the intervehicular spacing can seamlessly be incorporated into the
model due to the fact that the distribution of the initial intervehicle spacing is
independent of the actions that drivers make after receiving the warning messages.
Here, we have used an exponential distribution, which is considered appropriate
for low vehicle traffic densities. As a future work, we plan to employ a lognormal
distribution that describes well high vehicle traffic densities. Finally, we compute
the probability that collisions occur in different forms (both vehicles in motion, one
stopped and one in motion, etc.), which opens a promising way to define detailed
accident severity functions, that is, by assigning different grades of severity to
each collision possibility. This is an interesting approach that we leave as future
work as well. Although we have shown some examples of the application of the
model, a quantitative evaluation requires a careful definition of the scenarios of
interest. Therefore, we leave as future but imminent direction to pursue a systematic
characterization and evaluation of the different scenarios for a wider and more
accurate extent of the model parameters.
A Vertical Handoff Method via Self-Selection Decision Tree
This method establishes the respective handoff probability distribution of vehicles

according to network attributes and movement trend. Then, based on handoff
probability distributions and defined user preferences, we propose a novel handoff
method by the self-selection decision tree for IoVs (Chen et al. 2006). Finally,
we also present a feedback decision method according to the feedback of vehicle
handoff, to improve next handoff quality when vehicle movement trend and vehicle
service status change.
Fig. 3 Vehicle motion state
IoV allows the vehicle to share Internet access to other devices both inside and
outside the vehicle. Often, in IoVs, the vehicle is outfitted with special technologies
that tap into the Internet access or the WLAN and prov.
Figure 3 shows the diagram of vehicle motion state. Existing unstable network
statuses and different user preferences result in vehicle frequent VHOs. In order to
solve the issue, a VHO method based on a self-selection decision tree for IoVs can
be used.
Main features include:
1. A terminal states of motion in the handoff decision

2. A handoff method based on a self-selection decision tree for VHO among WAVE,
WiMAX, and 3G cellular
3. A feedback decision method, which makes the next handoff timely and accurate
for IoVs
The decision tree makes decision according to user preferences, and the feedback
decision method in line with the feedback of services and movements on vehicles
can avoid the negative impact of service changes and movement changes (Younis
et al. 2006). The method reflects the specific needs of vehicle to the network.
Moreover, there may be some other network attributes and user preferences that
were not taken into account. In addition, the proposed decision tree method can be
further optimized.
A topological analysis of urban transit system gives a functional view on nodes
named a transit line. Statistical measures are computed and introduced in complex
network analysis. It shows that the urban transit system forms small-world networks
and exhibits properties different from random networks and regular networks.
The urban transit network is a complex network, in which the nodes can be
seen as transit sites and links corresponding to the routers linking O-D7. A dual
approach is adopted based on the functional view. Nodes are defined as named
transport lines and links represent the convenience of transfer. The convenience
1156 G. K. Sheela
Fig. 4 Illustration of dual approach
of transfer here means which nodes are named transit line and links represent the
convenience of transfer (Willke et al. 2009). A range of statistical measures are
computed for structural analysis introduced in complex network analysis. It is shown
that the urban transit system forms small-world networks and exhibits properties
different from random networks and regular networks. Furthermore, the topological
properties of the transit-line network from the points of view of public transportation
engineering are investigated to get some useful conclusions (Figs. 4 and 5).
The aim of the functional representation of urban transit network is to investigate
the inherent topological properties of the relations between transit lines, and it
indicates the importance of loop lines in the whole network.
Mobile Location Estimator Using Extended Kalman-Based IMM

and Data Fusion
An extended Kalman-based interacting multiple model (EK-IMM) smoother is

proposed for mobile location estimation with the data fusion of the time of arrival
(TOA) and the received signal strength (RSS) measurements in a rough wireless
environment. The extended Kalman filter is used for nonlinear estimation (Pal and
Chatterjee 2014). The IMM is employed as a switch between the line-of-sight (LOS)
and non-LOS (NLOS) states, which are considered to be a Markov process with two
interactive modes. Combining extended Kalman filtering with the IMM scheme for
accurately smooth range estimation between the corresponding base station (BS)
and mobile station (MS) in the rough wireless environment, the proposed robust
mobile location estimator, in association with data fusion, can efficiently mitigate
the NLOS effects on the measurement range error.
COMPARISON
20000
SASM
ESASM
18000
16000
14000
Delay(ns)
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
10 15 20 25 30
Simulation time (seconds)
Fig. 5 Simulation time verses average end-to-end delay
However, the accuracy of mobile location estimation is still a very difficult

problem for any type of estimation method used alone in the urban region because
the wireless environment is rough. To solve this problem, mobile location estimation
in association with the data-fusion technique has recently been proposed to improve
accuracy. Special antennas are needed if the AOA technology is used. It is expensive
and not easy for real implementation. The data fusion of RSS and TOA estimation
can simultaneously be made without requiring any additional hardware components.
A Kalman filter is used for mobile location estimation. The identification of
LOS/NLOS condition can be attained by a simple hypothesis that the standard
deviation of range measurement in the NLOS case is significantly larger than that in
the LOS case. However, the LOS/NLOS transition will cause a serious measurement
error for the range estimation because the estimated covariance matrices of the
measurement noise by the corresponding Kalman filter are not adaptively adjusted to
match the true covariance variation in the LOS and NLOS cases. The IMM estimator
is one of the most effective methods for estimation in a hybrid dynamic system under
uncertain environmental conditions. It can accurately estimate the state of a dynamic
system with several available switching modes. In particular, it has a self-adjusting
variable bandwidth filter that makes it suitable for switching-mode systems.
The major challenge is the computation complexity which is relative to the
total number of multiplications for the algorithm. Based on the aforementioned
statement, the total number of multiplications for the proposed algorithm is about
1158 G. K. Sheela
98 in each iteration. The complexity of the conventional extended Kalman filter

algorithm is about 86 in each iteration. The computation complexity of the proposed
algorithm is increased by about 14%.
Scalability of Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication with

Prediction- based STDMA
Self-organized TDMA (STDMA) has been proposed as a medium access control

(MAC) protocol for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. Although it avoids
the unbounded channel access delay faced by other CSMA-based protocols, the
reliability in high traffic density is still unsatisfactory for critical road safety
applications. An enhanced prediction-based STDMA protocol utilizes the spatial
information available in the messages exchanged for road safety applications.
Thus it allocates the radio resources more efficiently and minimizes the mutual
interference among different vehicles (Jiun et al. 2011). The prediction-based
STDMA offers a significant improvement in the scalability and coverage of the
V2V communication system for road safety applications with strict reliability
requirement. With CSMA, all vehicles must listen to the wireless channel before
transmitting, and if the channel is busy, the nodes must defer their access. To
overcome the channel access delay problem, we proposed to utilize self-organizing
time division multiple access (STDMA) as a replacement of the CSMA-based
MAC.STDMA has a synchronized time-frame structure and allows multiple vehi-
cles to transmit in the same time slot thus limiting the channel access delay.
When a vehicle needs to select a time slot for reuse, it selects the one that is
being used by the vehicle currently located furthest away. This selection is done
to minimize the mutual interference caused by simultaneous transmissions. Assume
all vehicles are equipped with transceivers for real-time communications. The data
transmissions consist of periodical broadcasting of cooperative awareness messages
(CAM) to nearby vehicles. Each CAM contains status information such as position
and velocity. Due to the broadcast nature of transmissions, these messages are
received by the all vehicles within the coverage area.
In order to cement on effective data transmission the packet delivery ratio gives
a clear idea so during simulation carried out the comparative analysis of Packet
delivery ratio verses simulation time. Packet delivery ratio is the ratio of packets
that are successfully delivered to a destination compared to the number of packets
that have been sent by sender. It is calculated using awk script which processes the
trace file and produces the result. In the graph it clearly indicates that red line is
the self-adaptive sensing model and green line indicates the enhanced self-adaptive
sensing model. Now moving on to analyze the packet delivery ratio in self-adaptive
sensing model with and without security, for a smaller simulation time there is a
difference of about 0.2582. And as the simulation time increases the difference in
packet delivery ratio is about 0.2051. In this also 67% of packet could be sufficiently
delivered compared to the 38% packet delivery of SASM. There are enough packet
losses; because the simulation time increases it is becoming more dynamic and so
COMPARISON
0.75
SASM
ESASM
0.7
0.65
0.6
PDR
0.55
0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
10 15 20 25 30
Fig. 6 Comparison of PDR versus simulation time
the packet delivery ratio also reduces. The conclusion is that adding the security
feature in self-adaptive sensing model improves the packet delivery ratio for data
communication. The comparison graph is shown in Fig. 6.
Figure 7 shows the comparison of the throughput in self-adaptive sensing
model and enhanced self-adaptive sensing model. Throughput is the number of
successfully received packets in a unit time and is represented in bps. Throughput
is calculated using awk script which processes the trace file and produces the result.
Throughput can be calculated by dividing the file size by the difference between the
stop time and start time. When throughput is more it means that much file is going
at that particular time which shows an improvement.
Routing overhead is the number of routing packets required for network com-
munication. How much loads are transmitted, that is requested message, reply,
finding the channel, how many signals, sensing data. All the above measures can
be known through the routing overhead. When the simulation time is less, there
is a routing head difference of 1.552, whereas as the simulation time increases,
there is a routing difference of 0.385 between the two models. As simulation time
increases the dynamic will be more and efficiency reduces in a small way. But
still the enhanced self-adaptive sensing model improves the routing overhead by
an average of 1.187 whereas the average routing overhead of self-adaptive sensing
model is 2.420 (Fig. 8).
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COMPARISON
400
SASM
ESASM
350
300
Throughput (kbps)
250
200
150
100
10 15 20 25 30
Fig. 7 Comparison of throughput versus simulation time
COMPARISON
2.6
SASM
ESASM
2.4
2.2
2
Routing overhead
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
10 15 20 25 30
Fig. 8 Comparison of routing overhead verses simulation time

Table 3 Analysis of SASM and proposed enhanced SASM

Parameters SASM Enhanced SASM
Average end-to-end delay 19348.2 3549.19
(ms)
Average throughput Start time = 0 s Start time = 0 s
(kbps) Stop time = 30 s Stop time = 30 s
Received size = 632,320 bytes Received size = 757,952
Throughput = 168.62 kbps bytes
Throughput = 202.12 kbps
Packet delivery ratio Received packets = 760 bits Received packets = 911 bits
(PDR) Sending packets = 2038 bits Sending packets = 1359 bits
PDR = 0.3729 PDR = 0.6703
Routing overhead (RO) Routing packets received = 1839 Routing packets
bits received = 3947 bits
Data packets received = 760 bits Data packets received = 3326
RO = 2.420 bits
RO = 1.187
A comparative analysis table based on self-adaptive sensing model and enhanced

self-adaptive sensing model with parameters such as average end-to-end delay,
packet delivery ratio, throughput, and routing overhead is shown in Table 3. From
the table, it can be easily understood that proposed enhanced self-adaptive sensing
model is better than self-adaptive sensing model.
Conclusion
In the recent years VANET has become an active area in the field of communication.
Day by day new technologies are coming into the mainstream. Numerous algorithms
have been developed for VANET and it is on the advancement to find the best
protocol which will be very useful for real-time applications and will be of great
help to the civilization. Thus the scope of work included the performance analysis
and evaluation of self-adaptive sensing model and enhanced self-adaptive sensing
model using ns-2.35. The proposed enhanced SASM is done based on security, that
is, signcryption. The simulation model was created and the algorithms code for self-
adaptive sensing and the proposed enhanced self-adaptive sensing algorithm was
implanted. The results demonstrate the capability of self-adaptive sensing model.
The parameter that has been used for analysis and comparative studies include
throughput, average end-to-end delay, packet delivery ratio, and routing overhead.
The enhanced self-adaptive sensing model has got an additional security feature.
The security feature has been implemented using signcryption technology. The
comparative study and analysis in the parameters such as throughput, delay, packet
delivery ratio, and routing overhead has been done. It has been proved that the
delay and routing overhead is less and the packet delivery ratio and throughput
is better for enhanced self-adaptive sensing model. The analysis and simulation
1162 G. K. Sheela
results conceived that enhanced self-adaptive sensing model is better than self-
adaptive sensing model. As a future scope, synchronization into data collection is
a possibility in mobile vehicle network. The requirements of synchronization for
network nodes need to be reduced.
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Machine Learning: An Expert Thinking
System 46
T. Mohanraj, Jayanthi Yerchuru, R. S. Nithin Aravind, and R. Yameni
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1166
Smart Factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168
Cyber-Physical Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170
Features of CPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1171
Components of CPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1173
Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1173
Supervised Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1175
Unsupervised Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1175
Reinforcement Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1176
Support Vector Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1177
Naive Bayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178
K-Nearest Neighbors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178
Logistic Regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178
Decision Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178
Random Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179
K-Means Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179
Hierarchical Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179
Mean Shift Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179
Artificial Neural Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179
Hidden Markov Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1180
Applications of ML in Condition Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1180
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1182
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T. Mohanraj () · J. Yerchuru · R. S. N. Aravind · R. Yameni

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa
Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
e-mail: t_mohanraj@cb.amrita.edu
1166 T. Mohanraj et al.
Abstract
Industry 4.0 makes it believable to collect and investigate data across machines,
aiding more efficient and flexible processes to manufacture the parts with high
quality at a low cost. The technologies which enable this are digital twin, big data
analytics, autonomous robots, Internet of things, cybersecurity, cloud computing,
augmented reality, and additive manufacturing. Thus, interconnected intelligent
machines allow autonomous manufacturing using decentralized decision-making
systems that cooperate with each other, making the manufacturing process more
efficient. Machine maintenance can be categorized into three types, namely,
predictive maintenance (supervised), run to failure (semi-supervised), and pre-
ventive maintenance (unsupervised). Self-diagnostic machines are an integral
part of smart factories. Predictive maintenance is a proactive maintenance
strategy that predicts failure. These predictions are based on data gathered
through condition monitoring sensors using IoT, analyzed using big data, and
predicted using machine learning algorithms. This can lead to major cost savings
and increased availability of the systems, thus optimizing performance.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Supervised and unsupervised maintenance · Preventive

maintenance · Predictive maintenance · Run to failure · Cyber-physical
system · IoT · Big data
Introduction
A system is said to learn if it advances its future performance after diligently

observing and analyzing the present conditions. Why should the system learn?
This is because the designer cannot anticipate and program solutions for all the
future situations the system might face. So, it has to adapt to the present and
future conditions based on its past experiences. Industry 4.0 makes it believable
to acquire and examine the data across machines to enable faster, efficient, and
flexible processes, eventually producing parts with high quality at a low cost.
Within this scenario, industrial production management envisages the use of big
data analytics (automatized processing of large data arrays), cloud technologies
(to store information in the virtual environment, reducing the risk of loss during
hardware and software failures), the Internet of things, cybersecurity, digital
twin, 3D printing, and automatized production (autonomous manufacturing using
decentralized decision-making systems, making the manufacturing efficient), thus
reducing human intervention to simply monitor and control the work. The future
outline of Industry 4.0 is shown in Fig. 1.
The typical illustration of an expert system is shown in Fig. 2. It consists of
an editing module, learning module, inference engine, knowledge base, memory
storage, and interface for input and output devices. The expert system has a
46 Machine Learning: An Expert Thinking System 1167
Fig. 1 Future outline of Industry 4.0
Fig. 2 Simple expert system
significant role in Industry 4.0. True to these words, the current world leaders have
realized the significance of Industry 4.0 in development. The leading example is
that of Germany, the first nation to adopt and implement it in 2012. The UK has
followed Germany’s footsteps and has adopted Industry 4.0 as the leading sphere
of growth for the industry and envisages the “eight great technologies” (Sergi et al.
2019), which is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 Eight great technologies
The typical applications of the expert system are shown in Fig. 4 (Expert system
2020). The applications include prediction (Woolery and Grzymala-Busse 1994),
condition monitoring (Zhu et al. 2020), interpretation (Zalazinsky et al. 2020),
design analysis (Purnomo and Hidayatuloh 2020), process planning (Zalazinsky
et al. 2020), monitoring and control, enterprise resource planning (Mondal et al.
2020), material resource planning (Perera 2020), inventory control (Harifi et al.
2020), etc.
Smart Factory
The revolution from conventional manufacturing to smart manufacturing conspira-

cies plans the long-term benefits of the manufacturing sector at the global level. The
concept of Industry 4.0 introduced in the manufacturing industry is to advance the
Fig. 4 Applications of expert system
process and reduce the processing time. As a core of Industry 4.0, smart factory
assimilates the physical as well as cyber technologies besides producing novel
techniques to enhance the performance, quality, and controlling ability and to reduce
the manufacturing lead time (Shi et al. 2020). The term “smart factory” has been
introduced by academic and industrial experts from several viewpoints (Bicocchi
et al. 2019). Many of the definitions relate to the intelligent manufacturing and
cyber-physical system (CPS).
It is an integrated manufacturing system connected by a network and collects
the entire data about the manufacturing process in real time over the Internet and
automatically fine-tunes the machining parameters/methods or changes the raw
materials to enhance the features of the production system dynamically (Park 2016).
A smart factory is a manufacturing CPS that assimilates the physical systems like
machinery, belts and conveyors, and processed parts with information systems, such
as material resource planning (MRP), planning control (PC), and enterprise resource
planning (ERP) to device flexible, just-in-time, as well as agile manufacturing
system (Wang et al. 2016). Conferring to (Chen et al. 2017), it is an intelligent
manufacturing system that integrates the data-sharing process, computation process,
Fig. 5 Typical smart factory
and process control in the industry to face the current needs of the industry. A typical
layout of the smart factory is shown in Fig. 5.
Machine maintenance can be categorized into three types, namely, predictive
maintenance (supervised) (Naren and Subhashini 2020), run to failure (semi-
supervised) (Vercruyssen et al. 2020), and preventive maintenance (unsupervised)
(Cerquitelli et al. 2019). Self-diagnostic machines are an integral part of smart
factories. Predictive maintenance is a proactive maintenance strategy that predicts
failure. These predictions are based on data gathered through condition monitoring
sensors using IoT, analyzed using big data, and predicted using machine learning
algorithms. This leads to reducing the cost and improving the availability of the
systems, thus optimizing performance.
“Intelligent agent” is a device that observes its environment and takes corrective
action to complete the task successfully (Russell and Norvig 2010). An energetic
portion of agent-based methods in the industrial sector comprises the observation
to regulate the settings of their surroundings. The utilization of transducers and
additional devices to acquire the statistics from the shop floor can be used for ML
algorithms. Owing to the observation of agents, several learning tactics, followed
by the agents’ emphasis on supervised learning algorithms as the sensor signal
stipulates an accurate response, are employed for training the agents. Predictive
maintenance aims to determine the condition of the machine to forecast the timing
of the occurrence of the failure.
Cyber-Physical Systems
Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are the outcome of the incorporation of computers

connected with systems in the physical world. CPS extensively employs sensors and
actuators to monitor and control the physical elements of the CPS. The lifetime of
the sensors and actuators employed in CPS plays a vital role in the trustworthiness
and accessibility of the entire system. CPS is generally applied across domains
like engineering and technology to empower the process optimization and earlier
unattainable functionality. CPS becomes the crucial infrastructure that supports the
progress of automated manufacturing (Li 2018).
In an automated manufacturing system, there is no human involvement prefer-
ably, or to a certain level, there is reduced human involvement. So, the complete
production line in a manufacturing plant would be made highly independent without
any human involvement. The entire automation can be feasible with the aid of CPS
through various elements like smart sensors and actuators. Smart sensors are going
to be facilitating technologies to fulfill the needs of Industry 4.0.
The subsequent epoch of smart computing will be entirely dependent on CPS
(Nayyar and Puri 2016). CPS is a co-engineered interrelating network of physical
and computational elements. These systems will afford the foundation of essential
infrastructure, form the fundamentals of budding and upcoming smart services, and
advance the quality in various domains (Griffor et al. 2017). Recently, IoT plays
an essential role in renovating the “conventional technology” to “next-generation
everywhere computing.” IoT is attaining a significant place in research across the
globe, particularly in sensor technologies and automation. The most important
aspect of Industry 4.0 is automation.
CPS is an embedded system. Conceptually, CPS is the integration of an
embedded system along with the physical system together in the cyber-physical
system. Nowadays, embedded systems are the enabling technologies for making
systems smarter. They possess a certain level of computation, communication, and
control capabilities. So, the interaction with the physical world through different
sensors and actuators is called cyber-physical systems. The typical example of CPS
is shown in Fig. 6. The comparison of an embedded system with CPS is presented
in Table 1.
Features of CPS
The prominent features of CPS are described below (Alur 2015):
• Reactive Computation:
Reactive computation is a mandatory one, and it means the interaction of the
system with the physical environment in a continuous manner. Accordingly, there
is a classification of observed inputs and outputs in the process and deals with the
systems.
• Concurrency:
The simultaneous execution of multiple processes is called concurrency . So,
concurrent processes would exchange the information to accomplish certainly
anticipated output, and these processes could be synchronous or asynchronous in
terms of their operation.
Fig. 6 Typical cyber-physical system
Table 1 Comparison of an embedded system with CPS

Embedded system CPS
Devices embedded with data processing System have physical components and
systems software
Typically narrowed to a single device Networked with a set of embedded systems
Limited resources to perform a limited number Resources constrain is not here
of tasks
Real-time response and reliability are the major Timing and concurrency are the major issues
issues
• Feedback Control:
Feedback control of the physical systems has a control system with a certain
form of the control element. So, the sensors sense from the physical environment,
and the actuators produce the corrective action on the environment. To perform
the complex task, a hybrid control system is applied.
• Real-Time Computation:
Real-time computation is employed in a time-sensitive operation such as
coordination, resource allocation, etc.
Components of CPS
The major components of CPS are listed below:
• Sensors:
– Active sensor
– Passive sensor
• Data acquisition system:
– Data logger
• Connectivity:
– IEEE standards
– Zigbee
– 6LoWPAN
– HART
– Z-wave
– Bluetooth
– RFID
– LoRa (Long Range)
• Advanced manufacturing system:
– Additive manufacturing process
– Flexible manufacturing system
– SCADA/CAD/CAM
– Unmanned industries
• Data analytics:
– Machine learning algorithms
– Cloud computing
– Edge computing
• Human-machine interaction:
– Autonomous robots
– Man-machine interface
– Swarm robots
– Interconnected robots
– Cobots (collaborative robots)
Machine Learning
Human expertise should have a better understanding of the functionality and

behavior of the system before the users of expert systems. Machine learning (ML)
specifies the ability of the software to investigate large quantity of data and to
study how to resolve the difficulties spontaneously. The various ML algorithms,
like support vector machine (SVM), hidden Markov model (HMM), convolutional
neural networks (CNN), decision tree (DT), etc., (Mahdavinejad et al. 2018) are
Fig. 7 Classification of ML based on learning prospect
used for expert thinking. Big data is associated with the usage of consumer data for
optimizing the product design and processes. ML is the science of accomplishing
computers to perform exclusive programming (Blog 2017).
In manufacturing industries, the ML algorithm is useful to process and analyze
the data sensibly. The signals acquired from field devices of the shop floor industry
cannot be processed manually. ML can play a major role in the transformation pro-
cess of the product life cycle and product variety to enhance customer satisfaction.
The classification of ML based on learning prospect is shown in Fig. 7. Figure 6
reveals a set of algorithms suitable for different types of learning process. In general,
70% of the data are used for training, and 30% of the data are used for testing and
validation. The research of ML is classified into three main classes conferring to
the learning approach (Hadfield-Menell et al. 2016; Monostori 2003; Szarvas et al.
2007):
• Supervised learning:
– Classification
– Regression
• Unsupervised learning:
– Clustering
• Reinforcement learning
Fig. 8 Process of supervised learning
Supervised Learning
Supervised learning concentrates on cataloging (labeling) of training data, and the

algorithm first learns from the given training data. The data employed for training
purposes includes different patterns, in which the algorithm will learn from the
patterns. It seems the output is readily available. But, from the training data, it has
different outputs. Here, supervising assists the model to forecast the correct output.
Supervised learning algorithms are typically employed in the machining industry,
particularly owing to the data-rich but knowledge-scarce kind of problems. Figure 8
shows the learning process involved in supervised learning. Supervised ML is used
in various field of manufacturing, metal cutting, monitoring, and control, which is
the most significant one (Wuest et al. 2016). The application of supervised learning
ranges from the machine level to process planning and design.
Unsupervised Learning
Unsupervised learning is a learning methodology in ML. Unlike supervised learn-

ing, unsupervised learning does not label the data with which the user wants to train
the model. Labeling the data means to classify the data into different categories. This
labeling mainly takes place in supervised learning. But, in unsupervised learning,
there is no labeling. Figure 9 shows the learning process involved in supervised
learning. The model learns through training itself from the data. Unsupervised
Fig. 9 Process of unsupervised learning
learning draws inferences from datasets without labels, and the assessment of the
action is not offered since in this learning, the teacher is not involved. But in
supervised learning, the right answer is provided by the supervisor. A detailed
survey on deep learning was presented by (Hatcher and Yu 2018).
Reinforcement Learning
Reinforcement learning is used along with supervised and unsupervised learning.

The thought of offering rewards for every positive outcome is the basis of this
algorithm. Reinforcement learning is considered by limited feedback; then relatively
proper action is not initiated, and the evaluation of the action is provided by the
teacher. This learning contains a hybrid method of unsupervised learning and is
applied for a laser welding system to enhance the quality of welding (Günther
et al. 2014) and is also used in the manufacturing industry to enhance production
(Monostori et al. 1996). The process of reinforcement learning is shown in Fig. 10.
The framework of the expert system is shown in Fig. 11. After acquiring the
data from the industry, it has to be preprocessed in terms of signal conditioning,
feature extraction, and feature selection process. Feature selection is performed to
identify the most significant features that have vital information about the process.
The feature selection ensures the recommended volume of data, which reduces the
significant computational time while training the model with ML. After training
and testing the ML, it has to be validated with real-time as well as benchmarking
datasets to avoid overfitting and underfitting problems.
This chapter focuses exclusively on the situations involving machine/tool con-
dition monitoring, fault diagnosis, and early detection. Various works discuss the
sensor signals and features used for condition monitoring applications (Mohanraj
Fig. 10 Process of reinforcement learning
Fig. 11 The framework of an expert system using ML
et al. 2020; Shankar et al. 2019b; Thangarasu et al. 2020). The subsequent section
discusses the ML algorithms and their applications in machine tool condition
monitoring.
Support Vector Machine
Support vector machine (SVM) is predominant, but flexible SVM algorithms are
used both for problems like classification and for regression types. In general, SVM
is mainly used for classification problems. During the 1960s, SVM was introduced
and advanced in the year 1990. SVM has its exclusive way of execution as related
to other ML algorithms. Recently, SVM is enormously popular for its capability to

handle various continuous and definite variables.
Naive Bayes
Naive Bayes (NB) is a classification algorithm based on the Bayes’ theorem with
a robust hypothesis that all the forecasters are self-regulating to each other. The
hypothesis is that the incidence of a feature in a class is independent on the incidence
of any other feature in the same class.
K-Nearest Neighbors
K-nearest neighbors (KNN) is one of the supervised ML algorithms and employed

to solve the classification as well as the regression nature of problems, though KNN
is primarily applied to solve classification problems. The properties of KNN are
described below:
• Lazy learning: It is an exhausting learning algorithm since the dedicated training

phase is not available and utilizes the entire data for training.
• Nonparametric learning: It is a nonparametric learning algorithm since it does
not guess anything about the original data.
It uses “feature similarity” to forecast the values of new datasets, which means
that the new dataset will be allotted a value based on how exactly it matches the data
in the training set.
Logistic Regression
Logistic regression is one of the supervised learning algorithms applied to forecast

the possibility of a goal. The goal is dichotomous in nature, which means there
would be only two types. The dependent variable is binary type, and the data
is coded as either 1 (Yes) or 0 (No). Scientifically, it forecasts P(Y = 1) as a
function of X. It is one of the simple ML algorithms applied for several classification
problems like detection of spam, prediction of diabetes and cancer, etc.
Decision Tree
Decision tree (DT) is a prognostic modeling tool used in various fields of appli-
cations. DT can be built by an algorithmic approach that can split the dataset in
dissimilar ways based on the dissimilar conditions. DT is one of the most powerful
algorithms that cataracts under the group of supervised algorithms. DT is applied to
solve classification and regression problems.
Random Forest
Random forest (RF) is a subset of a supervised learning algorithm applied for

solving classification problems largely and suitable for the regression problem also.
RF generates DT on data points and gets the estimation from each of them and lastly
chooses the finest solution through voting. It is a collective approach that is better
than a single DT, as it diminishes the overfitting problem by using the average of
the predicted results.
K-Means Clustering
K-means clustering calculates the centroids and repeats until the optimum value for
centroid is found. It assumes that it has a known number of clusters. The number
of clusters recognized from data points by the algorithm is denoted by “K.” The
dataset is allotted to a cluster in such a way that the sum of the squared distance
among the datasets and centroid would be least as possible. The least difference
inside the clusters will lead to more similar datasets within the same cluster.
Hierarchical Clustering
Hierarchical clustering is an unsupervised learning algorithm used for clustering

the unlabeled datasets that have the same characteristics. Hierarchical clustering
algorithms have two classes:
• Agglomerative hierarchical algorithms: Every data is considered as an indi-

vidual cluster and consecutively combines the pair of clusters.
• Divisive hierarchical algorithms: The entire data is considered as a single large
cluster, and the clustering process involves dividing the single large cluster into
numerous minor clusters.
Mean Shift Algorithm
The mean shift algorithm is one of the unsupervised powerful nonparametric

learning algorithms. The mean shift algorithm essentially allows the datasets to the
clusters iteratively by shifting points toward the highest density of datasets (cluster
centroid). The number of clusters can be identified by the algorithm for the data.
Artificial Neural Network
Artificial neural network (ANN) is based on how the human brain works by making
the correct networks. The basic element of ANN is a neuron, and each neuron is
connected with other neurons through axons. A neuron can transfer the message
to other neurons to handle the issue or does not send it forward. ANN consists of
multiple layers (input, hidden, output), which replicate the biological neurons of the
human brain. The nodes can take input data and make simple actions on the data.
All the links are associated with their weight. ANN is proficient in learning, through
changing the values of weight.
Hidden Markov Model
Hidden Markov model (HMM) is a graphical model that consents to forecast an

arrangement of unknown (hidden) variables from a set of observed variables. An
HMM can be observed as a Bayes net unfolded through time with remarks made at
a sequence of time steps being applied to forecast the best arrangement of hidden
states.
Applications of ML in Condition Monitoring
ML algorithms play a vital role in the automation and condition monitoring process.
An online condition monitoring system can be built through the implementation of
ML. In the turning process, tool wear was monitored by analyzing the machined
surface with SVM classification through Gaussian and polynomial kernels and
found that polynomial kernel with degree 7 or 9 exhibits the higher classification
accuracy (Bhat et al. 2016). In the milling process, tool wear was monitored with
cutting force and vibration signals with CNN, SVM, Bayesian network (BN), and
KNN. They reported that the performance of CNN was better than other algorithms
and validated the accuracy of the CNN model with NASA_AMES benchmarking
data (Aghazadeh et al. 2018).
During the milling of Ti6Al4V, tool wear was classified with vibration signals
using v-SVM and s-SVM. They applied locality preserving projection (LPP) to
identify the most significant features of vibration signals and found that v-SVM
with LPP reveals better classification accuracy (Wang et al. 2014). The accuracy
of the results depends on the kernel function of the SVM (Elangovan et al. 2011).
During the face milling of 42CrMo4 steel alloy, the tool condition was monitored
with sound signals using SVM. The performance of SVM was compared with ANN,
DT, and NB. SVM proved its higher classification accuracy of 83% compared to
other classifiers (Madhusudana et al. 2017). A detailed review of ML in milling
process monitoring was briefed (Zhou and Xue 2018).
In the turning process, tool condition was monitored with cutting force signatures
using v-SVR, BRNN, and BPNN models. The results were evident that v-SVR
exhibits the classification accuracy of 96.76% than other algorithms (Li et al. 2017).
In the grinding process, wear of the grinding wheel was monitored with acoustic
(AE) signals using DT, ANN, and SVM. They identified that SVM trained with
cubic kernel performed better than DT and ANN in terms of classification accuracy
(Arun et al. 2018). In the milling process, tool wear was monitored with vibration
signals using a long short-term memory network (LSTM) and found a considerable
improvement in classification accuracy. The accuracy of the proposed model was
validated with a benchmarking dataset (Cai et al. 2020).
In the milling process, tool wear was monitored with AE and vibration signatures
using various ML algorithms. The feature level and decision fusion were made to
predict the tool condition accurately. They used DT, SVM, NB, and ANN with
time, frequency, and time-frequency domain features. They reported that SVM and
ANN had better accuracy in the time domain and frequency domain, respectively
(Krishnakumar et al. 2018). During the milling process, the tool condition was
monitored with the sound signal, cutting force, and vibration signals. The statistical
features like root means square, mean, kurtosis, and skewness were considered as
features, and ANN was used as a decision-making algorithm. They found that ANN
with selected features was used to predict the tool condition properly (Shankar
et al. 2019a). They found that the performance of ANN with cutting force and
sound signals was better than ANFIS (Shankar et al. 2019b). Table 2 shows the
classification accuracy of various ML in tool condition monitoring applications.
Table 2 Prediction accuracy of various ML in condition monitoring applications

References Machine learning algorithm Classification accuracy (%)
Zhou et al. (2020) SVM 81.9
Zhou et al. (2019) SVM with transition point 90.8
identification method
KNN 81.3
DT 79.3
SVM 85.7
Zhou et al. (2020) KNN 85.7
DT 84.9
ANN 82.1
SVM 98.7
Sakthivel et al. (2010a) KNN 93.7
Sakthivel et al. (2012) DT 96.3
DT 99.66
SVM 99.93
Sakthivel et al. (2014) GEP (gene expression 99.93
programming)
P-SVM 96.66
Wavelet -GEP 99.83
Kernel PCA 96.53
Sakthivel et al. (2010b) Manifold chart 75.06
MVU 77.82
PCA 99.3
DT 99.33
Fuzzy 97.50
DT-PCA 96.6
Conclusion
The future industry depends on Industry 4.0 and the entire cyber-physical system.
The cyber-physical system, along with the innovation of the Internet of things (IoT),
made the system become fully automated, and the system can be monitored and
controlled anywhere in the world. The most important thing in Industry 4.0 is
the thread of cyber-security and attacks. The entire control of the industry can be
monitored and controlled through machine learning algorithms. With the advent of
ML, an expert system can be designed and implemented in the unmanned industry.
The expert system with ML can be used for many real-world applications.
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The Adoption of Industry 4.0 Technologies
Through the Implementation of Continuous 47
Improvement Tools
Maria Rosaria Sessa, Ornella Malandrino, Giuseppe Fenza,

Gianfranco Caminale, and Claudio Risso
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1186
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1188
The Main Characteristics of Quality 4.0 Paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1192
The Implementation of WCM Through Quality 4.0 Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1198
Introduction of RAMI 4.0 for Intelligent Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1204
WCM for the Intelligent Production in LEONARDO of Tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1209
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1216
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1218
Abstract
In recent years, the term Industry 4.0 refers to a multiplicity of changes which
are revolutionizing the production methods of different industrial sectors. The
purpose of this chapter is to identify different tools to support continuous
improvement of performance in order to adopt Industry 4.0 model (see figure
below). To reach this aim, the authors carried out an analysis on possible
implementation and integration of different Quality Management approaches,
as World Class Manufacturing (WCM) and RAMI 4.0 in an Italian aerospace,
M. R. Sessa () · O. Malandrino · G. Fenza

Department of Management & Innovation Systems, University of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy
e-mail: masessa@unisa.it; ornellam@unisa.it; gfenza@unisa.it
G. Caminale
CTO Cyber Security Division, LEONARDO Company, Genoa, Italy
e-mail: gianfranco.caminale@leonardocompany.com
C. Risso
Critical Infrastructures, EPC & Large Enterprise – Cyber Security Division, LEONARDO
Company, Genoa, Italy
e-mail: claudio.risso@leonardocompany.com
1186 M. R. Sessa et al.
defense and security company, within the scope of national program PON 2014–
2020, Leonardo 4.0, and the program ECSEL-Innovation Actions-2018. This
research provides information about possible integration between managerial
approaches and 4.0 technologies. This integration will allow the real implemen-
tation Industry 4.0 model. This can serve to academicians and practitioners in
the field as incipit for development of actionable strategies and practices for
successful transition from traditional manufacturing into the Industry 4.0. The
present chapter contributes to the debate surrounding Industry 4.0 by stressing
that willing firms undertake the transition from actually manufacturing into the
Industry 4.0, can’t build this phase on only application of enabling technologies
but must be aware that is necessary have to implement precise organizational
and managerial approaches. All stakeholders need to be aware that to adopt the
Industry 4.0 model requires not only the application of the new technologies but
also the development and implementation of a series of Quality Management
tools and practices that become an essential key to face the fourth Industrial
Revolution. In fact, better managerial practices can support the correct adoption
of the Industry 4.0 model.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · New technologies · Managerial approaches · Integration
Introduction
In recent decades, companies have felt the need to redefine their business model
for the purpose of facing multiple challenges produced by the emergence of new
trends, such as the expansion of markets in a global dimension, which involves
an increase in the intensity of international competition and a reduction in the life
cycle of the product; a change in the average consumer behavior, who is more and
more careful to principles of economic, environmental, and social sustainability
(Dossou 2018); the advent of the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 which
significantly reduces the positive effects of economies of scale and allows the
configuration of products, processes, and, more generally, of value chains through
the use of enabling technologies (Schuh et al. 2014). There is no Industry 4.0
without Big Data Management and Business Intelligence supported by increasingly
customized Analytics for each single company. In fact, the data, put into the
system, offer companies a new predictive analysis capacity, which ensures a wide
information base to improve products and services, supporting decisions in the
best possible way. On this point, new digital technologies will have a deep impact
in the context of four development guidelines: the first concerns the use of data,
computing power, and connectivity and is divided into Big Data, Open Data, Internet
of Things, Machine-to-Machine, and Cloud Computing for the centralization of
information and its conservation; the second one is that of Analytics: after the data
47 The Adoption of Industry 4.0 Technologies Through the. . . 1187
has been collected, it is necessary to obtain a value. Today only 1% of the data
collected is used by companies, which could instead obtain advantages starting
with Machine Learning, by machines that improve their performance by learning
from the data gradually collected and analyzed; the third development line is the
interaction between man and machine, which involves both touch interfaces, which
are increasingly popular, and intensified reality; at last, the fourth guideline concerns
the whole sector that deals with the transition from digital to real world and which
includes additive manufacturing, 3D printing, robotics, communications, Machine-
to-Machine interactions, and new technologies for storing and using energy in a
focused way, rationalizing costs and optimizing performance.
Therefore, Industry 4.0 represents a highly innovative management model, but
without adequate methodological support – which in this report will be called
Quality 4.0 – there is a risk that technology will prevail over the methodological
approach, without generating the expected benefits compared to the investments
made.
This factory configuration leads to different challenges and approaches compared
to the Industry 3.0 model, so it is necessary to expand the field of analysis: customer
and provider must be considered as crucial points in the value chain and quality
must be a feature present starting from the top to the bottom of the supply chain.
Thanks to Industry 4.0 we therefore move from product design to factory design:
the physical object is no longer separated from its digital value, on the contrary it is
possible to start from the virtual project and then overturn it on the physical world.
Nevertheless, the 4.0 model can be effectively implemented only if the tools
intended for continuous improvement of process and product performance, typical
of Industry 3.0 but implemented through the digital technologies of the fourth
industrial revolution, continue to be taken into consideration.
Therefore, an organization will be able to choose this model only if it is able to
combine the Quality 4.0 methodological approach with the digital innovations of
Industry 4.0, in order to make processes and products more efficient and sustainable
and enhance the skills of the human capital.
In light of these premises, the objective of this contribution is to examine the
World Class Manufacturing (WCM) and RAMI 4.0 tools for the management of
the digital business system, in order to suggest the adoption of the Industry 4.0
model through the Quality 4.0 methodological approach in LEONARDO, a leader
company in the Italian aerospace, defense, and security sector.
In particular, we will proceed with the analysis of the possible integration
between some of technical pillars of WCM with Key Enabling Technologies
(KET) for the effective implementation of Industry 4.0 model. In this regard, the
main approaches at the basis of WCM will be analyzed, namely, Total Quality
Management, Lean Production, and Just in Time. The recognition of business
processes and tools designed to manage them, according to the principles of quality,
will come to a standardization of procedures and, therefore, the development of an
integrated system of effective tools and methodologies for entire production reality
in which the final solution will be implemented.
Background
The term “Industry 4.0” was used for the first time in 2011, during the Hannover
Messe on the initiative of the working group led by Siegfried Dais (Robert Bosh
GmbH) and Henning Kagermann (Acatech) as part of the High-tech 2020 plan,
in order to create production systems capable of monitoring physical processes
through Enabling Technologies – creating a so-called digital twin of the physical
world – and to make intelligent decisions through real-time communication and
cooperation between humans and machines (Wang et al. 2016). Indeed, industry 4.0
combines production systems with intelligent production processes by exploiting
advanced information and production technologies to create flexible, intelligent,
and reconfigurable projects capable of facing an increasingly dynamic and global
market (Shen and Norrie 1999). It also allows all physical processes and information
flows to be available when and where they are needed through holistic production
chains, where the use of supporting technologies allows devices or machines to
vary their behaviors in response to different situations and requirements based on
past experiences and learning skills (McFarlane et al. 2003) and to communicate
directly with production systems in order to solve different problems and make
adaptive decisions in a timely manner.
Although this conception of Industry 4.0 is widely shared, actually, to date
considering the embryonic nature of the concept, we have not arrived yet at a
univocal definition of the same concept, which is why very often are used different
terminological expressions such as Cyber Physical Systems, Internet of Things,
Smart Manufacturing, or Advanced Manufacturing to represent and describe the
fourth industrial revolution.
Therefore, there are many definitions of Industry 4.0 present in the literature.
According to Kang et al. (2016) Industry 4.0 or Intelligent Manufacturing is
identifiable in the fourth industrial revolution, which represents a new paradigm and
consists in the convergence of ICT technologies and cutting-edge manufacturing,
providing a solid basis for making effective and optimized decisions through
smart and accurate decision-making systems. While Ivanov et al. (2016) represent
Industry 4.0 through the concept of smart manufacturing based on the network, in
which machines and products interact with each other without the need for human
intervention.
Industry 4.0, according to Kagermann et al. (2013), concerns the technical
integration of cyber-physical systems in manufacturing and logistics and the use
of the Internet of Things and Internet of Services in industrial processes. This will
have consequences on the methods of generating value, on business models, on
the services provided downstream, and, in general, on the whole organization of
work. But, Zhong et al. (2017) argue that understanding the Industry 4.0 context
is only possible if another concept is taken into consideration, such as intelligent
manufacturing or Smart Manufacturing, so through a systematic review of the
literature, it will identify more than 350 articles (in Scopus and Google Scholar),
from 2005 to 2015, in which is made reference to intelligent production when
trying to define the concept of Industry 4.0. Intelligent manufacturing is aimed
at optimizing production processes through the use of advanced technologies, in

order to generate a new business performance management model that significantly
enhances the design, production, management, and integration of the whole product
life cycle. This implies that the management and evaluation, in terms of quality,
of the entire product life cycle can be facilitated using various smart devices as
well as adaptive decision models (Li et al. 2017). However, it is necessary to
underline that the embodiment of this concept can be found in the Intelligence
Manufacturing System, a new generation system that uses the network architecture
via the Internet to provide collaborative, customizable, flexible, and reconfigurable
services to end users and start a highly integrated man-machine production system
(Feeney et al. 2015). This integration aims to establish an ecosystem of the
various manufacturing activities involved in the smart factory system, so that the
organizational, managerial, and technical levels are perfectly connected (Chen et al
2018).
So, probably, the concept behind Industry 4.0 is that of collaboration-cooperation
that can take place in three ways: between people, between machines, or between
machines and men. All this is possible precisely through the use of technologies that
facilitate communication practices and that allow machines to share the information
collected in real time as well as to improve the quality of processes and products and
to reduce time to market from product conception to marketing (Brettel et al. 2014).
The main characteristics required for a correct conversion of traditional production
into intelligent production are the following:
– Horizontal integration between the actors of the value chain through the sharing
of information regarding production processes and data
– End-to-end integration of engineering processes through advanced communica-
tion and virtualization tools to enable the customization of products and services
– Vertical integration of business processes to establish cross-functional collabora-
tion and cooperation between departments
In this context, technology is one of the driving forces of change which is capable
of automating business processes, making them flexible and efficient and facilitating
internal and external communication.
The enabling technologies of Industry 4.0 are varied and heterogeneous. For
example, technologies commonly classified under the name of Cyber-Physical
Systems (CPS) or the Internet of Things (IoT) are taken into consideration for
communication and collaboration between objects, systems, environments, and
people. In this dense network of information exchanges, huge amounts of data
are also generated and collected. The scientific branch that follows this trend is
Big Data Analysis. Furthermore, other technologies that are redefining the industry
are augmented reality and virtual reality, cloud computing, additive printing or 3D
printing, and newly developed robotics.
More precisely, the cyber-physical system can be understood as the set of
technologies capable of “dialogue” with the physical and real world, constituting
a network that incorporates all the business activities of a company (Faller and
Höftmann 2018). It is based on a set of devices, used to communicate and col-

laborate with each other and with the surrounding external environment, controlling
activities, collecting or providing data in real time, and making services available
via the Internet (Lu 2017). According to Lee et al. (2015) the architecture of CPS
systems can be represented through five levels:
– Smart connection, an area in which there is the connection of data, a network

of sensors, the connection to development data, the management system, and
databases.
– Data-to-information conversion, in this phase the collected data must be con-
verted into processable information, for which algorithms are used to understand
what type of data has been collected.
– Cyber level, in which the cyber system acts by coordinating the devices through
communication.
– Cognition level refers to the cognitive capacity of the system once the global
situation has been understood, in order to understand how to act and interact
with users and make adequate decisions.
– Configuration level, in this phase the configuration of the real world starts on the
basis of the choices coming from the cyber-physical world.
The good functioning of a CPS system requires an adequate IT division, capable

of withstanding a greater use of services and the load of the network infrastructure.
The latter must be able to support a large number of connected devices with
greater information processing, without slowing down or interrupting the connected
services. All this implies larger physical environments, technical quality, systems
reliability, and qualified personnel (Kagermann et al. 2013).
While, the term Internet of Things (IoT) is used for the first time by a researcher
from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) – Kevin Ashton – to give a
name to the interconnection of physical objects via the Internet. Biography of Kevin
Ashton. (http://ethw.org/Kevin_Ashton).
According to Schwab (2016), an organization’s use of IoT could lead to a number
of positive, negative, or yet unknown consequences on business performance.
The main positive consequences are increased productivity; increased efficiency
in the use of resources; reduction of environmental impacts; increased demand
for storage space and broadband; labor market transformation; request for new
professional skills; possibility of having rigid devices that provide information in
real time through traditional communication networks; creation of products that
can be digitally connected; new knowledge through the connection of intelligent
objects. While the negative consequences are less privacy; precariousness for low-
skilled individuals on these aspects; risk of cyber attacks; lower security; higher
levels of complexity; and loss of control. Finally, the aspects with consequences not
yet known could be impact of the value of the contents on the business model;
possibility for each organization to implement an application; creation of new
businesses in the field of data marketing; changes in the area of privacy; dislocation
of infrastructures to take advantage of information technologies; work automation.
In Italy, the knowledge of the IoT is not, to date, particularly thorough but
the data of the IoT Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico
di Milano leave no room for negative impressions, reporting a significant growth
in the use of this technology. Observatory of the School of Management of
the Politecnico di Milano (https://www.osservatori.net/it_it/osservatori/osservatori/
internet-of-things). In particular, Bellini (2016) believes that the use of IoT in Italy
can be identified in three different application areas: consolidated, experimental, and
embryonic. The consolidated applications are the most successful and widespread,
since they are immediately applied and are very simple, such as video surveillance
and security in smart homes with the aim of controlling or avoiding illicit intrusions.
While experimental and embryonic applications are classified under the Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies used within the Supply Chain. The
most relevant problem with respect to the spread of the IoT could be represented by
the protection of privacy, as the ability to process data remotely and transfer them
using remote connections if not carried out with transparency can create damage to
personal security.
Therefore, for the realization of the IoT, characteristics such as compatibility,
modularity, and scalability of the solutions are necessary (Wan et al. 2015). This
means providing an integration on the production equipment, a network, and a
supervision system in order to carry out a remote control of the vehicles, systems,
and also of the personnel and to collect data and information in real time, allowing
to make choices that increase productivity and efficiency and lead to the overall
optimization of the system, regardless of how complex it may be (Chui et al. 2013).
A further enabling technology can be identified in the use of Big Data, that is,
the ability to collect, share, select, aggregate all the information useful to process,
analyze, and find new solutions to old and new issues through algorithms capable
of dealing with many variables in a short time and with computational resources
however limited in relation to the amount of input. It is a technology suitable for
Industry 4.0 as it adapts to different use scenarios (Golzer et al. 2015).
The growing need to obtain more memory, greater flexibility, and speed of
calculation finds its solution in Cloud Computing, a term which identifies a set of
technologies capable of using the software and hardware available in the network
to process, store, and archive data. More precisely, Cloud Computing guarantees
organizations a reduction in fixed capital, personnel costs, and the management and
maintenance of the IT system. Furthermore, it allows you to manage any problems
quickly and efficiently: this means greater timeliness and reliability. At the same
time, the data centers installed inside structures equipped with access control and
redundant hardware reduce the risk of data loss compared to normal company
servers. Finally, the data servers located within the server farm guarantee a high
speed of execution when requesting data. A further technology that is already unique
to the Industry 4.0 is represented by traditional robots and robot Collaborative who
take the name of Cobot (Beltrametti et al. 2017). These are advanced machines able
to collaborate with each other and with the staff working inside the factory, in order
to perform complex tasks in synergy. This means that the operator is supported in the
production line by smart robots able to perform teamwork, creating a hybrid team,
in which the characteristics of the staff and the robot are evaluated as a single group
that combines the flexibility of the human being, to the accuracy of the machine
(Richert et al. 2016). Therefore, the requirements sought are flexibility, reliability,
and security rather than high speed of execution of the activities.
Finally, one of the symbols of production 4.0 is 3D printing which uses additive
techniques to create any type of object designed using special software. Usually the
process that allows the creation of solid objects through the use of 3D printing is
divided into three phases (Bongio and Distefano 2015):
– Modeling, which is the information acquisition phase and consists in reporting

the details of the object on a CAD software, in which any changes are reported.
– Slicing, in which the previously created virtual model is divided into layers,
which will be compatible with the model in use of the 3D printer and can be
reproduced in succession by the latter.
– Print, in which the virtual object is reproduced. There are several printing
methodologies, including extrusion, photopolymerization, granular technologies,
and lamination.
The main advantages of this technology can be summarized as follows:
– Realization of systems and parts of systems as well as single pieces, without the
need for subsequent assembly and which contain electrical parts, sensors, and
batteries.
– Reduction of production costs. Products are made with characteristics equal to
or superior to those observed in products made using traditional technologies,
obtaining, moreover, unique quality standards.
– Possibility to change the design of the product by improving the basic character-
istics of the same object.
– Possibility of storing virtual models rather than finished products. This allows a
reduction in fixed capital and all those costs related to warehouse management.
– Allows to cope with the sudden and unexpected lack of components for line
production.
– Facilitates the prototyping phases in all those sectors in which economies of scale
are not decisive but critical success factors, such as agility and speed of response.
The Main Characteristics of Quality 4.0 Paradigm
The reference framework, described in the previous paragraph, allows to affirm

that Industry 4.0 represents a highly innovative management model, but without
adequate methodological support – which can be identified in the Quality 4.0
paradigm – there is a risk that technology will prevail over the “methodological
approach,” without generating the expected benefits with respect to the investments
made.
The intelligent production model in Industry 4.0 can only be effectively imple-
mented if the tools aimed at continuous improvement of process and product
performance, typical of Industry 3.0 but implemented through the use of enabling
technologies, continue to be taken into consideration typical of the fourth industrial
revolution.
Quality 4.0 combines new technologies with traditional methods to achieve
new results in terms of Operational Excellence, performance, and innovation. New
technologies and advances in terms of data, analysis, connectivity, scalability, and
collaboration will have an impact on all company performance and on internal and
external stakeholders within the same organization.
It was in the 1890s that discussions began with Taylor about the scientific
organization of work. This concept has been expanded, refuted but also criticized
by subsequent contributions that have followed over time and to which have been
added further concepts such as Lean Production, Just in Time, and Total Quality
Management (Taylor 1919).
The concept of Lean Production refers to the management of company per-
formance according to the logic of eliminating waste in order to maximize the
value-cost ratio of production. This means that a production is Lean when it uses
the least amount of man hours, materials, machines, and economic amount obtaining
the best results within the foreseen time frame. Started to talk about Lean production
in the second half of the last century, when in 1988 John Krafcik (Engineer
at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., Joint venture of Toyota and General
Motors), with the article Triumph of the Lean Production System (1988), presented
the concept of Lean Manufacturing or Lean Production as a set of formalized
approaches.
The key principles that must be pursued by an organization to adapt and
implement the Lean Production methodology are the following:
– Value. The starting point for Lean Production is the concept of value that must
be rethought from the customer’s point of view. Only a small fraction of the
actions and total time it takes to produce a specific product add real value to the
end customer. It is of fundamental importance to define the value of the product
according to the customer’s perspective, so that all activities that do not add value
can be removed step by step.
– Map. You need to focus on analyzing the activities that create value. The
analysis involves all activities ranging from design, order management to product
production.
– Flow. After defining the value and after the value stream has been completely
mapped and all kinds of waste have been eliminated, we focus on the activities
that create value. The goal is to ensure that these value-creating activities flow
steadily and continuously. To do this, it is necessary to review how to organize
the work, what type of equipment to use to facilitate production in order to avoid
backward flows, rejects and stops, what structure to create to facilitate the flow
and what kind of professionals to look for.
– Pull. This term indicates that upstream goods are not produced until the moment
in which the downstream customer requests them. This makes it possible to avoid
raising the level of stocks by the producer of the good, its suppliers and the
companies producing the raw materials.
– Perfection. Once the value has been accurately defined, the value stream iden-
tified, and all the previous steps carried out, it is necessary to pursue perfection
through continuous improvements according to the Kaizen philosophy.
Therefore, one of the basic approaches of Lean Production is Value Stream

Mapping, according to which it is necessary to map and analyze the flow of value
generation with the aim of distinguishing the activities that produce added value
from those that do not create it in order to reduce costs, process complexity, and
process lead time as well as increasing production capacity by making better use
of available resources. Therefore, once the “AS-IS” status has been analyzed, that
is the current state of business processes, we move on to the identification of the
criticalities, in order to create a map of the “TO-BE” scenarios, or a map of the
processes in which critical issues will be resolved in order to make production
leaner.
In this regard, the hunt for waste, or all those activities or ways of using resources
that do not provide the product with an added value, is the first step in building “TO-
BE” scenarios. In the context of lean manufacturing, seven different types of waste
are identified:
– Overproduction. It consists in producing a quantity of components or finished

products that exceeds the demand.
– Wait. It is the most easily identifiable waste. It occurs whenever an operator does
not carry out any work waiting for material (from the supplier or warehouse) or
production means.
– Transportation. Every time a product is handled it risks being damaged, lost, etc.
It turns out to be a non-value-added activity.
– Process. This type of waste occurs when the production process does not have
adequate means (equipment, machinery, operators) and procedures.
– Stocks. The materials produced in excess of the real needs wherever they are
found, on production lines, in warehouses, in order from suppliers, are considered
a waste of both space and financial resources.
– Useless movements. Useful work is that particular type of movement that
produces value. Unproductive movements are all those types of movements that
involve unnecessary movements due to poorly designed layouts or oversized
structures and unproductive actions attributable to workplaces that have not been
ergonomically designed.
– Rework. Whenever you perform an operation that produces a defective part, the
defect must be corrected. A noncompliant product entails large financial and
image burdens for the company. Defects slow down production and increase lead
time. If even the defects are detected by the customer, the costs increase further,
as it becomes necessary to set up a structure able to manage complaints, bear the

costs deriving from repairs, disassembly, and reassembly and delivery.
The main causes of such waste can be identified in the badly organized layout,
in the lead times that are too long, in the inadequacy of the production process,
in inadequate maintenance, in poor work procedures (Visual Management), in the
lack of personnel training (Skill Matrix), poor supervision skills, incorrect product
or production process design, lack of performance indicators, inefficient planning
and programming of production, inadequate equipment, lack of organization of the
workspace (methodology 5S), and in the quality of suppliers.
However, it is necessary to underline that the loss of value does not depend
only on waste but also on other negative elements, such as “Muda,” “Muri,”
and “Mura.” The Japanese term Muda refers to the different types of waste, as
described above, while Muri is the term that indicates the overload of people or
resources. Overloading for people can lead, in the long term, to the possibility
of occupational injuries or illnesses due to the overexertion to which workers are
subjected. The effect is the absence from work for shorter or longer periods by the
workers and general dissatisfaction of the staff. Similarly, the excessive exploitation
of machinery can lead, in the long term, to accelerated wear, to breakages with
consequent production stop for maintenance and repair, or even the need to change
machinery may arise. Finally, Mura indicates fluctuations, variations, irregularities
in the workload (of demand). These fluctuations lead to phases in which there is an
overload of work (Muri) and to other phases in which the workforce and machinery
are oversized (pauses are created – Muda) and, therefore, the production flow is
disturbed.
Instead, approaches to evaluate the efficiency of Lean Production have mainly
three: the Kaizen, which refers to the quality management; SMED Techniques
for what concerns setup times; the Total Productive Maintenance. Managing
company activities according to the Kaizen philosophy means seeking continuous
improvement, starting from the assumption that every action once improved can
become a standard that can be further improved. In order to pursue the continuous
improvement of performance, the involvement of all interested parties is necessary.
While the SMED is a tool that is totally integrated within Lean Manufacturing and
arises from the need to minimize the internal and external setup times of a machine.
The purpose of this process is to be able to quickly switch from one production to
another in the same plant. Reducing times means eliminating the adjustment actions
on equipment, tools, machines and systems that do not bring added value to the
finished product.
Finally, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is an efficiency approach to
infrastructure maintenance. It too is a philosophy of continuous improvement and
teamwork, aimed at involving all operators, maintenance technicians, and supervi-
sors so that they themselves can exercise direct control over the correct functioning
of their machinery. One of the aims is to obtain an attitude of greater responsibility
and attention toward the plants on which we work every day (Galgano 2002).
It is an approach developed in the Japanese industrial concern in the early

seventies, and today is widely used in a variety of organizations, because of
considerable support in the total efficiency management plant them and, in general,
the whole company.
The spread of this approach is linked to the demand for greater productivity and
flexibility and the containment of operating costs and inventory levels of products
and materials.
Therefore, the main objective is to reduce the number of failures and defects
and at the same time to maximize the efficiency of the plants, through the
involvement of the staff. The application of the TPM provides for: maximizing the
overall efficiency of the entire production system; the promotion of an adequate
infrastructure maintenance system; the empowerment of all business functions
relating to maintenance; the active involvement of all internal stakeholders; the
promotion of TPM through a motivating management, that is, for small groups.
Furthermore, the TPM is based on some fundamental pillars (Fig. 1):
Therefore, the objective of the TPM is to have plants and machinery that are
able to guarantee the maximum reliability of the process in order to avoid the need
for safety stocks and have more streamlined flows, a necessary condition for Just
in Time production. Just in Time (JiT) is a logistical-production method aimed
at eliminating stocks and inventories of material in the factory. It is based on the
concept of producing only when needed. This way of organizing the production
process, together with the adoption of ever smaller production batches allowed
Fig. 1 Total Productive Maintenance pillars. (Source: Lean Production, lean made easy by Vorne
https://www.leanproduction.com/tpm.html)
by the introduction of quick setup techniques (SMED), eliminates or drastically

reduces the stationary material waiting to be processed, thus reducing the total
crossing time of the same material on the production line, which goes from days
to hours. This approach, which is of fundamental importance in the broader Lean
Production methodology, marks the transition from a push type logic, for which
finished products are made to be used in stock, to a pull type, according to which
production is started only on the basis of a real need and at the exact moment in
which this need arises. In fact, the JIT consists of three elements: Pull system; One-
Piece Flow system; Takt Time.
With the Pull system , the progress of the production flow is guided by the
customers: upstream goods are not produced until the downstream customer, both
internal and external, requests them. The instrument that governs this system is
the Kaban, a visual system that transmits a series of instructions communicating
information on the materials to be procured or the components to be produced.
While the second element that makes up the Just in Time approach is the One-
Piece Flow system, which is a way to organize the advancement of materials, with
the possibility of changing the product model at each step, in a continuous flow. In
this way, the individual pieces pass from one production phase to another without
accumulation between the machines, contributing to the reduction of the Time
Line (the material passes through the departments in the fastest way), to obtaining
maximum flexibility, important measure of intermediate stocks, to the recovery of
physical space inside the line, thanks to the use of smaller machines, which are
brought closer together due to the presence of small lots. Finally, the Takt Time is
the parameter that usually links production to the market, that is, it is a number that
expresses a time within which a unit of product must be obtained. It is essentially
the pace of production.
The last approach underlying the Quality 4.0 paradigm is Total Quality Manage-
ment (TQM). Adapted at the end of the 1990s in Japan, the TQM is the fruit of the
evolutionary history of the concept of Quality. With the advent of ISO standards
since 1987, the concept of Quality takes root as a strategic investment for the
organization, capable of generating profits. This was the fundamental step for a
systemic vision of quality from which he finally came to the most recent programs
based on dynamic processes aimed at continuous improvement of the effectiveness
and efficiency of performance of an organization. In fact, contents relating to the
conceptual framework of Quality have undergone a radical transformation over
time. From a sectorial content (Product Quality) it has gradually expanded to take
on global connotations (Total Quality), passing from a closed and static system,
mainly aimed at analyzing the past, to an open and dynamic system, oriented toward
the future. In short, we have moved from an orientation toward production to one
toward the market and, in a broader vision such as the one currently affirmed, to a
perspective that is also attentive to the balance and protection of the natural environ-
ment, to solidarity and social cohesion, in the awareness of the interdependence and
complementarity between the management of aspects of quality, the environment,
safety, and corporate social responsibility (Proto et al. 2010).
And this is how a truly broad vision of Quality has gradually established itself,
which goes beyond the traditional economic approach, as it is aimed at satisfying
the expectations of all interested parties. The implementation of this methodological
approach requires the adoption of a series of operational tools, including the Deming
Cycle and the Seven Tools, designed to manage the activities connected with the
improvement programs, whose main objective is the removal of any causes of
problems.
The area where these fall methodological approaches is the “Operational Excel-
lence,” a term which indicates the set of methods and tools by which an organization
can set their own goals in light of the culture of continuous performance improve-
ment.
Typical examples of Operational Excellence models are the X-Production Sys-
tems, which is the model that a generic X organization can adopt to improve and
maintain the efficiency and competitiveness of the performance of its operations.
The most accredited Operational Excellence model is certainly World Class Manu-
facturing (WCM), which will be discussed more fully in the next paragraph.
The Implementation of WCM Through Quality 4.0 Principles
World Class Manufacturing can be understood as the most significant and typical
model of the Lean methodological approach. Schonberger (1987), in the 1980s,
defined WCM as a continuous rapid improvement in the area of quality, investments,
and flexibility of an organization, so that continuous improvement is possible by
removing all obstacles to production, in order to achieve maximum simplification.
In this context, the participation of personnel is of fundamental importance, who,
through their cognitive abilities and, in particular, their soft skills, will be able to
positively influence the production process.
But the most accredited definition is certainly the one theorized by Yamashina
(2000), in the early 2000s, according to which the WCM has undergone a rapid
evolution on a global level, as a tool capable of developing the competitive
advantage of an organization. Over the years these first interventions on the
definition of the WCM have resulted in others who have tried to deepen and refine
the initial definition, as well as to develop principles and technical tools aimed at
achieving excellence in manufacturing.
The spread of this model in Italy began in 2005, when FCA decided to adopt
the WCM methodology to manage its production in the various Fiat factories, in
order to respond adequately to the continuous changes in the production system
in the national and international context. This means focusing on a greater speed
of response, an increase in operational efficiency and the logic of flexibility,
through production systems that are highly synchronized with market demand and
characterized by a strong focus on reducing waste in the process.
Therefore, WCM can be understood as a structured production system that
promotes long-term systemic improvements, aimed at evaluating and reducing all
Fig. 2 World Class Manufacturing Structure. (Source: Evoluzione della fabbrica. Dalla fabbrica
tradizionale a quella in ottica WCM (http://www.provincia.torino.gov.it/fidati/orientarsi/archivio_
orientarsi/dorientarsi/evoluzione_fabbrica.pdf))
types of losses and wastes that can be detected, applying methods and standards
with rigor and through the involvement of all the arts concerned (Fig. 2).
The WCM is inspired by some basic concepts, defined in this work as Quality
4.0 methodological approaches and schematically shown in Fig. 3.
This model refers to the activities and organization of the entire factory: from the
management of workers’ health and safety, to the management system for Quality in
the broadest sense of the term, to maintenance systems and workplace organization,
logistics, and the environment.
Therefore, WCM is mainly based on the concept of continuous performance
improvement which tends to achieve recognized and certified excellent results.
The main feature of the WCM is to seek the “Zero,” that is to eliminate all
waste and losses through a program of continuous improvement of all company
performance and the involvement of all internal stakeholders. This orientation can
be summarized in the following factors:
1. Zero customer dissatisfaction

2. Zero misalignments
3. Zero bureaucracy
4. Zero shareholder dissatisfaction
5. Zero waste
World Class
Manufacturing
TQM
TIE TQC TPM TIE

Method
Cost Deployment
Total Industrial Total Quality Total Productive

Just in Time
Engineering Control Maintenance
Focus Productivity Quality Technical

Service Level
Improvement Efficiency
Goals Zero Waste Zero Defects Zero Failures Zero Stocks
VALUES People Involvement, Value Creation, Customer Satisfaction
Fig. 3 The WCM structure according to the logic of Total Quality Management. (Source: own
processing)
6. Zero work that does not create added value

7. Zero stops
8. Zero missed opportunities
9. Zero information lost
The pursuit of these factors will allow the organization to obtain the excellence
of the entire production cycle in terms of quality and efficiency that will determine
the company’s success. This means that it is essential to follow certain procedures,
such as punctuality in deliveries to customers; knowledge of key customers and
the strengths of the products they make; a team that is attentive to customer needs;
the elimination of final storage; the reduction of setup times (SMED techniques);
continuous training of its employees; the elimination of any action that does not
bring added value to the customer; the search for total quality through the use
of statistical control tools; the engineering of critical operations; preventive and
proactive maintenance of machinery (Total Productive Maintenance); maintaining
clean and tidy work areas (5S methodology); the continuous interface between
production and design; the reduction of paper reporting and the Supply Chain
controlled through the Kanban system.
Therefore, certainly WCM is a methodology that recalls other typical approaches
of Lean Production but a particular characteristic that makes it unique is its structure
in pillars and steps of a multiplicity of technical and managerial activities. In fact,
the WCM is compared to a temple (Fig. 4), whose columns represent the technical
pillars while the managerial aspects are placed at the base of the pillars.
Fig. 4 The temple of World Class Manufacturing. (Source: own processing)
Each technical pillar refers to a specific area of the production system, while the
managerial factors are reflected in the management methods of the entire production
system of the company.
This is a path that must be followed at every stage, so it is not possible to imagine
developing one technical pillar rather than another. On the contrary, all the technical
pillars should be developed, although they are independent of each other and that
there is close collaboration and communication between the different areas of the
system, in order to add the objectives of the WCM.
In addition, through the Cost Deployment matrix, the areas on which each pillar
must actively intervene are identified and, at the same time, once a model area has
been identified, staff are trained on aspects related to the design, guidance, support,
and monitoring of the development of their own area in the company. In fact, the
WCM approach begins with learning in the model area, which will then be extended
to other areas of the system, until it covers the entire organization.
The development structure of a pillar is to establish the basic conditions,
define the objectives and the improvement plan of the model area, implement the
improvement in it, review the objectives and plan the extension, and develop the
extension improvement in the entire production system.
These actions, aimed at pursuing continuous improvement, require the use of
a methodological approach to measure the different company performances. In
this case, the most used indicators are KPI (Key Performance Indicator) and KAI
(Key Activities Indicator). With the former it is possible to represent the degree of
improvement of traditional variables of a production system, such as profit, sales,
and product quality rate. While the latter measure the actions and effort required to
achieve an improvement goal. It is essential to choose the most appropriate indicator
to be able to quantify the progress, in terms of continuous improvement, of the
actions to change a specific performance. Therefore, each step of each single pillar
will be considered concluded only after the actual achievement of the set objectives
is established during the audit. Once this has been verified for a certain step and,
therefore, considered that it has been completed, you can move on to the next one.
The ten technical pillars of the WCM are the following:
– Safety. It refers to the safety and health of employees in the workplace, for which
it is necessary to adopt tools aimed at the management and prevention of risks
for humans.
– Cost Deployment. This pillar allows you to analyze costs and benefits deriving
from your production system, as well as any losses of the organization. The
Cost Deployment analysis is foreseen for each single pillar, as it is necessary to
identify for each one which are the activities that must be improved as a priority
in order to reduce costs.
– Focused Improvement. Its main objective is to eliminate the main loss items
identified through the Cost Deployment analysis, avoiding to allocate effort and
resources toward nonpriority issues.
– Autonomous Activities. It is divided into activities, such as Autonomous Main-
tenance and Workplace Organization. The first has the objective of eliminating
the tastes due to the lack of maintenance of the basic conditions that generate
deterioration of machines and equipment. While the second has as its objective
the improvement of the work areas, trying to eliminate waste and losses present
in the production process, often due to deteriorated equipment.
– Professional Maintenance. This pillar refers to all those activities aimed at cre-
ating a maintenance system capable of minimizing the defects of the equipment,
trying to extend the useful life of the machines and their components.
– Quality Control. The main objective of this pillar is to satisfy the customer’s
needs through the continuous improvement of performance. It is a systemic,
logical, and detailed approach to reduce quality defects deriving from the
machine, production method, manpower, and material, which represent the main
causes of variability, that is, the shift from optimal production conditions.
– Logistics and Customer Service. This pillar pursues the objective of managing
the internal flow of the production process, also improving it through the
involvement of external stakeholders, such as logistics. In order to optimize
customer service and minimize logistics costs, the production and distribution
processes must be integrated with each other to allow the fastest and most
effective flow of products from upstream to downstream. This means operating
from a Just in Time perspective, or offering the right product, at the right time, in
the right quantities and conditions.
– Early Equipment Management. This pillar aims to optimize costs and installation
times for a new machine or production line.
– People Development. In this case, reference is made to the continuous improve-
ment of employee skills, for which an adequate training system is required as
well as a system capable of classifying the formal, nonformal, and informal
skills required for each specific task and reducing the gaps and/or skills gap.
Furthermore, this pillar can support the reduction of human errors, the ability
of individuals to carry out autonomous maintenance, the development of highly
qualified technical personnel, and the assumption of responsibility for continuous

improvement by personnel.
– Environment. The last pillar refers to the satisfaction of environmental man-
agement requirements, in compliance with mandatory and/or voluntary envi-
ronmental regulations and standards, aimed at the continuous improvement
of environmental performance. The standards commonly used to implement
management systems for environmental quality are ISO 14001 and the EMAS
regulation.
While managerial pillars, which apply within each pillar technical and reflect on
the involvement of the entire factories, are as follows:
– Management Commitment. Managers must know how to use the key tools of this
methodology and must be able to identify and transmit the objectives that the
company has set itself, with the related actions to be taken, even at the lowest
levels. Furthermore, management must be able to delegate responsibilities to
employees to facilitate the creation of an attitude that is inclined to initiative
and autonomy. The entire workforce must collaborate in identifying waste and
losses with the identification of their causes.
– Clarity of Objectives (KPI). The goals set by the company must be Smart, that is,
specific, measurable, achievable, stimulating, and time-based. Everyone inside
the plant must be aware of the path taken and the result to be achieved. To make
the communication of objectives more effective and direct it is necessary to set up
specific areas in the plant in which the various projects undertaken to eliminate
losses and waste and the results obtained are indicated.
– Route Map of WCM. It corresponds to a time map in which the results that each
single area must achieve are specified. The Route Map of each pillar must be
directed, specific, feasible, and desirable.
– Allocation of Highly Qualified People of Model Areas. It is necessary, especially
in the early stages of WCM implementation, to know how to choose and place the
most qualified people. These resources must learn the concepts and tools of the
methodology in the field and then transfer this knowledge throughout the plant.
– Commitment of the Organization. An active involvement of the entire orga-
nizational system must be created, starting from a change of mentality. The
organization must be aware of existing problems and have an open mind, willing
to collaborate in the activities of World Class Manufacturing and predisposed to
improvement.
– Competence of Organization toward Improvement. The company must know
how to spread the tools necessary for the implementation of the methodology,
starting from the basic ones and then moving on to the more advanced ones.
– Time and Budget. It is very important to quantify the improvement projects
economically and temporally in order to provide a clear indication of the
direction to take, the means to use, and the resources to reach the goal.
– Level of Detail. It is necessary to have an excellent level of detail in the collection
of data for the identification of waste and losses, thus allowing to focus attention
and resources on the costs that have a more negative impact on the plant. The
possession of a high level of detail is required every time it is necessary to solve
a problem, in order to eliminate the real root cause.
– Level of Expansion. The knowledge and notions learned in the model areas must
be implemented and adapted to the entire production system. The implementation
will end only when all wastes and losses are eliminated.
– Motivation of Operators. Operators must be the owners of machinery and
equipment, actively participating in continuous improvement. The tools and
knowledge necessary to recognize anomalies and resolve them in a timely
manner are provided. In this way a motivation is created in the operators that
push them to always give their best.
Therefore, in light of this, it is possible to state that the strengths of the World
Class Manufacturing methodology are manifold. One of the main benefits deriving
from the adoption of this methodology lies in the area of safety, for which the
priority objective of the WCM is not the reduction or elimination of losses and
waste, but the achievement of zero serious accidents and injuries. A further benefit
can be identified in the clear and clear division of the tasks and objectives to be
achieved required of each worker or work group. In fact, each of the WCM pillars
focuses its attention on a specific area of expertise. The path that each working group
will have to follow is known from the beginning, thanks to the characteristic steps
of each pillar. Furthermore, through the WCM there is a precise identification, for
each single pillar, of the losses to be resolved. The priorities are identified based on
an economic evaluation obtained thanks to the work of the Cost Deployment. This
allows us to focus attention and efforts on the cause which, for each pillar, has the
highest financial loss. This avoids the investment of time, resources, and means on
factors that do not have a significant impact on the loss of the single pillar.
Furthermore, World Class Manufacturing allows to acquire the concepts and
tools of the methodology directly in the field. Once the model area of each pillar has
been identified, the concepts and means learned in the theory are put into practice.
Therefore, a learning site is created which will allow to extend what has been learned
in other areas of the company, thus allowing to reduce implementation times.
Finally, each pillar is made up of a team of trained and competent people. In each
work group the roles and tasks of all individuals are clear, coordinated by a Pillar
Leader who turns out to be the one who possesses the greatest knowledge and ability
in using the characteristic tools of that pillar. Each team collaborates, in the different
steps, with other pillars, thus allowing to create multi-skills working groups.
Introduction of RAMI 4.0 for Intelligent Production
As already stressed several times above, Industry 4.0 can be understood as the
implementation of the smart factory to provide smart products and services that
meet the individual needs of consumers.
As was the case for the first three industrial revolutions, also in the context
of Industry 4.0, technical innovation integrates itself, vertically and horizontally,
into production systems, so that continuous digital engineering is developed for the
entire cycle of life of the product and there is a decentralization of IT resources. This
means that to enable such an intelligent network, new technologies such as modern
enabling technologies and flexible hardware and software interfaces are needed.
It is only by equipping products and production environments with these new
technologies that Industry 4.0 will offer multiple opportunities to organizations that
decide to adopt this paradigm, in order to improve efficiency and make production
processes more flexible. This will allow for an increase in the value of products and
the development of new business models.
Therefore, the skills of Industry 4.0 in the field of communication technologies,
digitalization, and IT infrastructure in companies, considered key enabling tech-
nologies, must be promoted to strengthen the implementation of the Industry 4.0
paradigm, and finally, to fully realize the potential benefits (Anderl et al. 2015).
In this regard, to support research, standardization processes, and operators in
this area, Platform Industry 4.0 in 2015 developed the Reference Architectural
Model Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0). Plattform Industrie 4.0. RAMI4.0 - a reference
framework for digitalisation (https://www.plattform-i40.de/PI40/Redaktion/EN/
Downloads/Publikation/rami40-anintroduction.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=7).
The model allows to classify and identify the production areas to be allocated to
Industry 4.0, creating a solid basis for the further development of technologies in
the production system. However, to date, the model itself is quite abstract and its
application in practice still too complicated. At the moment the use of RAMI 4.0
is mainly limited to research institutions and first individual use cases. Due to the
abstract design of the model and its embryonic nature, in this contribution only
the generic applicability of RAMI 4.0 will be considered, in order to understand the
real benefits of its hypothetical implementation in an innovative business reality,
such as that of LEONARDO.
The RAMI 4.0 model, (Alignment Report for Reference Architectural Model
for Industrie 4.0/Intelligent Manufacturing System Architecture. (https://www.platt
form-i40.de/PI40/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/Publikation/hm-2018-manufacturing.p
df?__blob=publicationFile&v=5)) whose application ranges from production to
process technologies, is articulated on a three-dimensional space in which the
hierarchical levels of a production plant connected to the Internet are represented,
the life cycle of plants and products as well as the IT representation of an Industry
4.0 component. The hierarchical levels basically correspond to the levels of the
automation pyramid (Fig. 5).
L’asse 1 – Hierarchy levels can be represented as follows (Fig. 6).
These levels represent the functional characteristics of the factory components
and are defined according to the international standards IEC 62264 and IEC 61512.
They can be understood as the first axis of the RAMI 4.0 model.
The lowest level, called Product, includes products that, thanks to their ability
to communicate, are active elements within the production system. They provide
information on their individual properties and the necessary production steps. The
LAYERS
HIERARCHY LEVELS
(IEC 62264 // IEC 61512)
Business
Functional
Information Co
En nnec
t t
Communication Wo erpri Wor
r k se ld
Sta Un
Integration Co tion its
Fie ntrol
Asset D
Pro ld De evic
du vice e
ct
Maintenance Maintenance
Development Production
Usage Usage
Type Instance
LIFE CYCLE & VALUE STREAM (IEC 62890)
Fig. 5 The structure of the RAMI 4.0 model. (Source: own processing on https://www.
plattform-i40.de/PI40/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/Publikation/rami40-an-introduction.pdf?__blob=
publicationFile&v=7)
Entreprise Connected
World
Work
Centers
Station Smart
Control Factory
Device
Field Device
Smart
Product Products
Industry 3.0 Industry 4.0
Fig. 6 First axis of RAMI 4.0 model. (Source: own processing on https://www.plattform-i40.de/
PI40/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/Publikation/rami40-an-introduction.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&
v=7)
Field Device level includes intelligent field devices such as sensors and actuators.
While the Controller level refers to the controllers in turn, the built-in controllers and
controllers. Instead, intelligent production machines, robots, or logistics vehicles are
located on the Station level. Additionally, both manufacturing facilities and entire
departments within a company are assigned to the Machining Centers level. The
Enterprise level considers the business organization as a whole and the Connected
World level represents its external networks, that is, collaboration with business
Business Organisation and business processes What is the customer willing

to pay for?
What is my product
Functions Functions of the asset
supposed to do?
What data does my product

Information Necessary data have to provide?
How do I or my customer
Communication Access to information access the data?
Which parts of my product

Integration Integration of assets into the world of are digitally available in the
network?
How do I integrate my
Asset “Things” in the physical world product with the process to
move it in the real world?
Fig. 7 Vertical axis of the RAMI 4.0 model. (Source: https://www.plattform-i40.de/

PI40/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/Publikation/rami40-an-introduction.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&
v=7.)
partners, customers, and other interested parties as well as services based on the use
of the Internet.
The vertical axis 2 (Fig. 7) of the model represents the structural properties of an
asset (component of the factory) or of a set of assets, for which each component is
made up of six layers.
The lowest layer Asset refers to the resources, or the representation of physical
reality. It contains all physical objects such as machines, sensors, and documents
as well as human resources. As well as intangible objects, that is, models, ideas, or
patents are similarly attributed to this layer.
The Integration layer supports the provision of computer-usable information
about physical resources, hardware and software, of the layers above. It contains all
the elements associated with IT and generates events based on the acquired infor-
mation. The integration layer performs the final check of the technical processes.
The purpose of the Communication layer is to enable communication between
the different elements of the network based on uniform communication protocols
and data formats. It also provides services to control the level of integration.
Within the Information layer, the data used, generated, or modified by the
technical functions of this layer is processed. To do this, the data is checked for
integrity, summarized into new, higher quality data, and made available to higher
levels via interfaces. Events are received by the communication layer, transformed,
and forwarded accordingly.
While the Functionality layer represents the runtime environment for services
and applications. It is the platform for the horizontal integration of the various
functions and generates rules and application logic. Remote access and integration
Fig. 8 Horizontal (third) axis of the RAMI 4.0 model. (Source: https://www.plattform-
i40.de/PI40/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/Publikation/rami40-an-introduction.pdf?__blob=publication
File&v=7.)
of applications and functions occurs only in this layer, without interfering with the
underlying layers and ensuring the integrity of the information.
Finally, the Business layer refers to the management of the commercial aspects
of an organization. It also provides legal and regulatory frameworks to follow and
ensures the integrity of functions throughout the value chain.
The third axis (Fig. 8), defined in accordance with the IEC 622890 standard,
describes the life cycle and the value chain of an Industry 4.0 component. This axis
presupposes a basic distinction between two concepts of fundamental importance:
yype of product and Instance.
While the term Type refers to something that exists, starting from the basic idea
of the product, the taking of the order, and the development of the product up to
the production of prototypes. After all testing and validation, the type is prepared
for mass production: in fact, the type of any component creates a basis for serial
production. Each product manufactured represents an instance of that type, for
example, it has a unique serial number.
An Instance involves the transition from design to production after successfully
running a series of tests. The manufactured product thus represents the instantiation
of the type.
The change from Type to Instance can be repeated several times. The horizontal
axis structure shows a division of the Type in development, maintenance, and
use, while Instances consist of production, maintenance, and use. The function of
the layers in the left horizontal axis can be explained in the following example:
the development of a new electric drive represents the creation of a new type of
motor. The drive (controlled motor) is developed, initial samples are installed and
tested, and a first series of prototypes are produced and validated. After successfully
passing the tests, the new unit type is released for sale (product designation in the
manufacturer’s sales catalogue). A first series production can be started at this time.
Each unit in serial production has its own serial number (a unique identification)
and is an instance of the previously developed electrical unit. Customer feedback to
type instances can lead to the implementation of corrective actions in the production
process. These are changes in the type, that is, they are applied as changes to the type
documentation and new instances of the changed type are produced.
The left side of the RAMI 4.0 model also represents the value chain, so the con-
nection between digitalization and the work chain (in the idea and practice of Indus-
try 4.0) represents a great potential for continuous improvement of product types.
The value chain in fully digitalized production will allow the connection between
the different industrial areas: purchasing, order planning, assembly and assembly,
logistics, maintenance, customer and suppliers, and so on (Zezulka et al. 2016).
The model thus described does not yet allow to obtain information about the
importance or the level of use of the same in practice, but could be populated with
the technologies of Industry 4.0 and to observe the related interrelations, in order to
innovate production processes, within the 4.0 paradigm.
Therefore, the RAMI 4.0 reference architecture model could support the imple-
mentation of the main aspects of the Industry 4.0 context, providing organizations –
determined to orient their production systems toward these principles – with an
overview of the technologies enabling the fourth industrial revolution.
Indeed, the model integrates different perspectives for users and offers a common
way of seeing the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution. With RAMI
4.0, industry requirements – from manufacturing automation and mechanical
engineering to process engineering – can be addressed in industry associations and
standardization committees, providing a common understanding of standards and
use cases (which to date still do not find a wide diffusion).
The RAMI 4.0 model can be considered a map of Industry 4.0 solutions together
with national and international standards, or rather an orientation to trace the needs
of the sectors to define and further develop the new paradigm. The model ensures
that all participants involved in Industry 4.0 procedures, processes, and activities
have a common structure and terminology.
Therefore, this architecture can represent, in line with the methodological
approaches described above (in particular to the WCM), a useful support to the
objective of continuous improvement of company performance through the use of
the “enabling” technologies of Industry 4.0.
Even if the model is in these years taking its first steps and, in particular, it can
affirm that LEONARDO might represents king one of the first cases of use of such
an architecture, helping to define a model of management Industry 4.0 holistic and
adaptive for industrial automation.
WCM for the Intelligent Production in LEONARDO of Tomorrow
In light of what has been presented up to now, in particular, taking into consideration
the main characteristics of WCM and RAMI 4.0, we will proceed, in this paragraph,
to show which are the most appropriate approaches and managerial tools – Quality
4.0 – to implement process innovations and address the concrete needs of the future
production needs of the LEONARDO industrial sites. Following the analysis of the
LEONARDO context, a series of macro-objectives have been identified that can be
divided into “horizontal” or “transversal” and “vertical.” The “horizontal” macro-

objectives are the basic ones that the LEONARDO solution will have to address
regardless of the peculiarities of the plant and on which all the services and vertical
applications that will be created will rest. These include:
– Cyber Security, for the protection of acquired information.

– Cloud Services, relating to the ways in which LEONARDO will be provided.
By “vertical” macro objectives, on the other hand, we mean those functional

areas that characterize the actual functional offer provided by the final platform,
which have a direct impact on those who work in the new generation manufacturing
industry and which are an integral part of the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Among these,
the following main vertical macro-objectives are highlighted:
– Monitoring of the production process: control of the operation and verify the
efficiency of the machines (OEE = Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
– Energetic efficiency of machines and installations: measurement of absorption
parameters of the machines, identification of optimization of energy consumption
for the purpose of energy saving solutions and the sustainability of the factory
– Predictive maintenance and cleaning of machines and plants: acquisition of his-
torical parameters of operation of the machines, machine application techniques
learning, introduction of predictive maintenance policies, aimed at anticipating
possible failures and malfunctions
– Tracking materials: application of “smart tag” to the materials/semi-finished
products for tracking by the phase incoming material in the plant, to productive
process or assembly and of the systems, including the operating phase of the
system
– Control quality of production: solutions for the control of the production process
and its realignment during the execution of the production itself, in order to avoid
waste
– A predictive analysis undergoing testing, certification, and after sales systems:
solution similar to that for the predictive maintenance of machines and installa-
tions, applied to the LEONARDO products (complex systems in the process of
testing and certification or in operation)
– Solutions for mobile working: technological solutions support all efficiency
operative operator (actually increased, virtual, mixed reality, instant messaging)
Therefore, taking into consideration the characteristics of Industry 4.0 and
Lean Management, as a useful theoretical-conceptual background of reference,
we want to highlight the relationship that could arise from their relationship,
taking into consideration the staff, products, suppliers, infrastructure, and opera-
tion of business operations, and then try to transfer the implementation of such a
combination at industrial sites in LEONARDO.
With respect to the personnel sphere, belonging to an organization oriented to

accept the principles of Industry 4.0, some innovations can be detected, such as
an autonomous detection of problems using the Jidoka tool, greater integration with
production systems and personal devices and training continues on the characteristic
aspects of the Industry 4.0 paradigm, for which greater skills, competences, and
flexibility are assumed in relation to the role one covers and the task to which
one is called Enke et al. (2018). In this case, tools such as electronic Kanban for
communication and the CPS system are used in the workstation to integrate into the
entire production system and respect the Lean elements of production on demand.
While, as far as the product is concerned, in Industry 4.0 the focus is on a
personal and individual production, through the detection of the needs of individual
customers. Also in this area, the principles of waste reduction are followed
according to Lean logic but, with the introduction of new technologies, the aim
is to increase the value of the product for the customer, improving response times
and adapting to an increasingly competitive market.
The relationship of mutual benefit with suppliers is fundamental, with which
a flow of information and data exchange must be established for the proper
functioning of the company system and the development of the product itself.
Therefore, it is important to introduce Just in Time into the production system, in
order to improve the synergy between the different work sectors, or between the
production line and logistics.
Another important sphere to be taken into consideration in the business system is
that relating to infrastructures, that is, machinery, equipment, and various physical
supports. These means in Industry 4.0 operate in Pull, placing emphasis on the
ability to execute production in a flexible and lean manner. This is possible by
means of a real-time communication, using for example the RFID technology,
which allows to continuously adapt the production to the downstream request.
Furthermore, in this context, great emphasis is placed on the maintenance of
machinery and equipment with methods such as TPM and SMED techniques, so
it is possible to carry out more targeted and punctual interventions also through the
so-called autonomous maintenance performed directly by the machinery operator.
In general, it can be said that the transition from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0
and, from the more traditional management tools to those of Lean and Total Quality
Management, is marked by the objective of continuous improvement of company
performance. This improvement activity in Industry 4.0 can be supported by means
of the availability of a large amount of data and information: Big Data. Big Data
analysis, through complex simulations on the collected data and virtual models,
allows to find solutions to various problems that can be detected in the company
system and, therefore, to improve the expected results according to the logic of
Kaizen.
A further enabling technology, the IoT, always in accordance with the principles
of lean production, will allow the creation of a decentralized control system,
adopting devices that communicate locally with each other. In fact, the Internet
of Things guarantees greater and faster communication between machinery and
operators and between machinery and machinery and/or operators and operators
belonging to different work areas. This implies greater coordination in carrying out
the production process and communicating with operators who, among other things,
Table 1 Summary features of the combination Industry 4-0 – Lean Management

Lean
Production
Tools and
Principles Solutions from Industry 4.0 to Support
Produced in Availability of customer feedback through the Cloud
value added Unique identification of the product, advanced customization
Concurrent Engineering, virtual prototyping and Big Data
Reduction of Mapping of value streams through continuous data collection
costs Identification of activities that bring value with Big Data processing
Full integration, horizontal and vertical in the company
Elimination Virtual model and physical consideration in the CPS
of waste Process and inventory optimization through Big Data
Real-time assessment of the state of the establishment
Reduction of inaccuracies and errors in communication and data recording
Transparency Real-time control and display of the status of the plant
and Decentralized and robust system to problems in the network
reliability of
operations
Pull and Electronic versions of the Kanban between workstations, machines, and
Kanban operators
production Continuous control of workstation consumption and autonomous maintenance
Cloud of requests from customers and suppliers, from downstream to
upstream
Unique addressing of material and data between production resources
Just in Time Status of the Supply Chain in real time, transport optimization
Coordination with suppliers and between workstations via Cloud and IoT
Maintaining flows of materials and “queue” control in stations
One-piece RFID integration in components, readers on machinery
flow Autonomous reconfiguration of machinery for each product
Handling with dynamic paths for components or products
SMED Visual support in the execution of manual work and automatisms
Systemic review of setup procedures, proactive maintenance
Machines, workstations, and plug-n-play components
Jidoka Continuous control of systems status to detect anomalies
Increase of machines controlled by a single operator
Notices addressed directly to competent personnel
Poka-yoke Correctness control of manual and automatic activities
Visual Computing to instruct and guide the activities to be carried out
Removal of errors and unreliability of manual data collection
Andon Monitors or mobile devices with contextualized information
Provide information, fulfill requests and changes for each subject/object in the
corporate social network
TPM IoT devices and sensors for data collection, virtual models in the CPS
Big Data for the definition of intervention strategies
Remote service and control by suppliers
Heijunka Sequences to optimize the integration between market and production
Automatic setup and use of mixed model productions
Table 1 (continued)
Lean
Production
Tools and
Principles Solutions from Industry 4.0 to Support
Standard Augmented Operator to carry out more diversified activities
operations Dynamic timing
Virtual learning and augmented reality
Kaizen Decentralized IoT system to communicate and optimize operations
Make reliable databases available for improvement activities
Data mining to support business decisions
Fig. 9 Mapping between identified macro-objectives and LEONARDO industrial sites. (Source:
own processing)
could supervise a greater number of machinery, in order to keep the production flow
constant. Furthermore, from the adoption of the Industry 4.0 paradigm, the benefits
deriving from opening up to Cloud Computing and the service market should not be
overlooked.
The following table (Table 1) presents a summary relating to the binomial
Industry 4.0 – Lean Management, in which the possibility of using the typical tools
of lean production in symbiosis with the enabling technologies has been identified,
in order to obtain greater benefits and respond more adequately to the challenges of
the future.
Therefore, with respect to the macro-objectives identified and taking into account
the peculiarities of the various industrial sites, it is possible to hypothesize the
implementation of the technical pillars underlying at the basis of WCM, as an
Operational Excellence tool of fundamental importance for the pursuit of the
continuous improvement of company’s performance (Fig. 9 and Table 2).
In order to create a technical solution to the macro-objectives identified, only
the technical pillars of the WCM are taken into consideration. For the managerial
Table 2 Mapping between the macro-objectives of LEONARDO and its industrial sites
Macro-Objectives Industrial Site
Production process monitoring (OEEE) Site 1
Site 2
Energy efficiency of machines and plants Site 1
Predictive maintenance of machines and plants Site 1
Materials tracking Site 1
Production quality control Site 2
Predictive analysis, testing, certifications, and after sales Site 3
Solutions for mobile worker Site 1
World Class Manufacturing

Autonomous Maintenance &
Safety / Hygiene & working
Professional Maintenancee
Early Product/Equipment
Workspace Organization
Focused Improvement
People Development
Cost Deployment
Environment
Quality control
Management
environment
Logistics
Management Clarity of Route Map of Allocation of Highly Commitment Level of Motivation of

Competence of Time and
Qualified People of Level of Detail Expansion Operators
Commitment Objectives WCH Organization Budget
Organization
Production Energy efficiency Preditive Predictive analysis,

Productive quality Solutions for
process of machines and maintenance of Materials tracking testing,
control mobile worker
monitoring (OEEE) plants machines and plants certifications and
Fig. 10 The support of the WCM model for the development of macro-objectives in
LEONARDO. (Source: own processing)
pillars there is no figure of the Leader Pillar who only deals with the management
of the area for which he is responsible, but is the plant manager responsible for all
the pillars. Furthermore, the managerial pillars make more reference to elements
that could be defined as intangible, since it involves managing attitudes such as
awareness, responsibility, and motivation that are part of that wealth of skills, not
always observable and evaluable, of the human being.
Therefore, the figure (Fig. 10) shows what are the specific technical pillars
that you need to consider and implement using Lean tools, responding adequately
to the macro-objectives identified, the understand the importance of introducing
standardized procedures in the production system and increase one’s competitive
advantage at national and international level.
The technical pillars thus identified involve following a series of steps to respond
to the macro-objectives of the LEONARDO.
The Autonomous activities pillar is divided into the Autonomous Maintenance

and Workplace Organization sub-pillars.
For the first sub-pillar, the characteristic steps to follow, for its correct implemen-
tation in the company reality, are the following:
1. Initial cleaning and inspection

2. Measures against sources of contamination
3. Initial standards
4. General inspection
5. Autonomous inspection
6. Improvements of standards
7. Fully applied self-management system
In this case, the managerial tools useful for the actual application of these steps in
the macro-objectives identified are the Key Performance Indicators and Key Activity
Indicators.
Compared to the second sub-pillar, the fundamental steps to follow are:
1. Initial cleaning
2. Reordering of the process
3. Initial standards
4. Product characteristics training
5. Supply of materials in Just in Time
6. Improvement of the standard
7. Sequence of work standards
For the proper functioning of this pillar it is possible to adopt the Muda, Muri,
and Mura analysis, mainly aimed at eliminating waste.
The activities of this pillar are in close synergy with the activities of the Logistics
pillar, in order to reduce waste deriving from the movement of materials within a
process and between the various processes and to create, therefore, a Golden zone.
With reference to the pillar of logistics and service satisfaction, the steps to follow
for its correct implementation are as follows:
1. Re-engineer the lines to satisfy the customer

2. Refit the logistics internal
3. Refit the logistics external
4. Leveling the production
5. Refine internal and external logistics
6. Integrate sales, production, and purchasing networks
7. Adopt a sequence programming – fixed time
The tools to be used for managing the activities of this pillar are, mainly,
the Value Stream Mapping, the Milk Run, the Kanban, and the classification of
materials.
While, compared to the Professional Maintenance pillar, the steps to follow are:
1. Elimination and prevention of accelerated degradation

2. Failure analysis, recovery and reversal of degradation
3. Definition of maintenance standards
4. Countermeasures on the weak points of the machines and extension of the
average life of the components
5. Construction of a periodic maintenance system
6. Construction of a predictive maintenance system (trend management)
7. Management of maintenance costs, construction of a planned maintenance
system
The Lean tools that can be used in this area are OEE (Overall Line Effectiveness),
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure), and MTTR (Mean Time to Repair).
Finally, for the implementation of the Quality Control pillar, it is necessary to
follow the following steps:
1. Select the topic

2. Understanding the situation and goals
3. Plan your activities
4. Analyze the causes
5. Define and implement countermeasures
6. Check the results
7. Standardize and institute control
For the management of the activities of this pillar it is possible to use different
quality control tools belonging to the Total Quality Management philosophy. In
particular, statistical tools (Seven Tools), monitoring tools, SMED techniques and
managerial tools, or the Quality Function Deployment, Six Sigma, and Benchmark-
ing, can be taken as a reference.
Conclusion
Lean Management, in this contribution, represents the theoretical-conceptual frame-

work for the implementation of the Industry 4.0 model. In fact, the Lean Man-
agement tools, implemented through Enabling Technologies, can support the
management of business processes considering the operators, products, suppliers,
production means, and the functioning of business operations.
Therefore, based on the analysis of the LEONARDO context and taking into
consideration the main production activities, the main Lean tools that can be used
and the main Enabling Technologies can be applied are shown below, in order
to respond to the macro-objectives identified with respect to the management of
company processes (Table 3).
Table 3 Lean Management and Industry 4.0 in LEONARDO

Industrial Lean Tools and
Sites Main Activities (Objectives) Principles Main Ket
Site 1 Saving, displaying, and analyzing Value added product; Big Data Analytics;
data relating to key parameters (e.g., cost reduction; Augmented e Mixed
% of occupancy of the individual elimination of waste; Reality; Horizontal
machines, completion times of the Just in Time; Pull & Vertical
single process, production waste on and Kanban Integration;
a single machine); AR solution with production; TPM; Industrial IoT.
Smart Glasses to support work Heijunka; Standard
activities; preventive maintenance operations; Kaizen
of machinery; bottleneck
identification of the line
Site 2 Study and analysis of AR and MR Value added product; Big Data Analytics;
technologies to support testing, cost reduction Augmented e Mixed
validation, and training in the elimination of waste; Reality; Industrial
production area Just in Time; TPM; IoT
Heijunka; Standard
operations; Kaizen
Automating the functional testing Just in Time; TPM; Big Data Analytics;
of assemblies and subassemblies by Heijunka; Standard Augmented e Mixed
radio frequency via ATE operations; Kaizen Reality; Industrial
(Automatic Test Equipment); CS IoT
(Compressive Sensing) in the
reduction of antennas testing times;
design of a remote test equipment
command and control system;
assembly and training with Mixed
Reality
Realization of a CAD/CAM Value added product; Big Data Analytics;
environment for optical cost reduction; Industrial IoT.
constructions; interface between elimination of waste;
measurement tools and simulation TPM; Just in Time;
software; tracking management of Kaizen; Pull and
materials in the production, Kanban production;
transport and processing phases One - piece –flow.
Automatic analysis of care cycles Value added product; Industrial IoT; Big
through Machine Learning; cost reduction; Data Analytics.
implementation of a tool life cycle elimination of waste;
monitoring system SMED; Jidoka;
One-piece-flow;
Poka –yoke; Just in
Time;TPM; Kaizen.
Site 3 Tracking of materials and Value added product; Big Data Analytics.
digitalization of logistics flows; cost reduction;
predictive analysis to support the elimination of waste;
product design, test and certification TPM; Just in Time;
phases. Kaizen;
One-piece-flow; Pull
and Kanban
production
Therefore, the implementation of some of the technical pillars of WCM

through Lean Management approaches and the operational support of the Enabling
Technologies of Industry 4.0 will allow to improve and innovate the management
of its business processes and respond adequately to the principles of the Industry
4.0 model.
In this regard, the company should orient its activities and production area toward
the Total Quality Management and Kaizen philosophy; extend this methodological
approach to all production areas of the organization, in order to find improvement
solutions that are not an end in themselves but useful for all areas of the plant;
conduct a third-part external audit that will lead, in the coming years, the company
to be considered a best in class according to the assessments of the World Class
Manufacturing Association.
The results of the analysis conducted so far constitute a preliminary evaluation of
the research activity aimed at assessing the contribution of the Quality 4.0 approach
to the Industry 4.0 model in LEONARDO.
Possible research evolutions could foresee the adoption of the RAMI 4.0 model –
still in a theoretical-conceptual definition phase – to integrate the WCM, in order to
consider LEONARDO as one of the first cases of use of this architecture and to
contribute to the creation of a standardized Industry 4.0 management model for the
entire Italian industrial automation sector.
Moreover, a further in-depth study in the future could be addressed the manage-
ment of human capital according to the principles of the Semantic Web. It is, in fact,
appropriate not to overlook the transversal skills of human resources considered
a source of added value and creator of competitive advantages for organizations.
For this reason, it is essential to create skill profiles appropriate to the tasks and
roles assigned, in light of a greater need for specific knowledge not only of a
declarative and procedural nature. Therefore, in the same way – by exploiting
Enabling Technologies and Total Quality Management methodological approaches,
in order to foster the recognition, classification, assessment, and certification of
human capital skills and smart mobility of workers.
Acknowledgments This research was supported by the MIUR (Ministero dell’Istruzione

dell’Università e della Ricerca) under the national program PON 2014–2020, Leonardo 4.0 (ID
ARS01 00945), and the ECSEL-JU under the program ECSEL-Innovation Actions-2018 (ECSEL-
IA) for research project CPS4EU (ID-826276) (The chapter reflects only the author’s view. JU
is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains_. This project has
received funding from the ECSEL Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 826276. The
JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
and France, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Germany
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Manufacturing 48
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1222
Importance of Sustainable Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1222
The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1223
Sustainable Value Creation Through Life Cycle Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1224
Challenges in Life Cycle Management Toward Sustainable Development . . . . . . . . . . . . 1225
Importance of Facilitating IIOT for Life Cycle Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1226
IIOT- Based Life Cycle Management Toward Sustainable Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . 1227
Implementation of IIOT System for Life Cycle Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1228
System Architecture of IIOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1231
Identification of Parameters and Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1233
Design and Development of IIOT Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1233
IIOT-Based Real-Time Data Acquisition and Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234
Example of an IIOT-Based Life Cycle Management in Sri Lankan Tea Industry . . . . . . . . . 1235
IIOT-Based Real-Time Data Acquisition for LCI and LCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1236
IoT- based Real-Time Data Manipulation for LCI and LCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1238
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1240
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1240
Abstract
Industry 4.0 technologies have significant potential for sustainable value cre-
ation in the economic, environmental, and social dimension of sustainability
by improving resource and energy efficiency. The industrial value creation is
causing a fundamental change in manufacturing with the increasing global
resource constraints and long-term goals of sustainable development, with the
S. Kamalakkannan · A. K. Kulatunga ()

Department of Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of
Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
e-mail: kamals@eng.pdn.ac.lk; aselakk@eng.pdn.ac.lk
1222 S. Kamalakkannan and A. K. Kulatunga
support of emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) such

as Internet, cyber-physical system, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing,
and big data. However, the role played by IoT in the industry in the sustainable
value creation is remarkable. Notably, the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
enabled availability of live data on environmental indicators such as energy and
resource consumption could make it easier for all manufacturers to access such
information and thus effectively improve the sustainability of industries through
life cycle management (LCM) approach. Undoubtedly, the application of IIoT
toward sustainable development will be very opportune for the industries to
become competitive in the global market. Although handful scientific researches
and projects deal with the implication of the IIoT for sustainable development,
the linkages between digitalization and sustainability are attracting increasing
attention nowadays. This chapter explores the concept and application of IIoT-
based LCM toward sustainable value creation in the manufacturing industries. It
also offers an example of an experimental IIoT-based LCM in the manufacturing
industry.
Keywords
Industrial internet of things · IIoT · Internet of things · IoT · Industry 4.0 ·

Life cycle management · LCM · Life cycle assessment · LCA
Introduction
Importance of Sustainable Manufacturing
Over the last few decades, environmental issues such as global warming, pollution,
and depletion of resources have attracted much attention around the world. In
this regard, sustainable development plays a crucial role in striking a balance
between the demands of social productivity and the reserves of natural resources
(Chang et al. 2014). This has been aggravated due to rapid globalization which
exponentially increased the consultative lifestyles. Since the manufacturing sector
is one of the basic and primary sectors which directly link with societal needs when
demand increases, manufacturing sector damages environment through direct and
indirect means in the way of excessive consumption and polluting the environment
through waste generation (Cai et al. 2019). Escalation of climate change–related
consequences and rapid environmental pollution have compelled the global man-
ufacturing sector and other utility sectors such as power generation and logistics
and transportation sectors, etc. to concern about environmental sustainability.
Consequently, there is a greater tendency for the manufacturing sector to move
toward “Green concepts” to have a higher level of appreciation by the society and
even to secure global markets such as EU so that products manufactured through
green concepts will have a better demand than their competitors (Kamalakkannan
et al. 2020).
48 IIOT Applications for Sustainable Manufacturing 1223
In particular, the consequences of two major negotiations, the green economy

concept and the sustainable development goals, influence global sustainable devel-
opment policies for the coming decade (Beier et al. 2018). The policies supporting
a green economy, shortly defined as “a low-carbon, resource efficient, and socially
inclusive” economy, were adopted at the 2012 United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development. Moreover, the United Nations (UN) has stated that
sustainability can be considered as the core of business strategy in the sustainability
2030 agenda and Industry 4.0 technologies help to achieve sustainability in business
practice (Jamwal et al. 2021).
On the other hand, sustainability and Industry 4.0 are two prominent research
areas in engineering. Industry 4.0 technologies have significant potential for sus-
tainable value creation in the economic, environmental, and social dimension of
sustainability by improving resource efficiency (Jamwal et al. 2021). Sustainable
designing, life cycle management (LCM), circular economy, environmental man-
agement, lean and green management, and remanufacturing are the main disciplines
of sustainability and Industry 4.0. In the sustainable value creation of Industry 4.0,
sustainable manufacturing will be realized by using the ubiquitous information and
communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure (Li et al. 2020a). The industrial
revolutions aim to not only to enhance and directly respond the needs of the industry
in a productive side fact, but also aim for the sustainable development in terms of
triple bottom line (Tabaa et al. 2020). In general, sustainability benefits of Industry
4.0 are expected on improving resource efficiency, productivity, and flexibility, and
reduction of energy, waste, consumption, and overproduction.
Notably, when considering the current situation, COVID-19 pandemic, which is
currently threatening the entire world, is causing significant impacts such as loss
of businesses and unemployment on the world economy. Besides, the pandemic
lockdown has caused severe threats to sustainability in both positive and negative
ways due to raising of human disease, a contemporary pause of business, stock
market and industries, low production, climate changes, labor shortage, internal
migration of workforce, etc. On the other hand, COVID-19 pandemic significantly
enhances environmental sustainability primarily due to slowing down of global
economies and reduction of movements between the territories, regions, etc.
The Role of Information and Communication Technology

in Industry 4.0
Globalization is a multidimensional as well as a systematic technological advance-

ment. The ICT revolution is one of the most important factors in globalization.
Through ICT, the industries have started to become more intelligent and smart.
The Industry 4.0 is all about including modern technologies from the ICT platform
for processes of automation and real-time data exchange in manufacturing orga-
nizations. In addition, the ICT allows for product and process innovation through
generating new factors of production that help with economic restructuring and
transition. In addition, with the purpose of industrial revolution with sustainable

value creations, the industrial activities from research and development to manufac-
turing processes has all been made possible by ICT.
The industrial value creation is causing a fundamental change in manufacturing
with the increasing global resource constraints and long-term goals of sustainable
development, with the support of emerging ICT such as Internet, cyber-physical
system, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and big data. Accordingly, the
manufacturing has begun to move toward intelligence, real-time, interconnection,
globalization, and personalization. With the emergence of these features, there
is a transformation in manufacturing paradigm to cyber-physical manufacturing
systems, industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), intelligent manufacturing, cloud
manufacturing, sustainable manufacturing, global manufacturing, and mass cus-
tomization (Li et al. 2020a).
However, the role played by IoT in the effective utilization of resources and
economic value creation is remarkable. The extension of IoT in the industry
is known as IIoT and it is the integration of numerous collection sensors or
control sensors and actuators, ubiquitous technologies, communication technology,
artificial intelligence, big data analytics, augmented reality, virtual reality, and
security mechanisms. In particular, there are currently three major applications
in the adaptation of IoT for industries, namely (1) implementation of monitor
and control by collecting data, (2) providing a reference for business decision-
making by the analyzation of big data generating from the objects of IoT, and
(3) accomplishment of information sharing and collaboration between people and
things (Li et al. 2020a).
Sustainable Value Creation Through Life Cycle Management
Environmental threats and pollution has increased due to the industrial revolution
and escalation of societal needs over the centuries. A complete sustainable life cycle
and continued sustainable development are achieved by following a sustainable
triple bottom line and helical economy. Since helical economy, which is the
extension of circular economy, promises to simultaneously create sustainable value
creation and encourage continued innovation and economic growth (Bradley and
Jawahir 2019). Also, the triple bottom line states that, in addition to its economic
performance, in order to be truly sustainable, a company must concentrate on its
environmental and social performances as well (Fauzi et al. 2010).
In that respect, the sustainable development and value creations are the most
concerning substances over the significance of industrial revelations. To improve the
sustainable value of the manufacturing sector, it is essential to consider the entire
life cycle of products and processes to identify environmental hotspots mitigated
through LCM by subsequent product designs as eco-design or eco-innovation
(Kamalakkannan et al. 2020). Hence, managing the life cycle of a product and pro-
cess is vital for their green initiative and to enhance the environmental performance
of the industries. In addition to enhancing the environmental performances due to

multiple requirements and pressure from different groups, environmental hotspots of
all the phases from cradle to grave of the product have to be identified and mitigated
through eco-design or eco-innovation as well.
On the other hand, around 70% of the product sustainability decisions are taken at
the design stage (Fu et al. 2020). Therefore, establishing life cycle thinking, green
product concepts, and environmentally sound products are necessary at this stage
(Belucio et al. 2021; Brundage et al. 2018). The decisions made at the early stages
set the general conditions for the following stages of the design process. Hence,
the decisions made at the early stages of the design process have a robust influence
on the product. Thus, the substantial potential for optimization and reduction of
emissions remain in the early stages of the design process (Basic et al. 2019).
Accordingly, in order to initiate continuous sustainable value creation through eco-
design and eco-innovations, this stage provides significant steering opportunities.
The actions taken in eco-design and eco-innovation design process are the crucial,
in order to achieve a product, process, and system with a minimal environmental
impact. In this respect, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
has recommended that industry needs to include sustainability in the product design
phase (Eddy et al. 2013). In addition, elements such as efficiency, speeding up
productivity, quality, eco-innovation, eco-friendliness, and power to distinguish
oneself from other market players have all become extremely important (Zbicinski
and Stavenuiter 2006). As a result, these have simulated the designers to develop
eco-friendly processes and products. Even though all manufacturers are inclined
to sustainability, very few are prepared to pay for products with an outspoken
environmental profile (Luttropp and Lagerstedt 2006).
Challenges in Life Cycle Management Toward Sustainable

Development
The manufacturing domain is integrated with a huge amount of heterogeneous

information including operational, supply chain, materials, energy, resource, waste,
and preliminary data from the whole life cycle of the products or services. However,
the lack of information and high degree of uncertainty during the early design
phases hinder the use of tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) (Bouyarmane
and Sallaou 2019; Ng and Chuah 2017). Due to the wide range of required data,
evaluating environmental impact through the implementation of a complete LCA
is very complex, time consuming, and expensive (Ameli et al. 2017). Hence, in
order, the acquisition of a product or process-related life cycle data is of vital
importance to manage the life cycle of the product, process, and systems through
the LCA approach. However, with the growing complexity of the analyzed product,
the calculation of an LCA requires a large effort. Due to the wide range of required
data, evaluating environmental impacts through the implementation of a complete
LCA is very complex, time consuming, and expensive. An LCA is not sufficient to
make a final decision depending only on environmental assessment results. In order

to maintain and improve the environmental performances of a product or process, an
LCM is of paramount importance for manufacturing sectors. However, LCM is not
a gradual one-way process because, in the life cycle, certain changes can be taken
place over the time period of product lifespan. Therefore, continuous reevaluation
of product life cycle needs to be considered from time to time when the product is
being available in the market, due to various reasons such as changes in raw material
(RM) or RM supply, alteration of technology, the variation of energy source, etc.
Generally, the data are collected manually from the field visits. The collection
of life cycle inventory (LCI) data requires the support of process engineers,
supervisors, technicians, operators, production record books, forms, bills, open
literature, LCA libraries, and others from the manufacturing domain. Hence, manual
data collection is the most difficult, complex, and resource- and time-consuming
process. Besides, there are some other practical difficulties during manual data
collection such as resource and energy allocation, data accuracy, data reliability
and uncertainty, data availability, acquisition hardness, and technical supports.
Therefore, to overcome these issues, it is essential to incorporate IoT-based real-
time data acquisition system with the LCM.
Importance of Facilitating IIOT for Life Cycle Management
Integrative approaches for managing life cycle of a product usually confront

designers and manufacturers with a huge amount of data, numbers, and facts.
Therefore, it is required to have adequate and timely information about the entire
product life cycle of the product and processes it manufacture and typically it is
a time-consuming and costly operation (Bhander et al. 2003). Also, environmental
sustainability information in the manufacturing industry is not easily shared between
stages in the product life cycle (Brundage et al. 2018). Besides, LCA requires
detailed data on product development that is not available in the early stage of
conceptual design (Prastawa and Hartini 2019). This issue can be eased some extent
through the IoT which is tracking data real time (Bhander et al. 2003). IoT is
one of extremely high expected technologies (Goto et al. 2016). Many benefits are
expected to be enabled by implementing the IoT technologies through the product
life cycle management process, such as remote monitoring of field service and
predictive quality reliability engineering design in research and development (Goto
et al. 2016). Notably, the IIoT enabled availability of live data on environmental
indicators such as energy and resource consumption could make it easier for
all manufacturers to access such information and thus effectively improve the
sustainability of industries through LCM approach. Although handful scientific
projects and researches deal with the implication of the IIoT for sustainable
development, the linkages between digitalization and sustainability are attracting
increasing attention nowadays (Beier et al. 2018).
IIOT- Based Life Cycle Management Toward Sustainable

Manufacturing
The manufacturing industry consumes an excessive amount of materials, mainly

from virgin sources and energy streams, which contributes significantly to global
environmental problems such as climate change. Therefore, managing the life cycle
of a product is of paramount importance to the sustainability of the product. Hence,
there is a requirement to integrate proper data acquisition mechanism to assist LCM,
and in that way it is possible to increase the sustainable value of a product or a
process throughout its lifespan in the market (Liu and Zhou 2012). In recent years,
the rapid development of the Internet provides a global platform for machines and
smart objects in terms of communication, dialogue, computation, and coordination.
Correspondingly, the wide applications of IIoT have been witnessed in some fields
including smart industry, smart home, smart energy, smart transport, and smart
health (Li et al. 2020b). Although IoT is an emerging domain, it has already helped
to enable or enhance countless applications, which has conveyed number of changes
in our day to day lives (The Internet of Things (IoT)). The IoT application has been
widely started to facilitate in many sectors such as transportation, smart home, smart
city, lifestyle, retail, agriculture, smart factory, supply chain, emergency, health care,
user interaction, culture and tourism, and environment and energy (Elsonbaty 2019).
Since IoT refers to a variety of equipment and systems, tracking the information
through IoT has gained a drastic momentum over the years. Equipment and systems,
such as sensor networks, radio frequency identification (RFID) reading device, bar
code, and two-dimensional code equipment, own many global industries influencing
various industrial development (Liu and Zhou 2012). Moreover, the IoT data can be
collected from multiple different sources and it consists of various structured and
unstructured data where data storage components are expected to have the ability
to deal with heterogeneous data resources (Kamalakkannan et al. 2020). Many
product development and life cycle management processes and overall decision-
making processes in the manufacturing sector have been influenced by the approach
of IoT (Papakostas et al. 2016). IoT technologies play a very important role toward
managing the product life cycle, improving the performance, and more efficient
process controlling and monitoring (Papakostas et al. 2016). Meantime, the IoT will
help manufacturers to gain a better understanding of the entire life cycle information
that can be delivered in real time. IoT provides end-to-end transparency almost in
real time, allows the optimization across factory sites in the area of production, and
then improves the factory efficiency (Shrouf et al. 2014). Therefore, the application
of IIoT toward sustainable development will be very opportune for the industries to
become competitive in the global market.
Figure 1 shows the annual scientific production of IIOT applications toward
sustainable manufacturing from 2005 to the present. This analysis was based on
systematic literature survey related to IIOT applications in sustainable manufac-
turing. The search term ([“IoT” or “IOT” or “internet of things*” or “Industrial
internet of things*” or “IIOT” or “IIOT”] and [“sustainable manufacturing*” or
400
300
Articles
200
100
2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021

Year
Fig. 1 Growth of IIOT application toward sustainable manufacturing over the past decades
“manufacturing industry*” or “manufacturing*” or “life cycle management*” or

“LCM”]) was used to collect “2000” research articles including articles, books,
book chapters, and conferences from Scopus database. The data from Scopus
was imported to the biblioshiny web interface for bibliometrix analysis. Analysis
shows that the annual growth rate is 32.29% which highlights the rapid growth and
importance of IIoT in sustainable manufacturing.
Implementation of IIOT System for Life Cycle Management
LCM is a single tool or methodology, which is a flexible integrated framework of

concepts, techniques, and procedures. LCM inherently takes a life cycle approach
in considering environmental, economic, and social aspects of products and organi-
zations. A multiple-step methodology has been built based on LCM concepts and a
special focus is given to the environmental aspect.
To develop the IoT-based real-time data acquisition system, the expected tech-
niques and tools are listed under inputs, and they include the sensors, devices,
IoT platform, and the cloud computing. The key steps that need to be followed
to achieve the real-time data are listed under the design and development section
(which is in the second column of Fig. 2). The key steps are defined based on
the requirement for a real-time data acquisition. Moreover, when considering the
correlation between the inputs and the design and development phase, the sensors
and devices incorporate the development of sensor networks and IoT platform. Here,
Input Design & Development Output
Life Cycle Stage Monitoring &

Controlling
(Product, Process, System)
Sensors
LCI
Devices
IoT Based Data PDD
Acquisition System
IoT Platform Parametric LCA
Finest NO
Cloud
Eco-Design
Computing Life Cycle Inventory
(Product, Process, System)
Eco-Design
Fig. 2 IIoT-based real-time data acquisition system for LCM [PDD – product design and
development; DSS – decision support system]
cloud computing is used to transfer and store the LCI data to cloud storage. To
this end, the collected and stored data will be analyzed to prepare LCI summary.
Finally, the output of this framework, which describes process monitoring and
controlling and LCI summary development, is facilitated based on the outcome
resulting from an LCI data. Eventually, the LCI will be used for parametric LCA
modeling and decision-making. The basic concept of this parametric LCA approach
is combining the principles of parameterization techniques with a simplified process
of the LCA method. A parametric LCA will help designers and manufacturers
to evaluate and compare the environmental performance of the product, process,
and system with various scenarios of alternative approaches during the design
process (Kamalakkannan and Kulatunga 2021). In sum, the effects of this IoT-based
real-time data acquisition system indicate how the approach contributes to the eco-
design. Implementing eco-design for the product life cycle during the product design
and development stage will lead to LCM through the creation of sustainable value
and improvement of environmental performance.
This framework includes an IIoT-based real-time data acquisition and manip-
ulation system to facilitate the LCM (Fig. 3). The IIoT system is facilitated to
gather LCI information associated with the product manufacturing. The bigdata
traced from IIoT system will be stored in the cloud database such as ThingSpeak,
000WebHost, etc. The stored data will be manipulated and filtered to smart data that
will be used for life cycle analysis. After that, the hotspot will be identified, which
will help identify the place where the necessary action needs to be taken in terms of
1230
IIOT Based LCM

7
8
6 9 13(a)
1 2 3 Raw data Environmental LCI Reports
Impact 11(b)
5 LCI
Data Logger Web Server 14
11(a)
DSS Feeder DSS User Hotspot
Factory (Plugging) 13(b) Identification
12
4
LCIA
Setup Reports
LCIA
15
16(b)
User Interface Redesign Background
Scenario & Surveys
10
Parameters
16(a) Redesign
IIOT Data Manipulation

17 Eco-Design
Redesign
Product or Process
Reports
Design &
Development
Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of component network of IIoT system. (Source: (Kamalakkannan et al. 2020))
operations and environmental aspects to improve production performance and sus-

tainability. Afterward, consequences from life cycle analysis of the manufacturing
product, processes, and system-related improvement can be incorporated to manage
the life cycle of product, process, and system. Importantly, through manipulating
this method, it is easy to manage the life cycle of the product, process, and system
on the environmental aspect because LCM is concerned on life cycle thinking
and product sustainability operations to attain continuous improvement (Life Cycle
Management).
System Architecture of IIOT
When considering the different IoT systems in various applications, the fun-
damentals for the IoT architecture as well as its general data process flow is
almost the same. IoT architecture is a system of numerous elements which include
sensors, Wi-Fi module, circuits, protocols, actuators, and cloud services. In the
IoT architecture system, there are three major divisions such as data source, data
collector, and data gateway. The data collector part is a fundamental part in the
data collection architecture. The mobility of the data collector allows gathering a
huge amount of the data from the IoT environment. The data collectors which are
sensors and actuators are able to sense the required information and then pass the
accumulated information on to IoT gateways. However, when pursuing the big data
through IoT, the data collector should be well equipped with a significant number
of communication interfaces, large storage area, and long lifetime. The function of
gateway that collects unprocessed data converts it into digital streams and stores it in
the cloud server which can be used for further analysis. The system architecture of
IoT is constructed and displayed in two levels such as unit process level and entire
life cycle level.
Unit Process–Based System Architecture of IIOT

The IoT-based data collection process could be facilitated in the unit process level
which is the smallest element in the product life cycle. In the unit process level,
the LCI data which is used for impact assessment associated with the unit process
such as inputs and outputs tends to be collected through sensors and devices. The
schematic diagram of the unit process–based system architecture is given in Fig. 4.
Figure 4 shows how the unit process level LCI data are transmitted to a cloud
environment. The appropriate sensors and devices which are installed with the
exchange points of the unit process will gather entire data and transmit them to
the data logger. Another indispensable element of this system is the data logger
or actuators. The data logger consists of the Wi-Fi module which is programmed
to gather data and circuits which connect Wi-Fi module with the sensors. The
system obtains an input from the sensors, and then the system analyzes the
situation in real time. Subsequently, the system commands the actuators to trace
the data. Data collection, filtering, and transfer to edge infrastructure and cloud-
based platforms could be identified as the functions of gateway (The Internet of
Fig. 4 Unit process–based system architecture of IIoT
Things (IoT)). As intermediaries between the connected things and the cloud-
based platforms, gateways provide the necessary connection point that ties the
remaining stages together. The cloud-based system is facilitated to store, process,
and analyze massive volumes of data which is called big data. The cloud computing
contributes to higher production rates, reduction of energy consumption, and many
other business benefits. Finally, the cloud-based big data provides the necessary
smart data that contains all exchange data associated with the unit process to conduct
the comprehensive analysis.
Product Life Cycle–Based System Architecture of IIOT

The comprehensive life cycle analysis of a product or process or system requires
the LCI data from cradle to grave that includes premanufacturing, manufacturing,
use, and post-use. Therefore, the collection of entire life cycle exchange data is
essential. In that respect, to collect data from cradle to grave using IoT techniques,
the life cycle–based system architecture is constructed. The schematic diagram of
product life cycle–based system architecture is given in Fig. 5.
Figure 5 shows how life cycle level LCI data are transmitted to a cloud
environment. The appropriate sensors and devices which are installed with the
exchange points from each life cycle phases will gather entire data and transmit
it to the data logger. The process from data logger to cloud-based platform is similar
to the unit process–based IIoT system as mentioned in previous section. The big
data from the cloud platform will be converted as smart data to generate essential
LCI reports to conduct the comprehensive environmental assessments. In addition
to that, the cloud platform will allow users to monitor and control the processes or
system and make informed decisions on the basis of reports and data viewed in real
time.
Fig. 5 Product life cycle–based system architecture of IIoT
Identification of Parameters and Sensors
The purpose of IoT-based data acquisition system is to collect the LCI data which is
used for LCA in real time. Therefore, the parameters will be the inputs and outputs
that make an impact on the environment. The LCI parameter could be product
quality based or product design based or process based. The most common and
essential LCI parameters are raw materials, electricity, LP gas, water, petroleum
fuel, quality factors, weather related parameters, etc. The selection of LCI parameter
should accomplish the requirement of conducting LCA of a product or process or
system. Besides, the selection of sensors will be based on the LCI parameters and
the sensor should be precise and reliable. The advanced and intricate devices that
are used frequently to detect and respond to electrical and optical signals are known
as sensors. Sensors convert the physical parameters such as resource consumptions,
temperature, humidity, speed, etc. into a signal which can be measured electrically.
In the current world, many types of sensors are used for numerous applications
in several areas (Rao et al. 2012). Sensors and sensor networks are being used by
various applications such as smart home, smart city, and smart industries.
Design and Development of IIOT Platform
Design and Development of the Device

The sensor network devices are integrated by many distributed and interacting
components that are usually heterogeneous in terms of hardware devices, commu-
nication protocols, software interfaces, and data. Initially, the general and specific
requirements need to be defined in order to develop the sensor networks. The
sensors, devices, and software components need to communicate with each other.
Since to define the way of data sensing, connect sensors and Wi-Fi module, connect
IP and transfer data to cloud, and amplitude the signals, it is essential to develop the
middleware device which consists Wi-Fi module, sensors, and circuits. The Wi-Fi
module is a transmission layer of IoT that can connect traditional serial device and
controlled device with Wi-Fi network to realize control and management. According
to the data requirements, the sensor networks will be designed and developed.
Device and Sensor Calibrations

Proper calibration is a key factor in maintaining accuracy in real-time data analytics.
It is safe to say that the sensor calibration is inevitable for an IoT system because the
data analytics process could be catastrophically influenced by providing inaccurate
data that renders itself nonactionable. The poor-quality sensors and the sensors
without calibration which provide inaccurate data will convert decision-makers
to make wrong decisions, so certain amount of calibration is necessary to ensure
accuracy. In addition, when using the sensors for monitoring and control the process
in dangerous situation is very dangerous. Ordinarily, structural errors are shown in
the sensors that creates differences between the expected output and the measured
output (Lin et al. 2019). However, calibration removes structure errors of the sensor
outputs as well as improves the accuracy of the sensor. Sensor’s response to an input
is defined by the characteristic curve in calibration, while the process of calibration
succeeds to map the sensor’s response to an ideal linear response. When considering
the ideal scenario, a straight line would be the characteristic curve (So, How Do We
Calibrate?). The greatest deviation of the characteristic curve from a reference line
is described as nonlinearity. However, the calibration is achieved by the adjustment
of the characteristic curve. Besides, the calibration can be examined with the similar
sensor which is likely ideal and accurate. Thereafter, the calibrated data is analyzed
through an analytical software like Minitab® .
IIOT-Based Real-Time Data Acquisition and Manipulation
The IoT-based data acquisition system is installed in the factory process premises
which are required to collect the data for conducting LCA after the sensors and
device calibrations. The collected data transmit to the cloud database in real
time through Wi-Fi modules. In that respect, there are many cloud databases for
individual users or organizations to store their data on the cloud platform. Effortless
collection, access, process, visualization, archive, share, and search of huge bundles
of data from different processes and places is enabled by these cloud platforms
(Casola et al. 2013). Besides, it will support users as a decision support system
to monitor and control the life cycle process in real time. In fact, this IoT-based
data acquisition system is beneficial in two aspects such as process controlling
and environmental impact assessment. The process monitoring and controlling of
a product life cycle is mandatory unless it will affect not only the product quality
but also the consumption volume of energy, resource, and raw material. Since the
real-time process monitoring helps to maintain the quality of the product as well
as helps to optimize resource and energy consumption. The data storage framework
should have the ability to deal with various types of data, which are collected from
various devices and in that way it is feasible to fulfill the requirements to manage
massive IoT data in cloud platform (Elsonbaty 2019; Dodda et al. 2016). These
data are different in data structures, volume, units, accessing methods, and in some
other aspects. However, cloud platform like ThingSpeak provides certain access
to analyze, filter, and visualize the collected data. Finally, the required data for the
impact assessment which is called smart data receives from the collected data stored
in the cloud database.
Example of an IIOT-Based Life Cycle Management in Sri Lankan

Tea Industry
Integrating the IoT-based real-time data acquisition system into LCA toward LCM
can resolve the problems and challenges that occur during the LCA and LCM
practices. The presented example of an IIoT-based LCM in Sri Lankan tea industry
i ntended to investigate the performance, effectiveness, and feasibility of the IIoT-
based data acquisition system for LCM. Sri Lankan tea industry, acclaimed as the
best tea in the world, has its inherent unique characteristics and reputation running
through more than 150 years. Globally, Sri Lanka is the second largest tea producing
country, and the production share is around 10% in the international sphere. Sri
Lanka is the world’s largest producer of orthodox tea and is one of the world’s
leading exporters with a share of around 23% of the global demand (Sri Lanka
Export Development Board (EDB)). Sri Lankan tea has a marvelous reputation with
the branding of Ceylon Tea. However, the recent incidents such as Khapra beetle
scare in Russia (Daily Mirror) and contamination issues in Japan (News First)
have startled the tea industry in Sri Lanka. The tea industry directly contributes
to the national GDP and it gives more than 900,000 employment opportunities
(4.5% of Sri Lanka’s population) (Global Press Journal). The main environmental
issues identified in the tea production are excessive energy consumption in the
form of electricity to run the machinery and thermal energy for withering and
drying. Munasinghe uncovered many issues including energy efficiency of the
industry, GHG emissions, and occupational health hazards in Sri Lankan tea
industry (Munasinghe et al. 2017). Countries like India, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam
use abundant amount of fertilizers and pesticides for tea cultivation, which give a
negative effect to the local and wider environment by increasing water pollution and
reducing soil biodiversity (Wal 2008). Therefore, the sustainability of tea industry
is crucial to the Sri Lankan economy.
Hence, IIoT application experimented to realize the potential and effectiveness
in the Sri Lankan tea industry. Real-time data acquisition system is facilitated in the
manufacturing process using the IoT sensors and devices. Out of the many processes
of producing black tea, withering and drying are the two main operations, and
these operations consume high electrical and thermal energy. The final quality of
the black tea often critically depends on the withering and fermentation operations.
Hence, LCI data of these processes are crucial to conduct a proper LCA of black
tea processing. Therefore, this experiment was facilitated to explore the variations
of relative temperature, humidity, moisture content, and electricity consumption.
Conclusively, this presented example of an IIoT-based LCM which clearly shows
how IoT-based data acquisition can be facilitated to obtain LCI data and how it
facilitates LCM.
IIOT-Based Real-Time Data Acquisition for LCI and LCM
Development of IIOT-Based Real-Time Data Acquisition System

With the aim of acquiring real-time data, monitoring, and controlling black tea
processing, the essential environmental parameters were identified. Out of the many
processes of producing black tea, withering and drying are the two key operations,
and these operations consume high electrical and thermal energy. The final quality of
the black tea often critically depends on the withering and fermentation operations.
Hence, LCI data of these processes are crucial to conduct a proper LCA of black tea
processing. Therefore, this study was focused to explore the variations of relative
temperature, humidity, moisture content, and electricity consumption through IoT.
Thereafter, the sensors were precisely calibrated and mathematical equations
were expressed using analytics software called “Minitab.” The used and developed
sensors and devices are shown in Table 1 and Fig. 6. Then, the IoT devices were
installed on the factory process premises, and the monitored and traced process-
related data were stored in the cloud database and manipulated by ThingSpeak
software. Fig. 7 shows the factory environment in which IoT devices are installed.
Figure 8 shows the real-time visualization of ThingSpeak interface. Figure 9 shows
the observed real-time electricity consumption for (a) withering and (b) rolling
processes.
Table 1 Sensors and specifications used for the IoT system

Parameter Sensor type Specification
Temperature DHT22 Power supply 3.3–5.5 V DC
and humidity Humidity.0–100%RH
Temperature − 40–80 ◦ C
Accuracy + − 2%RH; + − 0.5 ◦ C
Moisture Arduino Power supply 3.3–5 V DC
content Moisture module Output signal 0 ∼ 4.2 V
Current 35 mA
Temperature Sensor probe Power supply 3.0–5.5 V DC
Temperature range − 55 to125 ◦ C
Accuracy over range − 10 to 85 ◦ C is + − 0.5 ◦ C
Current AC current sensor Rated input 0–30A
Rated output 0–1 V
Accuracy 1% and turns ratio 1:1800
Fig. 6 Fabricated devices for data collection
Fig. 7 IoT-based data collection from various processes

Fig. 8 Real-time data visualization of ThingSpeak interface
a b
6 20
18
5
Phase current(A)
16
4 14
Current(A)
12
3 10
2 8
6
1 4
2
0
0
8:54:24 PM
3:02:57 PM
3:40:49 PM
4:19:51 PM
4:57:47 PM
5:35:38 PM
6:17:18 PM
7:08:24 PM
8:01:24 PM
9:43:37 PM
10:34:43 PM
11:32:40 PM
1:54:42 AM
12:42:43 AM
4:25:44 AM
6:40:16 AM
7:47:25 AM
9:38:08 AM
10:15:30 AM
10:06:02 AM
1:15:12 AM
1:26:33 AM
1:36:01 AM
1:47:25 AM
1:58:47 AM
2:43:49 AM
9:54:40 AM
10:23:56 AM
10:33:54 AM
10:45:52 AM
10:56:35 AM
11:13:19 AM
Time Time
Fig. 9 Monitored LCI electricity consumption data for (a) withering process and (b) rolling
process
IoT- based Real-Time Data Manipulation for LCI and LCM
As an outcome of this real-time process data monitoring, the unit process based
LCI data was saved in the cloud environment. However, the monitored data cannot
be used to assess impact directly because the measurement units, time frame, and
LCI allocations are different for every data acquisition system and devices. Hence,
the entire possible and available data were tracked and saved through ThingSpeak
software. The interval of data tracking can be defined based on LCA requirements
and device capability. Primarily, the quality of black tea depends on temperature,
moisture content, and humidity. Therefore, maintaining these key factors of black
tea processing is mandatory unless it will affect not only the quality of tea but also
the energy, resource, and material wastages. Hence, real-time data monitoring helps
to maintain the quality of the product as well as helps to optimize resource and
energy consumption.
Table 2 Summarized IIoT-based real-time monitored data from black tea processing (Source:
(Jamwal et al. 2021))
Phase current /A Standard Working No of Electrical energy
Process (Mean) deviation hours/h machine consumption/kWh
Withering 05.053 0.058 14 6 448.218
Rolling 11.828 1.469 8 3 299.767
Rotorvane 16.197 4.545 8 2 273.715
In addition, this data monitoring was also used for LCA. The stored LCI
data which is related to energy and resource consumption was extracted through
ThingSpeak and categorized based on a unit process as shown in Table 2. Thereafter,
the data were analyzed and converted into a functional unit. At the same time, by
using the entire data population, the mean and standard deviation of the input and
output were calculated.
Power consumption
W = 3Vp Ip Cosθ (1)
W: Watts
Vp : Line voltage
Ip : Phase current
Cosθ : Power factor
A summary of the energy between the most important processes in the tea indus-
try is shown in Table 2. It is evident from the table that the electricity consumption of
the withering process is high due to high processing time and large capacity motor
usages, where the rolling and rotorvane processes are approximately consuming
the same level of energy. Further, the monitored temperature of fermentation result
was used to control the exact fermenting process time unless it will reduce the tea
quality due to an excessive chemical reaction. Moreover, the monitored temperature
and moisture of the withering process was used as a control parameter to control the
air flow rate and the pressure by changing the RPM of the motor. The results of an
example study reveal that unless sustainability-related key performance indicators
are not traced frequently it is difficult to evaluate, realize, and implement the
environmental performances and eco-design opportunities through LCM approach.
Since IoT techniques are economical, easily adaptable, and could cover wide
spectrum of activities, it is easy to step into the operational level information tracing,
process monitoring and controlling, and sustainable value creation. Hence, from
this experimental study, it can be seen that an IIoT application toward LCM and
sustainable manufacturing is paramount and effective.
Conclusion
Currently world is moving toward the significant environmental problems such

as climate change and natural resource depletion. Manufacturing sector plays a
pivotal role in these global issues. Thereby, all manufacturing industries have
been pressured to contribute toward sustainable development by transforming their
supply chains toward sustainability. As the most essential step, they need to adapt
sustainable manufacturing practices. However, this needs significant amount of
data gathering to visualize the current levels and to evaluate level of sustainability
very frequently. Unless sustainability-related key performance indicators are not
tracked frequently it is difficult to align their processes and supply chains toward
sustainable manufacturing. Therefore, it is paramount important to trace supply
chain and process data real time. This issue could be handled significantly with
the development of IIoT techniques. Since IIoT techniques are cheaper and easily
adaptable and could cover wide spectrum of activities it is easy to step into the
operational level information tracing and develop sustainability-related KPIs. This
chapter presented simple approach of adapting IIoT technologies to track the
process sustainability through product life cycle perspective for one of the oldest
manufacturing industries in Sri Lanka. Therefore, IIoT imposes sustainable value
creation opportunities and techniques in manufacturing industries, which direct to
enhance sustainability. Further, it is caused to guide industry professionals through
hotspot without worsening time and money. Hence, the combined technique of
LCA, which is linked to IIoT-based LCM, will be used as a stranded ladder for
the green future.
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Nano-biomaterials as a Potential Tool for
Futuristic Applications∗ 49
Anuron Deka, Pritam Bardhan, Manabendra Mandal,
and Rupam Kataki
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1244
Nanotechnology: The Beginning of a New Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1244
Nano-biomaterials: Making Our Lives Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1244
Types of Nano-biomaterials (Fig. 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1246
Polymeric Nano-biomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1246
Metallic Nano-biomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1247
Ceramic Nano-biomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1249
Carbon-Based Nano-biomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1250
Silica-Based Nano-biomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1251
Semiconductor-Based Nano-biomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1253
Applications of Nano-biomaterials (Fig. 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1253
Nano-biomaterials in Therapeutics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1253
Nano-biomaterials in Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1256
Nano-biomaterials in Environmental Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1258
Nano-biomaterials in Bioenergy Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1258
Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1260
Fabrication Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1262
Cytotoxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1264
Biocompatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1265
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1266
Important Websites/Links Related to the Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1275
∗ Anuron Deka and Pritam Bardhan contributed equally with all other contributors.
A. Deka · R. Kataki ()
Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, India
e-mail: rupam@tezu.ernet.in
P. Bardhan · M. Mandal
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, India
1244 A. Deka et al.
Abstract
Nanotechnology has been able to carve out a special place for itself in the
scientific community. Nano-materials such as graphene have enabled mankind to
build supercapacitors that can store as much energy as an average-sized Lithium-
ion battery. Nano-biomaterials are the nano-materials that can be introduced
inside a human body as a part of a drug, a medical device, or an organ and have to
be biocompatible, nontoxic, and noncarcinogenic. They are widely used in drug
delivery, cell tracking, bio-marking, cancer treatment, tissue engineering, gene
therapy, and manufacturing of artificial limbs. Besides, nanomaterials also have
profound application in food technology. Recently, they have also made their
mark in the field of bioenergy and controlling environmental pollution. In this
chapter, we will discuss different types of nano-biomaterials, their applications,
and challenges for the future.
Keywords
Nano-biomaterials · Nanomaterials · Therapeutics · Bioenergy · Food

applications
Introduction
Nanotechnology: The Beginning of a New Era
The day was December 29, 1959, and the event was the annual meeting of the
American Physical Society where Richard Feynman delivered his famous speech
titled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” This was perhaps the first time
when the scientific community put their heads together around the concept of
nanotechnology (Feynman 1959). The term “nano” originates from the Greek word
“nano” and means “dwarf” (Leon et al. 2020). Nanotechnology is a relatively
new field and the term was first used by Norio Taniguchi in his 1974 paper
on “Production technology that creates objects and features on the order of a
nanometer” (www.trynano.org).
Cambridge dictionary defines nanotechnology as “an area of science that deals
with developing and producing extremely small tools and machines by controlling
the arrangement of separate atoms” (dictionary.cambridge.org). Nanotechnology
encapsulates a very vast area of science under its wings. It is the research and
development of technology that allows us to tinker with properties of elements and
compounds by altering its structure in the atomic level (Corbett et al. 2000).
Nano-biomaterials: Making Our Lives Better
Biomaterials are the materials that are biocompatible and can be introduced into
an animal body without compromising the natural functioning of the body or the
49 Nano-biomaterials as a Potential Tool for Futuristic Applications 1245
cells and tissues that surround it. They can be both naturally occurring as well
as synthetically engineered to meet certain requirements (Park and Lakes 2007).
Metals, ceramics, polymers, and other carbon- and silica-based materials are the
most common biomaterials.
Biomaterials have played a significant role in making our lives easier and more
comfortable and people have used them since ancient times. In ancient Egypt,
doctors used a special type of linen to stitch wounds, and elephant tusks, walrus
teeth, and some special kind of wood as a replacement for bone (Williams and
Cunningham 1979). Even in ancient India, there are written records of Sushruta
using waxes, glues, and regenerative tissues to repair injured noses (Bhat 2002).
Nano-biomaterials are essentially biomaterials with surface size not greater
than 10 nm. These materials have unique properties which vary from regular
biomaterials, such as enhanced mechanical properties and optical properties, and
tunable electrical and magnetic properties (Hasirci et al. 2006). They are also
widely used in novel therapeutic and diagnostic biomedical techniques, dentistry,
gene therapy as well as fabrication of biosensors for pathogen detection including
COVID-19, packaging, and food delivery systems (Abd Elkodous et al. 2019; Jandt
and Watts 2020; Sampathkumar et al. 2020; Srivastava et al. 2020b; Reddy et al.
2008).
Nano-biomaterials have given a huge boost to the global nano-medicine market
which is estimated to reach $350.8 billion by 2025 (www.grandviewresearch.com)
(Fig. 1).
Similarly, nanomaterials find wide applications in food technology particu-
larly in development of smart food packaging materials (Kaur et al. 2020).
Besides, semiconductor-based nanomaterials have garnered recent research atten-
tion for photocatalytic environmental and energy applications (Tahir et al. 2019;
Fig. 1 Global nanomedicine market (by application, 2020)

1246 A. Deka et al.
Sarkar et al. 2020). In this chapter, we will discuss different types of nano-
biomaterials, their applications, and challenges for the future.
Types of Nano-biomaterials (Fig. 2)
Polymeric Nano-biomaterials
Polymers are long-chained molecules formed by repetitions of a single unit called

monomers. These repeating units are held together by covalent bonds (Percec et al.
2006). They are one of the most versatile classes of materials and have played a
huge role in the recent developments in the scientific world. Based on the source
of the monomer, a polymer can be either naturally occurring like natural rubber or
synthetic like polyethylene (Lendlein 2010). However, there are various other ways
a polymer can be classified based on the type and properties of the monomer.
Polymeric nano-biomaterials are one of the most versatile classes of nano-
biomaterials. They can have biological or chemical origins (Lendlein et al. 2010).
However, all of them are biocompatible and some of them are even bioactive.
Bioactive materials are those materials that are nontoxic and are able to form a
chemical bond with the host tissue by inciting a biological reaction (Kohane and
Langer 2008). They are mostly used for therapy or diagnosis; however, we also see
their use in prosthetics.
Types and Properties

A polymeric nano-biomaterial consists of biocompatible nanoparticles as fillers.
The matrix itself may or may not be biocompatible (Smith et al. 2009). They
may be a derivative of a synthetic polymer which has been altered to make it
Fig. 2 Types of
nano-biomaterials
biocompatible or may be a naturally occurring biopolymer which is biocompatible

by default. Biopolymers are polymers that are derived from living organisms. They
are usually polysaccharides, polypeptides, polynucleotides, or some other long
chains of biomolecules (Leena et al. 2016). Collagen is one of the best examples
of biopolymers. Skin and cartilages are the major tissues that contain collagen in
our body. It also helps in maintaining skeletal integrity (Rhee et al. 1992).
On the other hand, synthetic biocompatible polymers are engineered specifically
to mimic their naturally occurring counterparts. Poly (lactic acid) (PLLA), poly
(glycolic acid) (PGA), and poly (hydroxyl butyrate) (PHB) are some of the most
widely used synthetic biocompatible polymers (Liao et al. 2011). Biopolymers
are known to be more nurturing toward the growth of attached cells and tissues.
However, most of the biopolymers lack good mechanical properties. Synthetic
biocompatible polymers have excellent mechanical properties and their biocompat-
ibility can also be engineered to meet specific needs.
Nanomaterials that are incorporated in the polymeric matrix can be in the
form of particles, platelets, fibers, whiskers, sheets, or tubes. Incorporation of
nanomaterials significantly alters the properties of the polymeric matrix (Koo 2006).
Polymeric nano-biomaterials are widely used in bone tissue engineering, nerve
tissue engineering, vascular tissue engineering, and dental implants. They are often
used as hydrogels and scaffolds that support an injured tissue. However, they can
also be implanted as artificial organs or vectors for drug delivery (Rana et al. 2014).
Metallic Nano-biomaterials
Metallic biomaterials such as stainless steel, cobalt-chrome alloys, and titanium

alloys have been in use for a long time now. They have excellent mechanical
properties. However, many of them tend to corrode which not only jeopardize its
integrity but can also be toxic for surrounding cells and tissues (Niinomi et al. 2015).
They can also be subjected to failure related to fatigue because of their size (Parida
et al. 2012).
Metallic nano-biomaterials negate most of the shortcoming of metallic biomate-
rials. Like all other nanomaterials, they can be synthesized as nanoparticles (0D),
nanotubes, nanowires or nanorods (1D), nanosheets or nanoplatelets (2D), and
nanoshells and other nanoporous structures (3D) (Edmundson et al. 2014). They
can be easily synthesized and functionalized to suit various needs. Because of their
extremely small size, the surface area of the metallic nanoparticles also increases
which makes them extremely efficient drug delivery vectors (Vicky et al., 2010).

Most widely used metallic nano-biomaterials are gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper
(Cu), iron oxide (Fe2 O3 ), zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide (TiO2 ), platinum (Pt),
Selenium (Se), Gadolinium (Gd), and Palladium (Pd) (Fig. 3).
1248 A. Deka et al.
Fig. 3 Types of metallic

nano-biomaterials
Gold Nanoparticles
They are probably the most commonly used metallic nano-biomaterials. They have
enhanced and tunable optical properties such as surface plasmon absorption and
near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence and good biocompatibility (Das et al. 2011). They
are widely used for photo targeted drug delivery, anticancer therapy, cell tracking, as
contrasting agent in medical imaging, antiviral treatments, and photothermal therapy
(Boisselier and Astruc 2009).
Silver Nanoparticles
Silver nanoparticles are synthesized in different forms; however, spherical silver
nanoparticles are the most commonly used ones (Sarkar et al. 2007). Owing to its
huge surface area, AgNPs are widely used as a vector for drug delivery and allows
for a huge scope of functionalization with various ligands. AgNPs also display
excellent optical, electrical, and thermal properties because of which they are widely
used from photovoltaic equipment to biological and chemical sensors (Yuan-Tao and
Huai-Zhi 2003). They also have antibacterial properties because of which they are
widely used in medicines and dressing of wounds. However, the toxicity of AgNPs
is not yet fully known and is subjected to extensive research worldwide (Dananjaya
et al. 2016).
Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP) can be broadly divided into two categories: (a)
superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION), which are larger than 50 nm,
and (b) ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (USPION), which
are smaller than 50 nm in size (Wu et al. 2008). Owing to its magnetism, IONPs hold
a very special place among nanoparticles. SPIONs are biocompatible and widely
used as MRI contrast agents (Gupta and Gupta 2005). They can also be used as
efficient drug delivery vehicles with surface modifications. USPIONs are used as
blood pool agents for MR angiography as well as targeted drug delivery (Teja and
Koh 2009).
Ceramic Nano-biomaterials
Ceramic is the class of materials that are derived from nonmetallic inorganic
elements. They are both amorphous and crystalline in nature and include inorganic
oxides, non-oxides, and composites (Richardson et al. 2000). Ceramics are known to
have outstanding hardness, excellent thermal properties, great chemical resistance,
and biocompatibility. However, they are extremely brittle and have extremely poor
thermal shock resistance (Naplocha et al. 2000).
The properties of ceramic materials are dependent on their structure and the type
of bond between the atoms. Ceramics generally have either ionic bond or covalent
bond. The ionic bond is seen between two elements with different electronegativity,
generally between a metal and a nonmetal. This is an extremely strong bond and
transfer of electrons takes place between the elements. On the other hand, covalent
bonds occur between elements with similar electronegativity and electrons are
shared between the elements (Dalgleish et al. 1988).
Calcium Phosphates
Calcium phosphates are the most widely used ceramic nano-biomaterials. Vari-
ous tissues of the human body such as bone and dental tissues contain a high
concentration of calcium. Thus, ceramic nanomaterials are widely used in those
applications (Kalita et al. 2007). Calcium phosphate nanomaterials exhibit excellent
biocompatibility, which is because of the similarity of composition with human
bones. Different forms of calcium phosphate nanomaterials that are widely used
in the biomedical industry are hydroxyapatite, ß-tricalcium phosphate, α-tricalcium
phosphate, biphasic calcium phosphate, monocalcium phosphate monohydrate, and
unsintered apatite (Kalita and Bhatt 2007). Calcium phosphate bio-nanomaterials,
apart from being biocompatible, are also found to be osteoconductive (Chae et al.
2003). This means that these materials promote the growth of bone tissues over it
when used as implants or scaffolds. Calcium phosphate nanomaterials are produced
by wet chemical synthesis from calcium nitrate, ammonium hydrogen phosphate,
sodium carbonate, calcium acetate, and phosphoric acid (Ma and Zhu 2010).
Aluminum Oxide
Aluminum oxide (Al2 O3 , alumina) is another prominent ceramic nano-biomaterial.
It is modified as α-Al2 O3, ß-Al2 O3 , and γ-Al2 O3 or as alumoxanes (Yang et al.
2009). All the different forms or Al2 O3 are bioactive, have high thermal resistance,
and are chemically inert. They are thus used in dentistry, arthroplasty, and in the
treatment of fractures (Deville et al. 2003). Alumoxanes are used as nanofillers
in the production of nanocomposites, mostly polymer nanocomposites and known
1250 A. Deka et al.
to improve biocompatibility and hydrophobicity of the nanocomposite (Landry

et al. 1995). Alumina nanopowder can be synthesized by plasma spraying of liquid
precursors or flame aerosol technology (Renuka et al. 2012; Park et al. 2005).
Zirconium Dioxide
Zirconium dioxide, zirconium (IV), oxide or zirconia (ZrO2 ) is the most commonly
found oxide of zirconium, which is a transitional metal (Trunec and Maca 2007).
Zirconia can be synthesized and modified into different geometries such as mono-
clinic, tetragonal, and cubic (Mueller et al. 2004). All the geometries of zirconia
are temperature dependent. At room temperature, it is found in the monoclinic
form. When heated to 2370 ◦ C, monoclinic geometry is converted to tetragonal
and at 2690 ◦ C tetragonal geometry is converted to cubic form. Zirconia can also be
doped with other metallic and nonmetallic oxides to get improved properties such
as higher strength and fracture toughness (Tsunekawa et al. 2003). Zirconia nano-
biomaterials are widely used in orthopedic implants, prosthetic knee implants, and
dental restorations (Bartolome et al. 2007).
Carbon-Based Nano-biomaterials
Carbon is one of the most important elements on the planet. Owing to its tetravalent
structure, carbon can form single, double, or triple bonded structures with other
elements such as hydrogen and nitrogen that makes it an extremely versatile
element. Carbon nanomaterials also come in various shapes and forms. There
are quantum dots, graphene and graphite sheets, diamond nanoplatelets, carbon
nanotubes (CNT), and carbon nanofibers (CNF) just to name a few (Yanhong
et al. 2006). These carbon nanomaterials, when infused with other materials, form
extremely useful nano-biomaterials that have proved extremely useful to humans
(Lin et al. 2016).

Graphene was isolated by Professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov at the
University of Manchester in 2004 for which both of them won the Nobel Prize in
Physics. It is a two-dimensional (2D) material which forms the building blocks for a
host of other nanomaterials like CNT. Graphene has excellent chemical, mechanical,
and optical properties that make it useful for a host of applications. Moreover, it can
also be made biocompatible by surface functionalization and because of this it is
widely used in carbon-based nano-biomaterials (Feng et al. 2013).
Graphene, CNTs, and CNFs are widely used as scaffolds to support the growth of
injured bone and nerve tissues because of their excellent mechanical and electrical
properties. Functionalization of CNTs with 4-hydroxynonenal has also shown to
induce neural growth and branching (Mattson et al. 2000). Graphene oxide and
SWNT can also be used as vectors for drug delivery because of their pH-sensitive
nature (Xu and Wang 2006). Carbon nanomaterials such as fullerenes and CNTs also
display near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence and excellent electrochemical properties

and are used as biosensors and bio-imaging agents (Chung et al. 2013).
Surface Modifications
Graphene and CNTs are the most commonly used carbon nanomaterials. Thus, we
will discuss some of the surface modifications of these nanomaterials. Graphene
can be functionalized with nucleic acids, aptamers, and carbohydrates which make
it more receptive to electrical signals (Bitounis et al. 2013). It can also be complexed
with therapeutic molecules such as DOX for more efficient drug delivery systems.
When coated with positively charged polyethyleneimine, graphene can be used as
an extremely efficient drug delivery system (Zhang et al. 2012).
Similarly, when CNTs are oxidized with carbonyl-based couplings, its solubility
increases along with the increased possibility of conjugating with bioactive and
therapeutic agents (Liu et al. 1998). When an amino group is attached with a CNT,
it can link with other amino acids in the body and can be used for fluorescent probes
(Bianco et al. 2005).
Silica-Based Nano-biomaterials
Silica nanoparticles (SNP) are the most widely used nanoparticles for the production
of polymer nano-composites. This is because SNPs are easy to produce and do not
have any toxic by-products as is the case with some other nanoparticles. Also they
possess many desirable properties such as high thermostability, biocompatibility,
and also improve mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of the NCs along
with imparting biodegradability (Rahman and Padavettan 2012).
Production
Sol-gel and micro emulsion are the most commonly used production techniques for
SNPs. Hydrolysis of a precursor solution can also be done to produce SNPs. It was
first reported by Stöber and Fink in 1968 (Stöber et al. 1968).
SNPs have a 3D network structure as a result of which silanol and siloxane
groups are created on the surface. The surface of SNPs are usually terminated
by three silanol types; free or isolated silanol, H–bonded or vicinal silanols, and
geminal silanols. These form H bonds with each other which lead to the formation
of aggregates of SNPs (Wu et al. 2005). Thus, they have to be modified physically
or chemically to counter the formation of agglomerates (Fig. 4).
Modification by chemical interaction results in much stronger bonds between
the modifiers and silica nanoparticles. It is by using modifying agents. The
modifying agent or coupling agent has a hydrolysable group which reacts with
the hydroxyl group present on the silica surface. The agent also contains an alkyl
group which interacts with the polymer chains. Some common modifiers are TDI,
epichlorohydrin, glycidyl phenyl ether, octadecylamine, etc. (Islam et al. 2013).
Physical modification is mostly done on the surface of the SNP using surfactants
or macromolecules. These molecules are adsorbed on the surface of the SNP. The
1252 A. Deka et al.
Fig. 4 Common silanes and

agglomeration of SNP
principle of surfactant treatment works on the preferential adsorption of polar groups

onto the surface of SNP by electrostatic interactions (Tang et al. 2007b). A surfactant
can reduce agglomeration among SNPs by reducing physical interaction among
each other which leads to uniform dispersion in the polymer matrix. It can also
lead to increased hydrophobicity of the SNP (Tang et al. 2007a).
Properties
SNPs when incorporated to a composite increases the tensile strength of the resultant
nano-composite (Rong et al. 2001). However, the tensile strength increases to
a particular loading point after it decreases again due to agglomeration of the
SNPs. Other mechanical properties such as impact strength, hardness, and scratch
resistance also improve when SNPs are incorporated to a composite system (Shang
et al. 2002).
SNPs are highly thermostable. They enhance the thermal properties of the NCs
as they act as superior insulators and mass transport barriers to the volatile products
generated during the decomposition process (Ray and Okamoto 2003). SNPs also
form char when burned and act as a protective layer that stops oxygen penetration
thus making the nano-composite flame retardant (Brancatelli et al. 2011).
Transparency is the most important optical property for any material. However,
introduction of SNPs, even at very low concentration often leads to opaque NCs.
This is due to the scattering of light caused by the SNPs. For an NC containing SNP
to be transparent, the NPs must be very finely dispersed in the matrix which can
be obtained using a coupling agent such as 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane
(GOTMS). GOTMS gets hydrolyzed to form silanol groups which can polycon-
densate with hydrolysis products of SNPs. GOTMS also get hydrolyzed to form
hydroxyl groups that can form hydrogen bonds with carbonyl or hydroxyl groups
present in the polymer. These two factors together reduce the size and result in good
dispersion of the SNPs (Zou et al. 2008).
Semiconductor-Based Nano-biomaterials
Semiconductors are the class of materials with electrical conductivity between

conductors and insulators. They can be elements such as silicon and germanium or
compounds such as gallium arsenide and cadmium selenide (Peck 1991). Semicon-
ductors have played an integral role in the ballistic pace of scientific development
of the past five decades. They are an indispensible unit of the electronics industry.
Starting from the one-dollar radio to the multi-million dollar satellite orbiting the
earth, nothing would have been possible without the semiconductors (Weisbuch and
Vinter 2014).
Semiconductor nanomaterials are also used in biomedical applications such as
bio-sensing, drug delivery, gene therapy, and in vitro and in vivo animal cell imaging
(Zhou et al. 2015).

Cadmium-based nanoparticles are the most common semiconductor-based nano-
biomaterials. They are mostly synthesized in the form of CdE quantum dots, where
E = sulfide, selenide, and telluride (Mo et al. 2017). These quantum dots (QD) can
be synthesized from cadmium containing precursors by organometallic synthesis
methods (Bhattacharya et al. 2004), colloidal synthesis (Smith et al. 2008), and
aqueous systems at low temperature (Esteve-Turrillas and Abad-Fuentes 2013).
Properties of the cadmium quantum dots largely depend on their structure. QDs
with a wide bandgap, such as CdS, display photoluminescence (Hines and Guyot-
Sionnest 1996). Another very important property of the QDs is that they can be
excited by a wide range of wavelengths because they have broad absorption spectra
and can be used as an extremely potent bio-marker as a dye in bio-imaging (Han
et al. 2001). Cd QDs can also be encased within other magnetic nanoparticles such
as Fe2 O3 that imparts magnetic property to the entire core-shell structure (Schwartz
et al. 2003).
Cd QDs are inherently non-biocompatible. However, they can be modified using
biodegradable moieties such as polymers, chitosan, cellulose, or hydroxyapatite that
makes them biodegradable without hindering the intrinsic properties (Huang and
Lee 2006). These nanoparticle systems can be used for drug delivery systems and
gene therapy (Sharma et al. 2006).
Applications of Nano-biomaterials (Fig. 5)
Nano-biomaterials in Therapeutics
Nanostructured materials are widely employed for biological and biomedical

applications due to their attractive physicochemical properties such as crystal
structure (shape), size (nanoscale), and biocompatibility. Several of these materials
1254 A. Deka et al.
Fig. 5 Different applications of nano-biomaterials
are derived from natural resources which can be processed and transformed into
structures (scaffolds or matrices) that find applicability in prevention, diagnosis,
and treatment of a range of diseases. Also, considering the widespread prevalence
of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as reported recently by the World Health Orga-
nization’s (WHO) Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS),
nano-biomaterials are innovative tools to combat drug resistance by providing
alternative medicine and prophylaxis approaches (Torres-Sangiao et al. 2016).
Moreover, nano-biomaterials-based electrochemical sensors offer a sensitive and
efficient early-stage diagnosis of cancer and other infectious diseases. Furthermore,
the piezoelectric properties (charge accumulation in response to applied mechanical
stress) of nano-biomaterials have been extensively exploited in developing regen-
erative medicine, implants, tissue engineering, and drug delivery systems (Sharma
and Hussain 2020; Kapat et al. 2020). In this section, we highlight some of the
recent applications of smart nano-biomaterials in: (i) antimicrobial therapy; (ii)
regenerative medicine/artificial organs; (iii) sensors and diagnostics.
Nano-biomaterials in Antimicrobial Therapy

In recent times the use of magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) particularly iron oxide
NPs for biomedical applications (in vivo drug delivery) has been authorized by
WHO due to its intrinsic antimicrobial activity, cost-effective synthesis, controlled
release of the drug, and low toxicity (Rodrigues et al. 2019). Lipid-based poly-
meric nanoparticles are used for topical applications of antimicrobial agents. In
this regard, biodegradable and biocompatible polymers (nano-biomaterials) are

attractive raw materials for the formulation of topical therapeutics (Severino et al.
2016). For instance, a promising antibacterial wound healing agent was developed
by absorbing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on eggshell membranes (Li et al. 2019a).
Similarly, a range of synthetic and natural polymers including polyacrylonitrile
and chitosan were used to develop antibacterial mats or scaffolds (nanofibers) for
prolonged delivery of natural bioactive drugs (Yadav and Balasubramanian 2016).
Furthermore, several novel nanocomposites with antimicrobial properties have been
developed using Nano-biomaterials like chitosan decorated nanotubes/hydrogels
and octadecylamine capped Cu/reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids (Bellingeri
et al. 2018; Ghosh et al. 2019). Antimicrobial hybrids with broad-spectrum antibi-
otic activity and controlled drug release properties such as silver phosphate-pectin
microparticles loaded with levofloxacin advantageous as microdevice acting as
biocide matrix (Bayón et al. 2016). Similar hybrids were developed by synthesizing
silver phosphate microparticles on bacterial cellulose or silver nanoparticles loaded
on poly-vinyl alcohol-lignin nanofibers (Bayón et al. 2018; Aadil et al. 2018).
Nano-biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine

Nano-biomaterials that exhibit piezoelectric properties are attractive tools for
therapeutic applications such as tissue regeneration (implants), drug delivery, and
theranostics. The wide range of piezoelectric biomaterials includes naturally occur-
ring piezocrystals (quartz, Rochelle salt), natural polymers (chitin, starch, fibrin,
keratin, cellulose, and collagen), synthetic polymers (such as nylon-11, polyuria
polyvinylidine fluoride (PVDF) and its copolymer trifluoroethylene-PVDF) and
ceramics having large piezoelectric charge constant like BaTiO3 , PZT (lead zir-
conate titanate), and PMN-PT (lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate) (Kapat et al.
2020). Carbon nanomaterials like graphene oxide, carbon dots, carbon nanotubes,
fullerenes, and nanodiamond offer good properties as scaffolds for tissue (bone,
cartilage, tendon, and ligament) engineering by allowing adequate cell adhesion,
growth, and differentiation. In addition, such carbon-based scaffolds or matrices
offer biocompatibility, low toxicity, and mechanical strength (Eivazzadeh-Keihan
et al. 2019). Several novel drug delivery nanosystems such as poly (L-lactic acid)
or polycaprolactone NPs loaded with antithrombotic drug Dipyridamole are used
extensively in cardiovascular treatments (Bakola et al. 2017, 2019). Collagen-based
nano-biomaterials are used intensively for soft tissue engineering of cardiovascular,
corneal, skin, muscle, and nerve regeneration (Purcel et al. 2016). The major advan-
tages of collagen are its low antigenicity and biodegradability as a natural polymer.
For example, collagen-inspired mineral-hydrogel nanocomposites and gelatin/PVA
scaffold coated with nanofibrillated collagen has been used recently for hard tissue
regeneration (Kim et al. 2019; Patel et al. 2020). Moreover, nano-biomaterials
are also used extensively in theranostics (both therapeutics and diagnostics). The
applications of such materials in diagnosis and sensors are described in the next
section.
1256 A. Deka et al.
Nano-biomaterials as Sensors and Diagnostics

Piezoelectric nano-biomaterials such as those based on Barium titanate-doxorubicin
(BT-DOX), gadolinium doped zinc oxide-DOX (ZnO-GD), and bismuth ferrite
(BFO) are widely used in radiotherapy, fluorescence, magnetic resonance (MR), and
computed tomography (CT) imaging for real-time, cost-effective cancer diagnostics
(Kapat et al. 2020; Rajaee et al. 2018). Several different nanomaterials such
as quantum dots, gold NPs, magnetic NPs, and carbon nanotubes have been
reported to be used for detection of malignant tumors (Zhang et al. 2019). 2D-
Nanomaterials (graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide) have garnered vast impact
as electrochemical biosensors in cancer diagnosis (biosensing of cancer biomarkers
like proteins and nucleic acids) (Wang et al. 2016). Furthermore, nanostructured
ZnO-based materials have multifunctional biomedical applications such as imaging,
drug delivery systems, and tissue regeneration and also as biosensors (Zhu et al.
2016). Over the past few years, aptamer-conjugated nano-biomaterials as biosensors
(aptasensors) have revolutionized the detection of pathogenic bacteria in infectious
diseases (Sharifi et al. 2020). These aptamers (single-stranded nucleic acids)
integrated with a variety of nanoparticles such as gold NPs and supermagnetic
iron oxide NPs having unique physicochemical properties are widely applied in
calorimetric, fluorescent, and MR imaging for medical diagnostics (Lee et al. 2010).
Functionalized nanomaterials also find wide applications as sensors for dope test in
sports, detection of illicit drugs, biological fluids, gunshots, and other explosives
during forensic investigation (Rawtani et al. 2019; Anil et al. 2020).
Nano-biomaterials in Food
Nano-biomaterials have attractive applications in food and nutraceutical industry

as platforms for immobilization of enzymes and other bioactive agents, smart
packaging materials, nano-delivery systems in agri-food, direct food additives
for preservation and fortification (Sampathkumar et al. 2020; Khan et al. 2018).
Particularly, the use of nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes (CNTs), NPs, quantum
dots in food safety applications (biosensing pollutants, pathogenic microbes, pes-
ticides, and pH) is of immense importance in recent times (Socas-Rodríguez et al.
2017). Furthermore, the nano-biomaterials are also used as sorbents in extraction of
different analytes from complex food materials and as emulsion stabilization agents.
Nano-biomaterials in Food Packaging

Bio-nanocomposite materials are considered as an alternative to conventional non-
biodegradable plastic-based packaging as it is eco-friendly, lightweight, nontoxic
and offers better performance (antioxidant, antimicrobial, and detection of exposure
to oxygen level and temperature). Such materials are derived from renewable
sources like natural polymers (cellulose, chitosan, starch, cellophane, and poly
lactic acid) (Youssef and El-Sayed 2018; Khan et al. 2018). Nanomaterials that are
applied onto the packaging matrix are categorized as inorganic (ZnO, AgNPs, TiO2 ,
Fe2 O3 , nanoclays) and organic (phenols, quaternary ammonium salts, polysaccha-
rides, or proteins like chitin, chitosan, and whey protein isolates). The inorganic
nanomaterials offer strong bioactivity against pathogenic microbes. In addition,

materials like nanoclays are used to improve mechanical strength of packaging
biopolymers and also offer resistance to moisture and oxygen (Huang et al. 2018).
In recent times, research has been directed toward utilization of lignocellulosic
agro-wastes. In this regard, cellulosic nanomaterials like cellulose nanocrystals
and nanofibrils provide multifunctional food applications particularly as packaging
materials due to high mechanical strength and biocompatibility (Grishkewich
et al. 2017; Zimmermann et al. 2010). Micro/nanofibrils derived from bacterial
cellulose (gelatinous polysaccharide membrane) produced by bacteria G. xylinus
also find potential applications in the packaging industry as a durable material with
antimicrobial activity (Ullah et al. 2016).
Nano-biomaterials in Enzyme Immobilization

Enzymes such as cellulase, lipase, β-glucosidase, α-amylase, and pectinase find
wide applications in agro-food industry for bioconversion of cellulosic wastes into
monomeric sugars, extraction of edible oil, as an animal feed additive to improve
digestibility and clarification of fruit juices and wines (Husain 2017). However,
the high cost of enzyme production coupled with limited stability renders the
process expensive (Naqash et al. 2019). Development of nanoscale biocatalyst
by nanoencapsulation (entrapment of bioactive enzymes onto carrier materials in
nanoscale range) technique offers several advantages like increased stability to
heat, pH and storage, resistant to inhibitory products and retention of catalytic
activity on repeated use (Prakash and Khare 2019). In this context, nanomaterials
such as gold and AgNPs and magnetic NPs provide biocompatible surfaces for
immobilization and easy enzyme recovery. In addition, enzyme immobilizations
on carbonaceous nanomaterials like nanowires and nanotubes, graphene oxide
(GO), and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) preserves the native structure of the
enzyme and its biological function (Liu and Dong 2020). Furthermore, in recent
times, the applications of enzymatic nanobiosensors (enzyme immobilized onto
transducer surface) in food safety assessment is imperative due to the widespread
contamination of food by pollutants, pesticides, and food-borne pathogens (Verma
2017). Such nanobiosensors are also employed in the nutraceutical industry for
detection of metabolites (flavonoids, phenolics, pigments such as carotenoids and
anthocyanins) (Della Pelle and Compagnone 2018).
Nano-biomaterials in Nano Food Delivery Systems

Nano bio-based delivery system allows the incorporation of metabolites,
bioactive ingredients, and nutraceuticals into food and beverages to produce
“functional foods” with performance benefits like better digestibility, bioavailability,
increased stability, and bioactivity of the nutrient (Jafari and McClements 2017).
Several novel nano-food delivery systems have been developed in recent years
using a wide range of nano-biomaterials like whey and soy protein-based
hydrogels, chitosan-coated insect protein, lipid-based carriers (nanoliposomes),
oligo-hyaluronic acid-curcumin polymer, etc. (Abaee et al. 2017; Okagu et al. 2020;
Akhavan et al. 2018; Guo et al. 2018). Nanoencapsulation of major micronutrients
such as phenolics, flavonoids, vitamins using biopolymer-based NPs, and natural
1258 A. Deka et al.
nano carriers (chitosan, sodium alginate, gelatin, caseins, and cyclodextrins) are
widely used in the food industry as delivery systems (Esfanjani and Jafari 2016;
Aditya et al. 2017). In addition, starch, chitosan-based nanocarriers (nanofibers,
nanocomposites, nanohydrogels and NPs), dendrimers, and gums (Arabic gum,
xanthan) are desired for efficient encapsulation of a broad range of phytochemicals
and other bioactive compounds including carotenoids, essential oils, and alkaloids
(Rostamabadi et al. 2019; Akbari-Alavijeh et al. 2020; Yousefi et al. 2020; Taheri
and Jafari 2019).
Nano-biomaterials in Environmental Applications
Environmental pollution (air, water, and soil) caused by the release of toxic
chemicals as a result of industrial or human activities have received much attention
by the scientific community all around the globe. Nanotechnology provides novel
mitigation approaches for the removal of pollutants from the air, water, wastewater,
and soil. Carbon-based nano-adsorbents (carbon nanotubes) are superior materials
for adsorption of gases, dissolved organic substances (pollutants) as compared
to powder activated carbon due to its large surface area, specific sorption sites,
variable pore size, and surface chemistry (Panahi et al. 2018). Excessive use of
agrochemicals, especially fertilizers and pesticides, has degraded the soil quality.
However, nanomaterials nanoclays, zeolites, and metal oxide NPs can adsorb some
of these pollutants as well as act as nutrient carriers at the same time (Pulimi and
Subramanian 2016; Rani and Shanker 2018). Such nanomaterials have also been
applied for the plant growth-promoting activities along with concomitant removal
of pollutants from the soil (Mohamed et al. 2018).
The release of industrial effluents in water bodies or oils spillage raises water
pollution to alarming levels and resource usage concerns. Cellulose nanofibrils and
nanocrystals incorporated nanocomposites provide wide applications in wastewater
treatment processes such as filtration, sorption, and flocculation (Mohammed et al.
2018; Palit and Hussain 2020). Besides, nanocomposite materials are favored for
scale-up applications in water-treatment by integrating the advantages of metal NPs
and different solid host matrices of large size (Zhang et al. 2016). Magnetic NPs
such as super-paramagnetic iron oxide NPs, magnetic nanocomposites, and carbon
nanotubes are valuable tools for cleaning up of oil spills or leaks in water (Singh
et al. 2020; Cardona et al. 2019). Some of the nano-biomaterials as smart devices
or technologies developed in recent times for environmental applications have been
discussed in (Table 1).
Nano-biomaterials in Bioenergy Applications
Depletion of natural fossil fuel reserves and increase in emission of greenhouse

gases contribute significantly to energy security and global climate change issues.
Bioenergy refers to the production of gaseous and liquid fuels derived from
renewable sources like biodiesel, bioethanol, biobutanol, biogas, bio-hydrogen,
microbial fuel cells (MFCs), and other speciality biofuels such as higher alcohols,
Table 1 Environmental applications of nano-biomaterials and its advantages

Environmental
application Nano-biomaterials Advantages References
Pollution control of air, ZnO-based Semiconductor Chakrabarti
water, plastic nanostructures photocatalysis (under et al. (2020)
degradation UV, solar light),
degrades organic
pollutants to CO2 and
H2 O, generation of
clean fuels
Micronutrient Microcrystalline pH-controlled release of Wang et al.
availability and cellulose and foliar fertilizer, high (2016)
improved utilization attapulgite-based adsorption capacity,
efficiency for better bio-composite micronutrient
crop yields immobilization
Removal of heavy Zoledronate Enhanced adsorption Fang et al.
metals (Cu2+ , functionalized capacity, pH-dependent (2020)
Pb2+ )/wastewater hydroxyapatite removal of metals ions,
treatment (nano-hybrid) facile, low-cost,
eco-friendly
Phosphate (PO4 3− ) Mixed metal oxides Better compared to the Nakarmi et al.
removal from (cerium/manganese) individual metal oxide, (2020)
contaminated water embedded on economically feasible,
cellulose pine wood reusability
shaving
(nanocomposites)
Microbiological and Fe2 O3 NPs Photo catalytic, wide Ortega-Villar
physicochemical incorporated into range of pollutant in the et al. (2019)
pollutant removal from permeable concrete surface runoff water
urban run-off/water could be degraded by
quality monitoring oxidation,
environmental friendly
Water disinfection and Carbon nanotubes Antimicrobial Liu et al.
microbial control properties, easily (2018)
incorporated with
polymers or NPs to
form nanocomposite
membrane, surface
coating applications
Adsorption of organic Apatite/attapulgite/ High adsorption Li et al.
dye (methylene blue) alginate composite capacity, improved (2019b)
from textile industrial hydrogels mechanical strength of
wastewater the gel, biodegradable
and nontoxic
Bioremediation of Metal NPs, carbon Directly catalyze Cappello and
marine environment by nanomaterials, metal degradation of Mancini (2019)
(biostimulation and/or oxide NPs, pollutants, promote the
bio augmentation) polymer-based growth of
nanocomposites microorganism able to
degrade toxic materials
(continued)
1260 A. Deka et al.
Table 1 (continued)
Environmental
application Nano-biomaterials Advantages References
Plant protection and Chitosan-based Bioactivity toward Kumaraswamy
growth nanomaterials (NPs, broad-spectrum et al. (2018)
nanogels and pathogenic microbes,
nanocomposites) biodegradable, induce
seedling growth,
photosynthesis, and
nutrient uptake
Removal of NOX gases Polymeric Photocatalytic, Majidi et al.
from polluted air nanocomposites (poly electrospun fibers as (2018)
vinylidene fluoride membrane filters, high
and poly dimethyl surface area, porosity,
siloxane with TiO2 and enhanced
NPs) adsorption
alkanes, and alkenes and energy-dense isoprenoids compounds (Bardhan et al.

2019). Nano-biomaterials find wide applications in bioenergy as novel supporting
matrix for enzyme immobilization (cellulase, xylanase, and β-glucosidase for
hydrolysis of complex lignocellulosic substrates, lipases for biodiesel production),
bio-electrodes or conducting polymers of biofuel cells, green catalyst for biomass
conversion, direct additives in biogas production by microorganisms (Verma et al.
2016; Sharma et al. 2020; Bhanja and Bhaumik 2016; Dehhaghi et al. 2019).
Furthermore, metal nanoparticles such as iron and nickel NPs significantly improve
bio-hydrogen yield as they act as (1) co-factors of hydrogenase and nitrogenase
enzymes, (2) oxygen scavengers thereby creating anaerobic condition required for
the activity of hydrogenase enzyme (Srivastava et al. 2020a). Porous nanomaterials
(micro/mesoporous carbon, resin, silica, microporous zeolites, mesoporous metal
oxides, and organic polymers) find wide application as a solid acid catalyst for
the conversion of platform chemicals (5-hydroxymethyl furfural, levulenic acid, 2,
5-dimethylfuran) into liquid biofuels (Bhanja and Bhaumik 2016). Nanomaterials
such as Fe3 O4 NPs impregnated eggshell, Cu impregnated TiO2 , K/Fe2 O3/γ-
Al2 O3 -based nanocatalyst also play an active role as catalyst for transesterification
of oil into biodiesel (Chingakham et al. 2019; Yazdani et al. 2019; De and Boxi
2020). A detailed list of nano-biomaterials with their advantages in different aspects
of bioenergy applications have been discussed in Table 2.
Challenges
In the past couple of decades, nano-biomaterials have made their way into the
various aspects of our lives and made it more comfortable. However, there are still
challenges associated with these materials which need to be overcome. Some of
them are easy and efficient fabrication techniques and a true assessment of the level
of toxicity of nano-biomaterials.
Table 2 Application of nano-biomaterials in different aspects of bioenergy and its advantages

Bioenergy applications Nano-biomaterials Advantages References
Lignocellulosic
biomass pretreatment
Delignification of Chitosan coated Immobilization of Shanmugam
sorghum Fe3 O4 @SiO2 NPs. Trichoderma et al. (2020)
stover/biohydorgen asperellum laccase,
production higher catalytic
efficiency, and
reusability
Pretreatment of Acid-functionalized Easy recovery using a Ingle et al.
sugarcane magnetic NPs magnetic field, (2020)
bagasse/bioethanol reusability, improved
production sugar yield
Enzymatic hydrolysis of β-cyclodextrin- Immobilization of Huang et al.
rice straw in conjugated magnetic Aspergillus niger (2015)
combination with ionic NPs cellulase, improved
liquid pretreatment enzyme activity,
reusability, and easy
recovery
Pretreatment of NanoTiO2 Enhanced sugar, Jafari and
sugarcane biohydorgen yield Zilouei (2016)
bagasse/biohydorgen
and biogas
Cellulolytic hydrolysis Graphene oxide- Improved Ariaeenejad
of sugar beet pulp hydrogel bioconjugates saccharification et al. (2020)
(nanocarriers) efficiency,
thermotolerant
enzyme activity,
enhanced specific
activity, and storage
stability
Catalytic conversion of
biomass to platform
chemicals
Production of HMF, Porous nanomaterials Green catalysts, high Bhanja and
furfural and (resin, mesoporous surface acidity, and Bhaumik
2,5-furandicarboxylic metal oxides, organic porous nanostructures (2016)
acid for liquid fuels polymers) (high surface area)
Production of Ru/TiO2 nanocatalysts Improved catalytic Xu et al.
γ-valerolactone from performance and (2018)
methyl levulinate stability, Ru dispersion
biowaste and distribution on
TiO2 surface
Photo catalytic TiO2 photocatalysts High conversion yield, Payormhorm
conversion of glucose to energy saving, et al. (2017)
gluconic acid, xylitol, eco-friendly
arabinose, and formic
acid
(continued)
1262 A. Deka et al.
Table 2 (continued)
Bioenergy applications Nano-biomaterials Advantages References
Furfural from Zn doped CuO NP Large surface area, Mishra et al.
biomass-derived xylose (nanoscale catalyst) enhanced catalytic (2019)
activity, complete
conversion at high
temperature without
any side products
Oligomerization of Chitosan-cross linked Immobilization of Hosseini et al.
itaconic anhydride magnetic Fe3 O4 lipase from yeast (2019)
(biomass-derived added Candida antarctica,
value product) good storage stability,
reusability
Microbial fuel cells
(MFCs) and carbon
capture storage
Electrode materials in Carbon/graphene-based Large surface area, Valipour et al.
single and double nanomaterials high electro catalytic (2016), Ci
chamber MFCs activity, conductivity, et al. (2015)
and mechanical
stability
Proton exchange Sulfonated graphene Improved proton Xu et al.
membrane (PEM) in oxide (SGO)@SiO2 conductivity, (2019)
MFCs (nanocomposite) anti-fouling of PEM,
increased electricity
generation
Cathode catalyst Rod shaped metallic Enhanced power Liu and
NPs (Fe, Ni, Fe/Ni) output, improved Vipulanandan
bacterial growth for (2017)
biosurfactant
production from waste
vegetable oil in anodic
chamber
CO2 capture CO2 derived-nonporous High CO2 adsorption Liu et al.
carbon (crystalline capacity due to large (2020)
nanosheets) surface area and
volume of narrow
microspores
CO2 capture and Magnetic (Fe3 O4 ) NPs Improved CO2 capture Li et al. (2016)
bioconversion to coated A. succinogenes efficiency, carbon
succinate cell wall resource utilization
Fabrication Techniques
Molecular Self-Assembly
Molecular self-assembly is a fabrication process where the molecular compo-
nents organize themselves into ordered structures with definite patterns without
any external intervention (Whitesides and Grzybowski 2002). Various forms of
nano-biomaterials such as nanoparticles, nanofibers, nanotubes, nanowires, and
nanopatterned surfaces can be fabricated using this technique (Whitesides and

Boncheva 2002).
The process of self-assembly can be either dynamic or static depending on the
equilibrium of the systems involved (Philip and Stoddart 1996). This process is
a result of the balance between the repulsive and attractive interactions such as
Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bond, which is developed between different
entities. By fine-tuning the different components and environment of the system,
these forces come together to initiate self-assembly processes (Sun et al. 2002).
Electrostatic interactions lead to the fabrication of nanofibers from ironic self-
complementary peptides (Altman et al. 2000), whereas hydrophobic interactions
lead to the formation of micelles which becomes a site for the fabrication of peptide
fibers as well as supramolecular polymers (Bishop et al. 2009). Nano-biomaterials
fabricated by this technique are biocompatible, biodegradable, nontoxic, and non-
immunogenic thus making them extremely useful for biomedical applications
(Koutsopoulos 2012).
Electrospinning
Electrospinning (ES) is the process of fabricating extremely thin layers of nanofibers
from solutions or melt using an extremely high electric field. It is mostly used to
fabricate polymer nanostructures (Greiner and Wendorff 2007). However, it is not a
new process and the first instance of ES can be traced back to more than 70 years
ago (Huang et al. 2003).
In the process of ES, the solution that contains the precursor is forced through
a syringe that is pushed automatically at a predetermined rate. An extremely high
electric field (100–500 kV/m) is applied to the tip of the spinneret which also acts as
an electrode. The collector is usually placed at a distance of 15–30 cm, depending
on the setup. Against the surface tension, the applied voltage causes a cone-shaped
deformation of the drop of solution at the spinneret tip, in the direction of the
collector. When the two opposite forces are equal, the droplet of solution forms
the famous “Taylor cone,” and the cone angle is 49.3◦ (Taylor 1964). At the critical
value of the electrical field, a charged jet is ejected from the tip toward the collector.
On its way to the collector, the solvent evaporates and a thin film of dry solute is
deposited on the collector.
Scaffolds that are used in tissue engineering applications can also be fabricated
using ES technique (Lee et al. 2008). Electrospun nanofiber mats can also be used
for drug delivery systems (Nikkola et al. 2006) and self-degrading wound dressings
(Khanam et al. 2007).
Nanopatterning
Nanopatterning is a surface modification technique for nano-biomaterials. Various
factors such as surface roughness, topography, and attached functional groups can
alter properties of nano-biomaterials (Ostrovidov et al. 2015). Surface modification
techniques for nano-biomaterials can be classified into two categories: (i) physical
and chemical modification and (ii) coating the surface of a nano-biomaterial with
biocompatible and/or bioactive agents to favor cell growth and the subsequent
1264 A. Deka et al.
Fig. 6 Types of
nanopatterning
functions (Manickam et al. 2017). Nanopatterning can be of five types as seen in

the diagram below (Fig. 6).
Nano-biopatterning is making certain patterns at nanometer scale on biological
samples such as cells and tissues (Zheng et al. 2005). It can alter cell properties such
as adhesion and regeneration (Padmanabhan et al. 2014). Topographical patterning
refers to the use of substrates with textured patterns by modulating its shape and
size in the nanometer range. It is a physical modification and can be used to
alter cellular responses in cells (Dalby et al. 2002). 3-D patterning is a relatively
new approach and uses 3-D bioprinting. It creates an artificial 3-D environment
for cell cultures and the cells will have different properties compared to regularly
cultured cells (Sun et al. 2006). Chemical patterning refers to the use of various
chemical agents to alter the surface of a biomaterial at nanoscale (Franco et al.
2000). Combinatioral patterning, as the name suggests, combines both chemical and
topographical techniques to alter the surface of biomaterials to promote cell growth
and cell orientations. It can also be used to fabricate biosensors (Charest et al. 2005).
Cytotoxicity
Although nanomaterials (NMs) are being increasingly used for commercial and
industrial applications, toxicological assessment for potential harmful effects on
human cells is imperative. The cytotoxic effect like DNA-damaging properties of
nanoparticles is primarily mediated through intrinsic generation of reactive oxygen
species (ROS) and associated oxidative stress (Unfried et al. 2007). A comparative
study of 10 engineered NMs found that Ag and ZnO NM in the concentration
range of 0.3–80 μg/cm2 were cytotoxic in three tested human epithelial cell lines,
whereas the cytotoxicity was absent in case of TiO2 and multi-walled carbon
nanotubes (Thongkam et al. 2017). Similarly, mesoporous silica NMs including

MCM-41, two functionalized analogues of MCM-41, and SiO2 were found to be
cytotoxic toward human neuroblastoma cells and the cytotoxicity was found to
be associated with the absorptive surface area of the NM and the nature of the
functional groups (Di Pasqua et al. 2008). The carbon-based NMs including single,
multiwalled carbon nanotubes and fullerene were evaluated for cytotoxic effects
like impaired phagocytosis, necrosis, and degeneration of alveolar macrophages and
were reported to be dependent on the mass and concentration of the exposed NM (Jia
et al. 2005). Furthermore, semiconductor quantum dots that find wide applications
in biomedical devices are mostly made of heavy metal ions like Cd2+ which is
often associated with in vitro cytotoxicity and therefore hamper their practical
applications (Chen et al. 2012).
Biocompatibility
Nanomaterials find wide biological and biomedical applications, such as tissue

engineering, drug delivery, bio imaging, and biosensing. However, toxicity assess-
ment before using NMs as implant devices or regenerative medicine is of great
importance. It is well known that the embedded foreign material could elicit
an immunologic response of the body and thereby hamper the functionality of
such devices (Trindade et al. 2016). Therefore, it is imperative to design NMs
keeping in mind the immune system responses to the implanted device. NMs with
a high degree of biocompatibility will interact with the body without inducing
immunogenic, thrombogenic, carcinogenic, and unwanted toxicity (Yoshioka et al.
2016). In this context, the physicochemical characteristics such as size, surface
topography, electrostatic interactions, and mechanical properties of NMs are critical
considering their role in immunogenicity, complement activation, coagulation, and
biocompatibility (Rahmati and Mozafari 2019). Moreover, the cellular uptake,
degradation, and bio-distribution properties of the NMs also influence the biological
responses (Kunzmann et al. 2011).
Humans have made great strides in fabrication of nano-biomaterials. They have

considerably improved the quality of life. An injury or an ailment that could have
seriously hindered an individual’s movement and subjected them to a wheelchair
is no longer an issue. Moreover, these materials have also significantly helped
in developing treatment for life-threatening diseases such as cancer. Not only
biomedical applications, nano-biomaterials have also made an impact in the field
of energy and environment. Because of its surface area, they are actively used in
removal of pollutants from the environment.
However, toxicity still remains one of the major issues associated with nano-
biomaterials. As most of these materials are synthetically fabricated, they have
1266 A. Deka et al.
varying degrees of toxicity, cytotoxicity to be more specific. Researchers all over the
world are working together to counter this aspect. Fabrication techniques of these
materials may hold a key solution with regards to reducing the toxicity of nano-
biomaterials. While conventional methods rely on extensive use of chemical agents,
newer techniques such as eletrospinning and molecular self-assembly do not have
any by-products. Thus, as these materials are used more and more in the products
of mainstream markets, quality control and standardization is going to be ever so
important. Therefore, the role of the scientific community will be more important
than ever before to ensure the safety of the masses by ensuring strict quality control
and streamlining the fabrication techniques of nano-biomaterials.
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Important Websites/Links Related to the Topic

https://www.elsevier.com/books/nanobiomaterials/narayan/978-0-08-100716-7
https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/toc/jbibn/current
https://www.longdom.org/proceedings/application-of-nanobiomaterials-in-healthcare-32734.html
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236123036_Nanobiomaterials_Handbook_Chapter_1_
Nanobiomaterials_Current_and_Future_Prospects
Industry 4.0: Applications and Future
Perspectives 50
Rafael Kunst, Gabriel Ramos, Rodrigo Righi, Cristiano André
da Costa, Edison Pignaton, Alecio Binotto, Jose Favilla,
Ricardo Ohta, and Rob High
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1278
Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1280
Real-Time Location Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1280
Computer Vision Techniques to Analyze the Behavior of Moving Entities . . . . . . . . . . . 1283
Sensors, Integration Board, and Computing Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1284
Data Compressing to Optimize IoT-Data Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1286
Edge Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288
Smart Products and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1292
Smart Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1292
Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1294
Military Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1296
R. Kunst () · G. Ramos · R. Righi · C. A. da Costa

University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), São Leopoldo, Brazil
e-mail: rafaelkunst@unisinos.br; gdoramos@unisinos.br; rrrighi@unisinos.br; cac@unisinos.br
E. Pignaton
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
e-mail: edison.pignaton@ufrgs.br
A. Binotto
IBM Consulting, München, Germany
e-mail: alecio.binotto@ibm.com
J. Favilla
IBM Global Markets, Coppell, TX, USA
e-mail: jfavilla@us.ibm.com
R. Ohta
IBM Research, São Paulo, Brazil
e-mail: rlohta@br.ibm.com
R. High
IBM Cloud and Cognitive Software, Durham, NC, USA
e-mail: highr@us.ibm.com
1278 R. Kunst et al.
Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1298
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1302
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1302
Abstract
Industry 4.0 introduces several changes to the original approach of industrial

automation. Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical system (CPS) tech-
nologies play huge roles in this context introducing cognitive automation and
consequently implementing the concept of intelligent production, leading to
smart products and services. This approach leads companies to face challenges
of a much more dynamic environment. Many of these companies are not ready to
deal with this new scenario where the existence of a large amount does not always
collaborate to increase productivity. This book chapter explores the concepts of
IoT and machine learning along with the consequent applications in the context
of Industry 4.0. Applications covered throughout the chapter include solutions
in the areas of IoT, edge computing, agriculture, smart cities, healthcare, and
military operations.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · IoT · Machine learning · Smart cities · Smart agriculture ·

Healthcare · Cyver-physical system
Introduction
The possibility of having billions of connected devices with specific purpose

processing units and users connected by mobile devices brings the availability of
low-cost processing power, storage capacities, and Internet connectivity on those
devices. When shifting part of the processing to such smart devices, the concept of
smart automation in different industries, like a smart factory, becomes a reality in a
way that actions can be performed in real time where the data was created.
Data and, more importantly, analytics are changing how we see our machines,
processes, products, and operations composed of several smart devices. Artificial
intelligence, combined with big data approaches, can identify patterns in the
data, uncovering model behaviors. This is promoting emerging technology break-
throughs, covering wide-ranging fields such as robotics, cyber-physical systems
(CPS), the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles, nanotechnology, smart
energy networks, energy storages (Abraham et al. 2020), currently COVID-19
solutions for back to work, etc.
Figure 1 shows one of the results of a systematic literature review (Dalzochio
et al. 2020) that covered the last 5 years of research involving machine learning
and reasoning in the context of industry 4.0. Although this is only part of the
50 Industry 4.0: Applications and Future Perspectives 1279
Science Google
ACM IEEE Springer
Direct Scholar
Initial Search
4 56 123 63 316
Database Joint
562
Impurity Removal
288
Exclusion Criteria
155
Filter by Title
124
Filter by Abstract
60
Filter by Full Text
44
Filter by Quality
38 Assessment
Fig. 1 Research on Industry 4.0 in the last 5 years (Dalzochio et al. 2020)
possible applications of Industry 4.0, one can see that the topic gained a lot of
attention in recent years. The initial search in the leading scientific databases that
focus on Industry 4.0 resulted in 562 papers. After removing duplicates found in
more than one database, surveys, reviews, book chapters, or nonscientific papers
like magazine articles, 288 out of 562 papers remained in the authors’ analysis.
These are the papers that are more relevant for industry 4.0. The literature review’s
remaining phases excluded documents that were not focused on more specific
Industry 4.0 topics, like using machine learning models or ontologies to solve
particular problems.
The previous industrial revolution focused mainly on improving the physical
manufacturing processes, expanding human power with additional power sources
(machinery, steam power), establishing a mass production process through the
introduction of assembly lines, and introducing electronics and automation. The 4th
industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, focuses primarily on creating a
digital representation of the physical processes to get better insights into the physical
processes. For example, production equipment may have some early signs that
something is going wrong and that a breakdown may happen soon. These signs may
be detected by predictive models that indicate the deviation from normal operating
conditions. The digital model can provide early insights about the equipment’s
status, allowing the maintenance personnel to determine the best time to repair it,
moving from a reactive to planned repair (Dalzochio et al. 2020).
Industry 4.0 has a very ambitious scope, aiming to create digital factories, i.e.,
a digital representation of the physical operations, sometimes called cyber-physical
models or digital twins (Grieves 2015). It aims at integrating processes from the
top floor to the shop floor and from suppliers to the end clients, creating vertical
and horizontal integration across the value chain. Another goal is to reduce the
product design life cycle by creating a digital thread that integrates key processes
to design, build, operate, and maintain the equipment. It is also relevant to establish
a feedback loop from operation to product engineering to create a piece of fully
connected equipment. The connected equipment, regardless of its location in the
factory, provides the basis for predictive maintenance. The main idea is to collect
various online and off-line signals from the equipment to feed models that can detect
an early indication of an anomaly or fault.
In the path toward cognitive enterprises, a platform assumes that three logical
steps should be covered through a timely, sequenced road map to ensure value: data
gathering (structured and unstructured), analytics (predictive analytics, prescriptive
analytics, and industry-specific AI models), and pattern visualization (for decision-
making if actuation is not done automatically and dynamically).
In this sense, this chapter is focused on discussing the current applications of
Industry 4.0 and the perspectives of the field. Toward the focus of the chapter,
section “Internet of Things” discusses IoT as an enabling technology to implement
the concepts of Industry 4.0. Section “Edge Computing” discusses the importance
of edge computing in the context and presents challenges regarding this approach.
Section “Smart Products and Services” focuses on the presentation and discussion
of four typical applications of Industry 4.0. Conclusions and future perspectives are
presented in section “Conclusion”.
Internet of Things
First, this section presents the technologies that one can use in an industrial plant
to collect data about people’s position and their behavior in a specific moment. In
particular, the section addresses real-time location systems (RTLSs) and computer
vision techniques. Also, considering the monitoring of machines, it also explores
sensors that used to monitor devices’ health, presenting a viable infrastructure
to collect data on Industry 4.0 environments. Finally, the section describes an
optimization technique for data visualization data that uses data compression to
receive better and plot Industry 4.0-related information.
Real-Time Location Systems
RTLS are solutions for indoor identification and location tracking of people and
assets. Such systems consist of a set of fixed readers or anchors reading wireless
signals from tags (Boulos and Berry 2012). The system applies position estimation
methods to these signals, outputting the tag position in its coordinate system.
Thus, by assigning a tag to a specific target, it is possible to monitor its location
within a building facility (indoor spaces). Nowadays, specifically in the healthcare
landscape, solutions are employing wireless aensor network (WSN) technologies

in RTLS, such as Wi-Fi, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetooth, and
Ultra-wideband (UWB) (Tan et al. 2015; Adame et al. 2018). Particularly, UWB
technologies surpass low-frequency technologies when it comes to interference
since it implements adaptive frequency hopping (Lee et al. 2007).
WSNs can provide location information, which is a crucial factor in understand-
ing the application context (Liu et al. 2012). The low cost of sensor technology
has eased the proliferation of WSNs in many areas, such as healthcare and smart
buildings (Mainetti et al. 2011). A WSN is a network of tiny devices that cooperate
using wireless protocols to collect information about a target physical environment.
WSNs comply with a wide range of solutions, thus being characterized by their high
heterogeneity (Mainetti et al. 2011). Data gathered by different devices can be stored
and combined locally or sent to other networks, such as the Internet. A typical WSN
usage scenario is to employ technologies such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for indoor
location purposes. WSNs applied to the healthcare field aim to improve monitoring
systems and services. For example, Wheeler (2007) demonstrates the value of a
WSN that can report the location of patients, medical staff, and critical equipment.
Another example is presented in Fig. 2, which depicts the Logitrak (https://logi-tag.
com/real-time-location-system/) solution from Logi-Tag Systems.
These technologies generally employ sensor devices embedded with memory,
processor, and wireless communication protocols to transmit data. A WSN uses a
collection of devices to produce information about things and the context. However,
a WSN itself is not able to identify a target object independently. Conversely, RFID
is a modern technology aiming to provide object identification in a short range.
Therefore, combining WSN and RFID technologies is an attractive solution for
better information monitoring.
Differently from printed code technologies, RFID (ISOs 15693 and 14443)
permits short-range identification without requiring visibility between readers and
tags. RFID tags have exclusive IDs and can store and transmit information about
the manufacturer, environment, and technical parameters. They segment into two
principal standards: active, which require a power source like batteries, and passive,
which do not require a power source. Proposals extensively apply RFID solutions
aiming at activity recognition since RFID is a mature and low-cost technology. In
turn, the creation of the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum in 2004 is a direct
result of attempts to spread RFID applications further. This forum’s goal is to bring
together existing mobile RFID standardization efforts and introduce short-range
communication capabilities into RFID. It also aims to standardize mechanisms
in which sensor devices can exchange information in very short distances. NFC
technologies that operate in the high-frequency band at 13.56 MHz (ISO 14443,
ISO 18092) support tag readings from distances of 10 cm (Want 2011).
Regarding wireless communication protocols, UWB, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth are
part of the short-range wireless field (Lee et al. 2007). UWB is a radio fre-
quency technology that provides information exchange by transmitting data through
continuous short radio pulses. Wi-Fi is a well-known protocol that allows data
Fig. 2 An RFID-based RTLS called LogiTrack, which provides hospitals, nursing homes, and
clinics a method to accurately track, locate, and monitor assets and people, and trigger events in
real time based on location and status
transmission in higher ranges with larger data throughput. However, these factors
result in higher values of energy consumption. Lastly, Bluetooth aims to cover
wireless communication in short ranges focusing on low-cost devices. This protocol
works in the 2.45 GHz band employing frequency hopping strategies to increase
performance.
The IEEE standard 802.15.4 (IEEE Computer Society 2016) aims at wireless
communication devices with low-energy consumption, cost, and data rate (Lee
et al. 2007). Many communication technologies apply this standard, for example,
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) (Bluetooth 2017), 6LoWPAN (RFC 4944) (Montene-
gro et al. 2007), and ZigBee (Alliance 2017; Farahani 2008). BLE is an attractive
choice for WSN applications that require high data transmission in short distances
between devices. Similarly to BLE, ZigBee is a wireless communication technology
for applications that focus on low-energy consumption and cost (Lee et al. 2007).
Likewise, the 6LoWPAN standard adapts the IPv6 over IEEE 802.15.4 networks
focusing on low-energy approaches. Recent work promotes the adoption of this
standard instead of proprietary, rigid ones (Mainetti et al. 2011). Table 1 summarizes
technical aspects from the aforementioned technologies.
Table 1 Technical details of the communication standards and protocols

Technology RFID NFC Wi-Fi Bluetooth UWB ZigBee 6LoWPAN BLE
Specification ISO ISO IEEE IEEE IEEE IEEE IEEE IEEE
15693, 14443, 802.11 802.15.1 802.15.3a 802.15.4 802.15.4, 802.15.4
ISO ISO RFC 4944
14443, 18092
ISO
18000
Frequency <100 MHz, 13.56 MHz 2.4 GHz, 2.4 GHz 3.1– 868– 868– 2.4 GHz
band 868 MHz, 5 GHz 10.6 GHz 928 MHz, 928 MHz,
915 MHz, 2.4 GHz 2.4 GHz
2.45 GHz
Max signal – 424 Kbps 54 Mbps,3 Mbps 110 Mbps 250 Kbps 250 Kbps 1Mbps
rate 540 Mbps
Nominal 30 cm, 10 cm 100 m 10– 10 m 10– 1–100 m 200 m
range 1 m, 100 m 100 m
3–5 m
Computer Vision Techniques to Analyze the Behavior of Moving

Entities
RGB-Depth (RGBD) devices have become very popular and accessible in recent
years, being extensively used in computer vision (CV) applications. Since they
encompass color and depth data, there is usually no real advantage in choosing
RGB cameras over RGBD. Some even have readily available implementations
of skeletal tracking, hand tracking, and gesture recognition, which are strictly
related to an actor’s state. The analysis of actions and activities from one or more
individuals is a fundamental aspect of workflow monitoring. It falls in the scope of
surveillance, one of the main applications of CV-based human motion capture and
evaluation (Moeslund et al. 2006). The study of Moeslund et al. (2006) reviews
an extensive body of work that laid the foundation for current human motion
analysis. Authors identify the following main contribution from early work in
this field: (i) image segmentation and tracking methods that enable recognition of
subjects in uncontrolled, outdoor environments with frequent of object occlusion;
(ii) pose estimation techniques based on probabilistic approaches that enabled high
accuracy on challenging natural, uncontrolled images; (iii) model-based techniques
to recognize complex human body movements for activity tracking; (iv) use of pose
estimation techniques to recognize simple human activities, such as sitting, walking,
and running.
In recent years, the field of CV and human motion analysis further advanced
at a higher pace due to breakthroughs in computer processing capabilities. These
enabled the implementation of algorithms with previously prohibitive complexity.
Consequently, CV methods can analyze images and models of higher complex-
ity and extract a richer set of information as a result. In Kadkhodamohammadi
et al. (2017), we have an example in which the authors employ CV techniques to
Fig. 3 Pose estimation technique employed by Kadkhodamohammadi et al. (2017). The lines
represent body parts recognized by their technique
estimate the pose of medical staff in an operating room. Figure 3 shows their results
employing a 3D pictorial structures approach. The majority of RGBD cameras
can be generalized into three categories according to their working principles:
stereo vision, structured light, and time-of-flight. These different depth imaging
approaches attribute advantages and limitations of their own to the equipment.
While hardware components and techniques may vary drastically among devices,
their principles remain the same.
Sensors, Integration Board, and Computing Infrastructure
Before monitoring an industrial plant, it is essential to select the critical variables

and the correct sensors to monitor them. The vital variables are identified and clas-
sified in the joint effort of the customer and the development team. In the example
below, three variables are defined: process, power quality, and machine quality
variables. Process variables are those that are used or interfere with the quality of
the different manufacturing processes in a factory, such as wafer back-grinding,
dicing, die attach, wire bonding, molding, solder ball attach, laser marking, burn-in,
testing, and automatic visual inspection. The process variables can be divided into
six groups: Process Cold Water (PCW), Clean Dry Air (CDA), Deionized Water
(DI), Environment (ENV), Nitrogen (N2), and Vacuum (VAC). In particular, the
nitrogen application can comprise both gaseous and liquid state. Table 2 presents a
possible selection of target variables, with the respective sensor specifications that
can be monitored. The power quality variables comprise the monitoring of voltage,
current, power, and disturbances in factory electrical installations. Machine quality
variables are associated with motors and dicing, monitoring their temperature and
vibration. While these variables are also part of the project and affect development
choices, this chapter focuses only on the process variables.
Table 2 Example of process variable groups and sensors specifications

Groups Variables Sensor Type Unity Range
Pressure 4–20 mA bar 0 to 10
Process Cold Water
Temperature 4–20 mA 0 to 100
Clean Dry Air
Dew Point 4–20 mA −100 to 20
Temperature 4–20 mA 0 to 100
De-ionized Water Resistivity 4–20 mA MOhm 10 to 20
Flow Rate 4–20 mA L/min 0 to 50
pH 4–20 mA pH 0 to 14
Temperature I2C −40 to 80
Environment Humidity I2C %RH 0 to 100
Particles Concentration SPI particles/ft3 5k to 100k class
Pressure LN2 4–20 mA bar 0 to 10
Nitrogen Temperature LN2 4–20 mA −200 to 50
Pressure N2 4–20 mA bar 0 to 10
Vaccum Pressure 4–20 mA bar −1 to 0
All groups, except the Environment (ENV), has its sensor element mechanically
connected to pipes. For these variables, we selected 4–20 mA transmitters because
they are adaptive to many industrial devices. These transmitters are consolidated
as an industry standard and have high immunity to background noise, low mea-
surement uncertainty, easy detection of failures, and practical installation. The ENV
application is essential for the company, as it interferes with its quality. It comprises
the monitoring of temperature, humidity, and particles in its clean rooms. Due to
the application’s characteristics, sensors were selected to work with SPI and I2C
protocols due to interoperability with most microcontrollers. With this, it is possible
to use a high data rate, buffering memory, resulting in more efficient transmission.
In this context, one can use the Texas Instruments Launchpad CC2650 (LP) to
enable data communication because it supports the connection of various sensors.
Also, it enables the choice of multi-protocol for data communications, enabling
the selection of low and medium data rates depending on the requirements,
besides being low power. Opting for a development board helps to speed up the
implementation. However, it was necessary to place signal conditioning circuits,
suitable connectors, and a power supply to integrate all sensors and the LP. To
achieve this, an Integration Board like the one illustrated in Fig. 4a is necessary.
This board acts as an extension of the LP’s functionalities, bringing robustness
and security to the acquired data. The connection between the Integration Board,
the LP, and the sensors is called the IoT Node, illustrated in Fig. 4b. This specific
IoT Node can support up to six analog transmitters and three digital sensors. The
communication architecture of an Industry 4.0 project is illustrated in Fig. 5. The
Border Router plays the role of receiving data from the IoT Node and transmitting it
Fig. 4 (a) Integration Board, which is capable of connecting digital and analog sensors. (b) IoT
Node, composed by an integration board and a communication platform to enable multi-protocol
wireless communication
Sensor 1 Node 1
(Integration
Board) Hierarchical Infrastructure
Sensor 2
Border Hub /
Router Concentrator Server
Sensor 1 Node 2
(Integration Visualization
Board)
Sensor 2 Database
Border Hub /
Router Concentrator
Sensor 1 Node n
(Integration
Board)
Sensor 2
Fig. 5 Example of an IoT network architecture, comprising an scalable and hierarchical infras-
tructure
via the UART protocol to the concentrator. A wireless MCU is used in both the IoT
Node and the Border Router. The LP supports both Bluetooth Low Energy and IEEE
802.15.4 radio solutions, enabling the usage of the 6LowPAN wireless protocol.
Data Compressing to Optimize IoT-Data Representation
In this section, a client-server model for web environments is analyzed as an

example of data compressing tool to be implemented in the context of Industry 4.0.
Several user-friendly tools such as Grafana and Graphite interact with databases and
run as an HTTP server to provide IoT data to client devices through HTTP requests.
Nowadays, any device such as a cellphone, tablet, or computer has a web browser,
enabling portability, thanks to a standard protocol and a well-established connection
port; thus, a system named FastIoT was modeled to allow data compression and
(a)
(b)
Fig. 6 FastIoT functioning: (a) original data divided in sub-periods; (b) structure of the com-
pressed data sent by the server (plots are zoomed in)
visualization. The compression method must be fast and straightforward. Otherwise,

the performance gain when transmitting smaller data units would be nullified
by a high delay on either the compression or decompression strategy. FastIoT,
unlike other big data compression methods (Bertone et al. 2010; Chen et al. 2003;
Lammarsch et al. 2014), focuses on compressing the data for visual representation
instead of data analysis. Such implementation provides great flexibility to change
the data points while still maintaining an accurate visual representation. The
method implemented by FastIoT does not require high render capability, working
perfectly with low bandwidth networks while also representing the whole queried
dataset. FastIoT works by dividing a user-defined time interval into equal periods,
called sub-periods. In each sub-period, the maximum and minimum values are
obtained and displayed in a bar chart. The method also returns its start date,
end date, and the number of points it represents for each sub-period. Thus, in
terms of graphical behavior, FastIoT presents an output composed of the original
dataset queried to the server. The greater the number of sub-periods, the better the
definition of the displayed graph on the client side. Figure 6 illustrates the described
approach.
Figure 6 brings a simplification of how the model compresses the data. The
number of segments in the period must be the same as the number of pixels in the
chart’s exhibition area. This way, the plotted chart will look similar to a time series
chart, even though it comprises several vertical lines. The number of segments in
the selected interval can also be any value if defined as a parameter and then sent
inside an HTTP request along with the start and end dates. If the system identifies
that the number of values in the selected time interval is smaller than the number of
indicated segments, the model does not compress the data. In this case, the data sent
as a response to the request does not receive any treatment, thus being displayed in
Fig. 7 Block diagram of the client and server functioning
a temporal series chart. In Fig. 7, we can visualize the block diagram representing
FastIoT’s functioning, detailing both client and server functioning.
Edge Computing
Analysts predict that 75% of all enterprise data will be created and processed at the
edge by 2025. This is not hard to believe since data is already being created at a
hyper-exponential rate, and most of it is created by humans, from the environment,
or from machines. For example, a car generates 25 gigabytes of data every hour.
That will continue to grow with the introduction of autonomous driving features. A
smart factory produces 5 petabytes of data every week ( 2018). In all, more than 44
zettabytes of data are created every day (Desjardins 2020). The amount of data is
growing at a 24% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) (IDC’s).
All of this is creating an enormous burden on infrastructure, networks, and
people. By the time data is transmitted to the cloud, much of it has lost its value.
In some cases, 99% of the data transmitted to the cloud is never used. The cost of
transmitting that data, while declining on a per unit basis, is increasing due to the
rising rate of data production. The potential risk of personal and private information
increases every time it is moved from its original source. And the increasing
dependence on the cloud, combined with the increasing use of automation tools,
has the potential to dramatically impact operations in the event of a network outage
or other resource interruption.
At the same time, the devices involved in creating that data – automobiles,
industrial robots, video cameras, wearables, kiosks, ATMs, and so forth – are also
increasingly more intelligent. The shift is on from IoT sensor devices that merely
collect data and send it back to the cloud or central data center, to purpose-built
equipment that has embedded ARM and x86-class computer chips. There may be
as many at 31 Billion IoT devices in use today, many of which are enabled with
sufficient compute power to do some very interesting analytics such as visual and
acoustic recognition, time series regression, or even just basic data filtering and de-
duplication.
All of this gives rise to edge computing – the idea of moving workloads closer
to where data is produced, and actions are taken, that is, on the factory floor, in the
distribution center or warehouse, in the delivery vehicle, on the drilling platform,
or in the store. By processing the data where it is created, several benefits emerge.
Namely,
– Data can be processed in real time – while it still has relevance to the actions that
need to be taken.
– Less data is transmitted to the cloud or central IT data center – reducing the cost
of network connectivity or at least reducing the rate of its growth.
– Personal and private data can be kept where it was created – reducing the risk of
it being siphoned or exposed.
– Operations can continue even when the network or other resources are down.
All of these benefits can result in dramatic cost savings and top-line growth.
Another important aspect related to edge computing is the emergence of
“software-defined products,” that is, products whose value and function are
unlocked by the software that runs on them. Common examples of this are
intelligent cameras, drones, and industrial robots. It is the software that enables
their functionality. And since the software, not just embedded firmware, running
on general purpose CPUs and potentially leveraging accelerators, such as GPUs,
can be easily updated, then new functionality and features can be added to the
product without requiring a whole product upgrade. This purpose-built equipment
with embedded general purpose compute is generally classified as edge devices.
However, not everything on the edge is an edge device. It is common to see edge
clusters – that is, IT equipment such as industrial PCs, IT appliances, routers and
gateways, and even half racks of compute blades provisioned at the edge as well.
These clusters may be hosting operation control and optimization algorithms and
may be performing status monitoring, or just local shared business services. In some
cases, the edge cluster may be just a gateway device with local general compute to
centralize the connection to other dedicated IoT sensors, cameras, and the like.
Further, all of this edge compute in remote, on-premises locations, is being
augmented by a transformation occurring in the Telco industry around network
edges. That is, network operators are undergoing a massive transformation to
convert their available network facilities – central offices, regional data centers, and
hub locations in metro and rural locations – to hosting enterprise workloads. While
this does not necessarily yield the same latency benefits of running the compute in
the device or on the factory floor, it nonetheless provides dramatically less latency
than sending data all the way back to the cloud or central IT data center, if for no
other reason than that the distances are much shorter, and often avoid the typical
bottlenecks found in the backhaul networks.
This transformation in the Telco industry is being driven in large part by the
introduction of 5G wireless communication. 5G offers several advantages over 4G
or LTE – including lower latency, higher bandwidth, and network slicing. All of
these will accelerate the transition to edge computing and will unleash a new wave
of innovation for how businesses operate. However, paradoxically, 5G cannot really
fulfill its promise of lower latency and higher bandwidth without edge computing –
it depends on edge computing to overcome the laws of physics by reducing the
distance between the device and where the data processing occur and reduce the
backhaul bottlenecks by leapfrogging the workloads over them. In other words, edge
and 5G go hand in hand – you can do edge computing without 5G but 5G is going to
accelerate the adoption of edge computing – however you cannot do 5G successfully
without edge computing.
More often, that software is built using the same cloud-native development
techniques that have been the standard in the cloud computing industry. The idea of
containerization, componentization, separation of concerns, loose coupling, contin-
uous integration/continuous-deployment (CI/CD) DevOps, and agile development
practices can all be applied to the edge. These edge devices often run Linux and
so lend themselves to Docker or other OCI-compliant container runtimes, or even
Kubernetes. This is important as it enables us to quickly tap into existing skills,
tools, and practices. However, it’s also important to consider that the edge is not
really a cloud. Unlike clouds, whose primarily goal is to enable elastic scalability
over “virtually infinite” resources, the edge is highly diverse, dynamic, and insecure
and has massive scale. Let’s break these down further.
– Diversity. In the edge, there are many different types of devices and clusters. Just
think about a manufacturing environment. You may have intelligent cameras,
industrial robots, fabricating machines, turbines, power management panels,
stackers, conveyors, ovens, and so on. Ignoring for a moment any of that which
may be based on OT, all of that equipment is different. They may use different
CPU architectures, configured with different numbers of cores, memory, and stor-
age. They certainly have different purpose and therefore software requirements.
– Dynamism. Edge equipment is changed a lot. It is moved. Sometimes the
equipment is mobile – like forklift or vehicle. It gets reconfigured physically.
It gets re-purposed. It gets sold and bought. Its operating conditions get changed.
And much of this change occurs in situ – without going through centralized
change control.
– Security. Much of the equipment is physically deployed in the “wild” – on the
factory floor, in the warehouse, in stores or airports, or on the road. It is not pro-
tected by the four walls of a typical IT data center where there are guards, doors,
locks, and physical barriers to accessing the equipment. People are all around the
edge equipment and have plenty of opportunity to attack the systems there.
– Massive Scale. And any given institution may be dealing with 1,000s, 10s, or
100s of thousands or even possibly millions of edge nodes, ensuring the right
software gets deployed to the right equipment at the right time and is kept up
to date in the presence of all that diversity and dynamism and done in a way to
ensure the security of that software is a key issue.
These are exactly the kinds of things that IBM’s Edge Application Manager
(IEAM) is designed to handle. IEAM employs an approach called autonomous
management – whereby the system will automatically determine which and where
to deploy containerized workloads to the edge devices, edge clusters, or even
network edges. It operates on a combination of node policies, service policies,
and deployment policies to make placement decisions. Placement decisions are
negotiated between a node agent – that gives the edge equipment agency in the
decision process – and an agreement bot hosted in a central management hub. The
IEAM management hub can be installed anywhere that Red Hat OpenShift can be
provisioned – in any public cloud, in an IT data center, or even on the factory floor
itself.
When a decision is made to place a workload (containerized service) onto any
node (could be to multiple nodes), an agreement is formed that captures the fact of
that decision. An agreement is a json document that can be ledgered, for example,
in a blockchain, to provide an audit trace of the decisions that have been made by
the system. More importantly, the node agent, on behalf of the edge node, and the
agreement bot, on behalf of the enterprise system, will continuously monitor the
environment. If anything changes that would violate the conditions of the original
agreement, then the agreement is invalidate, the workloads are terminated, and a
new agreement negotiation is automatically triggered. In this way, the system is
resilient and will automatically adjust to changing conditions at massive scale.
Moreover, since many of the workloads deployed to the edge are analytics that
leverage machine-learning models, IEAM is designed to handle the separation
between the analytic algorithms and the ML models on which they depend.
Whenever a workload has a ML model dependency, the container containing the
algorithmic logic is deployed, and then the ML model on which it depends is
deployed with its own set of policies. This separation allows that an ML model
can be updated much more frequently than the algorithm that depends on it, without
having to renegotiate placement of the algorithm. The ML model can be updated on
the fly without disrupting the running container.
Further, this separation enables you to place the same analytic algorithm on many
nodes and then condition each node (or group of nodes) with a ML model that has
been trained for that specific nodes use. For example, the same visual analytics
container can be placed on hundreds of different intelligent cameras across your
factory, and each conditioned to recognize different quality issues.
IEAM has a number of security features that are designed to protect workloads
deployed to the edge. This includes:
– signing and verifying all deployed workloads;

– using roles-based access control to maintain separation of duties and to limit the
blast radius if any credential is hacked;
– maintaining a fully end-to-end encryption of all communication between the
agent and the agreement bot to prevent any eavesdropping in the negotiation
process; and
– the use of Secure Device On-boarding to facilitate provisioning of edge nodes.
IEAM can manage 40,000 nodes from a single management hub. Further, it
supports multi-tenancy so that an enterprise can operate multiple independent man-
agement domains from the same management hub instance. And IEAM supports
deployment of containers to any Docker runtime or Kubernetes platform.
IEAM is a commercial distribution of the Open Horizon open-source project
which has been donated to the Linux Foundation and has reached phase 1 adoption
status as a standard within the LFEdge EdgeX Foundry project. A community of
ecosystem partners are now contributing and evolving that open source to increase
its reach and to enhance its value to the edge computing marketplace.
Smart Products and Services
Smart Cities
Cities are part of our daily lives. Living in cities is typically associated with better
life conditions, which is possible due to the wider availability of better public
services, health, education, leisure, connectivity, convenience, etc. In fact, according
to the United Nations, around 55% of world’s population was living in urban areas
in 2018. The concentration of people in such areas has led to the emergence of 33
megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants. By 2030, the number of urban
residents is expected to increase to 60%, which shall lead to the existence of 43
megacities.
The fast-growing agglomeration of people in urban areas poses several chal-
lenges on cities development. Urban mobility is one of such challenges. It is
well known that existing infrastructure is not enough to accommodate everyone’s
mobility needs, as evidenced by the chaotic traffic jams and overloaded public
transportation systems faced everyday by inhabitants of large cities. Electricity
availability represents another challenge here. Energy-consuming equipment – from
home appliances to manufacturing machines, including smartphones and electric
cars – play an essential role in modern society. Energy generation and distribution
thus become a major concern, since one needs to ensure reliable, universal access
to energy whereas taking into account sustainability and affordability. Similar
challenges are also faced in urban planning, education, health, leisure, public man-
agement, and waste management, among others. In fact, sustainable urbanization is
key to successful development of our society.
Such a panorama paves the way to the concept of smart cities. The idea of smart
cities lies in the integration of new technologies on cities’ infrastructure to enable
the collection and analysis of data in order to enhance the quality of life of its
citizens. Smart cities are expected to achieve this goal by considering its citizens’
needs as core goals, which guide the development of essential urban processes like
planning, management, and operations. The collection and analysis of data from
different sensors (such as smart sensors, smartphones, wearables, etc.) thus become
a key element toward the development of smart cities. In this way, smart cities
represent an outstanding opportunity for Industry 4.0, which has interconnection
and decentralized decision-making in the core of its design principles (Hermann
et al. 2016). In this section, a couple of selected scenarios where this importance
stands out is highlighted.
The first scenario discussed is that of traffic optimization. According to the
Centre for Economics and Business Research, the cost imposed by traffic congestion
in 2013 was around $124 billion in the United States and $20.5 billion in the UK,
which corresponds to 0.7% of these countries’ GDP. Moreover, these costs are
expected to increase by 50% and 63%, respectively, until 2030. In order to mitigate
these problems, it is important to obtain and integrate information so as to make
a more efficient use of existing traffic infrastructure, as envisioned by intelligent
transportation systems (ITSs).
In the literature, several approaches have been proposed to minimize traffic
congestion in the context of ITS, including traffic signal control (Chen et al. 2020),
traffic assignment (Ramos and Bazzan 2015, 2016), and route choice (Mirzaei et al.
2018; Ramos et al. 2017, 2020), among others (Bazzan and Klügl 2014). In most
of these cases, the collection of real-time traffic data is essential to enable the
involved players to take the best decisions. For instance, in order to optimize the
traffic signals at a given intersection, one needs to keep track of the flow of vehicles
(amount, direction, etc.), queue length, vehicle throughput, and so on. Likewise,
drivers’ preferences, such as origin, destination, time-money trade-off, and others,
need to be considered when optimizing traffic in order to promote social welfare
(Ramos et al. 2020). All such information can only be made available in real time
through appropriate devices, ranging from road sensors to smartphones.
Building upon real-time traffic data, a particularly promising direction to reduce
congestion is that of adaptive traffic signal control. Here, instead of setting hand-
crafted traffic signal plans, the idea is to learn optimized control policies by
observing traffic patterns and analyzing the impact of each decision on the traffic
outcome. Machine learning has shown particularly useful in this kind of scenario.
In fact, in a recent work, Chen et al. (2020) recently proposed a deep reinforcement
learning algorithm able to coordinate different intersections, thus reducing the aver-
age travel time by 46% in selected simulated scenarios, as compared to fixed traffic
signal plans. Promising results were also observed in Wei et al. (2019) and Zang
et al. (2020). When it comes to real world, however, real-time data needs to be
readily available to draw the maximum benefit out of these approaches. Fortunately,
with the emergence of new sensors and the advent of IoT, the deployment of such
technologies will soon become a reality and translate into real benefit to our cities.
The second scenario is that of electricity generation and distribution. As pre-
viously discussed, electrical energy is essential to enable important services such
as telecommunications, mobility, industrial activities, and several others. The
infrastructure responsible for connecting energy producers and consumers is known

as the grid. Over the last decades, in spite of its importance, electricity grids have
evolved very little as compared to the steady increase in the demand for energy.
Smart grids then emerge as an evolution to the traditional grids, providing a fully
automated electricity network capable of monitoring and controlling its elements
while supplying energy in an efficient, reliable way. A distinguishing feature of
smart grids refers to the bidirectional flow of energy and communication, which
enables its elements to both supply and consume energy.
Developing smart grids involves several areas, such as virtual power plants
(Chalkiadakis et al. 2011; Kardakos et al. 2016; Pudjianto et al. 2007; Vasirani
et al. 2013), microgrids (Chakraborty et al. 2014; Chaouachi et al. 2013; Lasseter
2002; Olivares et al. 2014), and demand side management (Logenthiran et al.
2012; Mohsenian-Rad et al. 2010; Palensky and Dietrich 2011; Ramchurn et al.
2011), among others (Ramchurn et al. 2012; Ramos et al. 2018). In the context of
Industry 4.0, a particularly relevant concept is that of microgrids, which can be seen
as localized, self-sufficient groups of energy producers and consumers (Lasseter
2002). Such groups can work independently of the grid as soon as its comprising
elements produce enough energy to meet the internal demand. In order to promote
self-sufficiency, resilience, and reliability, microgrid’s elements need to optimize
their energy consumption to avoid overloading producers. Interestingly, industries
with internal energy production may benefit from these settings, as their production
scheduling can be optimized with respect to energy consumption and their surplus
energy may be sold to other consumers (Brem et al. 2020; Jung and Yoon 2019;
Nosratabadi et al. 2017).
As with traffic, deploying a smart grid heavily relies on the use of smart sensors
to monitor the grid. In particular, in order to capture the energy load in real time, one
needs to understand precisely how energy is produced, distributed, and consumed.
Such data can be collected using sensors installed on the distribution network, smart
meters, home appliances, and so on.
Therefore, much of what is expected in terms of smart cities heavily depends
on the development of IoT, CPS, and Industry 4.0. The discussed scenarios are
strongly aligned with the design principles of Industry 4.0, in particular the vision
of interconnection and decentralized decision-making, which is in the core of
intelligent transportation systems and of smart grids. Some directions to promote
and enable this view then include (i) the development of smart, IoT-enabled sensors,
(ii) the alignment of manufacturing scheduling to the grid demand profile, and (iii)
the collection and analysis of data to support enhanced decision-making.
Healthcare
Healthcare is one of the growing fields of applications in the area of Industry 4.0.
The use of IoT in the area has been called the Internet of Health Things (IoHT),
defined as interconnected objects with the capacity to process and exchange data
Fig. 8 An overview of application areas of Industry 4.0 in healthcare
focusing on patient health (da Costa et al. 2018). The applications of Industry 4.0 in
the health field can be divided into four main areas, summarized in Fig. 8.
The first area comprises Smart Health Objects (SHO), represented by sensors,
actuators, or medical devices. These components gather data about the patients and
their environment; make some low-level processing, such as filtering and validation;
and communicate to the middleware, usually using HL7 standards and MQTT
protocols.
One SHO application area is ubiquitous healthcare, where medical services move
from inside the hospital to the patients’ home. This approach can reduce the hospi-
tal’s cost, reducing the need to keep patients only for monitoring purposes. However,
it introduces additional challenges, including communication, control, and remote
devices’ reliability and security. Another application area uses SHO inside hospital
facilities, including intensive care units and operating rooms. Employing sensor
fusion to track and estimate human poses in hospitals is a trend in the field (Antunes
et al. 2018; Bazo et al. 2020).
The second area of applying Industry 4.0 concepts in healthcare consists of
modeling patient data, usually referred to as electronic health record (EHR), and
organizing the interoperability among different health providers (Roehrs et al.
2018). One area of application is the use of standards for semantic interoperability.
The most prominent of those standards are the OpenEHR and the HL7 FIHR. The
OpenEHR is a set of open specifications for use in management, databases, and EHR
querying. The OpenEHR Foundation provides a semantic interoperable framework
for clinical data, containing all the patient data and enabling interoperability with
various health information systems (HISs) (Hak et al. 2020).
HL7 Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR), on the other hand, is not
a document centric approach. Instead, it represents healthcare data as an atomic
independent modular resource, focusing more on the interoperability of the data
(Roehrs et al. 2018). One trend toward patient data interoperability is the widespread
of personal health records (PHR) (Roehrs et al. 2017). The PHR represents the
patients’ view of their clinical record, instead of the health providers’ partial view
of its specific relation to the patient, generally represented by the EHR.
The third growing area of Industry 4.0 applied to health is the use of intelligent
algorithms for processing health data. This data is usually acquired using the IoHT
architecture from the SHO devices. Another set of data employed by the machine
learning algorithms is health data from EHR systems and medical images. There
are many ongoing types of research in patients’ prognosis, diagnoses, and possible
outcomes. One particular area of study is the hospital resource prediction based on
medical data (Liu et al. 2019).
A trend in the use of artificial intelligence for healthcare applications is predicting
vital signs based on collected data from the IoHT devices, anticipating the patient’s
health deterioration. The use of deep learning approaches is currently applied
for prediction in the healthcare context. Another direction is the development of
intelligent risk scores, based on vital signs and other data from ubiquitous healthcare
applications, PHR, and EHR systems (Kaieski et al. 2020).
Finally, the fourth area is telemedicine and providing an interface for remotely
interacting with the user, either the patient or the clinical staff. With the advent of
the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine’s widespread use has considerably increased
(Rockwell and Gilroy 2020). Telemedicine has a vital role in any emergency
response, especially in infectious diseases. Besides being a form of interaction
between a patient and a clinician, typically in the form of a chat, voice, or video,
the AI and IoT can further extend its purpose. In this way, telemedicine allows us
to predict patient outcomes and prognosis and better understand patients’ evolution
beyond the hospital.
This area’s trend is the combination of an intelligent personal assistant, such as
chatbots and voice assistant technologies, with deep learning algorithms and data
obtained from SHO (Bharti et al. 2020). In this way, when the clinical staff interacts
with the patient, they already know information about the user and organized data in
the form of standardized knowledge. The use of IoHT expedites the process, gaining
scalability, and helps the clinician focus on patient care.
Military Applications
The advances provided by the Industry 4.0 evolution have impact in different
sectors, and this is also true for the defense and military domain. The modern
battlefield deploys a number of IoT technologies which led to the definition of the
Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT) (Kott et al. 2016). In short, IoBT represents
a set of intelligent things spread on the battlefield acquiring data, communicating,
acting, and collaborating with one another and with human soldiers. In order to
carry out their missions, these human and non-human elements are network con-
nected producing and consuming information and depending and supporting each
other.
A number of different types of nodes may compose an IoBT network, from very
simple sensor nodes deployed on the field, passing by troops on foot wearing intel-
ligent uniforms and head mounted optronic devices (HMOD) to very sophisticated
unmanned ground and aerial vehicles (UGVs) and (UAVs). The combination of
these very diverse types of nodes requires an intelligent management of data produc-
tion/consumption and communication. The need for this intelligent support is not
only due to the diversity of the nodes but also due to the intrinsic nature of the battle-
field, a harsh environment providing no energy or communication infrastructure and
in which the events occur in a very dynamic fashion. In this landscape, the network
is easily broken, so the nodes need to handle network self-healing somehow. As
many events occur all the time, very easily the nodes become overloaded, and a
priority must be given to more important data and communication. Also, depending
on the specific situation, a priority must be given to the data forwarding, as some
nodes may need to receive a given data before than other. Also, even the simpler
nodes have to be minimally intelligent to decide if it is the case or not to send or to
forward data and if the data is (can be) useful or not for the rest of the network. This
is important to avoid flooding the network with potentially useless data.
A concrete example of military operation in which the above elements play
their whole can be described as follows: soldiers on foot advance in the terrain
supported by UAVs flying ahead of the line of progression. Armored vehicles
come on rearguard with the commander and more soldiers. Unattended sensors,
launched by airplanes, detect the movement of enemy troops in the front. While
the soldiers progress in the terrain, they receive information from the UAVs about
the situation ahead of them and command from the vehicles behind. The UAVs
fly over the area and receive data sensed by the sensor nodes, which may indicate
the movement of enemy troops. Once the UAVs receive such data, they fly in that
specific area where the movement was detected. There, the UAVs collect images of
the detected enemies and send them to the soldiers and to the vehicles that come
behind. However, as a very dynamic environment, different network problems may
occur, such as communication out of range, interference, or even jamming by the
enemy’s electronic countermeasures. In this scenario, if a UAV detects a group of
enemy soldiers close to the troops that are progressing on the terrain, it can either
move closer to the troops on foot and deliver the images of the enemies or move
toward the direction of the vehicles coming behind to inform the commander about
the enemies. This a decision with conflicting priorities, as the commander has the
priority to receive data, but in this specific situation, the troops on foot are close to
engage the enemy, so they have priority due to the risk they are suffering. This is
a classic situation that requires an agile change in the behavior of elements on the
battlefield characterizing a situation of command and control agility (C2 Agility). In
these situations, the concept of C2 Agility defines that the network has to adapt itself
to provide the best response to a given situation at hand. In order to execute such
adaptation, the nodes need to have cognition, i.e., intelligent behaviors that make
them able to take the best decisions given a set of possible actions. To support such
intelligent decision, deep and reinforcement learning are promising techniques that
can be used Zhi-Jun et al. (2010) and Yin et al. (2018). Still exploring the example
situation described above, besides the intelligent behavior, the nodes need to have
a network support that makes them able to carry out the actions that they decide to
perform. For instance, once the UAV decides to forward the data to the troops on foot
close to the enemies, in case it has no direct communication link with the troops, it
must send the data through a communication route able to deliver the required data.
For this, the network has to be able to select the best forwarding nodes in the way
toward the desired destination. In this particular matter, emerging technologies such
as Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Information Centric Networking (ICN)
can address the problem (Leal et al. 2019). SDN provides means to easily program
and reprogram the network, while ICN provides features to overcome intermittent
connections and data cache problems. Using these technologies in the example
situation at hand, the best route can be selected to forward the data to the desired
destination while keeping the data store in intermediary nodes of the network that
are able to later on also forward the data to commander that comes behind, once
suitable communication links become available.
The example described above just scratches the surface of the innovations and
advances that technologies related to the Industry 4.0 brought to the military
domain. Many other specific applications benefit from these technologies, partic-
ularly unmanned platforms, which are being massively used in order to prevent the
soldiers to be exposed to the different risks usually found in the battlefield. On their
turn, these platforms themselves can be seen as a set of technologies expressing the
evolution in artificial intelligence, robotics, embedded systems, real-time systems,
cyber-physical systems, and networking. Altogether, they represent the advance
brought by the Industry 4.0 to the battlefield.
Agriculture
Once a domain where high technology adoption was considered “unfeasible,”

agriculture is arguably the most important economic sector where technology
disruption holds potential to be a game changer in the forthcoming years.
The reason is the convergence and availability of several key technologies, such
as ubiquitous internet connectivity (3G/4G and 5G in the near future with satellite in
more remote regions) and wireless connectivity (e.g., LoRA), which provides possi-
bility to combine robotics with sensors to automatize tasks and constantly generates
data, such as localized weather conditions, soil moisture/composition, crop grown
rate, and location where pests appear, aggregating all data to a cloud computing
platform. This constant data volume feeds an AI system, which provides suggestions
to enhance farm productivity and management, which gives the additional advantage
to lower environmental impact required to grow the crops. The application of these
state-of-the-art techniques (Internet connectivity everywhere, IoT, AI, and cloud
computing) touches all aspects of agribusiness, from production, transport, storage
until end consumer, helping to minimize overall waste and inefficiencies in the
whole food chain. This is what is called Agriculture 4.0 (Klerkx et al. 2019).
The Agriculture 4.0 will bring huge gains and benefits for society, providing
abundance of better and cheaper products. This panorama brings the opportunity
to diminish the starvation problem that still persists and increases in many parts of
the world, despite efforts led by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations) to end hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition until 2030 (The
State of Food Security and Nutrition 2020). Still according to FAO, about one-third
of food produced for human consumption (approximately 1.3 billion tonnes per
year) is either lost or wasted globally, which combined with the fact that the world
already produces food enough to feed the entire human population (The State of
Food Security and Nutrition 2020) only reinforce that food logistics improvements
are much needed.
On top of that, food waste is a non-neglectable greenhouse gas (GHG) source,
which taken into account alone would be the third largest GHG emitter on the planet,
with more than 4 Gton CO2/year. And methane (CH4), which is 86 times more
potent GHG, is not taken into account on this statistic. By 2050, it is estimated
that the world population will reach 9.8 billion people and overall food demand is
expected to increase by more than 50 percent. Clearly, the challenges are immense
(Jackson et al. 2020).
A good example of how agriculture and technology can work side by side with
very positive outcome is Netherlands. The European country, even though has a
relatively small area of 33,690 km2 , is the second largest agri-food exporter in the
world, with e94.5 billion (about US$110 billion) in exports in 2019. This data is
even more impressive if you consider it is behind only United States, which has
a much larger area (9,147,420 km2 ) and generated US$135.5 billion in agriculture
exports on the same period.
Leveraging intensive use of well-established solutions and cutting-edge tech-
nology, hundreds of millions of square meters of greenhouses are combined with
novelties, such as recycling CO2 generated during oil refinery process to optimize
vegetable grown, geothermal energy and rain water storage to lower the environment
impact for food production, and LED light during night for 24 h of continuous
plant growth, led Dutch’s productivity to boost up to 10 times, compared with
conventional farming.
The high-tech agribusiness also attracted venture capital fund attention, raising
US$19.8b applied in 1858 deals in 2019 and generated novel agriculture models,
such as urban farms, also called vertical or indoor farms, which produce vegetables
inside buildings in the city, instead of large areas countryside. It is an attempt to
provide super fresh food to city consumers while lowering environment footprint
due to production and transportation, keeping the food waste during transportation
to near zero. Indoor farms utilize high technology to provide the perfect conditions
for horticulture, by carefully controlling air humidity, temperature, watering, plant
nutrition, and illumination (both intensity and even color spectrum on some cases),
obtaining maximum of productivity and yields, while using much less water and
space (5% of the water and less than 1% of the land compared to outdoor farms).
It uses a combination of hydroponic, aeroponic, and conventional techniques on
each stage of a plant growth, using garden walls or shelves to maximize production
per area. Its highly controlled and clean environment leads to a product that is very
consistent in size, texture, and flavor, obtaining a quality control that is very difficult
to be replicated under conventional methods, with the advantage of not requiring
pesticides. It is also an alternative to provide better local food safety, due to natural
protection of natural disasters, harsh climate conditions, outbreaks of pests (such as
locust swarms), and crop diseases.
On the automation side, different initiatives have been developed. Open-source
community developed FarmBot to easily grow food in small gardens, by providing
kits/projects to build a robotic arm that can be easily programmed to automatically
seed, water, and remove weeds, removing most of the human labor necessary
to grow vegetables. For larger fields, several consortiums and university projects
developed robots for fruit harvest, weed control, data collection, and surveillance
(Shamshiri et al. 2018). For crop inspection automation, EarthSense TerraSentia
monitors plant health using robotic cars that pass under the leaves, and P4
Multispectral Agriculture Monitoring Package uses commercial drones to fly over
the plants. Both solutions rely on a set of sensors, comprising of conventional
and multi-spectrum cameras, LIDAR, and GPS sensors. Reports are generated by
putting together all sensors data in an AI, trained to detect plant diseases and
suboptimal plant growth.
AI is probably one of the most important parts of this revolution, touching
all aspects of modern agriculture, generating quantitative metrics to optimize
the resources, such as when, where, and how much irrigation and fertilizers are
necessary to use and best occasions to seed and harvest the crops. It relies on
advances in sensors to source field data, creating a very localized weather database
which generates forecasts with a spatial resolution that was not possible a few years
ago. This leads to more consistent quality crops, especially after some years, when
a great amount of historical data is available, allowing increase yield per hectare,
while minimizing usage of natural resources. This is crucial to mitigate the effects
of global warming and the changes in weather that causes issues in productivity and
substantial losses for farmers.
IoT is another key piece, being the bridge between real world and digital space.
A common trend is development of on-site soil analysis with low-cost disposable
chemical sensors, using the ubiquity of the smartphones for data processing and
network connectivity. With this, soil analysis or plant disease detection is executed
instantaneously (Li et al. 2019). IBM AgroPad is one of them, and it is based on
a paper-based device which provides concentration estimate of a given chemical
element (e.g., nitrite, phosphate) or pH of a soil sample, using colorimetric reactions
as detection method. This paper-based device comprises of a multilayer device with
liquid flow pattern defined by wax print geometries. The intermediate layer contains
the chemical responsible for the color reaction, if the target chemical element is
present. The color output change of the paper-based device is then digitized using
a custom mobile application, which converts the color to a concentration estimate,
using conventional image processing for image segmentation to obtain the mean
color channel values of the colorimetric reaction, which is then used as input for
a machine learning model. The machine learning model is trained using a set of
images with known concentration, and this generates an estimation of the chemical
concentration, which is then uploaded to a cloud infrastructure. This soil analysis
platform was developed to generate spatial-temporal statistics, such as heat maps of
chemical element distribution and its variation during the year/culture seeding and
harvesting seasons. Since the paper-based device is a low-cost device (less than a
US$ per device), it is possible to execute the analysis with a higher spatial resolution
and more frequently than the traditional laboratory soil analysis, which ultimately
provides input for optimized fertilizer usage, which is good both from economical
point of view and for environmental impact.
Blockchain is increasingly important in food logistics, by providing traceability
and better control of food supply chain while providing to consumers the possibility
to know the origin of the food it is being purchased and also other important
attributes, such as organic certification, transportation, and storage handling records.
This is become more and more important, as the sanitary and custom export rules
become more restrict, to avoid importation of irregular food (Xu et al. 2020).
Another interesting blockchain application is FarmerConnect, which enables coffee
farmers to get access to loans and generate a reliable track history of their products.
The platform also provides a functionality of direct money transfer to farmers, which
allows user to trace the payment to each individual farmer. This provides means for
business and even final consumers to provide extra payments/tips to the person or
cooperative responsible to produce the coffee that it is being consumed, increasing
the connection and awareness between producer and consumer. The farmer can be
identified by simply scanning a QR code presented in the coffee package with a
mobile application.
More recently, several studies of applications of nanotechnology on agriculture
started to appear, looking for plant therapeutics, by spraying or absorbing polymer
or metallic oxide nanoparticles on plant leaves. The potential benefits would be
plant protection from heat and drought (Hofmann et al. 2020) to better pesticides,
like using bio-nanoparticles made of zein (Pascoli et al. 2018), a protein obtained
from maize, that encapsulates neem oil, a biopesticide sourced from the fruit
of Azadirachta indica, a southeast Asian tree. Encapsulating the neem oil in
nanoparticles shows potential to increase the pesticide effect on certain insects, such
as A. obtectus (Pascoli et al. 2020).
To sum up, the Agriculture 4.0 has the potential to solve many of the problems
faced in this sector and relies in a multidisciplinary approach to solve big and
complex problems. From crop yield enhancements to logistics and traceability,
every aspect needs to be addressed with new technologies to effectively produce
food for the entire world while keeping the environment impact of this essential
activity as low as possible.
Conclusion
This chapter focused on discussing applications and challenges related to Industry

4.0. Many areas were covered. Agriculture and livestock are responsible for either
maintaining or increasing the gross domestic product (GDP) of the countries
worldwide year by year. In this way, agribusiness stands out as one of the
main foundations for boosting the resumption of economic growth, mainly in
underdeveloped countries. In the livestock area, milk production is evident due
to the generation of jobs and income, in addition to the employment of techno-
logical artifacts to optimize production. It is observed that despite the relevance
of the subject, there are still aspects that should be improved, both in terms of
productivity and the quality of the animal and its milk production. The use of
technology may help to control bovine nutrition and milk production. IoT is more
and more present in the agriculture and livestock areas, thus enabling intelligent
environments to understand their context and interact with people in addition to
making decisions.
Another important aspect that relates to Industry 4.0 regards the implementation
of the concepts of smart cities. This is important because the United Nations
estimates that by 2050 almost two-thirds of the world’s population will be living
in urban areas, increasing the already high population density of big cities. With the
increase of the urban population, the development of infrastructure and services
will become indispensable to meet the needs of the city residents. These urban
areas will demand solutions in diverse fields, including city service infrastructure,
transportation, and surveillance. The efficient management of these kinds of services
has a significant impact on the quality of life of the citizens. Considering this
challenging scenario, the implementation of the IoT and Industry 4.0 concepts
becomes mandatory for smart cities, since it allows objects to connect and interact
with humans in a pervasive and intelligent way.
We also discussed other applications of Industry 4.0, such as healthcare and
healthcare-related solutions, military solutions, and the Internet of Battlefield
Things. Moreover, we will dedicate a section to discuss the future perspective of
the Industry 4.0 field and the implications for both businesses and academia.
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4.0 Technology for Port Digitalization
and Automation∗ 51
Chalermpong Senarak and Orawan Mokkhavas
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1308
Application of 4.0 Technologies in Container Ports of Thailand and Other Countries . . . . . 1312
Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1313
Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1314
Artificial Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1315
Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1317
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1318
Important Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1319
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1319
Abstract
For the economic growth and sustainable development of the country, advanced
technologies have played a considerable role in transforming the traditional
industry to the 4.0 industry. Currently, the supply chain member adopts 4.0
technology to digitize and automate its infrastructure, management, and opera-
tion activity to increase competitiveness. For this reason, most leading container
ports (less than 5% of total container ports in the world) have transformed
their operation to become a fully digitalized and automated port, while the rests
still are semiautomated ports and attempt to complete the digital transformation
∗ Chalermpong Senarak: conceptualizing and writing an original draft; reviewing and editing a
manuscript; and submitting a manuscript. Orawan Mokavas: writing an original draft
C. Senarak () · O. Mokkhavas
Maritime Transportation Program, Department of Nautical Science and Maritime Logistics,
Faculty of International Maritime Studies, Kasetsart University, Sri Racha, Thailand
e-mail: chalermpong.s@ku.th
1308 C. Senarak and O. Mokkhavas
process. Based on a literature review of the practice of container ports in Thailand

and other countries, this chapter aims at providing examples of 4.0 technologies
currently applied in the container port industry and explaining why it helps
generate value in the form of greater efficiency, enhanced productivity, greater
safety, and heightened environmental protection. The discussion covers the
application of the Internet of things, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence,
unmanned vehicles and equipment, and blockchain in both fully automated ports
and semiautomated ports.
Keywords
Port digitalization · Port automation · Container port · 4.0 Technology
Introduction
Maritime transport is the backbone of international trade and economy. It is

estimated that more than 80% of bulk and breakbulk cargo is transported by global
merchant fleet, led by flags of Panama (333 million deadweight tons), Marshall
Islands (246 million deadweight tons), and Liberia (243 million deadweight tons)
(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2019). To facilitate mar-
itime and shore-based distribution, large container ports play a key role, and its
efficiency heavily impacts not only the logistics cost of products, but also shippers’
competitiveness. This includes the impact of the port operation on the environment
and pollution which influences global climate change. In addition, it also plays as
a critical member contributing to the success of the national development of an
innovation district and a smart city (Senarak 2020). For this reason, the container
port is seen as the logistics center increasing cargo values throughout the global
supply chain (Tongzon et al. 2009) and the key player influencing the political
stability, the development of business models, and the maritime transportation
revolution (Song and Panayides 2008).
Table 1 illustrates the container throughout each port in 2019 while Fig. 1
demonstrates the capability development of the top 20 container ports from 2015
to 2019. It is explored that ASEAN ports have the highest container throughput
(approximately 64% of global container volume), followed by Europe (16%), North
America (8%), Latin America and the Caribbean (7%), Africa (4%), and Oceania
(2%) (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2019). The highest-
ranking in 2019 is Port of Shanghai in China (44.30 million TEUs), followed by
ports in Singapore (37.19 million TEUs), Ningbo-Zhoushan (27.53 million TEUs),
and Shenzhen (25.77 million TEUs). Container ports in other regions also stay at the
top container port ranking, e.g., ports in Rotterdam of Netherlands (14.81 million
TEUs), Antwerp of Belgium (11.86 million TEUs), Los Angeles of the USA (9.33
million TEUs), and Hamburg of Germany (9.27 million TEUs). The reasons driving
ASEAN ports at the top-world-ranking position are mainly because the growing
demand for manufacturing in China due to an intensive labor cost, smart technology
for mass production, and transportation network and connectivity, while ports in
51 4.0 Technology for Port Digitalization and Automation 1309
Table 1 Top 20 world container ports in 2019

Rank Port Country Million TEUs
1 Shanghai China 43.30
2 Singapore Singapore 37.19
4 Ningbo-Zhoushan China 27.53
3 Shenzhen China 25.77
5 Guangzhou Harbor China 23.23
6 Busan South Korea 21.99
8 Qingdao China 21.01
7 Hong Kong Chinese Special Administrative Region 18.36
9 Tianjin China 17.26
11 Rotterdam Netherlands 14.81
10 Jebel Ali United Arab Emirates 14.11
12 Port Klang Malaysia 13.58
13 Antwerp Belgium 11.86
15 Xiamen China 11.12
14 Kaohsiung Taiwan 10.42
17 Los Angeles USA 9.33
19 Hamburg Germany 9.27
18 Tanjung Pelepas Malaysia 9.10
16 Dalian China 8.76
20 Laem Chabang Thailand 8.10
Source: World Shipping Council (2020) and Lloyd’s List (2020)
Singapore and Hong Kong act as the maritime container consolidator and distributor
of the world due to a competitive advantage of the competitive port location (Lloyd’s
List 2020).
In recent years, container ports have faced new challenges from emerging
technologies adopted for maritime transportation, resulting in a huge impact on the
renovation of port operation in the worldwide port industry (Iris and Lam 2019).
For example, the growing size of vessels has driven port and terminal to increase
their efficiency for the handling of cargo, expand container yard, and increase
labor productivity (ITF 2018). Time in port is another major factor affecting the
operation efficiency and competitiveness of container ports. If the dwell time in
port is reduced, port operators could significantly improve port traffic and container
throughput, pollution from operation, operation cost, and port facility utilization,
which totally increase port competitiveness (Song and Panayides 2008; Tongzon
et al. 2009). Unfortunately, these issues cannot be easily addressed by the traditional
port operation practices, e.g., the use of manual mobile quay cranes and gantry quay
cranes to load and unload containers from/to the ship; the use of the manual-tractor
trailer, shuttle carrier, and multitrailer to move container within the port area; the
use of a manual forklift, reach stacker, straddle carrier, rail-mounted gantry cranes,
and rubber-tired gantry crane to receive and stacking container from transfer vehicle
and keep in container yard or pick up the container from container yard and delivery
Fig. 1 Annual throughput of top 20 world container ports over 5 years (million TEUs). (Source:
Developed based on the last 5-year data (2015–2019) of World Shipping Council (2020) and
Lloyd’s List (2020))
to transfer vehicle; and the use of a manual scanner and weighing machine to check
container number and related documents, and confirm the location and time to
receive and delivery container from/to the external truck (Scholliers et al. 2016;
Maguire et al. 2010). This is because of the high level of human error, inefficient
operation control, high operation cost (Tongzon et al. 2009), high pollution emission
(Senarak 2016), and low integration with other supply chain stakeholders (Song and
Panayides 2008).
To revolutionize these antiquated practices, most container port operators have
paid attention to the innovation gained from the investment in 4.0 technologies that
help digitalize and automatize their operation and management. Currently, container
ports and terminals are increasingly using higher levels of automation to improve
productivity and efficiency and secure a competitive advantage (see Table 2). The
survey of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development reveals that nearly
75% of terminal operators throughout the world consider automation and digital-
ization critical for maintaining their competitive advantage in the next 3–5 years,
while 65% consider that automation technology could increase an operational
safety (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2018). Additionally,
Table 2 Level of automation of ports and terminals reported throughout the world
Level of
Port Terminal automation
Melbourne, Australia Victoria International Container Terminal Fully
Qingdao, China New Qianwan Fully
Shanghai, China Yangshan, phase 4 Fully
Xiamen, China Ocean Gate Container Terminal Fully
Hamburg, Germany Altenwerder Container Terminal Fully
Nagoya, Japan Tobishima Pier South Side Container Fully
Terminal
Rotterdam, Netherlands Delta Dedicated East and West Terminals, Fully
Euromax, World Gateway and APM
Terminals
Long Beach, United States Container Terminal Fully
Los Angeles, United States TraPac Fully
Brisbane, Australia Container terminals, Fisherman Island Semi
Container Terminal
Sydney, Australia Sydney International Container Terminals Semi
Antwerp, Belgium Gateway Semi
Surabaya, Indonesia Lamong Bay and Petikemas Semi
Dublin, Ireland Ferryport Terminals Semi
Vado Ligure, Italy APM Terminals Semi
Tokyo, Japan Oi Terminal 5 Semi
Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico Terminal 2 Semi
Tuxpan, Mexico Port Terminal Semi
Auckland, New Zealand Fergusson Container Termina Semi
Colón, Panama Manzanillo International Terminal Semi
Singapore Pasir Panjang Terminals 1–4 Semi
Busan, Republic of Korea Pusan Newport International and Semi
container terminal, Newport Company,
Hanjin Newport Company, and Hyundai
Pusan Newport
Incheon, Republic of Korea Hanjin Incheon Container Terminal Semi
Algeciras, Spain Total Terminal International Semi
Barcelona, Spain Europe South Semi
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Jebel Ali Terminals 3 and 4 Semi
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Khalifa Container Terminal Semi
Liverpool, United Kingdom Liverpool 2 Container Terminal Semi
London, United Kingdom Dubai Ports London Gateway Container Semi
Terminal and Thamesport
New, York, United States Global Container Terminals Semi
Norfolk, United States Virginia International Gateway Semi
Kaohsiung, Taiwan Province of Terminals 4 and 5 and Kao Ming Semi
China Container Terminal
Taipei, Taiwan Province of China Container Terminal Semi
Source: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2018)
more than 60% of terminal operators expect that automation technology could
help improve operational control and consistency, and cut overall terminal, and
operational, costs (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2018).
For this reason, 4.0 technologies have become the essence for the digital and
automated transformation of the port industry throughout the world. The following
section will explain the existing situation of 4.0 technology applications in container
ports of Thailand and other countries.
Application of 4.0 Technologies in Container Ports of Thailand

and Other Countries
Laem Chabang Port (LCP) is the largest container port in Thailand serving as
the commercial gateway for both national and regional trade. In 2019, there are
approximately 8.06 million TEUs of container throughput from 12,391 ships,
which are annually served by more than 10 container terminals. Each terminal has
developed its own terminal operating systems to control its facilities. Despite the
fact that LCP encourages all terminal operators to digitalize and automatize their
operation, each terminal is still free to consider if it is worthy to perform digital
transportation. This is up to the vision, expertise, and investment potential of their
firm (Laem Chabang Port 2019). For instance, Hutchison Ports Thailand (HPT) with
five terminal branches in LCP is the largest container operator in Thailand having the
highest market share (38% of total volume in LCP). Although they have sufficient
budget to fully digitalize and automate their port operation, it seems unworthy to
become a fully automated port. For this reason, they decided to automate one of
their terminals (Terminal D1), and currently there is only one Terminal D1 that is
an automated container terminal using six units of Remote Gantry Crane and other
automated technologies, while the rest of their terminals are traditional container
terminal which is mostly operated by the manual procedure. Apart from financial
issue, sustainability is another factor driving HPT to include it into their visions and
management policy − sustainability management from the four pillars of business,
environmental, people, and community (Hutchison Port Thailand 2020). By doing
this, the HPT manager explored that their firm could heavily gain a better reputation
and trust from their customers and all stakeholders, and at the same time their
operation also improves in terms of time reduction and accuracy.
They argued that automated technology is the key to achieve all of the above
targets (Hutchison Port Thailand 2020). It starts with the implementation of the
electric or hybrid equipment technology in the ship to shore operation in order to
reduce greenhouse gas emission from fuel consumption. The crane driver could
work from the remote-control station which increases their safety and environment.
The logistics performance of HPT also increases by adopting the electronic and
automatic document exchange system across port activities, such as online book-
ing, planning communication, container checking at the gate control, and lifting
containers at the quay area. Apart from their firm, the adoption of technology also
enables HPT to share knowledge and experiences with the proximate community
through the online education center, which helps them not only improve their
business benefit but also support the sustainability of the environment, people,
and community. At present, 4.0 technology has become the major corporate social
responsibility theme of HPT in Thailand and other branches throughout the world
(Hutchison Port Thailand 2020).
Based on the knowledge obtained from the discussion with the manager,
executive officer, port authority officer of Thailand, and existing literature, the
potential 4.0 technologies adopted in the port industry at present and in the future
are the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Each of
them is explained as follows.
Internet of Things
One of the most important 4.0 technologies for modern container ports is the Internet
of things (IoT). It is an advanced system comprising interrelated, computing, and
digital devices that enable the IoT device to collect, send, store, and analyze the
data without human intervention (Cárcel 2016). To perform these functions, the
IoT device contains the built-in sensor for collecting data from its surrounding
environment, and the data will be automatically transferred over the network to
the cloud database and computing platforms for storing and processing the data.
Working as the web-based technology, the IoT device needs an assignment of
Internet Protocol address to connect the sensor to the other devices for making
use of massive data. For this reason, machine learning and artificial intelligence
are used to make the IoT devices able to analyze the data and provide useful
information to support the decision-making of the business (Cárcel 2016). For the
container port industry, the IoT attracts great attention from many leading container
terminal operators (Muñuzuri et al. 2020). For instance, the Port of Hamburg in
Germany has embedded the IoT device in cranes, container handling equipment,
containers, trucks, and at gates in order to better understand the port activity. By
doing this, they can efficiently arrange the arrival of ships at berths, trucks in
terminals, and cargo in the yard, enabling them to use the full capacity of the port
facility and infrastructure (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
2018). Another example is the Port of Santos in Brazil. They have used the IoT
technology to automate the operation process, enabling them to reduce labor cost,
optimize the flow of information and cargo, improve environmental performance,
and support port stakeholders in developing, deploying, and validating new business
models. Another great IoT application can be explored in Port of Rotterdam in the
Netherlands (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2018).
As one of the smartest ports in the world, the Port of Rotterdam has succeeded in
applying IoT technology to help port authority improve the berthing operation and
customer service satisfaction. It is reported that they have adopted the extensive
network of sensors incorporation with quay walls, dolphins, waterways, roads,
and traffic signs to collect the seawater and weather data, e.g., height of the tide,
tidal stream, salinity, and wind speed and direction. After that, the data is used
for predicting the water conditions, etc., to support the planning and management
of berth and cargo operation, resulting in the reduction of waiting times and
optimization of port operations. The IoT is also used to connect the infrastructure
of the port industry to the city’s infrastructure in order to build up a smart city.
By taking China as an instance, the IoT technology, e.g., the database, sensor,
and full coverage of narrowband networks, enables the city of Wuxi to collect,
store, and analyze information related to critical infrastructure, including port
and transportation infrastructure. This high-standard IoT network enables China
to successfully develop one of the smartest cities in the world (United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development 2018).
In conclusion, the container port uses the advantage of IoT technology to
automate and digitalize their operation by applying it with all kinds of things,
e.g., handling equipment in the container yard, machines in the warehouse, people
working in the apron, and objects at the terminal gate. The obvious benefit of IoT is
operation improvement; however, the IoT can also help improve port management
and policy because it provides an insight into the business and provides the best
solution for supporting the decision-making of the port manager or policymaker.
The process of ship and cargo operations can be continuously monitored by the staff,
and the potential interruption to the operation continuity can be flexibly managed
and mitigated by the appropriate measure because the IoT supplies a real-time data
update to the port manager. This implies that IoT technology enables the container
port to develop a flexible management policy, resulting in a higher level of service
quality and competitiveness.
Robotics
Robots are the important 4.0 technology that has been heavily discussed in the
global arena about its potential in applying to improve container port efficiency.
Among these, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) seems to attract the attention
of many leading terminal operators to utilize it in port operation (Cho et al.
2015). It comprises three elements, namely, the UAV, ground-based controller,
and communication system between the two, which contains many technological
components, such as GPS, an electronic circuit that controls a motor’s speed and
direction, flight controller, battery, antenna, receiver, cameras, and sensors (Cho
et al. 2015). Because of using the GPS as the navigational system, the UAV can
communicate its precise location with the control system which might be remotely
operated by a human operator or autonomously commanded by onboard computers,
meaning that it is the flying robot without a human pilot on board. Apart from
the GPS, the sensor equipped with the UAV enables it to collect standard visual
red, green, and blue wavelengths, while the multispectral sensors help the UAV to
collect the visible and nonvisible wavelengths, such as infrared and ultraviolet. For
this reason, UAVs are developed and used in port activities that are too dull, dirty,
and dangerous for human operators (Cho et al. 2015).
Self-driving container vehicles (SDCVs) were another popular robotic technol-

ogy in the port industry. Most SDCVs are developed to replace human-driven
terminal tractor-trucks in ports, such as ports in Caofeidian, Yangshan, and Rot-
terdam (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2018). By applying
SDCVs, the terminal operator could perform port and cargo operations in complete
darkness and heavily decrease labor costs and accidents from human errors. Another
type of robotic technology used in ports is automated shuttle carriers and automated
straddles which were first introduced in Panama and Rotterdam in around 1993
(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2018). Automated shuttle
carriers and automated straddles are used to move containers between the quay
cranes and the storage yard in which a robotic stacking crane is installed to
handle containers for horizontal transfer after a long journey on board the vessel.
When it is time for a specific container box to continue its journey inland, those
robotic stacking cranes find it and load it onto a waiting truck for hinterland
distribution. Automated quay cranes are the focal point of port automation concepts.
When automation is brought into loading or discharging operations, the crane is
equipped with the infrared-technology-based sensors and advanced camera imaging
technology to read container numbers (United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development 2018). The automated quay crane can be robotically and remotely
handled by crane operators whose main task is to supervise the process and take
action only when necessary. For this reason, the cabin for a crane driver is no longer
required, but the information system for crane management must be installed to
connect with the crane and control center and support the continuous report of the
crane status. The optical character recognition is also used at the terminal gate to
automatically identify the unique reference number of a container, including its
seal status, door direction, and container damage. It is believed that this technology
eliminates the need for personnel to manually perform this function. Apart from the
gate area, optical character recognition is also utilized to increase the security in
loading or discharging containers at the quay crane (United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development 2018).
Artificial Intelligence
Not only intelligent humans and animals could demonstrate their natural intelli-
gence, but machines could also illustrate their artificial intelligence (AI), which
mimics human cognitive functions, intelligence, and mind (humans’ learning and
problem-solving). Due to the advancement of computer science, software engi-
neering, and operations research, humans could use AI algorithms to enable them
to correctly interpret large amounts of data, learn from such data, and use those
learnings to perceive their environment and take actions to achieve their goals, e.g.,
solving many challenging problems or making precise decisions. For this reason, AI
technology becomes an essential part of most primary industries. This includes the
port industry that uses AI technology to achieve their operation automation.
Most leading container terminal operators integrate AI technologies with the

managerial software to promote the service of back-office automation of large
container ports to support the decision-making of port managers and executive offi-
cers and help proceed the information at data-sharing platforms in the semiprivate
and public spheres (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2018).
To support an intelligence-sharing platform across logistics partners, all relevant
stakeholders (terminal operators, sea carriers, freight forwarders, port authorities,
shippers, and 3PLs) are required to invest their fund in a platform that provides
a standard interface to share data, insights, predictions, and common goals. This
collaborative AI technology deploys an AI-driven agent to link necessary traditional
systems in a network of each of individual organizations. In this network, the AI
agent would individually augment and inform key human decision-makers, for a
single operational purpose, and together act in concert to streamline operations
under a common goal (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
2018). By doing this, AI agents could negotiate with each other across organi-
zational boundaries in the port industry and efficiently identify common goals as
well as mutually beneficial opportunities (United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development 2018).
Apart from information sharing, AI technologies are also used to enhance the
safety of navigation and ability to search and rescue for other property at sea.
It is the Automated Identification System (AIS) which is an automatic tracking
system equipped on ships aiming. In general, AIS contains a very high-frequency
transceiver with a Global Positioning System, with other electronic navigation
sensors, e.g., a gyrocompass of turn indicator. AIS on the vessel can be tracked by
AIS-base centers located along coastal lines through the satellite (United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development 2018). On the quay side, AIS-based data
could identify an actual location of the GPS antenna demonstrating the location of
the ship at the berthing area. Additionally, AI technologies could help the worker
in everyday works by analyzing the big data (port operation, the status of cargo
handling, required skills, and knowledge) and providing the operation planner of
terminal with an optimum solution or good practices in planning stowage and
yard. Furthermore, because of an understanding complex situation and recognizing
the best or worst solution, AI technologies could provide an accurate prediction
which assists prompt decision-making and controlling of port facility capacity. This
would enable port operators to improve their vessel turnaround time, vessel flow,
and container dwell time. In addition to port efficiency and service satisfaction,
AI technologies are also less costly to implement, much faster to deploy, and less
disruptive to operations in comparison with other automation technologies (United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2018).
However, the implementation of AI technologies in port operations and man-
agement is still on the way to technical development. As the efficiency and
effectiveness of AI technologies heavily depend on other digital devices, port
operators and relevant stakeholders need to deploy other digital technologies, e.g.,
sensor technologies for collecting all terminal operation-related information as
digitalized data, developing the precise big data transmission between the on-site
sensor and the host computer, and developing the interface for assisting the urgent
decision-making of workers (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
2018). This includes redesigning their operation and management by employing
AI-based architecture. Another concern is port cybersecurity because employing
AI technologies for port operation and management systems could increase in the
vulnerability of port logistics and supply chain. As a result, port operators need
to make sure that appropriate measures are strictly implemented by not only port
operators and staff, but also other relevant stakeholders to countermeasure against
computer virus, hacking, and other cyberthreats.
Blockchain
Blockchain is another emerging technology with many advantages in the increas-

ingly digital port industry. It was originally conceptualized by Satoshi Nakamoto in
2008 using a Hashcash-based approach (Iansiti and Lakhani 2017). It is a structure
(digital ledger) storing transactional records, i.e., the block, of the public in several
databases, i.e., chain, in a network connected through peer-to-peer nodes (Iansiti and
Lakhani 2017). All transactions in the ledger are authorized by the digital signature
of the owner authenticating the transaction and safeguarding it from tampering.
Thus, the information contained in the digital ledger is secured. For this reason,
blockchain is popularly used to keep off the critical data and transactions of the
modern business, especially brokers, bankers, and lawyers (Iansiti and Lakhani
2017).
This emerging technology is also found in the maritime and port industry. It was
explored that many leading container port operators, e.g., Port of Antwerp, Port of
Singapore, and Port of Rotterdam, have developed pilot projects with blockchain
technology in document workflow management, financial processes, and device
connectivity (Tsiulin et al. 2020). For example, the Port of Rotterdam, which is
the biggest and busiest port in Europe handling almost 15 million TEUs/annum, has
revealed a pilot blockchain-oriented project to make container handling safer and
more efficient by eliminating the requirement to use a pin code (Tsiulin et al. 2020).
Because of a complicated process, using a blockchain application would enable all
stakeholders (shipping companies, freight forwarders, transport firms, and terminal
operators) to safely and efficiently organize the release procedure followed by the
various stakeholders in the transport chain (United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development 2018). Furthermore, blockchain technology could also prevent
the PIN code for the pick-up rights for the import of containers from being stolen.
This makes the release process in Port of Rotterdam safer for all stakeholders in the
transport chain (Maritime Information Services 2020).
Another successful blockchain application is explored in the port industry of
Singapore. This is because it is estimated that the documentation process and
administration in regard to trade and transportation would increase approximately
20% to the cost of a single container. To alleviate this problem, Port of Singapore
has launched a blockchain pilot linking Singapore’s national carrier and other
organizations (Maritime Information Services 2019a). The application of

blockchain is also found in the port clearance system of the Port of Shanghai
(Maritime Information Services 2019a). Again, it is because the Port of Shanghai is
the busiest port in the world handling more than 40 million 20-foot equivalents of
cargo/year. This results in sophisticated business data. To address this huge demand,
a large amount of data among various partners is integrated with a single-window,
and the risk management model is also developed and implemented between
regulatory authorities and enterprises. Further to this integration, blockchain and
artificial intelligence are used to extend connectivity to cover the final buyers and
sellers under one roof, including ports, customs department, financial institutions,
and their customers (Maritime Information Services 2019a). It is predicted that
blockchain would be increasingly used in the port industry, especially in countries
where corruption is widespread because it enables them to escape the tricks
of unreliable third-party intermediaries. This indicates that a 3PL, e.g., freight
forwarders and customs brokers, arranging the transaction between traders will no
longer be required. However, the motives and targets of all relevant stakeholders
should be clearly identified to establish adequate trust. When all companies in a
network trust each other, they can willingly exchange information and enhance
efficiency in information-communication processes. Apart from this, blockchain
technology would increase visibility in the supply chain in which certain containers
can easily be tracked and traced, and the exchange of information between different
organizations would be easily facilitated (Weernink et al. 2017).
Conclusions
4.0 technologies are the key factor enabling container port operators to accomplish
an improvement of operation performance, an increase of safety and security,
environmental protection and prevention, and sustainability development. Among
the emerging technologies, four 4.0 technologies could tremendously draw attention
from most operators, namely, the Internet of things, robotics, artificial intelligence,
and blockchain. Despite a variety of benefits and applications, there are only three
areas in a container port where automation and digitalization usually take place, i.e.,
yard and quay, security check at the terminal gate, and data exchange. Container
yard in the port area, including a case study of HPT, is the most common area
to have automation technology of the Internet of things and robotics, such as
automated guided vehicles, automated straddle carrier systems, automated lifting
vehicles, and automated shuttle carriers. This is mainly for operation efficiency
and safety improvement. Instead of using in port operation, artificial intelligence
is used particularly in supporting the decision-making process, and information and
data sharing across logistics partners, while blockchain technology is specifically
used to secure the critical data and transactions. Although the application of 4.0
technologies could reduce the vessel turnaround time, vessel flow, container dwell
time, and the number of operational workers in a port case study (Hutchison Port
Thailand 2020) and other ports, their concern about the return from investment
highlights the importance of a trade-off between financial outcome and ports’

digitization and automation transformation. This is because a fully automated
terminal generally has higher fixed expenditures and lower variable expenditures
than a traditionally operated facility. Additionally, the automated operation normally
needs high precision of stacking and placing containers and high reliability for
picking containers. This is achieved with accurately calibrated applying to all
functional parts of the crane and other devices. Adopting 4.0 technologies also
increases the vulnerability in port operation system and network because most of
them are driven based on the Internet. The Internet connection would increase the
chance of being threatened by cyberthreats. This reveals that cybersecurity would
become another important issue in the port industry which becomes more and more
digitalized and automated. To become an automated and digital port, the operator
needs a trade-off between the drawbacks of 4.0 technologies and their benefits in
improving physical flow, information flow, capital flow, etc.
Important Websites
For more information about the development of global trade and economy, maritime
transportation and port, port digitalization and automation, and maritime safety and
security, we suggest the following important websites:
https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/MeetingSummaries/MSC
https://www.imo.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/Pages/MSC.
aspx
http://www.unece.org/trans/welcome.html
https://www.imo.org/en/Publications/Pages/Home.aspx
https://unctad.org/topic/transport-and-trade-logistics/review-of-maritime-transport
https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/one-hundred-container-ports-
2020
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Textile and Apparel Industry: Industry 4.0
Applications 52
Sanjeev Swami, Debabrata Ghosh, Charu Swami,
and Sonali Upadhyaya
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1322
Background and Key Characteristics of the Textile and Apparel Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1325
Manufacturing Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1325
Industry Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1325
Recent Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1326
Industry Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1326
Industry 4.0 and Its Implications for the Textile and Apparel Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1328
Relevant Literature and Its Taxonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1329
Economic Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1329
Environmental Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1331
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1333
Industry 4.0 Applications in Textiles, Apparel, and Fashion Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1333
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1336
Related Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1337
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1337
S. Swami · S. Upadhyaya
Department of Management, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, India
D. Ghosh ()
Operations and Supply Chain Management Area, MIT Global Scale Network – Malaysia Institute
for Supply Chain Innovation, Shah Alam, Malaysia
e-mail: dghosh@misi.edu.my
C. Swami
Department of Home Science, Faculty of Arts, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, India
1322 S. Swami et al.
Abstract
In this chapter, we broadly review the economic and environmental applications

of Industry 4.0 in the textile and apparel industry. We begin by providing the
background and key characteristics of the textile and apparel industry from both
Indian and global perspectives. We review the basic concepts of Industry 4.0
and their implications for the textile and apparel industry. We then review the
relevant background literature in this area and provide its taxonomical framework
to organize the literature. A few applications of Industry 4.0 in the textile and
apparel industry are then discussed. We conclude with relevant implications for
researchers, managers, and practitioners.
Keywords
Industry 4.0 · Textile and apparel industry · Applications
Introduction
The textile and apparel industry has traditionally been a significant contributor to the
global economy. The global textile market was estimated at $667.5 billion in 2015.
In 2015, Asia-Pacific accounted for 54.6% of the market value of global textile mills,
and Europe accounted for another 20.6% of the market. The size of this market
has been estimated to be of $842.6 billion by 2020, a rise of 26.2% since 2015.
Likewise, the global apparel market was estimated at $842.7 billion in 2016. In
2016, Asia-Pacific accounted for 60.7% of the global market share of apparel, and
Europe accounted for a further 15.0% of the market. The global apparel market was
expected to touch a size of $1,004.6 billion in 2021 [https://shenglufashion.com/
2017/06/06/].
Despite its significance, the industry faces several challenges at both the global
and local levels. These include rising labor costs, trade restrictions, shortened prod-
uct life cycles, consumer behavior shifts toward fast fashion, demand uncertainties,
and rising environmental concerns. The global significance of the textile and apparel
industry is quite evident from the above statistics. Over the last several decades,
global apparel production has substantially shifted to the developing economies,
with the developed economies largely focusing on the design and prototyping
stages.
The evolution of various technologies in the past industrial revolutions has
progressively ushered in the era of newer business models. The present trend in
this regard seems to be culminating in an industrial era indicative of smart manufac-
turing, intelligent machinery, and networked processes (Kagermann 2015), termed
Industry 4.0, which is a collective group of smart and networked technologies with
the potential to transform the way manufacturing is carried out in the twenty-first
century (Narula et al. 2020). The key tenets of this transformation will be (i) data
access and analysis across machines and processes, (ii) flexibility, (iii) efficiency,
52 Textile and Apparel Industry: Industry 4.0 Applications 1323
and (iv) horizontal and vertical integration of firms across the value chain of the
organization.
From the above trends and challenges, it is clear that to remain competitive, the
textile and apparel industry needs to increase its operational efficiency from the
value standpoint (Treacy and Wiersema 1993). Ever since the first industrial revo-
lution (from the mid-eighteenth century to the early part of the nineteenth century),
which involved the transition from manual methods to machines and mechanization,
the textile industry has been a dominant adopter of the industrial revolution in terms
of the use of modern production methods and newer technologies. It is pertinent,
therefore, that the adoption of the latest industrial revolution, christened as Industry
4.0, is explored specifically in the context of the textile and apparel industry. This is
the prime objective of the present chapter.
Indeed, a new term, Textile 4.0, is gaining in vogue in response to the textile and
apparel industry’s adoption trends of Industry 4.0 concept [https://textilevaluechain.
in/2020/03/20/industry-4-0-a-new-digital-age/]. Thus, Textile 4.0 applies equally
to the spinning, weaving, finishing, and garmenting industries throughout the supply
chains. Its adoption appears to have become almost inevitable for the textile and
apparel industry to remain competitive. Some of the potent technologies in this
regard are artificial intelligence, Internet of things, cloud computing, robotics, 3D
printing, nanotechnology, advanced materials, biotechnology, etc.
In this chapter, in reviewing the applications of Industry 4.0 in the textile and
apparel industry, we adopt a systems-based approach in an organizational context.
As shown in Fig. 1, this organizational view is initiated at the “input” stage with
its components being procurement, suppliers, raw materials, natural resources, etc.
Stage II of the “process” involves the transformative operations like manufacturing,
production, or services. The third stage of “output” focuses on the finished product
and the consumer viewpoint. Stage III also includes the factors of market demand
and distribution of the products. Collectively, these three stages are labeled as
economic aspects.
One indirect stage, shown with a dotted arrow, pertains to the factor of recycling.
After the product has been distributed and consumed, a responsible and sustainable
organization needs to take care of the post-consumption treatment (or recycling)
of the product, its packaging, and other related material. The recycling aspect in
the indirect stage is thus more closely related to the sustainability aspects of the
supply chain of the organization. Thus, it is labeled as the environmental aspects in
the context of this chapter. Accordingly, in this chapter, we will broadly review the
economic and environmental applications of Industry 4.0 in the textile and apparel
industry. Scholarly work analyzing the applications of Industry 4.0 in the textile and
apparel industry has witnessed increasing focus on the economic and environmental
aspects. This is reflected in Fig. 2 which categorizes and plots the papers published
in the last 5 years in this area.
The rest of this chapter is organized as follows. The next section provides the
background and key characteristics of the textile and apparel industry from both
Indian and global perspectives. Section “Industry 4.0 and Its Implications for the
ECONOMIC ASPECTS
II. III.
I. Input
Process Output
Recycling
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
Fig. 1 A systems-based view of an organization

Literature published on textile and apparel
45
40
35
30
industry 4.0
25
20
15
10
5
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Development of Textile and Apparel industry 4.0 in last five years
Economic Aspects( Input,Output and Process) Environmental Aspects
Fig. 2 Literature published on textile and apparel Industry 4.0 in the last 5 years
Textile and Apparel Industry” discusses the basic concepts of Industry 4.0 and their
implications for the textile and apparel industry. In section ”Relevant Literature and
Its Taxonomy,” we review the relevant background literature in this area and provide
its taxonomical framework. Section “Applications” provides few select applications
of Industry 4.0 in the textile and apparel industry. We provide the conclusions in the
final section with implications for researchers, managers, and practitioners.
Background and Key Characteristics of the Textile and Apparel

Industry
The textile and apparel industries are one of the most important and fundamental
sectors of a country’s economy. These industries have a significant impact on the
global economy. While both textile and apparel industries share several common
features, there are some basic differences between them. The textile industry refers
to the process of converting the fibers into yarns, into gray fabrics, and, finally, to
finished fabrics. On the other hand, the apparel industry transforms inputs from the
textile industry into finished apparels. Accordingly, the textile industry is producer-
driven, while the apparel industry is buyer-driven. A schematic view of the same is
given in Fig. 3.
Manufacturing Setup
As part of the manufacturing processes, threads and yarns are made using natural
and synthetic fibers. These can be woven, pressed, or knitted into fabrics. In order
to strengthen the decorative designs woven into the cloth or to make the fabric more
durable and stain-resistant or have other properties, coatings and finishes are often
added to the fabrics. Fabrics are mainly used to make clothes and also to make many
products, including awnings, tents, carpets, and rugs, as well as a variety of curtains,
tablecloths, towels, and sheets for linens.
Industry Entities
In the organizational setup of the industry, there are three individual entities that are
relevant, namely, textile mills, textile product mills, and apparel production.
Textile Industry Apparel Industry
• Fibres to yarns, to grey fabrics, • Inputs from the textile industry

and finally, to finished fabrics into finished apparels
• Producer-driven • Buyer-driven
• Up-stream • Down-stream
• High energy consumption • Raw materials and personnel
costs are higher
• Higher on environmental
degradation • Relatively lesser eco-impact
Fig. 3 Broad features of the textile and apparel industry

Textile mills: The raw material is produced by textile mills to manufacture

clothing and textile goods. They use and turn natural and synthetic materials, such as
cotton and polyester, into fiber, yarn, and thread. Textile mills then go on to produce
fabric employing weaving and knitting. Interlacing and interlocking of yarns are
done, respectively, using complex, automated machinery. The finishing processes
like dyeing, bleaching, stonewashing, and chemical or mechanical treatments are
also very important to improve appearance, texture, or performance of fiber, yarn,
or fabric.
Textile product mills: Textile product mills transform raw textiles, other than
clothing, into finished goods. Household textiles, carpets, rugs, towels, curtains,
sheets, furniture and automotive upholstery, and industrial upholstery are some of
the significant items manufactured by this sector.
The apparel manufacturing industry: The apparel manufacturing industry turns
garments and accessories into fabrics created by textile producers.
Recent Developments
The manufacturing sectors of textiles and clothing are among the most labor-
intensive manufacturing industries. Accordingly, particularly for advanced
economies, an increasing amount of textile products are being produced via the
outsourcing route. However, to remain competitive and closer to the customer,
textile and apparel manufacturers have tried to be more labor-efficient through the
use of technology and advanced machinery like computer-aided and computer-
controlled design, pattern making, and cutting. Other emerging technologies to
improve productivity levels are in the form of wider looms and the use of robotics.
The industry generally uses electronic data interchange aided by product barcodes
for faster information communication through the organization and its suppliers.
Lately, the rising acceptance of sophisticated and high-technology gadgets using
sensors is driving the demand for smart textiles. Such smart textiles are not only
being used by the end consumers but also by organizational consumers like the
military for protection purposes (Scataglini et al. 2015).
Industry Characteristics
Unpredictable demand, short product life cycles, rapid response time, wide product
variety, and a complex supply chain structure typically characterize the textile and
apparel industry (Sen 2008).
On the input side, the industry is characterized by predominant use of the
natural environment for raw materials along with synthetic resources (Raichurkar
and Manickam 2015) and fragmented setup with many small-sized suppliers
involving several players dealing with raw materials from different sources and
operations (Kumar et al. 2017); on the other hand, the dominance of a few large
players and geographical clustering of the manufacturing units are also prominent
characteristics of the industry. The process of clustering has proven to be an effective

solution for small and medium enterprises in the textile and apparel sector since
these facilitate cooperation and access to different stages of production and selling
(Dima 2013).
At the process stage, the industry continues to use traditional production meth-
ods, while some examples of the modern tools and adoption of new technologies
have begun to emerge. Thus, this industry can be characterized by a mix of old and
modern methods of production. Expert system applications are increasingly being
developed by the textile and apparel industry to increase efficiency, improve quality,
and reduce costs. Fabric and apparel engineering systems and the use of CAD and
related software is extensively being implemented in the industry (Bullon et al.
2017). The manufacturing is labor intensive, and many instances of exploitative use
of labor have been reported (Nordas 2004). Safety measures are also very important
at this stage due to the hazardous use of chemicals involved in the dyeing of the
fabric and fire-safety issues (Wadud et al. 2014). The role of designers is also very
important at this stage since the designers bring the perspective of the demand-side
view to the supply side.
At the output side, the industry is characterized by demand uncertainty and
volatility, relatively higher profit margin structures, and an important role of
merchandisers, retail managers, advertisers, and celebrity endorsers (McKinsey
Report 2019).
From the recycling perspective, the environmental aspects are extremely impor-
tant owing to the hazardous nature of the industry, exploitative use of the natural
resources, use of antiquated production methods, and use of the chemical dyes. A
summary view of the above characteristics is shown in Fig. 4 in the framework given
in section “Introduction.”
We next discuss the various technologies that constitute Industry 4.0 and its
applications in the textile and apparel industry.
Natural and synthec Mix of old and Demand

raw materials, modern uncertainty,
Fragmented setup, II. methods of III.
I. Input Small-size suppliers, producon Volality,
Process Output
Few large players, Labour intensive Higher proﬁt
Geographical clustering in nature margin structures
Recycling
• Exploitave use of the natural
resources
• Use of anquated producon
methods
• Use of the chemical dyes
Fig. 4 Characteristics of textile and apparel industry

Industry 4.0 and Its Implications for the Textile and Apparel
Industry
Much has been written about Industry 4.0 in general and its potential for revolution-
izing the functions within an organization and across value chains. The question we
posit here is what technologies constitute Industry 4.0 and how are they relevant in
the textile and apparel industry.
Industry 4.0, when first coined in 2011 in Germany, discussed the adoption of
digital technologies that create connections between machines, production systems,
supply systems, finished goods, consumers, and supply chain entities to collect,
analyze, and share real-time data (Kagermann et al. 2013; Theorin et al. 2017). This
received further support, when scholars, industry practitioners, and governments
across the world rapidly supported the need for digitization of processes and set up
policies to fund the next generation of industrialization (Calenda 2016).
Digitization is proposed both horizontally and vertically leading to close integra-
tion of the functions and entities involved (Calenda 2016). Horizontal integration
refers to the integration of different functions within the organization and also
between competitor firms who may have common areas of collaboration. Vertical
integration refers to the close collaboration of entities in the value chain including
suppliers, manufacturers, logistics agencies, distributors, retailers, and customers.
Integration of entities either horizontally or vertically is proposed to build higher
efficiencies, reduce information asymmetry, enable actions closer to real time, and
improve responsiveness, resilience, and sustainability of supply chains. Digitiza-
tion, however, has its costs, for example, the cost associated with the choice of
appropriate technology, implementation, and coordination with other departments
and supply chain entities. Such costs and challenges in implementation often delay
the digitization decision. Therefore, clarity on the choice of technology is necessary,
before undertaking its adoption. Below we succinctly define the technologies that
underlie Industry 4.0 (Schrauf and Berttram 2016).
The key technologies are additive manufacturing, big data and analytics, cloud
computing, Internet of things, cyber-physical systems, cyber security, visual com-
puting, etc. (Dalmarco and Barros 2018; Ardito et al. 2019). We discuss them briefly.
Additive manufacturing: This technology allows three-dimensional models to
be printed layer by layer via computerized control. The output can be one solid piece
and developed on different materials such as ceramics, metal, wax, etc. (Berman
2012; Harris and Director 2011; Oettmeier and Hofmann 2017; Scott and Harrison
2015). The advantage of this technology is that it can print complex geometries
which otherwise cannot be developed using conventional technologies. The output
can be lightweight, and customization is possible. The limitations are, however, its
comparatively high processing costs and lack of mass customization, thus limiting
efficiencies in manufacturing processes for high-volume products.
Big data and analytics: The widespread use of sensors and Internet to capture
real-time information from production equipment and systems, warehouses, differ-
ent supply chain entities, point-of-sale systems, and customer management systems
has led to a vast amount of data creation. The ability to use this data and develop
real-time insights using technologies and statistical tools to support decision-making

is called big data analytics (Hazen et al. 2014; Lee et al. 2013; Witkowski 2017).
Cloud computing: Driving digitization significantly depends on appropriate
hardware and software available to access data, run queries, and design algorithms
for decision support. This is facilitated by the availability of server space and
software facilities such that information can be remotely accessed and stored
(Bughin et al. 2010; Marston et al. 2011; Rüßmann et al. 2015).
Cyber-physical systems: Cyber-physical systems allow interaction, monitoring,
and control between physical systems and the Internet. These systems consist of
sensors and actuators that constantly monitor physical equipment and machines and
record and feed data into other systems with feedback loops. Such systems allow
predictive analytics to run and help in maintenance, therefore allowing development
into intelligent, resilient systems (Baheti and Gill 2011), enabled by the Internet of
things, which classifies all technologies that allow interaction and interoperability
between devices and machines and develop protocols for real-time data exchange
(Li et al. 2015).
Cyber security: Much of the systems discussed thus far are characterized
by extensive information flow and data. It is also likely that information critical
to organizations would also flow outside the organizational boundaries to other
supply chain entities. Therefore, developing technologies that protect this data both
within internal IT systems and external networks is crucial. Privacy and security of
information across systems and networks is a crucial aspect of Industry 4.0 and is
termed cyber security (Xu 2012).
Visual computing: Visualization is considered the central piece of analytics
which defines the entire process of acquiring and processing data to present data
in a format that eases business decision-making (Paelke 2014).
Besides these technologies, other enabling technologies are augmented reality,
simulation, collaborative robotics, etc. Some of these technologies are already
changing the way the fashion and apparel industry work, while others are in their
early usage phase. We illustrate the applications of these technologies through
various case studies in section “Applications.”
Relevant Literature and Its Taxonomy
In this section, we undertake a review of the relevant literature on Industry 4.0. This
is conducted considering the systems-based view of economic and environmental
aspects, discussed in section “Introduction.”
Economic Aspects
Economic aspects in respect to textile and apparel Industry 4.0 refer to the
application of new and advanced technologies in all stages of the supply chain
(i.e., starting from raw materials to delivering the final product to consumers). In
this section, we review the relevant literature on economic aspects (such as input,
process, and output) related to textile and apparel Industry 4.0. Modern information
and communication technologies (ICTs) are regarded as the catalyst for promoting
the fourth industrial revolution and improving supply chains (Kamalendu 2020).
Fiber production is an important part of any textile business; hence, companies need
to ensure the implementation or adoption of Industry 4.0 applications at the start
or early processing steps (Aneja et al. 2019). Industry 4.0 depicts the vision of a
highly advanced industrial sector by incorporating new and advanced technologies
(IoT, smart sensors, 3D printing, cyber-physical systems, RFID, biotechnology,
cloud computing, automation, cyber security, simulation, augmented reality, etc.)
in supply chain and manufacturing processes (Karabegovic et al. 2019; Lakmali
et al. 2020). By the implementation of these new technologies in supply chain
processes, it will speed up the fourth industrial revolution in the textile and apparel
sector.
Industry 4.0 is proposed to change the production process to a closed loop with
closed connections (Karabegovic et al. 2019). By incorporating these new tech-
nologies, the competition between various organizations will increase, and hence
it will provide consumers with innovative and better-designed products. The future
of the global apparel manufacturing industry is currently influenced by a profound
globalization impact, largely due to the Internet of things (IoT) and blockchain
technology in the apparel manufacturing sector (Kamalendu 2020). The sections
of the apparel industry in which IoT is highly useful are inventory management,
warehousing, transportation, and supply chain management (Kamalendu 2020). As
stated above, IoT and other innovative technologies are very helpful in all economic
aspects based on processes involved in creating a better and enhanced textile and
apparel industry.
NPD (new product development) using Industry 4.0 technologies is vital to
apparel manufacturing because of frequent changes in consumer demand toward
customized and personalized products (Wijewardhana et al. 2020). Industry 4.0
connects the physical world with the digital world and allows a better combination
and access (Lakmali et al. 2020). A term called “Apparel 4.0” was coined which
highlights various technologies such as wireless sensor networks, augmented reality,
VR, 3D printing, cyber-physical systems, cloud computing, and big data analytics
(Gökalp et al. 2018).
Industry 4.0 is specifically based on digital technologies and aspects like hori-
zontal integration through value networks, end-to-end digital integration of entire
value chains, and networked manufacturing systems; hence, textile and clothing
industries have a great scope of advancement by using Industry 4.0 applications
in their production and logistics processes (Görçün 2018). Customer needs are
advancing day by day, and to fulfill these needs, the textile firms need to redesign
their products and processes and value chains according to emerging trends and
requirements. In this regard, business intelligent systems (BIS) have shown a
significant role in providing sustainable solutions in textile and apparel Industry
4.0 (Ahmad et al. 2020). Cloud communication, big data analytics, and many
more technologies can improve product design (Chen et al. 2020). This will help
textile and apparel industries to improve their end products by using advanced
technologies.
Additive manufacturing (AM) or three-dimensional printing is an important
technology in the fourth industrial revolution which promotes mass customization
and provides customized products to consumers (Dilberoglu et al. 2017; Yap and
Yeong 2014). By using additive manufacturing, nontraditional methods could be
more developed, and clothing industries can customize their products according to
customer needs. AM is used in majority of textile and apparel products such shoes
and dresses, which mainly paves the way for more creative products to consumers
(Sitotaw et al. 2020).
The textile industry is a production-focused industry; thus, Industry 4.0 appli-
cations will promote the overall performance of this sector (Imran 2018). Fashion
companies are the center of mass production and “design-driven” business sectors
and respond to new technological advancements (Bertola and Teunissen 2018).
The 3D printed fashion products are the latest trends in the market, and designers
are readily adopting this new technology. For instance, TamiCare (http://www.
tamicare.com) is a textile company which uses 3D printing technology to produce
fashion products using liquid polymers like Teflon, etc. (Yap and Yeong 2014).
High technological advancements create automation of garment manufacturing
industry, and 3D body scanning is proposed as the latest technology which can help
consumers give their body measurements via computers (Nayak et al. 2015).
As stated in the above literature of review, it is evident that adoption of
Industry 4.0 applications (such as IoT, cyber-physical systems, augmented reality,
biotechnology, virtual reality, 3D printing, cloud computing, nanotechnology, etc.)
provides a new business paradigm in textile and apparel industry that is proposed to
transform the whole process from physical to digital. New innovative technologies
in the textile and apparel industry could be applied at every process starting from
procuring raw materials to delivering the finished goods to consumers.
Environmental Aspects
Environmental aspects in the textile and apparel industry refer to the recycling of
the used or unused products which highlights the responsibility of the organization
in maintaining the sustainability of supply chains. In this section, we review relevant
literature on environmental aspects (recycling) related to textile and apparel Industry
4.0. Textile and apparel industries are major sources of industrial pollution and
create significant environmental issues (Tsai 2018). Industry 4.0 real-time sensors
and detection techniques and applications can help in recycling of waste and reduce
carbon emissions (Tsai 2018).
Circular economy helps to reinsert recycling of the waste in the supply chain and
restore the value of used resources (Nascimento et al. 2019; Jabbour et al. 2018).
Incorporating Industry 4.0 technologies like processing waste through 3D printing
technology will advance a circular economy and push stakeholders to be more

involved in the process of recycling of waste (Nascimento et al. 2019). The circular
economy emphasizes maximizing the circuitousness of resources and energy in
production processes, keeping in view that we have a scarcity of natural resources
and recycling material that could minimize waste (Ghisellini et al. 2016).
Industry 4.0 technologies are rapidly evolving, but each technology should
provide sustainable dimensions to the overall business model of any firm (Bai et al.
2020). Legitimacy theory states that reducing carbon emissions is one of the major
responsibilities of stakeholders in maintaining the sustainability of a business firm
(Lanis and Richarddson 2012). Traditional manufacturing systems caused higher
environmental pollution (Tseng et al. 2018). Environmental aspects of Industry 4.0
can help to reduce energy and resource consumption by incorporating technologies
like carbon analysis in production processes and supply chains (Shrouf et al.
2014). The circular economy considers various stages, which are reuse, recycle,
remanufacture, repair, and restoration (Zhao and Zhu 2015). Sustainability in any
business, therefore, could be maintained by incorporating traditional methods like
profit-making with environmental concerns and awareness in production systems
(Kleindorfer et al. 2005).
Industry 4.0 can achieve sustainability by providing longevity, repair, and
recycling in product designs (Man and Strandhagen 2017). Profit maximization is
no longer a key concept for companies; sustainable resource management is the
emerging concern (Mota et al. 2015). A feedback loop is, therefore, considered very
critical for any business consisting of repair, recycle, reclaim, and reverse logistics
(Srivastava 2007). Remanufacturing is important in reducing waste and maintaining
a circular economy (Liu et al. 2014). Industry 4.0 applications such as IoT, virtual
reality, and augmented reality play important roles in the process of remanufacturing
(Kerin and Pham 2019).
A key characteristic of the apparel industry is that clothes have shorter life span
due to reasons such as low cost and ever-changing trends, so using some applications
of Industry 4.0 like creating an online portal and integrating end users with supply
chains and smart factories will facilitate remanufacturing and recycling practices
(Man and Stragdhagen 2017).
Environmental aspects are major concerning factors for evolving digital supply
chains. Integrating new technologies in global textile chains will help in maintaining
the sustainability of the overall system. The review of the literature indicates
that recycling is a major concern in the textile and apparel industry. The circular
economy concept is emphasized by many scholars in their studies which gives an
insight about the ecological stability of supply chains and states the importance of
feedback loops in increasing the proficiency of firms.
Economic and environmental aspects are crucial to comprehend the process of
the fourth industrial revolution in the textile and apparel industry. Brought together,
these two aspects incorporate Industry 4.0 technologies to form a closed loop
resulting in profit generation while maintaining ecological stability.
Applications
Industry 4.0 Applications in Textiles, Apparel, and Fashion

Companies
In this section, we present a few applications exemplifying the use of Industry 4.0
concepts in the textile and apparel industry. The examples belong to different forms
of organizations in different parts of the world, but the practical underpinnings are
quite global and common in their applicability. While some applications are in the
advanced stages of the Industry 4.0 implementation, the others exhibit a gradual
evolution from the current technological base to the Industry 4.0. Further, based on
our framework in sections “Introduction” and “Background and Key Characteristics
of the Textile and Apparel Industry,” we find emphasis on both economic and
environmental applications. The list of applications is shown in the schematic below
(Table 1)
Zara
According to reports, in recent years, Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer
and owner of the Zara chain, has faced stiff competition from the smaller and
nimbler online rivals like Boohoo.com and Missguided (Dowsett 2018). Because of
their speed and flexibility, the latter players have been bringing out many more new
clothing products than Zara. Alarmed by this trend, Zara relied on the development
of an array of new technologies, in collaboration with various tech firms and hiring
talent from start-ups.
Some of the new technologies, based on the concepts of Industry 4.0, include
(i) model of combining online sales with a large network of physical stores; (ii)
collaborating with California-based Fetch Robotics for improving robotics-based
stock handling; (iii) partnering with chipmaker Intel for quick tracking of the
volume of clothing in boxes; (iv) investing in location intelligence tool, which
is based on ultrasound technology to track footfalls in stores, along with virtual
Table 1 Summary of applications involving Industry 4.0 implementation

Examples of Industry 4.0 implementation in the textile and apparel industries
Zara H&M Levi Indian Jockey Bottega Recycling
(Dowsett (https:// Strauss Textile India Veneta 4.0 (https://
2018) digital.hbs. (Vidrih Industry (Srivastava (Griecoa www.itma.
edu) 2019) (GHCL, 2020) et al. 2017) com)
Arvind,
Aditya
Birla)
(Majumdar
2019)
assistants to help customers; (v) partnering with AI firms like Jetlore, to predict
consumer behavior, and Spanish big data start-up El Arte de Medir, for data mining;
and (vi) collaborating with the alarm company, Tyco, to incorporate a tiny microchip
into security tags carrying style and size information about the garment and allowing
the company to locate its whereabouts at any point in the supply chain (Dowsett
2018).
H&M
According to the digital initiative study of Harvard Business School, H&M, one of
the largest fashion retailers in the world, also faced demanding consumers in a fast-
paced and stiff competition-laden industry. H&M sourced its basic clothing from
Asia (about 80%) and the rest trendy collections from Europe, which increased its
lead times enormously. Toward this end, the company digitized its supply chain and
took steps to use advanced data analytics and AI technologies to predict consumer
demand trends and forecast inventories and communication with customers. This
resulted in initiatives of IT and systems integration across the supply chain. Since
H&M does not own any of its factories, these Industry 4.0 efforts are not only
focused on production or manufacturing but are in the form of investment in logistics
automation and inventory management. H&M has therefore invested in warehouse
automation, metadata analysis, and clothing tagging for RFID technology. This has
further resulted in better matching of supply and demand, which avoids shortages
or overstocking. Such efforts are fruitful in maintaining a stable pricing regime and
protect profit margins.
Levi Strauss
Business press on Levi Strauss discusses that to achieve better documentation and
better monitoring of its in-house supply chain, the American apparel brand Levi’s
is developing its blockchain. Toward this end, the company is receiving assistance
from the Harvard University, the NetPositive Enterprise, the ConsenSys company,
and Ethereum. The advantage of this approach has been greater transparency and
control back to the origin of the production. Harvard University has also helped
develop an index that Levi Strauss uses to create the counterfeit-proof reports.
To develop its denim jackets, Levi’s is also testing 3D printing technology. In
the trial project, which was headed by its vice president and head of Global Product
Innovation, to create a shell replica of a jacket, Levi’s took digital renderings of
its denim jacket and used 3D printing technology. This process extracts the real
essence of the product in order to shape its digital identity. This entity is then further
distributed and remotely turned into templates incorporating intensive patterns.
Indian Textile Industry

Majumdar (2019) discusses that when a famous Indian film actor wore a hugely
appreciated dress on the red carpet at the annual Met Gala in New York in May
2019, the event actually exhibited an effort of 160 h of cutting-edge technology
to make the dress, such as 3D printing. It used the technique of stereolithography,
the 3D printing method in which a structure is constructed, layer by layer, using
a plastic-like liquid solidified by a laser – an innovation from the US-based GE

Additives and Protolabs.
Other textile companies, like GHCL, make a wide array of textiles woven with
threads and technology to help control body temperature, curtail the bad effects
of radiation, and even induce better sleep. The company used SAP technology
to understand and craft the movement of special fiber and also used a unique
fingerprinting technology on the Egyptian cotton yarn by inseminating optically
traceable fiber into the fabric which can transmit data and track the life cycle
of the product to even its recycling. The company has also created a range of
sustainable and traceable bed linen which is manufactured using recycled PET
bottles. The company collaborates with the Applied DNA Sciences, USA, for
various technologies.
A stream of noteworthy R&D works is being carried out on advanced textiles
using nanotechnology by the Department of Textile Technology at IIT Delhi, in
collaboration with Department of Science and Technology, the Defence Research
and Development Organisation, and the University of Bolton, UK. It is also
developing polymer/clay nanocomposite-coated fabric for use in inflatable items.
This fabric has a lower mass, an enhanced ability to retain gases, and improved
tensile-tear strength. Across the textile industry, the largest adoption of technology
has been for the purpose of reducing the monumental waste it generates.
Global apparel retailer, Gap, and its sourcing and franchise partner in India,
Arvind Limited, have also opened an innovation center to promote the adoption of
techniques that reduce water use by the textile industry. Another major innovation
for the industry has been the reduction of warehouse space by companies like Indian
Beautiful Art through its just-in-time technology. Start-ups like Google-funded
FYND have also entered the market to provide smart inventory solutions to help
the apparel industry cut down on overstocked warehouses.
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited has started a new initiative with IBM
that provides infrastructure-as-a-service in a private cloud environment, resulting in
scaling up of its IT infrastructure. The company owns brands such as Louis Philippe,
Van Heusen, Allen Solly, and Peter England and has several exclusive outlets in
the country. The technology applications of the company include digitizing clothing
samples instead of producing actual samples for the downstream of the supply chain.
This approach greatly reduces wastage and the time to reach the market. There is
also the provision of digital trial rooms at the retail end.
Sourcing Development Perspectives: Jockey India

Srivastava (2020) discusses that a supply chain can benefit from reduced lead times,
resulting in inventory levels leading to lower operating costs and a decrease in retail
product obsolescence. Such smart, automated, and interconnected supply chains
require considerable efforts and capital investments, but the benefits reaped are
equally significant. Sourcing teams of organizations need to adapt to such latest
trends, along with their vendors and partners. At Jockey India , the predominant
trends directing the processes of sourcing have been identified as the speed to
market, vendor capacity buildup, captive manufacturers, and an agile and flexi-
ble production setup. The company agrees that the organizational manufacturing
systems have gone beyond looking at IT as an isolated feature within an enterprise.

Information technology has been embedded at the core of every single functional
area within a company. Jockey India is effectively using technologies such as 3D
sample design, automated planning, and artificial intelligence in manufacturing.
Bottega Veneta
Griecoa et al. (2017) discuss the case of Bottega Veneta , an Italian fashion and
luxury goods house renowned in the world for its leather goods. Its supply chain
includes the core firm, controlled factories, and several independent producers. The
status quo production management system of the company made extensive use
of an ERP system across the organization and its partners. In a revised system,
inspired from an Industry 4.0 framework, the company introduced a uniform data
model, which was used to collect and represent the large amount of data that are
involved in the production process, including logistic information such as due dates
and customers’ data, production details such as production cycles, technological
constraints, and feedback data from the shop floor. The continuously collected
data were analyzed using a complex analytics system throughout the supply chain.
The system culminated into a DSS (decision support system) that included visual
representations of the data resulting in better and more efficient decision-making
process.
Recycling 4.0
ITMA, the world’s largest international textile and garment technology association,
reports that the textile and apparel companies are increasingly on the lookout for
the technologies which can assist them in saving or recycling natural resources.
Particularly in the case of fabric finishing step of the process, such technologies
are quite useful, since this step requires huge volumes of water, steam, chemicals,
and energy. The traditional processes used by this industry, such as alternating and
split-flow air circulating systems or dipping or padding processes, while useful
to some effect, are alone not enough to move the industry toward a near-perfect
circular economy. A much more coordinated and an industry-wide approach is being
promised by the advent of Industry 4.0 concepts. Some efforts toward this end have
begun to emerge in the form of the Green Label program and the associated awards,
which assess the CO2 equivalent emissions produced by machines and grade them
accordingly. One of the recipients of such awards, Tonello – the maker of garment
finishing systems – reduced the amount of water consumed in the finishing of a pair
of jeans from 60 l down to just 5 l.
Conclusion
The discussion above points to several key aspects of Industry 4.0 and its application
in the textile and apparel industry. The new era of industrialization is proposed
to influence the textile and apparel sector significantly. However, the adoption of
newer technologies by major players in the industry would be gradual. As observed
from the cases discussed previously, increased experimentation with technologies

by textile and apparel players is being witnessed, and much of this adoption would
thrive on the successes and outcomes of some of the early adopters. It is also being
observed that the adoption of cutting-edge technologies is quicker in the apparel
supply chains than in the textile industry. This is because the apparel sector is
downstream and consumer-facing and is more flexible in customizing processes
for consumers’ satisfaction. For example, the adoption of VR and augmented
reality technologies to fit consumers’ choices without having to visit the physical
stores is being attempted. However, such responsiveness and flexibility are not
characteristic of the textile industry which is more manufacturing intensive. There
is, however, increased scope for automation of processes, connecting machines with
feedback loops, working with real-time data on machine availability, efficiencies,
and maintenance. This is in addition to the usage of robotics and application of
predictive analytics that can transform textile manufacturing. Furthermore, often
chastised for waste generation, higher efficiencies and real-time data would drive
waste collection and recycling. The contours of Industry 4.0 are still evolving, and
they propose to fundamentally transform the textile and apparel industry.
Related Websites
https://shenglufashion.com/2017/06/06/
https://textilevaluechain.in/2020/03/20/industry-4-0-a-new-digital-age/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-inditex-technology-focus-idUSKBN1JB0HG
https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/industry-4-0-how-textile-
firms-are-using-tech-to-become-smart-sustainable-119071001475_1.html
https://apparelresources.com/business-news/sourcing/sourcing-in-times-of-
industry-4-0-using-tech-to-make-supply-chain-more-agile/
https://medium.com/the-capital/altcoin-news-industry-4-0-levi-strauss-and-
harvard-build-blockchain-based-security-system-66cfeb5d52b8
https://in.apparelresources.com/technology-news/manufacturing-tech/levis-
goes-futuristic-3d-printing-tests-denim-jackets/
https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submission/hm-and-digitization-of-
supply-chain-trends-will-the-fashion-show-go-on/
https://www.itma.com/media/the-itma-blog/blog-posts/blog/2018/07/27/recyclin
g-4.0-the-key-to-a-circular-economy
https://www.itma.com/media/the-itma-blog/blog-posts/blog/2019/06/22/from-
sixty-litres-to-five-millilitres-with-sustainable-industry-4.0
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Construction Sector: IR 4.0 Applications
53
Wesam Salah Alaloul, Syed Saad, and Abdul Hannan Qureshi
Contents
IR 4.0 in the Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1343
Revolution Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1345
Building Blocks of IR 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1348
Smart Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1349
Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1349
Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1349
Smart Factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1349
Data Origination in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1350
Managing the Originated Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1352
Digital Data in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1354
Construction Sector Data Management in IR 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1354
BIM Data Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1355
Communication Integrations in Construction Sector of IR 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1357
Big Data in Construction Sector with IR 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1358
Concept of IoT in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1360
Software Defined Product (SDP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1360
Hardware Defined Product (HDP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1360
Network Fabric (NF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1361
External Systems (ES) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1362
Cloud Computing in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1362
Cloud Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1363
Cyber Security in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1363
Cyber Security Standards for IoT Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1364
Cyber Security Standards for Cloud Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1365
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1365
Applications of CPS in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1365
W. S. Alaloul () · S. Saad · A. H. Qureshi

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri
Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
e-mail: wesam.alaloul@utp.edu.my; syed_19000314@utp.edu.my;
abdul_19000967@utp.edu.my
1342 W. S. Alaloul et al.
Applications of IR 4.0 in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1366

Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1366
Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing in Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1368
Autonomous Scanning Systems (Vehicles and Drones) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1371
Monitoring and Progress Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1375
BIM and Digital Twins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1377
Benefits of IR 4.0 in the Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1380
Challenges of IR 4.0 in the Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1382
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1385
Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1386
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1386
Abstract
IR 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, has been powered by the evolution of
innovations and technology. In recent years, IR 4.0 has been delivered as a pop-
ular term with the central concept projected by extended use of Information and
Communications Technology along with the advancement toward automation
and digitization of the manufacturing environment. Despite its potential benefits
in terms of improvements in quality and productivity, the concept of IR 4.0 has
not gained much attention in the construction industry. The researchers have
linked this gap, between the construction sector and IR 4.0, to the fact that the far-
reaching implications of the increasingly automated and digitized manufacturing
environment are still widely unknown by the stakeholders in the construction
industry. This chapter aims to map the state of IR 4.0 in the construction sector,
to identify its key areas, and evaluate and interpret the available evidence. The
way forward for the construction sector, along with IR 4.0, shows a significant
impact and improvement on the project’s progress and achievement in terms of
cost, time, and quality.
Keywords
IR 4.0 · Construction data · Digitalization · Benefits · Challenges
Abbreviations
AI Artificial intelligence
AM Additive manufacturing
API Application Programming Interface
AR Augmented reality
AWS Amazon Web Services
BDAS Big Data Analytics Stack
BDE Big Data Engineering
BIM Building Information Modeling
BSS Business Support Systems
CAM Computer-aided manufacturing
CDG Construction data governance
CDM Cloud Deployment Model
53 Construction Sector: IR 4.0 Applications 1343
CNC Computer numerically controlled

CPS Cyber-physical systems
CST Construction Support System
CTC Common Tool Chain
DET Data Encryption Strategy
DT Digital Twin
EI External integration
ES External systems
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GIS Geographic Information System
GPS Global Positioning System
HCM Hybrid Cloud Model
HDP Hardware defined product
HI Horizontal integration
IaaS Infrastructure as a Service
II Internal integration
IoT Internet of Things
IR Industrial revolution
LCDM Loose Construction Data Management
LDM Loose data management
MR Mixed reality
NF Network Fabric
NIST National Institute for Standards in Technologies
OSS Operational support system
PaaS Platform as a Service
PrCM Private Cloud Model
PuCM Public Cloud Model
QR Quick response
RC Reinforced concrete
RFID Radio Frequency Identification
SaaS Software as a Service
SDP Software defined product
UAS Unmanned aerial system
UAV Unmanned aerial vehicle
UWB Ultra-Wide Band
VI Vertical integration
VR Virtual reality
XR X-reality
IR 4.0 in the Construction Sector
The transformation phase of the industry from mechanical, electrical, and comput-
erized revolution toward high technological strategy represents the fourth industrial
revolution or IR 4.0. The term IR 4.0 has been plagiaristic from the resultant
framework of IR 4.0, by following the concept that the construction sector has
potential to adopt more effective and efficient value chains, business models, and
production. This transformative model is achievable by confluence toward emerging
and existing technologies under IR 4.0 paradigm, which can enhance quality, safety,
resource efficiency, manage complexity, reduce cost overruns and project delays,
and improve productivity (Craveiro et al. 2019; Alaloul et al. 2018). In short, IR 4.0
framework is founded over the perception of IR 4.0, by the convergence of trends
and technologies (physical and digital) that have potential to reform the environment
of construction sector. The IR 4.0 is the digitalized era with Artificial Intelligence
(AI) which plays a core role in this revolution, along with intelligent technologies
and systems creating an active connection between the virtual and physical worlds.
Originally, IR 4.0 was applied and conceived for the manufacturing sector; however,
it has gradually but strongly influenced the construction sector with the digital
revolution (Dallasega et al. 2018). The construction sector is important for any
nation, as it brings investments along with a major contribution to the GDP. To
achieve productivity, the prospects and obstacles of construction sector vary from
the manufacturing sector. The construction sector is complex with a large number
of interlinked activities, sub-activities, and participating actors at various phases.
Generally, the projects in the construction sector are unique, customizable, with a
defined timeline, and on-site events are highly dependent on weather conditions.
They lack standardized specifications for materials, teams, and processes due to
its temporary nature. These complexities of projects in construction sector create
extreme uncertainties (Aigbavboa and Thwala 2020).
Construction sector did not show significant productivity and quality improve-
ment, by adopting IR 4.0 through digital technologies, in contrast with other
industries like aerospace where automotive have undergone major procedural
changes (Moon et al. 2020). Understanding the nature of this revolution is signif-
icant, which will transform the procedural methodologies of the industries around
the world. The exceptional digital technology revolution fuels this transformation
by exploring AI, quantum computing, digital fabrication, biotechnology, and 3D
printing. Whereas the construction sector is slow to adopt this transformation
as the adoption of digital technologies, intelligent systems, sensor systems, and
smart materials is a bit challenging for construction sector (Craveiro et al. 2019).
However, at the same time a paradigm shift has also been observed as various
stakeholders are embracing toward IR 4.0 with the belief that this transformation
would enable construction companies toward the improvement of productivity,
reducing cost overruns and project delays and enhancing resource efficiency, quality,
safety, and manage complexities (Ghaffar et al. 2018). Roland Berger (2016)
conducted a survey and concluded that 93% of construction stakeholders agreed that
implementation of digital tools affect each process by improving the outcome, but
only less than 6% of the companies are fully utilizing digitization techniques. Also,
a report from Boston Consulting Group (Gerbert et al. 2016) stated that, in non-
residential construction, within 10 years full transformation toward digitalization
will lead to annual global cost saving in construction and engineering phases up to
13–21% and operational phases will be saving up to 10–17%.
Technically, IR 4.0 is the digitalization toward the automated manufacturing
environment, which establishes the digital value network enabling interaction
between business partners, products, and environment. This digital value chain
helps in the planning and manufacturing of the products simultaneous, resulting
in improvement in the product quality and reduction of time to market. This
revolutionary advancement will interlink the existing environments recreated by the

developments around the globe with the aptitude of reversing the impacts triggered
by former industrial revolutions. Despite the vibrant benefits, the construction sector
is struggling with the adoption of IR 4.0 (Marr 2017). This incompatibility, within
the construction sector, is due to complications such as uncertainty, complexity,
culture, uniqueness, and fragmented supply chain. The complex nature of the
projects in the construction sector is due to the association of various stakeholders
and unpredictable environment which add complications by increasing the level of
uncertainty. The uniqueness and fragmented supply chain are the obstacles toward
the innovation, and they affect the capabilities of the construction companies.
Whereas the construction sector is also known for its reluctant culture toward
adopting new practices and technologies (Alaloul et al. 2016).
Revolution Timeline
Human civilization has had a substantial impact on the industrial culture, including
the construction sector. Control technology, energy power, and material are the
three basic aspects of technological revolution, determining the power modes and
operations of designed products, thereby establishing the scales and mode of social
perception, the ways society feel, and processes of recognizing knowledge for
beginning new living methods. The current advancements and developments in the
industrialization had been a lot influenced by the significant roles played by each
industrial revolution, since the beginning of the industrialization era in the 1700s.
Before the nineteenth century, limited material types were available, mostly man-
made and naturally available materials (e.g., concrete, mortar, timber, lime, and
stone) with clearly defined engineering limits such as building strength, height, and
weight (Maskuriy et al. 2019).
It begins, the first industrial revolution, by the introduction of the mechanical
looms (from 1760 to about 1830), in which mechanical equipment was driven by
the power of steam and water. This evolved the agricultural sector and enhanced
the economic structure. The steam and water experience led the heavy mechanical
industry to the manufacturing of new building materials such as steel, cast iron, and
glass, which enabled architects and engineers to construct buildings none imagined
before in terms of functionality, frame, and form (Alaloul et al. 2020). In the 1870s
the second industrial revolution (1870–1974) emerged by evolving the concept of
mass production with the introduction of electrical energy and production efficiency.
This revolution, based on the innovation of mapped knowledge onto technologies,
moved the industry to more efficient and cheap mass production of electricity,
railroads, and steel. The construction sector innovated in terms of architectural
designing toward lightening vertical spaces, introducing new prefabricated tech-
nologies and commencement of computer-aided design (CAD). The third industrial
revolution transpired in 1969, with the rise of electronics to the digital revolution.
This revolution transformed analogue mechanical and electronic devices into digital
technology. The presence of the Internet, personal computers, and information tech-
nology (IT) enabled digitization of analogue and mechanical processes, and mass
production was transformed into mass customization. This revolution created new
perspectives in architecture in relation to technologies by the implementation of 3D
CAD software with expanded limits and improved precision in designs. Computer
numerically controlled (CNC) fabrication technique was introduced for constructing
complex geometries by machine tools under coded instructions. CNC enabled the
computerized production, and mass customization of building components proved
to be a connector between computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and 3D CAD
models. This revolution enabled architecture digital tools and digital fabrication to
evolve toward the achievement of complex construction with unnecessary difficulty
and economical solutions. However, the basis of IR 4.0 or the fourth industrial
revolution has been evolved on the digital revolution, by connecting the users
(people) with the technologies. This revolution also presents the sustainability theme
to every component by supporting modern digital technologies and techniques in
the industry (Hidayatno et al. 2019). IR 4.0 refers to the integrated manufacturing
environment with the Internet of Services (IoS) and Internet of Things (IoT),
which enable industrial businesses to control and connect their factories, machinery,
and warehouse facilities, around the globe, sharing information through intelligent
cyber-physical systems that trigger actions (Gilchrist 2016). The construction sector
has merged the robotic technologies to achieve automation and to create building
components, elements, and furniture. The integrated environment of building
information modeling (BIM) with IoT and cloud computing enables the project
stakeholders to collaborate from various locations, to certify project deliverability
by enhancing the decision-making. This BIM-IoT integration maximizes produc-
tivity, optimizes energy efficiency, enhances information flow, improves security
and safety, along with resource planning, monitoring, and management (Craveiro
et al. 2019). On top of that, 3D printing is the computer-controlled sequential
layering of materials to create three-dimensional shapes. It is particularly useful for
prototyping and for the manufacture of geometrically complex components. While
clearly, 3D printing technology has proven beneficial in the medical, aerospace, and
tool-making arenas since its inception; however, the construction sector is lagging
in adopting it for full and large scale. Table 1 summarizes the details of industrial
revolution timeline along with their key contribution to the industry.
IR 4.0 is encompassing and broad term. The research community approved the
theory that the revolution toward IR 4.0 has been evolved with the transformation
to cyber-physical systems (CPS) from embedded systems. CPS is the group of
technologies that interlink the physical and virtual environments to construct a
productive network environment permitting the interaction and communication of
intelligent objects. Figure 1 illustrates the revolutionary path from Industry 3.0
toward IR 4.0, and it can be seen that IR 4.0 journey begins with the evolving of
embedded systems by networking toward CPS, provided by IoT along with data
and services (Sawhney et al. 2020).
Table 1 Industrial revolution timeline and key contributions (Li et al. 2018; Surmann et al. 2003;
Blaer and Allen 2007)
Industry 1.0 Industry 2.0 Industry 3.0 IR 4.0
Country Britain Europe/USA Japan Germany

Year 1760 1870 1969 2012
Type Age of steam Age of electricity Age of Cyber-
computing physical
systems
Description Power Mass production Computer-aided Internet of
equipment manufacturing Things
(CAM) (IoT)
Key contri- Mechanical Large-scale iron Production Big data
butions production. production. automation. analytics.
New raw Electrical energy, Leveraging Smart
materials, chiefly steam power, and electrical manufacturing.
iron and steel. petroleum. mechanization. Cloud computing.
New energy Skyscrapers. Information and Industrial IoT.
resources – water Telephones and technology. Additive
and steam power. telegraphs, Telecommunication. manufacturing.
New machines – typewriter, First PLC. Virtualization.
Spinning Jenny phonograph, Industrial Machine learning.
and the Power motion pictures. robotics. Smart sensors.
loom. Widespread use of Computer and
Factory system, machinery in automation,
division of labor, manufacturing. electronic and
specialization. Chemical, rubber, nuclear
The locomotive paper mills, industries.
Iron, coal, fertilizers. Internet and
textile, steam Automobile, World Wide
industries. airplanes, diesel Web.
Watt and engines, bicycles, Business
Newcomen. railroads. computers,
Steam Engines New forms of supercomputers,
Expansion of business business
world trade. organizations. software.
Applied science.
Figure 2 shows the popular research trends in Construction 4.0 in the last 5 years,
that is, 2015–2020, by the research community (Zabidin et al. 2020). It can be
illustrated that BIM and virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR)/mixed reality
(MR) has been the topmost renowned areas among researchers in the domain of
Construction 4.0 for the aforementioned defined duration.
Technological Evolution
IoT, Data, and Services
Cyber Physical Systems
INDUSTRY 3.0 IR 4.0

Network Embedded
Systems
Embedded Systems
Fig. 1 Evolution of embedded systems
BIM
VR/ AR/ MR
Simulation Additive Manufacturing 3D Printing
IoT Cloud Computing Robotics
Big Data RFID Supply Chain Health Safety
AI CPS Labour productivity Waste Management Risk Management
Fig. 2 Key research trends in Construction 4.0 since 2015–2020
Building Blocks of IR 4.0
IR 4.0 is changing the working environment, methodologies, processes, and atti-

tude of the stakeholders. This innovative revolution is developed on the existing
industrial technologies (Industry 3.0) by reorganizing them for provision of superior
coordinated services. The IR 4.0 has two broad foundations, the first is grounded
on the hardware or physical elements, and the second is based on the software
or technologies (Nayyar and Kumar 2020). The first type consists of four basic
physical or hardware elements, that is, smart sensors, control systems, connectivity,
and smart factory, which set the foundation of IR 4.0.
Smart Sensors
The IR 4.0 is functioning under the core network of CPS and IoT, which makes
smart sensors as the founding stones of the IR 4.0, as sensors provide a wide
range of functions to support these technologies and they are considered as the first
layer of the foundation. Smart sensors are used for the virtual big data gatherings
about the processes, activities, and working environment. Sensors have wireless
capabilities to communicate, anomalous activities detection, and synthesizing data
using cloud computed interfaces. Few of the examples of smart sensors in the
construction sector are Global Positioning System (GPS), Radio Frequency Identifi-
cation (RFID), Barcoding and Quick Response (QR) coding, etc., which are adopted
for various sensing/detection purposes. Moreover, sensors are being adopted for
several measuring or detection activities such as concrete temperature, RC structure
humidity, displacement pre-warning for formworks/scaffolding, pressure sensors for
bearing capacity of pile foundations, etc.
Control Systems
The control systems are considered as the brain of the operational process, and they
are used to observe the workable conditions of the equipment and any critical event.
The control systems, such as sensor network, data acquisition systems, and control
devices, deployed in the working facility are often centralized or de-centralized.
One of the practical examples for the control systems in the construction sector is
progress monitoring through man operated drones and transferring of data in the
form of images.
Connectivity
The control systems supervise the working environment and data acquisition
process by sensors; however, these whole operations will be of no use if required
information is not communicated to the end-user or centralized server. This
communication of information between ends is achieved through networking and
connectivity provided by using Internet or intranet and various linking technologies
such as servers, routers, and switches. The very theme of IR 4.0 is based on the
concept of connectivity, that is, everything is connected, and communication is the
blood flow of this fourth industrial revolution.
Smart Factory
The overall concept of IR 4.0 is based on smart factory, which is considered the
heart of the fourth industrial revolution. The smart factory has the capability to
autonomously perform entire operations, to learn from the real-time conditions by
self-adaptation and over a wide range of network performing self-optimization as
being flexible systems. The smart factory controls and covers the entire communi-
Fig. 3 First foundation type

of IR 4.0 based on physical or
hardware elements Smart Factories
Connectivity
Control systems
Smart Sensors
cation or transfer of information for operational processes between technologies and

end-users, interlinked by the CPS through the IoT. Building management system or
facility management system is one of the examples that reflect the concept of the
smart factory in the construction sector. Figure 3 shows the first foundation type of
IR 4.0 based on physical or hardware elements.
The second foundation type of IR 4.0 is based on software or technologies. In
the manufacturing industry, the key technologies and concepts, incorporated by this
revolution, are known as the nine pillars of IR 4.0, which are shown in Fig. 4.
However, studies performed by Oesterreich and Teuteberg (2016) and Alaloul
et al. (2020) on the implication of IR 4.0 in the domain of construction sector iden-
tified overall 17 different concepts, synonyms, and technologies under three main
clusters for IR 4.0 in the construction sector. Table 2 illustrates the aforementioned
key IR 4.0 technologies and concepts in the context of the construction sector.
However, in Fig. 5, a theoretical framework has been developed, for understand-
ing, based on these factors and a few sub-factors. It can be observed that the overall
IR.4.0 framework in the construction sector is primarily based on the theme of
automation and digitization, which is supported by IoT. Cloud computing is one
of the strengths of the IR 4.0 framework, which allows the data to be stored and
accessed, irrespective of the user’s location. Data can be stored in the cloud via
any digital device such as laptops, desktops, or even smartphones. These powerful
layers strengthen the overall IR 4.0 framework, and it allows other various IR 4.0
processes/technologies such as additive manufacturing, BIM, big data management,
PLM, etc., for successful operations.
Data Origination in Construction Sector
There are three categories of data origination in construction sector, that is, Data
Emitter, Data Pathway, and Data Source. The Data Emitter is a body from which the
data is generated. These bodies act as an onsite/offsite data generators. Data Pathway
Horizontal and Vertical

Integration
AR
Augmented Reality Cyber Physical Systems (CPS)
Big Data Analytics Cloud Computing

4.0
Cyber Security
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
Advanced Robots 3D Printing
Fig. 4 Nine pillars of IR 4.0 in the manufacturing industry
forms a way for the emitted data to reach back to its assigned source. A fluent
pathway means smooth collaboration in between the source and the emitter. The
Data Source on the other hand is the silo of commands on behalf of which the data is
generated, emitted, and transferred. The data source is the final destination of all the
data originated and it is this part of the configuration which propels the direction of
an organization to reach the initial goal set. For the debated configuration to work,
the data source/data silo first produces a command on the basis of organizational
requirement to fulfill a certain task to its subordinates. These subordinates to whom
the command is transmitted are known as the data emitters. These data emitters or
data generators carry forward the commands acquired from the data source. Once
these commands are fulfilled and associated data is generated these data sets are
carried forward via the data pathways who are also the subordinates of the data
source. The data pathways after performing data organization forward the modified
sets to data source/silo. This process of data origination and its propagation via
various domains is illustrated in Fig. 6.
Table 2 Key technologies and concepts in IR 4.0

Clusters Key technologies and concepts in context of IR 4.0
Smart factory Cyber-physical systems (CPS)/embedded systems
Internet of Things (IoT)/Internet of Services (IoS)
Modularization/prefabrication
Automation
Product-lifecycle-management (PLM)
Additive manufacturing
Robotics
Building management system (BMS)
Human-computer interaction (HCI)
Simulation tools/simulation models
Simulation and modeling Building information modeling (BIM)
Augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR)/mixed reality
(MR)
Cloud computing
Digitization and virtualization Big data
Mobile computing
Social media
Digitization
Managing the Originated Data
Considering the process of data origination as a basic building block within a

construction organization, the data management is the shell configuration keeping
a firm hold on the whole organizational configuration. This applies in the same
way to the data management in construction sector in which varied roles are
assigned with diversified tasks. Each of these diverse tasks assigned to individual
building stakeholders plays an important part in chaining a better collaboration.
Management of the construction data can be further categorized into two categories:
the first category is loose data management (LDM) and the second category is data
governance.
Within an organization it happens quite often that although the acquisitioned
data is rich but still the final output is not effectively rendered. This phenomenon
is known as loose data management. Assigning these values within a construction
organization is referred to as the loose construction data management (LCDM). An
organization that does not follow a proper framework may reap huge losses even
though the grass root level subordinates are efficiently producing outputs.
Applying the correct tools and techniques to organize the acquisitioned data is
directly related to how well the data is being governed (Abraham et al. 2019). A
well-governed data includes the data agreement policies, the accountabilities, the
decision structures, and the enforcement rules. This concept of data management
which includes the stated qualities is known as the data governance. Assigning
these flows within a construction organization is referred to as the construction
data governance (CDG). Moreover, managing the data is not data governance, but
Automation
Digitization
IoT/ IoS
Cloud Computing
HCI
Big Data BIM CPS
BMS Sensors
Additive Manufacturing Simulation Tools/ Models
AR/ VR/ MR
3D Printing
Smart Materials
Prefabrication Robotics
PLM
Fig. 5 Theoretical framework of IR 4.0 factors and sub-factors
Performs actions Data Pathway Transmits the Commands certain

based on data source Fetches the Emitted gathered generated set of actions to be
to generate and then data generated data to the command committed to
emit data sets. source generate data
Data Emitter Data Source/Silo
Fig. 6 Data flow illustrating the data origination and its propagation in an organization
managing the data in a correct way produces good organizational outputs, that is,
data governance is the implementation of disciplined rules and regulations across
the organization, for example, transparency, standardization, and accountability.
ORGANIZATION
LOOSE MANAGEMENT DATA GOVERNANCE
0% 100%
POOR PERFORMANCE GOOD PERFORMANCE
Fig. 7 Poor vs good performance of an organization based on management principles
Figure 7 illustrates the management performances of organization based on loose

management in comparison to the data governance.
Digital Data in Construction Sector
As the construction sector progresses and new methods of construction are being
implied into the sector, the rigorous requirements for the mandatory data handling
are becoming essential for small to multinational firms. A good data management
sits fit with the security and compliance, and data governance ensures an optimized
management of data. Just like in any other field, within construction sector it is
mandatory that the fetched data is having accuracy, up to date, right purposed, with
consistency, and completeness. In order to ensure the sustainability of acquisitioned
data the relevant data operations are needed. Data operations are incorporated within
the data lifecycle which secondarily is also connected to the data security. This
concern of data security is directly related to the data backups, in case of a disaster
recovery and its flow within the internal and external entities. Metrics, analysis,
configuration management, and risk management also add into the supporting
processes in the digital data transition and transformations in the construction
sector.
Construction Sector Data Management in IR 4.0
Data can be of various types in construction sector, it can either take the form of dig-
ital bits or verbal communication (CanBIM 2020). In case of verbal communication
and external affiliations it can reside in the Communication Integration, whereas if
the information is in the form digits, it can reside into the Big Data. The Big Data
can be sourced from the IoT products, external cloud servers, or the cyber-physical
systems. Thus, with such large amounts of data produced from the construction
sector management framework becomes essential.
BIM Data Dimensions
The Building Information Modeling is a process in which rich data sets are
integrated within a model to connect to the ongoing construction project. As the
project progresses through the different stages, the level of development within
a building information model also elevates to various stages. Taking BIM into
reference, this model can be used for any number of specified purposes which are
commonly referenced as Use Cases, and according to the project stage requirements
and the complexity associated with the projects undertaken, specific parameters
are needed to be attached to the existing system of information linked to the BIM
model. These predefined additions are known as BIM dimensions. Although their
purposes in a BIM model are different but overall, their primary purpose contributes
to enhancing the associated data with the model generated, in a way that a greater
level of understanding is developed for a construction project. In recent times in
regard to the BIM, the Building Information Modeling has evolved itself from the
very basics of three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) models to more
complicated 5D, 6D, and 7D models dimensions, as shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 8 All the BIM dimensions

3D BIM Data
In Building Information Modeling, 3D is known as the third dimension, and it
corresponds to the geometry of a construction model, which represents the three
geographical dimensions. The third dimension of BIM gathers the graphical data
of the digitalized geometry. It is the commonly known dimension, as it refers to
the “visible” part of a BIM model. The 3D BIM model includes collaborative
and streamlined 3D visualizations which support reduced rework instances among
diverse teams of experts on a construction project. Linking different specific models
into a federated model, which allows to develop a clash free project. Model
walkthroughs, clash detection, project visualization, virtual mock-up models, and
prefabrication are among the outputs that a BIM model may provide.
4D BIM Data
The fourth dimension of the BIM data is related to the duration and scheduling
of a construction project and used for construction site planning related activities.
The information provided in the 4D BIM database model helps to elaborate the
time taken for any number of installations and the time needed for the operational
sequences aligned to the schedules. It is possible to visualize and to control the
progress of the activities through the lifetime of the project. Some benefits of
4D BIM model include early detection of conflicts, enhanced site planning, early
preparedness, reduced delays, and elevated safety. Builders and manufacturers can
optimize their activities; all the deliveries can be managed following the “just in
time” approach, thereby reducing storage needs. In addition to these, the efficiency
of documentation for the entire construction project is also enhanced by the 4D BIM
data model.
5D BIM Data
The 5D BIM data model is linked to the cost estimation and the budget analysis and
tracking for any construction project. The fifth dimension BIM data model enables
the construction stakeholders within a project to analyze the costs affiliated with the
project activities. The 5D BIM model can accurately predict the budgetary require-
ments settled with the predefined scopes of material and human resources essential
for a project. Quantities may be extracted directly and instantly from the BIM
model with a high accuracy level. By assigning unit cost to the extracted quantities,
we automatically obtain precise and reliable cost analysis. Further benefits include
real-time cost fluctuations, interactive cost visualizations, autonomous component
counting, cost spending over time, and early identification of budgetary of shoots.
As a result, if the total cost does not reflect the client’s request, the designer may
efficiently proceed with real-time amendments and change impact assessment.
6D BIM Data
The sixth dimension of a BIM data model is related to the self-sustainability
and energy efficiency used for energy assessment during the design phase and
operational phase of construction project model. The 6D BIM model associates
itself with the energy efficiency analysis. It is also accompanied by the estimates
of energy consumption within the initial design stage, which accounts for ensuring
an accurate energy consumption model. An efficient data collection from installed
sensors enables to better understand the building’s performance and define a strategy
aiming to optimize the building’s energy consumption. The benefits of a 6D
Building Information Modeling data model include reduction in a prolonged run
energy consumption, component installation decision-making in the early design
process, analyzing the impact of operational aspects over the construction project
life cycle, and enhanced operational management aspects.
7D BIM Data
The seventh dimension of the Building Information Modeling is linked to the
holistic facility management for the entire construction project lifecycle. It is used
to extract and collect relevant information related to the operation and maintenance
status of the facility throughout its life cycle. The 7D BIM data model is handy for
the managers and the construction stakeholders in regard to the importance of asset
tracking, which includes the maintenance and operation manuals of the ongoing
project, and the technical specifications where BIM model’s data can definitely
make the difference. These aspects can be of high use in future construction projects
or in the future maintenance of the current project. Some benefits of the 7D BIM
data model include optimized facility management data assets and streamlined
maintenance procedures. Starting a Facility Management program based on reliable
extracted information from an as-built BIM provides the most effective solutions for
the management of a building.
Communication Integrations in Construction Sector of IR 4.0
There are four kinds of communication integrations within the IR 4.0sector, that is,
vertical integration (VI), horizontal integration (HI), external integration (EI), and
internal integration (II). All of these are discussed in the following sections.
Vertical Integration (VI)

In construction sector many stakeholders are not clear about their values, mission,
and the vision of their everyday tasks. In this case the vertical integration can be
quite helpful, which aligns the building communication parallel to the construction
firm/organization objectives for a consistent communication framework.
Horizontal Integration (HI)

The horizontal integration aligns the construction firms/organizations, their capabil-
ities, and strategies to develop an integrated structure. In short, this technique assigns
the right construction stakeholders to the right positions. These stakeholders are then
further trained to contribute more toward the success of the firms/organization.
External Integration (EI)

The purpose of external integration within the construction sector is to create a
seamless client/potential customer experience across all the external touch points.
These external touch points include all the means of verbal or in-verbal contacts
made by the construction organization to engage the current or the potential clients.
Internal Integration (II)

Many times, the internal employees of a particular construction firm/organization
mismatch are not clear about the perception of the organization goals, which
produces a trickledown effect in regard to the clients creating a varied perception.
This results in two different kinds of firm/organization perceptions. The Internal
Integration within Construction sector deals with aligning the employee-based per-
ception to the client-based perception inside and outside of the firms/organizations
for a consistent messaging and organization image propulsion.
Big Data in Construction Sector with IR 4.0
The construction sector is no exception to the overwhelming digital revolution and

large amounts of data generated as a result. During the life cycle of a facility, the
construction sector handles significant data across different disciplines. Modeling of
building information is intended to systematically capture multidimensional CAD
data in support of integrative cooperation between stakeholders. In general, BIM
data is encoded and computed in a variety of patented and crossover formats in 3D
geometric format. Correspondingly, these various data are obtained in BIM models
that are slowly expanded and retained until the end-of-life of installations. With
the design data of a three-story construction model, BIM files will easily become
bulky with size ranging higher than 50 GB. Such data have visible significance for
the industry’s success in all ways and shapes. In addition, installations have started
producing huge data during operations and maintenance, leading to richer sources
of Big BIM Data, with the introduction of embedded devices and sensors. A massive
volume of BIM data has brought the construction sector into the Big Data age (Han
and Golparvar-Fard 2017).
Three V’s of Big Data in Construction

Big Data has three defining characteristics as shown in Fig. 9: (a) the volume
(terabytes, data petabytes and more); (b) variety (heterogeneous formats, such as
text, sensors, audio, video, and graphs), and (c) the velocity/speed (continuous
information streams). While handling the construction data three “V’s” of Big
Data are obvious, typically, broad, heterogeneous, and dynamic construction data.
Due to large volumes of design data, schedules, ERP systems, financial data,
etc., construction data is expansive. The different formats of construction data are
available for use in construction sector applications which include drawing short,
DXF, DGN, design short, RVT (Revit short), ifcXML (XML Industry Foundation
VARIETY
V2
VOLUME VELOCITY
V3
V1
BIG DATA
Fig. 9 Three V’s in Big Data with respect to construction
Classes), IFC OWL (Industry Foundation Classes OWL), Microsoft DOC/XLS/PPT

(Microsoft formats), RM/MPG (video formats), and JPEG. The nature and extent
of the building data is derived from the streaming nature of data sources such as
sensors, IoT devices, BMS, and RFID.
Big Data Engineering and Analytics

The next threshold for innovation in the construction sector is to use these data
to optimize construction and operations. Two complementary factors are required
to be differentiated to grasp the subtleties of Big Data: Big Data Engineering
(BDE) and Big Data Analytics (BDA). The BDE environment mainly supports
the requisite data storage and processing activities for analytical purposes. The
BDE contains arrays including the Big Data Analytics Stack (BDAS). The second
integral aspect of Big Data Analytics (BDA) is the task of extracting knowledge to
facilitate decision making processes. BDA’s purpose is to identify and gain valuable
information from the hidden trends found inside Big Data. These observations
into the future of many sectors can be shaped by data-driven decision-making.
Throughout this hyper-competitive age this capacity to quickly detect, grasp, and
respond to latent patterns is indeed a competitive construction advantage.
Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT) in Construction Sector

Informatics and data collection are an old process but acquisitioning big sets of
data is a recent thing and that is where the big data concept jumps in. This big
data in modern construction sector is mostly retrieved from the internal sensors
and the external systems connected to the IoT products. The data extracted through
the IoT products is organized based on the big data analytics. Based on these
analytics the insight data models are formed which drive the software defined
products (SDP). These data sets are analyzed in two ways: analytic visualization
using the descriptive analytics and previously retrieved data set crunching via the
diagnostic analytics. These analytical models can then be used for the future data
prediction and this is done in two ways: predictive analytics, which matches the
current data signature failures, and prescriptive analytics, which receives the results
form predictive analytics and on behalf of those results it reverse engineers the
problems that may be encountered.
Concept of IoT in Construction Sector
IoT is a modern concept of enhancing and extending the current internet approach
into the real-time physical world, this exceeded approach adjoins the connectivity
of the Internet to the connectivity of things, and by this phenomenon of connected
things via an Internet source the name of IoT is derived.
Software Defined Product (SDP)
SDP is the soul of an IoT system. It is basically the physical product’s virtual
representation. In this case, by the term IoT product a discrete system is meant.
The SDP is centered in between the HDP and ES linked to the Network Fabric
just like HDP and ES. SDP consists of two components, the Application and the
Cyber Model. In other words SDP is a simulation of the incorporated functionalities
within an IoT product, which projects and reflects the analytics of the undertaken.
Due to this quality the SDP is also known as the “Digital Twin” of the actual
physical IoT product. The SDP is a key source of distinguishing the IoT product
from the connected or smart devices and it is this virtualization that gives it control
(Hendricks 2019).
Hardware Defined Product (HDP)
One of the four key components of an IoT system is the HDP. The HDP consists of
an embedded system. This embedded system runs on real-time operating system
(RTOS). The purpose of embedded systems within the HDP is to collect and
sometimes process data from the edge and then forward them to the application
through the network. The edge may be either in the product or distributed in
the device or environment due to the design of an IoT product. HDP consists
of connected sensors, actuators, and the embedded systems. There are two main
configurations for the embedded systems connected to the sensors: standalone
sensors and array connected sensors (ACS). The standalone incorporates single
sensors, whereas the ACS incorporates a single embedded system with varied
sensors connected to the newer products within the IoT product system. The sensor
collects physical environment data. The actuator modifies the element mechanically.
The embedded system collects and packs the data and transmits the data to the
application over the network. It can also perform the data processing, analysis, or
monitoring as well. The HDP collects and transmits internal sensory data to the SDP
where it is processed via the operational technology network.
Network Fabric (NF)
The role of NF is to transmit internal data and external data from the hardware-
defined product to the SDP from external systems as illustrated in Fig. 10. It is
made up of the OT network, IT network, Uplink, Product Cloud, and the Internet.
The role of NF is more than just basic connectivity, and its functionality also
includes the distribution of platform for computation aligned with the networking.
It also supports the data storage and its adjustment in the layers and protocol
communication. There are three main protocols in IoT: Media Layer, Network
Layer, and the Application Layer. The role of media layer is to organize the radio
transmitted data, whereas the Network layer organizes the data to be transmitted to
either IT or OT network. The Application layer is related to the contextual data along
with the application’s payload. The payload first comes through sensors, folded in
application protocol, which is further wrapped in the network protocol providing
network the essential information about the data path. This network protocol is
further folded in the media layer in order to be connected to the radios. The NF also
incorporates an IoT Product Cloud. The IoT Product Cloud includes the Application
Protocols, Development Tools, Analytic Packages, and the API’s for Data Services.
The IoT platform via the niche of NF combines all these IoT parts for an efficient
IoT Product functionality.
Embedded Systems
SAS HDP
ACS IoT
Components
Application Modal
Analytics
SDP
Cyber Modal ES Data Services
NF IoT Product Source
Fig. 10 Flow of SDP, HDP, NF, and ES as IoT components

External Systems (ES)
All data sources on the Internet accessible through an API are included in the
External Systems as shown in Fig. 10. ES has three central components. The first
is the analytics, in which the acquisitioned data is transformed into the bits of
information. Second is the data services, via which the clients provide product
relevant operational data. The third is the source of IoT products, which produces
an interfacing distinguishing IoT product from the connected and smart products.
The virtualized IoT product is able to interface with external systems, leading to
an access to humongous software available functionalities, and changing the way a
physical product is defined.
Cloud Computing in Construction Sector
The construction organizations can integrate their tasks via cloud computing
providing them the ability to leverage big data extracted from the remote sensors
or external systems connected to the IoT products. Cloud computing is a revolution
via information technology that is exchanging the way construction organizations
consume the computing facilities, alongside providing a leveled communication and
online integration system. For instance, many construction routine choirs for which
BIM is utilized incorporates cloud computing.
In the last decade due to cloud computing, organizations have communicated
more efficiently and cost effectively. In the first few years of cloud-based usage,
organizations can save millions, and this is achieved not only in the operational
efficiencies of cloud-based computing, but also in agility and ability to react to
changes within their respective building domains. Hosting apps and data in the
past meant that construction organizations needed costly hardware and software. In
addition, it was also important to rent or build space in the data center to house the
organization’s focused hardware and software requirements. The National Institute
for Standards in Technologies (NIST) stated five characteristics of cloud computing:
Ubiquitous Network Access, Self Service on Demand, Resource Pooling, Pay Per
Use, and Rapid Elasticity.
On the other hand, there are three kinds of delivery models defined by the
NIST: the Software as a Service (SaaS), the Platform as a Service (PaaS), and
the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The applications that are rented over the
Internet via a cloud are categorized into SaaS. The online storage capabilities that an
organization uses fall into the category of IaaS. PaaS deals with the creation, testing,
and deployment of the framework for applications that organizations can leverage
on request. Basically, PaaS is cloud replacement of offline application development,
that is, an application development, its deployment, and hosting a version over the
cloud. An example of IaaS is the Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and
MS Azure (Carey 2020), whereas an example of PaaS includes Google App Engine
for the development and hosting of over the cloud applications. There are three kinds
of Cloud Deployment Models (CDMs) according to NIST: Private Cloud Model

(PrCM), Public Cloud Model (PuCM), and Hybrid Cloud Model (HCM). PrCM
means that an enterprise is fitted with its own cloud hardware. Its main purpose is
the sole use to accommodate private cloud functions and computing capabilities for
an organization. PuCM means that an organization uses non-owned hardware and
software to exploit cloud infrastructure over the open Internet, whereas within the
HCM both the PuCM and PrCM let an organization to run the cloud deployment
workloads simultaneously or standalone.
Cloud Security
For an organization, the security to its data assets is a basic aspect to stand tall
in competing market. Cloud is also a data asset to an organization and a cloud
that is unprotected may fall down sooner or later. To ensure a safer cloud security
two stages must be understood and followed: Cloud Security Planning, and Cloud
Security Requirements.
First, an organization investing in cloud computing needs a foundation of security
providing the basic security. Being proactive, driving Standardization, providing
clarity on security policies, and measuring the communicated outputs are some
basic cloud security planning procedures. As the construction sector is subjected
to modernize each passing day there are no certain requirements for cloud security
but for an optimum level of cloud security this section focuses on few, that is,
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to ensure the programmatic access and
the security features, Repositories, for cloud computing entity tracking, Centralized
logs for events taking place, Monitoring and Integration for taking a quick glance
on all the undergoing operations. Alongside, it is also necessary to leverage from
the consistency across all cloud platforms. Data Encryption Strategy (DET) and
Common Tool Chain (CTC) also form an essential part of operational support
systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS), which can also be called
as the Construction Support System (CST), as the business in the current focus is
related to construction. A blueprint for the security implementation of On-premise
shared security services based on cloud systems in addition to pre-planned event
management and one touch deploys also form an essential requirement of security
in cloud-based systems (Fig. 11).
Cyber Security in Construction Sector
For a medium to high-level organization, Internet-based services are important,

which has subsequently created new forms of electronic disruptions, vandalism, and
crimes that impact the construction stakeholders. Cyber protection in IR 4.0 has thus
become a primary safeguard against organized cyber-crime as a means of shielding
computers and Internet connected services. The IoT products and Cloud services
PrCM PuCM HCM SaaS PaaS IaaS
DEPLOYMENT MODELS DELIVERY MODELS
CHARACTERISTICS
CLOUD Ubiquitous Network Access
COMPUTING Self Service on Demand
Resource Pooling
Pay Per Use
Rapid Elasticity
CLOUD SECURITY
Fig. 11 A cloud computing service model
are the two categories in IR 4.0 which are more prone to cyber-attacks as discussed
in the following sections.
Cyber Security Standards for IoT Products
The Internet is a word for anything that is not a laptop, server, or personal computer
linked to the Internet. The interconnection of computers embedded in everyday
objects across the Web enables them to send and receive data is one of the dictionary
concepts of the Internet. A broader description of the Internet as a computer
system, mechanical and digital devices, objects, animals, or people with specific
identificators and the ability to transmit data over a network without needing contact
between human to human and device.
The IoT Alliance Australia, which is part of the Australian Communications
Alliance, is one of the first organizations to provide Internet security advice. In
February 2017, the IoT Alliance Australia (IoTA 2017) issued its baseline security
guidance on the Internet providing an insight to IoT technology and industries. It
incorporated the development of IoT devices, legal problems, resilience, privacy,
security, and issues of survival. It must also be noted that although there is no
definitive set of IoT security checks, still OWASP and GSMA provide a general
guidance. In its Security Guideline, the IoT Security Foundation has released
the most comprehensive control set, proposing 142 controls categorized into 13
compliance aspects. Here you can see the 13 areas of enforcement. Four compliance
classes for an IoT product are also subjected here, that is, Class 0, Class 1, Class 2,
and Class 3. Class 0 relates to a discernible impact on an organization/individual.
Class 1 relates to having a limited impact on an organization/individual. Class
2 devices are designed to resist attacks which can have significant impact on
organization/individual. Class 3 devices provide additional data security layer,
whereas the devices in Class 4 are the ones that can affect or cause humanoid/critical
damage to infrastructures.
Cyber Security Standards for Cloud Services
As discussed earlier that there are three types of widely used cloud deployment:
IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. Security controls are often important to protect the cloud
system from a secure job. But when using controls for cloud, there are certain
differences, and some new controls must be taken into consideration. In order for
the cloud services to be secure a set of standards needs to be followed. One such
standard is provided by the International Standards Organization, that is, ISO 27000
which is also known as the ISO 27017 (ISO 2017). Another guideline is provided
by the NIST, that is, SP 800–144. But the most commonly used is provided by the
Cloud Security Alliance, that is, “Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in
Cloud Computing.”
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in Construction Sector
A cyber-physical system (CPS) is a computer system where computer-based

algorithms control or monitor a mechanism. Physical and software components
are deeply interconnected in cyber-physical systems, and are able to function at
multiple spatial scales, and different behavior mechanisms to communicate in
aspects that alter with user provided settings. CPS covers a range of different
products connected to IoT products which are further linked to the industrial control
systems and robotics. The process control included within the CPS is often called
as the Embedded Systems, in which the computational elements are more focused,
and a lesser link is represented between the physical and computational components
of connected products. It must also be noted here that although the IoT and the
CPS share the same frameworks but within the CPS more focus is laid on the
coordinated combination of the hardware and software products. In context of the IR
4.0, the CPS can be well connected to the Advanced Robotics, Augmented Reality
(AR)/Virtual Reality (VR), and 3D printing technologies.
Applications of CPS in Construction Sector
Robotics, AR/VR, and 3D printing are advanced applications that form a part of
Construction sector, well connected under the umbrella of CPS. These applications
of CPS can be integrated mechanically in the form of IoT sensors or via computa-
tional Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs to seamlessly work in collaboration to
other robotics of the same or varied types according to server assigned protocols
(Chen 2017). The Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can be
integrated with the routine choirs’ onsite/offsite in monitoring and training the
employees. 3D printing on the other hand can be used with varied composite
materials connected to IoT products to produce the constructions prototypes or 1:1
scale building model from a CAD to reality.
Applications of IR 4.0 in Construction Sector
The theme of IR 4.0 has been integrated with the construction sector and is being
applied in various domains. Few of the important applications of IR 4.0 in the
construction sector are discussed in the following sections.
Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR)
IR 4.0 technology already permeates many construction processes and practices.

The construction sector is experiencing significant changes due to the increasing
usage of technologies, which contribute toward the integration, sustainability, and
optimization of construction processes across the project’s life cycle (Manzoor et al.
2021a). Despite a considerable number and variety of available technology, the lack
of coordination and information exchange between stakeholders appears to be a
contributing factor to unsatisfactory industry outcomes. In recent times, the VR
and AR have gained a lot of popularity in the construction sector (Sawhney et al.
2020), and they are becoming part of various construction processes. VR and AR
are different techniques under the same technology category; however, they can be
integrated for various purposes.
Virtual Reality (VR) in the Construction Sector

VR refers to software-generating computing devices that generate interactive envi-
ronment by replicating a user’s physical appearance by creating realistic images,
sounds, and other experiences. In order to imagine and grasp technical challenges,
project members use VR to mitigate uncertainty. During planning, VR can be
used for spatial architecture, risk management, landscaping, and lighting design,
and during construction, it can be used for the project estimation, scheduling,
configuration, and the analysis of construction processes. BIM and VR combine
to provide new opportunities to build an efficient communication platform, which
helps stakeholders to understand the project from a first-person perspective, espe-
cially those with lack of experience and expertise (Alizadehsalehi et al. 2020).
VR-based techniques have been utilized in the construction sector for various
purposes, including collaborative design reviews and training sessions (Mohsen
et al. 2019). These simulated scenario-based training have advantages in various
construction areas such as human-building interaction studies, construction safety
training, heavy equipment operation training, disaster evacuation training, and
immersive design review. The integration of VR technology with BIM enhances
the design review processes by facilitating efficient communication and evaluation
of the project by stakeholders simultaneously, irrespective of their location. It is
important to note that VR framework does not address design problems by itself but
requires a collaborative process that typically includes multidisciplinary teams and
strategic evaluation of design solutions. Stakeholders have the opportunity to discuss
a concept together at joint VR-based design review sessions, through visualizing
and walking through the designed 3D models (Heydarian et al. 2017). VR strategies
are also useful for safety preparation in the pre-construction processes, in which
possible hazards can be detected and handled before the actual work begins. Risky
areas can be identified and highlighted for workers’ safety. Also, builders and
heavy equipment operators in construction receive hands-on training in immersive
environments that simulate their experience on a real worksite without exposing
them to a real risk (Li et al. 2018).
Augmented Reality (AR) in the Construction Sector

AR is an overlay of real-world computer-generated content that can interact
superficially with the environment in real-time. Moreover, no occlusions between
real-world content and computer-generated content are observed with AR. AR
is an interface that overlays digital information onto the user’s field of view,
spatially aligned to the current physical world environment and linking the virtual
environment to the real world while retaining the versatility of the virtual world.
AR allows virtual content to be incorporated seamlessly into real scenes, the human
perceptions of the environment and enhancing people’s ability to influence the
outside world. During the construction process, the actual construction environment
can be overlaid with virtual knowledge using AR technology, which helps staff to
intuitively get environmental status and to understand working as well as safety
regulations in a better way.
Most AR applications in the construction sector consist of simulation systems
capable of combining live environment scenes with data obtained from BIM
databases. Construction managers may use the mobile AR on the worksite to track
construction progress by visually comparing the planned with the actual completion
of the project, whereby a 4D BIM model is superimposed on live videos of
construction work. In recent years, AR devices have become precise and adequately
wearable to support field staff in the operation of vehicles, building, and facilities
by showing cross-active visual overlays with guidance on how to carry out their
tasks. Mobile AR provides visual diagrams, instructions, and technical information
to maintenance workers overlaid on actual control panels (You and Feng 2020).
Mixed Reality (MR)

Mixed reality (MR) is a “reality spectrum,” as shown in Fig. 12, which combines
the best aspects of AR and VR. MR ranges between pure “reality,” as seen by
a user without computer-intervention, and pure “virtual reality,” which involves
a computer-generated environment in which the user has no interaction with the
physical world.
By the end of 2014, the emergence of powerful MR applications and devices
backed by impressive advancements in computer processing power, and this gave
fame to low latency tracking VR and AR techniques in the construction sector.
MIX REALITY
Real Virtual
Augmented Reality Augmented Virtuality
Environment Environment
Fig. 12 MR reality spectrum
MR techniques can be used for different purposes, in different phases of a

construction project life cycle. MR systems are advanced visualization tools and
can enhance construction activities, such as design analysis, security education,
construction, and facility management, which depend on or benefit from access to
visual information. Their primary objective is to improve communication and the
exchange of information among stakeholders. Therefore, in the construction sector,
MR devices support collective decision-making and problem-solving. In fact, MR
technology has already begun to revolutionize the way construction professionals
conduct many of their duties, with significant impacts on design environments,
construction management, facility management, and training programs (Sawhney
et al. 2020).
Another revolutionary technology has evolved in this domain of VR, AR, and
MR known as Extended Reality, “X-Reality” or XR, and trademarked by Sony
Corporation. XR is referred to as all human-machine interactions, and virtual and
real integrated environments, which are generated by computer technology and
smart wearables. In other words, XR can be defined as an umbrella that brings
VR, AR, and MR together under the same environment or in other words XR
comprises of VR, AR, and MR, which lead users to experience more realistic
scenarios (Alizadehsalehi et al. 2020). A comparison between XR, AR, VR, and
MR, is shown in Fig. 13.
Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing in Construction Sector
The construction sector is a valuable economic driver; however, it requires a

large consumption of energy and resources. The modern construction projects are
experiencing a period of a drastic policy shift toward a sustainable and socioeco-
nomic environment. The manufacturing processes of the construction materials and
products account for the greatest amount of pollution during the entire production
life cycle. The introduction of 3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM) in the
construction sector has brought a positive impact as it is considered as an eco-
innovative solution offering several opportunities to the industry. AM technology
is capable of shifting the construction sector into a flexible and technically mature
industry. However, for effective development/formulation of structural elements,
advance printing methodologies will be required (Ghaffar and Mullett 2018).
XR
AR VR MR
Mobile/ Desktop / Mobile/ Desktop /

DEVICES Standalone
Standalone Standalone
INTERACTIVITY Middle Low High
REAL CONTENT High Low High
VIRTUAL CONTENT Low High Middle
Fig. 13 Comparison of XR, AR, VR, and MR technologies
3D printing technology was invented in the 1980s. However, recently the

construction sector has recognized it as innovative technology and a step toward IR
4.0. It is believed that 3D printing or AD is green construction technology, and it can
utilize recycled waste materials for production, which will also increase net saving.
However, the practice of utilizing the waste materials as resources is not mature
enough, and there is a need to explore this domain along with other sustainable
criteria. While AD technology has been around for some time, its construction
applications are still minimal. The construction of properties using AD technology
has significant advantages such as design and parameters customization based on
aesthetics and functionality, controlling the construction waste using highly specific
materials and utilization of recycled waste products as a resource (Shakor et al.
2020).
Among the various AM technologies used to date, automated material extrusion
has become the most inexpensive and well-developed technique. Extrusion tech-
nologies manage to deliver continuous runs of layer-by-layer self-sustain printed
bodies, in different desired shapes and properties, through synchronized material
pumping systems and precise location deposition nozzles. Material extrusion
systems for construction applications have been mostly addressing cementitious
material formulations, and some of those have already accomplished the transi-
tion toward commercial businesses, with several printers currently available in
the market. Other AM techniques, such as Vat Photopolymerization 3D printing
technology and Material Jetting, are mainly associated with the usage of thermoset
photopolymer resins. Moreover, these techniques are yet to be considered as feasible
options for generating large-scale construction elements. However, drawbacks on its
implementation are the degradation of polymers over time and for manufacturing
of the bigger parts requirement of a considerable amount of liquid light-activated
resins, along with the large size and costly equipment. In some cases, these
limitations render these techniques unworkable and expensive for construction
applications. Metal AM is at a preliminary phase of the evolution and closely related
with non-commercial research prototype, which is associated with Directed Energy
Deposition and Powder Bed Fusion techniques (Buchanan and Gardner 2019). AM
technologies purely enhance the IR 4.0 theme, and few of the potential benefits of
the AM are as follows:
• Wastage Control – Proper utilization of AD technology will reduce material

wastage by controlling over-pouring, over-supply, and construction errors. AM
technology can precisely deliver the exact amount of required material and only
at the required spot, hence reducing wastage and formwork needed (Sanjayan
and Nematollahi 2019).
• Enhances Working Efficiency – One of the major features of AM technology is
the chance to develop structures more rapidly. This advantage is apparent to some
activities; however, with the smart implementation of AM technology, low-rise
construction projects, involving manual labor, can be constructed in a faster pace
than usual (Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Less Manpower – In addition to the improved construction speed, AM also
decreases the labor requirement for multiple tasks. Labor costs are currently
projected to be between 15 and 50 percent of overall construction costs; however,
it varies across the globe (Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Construction Safety – Health and safety gains are related to the anticipated
decline in labor. With reduced manpower at the construction site, there will less
risk perception and fewer site accidents (Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Effective Operations – Utilization of regulated technologies over manual opera-
tions will minimize the human errors, and the results will become more reliable
and accurate. AM technologies under proper supervision can create an identical
structure repeatedly, with durability irrespective of complex designs (Sawhney
et al. 2020).
• Less Site Machinery and Equipment – AM technologies simplify the construc-
tion practices, thus reducing and optimizing the machinery equipment, as AM
operations require less handling and easy transportation of related resources
(Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Freedom of Design and Flexibility – AM technology also offers an opportunity
to create free-flowing, unimpeded geometrical shapes, allowing greater architec-
tural independence of expression (Gaudillière et al. 2019).
Autonomous Scanning Systems (Vehicles and Drones)
The rise of the IR 4.0 has started a new industrial era that involves a series of poten-
tial industrial innovations regarding CPS, Robotics, IoT, IoS, cloud manufacturing,
big data, and AR (both objects and physical processes) which are digitalized under
CPS, but it is a bilateral interaction, where data is provided to virtual via real,
and the virtual provides decisions for the real scenario. CPS integration aims at
minimizing data practices manually and delivering real-time reports. This provides
an opportunity for professionals to lessen the time required to collect data manually,
offering them more time to add value and effective decision making (Correa 2018).
Among CPS, the autonomous systems (vehicles and drones) can be incorporated
in the construction projects as a tool for progress monitoring and digitizing
construction projects throughout the project life cycle. Complete autonomous
systems allow 3D data processing and 3D data acquisition, navigation without any
human interactions, and awareness about surroundings. The Next Best View (NBV)
algorithms provide this effective degree of autonomy to such mobile monitoring
devices. This practice is evolving in current times, and a very few autonomous 3D
scanning-based studies have been performed for construction projects. A summary
of a few main studies is shown in Table 3.
Reference to the above discussion, few of the scanning systems collect partial
data of the surroundings and fail to produce a geometric model. However, the output
of the scans is affected by occlusions, the geometry of objects, and the complexity
of the scene and data redundancy. The benefits and achievements of autonomous
scanning systems are discussed below (Adán et al. 2019).
• Automatic Building Project Digitization

The 3D digitization of large-scale environments and building projects has
been carried out by specialized operators, for many years. However, in the
last few years, 3D mapping of real environments and digitalization has been
performed by intelligent mobile scanning systems and platforms. The current
systems are able to scan and navigate the indoors of buildings with irregular
rooms and rooms with reduced occlusion.
• Independent Mobile Platforms
Some existing systems do not impose prior knowledge of the scene that
promises the autonomy of the scanning process. These autonomous systems are
able to gather data and provide a ground 3D model of the interior of a building.
However, the autonomy of the systems is affected by the shape of the walls and
floor, the degree of occlusion, and the state of the doors.
• Modeling
In recent years, the area of autonomous BIM models has become one of the
most promising 3D computer vision research areas. These autonomous systems
are able to provide as-built 3D point cloud models of the scanned environment,
which can be related to BIM models progress comparison and various purposes.
Table 3 Autonomous mobile scanning platforms (Patrucco et al. 2020)

Study reference Sensors Transport Device
Sequeira et al. (1996) Time-of-flight laser range Ground robot –
finder
Surmann et al. (2003) Two 2D laser range finder Ground robot
Blaer and Allen (2007) 3D laser scanner, 2D laser Ground robot

range finder, and RGB
camera
Iocchi and Pellegrini 2D laser range finder Ground robot –

(2007)
Strand and Dillrnann 2D laser range finder Ground robot
(2008) on a rotating platform
and a camera
Blodow et al. (2011) 2D laser range finder Ground robot

and a registered color
camera
Borrmann et al. (2014) 3D laser scanner, Ground robot

thermal camera, and
RGB camera
Potthast and Sukhatme 2D laser range finder Ground robot

(2014) and RGB-D camera
Charrow et al. (2015) RGB-D sensor Ground robot –

Bircher et al. (2018) Stereo camera Hex-copter
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
Study reference Sensors Transport Device
Prieto et al. (2017) 3D laser scanner and Ground robot
2D LRF
Kurazume et al. (2017) 3D laser scanner Multiple ground

robots and
quadcopters
Meng et al. (2017) Rotating laser module Quadcopter
Kim et al. (2018) Two 2D LRF and DSLR Ground robot

camera
Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)

UASs are airborne hardware systems that do not hold a pilot, and they can gather
data and process data by operating independently or under direct human supervision.
UASs are also referred to as drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and
defined as “a powered aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses
aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted
remotely” (Sawhney et al. 2020). UAS normally consists of a handheld controller
and one or more UAVs for human operations. The UAVs can be equipped with a
wide variety of sensors, such as radar or laser-based ranger sensor systems, specialist
communications systems, silent/video cameras, and many others. Many UASs are
able to transmit data between the UAV(s) and the controller in real-time, with
data storage facilities onboard to gather information. UASs can carry on several
activities, which can often be carried out by manned vehicles, but can also perform
more safely, efficiently, and economically.
UASs can be equipped with a variety of different cameras as sensors on the
construction sites. Usually, time-lapsed digital aerial images are captured with such
cameras, which are inspected, analyzed, and may be used to generate 3D as-built
models. Following a few different kinds of cameras can be attached to the UASs for
the monitoring purposes, as discussed below (Sawhney et al. 2020):
• RGB – Cameras with the same red/green/blue color bands as human eyes create
nearly realistic human vision simulations.
• Thermal – Cameras that can sense heat from almost any object or substance and
convert the data obtained into videos or pictures.
• Multispectral – Cameras with red and green, red-edge, infrared wavebands to
capture images of objects that are visible and invisible to human eyes.
Application of UAS(s)
UAS(s) technologies can be adopted in the construction sector in the following
ways:
• Pre-Construction Phase – UASs can be used to conduct aerial inspections to
evaluate and decide project viability before initiation for project evaluation. Clear
spatial analysis can help in planning and scheduling project activities in more
efficient site planning.
• Construction Phase – A UAS can be used as a supporting technology to overfly
sites which involve earthworks and to transfer images to computers which
automatically create 3D environment models. Moreover, such information can be
linked with unmanned intelligent excavators to perform accordingly to be defined
extend based on feedback based on generated as-built models. A UAS may also
be used for efficient communications for the site and between the site and head
office. UASs can be employed for efficient security and surveillance operations,
especially for the areas hard to access. UASs can be designed and operated for
the transportation of materials across the site such as tools, lightweight materials
(standard UAS can carry up to 5 lbs. weight), and first aid medical kit. UASs can
be employed for inspection of safety measures across the construction project and
to identify risky areas for taking precaution measures. UASs can be employed for
effective real-site or on-site progress monitoring of construction project at every
stage and reducing the dependency on human supervisors. A fleet of UASs can
be employed to construct tall structures buildings without the help of scaffolding
or cranes.
• Post-Construction Phase – UASs can be employed for facility inspections
for maintenance and various purposes. UASs, with the help of thermographic
cameras, may detect roof leakage or electrical hotspots connected to transformer
equipment not apparent from the ground floor. UASs can be employed in disaster
situations such as hurricanes, landslides, and earthquakes, nearby buildings and
damaged infrastructures. Disaster management operations can be managed in a
better way by adopting UASs technologies with planned strategies.
However, this widespread application of the UAS in the construction sector is
still in its inception. One explanation for this is that much remains to be known
about the ability and capacity of the UAS(s) technologies, for its implementation in
the construction sector. Research community should put more efforts in this domain
by providing adequate education and standardization in UASs technologies. UASs
have the ability to be a significant factor in future construction projects to make it
possible for the construction sector to digitally turn under IR 4.0.
Monitoring and Progress Detection
The increasing trend of capturing images and recording video by fixed cameras,
mobile, laser scanners, and autonomous scanning systems in the construction
environment allow the whole project life cycle to be digitally preserved and
analyzed. The integration of these techniques with 4D BIM models has enabled
effective quality assessment, operation maintenance, safety inspection, building
energy performance, productivity analysis, and project control. This process of
capturing real data and through computer-based technologies developing as-built
models to be compared with as-planned CAD models (BIM) fall enforces IR 4.0
construction culture (Sawhney et al. 2020).
Progress tracking is important and contributes to the right decision-making,
which leads to the success of the project. The progress monitoring and data
acquisition technologies have increased the awareness and acceptance rate between
project stakeholders under IR 4.0 umbrella (Osunsanmi et al. 2020). Many inno-
vative tools and techniques have recently been implemented, in the development
phase of construction projects, to improve project control, monitoring, coordination
and planning, including cloud computing and building information modeling
(BIM). Practices of progress tracking have been more automated and incorporated
lately. Automated technologies have become useful tools for progress tracking and
quality control applications, which enhance the performance of project manage-
ment systems. Monitoring/detection technologies are mainly distributed in three
types: (a) geospatial techniques (which includes Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID), Geographic Information System (GIS), barcoding and Quick Response
(QR) coding, Global Positioning System (GPS), Swarm nodes and Ultra-Wide
Band (UWB) tags), (b) imaging techniques (which includes photogrammetry,
videogrammetry, laser scanning, infrared thermography, and Kinect sensors), and
(c) VR/AR techniques (Pour Rahimian et al. 2020).
GIS and GPS are commonly used for asset tracking that can be used for
construction site equipment detection. For supply chain management, BIM inte-
grated GIS technology is employed. Barcodes are used for product detection, and
tracking technology is cost-effective. However, information collection capability of
barcodes is limited, time-consuming, and not recommended for rough construction
environment. In comparison to barcodes, QR codes are preferred for better results
and implementing BIM with QR codes greatly enhances on-site health and safety,
and connectivity. RFID, UWB, and swarm nodes are tracking sensors, whereas
RFID and UWB use tracking tags. Photogrammetry, videogrammetry, and laser
scanning are common data acquisition techniques with an output in the form of a 3D
point cloud, which is used to create a digital twin of the targeted components. Kinect
sensors are 3D sensors used for indoor operations. The infrared thermography
performs thermal image analysis taken with the help of infrared cameras for
various inspections. AR and VR technologies are also popular among construction
sector stakeholder; however, for automated progress monitoring, AR technologies
are preferred. Table 4 summarizes all the adopted construction progress detection
technologies along with their operational capabilities.
Table 4 Progress detection technologies and operational capabilities

Technology CR/LR L M E SE Remarks
Geospatial GPS LR Restricted to outdoor
techniques operations
GIS LR Restricted to outdoor
operations
RFID CR Time-consuming, prone to
error in the presence of
liquids and metals
Barcode & QR CR Time-consuming
Swarm nodes CR Requires clear line-of-sight
UBW CR/LR High cost
Imaging Laser scanning CR/LR High cost
techniques
Photogrammetry CR/LR Sensitivity to lighting
conditions
Videogrammetry CR/LR Lower accuracy than
photogrammetry
Infrared CR/LR Reliable in bad light
thermography conditions
Kinect sensors CR Short ranged
AR/VR VR CR/LR Inability to check with
techniques as-planned model
AR CR/LR No support for remote
monitoring
CR (close-ranged), LR (long-ranged), M (material), L (labor), E (equipment), SE (structural
element)
The implementation of BIM has boosted hopes of dramatic improvements in the

construction sector to a new age (Manzoor et al. 2021b). BIM and IoT provide
various advantages to enhance the current status of the construction sector, and
it is not simple to achieve such substantial benefits by pursuing them separately
(Shahinmoghadam and Motamedi 2019). The IoT contains three main technology
elements, including analytics and applications, integrated sensors, and infrastructure
connectivity. These core technology components are essential for effective site
management, which is required for detection of material supplies, for the monitoring
movement of logistic of construction equipment and machinery, on-site safety,
regulate construction waste, construction progress monitoring, and efficient com-
munication between project stakeholders. Construction technologies are improving
on a daily basis, which has increased the use of the sensors and IoT, and this
leads to the collection of large volumes of information data, which is managed
by adopting Big Data methodologies. In addition, this technology when linked to
the BIM is useful for improving the construction design phase, execution phase,
and operational phase, where information can be shared with the wider community
in the construction sector. Moreover, adoption of BIM-IoT integrated environment
helps in improving project efficiency, increasing productivity, reducing project risks,
improving site safety, and support project stakeholders to make correct decisions
(Ibrahim et al. 2019). Figure 14 illustrates an integrated theoretical framework of
the progress detection technologies under IR 4.0 environment.
IR 4.0 is an emerging concept in the construction sector, and it is the future of
this industry. However, still, there are many obstacles to its effective implementation
of automated construction monitoring technologies which includes the reluctant
attitude of industry toward the adoption of new technologies, cost impacts of
technologies, specialized skills required for operations, etc. However, BIM is
playing a vital role and has proven to be a backbone for IR 4.0 implementation
toward automated progress monitoring environment (Alaloul et al. 2021; Qureshi
et al. 2020).
BIM and Digital Twins
The emergence of BIM has modified the information about the built environment,
exchanged and stored, among stakeholders. Under the influence of AI agents
(machine learning, deep learning, data analytics, etc.) and IoT, digital technologies
are advancing in all fields. While the BIM concept was developed with a view to
improving design and execution processes, it also influenced the adjacent research
areas at building, infrastructure, and community level around the construction
sector.
BIM and Construction Sector

In the context of BIM, the 4D modeling method offers a graphical representation of
a different time dimension that ensures that the BIM method can now be portrayed,
interpreted, and evaluated in a temporary manner in all aspects (graphic models,
expenses, safety concerns, operation, etc.). nD BIM modeling analysis suggests that
each n is a further component of BIM dimensions. However, it is also considered that
4D is the final dimension of BIM since it is the final variable that can be measured
and taken into account in a time-space continuum. However, many researchers and
practitioners tend to embrace the fifth dimension (5D), which involves calculating
project cost estimates. Nevertheless, some studies based on 5D BIM do not treat 4D
BIM as the point of departure, but instead restrict the cost estimate approach to 3D
models. Recent studies have shown new fields of application such as environmental
aspects, site surveillance, health and safety, and lean construction, which provide
new ways of viewing and using BIM nD model details. Today, the introduction
of BIM models has become obligatory in order to accomplish efficient and more
collaborative processes, also seen as giving practitioners market advantage (Boje
et al. 2020).
The Digital Twin (DT) Paradigm

The need to track and manage assets coupled with technical innovations during
their life cycle has pushed many areas of study into the analysis of DT and future
applications. While all of these technologies have been researched under BIM, the
1378
SOURCES
Laser Scanner Video Camera IR Camera CCTV Digital Camera UAV/ Drone Smartphone GPS Satellite Tags Barcode Lines
UWB
GPS/ GIS RFID
Photogrammetry
Infrared Thermography
Barcode & QR
AR/ VR
Laser Scanning
Videogrammtery
Kinect Sensor
Swarm Nodes
TECHNOLOGIES INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT

BIM
INTEGRATED LAYER
Fig. 14 IR 4.0 progress detection technologies framework

W. S. Alaloul et al.
Physical
Data
Digital
Twin
Data
Virtual
Fig. 15 Conceptual model of DT
DT model demands improved accuracy and level of detail, ranging from small
produced estates, buildings, city districts to potentially nationwide DT (Bolton et al.
2018). In 2003 the concept of a DT was incorporated as a university course on
Product Lifecycle Management. However, the concept definition later evolved with
the emergence of new technologies in adjacent fields, and recently, this concept
has been linked with smart cities. Several studies refer to a DT as “cyber-physical
integration,” with “digital twin,” as no model abstraction can portray things with
identical fidelity. The term “System of Systems” is also linked with DT, which deals
with sustainability and scalability of systems aimed at more efficient and informed
exchange of data. Figure 15 shows the concept components of DT, that is, virtual
models, physical components, and connecting data.
The ability to digitally replicate the actual is a key DT feature. The idealization is
that a DT must be able to simulate the reality with maximum accuracy (Batty 2018).
Although this high-accurate simulated reality seems to be feasible on smaller scales
for mass production, the standards vary where the buildings, infrastructures, or local
districts are defined. The degree and their respective degrees of precision of the
simulation applications are also required to differ by scope and use. Consequently,
the framework that houses a digital twin must be adaptable to these needs. In sensor-
data-based simulations, the feedback for the simulation depends on the precision,
their accuracy, the costs of sensor quality, etc. This will potentially affect on-site
sensing versus the necessary sensitivity for each task.
If the DT is to integrate all physical twins in-depth, this introduces an optimiza-

tion challenge in terms of the efficient application of the asset in compliance with
multiple objectives. The simulation, estimation, and optimization capabilities of
a DT are interdependent and work together to overcome this problem. The issue
of the optimization mechanism raised by the decision-making process depends on
the simulated prediction (“What will happen?”) (Díaz et al. 2017). The universal
optimization driver tends to reduce the output and operational costs of the Physical
Twin. In the manufacturing industry, the primary utilization is the optimization of
the whole process by ensuring the intelligent allocation of resources. The design
and construction process of buildings and Infrastructure have a huge effect on
operational expenses over the life cycle. Unfortunately, construction optimization
targets do not always align with those in practice, which create a rift across
the lifecycle, thus dividing the built environment from manufacturing industries.
BIM and DT optimized practices can be adopted for various construction sector
processes, few of which are discussed below (Boje et al. 2020; Altaf et al. 2020):
• Construction Logistics – BIM can be adopted for designing a simulated system

for the site layout in terms of zones, resources, and positioning of machin-
ery/equipment. The visualization of such a system will help the planners forecast
potential issues.
• Clash Detection – BIM 4D models can help in distinguishing clashes between
activities and also provide the opportunity to investigate cost conflict analysis,
resources, schedule conflicts, and site conflict analysis.
• Site Monitoring – BIM is often used to track the progress on the site effectively
integrated with various monitoring technologies, to accurately identify the
collected information, and to align current digital models.
• Quality Control – As part of the nD modeling process, quality control strategies
are envisaged around BIM, where 3D information (product) is attributed to
quality checks, which are linked to a scheduled process.
• Safety Management – BIM can also be adopted to plan site safety since the
safety risks vary in space and time by combining several construction sequences
and identifying potential hazards on the construction site.
• Cost Estimation and Scheduling – BIM can also be adopted for project
scheduling (4D BIM model) and cost estimation (5D BIM model). Moreover,
BIM is capable of monitoring and controlling the whole project lifecycle.
Benefits of IR 4.0 in the Construction Sector
Several studies have been performed by the research community to outline IR 4.0
framework for the provision of research roadmap based on available literature.
Likewise, in the domain of IR 4.0, researchers have identified various sectoral
benefits of IR 4.0. In light of available studies, listed below are the significant
benefits of IR 4.0 framework:
• Cost-Effective – The implementation of automated processes has reduced the

cost impacts by reducing waste and inefficiencies, in the construction processes,
by the use of computed workflows and robotics. This includes automation of
labor-intensive processes, smart tracking of materials and equipment by sensors.
Real-time data monitoring enables in effective decision making, which provides
financial incentives (Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Time Efficient – Adoption of innovative concepts of digitalized manufacturing
technologies, such as additive manufacturing or prefabrication, has squeezed
the construction timelines than traditional construction methodologies and has
improved the construction speed. Real-time monitoring helps in avoiding poten-
tial delays, which results in time savings (Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Project Control – Unfortunately, most of the construction projects suffer time
and cost overrun; however, adoption of n-dimensional technology such as
BIM helped to lower these aforementioned risks. Longitudinal integration can
be performed with the help of big data analytics using historical data and
benchmarking critical past stages against cost and time (Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Quality Improvement – Implementation of 3D CAD simulation technologies
has enhanced the construction projects’ quality control. The horizontal and
vertical processes integration by utilization of advanced techniques enable to
omit errors in the early stages of the construction process and with big data
analytics techniques, based on historical data, help management to devise
effective decision-making (McMalcolm 2015).
• Project Collaboration – The advancement of cloud computed applications,
central information repository and BIM-based tools have remarkably improved
the communication and collaboration between project stakeholders by providing
effective as well-efficient platforms (Merschbrock and Munkvold 2015).
• Project Visualization – Advanced simulation technologies such as VR, AR, and
MR give better insight into the stakeholders (client, constant, and contractors)
for the design and details of the projects before construction. Thus, this allows
getting prior feedback from the clients, which avoids reworking and helps in
better planning for effective customization of the building (Jones 2016).
• Project Safety – Construction site safety of workers is one the foremost issue
in the construction sector. However, improvement has been made by lowering
the work injuries and accidents by adopting virtual safety training, risk mapping
against site accidents and by using IoT-based smart wearables such as smart
helmets and smart glasses (Vahdatikhaki and Hammad 2015).
• Project Sustainability – IR 4.0 has strongly influenced the sustainability culture
by utilization of digital computed technologies in execution processes and
embracing life cycle approach. The reduction for high carbon dioxide emissions
has been reduced by, strategic project management (Musarat et al. 2021) and
adopting energy analysis by using 3D CAD integrated tools for construction
models with design alternatives (Davies and Sharp 2014).
• Working Environment – The harsh working environment of the construction
sector has degraded its image, and one of the reasons is due to the low level
of digitization and automation. The physical and digital IR 4.0 technologies have
amended the image by transformation to an attractive working environment for

related stakeholders (Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Innovative Environment – The essence and spirit of IR 4.0 enable innovative
mindsets to root in, and attracted toward, the industry. This digital and physical
integration lead toward the innovative solutions striking at the core of vertical,
horizontal, and longitudinal dominated industry fragmentations (Sawhney et al.
2020).
• Client Satisfaction – The smooth processes flow under IR 4.0 environment
enables the project team to focus on customers’ satisfaction requirements and
creating values to project.
Challenges of IR 4.0 in the Construction Sector
Overall, IR 4.0 has many challenges to be resolved in all sectors; likewise, in

construction sector researchers also have identified various challenges under several
domains. Few of the most highlighted challenges are listed below:
• Reluctant Attitude – It is always difficult to adopt something new such as
technology, methodology, or environment as conventional approaches have deep
roots in that domain. Likewise, as most of the construction companies are made
up of medium-sized enterprises, which are hesitant to invest in new technologies
due to uncertain benefits and high costs. Therefore, one the biggest challenges
encourage the construction sector, toward the benefits under IR 4.0 environment
and technologies, by offering incentives, devising policies such as to mandate
use of BIM in government projects, collaborative partnership, and improving the
confidence by strengthening the academia-industry liaison through funding on
IR 4.0 projects (Alaloul et al. 2020).
• High Investment – The high implementation cost for procurement of technical
equipment, for its operational education, its maintenance, and for external
consultancy services are discouraging construction companies to adoption.
Moreover, there still exist unresolved issues such as uncertain benefits, unclear
forecasting of cost savings, and lack of fiscal budgeting for assessment of future
business planning and return of investment along with profits. The construction
sector should be motivated, to overcome the aforementioned fears, by working
together in partnerships for cost reduction, and to increase transparency. In
addition, the research industry should be encouraged for devising techniques
and tools for estimation with optimized costs and benefits (Alaloul et al. 2020;
Akanmu and Anumba 2015).
• Organizational Remodeling – The adoption of new technologies affects the over-
all organizational environment and forces previously adopted business practices
to be reengineered and reevaluated. Under IR 4.0 umbrella, various aspects of
the construction sector need to establish new functions, new roles, and maybe
new functional teams or departments. These organizational changes (horizontal,
vertical, and end-to-end) distort the regular routine process. This mega change is
required to be answered for the construction companies, that is, how to manage
these procedural and organizational changes by redesigning business models

(Alaloul et al. 2020; Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Advanced Skills – The adoption of new technologies require specific skills and
knowledge for its operation. This led to the arrangement of special training and
skill enhancement programs for site workers. However, this creates challenges
like to optimization of project organization, development of new competencies,
and to attract workforce with learning aptitude. Construction companies should
encourage the employees in an interdisciplinary group engaging sessions to
collaborate and share creative ideas (Sawhney et al. 2020; Oesterreich and
Teuteberg 2016).
• Knowledge Management – The temporary and unique nature of construction
projects along with fragmented characteristics of the value chain discourages to
share project experiences and limit the standards for knowledge management.
However, it is also believed that due to longitudinal fragmentation nature of
the construction sector, the same mistakes are repeated in the various projects.
Therefore, development of organizational knowledge management standards is
essential for the purpose of automated data recording embedded along with
project history, which would help to reuse to projects’ knowledge for future
ventures (Sawhney et al. 2020; Oesterreich and Teuteberg 2016).
• Acceptance – One of the critical factors of IR 4.0 and the adoption of new
technologies is its acceptance. The construction sector is well known for its
conventional mentality and unwilling to adapting attitudes toward new technolo-
gies. Job-loss is one of the main concerns of employees related to the acceptance
of new technologies, that is, replacement of humans by computers, robots, and
machines. Therefore, construction companies should make employees part of
implementations process and implement their leading ideas to make them feel
comfortable and ownership to performance enhancement (Hegemann 2015).
• Lack of Reference Framework and Standards – Although currently the con-
struction sector is mostly led by advance technologies, it still lacks the maturity
toward standardization such as incompatibility of BIM with processes, standard
guidance for smart sensors, etc. Overall, there is a need for the development
of globally agreed standards and specific reference IR 4.0 framework, along
with redefining as well as enhancement of processes suiting construction sector
(Alaloul et al. 2020; Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Specific Equipment Requirements – External factors such as traffic, weather,
and temperature highly influence the construction projects. Therefore, computing
equipment should be designed accordingly and purpose-specific to site construc-
tion environment (Oesterreich and Teuteberg 2016).
• Data Security – The increasing requirement of large data volumes, collaboration,
information sharing, and data mobility with external stakeholders have raised
multiple information technology security threats related to data protection and
security. IR 4.0 framework mandates the cyber and physical layers should be
secured and protected against a data breach. The construction companies should
adopt security practices for the data protection against misuse and unauthorized
access through centralized cloud-based access management, user identity, data
protection tools, and device management (Alaloul et al. 2020; Sawhney et al.
2020).
• Advancement in Communication Networks – On the construction sites, reliable
and efficient Internet access is required for effective communication and infor-
mation use. However, unavailability of access to high bandwidth or broadband
connectivity has been identified as an important obstacle to effective and efficient
collaboration via applications (Oesterreich and Teuteberg 2016).
• Contractual Ambiguities – One of the obstacles is the contractual and legal
ambiguities such while using BIM the responsibility of model ownership,
legal queries related to model and design errors, etc. Such legal concerns and
ambiguities of regulatory responsibilities between stakeholders add up to the
complexity to IR 4.0 processes (Alaloul et al. 2020).
• Regulatory Compliance – Implementation of technologies sometimes face legal
and ethical concerns, particularly when monitoring or tracking technologies
(such as RFID and barcodes) are used for capturing workforce and personal data.
However, regulation varies from country to country. Therefore, it is advisable to
engage legal experts right from the commencement stage of the processes, prior
to the application of these technologies to overcome restrictions regarding data
protection and personal privacy (Oesterreich and Teuteberg 2016).
• Research and Development Sector – The research and development sector has
been ignored by the construction sector, especially in the past years. There is a
need to overcome this barrier and promote research and development sector by
establishing strong academia-industry liaisons by supporting it financially and
establishing strong IR 4.0 framework (Sawhney et al. 2020).
• Supply Chain Management – Adopting IR 4.0 technology in the supply chain
management processes is becoming a challenge as it stimulates deep changes
in the company’s supply chain configuration, culture, business model, and even
organization. Moreover, it also transforms the overall network structure for
achieving vertical integration, which may reform traditional interactions between
people and supply chain actors working on these practices (Patrucco et al. 2020).
• Internet of Things (IoT) – The most leading challenged of IoT in IR 4.0 are lack
of data security and safety, benefit awareness, documented standards, robustness
in connectivity, and improper introduction of IoT. Effective implementation of
IoT benefits the industry toward the efficiency of processes (Gamil et al. 2020).
• Additive Manufacturing – Additive manufacturing is a progressing transforma-
tion technology under IR 4.0. Therefore, researchers have highlighted the need
for improvement in its process such as printing time, multi-material deposition,
controlling the deposition flow rate, and real-time feedback of the printer
(Craveiro et al. 2019).
Conclusion
The construction industry in the recent decade has been flexible with respect to
the integration of many new technologies within the self; the digital revolution
has produced many new technologies. These technologies incorporate many simple
digital mechanisms to more enhanced systems such as the network embedded
systems, cyber-physical systems, integration systems, robotics, and 3D printing.
These systems, concepts, and technologies serve as the building blocks of the IR
4.0, which are further connected to the higher hierarchies of digitized BIM tech-
nologies, IoT data and service systems, Big Data analytics, and Cloud Computing
mechanisms. Digital Twins in construction also forms the fundamental foundations
of a progressing construction IR 4.0, which transitions between the physical and
virtual data origins. These digital twin based data sets are linked to the processing,
discovery, management, and collection in diverse stages of a construction project
lifecycle.
The smallest unit of this higher digital construction hierarchy is a digital data
bit, which transitions between the construction-based source and the emitter. In
the context of BIM, this smallest unit is linked to all the various dimensions of
BIM (i.e., 3D, 4D, 5D, 6D, and 7D) and forms a part of vertical, horizontal,
external, or internal communicative data integration. Within the given hierarchical
model apart from BIM, the IoT technologies also form an essential part of the
IR 4.0 in digital construction, which is composed of Software Defined Products,
Hardware Defined Products, Network Fabrics, and External Systems. These IoT-
based services combined with BIM services have recently produced an array of new
technologies, that is, the cyber-physical systems within which the control process
is often referred to as the embedded systems. Examples of these systems include
coordinated 3D printing, VR/AR, and construction robotics. Within the IR 4.0, the
BIM, IoT services, cyber-physical systems, and the large sets of data generated as a
part of the processes included, that is, Big Data, are further linked to Cloud systems
for easy access around the globe. The processes included in the cloud systems are
often referred to as cloud computing. From the IR 4.0 lens, cloud computing is
composed of deployment and delivery models and cloud security.
Within the construction sector, IR 4.0 is having an elevated set of applications.
The range of these applications includes VR/AR/MR, additive manufacturing, 3D
printing, autonomous scanning and progress detection mechanisms, and UAS.
Although the IR 4.0 has a lot to offer in the field of the construction sector,
the prevailing challenges are also to be overcome, that is, reluctant attitude,
elevated investment costs, knowledge and skill resource management, organization
modeling, and most of all, increasing the level of acceptance in people.
Websites
The following are some useful websites that can help the construction stakeholders
to adopt IR 4.0 in a more robust way.
• Construction 4.0 – BIM WORLD, https://bim-w.com/en/construction-4-0

• Construction 4.0 – FIEC, http://www.fiec.eu/en/themes-72/construction-40.
aspx
• Ecrion’s Application Suite – Ecrion, http://www.ecrion.com/apps
• Fourth Industrial Revolution – Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Fourth_Industrial_Revolution
• Industry 4.0 Software – microtom® , https://www.microtom.com/products/
industry-4-0-software
• The Fourth Industrial Revolution, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/
2015-12-12/fourth-industrial-revolution/
• Well Construction 4.0 – Halliburton, https://www.halliburton.com/en-US/
tools-resources/webinars/well-construction-4-0.html?src=hal_home&srcdsc=
hal_banner
• What is Construction 4.0 and is the industry ready? | Oracle Construc-
tion and Engineering Blog, https://blogs.oracle.com/construction-engineering/
what-is-construction-4-0
• What is Industry 4.0? Everything you need to know. TechRadar, https://www.
techradar.com/news/what-is-industry-40-everything-you-need-to-know
• Why Everyone Must Get Ready For The 4th Industrial Revolution. Forbes,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/04/05/why-everyone-must-get-
ready-for-4th-industrial-revolution/#5af877b33f90
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Design of Low-Cost Soft Ankle Exoskeleton
Using Soft Actuators 54
Kathan Rajesh Sonar, S. Sai Sudeep Reddy, Daniel Schilberg,
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1392
Design Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1397
Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1397
Actuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1398
Proposed Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1399
Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1399
OpenSim Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1400
CAD Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1401
Design of Actuators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1402
Pneumatic Artificial Muscle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1402
Twisted String Actuator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1403
Fabrication of Actuators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1405
Pressure, Contraction, and Load Characteristics of the Actuators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1408
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1412
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1412
Abstract
Soft exoskeletons are evolving rapidly on account of tribulations faced by people

using rigid exoskeletons. This research includes the accomplishment of extensive
K. R. Sonar · S. S. S. Reddy
D. Schilberg
University of Applied Sciences, Bochum, Germany
A. S. Arockia Doss
1392 K. R. Sonar et al.
comparative study, regarding the design of an active ankle exoskeleton using soft
actuators for rehabilitation and metabolic cost reduction. Human biomechanics
is studied thoroughly to imitate the musculoskeletal system, the functioning
and morphology, of lower limb muscles during the human gait cycle. OpenSim
has been used to simulate gait mechanics and draw statistics of various crucial
features, including angle, contraction, muscle activation, and metabolic energy
expenditure. The results lay the fundamental design constraints to design soft
actuators. Identical constraints are employed to bespoke actuators and mimic
biological soleus muscle to aid in plantar flexion of the ankle, laying the ground
path for more complex systems. Currently, paramount actuators, the pneumatic
air muscle (PAM), and the twisted string actuator (TSA) are designed, fabricated,
and tested for their justified role. An exoskeleton is fabricated, and a control
system is proposed for the same. Juxtaposing the two actuators and weighing
the differences, it is found that the TSA is more applicable to rehabilitation
purposes attributing to its excellent precision and effortless operation. PAM
shows divergence to this behavior and can be utilized in the design of sporty
exoskeletons because of the high power-to-weight ratio and quick actuation. The
proposed design is economical and easily portable, realizing widespread utility
and deployment.
Keywords
Biomimetics · Soft exoskeletons · Pneumatic artificial muscle · Twisted string

actuator
Introduction
A vast majority of the population stays aloof from exoskeletons. Introspecting the
grounds for this outlandish acceptance, its drawbacks are identified. Firstly, con-
temporary exoskeletons restrict the natural degrees of freedom of motion causing
prolonged ailments (Bosch et al. 2016), as illustrated in Fig. 1. Secondly, it has
uneconomical stature for widespread deployment. Lastly, they have a low usability
index, attributed to massive structures and high-power requirements (https://www.
analyticsinsight.net/soft-robotics-vs-hard-robotics-different/). With the advent of
wearable technology, these drawbacks are being tried to overcome. Soft exoskele-
tons have been instigated over the last decade. The deterrents have been bridled
in the attempt, and soft muscles are being used. However, Prodigy keeps this
technology unpopular.
Previous trends in research show increasing transition toward soft robotics after
2014 with more and more papers being published in soft exoskeleton domain from
older rigid exoskeletons (Shahid et al. 2018). This trend is particularly evident in
hand exoskeletons, as shown in Fig. 2.
Different types of materials are being used to design soft exoskeleton, which
includes McKibben muscles, elastomers, fabrics, and cables. Each of the system
54 Design of Low-Cost Soft Ankle Exoskeleton Using Soft Actuators 1393
Fig. 1 Level of discomfort 10

with and without exoskeleton With exoskeleton
9
(Bosch et al. 2016) Without exoskeleton
8
Perceived Discomfort
7
6
5
4
3
*
2
1 *
0
Back Legs Chest
Fig. 2 Trends in hand exoskeletons (Shahid et al. 2018)
has its own disadvantages. A major disadvantage that researchers have come across
is precise controlling of pressure in pneumatic actuators (Kalita et al. 2020) for
exoskeletons, and therefore more research is being done on electric and cable-
driven, soft exoskeletons.
Our research is aligned with the recent trend and compares the pneumatic
actuator to twisted string actuator. Another disadvantage that all soft exoskeletons
face in general is the inability to hold the shape and give required support to
patients. Therefore, science is progressing toward semirigid, partially rigid, and
shape-changing exoskeletons as well. The Twisted string actuator has the ability
to hold the actuator statically to provide support. Figure 3 shows the currently used
actuator types.
a b
3% 3% 120
2019 2% Mckibben
3%
2018 26% 100 Elastomers
6%
2017 Textile/Fabric
2019 80
Publications
2016 6%
Cable-Driven
2015 60
2014 8%
40
2013
2012
2018
20
2011 10%
21%
2017
2010 0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2009
13% Year
Fig. 3 (a) Increase in publications on soft exoskeleton over the years. (b) Major kinds of actuators
being used recently (Thalman and Artemiadis 2020)
Assistive robotic exoskeletons have been practically designed for all parts of
the body (https://biodesign.seas.harvard.edu/soft-exosuits) over the last decade,
which include head, neck, elbow, shoulder, spine, knee, hip, and ankle. An ankle
exoskeleton using TSA has not been designed yet. Soft exoskeletons have been
designed for various purposes. They find application in industries, metabolic cost
reduction, and rehabilitation. Rehabilitation and aid to stroke patients are the most
trending topics over the last 2 years. The five most trending keywords in this field are
“rehabilitation robotics,” “exoskeleton,” “rehabilitation,” “stroke,” and “robotics”
(Bao et al. 2019). With increasing specialization, in the last 2 years, researchers
are stressing on human-robot interaction, neurorehabilitation, AI, gait detection,
and synchronization of actuator with muscles. This upsurge can be attributed to the
rise in shortcomings faced by the increasing number of stroke patients and young
handicapped people. The need to integrate robots into society has become crucial
than ever. Figure 4 shows the most trending keywords over the last decade. We can
see a growing trend in rehabilitation exoskeleton research.
In the previous research, many made exoskeletons for passive walking assistance
for shipbuilding industries and for the knee ankle-foot orthoses using metals
and assistive rods, which helped patients to move, but none were made using
soft wearable materials. Don Jin Hyun et al. tried to mimic the human gait
pattern using Bezier curves, control systems, and kinematics (Hyun et al. 2019).
Shubam and Sreekumar designed a lower-body exoskeleton for workers in the
shipbuilding industry to reduce physical fatigue while lifting heavyweights (Kawale
and Sreekumar 2018). A passive walking assist exoskeleton was made using springs
to give walking assistance (Lovrenovic and Doumit 2019). The stiffness of the
springs is proportional to muscular ease; the springs were used to give upward force.
The device in practical use increased discomfort. Later, more advanced exoskeleton
was invented using soft actuators, which mimicked human gait motions (Park et al.
2014). A flexible strain sensor and a control system were fabricated for the same.
Actuation systems are a vital part in developing an exoskeleton. Pneumatic artificial
muscle (PAM) and twisted string actuators (TSA) have been extensively used to
design exoskeletons. This is because controlling and designing these actuators are
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2010 2012 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
rehabiliation robotics stoke robotics gait exoskeleton
Fig. 4 Trends in robotics research
feasible compared to using electric field actuation, electric power actuation, and
thermal actuation or shape memory alloys.
Techniques for designing, modelling, and controlling PAMs were presented in
detail (King et al. 2017). A smart pneumatic artificial muscle is developed, where
one fiber on the sleeve is converted to a conductive fiber as shown in Fig. 5, which
works as both sensor and actuator elements (Wakimoto et al. 2016). This fiber
estimates the applied pressure by observing electric resistance. An exoskeleton is
made for elbow movement developing an actuation sequence of PAMs for each
elbow motion and gave exact target angle to each PAM to perform actuation (Zhang
and Lin 2018). Algorithms were developed for controlling these muscles using
MATLAB and ADAMS software on a virtual prototype and for studying its motion
(Han and Zhongcai 2019). Marc Doumit et al. derived formulae for designing PAM
to fabricate it as per the requirement of specific muscles (Doumit et al. 2014).
Empirical modelling of PAM was obtained by studying the mechanical behavior of
commercially available PAMs (Wickramatunge and Leephakpreeda 2009). PAMs
were also used to design a minimalistic thumb rehabilitation system (Shiota et al.
2017). Mohamoud Tavakoli et al. proposed a variable radius model for TSA. They
explained different actuation phases in TSA, starting from the formation of the
single actuation element to the overtwist phase, where the actuation element twists
around itself. They were able to obtain 81% of contraction, which was never
reported before (Tavakoli et al. 2016). Sikai Zhao et al. put forth a model of portable
twisted string actuation system to design a device that assists in stair climbing (Zhao
et al. 2019). Formulae for designing TSA were derived, and the behavior of TSA
with multiple strings was explained in (Müller et al. 2015).
Fig. 5 Smart PAM with conductive fiber (Wakimoto et al. 2016)
Fig. 6 TSA test setup

(Usman et al. 2017a)
The life cycle of TSA has been studied by experimenting the actuator with
thousands of cycles under different loads, as shown in Fig. 6. Also, a passive return
mechanism was developed for the same (Usman et al. 2017a, b). Thomas Wurtz
et al. studied the functioning of the twisted string actuation with different numbers
of strings and also studied the geometry and force distribution of strings during
the actuation. A parameter called effective diameter was derived. Two systems, i.e.,
neutral and non-neutral strings, were compared for forces and wrapping angles. It
also suggested using less elastic and more rigid strings with a slippery surface to
avoid errors (Wuertz et al. 2010). Mohssen Hosseini et al. developed a force sensor
to control the TSA, where they used the optoelectronic component called a light
fork, because of its fork-shaped structure (Hosseini et al. 2017). Later, the same
system was used to design a haptic glove for finger movement with six degrees of
freedom, minimizing the system (Hosseini et al. 2018; Rahman et al. 2019).
The light fork has a package containing both LED and PD required for measuring
the deformation of the compliant frame. Optoelectronic sensors use the modulated
and reflected light beam emitted from the source, which is received by detectors to
measure the deflection of the compliant structure. Hyoryong Lee et al. proposed two
TSA systems, which are force-mode TSA (FM-TSA) and speed-mode TSA (SM-
TSA). Speed-mode TSA tends to have more nonlinearity, for which they proposed
nonlinearity compensation to reduce errors in the actuation. They used proportional-
integral-derivative (PID) and time-delay control (TDC) in SM-TSA to evaluate
feedback mechanisms during translational displacements. TDC responded better to
the payload changes, and it is more sensitive to change than the PID control (Lee
et al. 2019, 2020). To control the stiffness in McKibben-type pneumatic artificial
muscles, Yuto Yamamoto et al. (2017) used multiple model error compensators
(MECs). This robust variable stiffness control (VSC) is constructed by multiple
MECs with angle, pressure, and stiffness compensation. Along with that, ZMP
method has been used to control the stability of gait in a humanoid robot, and gait
evaluation criteria has been established by Zianggang Zhang et al. (2020) Analysis
of human kinematics was essential to derive this style of control (Chicoma et al.
2019). Elias et al. identified the design requirements of lower limb exoskeletons
for stair climbing and rehabilitation by chalking out human biomechanics manually
over 40 patients for an electrical drive exoskeleton (Elias et al. 2019).
In this research, we took up two types of artificial muscles and studied their use
in the rehabilitation of injured ankle by supporting the muscles that are involved
in the movement of the ankle with the artificial muscle. OpenSim has been used to
retrieve data for mimicking of real muscle and hence designing a control system.
The muscles have been specifically designed to mimic soleus, and the exoskeleton
is fabricated using standard articles.
Design Structure
Base
The design structure is based on five significant design constraints. Firstly, it should
be sufficiently flexible, and no rigid structures should be present. Secondly, it
should not restrict the natural degrees of freedom of the users, which have been
reported to be a prime disadvantage in most of the exoskeletons. Thirdly, it should
be lightweight to assist in metabolic cost reduction of the user when in motion.
Fourthly, it should be noninvasive (Park et al. 2014) so that anyone can use it
forthwith, and the same exoskeleton can be used by different subjects. Lastly, it
should be made from readily available day-to-day things and hence be affordable
and accepted widely.
Actuation
The actuation layer includes artificial muscle, tendons, and ligaments. The artificial
muscles used here are pneumatic air muscles (PAM) or twisted string actuators
(TSA), which have been designed and fabricated individually for the exoskeleton
to tailor its applications and constraints. Up to four muscles, as shown in the human
anatomy in Fig. 7, can be used for actuation to achieve all three degrees of freedom
of the ankle (Park et al. 2014).
The biological function of plantar flexion by soleus has been examined for
prototyping. Nylon wires are used to mimic biological tendons. The tendon is
connected from the bottom of the actuator to the lower surface of the slipper foam,
reckoning the actual tethering points of the biological tendon. A commercial pink
bandage is used as an artificial ligament to hold the actuator and the tendon in place,
ensuring the linearity of force transmission. It is sewed over the sock using ordinary
cotton sewing thread. The nylon wires are connected using hooks and knots at the
required places. As the artificial muscle contracts, it pulls the cable and results
Fig. 7 The lower leg

anatomy (https://fpnotebook.
com/ortho/Anatomy/
ClfAntmy.htm)
in plantar flexion of the ankle. Full degree of motion of 23◦ is obtained; other
degrees of freedom of ankle, as well as knee, are rendered harmless as none of
the actuator components hampers it. Different control systems have been used as
per the requirement of the actuator.
Proposed Sensors
Various sensors have been used for the exoskeleton’s operation and to set up the
feedback loop required for the PID control setup. The set of sensors used vary
according to the actuator used. The general sensors used are linear potentiometer,
strain sensor, load cell, and pressure sensors. Potentiometer helps in finding the
amount of displacement the actuator has caused in the tendon, adjusted by the
natural foot movement. Pressure sensors are used to sense the amount of sole in
contact with the ground and hence the respective stance (the part of the gait cycle)
the subject is in to adjust the controls of the actuator. Similarly, load cell and strain
sensors are used to find the amount of force exerted by the actuator on foot. Also,
an IMU is fitted on the slipper sole to gain data about orientation in real time. A
microprocessor, like raspberry-pi, along with a microcontroller Arduino Mini can
be used for prototyping the controlling system. The control system can be adapted
from (Park et al. 2014).
Analysis
The design of the concept is carried out using multiple software like SOLIDWORKS
and OpenSim. The cardinal modelling and ideation of separate actuators, as well
as the exoskeleton, is done on SOLIDWORKS. The model is designed based on
design equations. The dimensions are perfected, keeping in mind the 80th percentile
body structure, assuring its suitability, and eliminating discomfort and interferences.
Figure 8 shows forces applied by actuators at its hooked tethering points. The torque
will be given (Park et al. 2014).
τPlantar flexion = F1 .r1 (1)

τdorsi flexion = F2 . sin ϕ1 . cos ϕ2 .r3 + F3 . sin θ1 . cos θ2 .r3 (2)
Fig. 8 Forces applied by

ankle joint (Park et al. 2014)
From (1) and (2), the maximum torques, therefore, that can be applied are
110 Nm and 53 N m for respective motions.
OpenSim Simulations
The simulation is paramount in retrieving crucial data regarding the actual angle of
motion, degree of freedom, muscle activation, muscle fiber length, and metabolic
energy requirement by muscles during the full gait cycle (https://www.tekscan.com/
blog/medical/gait-cycle-phases-parameters-evaluate-technology) of human move-
ment. With the help of this data, it is possible to fine-tune the features of the
exoskeleton and develop a control system in harmony with the behavior of the
biological muscles. Along with retrieving data, the software can also simulate
the behavior of biological muscles in the presence of external actuators, thus
ameliorating precise actuator characteristics and endorsing that its purpose is
consummated.
Figures 9 and 10, plots of simulation results from OpenSim using inverse
kinematics and forward dynamics tool on Gait_2354simbody, show the variation
of muscle fiber length concerning time and angle. The data helps us in determining
the value of working length of the actuator at a particular time of the gait cycle or
the angle of ankle obtained by the IMU. The range of muscle length gives us the
maximum required contraction of 50 mm.
The data in Fig. 11 obtained from the simulation is beneficial in designing the
control system; also, the design standards are obtained. The maximum force needed
is 75 N. Although the soleus muscle applies 2250 N on the body, even 50 N of
force applied will appease that of soleus. It can be seen in Fig. 11 at 1.4 s when the
actuator is activated under different control laws. The force applied by soleus goes to
zero, signifying that the actuator is taking over the muscle. The appeasement can be
attributed to the arrangement of the actuator and its tethering points. The maximum
Fig. 9 Muscle fiber length at different times, to be mimicked by actuation

Fig. 10 Fiber length versus angle of different muscles
Fig. 11 Force applied by soleus at different control systems
travel of actuator needed is 0.05 meters to bring the 23◦ of full plantar flexion of the
ankle.
CAD Modelling
A CAD model using the 80th percentile of the human body is prepared to aid in
the final fabrication of the exoskeleton, deciding the dimension of various parts to
prevent manufacturing errors. The CAD model is shown in Fig. 12.
The model is analyzed in SOLIDWORKS motion study to align the kinematics
of the exoskeleton with natural motion dynamics. Also, the model is prepared in
Fig. 12 Exoskeleton CAD

model
Table 1 Dimensions of the model

Dimensions
S. no. Parameter (mm)
1. Length of foot 270
2. Length of tibia 528.4
3. Length of an actuator 300
4. Length of silicon pad 406.4
5. Diameter of an actuator (normal state) 20
6. Diameter of an actuator (expanded state) 40
7. Diameter of tibia 20–29.5
accordance with the OpenSim simulations and was later validated by augmenting
the OpenSim biological model with the custom exoskeleton and the actuator. The
dimensions obtained are shown in Table 1.
Design of Actuators
Designing the customized actuator was perhaps the most critical part, as the actuator
had to be customized to match the soleus muscle. Such actuators have not been
merchandized yet. The factors taken into consideration are the force of actuation, the
time taken for actuation, contraction achieved, size and flexibility of actuator, and
the overall weight. Two actuators, the pneumatic air muscle and the novel twisted
string actuator, were found to be congruous with the application.
Pneumatic Artificial Muscle
Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAM) are natural muscle-like actuators that convert
pneumatic power into pulling force. PAM has advantages over pneumatic cylinders
that include high force-to-weight ratio, high flexibility and easy installation in any
position, low cost, safety for human usage, low consumption of compressed air, and
negligible mechanical wear. Two essential components of PAMs primarily include
a silicon tube and nylon sleeve. The former acts as the reservoir for compressed air
and expands suitably, yielding the desired contraction.
The nylon sleeve provides the needed strength for the structure, also saving
the elastic silicon tube from rupture. The two ends of the silicon tube are fitted
with plastic hose barbs, one of which is closed. Hose clamps are fitted on both
ends to ensure the sleeve and the tube remain in contact, always. The design
considerations for the PAM are the force to be lifted, F; the dimensions, Lm and
D (length and diameter); and the contraction, X. From the OpenSim simulations, it
is calculated that the force required is 50 N, including the factor of safety of 2, the
final F = 100 N. The contraction required X is considered 7 cm after the inclusion
of inefficiencies. Furthermore, the length of PAM should not be more than 300 mm,
considering the anthropological factors of the 80th percentile. Also, the diameter
should be limited to 20 mm, considering that only 40 mm of expanded diameter is
acceptable to allow free movement. Using (Doumit et al. 2014) (3), (4), and (5):

Lym − 3L2m
F = −P (3)
4π n2
Lym sin θ
D= (4)
πn
Lm = Lym cos θ (5)
where Lym is the uncoiled fiber length, and theta is the angle between the fibers
(20◦ ). The compression ratio considering the design is 27%. Solving (4) for n, n
comes out to be equal to 2.22. Upon solving (3), the pressure required is 192 kPa
or 27.84 PSI. Thus, the customized actuator for the particular function has been
designed. A SOLIDWORKS model of the same is prepared, and then finally, the
actuator is manufactured according to the required dimensions. The lengths of both
tube and the sleeve are equivalent. Minimum friction must be ensured between
them. The thickness of the tube used is 3 mm, following the sizes of standard tubes
available. In the absence of the sleeve, the tube alone cannot withstand the pressure
and tends to burst. Plastic hose barbs are used here to reduce weight.
Twisted String Actuator
A twisted string actuator is a linear system of two or more parallel strings,

which are rotated by a DC motor. The tension produced in strings leads to a
reduction in its length and makes it a linear actuator. Relatively, because it is
a new technology, its advantages are left unfathomed. It is more advantageous
than similar systems like linear motors, rack and pinion, and worm configurations
because of its properties of being cost-effective, lightweight, easily replaceable,

and flexible. Thus, it is safer to operate around humans and finds its application
in exoskeletons. The actuator designed for the exoskeleton consists of only two
parallel strings and a motor. Its other parts are attributed to the fact that the load is
not directly carried by the motor (http://www.hizook.com/blog/2015/01/13/twisted-
string-actuators-surprisingly-simple-cheap-andhigh-gear-ratio).
Designing the actuator with the same applications as PAM, the initial design
considerations are taken. The force to be lifted (Fz) is 100 N, and the maximum
desired contraction is 70 mm. The radius of the strings chosen, which are regular
nylon strings used in beads and fashion (rc), is 4 mm. The permissible contraction
in the string without failure, delta X, is 25%. The stiffness (K) of the string is
10,000 N/m, while the efficiency of the transmission system (Etta) and the motor
is considered 80%. Then, the following design Eqs. (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) hold
(Gaponov et al. 2014):
Lm = Lym cos θ (6)
FZ
LC = L + (7)
K

LC
rmax = rc (8)
LC − Xdes

2. XDes . LC − XDes
2
θmax = (9)
rmax
2
θ. rmax 1
τL = FZ . . (10)
Lc − Xdes σ
Here LC is the length of the extended strings due to external load. rmax is the
maximum radius of the strings due to change in shape by tension. θmax is the
maximum angle the motor will have to rotate to achieve the required contraction,
and τL is the torque required to overcome the tension in strings and lift the weight.
After plugging in the values, the length of the string is found to be 288 mm.
rmax is 4.3 mm. The angle theta is found to be 46.29 radians, and the torque
is 0.49 Nm. From the calculations, it can be analyzed that, comparatively, lesser
torque is required to lift the load as compared to other actuators, and thus lesser
power is required. This implies that the battery to be carried by the actuator will be
comparatively smaller and lighter. The motor will have to complete 73.67 turns to
get the required contraction of 7 mm. A motor of 1000 rpm is used, and therefore,
we will be able to get the desired contraction in 4.44 s. This time is quite high when
compared to the time taken by the PAM to get the required contraction to match,
for which a very high rpm motor will be needed, which will instead use very high
power and hence will add up to the total weight of the actuator.
Fig. 13 The separator a

CAD model
It has been found out that theta depends inversely on the maximum radius of
strings. Thus, the thicker the strings, the lesser will be the time to achieve the
contraction because of the limited number of rotations required. However, using
thick strings will have consequences, like increased wear and greater size; an
optimum R has to be found out by experimentation as per the requirement of the
purpose. Finally, a DC motor (1 Nm@1000 rpm) along with 8 mm nylon strings
is used for the fabrication of the actuator. A light-blocking optical encoder sensor
module (RKI-3142) is used to measure the speed and number of turns of the motor
and control it accordingly. Figure 13 shows the design of the separator to be used to
hold the strings in position. It has various provisions for attaching itself to the motor
and can handle up to four strings. It is manufactured using aluminum.
Fabrication of Actuators
Prototypes of PAM and TSA, respectively, were fabricated using the designs fitting
for lower limb exoskeleton. For the PAM, the tube and the sleeve are cut to the
required length. Then, the ends of the sleeves are sealed with a flame (https://
www.instructables.com/id/Artificial-Muscles/). Consequently, the tube is put in the
sleeve. Ends are closed by hose barbs and sealed tight. Finally, they are secured
with the O-rings. Nylon threads are stuck inside the O-rings to suspend weight for
experimentation and also hang the PAM to a rigid support. Figure 14 shows the
PAM fabricated at our laboratory.
Fabrication of TSA included fabricating the separator, among other components.
The separator is made of solid aluminum rod in a lathe machine, four through-holes
are drilled along a PCD by a column drill, and one blind hole is drilled at the center
for motor’s shaft. The latter is attached to the separator using screws. Commercial
thrust bearing is fitted under the separator. The nylon threads are cut according to
the required size, and distal ends are manually tied to a nail. The nail is attached to a
fixed support such that its rotation is arrested. The proximal ends are passed through
the separator’s holes and tied at the end.
It is vital for both the actuators to be in tension for them to work optimally
and in the desired direction as proper channelization of force is facilitated; this
Fig. 14 Fabricated PAM
Fig. 15 Left, PAM test setup; middle, TSA test setup; right, fabricated exoskeleton
is in accordance with the biological muscle, which is also always in tension. The
experimental setups are separately made for both actuators. The experimental setup
for PAM created is shown in Fig. 15. The parameters measured in the experiment
are initial and final length, the time taken for actuation, the weight lifted, and the
force applied. Several readings are taken at a given pressure by applying different
amounts of weights to the PAM. The amount of contraction and the time taken for
actuation are recorded in Table 2.
The controlled and independent variables include pressure and mass suspended.
The dependent variables are the time of actuation and contraction. It is necessary
to assess the behavior of the actuator before employing it in the exoskeleton.
Table 2 Pressure versus contraction sample reading

X Weight
P 1.6 kg 4.4 kg 7.2 kg 10 kg 11.8 kg 15.4 kg 16.4 kg 18.2 kg
1 bar 0 0.2 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
2 bars 1.8 1.5 2.0 1.5 1 1 1 0.5
3 bars 2.7 2.7 2.5 2 2 1.5 2 1.5
4 bars 3.2 3 3 2.5 2.5 2 2 2.3
5 bars 3.5 3.5 3.3 3.5 3 3.5 2.3 2.3
Table 3 TSA experimental Weight Contraction (mm)

reading 30 turns 50 turns 70 turns
4.035 0.25 2.2 4.7
4.485 0.2 2.1 4.2
5.13 0.25 1.6 3.7
5.815 0.25 1.4 N/A
6 0.25 1.1
6.285 0.25 1.1
6.855 0.25 0.6
7.465 0.3 0.6
7.8 0.3 0.6
8.37 0.25 0.6
Each reading is averaged from three values to eliminate errors. The setup for
TSA, shown in Fig. 15, is fabricated in-house and is much more complicated.
It includes a long wooden board. All the essential components are mounted on
it. The channel is used to restrict the movement to an only degree of freedom
and reduce losses by friction. The motor is run by a 12 V rechargeable lead-acid
battery using a microcontroller (https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/projects/control-
a-motor-with-an-arduino/). Readings are taken by varying the number of rotations
and the weight, tabulated below in Table 3. The parameters measured are torque,
the amount of weight the strings can lift, the contraction achieved, and the time
taken for the same. Also, the durability of the strings is observed. The independent
variables are the number of turns and the weight lifted. The dependent variables are
the contraction and time taken for the same.
The fabrication of the prototype included assembling components, as mentioned
in the design of the exoskeleton part. For PAM, the muscle is stitched into the sock
with the help of nylon strings (via O-rings). A silicon pad is used inside the sock
to maintain contact with the skin. One end of the actuator is fixed at the top, under
the knee. The other end is fixed along the line of the calves. A nylon wire is kept
protruding, which is fixed at the bottom of the slipper sole. The tethering point is
farther away from the natural tendon to increase the moment arm and therefore
make the system more efficient. The sole of the sock adhered to the upper part of
the slipper sole with the help of “Araldite.” Ligaments are made of crepe bandage
Fig. 16 Housing for TSA (left, sectioned view; right, isometric view)
to channel force only in the required direction and arrest movement sideways. The
whole system is foldable. A free hose from the actuator can be connected to a
compressor via a solenoid valve during usage.
Figure 15 shows the fabricated PAM prototype. The solenoid valve will be
controlled by a microprocessor according to the control system already discussed.
Pressure sensors are fitted under the sole; IMUs are fitted at the axis of rotation
and along the shin. A linear potentiometer is used along the tendon to measure the
movement of the actuator. Fabrication of exoskeleton for TSA can be done similarly,
wherein a module has been designed, as shown in Fig. 16, by SOLIDWORKS to
house the bearings, the motor, the encoder, and the sensors. Tendons and ligaments
are similar as that of PAM. The strings are always kept in tension and exert miniscule
force on leg. The motor is trained for this process.
Pressure, Contraction, and Load Characteristics of the Actuators
The lower limb exoskeleton was fabricated and tested. Based on the work carried
out, the obtained results are discussed in this section. The actuators were tested
separately at their different test setups; both the dependent variables were varied,
keeping the others constant; and contraction and the time of actuation was measured.
Three readings were averaged out; based on that the following results were obtained.
The behavior of the muscle is verified. As seen in Fig. 17, the pressure and weight
are directly related. Each line represents a different weight suspended. The increase
is steady; the polynomial that best fits all the data points is obtained, mapping the
actual behavior of the actuator. This mapping enables us to precisely control the
actuator and take into account various errors in calculations and real inefficiencies,
such that the actuator is accurately able to perform the task without disruption and
is safe for human usage. It is seen from the graph that the actuator has deviated from
the calculations; the maximum achieved contraction is 55 mm.
Fig. 17 Pressure versus contraction graphs (PAM) obtained from the results
The inaccuracy may be attributed to minute leak in the air during testing, not
accounted for by the calculations.
Also, the elastic property of the silicon tube and nylon sleeve might vary from
the predictions and, therefore, may have led to decreased expansion. It has been
observed that, as the weight suspended increases, the natural length of the muscle
increases as well.
In contrast, the contraction decreases infinitesimally. Both these phenomena
compensate each other; therefore, it can be safely said that regardless of the weight
suspended, the difference in net contraction is very less, as compared to TSA.
All the contractions have a range 2 mm. TSA is rather more sensitive to the
weight suspended. The time of actuation is akin, regardless of pressure and weight
suspended. The actuation is very instantaneous as it would be for any pneumatic
actuator. A flow control valve can be used to make the actuation smoother for
application for rehabilitation purposes. The actuator can lift a total of 18.2 kg
at 5 × 105 Pa pressure before failing. This demonstrates incredible potential in
the actuator to lift heavy loads, having the unparalleled power-to-weight ratio of
105 W/kg. The actuator weighs only 0.15 kg, whereas the whole exoskeleton,
excluding the compressor, weighs less than 1 kg. Additionally, the actuator is
economical, costing 350 rupees only, making it widely applicable for extensive
development in the market.
Figure 18 (left) shows a downward trend, implying that the contraction decreases
with the amount of weight applied. It shows the magnification of the slight decrease
in contraction observed, as discussed in the paragraph above. It is visible that the
slope of the lines is scarce; the scale had to be expanded by a factor of 5 to be
able to observe the slight downward trend. Here the separate lines are at different
pressures. The slope of the 5 × 105 line is the highest, while the 105 Pa is almost
zero. It can be inferred that the higher the pressure, the more is the impact of
suspended weight on it. It was observed that PAM has a softer operation and less
fatigue as compared to TSA. The primary disadvantage of PAM is the constraint of
a compressor, leading to a more massive and costlier system. Also, controlling PAM
is a tedious task, and the systems existing are not able to produce high precision and
repeatability in operation. Thus, there are chances that the actuator deviates from
anticipated contraction. When a complete contraction is considered, the actuator
can produce repeatable results and thus can be used for rehabilitation purposes and
metabolic cost reduction nevertheless. The actuator can also find employment in
other stationary types of exoskeletons or exosuits.
The most significant advantage of PAMs is its ability to mimic the biological
muscle in the most suitable way, which no other actuator has been able to achieve.
This property can expand the horizons of this industry.
TSA was used to alleviate the shortcomings of PAM, most importantly the
need for compressor ominously. Nevertheless, it had its shortcomings. The weight
suspended versus contraction graphs in Fig. 18 shows that the contraction decreases
with an increase in suspended weight; the slope of the graph is rather high,
signifying the primary effect of suspended weight on the contraction, keeping all
other variables constant. This is in stark contrast with the results obtained in the
case of PAM. It is also observed that the slope of the curve is directly related to
the number of turns. It can be explained by a linear increase in strain in the strings,
holding an increasing amount of elastic energy.
Furthermore, the time taken for actuation also increases as the weight (or the
number of turns) is increased; the time of actuation maximizes to 4 s agreeing with
the calculations done. The least time for actuation is less than 1 s; here, the time of
actuation obtained is too high for its use in active purposes. Even so, it is just perfect
for use in medical and rehabilitation purposes for smooth and slow actuation in the
treatment of patients.
The torque applied by the twisted strings is insignificant and measured to be
0.3 Nm. Such a small torque will render the user’s leg harmless. Other advantageous
characteristics include the ability to control it very precisely even with motor
encoder configuration and also by using a stepper motor. A locking mechanism
Fig. 18 Left: Normalized weight versus contraction (PAM) Right: Normalized weight versus
contraction (TSA) obtained from results
can also be introduced such that the actuator can hold still at a certain degree of
actuation without active usage of power, thus saving an incredible amount of power,
which is not possible with the PAMs. The TSA has soft operation because the motor
is silent. Also, the compressor is eliminated, extending the actuator’s portability
and utility in adverse conditions. The actuator is not able to lift hefty weights,
which is its most significant disadvantage. From Fig. 18, it can be inferred that
after the weights exceed 6 kg, the actuator is not able to give contraction of more
than 20 mm, regardless of the number of turns. The actuator fails to give further
considerable contraction after 70 turns. For the actuator to give more contraction,
a higher torque motor is needed to be used, and the effective length of the strings
needs to be increased.
In contrast, the actuator can give a tremendous amount of contraction at lower
loads and using lower energy. This property can be better used in applications
requiring more massive displacement at smaller loads. The inefficiencies include
loss of energy due to rotating parts of the motor, bearing and separator, friction
in the housing, losses due to friction in strings, and dissipation as heat and sound
energy, which as a whole makes the actuator less efficient as compared to PAM.
The actuator is also three times more expensive than PAM, costing just under 1000
rupees. The motor and the battery add weight and make it more substantial than
PAM. Although considering PAM with the compressor and juxtaposing it with TSA
and battery system, both have analogous system weight and cost.
Figure 19 shows the results of the drop test, where a simulation is carried out
in OpenSim, where the subject is dropped from a height of 1200 mm. It can be
inferred that if no external support is provided, the ankle tends to get injured and
surpasses the safe angle of motion. When an active actuator is used, the angle
remains below 23◦ , and thus, the ankle is saved from injury, demonstrating the utility
of the actuator.
Figure 20 shows the results of metabolic tool in OpenSim and the metabolic
energy expenditure of soleus. The blue and green lines represent the energy spent
Fig. 19 The results of the drop test using the active AFO and how it prevents injuries by limiting
the subtalar angle under 30◦ . (OpenSim Simulation result, AFO)
Fig. 20 The reduction in metabolic energy when the actuator was simulated in an OpenSim
simulation
when the actuator is augmenting soleus, verifying the reduction in metabolic energy
expenditure by the user.
Conclusion
In this chapter, two actuators, PAM and TSA, were designed, fabricated, and tested
for various parameters fitting a soft ankle exoskeleton. It can be ascertained that
PAM has high power-to-weight ratio of 105 W/kg, whereas TSA has 78 W/kg.
TSA takes four times more duration to show the same contraction. Also load lifting
capacity of PAM is 200% of that of TSA, whereas TSA is able to show four times
the contraction at lower loads and higher speeds. The parameters of gait cycle were
determined and utilized. Both the actuation systems weigh the same around 1.5 kg
and have similar costs. OpenSim simulations demonstrated metabolic cost reduction
and safety of ankle. They are unquestionably superior and healthier for usage in
exoskeletons than contemporary actuators. As an evidence, a soft exoskeleton was
fabricated and tested. This research paves the path for wider reach and utility of
exoskeletons, making them more cost-effective. It encourages research on these
incredible actuators as their working behavior is elucidated. It also simulates more
work in the field of soft exoskeletons, eliminating the drawbacks in control systems
such that they can concurrently work with neural networks, mimicking the actual
human motion for exoskeletons and humanoids. The effectiveness biomimetics is
established.
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ROBIO49542.2019.8961415
Robotic Arm for Biomedical Applications
Modelling and Analysis of 18R-2T
55
Arockia Selvakumar Arockia Doss, Birupakshya Mishra,
Safal Mohammed, Pavan Kalyan Lingampally, and Michael Short
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1416
Passive Prostheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1416
Mechanical/Body-Controlled Prostheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1417
Robotics-Aided Prostheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1417
Previous Related Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1418
Human Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1424
Functionality of Current Prosthetic Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1424
Problem Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1426
Conceptual Design of Prosthetic Arm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1426
Structural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1429
Summary and Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1432
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1436
Abstract
Our aim is to develop a robotic prosthetic that can replicate the functions of a
human hand. To achieve the functionality, a model with 20 degrees of freedom
is designed. The model consists of 18 revolute joints and 2 twisting joints. Each
A. S. Arockia Doss ()

B. Mishra · S. Mohammed · P. K. Lingampally
e-mail: birupakshya.mishra2016@vitstudent.ac.in; safal.mohammed2016@vitstudent.ac.in;
lpavan.kalyan2015@vit.ac.in
M. Short
School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Teesside University,
Middlesbrough, UK
e-mail: M.Short@tees.ac.uk
1416 A. S. Arockia Doss et al.
finger consists of 3 revolute joints and the wrist consists of 1 twisting joint. The
forearm has 1 revolute joint, while the shoulder comprises of 2 revolute joints and
1 twisting joint. SolidWorks software was used to carry out the conceptual design
of the model. The model is designed to be mechanically stable while being light
in weight. The structural analysis of the model was conducted using the Ansys
software. To understand whether the model can withstand tasks on a daily basis,
a force of 800 N is applied to the model. The amount of deformation of the body
is analyzed by this force analysis and the factor of safety is determined, further
enhancing the durability of the model. The parts were meshed and stress analysis
was carried out. Principle stress analysis and von Mises stress analysis were also
carried out. During the analysis, the model was found to be viable and structurally
stable. The proposed model has improved functionality and is cost-effective and
lighter in weight over other models available.
Keywords
Prosthetic arm · Model design · Structural analysis · Factor of safety
Introduction
Prosthesis is an artificial device that is intended to substitute for a part of the

human body. A person may lose his/her body part due to accidents, maladies,
or at birth. These parts which are missing in one’s body can be restored using
either passive prosthesis or a functional robotics-aided prosthesis (Sameer 2016).
Restoring any human body part, the human arm, in particular, is a demanding task.
Pioneers have tried to restore missing body parts with other options for centuries.
Until recent years, the development of prosthetic devices has been rather moderate
because prostheses remained passive devices that offered little regarding control and
motion. This has been changed with the presentation of the robotic-aided prosthesis
(Clement et al. 2011; Vujaklija et al. 2016; Anh et al. 2018). Recent years have
offered a way to enormous progressions in prosthetic devices. The focus is not
just on the physical characteristics of a device but also on the control frameworks
and biofeedback systems. Maybe soon, prosthetic devices will be quicker, more
grounded, and perhaps more advantageous than our biological limbs (Wolf et al.
2020). Figure 1 depicts a conceptual render of a prosthetic arm.
There are several different categories of prosthetic devices (Plagenhoef et al.
1983; Sarah Mattes 2014). They are generally grouped by the way in which the
device is controlled as listed below,
Passive Prostheses
Passive prosthetics are simple prosthetics that are nonmoving which is intended to
restore cosmetic appearance and basic functionality to an amputee. Figure 2 shows
a simple passive prosthetic hand (Arjunan et al. 2014; Maat et al. 2017).
55 Robotic Arm for Biomedical Applications 1417
Fig. 1 A render of a
prosthetic robotic arm.
(Courtesy: VladislavOciacia /
Alamy Stock Photo)
Fig. 2 Passive prosthetic

hand. (Courtesy: MyoFacil
prosthetic hand system,
Ottobock)
Mechanical/Body-Controlled Prostheses
Mechanical prosthetics are controlled via a harness attached to the amputee.

These are simple devices, linked to one’s elbow or shoulder to produce limited
functionality. These are relatively simple devices and are the most common type
of prosthesis used today (Kulkarni and Uddanwadiker 2016). Figure 3 explains the
functioning of a body-controlled prosthetic hook.
Robotics-Aided Prostheses
These are prosthetic devices that are aided by robotics technology and function
using sensors and motors. Robotic prosthetics provide greater control and func-
tionality over mechanical prostheses. This type of technology is considered to be
the future of prosthetics, but is very expensive to produce (Gopura et al. 2018). In
Fig. 4, a man can be seen using a robotic-aided prosthetic arm.
Robots can be utilized to produce target proportions of patient’s debilitation and
therapy results, aid in the diagnosis, customize treatments depending on the patient’s
motor capacities, and guarantee consistency with treatment regimens and keep up
patient’s records.
Fig. 3 Body-controlled prosthetic hook. (Courtesy: Digital Resource Foundation for the Orthotics
and Prosthetics community)
Fig. 4 A man using

robotics-aided prosthesis.
(Courtesy: Johns Hopkins
University)
Previous Related Works
Christopher et al. have discussed an arm prosthetic device that allowed the user with
an improved range of motion. It employs a compliant structure that incorporates
a shoulder flexion joint, a shoulder abduction joint, a humeral rotator, an elbow
flexion joint, a wrist rotation joint, and a wrist flexion joint. It comprises of
5 fingers (Christopher et al. 2019). Gutiérrez et al., in their study, talk about
a fully functional lightweight robotic arm. Further the study discuses about the
manufacturing and material constraints involved and the aspects that should be
considered while designing and manufacturing a robot arm (Gutiérreza et al. 2017).
Vighnesh and Guy Hoffman have discussed about the design of a wearable robotic
forearm for close-range human-robot collaboration. In the proposed research they
Fig. 5 Lightweight robot arm (Gutiérreza et al. 2017)
have mentioned that the robot’s function is to fill in as a lightweight effusive third
arm for shared workspace exercises (Vatsal and Hoffman 2017). It is intended to
increase human reach (Arjunan et al. 2014). Figure 5 depicts the various lightweight
arms developed in recent research.
Reza et al., have reviewed the mechanical characteristics of finger mechanisms
of hand prostheses. In that they have described the performance criteria used
on artificial fingers and classify the performance criteria into grasp and physical
features (Reza Kashefa et al. 2019). Wan et al. have explained the development
of an exoskeleton consisting of a 2-DoF robotic arm attached to a chair. The
design of this product was for right-hand use only and included limited motion
(Ali et al. 2018). Kaushal Dholariya and et al., designed and fabricated a 14-DoF
humanoid robot with voice control system and 256 forward kinematic and inverse
kinematic solutions were obtained using DH transformation and ANFIS method,
respectively (Dholariya and Arockia Selvakumar 2016). Kamil Ahmed and et al.,
fabricated and carried out simulation, FEA analysis on a 10-DoF biped robot. The
FEA analysis provided maximum stress and deflection found to be 9.48 MPa and
0.932 mm, respectively (Kamil and Arockia Selvakumar 2018). Klein et al. (2010)
presented a 2-RRPS 3-DoF robotic-arm exoskeleton that uses a parallel mechanism

to help realistic shoulder movements. They optimized the exoskeleton’s torque
capabilities by the modification of the key geometric design parameters. Mao and
Agrawal (2011) proposed a 5-DoF cable-driven upper arm exoskeleton, with control
of force. They selected lightweight cables instead of rigid links to overcome the
same problems of conventional robotic rehabilitation devices such as bulkiness,
heaviness, and disability of the providing joint level rehabilitation. O Malley et al.
(2006) designed a 4-DoF 3-RPS RiceWrist upper extremity rehabilitation robot
which can allow variability in methods of interference between the patient and
the manipulator sort as passive, triggered, and active constrained modes. Pehlivan
et al. (2011) designed a 5-DoF 3-RPS robot named MAHI Exo II which enables
flexion-extension, and radial-ulnar deviation for the rehabilitation of upper stroke,
spinal cord injury, or other brain injuries. Nef et al. (2007) presented a 6-DoF
serial structure exoskeleton named ARMin which can work in different therapy
modes: passive mobilization, game therapy, and task-oriented training. Carignan
et al. (Carignan and Liszka 2005) examined a 5-DoF arm exoskeleton for treating
shoulder pathology. Lambercy, Dovat et al. (Dovat et al. 2008) designed a robot to
train opening/closing of human hand. The design can be adaptable to various hand
sizes and both hands, right and left. Kawasaki et al. (Ueki et al. 2012) designed a
hand rehabilitation robot with 18 DoF using “self-motion control” which provides
patients to exercise alone with the help of their healthy hands. Williams et al. (Krebs
et al. 2007) outlined the mechanical design of a robot for wrist rehabilitation. Manna
(Manna and Bhaumik 2013) developed a wearable exoskeleton for human arm with
10 DoF. They focused in their research on the motion human shoulder griddle.
Bandara et al. (2017) proposed a parallel manipulator-based anthropomorphic
transhumeral robotic prosthesis arm consisting of 15 DoF as shown in Fig. 6, out of
which 7 active and 8 passive DoFs. This mechanism enabled elbow, forearm, and
wrist movement.
Fig. 6 Various configurations of the wrist (Bandara et al. 2017)

Fig. 7 The anthropomorphic

robot hand and wrist, and the
master glove input device
(Saliba et al. 2005)
Kumar et al. (2017) designed and implemented a 6-DoF humanoid robotic arm
with realistic mechanical structure; a SimMechanics-based simulation study was
conducted to obtain stability. Abayasiri et al. (2017) proposed MoBio a 5-DoF
transhumeral robotic arm which can achieve elbow flexion/extension, forearm
supination/pronation, wrist radial/ulnar deviation, wrist flexion/extension, and com-
pound motion of thumb and index finger. Kundu et al. (2008) developed a hybrid
prosthetic arm which is powered by both electrically and body (manual). The hybrid
failed to achieve natural wrist motion due to shift between the two axes of wrist.
Michael A. Saliba et al. (2005) developed a 5-DoF anthropomorphic robot hand and
wrist to be teleoperated by a human glove movement as shown in Fig. 7.
This arm is intended to perform grasp action. Rosen et al. (2005) designed
a 7-DoF powered exoskeleton for the upper limb and studied kinematics and
dynamics of the limb by formulating the equation of motion and obtained joint
torques for the given position of the arm. José Rafael Mendoza-Vázquez et al.
(2008) carried out simulation of a 3-DoF mechanical elbow as shown in the Fig. 8,
and formulated inverse kinematic equations using geometric method. The Matlab
simulations were carried out to visualize the workspace of the arm.
Gopura and Kiguchi (Gopura and Kiguchi 2009) conducted a detail survey
on various designs and mechanisms of the upper limb exoskeleton and listed
out challenges faced during the development process and provided suggestions
to overcome the challenges. Hussin and Sadun (2021) designed a user-driven
prosthetic arm which is capable of moving the fingers synchronously based on
the user input from an EMG sensor. The robotic arm is capable of performing
the operations like clenching and holding the objects without dropping. Flesher
et al. (2021) developed a brain-computer interfaced robotic limb. This system uses
recorded neural activity from the cortex and generates tactile sensations and enabled
the user to perform grasp action faster than the usual, i.e., by a median time of
20.9–10.2 s. Zaidan et al. (2021) developed an IoT-based prosthetic arm with 14
DoF and achieved accuracy of 90.9%, and flex sensors were employed to measure
the strength applied for holding different objects. Ahmed et al. (2020) designed an
Fig. 8 Parallel topology of

the 3-DoF prosthetic arm
(Mendoza-Vázquez et al.
2008)
Fig. 9 The Robonaut 2 hand

and forearm with all avionics
(Bridgwater et al. 2012)
arm which could actuate the fingers and rotate the wrist independently. This study
also includes different types of classifier algorithms to predict the new test data
whether the fist is closed firmly or in relaxed position. Kim et al. (2019) developed
a bioinspired wrist design with two-row ellipsoid structure to achieve lightweight
30 g of the joint and besides implemented a novel routing method using ligament
tunnel to achieve maximum joint tensile stiffness while obtaining larger joint RoM
of 80◦ . Bajaj et al. (2019) conducted an extensive survey on the different types of
wrists and prosthetic arms commercially available and discussed their strengths,
deficiencies, and recent trends. Bridgwater et al. (2012) designed hand and foreman
as shown in the Fig. 9, with a payload of more than 9 kg, as this design consists of
12-DoF with 2-DoF wrist. The finger can exert a tip force up to 2.25 kg at a speed
of 200 mm/s.
Fig. 10 (a) The UB-Hand IV, (b) wrist frontal view, and (c) wrist lateral view (Scarcia et al. 2015)
Duan et al. (2016) designed and implemented a 2-DoF spherical parallel manip-
ulator which consists of two rotational DoF which can be potentially utilized for
the wrist of a prosthetic arm for rehabilitation and industrial purposes. Scarcia et al.
(2015) designed a 2-DoF tendon driven arm with 29 motors as shown in Fig. 10,
and from experimental study it is observed that the hand achieved flexion/extension
+40◦ /−40◦ respectively. The drawbacks posed by the tendon-driven mechanisms
are the friction and wear of the tendons. This is compensated by employing effective
control which did not affect the overall behavior of the hand. Degirmenci et al.
(2015) designed and controlled a teleoperated 3-DoF robotic wrist based on a 5-bar
spherical mechanism as shown in Fig. 11. This wrist design helps the doctors to
maximize the grasp precision while operating on a complex and narrow gaps. This
wrist successfully demonstrated a pick-and-place task where 1-mm diameter steel
spheres were stacked one upon other to form a pyramid. Fan et al. (2016) fabricated
a 2-DoF miniature prosthetic wrist as shown in Fig. 11, to perform 30 wrist daily
Fig. 11 Robotic wrist

attached to the translation
stage used for surgical
grasper (Degirmenci et al.
2015)
activities. This wrist achieved an extension of 40◦ , radial movement of 30◦ , and
ulnar movement of 30◦ .
Human Hand
The human hand consists of 27 bones in average depending on the individual. More
than 30 individual muscles and over 100 named ligaments, nerves, and arteries make
up a human hand. Figure 12 below depicts the major bones and joints in the human
hand. Prostheses aim to replicate the functions of the human body and return similar
functionality to people with missing extremities. None of the current prosthetic
devices can completely match the dexterity, flexibility, functionality, and fluidity
of the human hand.
A human finger in total has 4 degrees of freedom. Three of these are the
rotations of each joint which combine to control flexion and extension of the finger.
The knuckle also allows for abduction/adduction (moving the finger from side to
side). These are illustrated in Fig. 13. In the thumb the lower joint also allows for
abduction/adduction – which gives 5 degrees of freedoms in the thumb. Fingers and
all joints in the human body are actuated via contraction of muscles and tendons.
The average length and breadth of a human hand is 7.6 inches and 3.5 inches,
respectively.
Functionality of Current Prosthetic Hands
Most of the robotic prosthetic arms available commercially are actuated using a joint
linkage system as shown in Fig. 14 which is powered by a motor.
Bones Joints
Distal phalanges
Proximal interphalangeal(PIP)
Intermediate phalanges
Distal interphalangeal(DIP)
Proximal phalanges
Meta carpals Meta carpophalangeal(MCP)
Carpophalangeal(basilar joint)
Carpals
Fig. 12 Major bones and joints in the human hand (Courtesy: Research Gate, (2013). Novel smart
sensor glove for arthritis rehabilitation
Fig. 13 Degrees of freedom

in a human finger. (Courtesy:
Design of an
anthropomorphic robotic
finger system with
biomimetic artificial joints –
Scientific Figure on
ResearchGate)
Fig. 14 Commercial finger

with joint linkage. (Courtesy:
Mechanical design and
performance specifications of
anthropomorphic prosthetic
hands: A review – Scientific
Figure on ResearchGate)
Problem Definition
Although different types of prosthetic arms exist, they are either restricted in capa-
bilities or far costly for the needy to utilize this bit of innovation. In this research, a
full-length prosthetic arm for the disabled is designed, which is mechanically stable,
economically dependable, lightweight, cost-effective, and emulates the human arm
movements.
To create a utilitarian prosthetic arm, there are various design and manufacturing
challenges to overcome. The design ought to have the option to reproduce the
capacities and physical appearance of a human arm, which can be accomplished
only by utilizing complex mechanical and electrical design structure. The design is
meant to be as genuinely advanced as possible. Physical appearance is a significant
part of prosthetic arms. A study of myoelectric prosthetic hand clients led by the
International Society of Prosthetic and Orthotics found that most of the adult clients
were disappointed with their device’s corrective appearance.
The device must aim to be helpful to an amputee. The objective is to build
a prosthesis that can profit individuals with missing hands. In the event that an
increasingly complex framework was designed, the client would have no control.
The issue with a predefined grip system is that the client cannot finely control finger
positions to grasp a particular article or complete a task.
Conceptual Design of Prosthetic Arm
To create a useful prosthetic arm, it is necessary to have a well-designed mechanical

system that mimics the human arm’s functionality as best as possible. The prosthetic
arm design presented in this section can be entirely manufactured with a 3D printer
and basic tools. SolidWorks is a computer design software package made for
modeling solid mechanical components and assemblies. SolidWorks is a popular
tool in the engineering industry and has been used in designing and analyzing this
prosthetic arm. The design was carried out for a prosthetic arm with 20 degrees of
freedom, 18 revolute joints, and 2 twisting joints so that it can replicate almost all
the motions of a human arm.
An artificial tendon design was chosen after researching several actuation meth-
ods for prosthetic arms, as shown in Fig. 15. The average dimensions of a human
arm were found through research and the prosthetic arm was designed in accordance
with these dimensions. Each finger consists of three individual components linked
together with locking pins. The artificial tendon loops around the inside tip of the
finger to create a tendon locking point. This tendon runs through channels inside
the finger to form an enclosed loop. When the tendon is pulled, rotational forces
are applied to all the joints and the finger curls up. The thumb and fingers provide
three degrees of freedom and can open/close in a rotatory motion as they consist
of 3 revolute joints each. Each finger connects to the palm by polypropylene pins.
The wrist is provided with a twisting joint and is connected to the palm. SolidWorks
Fig. 15 Wrist and hand

design
Fig. 16 Shoulder design
physical dynamics tools were used to mesh the gears properly. The forearm contains
no moving components in its design and is used to house servo motors, battery, and
allows for assembling the motors and tendons inside the arm. It acts as the casing
for all the components. The elbow actuator must always move the weight of the
forearm on top of any additional load. Figure 16 shows the shoulder design with the
elbow gears.
A small gear pressed onto the shoulder servo drives a larger gear section
connected to the forearm. The gear train shown in Fig. 17 was designed with a
gear ratio of “1.09.” As shown in Table 1, the smaller gear has 12 teeth, while the
bigger one has 11, which means for the arm’s elbow joint to move from one locking
position to the other, the smaller gear (the one assembled to the shoulder end) has
to cover the total perimeter of the bigger gear (one assembled to the forearm end).
Furthermore, with this gear ratio, the smaller gear can cover the required
perimeter without even completing one full rotation of its own. As a result, we were
able to achieve an effortless lock to lock elbow motion.
Fig. 17 Elbow gear design
Table 1 Gear ratio Description Value

No. of teeth on the smaller gear (T1) 12
No. of teeth on the bigger gear (T2) 11
Gear ratio (T1/T2) =1.09
Fig. 18 Assembled model
Table 2 Model details System properties Description

Assembled weight 950 g
Material to be used ABS plastic
Tendon material Braided fishing line
Sensor Myoelectric
The arm is designed to easily withstand an overall force of 800 N, which is equal
to the average weight of a human. The assembled CAD model is shown in Fig. 18.
In Table 2, acrylonitrile-butadie-styrene (ABS) plastic is selected as the material
as it has a low melting point, which enables its use in 3D printing. It also has high
tensile strength and is very resistant to physical impacts and chemical corrosion,
which allows the finished product to withstand heavy use at the same time being
light in weight.
The final model has increased functionality over currently available products and
is lighter in weight than a human arm or most of the other prosthetic arms available
in the market today. This design is more cost-effective compared to that of existing
models. Three joint linkages in the fingers help in attaining multiple grip positions
compared to a single joint linkage mechanism found in other major designs. The
cosmetic appeal of this design is better than other prosthetic arms available.
Structural Analysis
The meshing of the parts is done into simple elements that can be used as discrete
local approximations of a larger domain.
In Figs. 19, 20, and 21, the stress flow analysis of the parts is done as it shows the
distribution of deformation force throughout the structures where the red regions
refer to regions which experience maximum deformation stress and blue regions
bear least deformation stress. The different colored regions and their respective
deformation values are indicated on the scale indicated to the left side of each image
so as it can be seen that in each part the majority of the region is covered by either
blue or green color which shows that there is enough support to resist the deforming
force.
Figure 22 shows the distribution of principal stress on the forearm-shoulder
end. Here, the red region indicates the area which experiences minimum principal
stress and simultaneously, the yellow region indicates the area which experiences
slightly more principal stress. As we can see, the gear touching the forearm’s edge
experiences greater stress, but the increase in the amount of stress is meagre, so the
expectancy of failure is pretty low.
Fig. 19 Stress flow analysis of shoulder

Fig. 20 Stress flow analysis of arm
Fig. 21 Stress flow analysis of palm
The factor of safety is a measure of the reliability of a particular design and

could give us an estimation of whether the design will fail or not when put under
the cycle of loads. Here, the red regions refer to areas that have FOS < 1 (critical to
failure) and the rest have FOS > 1 tending to a maximum value of 15, as can be seen
that in Fig. 23, the area which has FOS < 1 is the same region from Fig. 22 which
experiences greater amount stress but that does not prove that there are chances of
failure at that point. It cannot be proved without any proper physical testing of the
part. Hence, instead of reinforcing that region, we are willing to take the risk as
weight reduction had been one of our objectives (Figs. 24 and 25).
The von Mises stress is used to predict yielding of materials under complex
loading from the results of uniaxial tensile tests. In Fig. 26, the same region from
Fig. 22 Principle stress analysis of back arm
Fig. 23 FOS analysis of back arm
Fig. 23 and 24 shows that the rest of the region has a higher amount of equivalent
(von Mises) stress.
Force and load analysis of the design are conducted. In Fig. 27, the side hinges
of the shoulder experience a lateral force of 500 N or -500 N in +X or –X direction,
respectively.
In Fig. 28, the clamp for the smaller driving gear experiences a bending moment
of “100 N-mm.”
In Fig. 29, the extruded controller attached to the palm was applied with a
moment of 100 N-mm.
Fig. 24 FOS analysis of shoulder
Fig. 25 FOS analysis of palm
In Fig. 30, the teeth of larger gear attached to the forearm end would experience
an 800 N reaction force in “–Y” direction from the teeth of the smaller gear attached
to the shoulder.
In Fig. 31, the hinge plates of the forearm experience a lateral reaction force of
500 N in either +X or –X direction by the hinges of the shoulder.
Summary and Future Scope
A prosthetic arm model comprising of 20 degrees of freedom was designed and

analyzed. Based on the design and analyses, the following points are summarized.
Fig. 26 Von Mises stress analysis of back arm
Fig. 27 Force analysis of shoulder
The conceptual model was developed with 18 revolute joints and 2 twisting
joints, each providing 1 degree of freedom. Three joint linkages in the fingers help
in attaining multiple grip positions compared to a single joint linkage mechanism
found in other major designs. The cosmetic appeal of this design is better than other
prosthetic arms available. These joints provide the model with a superior range of
motion and grip system.
Starting from meshing, various structural analyses, including the stress flow
analysis, von Mises stress analysis, and point load analysis of individual parts,
were carried out. The model was applied with 800 N force to access its ability to
withstand activities of daily living. The data collected was used to make design
changes and assess the amount of deformation of the model. The factor of safety
Fig. 28 Load analysis of shoulder
Fig. 29 Load analysis of palm
(FOS) of each part was improved and as a result, the endurability of the overall
design was increased.
The designed model is lighter than a human arm and most of the robotic
prosthetic arm available today. A human arm on average weight is 3.6 kg, while
the average weight of a prosthetic arm is 1.2 kg. The prosthetic arm’s designed
model weighs at 950 g, which is 70% lighter in weight than a human arm and 20%
lighter than most of the prosthetic arms available.
This research would pave a path for future research on robotic prosthetic
arms and their development. The derived design can be manufactured using 3D
Printing, aiding efficiency. As the 3D printing technology advancements are made,
Fig. 30 Force analysis on shoulder gear
Fig. 31 Force analysis on shoulder hinges
the manufacturing cost would lower considerably and make the prosthesis more
affordable and popular.
A further strengthening of the design could be carried out and materials with a
higher strength to weight ratios can be used for manufacturing. Though this would
lead to a further increase in costs. The control system would remain a challenge for
the researchers as it is necessary to maintain ease of use and simplicity from the
perspective of the amputee.
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Progresses on Green and Smart Materials
for Multifaceted Applications 56
S. O. Oyedepo, Joseph O. Dirisu, N. E. Udoye, and O. S. I. Fayomi
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1440
Multifunctional Applications in Energy, Construction, Infrastructure,
Electronics, and Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1443
The Concept of Smart Materials, Traditional Materials, Modern Materials,
Nanomaterials, and Composite Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1443
Smart Material and Waste Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1449
Smart Materials for the Industry and Smart Industrial Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1449
Concept of Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1450
Smart Cooking Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1452
Application of Smart Materials in Energy and Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1461
Application of Smart Materials in Building and Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1462
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1463
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1463
Abstract
Sustainable development is widely known as a critical issue for the future

growth and well-being of our society. Technological advancement has provided
smart material development opportunities for multifunctional applications in
energy, construction, infrastructure, electronics, and building. Green materials
S. O. Oyedepo () · J. O. Dirisu · N. E. Udoye

Mechanical Engineering Department, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria
e-mail: Sunday.oyedepo@covenantuniversity.edu.ng
O. S. I. Fayomi ()
Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Bells University of Technology, Ota,
Ogun State, Nigeria
e-mail: osfayomi@bellsuniversity.edu.ng
1440 S. O. Oyedepo et al.
are proficient, safe, economically viable, and reliable because of their eco-
friendliness and renewable prowess. This chapter looks into the progress of
natural and resource-efficient materials for smart manufacturing processes that
could be used for intelligent application and address contemporary materials’
challenges.
Keywords
Sustainable development · Smart materials · Technological advancement ·

Manufacturing processes · Material development
Introduction
The subject of sustainability depicts the sustenance of living things, especially

humans in the ecosystem, as a function of using resources over the generations.
A product from a resource could be recommendable but may become a threat to
the next generation. Sustainable development has been a universal topic of interest
to the international academic communities, building stakeholders, international
conferences, and the theme of developers and green environment crusaders (Mensah
and Casadevall 2019). Smart materials have distinct properties that are developed in
controlled factors such as stress, moisture, and temperature control, and electric
and magnetic fields control. Intelligent material selection influences the composite
makeup of modern-day products without compromising the product’s integrity
and quality during the performance. The future generation benefits from this
product in meeting their target as there is satisfaction in the material selection
(Boström et al. 2018). Smart technology employs materials that can considerably
alter their thermomechanical, electromagnetic, and optical properties in a regulated
environment (Konarzewska 2017a; Li et al. 2017). Materials from the earth’s crust,
such as clay, sand, and stone, are green materials as their location is beneath
the ground. It does have numerous utilizations in diverse disciplines of medical
science and technology. The increase for the advanced materials is a pointer to the
opportunities in stock innovative materials for the present and future generation (Li
et al. 2017). Active smart materials and passive intelligent materials are the two
major classes of smart materials.
Several green and smart material applications include piezoelectric, magne-
tostrictive, magnetic shape memory alloys, and artificial intelligence, amongst
others (Müller and Schmid 2019). Piezoelectric materials such as bone, crystals,
certain ceramics, DNA, enamel, silk, dentin, etc. are materials that produce interior
electrical charge from applied mechanical stress (Mayeen and Kalarikkal 2018).
A magnetostrictive material is materials that have tiny ferromagnets. These ferro-
magnets act like tiny permanent bar magnets consisting of iron, nickel, or cobalt,
having small magnetic moments due to their “3d” shells partly filled with electrons
(Zverev et al. 2018). The magnetic shape memory is used to design actuators
56 Progresses on Green and Smart Materials for Multifaceted Applications 1441
Thermoelectric Shape Memory

Material Alloy
Magnetostrictive Rheological Fluid

Material
Piezoelectric Smart Others

Material
Materials
Fig. 1 Different types of smart materials (Applications of Smart Materials 2020)
where the element protrudes based on a magnetic field’s existence. Temperature-

responsive polymers are polymers that show a severe and disjointed change of
their physical properties with temperature. It is mainly used when the property is
soluble in a given solvent, and other properties are affected. Halochromic material
is a material that changes color when pH alteration occurs (Rosace et al. 2017;
Zakirullin and Odenbakh 2020; Goldan and Nistor 2019; Zhu et al. 2016). Different
types of innovative materials are shown in Fig. 1, and the applications of smart
material to transportation are shown in Fig. 2.
The term “green materials” refers to the materials that enhance the environ-
ment during processing, consumption, or disposal by conserving resources and
minimizing the use of toxic agents, pollution, and waste. In other words, green
materials offer potential benefits to the environment and human health. Hence, both
researchers and environmentally conscious consumers have shown an enhanced
interest in green materials. Available literature has shown that relevant research has
been carried out on reviews for green product innovation, development and pro-
cess innovation, sustainable product innovation, eco-innovation, and sustainability-
oriented innovation (Dangelico 2016; Tariq et al. 2017; Pereira and Vence 2012;
Adams et al. 2016). The trends of research and development in green materials–
related areas have spread since 1964. It started with two publications in 1964, 27
publications in 2005, 23 publications in 2006, and 185 publications in 2019. Figure 3
shows the trends of research publications and citations in the field of green materials
(Bhardwaj et al. 2020).
Fig. 2 Smart material and application in transport industry (Applications of Smart Materials 2020)
Fig. 3 Trends of research publications and citations in the field of green materials (Bhardwaj et al.
2020)
Multifunctional Applications in Energy, Construction,

Infrastructure, Electronics, and Buildings
There is a need to use new construction systems and green materials to increase
construction, improve service life, and protect buildings against earthquakes.
Mahmoudian (Mahmoudian and Sharifikheirabadi 2019) concluded that the best
approach to minimize energy consumption in buildings involves using green
materials and techniques. The green materials help to reduce energy waste in
construction, optimize the present materials and products, minimize the application
of raw materials and energy, reduce manufacturing steps and maintenance cost,
improve construction speed, in effective use of materials, conservation and
preservation of natural resources, and recycling and plasticity (Mahmoudian
and Sharifikheirabadi 2019). Al-Baldawi (Mohamed 2017) researched developing
and using smart materials to improve the product’s economic, functional, technical,
and aesthetic view. The author stated that renewable materials, such as bamboo
and wool, could substitute within a decade of the growing forestry cycle. Products
made from rapidly renewable sources gain broader interior applications, giving
the environmental importance of reducing nonrenewable materials’ demands
(Mohamed 2017). The higher chances of bringing nanotechnology’s development
caused an increased number of new and arrived innovative architectural results.
Engineered cementitious composites (ECCs) are a class of smart materials in a
block of concrete with high-performance properties and smart multifunctionalities
designed to retain the potential to satisfy the assumed civil infrastructure needs
of the twenty-first century (Li 2019). Smart materials are green and are required
for numerous high-performance modern concrete materials. High-performance
concrete helps in infrastructure sustainability and obstructs hazardous failure
triggered by a brittle failure of the material (Li 2019). The principle of green
architecture and smart materials involve conservation of energy, working with
the climate to achieve eco-friendliness, and reducing the use of new resources.
Structures are now embedded with smart technologies to ensure safety, ease of
lives, and property. Figures 4 and 5 present buildings that employ smart technology.
The Concept of Smart Materials, Traditional Materials, Modern

Materials, Nanomaterials, and Composite Materials
Advancements in science and technology lead to changes in material selection.

There are ranges of modern materials with remarkable properties, also traditional
materials such as wood and metal (Wood 2008). Traditional materials exist from
primitive age, such as wood, stone, paper, and metals. On the other hand, modern
materials are traditional improvised materials with better properties due to artificial
improvization such as reinforced concrete, aluminium, and steel (Mostafaei et al.
Fig. 4 Smart material in structural engineering (Applications of Smart Materials 2020)
2021). More discoveries of materials have modified the mindset of researchers and
manufacturers of products. For instance, graphene, a modern material, is a single
carbon layer material, which is supposedly stronger than steel by multiples of 100.
It is invisible and quasi-fluffy and is acclaimed to protect the body from bullets
(Rudrapati 2020). Titanium is another modern material used in the sporting and
medical fields. It has successfully been used for the replacement of hip joints and
advanced bicycles as it possesses high strength to weight ratio and is corrosion
resistant. Metal foams are lightweight and robust materials produced by injecting
a gas or foaming agent into molten metal. They are used in planes and cars as
they absorb shock efficiently during crashes (Hu and Yoon 2018). Smart materials
tend to have an additional “smart” function embedded within the material. An
example would be a conductive component that allowed the product to be heated, or
perhaps allowed an input, or could include an integrated antenna. Smart materials
can be appropriately called “reactive materials” due to their response to external
influence, such as electric and magnetic fields, stress, moisture and temperature,
light, pressure, voltage, pH, or chemical compounds (Esther et al. 2014). This
change is reversible and can be repeated many times. Smart materials will help
reduce weight, component size, and complexity while improving design flexibility,
functionality, reproducibility, and reliability – the benefit spans aerospace,
medical, textile, construction, and electronics industries (Wiklund et al. 2021).
Fig. 5 (a) Smart building (b) Smart building with smart tools (Applications of Smart Materials
2020)
Smart materials involve composite materials embedded with fiber optics,

actuators, sensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMSs), vibration control,
sound control, shape control, product health or lifetime monitoring, cure monitoring,
and intelligent processing. For the future, for autonomous systems, one can segment
the market into several areas such as implant material, sensors, and actuators,
structural materials, shape memory, smart fluid, alloys, etc. (Di Rito et al. 2020).
Using a smart material instead of conventional methods to sense and respond can
simplify devices, reducing weight and the chance of failure. Smart materials respond
predictably to changes in their environment (Addington and Schodek 2012).
Smart materials have several functions, such as embedded sensors or actuators,
and support the structural weight. A typical example is Nitinol. After mechanical
deformation, it can be heated up and return to the initial structural shape. Lead-
zirconate-titanate (PZT) is a ceramic that reacts to mechanical deformation by
causing an electrical potential. On the other hand, an applied electrical potential
result in an expansion of the material. Many categories of smart materials exist, each
displaying unique properties that can be utilized in various high-tech and everyday
applications (Akhras 2000). These include shape memory alloys, piezoelectric
materials, magnetostrictive materials, and chromic materials. Piezoelectric materials
generate voltage when stress is applied. Deformation occurs in shape memory
alloys by varying the temperature or stress. Magnetostrictive materials also exhibit
shape changes at the function of magnetic field and mechanical stress (Dineva
et al. 2014). Composite materials require at least two different materials to be
used in a composite material, which allows the engineering of desired properties
such as strength, thermal conductivity, stiffness, etc. An example is glass-reinforced
plastic (GRP). Generally, this is done where the combination of materials has a
synergistic benefit (e.g., more significant benefit than the sum of the parts, e.g.,
glass cloth will flex, resins are not particularly strong in tension, but together the
composite makes a strong, stiff part) (Haruna et al. 2014). Nanomaterials imply
a material that has been modeled at the nanoscale, which includes developing a
nanosized particle to produce composites, building surfaces, thin films coatings
such as the oleophobic coatings on smartphone screens that repel greasy finger-
prints, or hydrophobic materials that repel water, etc. (Cunha and Gandini 2010).
Nanomaterials also refer to a part or item of nano-dimensions, this is less than
micro(meter) size or < 0.001 mm, such as putting carbon nanotubes or platelets
into a resin system to improve its mechanical strength. Also, such a resin system
could be used in a composite structure, and since it is conductive, a smart feature
can be added such as a capacitance touch input. The product, therefore, has multiple
functions. An example might be a tennis racket that allows you to control a smart
device such as the volume or rejection of calls (Momeni 2018). Four-dimensional
printing technology applies smart materials such as single shape memory polymers,
liquid crystal elastomers, composite hydrogel, composites, multimaterial, and other
multifaceted material due to their physical, mechanical, thermal, and microstructural
properties. They can adapt their shapes over external stimuli. Any 4D printed object
will react and change size or shape when external stimuli such as temperature, water,
etc. come in contact with it. The benefit of 4D printing is that objects that are bigger
than the size of the printer can be designed efficiently, can enhance printed products,
and have better manufacturing efficiency, lower production cost, and reduced
climate footprint (Momeni 2018). Smart material for 4D printing is one of the
trending research fields where different materials are blended and deformed in their
reactions to different external stimuli. Presently, researchers are using 4D selective
Fig. 6 The flow chart of the smart materials in achieving 4D printing (Bajpai et al. 2020)
laser melting methods, direct inkjet cure, fused deposition modeling, stereography,
and laser-assisted bioprinting achievable with the knowledge of mathematical
modeling. Types of smart materials are electroresponsive polymers, shape memory
polymers, smart inorganic polymers, temperature-responsive polymers, magnetic
shape memory alloys, electroactive polymers, memory alloys, and photoresponsive
polymers (Haleem et al. 2021). Smart and programmable materials are employed in
4D printing technologies to bring up different features when heat is applied. Thermal
composite hydrogel and bilayer SMP composites are combined with polymeric
photo materials to achieve 4D printing. The process of achieving 4D printing is
first applying smart materials and dimensions, which allows for complex creations
and additive processing of such time-dependent materials with an explicit reaction
to external stimuli for a calculated time. The flow chart in achieving 4D printing is
shown in Fig. 6 (Bajpai et al. 2020).
Smart materials in combination with multimaterial composites have been
employed to produce new materials with a desirable performance by imbibing
nanoparticles such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and biomaterials and combining
them with 3D systems leading to 4D printing (Ahmed et al. 2020). Smart materials
are increasingly used for 4D bioprinting leading to the emergence of medicine 4.0
aside from Industry 4.0. At the moment, smart materials such as shape memory
polymers can be applied for 3D printing tailored organs that change shapes
appropriately when added into a human body called smart implantations which
are fit when there is a dearth of medical implants more especially during emergency
surgeries. (Ashima et al. 2021) This multifaceted path is demonstrated in the state-
of-the-art use of smart materials, which combine physical and applied sciences,
as well as electrical and mechanical engineering. The synergy of knowledge
across disciplines enables the development of devices and products that are
smart, user-friendly, and eco-friendly. Smart materials are responsible for the
evolution of devices, operations, and cities that are wired with smart Internet
and sustainable. Therefore systems, products, and even cities are circuited with
communication devices. Thus, smart materials endorse the Internet of a Thing
(IoT) as the whole globe and people can be connected, and communications or
informed decisions can be made easily (Gandhi and Thompson 1992). The smart
materials research field seeks to advance and apply new and distinctive materials
with better performance, such as self-cleaning and self-healing characteristics,
photomechanical materials, shape-memory materials, and electroactive magneto-

active materials. These materials are applied to smart structures to improve our
health and habits solving socioeconomic and ecological challenges. The production
of smart materials provides eco-friendly products. It has advantages over mass
production approaches such as low cost, material utilization, excellent pattern,
adaptability to ambient temperatures, and difficult products. Smart materials can
also be called smart behavior of a material that responds to external stimuli in a
precise, consistent, and suitable way. Smart technology has been used to improve
electrical products such as actuators and sensors and a considerable collection
of products, spanning from domestic goods to innovative automotive parts and
medical devices, sports, entertainment, security, consumer electronics, banking,
and food. Examples of smart materials are not limited to piezoelectric materials,
electrostrictive materials, electrostrictive polymers, piezoresistive materials, pH-
sensitive or chromic systems materials, and lignocellulosic biomass (Oliveira et al.
2018). Smart materials find their application in power harvesting that combines
the operation of harvesters, the structure of piezoelectric materials, processing, and
technological application of smart materials to achieve a power harvester (Batra
and Alomari 2017). Gels are examples of smart materials which are effective
for their prompt response to chemical change and physical activations. It is a
novel material that can be altered to actual fabrication of different structures for
applications in medicine, electronics, pattern making, solar cells, automobiles, etc.
Peptides are further examples of smart materials with massive capacities (Fairman
and Åkerfeldt 2005). Smart materials technologies are important to the twenty-first
century where competition is high, and the better technology overrides the lesser
since it offers a better solution to the challenges of humans. The introduction of
smart technology has enabled numerous materials to increase in operation and
durability. Smart materials thus performs a major function in building technology;
as the materials are adaptable to the environment due to high sensibility becoming
sensitive structures, so smart materials in this sense can be called living buildings
because as humans are sensitive to stimuli, these materials are capable of performing
such roles due to embedded elements. This technology phases out the traditional
methods and combines both modern and composite materials with the inclusion of
sensitive elements to achieve a smart composite material. This becomes the future
direction as it solves challenges faced with the climate and humans (Addington and
Schodek 2005). Smart material is applicable in everyday life as every section wants
a smarter way of solving challenges. One example is the development of smart
technology for communities around fishery ports to achieve a quasi-null carbon
footprint. Modern researches endeavor to solve the challenges of material selection,
carbon footprint, noxious emission, climate change, pollution, improved air quality,
and energy demand. The world organizations aim at reducing these challenges by
the application of renewable energy and smart materials. Efforts are continuously
being made by standard organizations to adopt renewable energy and eco-friendly
materials. Smart technologies come into play when communities are interconnected,
and devices can sense the environment, such as light emission. Smart technology
has the advantage of conserving energy by reducing redundant or indiscriminate
energy use. The outcome is also that energy loss will be minimized, operation cost
lowered, and the power grid efficiency can be improved (Alzahrani et al. 2020).
Smart Material and Waste Management
Smart material also solves the challenge of scarcity of resources as it supports agile
manufacturing. The geometry and dimensions of materials are determined from the
start to avoid wastage of material. The material is prudently 3D/4D printed, and
all necessary components are embedded in the product to make it an intelligent
material, thus saving energy, time, and minimizing waste. Another advantage is
achieving zero waste and optimizing the environment for other valuable purposes
than having landfills. According to María-Laura “Zero Waste has a goal that is
ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their
lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded
materials are designed to become resources for others to use.” According to
(Abi-Akar et al. 2017), a perceived nonrecyclable material is seen as a valuable
material to make a sustainable product that supports the goal of sustainable material
management (Abi-Akar et al. 2017).
Population upsurge and economic activities have led to increased tonnage of
waste and, if not utilized, will result in pollution of the environment and water
bodies. A further challenge to urban settlement is that the waste occupies the
scarce land meant for human consumption in comfort, agriculture, and housing.
The economic impact is a health threat due to compacted buildings and other social
vices. It is been projected that if landfills in the urban areas are gathered, their
area will be equivalent to a city like Paris. To achieve a zero-landfill goal is to
recycle waste by reusing materials such as plastics, metals, glass, etc., imbibing
waste to wealth initiative and transforming the waste into viable products. Some of
the materials can be utilized as smart materials when dutifully sorted out. Energy
can as well be recovered from this waste which is sustainable and powers a smart
city or intelligent device (Bourtsalas 2019).
Smart Materials for the Industry and Smart Industrial Equipment
Sustainability ensures continuity of a process and not just a transient goal. The
next generation can benefit maximally from the previous generation due to the
viable product bequeathed to the latter. Animals’ extinction, depletion of the ozone
layer, pollution upsurge, deforestation, squandering of the earth’s resources, and
other human activities that had adversely affected the ecosystem and eco-chain
are all consequences of not factoring sustainability in manufacturing activities.
While countries are keen on boosting the economic returns on investment, nature
suffers due to indiscriminate exploration (Kuhlman and Farrington 2010). When
nature’s patience is exceeded, there will be consequences such as global warming;
climate change; rise in sea level due to melting caused by global temperature rise;
increment in greenhouse gases (GHG) such as methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and

carbon (IV) oxide; extinction of plant and animal species as a result of deforestation
and pollution; baldness of the ozone layers due to untreated industrial effluent
chemicals released to the atmosphere or hydrosphere; and food chain pollution with
noxious metals such as mercury, lead, soil acidity, soil erosion, etc. These escalating
threats to nature are also challenges that the next generation of solutions that are
not proffered can also be inherited (Zhang et al. 2020). An insightful solution
to these menaces is for humanity to embrace recycling waste and minimize the
exploration of resources from the earth. The development of quasi-natural materials
will also reduce waste and pollution of the atmosphere as materials are almost
plantlike in composition. Waste minimization is very crucial to replenishing nature
and sustaining the ecosystem. Sustainability is linked with the attitude posed by the
society on the environment in boosting the economy. The advancement of the course
for sustainability hinges on the community, manufacturer, and all stakeholders to
utilize resources to maintain or improve nature which in turn will increase public
health and better working conditions (The World Bank 2018). The concept of waste
management or its utilization can be further explored. Waste was defined as a by-
product or a useless product from the main product that can disintegrate the strength
of nature if not reused.
Concept of Industry
The industry is the aspect of an economy that showcases the level of development
of a nation. Technology, no doubt, serves as a benchmark to assess the outlook of
industrialization. The first industrial revolution was dominated by mechanization,
while the second industrial revolution ushered in the intensive use of electrical
energy. The introduction of computer technology and communications birthed the
third industrial revolution. The current shift from the previous paradigm allows
smart technology in products to achieve a remarkable material product property.
The concept of Industry 4.0 is imbibed by multidiscipline to accomplish a creative
output more closely in building technology to achieve a desirable building product
property (Bajpai et al. 2020). Sustainable manufacturing blends with the fourth
stage of industrialization to solve the growing quest for a durable and eco-friendly
world. Value infuses into products, considering personal satisfaction (Bajpai et al.
2020). The evolution of Industry 4.0 becomes a culture in manufacturers to consider
ergonomics and sustainability by factoring these when developing products for
end users (Sima et al. 2020). Figures 7 and 8 present how industry has displaced
traditional applications with smart technology. Three-dimensional printing replaces
conventional mold, mobile devices, cloud computing, and Internet of a Thing,
among others. This introduction of 3D printing helps a product be viewed in
software, modified as requested by the client, and satisfies consumer’s demand
before the mass production of the prototype (Rayna and Striukova 2021).
Fig. 7 Impact of technology on industrial production (Bajpai et al. 2020)
Fig. 8 Relationship between Industry 4.0 and conventional manufacturing (Bajpai et al. 2020)
Fig. 9 Two-slice high-speed

smart toaster
Smart Cooking Appliances
We are living in the era of smart technology that now influences everything we
do. We are done with traditional appliances and now engage in energy-efficient
electronic appliances that sense the environment and give useful feedback to human
users. Much of the applications can be seen in our home appliances. (Mattern et al.
2010). Smart cooking appliances are programmed devices that replace most human
efforts in the kitchen. Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and
22 present smart cooking appliances that have reduced human effort drastically.
Examples of these appliances abound, such as:
Two-Slice High-Speed Smart Toaster

A two-slice high-speed smart toaster is shown in Fig. 9. It is a high-profile touch
screen electronic device that delivers the toast assorted bread without any burnt
bread. The muncher can program the numbers of sliced bread and the texture of the
food. The food is ready within 15 seconds, which replaces much time wasted by the
traditional method.
Instant Pot Smart Wi-Fi 8-in-1 Pressure Cooker

Fig. 10 shows an instatnt pot smart Wi-Fi 8-in-1 pressure cooker . It is a fantastic
smart device that can cook your recipe when you are away from home by clicking
the app on your phone, and while at home, you can be engaged in other activities
while the device does your job. So there is more time for gym, office, and relaxation
at home. It gives flexibility, ease of stress, safety, and comfort to the user (Elias
2009).
Fig. 10 Instant pot smart

Wi-Fi 8-in-1 pressure cooker
Fig. 11 Sensate touchless

kitchen faucet with
voice-activated technology
Sensate Touchless Kitchen Faucet with Voice-Activated Technology

This device shown in Fig. 11 and is another evidence of breakthrough of technology
such that after a successful installation, programming, and calibration of the sensate
faucet with the phone device, water can be dispensed without you touching the
device as it can recognize the voice command and fill the number of cups of your
Fig. 12 Automatic pan

stirrer with timer
choice. The device’s design corresponds to the COVID 19 goal of “no touch” on
objects which become safe for users.
Automatic Pan Stirrer with Timer

Figure 12 shows an automatic pan stirre with timer . This device fits every pan with
three legs with a battery-enabled electric motor. The speed can be regulated, and the
device will give your hand rest from stirring activity on the pot.
Works Smart Coffee Maker with Alexa

Works smart coffee maker with Alexa is a 12-cup capacity programmable device
built with corrosion-resistant stainless steel material. It is built with an intelligent
speaker and Wi-Fi sensor to enable remote operation by installing the Alexa app
on a smartphone device. With this, your coffee will be ready at your predetermined
time. Many advantages can be garnered, such as stress relief, time saving, reliability,
functionality, no struggle to prepare the coffee, and simple operation. Figure 13
shows works smart coffee maker with Alexa.
Smart Wi-Fi Air Fryer

Smart Wi-Fi air fryer (Fig. 14) is a twenty-first-century smart kitchen device that
can cook chips or recipes up to 85% more than traditional fried food with highly
reduced calories. The recipe can be downloaded and cooking scheduled using the
smartphone. Then the user can relax and pick the already prepared food. You can
snap the food to check the cooking history. This is a fantastic contribution of
intelligent technology through artificial intelligence (AI). Food can be 3D printed
Fig. 13 Works smart coffee

maker with Alexa
with the user setting the desired food product on the smartphone without much
interaction with the cooking device (St˛epień 2020).
Smart Wireless Meat Thermometer

Figure 15 shows a smart wireless meat thermometer . This is a simple design with
a probe for checking the temperature of meat during steaming. This can be called a
“meater” with an inbuilt rechargeable battery which can last long during operation.
The device can be connected to a smartphone to monitor the temperature during the
cooking operation.
Touchless Automatic Soap Dispenser

Figure 16 shows a touchless automatic soap dispener . The device is a simple
battery-enabled device with a stand that can release soap, hand sanitizer, and liquid
products without touch. It is calibrated to control the volume of soap per unit time.
It can be used everywhere to minimize germs spread through touch. Further work
here is to make it fully automatic through interaction with a smartphone.
Fig. 14 Smart Wi-Fi air

fryer
Fig. 15 Smart wireless meat

thermometer
Balance Smart Blender

Balance smart blender (Fig. 17) is a Bluetooth-enabled blender for smoothies and
vegetables. All your vegetable recipes can be selected online and then programmed
through the enabled application for the blender. The blender can be operated to start
Fig. 16 Touchless automatic

soap dispenser
Fig. 17 Balance smart blender

Fig. 18 Brava mini oven
Fig. 19 Cordless electric kettle
remotely using the phone device, and the desired smoothie is ready for consumption
or vegetables ready to prepare the stew. The application can predict the nutritional
status of the vegetables, thus improving the health status of consumers and reducing
medical emergencies. This is made possible as the nutritional value of all added
vegetables is calculated by applying the nutribullet balance app.
Fig. 20 Anova precision

cooker
Other innovative housewares are: Brava mini oven that serves as an alternative
to the toaster oven because it can heat up to 500 ◦ C within seconds and with the
advantage of Wi-Fi access to the heated recipe.
Cordless Electric Kettle

Figure 19 shows a cordless electric kettle. This device is an electric kettle made of
corrosion-resistant stainless steel, accommodating up to 1.7 liters of water. It has a
programmable memory setting to regulate the temperature and time for the tea to be
ready.
Anova Precision Cooker

Anova precision cooker (Fig. 20) is designed to operate when the user is either at
home and home away preparing the food favorites to perfection. It is Bluetooth
enabled to monitor the cooking progress to control the temperature at a steady or
Fig. 21 Vacuum sealer
Fig. 22 Temperature control

smart mug
unsteady state. It solves the challenge of being new to a recipe as it can be browsed
on the Internet and prepared through setting the app.
Vacuum Sealer
Vacuum sealer (Fig. 21) is another homemade device to package food by sealing it
by evacuating air. The seal can be refrigerated after the operation, thereby improving
the shelf life of the food product.
Temperature Control Smart Mug

Temperature control smart mug (Fig. 22) is a specially designed ceramic mug with
extraordinary heating power for liquid poured in it. The success of the operation
lies in the saucer charging base using a rechargeable battery. The mug has a Wi-
Fi-enabled sensor that detects when liquid enters it, and the charging base regulates
the liquid to preset desired temperature. The temperature can be regulated using an
app-enabled smartphone.
Application of Smart Materials in Energy and Electronics
Smart technology influences our digital and communication world. Technology

determines the advancement outlook of society. Tools engaged in solving societal
needs decades ago are no longer employed due to a better approach. A society
that employs traditional tools shows its level of crudeness, unlike a society with
advanced technology. Our electronic products were designed to precision as a
function of smart material selection such as sensors in automobiles, security
cameras, and public services (Čukušić et al. 2019). Better materials to prevent
building collapse in infrastructure and enable low energy consumption are now
developed and employed in our buildings. Advanced energy-saving bulbs are now
seen in our homes (Farag 2019; Konarzewska 2017b). Figures 23 and 24 show the
application of smart technology to our energy system. Lightweight efficient utensils,
home apparatus, and low-energy appliances are replaced with traditional devices.
Our refrigeration systems now employ nanorefrigerants that are well researched
to curb environmental pollution and improve the exergy of the refrigeration cycle
with improved refrigerating units. Hybrid automobiles are born to ensure a green
environment devoid of carbon emissions and pollutants (Krishna and Thirumal
2015; Kochovski and Stankovski 2018).
Smart material has also made achievements in the biomedical community. Shape
memory polymer (SMP) is a major breakthrough in medicine in solving challenges
Fig. 23 Smart energy system (Krishna and Thirumal 2015)

Fig. 24 (a) 3D filament (Hu and Yoon 2018) (b) Structured electronic car (Hu and Yoon 2018)
such as wounds, cancer, and treating infection according to (Mohamed 2017). SMP
changes its shape by adapting to the environment, the altering of the shape can be
indefinite based on environmental factors, and then returns to the original shape
when triggered to do so. SMP has functioned successfully in surgical operation
and in stitching of wounds. The technology is also applied to medical implants and
ease of urination for urinal patients. The shape change is triggered by the body
temperature of the patient (Roy et al. 2016; Li and Su 2018; Nguyen et al. 2018;
Fraser et al. 2018; Cruz et al. 2020).
Application of Smart Materials in Building and Construction
The technological advancement that encourages the sustainability and application

of renewable resources in the building and construction industry is a significant
breakthrough in the emerging population for sustainable buildings (Salvarli and
Salvarli 2020). The arithmetic progression of the teeming population draws a
solid resolution for climatic alterations, and requesting for gradual changes is the
structuring path of a sustainable future for the next generations. Porotherm bricks
are produced from a blend of clay and other green products such as rice husk,
ash, and sawdust, giving a long-lasting renewable material that can be applied in
construction. Construction companies used these bricks as construction materials
due to their lightweight properties. Other properties include small water intake, fire
retardant, and thermal insulation, which improve their usage in the construction
sector. The use of waste products to manufacture fly ash brick obstructs the release
of a harmful substance into the environment, thereby helping to generate renewable
construction materials. The bricks are preferred over clay as a green building
material that can absorb little heat and water, attracting future investors (Karslioğlu
et al. 2021). The energy performance of these bricks is gaining more recognition
in the market apart from being light in weight. Construction companies utilized
waste materials with recycled products such as mining wastes, glass wastes, and
burnt clay to produce renewable materials for construction. The produced green
concrete reduced the maintenance rate and duration of renewable construction
material (Safiuddin et al. 2010). Manufacturers developed these concretes by taking
notes on the construction life cycle, comprising structural design parameters, as

well as manufacturing methods and maintenance patterns. The advantage of using
this concrete cannot be overemphasized since it discharges no harmful emissions
and reduces CO2 into the environment (Yüksek and Karadayi 2017).
Conclusions
This chapter demonstrates the importance of using the high-execution properties of

the material with smart features to improve infrastructure’s long-lasting resilience
and viability. The application of smart material has improved all facets of the
industry by providing users comfort and ease of use. Smart materials in construction
help preserve the energy and optimize the use of amenities and reverse initial capital
to reduce energy consumption. The chapter observed that smart material in green
buildings reduces costs more significantly than construction costs. It also minimizes
the negative environmental impacts and the attitude of society to sustainable
performance. The generation present and next depend on smart technologies to
reduce human efforts to the barest minimum and save redundant energy for
alternative utilization. Smart equipment will now build efficient structures and
products, thereby saving materials from wasting and eliminating downtime. Smart
materials have proven a dependable technology that applies to all fields of human
endeavors. A devoted exploration by researchers and developers will produce a
geometric efficiency of a product more than the traditional methods.
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Determining Technologies Trends
and Evolution of Smart Building 57
Technologies by Bibliometric Analysis
from 1984 to 2020
Trends, research opportunities and future perspectives
Nadia Karina Gamboa-Rosales, Luis Daniel López-Robles,

Leonardo B. Furstenau, Michele Kremer Sott, Manuel Jesús Cobo,
and José Ricardo López-Robles
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1468
Performance Bibliometric Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1469
Publications, Citations, and Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1470
N. K. Gamboa-Rosales
CONACYT – Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico
e-mail: ngamboa@conacyt.mx
L. D. López-Robles
Academic Unit of Accounting and Management, Autonomous University of Zacatecas,
Zacatecas, Mexico
e-mail: uisdaniel.lopezrobles@unizacatecas.edu.mx
L. B. Furstenau
Department of Industrial Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do
Sul, Brazil
e-mail: leonardo.furstenau@ufrgs.br
M. K. Sott
Business School, Unisinos University, Porto Alegre, Brazil
e-mail: micheleksott@mx2.unisc.br
M. J. Cobo
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain
e-mail: manueljesus.cobo@uca.es
J. R. López-Robles ()
Academic Unit of Accounting and Management, Autonomous University of Zacatecas,
Zacatecas, Mexico
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain
1468 N. K. Gamboa-Rosales et al.
Most Productive and Cited Authors, Geographic Distribution

of Publications, Organizations, Research Areas, Sources, and Funding Sponsors . . . . . . 1471
Most Relevant Publications, Authors, Organizations, and Countries
Related to SBT Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1474
Conceptual Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1480
Analysis of Content of the Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1482
Conceptual Evolution Map of Smart Building Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1493
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1495
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1497
Abstract
Today, all industries – especially the building industry – are faced to find envi-
ronmentally friendly and smart technologies which help us to reduce the human
impact on the environment and promote a global sustainable development. These
solutions have to consider aspects such as economic feasibility, sustainability,
and social equitability. As a result of this need, there is a wide green technologies
portfolio that seeks to become the core technology, one of the most representa-
tives being Smart Building Technologies. In this way, the aim of this contribution
is to develop a bibliometric analysis that evaluates the evolution of the intellectual
and cognitive structure of Smart Building Technologies that supports communi-
ties to identify, improve, and reach the research about these technologies. To do
that, more than 2,398 publications from 1984 to 2020 related to Smart Building
Technologies were retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection and analyzed
using advanced bibliometric tools, techniques, and methodologies.
Keywords
Smart Building technologies · Industry 4.0 · Sustainable development ·

Strategic intelligence · SciMAT · Competitive intelligence
Introduction
Nowadays, building companies, research centers, and universities are focusing their
efforts on the Smart Building Technologies (SBT). Nowadays, building companies,
research centers, and universities are focusing their efforts on the Smart Building
Technologies (SBT). Bearing in mind the fast development of the IT industry and
the technologies that enable it, would be beneficial to use an advanced tools and
techniques that allow analyze and visualize in which topics the researchers are
focusing on are necessary. Furthermore, to detect and explore the gaps identified
in order to develop and advance in this knowledge area.
The aim of the present research is to analyze and illustrate the evolution of
the Smart Building Technologies research field and its research themes using
bibliometric techniques and tools (Glenisson et al. 2005; Moral-Muñoz et al. 2020).
To do that, the evolution of the SBT and its performance are evaluated using a
57 Determining Technologies Trends and Evolution of Smart Building. . . 1469
bibliometric analysis software based on a bibliographic network (López-Robles

et al. 2018; Gamboa-Rosales et al. 2019; Herrera-Viedma et al. 2020; Furstenau
et al. 2020b; Ghansah et al. 2020).
In order to recognize the main research themes related to SBT and its evolution,
a bibliometric approach is suggested based on the analysis of the scientific map
between 1984 and 2019 and its main performance indicators. To this purpose, the
documents and their bibliographic information available in Web of Science Core
Collection have been compiled – considered as one of the main scientific and
academic databases – and subsequently processed with SciMAT (Cobo et al. 2012).
The information collected allow the analysis of the main performance indicators:
productivity of authors in terms of publications and citations, countries, and
journals. This first stage of the analysis has also been evaluated using h-index and
H-Classics, thus homogenizing the indicators presented by each of the authors and
the main documents (Martínez et al. 2014).
In this respect, this manuscript is structured as follows: section “Performance
Bibliometric Analysis” describes the performance bibliometric analysis of SBT
field. In section “Conceptual Analysis,” conceptual analysis and science mapping
are presented and discussed. Finally, section “Conclusions” covers the conclusions,
limitations, and future actions.
Performance Bibliometric Analysis
This section analyzes the bibliometric performance of Smart Building Technologies

(SBT) literature in terms of productivity, quality, and impact. The bibliometric
performance analysis is developed into four stages: (1) whole production and impact
of published documents; (2) production of main authors, organizations, countries,
sources, and research lines; (3) h-index and H-classic analysis; and (4) analysis of
content of the documents retrieved.
Taking into account the above, the performance and science mapping analysis
is carried out using the publications related to Smart Building Technologies (SBT)
from 1984 to 2020. The publications and their citations included in this analysis
have been collected on October 4, 2020.
The publications were retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection – for
many researchers, the most important bibliographic database – using the fol-
lowing advance query: TS=(“smart build*” OR “smart building technol*”).
Refined by: DOCUMENT TYPES=(PROCEEDINGS PAPER OR ARTICLE OR
REVIEW) AND LANGUAGES=(ENGLISH). Timespan=All years. Indexes=SCI-
EXPANDED, SSCI, A&HCI, CPCI-S, CPCI-SSH, BKCI-S, BKCI-SSH, ESCI, CCR-
EXPANDED, IC.
This process retrieved a total of 2,398 publications from 1984 to 2020, distributed
into three publications type: proceedings paper (1,378 publications), articles (986
publications), and reviews (61 publications). It is important to highlight that some
publications can have multiple classifications.
As a next step, the SciMAT period manager was used to avoid data flatness. The
best approach to analyzing the evolution of the data is to evaluate them year by
year, but on occasion it is advisable to group them in periods in order to generate
a sufficient corpus of publications for analysis. In this case, the best option was to
divide the time span into three comparable periods. Therefore, the analysis period
(1984–2020) was split into 1984–2010, 2011–2015, and 2016–2020, with 120, 577,
and 1,701 publications, respectively.
Publications, Citations, and Impact
Figures 1 and 2 present the distribution of publications and cites per year related to
Smart Building Technologies (SBT) from 1984 to 2020. In terms of productivity,
since the first year, two milestones in the development of the knowledge area can
be observed. The first milestone corresponds to the beginning of the growth trend
(2002), and the second milestone is related to first historical maximum in terms of
annual publications after a period of growth fourteen consecutive years (2019). It is
important to highlight that the results of last year (2020) are not definitive, because
the data of retrieval and indexing process could modify the final data during 2021.
Then, it is expected that 2020 could be a similar or better year as 2019 in terms of
production and citations.
Moreover, Fig. 2 shows the distribution of citations count achieved by those
publications from 1984 to 2020 according to Web of Science Core Collection. From
1997 the patter of citations received by year is positive, achieving in the last year
around 3,800 cites. From 2012, where around 220 citations are reached, the citations
Fig. 1 Distribution of publications by year from 1984 to 2020

Fig. 2 Distribution of citations by year from 1984 to 2020
received have increased constantly until reaching around 3,800 citations in 2020.
Therefore, it could be predicted that the citations will continue improving in the
next years.
The publication process and citation distribution showed a positive developmen-
tal trend from 1984 to 2020. During this period, a total of 18,125 citations (including
self-citations) were recorded, the average citation per publication of 7.56 and the h-
index 55 publications.
Most Productive and Cited Authors, Geographic Distribution

of Publications, Organizations, Research Areas, Sources,
and Funding Sponsors
To understand the evolution of Smart Building Technologies, it is also important to

know which are the most productive and cited authors, their geographic distribution,
affiliation, funding sponsors, sources, and research areas.
Table 1 shows the most productive and most cited authors during the period
1984–2020. There was a tie in some positions between various authors, thus all
of them have been included in an alphabetical order, and this rule applies for all the
research.
It is important to mention that only two of the most productive authors are among
the most cited authors: Skarmeta, AF (21 publications and 376 cites) and Wang, LF
(11 publications and 324 cites). This situation reflects two scenarios, the first one
related to most productive authors and the second to most cited authors, but both
scenarios promote the growth and development of the knowledge field.
Table 1 Most productive and most cited authors (1984–2020)

Publications Author(s) (Cites) Citations Author(s) (Publications)
22 Javaid, N (118); 1,243 Hall, DL (2); Llinas,
J (2)
21 Skarmeta, AF (376); 376 Skarmeta, AF (21);
18 Lazarova-Molnar, S (49); Spanos, CJ 367 Lee, EK (4);
(143)
17 Benhaddou, D (87); 366 Gerla, M (4);
15 Agarwal, Y (222); Kayal, M (48) 357 Pau, G (3);
13 Stamatescu, G (14); Zou, H (142) 356 Lee, U (2);
12 Lilis, G (42); Rodriguez, IB (25); Zhou, 324 Wang, LF (11);
YX (114)
11 Jin, M (69); Kjaergaard, MB (96); 321 Visser, HJ (2);
Spanos, C (64); Wang, LF (324)
10 Gupta, R (61); Koshizuka, N (15); 319 Vullers, RJM (1);
Moreno, MV (120); Pacheco, J (67);
Tarazaga, PA (71)
9 Balaji, B (98); Koh, J (80); Ramesh, MV 298 Huang, P (1); Mutka,
(16); Schmeck, H (34); Spachos, P MW (1); Soltani, S (1);
(108); Stamatescu, I (13); Tan, SXD (29) Xi, N (1); Xiao, L (1)
Table 2 Most productive countries and organizations (1984–2020)

Publications Country(ies) Publications Organization(s)
579 United States of America 55 University of California Berkeley
237 China 53 Nanyang Technology University
210 Italy 37 Carnegie Mellon University
149 France 34 Politecnico di Milano
125 Spain; United Kingdom 31 University of Southern Denmark
123 India 28 Universidad de Murcia
93 Germany; South Korea 26 Politehnica University of Bucharest
84 Canada 25 Tsinghua University
81 Australia 23 University of Houston
75 Singapore 22 Politecnico di Torino
During 1984–2020, the United States appeared to be the most productive country
with 579 publications, followed by China and Italy with 237 and 210 publications,
respectively. In this way, the most productive organizations were University of
California Berkeley, Nanyang Technology University, Carnegie Mellon University,
Politecnico di Milano, University of Southern Denmark, Universidad de Murcia,
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Tsinghua University, University of Houston,
and Politecnico di Torino (Table 2).
In terms of geographical distribution, the Smart Building Technologies have to
been developed by 88 countries from the 5 continents. Among the most productive
countries, a balance can be observed between American, European, and Asian
countries. In terms of geographical distribution, the Smart Building Technologies
Table 3 Most productive research areas and WoS categories (1984–2020)

Publications Research areas Publications WoS categories
1358 Engineering 998 Engineering Electrical Electronic
994 Computer Science 420 Computer Science Theory
Methods
406 Telecommunications 406 Telecommunications
371 Energy Fuels 371 Energy Fuels
232 Construction Building 365 Computer Science Information
Technology Systems
213 Science Technology other 232 Construction Building
Topics Technology
184 Automation Control 205 Computer Science Artificial
Systems Intelligence
116 Instruments 193 Computer Science
Instrumentation Interdisciplinary Applications
93 Materials Science 184 Automation Control Systems
89 Chemistry 169 Engineering Civil
have to been developed by 88 countries from the 5 continents. Among the most
productive countries, a balance can be observed between American, European, and
Asian countries. It is important to add that the most productive countries stand
out for being part of the most influential countries in the world. These results also
coincide with the performance presented by the most productive organizations.
Table 3 shows the most productive research areas and WoS categories related
to SBT publications from 1984 to 2020. These categories are mainly related to
Engineering, Computer Science, Telecommunications, Energy, and Automation. In
this context one can also mention the emergent research areas such as Chemistry,
Material Science, and Interdisciplinary Applications.
Table 4 shows the journals with the largest number of publications. It highlights
the concentration of journals related to energy and electronics. This is aligned with
the rest of results, which means that the SBT research has a multiples approaches
but it is driven by electronics and energy themes.
Finally, the main funding sponsors are European Union EU (129 publications),
National Natural Science Foundation of China NSFC (105 publications), National
Science Foundation NSF (99 publications), United States Department of Energy
DOE (42 publications), United States Department of Defense (22 publications),
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (19 publications), Engi-
neering Physical Sciences Research Council EPSRC (18 publications), Ministry of
Science and Technology Taiwan (17 publications), Innovation Fund Denmark (16
publications), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (15
publications), Republic of Singapore National Research Foundation (14 publica-
tions), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA (13 publications), and
Singapore National Research Foundation (13 publications).
Table 4 Journals with the highest number of publications (1984–2020)

Impact
Factor
Journal without
Publications Total Cites Impact 5-Year Journal
related to (Citable Factor Impact Immediacy Self
Name SBT items 2019) (IF-2019) Factor Index Cites
Energy and 57 40,757 4.867 5.055 1.060 4.153
Buildings
Sensors 55 63,306 3.275 3.427 0.744 2.570
IEEE Access 51 51,038 3.745 4.076 0.615 2.429
Energies 45 29,605 2.702 2.822 0.738 1.903
Applied Energy 34 98,570 8.848 9.086 2.100 7.069
IEEE Internet of 24 12,832 9.936 11.705 2.303 7.881
Things Journal
IEEE 22 26,670 8.267 9.758 2.545 7.269
Transactions on
Smart Grid
Sustainability 20 35,095 2.576 2.798 0.738 1.711
Sustainable 20 7,140 5.268 5.143 1.660 4.115
Cities and
Society
IEEE Industrial 19 1,801 13.593 14.708 0.300 13.037
Electronics
Magazine
Based on these results, the most relevant authors and publications are analyzed
below in terms of citations according to the h-index and H-Classics.
Most Relevant Publications, Authors, Organizations, and Countries

Related to SBT Field
The H-classics method (Martínez et al. 2014), based on the well-known h-index
(Hirsch 2005), assists as an neutral criterion to categorize the identification of the
core publications of any research field. This method is used to discover the most
relevant paper in the SBT field, and therefore, to identify the authors, countries,
organizations, research areas, and funding sponsors that have contributed more to
the development of the SBT field.
The advanced search query used in the database Web of Science Core Collection
has an h-index of 55 (46 Articles, 5 Proceedings Papers and 4 Reviews). Using this
h-index score as a reference, the relevant publications were identified and are listed
in Table 5. In terms of citations, its distribution showed a positive developmental
trend. Thus, a total of 7,150 citations (including self-citations) were achieved, and
the average citation per cited article is 130.00. Thus, the most relevant publications
Fig. 3 Distribution of most cited publications by year from 1984 to 2020
distribution and the total number of citations for the SBT field from 1984 to 2020
are shown in Fig. 3.
Taking into account the most productive and most cited authors within H-Classic,
it can be observed that the most productive authors are not included in the most cited,
and vice versa (Table 6). Nevertheless, this situation is consistent with the results of
the bibliometric analysis performance. It confirms two frameworks, the first one
includes the most productive and cited authors and the second one considers the
authors within the H-Classics. This means that the knowledge area is developed for
all the stakeholders.
With regard to production by countries, the United States is the most productive
country within H-Classic with 28 publications, followed by China with 7 pub-
lications. Additionally, the rest of the countries considered as relevant for their
contribution to the most cited publications are Canada (5 publications), the United
Kingdom (5 publications), Greece (4 publications), Switzerland (4 publications),
Belgium (3 publications), India (3 publications), Italy (3 publications), the Nether-
lands (3 publications), Saudi Arabia (3 publications), Australia (2 publications),
Denmark (2 publications), and France (2 publications). In this way, the most
productive organizations identified in this section are Purdue University (4 pub-
lications), Universidad de Toledo (3 publications), Zurich from Polyterrace ETH
(2 publications), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2 publications),
Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus (2 publications), University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley (2 publications), London’s Global University UCL (2 publications),
and University of California, Los Angeles (2 publications).
Table 5 H-Classics of Smart Building Technologies field

Citations
Rank Title (Year, First author, Source) (average)
1 An introduction to multisensor data fusion (1997, Hall, DL, 1,243
Proceedings of the IEEE) (51.79)
2 RF Energy Harvesting and Transport for Wireless Sensor Network 319 (39.88)
Applications: Principles and Requirements (2013, Visser, HJ,
Proceedings of the IEEE)
3 Internet of Vehicles: From Intelligent Grid to Autonomous Cars and 311 (44.43)
Vehicular Clouds (2014, Gerla, M, 2014 IEEE World Forum on
Internet of Things)
4 The Evolution of MAC Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks: A 298 (37.25)
Survey (2013, Huang, P, IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials)
5 Ultrabroadband Elastic Cloaking in Thin Plates (2009, Farhat, M, 265 (22.08)
Physical Review Letters)
6 PDA: Privacy-preserving data aggregation in wireless sensor networks 207 (14.79)
(2007, He, W, INFOCOM 2007, vols. 1-5)
7 Applications of peptide and protein-based materials in 195 (17.73)
bionanotechnology (2010, de la Rica, R, Chemical Society Reviews)
8 Efficient energy consumption and operation management in a smart 177 (22.13)
building with microgrid (2013, Zhang, D, Energy Conversion and
Management)
9 An inverse gray-box model for transient building load prediction (2002, 173 (9.11)
Braun, JE, HVAC&R Research)
10 A Survey on Electric Power Demand Forecasting: Future Trends in 156 (22.29)
Smart Grids, Microgrids and Smart Buildings (2014, Hernandez, L,
IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials)
11 IoT Considerations, Requirements, and Architectures for Smart 154 (38.50)
Buildings-Energy Optimization and Next-Generation Building
Management Systems (2017, Minoli, D, IEEE Internet of Things
Journal)
12 Fog computing: A cloud to the ground support for smart things and 145 (20.71)
machine-to-machine networks (2014, Stojmenovic, I, 2014
Australasian Telecommunication Networks and Applications
Conference)
13 The Smart Grid-State-of-the-art and Future Trends (2014, El-Hawary, 139 (19.86)
ME, Electric Power Components and Systems)
14 A System Architecture for Autonomous Demand Side Load 135 (15.00)
Management in Smart Buildings (2012, Costanzo, GT, IEEE
Transactions on Smart Grid)
15 Efficient IoT-based sensor BIG Data collection-processing and analysis 126 (42.00)
in smart buildings (2018, Plageras, AP, Future Generation Computer
Systems-the International Journal of escience)
16 Narrow Band Internet of Things (2017, Chen, M, IEEE Access) 123 (30.75)
17 WSN- and IOT-Based Smart Homes and Their Extension to Smart 118 (19.67)
Buildings (2015, Ghayvat, H, Sensors)
18 A Self-Powered and Flexible Organometallic Halide Perovskite 116 (38.67)
Photodetector with Very High Detectivity (2018, Leung, SF, Advanced
Materials)
(continued)
Table 5 (continued)
Citations
19 Performance Analysis and Comparison on Energy Storage Devices for 114 (12.67)
Smart Building Energy Management (2012, Xu, Z, IEEE Transactions
on Smart Grid)
20 Enhanced Fingerprinting and Trajectory Prediction for IoT 109 (21.80)
Localization in Smart Buildings (2016, Lin, K, IEEE Transactions on
Automation Science and Engineering)
21 Recent advances in solar photovoltaic systems for emerging trends and 102 (20.40)
advanced applications (2016, Pandey, AK, Renewable & Sustainable
Energy Reviews)
22 Smart buildings (2003, Snoonian, D, IEEE Spectrum) 93 (5.17)
23 Personal comfort models - A new paradigm in thermal comfort for 89 (29.67)
occupant-centric environmental control (2018, Kim, J, Building and
Environment)
24 Multi-objective optimization for decision-making of energy and 89 (9.89)
comfort management in building automation and control (2012, Yang,
R, Sustainable Cities and Society)
25 Optimal integration of a hybrid solar-battery power source into smart 87 (21.75)
home nanogrid with plug-in electric vehicle (2017, Wu, X, Journal of
Power Sources)
26 Supercooling suppression of microencapsulated phase change materials 87 (12.43)
by optimizing shell composition and structure (2014, Cao, F, Applied
Energy)
27 Environmental effects of information and communications 85 (8.50)
technologies (2011, Williams, E, Nature)
28 Vortex shedding induced energy harvesting from piezoelectric 81 (9.00)
materials in heating, ventilation and air conditioning flows (2012,
Weinstein, LA, Smart Materials and Structures)
29 Semisupervised Deep Reinforcement Learning in Support of IoT and 79 (26.33)
Smart City Services (2018, Mohammadi, M, IEEE Internet of Things
Journal)
30 Optimal design and operation of building services using mixed-integer 79 (9.88)
linear programming techniques (2013, Ashouri, A, Energy)
31 Privacy-Preserving and Efficient Aggregation Based on Blockchain for 77 (26.00)
Power Grid Communications in Smart Communities (2018, Guan, Z,
IEEE Communications Magazine)
32 Optimal operation of an energy management system for a 77 (25.67)
grid-connected smart building considering photovoltaics’ uncertainty
and stochastic electric vehicles’ driving schedule (2018, Thomas, D,
Applied Energy)
33 Fault detection analysis using data mining techniques for a cluster of 77 (12.83)
smart office buildings (2015, Capozzoli, A, Expert Systems with
Applications)
34 Multi-agent control system with information fusion based comfort 76 (8.44)
model for smart buildings (2012, Wang, Z, Applied Energy)
(continued)
Table 5 (continued)
Citations
35 Automated Demand Response for Smart Buildings and Microgrids: 75 (15.00)
The State of the Practice and Research Challenges (2016, Samad, T,
Proceedings of the IEEE)
36 Economic and environmental scheduling of smart homes with 74 (14.80)
microgrid: DER operation and electrical tasks (2016, Zhang, D, Energy
Conversion and Management)
37 Patchy Polymer Colloids with Tunable Anisotropy Dimensions (2011, 73 (7.30)
Kraft, DJ, Journal of Physical Chemistry B)
38 Occupant centered lighting control for comfort and energy efficient 71 (11.83)
building operation (2015, Nagy, Z, Energy and Buildings)
39 Synergistic self-assembly of RNA and DNA molecules (2010, Ko, SH, 71 (6.45)
Nature Chemistry)
40 RSSI-Based Indoor Localization With the Internet of Things (2018, 69 (23.00)
Sadowski, S, IEEE Access)
41 Microlocation for Internet-of-Things-Equipped Smart Buildings (2016, 68 (13.60)
Zafari, F, IEEE Internet of Things Journal)
42 Phase distribution and microstructural changes of self-compacting 68 (4.86)
cement paste at elevated temperature (2007, Ye, G, Cement and
Concrete Research)
43 Last-Meter Smart Grid Embedded in an Internet-of-Things Platform 67 (11.17)
(2015, Spano, E, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid)
44 A Design of Greenhouse Monitoring & Control System Based on 67 (4.79)
ZigBee Wireless Sensor Network (2007, Zhou, Y, 2007 International
Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile
Computing, vols. 1-15)
45 The role of smart grids in the building sector (2016, Kolokotsa, D, 65 (13.00)
Energy and Buildings)
46 From Buildings to Smart Buildings-Sensing and Actuation to Improve 64 (7.11)
Energy Efficiency (2012, Weng, T, IEEE Design & Test of Computers)
47 Improving energy efficiency via smart building energy management 62 (10.33)
systems: A comparison with policy measures (2015, Rocha, P, Energy
and Buildings)
48 Characterizing the energy flexibility of buildings and districts (2018, 61 (20.33)
Junker, RG, Applied Energy)
49 Energy management for a commercial building microgrid with 58 (11.60)
stationary and mobile battery storage (2016, Wang, Y, Energy and
Buildings)
50 Smart Personal Sensor Network Control for Energy Saving in DC Grid 57 (7.13)
Powered LED Lighting System (2013, Tan, YK, IEEE Transactions on
Smart Grid)
51 Integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles into energy and comfort 57 (6.33)
management for smart building (2012, Wang, Z, Energy and Buildings)
52 A Routing Protocol Based on Energy and Link Quality for Internet of 56 (7.00)
Things Applications (2013, Machado, K, Sensors)
(continued)
Table 5 (continued)
Citations
53 Indoor Air Quality Monitoring using Wireless Sensor Network (2012, 56 (6.22)
Bhattacharya, S, 2012 Sixth International Conference on Sensing
Technology)
54 A Survey of Cyber-Physical Advances and Challenges of Wind Energy 55 (11.20)
Conversion Systems: Prospects for Internet of Energy (2016, Moness,
M, IEEE Internet of Things Journal)
55 Using machine learning techniques for occupancy-prediction-based 55 (18.33)
cooling control in office buildings (2018, Peng, Y, Applied Energy)
Table 6 Most productive and most cited authors (1984–2020)

Publications Author(s) (Cites) Citations Author(s) (Publications)
3 Wang, LF (222); Yang, R (222) 1,243 Hall, DL (1); Llinas, J (1)
2 Chen, M (232); Dounis, AI 319 Visser, HJ (1); Vullers, RJM (1)
(133); Nagy, Z (126); 311 Gerla, M (1); Lee, EK (1); Lee,
Papageorgiou, LG (251); U (1); Pau, G (1)
Wang, Z (133); Zhang, D (251) 298 Huang, P (1); Mutka, MW (1);
Soltani, S (1); Xi, N (1); Xiao, L
(1)
1 187 authors 265 Enoch, S (1); Farhat, M (1);
Guenneau, S (1)
Table 7 Most productive research areas and WoS categories (1984–2020)

Publications Research areas Publications WoS categories
36 Engineering 24 Engineering Electrical Electronic
16 Energy Fuels 16 Energy Fuels
13 Computer Science 12 Telecommunications
12 Telecommunications 9 Computer Science Information
Systems; Construction Building
Technology
9 Construction Building 6 Engineering Civil
Technology
7 Chemistry 5 Engineering Chemical
Table 7 shows the most productive research areas and WoS categories related
to SBT publications from 1984 to 2020. These categories are mainly related to
previous results.
Table 8 shows the journals with the largest number of publications. It highlights
the concentration of journals related to energy and electronics. This context is
aligned with the rest of the results, which means that the SBT research has a
multiples approach but it is driven by electronics and energy themes, mainly.
Table 8 Most productive journals within H-Classics (1984–2020)

Impact
Total Cites Journal Factor
Publications (Citable Impact 5-Year without
related to items Factor Impact Immediacy Journal
Name SBT 2019) (IF-2019) Factor Index Self Cites
Applied Energy 5 98,570 8.848 9.086 2.100 7.069
Energy and 5 40,757 4.867 5.055 1.060 4.153
Buildings
IEEE Internet of 4 12,832 9.936 11.705 2.303 7.881
Things Journal
IEEE 4 26,670 8.267 9.758 2.545 7.269
Transactions on
Smart Grid
Energy 2 62,270 8.208 7.447 2.119 6.082
Conversion and
Management
IEEE Access 2 51,038 3.745 4.076 0.615 2.429
IEEE Communi- 2 18,995 23.700 25.928 4.856 22.522
cations Surveys
and Tutorials
Sensors 2 63,306 3.275 3.427 0.744 2.570
Finally, considering all of the results obtained in the bibliometric performance it

can be observed that the Smart Building Technologies are a growing field and area
of interest for scientific, academic, and business communities. In this respect, the
following section presents the cognitive and intellectual structure of SBT research
field.
Conceptual Analysis
An overview is provided of the science mapping and the hidden relationships

between core themes related to Smart Building Technologies (SBT). This overview
is structured into two complementary sections: (i) analysis of the content of the
publications and (ii) a conceptual evolution map.
The bibliometric mapping or science mapping is one of the most accepted
techniques to understand how scientific, academic, or business concepts, knowledge
areas, disciplines, and research fields evolve and are related to each other. Addition-
ally, such methods are increasingly valued as a tool for measuring professional,
scientific, or academic quality, productivity, and evolution and uncovering the
hidden key elements in different research fields (Martinez et al. 2015; Garfield 1986;
Callon et al. 1983; López-Robles et al. 2019a; López-Robles et al. 2019b; Guallar
et al. 2020).
Although there are various software tools for analyzing science mapping (Cobo
et al. 2011a; Börner et al. 2015), SciMAT was used in the present research (Cobo
et al. 2012). In this way, the bibliometric methodology applied in this research
identifies four stages of analysis in this knowledge area within a specified period:
Detection of research themes. For the periods evaluated, the research themes are
identified by applying a clustering algorithm (Juliani and de Oliveira 2016) over a
normalized co-words network (Callon et al. 1983). Lastly, the similarity between
the themes is assessed using the equivalence index (Callon et al. 1991).
Visualizing research themes and the thematic network. The research themes
defined are determined based on their density and centrality rank values using two
tools: the thematic network and strategic diagram (Herrera-Viedma et al. 2020;
Callon et al. 1991; He 1999; López-Robles et al. 2020; Gamboa-Rosales et al. 2020).
Centrality (c) measures the degree of interaction of a network with other networks,
and density (d) measures the internal strength of the network. By considering
both types of measures, a knowledge area can be visualized as a set of research
themes and plotted on a two-dimensional strategic diagram (Fig. 4a). Therefore,
four research themes can be classified (Cobo et al. 2011b):
• Motor themes (upper-right quadrant): The themes located in this quadrant are
relevant for developing and structuring the sources, disciplines, specialties,
knowledge areas, and research fields. These themes are known as the motor
themes of the knowledge area, given that they present high density and strong
centrality.
• Basic and transversal themes (lower-right quadrant): These themes are not well
developed but these are relevant for the knowledge area. This quadrant covers
general basic themes and transverse.
• Highly developed and isolated themes (upper-left quadrant): These themes are
strongly related, highly specialized, and peripheral, but these do not have the
appropriate importance or background for the area.
• Emerging or declining themes (lower-left quadrant): These themes have a low
centrality and density and are relatively weak. These themes mainly characterize
either disappearing or emerging themes.
Discovery of thematic areas. The research themes are analyzed using an evolu-
tion map (Fig. 4c), which links the themes of a consecutive period that retains a
conceptual nexus (keywords in common).
Performance analysis. The contribution of thematic areas and research themes to
the entire knowledge area of research are measured quantitatively and qualitatively.
It is used to establish the most productive and relevant areas within the field. In this
case, the bibliometric indicators used are published documents, number of citations,
average citation, and h-index. In this way, the theme’s performance was computed
taking into consideration the documents linked with it and its h-index.
Moreover, the present research tries to identify the citation classics. For this
purpose, the concept of H-Classics proposed by Martínez et al. (Martínez et al.
Fig. 4 (a) Strategic diagram. (b) Thematic network. (c) Thematic and evolution map
2014) was used. H-Classics is well-defined as follows: “H-Classics of a research

area ‘A’ could be defined as the H-core of ‘A’ that is composed of the ‘H’ highly
cited papers with more than ‘H’ citations received” (Martínez et al. 2014).
Analysis of Content of the Publications
Smart Building Technologies (SBT) research field performance is presented below,

identifying and visualizing the core themes from 1984 to 2020 using SciMAT, in
three periods: (i) 1984–2010, (ii) 2011–2015, and (iii) 2016–2020.
Each period presents the strategic diagram, including the number of documents
that each theme concentrates, number of citations, h-index, and average citations
achieved by each one according to the results obtained from the advanced search
query applied in Web of Science Core Collection and the relevant thematic networks
for the development of SBT field.
During the first period (1984–2010) (Fig. 5), 19 research themes related to
Smart Building Technologies were identified and displayed in the strategic diagram:
PERVASIVE-TECHNOLOGIES, SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY, BLUETOOTH-
LOW-ENERGY, ARCHITECTURAL-DESIGN, SMART-CAMERA-NETWORK,
LIGHTING-CONTROL-SYSTEM, PUBLIC-DATA-SERVICES, NEURAL-NET-
WORK, SMART-BUILDING-SYSTEM, VIBRATION-SENSING-DETECTION-
AND-CONTROL, WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK, SUPPORT-VECTOR-MA
CHINE, SENSOR-NETWORKS, SMART-BUILDING, STRUCTURAL-HEALT
H-MONITORING, BUILDING-AUTOMATION-AND-CONTROL-SYSTEM,
TEMPERATURE-MONITORING-AND-CONTROL, ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-
SYSTEM, and POSITIONING-AND-NAVIGATION-SYSTEM.
The three most productive themes are included in the Motor themes
(SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY (5 publications) and Basic and transversal
themes (SMART-BUILDING (14 publications) and SENSOR-NETWORKS
(7 publications)). In this regard, the three most cited themes are included
in the Emerging or declining themes (WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK (72
Fig. 5 Strategic diagram and performance of the themes in the period 1984–2010
cites) and Basic and transversal themes (SMART-BUILDING (113 cites) and
TEMPERATURE-MONITORING-AND-CONTROL (68 cites)).
In terms of productivity, the three most productive themes related to SBT
are SMART-BUILDING, SENSOR-NETWORKS, and SUSTAINABLE-SMART
CITY. The first one is related mainly with SUSTAINABILITY-STRATEGY,
SECURITY-AND-SURVEILLANCE-SYSTEM, CONTEXT-AWARENESS,
ZERO-NET-ENERGY-BUILDING, WIRELESS-SENSOR-NODE, UBIQUITOU

S-COMPUTING, MICRO-GRIDS-AND-SMART-GRID, ENERGY-METER, DES
IGN-METHODOLOGY, SMART-STRUCTURES, and VIDEO-IMAGERY. Fur-
thermore, SENSOR-NETWORKS is related to SACCADIC-MOTION, MOBILE-
SINK, INSTINCTIVE-COMPUTING, VISUALIZATION-TECHNOLOGIES,
ENERGY-EFFICIENCY-MANAGEMENT, CLUSTERING-ALGORITHM,
EMBEDDED-SYSTEMS, SMART-ENVIRONMENT, VIDEO-SURVEILLANCE,
SMART-MOBILITY, and SMART-WEB-TECHNOLOGIES. Lastly, SUSTAINAB
LE-SMART-CITY is related to ECOLOGICAL-HOUSE, ECOLOGICAL-
DESIGN, AUTOCAD-DESIGN, SMART-SENSORS-AND-ACTUATORS, BIOMI
METICS, BUILDING-TECHNOLOGIES, SUSTAINABLE-ARCHITECTURE,
SMART-MATERIALS, SMART-ARCHITECTURE, INTELLIGENT-DESIGN,
and EFFICIENT-DESIGN. Taking into account that this theme is allocated in the
Quadrant 1 (Q1) and Quadrant 4 (Q4), its role are motor and transversal for the rest
of research themes.
Figure 6 presents the research themes that are considered core to the
growth of the SBT research field (Motor themes and Basic and transversal
themes): SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY, PERVASIVE-TECHNOLOGIES,
BLUETOOTH-LOW-ENERGY, SMART-BUILDING, SENSOR-NETWORKS,
TEMPERATURE-MONITORING-AND-CONTROL, ENERGY-MANAGEMEN
T-SYSTEM, POSITIONING-AND-NAVIGATION-SYSTEM, STRUCTURAL-
HEALTH-MONITORING, and BUILDING-AUTOMATION-AND-CONTROL-
SYSTEM.
Finally, this period was focused on the information and communication tech-
nologies and its application to develop smart capabilities in the building sector.
Additionally, the artificial intelligence was other core research theme during 1984–
2010 period.
During the second period (2011–2015) (Fig. 7), 24 research themes related to
Smart Building Technologies were identified and displayed in the strategic dia-
gram: DATA-FUSION, VIBRATION-SENSING-DETECTION-AND-CONTROL,
PARTICLE-SWARM-OPTIMIZATION, HYBRID-AND-ELECTRIC-VEHICLES,
WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK, OPTIMIZATION-ALGORITHMS, SMART-
ENVIRONMENT, GREENHOUSE-GAS-EMISSIONS, NEURAL-NETWORK,
WIRELESS-SENSOR-NODE, SMART-OFFICE-BUILDING, SENSOR-AGENT-
ROBOT, REGULATION-SERVICE-PROVISION, ENERGY-SAVINGS-MODEL,
SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY, USER-INTERACTION, SERVICE-ORIENTED-
ARCHITECTURE, BIG-DATA, SMART-CITIES, MULTI-AGENT-CONTROL-
SYSTEM, SMART-HOME, CYBER-PHYSICAL-SYSTEMS, BUILDING-AU
TOMATION-AND-CONTROL-SYSTEM, and INTERNET-OF-THINGS.
The three most productive themes are included in the Motor themes
(WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK (241 publications)) and Basic and transversal
themes (MULTI-AGENT-CONTROL-SYSTEM (75 publications) and SMART-
HOME (71 publications)). In this connection, the most cited theme is the most
productive, and it achieved 2,949 cites (WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK).
Fig. 6 Thematic network for core themes in the period 1984–2010
In terms of productivity, the most productive theme related to SBT is

WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK, which is related mainly with SMART-
BUILDING, ZIGBEE-TECHNOLOGY, SMART-SENSORS-AND-ACTUATORS,
ENERGY-EFFICIENCY-MANAGEMENT, CLUSTERING-ALGORITHM, MAC-
PROTOCOLS, SMART-METERING, GAME-THEORY, APPLICATION-SCENA
RIO-PLANNING, 6LOWPAN, and 3D-VISUALIZATION. Furthermore, the
MULTI-AGENT-CONTROL-SYSTEM is related to themes such as THERMAL-
COMFORT-CONTROL, SUPPORT-VECTOR-REGRESSION, DEMAND-SIDE-
MANAGEMENT, WIRELESS-SENSOR-AND-ACTUATOR-NETWORK, SHOR
T-TERM-LOAD-FORECASTING, ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, GENETI
C-ALGORITHM, BUILDING-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, ARTIFICIAL-NEURA

L-NETWORK, ENERGY-EFFICIENT-BUILDINGS, and BUILDING-ENERGY-
MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM. Lastly, SMART-HOME is related to REAL-TIME-
PRICING, DESIGNING-SMART-BUILDINGS, BUILDING-INTELLIGENCE-Q
Fig. 7 Strategic diagram and performance of the themes in the period 2011–2015
UOTIENT, WASTEWATER, NZEB-BUILDING, NONINTRUSIVE-LOAD-

MONITORING, MIXED-INTEGER-PROGRAMMING, MICRO-GRIDS-AND-
SMART-GRID, SMART-BUILDING-SYSTEM, WEB-SERVICES, and THERMA
L-ENERGY. Taking into account that this theme is allocated in the Quadrant 1 (Q1)
and Quadrant 4 (Q4), its role is motor and transversal for the rest of the research
themes.
Figure 8 presents the research themes that are considered core to the growth
of the SBT research field (Motor themes and Basic and transversal themes):
WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK, PARTICLE-SWARM-OPTIMIZATION,
OPTIMIZATION-ALGORITHMS, HYBRID-AND-ELECTRIC-VEHICLES,
DATA-FUSION, VIBRATION-SENSING-DETECTION-AND-CONTROL, SMA
RT-HOME, MULTI-AGENT-CONTROL-SYSTEM, INTERNET-OF-THINGS,
BUILDING-AUTOMATION-AND-CONTROL-SYSTEM, CYBER-PHYSICAL-
SYSTEMS, and SMART-CITIES.
Finally, this period was focused on the technologies 4.0, new electronic devices,
mobility, and its integration in cities and building industry. Additionally, the big data
and its utilization was other core research theme during 2011–2015 period.
During the third period (2016–2020) (Fig. 9), 22 research themes related
to Smart Building Technologies were identified and displayed in the strategic
diagram: NEURAL-NETWORK, MACHINE-LEARNING, SMART-SENSORS-
AND-ACTUATORS, BUILDING-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, BLUETOOTH-
LOW-ENERGY, INDOOR-TEMPERATURE, LOW-POWER-WIDE-AREA-
NETWORKS, SERVICE-ORIENTED-ARCHITECTURE, SMART-INFRAST
RUCTURE, UBIQUITOUS-COMPUTING, ENERGY-FLEXIBILITY, CYBER-
PHYSICAL-SYSTEMS, MULTI-OBJECTIVE-OPTIMIZATION, THERMAL-
AND-ENERGY-MANAGEMENT, THERMAL-COMFORT-CONTROL, INTER-
NET-OF-THINGS, MICRO-GRIDS-AND-SMART-GRID, SMART-HEATING-
VENTILATION-AIR-CONDITIONING-SYSTEM, ENERGY-CONSUMPTION,
ENERGY-STORAGE-TECHNOLOGIES, TECHNOLOGY-4.0, and BUILDING-
ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM.
The three most productive themes are included in the Basic and transversal
themes (THERMAL-COMFORT-CONTROL (806 publications), INTERNET-
OF-THINGS (607 publications), and MICRO-GRIDS-AND-SMART-GRIDS
(285 publications)). In this regard, the most cited themes are included in the
Basic and transversal themes (THERMAL-COMFORT-CONTROL (4,409 cites),
INTERNET-OF-THINGS (3,409 cites), and MICRO-GRID-AND-SMART-GRID
(1,917 cites)).
In terms of productivity, the most productive theme related to SBT is
THERMAL-COMFORT-CONTROL, which is related mainly with SMART-
BUILDING, OPTIMIZATION-ALGORITHMS, OCCUPANT-BEHAVIOR,
OCCUPANT-CENTERED-CONTROL, LIGHTING-CONTROL-SYSTEM, BU
ILDING-OPERATION, INDOOR-ENVIRONMENT, MONITORING-SYSTEM,
PERSONAL-COMFORT-MODELS, INDOOR-AIR-QUALITY, and FUZZY-
LOGIC. In this regard, INTERNET-OF-THINGS is mainly related to BIG-DATA,
SMART-CITIES, SMART-HOME, WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK, FOG-
COMPUTING, ENERGY-EFFICIENCY-MANAGEMENT, CLOUD-SERVICES,

SECURITY-AND-SURVEILLANCE-SYSTEM, MONITORING-AND-CONTRO
L-SYSTEM, LONG-RANGE-COMMUNICATION-TECHNOLOGIES, and
EDGE-COMPUTING. Lastly, MICRO-GRID-AND-SMART-GRID is related to
DISTRIB-UTED-ENERGY-RESOURCES, DEMAND-SIDE-MANAGEMENT,
MODEL-PREDICTIVE-CONTROL, ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM,
HYBRID-AND-ELECTRIC-VEHICLES, COMBINED-HEAT-POWER, OVERL
AY-NETWORKS, SIDE-MANAGEMENT, LOAD-SHIFTING, and LOAD-
CONTROL. Taking into account that this theme is allocated in the Quadrant 4
(Q4), its role is transversal for the rest of the research themes.
Fig. 9 Strategic diagram and performance of the themes in the period 2016-2020
Figure 10 presents the research themes that are considered core to the growth
of the SBT research field (Motor themes and Basic and transversal themes):
SMART-SENSORS-AND-ACTUATORS, NEURAL-NETWORK, MACHINE-
LEARNING, BUILDING-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, THERMAL-COMFORT-
CONTROL, INTERNET-OF-THINGS, MICRO-GRIDS-AND-SMART-GRID,

ENERGY-STORAGE-TECHNOLOGIES, ENERGY-CONSUMPTION, BUILDIN
G-ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, SMART-HEATING-VENTILATION-
AIR-CONDITIONING-SYSTEM, and TECHNOLOGY-4.0.
Finally, this period was focused on the artificial intelligence, smart devices, and
technologies 4.0, and its integration in cities and building industry. Additionally, the
smart infrastructures were other core research theme during 2016–2020 period.
On the other hand, taking into account the strategic diagrams from Figs. 5, 7,
and 9, Table 9 presents the main research themes developed and their performance
according to the number of documents from 1984 to 2020.
Table 9 SBT intellectual structure from 1984 to 2020

Theme P1: 1984–2010 P2: 2011–2015 P3: 2016–2020
NEURAL-NETWORK Q2 (2|0|0) Q2 (9|109|7) Q1 (78|620|14)
BLUETOOTH-LOW-ENERGY Q1 (2|1|1) Q2 (55|417|10)
BUILDING-AUTOMATION- Q4 (2|1|1) Q4 (45|673|13)
AND-CONTROL-SYSTEM
CYBER-PHYSICAL-SYSTEMS Q4 (48|560|13) Q3 (60|232|8)
INTERNET-OF-THINGS Q4 (59|838|15) Q4 (607|3409|28)
SERVICE-ORIENTED- Q3 (5|36|3) Q2 (12|100|4)
ARCHITECTURE
SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY Q1 (5|26|1) Q3 (12|103|5)
VIBRATION-SENSING- Q2 (2|4|1) Q1 (15|185|9)
DETECTION-AND-CONTROL
WIRELESS-SENSOR- Q3 (4|72|2) Q1 (241|2,949|28)
NETWORK
ARCHITECTURAL-DESIGN Q2 (2|1|1)
BIG-DATA Q3 (9|87|4)
BUILDING-ENERGY- Q4 (163|890|15)
MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM
BUILDING-MANAGEMENT- Q1 (57|512|11)
SYSTEM
DATA-FUSION Q1 (16|334|8)
ENERGY-CONSUMPTION Q4 (131|986|17)
ENERGY-FLEXIBILITY Q2 (16|128|7)
ENERGY-MANAGEMENT- Q4 (2|52|1)
SYSTEM
ENERGY-SAVINGS-MODEL Q3 (17|410|6)
ENERGY-STORAGE- Q4 (115|987|16)
TECHNOLOGIES
GREENHOUSE-GAS- Q2 (9|64|4)
EMISSIONS
HYBRID-AND-ELECTRIC- Q1 (26|463|10)
VEHICLES
INDOOR-TEMPERATURE Q2 (21|97|5)
LIGHTING-CONTROL- Q2 (2|5|2)
SYSTEM
LOW-POWER-WIDE-AREA- Q2 (6|59|3)
NETWORKS
MACHINE-LEARNING Q1 (103|544|11)
MICRO-GRIDS-AND-SMART- Q4 (285|1,917|23)
GRID
MULTI-AGENT-CONTROL- Q4 (75|1,106|16)
SYSTEM
MULTI-OBJECTIVE- Q3 (39|361|10)
OPTIMIZATION
OPTIMIZATION- Q1 (37|518|10)
ALGORITHMS
(continued)
Table 9 (continued)
Theme P1: 1984–2010 P2: 2011–2015 P3: 2016–2020
PARTICLE-SWARM- Q1 (27|642|12)
OPTIMIZATION
PERVASIVE-TECHNOLOGIES Q1 (3|35|2)
POSITIONING-AND- Q4 (2|4|1)
NAVIGATION-SYSTEM
PUBLIC-DATA-SERVICES Q2 (2|0|0)
REGULATION-SERVICE- Q2 (3|18|2)
PROVISION
SENSOR-AGENT-ROBOT Q2 (2|0|0)
SENSOR-NETWORKS Q4 (7|58|4)
SMART-BUILDING Q4 (14|113|6)
SMART-BUILDING-SYSTEM Q2 (2|0|0)
SMART-CAMERA-NETWORK Q2 (2|10|1)
SMART-CITIES Q4 (32|166|6)
SMART-ENVIRONMENT Q2 (9|94|4)
SMART-HEATING- Q4 (141|835|14)
VENTILATION-AIR-
CONDITIONING-SYSTEM
SMART-HOME Q4 (71|1,307|17)
SMART-INFRASTRUCTURE Q2 (13|53|3)
SMART-OFFICE-BUILDING Q2 (2|10|1)
SMART-SENSORS-AND- Q1 (125|955|15)
ACTUATORS
STRUCTURAL-HEALTH- Q4 (2|2|1)
MONITORING
SUPPORT-VECTOR-MACHINE Q3 (2|16|1)
TECHNOLOGY-4.0 Q4 (79|421|10)
TEMPERATURE- Q4 (2|68|1)
MONITORING-AND-
CONTROL
THERMAL-AND-ENERGY- Q3 (34|188|7)
MANAGEMENT
THERMAL-COMFORT- Q4 (806|4,409|28)
CONTROL
UBIQUITOUS-COMPUTING Q2 (14|73|3)
USER-INTERACTION Q3 (4|78|2)
WIRELESS-SENSOR-NODE Q2 (6|29|4)
Note: Quadrant (Publications|Citations|h-index)
Finally, according to the results obtained and taking into account the main
research themes related to the most cited themes, it could be possible to state that
the publications and research themes related to Smart Building Technologies (SBT)
are robust, linked, and synergic between them, and these will be growing up in the
following years.
Conceptual Evolution Map of Smart Building Technologies
Considering the results of analyzing the content of the publications for each period,
a second analysis focusing on the conceptual evolution of the main themes was
carried out.
Hence, four thematic areas were recognized: (i) Smart Building Technologies
(green area), (ii) Smart Hardware (pink area), (iii) Smart Software (blue area), and
(iv) Smart Building Strategies (purple area). These thematic areas consolidate the
main themes and research areas within SBT field (Fig. 11). Therefore, it is important
to remember that the size of the spheres is proportional to the number of publications
identified in each theme and the colored areas represent the clusters of themes
pertaining to the same thematic area. Moreover, the dotted line indicates that related
thematic areas share some keywords while the solid line represents the thematic link
between the different areas. Lastly, the thickness of the lines is proportional to the
rate of inclusion (Cobo et al. 2011b).
Smart Hardware (pink area) is the most representative thematic area within
the conceptual evolution map. It accounts for 1,258 publications, 9,247 cites
of the total citations, and 43 documents highly cited according to the h-
index. In terms of structure and thematic composition, it remains Basic and
transversal themes and Highly developed and isolated themes, but it covers all
the quadrants during the three periods. This thematic area covers themes related
to BLUETOOTH-LOW-ENERGY, SMART-CAMERA-NETWORK, SENSOR-
NETWORKS, WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK, INTERNET-OF-THINGS,
CYBER-PHYSICAL-SYSTEMS, USER-INTERACTION, SENSOR-AGENT-
ROBOT, WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK, WIRELESS-SENSOR-NODE,
BLUETOOTH-LOW-ENERGY, CYBER-PHYSICAL-SYSTEMS, INTERNET-
OF-THINGS, LOW-POWER-WIDE-AREA-NETWORKS, MICRO-GRIDS-
AND-SMART-GRID, TECHNOLOGY-4.0, SMART-SENSORS-AND-
ACTUATORS, and UBIQUITOUS-COMPUTING.
Smart Building Technologies (green area) is the second thematic area within
the map in terms of the number of publications. It has 1,144 publications,
7,137 citations, and 39 highly cited publications according to the h-index. This
thematic area remains the Motor themes and Basic and transversal themes in
all periods, even though it was Basic and transversal themes. Regarding its
thematic composition, it covers themes related to BUILDING-AUTOMATION-
AND-CONTROL-SYSTEM, ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, LIGHTIN
G-CONTROL-SYSTEM, PERVASIVE-TECHNOLOGIES, POSITIONING-
AND-NAVIGATION-SYSTEM, SMART-BUILDING-SYSTEM, STRUCTURAL-
HEALTH-MONITORING, TEMPERATURE-MONITORING-AND-CONTROL,
VIBRATION-SENSING-DETECTION-AND-CONTROL, BUILDING-AUTO-
MATION-AND-CONTROL-SYSTEM, ENERGY-SAVINGS-MODEL, GREEN-
HOUSE-GAS-EMISSIONS, HYBRID-AND-ELECTRIC-VEHICLES, REGUL
ATION-SERVICE-PROVISION, VIBRATION-SENSING-DETECTION-AND-
CONTROL, BUILDING-ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, BUILDING-
Fig. 11 SBT thematic evolution from 1984 to 2020

MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, ENERGY-CONSUMPTION, ENERGY-FLEXIBILIT

Y, ENERGY-STORAGE-TECHNOLOGIES, INDOOR-TEMPERATURE, SMAR
T-HEATING-VENTILATION-AIR-CONDITIONING-SYSTEM, THERMAL-
COMFORT-CONTROL, and THERMAL-AND-ENERGY-MANAGEMENT.
Smart software (blue area) is the third thematic area within the conceptual
evolution map. It accounts for 361 publications, 3,589 cites of the total citations,
and 31 documents highly cited according to the h-index. In terms of structure
and thematic composition, it remains Motor themes, Highly developed and
isolated themes, and Emerging or declining themes, but it covers all the
quadrants during the three periods. This thematic area covers themes related
to NEURAL-NETWORK, PUBLIC-DATA-SERVICES, SUPPORT-VECTOR-
MACHINE, BIG-DATA, DATA-FUSION, MULTI-AGENT-CONTROL-SYSTEM,
NEURAL-NETWORK, OPTIMIZATION-ALGORITHMS, PARTICLE-SWARM-
OPTIMIZATION, SERVICE-ORIENTED-ARCHITECTURE, MACHINE-LEAR-
NING, MULTI-OBJECTIVE-OPTIMIZATION, NEURAL-NETWORK, and
SERVICE-ORIENTED-ARCHITECTURE.
Smart Building Strategies (purple area) is the fourth thematic area within the map
in terms of the number of publications. It has 150 publications, 1,824 citations, and
22 highly cited publications according to the h-index. This thematic area remains the
Highly developed and isolated themes, mainly. Regarding its thematic composition,
it covers themes related to ARCHITECTURAL-DESIGN, SMART-BUILDING,
SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY, SMART-CITIES, SMART-ENVIRONMENT,
SMART-HOME, SMART-OFFICE-BUILDING, SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY,
and SMART-INFRASTRUCTURE.
Finally, it could be mentioned that the Smart Building Technologies intellectual
structure is focused on new, original, and innovative research and technological
developments such as energy efficiency, comfort, surveillance, mobility, and con-
nectivity.
Conclusions
The growth and evolution of Smart Building Technologies research field is positive
since its beginning to nowadays. Moreover, given the large volume of publications
and citations received, as well as the research themes identified and their evolution
in the main sources, it is expected that the scientific, academic, and business
communities’ interests will continue over the coming years.
In the bibliometric performance analysis, SBT research field is composed by
2,398 publications, distributed into three publications type: proceedings paper
(1,378 publications), articles (986 publications), and reviews (61 publications). It
is important to remember that some publications can have multiple classifications.
In this connection, the SBT research field integrates around 6,863 researches from
1,997 organizations and 25 different countries during the period 1984–2020.
In terms of productivity and impact, the balance between the most productive
and most cited authors reflects the novelty, interest, and quality of the publications
related to SBT. Based on this, the United States appears to be the most productive
country with 579 publications, followed by China and Italy with 237 and 210 pub-
lications, respectively. Thus, the most productive organizations were University of
California Berkeley, Nanyang Technology University, Carnegie Mellon University,
Politecnico di Milano, University of Southern Denmark, Universidad de Murcia,
Politehnica University of Bucharest, Tsinghua University, University of Houston,
and Politecnico di Torino. Additionally, the most productive journals related to
SBT research field are Energy and Buildings, Sensors, IEEE Access, Energies,
Applied Energy, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, IEEE Transactions on Smart
Grid, Sustainability, Sustainable Cities and Society, and IEEE Industrial Electronics
Magazine.
According to the conceptual analysis developed using SciMAT tool, four main
research themes groups are identified: (i) Smart Building Technologies (green area),
(ii) Smart Hardware (pink area), (iii) Smart Software (blue area), and (iv) Smart
Building Strategies (purple area).
The first thematic area could be considered as core for their contribution to the
growth of the SBT research field and is related to themes such as BLUETOOTH-
LOW-ENERGY, SENSOR-NETWORKS, SMART-CAMERA-NETWORK,
WIRELESS-SENSOR-NETWORK, CYBER-PHYSICAL-SYSTEMS, INTERNE
T-OF-THINGS, SENSOR-AGENT-ROBOT, USER-INTERACTION, WIRELESS-
SENSOR-NETWORK, WIRELESS-SENSOR-NODE, BLUETOOTH-LOW-
ENERGY, CYBER-PHYSICAL-SYSTEMS, INTERNET-OF-THINGS, LOW-
POWER-WIDE-AREA-NETWORKS, MICRO-GRIDS-AND-SMART-GRID,
SMART-SENSORS-AND-ACTUATORS, TECHNOLOGY-4.0, and UBIQUITOU
S-COMPUTING. In this way, the second thematic area is core for their contribution
to the growth of the field too, and it is related to BUILDING-AUTOMATION-
AND-CONTROL-SYSTEM, ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, LIGHTING-
CONTROL-SYSTEM, PERVASIVE-TECHNOLOGIES, POSITIONING-AND-
NAVIGATION-SYSTEM, SMART-BUILDING-SYSTEM, STRUCTURAL-
HEALTH-MONITORING, TEMPERATURE-MONITORING-AND-CONTROL,
VIBRATION-SENSING-DETECTION-AND-CONTROL, BUILDING-AUTOM-
ATION-AND-CONTROL-SYSTEM, ENERGY-SAVINGS-MODEL, GREEN-
HOUSE-GAS-EMISSIONS, HYBRID-AND-ELECTRIC-VEHICLES,
REGULATION-SERVICE-PROVISION, VIBRATION-SENSING-DETECTION-
AND-CONTROL, BUILDING-ENERGY-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, BUILDING-
MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, ENERGY-CONSUMPTION, ENERGY-FLEXIBILITY,
ENERGY-STORAGE-TECHNOLOGIES, INDOOR-TEMPERATURE, SMART-
HEATING-VENTILATION-AIR-CONDITIONING-SYSTEM, THERMAL-
AND-ENERGY-MANAGEMENT, and THERMAL-COMFORT-CONTROL.
Moreover, the third and fourth thematic areas are oriented to support the rest
ones, and these are related to NEURAL-NETWORK, PUBLIC-DATA-SERVICES,
SUPPORT-VECTOR-MACHINE, BIG-DATA, DATA-FUSION, MULTI-AGENT-
CONTROL-SYSTEM, NEURAL-NETWORK, OPTIMIZATION-ALGORITHMS,
PARTICLE-SWARM-OPTIMIZATION, SERVICE-ORIENTED-ARCHITECTUR
E, MACHINE-LEARNING, MULTI-OBJECTIVE-OPTIMIZATION, NEURAL-
NETWORK, SERVICE-ORIENTED-ARCHITECTURE, ARCHITECTURAL-

DESIGN, SMART-BUILDING, SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY, SMART-CITIES,
SMART-ENVIRONMENT, SMART-HOME, SMART-OFFICE-BUILDING,
SUSTAINABLE-SMART-CITY, and SMART-INFRASTRUCTURE.
On analyzing these themes and their relationship, the research finds that the
development of Smart Building Technologies field will mainly support the following
areas: artificial intelligence, intelligent decision support systems, neural networks,
big data, Internet of things, predictive maintenance intelligence, modeling, opti-
mization, planning and scheduling, recommender systems, and computer vision,
among other capabilities.
Finally, it is important to note that this analysis allows the identification of
common themes that can be used to achieve the research lines related to Smart
Building Technologies. Moreover, as future research works, a global analysis could
be carried out taking into account a yearly time span to understand the evolution of
each theme as its thematic network and establish a specific roadmap of each Smart
Building Technology.
Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the support by the CONACYT-Consejo Nacional de

Ciencia y Tecnología (Mexico), COZCyT Consejo Zacatecano de Ciencia Tecnología e innovación
(Mexico) and Research Coordination of the Brazilian Ministry of Education to carry out this study.
Additionally, this work has been supported by the Spanish State Research Agency through the
project PID2019-105381GA-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (iScience).
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Managing Process Safety and Operational
Risks with Industry 4.0 Technologies 58
John Lee, Ian Cameron, and Maureen Hassall
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1502
Process System and Process Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1507
Process Safety Management Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1509
Modelling of Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1510
Industry 4.0 Impacts on Process Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1513
What Are the Opportunities and Threats from Industry 4.0? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1518
What Are the Next Steps and Recommendations? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1521
Conclusion/Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1524
Important Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1525
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1525
Abstract
Major process safety incidents are still frequently occurring despite many process
safety and risk management improvement initiatives. Although digital systems
have a long history of application throughout the life cycle of process plants,
Industry 4.0 has the transformative potential to reduce process safety incidents
and optimize the management of risk. A core technology of Industry 4.0 is the
digital twin, a term used for various forms of models connected to plant data that
can be utilized for improved analysis, predictions, and decision-making.
To realize the transformative potential of Industry 4.0 in the process indus-
tries, a fundamental systems thinking approach needs to be applied to the
implementation of the digital twin and should be applied for each intended
use case. In addition, having a standardized language and ontology, such as
ISO15926, is important as it enables the use of reasoning engines and the ability
J. Lee () · I. Cameron · M. Hassall

School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
e-mail: John.lee@uq.edu.au; itc@uq.edu.au; m.hassall1@uq.edu.au
1502 J. Lee et al.
to interconnect models and systems across the process and product lifecycle.
At present, components of Industry 4.0 are currently being applied to improve
process safety, which should extend in the future to more use cases and forms of
the digital twin to improve safety and optimize the management of operational
risks within the process industries.
Successful applications of Industry 4.0 initiatives require an overall strategy
aligned with business priorities to deliver transformation in business processes
and the management of process safety. Although there are immense opportunities
available through the implementation of Industry 4.0, poor implementation can
also create threats to managing process safety that need to be considered and
mitigated.
Keywords
Process safety · Digital twin · Digitalization · Industry 4.0 · Models · Risk

management
Introduction
Across the world, the process industries are responsible for producing a plethora
of products including fuels, metals, chemicals, plastics, processed foods, bever-
ages, chemicals, rubber, textiles, composites, ceramics, wood and paper products,
personal care products, and pharmaceuticals. The sustainability, productivity, com-
petitiveness, and reputation of this industry sector depends on its ability to ensure
safe operations regardless of the hazardous nature of the materials being processed
(e.g., flammable, explosive, toxic, etc.) and despite the hazards inherent in the
processing operations (e.g., high temperature, pressures, concentrations, etc.).
Activities associated with ensuring safe operations are typically referred to as
process safety and/or operational risk management.
Managing and improving process safety is a high priority for the process
and other high hazard industries. Catastrophic and major accidents continue to
occur across industries, causing enormous numbers of fatalities, injuries, economic
losses, and environmental damage. Examples over the last 10 years include the
following:
• 2020 Beirut ammonium nitrate explosion causing over 200 fatalities, more than
6500 injuries, and at least US$15B in losses (Allahoum and Linah 2020); 2020
Vizag gas leak at the LG Polymers chemical plant in India causing 11 fatalities
and over 1000 injuries (News India 2020)
• 2019 Tlahuelilpan pipeline explosion in Mexico causing 137 fatalities (Rincón
2019); 2019 Yancheng chemical plant explosion in China causing 78 fatalities
and 617 injuries (Coote 2019)
• 2018 chemical plant in Zhangjiakou city in China’s northern Hebei province
causing 22 fatalities and more than 22 injuries (ABC News 2018); 2018 chemical
58 Managing Process Safety and Operational Risks with Industry 4.0 Technologies 1503
plant in Sichuan, China, causing 19 fatalities and 12 injuries (China Labour

Bulletin 2018)
• 2017 Tangerang fireworks disaster in Indonesia causing 49 fatalities and 46
injuries (ABC News 2017); 2017 NTPC power plant explosion in India causing
43 fatalities and more than 100 injuries (Proctor 2018)
• 2016 Dangyang power plant explosion in China causing 22 fatalities and 4
injuries (Wong 2016)
• 2015 Port of Tianjin explosion in China causing 165 fatalities and 565 injuries
(Huang and Zhang 2015); 2015 Bosley wood flour mill explosion in the UK that
caused 4 fatalities and devastated the facility (BBC News 2015)
• 2014 Kunshan metal dust explosion in China causing 146 fatalities, 114 injuries,
and US$53M in losses (Li et al. 2016); 2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions in Taiwan
causing 32 fatalities and 321 injuries (Central News Agency 2014)
• 2013 West Texas ammonium nitrate explosion in the USA causing 15 fatalities,
over 300 injuries, and more than US$100M in losses (Insurance Journal 2018);
2013 Dhaka garment factory building collapse in Bangladesh causing 1132
fatalities and over 2500 injuries (International Labour Organization 2018)
• 2012 Paraguana Refinery Complex explosion in Venezuela causing 48 fatalities
and over 100 injuries (De Abreu 2012); 2012 Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi fireworks
factory blaze causing 38 fatalities and 75 injuries (India Today Online 2012);
2012 Pakistan garment factory fire in Karachi causing 289 fatalities and 249
injuries (China Daily 2012)
• 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon blowout causing 11 fatalities, 17 injuries, the worst
oil spill in history, and over US$60B in losses (CSB 2016); 2010 San Bruno gas
pipeline explosion in the USA causing 8 fatalities and over US$1.6B in losses
(NTSB 2011)
These accidents continue to occur at high rates, despite decades of attention and
improvements made to process safety management systems as illustrated by (Jarvis
2015) with Fig. 1.
As this figure illustrates, more should be done to reduce major losses in the
process industries. Further analysis of the major events has found that the primary
causes include loss of mechanical integrity, inadequate operating procedures and
practices, inadequate control of maintenance work, and inadequate hazard identi-
fication (Jarvis 2016). Although inadequate hazard identification was the primary
cause in only 10% of these major events, it was a contributing cause to 40%. This
research by Jarvis suggests that a priority focus area for Industry 4.0 applications
should include improving hazard identification. Good hazard identification requires
a thorough understanding of the proposed and current performance of processing
systems.
The process industry has improved its measuring, reporting, and modeling of
processes. Process systems engineering (PSE) focuses on developing models to help
personnel design, simulate, control, troubleshoot, and optimize processes. Mod-
elling is an important concept that underpins good decision-making associated with
hazard identification, risk management, and operational performance optimization.
1504 J. Lee et al.
Fig. 1 Major losses in the onshore oil, gas, and petrochemical industry 1996–2014 (Jarvis 2015)
To ensure the models used inform, not misinform, decision-makers, the attributes
of a model need to align with a fundamental systems conceptualization when being
created for process safety applications. Because of its importance, the fundamental
systems conceptualization will be discussed in detail in the next section of the
chapter.
Digitalization features in many of the tools, models, and processes that have been
introduced and evolved over the last 50 years, and many of the core technologies of
Industry 4.0 already feature to varying degrees within modern processing plants.
However, these implementations could be considered more as an evolution of
computerization and digitization, which are focused on specific use cases to deliver
on business priorities rather than true digital transformation that has fundamentally
changed the process industries. Many of these applications are disparate with
scattered information that over the years have created a behemoth to manage and
maintain. A lot of resources have been invested into these applications, and the
disparities that have been created are not necessarily a sufficient driver for change.
The process industries also have many other pressing priorities alongside process
safety management (PSM), and this can create challenges to maintain the focus and
dedicate resources on PSM.
So how can Industry 4.0 or digital transformation be leveraged to further improve
process safety?
For Industry 4.0 to successfully transform and improve PSM, not only should
the change demonstrably reduce risk, but it should also make it easier to manage
and reduce the already high demand on resources for PSM. New digitalization
applications obviously need to be aligned to business priorities to warrant change.
When it comes to PSM, without an obvious business case and just implementing
change for change sake can increase rather than reduce risk. Depending on what
has been previously implemented or what has fallen into a state of disrepair, there
may be “low-hanging fruit” within the Industry 4.0 landscape that can be easily
or quickly implemented. Examples include high hazard plants that don’t have
functioning, updated or accurate steady-state flowsheet models, or operator training
simulators. Also, simply improving the visibility of data and information across an
organization may enable the identification of new areas for PSM improvement or
avert a major accident. Or there may be other opportunities such as adding low-
cost wireless fidelity (WiFi) devices to measure and transmit corrosion rate data in
high-risk areas or to improve monitoring of critical equipment to avoid running to
failure.
Although specific tools that fall under the Industry 4.0 umbrella can be applied
in isolation to address business priorities, the ensuing benefits are incremental.
Process safety involves all parts of the lifecycle from concept to decommissioning
and across most enterprise activities, such as design, operations, procurement,
and maintenance. Industry 4.0 may offer a lot of opportunities for improving
process safety; however, its transformative potential derives from being applied
as a universal concept across an enterprise. Such opportunities can be shown as
a maturity or journey model. Several companies such as Bentley Systems, Inc.,
and ARC Advisory Group have developed journey or maturity models for Industry
4.0 implementation. The German National Academy of Science and Engineering,
acatech, conducted a project to develop a comprehensive leading example –
“Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index.” The maturity index was developed systematically
and collaboratively with academia and industry to help provide guidance for
the manufacturing industries (Schuh et al. 2017). These maturity models help
enterprises to holistically consider gaps and to plan the journey to Industry 4.0 while
aligning activities with business priorities. Figure 2 is an example of maturity levels
as specifically applied to the use of flowsheet models for improving process safety.
In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in services and offerings
for the implementation of digital transformation and digital twins, with goals or side
benefits of improving process operation’s hazard and risk management. However,
if new applications are implemented without the fundamental prerequisites (as per
Fig. 2 example for the use of flowsheet models) or without an overall strategy that
aims to simplify the management and optimization of operation risks and reduce
resource demands over time, then it will not generate step-change improvements
in process safety. Such an overall strategy should consider how to bring together
disparate systems to make them easier to use and maintain and to integrate them
into a “single source of the truth” that considers not just the plant but also the people
and procedural interactions in a manner that enables processes and process risks to
be optimized. Thus, the adoption of the concepts of Industry 4.0 needs to consider
the human perspectives of change as well as the implementation of new technology
(Gallagher 2017). Stakeholders need see significant improvements, whether that is
new and improved ways to further reduce risks or whether it makes their lives easier
1506 J. Lee et al.
OPTIMISED:
Incorporation of
ADVANCED: other business
Use of dynamic risks and IA into
DYNAMIC: modelling to models to allow
assess process risk-based
Dynamic models
DEFINED: safety risks optimisation of
available and
implications of all processing
Good quality and provide up to date
decisions from operations over
BASIC: comprehensive representations of
project concept to entire lifecycle.
Basic process measurement of plant.
measurement but decommissioning Changes to
processes and Dynamic
poor/outdated or models that In-house operations
modelling of
no system models represents steady capability automatically
normal and
state operations available to update models.
abnormal
operations used update and use In-house dynamic
for design and dynamic model model building
operator training Steady state and and maintenance
dynamic models capabilities
Good in-house
understanding of use compatible Steady state and
dynamic model software and have dynamic models
design and common connected to
operation representation of plant data.
plant (no
Automated health
duplication)
monitoring,
detection and
assessment of
degradations of
capability and
faults
Dynamic model
used to develop
advanced
abnormal
situation
management
capabilities.
Models capable of
self-calibration
Fig. 2 Maturity model for the use of flowsheet models for risk management
and less resource demanding for true Industry 4.0 transformation and to sustain on
the journey.
In the remainder of this chapter, we describe in more detail how the transforma-
tive potential of Industry 4.0 might be leveraged to reduce process safety incidents
and to optimize a process operation’s risks. We start with explaining processes and
process safety in fundamental systems terms and why this is important. Next, we
discuss process safety management requirements before describing the role that
modelling plays in the process industries, across a project’s lifecycle perspectives,
before outlining contemporary uses of models in the process industries. Then we
provide an overview of Industry 4.0 technological changes relevant to process safety
and then some of the potential opportunities and threats that could emerge from
this technology. We conclude by outlining the next steps and recommendations for
using Industry 4.0 advancements to optimize the management of process safety and
operations risks.
Constraints {k}
Boundary S
System S
Inputs functions, capabilities {f,c} Outputs
{û} states, parameters {x,p} {y}
Operating modes Methods Tasks

{o} {m} {t}
Fig. 3 General systems conceptualization. (Adapted from Cameron and Gani 2011)
Process System and Process Safety
In order to develop, use and interpret Industry 4.0 technologies, it is prudent to

understand the system they are being introduced to and/or are modelling. A general
representation of a dynamic process system adapted from Cameron and Gani (2011)
is depicted in Fig. 3. The features of this conceptualization are the specification of
the boundary that defines the domain of a dynamic system being modelled, which
has inputs, states, and outputs determined by the nature of the system. These inputs
include manipulated variables as well as measured and unmeasured disturbances.
The system and its subsystems have intended functions that are delivered through
its components’ capabilities and are defined by a set of parameters. There are certain
constraints on states and outputs within which the system should operate. The
system is impacted by changes in inputs and disturbances. Tasks may be carried
out within the system to deliver certain goals, and a series of tasks may be regularly
completed in a defined succession to serve as a method of doing something. An
operating mode relates to the several ways that something operates, such as normal
operation, start-up, and shutdown.
Representing a system in this way helps to explore the impacts of introducing
Industry 4.0 technologies and the features and variations in parameters that have
been included and excluded from Industry 4.0 models. These variations could
include changes in the system boundary, inputs, outputs, system functions and
capabilities, system behavior, operating modes, constraints, tasks, and methods.
To explore the interactions among the system “actors” as well as the environment,
the P3 schema has been developed as shown in Fig. 4. This schema helps
analysts consider not only the roles of plant, people, and procedures but also their
interactions, which are crucial for ensuring safe processing systems (Seligmann
et al. 2012, 2019). This perspective highlights that the system is dynamic with
many interfaces and interactions between and among plant, people, and procedures,
1508 J. Lee et al.
Fig. 4 High-level systems Environment

view capturing key actors and
interactions: a “P3 schema.”
(Adapted from Lee et al. System
2019)
Plant People
Procedures
Fig. 5 Formative functional systems framework (Hassall 2013)
which can be shaped or influenced by environmental conditions and changes. These

are important aspects and need to be considered in the design and maintenance of
system integrity within a dynamic environment and can present many challenges in
the management of process safety.
Major process safety events are usually a result of a combination of factors which
can be derived, at least in part, from the conceptualizations shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
These can include changes in inputs, disturbances from the environment, failures
of components or changes in component capabilities, and internal deviations, all of
which can lead to divergences in intended functions or the execution of other action
options, which can affect the system’s operating state and outputs as shown in Fig. 5.
These system frameworks have been developed to help people identify, describe,
and analyze a processing system to identify vulnerabilities to accidents and oppor-
tunities to enhance process safety. It helps analysts identify hazards, analyze process
safety risks, and determine the management interventions required to assure system
safety. In addition, and importantly, they can be used to design and evaluate the
process models that are crucial for any Industry 4.0 transformational change in the
process industries. The next subsection discusses the determination of management
interventions, and the following subsections describe process models.
Process Safety Management Systems
Frameworks have also been developed to highlight important interventions that

should be considered when managing hazardous operations. Such interventions
include policies, standards, procedures, and practices as well as details on roles and
responsibilities, all of which need to be in place and be effective to prevent major
accidents and to mitigate their potential impact should they occur. Many regulators
and industry bodies publish guidance on safety management systems. An example
of a process safety management system framework from the CCPS is shown in
Fig. 6.
The World Steel Association has the following process safety management
fundamental principles (Worldsteel 2019):
1. Ensure there is a commitment to process safety management.

2. Establish a hazard and risk analysis program.
3. Implement and maintain a process safety risk management and control system.
4. Strive to excellence in learning from experience.
Fig. 6 Process safety management system (CCPS 2007)

1510 J. Lee et al.
5. Utilize continuous improvement to ensure process safety management effective-

ness.
6. Maintain a sense of vulnerability in process safety management.
Another example framework from the Asia Industrial Gases Association (AIGA
2017) includes the following:
1. Leadership, commitment, and responsibility

2. Compliance with legislation and industry standards
3. Employee selection, training, and competency
4. Workforce involvement
5. Communication with stakeholders
6. Hazard identification and risk assessment
7. Documentation, records, and knowledge management
8. Process and operational status monitoring and handover
9. Operating procedures
10. Management of operational interfaces
11. Standards and practices
12. Management of change
13. Operational readiness and process start-up
14. Emergency management
15. Inspection and maintenance
16. Management of safety critical devices
17. Work control, permit to work, and task risk management
18. Contractors and suppliers – selection and management
19. Incident investigation
20. Audit, management review, and intervention
21. Measures and metrics
The introduction of industry 4.0 should be done with consideration to all

the elements of a process safety management system to ensure it enhances and
integrates the elements and not weaken or silo them.
Modelling of Processes
In the early 1960s, process systems engineering (PSE) was introduced to enable
integrated design and optimization of industrial processes (Sargent 1963). Digital
computer systems had been recently introduced and were to play a critical role in
PSE supported by appropriate modelling over the life cycle. PSE has continuously
evolved over the last 60 years, in parallel with the exponential improvements in
computing and programming as shown in Fig. 7. The result is an ecosystem of
models for use across the life cycle as shown in Fig. 8.
The growth in computing power and software over the last seven decades has
made it possible to develop high-fidelity dynamic simulations of the entire process
Commercial Process Simulation Tools

Digitization of plant measurements and control 1990 - 1995
1981 - 1990 Internet
1950 - 1960 2011
GUI and emerges Industry 4.0
Introduction of digital computers
dynamic simulation capability
1940 - 1950 1961 2004 - 2019
Development of analogue computers Concept of Process Systems 1994
ISO15926
Engineering introduced WWW Consortium created
1940 2020
1992
2007
WiFi
5G invented
1965 - 1975 1985 - 1995
Commercial CAD tools become available Distributed Control Systems 2004 - 2009
implemented Ontology Web Language Developed
1975 - 1985
Digital systems for maintenance , finance , optimization implemented
Fig. 7 The history of digitalization within the process industries. (Adapted from Lee et al. 2019)
Fig. 8 A model-centric view of engineered systems. (Adapted from Cameron and Gani 2011)
plants. The simulations are a form of digital twin that can represent the interactions
between people, plant, and procedures, at least in an operating perspective. Such
models present new opportunities to improve risk management practices by being
better able to consider human factors and operational policies.
Over the last decade, the process industries have been applying components of
Industry 4.0 to improve in critical areas that are the primary causes of major process
safety incidents. As previously discussed in the Introduction, these critical areas are
mechanical integrity, control of maintenance, operational procedures, design, and
hazard identification.
1512 J. Lee et al.
With a strong focus on improving mechanical integrity, the process industries

have been applying digital systems to improve corrosion management systems,
including risk-based inspection, repairs, corrosion models, and connections to live
plant data. WiFi technology has also enabled an increase in the implementation of
online corrosion rate sensors. Greater connectivity with remote monitoring systems
has helped to reduce rotating equipment failures. Machine learning and predictive
analytics are being applied to data to alert to issues with equipment that may lead to
failure.
Maintenance activities have resulted in many process safety incidents, and digital
systems have been applied to improve the control of work and energy isolation
processes, improve risk assessment, and even provide real-time risk assessment
for when critical barriers are nonfunctional or out of service for maintenance. To
reduce process safety incidents related to operator error, the process industries
have improved control systems interfaces, implemented operator training simulators
(OTS), and advanced alarm management systems.
Getting the design of a process plant right is the most impactful stage of the
life cycle to improve process safety. Dynamic models similar to those used for
OTS are also being utilized to assist with design by assessing specific abnormal
situations and the performance of control and safety instrumented system design.
Computer-aided design (CAD) tools have been developed and evolved over the
years, and they connect engineering design, project documentation, equipment data,
process and instrumentation drawings (P&IDs), process flow diagrams (PFDs), and
3D visualization via a common language and ontology. These tools also assist
with project management and implementation including scheduling, approvals,
version control, management of change, procurement, and construction to increase
efficiency, reduce error, and improve the quality of the physical asset. These tools
are increasingly being utilized after commissioning to assist with ongoing operation
and maintenance of the asset.
With the aim of improving risk assessment processes, qualitative process hazard
analysis software has been developed such as ExpHAZOP+ (Rahman et al. 2009),
PHASuite (Zhao et al. 2005), and BLHAZID (Németh et al. 2011), although these
have not seen widespread industrial application. Models have been developed to
assess the consequences of loss of primary containment, such as for assessing
dispersion, fire, and explosion. Some critical scenarios may utilize complex com-
putational fluid dynamics to assess consequences.
In contemporary process operations, the dynamic models used within operator
training simulators are typically one of the most advanced forms of digital models.
They are often designed and used to improve operator training, assess competency,
and develop and test procedures. OTS are being increasingly implemented for
complex and integrated plants, such as those in oil and gas, chemical, and mineral
processing. These simulators are also finding application early in the life cycle of
plants for assessing specific abnormal events to improve design, assessing potential
design changes, designing control systems and safety instrumented systems (SIS),
reducing commissioning and start-up issues and duration, and developing emer-
gency procedures.
There are challenges to implementing and maintaining OTS associated with

resources and costs. Often the creation and maintenance of the dynamic models and
simulators requires specialty third-party expertise in the software with limited in-
house capability. The creation of an OTS for an operating plant can cost over US$1
million, not to mention the cost of ongoing training costs and funding to support
improvements and changes for plant modifications. Often the flowsheeting software
in the OTS is not the same as what the process engineers use for design, health
monitoring, and optimization and often not available for use outside of the OTS
environment. Being familiar with the dynamic model and the simulation software
is important for developing awareness of simplifications and ability to represent
complex behaviors that may limit the models’ accuracy. Having such awareness is
vital to being able to correctly use and interpret the outcomes from the model.
In addition, there has been research undertaken to investigate options for
re-tasking these models for other use cases, such as process hazard analysis.
Preliminary findings indicate that process safety and domain expertise is required to
recognize and handle model deficiencies as well as to interpret the outputs. Industry
4.0 offers further opportunities to leverage and improve dynamic models and OTSs.
Industry 4.0 Impacts on Process Operations
Although Industry 4.0 refers to the fourth industrial revolution, it represents

the evolution of digital and computer systems, applied in an integrative way,
enabling a step change in performance and decision-making capability. Industry 4.0
entails several key technological advancements as shown in Fig. 7. Although these
advancements are shown as discrete categories, they are highly integrated with some
enabling and informing others.
At the core of the depiction in Fig. 9 is the high-level P3 schema perspective
essential to process safety considerations within the overall space of the Internet of
things (IoT) technologies that apply to Industry 4.0.
Surrounding the process safety perspective is a box depicting the hierarchical
components of data providing the foundation for information to build knowledge
that creates wisdom to make good decisions. IoT technologies, such as models for
predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, automa-
tion, autonomous systems, and digital twins, rely on reliable and cleansed data as a
foundation in order to derive useful information and knowledge and to make proper
decisions.
Although this depiction is shown as a set of concentric boxes, IoT technologies
interact with each of the P3 schema actors or impact the interactions between them.
The interconnectivity provided by the Internet is a key component of Industry
4.0 and has fundamentally changed how businesses operate in sectors such as
banking, retail, communications, and travel. It has also fundamentally changed
social interactions and education. The Internet has enabled large volumes of data
to be brought together from a variety of data sources and accessible widely to other
systems and people. The Internet has also provided the ability to apply virtually
1514 J. Lee et al.
Internet of things (IoT)

Artificial intelligence
Predictive analytics
Data
VR-AR-MR systems
Decision making
Digital twins
Information
WiFi
5G
Knowledge
Autonomous/automated systems
Internet
Fig. 9 Landscape of Industry 4.0 technologies that could impact process operation. (Adapted from
Lee et al. 2019)
unlimited computing power at local problems. WiFi and 5G have enabled access to
remote real-time transfer of data to provide additional inputs from people and plant
and new paths for outputs to actuate plant.
Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality are categories of cyber-physical systems
that allow people to interact with the plant and its digital representation often within
a 3D representation and can improve the contextual interactions between people and
plant. A digital twin, which is a term used for the cyber representation of something
physical, can be used to improve analysis, make predictions, and improve decision-
making. Some of the first digital twins were created in the 1970s for the aerospace
industry.
The digital twin can be connected to live information of the actual asset to
enhance its capability and use cases. The digital twin may also consist of an
ecosystem of models, each developed for a specific use case and lifecycle phase.
These models may be based on fundamental physics/chemistry/mathematics, while
others may be empirically based or both. Some models may be a “black box”
approach with machine learning providing algorithms to predict outputs.
OREDA
database
Dynamic Blended
CAD ISO15926 ontology in Other
Simulation HAZID engineering
module OWL/RDF Model Module models
Maintenance
management LP Production
systems models scheduling
models
Inspection
management
systems
Reasoning Agent
Financial
management
systems
Use Cases: Process Hazard Analysis, causal diagrams, optimization,

Data Live
Historian production scheduling, health monitoring, self calibration, fault
Validation Plant
detection, abnormal situation management, Process safety management,
reliability assessments, RBM, RBI, management of change.
A conceptual digital twin for the process industries
Fig. 10 Conceptual example of dynamic model within the digital twin concept. (Adapted from
Lee et al. 2019)
As discussed in the previous section, a lot of Industry 4.0 components are being
applied within the process industries to improve process safety, not to mention
other applications delivering on other business priorities. However, they are often
on disparate systems with disparate data sources, making them resource-intensive to
keep up to date and increasing the risk of human error in accessing and transferring
information between systems. Industry 4.0 gives digital twins the opportunity to
integrate the disparate data sources into one easy-to-use, single source of truth.
Figure 10 depicts an overall digital twin concept that interconnects an ecosystem
of models and systems connected via a common language and ontology, which can
help manage models, data, and information flows and simplify change management.
Connecting the digital twin with live data can assist with health monitoring, fault
detection, process and risk optimization, and abnormal situation management,
thereby helping to improve human decision-making, process safety, plant reliability,
and production outcomes.
Having a common language and ontology is crucial to developing an integrated
interconnected digital twin. ISO15926, the international standard for “Industrial
automation systems and integration – Integration of life-cycle data for process plants
including oil and gas production facilities,” provides a framework for integrating,
sharing, and exchanging data. It provides a common language and ontology for
the process and manufacturing industries suitable across the life cycle of plant.
This ISO standard has been adopted widely in the process industries within CAD
1516 J. Lee et al.
tools typically used in the design, construction, and commissioning of new plant.
There are some existing tools developed to utilize this information, such as stress
analysis software, standards comparison software (HAZID 2019), and qualitative
risk assessment software (Németh et al. 2011).There are potential opportunities
to maintain the information of the plant in this format over the entire life cycle
of the plant following construction. There are also opportunities to connect this
representation of the plant with other models, such as steady-state and dynamic
flowsheeting models to drive further business value through new use cases.
For many processing plants built before the use of CAD and ISO15926, there
is quite a challenge to “back-cast” this ontology. There are commercial tools
available that purport to be able to scan P&IDs and utilize artificial intelligence
(AI) to recognize equipment and text (Bilfinger 2018; HAZID 2017) and also
photometry/laser scanning tools also utilizing AI to recognize equipment types.
Research work is being conducted by Lee et al. (2019) investigating parsing
dynamic flowsheeting schemas into the ISO15926 schema to help lay an initial
skeleton ontology for the process plant. Such a parsing tool may also be useful
in projects as typically a flowsheeting model (or at least a very high-level view) is
available very early in a project.
There are opportunities to increasingly use robotics such as robots and drones
and AI visual interpretation to remove personnel from high-risk tasks, such as
for inspection, leak repairs, confined space entry, catalyst removal, and cleaning.
These applications address personal safety more than process safety. Automation is
already applied extensively within process plants via instruments, analyzers, control
systems, and the remote operation of valves and switches. These directly impact the
operation of the plant and process safety.
Industry 4.0 initiatives may assist the management of operational risks by
improving the availability or representation of data and information. They may
also provide advice to operators by the assessment of operational risk and the
provision of timely advice on imminent failures and response actions. Automation
and robotics applied to process safety may take the form of additional automated
start-up, controlled shutdowns, emergency shutdowns, and control system overrides.
The ability to apply these forms of automation or control can be associated with
the degree of complexity of the plant. For example, it is not uncommon for
steam boilers, combustors, and furnaces to have automated start-up while much
less common on large, complex processing plants such as fluid catalytic crackers,
crude distillation, hydrocrackers, and reformers. Start-up procedures for complex
plant often have thousands of steps. It is also not uncommon to have issues with
instruments and equipment at start-up, especially if they are dedicated for start-
up and rarely utilized. Such issues can thwart an automated start-up, requiring
human intervention. For automation to handle such issues would require additional
redundancy such as two out of three instrument systems, and even then this does not
necessarily remove start-up issues. Field operator activities during start-ups involve
the movement of manual valves, the movement of blinds, the use of vents and drains,
the connection and disconnection of utility hoses, starting and stopping rotating
equipment, sampling, and sometimes sample analysis. Much of the associated
equipment is not utilized during normal operation, and making changes to allow
automation would be extensive and costly.
Automated shutdown of process plant is being increasingly implemented across
the process industries to reduce risk, especially for high hazard processes. These
automated shutdown systems aim to take a process plant to a safer state; however,
they can also increase process risk if they unnecessarily shutdown a process. Even
emergency automated shutdown systems typically require operator intervention to
purge, clean, and isolate equipment for maintenance.
Additional automation and control implementation needs to be aligned with
critical priorities and potential adverse risks considered and mitigated. Additional
automation to reduce operator resources needs to be considered holistically as the
minimum operator manning of a refinery may be set by many factors, including
abnormal situations, emergency response, or even turnaround isolation and per-
mitting requirements. Some process plants have remote detection of the release
of hazardous materials or fire and have automated water deluge systems to reduce
emergency response demands.
Many complex processing plants have advanced control such as dynamic matrix
control (DMC) operating as an “autopilot” for the optimal operation of the plant
within constraints. These advanced controls can handle changes in feed quality, feed
rates, and product targets; however, during abnormal situations such as equipment
failure, these may hand back control to an operator. Because the advanced control
may operate the plant most of the time, the operator may lose competency and
capability to operate the process and is one of the drivers behind the requirement
for an OTS.
Advanced data analytics is another category of Industry 4.0 technologies, which
includes big data, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence. Big data is a
term used to represent the extremely large datasets of information that can be
analyzed to identify patterns, trends, correlations, and associations among the
data. When related to a processing plant, big data could include high-fidelity
engineering design data that defines the entire processing plant as well as historical
and live operational data collected from sensors, testing, analysis, and observations.
Advanced analytics, predictive analytics, and machine learning are automated or
semi-automated methods of examining large amounts of existing or historical data
to generate insights or make predictions.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also a core Industry 4.0 technology. Artificial
intelligence refers to technology that seeks to mimic human cognition, particularly
the ability to perceive the environment, assess the situation, and then select and
execute a response. Some more advanced forms of AI also possess the ability to
learn and adapt based on that learning. Example process safety applications of
AI include the meta-analysis of natural language data (e.g., incident reports, shift
reports, etc.) to derive insights into accident precursors and control vulnerabilities,
CCTV analysis to alert operators and/or emergency response systems of leaks,
and the use of deep learning to prioritize and rationalize alarms to prevent alarm
flood scenarios. However, the introduction and use of AI, and any other Industry
4.0 technology in high hazard and safety critical processing environment, has the
1518 J. Lee et al.
potential to improve and worsen safety management endeavors. The opportunities

and threats associated with Industry 4.0 technologies are discussed next.
What Are the Opportunities and Threats from Industry 4.0?
A survey of oil refinery professionals conducted by Accenture (2018) indicated

that they believed significant value may be delivered by further implementing
new technologies. In the survey, although improving reliability was considered a
significant driver for the implementation of Industry 4.0 and has the potential to
reduce some process safety events, improving process safety was not specifically
identified as a driver. Industry 4.0 can offer new opportunities to reduce risks but
there are also threats to process safety.
As discussed in Sect. “Conclusion/Summary”, there are already Industry 4.0
technologies being applied throughout a plant’s life cycle that improve design,
mechanical integrity, operating procedures, operator competencies, maintenance
of plant, and hazard identification. There are opportunities to improve operations
and further reduce process safety risks by better interconnection of these systems
throughout the life cycle and reduced duplication of data. Reducing the time and
resources to identify risks and make decisions and implement actions, such as the
modification of plant, reduces the duration of exposure to risks and increases the
ability to reduce more risks.
The transformative potential of Industry 4.0 is derived when applied across an
enterprise within a common framework and strategy, which may fundamentally
change business processes. One could envision a future state for the operation of a
process plant akin to flying and controlling the “Starship Enterprise” from Star Trek:
The Next Generation with artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and autonomous
operations.
Abnormal situations are almost always associated with process safety incidents,
and SIS have been implemented to override the operator and bring the process to
a safe state, often to a shutdown requiring restart, which in itself introduces risk.
There are opportunities for artificial intelligence to provide earlier identification
and optimal corrective advice or intervention to further reduce risk and improve
reliability. It may be as simple as having more open and accurate data or information
could help to avert an accident.
Knowledge management and the retention of experience are challenges facing
many process plants with aging workforces. A well thought-out and implemented
Industry 4.0 strategy has the ability to greatly improve existing knowledge manage-
ment practices and provide opportunities to capture and embed the experience or
wisdom of experienced personnel within computer systems. Industry 4.0 can also
cause the deterioration of knowledge and competency of personnel, which will be
discussed later.
There is a degree of hype and urgency associated with Industry 4.0; however,
exemplar implementation within the process industries is not yet clear. There are
significant threats to regret spend and poor outcomes where an overall strategy is
missing or there is a lack of willingness or competencies to lead, implement, and

sustain change. Implementing an Industry 4.0 agenda without a well thought-out
strategy has the potential to direct resources away from ongoing process safety
management, which can lead to accidents. A poorly thought-out strategy may also
lead to adding more systems and complexity for little improvement, compounding
demands on resources, and increasing the risk of human error and process safety
events. An Industry 4.0 strategy should consider what digital systems and tools
have already been implemented and not only how new initiatives can provide new
opportunities but also how heritage digital systems can be incorporated into the
strategy to make managing change easier and reduce risk and resource demands.
Outside of the threats to PSM due to resource demands and regret spend
on Industry 4.0, there are also direct process safety threats associated with the
implementation of Industry 4.0. From data quality, acquisition, interpretation, and
decision-making to taking action, errors at any of these stages can lead to or fail to
avoid process safety incidents. Similarly, badly designed or incorrectly interpreted
outcomes from digital twins, artificial intelligence, or predictive analytics can lead
to incidents. These risks must be considered and mitigated whether Industry 4.0
technologies are providing information or advice or taking autonomous actions.
Even where autonomous intervention is designed to improve safety, it is possible
that new risks are introduced, as experienced with crashes of the Airbus A400M in
2015 (Flightsafety 2015), the Tesla autonomous vehicle in 2018 (NTSB 2020), and
the Boeing 737 MAX in 2018/2019 (The House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure 2020). Autonomous operation must be designed for and tested against
every possible scenario and operating mode to ensure robust safety, and even then
human override over autonomous operation should always be an option.
George Box once said that “all models are wrong, but some are useful.” This
is an important tenet for Industry 4.0 and the digital twin. At the core of a digital
twin is a digital model (or ecosystem of digital models) designed for a specific use
case that will likely be a good replica of the physical asset, but it will be “wrong.”
To correctly use and interpret output from digital twins and to develop reasoning
agents to interface with the digital twins requires a combination of skills, including
process-specific design and operational experience and capability, as well as in-
depth model design knowledge and IT skills. Such combination of skills is required
to understand or identify a model’s weaknesses, which is critical to avoid potential
deleterious outcomes from blindly accepting outcomes or directions from a digital
twin.
As discussed previously, Industry 4.0 technologies impact the interactions
between people, plant, and procedures. There are other threats associated with
the implementation of enhanced automation, not only through bad data, system
design errors, and programming faults but also due to the removal of the human
element that can often deal with previously unknown situations and events better
than computers.
Increasing automation has the potential to result in reduced operator manning
levels both at the DCS and in the field. The human senses of sight, sound, smell,
and touch (heat/vibration) are in play during routine operator rounds and have a
1520 J. Lee et al.
significant role in managing operational risk. Removing such means of detection

of abnormal situations would require significant additional engineered systems
such as cameras, gas detectors, vibration sensors, and temperature probes, and
then there is the requirement to analyze this information, draw conclusions, and
recommend or take action. Auto-starting equipment like pumps and compressors
without human involvement can introduce risks such as undetected seal failures
and vibration, thermal shock, pump cavitation, and compressor liquid impingement.
These risks need to be considered and typically require additional engineered
systems to mitigate them.
Greater implementation of Industry 4.0 can reduce the human interactions with
plant and create a dependency on the technologies. The loss of human experience
and knowledge over time can lead to a degradation of capability to control a
process when human intervention is required. Implementation of new technologies
can also lead to new failure modes or loss of ability to control a process. All of
these risks need consideration and mitigation. Simulators play an important role in
such situations where operators can practice both normal and abnormal operation
routinely in a safe environment, while normal operation of the plant is by automated
systems such as DMCs.
Taking the human out of the “loop” introduces risks as machines and computers
are not necessarily good at dealing with new, previously unconsidered scenarios.
An example of the beneficial human response to unexpected scenarios includes the
pilot-controlled landing of US Airways Flight 1549, which landed without power on
the Hudson River after multiple bird strikes at takeoff. Human experience can build
wisdom and improve decision-making. Industry 4.0 implementations also need to
be designed with the ability to continuously improve and capture new learnings and
knowledge.
There are risks if the right competencies and capabilities are not applied to
implementing Industry 4.0 initiatives. Although IT and computer science com-
petencies are critical resources, the involvement and direction from those with
domain expertise will be critical to successful outcomes. This domain exper-
tise should entail a collaboration of engineering and operational expertise. In
terms of engineering expertise, this involves experience applying the professional
competencies described by professional organizations for chemical and process
engineers, such as the IChemE and AIChE within. It should also entail the ability to
apply fundamental systems thinking as previously discussed. From an operational
perspective, domain expertise should span field and control room operations as
well as electrical, mechanical, maintenance, instrumentation, and control system
personnel. The inputs of these domain experts should span both technical and human
factors to ensure Industry 4.0 initiatives improve both human and overall system
performance and well-being.
Another important aspect to consider when thinking about Industry 4.0 initiatives
is the massive amounts of data that are routinely collected from operating facilities.
This data arises from each of the major components of plant, people, and procedures
as seen in Fig. 4. Typically, billions of data points from control systems connected
to the plant are sampled each day, manipulated, and held in memory or archived in
plant historians. The advent of improved, diverse, and cheaper sensing technologies
has driven this data tsunami. This can lead to a situation of being data rich but
information poor (DRIP). Optimal location of sensors to maximize information
content in data is crucial, as is the recognition that the underlying physics, chemistry,
and/or biology within the system makes system data highly correlated. This means
information redundancy and the need to apply intelligent approaches to univariate
and particularly multivariate data analysis tools and the models built from them.
Additionally, those models need to be “fit for purpose” in the sense that their
use is directed to aiding specific decision-making activities. Those decisions are
often constrained by time, risk, and insights, often leading to a set of models
for a range of end-goals. This means that interpretation by data scientists or
engineers alone without the consideration of the fundamentals of the system will
provide limited insights and poorer-quality predictions. Predictive analytics that
use historical data require consideration of any data sampling rates and subsequent
averaging or filtering that has occurred prior to use in building predictive tools. In
the case of dynamic systems, normal operational variations are usually inadequate
to characterize the underlying system dynamics, thus requiring specific system
perturbations to build effective models.
As well, there is an important use of multivariate methods such as principal
component analysis and related factor methods that can effectively build predictive
tools that consider highly correlated datasets.
Care must be exercised to ensure that data is appropriate and properly treated
and that data correlation is adequately dealt with in many predictive methods that
include neural networks and machine learning techniques (Kresta et al. 1991).
Many data-driven models and phenomenological models are used in real-time fault
diagnosis. The quality of those models and the adaptation to changing process
circumstances are vital for high-quality detection and diagnostic applications (Dash
and Venkatasubramanian 2000).The aphorism that “all models are wrong, but some
are useful” can be extended to advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence
applications. A significant threat to these technologies is the quality of the data
underpinning them as previously mentioned. Another threat is the degree of bias
built into the algorithms and the interpretation of results. This requires deep domain
knowledge and understanding of the models being used. Obtaining and retaining the
combination of skills required to build, maintain, and correctly utilize such systems
is crucial for effectively managing operational risks and enhancing the safety of
process systems.
What Are the Next Steps and Recommendations?
As previously discussed, there are many use cases for digitalization and digital twins
to improve the various aspects that contribute to process safety incidents. Dynamic
models, based on a combination of fundamental- and empirical-based calculations,
can offer accurate predictions of plant behavior under most circumstances and
represent the interactions between people, plant, and procedures, at least from
1522 J. Lee et al.
an operational perspective. Such digital models offer further opportunities for the
application of reasoning agents for assessing process safety risks. The development
of reasoning agents requires the “encoding” knowledge and experience of design,
operations, and process safety as well as the knowledge of model deficiencies.
Even better still would be if the ability to identify and manage deficiencies was
encoded within a reasoning agent; however, such a higher-order reasoning agent
may currently be beyond reach. The application of qualitative risk assessment, in
parallel with dynamic model quantitative risk assessment, may help the reasoning
agent to recognize questionable outcomes.
There is no well-publicized exemplar implementation of Industry 4.0 within
the process industries suitable as a blueprint for others. Although there may be
many exemplar digitalized applications and forms of digital twins, there is no
exemplar implementation of an overall configuration framework for enterprise-
wide application over the life cycle of the asset which can promote coordination
of change, simplify processes, and deliver further value through enabling synergies
across applications with the ability to apply the range of the Industry 4.0 tools.
It is postulated that an exemplar application would involve the concept of a
centralized platform using a common standard language and ontology that is able
to communicate with other existing digital models and applications. Reasoning
engines could be developed that leverage off ontological web language tools and
existing applications to deliver synergies and improved business outcomes. Within
the process industries, ISO15926 is the standard language and ontology applicable
across the entire life cycle and is commonly used with CAD tools for the design and
construction of greenfield plants. Typically, this information provides all equipment
details, process flow diagram, and P&ID details as well as a 3D representation of
the plant.
There are opportunities for the owner to ensure that the ISO15926 information is
handed over with a project as it contains one of the most detailed and comprehensive
representations of the physical asset in an internationally recognized language and
ontology. This information alone, however, does not address the ability to represent
the function of the plant and has the ability to make predictions like flowsheeting
models. Certainly, steady-state flowsheeting models would have been created as
part of the design process and/or to support the operation. Also many recent
greenfield plants would also have detailed high-fidelity dynamic models associated
with OTS for training, competency assessment, control system design/tuning, and
commissioning. The ability to accurately replicate the function of a process plant
and its components and thus provide predictive capabilities is an essential property
of a digital twin to deliver high value in the operating phase of the life cycle.
Significant resources are required to develop and maintain OTS and where these
have been created can be exploited to improve procedures, improve human centric
design, analyze abnormal situations, and rationalize alarms. The representation of
the human-machine interfaces and operational procedures within the OTS facilitates
consideration of all of the system actors within a process hazard analysis. In the
future, there is potential to connect the OTS with reasoning agents, live data, and
ISO15926 ONTOLOGY
Additional Inputs OREDA
in OWL/RDF
BLHAZID
Module
Process Goals and Significant Dynamic
Units/ Functions Consequences Model
Streams
Substances Procedures
Plant item Analysis
Topology Parameters
state Module
Compare IPLs Unmitigated

outcomes consequences
Discrepancies Sort scenarios Risk rank
Causal Process
HAZOP style Left hand side Alarm safety
graphs/ FMEA output of bow tie signatures time
diagrams
Fig. 11 Conceptual example of PHA using an OTS. (Adapted from Lee et al. 2019)
other models or applications to facilitate additional use cases such as higher levels
of automation or enhanced operational assistance. The development of such tools
can improve productivity, reduce error, and enhance knowledge management.
Although many models and applications may be used within a digital twin,
dynamic flowsheeting models, such as those used in operating training simulators,
have a role to play. Figure 11 below is a conceptual example from research
conducted by Lee et al. (2019) of how a dynamic model associated with an OTS
may be used to enhance process hazard analysis.
It is evident from this research that the development of such an application
requires the involvement of personnel with a high level of knowledge and experience
in process design, process safety, and operating the physical plant. As well as the in-
depth engineering capability, a high level of capability in computer science and IT
is required for the development of such an application. Currently this combination
of high-level skills is rarely available in personnel. Even upskilling the computer
science and IT capabilities of the experienced engineer may not be sufficient as it is
a challenge to dedicate sufficient time for an experienced engineer to be a competent
computer programmer. It is more likely that collaboration of highly experienced
computer scientists and engineers is required to successfully develop these sorts of
applications. A significant amount of time and resources will be required to develop
new and novel applications. Since such tools would be applicable across the process
industries, they should be advanced through collaboration across industry and with
academia rather than developed by individual companies, especially in the field of
improving process safety.
1524 J. Lee et al.
Conclusion/Summary
Process safety remains a priority for the process industries, and many technologies
associated with Industry 4.0 are already in use to reduce process safety risks.
Computer modelling for various use cases has been utilized for many decades;
however, it is often on disparate platforms with many versions of the same data.
The lack of the use of a common language and ontology has restricted the ability to
share information among applications in an automated way, making the use of these
tools complex and resource-intensive. The use of ontologies can be an enabler for
the development of reasoning engines to be applied to the models and applications.
The limited connectivity and integration has restricted the development of a digital
twin suitable for use across the life cycle of a process.
To fully exploit the opportunities of Industry 4.0, systems thinking is also needed.
Systems engineering provides a fundamental systematic approach for laying out the
requirements of the model to deliver on a specific use case. This approach allows
one to lay the framework for model building, including determining boundaries,
components, and constraints as well as modelling assumptions.
Harnessing the full potential of Industry 4.0 to improve process safety requires
highly experienced multidisciplinary teams who are knowledgeable in process
engineering, operational aspects, process safety, and computer science. These
skillsets will be important to identify opportunities and manage threats associated
with digitalization initiatives and will be important determinants of success. In the
future, engineers will increasingly need IT skills as they will be required to interact
with digital twins of the processes that they design and operate.
The use case for any digitalization initiative needs to align with the priorities
of the organization to ensure appropriate resources are allocated. Mapping these
priorities against existing and potential applications can help an organization focus
on what digitalization initiatives should be progressed first. If reducing incidents
due to operator error is a high priority, implementing proven OTS technology may
represent the best application of resources. Or if reducing process safety incidents
due to mechanical integrity failure is a high priority, implementing corrosion
models, online corrosion sensors, or enhanced digital systems for inspection
and predictive maintenance should be targeted. Organizations with good process
safety performance may choose to prioritize digitalization opportunities to improve
optimization of production or reduce costs rather than improve process safety
management.
The OTS is a form or component of a digital twin that has demonstrated the
ability to improve operator competency and procedures and help to reduce process
safety incidents. The dynamic model within the OTS is based on fundamental
physics, mathematics, and chemistry and has the ability to accurately represent the
interactions between plant, people, and procedures. These OTS could be utilized
as a systems safety model for process hazard analysis. There are opportunities
to leverage off existing OTS investments to improve process hazard analysis,
provided that its limitations are recognized and the output is correctly used and
interpreted. There may be additional opportunities to connect the dynamic model
to live data for other applications such as abnormal situation management, fault
detection, and health monitoring as well as non-process safety-related applications
like optimization. A key attribute for the success in the implementation of Industry
4.0 is the use of a standard language and ontology such as ISO15926 to support
interconnectivity, replication, and information sharing and to provide a framework
that can be built on by others in the future. Successful implementation of Industry
4.0 concepts not only should deliver improved business outcomes but also needs
to make things easier for stakeholders and reduce resource demands by reducing
manual data handling, reducing heuristic analysis, and reducing complexity to make
the maintenance of systems easier.
Important Websites
Website Description
https:/978-3-030-84205-5/www.15926.org The Semantic Web for Engineering
https://www.aiche.org/ccps Center for Chemical Process Safety
https://dexpi.net Data Exchange in the Process Industry
https://en.acatech.de/publication/industrie-4- Industry 4.0 Maturity Index. Managing the
0-maturity-index-update-2020/ Digital Transformation of Companies
https://itwinjs.org Open source infrastructure digital twins
https://www.mimosa.org Open Standards for Physical Asset
Management
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Lignin: A Renewable Chemical Feedstock
59
Uroosa Ejaz and Muhammad Sohail
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1530
Properties of Lignin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1531
Classification of Lignin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1532
Lignin as a Renewable Feedstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1533
Traditional Use of Lignin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1534
Advanced Use of Lignin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1534
Use of Lignin Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1534
Use of Lignosulfonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1534
Use as Copolymer Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1535
Extraction of Lignin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1535
Kraft Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1536
Lignosulfonate Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1536
Organosolv Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1537
Use of Steam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1538
Alkaline Pulping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1538
Role of Ionic Liquids in Lignin Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1539
Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1540
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1540
Relevant Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1543
Abstract
Increased consumption of fossil fuels has resulted in environmental pollution

and global warming. Therefore, chemical industry is making efforts to find
sustainable and alternative renewable resources. Plant biomass, especially lignin,
is one of the most abundant natural renewable raw materials. Currently, most of
U. Ejaz · M. Sohail ()

Department of Microbiology, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
e-mail: msohail@uok.edu.pk
1530 U. Ejaz and M. Sohail
this resource (∼98%) is burnt; therefore, material potential of lignin remains

largely untamed. Lignin can be used either chemically modified or in native
form, as a component for copolymers and composites, heavy metal sequestrant,
emulsifier, dispersant agent for pesticides, or adhesives, yet it possesses more
potential for developing green products. Depending on the methods adopted for
extraction, several lignin preparations have been reported including Kraft lignin,
lignosulfonates, organosolv lignin, and steam-exploded lignin. Preparation of
lignin using ionic liquids (ILs) is an emerging technology, and keen interest in
this area is increasing exponentially. Along with the comparison of different
extraction methods, utilization of currently available and prospecting future
lignin preparations has been summarized in this chapter.
Keywords
Feedstock · Extraction · Ionic liquid · Lignin
Introduction
Lignocellulose is considered as an important and renewable feedstock of chemicals

and energy as it does not compete with the food crops (Korányi et al. 2020).
Valorization of lignin, a component of lignocellulose that resists to biodegradation,
is a beneficial approach which can contribute to biorefineries in sustainable and
economical way (Zhao et al. 2020). The word lignin was firstly used by the Swiss
botanist A. P. Candolle (1778–1841) derived from the Latin word lignum which
means “wood.” It is the second most sustainable and abundant component in wood
and carbon source in nature after cellulose (Pin et al. 2020). It accounts for 30% of
all terrestrial nonfossil carbon (Arapova et al. 2020). Hemicellulose and cellulose
form a framework in plant cell wall in which lignin is embedded as a connector
which strengthen the cell wall by solidifying it like a tar (Khan et al. 2020; Ejaz and
Sohail 2020a). Cell wall lignification makes plants resistant to pests and wind (Irmer
2017), reduces the biochemical stress by suppressing the enzymatic degradation of
structural polysaccharides, and also controls the flow of fluids (Boerjan et al. 2003).
Worldwide, Kraft lignin is produced 100 million tons annually with about 70
million tons of that coming from pulp and paper industry (Mandlekar et al. 2018;
Luo and Abu-Omar 2017); this production witnesses an ever-increasing trend
(Bajwa et al. 2019). Only 2% of this lignin is commercially utilized, while the
remaining is burnt as low-grade fuel (Luo and Abu-Omar 2017). This represents a
huge opportunity for deriving value-added products from lignin feedstock (Fig. 1).
Due to its aromatic and high-functionality property, lignin can be utilized for the
production of bulk and fine chemical compounds (Moreno and Sipponen 2020) such
as vanillin, muconic acid, and polyhydroxyalkanoate (Kline et al. 2010).
Recently, biological conversion of lignin to useful products has opened a new
horizon which represents relatively green process. Lignin properties have a major
impact on bioconversion of lignin by microorganisms. Briefly, bioconversion of
59 Lignin: A Renewable Chemical Feedstock 1531
Fig. 1 An overview of utilization of lignocellulosic biomass
lignin consists of three steps: fractionation/pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass,

depolymerization of lignin, and catabolism of aromatic compound to obtain valuable
products (Zhao et al. 2020). Substantial efforts have been done to improve the
efficiency of these processes for lignin valorization (Li et al. 2019). Lignin has low
thermal conductivity, and it is capable of absorbing UV radiation (Toh et al. 2005).
Lignin is also more resistant to chemical and biological actions as compared to
hemicellulose/cellulose (Thakur and Thakur 2015) and also possesses antimicrobial
and antioxidant activity like other bioactive polymers (Cruz et al. 2001). The antimi-
crobial and antiradical activity of lignin is of great interest for applications such as in
food packaging additives (Alzagameem et al. 2019). Other beneficial properties of
lignin are hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity; good rheological characteristics, such as
film forming ability, viscosity, and elasticity; and compatibility with other chemicals
(Doherty et al. 2011).
Properties of Lignin
Adler in 1977 proposed the structural model of lignin (Adler 1977). The model
showed that oxidation of p-hydroxycinnamyl alcohols releases all the types of
structural elements detected in lignin. Later, Zhang and LeBoeuf (2009) reported
the thermodynamic properties of lignin including solubility parameter (δ), density
(ρ), thermal expansion coefficient (α), and glass transition temperature (Tg). With
a molecular weight of 1000–15,000 Da (Arapova et al. 2020), lignin is heavier
than other abundant components of plant cell wall. In most of the cases, lignin is
composed (Fig. 2) of syringyl (S), guaiacyl (G), and/or hydroxyphenyl (H) units (Pin
et al. 2020). Its structural features render it highly resistant to chemical and physical
Fig. 2 Structure of lignin
actions (Strassberger et al. 2015). Fragmentation of various chemical bonds, i.e.,

5–O–4 , 5–5 , β–β , β–5 , and β–O–4 , present in lignin (Río et al. 2015; Menezes
et al. 2017) results in the formation of phenolic groups (Chakar and Ragauskas
2004). Monolignols are mainly bound by β-O-4 ether bonds, which accounts for
more than 50% fraction in lignin (Chakar and Ragauskas 2004). Polymerization
occurs due to the radical polycondensation of several monolignols (sinapyl alcohols,
coniferyl, and p-coumaryl) (Liu 2012; Brien et al. 2012). Extraction condition
and source of biomass highly influence the structure of lignin (Menezes et al.
2017). The ratio and composition of lignin in plant depends on the type of plant
species. In general, lignin in plant feedstock decreases in the order: coniferous
(softwood) > deciduous (hardwood) > grass. In hardwood, softwood, and cereal
straw, lignin is about 20–25%, 30%, and 12–20 wt %, respectively (Arapova et al.
2020). Along with monolignols, ferulic acids (FA) and p-coumaric acids (pCA) are
present in the lignin extracted from sugarcane bagasse (Río et al. 2015).
Classification of Lignin
As noted above, the source of lignin, i.e., plant species, has an influence over
different lignin structural properties. General classification of lignin depends on
plant taxonomy. Angiosperm lignin consists of both syringyl and guaiacyl residues,
gymnosperm lignin has more guaiacyl residues, and grass lignin contains all the
three aromatic residues (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010). This classification of
lignin greatly differs; therefore, chemical approach is used to classify lignin. There
are mainly four types of lignin based on abundance of the basic phenol units
p-hydroxyphenyl (H), syringyl (S), and guaiacyl (G) in the polymer, namely, H-G
type, H-G-S type, G-S type, and G type (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010).
Lignin as a Renewable Feedstock
Lignin is the most promising abundant carbon source after cellulose. The physico-
chemical properties and composition of lignin make it a promising biomaterial to be
utilized for energy production. It can serve as a raw material for producing not only
arenes but also synthesize gas such as hydrogen, which are valuable petrochemical
products (Edwards et al. 2008). Grafted polymers can also be synthesized by
modifying the lignin molecules using target fragments, such as antibodies or
peptides. Lignin can be utilized as a heavy metal sequestrant, emulsifier, and
dispersant agent. Significant scope for diverse applications (Fig. 3) is principally
segmented as aromatics, macromolecules, and energy/power. There is immense
scope and opportunities to turn lignin into biofuel as companies are readily investing
in the research and development for related applications (Mandlekar et al. 2018).
Fig. 3 Uses of lignin

Traditional Use of Lignin
Lignin plays a key role in the manufacturing of low-value chemicals. Currently,

lignin is largely used for fuel generation, although there are other diversified
applications of lignin which include the use of Kraft lignin or lignosulfonates for
oil well drilling, binder and resin composition, dispersants, food and feed additives,
dust control, and concrete admixture. Lignin is also used as rubber additives, battery
expanders, and emulsifiers and used for leather tanning, cleaning chemicals, and
water treatment (Agrawal et al. 2014).
Advanced Use of Lignin
Lignin-based carbon fiber is one of the brightest examples of successful lignin

upgrading technology which has been developed to pilot scale (Baker and Rials
2013). The use of upgraded technical lignins in polymer composites is another
example of nontraditional lignin application. Furthermore, production of valuable
oxygenated aromatic compounds by depolymerization of lignin, such as olefin in
replacement of petrochemicals, is also an example of emerging nontraditional lignin
applications (Pandey and Kim 2011). Utilization of lignin’s functionality in polymer
composites is perhaps one with the large market potential in future lignin demand.
Use of Lignin Derivatives
Lignin is known as a free-radical scavenger. Previously, water-soluble lignin deriva-

tives showed antiviral activity in vitro (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010), whereas
steam-exploded or Kraft lignin exhibited antioxidant activity in human red blood
cells (Vinardell et al. 2008). Lignin-based biopolymers also possess antioxidant
capacity. Anticarcinogenic and antibiotic activities of other lignin derivatives have
also been reported.
Alcell, a sulfur-free lignin, functioned as prebiotic in monogastric animals.
Moreover, this type of lignin improved the morphological structures in the intestines
and improved the growth of beneficial bacteria. Lignin dietary fiber can also absorb
bile acid and hence affect the lipid metabolism (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010).
Use of Lignosulfonates
Lignosulfonates are considered as nonhazardous for environment and human body.

There are many applications of lignosulfonates. They can be used as emulsifiers,
dispersant agents for pesticides, and binders (Azadi et al. 2013). Lignosulfonates
possess chelating property and, therefore, have a remarkable affinity for some metal
ions and can be used as heavy metal sequestrants. In addition, lignosulfonates
stabilize the emulsions of immiscible liquids including dyes, pigments, wax emul-
sions, pesticide formulation, and asphalt emulsion and, hence, prevent the break-
down of these materials. Moreover, these can also be used as a binder in soil
stabilizers or animal feed due to their nonhazardous nature and low toxicity.
Furthermore, lignin binders are used in particle boards or plywood, briquetting of
mineral dust (turnings, shavings, fines), and ceramics or coal briquettes (Zakzeski
et al. 2010). It also prevents settling and lumping of unsolved particles in mixture
of concrete; is also used in gypsum board, ceramics, and leather tanning; and has
other applications. Lignosulfonate can also serve as dust suppressor and moisture-
retention agent and has pronounce application to decrease dust particles in racing
circuits, sports facilities, airports, unpaved roads, or public works (Calvo-Flores and
Dobado 2010).
Use as Copolymer Component
Addition of lignin to improve the mechanical properties of copolymers has been

investigated for decades; however, practical results of this research are still modest.
There are mainly two ways to use lignin as a copolymer component: First is the
direct incorporation of lignin to polymer without any chemical modification, and,
second, lignin is chemically modified prior to its use with polymer. Lignin can
be transformed by nitroxide formation, phosphorylation, silylation, sulfonation,
sulfomethylation, oxidation and reduction, methylolation, hydrogenolysis, nitration,
halogenation, acylation, carboxylation, amination, oxyalkylation, dealkylation, or
alkylation due to its aromatic nature (Thielemans and Wool 2005).
Extraction of Lignin
Many lignin preparations are used for different purposes as they possess different
physical properties and chemical functionalization. There are different lignin extrac-
tion methods such as Kraft, lignosulfonate, alkaline, organosolv, steam, and alkaline
processes (Fig. 4). Significant changes occur in the structure of lignin during its
separation from other components. Moreover, sulfur becomes part of lignin during
lignosulfonate pulping and Kraft processes (Table 1) which are most frequently used
(Kumar et al. 2020).
Table 1 Types of lignin (Kumar et al. 2020)

Pretreatment Production
Type method Purity Sulfur amount scale
Organosolv Acid High Free Pilot
Lignosulfonate Acid Low High Industrial
Kraft Alkaline Moderate Moderate Industrial
Fig. 4 Process of lignin extraction
Kraft Process
Kraft process is used worldwide to convert wood into wood pulp. Kraft (sulfate)
pulping accounts for about 85% of lignin production (Tejado et al. 2007). There
are two types of reaction occurred to lignin during Kraft pulping: (1) conversion to
smaller lignin fragments during decomposition reaction and (2) formation of bonds
resistant to cleavage in alkalis that decreases the efficiency of processing during
condensation reaction. Cellulose gets separated, and hemicellulose and lignin come
to a solution of NaOH/Na2 S (Kraft white liquor) (Zakzeski et al. 2010; Galkin and
Samec 2016). Due to release of organic acids from lignin and hemicellulose, pH
gradually decreases. After preliminary exposure of solution at 170 ◦ C, dissolved
inorganic and organic compounds are separated as a basic aqueous layer containing
15% solids (weak black liquor). Degradation and condensation reactions resulted
in various structural and chemical changes in lignin (Azadi et al. 2013) such as
percentage of strong C–C bonds between propylphenol monomers becomes much
higher (Chakar and Ragauskas 2004). Acidifying black liquor resulted in high
yield of Kraft lignin, whereas only ∼2% of wood processing enterprises produce
commercial Kraft lignin (Galkin and Samec 2016). In contrast, most of the wood
enterprises produce steam and electricity by burning the organic component of black
liquor in waste heat boilers (Arapova et al. 2020). Kraft lignin has low molecular
mass (1000–3000 Da) as compared to original lignin, but it may reach to 15,000 Da
(Galkin and Samec 2016; Glasser et al. 1993). It contains 1.5–3.0 wt % sulfur
in its structure which is much lower than the lignin obtained from lignosulfonate
cellulose (4–8%) (Arapova et al. 2020), but it is soluble only at pH > 10 and is also
hydrophobic in nature (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010).
Lignosulfonate Process
Lignosulfonate process is commonly employed in paper and pulp industry (Zakzeski

et al. 2010). Waste liquid from softwood is used to produce lignosulfonates. Various
salts of sulfurous acid (bisulfites or sulfites) are used for lignin extraction from
Table 2 Sulfite-pulping procedures for lignin extraction (Pye 2008; Bykov 2008; Calvo-Flores
and Dobado 2010)
Process Temperature (◦ C) pH Reactive agent(s)
Anthraquinone/alkaline sulfite 50–175 9–13 Na2 SO3
Neutral sulfite 150–175 6–7 HSO3 − /SO3 2-
Bisulfite 150–175 3–5 HSO3 -
Acid sulfite 125–145 1–2 SO2 /HSO3 -
wood during sulfite-pulping procedure (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010). Sulfite-

pulping procedure can be performed in different conditions (Table 2). It includes
a reaction between sulfur dioxide, metal sulfite, and lignin. The frequently used
sodium, magnesium, or calcium ions act as counterions and make the pH of the
solution neutral (Azadi et al. 2013). Depending on the concentration and chemical
composition of compound, pH can vary from 2 to 13 (Table 2). The extraction
process is usually carried out for 1–5 h at 120–180 ◦ C (Arapova et al. 2020).
Lignosulfonates have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics. The
sulfur content of the lignosulfonates can vary from 4% to 8% (Arapova et al.
2020). Lignosulfonate has higher molecular mass than Kraft lignin due to addition
of sulfonate groups into the lignin polymer, and the extraction process is also
less aggressive as compared to Kraft pulping (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010).
Extracted lignin from hardwood or coniferous species has a molecular weight of
1000–50,000 Da, respectively (Zakzeski et al. 2010; Galkin and Samec 2016). How-
ever, high concentrations of sulfur and other pollutants, increased ash content, and
formation of new ´–´ bonds are the disadvantages associated with lignosulfonate
process (Galkin and Samec 2016).
Organosolv Process
Lignin is extracted by organic-solvent-based procedure known as organosolv lignin

(Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010). Peels remaining after fruit juice extraction or
fibrous wood residues are mainly used to obtain organosolv lignin (Arapova
et al. 2020). High pressure/temperature is used for lignin extraction by using
water/organic solvent solution (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010). Different organic
solvents used for organosolv process are given in Table 3. Alcohols are the
most widely used solvent, together with other mixtures of reagents and solvent.
Particularly, ethanol, methanol, acetic acid, and formic acid are used, and the
treatment is given at 170–190 ◦ C (Tejado et al. 2007). Destruction of α-O-4 lignin–
carbohydrate bonds has occurred in organosolv process, whereas β-O-4 bonds
are less prone to cleavage (Galkin and Samec 2016). The ability to organize the
separate streams of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose is the main advantage of
using organosolv process (Arapova et al. 2020). Organosolv lignin has a molecular
mass of 500–5000 Da and has a high degree of purity due to low carbohydrate and
ash content (Galkin and Samec 2016; El Hage et al. 2010). Organosolv lignin is
Table 3 Solvent used for organosolv process (Calvo-Flores and Dobado 2010; Kline et al. 2010;
Glasser et al. 1993)
Solvent Lignin type
Methanol pulping, followed by methanol, NaOH, and anthraquinone pulping Organocell
Hydrogen peroxide/formic acid Milox
Water/formic acid/acetic acid Formacell
Water/acid/phenol Geneva
phenol/Battelle
Alkaline sulfite/anthraquinone/methanol ASAM
HCl pulping/acetic acid Acetosolv
Water/acetic acid Alcetocell
Water/ethanol Alcell
mostly sulfur-free and has less modified structure than Kraft lignin. Lignin structure
remained preserve in this process; therefore, this procedure can be opted as the
most effective method of lignin extraction (Galkin and Samec 2016; Azadi et al.
2013). Moreover, severe conditions and sulfur-containing compounds are not used
in organosolv process which make it more environmentally friendly as compared
to Kraft lignin (Arapova et al. 2020). Although organosolv process has many
advantages, only Organocell and Alcell lignins are commercially available (Calvo-
Flores and Dobado 2010). High cost of solvent, extensive corrosion of equipment,
and lower quality of the resulting pulp are the main disadvantages of organosolv
process (Doherty et al. 2011). Furthermore, random condensation may occur with
increasing acidity instead of depolymerization (Galkin and Samec 2016).
Use of Steam
Lignin is partially hydrolyzed when biomass is treated at high temperature (180–

200 ◦ C) and pressure with steam in the presence of some chemicals. These
conditions resulted in a water-insoluble and low molecular weight lignin with less
impurities and carbohydrate. This process is often followed by enzymatic hydrolysis
(Arapova et al. 2020).
Alkaline Pulping
This process is used for the processing of non-wood materials such as sugarcane,
grass, and straw (Galkin and Samec 2016). Alkaline pulping is analogous to
Kraft process. Sodium hydroxide is used to pretreat plant biomass at 140–170 ◦ C.
Oxidation of aliphatic hydroxyl groups resulted in carboxyl group formation which
makes it difficult to separate alkaline lignin by centrifugation or filtration due to
high concentration of carboxyl groups (Doherty et al. 2011). Alkaline lignin has a
molecular weight of 1000–3000 Da depending on the type of plant origin (Azadi
et al. 2013; Prinsen et al. 2013). The use of an alkali/anthraquinone mixture or

alkaline medium seems preferable to other lignin extraction method as sulfur is
not present in the precipitated lignin. It is noteworthy that the presence of sulfur in
lignosulfonate and Kraft lignins has always been an obstacle for further catalysis of
these lignins (Doherty et al. 2011).
Role of Ionic Liquids in Lignin Chemistry
Other lignin-target pretreatments such as ionic liquid pretreatment have been

thoroughly studied in recent years (Ejaz and Sohail 2020b; Zhao et al. 2020; Ejaz
et al. 2019). Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts and have many advantages such
as recyclability, low flammability, low vapor pressure, and high thermal stability
(Pin et al. 2020). Selective extraction of lignin from plant biomass by using ILs
has also been achieved in previous years. Previously, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium
chloride-based ILs were used to extract lignin from sugarcane bagasse at 190 ◦ C,
and 93% lignin and 46% cellulose pulp were recovered. Moreover, small particles
(0.1250.250 mm) of both hardwood and softwood could be completely dissolved in
1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (Lan et al. 2011).
For conversion and surface modification of lignin to other products, ILs can
be used as a solvent or catalyst. IL which can be used for lignin extraction must
possess the following properties: (1) simple and low-cost process, (2) easy lignin
regeneration, (3) no lignin decomposition, (4) chemically stable, (5) nontoxic,
(6) nonvolatile, (7) good thermal stability, (8) low melting point, and (9) high
dissolution capacity for lignin (Olivier-Bourbigou et al. 2010). The structure of
lignin can be modified through hydroxyalkylation and amination reactions by using
protic ILs (Pin et al. 2020) which resulted in targeted modified lignin and opens new
pathways of lignin valorization (Wang et al. 2018).
The nature of anions present in IL affects the solubility of lignin. Pu et al.
(2007) used the imidazolium-based ILs for dissolution of residual softwood lignin
and reported that ILs containing non-coordinating, large anions like [BF4 ]− and
[PF6 ]− are not effective for dissolving lignin. Lee et al. (2009) reported that
1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate can be used for lignin extraction without much
disruption of the hemicellulose and cellulose structures. Moreover, Fu and Mazza
(2011) also reported that in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium, acetate is effective for
lignin extraction from triticale straw, flax shives, and wheat straw. Pinkert et al.
(2011) used imidazoliumacesulfamate ILs, for extraction of lignin from E. nitens
wood and P. radiata flour without disrupting crystallinity of cellulose. Lignin can
also be extracted after complete dissolution of biomass. Lateef et al. (2009) isolated
69% and 49% lignin by using 1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide and 1-ethyl-
3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate, respectively. However, Sun et al. (2009)
dissolved both hardwood and softwood in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate,
and lignin was extracted using acetone/water (1:1 v/v). Ejaz et al. (2020b) used
methyltrioctylammonium chloride for lignin removal from sugarcane bagasse and
argued that ammonium-based ILs are less toxic than imidazolium-based IL and are
also water insoluble.
Although IL-based lignin extraction offers several advantages, it also has some
issues which need to be solved. ILs are more expensive compared to traditional
and common solvents. Hence, recyclability of ILs should be more investigated.
Recyclability of methyltrioctylammonium chloride for six times retaining its 80%
pretreatment efficiency by evaporating the solvent was reported (Ejaz et al. 2020b).
In addition, the π–π interaction between lignin and ILs causes problems in
separation of lignin from IL (Zakzeski et al. 2010). Therefore, this must also be
addressed in future investigations in this area.
Concluding Remarks
Lignin which is one of the three components of lignocellulose accounts for 30% of
the world carbon source. It is the largest naturally occurring reservoir of aromatic
cross-linked polymer. Lignin can be chemically modified to form many value-
added products. It can be used as a heavy metal sequestrant, emulsifier, binder,
dispersing agent for pesticides, or component for copolymers. Different processes of
lignin extraction such as Kraft, lignosulfonate, organosolv, steam, and alkaline are
available. However, each method has its advantages and disadvantages. The research
on the usage of ILs for lignin extraction is still at its budding stage, but keen interest
in developing this area is having an increasing trend.
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Emerging Technologies in Diagnostic
Virology and Antiviral Strategies 60
Goutam Patra and Sumi Mukhopadhyay
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1546
CRISPR-Cas System-Based Detection Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1547
Paper-Based Lateral Flow Assay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1548
Fluid-Phase Immunoassay and Luciferase Immunoprecipitation System
Followed by Paramagnetic Technology (LIPSTICKS) Assay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1548
Multiplex Microsphere Immunoassay (MIA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1549
Sandwich-Type Electrochemiluminescence Assay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1549
Nanoparticle-Based Immunodetection Assay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1550
Solid-Phase Immunoelectron Microscopy (SPIEM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1550
Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1550
Biosensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1551
Aptamers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1551
Microarray Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1551
Transmission Electron Microscope Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1552
MALDI (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1552
Antiviral Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1553
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1555
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1556
Abstract
Timely and accurate diagnosis of viral infections has an important role in public
healthcare management. Accordingly, there is a growing need to update on
emerging diagnostics, which would be helpful in identifying newer uncharacter-
ized viruses. With increasing viral pandemics in the past century, development
of novel antiviral strategies also poses an important challenge to the current
healthcare system. Herein, we describe several recent advancements on rapid
G. Patra · S. Mukhopadhyay ()

Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
1546 G. Patra and S. Mukhopadhyay
viral detection and antiviral methods. Among the various diagnostic approaches,
CRISPR-Cas system-based detection of viral nucleic acid on a paper-based
lateral flow assay, fluid-phase immunoassay technology, and luciferase immuno-
precipitation system followed by paramagnetic technology (LIPSTICKS) appear
promising. Recently developed multiplex microsphere immunoassay (MIA),
sandwich-type electrochemiluminescence, nanoparticle-based immunodetection,
solid-phase immunoelectron microscopy (SPIEM), loop-mediated isothermal
amplification (LAMP), biosensors, aptamers, and microarray technique also
open a new era in viral diagnostics. Apart from these, transmission elec-
tron microscope study and MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization)
methods are also some sophisticated technologies for detection of uncharac-
terized viruses. The review will further highlight on the emerging antiviral
strategies. MHC class I and class II associated peptide proteomics (MAPPs)
is a powerful tool for directly profiling neoantigen. The sequencing data of
neoantigen can help in the synthesis of effective peptide vaccines that can
stimulate humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. Type I IFN-based
antiviral therapy, followed by the usage of stimulator of IFN gene (STINGs)
as vaccine adjuvants to boost up vaccine efficacy against viral infection, also
appears to be a novel method. Taken together, this review will highlight on our
current understanding of these high-throughput viral detection techniques as well
as novel antiviral approaches.
Keywords
Diagnostic virology · Vaccine · Virus · CRISPR-Cas system · LIPSTICKS ·

SPIEM · LAMP
Introduction
Viruses have enormous repertoire diversity such that if all the 1 × 1031 viruses
on earth were laid end to end, they would stretch for 100 million light years
(Mourya et al. 2019). Viruses are evolving at an alarming rate and rapidly spreading.
Statistical estimations reveal that there could be over 320,000 mammalian viruses
in existence. Till date, 219 virus species are known to be able to infect humans
(Kiselev et al. 2020). In recent years, there has been marked increase in the incidence
of several viral infections, like SARS, Zika, Coronavirus 2019, etc. However, the
variety of available viral diagnostic assays seems unequal to the growing number
of diseases, as they are capable of detecting only a limited number of pathogens,
approximately 0.07% of viral entities (Kiselev et al. 2020).
Human virus infections cause significant morbidity and mortality throughout the
world and manifest as acute, chronic, or lifelong infections. The immune status of
the patient and their ability to clear virus infection, as well as the characteristics
of the pathogen, play a vital role in the establishment of the infection. The finding
60 Emerging Technologies in Diagnostic Virology and Antiviral Strategies 1547
Fig. 1 Evolution of Viral Diagnostics
of viral nucleic acids and antiviral antibodies has greatly helped in the development
of improved technologies for the accurate diagnoses of viral disease(s) (Fig. 1).
Significant developments in the field of viral diagnostics have improved the
precision and timely diagnosis of a viral infection, which has greatly benefited
patient management and disease control. As the repertoire of antiviral drugs and
treatment options has greatly increased in the past few decades, clinicians now rely
greatly on the diagnosis of viral infections, which are useful in clinical decision-
making and management of patients. To aid the clinicians in providing better and
faster diagnostics, point-of-care testing has been developed. Though molecular
diagnostics has greatly shaped viral diagnosis, significant treads have also been
made in the field of serological assays for the development of rapid tests. Thus,
viral molecular and serological tests have been immensely useful for differential
diagnosis. The aim of this chapter is to provide an outline of the advances made in
the field of viral diagnostics as well as the latest development in the field of antiviral
therapy.
CRISPR-Cas System-Based Detection Method
The CRISPR-Cas system is the most advanced RNA-based gene therapeutics and
currently has diverse potential remedial applications. The clustered regularly inter-
spaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) nuclease
system is a simple yet powerful tool for editing genomes. The technology has
allowed altering DNA sequences, thereby modifying gene function. The CRISPR
system targets the DNA strands and is guided by a single-guide RNA (sgRNA). The
sgRNA, which is bound to the Cas protein, has a custom-designed nucleotide spacer,
which targets the genome to be modified. The spacer next hybridizes with the target
genomic sequence which lies next to a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), thereby
cleaving the target DNA, causing a double-strand break (DSB). The Cas-mediated
DSB is then repaired by the cellular DNA repair machinery either via homology-
directed repair (HDR) or the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway. Thus,
the NHEJ is usually used to insert or delete or inactivate the target gene, while HDR
is used for precise nucleotide sequence modifications; all processes are mediated
by the Cas endonuclease. There are 29 CRISPER/Cas systems recognized till now
(Makarova et al. 2015). Out of these, the Cas12a is created specifically for the viral
DNA. The reporter and quencher are present on both ends of the ssDNA. After
the action of Cas12a, the fluorophore reporter releases the fluorescence, which is
then identified by the quencher molecule; the DNA is then further amplified by
polymerase chain reaction. However, different kinds of the CRISPER system have
been developed like CRISPR screen based on the plasmid library, lentiviral-based
CRISPR screen-based sgRNA plasmid pool, etc. These techniques are being used
for the diagnosis of several viral infections like human papillomavirus infection.
Paper-Based Lateral Flow Assay
The lateral flow assay (LFA) is a modern, advanced, and rapid field adaptable
technique. The method is based on a one-site immunometric assay using a mono-
clonal antibody (MAb) against pathogen for the identification of specific antigen or
antibody from the infected sample. MAb is bound with colored gold nanoparticles
and appears as a test line on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or nitrocellulose
(NC) membrane. Targeted antigens present in the collected sample combine with the
gold nanoparticles and form antibody-antigen-nanoparticle conjugate complexes,
which move forward along the NC or PVDF membrane. Then, the complexes are
captured by the MAb present in the membrane, appearing as a colored line(s) in
the test line. This rapid test permits for on-site determination of infection in the
case of a speculated disease epidemic. Further, it is also a useful technique for the
detection of suspected infected patients from the endemic region. Previously, several
groups of scientists used this technique for the detection of a pathogen like hand,
foot, and mouth disease virus (Oem et al. 2009), malaria (Reboud et al. 2019),
influenza (Hwang et al. 2018), dengue, chikungunya, human immunodeficiency
virus, COVID-19, etc. However, the disadvantages of this method are low sensitivity
(Sher et al. 2017) and test variability (Sajid et al. 2015), and also the test output is
qualitative instead of quantitative (Quesada and Merkoçi 2015).
Fluid-Phase Immunoassay and Luciferase Immunoprecipitation

System Followed by Paramagnetic Technology (LIPSTICKS) Assay
Fluid-phase immunoprecipitation (FPIP)-based methods offers an extended range

for detection and exhibit excellent sensitivity and specificity level for evaluating the
levels of specific antibodies. This technique applicability appears to be ideal for
point-of-care treatment (POCT). The uniqueness of the FPIP assay is that all the
epitopes of native antigens are kept intact, enabling the proper detection of anti-
bodies. However, the main disadvantage of this method is it utilizes biohazardous
radiolabelled isotope for the detection of the pathogen. That is practically impossible
in the field-stage diagnosis. Thus, a modification of fluid-phase immunoassay

technology has been introduced, which is called luciferase immunoprecipitation
systems (LIPS). LIPS technique uses light-emitting luciferase-antigen blending
proteins instead of the radiolabeled isotope. This technique has also exhibited high
specificity and sensitivity for detecting immunoglobulin for specific autoimmune
and infectious diseases. Previously, Burbelo et al. have detected HIV and Epstein-
Barr virus using this LIPS method (Burbelo et al. 2017). This assay may be
conducted in different ways, like in microplate (Burbelo et al. 2009), single tube
(Burbelo et al. 2005), and microfluidic platform (Zubair et al. 2011). However,
the LIPS technique is impractical for the field as it requires more than 2 h for
completion. Thus, a further modification has been made to LIPS technique to
make it suitable for POCT by combining luciferase-tagged antigens with the direct
capture of immune complexes on the end of a paramagnetic “sticks” or protein A/G-
coated beads. This enables a rapid detection of disease-specific antibodies, thereby
reducing the assay time.
Multiplex Microsphere Immunoassay (MIA)
This assay consists of internally dyed microspheres, the surface of which have
a suspension array of specific capture moieties. Subsequent to binding reactions
on the surface of these microspheres, analyte binding is detected using a reporter
fluorophore. These microspheres are then analyzed through a Luminex analyzer to
quantitate the surface analyte binding, as detected by the fluorophore emission.
Microsphere-based immunoassays (MIAs) have been utilized for screening
multiple viruses in a single sample, though, previously, CDC has used dual-IgM
antibody test for the identification of St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) and West Nile
(WN) viruses (Johnson et al. 2005). Subsequently, Alison et al. reported detection
of six alphaviruses, six flaviviruses, and one bunyavirus through MIA (Alison and
Kalanthe 2013). The advantage of this method is the need of very small amount of
sample that could be concurrently used for testing toward various viral antigens.
Similarly, the diagnosis of the Zika and dengue virus simultaneously by using
flavivirus MIA has many advantages. However, the major drawback of this method
is that it cannot discriminate new from past infections.
Sandwich-Type Electrochemiluminescence Assay
Among the different assays known for the detection of pathogenic virus in the
patient’s body, sandwich-type electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is one of the most
promising assays. ECL immunosensor technique has been developed for specific
and ultrasensitive determination of different viral surface antigens like the hepatitis
virus and HIV-1. This technique is based on the primary immunoglobulin, which
is raised against the virus and immobilized on the surface of carboxyl magnetic
nanoparticles (MNPs). After that, dendrimer with many amine functional groups
is applied as a vehicle for immobilizing the quantum dots (QDs). Finally, the
secondary antibody amplifies the ECL beacon of QDs (Babamiri et al. 2018). This
technique is considerably more sensitive and specific for viral disease diagnosis.
Similarly, influenza A subtype virus H1N1 has also been detected from the upper
respiratory region using this technique.
Nanoparticle-Based Immunodetection Assay
Nanoparticles have opened a new era in the field of biomedical and diagnostic
applications. Nanoparticles are used in some modern detection approaches based
on lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) as a diagnostic tool. Currently, LFIA is also
being used for the detection of infectious agents and diseases. LFIA methods
are paper-based and point-of-care assays; it is rapid and a field-adaptable strip-
based biosensor designed to identify a particular analyte in virus-affected samples
(Banerjee and Jaiswal 2018). Previously, Draz et al. reported that the AuNP-based
detection technique could be applied for the detection of several pathogens (Draz
and Shafiee 2018).
Solid-Phase Immunoelectron Microscopy (SPIEM)
Immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) is one of the most assuring techniques for the
discovery of the virus based on antigen and antibody reaction. The structure of
various viruses has been differentiated morphologically by using IEM, like rotavirus
A, B, and C. Solid-phase IEM (SPIEM) is a current modification of IEM; it is
based on viral elements that are captured instantly over the solid covering of a grid.
This technique is rapidly being used for the identification of norovirus by using a
specific antibody (Lewis et al. 1988). Generally, 50,000–60,000 X magnification is
being used for the observation of virus particles. Expensive instrumentation and low
sensitivity are the main disadvantages of SPIEM.
Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP)
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LMAP) is one of the rapid methods that

specifically amplify the target genetic material at 60 ◦ C. However, this method is
an inexpensive but also accurate diagnostic method as the method is based on the
application of a set of nucleic acid-specific primer. The chance to lose chemical and
sample is low as the whole experiment occurs in a separate tube and less than 30 min
is needed for the experiment. Reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal
amplification (RT-LAMP) is a modified version that helps in the identification of
bovine rotavirus, porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), a novel swine acute diarrhea
syndrome-coronavirus (SADS-CoV), etc. (Yu et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2018). After
that, the LAMP technique has undergone several modifications for better and
field adaption like paper-based LAMP (paper LAMP), LAMP lateral flow dipstick
(LAMP-LFD), immunocapture LAMP (IC-LAMP), etc. The sensitivity/specificity
and simplicity of these techniques were more superior as compared to conven-
tional PCR. Hence, these methods could be adopted for the detection of various
viruses.
Biosensors
Biosensors help in the rapid detection of viruses from a variety of specimens. The
main aspects for the construction of biosensors are dependent on the selection
of the membrane, like nitrocellulose membrane, sodium azide, and polyether
sulfonate/nylon membrane. The main goal of all biosensors is to identify a complete
virus particle or virus that produces any protein component. Previously, biosensors
have been developed for several viruses like bovine viral diarrhea (Luo et al. 2010;
Park et al. 2014), rotavirus (Pineda et al. 2009), human norovirus (Connelly et al.
2012; Escudero-Abarca et al. 2014), etc. Further, the identification of hepatitis and
rotavirus molecular device biosensors has been revealed by Zhang et al. (2015).
Aptamers
The aptamer is a small fragment of oligonucleotide or polypeptide that acts as

a substitute form of antibodies. For an efficient and reliable diagnosis, aptamer-
linked immunosorbent assay (ALISA) has been developed like ELISA. The main
advantages of ALISA are high sensitivity and quick detection (Kieboom et al. 2015).
Through this assay norovirus strain, Bovine viral diarrhea has also been identified
from the reservoir (Escudero-Abarca et al. 2014). Like antibodies, aptamers are
thermostable and more economical, so it could easily be used in resource-constricted
settings (Song et al. 2012).
Microarray Technique
Microarrays are extremely appropriate for bulk investigation of viral samples and
should also be utilized toward trailing the reservoirs in the endemic regions for
viral disease. These methods simultaneously detect larger than a hundred kinds
of viruses at a time (Wang et al. 2002). Interestingly, Martínez et al. developed
a nucleic acid microarray, and simultaneously 14 gastrointestinal viral infections
have been examined toward the affirmation of his experiment (Martínez et al. 2015).
Further, Buss et al. developed a film array technique based on self-nucleic acid
purification, reverse transcription, and amplification (Buss et al. 2015). Currently,
DNA microarray platforms served in the genotyping of hepatitis A viruses and
norovirus (Quinones et al. 2017).
Transmission Electron Microscope Study
Electron microscopy (EM) is the pioneer of the identification and characterization

of several viruses. The tobacco mosaic virus is the first virus that was detected
by EM in 1970. Several gastrointestinal viral infections are difficult to identify
only through their etiology. Hence, EM is the only way to detect these viruses. In
the year 1976, sapovirus was for the first time detected by EM and differentiated
from another rotavirus, parvovirus, etc. Further, an EM study was deployed for
regular detection of the gastric enteric virus as EM result could be obtained on
the same day of sample collection, though the sample amount requirement was
high. Currently, the COVID-19 virus was initially detected and characterized by
EM. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is one great beginning in the study
of viruses for many causes, including the fact that, given tissue, storage is not
the main issue, and this method can work uniformly well on current, aged, partly
deteriorated, or dried samples (Huger 1967, 1974; Koenig and Lesemann 2001;
Gentile and Gelderblom 2014). TEM is a classical technique and its advantage
is direct visualization of morphology of virus. The merged use of both TEM and
scanning electron microscope (SEM) reveals the characterization of several objects,
such as baculovirus (Gencer et al. 2018). TEM allows high visual resolution of the
morphology of virus particle, localization, quantity of virus particles, and specific
ultrastructural aspects within enclosed occlusion of the prepared sample. However,
SEM investigations are perfect for high-output screening of specimens and diameter
measurements for the differentiation between various viral isolates (Gencer et al.
2018). Microbiologists have also utilized the electron microscope for the detection
of enteric microbes (Leland and Ginocchio 2007), adenovirus, rotavirus (Morinet
et al. 1984; Oka et al. 2015), etc.
MALDI (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization)
The spectrometry analysis of viral disease diagnosis has produced a notable

achievement. Mass spectroscopy techniques have developed through the efforts of
Dempster (1918) and Aston (1919). After that, this technique was successfully being
used for viral disease diagnosis at the proteomic levels. In these circumstances,
the pathogen could be identified by mass spectrometry-based identification, such
as matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry-
based systems (MALDI-TOF MS). Further, ions are produced in the specimens
and then separated by their size-to-charge ratio identified on a detector. After
that, the result is investigated and correlated with a directory database. The mass
spectrometry assay is more reliable than conventional methods for the detection of
co-infection with many viruses in a particular specimen. Another method that has
been used for the rapid and particular detection of several enteric viruses is surface-
enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), which is a Raman spectroscopic (RS) assay.
These methods provide considerably enhanced Raman signals from Raman-active
analyte molecules that have adsorbed onto several specially prepared metal surfaces.
Previously, Driskell et al. (2010) identified rotavirus strains by using SERS. The
disadvantage of these techniques is that they are more time-consuming and have
dependence on the skills of the operator and there is a need for self-regulation and
for automation.
Antiviral Strategies
Vaccination
During the past decade, several viral infections have caused a huge global disease
burden; many outbreaks took place, largely caused by the avian influenza virus and
the SARS and MERS coronaviruses, Zika, and Ebola viruses. Most of these RNA
viruses from different families have been a matter of great concern and can cause
very high rates of mortality (>60%). The influenza A viruses in particular have been
a global threat to public health, as they are rapid spreaders due to their antigenicity
and virulence. The pandemic during the early 1900 is believed to be due to these
behaviors of the virus, which caused millions of deaths (Joshi et al. 2013).
Vaccines have an important role in the management and prevention of diseases.
Every year, millions of children worldwide receive vaccinations to prevent serious
diseases that were once prevalent and linked to even death. Some of the well-
known vaccines include those for measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, polio, hepatitis
B, diphtheria, pertussis, and others. Estimations reveal that vaccination usually
prevents about two to three million deaths annually (WHO).
During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, critically important live
pediatric vaccines for the prevention of viral measles, mumps, and rubella became
available. The attenuation of the constituent virus of these vaccines is largely by
experimental means, including practices like numerous passages in cell culture or
embryonated eggs. These procedures, however, produce modest levels of vaccine-
associated side effects and thus have been overall useful.
The near global elimination of paralytic poliomyelitis under WHO-sponsored
programs over the past four decades was one of the biggest success stories in the
field of vaccinology.
During the past few years, measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine viruses have
been substantially improved which fortunately are stable. This includes the substitu-
tion with strains that are highly immunogenic and/or are related with fewer adverse
reactions. Improvement in the vaccination regimes and the introduction of trivalent
measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and quadrivalent measles, mumps, rubella,
and varicella (MMRV) vaccines have greatly controlled these viral infections.
Apart from these traditional vaccines, more vaccines in the 1990s have been
registered, which include oral rotavirus vaccines, intranasal live attenuated influenza
vaccines, subcutaneous varicella zoster virus (VZV) vaccines, etc.
Though vaccines could be successfully developed for many diseases, still for
several diseases, the development of a safe and effective vaccine remains elusive.
Many viruses like HIV-1 or influenza have exceptionally broad sequence diver-
sity among their constituent family members and undergo significant antigenic drift.
Successful vaccine development in these viral infections has thus suffered major
setbacks.
Dengue vaccine development has been particularly challenging as the viral
components elicit a complex immune reaction, thereby contributing to disease
severity (Malonis et al. 2020). Recent developments in the field of proteomics have
paved the way for comprehensive understanding of peptides and protein and their
use in vaccines.
Cytotoxic T cells are one of the most important weapons of our immune system
and are effective against virus-infected cells. T cells are activated and triggered by
professional antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs).
Though antiviral drugs are available to treat viral diseases, they are usually
associated with side effects and resistance through viral escape. Vaccination, on the
other hand, is an effective method to fight viral diseases. Most of the vaccination
strategies are based on activating humoral response and are often efficient in
preventing virus infection. However, due to the rapidly changing virus surface
proteins, the virus often escapes and infects host cells, which are then taken care
of by the cellular response.
Most of the vaccines against viral infections are based on triggering humoral
responses and are usually poor inducers of T-cell responses. As T cells are an
important component of the immune system, T-cell-inducing vaccines are much
needed. Usually, small protein fragments or peptides are included in a vaccine,
which upon presentation by the major histocompatibility complexes on the antigen-
presenting cells prime the CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, thereby inducing specific T-cell
responses.
The first peptide-based licensed vaccine is against HPV. This vaccine contains
synthetic peptides along with Montanide, which triggers specific CD4+ and CD8+
T-cell responses in all patients. Klade et al., using the IC41 vaccine in HCV-
infected patients, demonstrated decreased viral RNA load, which is composed of
five synthetic peptides along with a Th1-type adjuvant, poly-I-arginine.
On the other hand, many studies are being conducted for the development of
a preventive peptide vaccine. In these vaccines, usually conserved sequences are
targeted, thereby leading to the development of a universal vaccine. Many such
conserved domains have been identified for viruses like HIV, HCV, and influenza.
These preventive peptide-based vaccines aim to elicit the memory T-cell repertoire
and thus rapidly remove the virus from circulation. Thus, naïve T cells need to be
primed efficiently to induce a pool of both memory CD4+ T cells and memory
CD8+ T cells. Thus, professional antigen-presenting cells process and present
the antigen on MHC molecules to both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Therefore,
by identifying the conserved domain of the virus, peptide-based vaccines can be
designed, which appears as a promising concept.
Currently, several peptide-based vaccines, for viruses like Epstein-Barr virus,
hepatitis B virus, and influenza virus, are being evaluated in clinical trials
(Rosendahl et al. 2014).
Though live attenuated vaccines are usually very immunogenic, there have been
concerns over their stability and safety. Modern vaccines, therefore, focus on other
components like recombinant proteins, peptides, or DNA. However, to increase the
effectiveness of vaccines, co-administration of adjuvants is required.
Since time immemorial, adjuvants have been used in human vaccines. However,
their mechanisms of action, till date, remain incompletely understood. More recent
advances in the field of immunology have identified new adjuvants that activate
specific immunological pathways.
Viruses are usually recognized by cellular pattern recognition receptors (PRRs).
Similarly, upon activation of the innate response, adaptive immunity is triggered.
Antigen-presenting cells, like dendritic cells, play an important role in this process.
DCs are well-equipped with several PRRs that recognize viruses and trigger
intracellular pathways and produce cytokines and chemokines. Thus, dendritic
cells after presenting antigens usually migrate to lymphoid tissues wherein they
communicate with T and B lymphocytes to modulate our adaptive immune response.
Therefore, PRR stimulation by adjuvants is an important aspect for assessing
vaccine performance.
Several PRRs have been identified in humans, including TLRs, RIG-I-like recep-
tors (RLRs), cytosolic DNA sensors (CDs), nucleotide-binding oligomerization
domain, and (NOD)-like receptors (NLRs). Most of the current innate immunity-
based adjuvants target TLR.
The stimulator of IFN genes (STING) recognizes the cyclic guanosine
monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate dinucleotide (c-di-GAMP), which
further activates IRF3 and NF-κB transcription factors, which promotes DC
maturation and Th1 response. Though STING agonists as vaccine adjuvants have
shown promising results in mice, their potential application in human vaccines
is still a matter of concern. Vaccine performance is increased manifold if several
innate receptors can be triggered. Some of the most successful adjuvant systems are
AS01, AS02, AS03, and AS04. More recently, AS01 has been incorporated in the
malaria vaccine Mosquirix. The adjuvant efficacy of AS01 and AS02 in vaccines
against HIV, tuberculosis, and HBV is also being studied. AS03 is being used in
H1N1 vaccines (Acosta et al. 2020).
Taken together, all these abovementioned adjuvant combinations induce rapid
activation of the immune system. Virus vaccines are still evolving and have miles to
go to achieve a disease-free world.
Conclusions
The past several decades have witnessed the development of numerous sophisticated
efficient techniques of virus detection. With the advent of the recent pandemics,
the need for rapid sensitive, specific, and reliable assay is on the rise. Along with
the discovery of newer pathogenic viral strains, the development of novel antiviral
strategies is also the current need of the hour. Rapid technological advancement in
the field of diagnostics and therapy promises to fulfill these growing needs.
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GTAW Application for Additive
Manufacturing and Cladding 61
of Steel Alloys
Vishvesh J. Badheka, Vijay S. Gadakh, V. B. Shinde, and G. Bhati
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1560
Current Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1561
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1563
Progress in GTAW Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1564
Hotwire GTAW and Narrow Gap Hotwire GTAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1564
Orbital Hotwire GTAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1565
Activated TIG Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1565
Automated Wire Feeding in GTAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1565
Inter Pulse TIG Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1566
K-TIG Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1566
Twin Wire/Tandem GTA Cladding Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1567
Internal GTAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1569
Multicathode GTAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1569
Additive Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1570
Cladding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1573
Optimization of Welding Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1576
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1577
Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1577
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1578
V. J. Badheka () · G. Bhati

Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology, Pandit Deendayal Energy
University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
e-mail: vishvesh.badheka@spt.pdpu.ac.in; gaurav.bmc10@sot.pdpu.ac.in
V. S. Gadakh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrutvahini College of Engineering, Ahmednagar,
Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
e-mail: vijay.gadakh@avcoe.org
V. B. Shinde
Department of Production Engineering, Amrutvahini College of Engineering, Ahmednagar,
e-mail: vilas.shinde@avcoe.org
1560 V. J. Badheka et al.
Abstract
Steel alloys are widely used in many industry sectors namely construction,
automobile, and aerospace. With additive manufacturing (AM), complex and rare
parts of steel alloys can be manufactured efficiently in days in an economical
way. On the other hand, conventional manufacturing methods include time-
consuming and cost-incurring die and mold preparation and postmachining of
the parts. The other benefits associated with AM are low cost governed by low-
energy input, low-material wastage, and automation with high strength. The gas
tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process produces sound weld with high integrity
with the parent metal. Therefore, GTAW has found the place as a method for
AM. Additionally, the components in these industries are many times subjected
to high wear, corrosion, and abrasion. Their durability at the work is increased by
using the cladding process. GTAW is widely used in the cladding process for hard
facing and corrosion resistance. With its increased deposition rate using advanced
hotwire multi-cathode GTAW processes, high applicability to different metals,
defect-free weld, and high strength of weld, among other welding processes like
shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), plasma
metal arc welding (PMAW), laser welding, and electron beam welding (EBW),
GTAW is a promising process for AM and cladding process. The deposition rate
can be further improved by optimization of weld parameters like type of current
supply (DC supply, DC pulsed supply, and AC supply), mean voltage, wire
feed rate, frequency, and hotwire current. In this chapter, the study of different
advanced hotwire GTAW processes and optimization of weld parameters is
explained.
Keywords
GTAW cladding · Single cathode GTAW · Additive manufacturing · Hotwire

welding · Dual cathode GTAW
Introduction
In a global competitive environment, different industries are aiming for the least
price for manufacturing of their products. This is closely related to lightweight
manufacturing. Most of the time, the production cost is increased by the lightweight
technologies due to the new processes and equipment needs (Tisza and Czinege
2018). Steel is the most popular among other materials used in different industries
like construction, automobile, and aerospace. According to rankings released by the
World Steel Association (WSA) in 2019, China was the world’s largest crude steel
producer followed by India, Japan, and the USA. As per the WSA report in 2018,
50 percent of the crude steel production was utilized by the construction industry.
According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), as of now, more than
200 steel grades are available which are three to four times stronger than the latest
aluminum alloys available in the market. Similarly, these steels perform better with
61 GTAW Application for Additive Manufacturing and Cladding of Steel Alloys 1561
safety benefits using an existing manufacturing infrastructure and eliminating the

major manufacturing cost by the introduction of alternative materials.
With additive manufacturing (AM), complex and rare parts of steel alloys can
be manufactured efficiently in days in an economical way. On the other hand,
conventional manufacturing methods include time-consuming and cost-incurring
die and mold preparation and postmachining of the parts. The other benefits
associated with AM are low cost governed by low-energy input, low-material
wastage, and automation with high strength. The gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW)
process produces sound weld with high integrity with parent metal (Shah and
Agrawal 2019). Therefore, GTAW has found the place as a method for AM.
GTAW is widely used in the cladding process where two metals are joined
together by welding to the surface and adding a layer for hard facing and corrosion
resistance. The mining components such as high-speed rotating components are
subjected to high wear and abrasion. Their durability at the work can be increased
by using the cladding process. Hence, GTAW cladding has an important application
in the mining industry (Wang et al. 2016). GTAW use in the mining industry can be
further extended to AM of tools and components. The other benefits associated with
it are low cost governed by low-energy input, low-material wastage, and automation
with high strength. However, traditional GTAW has a low deposition rate and travel
speed. Recently, many improved variants of GTAW have been proposed to increase
the efficiency of the welding process such as GTAW with powder, single cathode
single hotwire, single cathode dual hotwire, dual cathode single hotwire, and dual
cathode dual hotwire (Egerland et al. 2015).
In the hotwire-cladding process, a hotwire is fed into the puddle, where hotwire
acts as a secondary source of heat into the plasma and hence increases the deposition
rate by pouring more weld material into the clad. This process has better weld
quality compared to GTAW and GTAW with a powder (Egerland et al. 2015).
Many variants of hotwire GTAW namely single cathode single hotwire, single
cathode dual hotwire, dual cathode single hotwire, and dual cathode dual hotwire
have increased deposition rate as well as low overspray. The low dilution rate
achieved with these processes also improves weld quality by increasing corrosion
resistance and hard facing. Also, proper chemistry is achieved with fewer layers of
the weld. All these benefits are attractive when cladding applications are considered.
Current Trends
Recently, Twin-wire / Tandem GTA and other variants of cladding processes have
been developed and researched by Fronius International GmbH, Austria. It is found
that the arc pressure varies when two arcs coming from two cathodes are single arcs,
overlapping arcs, and coupled arcs as shown in Fig. 1.
Figure 2 shows the elemental distribution when different combinations of the
cathode and hotwire are used. Hence, it can be seen that the twin hotwire single
cathode GTAW has better elemental distribution. Further, at the University of
Alberta, Canada, the GTAW process has been utilized for wear-resistant overlays.
Fig. 1 Comparison of arc pressure for a different combination of arcs (Egerland et al. 2015)
Fig. 2 Effect of various combinations of cladding on surfacial elemental distribution (Egerland

et al. 2015)
When we talk about AM, there is phenomenal growth in engineering. The startups
like Relativity and Desktop Metal are 3D printing even at higher speeds than
the classical manufacturing methods. This shows the potential of AM in the
digitalization of the industry.
In India primarily research in the field of GTAW has been done by the Welding
Research Institute (WRI), Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL). WRI has devel-
oped hotwire GTAW, narrow gap hotwire GTAW, orbital hotwire GTAW, activated
Fig. 3 Comparison of arc pressure for single cathode and two cathodes (Shah and Agrawal 2019)
TIG welding, automated wire feed GTAW, etc. Besides WRI, BHEL, Institute
of Infrastructure Technology Research and Management (IITRAM), Ahmedabad,
has researched twin TIG where two tungsten electrodes are used in one torch.
Their research shows that there is a significant effect of many electrodes used on
arc pressure. Welding Research laboratory of Pandit Deendayal Energy University
(PDEU), Gandhinagar working extensively in the area of Activated- TIG welding
and its variants like FB-TIG and FZ –TIG for ferrous, non-ferrous and dissimilar
metal combinations. Recently researchers have also developed welding procedure
for 16 mm thick plate of copper using hot wire GTAW. The arc pressure curve gets
flattened when two cathodes are used as shown in Fig. 3.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
Fusion welding processes are divided into three types as flux-shielded welding
processes, gas-shielded welding processes, and beam-welding processes. Each of
these processes has unique features and finds a wide range of applications. The
gas-shielded welding processes – GTAW, GMAW, and plasma metal arc welding
(PMAW) – are extensively employed in almost all fabrication industries. Among
these processes, GTAW is suitable to weld almost all metals and for uniform root
penetration. Due to the development of newer materials, new variants of GTAW
processes like hotwire GTAW activated TIG, continuous wire feed GTAW, etc.
have been developed for improving productivity and enhancing its scope for diverse
areas.
The traditional GTAW process has certain issues like the weld pool dynamics
and slower manual wire feed rates. A highly skilled operator is required for the
manual GTAW process. To enhance productivity, increase of current increases the
arc pressure which results in defects and poor weld bead quality. But these processes
can be further optimized based on the other parameters like type of current supply
(DC supply, DC pulsed supply, and AC supply), mean voltage, wire feed rate,
frequency, and hotwire current.
Progress in GTAW Process
Hotwire GTAW and Narrow Gap Hotwire GTAW
The hotwire GTAW method is able to produce high-quality welds with improved
deposition rates and finds a feasible place in different applications where it was not
before. It uses an additional power source for wire heating by which faster weld
speed and improved wire feed rates are obtained that reduces the weld defects. A
schematic diagram for hotwire GTAW is shown in Fig. 4.
The narrow gap hotwire GTAW process is an extension of the hotwire GTAW
process aimed for productivity enhancement. Due care has been taken to achieve a
constant sidewall fusion in a narrow gap with special accessories and techniques.
Different metals and alloys with thick jobs can be welded using this process. This
process gives high quality and efficient welds with excellent mechanical properties.
A typical setup for narrow gap hotwire GTAW process is shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 4 Hotwire GTAW

(Santhakumari 2018)
Fig. 5 (a) Narrow gap

hotwire TIG; (b) welding in
progress (Santhakumari
2018)
Fig. 6 Orbital hotwire

GTAW (Santhakumari 2018)
Orbital Hotwire GTAW
Orbital hotwire GTAW is a hybrid process that combines the conventional orbital
GTAW process and the hotwire method. The process has been developed to increase
the productivity, weld quality, and its wider applications in aircraft, aerospace
industry, nuclear, boiler, and high-pressure tubes. A typical setup of the orbital
hotwire GTAW process for pipe welding is shown in Fig. 6.
Activated TIG Welding
Activated TIG or A-TIG Welding was developed in the middle of the 1960s by Paton
Welding Institute (PWI), Ukraine. In this process to improve the weld penetration,
a thin flux material coating is applied on top of the joint surface before welding.
It is reported that the weld penetration is increased two to three times than the
conventional GTAW process. It is presently used for steels and nickel base alloys and
found useful in orbital pipe-welding applications. A typical setup for an activated
TIG welding process is shown in Fig. 7.
Automated Wire Feeding in GTAW
It is a hybrid process that combines manual and automated GTAW wire feed control
(Tip TIG / Top TIG) combined with a hotwire method. It is suitable in any position
of the weld of any thickness material. A typical setup of Tip TIG which enables to
weld root is shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 7 Activated TIG

welding (Santhakumari 2018)
Fig. 8 Root pass welded by Tip TIG process (Santhakumari 2018)
Inter Pulse TIG Welding
Inter Pulse TIG patented by VBC Group, UK, is specially designed to give highly
constricted and fine welding arc to weld “difficult-to-weld” materials. A comparison
of the DC TIG arc and the inter-pulse arc is depicted in Fig. 9. It can be seen that
the inter-pulse arc is finer with smaller heat-affected zone (HAZ).
K-TIG Welding
K-TIG (Keyhole TIG) welding technique was developed in 1990–1993 by Dr.

Laurie Jarvis, Australia, which is a single-pass full-penetration keyhole method.
In this process, the weld pool surface is fixed to the top and bottom surface making
Fig. 9 (a) DC TIG arc 85 Amps; (b) inter-pulse arc 85 Amps average current (Santhakumari 2018)
Fig. 10 (a) K-TIG welding process; (b) macro of the K-TIG weld (Santhakumari 2018)
a stable arc that is moved along the weld path as a keyhole by increasing the arc
pressure. A typical K-TIG welding technique is explained in Fig. 10.
Twin Wire/Tandem GTA Cladding Process
Conventional GTAW process is not recommended for cladding due to its slower
production caused by lesser dilution which resulted in weld defects. To overcome
these defects, in the late 1990s Yamada patented a novel high-efficiency GTAW
method known as multicathode GTA for improving process efficiency and weld
quality shown in Fig. 11a, where a welding torch contains the electrically insulated
electrodes with independently operated power supplies. A plot of weld travel speed
Fig. 11 (a) A schematic of multicathode GTAW process; (b) comparison of weld travel speed and
current (Egerland et al. 2015)
Fig. 12 (a) Tandem GTAW

process setup; (b) Tandem
GTAW torch setup
(Santhakumari 2018)
and current consisting of single and multicathode GTAW is shown in Fig. 11b
(Egerland et al. 2015). This process is capable of increase in weld speed without
weld defects.
The Tandem GTA cladding process is an extended version of the twin hotwire
GTAW process where the two electrodes are combined with two independently
controlled preheated welding wires which permit higher weld speeds with higher
deposition rate. A typical Tandem GTAW process and torch setup are shown in
Fig. 12.
Fig. 13 Internal GTAW

(Santhakumari 2018)
Fig. 14 A schematic of single and twin hotwire GTAW (Egerland et al. 2015)
Internal GTAW
Joining of stub tube to pipe known as internal GTAW system was developed by
WRI and is depicted in Fig. 13. It has a servomotor drive which is controlled by a
programmable logic controller (PLC) that handles all the inputs like voltage, current,
and gas flow rate and outputs.
Multicathode GTAW
There are four variants of hotwire GTAW as single cathode single hotwire GTAW,
single cathode double hotwire GTAW, double cathode single hotwire GTAW, and
double cathode double hotwire GTAW. A schematic of single and twin hotwire
GTAW is shown in Fig. 14.
The dissimilar material joining is recognized as a challenge where there are
increasing demands for high strength and lightweight alloys in different industries.
In such a case, the twin GTAW process can be beneficial to join by supplying less
heat input to highly thermal conductive material and more heat input to low thermal
conductive material (Shah and Agrawal 2019).
AM processes have different variants which include vat photopolymerization, binder

jetting, material extrusion, material jetting, sheet lamination, powder bed fusion, and
directed energy deposition. The benefits of AM processes are less material waste and
a minimum processing cycle. It is successfully applied to fabricate components for
a variety of metals. In these processes, different sources of heat such as arc, laser
beam, or electron beam are used.
The wire arc-additive manufacturing (WAAM) process was developed by Baker
in the year 1925. The WAAM process belongs to the directed energy deposition
method where the wire is heated then melted and transferred to the melt pool,
and it continues to form a component by building layer by layer. The process can
be employed using GMAW, GTAW, PAW, or cold metal transfer welding (CMT)
as a heat source and build a component as depicted in Fig. 15 (Jin et al. 2020).
Currently, WAAM is one of the popular fabrication processes applied for different
materials like Ti, Al, Ni alloy, and steel. It is reported that directed energy deposition
GMAW has deeper penetration, 5–10 times arc power than powder bed fusion with
a laser heat source, and directed energy deposition with a laser heat source, and
produces stainless steel (SS) 316 components with much higher speeds and least
fusion defects (Jin et al. 2020; Mukherjee and DebRoy 2019).
Recently, the WAAM process has attracted the attention of many researchers
in producing large-scale SS parts with high efficiency and low cost. Eagar (Eager
1995) opinioned that, “a new welding technology is often get commercialized
before a fundamental science emphasizing the underlying physics and chemistry
can be developed.” It is truly agreed and applicable to the WAAM process as
well. The different factors that affect the performance of the WAAM process are
depicted in Fig. 16. The dimensional accuracy and surface quality are based on the
WAAM process parameters. The thermal history, solidification behaviors, and phase
transformations are closely related to each other and have a strong influence on
the microstructure. Anisotropy problems are frequently seen in WAAM-processed
parts, and they can be overcome by in-process mechanical working like rolling
followed by WAAM.
Abe and Sasahara (Abe and Sasahara 2016) successfully deposited first YS308L
stainless steel weld bead on a SUS304 stainless steel substrate and then finally
deposited Ni6082 weld bead onto the previous stainless steel weld bead using
WAAM process. They have studied the structure-properties of the dissimilar
metal deposition layers using a nickel-based alloy. Comparable bond strength
was obtained at YS308L and Ni6082 bond area than the tensile strength of the
YS308L and Ni6082 weld metals. It is argued that the bond produced has high
heat resistance, and corrosion resistance along with low weight of the object due to
Fig. 15 Schematic diagram of the WAAM setup (Xia et al. 2020)
its inside rib structure. Such kind of inside rib structure is difficult to fabricate using
other traditional manufacturing processes.
Chen et al. (2017) fabricated 316 L austenitic SS using GMAW-AM and studied
the mechanical properties and microstructure. They found that the microstructure
has σ,δ, and γ phases which are differently orientated and have different morpholo-
gies. Also, the mechanical properties are similar to wrought 316 L with ductile mode
of fracture. The increase of microhardness and tensile strength is attributed due to σ
phase; however, there is reduction in tensile yield strength, and ductility. They have
extended their work (Chen et al. 2018), to investigate the mechanical, corrosion
properties, and analyzed the effect of heat treatment on the microstructure. The heat
treatment causes improvement in corrosion resistance of the steel. However, due to
σ phase formation, there is an increase in corrosion attack sensitivity.
Rodriguez et al. (2018) have employed CMT and Top TIG processes to deposit
the 316 L SS and compared the mechanical properties and microstructures of deposit
produced using these processes. Both of these processes are able to deposit thick
walls with high accuracy and sound flatness. Higher material deposition rates were
obtained for CMT (3.7 kg/h) than Top TIG process (2 kg/h).
Li et al. (2019) deposited H08Mn2Si steel filler wire onto Q235B low-carbon
steel as a substrate using GMAW-AM process and investigated the molten pool
stability at different wire feed speed, weld speed, and inclination angles, i.e.,
angle between the GMAW torch and substrate. It is found that the bead width
increases with an increase in the inclination angle, with decrease in bead height
1572
Fig. 16 Cause and effect diagram for WAAM process

V. J. Badheka et al.
and penetration depth. Similarly, the forward position of the GMAW torch gives a
stable molten pool with superior quality than other positions.
Ge et al. (2019) studied microstructural evolution, defect distribution, and
residual stresses developed in additively manufactured 2Cr13 SS thin wall parts
created using robotic CMT technology and numerical simulations. The residual
stress distribution grows frequently with the addition of the deposited layers and
was found highest for the final deposited layer.
Rafieazad et al. (2019) deposited ER70S-6 low-carbon low-alloy steel wire
onto ASTM A36 mild steel substrate using GMAW-AM process in advanced
surface tension transfer mode. They have studied the microstructure and mechanical
properties of the deposits. In the microstructure, the main phases observed were
fine ferrite and laminar pearlite. The additively manufactured part of microstructure
has found equiaxed grains with weak cubic texture. A similar kind of mechanical
properties of deposits as that of substrate was found in both deposition and building
direction. The mechanical properties of different steels produced using WAAM
process are depicted in Table 1.
Cladding
In metal cladding, a thin layer of coating material is applied onto the base material
or substrate. A variety of methods employed for cladding such as accumulative roll
bonding (ARB) (Selvaraj et al. 2020), resistance welding, SMAW, submerged arc
welding (SAW), overlay welding, electroslag welding (ESW), GTAW, flux-cored
arc welding (FCAW), laser beam cladding, oxyacetylene welding, laser powder
welding, pulsed GMAW, tubular core covered electrodes, hotwire plasma process,
explosive cladding, plasma transferred arc (PTA) cladding, hybrid methods, etc.
(Saha and Das 2016, 2018).
Chen et al. (2009) have successfully deposited multicomponent alloy fillers
(Ni, Co, Cr, Al, and Mo with Si) on low-carbon steel substrates using GTAW
cladding process. They evaluated the microstructure and wear properties of this
multicomponent alloy. They observed that the FeMoSi as a principal dendritic and
BCC interdendritic phases with both phases have multiple elements. The hardness
and wear resistance of cladding layer are function of Si content. Both enhancement
in the hardness and wear resistance of cladding layer are affected by FeMoSi
dendrites, which have strong covalent bonds.
Chen and Lee (2016) have attempted to alter the surface properties like surface
hardness, wear resistance, and heat dissipation of AISI 410 martensitic SS with an
AlN clad layer by specific addition of Si, W, and Co using GTAW process. It is
found that the surface properties of cladding material were better than the parent
material.
Lv et al. (2008) investigated GTAW cladding of S201 copper (Cu) alloy under
different processing conditions on carbon steel. Their work focuses on the influence
of clad current on the concentration and morphology of Fe solute in the clad layer
and the hardness of the Cu/Fe bond area. The Fe morphology in the Cu layer
1574
Table 1 Mechanical properties of different steels produced using WAAM processes

Heat Filler metal
source wire Substrate Input process condition Mechanical properties Ref
GMAW ER70S-6 A36 WD: 0.889 mm, horizontal YS: 400 MPa; UTS: 500 MPa Rafieazad et al. (2019)
WD: 0.889 mm, vertical YS: 385 MPa; UTS: 500 MPa
GMAW 316L – WD: 1.2 mm, as deposited YS: 235 MPa; UTS: 533 MPa; %El: 48 Abe and Sasahara (2016)
WD: 1.2 mm, 1000◦ C/1 h, WQ YS: 255 MPa; UTS: 549 MPa; %El: 41
WD: 1.2 mm, wrought 316L YS: 222–265 MPa; UTS: 505 MPa; %El:
56–63
GMAW 316L – WD: 1.2 mm, as deposited YS: 235 MPa; UTS: 533 MPa; %El: 48 Chen et al. (2017)
WD: 1.2 mm, cold worked YS: 255–310 MPa; UTS: 525–632 MPa;
%El: 30
WD: 1.2 mm, solution treated YS: 222–265 MPa; UTS: 505–578 MPa;
%El: 56–63
GMAW 316L 316L WD: 1.2 mm, SpeedPulse WAAM, YS: 418.0 MPa; UTS: 550 ± 6 MPa Wang et al. (2019)
mean current (I)-22.1 A; mean
voltage (U)- 135 V; arc power
P-2984W; Layer thickness
(δ)-1.5 mm
WD: 1.2 mm, SpeedArc WAAM, I YS: 417.9 MPa; UTS: 553 ± 2 MPa
-19.5 A; U- 140 V; P-2730W;
δ-1.8 mm
V. J. Badheka et al.
GTAW Al and DH36 WD: 0.9 mm, as deposited YS: 847 MPa; UTS: 944 MPa; %El: 3.27 Shen et al. (2015)
LS422750/4
99.5% black
annealed iron
CMT and 316L 316L WD: 1.2 mm, CMT-vertical- continuous YS: 336 MPa; UTS: 574 MPa; %El: 42 Rodriguez et al.
TopTIG mode (CM) (2018)
WD: 1.2 mm, vertical- pulsed mode (PM) YS: 331 MPa; UTS: 536 MPa; %El: 45.6
WD: 1.2 mm, horizontal-CM YS: 364 MPa; UTS: 577 MPa; %El: 43.4
WD: 1.2 mm, horizontal-PM YS: 374 MPa; UTS: 588 MPa; %El: 45.1
WD: 1.2 mm, base material YS: 346 MPa; UTS: 651 MPa; %El: 47
WD: 1.2 mm, top TIG -vertical YS: 322 MPa; UTS: 539 MPa; %El: 43.1
WD: 1.2 mm, top TIG - horizontal YS: 365 MPa; UTS: 590.3 MPa; %El: 42.3
WD wire diameter (mm), YS yield strength (MPa), UTS ultimate tensile strength (MPa), and %El percentage elongation
61 GTAW Application for Additive Manufacturing and Cladding of Steel Alloys
1575
depends on its concentration. The Fe concentration is exponentially related with

growth of clad current. The hardness of Cu layer is a function of clad current and its
Fe content.
Silwal et al. (2019) employed low current GTAW cladding of hot-wire filler of
IN625 Inconel alloy on the 347 austenitic SS substrate. It is found that the torch
angle has significant effect on the bead formation. The low current resulted in
minimum Fe dilution on the cladding whereas the high current (90–100 A) has
resulted in liquation cracking formation in the HAZ of 347 SS.
Malhotra (2020) employed GTAW process for top clad layer remelting of
austenitic stainless steel 316 L which was previously deposited on low-carbon steel
substrate using GMAW. It has been found that the pitting corrosion resistance was
higher than the GMAW cladding with comparatively smaller degree of sensitization
and obtained depth of penetration around 2.34 mm.
Knerek et al. (2021) have successfully deposited 625 Inconel alloy on API 5L
X65 carbon steel pipe as a substrate using hotwire TIG process. The cladding layer
is free from defect or cracks during bend test, and the resulting cladding possesses
enhanced mechanical properties. Moradi and Ketabchi (2015) have cladded 625
Inconel alloy on the A516 Grade 70 carbon steel plate using GTAW process. It
is found that the shear strength of 232.5 MPa was obtained which is greater than
regular standards. The microstructure shows mainly Niobium carbide (NbC) and
Fe2 Nb precipitate phases.
In general, metal cladding provides high hardness, corrosion and/or erosion
resistance, and good bonding where clad material of different thickness is deposited
over the substrate surface (Saha and Das 2016). Recently, weld cladding processes
find applications in numerous industries as a cost-effective engineering solution
method.
Optimization of Welding Parameters
Much of the research work reported on the effect of welding parameters in GTAW-
based metal deposition process. It is reported that the current, voltage, torch velocity,
wire feed speed, and TIG welding torch with the substrate are vital weld parameter
that affects the performance of the metal deposition process (Gokhale et al. 2019).
The WAAM deposition path, thermal history, and phase transformation control
during WAAM can be optimized to reduce the residual stress and distortion of the
parts (Jin et al. 2020). Still, other weld parameters like current supply (DC supply,
DC pulsed supply, and AC supply), frequency, and hotwire current are not explored
so far. It is reported that the heat input in the layer by layer deposition needs
to be controlled for getting a high deposition rate and good forming appearance
(Dadbakhsh et al. 2012). To date, researchers have employed response surface
methodology (Srivastava et al. 2018; Youheng et al. 2017; Balasubramanian et al.
2009; Lakshminarayanan et al. 2008), mathematical modeling (Geng et al. 2017),
and developed controllers (Bonaccorso et al. 2011; Xiong et al. 2016) for optimizing
the weld parameters, genetic algorithm (GA) for weld bead geometry optimization
in PTA hard-faced austenitic SS plates (Siva et al. 2009).
Traditional optimization methods give local optimal solutions and are not robust.
The meta-heuristics (MH) is a global search technique which deals with all kinds of
objective functions and design variables, and these are flexible as there is no need
of data training (Saka et al. 2016). There is an ardent need to explore these MH
and other machine learning algorithms for AM and cladding to optimize the weld
parameter and predict the weld performances. Furthermore, for making state-of-
the-art processes (Tutum and Hattel 2011), a clear understanding of the thermo-
mechanics of these welding processes is essential by which the mathematical
models can be developed. With these developed models as an input to the different
efficient algorithms in which the process parameters can be optimized efficiently
with multiple inputs to get commercially acceptable parts. The AM and cladding of
metal parts with advanced properties have attracted great attention in various fields.
Still, AM faces substantial techno-commercial logical and scientific issues like
difficulty in microstructure control, properties and defects, lack of standards, slower
rate of AM, and availability of filler materials for several commercial alloys and
economy. Similarly, the effectiveness of digital twins is well recognized; however, it
is not fully explored for AM. Efforts are needed to develop or modify the digital twin
building blocks and their analysis for variety of alloys and AM processes (DebRoy
et al. 2021).
Conclusion
This chapter elucidates the application of GTAW for the additive manufacturing and
cladding process of steel alloys. It covers different techniques employed for additive
manufacturing and cladding processes of steel alloys. Parametric optimization for
GTAW-based additive manufacturing and cladding processes with multiple input
weld parameters using meta-heuristic algorithms and machine learning algorithms
are suggested for improving the weld performance.
Websites
1. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/productline/building-materials/
alloy-steel-everything-you-need-to-know-about-alloy-steels-and-their-role-in-bu
ilding-and-construction-industry/articleshow/70344024.cms. Accessed 19 Jan
2021.
2. https://steel.gov.in/overview-steel-sector. Accessed 19 Jan 2021.
3. https://www.steel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-AISI-Profile-Book.
pdf. Accessed 19 Jan 2021.
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Using Smart Mesoporous Silica
in Designing Drug Delivery Systems 62
Kayambu Kannan
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1582
Synthesis of Mesoporous Silicas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1583
Synthesis of Biodegradable MPSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1586
Functionalization of MPSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1586
Improvement of Biocompatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1588
Loading of Drug and Biomolecules on MPSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1588
Targeting Delivery Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1589
Passive Targeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1589
Active Targeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1590
Gate Keeping of Drug Loaded MPSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1592
Stimuli-Responsive Smart Delivery System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1593
Internal Stimuli-Responsive Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1595
External Stimuli-Responsive Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1600
Multi-stimuli Responsive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1603
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1608
Abstract
The drug delivery systems are playing an important role in targeting site of
action. The delivery systems are broadly classified into organic and inorganic
materials. Among the drug delivery systems the inorganic smart mesoporous
silicas (SMSs) have greater advantages over the other system. Many synthetic
techniques have been reported for tailoring of SMSs by fine tuning of structure,
biocompatibility, and functionalization with requisite functional groups. The
K. Kannan ()
PG and Research Department of Chemistry, Raja Doraisingam Government Arts College,
Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, India
1582 K. Kannan
well-designed targeting approaches have been found to be remarkable in reduc-

ing the side effects as compared to the intended drug effect as well as protecting
the drug molecules from degradation. The critical part of the delivery process
is the way by which the drug is released upon exerting a stimulus such as pH,
redox reagents, thermal, magnetic, and ultrasound with controlled accumulation
within certain region around the targeting tissues. In this chapter, we illustrate the
different synthetic strategies for designing the drug delivery system using smart
mesoporous silicas with multi-stimuli responsive carriers.
Keywords
Mesoporous silica · Functionalization · Stimuli responsive · Therapeutic

molecules · Drug delivery system
Introduction
Healthcare issues ever have the highest priority in the world and hence many efforts
are focused on the improvement of treatment by concerning the cost, duration, and
efficacy. Porous materials have shown great promise to offer sustainable solutions
to therapeutics such as drug delivery, biomedical imaging, and tumor therapy. In
the last few decades, the applications of mesoporous silicas (MPSs) as delivery
systems for biomolecules and medicine have attracted much interest among the
pharmaceutics (Gupta and Mukherjee 2013; Palit and Hussain 2020; Di Sia 2014).
The mesoporous silica materials exhibit remarkable physico-chemical properties
such as (i) tunable pore size (2–50 nm) and high pore volumes (ca. 1 cm3 /g),
(ii) high specific surface areas (up to 1500 cm2 /g), (iii) high density of silanol
groups on the surface for wide functionalization, (iv) robust silica framework that
allows harsh reaction conditions, and (v) great biocompatibility. The first work
of drug delivery of anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen using MCM-41 mesoporous
silica nanoparticle opened up the opportunity to design silica-based nanoparticle for
medical applications. The high delivery efficiency with controlled release profile
of vancomycin and adenosine triphosphate was observed using cadmium sulfide-
functionalized MCM-41 material (Huang et al. 2020). This achievement inspired
the researchers to develop the MPS-based drug delivery systems for biomedical
applications. Nowadays, MPSs are widely used as carriers for the treatment of
complex diseases; however, their clinical translation remains great challenges.
Ideal drug delivery system is one that should accumulate only in the target area
and that could be able to release their cargo only inside the infected area or tumor
cell. Practically, the delivery systems have to face several barriers, when they are
administered into a patient. These not only reduce the efficacy of the treatment
but also prevent their successful translation into the clinical applications (Sábio
et al. 2019).
To overcome the obstacles, researchers have to focus on the development of
MPSs delivery systems along with targeting ligand and suitable gatekeeper for
stimuli-responsive delivery of drug molecules in specified area (Fig. 1).
62 Using Smart Mesoporous Silica in Designing Drug Delivery Systems 1583
Fig. 1 Some recent development on designing of drug delivery systems (DDSs) using smart
mesoporous silicas (MPSs)
This chapter is initially intended to provide an account on the preparation and

the surface functionalization of MPSs toward the biocompatibility with requisite
functional moieties. Afterward the influences of drug or biomolecules loaded into
the functionalized MPSs with or without suitable gatekeeper and their performance
as targeting drug delivery system in therapeutic treatment. Finally, the strategies
used to prevent premature drug release and the on-demand stimuli-responsive
drug deliveries are discussed. In addition the drug delivery systems with their
responsiveness to various stimuli, chemical, physical, and biological factors used
for various therapeutic treatments are discussed.
Synthesis of Mesoporous Silicas
In the literature, several different methods have been reported for synthesis of
mesoporous silica particles to yield a variety of engineered particles with unique
properties (Fig. 2). The sol–gel method has unique advantages over other methods to
attain the ordered, high surface area, narrow pore size distribution, the geometry and
connectivity of their pores in very well defined particles. In biomedical applications
of MPSs, a careful selection of synthesis method plays vital role to obtain particles
with requisite dimensions for each specific application (Fig. 3). In brief, surfactant
is stirred in a mixture of water/alcohol under basic or acidic conditions and
1584 K. Kannan
Fig. 2 Schematic representation of the formation mechanisms of various MPSs
tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) or other silicates are added under agitation. Spherical

MCM-41 materials with a hexagonal pore array are usually synthesized in basic
solution using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the structure-directing
agent. The surfactant with silicon molar ratio also influences the mesostructure and
size, and CTAB/alkoxysilane molar ratio of 0.13 or higher is required for obtaining
highly dispersed MPSs (Yamada et al. 2014).
The pH of the reaction mixture also could affect the MPSs properties, a higher pH
resulting in a wormlike morphology for MCM-41 particles. The formation of regular
pore geometry and the dimensions are strongly dependent on the supramolecular
self-assembling of surfactant micelles with silica molecules. Nonionic triblock
copolymers have also been used in the synthesis of Santa Barbara Amorphous mate-
rials (SBA). The various ratio of poly ethylene oxide to propylene oxide provided
to achieve the desired symmetry of mesoporous materials (SBA-11 (cubic), SBA-
12 (3-d hexagonal), SBA-15 (hexagonal) and SBA-16 (cubic cage-structured) with
larger pore size. Highly ordered hexagonal mesoporous SBA-15 was synthesized
using Pluronic P123 triblock copolymer (EO20–PO70–EO20, BASF) as a template
and TEOS as a silica source in acidic conditions (Kannan and Jasra 2009).
Fig. 3 Strategies for

designing mesoporous silica’s
properties through synthesis
Folded sheets mesoporous material (FSM-16) is another type of mesoporous

material that is synthesized using quaternary ammonium salt as a template and
layered polysilicate kanemite (Tozuka et al. 2005). However, the modulation of pore
volume remains a great challenge, which limits the encapsulation of drug molecules
and macromolecules including proteins, enzymes, antibodies, RNA, and DNA for
biomedical applications. A different synthetic strategy proposed to synthesis the
porous ultra-large spherical mesopores silicas by using swelling agents like 1,
3, 5-triisopropylbenzene, cyclohexane, xylene, ethylbenzene and toluene to get
dissolved moderately in the micelle of a specific surfactant in order to produce a
clear micell template structure with significantly enlarged pores. We synthesized
the siliceous meso cellular foam (MCF) using the Pluronic P123 BASF in acidic
condition with trimethyl benzene (TMB) as swelling agent at 35–40 ◦ C (Kannan
and Jasra 2011). Further some studies revealed that the correlations between the
excessive pore expanding could lead to a mechanically unstable thinner pore
wall. Recently, dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) with open 3D
dendritic super structures and center-radial pore channels have been prepared in an
aqueous solution using TEOS and bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTEE) as precursor
and CTAB/sodium salicylate (NaSal) as structure-directing agent. The increased
molar ratio of CTAB/NaSal from 0.75:1 to 1:1 could increase the pore size
from 8.1 to 17.5 nm. Further the structure-dependent and glutathione-responsive
biodegradable dendritic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticle was observed for safe
protein delivery (Yang et al. 2016).
1586 K. Kannan
Synthesis of Biodegradable MPSs
The biodegradability with consequent clearance of MPSs must be taken into serious
consideration for biomedical applications. Under physiological conditions the MPSs
degraded into silicic acid including monomeric silicic acid and polysilicic acids
through successive hydration, hydrolysis, and ion-exchange steps, which can be
excreted through the urine. However, the degradation process of MPSs is relatively
slow due to its stable Si-O-Si frameworks and this reluctant biodegradation could
lead to unwanted accumulation of MPSs within the body, which possibly causes the
severe tissue inflammation and related problems. Therefore, the improvements of
MPSs with better biodegradability extensively interests to promote their application
in clinical translation.
Recently, several strategies have been reported to improve the biodegradability
of MPSs. For example, the doping of Mg2+ into the silica framework increased
the degradability of the obtained hollow mesoporous silicas (HMSs) due to the
much weaker Si-O-Mg network compared to the Si-O-Si network. In brief, the
Si-O-Mg bonds were sensitive to mild acidic environment, including tumor tissue,
which causes the breakup of Mg-O bonds to generate abundant defects within the
framework to accelerate the biodegradation. The Ca, Mn, Zn, and Na elements have
also been introduced into the MPSs framework to facilitate the biodegradability,
and the rapid degradation is triggered by typical environment such as pH (for Ca
and Mn) and specific peptides (for Fe and Mn) (Hadipour Moghaddam et al. 2019).
A redox triggered degradable HMSs was fabricated by using phenylene and bis
(propyl) tetrasulfide-bridged organoalkoxysilanes, where the bis (propyl) tetrasul-
fide acted as a self-destructor in reductive environment (Guimarães et al. 2020).
Enzymatically degradable MPSs were prepared by using phenylene and oxamide-
bridged organoalkoxysilanes, the oxamide in the silica framework is responsible for
enzymatic degradation, which could be triggered in the presence of trypsin. This
research led to work toward the drug delivery to organs containing specific proteins
for targeted therapy (Croissant et al. 2016). The disulfide containing silsesquioxanes
is also an interesting material for the preparation of degradable MPSs to focus
on specific triggered degradable strategies. The application of MPSs in tissue
engineering is a relatively interesting field that has gained much research interest.
The different roles of MPSs comprise the delivery of bioactive molecules, inherent
bioactivity, stem cells labeling, and the impacts on scaffolds (Abdo et al. 2020).
Functionalization of MPSs
The functionalization or modification of the surface of MPSs plays crucial roles for
designing the drug delivery carrier with requisite physical and chemical properties
The mesoporous silica materials with organic functional groups are widely prepared
by two routes: (i) in situ functionalization (ii) post-synthesis functionalization.
The former route involves the co-condensation of a functionalized alkoxysilane
Fig. 4 Post-synthesis functionalization of mesoporous silicas using triethoxyorganosilanes
(e.g., 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane with tetra-ethoxysilane (TEOS)). The surfactant

template of these materials could be removed by solvent extraction and its result
was typically about ca. 80% successful, which probably caused by block copolymer
remains trapped within pores of the silicas. The percentage of functional groups
was limited to ca. 20% and also usually causes loss of structural order with
high functional group contents. The post-synthesis route involves a reaction of
the functionalized alkoxysilane with the calcined mesoporous silicas (Fig. 4). The
inclusion of functional groups likes –NH2 , -SH, -COOH, -Cl, -CN, -SO3 H, alkyl,
and phenyl on silica surfaces as well on pore walls is a well-established procedure.
As a result, the ability of interaction between the MPSs surface to drug molecule
by hydrogen bonds or van der Waals force, electrostatic, or covalent bonds can
be manipulated. We prepared various functionalized MPSs like SBA-15@NH2 ,
SBA-15@COOH, MCF@NH2 , and MCF@CHO for covalent binding with alkaline
serine endopeptidase and cellulase enzymes (Kannan and Jasra 2009; Kannan and
Jasra 2011). Many researchers have focused on obtaining suitable functionalized
MPSs as vehicles for different therapeutically important molecules to control their
adsorption and release.
1588 K. Kannan
Improvement of Biocompatibility
The biocompatibility of MPSs is strongly influenced by the kind of moiety present

on surfaces, and hence surface modification plays a critical role in improving the
biocompatibility of MPSs. Nonfunctionalized MPSs have the tendency to associate
with serum proteins, and then be cleaned by phagocytic cells from circulation.
Moreover the MPS silanol groups exposed on the surface can interact with biologi-
cal molecules and lead to their damage (Slowing et al. 2009). In order to improve the
biocompatibility and their circulation time in vivo, the surface of MPSs should be
coated with suitable biocompatible substances. PEGylation significantly improves
the hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity and prevents the MPSs from being captured
by phagocytic cells (Li et al. 2019). Some research groups have demonstrated that
lipid coating on the surface of MPSs improves the biocompatibility and better drug
delivery performance by combining with liposome to provide a safe environment.
The protocells formed by spontaneous fusion of phosphatidylcholine-structured
liposomes to the surface of MPSs upon mixing are known as lipid bilayer coated
MPSs (Ashley et al. 2011).
Loading of Drug and Biomolecules on MPSs
The drug loading process is to bind the drug molecules onto the surface with or
without functionalized mesoporous silica. An ideal drug loading system would be
quickly able to load a huge amount of drug on the internal surface of MPSs and
then unload it with a desired release profile with as little waste as possible to the
environmental factors. A variety of cargoes such as drugs molecule along with
or without biomolecules, contrast agents, and bio-sensing agents can be loaded
into MPSs through two main routes: 1) in situ loading during fabrication, and
2) adsorption of cargoes onto mesopores of MPSs (either as physisorption or
chemisorptions).
Wan et al. (2016) employed a route for in situ loading of heparin and ibupro-
fen into SBA-15 by evaporation-induced self-assembly (Wan et al. 2016). The
most reliable approach for loading of cargoes into MPSs is adsorption process,
a concentrated drug molecule solution is immersed with MPSs, the mesopores
adsorb the drug molecules through capillary action, and then the drug loaded
silicas are separated from the solution through filtration or centrifugation. Xie
et al. (2014) reported a higher doxorubicin (DOX) loading efficiency (21.6%) on
COOH@MPSs by regulating electrostatic interaction between silica and protonated
drugs for controllable drug release rates (Xie et al. 2014). Moreover, this adsorption
method can also be adapted for co-loading of hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs.
Doxorubicin and rapamycin were loaded on to magnetic silicas using consecutive
adsorption processes by adjusting the solubility of the drug in solvent (Liu et al.
2012).
The dimethyl bifunctional silyl ether of antitumor prodrug camptothecin (CPT)

was successfully tethered onto the surface of HS@MPSs through Thiol-Ene click
chemistry and the silyl ether bonds showed an acid-responsive function. The acid-
cleavable silyl ether bonds could be degraded at the acidic pH in tumor issues
(pH = 6.8) and remained stable in normal plasma conditions (pH = 7.4). In another
study, the pH-sensitive releasing profile of DOX was observed by conjugating the
DOX with OHC@MPSs through covalent attachment, which provided the platform
for versatile and easy assembling of drug with functionalized MPSs (Llinas et al.
2018).
Targeting Delivery Systems
Passive Targeting
Passive targeting is based on the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect.
It is based on the size of the drug loaded particles that are administered into the
bloodstream for circulation, while most of the particles tend to escape through
abnormal neovasculature and accumulate into the targeting tissues. To accomplish
the effective targeting drug delivery of MPSs, it is essential for MPSs to be
10 nm diameter and 100–200 nm size. Meng et al. (2011) developed an effective
passive targeting delivery system using polyethyleneimine-polyethylene glycol
(PEG) coated MPSs with a particle size of 50 nm. Use of this system not only
achieved the EPR effect but also an improvement in DOX delivery through passive
diffusion to tumor cells was observed. This preferably induced cellular apoptosis
and the reduction of tumor size along with severe DOX cytotoxicity in a murine
xenograft tumor model (Meng et al. 2011).
In another study, MPSs coated gold nanorods showed an efficient passive
targeting effect. Two synergistic therapeutic effects exerted on this unique nan-
odevice, the chemotherapeutic effect of loaded DOX into the MPSs shell and
photothermal effect of the gold core. In vivo study of this nanosystem showed
exceptional efficiency compared with pure DOX in targeting tumor tissues and also
inducing damage to Ehrlich ascites carcinoma for significant cytotoxicity to a breast
cancer cell line (MCF-7) on comparison with normal cells (Monem et al. 2014).
Subramaniam et al. (2019) evaluated the distinct size (40 nm and 100 nm) of MPSs
loaded with rifampicin (RIF) for enhancing the intracellular bacterial infection
treatment. An in vitro study of intracellular infection model was established using
small colony variants (SCV) of Staphylococcus aureus in macrophages. MPSs-
100 exhibited cellular uptake values up to 80% of macrophage internalization
and MPSs-40 showed lower uptake values (up to 40%), and thus indicated the
exocytosis process was more assigned for smaller size MPSs. The observed higher
MPSs-RIF internalization and an antibacterial activity enhancement enable these
nanoplatforms to treat bacterial biofilms (Subramaniam et al. 2019).
1590 K. Kannan
Active Targeting
Active targeting can be employed to promote the internalization of nanoparticles

into tumor cells based on biological recognition as the fundamental tool for the
fabrication of targeted therapies. This kind of active targeting delivery requires
the surface modification of MPSs nanoparticles with a suitable ligand that tend to
interact with membrane receptors overexpressed in diseased organs, tissues, and
cells. This ligand-receptor interaction will direct a specific retention to increase the
endocytosis of nanoparticles into the target cells. The ligands could be antibodies,
peptides, aptamers, proteins, small biomolecules (like folic acid), and saccharides
(Fig. 5). Folic acid has been used extensively for selective localized delivery
of several anticancer drugs to various tumors including ovarian, breast, lung,
endometrial, colon, kidney, and brain cancer; it recognizes the folate receptors that
are overexpressed on their surfaces (Feng et al. 2016). A recent development on a
smart system comprised MCM-41 silica functionalized with two different molecular
weights of hyaluronic acid (HA) (6.4 and 200 kDa) to achieve active targeting. On
using this, enhancement stability and dispersity of MPSs in biological fluids was
Fig. 5 Schematic representation of multifunctional MPSs loaded with drug and targeting ligands
such as aptamers, antibodies, proteins, peptides, small biomolecules, and saccharides
observed. It also indicated that high molecular weight HA functionalized MCM-

41 showed higher biocompatibility, lowered cytotoxicity, and favored the targeted
binding to HA receptor (CD44), which are overexpressed in many tumor cells.
These results revealed that HA-functionalized MPSs are a promising platform for
active targeting of cancer cells (Ricci et al. 2018).
Antibodies are the most efficient and specific targeting ligands; Mandal et al.
(2018) developed an innovative therapeutic approach for targeting leukemia stem
cells (LSCs) using succinic anhydride coated MPSs tagged with an anti-B220
antibody. An in vitro study of the anthracycline daunorubicin loaded system showed
efficient internalization into murine B220 positive acute myeloid leukemia (ML) and
preference to kill these cells compared to B220 negative AML LSCs. Furthermore,
these MPSs significantly delayed the leukemia development in recipient mice. These
result revealed that active targeting of AML LSCs could be enhanced by using
antibody functionalized MPSs as carriers for anti-leukemic drugs (Mandal et al.
2018). Mao and coworkers designed a theranostic system combining synergistic
therapy and real-time imaging. Initially the polyvinylpyrrolidone decorated rod-
like Bi2 S3 nanoparticles were encapsulated with MPSs and loaded with DOX.
The resultant nanoparticles (NPs) were conjugated with trastuzumab (a mon-
oclonal antibody targeting HER-2 overexpressed breast cancer cells) to obtain
Tam-Bi2 S3 @MPSs core-shell NPs. Both in vitro and in vivo studies indicated that
the Tam-Bi2 S3 @MPSs bear multiple features such as good biocompatibility, drug
loading capacity as well as active tumor targeting. This system can serve as excellent
contrast agent for computed tomography deep tissue imaging as well as therapeutic
agent in cancer treatment (Li et al. 2018).
Sheng and coworkers have designed a novel delivery platform, tumor endothelial
marker 1 (TEM1)/endosialin (Ab-/scFv) conjugated with MPSs to target ovarian
cancer cells. The resultant nanosized MPSs exhibited a controlled release of beva-
cizumab (BVC) in pH 7.4 for promising anticancer efficacy profile. Furthermore, it
increased the cellular uptake and intracellular distribution of BVC in Ovcar5 cancer
cells. Overall, Ab-/scFv-conjugated MPSs showed a superior anticancer effect with
profound apoptosis as effective strategy for ovarian cancer treatment (Zhang et al.
2015).
Certain proteins are directly involved in the accelerated metabolism of tumor
cells and can be employed to active targeting (Gupta and Roy 2021). Transferrin
(Tf) is blood-plasma glycoprotein, which involves in the transportation of iron into
cells and epidermal growth factor (EGF). It stimulates cell growth and differentiates
with high demand of this protein by cancer tissues. Recently, Vallet-Regí group
developed a nanoplatform for the cancel cell targeting nucleation using MPSs
decorated with Tf followed by the immobilization of Ag NPs ((MSNs-Tf-AgNPs).
The receptor-mediated endocytic mechanism facilitated the internalization of the
NPs, and the transported Ag NPs dissolved toxic Ag+ ions within the lysosomes
during the retention time by following the “lysosome-enhanced Trojan horse effect.”
This affected the cell proliferation, and the transcripts involved in cell cycle
regulation were validated by quantitative proteomics using qPCR (Castillo et al.
2019).
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Peptides are short amino acid sequences usually less than 50, which have many
similarities with their parent proteins. The use of peptides has significant advantages
such as easy synthesis, conjugation, lower cost, and reduced immune response. Hu
et al. (2016) constructed the drug delivery system using polydopamine (PDA) coated
MPSs and functionalized with Asn-Gly-Arg (NGR), a ligand able to target cancer
neovasculature throughout the cluster of differentiation 13 (CD13) receptor. In vitro
study of this delivery system showed an enhanced intracellular accumulation in
primary brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) and C6 cells with higher blood-
brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Furthermore, the strong antiangiogenesis and
more antitumor efficacy of this system indicated that the dual-targeting vehicles
are potentially useful in brain glioma therapy (Hu et al. 2016).
Aptamers are a special class of nucleic acids that have higher affinity to specific
target molecules with great structural flexibility and thermal stability. All these
features make aptamers highly valuable components to active targeting delivery
system. Tang et al. (2015) developed a novel photoresponsive aptamer-targeting
drug delivery system. The Cy5.5-AS1411 aptamer conjugated on the surface of
graphene oxide grafted and doxorubicin (Dox)-loaded MPSs through noncovalent
assembly (MPSs-Dox@GO-Apt). The “off–on” switches of the MPSs-Dox@GO-
Apt could be controlled by aptamer targeting and laser irradiation, respectively.
Aptamer Cy5.5-AS1411 provided the nucleolin specific targeting with real-time
indicator abilities and the GO acted as gatekeeper to prevent the DOX release
in the absence of laser irradiation. Interestingly, with an increase in laser power
the system showed synergism of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy for
effective treatment of cancer cells (Tang et al. 2015). Li et al. (2017) fabricated
a promising therapeutic platform for epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)
positive colorectal cancer (CRC). Maytansine derivative (DM1) was loaded into the
pores of MPSs and the surface was decorated with hydrochloride dopamine (PDA),
PEG, and EpCAM aptamer (APt) for the active targeted treatment of CRC. In an in
vivo study of this system, the PDA was used as a pH-sensitive gatekeeper to release
the DM1, and EpCAM APt-guided active targeting increased the delivery of DM1
to CRC as well as reduced toxicity by minimizing the exposure of normal tissues to
DM1 (Li et al. 2017).
Gate Keeping of Drug Loaded MPSs
The major advantages of MPSs as drug delivery systems is the possibility to

design zero premature drug release by blocking the pore openings using suitable
gatekeepers. In these systems, the pores of MPSs can be blocked by the blockers
such as biomolecules, nanoparticles, linear molecules, cyclic molecules, polymers,
and polyelectrolyte layers. These blockers are usually attached with MPSs via
electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bond, or covalently, which are being easily
detached or cleavable by action of internal or external stimuli. Kim et al. fabri-
cated the glutathione (GSH) stimulus-responsive MPSs, in which the gate keeper
β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was covalently attached on surface of particles via disulfide
bonds. In vitro study showed that the addition of GSH could remove the gatekeepers
via the cleavage of disulfide bond between the moiety and then release the anticancer
drug in the pore (Kim et al. 2010). A high loading HMS-based delivery system
was developed for both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs using noncovalently
bound PEG-PDS-DPA copolymer as gatekeeper. At neutral pH, the PEG-PDS-DPA
polymer forms a dense layer on the surface of HMSs and blocks the pores to prevent
the drug leakage, but in low pH = 5.0–5.5, the disulfide bonds in the polymer
are degraded to release the drug from the HMSNs (Palanikumar et al. 2017).
PEGylated interior surfaces coated with poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm)
as gatekeepers for MPSs were developed for the thermo-sensitive drug delivery
of bovine hemoglobin. Surface treated cadmium quantum dots have been used as
photosensitive gatekeepers with the ability to avoid capillary condensation in the
MPSs pores for anticancer treatment using camptothecin (Nik et al. 2020).
Redox-responsive glycoprotein transferrin gatekeeper was applied as targeting
ligand on MPSs and showed the targeted drug delivery of doxorubicin and dox-
orubicin in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. MPSs end capped with natural chitosan
were stimulated to unblock for delivering drug by creating the acidic environments
due to lysozymes activity. Lysozymes are inherent immune system enzymes, which
are overproduced by myelomonocytic leukemia. MPSs capped with a peptide
sequence containing Arg-Gly-Asp acting as a gatekeeper were demonstrated to have
significant drug release ability in response to enzyme activity, where the peptide
functioned capping as a triple targeting motif via integrin binding in apoptotic
cells. The release from nanogold capped to the MSNs through electrostatically
or covalently with 3-(propyldisulfanyl)ethylamine was monitored using differential
interface contrast microscopy. In uncapping process associated with endocytosis,
the reducing reagents such as dithiothreitol and GSH target the disulfide bond and
cleave the nanogolds from MPSs channels (Nik et al. 2020) (Table 1).
Stimuli-Responsive Smart Delivery System
Nowadays, the designing of smart MPSs drug delivery system that responds to
specific stimuli has attained a lot of attention due to its incredible promises in
diagnostic level as well as in therapeutic applications. However, these platforms
lack the ability to transport the therapeutic molecules without any leakage until they
reach the targeted area. Besides that, these systems hardly accomplish the higher
release of drugs in restricted area and with temporal control. Taking these into
account, the fabrication of responsive MPSs system on demand can regularize the
circulating drug concentration in the body to eliminate the side effects against the
healthy cells and decomposition and denaturation of the drugs. Stimuli-responsive
behavior can be accomplished by blocking pores throughout using linkers, which
can be cleaved upon exposure to given stimuli. The stimuli are classified into
internal stimuli, that is, class of the treating pathology such as pH, redox potential,
and enzymes, and external stimuli such as light, temperature, magnetic field, and
ultrasounds. These applied stimuli response lead to alteration in surface structure
1594 K. Kannan
Table 1 Various gatekeepers for stimulus responsive triggered drug release from MPSs (Nik et al.
2020)
Gate keeper Stimulus Loaded drug
Chitosan pH DOX
Polyaspartic acid pH DOX
Chitosan oligosaccharide pH DOX
TPGS (d-a-tocopheryl poly-ethylene glycol pH DOX
1000 succinate)
Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF)-8 pH DOX
β-cyclodextrin ((β-CD)- PEG pH DOX
Blue Fluorescent N-GQDs, Hyaluronic acid pH DOX
Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) pH DOX
Polydopamine pH DOX
Carbon Quantum Dots pH DOX
Poly (allylamine hydrochloride)/Sodium pH DOX
Poly (styrene sulfonate)
Natural gelatin pH DOX
Poly (poly (ethylene glycol) methylether pH DOX
methacrylate-co-poly-(2-
methacryloxyethoxy)benzaldehyde)
Amphiphilic peptide (P45) pH DOX
Polydopamine pH-GSH DOX
Cross-linked chitosan pH-GSH DOX
Sodium Alginate pH-GSH DOX
Curcumin polymer pH-GSH DOX
Fe-BTC and Zn-BTC pH-Liposome DOX
Modified (PGMA)-Cucurbituril pH-Host/Guest DOX
Interactions
Polydopamine pH-Ultrasound DOX
Poly pH-Temperature DOX
((N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-methacrylic
acid)
Bismuth Sulfide NIR Irradiation DOX
4-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan- Temperature-ROS DOX
2-yl) benzyl
acrylate
Hyaluronic Acid Enzyme DOX
Hybrid Lipid Oxidation/Reduction DOX
d-α-tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 Oxidation/Reduction/NIR DOX
succinate (vitamin E)
Transferrin (Tf) GSH DOX
PEGylated organosilica GSH DOX
Polyacrylic acid pH Etoposide
Carboxymethyl β-cyclodextrin (CβCD) pH Etoposide
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
Gate keeper Stimulus Loaded drug
Polyethylene glycol pH Celastrol
poly (ethyleneimine) conjugated folic acid pH Erlotinib
CdS UV Irradiation Camptothecin
β-cyclodextrin Two-photon excitation Camptothecin
GST Enzyme DOX-Camptothecin
(glutathione-S-transferase)-HER2-Afb
of MPSs and release the drugs in the desired area or tissue. Thus researchers
are working toward enhanced targeting delivery and avoid the premature drug by
applying a combination of several stimuli-responsive strategies (Abdo et al. 2020;
Guimarães et al. 2020).
Internal Stimuli-Responsive Delivery
The metabolic and biochemical variations between normal and pathological condi-
tions (e.g., environment around tumors and inflammation sites) have been exploited
as the response for drug delivery systems without requirement of external mediation
to trigger drug release. In this concern, researchers have focused on the design of
MPSs that respond to internal stimuli such as pH, redox potential variations, and
deregulations of various proteins (mainly enzymes) or small biomolecules.
pH Responsive
From literature, pH is one of the most employable internal stimuli, especially
associated with drug release for treatment of cancer and inflammations. Tumors
exhibit (environment pH = 6–7) significant variations in pH values compared
with normal tissues (pH = 7.4), especially in intracellular lysosomes (pH = <5),
endosomes (pH = 5), and inflamed tissues (pH = 5.5) they could reach lower values.
In this perspective, the use of pH-sensitive gatekeepers as pore blockers can be an
interesting approach to control the drug release in response to pH changes. The
release of antitumor drugs from MPSs has been mainly triggered by using acid-
sensitive supramolecular nanovalves, polyelectrolytes, pH-sensitive polymers such
as poly(4-vinylpyridine), chitosan or poly(styrene sulfonate), pH-sensitive linkers
(hydrazine, sulfide, acetals) and acid-decomposable materials. In another strategy,
the cytotoxic drug is directly grafted on the MPSs surface using pH-sensitive linkers
(Castillo et al. 2019).
An autonomous in vitro anticancer drug releasing nanovalve was developed
from MPSs. In which the aromatic amines were attached covalently to the pores
of drug-loaded MPSs, and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) were introduced to surround the
stalks for blocking the pore openings. The electrostatic interaction between β-
CD and aromatic amines could be weakened under endosomal acidic conditions
1596 K. Kannan
due to the protonation, leading to β-CD uncaping and release of anticancer drug
from the pores (Sábio et al. 2019). A multifunctional nanocarrier was fabricated
based on DOX-loaded MPSs for the assembly of different building blocks to
increase effective antitumor treatment and decrease toxicity in normal cells. pH
responsive polyacrylic acid layer bound to MPSs through an acid-cleavable acetal
linker for trigger release with a targeting protein Concanavalin A (ConA) drug
delivery to a cell-surface glycans sialic acids over expressed in tumor cells. A higher
internalization rate in human osteosarcoma cells (HOS) with a small DOX loading
(2.5 mg mL−1 ) caused 95% of tumor cell death in 48 h (Castillo et al. 2019). Chen
et al. (2016) employed a new pH-responsive drug delivery system by capping MPSs
with peptide-decorated gold nanoparticles. Initially the material was functionalized
with acid-labile α-amide-β-carboxyl groups and then decorated with oligo-lysine
peptide. The resulting hybrid material exhibited pH-triggered drug release and the
decoration of RGD peptide (Arg-Gly-Asp) facilitated the targeting delivery to αvβ3
integrin overexpressed in cancer U87 MG cells (human glioblastoma cells). This
hybrid material loaded with DOX was easily internalized by the tumor cells and
showed a considerable decrease (ca. 60%) in tumor cell viability (Chen et al. 2016).
Yan et al. (2017) studied the effective release of antitumor drug camptothecin
(CPT) loaded to MPSs with acid-cleavable silyl ether bonds in order to develop
a hybrid CPT-MPSs system. The acid-labile silyl ether bonds were degraded only
under extracellular pH conditions of tumor tissues (pH = 6.8) to release the CPT
partially from the MPSs. The rate of drug release could be controlled by changing
the steric substituents of the silicon atom at pH 4 for inhibition (ca. 40%) of tumor
HeLa cell growth (Yan et al. 2017). Wang et al. (2018) built a novel platform for
controlled drug delivery of DOX and co-delivery of microRNA-31 (miR-31). The
DOX was loaded into the pore via disulfide bond, and later miR-31 and branched
polyethyleneimine (PEI) were sequentially coated layer-by-layer (LBL) on MSNs
surface. Finally hyaluronic acid (HA) was grafted on PEI through covalent bond.
The constructed delivery system could realize the acidic and redox environment of
tumors for release of the miR-31 and DOX sequentially to suppress high MtEF4
cancer cell (Wang et al. 2018a). In other work, Wang et al. (2018a) developed an
effective pH-activated theranostic platform using DOX-loaded MPSs capped with
ultrasmall manganese oxide (USMO). When this system was subjected to an acid
environment inside the tumor cells, the release of DOX along with Mn2+ from
MPSs-USMO was observed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This in
vitro study showed the successful internalization of DOX-USMO in human oral
squamous cell carcinoma (HSC3) cells with simultaneous MRI detection (Wang
et al. 2018b).
Supramolecular self-assembly was prepared by LBL coating of MPSs using
bis-aminated poly(glycerol methacrylate)s (PGOHMAs) and cucurbit (Kannan and
Jasra 2009) uril (CB (Kannan and Jasra 2009)), where CB (Kannan and Jasra 2009)
served as a molecular bridge holding two different bis-aminated polymeric layers
together in electrostatic interaction. The in vivo DOX-loaded assembly could release
the drug by lowering the pH in MDA-MB-231 cells to decreasing the cell viability
and tumor size (ca 63%) on a nude mice model induced by HeLa cancer cells
(Castillo et al. 2019). MPSs surfaces were covered with melamine functionalized
tetrathio-maleimide as capping agent by host-guest chemistry through multipoint
hydrogen bonding for pH-responsive release of rhodamine B in human breast MDA-
MB-231 cancer cells. This system provided the protection to drug molecules loaded
inside the pores for minimizing premature release in intracellular uptake (Castillo
et al. 2019). Hakeem et al. (2018) used polyaspartic acid (PAsA) as a gatekeeper
via amide linkage for providing a positive charge on MPSs for effective cellular
uptake by HepG2 cells. An in vitro study showed that the enhanced DOX release
from DOX-loaded PAsA-anchored MPSs under endosomal and lysosomal acidic pH
environment induced the translocation of nucleus to increase cytotoxicity in HepG2
cells (Hakeem et al. 2018).
Recently, Pan et al. (2018) developed a novel pH-responsive drug delivery
platform based on in situ synthesis of zeolite imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) film
with a few nanometer thickness on the surface of carboxylate functionalized MPSs.
The positive charge on ZIF-8 film increased the cellular antiapoptotic defensive
siRNA loading into MPS for enhancing the cellular internalization and endo-
lysosome escape as well as protecting from nuclease degradation. The acidic
endosome degraded the ZIF-8 film and induced the intracellular release of siRNAs
and DOX in MCF-7/ADR and SKOV-3/ADR cancer cells to increase the efficacy
(Pan et al. 2018).
Redox Responsive
The redox potential is also one of the explored stimuli trigger to tailor effective drug
delivery systems with controlled release profiles. The redox responsive drug release
is usually mediated by the degradation of disulfide bonds (i.e., -S-S-) in the presence
of reducing agents. The differences between the extracellular and intracellular
environments of normal and tumor tissues cause the dissonant production of
glutathione (GSH) or reactive oxygen species (ROS). The GSH/glutathione disulfide
pair is the key antioxidant defense mechanisms used in redox-responsive drug
release systems for the treatment of cancer (Castillo et al. 2019). The first redox-
triggered drug delivery system was developed by using CdS nanoparticles to seal
the pores of MPSs via a disulfide bond for controlled release of neurotransmitters
and drug molecules (Abdo et al. 2020).
Sha et al. (2018) developed a method for coating of MPSs surfaces using Pluronic
P123 (PSMSNs) and octadecyl chain-modified (PMSNs) by hydrophobic mediated
interaction. The PSMSNs showed a redox-responsive drug release in both vial and
mouse 4 T1 breast tumor cells. The high concentrated GSH environments in tumor
response cleaved the disulfide bonds, which set free hydrophobic chain P123 from
the surface of MPSs. The accumulation of P123 in the tumor in an in vivo model
enhanced the permeation and retention (EPR) effect on compared with the free P123
for cancer therapy (Sha et al. 2018).
A redox stimuli-responsive based dendronized chitosan derivative as a gate-
keeper on MSNs was developed for DOX release and synergistic co-delivery of
p53 gene. The delivery system enhanced the p53 gene delivery and the controlled
release of DOX under higher GSH situation in HeLa tumor cells. This synergistic
1598 K. Kannan
dual delivery of DOX and p53 from MPSs carrier induced a significant cytotoxicity
in tumor cells in comparison with DOX or p53 used alone (Lin et al. 2017). A ROS-
responsive free-blockage was explored by modification with a hydrophobic phenyl
sulfide to control the wetting behavior of the internal surface of MPSs pores. The
possible shift of hydrophobic to hydrophobic environment caused the oxidation of
the sulfide groups for the stimulation of ROS, which triggers the DOX release from
the MPSs in MCF-7/ADR tumor cells with higher rate of cytotoxicity (Cheng et al.
2017).
In another study Lee et al. (2016) designed a stimuli-responsive all-peptide with
on-off gatekeeping capability through conformational conversion and the bulkiness
of tryptophan in zinc finger domain peptide (CXXC). Higher GSH concentration
reduced the disulfide bond for the conversion of the peptide conformation into a
random structure, which opened the pores of MPSs to release the loaded DOX in a
controlled manner. An efficient internalization of DOX and higher cytotoxicity was
observed in A549 human lung cancer cells (Lee et al. 2016).
ROS-triggered self-accelerating drug release system was developed and the
anticancer drug DOX and ROS producing agent (α-tocopheryl succinate (α-TOS))
were loaded into the pores of MPSs with a gatekeeper β-CD. The thioketal linker
was cleaved with insufficient intracellular ROS of tumors, which opened only
limited pores to control release of DOX and α-TOS. The released α-TOSs interact
with mitochondria to generate additional intracellular ROS to facilitate the cleavage
of thioketal linkage of β-CD in order to attain a self-accelerating release of more
DOX and α-TOS (Hu et al. 2017).
A neurological disease caused by oxidative stress was treated by actively crossing
the BBB and release an antioxidant drug from MPSs upon ROS stimulation. The
pores of MPSs loaded with resveratrol and coated with polylactic acid (PLA) as
gatekeeper followed by a low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) was conjugated
to enhance the transcytosis across the BBB. The BBB/inflammation in vitro model
was established with a co-culture of rat brain microvascular endothelial cells
(RBECs) and microglia cells. A transport barrier mimicking of BBB created on
the top by tight junction of RBECs and the microglia on the bottom to stimulate the
production of ROS like superoxide or nitric oxide. The coated PLA was degraded
by the high concentration of ROS produced from microglia cells and subsequently
release the resveratrol to reduce inflammation (Shen et al. 2018).
In another study, a ROS-activated yolk-shell platform was developed for the
simultaneous delivery of cytochrome c (Cyt c) and DOX molecules. The delivery
system was fabricated by immobilizing Cyt c on the surface of yolk-shell through
H2 O2 -liable boronic ester bonds and coated with lactic acid on DOX-loaded MPSs.
The boronic ester linkages temporarily shielded the bioactivity of Cyt c and readily
degraded in the H2 O2 -rich intracellular environment of tumor (Pei et al. 2018).
Enzymes and Biomolecules Responsive

The overexpression and deregulations of certain enzymes such as esterase and
matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs, a family of protein with protease activity) in
tumor and other pathologies could also be used as release triggers. An enzyme
incorporated MPSs was developed for the transportation of prodrug (indol-3-
acetic acid) and horseradish peroxidase enzyme. This enzyme is responsible for
oxidation of prodrug and the conversion of protective polymeric shell into cytotoxic
compounds. The nanodevice showed effective internalization of antitumor drugs by
neuroblastoma (NB1691-luc) and leukemia (NALM6) cells and generated enough
ROS that decreased the human cancer cells viability (Castillo et al. 2019). Liu
et al. (2015) reported an MMP responsive release of DOX from MPSs by using
bovine serum albumin as end-cap peptide intermediate linker and lactobionic acid
as targeting moiety. The tumors were induced by injecting HepG2 cells into nude
mice. The enzyme-triggered release of DOX enhanced the accumulation at liver
tumor site and decreased the cell growth (Liu et al. 2015). Cheng et al. (2015)
developed an enzyme-induced and tumor-targeted DOX delivery system based on
multifunctional MPSs. A cleavable rotaxanes gatekeeper and azido-GFLGR7RGDS
(membrane-penetrating multifunctional peptide and cathepsin B-responsive) were
anchored onto the surface of MPSs. The resulted system was used for DOX release
by enzymatic digestion of GFLG peptide due to overexpression in late endosome
and lysosomes of tumors for efficient internalized by HeLa cells (Cheng et al. 2015).
An ATP-responsive intracellular drug delivery system with real-time monitoring of
drug release through fluorescence was fabricated by using graphene quantum dots
(GQDs) onto the pores of MPSs and an ATP aptamer. The low level of ATP on
the extracellular was unable to trigger the drug release and keep the fluorescence in
“off” state. Once the system reached ATP-rich cytoplasm the ATP aptamer switches
its conformation to release drugs and GQDs from the MPSs, which turns “on” the
fluorescence for real-time monitoring of drug release (Zheng et al. 2015).
The same concept, a core@shell nanosystem consists of upconversion nanopar-
ticles (UCNPs) core and MPSs shell for intracellular and real-time monitoring of
double drug release in response to ATP. In this biogated system a dipicolylamine-
zinc analogue (TDPA-Zn2+ ) was bound onto the surface of the drug-loaded MPSs to
serve as binding sites for polypeptides with multiple carboxylate side chains to serve
as the capping ligands. Upon light irradiation the luminescence resonance energy
transfer (LRET) occurred between the loaded DOX and CPT drugs and the UCNPs,
which quenched UV-vis emission of the UCNPs. The higher ATP concentration
caused a competitive displacement of polypeptide chain from the MPSs to trigger
drugs release. Thus the LRET eliminated during the release of drugs, which lead to
an enhancement on the UV-vis emission of UCNPs for real-time monitoring (Lai
et al. 2015).
Novel multifunctional MPSs with integrated glucose responsive double drugs
release and fluorescent real-time monitoring capabilities was developed. The flu-
orescent reporter alizarin was attached onto the surface of MPSs and then the
gluconated insulin conjugated through benzene-1,4-diboronic mediated esterifica-
tion reaction. This system bears advantage of competitive binding principle between
the glucose, hydrophobic boronic acid, and fluorescent molecules such as alizarin. In
the absence of glucose, the diboronic acid bound to the diols of alizarin complexone
1600 K. Kannan
forms the sandwich type boronate ester structure and gluconated insulin remains
intact to block the mesopores. When glucose is present, it is competitively bound
with diboronic acid to dissociate the ester bond for release of gluconated insulin. The
diffusion of gluconated insulin and rosiglitazone maleate causes the disappearance
of fluorescence (Zou et al. 2016).
External Stimuli-Responsive Delivery
Many researchers have been successfully constructed the tumor microenvironment

(TME) responsive drug releasing platforms by conjugating the bioactive moieties on
the surface of MPSs framework. However, considering the spatiotemporal dynamic
fluctuation several biochemical parameters of TME are still in complication. These
may suffer the controlled bioresponsive tumor-specific drug release system and
maneuverability. Therefore, rational manipulation of delivery process by external
stimuli is highly desired for the fabrication of novel delivery systems under control
at all time. From the literature external stimuli such as light, temperature, magnetic
field, and ultrasound (US) have been extensively explored to initiate the in situ drug
release for significant enhancement of chemotherapeutic efficacy.
Light Responsive
The drug release triggered by illumination with a specific wavelength (ultraviolet
(UV), visible (Vis), near-infrared (NIR) regions) showed the advantages of its easy
application, low toxicity, and precise focus in the desired place. Recently, visible
light is receiving great attention due to the less harmful and higher penetrability rate.
A novel visible light responsive drug delivery system was developed by anchoring
the porphyrin nanocaps on MPSs via ROS cleavable linkages. When Vis light was
applied, the porphyrin caps provoke singlet oxygen molecules to break the linker
and trigger the drug release from MPSs for cancer treatment (Castillo et al. 2019).
A reversible light operated nanovalve was employed by blocking the pores of the
drug-loaded MPSs with azobenzene derivatives. The light radiation triggered the
drug release through a trans to cis photoisomeriazation process (Tarn et al. 2014).
Upconversion (UCN) provides an efficient way to convert NIR light (lower
energy photons) to UV-vis light (higher energy photons) for light triggered drug
release. Generally, the upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are prepared by the
transducer nanomaterials based on lanthanide ions (such as Tm3+ , Yb3+ , and
Er3+ ) doped nanocrystals. UCNPs assembled MPSs composites could be excited
in the NIR for the controlled release of loaded drug through different proposed
mechanisms. Under the influence of NIR light the MPSs with Gd2 O3 : Yb/Er
nanocrystal released the drug faster from the mesopores (Duan et al. 2018).
Photoactive molecular valve was fabricated by grafting the ruthenium complexes
on the surface of DOX loaded UCNPs@MSNs and demonstrated the sensitivity in
ultralow-intensity NIR light. The ruthenium complexes induced the drug delivery
at low intensity light (0.35 W cm−2 ), which is lower than the maximum exposure
limit of skin (0.726 W cm−2 ). Thus, upconverting materials showed the ability to
minimize the overheating problems and prevent the damage of biological samples
from such a low light intensity (He et al. 2015).
The photosensitizer chlorin e6 incorporated in the UCNPs@MPSs and grafted
with a thioketal linker as gatekeeper onto the DOX loaded MPSs nanoparticles
revealed the synergistic effects of chemotherapy and photo dynamic therapy (PDT).
Upon NIR irradiation the upconverted luminescence stimulates Ce6 to generate
ROS, which break the thioketal “gate” for on-demand DOX release and PDT
(Zhang et al. 2016). Nanocomplexes of UV-labile polyelectrolyte as gatekeeper on
UCNPs@MPSs used NIR light triggered drug release by disrupting the polymer
layer (Xiang et al. 2018). Recently, Wu et al. (2018) developed a UV–Vis light
responsive nanovehicle to overcome multidrug resistance (MDR). In this system,
the DOX and coumarin were bonded on MPSs via subsequent ester-labile linkers
using cationic poly[2-(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate](PDMAEMA) with
shRNA gene absorption. The temporal responsive DOX delivery and effective
cellular uptake to reduce MDR were observed at 365 nm and 405 nm light
irradiation, respectively. Light irradiation at 365 nm initially induces the drug
delivery and then light at 405 nm irradiation lead the ester bond cleavage in
coumarin-PDMAEMA structure to release shRNA to reduce P-glycoprotein, which
is one of the responsible protein to drug efflux in MDR. Both the in vitro and in
vivo studies confirmed that selective irradiation for sequential release of shRNA
and DOX enhanced synergistic therapy of MDR cancer (Wu et al. 2018).
Temperature Responsive
The difference in temperature vital for triggering the drug release from thermore-
sponsive MPSs can be applied or induced by a secondary source such as magnetic
field or light. This class of delivery system relies on using (1) disassembling
gatekeepers with an increment of temperature and (2) phase transitions of polymers
upon temperature variations. In this sense, a coiled coil peptide motif was used as
thermoresponsive valves of MPSs to restrict the release of their cargo. The coiled
coil peptide motif consists of two α-helices coiled around each other in a rope-like
structure. On heating over the physiological temperature the coiled peptide structure
was disassembled to trigger the release of cargo molecules (Martelli et al. 2013).
Polymers hydrophilic at a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) changed
to hydrophobic upon above physiological temperature (37 ◦ C). In this approach,
a layer of temperature-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) p(NIPAM) was
coated on the surface ordered MPSs for direct use of thermo-responsive gatekeeper.
Highly monodispersed MPSs-p(NIPAM) composite used for load and release of
rhodamine B at temperature below to LCST of 32 ◦ C. Temperature above LCST led
the coil-to-globule transition to shutoff of uptake and release (Su et al. 2018). The
LCST could be raised up to 44.4 ◦ C by introducing different types of monomers or
copolymerizing NIPAM with methacrylic acid (MAA) for efficient controlled and
targeted drug delivery (Peralta et al. 2019). Recently, polyethylene glycol (PEG)
acrylates have received more attention as substitutes of pNIPAM analogs because
of their better biocompatibility (Ribeiro et al. 2017).
1602 K. Kannan
Magnetic Responsive
The development of magnetic-responsive platform as controlled drug delivery sys-
tem consists of core-shell nanostructures based on well-known superparamagnetic
iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) covered with MPSs. This platform has been
widely employed to control the drug delivery with alternative magnetic field in
target region. Thomas et al. (2010) developed a zinc-doped iron oxide nanocrystal
(ZnNCs) inside of MPSs to show hyperthermia under oscillating magnetic field.
The controlled drug delivery system (CDDS) was fabricated by loading DOX into
the pores of MPSs@ZnNCs and grafting its surface with pseudorotaxanes as silyl
stalk and cucurbit[6]uril as gatekeeper respectively. In vitro study showed that when
the system exposed to alternative current (AC) magnetic field the ZnNCs generated
internal heat to degrade the stalk-gatekeeper interaction and release DOX from
mesopores. The released drug molecules were efficiently internalized by MDA-MB-
231 cells and consequently caused cell apoptosis (Thomas et al. 2010).
In another approach, the pores of the MPSs were loaded with Fe3 O4 and a low
melting temperature DNA sequence was bound to Fe3 O4 (ca. 5 nm) nanoparticles,
separately. Then, both Fe3 O4 -MPSs and DNA- Fe3 O4 were mixed to get hybridized
DNA with the subsequent capping of the pores. Under the alternating magnetic
field the temperature of DNA/Fe3 O4 /MPSs conjugate increased to 42–47 ◦ C for
progressive double-stranded DNA melting to uncapping the pore and the subsequent
release of the model drug. The interesting aspect of this system was the reversibility
of DNA linkage to control the drug release via “on-off” mechanism (Castillo et al.
2019).
Sanchez-Salcedo and coworker fabricated a system based on core-shell
Fe3 O4 @MPSs with daunorubicin (DAU) loaded into mesopores and modified
with PEI groups for oscillating magnetic field (OMF)-responsive drug delivery.
Consequently, the pores were blocked with zwitterionic 2-methacryloyloxyethyl
phosphorylcholine (MPC) and siRNA in order to attain the low-fouling (minimum
of unspecific protein) adsorption in simulated biological environment. Under OMF,
the thermosensitive polymer was disrupted and releases DAU in target site. The
higher internalization confirmed the restricted expression of green fluorescence
protein (GFP) in tumor cells by siRNA. Thus the system included a synergic
OMF-responsive drug delivery by using magnetic MSNs covered with zwitterionic
structures and siRNA for effective treatment of ovarian cancer (Ovcar8) cells
(Castillo et al. 2019).
Ultrasound
Ultrasound (US) as external stimulus for triggering the drug delivery is a most
promising approach due its noninvasive deep penetration into living tissue. Besides
the high tissue penetration power, frequency tunability, portability, cycles, exposure
time, and spatiotemporal controllability have extensively employed it in various
therapeutic applications. The development of efficient drug delivery system is
mostly based on US responsive carriers such as liposomes, micelles, and poly-
meric composites. Vallet-Regí research group fabricated a US-responsive drug
delivery system, modifying MPSs with US and thermosensitive polymers (2-(2-

methoxyethoxy) ethylmethacrylate and tetra-hydropyranyl methacrylate), respec-
tively. The grafted copolymer maintains its open conformation at low temperature
(4 ◦ C) and favors the DOX loading into pores. The copolymer in contact with
physiological medium (37 ◦ C) and the conformation changed to block the pores
for avoiding the drug leakage until target site. After prostate cancer (LNCaP) cells
endocytosis without cytotoxic effects, the US exposure at 1 MHz and 15 W induced
the copolymer conformation change and consequently released the DOX to destroy
the cancer cells (Castillo et al. 2019).
Lv et al. (2017) designed a smart theranostic system by conjugating folic
acid (FA) with H2 N@MPSs to increase the permeability into tumor cells. After
that, tanshinone IIA was loaded into mesopores, and then the resulting system
was incorporated into gas-filled microbubbles (MB). In vitro study showed the
enhancement of the cellular uptake with cytotoxicity. A dose-dependent cytotoxicity
was observed in HeLa and A549 cells and also the FA facilitates the permeation into
HeLa cells due the overexpression of FA receptors in this type of cancer cells. The
MB could be disrupted by US irradiation to release TAN on target sites for high
tumor suppression (Lv et al. 2017). Paris and coworker modulated a US-responsive
system and MPSs covered with a layer of PEG to prevent aggregation and grafted
the active targeting moieties. Although the EPR effect or the active targeting moiety
could assist the accumulation of MPSs into tumor tissue, the treatment of cancer cell
was not effective until the cargo release. Therefore, the presence of internalization
ligands or positively charged moieties on the surface of the MPSs was necessary for
enhanced uptake in the cancer cells (Castillo et al. 2019).
In another study, Paris and coworkers developed a novel smart hierarchical
ultrasound-responsive MPSs system for cancer therapy. Initially the anticancer drug
was loaded into pores and shielded with polyethylene glycol layer. Upon exposure
to high frequency US the polymer degraded to expose the positively charged surface
to favor the internalization in human osteosarcoma cells. This dynamic nanosystem
displayed the different surface characteristics toward tumor cells with release of
topotecan to drastically enhance the cytotoxic effect and expose the positive charges
for favoring the cellular uptake (Castillo et al. 2019).
Multi-stimuli Responsive
The precise control of the drug delivery at the target tissue can be assured by associ-
ating specific molecules or moieties with MPSs to response more than one stimulus
(internal and/or external) labeled multi-responsive drug delivery system. The wide
functionalization and fine tunability of MPSs favors the design of multi-sensitive
platforms that can enhance the spatiotemporal control of drug release in successful
chemotherapy (Fig. 6). In this sense, Han et al. (2015) focused on the development
of redox and pH stimuli-responsive drug delivery system to conquer MDR using
hybrid lipid-capped MPSs. The polymer D-α-tocopherol and PEG-succinate added
subsequently to self-assemble into a lipid layer through hydrophobic interaction to
1604 K. Kannan
Fig. 6 Designing of MPSs based delivery system for intracellular targeting drug delivery to
overcome MDR
act as smart valves of MPSs channels. This system showed higher uptake efficiency,
cytotoxicity, and enhanced intracellular accumulation of DOX in tumor MCF-7/Adr
cells (Han et al. 2015).
Jin et al. (2018) reported multi-responsive MPSs for simultaneous prolong
blood circulation and enzyme-sensitive drug release for effective internalization
into tumors. A triple layers MPSs smart drug delivery capsule was prepared with
stimuli responsive to tumor environment. Initially the DOX loaded into the pores
of MPSs was modified with fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled hyaluronan (FITC-
HA), and the second layer comprised silica and N-trimethoxysilylpropyl-N,N,N-
trimethylammonium chloride (TSA) through disulfide bonds. The last layer was
2,3-dimethylmaleic anhydride (DMA) for making the external surface zwitterionic.
The MPSs-HA-SiO2 -TSA/DMA started with higher permeability and retention
effect followed by pH-sensitive disruption of DMA for specific drug delivery
in tumor cells. After internalization, the high GSH concentrations in cytoplasm
induced the cleavage of disulfide bonds to liberate the silica shell. Finally, the HA
surface exposed to HAase enzymes leading to the HA degradation for accurate drug
delivery to tumor cells (Jin et al. 2018).
Liu et al. (2017a) elaborately developed a core-interlayer-shell Fe3 O4 @mSiO2 @

lipid-PEG-methotrexate (FMLM) nanoparticle for multistage targeted chemo-
photodynamic therapy. The core-shell Fe3 O4 @mSiO2 was prepared by co-
precipitation and modified sol-gel methods, respectively. In second step, the
mesopores of core-shell structure were loaded with DOX and then coated with a
bilayer of PEGylated liposome (DSPE-PEG) and methotrexate (MTX)-conjugated
PEGylated liposome (DSPE-PEG-MTX) via thin film dispersion hydration
method. After bilayer conjugation, the photosensitizer zinc phthalocyanine
(ZnPc) impregnated into bilayer structure labeled DOX/ZnPc-FMLM. Both in
vitro and in vivo studies exhibited the enhanced tumor accumulation, increased
cellular uptake, and improved anticancer activity. For the first time, magnet
responsive MTX macromolecular prodrug targeting was successfully developed
for dual-modal fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging-guided combined
chemo-photodynamic cancer therapy (Liu et al. 2017a).
A multifunctional integrated pH-responsive drug release and UCNP-based pho-
todynamic therapy (PDT) was designed using the novel core-shell-shell structure.
This platform consists of UCNP emission core, a photosensitizer methylene blue
(MB) embedded silica sandwich shell, and PEI conjugated folic acid (PEI-FA)
gated MPSs outmost shell with DOX loaded into the pores. An acidic pH condition
distorted the PEI layer to release the DOX from core-shell. Simultaneously, under
NIR irradiation (980 nm) the UCNP core was upconverted to 660 nm red light to
generate the singlet oxygen (1 O2 ) from activated MB for PDT (Han et al. 2016).
Recently, Park and coworkers extensively investigated the MPSs with stimuli-
responsive gatekeepers for controlled drug delivery at the target sites. They devel-
oped ROS responsive MPSs (R-MPSs) consisting of a gadolinium- tetraazacyclodo-
decanetetraacetic acid (Gd–DOTA) complex as the ROS-responsive gatekeeper and
PEG conjugated chlorin e6 as the ROS generator for MRI directed photodynamic
chemotherapy. DOX was physically encapsulated into DOTA-conjugated MPSs
followed by chemical crosslinking through GdCl3 addition. In physiological envi-
ronment the DOX-R-MSNs could effectively maintain their structural integrity
for 7 days and also enhanced the in vitro T1 -MRI signal for the Gd–DOTA
complex. The releasing rate of DOX form DOX-R-MPSs significantly increased
with the disintegration of gatekeeper at 660 nm laser irradiation. The DOX-R-
MPSs were intravenously injected into tumor-bearing mice, and their effective
accumulation in tumor tissue was demonstrated using MRI. Moreover, tumor
growth was significantly reduced by DOX-R-MPSs by allowing the site-specific
release of DOX in a photodynamically maneuvered manner (Rao et al. 2018).
One of the most challenging approach in drug delivery system is to attain the
concept that one ligand could accomplish multiple purposes. Upon such concern,
the surface of thermally hydrocarbonized porous silicon (PSi) nanoparticles was
modified using 3-aminopropoxy-linked quercetin (AmQu) and subsequently with
a derivative of a flavonoid inspired structure of dopamine. This system inherited a
several advanced properties including enhanced anticancer efficiency, anti-multiple
drug resistance (MDR), stimuli-responsive drug release, monitoring, and better
particle-cell interactions. The loaded DOX was released in pH responsive manner
1606 K. Kannan
and AmQu also effectively quenches the fluorescence for monitoring the intracel-
lular drug release. Furthermore, a synergistic effect was observed in both normal
MCF-7 and DOX-resistant MCF-7 breast cancer cells due to the presence of AmQu.
The structural similarity of dopamine and AmQu could facilitate the interaction
and internalization to exhibit multifunctionality for anti-MDR cancer treatment (Liu
et al. 2017b).
Lu et al. (2017) fabricated a tri-stimuli-sensitive biodegradable delivery system
that combines synergically hyperthermia and chemotherapy. This novel system
was developed based on copper sulfide doped on periodic mesoporous organosil-
ica nanoparticles (CuS@PMOS) via an in situ growth method. The pores of
CuS@PMOs were loaded with DOX to construct DOX-CuS@PMOs nanosystem.
The release of DOX from CuS@PMOs could be controlled by three stimuli includ-
ing intracellular glutathione (GSH), pH in tumor cells, and external laser irradiation.
The increasing concentration of GSH and acidic pH in tumor environment facilitates
the disruption of disulfide bonds present in nanosystem for higher DOX release
than at neutral pH. Furthermore, mild hyperthermia generated by CuS@PMOs upon
higher laser irradiation induces more DOX release and also dramatically improved
the cellular uptake of nanotheranostics. In vivo and in vitro studies confirmed that
the synergic effect of tri-stimuli controlled DOX release significantly enhanced
the chemotherapeutic efficacy for complete tumor growth suppression without
recurrence (Lu et al. 2017).
Nowadays the applications of nanoparticles-based delivery systems have revolu-

tionized the diagnosis and treatment of most of the diseases. Especially MPSs
nanoparticles have been attracting due to their biocompatibility, fine tunability of
size and shape, wide functionality, and interaction with cells surfaces. Although
the variations exist, when the size of MPSs and human cells fall into same it
allows intimate interactions. The pharmacokinetic profile of various treatments is
strictly controllable by the MPSs, and it is a critical distinction compared with
traditional treatments. The administration of drug doses either orally or by injection
in patients the fluctuation of concentration often experiencing toxicity or side effects
because each individual consumes the therapeutic differently. MPSs can potentially
diminish these issues by a controlled release of therapeutic and maintaining the
optimal concentration of the drug over a long period. Moreover the capability of
MPSs on combined drug therapies, higher loads of drug, proves its significance
in the treatment of resistant and resilient tumors. The combination of certain
contrast agents with therapeutic provides the continuous monitoring of drug release
and an immediate bio-imaging assessment of the effectiveness of the treatment.
Furthermore, the application of multi-stimulus offers the precise control of drug
release for medical professional and ensures no premature releasing for severely
reducing the systemic toxicity.
Certainly the impact of nano delivery system will benefit the world, and
approximately 15% of the total market share is persisted by nano-pharmaceuticals.
We must first pass the clinical translation and industrial processing hurdles prior to
commercialization. The economical scalability and reproducibility of synthetically
created MPSs to market still remains a difficult task. Because the lab scale
production of MPSs is widely different from the industrial scale production needed
for clinical screening, trial, and uses. These obstacles have been delaying the
implementation of established MPSs in the clinical setting. Many researchers are
seriously working to solve these lingering issues. The biological perspective of
MPSs nanoparticle also must be evaluated to consider immunogenicity and toxicity
as they are related to surface functionality of nanoparticles. For toxicity concern
the MPSs are biocompatible in animal model studies, but the efficacy of in vivo
pharmacokinetics studies still needs to be completed (Castillo et al. 2019).
The evaluated MPSs drug delivery systems are intended for in vivo studies on
cancer and infectious diseases treatment and that the accumulation of MPSs is only
on targeting tissues and no other sites within the body should be ensured. Currently,
there are no MPSs based systems that have successfully completed the preclinical
trials stage. Many nonomedicines are found to be failed in clinical translation so this
stage must be handled very carefully. These data revealed that the animal models
are not a suitable indicator to the future success of delivery system in humans.
The significant variation in efficacy may be due the large physiological differences
between small animals and humans. In this regard, literature search reveals that
many instance of xenografting human cancer cells in mice to observe efficacy
of MPSs delivery system on treating cancer. Presently this practice regarded as
acceptable but still remains as controversial, which may be a factor for low success
rate of studied delivery systems.
The prolonged xenografting experiments result positively on animal toxicology
and could give green signal to phase-I clinical trials. The toxicological studies
in human cannot be taken easily as many MPSs based nano-therapies are being
rejected based on their poor performance in clinical trials. Therefore the evaluated
nano-carriers must be nontoxic, and body clearance and overall safety are basic
criteria upon determining the appropriate delivery system for clinical consideration.
During the clinical trials, researchers should have a simultaneous discussion
with regulating authorities. Only a small percentage of drug delivery system has
completed the full evaluation process for commercial approval. In addition the
medical professionals must educate the possible benefits and industry must ensure
to demonstrate therapeutic efficacy that will be embraced more by our community.
As previously discussed, MPSs have higher potential to be recognized as novel
drug delivery system in both diagnosis and therapeutic application in future. The
more abundant silica in bone and cartilage is called as “GRAS” by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) of the USA. Moreover, silica has been utilized as
excipient in preparation of tablet and as external nourishing agents. In 2012, the
FDA approved the first types of silica-based nanoparticles recognized as “Cornell
dots” (C-dots) for stage-I clinical trial and the obtained results encouraged it as
diagnostic tool for different applications. Furthermore, the clinical trials of C-dots
1608 K. Kannan
were used as an imaging tool in melanoma of the head and neck (phase-I) and for
gynecologic cancers (phase-II) (Farjadian et al. 2019). These encouraging results of
MPSs may open up new horizons in commercialization of drug delivery systems.
In order to attain this goal further research should focus on the critical factors
such as biocompatibility, targeting capability, control release with monitoring,
and clearance routes in designing of SMSs as drug delivery systems. These may
definitely facilitate to revolutionize the application of SMSs in biotechnological and
chemotherapeutics in the near future.
The following are some important websites related to the using of smart MPSs
in designing of DDSs:
a) https://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/doc/benefits-of-silica-based-carriers-
in-drug-delivery-applications-0001
b) https://www.drugdiscoverytrends.com/novel-use-of-silica-for-drug-delivery/
c) https://3dforscience.com/nuvec-a-novel-silica-nanoparticle-delivery-system/
d) https://www.nanosilicaldevices.com/
e) https://www.astrazeneca.com/what-science-can-do/topics/next-generation-
therapeutics/developing-the-next-generation-of-drug-delivery-technologies.
html
f) https://www.delsitech.com/
g) https://grace.com/pharma-and-biotech/en-us/Pages/Excipients-and-Drug-Deli-
very.aspx
h) https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/drug-delivery-
systems-getting-drugs-their-targets-controlled-manner
i) https://www.ondrugdelivery.com/
j) https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/articles/drug-delivery-
322035
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8366
IoT-Based Smart Farming System Using
MQTT Protocol and ML Algorithms 63
Sathish P. and Alivelu Manga N.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1614
Control Parameters of Smart Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1616
System Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1616
Implementation of System Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1617
Experimental Analysis of Smart Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1619
Data Acquisition Through Different Field Trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1620
Design of 3D Printing Prototype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1622
Temperature and Humidity Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1625
Pressure Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1626
Gas Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1626
Soil Moisture Sensor, Status of Motor, and Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1626
Messaging Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1628
ThingSpeak Mobile Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1628
Design of Webpage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1629
Decision Tree Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1630
Random Forest Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1630
Comparison of ML Algorithms Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1631
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1633
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1634
Abstract
Internet of Things (IoT) enables relations between separate data collection

and exchange platforms. The Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT)
protocol is light weighted protocol. The proposed system is designed using an
ARM Cortex processor with the other supporting peripherals for monitoring and
S. P. () · A. M. N.
Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India
e-mail: namanga04@gmail.com
1614 S. P. and A. M. N.
controlling environmental parameter values to achieve optimal growth and yield

of the crop. The system parameters include temperature, humidity, soil moisture,
air pressure, and fertilizer content sprayed. Further, the obtained data from the
field trials are processed through the ThingSpeak cloud with the secured MQTT
protocol. The system includes features like SMS alerts, automatic control of
actuators, a customized web application for monitoring and controlling of the
smart farm. An efficient algorithm is to be developed for different parameters
obtained from the various field trails. To protect the smart farming system from
environmental conditions and insect attacks a 3D prototype casing is designed.
To assist the system further the supervised machine learning algorithms such as
decision tree and random forest algorithms are to be implemented for prediction
of soil moisture, fertilizer content sprayed, and weather parameters, i.e., humidity
and temperature. The predicted data is compared in terms of accuracy, mean
absolute error and mean squared error.
Keywords
Machine learning · MQTT · IoT · ARM · ThingSpeak · Microcontroller unit
Introduction
Agriculture accounts not only for developing countries but for many industrialized
countries as a large part of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Therefore, it is
time required to develop and refine existing agricultural technology. It will not
only serve to encourage the sustainable growth of humankind, flora and fauna, it
will also help to cope with environmental problems such as climate change and
epidemics such as draughts (Benyezza et al. 2018). With better technology comes
better yield. The term greenhouses mean a controlled environment space or area
to grow plants (Vij et al. 2020). The monitoring and control of several criteria for
good quality and development of plants is critical in today’s greenhouses. However,
certain parameters such as soil fertility, fertilizer content, temperature, air pressure,
precipitation, etc. are needed in order to achieve the desired result. Those parameters
need continuous surveillance and control. Smart farming and greenhouses became
more popular with the need for food and land reduction as agro-economic activity
and have become a viable option for securing food supplies. In addition, severe
climate and weather changes influence crop production, thereby raising their costs
and reducing the quality of crops grown (Carlos et al. 2018). The global smart
farming market statistics regions wise from 2020 to 2027 is presented in Fig. 1.
The Internet of Things is a new and upcoming way of implementing technology.
It involves connecting a set of computers and devices and transferring data between
each other. Abbreviated to IoT, this phenomenon has a variety of applications and its
maximum potential is yet to be figured out. It gives control from human to human or
human to machine and lets the user be involved to a great extent (Shete and Agrawal
2016). There is a huge and wide range of IoT equipment designed by various
63 IoT-Based Smart Farming System Using MQTT Protocol and ML Algorithms 1615
Global Smart Farming Market is Expected to Account for

USD 25.02 Million by 2028
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
North America Europe Asia Pacific South America Middle East and Africa
Fig. 1 Global Smart Farming region wise market
Fig. 2 Basic building blocks of Smart Farming
organizations are market available for services such as quality of water monitoring,
crop growth patterns tracking, smart routes for field sprinkling pesticides and
fertilizers, high-tech laser-assisted precision land leveling, plants, and human health
monitoring, and various other applications (Raghav Kumar et al. 2018; Kishore and
Samar Sarjerao 2017). The basic building blocks for smart farming are shown Fig. 2.
1616 S. P. and A. M. N.
Control Parameters of Smart Farming
In general, various parameters must be calculated for the farm. The Smart Farm
system however proposed measures that would be key to agriculture:
• The temperature of the field atmosphere.

• Soil Moisture Level of the field.
• Fertilizer content sprayed on the farm.
• The humidity of the farm atmosphere.
• Air Pressure of the farm.
• Autonomous as well as customized control of water motor.
• Exhaust Fan for the Greenhouse to maintain controlled Environment.
System Block Diagram
The Smart Farm/Greenhouse system makes use of four sensors they are soil mois-
ture, gas (Gas Sensor Specifications 2020), pressure (Sensor Specifications 2020),
and DHT-11, with a processing module Raspberry Pi with ARM microcontroller
(Raspberry Pi Specifications 2019) unit and one data transmission which is built in
it. The main purpose of the proposed system is to gather sensor data and submitting
it to the user every time a smart farm/greenhouse user wishes to verify soil moisture,
fertilizer content, and temperature, humidity, and pressure. The Raspberry Pi acts as
an Internet access portal server. It functions as a mini-network with sensor control.
The data is protected by security (secure socket layer) protocol. Also, the MQTT
Server stores data on an ongoing basis. The benefit of using the cryptographic
MQTT protocol and Transport Layer Security (TLS) is that no uncertain data
is saved along with the correct data (Yokotani and Sasaki 2016; Kishore and
Soratkal 2017). All the data of sensors processed by the MCU and updated into
the ThingSpeak server (Kranthi kumar et al. 2019). The entire block diagram of the
designed system is shown in Fig. 3.
The authorized users can access this data by logging into their accounts of
ThingSpeak server. The parameters are also displayed on the customized website
for the farmers. Form that website not only the farmer can see the parameters of the
farm but also control the farm by ON/OFF of the eater motor or ON/OFF the fan if
needed even when it is automated. The information all will be stored, distributed,
interpreted, evaluated, and displayed in real-time. The monitored data is stored in the
database for further data processing. Here the user will also get an SMS alert if there
is any change in the parameters of the farm. The collected data is verified, processed,
and sent for machine learning algorithms for prediction purposes. Here the farmer
is provided with two algorithm outputs so that the accuracy of the parameters is
improved. The used algorithms are decision tree and random forest algorithms.
The parameters like the temperature, humidity, air pressure, soil moisture, and the
fertilizers sprayed will be predicted by the algorithms.
Block Diagram
Decision
Making
Power Supply Raspberry Pi 4 Data Analysis
ThingSpeak
Cloud Platform
Sensors Network MQTT
Data Collection
Soil Moisture Pressure
DHT-11 MQ-2
Attenurators Network ThingSpeak Mobile ThingSpeak PC

Application View
Air Exhaust Water Pump

Feadback
Customized Web
SMS Alert
Farmer Page
Fig. 3 System block diagram
Implementation of System Design
The proposed system’s algorithm is shown in Fig. 4. Initially, the installation of

operating system and the required packages in Raspberry Pi are installed. Next for
the python algorithm (Python Documentation 2020) for the hardware configuration,
the required libraries such as paho-mqtt, twilio, DHT-11 libraries and etc. are
imported. As Raspberry Pi works in both BCM and board modes, in the hardware
connection side the required mode need to be selected in the python code. Now
the hardware pins of sensors which are connected with Raspberry Pi needs to
be configured and declared. When the user initiates the code the sensors will be
supplied with sufficient voltage and the data collection will be initiated by the target
board. The collected data is transmitted via MQTT protocol to ThingSpeak server
for data display for the farmer and analysis of the data. Even the same data is posted
on the web site designed for farmers using python Flask-API. On the customized
web page, the farmer has the access to even control his/her water pump and the fan
of the greenhouse.
The hardware part of the system contains automatic motor ON/OFF and Fan
ON/OFF for greenhouse to regulate greenhouse temperature and humidity. If the
soil moisture is less than 40% automatically the water pump will be activated and
about the same information of the motor status is sent to farmer as an offline SMS
1618 S. P. and A. M. N.
Start
Send SMS TO
Install the os Water Pump Farmer OFF the Air
If Temp> 30 No
and required ON regarding Status Exhaust
packages of Water Pump
Yes Yes
If Soil OFF the Water ON the Air

Import required Moisture< No Exhaust
Pump
libraries 40%
Data set given to Send SMS TO

Board mode and Analysis of
the machine Farmer
pin mode data
learning
declaration
MQTT
Training the
Collection of Interface the Algorithm With Prediction of
Stop
data from the data to the cloud Real time data the Values
sensors using MQTT set
Fig. 4 Algorithm for the proposed system
to his/her personal mobile. Even in case of temperature say for a particular crop
if the greenhouse temperature should not be more than 30 ◦ C the automatically
the exhaust fan will be activated to reduce the greenhouse atmosphere temperature.
Even here the farmer will be getting an offline SMS to his/her personal mobile. The
collected data is also further processed and given as the dataset for algorithms for
machine learning (decision tree and random forest). Both the algorithms are trained
with the real time data set and the parameters are predicted. As well as the accuracy
of the algorithms is also generated.
The decision tree algorithm is a means of supporting decisions that have a map or
decision-making models like a tree with chance results, resource costs, and utility.
A decision tree is a structure that measures a particular attribute of each node, each
branch is the outcome and each node is a class label as shown in Fig. 5.
The algorithm steps are as follows:
Step 1: Start the root node tree, says S that contains the entire dataset.
Step 2: Use Attribute Selection Measure (ASM) to find the best attribute in the
dataset.
Step 3: Divide the S into subsets containing the best attributes possible values.
Step 4: Build the node for the tree, with the highest attribute.
Step 5: A set of latest decision trees are recurrently being made using the data set
sub-sets generated in step 3.
Fig. 5 Decision tree algorithm
Continue until a step has been achieved in which nodes are not further classified
and the final node is called a leaf node.
Random Forest algorithm is an ensemble tree-based learning algorithm, which
combines multiple classifiers in order to overcome a complex issue and improve
model efficiency. In two steps, firstly, by combining N decision tree, it will construct
the random forest and secondly predict each generated tree during the first step. In
the following steps, the work cycle can be clarified as shown in Fig. 6.
Step 1: From the training set pick K random points.

Step 2: Create decision-making trees for the chosen points.
Step 3: Choose the N number to create the N number of decision trees.
Step 4: Repeat Step 1 & 2.
Step 5: Find out the forecasts of each decision tree with new data points and allocate
the new data elements to the majority voting list.
Experimental Analysis of Smart Farming
The experimental setup consists of a processing unit with a sensor network that
read samples for every 13 s from the smart farm/greenhouse system. For the real-
time monitoring, the processing unit also updates the ThingSpeak server. As well
as the customized designed Python Flask webpage for the farmers will also be
updated. The values are taken from Hyderabad, Almasguda cabbage field in real-
time at different time stamps on different dates. The data for the proposed system
is collected for over 15 days for 24 h of each day. The entire hardware setup of the
smart farm/greenhouse system is shown in Figs. 7 and 8 with laptop.
1620 S. P. and A. M. N.
Fig. 6 Random forest algorithm
Fig. 7 Hardware Setup of

Smart Farm/Greenhouse
System
Data Acquisition Through Different Field Trials
ML depends heavily on data, without data, an artificial intelligence can’t learn. This
is the most critical part of algorithm preparation. Here the data collection can be
called as data set. In simple terms, the data set is consistent with the content of
a single database table or the single statistical data matrix in which each column
of the table represents the particular variable, and each row corresponds to that
Fig. 8 Hardware Smart

Farm/Green House System in
Farm
Fig. 9 Cabbage Farm during

the field trial visit
particular data member. As the data collections play an important role in machine
learning, for this smart farm system the real-time data is collected from various
field trials on different days at different time slots. Initially, for testing purposes, the
data was collected from the home garden at the location of 17.4486◦ N, 78.3908◦ E
coordinates, i.e., at Madhapur. The field trial visit was to cabbage farm located at
17.3125◦ N, 78.5363◦ E as shown in Fig. 9. The visit was on 26/02/2020 and the
time of visit was around 13:30 h. The data was collected for more than an hour
from different locations of the farm for a period of interval. The data was directly
exported to the ThingSpeak Server from the farm using MQTT protocol by placing
the hardware as shown in Fig. 10. Around more than 540 data points are collected at
the first field trial of all the parameters that were required for the proposed system.
The reason to select a cabbage farm is the amount of fertilizer effect on the crop
concerning other crops. Since cabbage grows like a flower, it’s the vegetable that
has petals of leaves covered over it. So whenever the farmer sprays the fertilizer to
protect the crop from other weeds, pests, and other insects, the fertilizer concertation
goes into the crop even and stays as under the leaves.
1622 S. P. and A. M. N.
Fig. 10 Data Acquisition

during the field trials
Design of 3D Printing Prototype
As when the two field trials were visited a problem statement came into observation,
i.e., as the proposed system needs to place in an agricultural field, the MCU and the
sensors need to place in different locations. But few locations can be on the wet
ground surface, in the middle of the crop where water, fertilizer will be sprayed due
to which the system can be damaged. As the technology is growing day by day an
MCU canister is designed in the PTC Creo tool according to the proposed system
specifications by measuring the dimensions of the components. The entire MCU
Canister in different views are shown in Fig. 11. Figure 11a–e shows the side, front,
top orientation, and assembly views of the MCU canister, respectively.
After the 3D model was designed in the Creo tool, the part file (i.e., prt file) is
generated using the tool itself. Later this part file is given as input to the MakerBot
3D printer for printing. The part file is transferred over Wi-Fi to the 3D printer.
Before printing the 3D printer is loaded with polylactic acid (PLA) material. It
is available in different colors. But for the system design, the opted color is blue.
After loading with the filament the 3D printer extruder is allowed to preheat up to
180 ◦ C which is the initial printing temperature. When the print job is transferred
the extruder heat up to 220 ◦ C to begin printing since it is the melting point for
the PLA. The top and bottom files were 3D printed with different specifications on
different build plates. The top part was with 80% infill which took around 8 h of
Fig. 11 (a) Side view of the

MCU Canister. (b) Front
view of the MCU Canister.
(c) Top view of the MCU
Canister. (d) Orientation view
of the MCU Canister. (e)
Assembly view of the Entire
MCU Canister
printing time. The bottom of the MCU canister is 3D printed with 60% infill of the
material and the time taken to print was 28 h.
The final 3D printed model is shown in Fig. 6.6 with top view in Fig. 12a The
model designed to hold the system MCU, sensors, and relay. The system is also
1624 S. P. and A. M. N.
Fig. 12 (a) Top View of the

3D printed model. (b)
Components Placement in the
Canister
designed with good air ventilation on the top part of the MCU canister since the
Raspberry Pi generates heat. The canister can accommodate all the sensors, wires,
and relays. The Raspberry Pi is fixed to the base of the canister with M2.5 screws
and nuts so that even in any movement the Raspberry Pi will not be damaged.
Accordingly, all the other sensors are fixed and wired as shown in Fig. 12b. The
top and bottom parts are fixed with an M2.5 head long screw and supported by
clamp fit.
Temperature and Humidity Sensor
Initially, the DHT-11 sensor module measures the temperature and humidity of the
surrounding environment. The surrounding temperature is measured as a special
temperature must be held for a particular farm in greenhouse. Not only that an
optimum temperature required in for a crop to give a good yield (Agritech 2020).
Higher temperatures negatively impact mineral food, shoot growth and the growth
of pollen, resulting in low yields (Murari et al. 2018). Using MQTT protocol
the measured values are updated for every 13 s in the ThingSpeak Server. The
temperature values (◦ C) and the humidity values (%) are updated in field 1 and
field 2 respectively as shown in Fig. 13. The temperature value at the time instance
of 18:25 h is 24 ◦ C and from field 2 at the same instance of time is 69% humid.
But in the same graph at 18:40 h the temperature raised to 25 ◦ C and at that same
interval the humidity of atmosphere is gradually getting reduced to 65%.
Fig. 13 Measured
temperature and humidity
values with respect to the
Time in field 1 and field 2,
respectively
1626 S. P. and A. M. N.
Field 3 Chart
Pressure
Pressure(Pa) 100
0
18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40
Time(Hrs)
ThingSpeak.com
Fig. 14 Pressure Sensor output in ThingSpeak Server with field 3 Pressure vs. Time
Pressure Sensor
As shown in Fig. 14, field 3 in the ThingSpeak Server are updated with air pressure
values. The server is getting updated every 13 sec. The time at which 18:25 h air
pressure in the farm 50 Pa. Since the values are taken in different locations of the
farm the pressure values are varying from 100 Pa and less than 100 Pa. As observed
in Fig. 12, as time passes the pressure is toggling between 50 Pa and 10 Pa, i.e., at
18:40 h the pressure is around 40 Pa.
Gas Sensor
The fertilizer content sprayed in farm is measured using MQ-2 gas sensor. Farmer
sprays the fertilizer in the farm thrice a week to protect from pests and other insects.
But spraying fertilizer thrice a week is not good for the farm as it will grow with the
chemical content in them. Due to growing with chemical the vegetables will spoil
the heath of human beings. So monitoring the fertilizer level in the farm is very
important. As shown in Fig. 15, field 4 in the ThingSpeak Server are updated with
fertilizer content value. At the time interval of 18:25 h the fertilizer sprayed content
is 195 ppm and gradually decreasing to 178 ppm and in various fields of farm it is
different.
Soil Moisture Sensor, Status of Motor, and Location
Finally, the soil moisture values in percentage, as well as the motor status i.e., the
motor is ON or OFF of the farm are updated in the Server, as shown in Fig. 16. It is
observed that the value of field 5 at time 18:25 h is 39% moisture in the soil. At the
Field 4 Chart
Fertilizer Content
190
Fertilizer(ppm)
180
18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40

Time(Hrs)
ThingSpeak.com
Fig. 15 Gas Sensor output in ThingSpeak Server with field 4 Fertilizer vs. Time
Fig. 16 Soil Moisture

Sensor output in ThingSpeak
Server with field 5 Soil
Moisture vs. Time and field 6
Motor Status vs. Time
same time since the soil moisture is less than 50% the motor status is 1 i.e., it is high
so the water pump is activated. As we take the parameter values at a different point
in the farm then soil moisture content is more than 50% so the water motor gets
1628 S. P. and A. M. N.
Fig. 17 Channel location

field
cut-off at 18:37 h. The sensor reads the soil moisture value in analog so to convert
into percentage the Eq. 1 is used.
mp = (sa/1023.00) ∗ 100 (1)
In Eq. 1, mp is moisture value in percentage where this variable is sent into

ThingSpeak server and sa is sensor analog input value. The analog value is divided
1023 so the value of soil moisture will be converted into digital and multiplied by
100 so that the percentage of the water content in soil is measured. The location of
the farm is located 17.3125◦ N, 78.5363◦ E as shown in Fig. 17.
Messaging Services
As shown in Fig. 18, the farm parameters will be sent to farmers personal mobile
with the help of twilio account. Whenever the status of water motor or the exhaust
fan will change from ON to OFF or OFF to ON the SMS will be triggered from
the system to the farmer including all the parameters like temperature, humidity, air
pressure, fertilizer content and soil moisture of his/her farm/greenhouse.
ThingSpeak Mobile Application
The monitoring of smart farm parameters using ThingSpeak mobile application

will be useful for the farmers. After installation, the authorized users can log in
and access their account of their smart farm/greenhouse. Different channel ID’s are
created to monitor the farm parameters as shown in Fig. 19. After successful creation
of the channel ID’s all the parameters are visualized on the graphs of the application
as shown in Fig. 20.
Fig. 18 SMS Alert to Farmer Mobile
Design of Webpage
The customized web Page for farmers is designed using Python Flask API and
HTML Bootstrap 4. As the customized webpage uses python to run it on the web
browsers dynamically Ngrok tunneling is activated on the Raspberry Pi so that
on that tunneling web address the customized web page will be published. The
customized web page has different web pages as shown in Fig. 21 (a) login page,
(b) Home page, (c) status page and (d) control page. The login page, home page,
status page and login pages of the customized web pages are created. Nowadays
as the internet is available everywhere the farmers can open the webpage on their
smartphones also so accordingly the user interface will adjust according to the
screen dimensions.
1630 S. P. and A. M. N.
Fig. 19 ThingSpeak App installation
Decision Tree Algorithm
The Data collected from different field Trials at different intervals of time is given
to Decision Tree Machine Learning Algorithm to predict the parameters, accuracy
of prediction, Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Mean Squared Error (MSE).
Tabulation of the predicted parameters during the field trials using the decision tree
algorithm is listed in Table 1. The average of the actual parameters and predicted
parameters with error is calculated. For Decision Tree Algorithm the accuracy for
one day of the parameters is observed as 97.83%.
Random Forest Algorithm
The Data collected from different field Trials at different intervals of time is given to
the Random Forest Machine Learning Algorithm to predict the parameters, accuracy
of prediction, Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Mean Squared Error (MSE).
Fig. 20 All the Parameters in ThingSpeak mobile application
Tabulation of the predicted parameters during the field trials using a random forest
algorithm is listed in Table 2. The average of the actual parameters and predicted
parameters with error is calculated. For the Random Forest Algorithm, the accuracy
of the parameters is observed as 98.76%.
Comparison of ML Algorithms Accuracy
The data acquisition for different days in field trail visits are giving to both the
algorithms and the accuracies of both the algorithms are calculated and compared
as shown in Fig. 22. The comparison for 5 days, 10 days, and for 18 days’ data
samples accuracies, MAE, MSE are shown in Table 3.
1632 S. P. and A. M. N.
Fig. 21 (a) Login Page. (b)

Home Page. (c) Status Page.
(d) Control Page
Table 1 Comparison of Actual and Predicted Parameters for decision tree algorithm
Parameters Actual Predicted Error MAE MSE
Temperature (◦ C) 25.9417 25.9411 0.0294 0.12 0.44
Humidity (%) 66.647 66.4986 0.1484 1.03 2.12
Fertilizer Content 223.3676 224.6176 1.25 2.04 28.19
(ppm)
Soil Moisture (%) 59.9664 56.1323 3.8341 4.91 18.5
Table 2 Comparison of Actual and Predicted Parameters for random forest algorithm
Parameters Actual Predicted Error MAE MSE
Temperature (◦ C) 25.411 25.4201 0.008 0.06 0.03
Humidity (%) 66.3235 66.4411 0.1176 0.81 1.17
Fertilizer Content 224.397 224.9183 0.5213 1.36 4.35
(ppm)
Soil Moisture (%) 59.3235 58.7508 0.5727 2.32 5.11
Fig. 22 Comparison of Accuracy’s for 18 days
Summary
In this Chapter, the proposed system for smart farm/greenhouse environment

monitoring and controlling is a secured and robust IoT solution in real-time. The
developed system has Raspberry Pi 4 as a target board and interfaced with several
sensors and actuators successfully. A 3D prototype model for the proposed system
is successfully designed and developed. A web-based application, i.e., ThingSpeak
with MQTT protocol is used for sending the parameters like temperature, humidity,
the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere, fertilizer content sprayed, and soil
1634 S. P. and A. M. N.
Table 3 Comparison of Algorithm Parameters for several days

Number of Days
Algorithm Parameters 5 Days 10 Days 18 Days
Decision Tree Accuracies (%) 97.93 98.18 90.86
Algorithm MAE 2.025 1.292 10.347
MSE 4.91 2.535 21.13
Random Accuracies (%) 98.76 98.35 92.03
Forest MAE 1.137 1.137 8.412
Algorithm MSE 3.76 1.59 19.54
moisture through the web server and also to the customized webpage which is
designed for the farmers. Using ThingSpeak smartphone application these measured
parameters also be monitored and the required SMS alert is generated when there is
a change in the parameters. Various field trials are performed for the cabbage farm to
measure the vital parameters. The measured temperature value ranges from 24 ◦ C
to 30 ◦ C, humidity ranging from 46% to 71% for location at 17.3125◦ N latitude
and 78.5363◦ E longitude. The fertilizer content sprayed 190 ppm to 160 ppm, soil
moisture from 25% to 100% in different parts of the farm on 21st February 2020 at
3:30 PM. In order to predict the vital parameters, the supervised machine learning
algorithms such as decision tree and random forest are implemented successfully.
The obtained accuracy, mean absolute error and mean square error for decision tree
algorithm 90.86%, 10.347 and 21.13 respectively and similarly for random forest
algorithm the obtained accuracy, mean absolute error and mean square error are
92.03%, 8.412 and 19.54, respectively. The random forest algorithm gives better
performance in terms of accuracy, mean absolute error, and mean square error
compared with the decision tree algorithm.
References
Agritech (2020) Influence of climate on crops. http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/agriculture/
agri_agrometeorology_temp.html
Benyezza H, Bouhedda M, Djellout K (2018) Smart irrigation system based on ThingSpeak and
Arduino. In: International conference on applied smart systems, IEEE conference, 24–25 Nov
2018
Carlos J, Mendoza-Moreno MA, Faeq A, Arun Kumar N, Ramirez-González G (2018) An IoT-
based traceability system for greenhouse seedling crops. In: IEEE access on new trends in brain
signal processing and analysis, October 18
Foundation, Raspberry Pi, Raspberry Pi 4 Model B specifications. 2019. https://
static.raspberrypi.org/files/productbriefs/200521+Raspberry+Pi+4+Product+Brief.pdf
Gas Sensor (MQ-2) specifications. 2020. https://components101.com/mq2-gas-sensor
Kishore R, Samar Sarjerao B (2017) A low-cost smart irrigation system using MQTT protocol. In:
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region 10 humanitarian technology conference (R10-HTC), 24 Apr 2017
Kranthi Kumar V, Sai Sandeep R, Ramanjinailu R (2019) Measuring soil moisture using thingspeak
by IoT sensing device. Int Res J Eng Technol 6(2):927–928
Murari KK, Mahato S, Jayaraman T, Swaminathan M (2018) Extreme temperatures and crop yields
in Karnataka, India. Rev Agrarian Stud 8(2):92–113
Python Documentation. 2020. https://docs.python.org/3/
Raghav Kumar T, Aiswarya B, Suresh A, Jain D, Balaji N, Sankaran V (2018) Smart management
of crop cultivation using IOT and machine learning. Int Res J Eng Technol 5(1):845–850
Shete R, Agrawal S (2016) IoT based urban climate monitoring using Raspberry Pi. In: Interna-
tional conference on communication and signal processing, 6–8 Apr 2016, India
Vij A, Vijendra S, Jain A, Bajaj S, Bassi A, Sharma A (2020) IoT and machine learinng approaches
for automation of farm irrigation system. Procedia Comput Sci 167:1250–1257
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for IoT. In: ICCEREC
Sustainability of Fusion and Solid-State
Welding Process in the Era of Industry 4.0 64
Vijay S. Gadakh and Vishvesh J. Badheka
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1638
Industrial Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1638
Industrial Revolution: A Welding Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1640
Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1642
Industry 4.0 in Fusion and Solid-State Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1643
Industry 4.0 in Fusion Welding Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1645
Industry 4.0 in Solid-State Welding Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1646
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1650
Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1650
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1651
Abstract
Manufacturing is considered as the heart of any industrialized developed nation.

Welding and joining, being a part of manufacturing activity, contributes a large
for the country’s long-term growth. In order to sustain in the global competitive
environments, welding industries nowadays continue to strive hard for finding
new ways do the same function either by mimics from existing product or
adopting the concept from nature. This includes not only the cost and energy
saving, waste minimization, optimal parameters, and eco-friendly but also with
the advent newer computer technologies like smart factories or factories of the
V. S. Gadakh ()
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrutvahini College of Engineering, Ahmednagar,
e-mail: vijay.gadakh@avcoe.org
V. J. Badheka
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology, Pandit Deendayal Energy
University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
1638 V. S. Gadakh and V. J. Badheka
future, industrial internet of things (IIoT), cyber-physical systems, cloud systems,

big data, digital manufacturing, and lastly the Industry 4.0. The present work
elucidates the different approaches employed for assessing and improvement
in the weld quality using meta-heuristic algorithms, in process weld quality
inspection; defects detection and its control in fusion and solid-state welding
processes.
Keywords
Sustainability · Fusion welding · Solid-state welding · Industry 4.0 ·

Industrial internet of things · Cyber-physical systems · Cloud systems · Big
data · Digital manufacturing
Introduction
Manufacturing is considered as the heart of engine development of any developed

nation which is directly related to its financial well-being. It consists of use of
mechanical, physical, and chemical processes to alter the properties and geometry
of raw material into the end products (Rao 2007). Mainly, manufacturing process
involves casting, forming, machining, and joining processes. Out of these manu-
facturing processes welding and joining play an important role in major industries
like automobile, aviation, construction, defense, oil and gas, naval, space, etc.
which contribute a large for the country’s long-term growth. The current scenario
of welding process in different sectors in Indian context is explained in Fig. 1
where few newer technologies have been introduced like dynamic oxide control
system for aluminum welding, intelligent gas control for large-scale savings in gas
consumption, and intelligent arc control for automatic arc adjustment. Similarly,
robotics and automation is being deployed by the industries for achieving the
high weld quality and productivity improvement. Similarly, welding process related
expenses contributed significantly toward the US economy which shows one-third
of the total US Gross Domestic Product (Miller et al. 2002).
Industrial Revolution
From the industrial perspective, a revolution is nothing but a significant change and
growth in technology and thereby standard of living of the people. This change
in the technology takes place in following ways. The first one called innovation
which means modification of the existing product by either conventional trial-and-
error approach or process parameter optimization or Jugaad (Frugal Engineering)
(Singh et al. 2012; Prabhu et al. 2012) or TRIZ approach (Kohnen 2004). The second
one adopting concepts from nature (Wahl 2004). The details of different industrial
revolutions are depicted in Fig. 2. The first phase of industrial revolution caused by
invention of steam engines led to an increase in production called as “Industry 1.0.”
64 Sustainability of Fusion and Solid-State Welding Process in the Era. . . 1639
Others
Shipbuilding
Construction
Railways
Automotive
Heavy Engineering
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Heavy
Automotive Railways Construction Shipbuilding Others
Engineering
FY 2020 33% 23% 8% 11% 4% 21%
FY 2016 31% 20% 6% 10% 3% 30%
Fig. 1 Current scenario of welding process in different sectors in Indian context
Fig. 2 Industrial revolutions (Petrillo et al. 2018)
In the second revolution, significant changes were made caused by inventions of

electricity and steel making processes and is called as “Industry 2.0.” In the third
revolution, a rapid transformation happened caused by the application of electronics
in manufacturing processes and is called as “Industry 3.0.” In the current fourth
revolution, transformation from machine led manufacturing to digital manufacturing
is called as “Industry 4.0” (Gunal 2019) and is based on nine technologies as shown
Fig. 3 Nine pillars of fourth industrial revolution
in Fig. 3. The future industrial revolution is known as “Industry 5.0” wherein with
the significant development in the robotics field humans will be able to accomplish
considerably better than the Industry 4.0 (W˛eglowski 2018).
Industrial Revolution: A Welding Perspective
In parallel with different industrial revolutions, significant technology also had

developed in the welding and Joining. Though the joining of pieces together
can be traced back to more than 2000 years, welding emerged as a feasible
manufacturing process only in the late 1800s. It is at the heart of many great
engineering achievements. It is important for agriculture mechanization, energy
generation, clean water supply, and medical devices production (Debroy 2015). The
development of fusion and pressure welding processes was caused by eruption of
World Wars I and II as shown in Table 1 (W˛eglowski 2018).
When we say the technology or industrial revolution gets advanced or upgraded,
it means that the things are easy-to-use. This also results in resolving the problems or
issues that were found in the past technology. This advancement in the technology
is possible when the manufacturing firms involve the customers or the end users
or receive feedback from the customers on the concept design phase of design
cycle. In the fourth industrial revolution, most of the welding industries are striving
hard to achieve the production efficiency as well as quality effectiveness across
Table 1 Development of welding technologies (W˛eglowski 2018)

Year Country Inventor Process
1802 USA Robert Hare Oxy-Hydrogen Welding
1885 Russia Kingdom of Nikolaj Benardos Carbon Arc Welding
Poland Stanislaw Olszewski
1895 Germany Hans Goldschmidt Thermit Welding
1901 France Charles Picard Oxyacetylene Welding
1902 Edmond Fouche
1904 Sweden Oscar Kjellberg Manual Metal Arc
Welding (MMAW)
1926 USA H. M. Hobart Gas Tungsten Arc
P. K. Devers Welding (GTAW)
1929 USSR D. A. Dulczewskij Submerged Arc Welding
(SAW)
1948 USA P. K. Devers Gas Metal Arc Welding
(GMAW)
1949 USSR B. E. Paton Electroslag Welding
G. Z. Woloszkiewicz
1949 Germany K. H. Steigerwald Electron Beam Welding
(EBW)
1953 USA Robert M. Gage Plasma Welding
1953 USSR K. V. Lyubavskii CO2 shielded MAG
N. M. Novoshilov Welding
1953 USA A. A. Bernard Self-shielded Flux
Cored Arc Welding
(FCAW)
1962 USA M. S. Holander Friction Welding (FW)
1965 USA Robert Soloff and Ultrasonic welding
Symour Linsley
1970 Great Britain Martin Adams Laser Beam Welding
(LBW)
1977 Germany W. M. Steen Hybrid Laser Welding
1981 Canada John G. Church T.I.M.E. Welding
1991 UK Wayne Thomas Friction Stir Welding
(FSW)
2004 Austria Manfred Schorghuber CMT Welding
the globe. On the contrary, few of the small-scale industries (SSI) are in dilemma
whether to go or not with such industrial revolution due to high initial investments
in such a welding metamorphism world. It is well agreed that at the start of
any of the industrial revolution, initially the cost of the product is comparatively
higher than the previous one. This cost is acceptable over a period of time, which
in turn, the living standard of people and hence significant development of that
country.
W˛eglowski (2018) suggested few approaches related with welding engineering
of the fourth industrial revolution as: (1) welding technologies should move from
traditional push forward approach to acquisition approach, (2) intelligent robots

and software programs flexibility, (3) welding programs integration into “smart”
production processes, and (4) flexibility of welding software provider. Digitization,
control systems, and transfer of data are the important measures of the fourth
industrial revolution.
Selection of weld process parameters are generally based on parent material,
thickness, and other related parameters that can be successfully implemented
when welding knowledge is digitized accordingly. As explained earlier most of
the welding manufactures are already taking inventive steps to store welding
data intelligently which will be ready for documentation and data analysis. Still,
at which level of detail the data must be available has not yet been precisely
evaluated for the creation of appropriate algorithms (Posch et al. 2018). On the
contrary, lot of development also has been done in the virtual simulation module,
for example, augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) for training purpose.
It consists of doing virtual welding where a welding torch is controlled by
simulating it in tutorial and training mode, its evaluation, etc. (Torres-Guerrero et al.
2019).
Sustainability
More than one million workers across the globe are presently engaged as full-time
welders. A number of epidemiologic studies have reported that a higher incidence
of respiratory illness in welders takes place (Antonini et al. 1996), and there is
an ardent need of innovative welding technologies that not only create elegant
products but indeed eliminate these health- and environment-related issues. Hence,
sustainability or sustainability development is vital for welding industries in any
of the industrial revolutions. As it has a variety of dimensions, important aspects,
performance measures and it is dynamic one. Although in manufacturing studies
economic, societal, and environmental sustainability have given a prime importance
(Bi 2011), still sustainability is considered a complex, unstructured issue and is a
vital issue for the current and future perspectives (Garetti and Taisch 2012).
As of now, there is no specific definition for sustainability or sustainability
development. According to the past studies (Garetti and Taisch 2012; Agustiady and
Badiru 2013) sustainability is a way for improving living standards and comfort for
the current and future perspectives. In the global competitive environment, in order
to be sustainable , manufacturing industries need more efforts in terms of time and
cost for their products (Garetti and Taisch 2012; Garbie 2013). Kamble et al. (2018)
suggested a framework for sustainable industry 4.0 which consists of Industry 4.0
technologies, process integration, and sustainable outcomes as depicted in Fig. 4.
Their proposed framework considers that Industry 4.0 provides the business units
integration through the cyber-physical systems which make the manufacturing
system more flexible, efficient, and eco-friendly.
Fig. 4 Framework for sustainable Industry 4.0 (Kamble et al. 2018)
Industry 4.0 in Fusion and Solid-State Welding
Globally, in the arena of fourth industrial revolution welding equipment manu-

facturers are already supplying their consumers with the state-of-the-art welding
solutions. In 2013 Fronius launched Trans Process Solution Intelligent (TPS/i)
system where the system interfaces are incorporated into system bus architecture
and is able to provide data in a real time. This data can be used to monitor, analyze,
and document the process (WeldCube). In addition to this, the company also has
developed a system of facilitating welder training (Virtual Welducation) and a
WeldConnect software program. Byrd et al. (2015) have employed virtual reality
simulations VRTEX® 360 as an assessment tool for experienced and trained novice
welders. Sirius Electric offers ultrasonic welding machine that has remote software
administration and control facility. Similarly, ABICOR BINZEL offers a system
that manages the welding gases (W˛eglowski 2018). In recent years, SMW Group,
Queensland, have automated their welding repair processes with advanced laser
seam tracking, adaptive welding software, a new generation welding system, and
a modular configuration robot. They are able to reduce welding time by 70–90%,
reduction in overall production costs, improvement in safety, quality, and reporting.
The first novel method proposed by Backer et al. (De Backer et al. 2014; De
Backer and Bolmsjo 2013; De Backer 2014) for friction stir welding (FSW), process
to monitor, and control system architecture where the temperature controller mod-
ifies the robotics FSW spindle speed for maintaining a constant weld temperature.
Fig. 5 FSW smart industry (Mishra et al. 2018)
Later Mishra et al. (2018) reviewed different techniques and methods for sensor-
based quality and control monitoring of defects in FSW. They proposed a roadmap
to achieve the goal of Industry 4.0 in FSW as can be seen in Fig. 5. They also
proposed an FSW monitoring and control architecture similar to Backer et al.
(De Backer et al. 2014; De Backer and Bolmsjo 2013; De Backer 2014) with
addition of different sensor modules which integrates the existing experimental
data that acts as a knowledge base and the different sensory systems which
captures, extracts, processes, and monitors the data, and finally using correlation
the final decision is made. On the similar platform, different welding equipment
manufacturers provide the equipment that meet the expectations of Industry 4.0
either by adopting existing technologies or retrofitting.
Another vital component of Industry 4.0 is digital twins. It is a kind of virtual
simulator which mimics the physical object/system/process and it can be employed
for analysis and to simulate the process in a real-world environment so as to
accommodate the changes, optimize the process parameters, and improve the weld
quality, reduce time, and costs. SORPAS® created first resistance spot welding
process digital twins for its complete lifecycle from designing, optimizing, planning,
producing, and evaluating the welds. With the exploitation of machine learning and
artificial intelligence (AI) approaches, the weld digital twins work with physical
welding process in dynamic environment (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6 Digital twins for resistance spot welding (Ref. www.swantec.com)
Industry 4.0 in Fusion Welding Process
The concepts like Industry 4.0, the smart factory, and digital transformation
provide several greater prospects for welders. Due to digitization of welding
equipment, there is enhancement in productivity and efficiency of the welding
process. Similarly, superior weld quality, repeatability, better conditions for welders,
and sustainable competitiveness are obtained. The computers alone provide right
decisions similar to experienced welders. To achieve this, the high-performance
information and communication technology along with sensors, powerful network
infrastructure for data transfer, communication security, and storage are needed.
The literatures on fusion welding process in Industry 4.0 are limited. In most of
the reported work, machine learning approach has been used which is often termed
as “intelligent welding.” Computational modeling and simulation is the heart of
intelligent weld manufacturing. Chen et al. (2000) have described the framework for
intelligent weld manufacturing. It requires a multidisciplinary integrated computa-
tional welding engineering approach (process, automation, control, microstructure,
and property) for intelligent weld manufacturing (David et al. 2018). In gas
tungsten arc welding (GTAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), laser welding,
and resistance welding machine learning approach were employed to optimize weld
process parameters, enhance weld quality, defect detection, etc. (David et al. 2018).
Similarly, with development of bioinformatics model of machine learning, risk and
danger associated with welding processes can be minimized (Mahadevan et al.

2021). The example shows that how fusion welding process works well in the arena
of Industry 4.0. Cold metal transfer (CMT) welding is advanced joining process;
a variant of GMAW which includes filler wire feed drive in a close loop control
gives extremely stable arc, low heat input, and spatter free process to join different
material combinations.
Vendan et al. (2020) have adopted data from Kumar et al. (2016) to optimize
the CMT welding process parameters of Aluminum 6061 using supervised machine
learning. The initial process parameters were considered as welding current (50 A,
60 A, 70 A) and weld speed (400, 500, and 600 mm/min), respectively, whereas the
performance measures were penetration depth, width of weld pool, and height of
reinforcement. After their initial study, they used machine learning techniques for
data analysis and predicting the optimal process parameters. They employed NumPy
and Pandas for data analysis and Seaborn and Matplotlib for data visualization. They
employed seaborn library for making the co-relation of independent variables. After
co-relation matrix the next essential step is data preprocessing which is used for
nonlinearity. Generally, it is applied using linear regression technique for training
the higher degree model. After data preprocessing the next step is prediction analysis
using Scikit-Learn. They employed a typical method of dividing the data into 80%
of trained data and 20% of test data from the dataset for predicting the dependent
parameters. After training the model, it is again used for data prediction. Recently,
ADLINK Technology Inc. provided built in Intel® distribution of OpenVINO™
toolkit for automated arc-welding porosity defects in real time. By means of neural
network (NN), the two things are performed by the system, that is, first it identifies
the defects in real time, and second is auto-stopping the welding process using robot
actuation prior to the defect is extended and the part is damaged beyond repair.
Further, the NN model can also retrained for detecting other type of defects in the
welding process. EWM AG Xnet 2.0 provides welding management system like
a smart factory with digital transformation. The Xnet 2.0 is a kind of intelligent
monitoring system which keeps transparency in the welding processes right from
process planning, actual production, and final cost estimation of weld seams.
Recently, Novarc Technologies launched the NovEye™, a vision-based software
that employs machine learning for keeping high accuracy track at the root pass, also
measures the root gap and automatically detects the tracks.
Recently, Kemppi India Pvt. Ltd. launched the X8 MIG Welder, an intelligent
welding system which provides connectivity to the WeldEye welding management
software and innovative performance software. The WeldEye welding management
software provides simplicity, traceability, and WPS management in welding produc-
tion.
Industry 4.0 in Solid-State Welding Process
Similar to the fusion welding process, the literatures are scarce on Industry 4.0 in
solid-state welding process . The following examples show that how solid-state
welding process well in the arena of Industry 4.0. The FSW is advanced welding
process, also called “green” technology owing to its versatile benefits (Mehta and
Badheka 2016). In contrast to the traditional weld techniques, it consumes notably
less energy. It involves complex material displacement and plastic deformation.
Researchers across the globe now understand the merits of using the solid-state
welding method as a potential alternative for difficult-to-weld material. Due to its
solid-state nature, it is expected to result in components with superior metallurgical
and mechanical properties.
Most of the available literature has applied ANN, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference
system (ANFIS), support vector machine (SVM) techniques to optimize FSW
and FSSW processes. Fleming et al. (2008) and Gibson et al. (2013) employed
dimensional reduction techniques for weld quality, and defect formation and tool
wear (Gibson et al. 2018). Hartl et al. (2020) used ANN for predicting weld surface
quality. Shojaeefard et al. (2015) used ANN to correlate tool parameters (pin and
shoulder diameter) and heat-affected zone, thermal, and strain value in the weld
zone. Fleming et al. (2007) employed SVM for fault detection like gap occurrence
and find out the gap depth in FSW process. Fratini et al. (2009) integrated ANN
to finite element model (FEM) and calculated the average grain size values of butt,
lap, and T type FSW joints. Boldsaikhan et al. (2006, 2011) used artificial neural
network (ANN) for defect detection. They statistically correlated, controlled, and
developed a system for weld quality evaluation using tool X, Y forces, and the
tool torque feedback signals. The force signal feature extraction, and generation
of feature vectors for each of the force signal was evaluated using Discrete Fourier
Transform (DFT). The ANN was applied to these resulting feature vectors which
categorize the weld into two. The first category has/not has metallurgical defects
and the second category gives the weld strength as per requirement. The obtained
results were promising; still some issues were suggested like noise, network
robustness, prefiltering of machine dependent component of output signals before
categorization. Vendan et al. (2020) have adopted data from Suban et al. (2017) to
optimize the FSW process parameters of AA6061/TiB2 /SiC metal matrix composite
by varying weight percentages of SiC, B4 C, and TiB2 using supervised machine
learning. The initial process parameters were considered as tool rotational speed
(600, 800, and 1000 rpm) and weld speed (50, 60, and 70 mm/min), respectively,
whereas the performance measures were mechanical properties. A similar procedure
was employed to predict the optimal process parameters as explained in case
of fusion welding. Based on these, it is able to get the predicted values for
the performance measures along with other characteristics as torque developed,
experimental heat generated, and theoretical heat input.
In their another work (Vendan et al. 2020), they have applied supervised machine
learning in Magnetically Impelled Arc Butt Welding (MIAB) process. The process
was studied by the E. O. Paton Electric Welding Institute and after its development it
was commercially applied by Kuka Welding systems. The process is fully automated
solid-state welding and able to weld tube diameters approximately 10–220 mm
with wall thickness of 0.7–13 mm. Vendan et al. (2020) have optimized the MIAB
process parameters of alloy steel tubes (T11) by varying current and time using
supervised machine learning. They considered following parameters notch strength

ratio, ultimate tensile strength, and mean weld interface hardness as performances.
A similar procedure was employed to predict the optimal process parameters as
explained in case of fusion welding and FSW process. Based on these, it is able get
the predicted values for the performance measures.
Jayaraman et al. (2011) have employed ANN approach for predicting tensile
strength of high strength Aluminum A356 alloy. Tansel et al. (2010) have applied
genetically optimized NN system (GONNS) to evaluate the optimal process param-
eters of FSW process. Satpathy et al. (2018) have developed the regression, ANN,
and ANFIS models for simulating and predicting the joint strength of ultrasonic
metal welding of dissimilar sheets of Al-Cu. Dewan et al. (2016) developed ANFIS
model to predict the tensile strength of FSW joints. Zhu et al. (2002) have applied
SVM technique to predict the welding joint quality.
Conventional optimization methods give local optimal solution and are not
robust. The meta-heuristics (MH) is a global search technique which deals with
all kinds of objective functions and design variables and these are flexible as there
is no need of data training (Saka et al. 2016). Significant research is reported in the
literature (Rao and Pawar 2010) that the conventional techniques such as Powell’s
Method, Fletcher-Reeves Method, Dynamic Programming, and the Reduced Gradi-
ent Method, etc. have been employed for such kinds of problems. However, these
techniques lack to perform well over a wide range of problems. With these issues
as an input, efforts are being made to model and optimize the complex problem
using MH techniques. Most frequently employed algorithms in the literature are
scatter search (SS), simulated annealing (SA), Tabu search (TS), artificial immune
system (AIS), Ant Colony Algorithm (ACO), differential evolution (DE), multi-
objective GA (MOGA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), imperialist competitive
algorithm (ICA), teaching learning-based optimization (TLBO), and artificial bee
colony algorithm (ABC). However, there is a need to explore these and other
hybrid algorithms in welding applications for optimization of process parameter
and predicting the performance measures.
Nadeau et al. (2020) applied different machine learning algorithms for predicting
the defective welds over various process variables. Out of these machine learning
models, K-nearest neighbor (KNN) technique performs best for predicting defective
welds. Automatic identification algorithm was developed by Sikora et al. (2013) for
detecting and classifying the weld defects by employing X-ray radiograph images.
Chen et al. (2003) studied online monitoring of FSW process and defects using
acoustic emission technique. A fractal dimension algorithm (Das et al. 2016), Power
spectral density (Das et al. 2018) was employed to extract various acquire signals
for weld process monitoring and detect the defects. Thermography was employed
for online monitoring to measure the weld joint quality using FSW process by
monitoring temperature plots during the welding (Serio et al. 2016; De Filippis
et al. 2017). A free vibration technique was employed as NDT to find out weld
quality which depends on natural frequencies of the weld samples (Crâştiu et al.
2017).
Table 2 Category scores for Category GTAW GMAW FSW

fusion and solid-state welding
Physical performance 0.23 0.21 0.39
processes (Jamal et al. 2020)
Environmental impact 0.20 0.72 0.92
Economic impact 0.34 0.58 0.14
Social impact 0.56 0.56 0.96
Even though the parameter optimization and corresponding prediction of the

characteristics has been done, still one has to see these welding processes from the
sustainability viewpoint. Jamal et al. (2020) have done sustainability assessment
for fusion and solid-state welding process using statistical approach by data
collection and segregation into environmental impact, economic impact, social
impact, and physical performance. They have considered weld yield strength
and toughness under physical performance; carbon footprint, material wastage
auxiliary material usage, and weld emissions under environmental impact; cost of
consumables, labor, energy, welded part, and equipment under economic impact;
and finally incident rate under social impact. After that normalization has been
made for above indicators by assigning weights for each category. Finally they
determined overall sustainability score and its comparison with each of the weld-
ing processes. It was concluded based on the statistical approach that FSW is
the most sustainable process due to the highest physical performance, social
impact, and environmental impact scores in comparison with GTAW and GMAW
processes. Table 2 shows the summary of category scores for fusion and solid-
state welding processes. It can be observed from Table 2 that FSW process
did not score more due to initial tool plunging time, and FSW tooling cost.
While GMAW achieved maximum score due to less cost of fillers, its storage,
transport, and use. Chang et al. (2015) employed life cycle assessment approach
to evaluate social and environmental impacts of fusion welding processes. Life
cycle assessment (LCA) and social life cycle assessment (SLCA) are the modern
techniques used for the evaluation of social and environmental impacts which
affects the product, or process. “LCA is an ISO standard technique employed to
assess environmental impacts of products through its entire life cycle.” On the
contrary, “SLCA is a technique employed to assess social and socio-economic
impacts related to human beings affected by products/services throughout the
life cycle” (Chang et al. 2015). Chang et al. (2015) considered manual metal
arc welding (MMAW), manual GMAW, automatic GMAW, and automatic laser-
arc hybrid welding (LAHW) processes for LCA and SLCA. It is revealed that
the MMAW process gives maximum environmental impacts in terms of nature,
and welders’ health issues when compared with other considered welding pro-
cesses. Nobrega et al. (2019) have reviewed different manufacturing processes
including welding from the sustainable point of view. Garbie (2016) has esti-
mated the sustainability based on the three pillars, namely, economic (E), societal
(S), and environmental (N). The sustainability/sustainable development (S/SD) is
expressed as:
⎧ ⎫
⎨ S/SD E ⎬
S/SD Manufacturing Enterprise = S/SD S = f (S/SD E , S/SD S , S/SD N )
⎩ ⎭
S/SD N
S/SD Manufacturing Enterprise = wE (S/SD E ) + wS (S/SD S ) + wN (S/SD N )
Where
S=SDE is the value of attribute of economic issues (E) with respect to S/SD
assessment
S=SDS is the value of attribute of social issues (S) with respect to S/SD assessment
S=SDN is the value of attribute of environmental issues (N) with respect to S/SD
assessment
wE , wS, and wN are the relative weights of the economic, societal, and environmental
issues, respectively. These are estimated using the analytic hierarchy process
(AHP) and determine the S/SD index of the manufacturing enterprise.
Conclusion
The present chapter elucidates the sustainability of fusion and solid-state welding
process in the era of Industry 4.0. It covers different approaches employed for
assessing and improvement in the weld quality using meta-heuristic algorithms,
in process weld quality inspection; defects detection and its control in fusion,
and solid-state welding processes. However, sustainability of fusion and solid-
state welding process in the era of Industry 4.0 is a missing link that needs to
be taken into consideration. Furthermore, welding simulator can be considered as
mandatory assessment tool for welder qualification. Past studies have applied sta-
tistical approaches and AHP-based assessment for sustainability of manufacturing
enterprise. Such similar kind of assessment for sustainability of fusion and solid-
state welding process gives remarkable insights into the fourth industrial revolution.
Websites
1. http://www.manufacturingchampions.in/Document/Presentation%201%20-
%20Overview%20of%20the%20Welding%20Industry%20in%20India.pdf.
(access date 15.01.2021)
2. https://www.wfmj.com/story/42569322/welding-equipment-market-size-2020-
industry-recent-developments-progression-status-latest-technology-and-foreca-
st-research-report-2026 (access date 16.01.2021)
3. https://www.canadianmetalworking.com/canadianfabricatingandwelding/artic-
le/welding/next-generation-welding-tech (access date 16.01.2021)
4. https://industrialautomationreview.com/automation-robotics-welding/ (access
date 16.01.2021)
5. https://www.millerwelds.com/resources/article-library/the-latest-welding-
technologies-can-save-time-and-money (access date 16.01.2021)
6. https://www.manmonthly.com.au/features/welding-4-0-future-industry/ (access
date 11.08.2021)
7. https://www.ciiblog.in/technology/weld-4-0-industry-4-0-in-welding/ (access
date 11.08.2021)
8. https://www.swantec.com/welding-solutions/digital-twins-and-ai/(access date
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Smart Farming: Applications of IoT
in Agriculture 65
Anil Kumar Singh
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1656
Evolution of Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1659
SMART Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1660
Internet of Things (IoT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1663
Major Equipment and Technologies Enabling IoT-Based Smart Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1665
Wireless Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1665
IoT-Based Tractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1668
Harvesting Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1668
Communication in Smart Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1669
Smartphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1671
Cloud Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1672
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Smart Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1673
Application of IoT in Smart Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1674
Irrigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1674
Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1675
Crop Disease and Pest Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1676
Yield Monitoring, Forecasting, and Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1677
Protected Cultivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1678
Livestock Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1680
Future Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1680
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1682
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1683
Some Important Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1687
A. K. Singh ()
Department of Life Sciences, Sant Baba Bhag Singh University, Jalandhar, Punjab, India
1656 A. K. Singh
Abstract
The fourth industrial revolution also known as Industry 4.0 has significantly
transformed traditional manufacturing and industrial practices by use of contem-
porary smart technologies. In the same line, agriculture sector has also evolved
to become data-centered, precise, and smarter to face the future challenges. The
employment of recent advance technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud
Computing (CC), Remote Sensing (RS), Machine Learning (ML), Artificial
intelligence (AI), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and Big Data Analytics
(BDA) has modernized several traditional agricultural practices. The modern
agriculturist aims to increase agriculture efficiency by enhancing food production
with reduced cost and minimum environmental impact. The IoT has potential
to offer diverse means of modernizing agriculture sector. Recent advances in
IoT-based technologies have empowered agriculture on the path of precise and
smart farming. Research institutions as well as the industries are racing to
develop farmer friendly and efficient IoT-based agriculture technologies. Efforts
by scientific groups, research institutions, and industries are likely to make IoT
an imperative technology for agriculture in near future. The present chapter
discusses basics of smart agriculture and IoT as well as evolution of agriculture
from traditional Agriculture 1.0 to modern Agriculture 4.0. The chapter also
includes major equipment and technologies enabling IoT-based smart farming
and application of IoT in smart agriculture. Current trends and future challenges
of IoT in agriculture have also been highlighted in the chapter.
Keywords
Agriculture robotics · Sensors · Cloud computing · Agriculture 4.0
Introduction
Agriculture is a broad term referring to occupations concerned with the cultivation

of soil for producing crop and raising livestock to provide food, wool, and many
other products. Human civilization has been significantly influenced by the advance-
ments in agricultural practices. Shift from foraging to farming during Neolithic
era improved nutrition, increased life-span, and decreased workload of human.
History suggests that most powerful civilizations of world has well-developed and
established agriculture sector. Agriculture supports human society not only by
providing food and raw material for industries but also by providing employment.
In current scenario, agriculture embraces more prominence than earlier times due
to ever-increasing population and dwindling natural resources. According to Food
and Agricultural Organization (FAO) the global population will reach nearly 9.6
billion people by 2050 (FAO 2009). Feeding such a huge population will require
an increase of about 70% in agriculture output worldwide (Zhang et al. 2018).
Last few decades have also seen decrease in total agricultural land. In 1991 total
65 Smart Farming: Applications of IoT in Agriculture 1657
cultivated agricultural land was around 19.5 million square miles which accounted
for about 39.47% of the earth surface. The cultivated land decreased to 18.6 million
square miles (nearly 37.73% of the earth surface) by 2013 (World Bank 2016).
Thus, agriculture sector is facing a formidable task of increasing production with
less available agricultural land. Additionally, future of agriculture sector is also
challenged by climate change. The change in climate is believed to adversely affect
crop production and health of livestock (Arora 2019). Change in global temperature,
water availability pattern, soil erosion, and frequent outbreak of disease and pest
is expected to decrease overall agriculture output in coming decades. Such an
extraordinary increase in the production under limited land resource and challenges
from climate changes can only be achieved by modernization and intensification
of agricultural practices. Intensification of agricultural practices with traditional
approaches has significantly increased the environmental footprint of agriculture.
Extensive use of water, fertilizers, weedicides, herbicides, pesticides, and changes
in land use practice has raised several environment-related concerns (Lampridi et al.
2019).
Current trend indicates that agriculture sector can achieve formidable target of
feeding rapidly increasing global population in sustainable manner by embarrassing
Industry 4.0 technologies, application, and solution. Industry 4.0 or fourth industrial
revolution helped in achieving higher level of operational efficiency and productivity
by use of contemporary smart technologies. Farms that choose to be technology-
driven in some way or other exhibited several advantages, such as saving money
and labor, having an increased production or a reduction of costs with minimal
effort and producing quality food with more environment friendly practices (Zhang
et al. 2018). Díez (2017) advocated that larger use of smart farming services is
vital not only for improving a financial condition of farmers but also to meet
the food needs of an expanding population. Smart farming encompasses modern
technologies like computer mapping, guidance, and variable-rate equipment during
cultivation, harvesting, and post-harvest processing. Smart agriculture technologies
apply input whenever and wherever required (Saiz-Rubio and Rovira-Más 2020).
This enables food production in a sustainable manner. Hence, smart agriculture is
seen as promising strategy to accomplish future demand on sustainable pathway.
Smart technologies have enabled precision agriculture feasible for progressive
farmers. Contrarily, traditional agriculture practice employs inputs throughout the
field in predetermined manner, thus resulting in wastage of resources and extra
expenditure. The United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that corn
farm following precision agriculture incurred 163 dollars per hectare higher profit
than for non-adopters (Schimmelpfennig 2016).
The success of precision agriculture relies on systems that generate data in
farms. The information generated on farms is then transferred and processed in such
a way to make proper strategically and profitable operational decisions (Tzounis
et al. 2017). Internet of Things (IoT)-based technologies have aided agriculture to
generate, transfer, and process such a big amount of valuable information (Zhang
et al. 2018). The modern agriculture sector is expected to be highly influenced
1658 A. K. Singh
by the advances in IoT technologies (Saiz-Rubio and Rovira-Más 2020). The new
philosophy centered on agricultural data has been referred with several names like
Agriculture 4.0, Digital Farming, or Smart Farming.
Smart Farming was born when telematics and data management were combined
to the already known concept of Precision Agriculture, thus improving the accuracy
of operations (Saiz-Rubio and Rovira-Más 2020). Agriculture 4.0 is based on
precision agriculture principles with producers using systems that generate data in
their farms, which will be processed in such a way to make proper strategically and
operational decisions. Internet of Things (IoT) in an agricultural context refers to
the use of sensors and other devices to turn every element and action involved in
farming into data (Tzounis et al. 2017). According to estimation nearly 10–15%
of US farmers are using IoT solutions on the farm across 1200 million hectares
and 250,000 farms (Saiz-Rubio and Rovira-Más 2020). According to a research
report on smart agriculture market, it is expected to grow from USD 13.8 billion in
2020 to USD 22.0 billion by 2025 at compound annual growth rate of 9.8% (Smart
Agriculture Market 2020). As seen in Fig. 1, there is a continuous increase in the
number of publications with the term “Smart Agriculture” and “IoT” along with the
term “Agriculture” in the scientific literature. These highlight the importance and
growing interest of researchers in IoT-based technologies for empowering smart
agriculture.
In present scenario, the demand of IoT-based agriculture technologies has
increased significantly, particularly in developed countries. Research institutes and
Fig. 1 Increase in the number of publications related to “Smart Agriculture,” “IoT,” and
“Agriculture” as seen in Science Direct (www.sciencedirect.com)
industries are making efforts to satisfy the future needs of farmers through the
development of IoT-based agriculture technologies. The main purpose of this
chapter is to demonstrate how IoT-based technologies has modernized agriculture
sector. The present chapter introduces readers to the concept of IoT applications
in agriculture as well as discuses current trends and future challenges of IoT-based
agriculture technologies.
Evolution of Agriculture
Agriculture has evolved through ages with aim of increasing the agricultural yield
and reduces human labor. Beginning of agriculture can be dated back to about
22,000 years ago when man learned to collect wild fruits as food. Archaeological
evidences suggest that various crops were cultivated as earlier as 9500 BC (Hillman
1996; Walsh 2009). The demand for more foods to feed ever-increasing population
has propelled agriculture evolution from traditional to more sophisticated form.
During course of evolution agriculture has moved on from Agriculture 1.0 to
Agriculture 4.0 (Fig. 2). Traditional agriculture also referred as Agriculture 1.0
was entirely dependent on manpower and animal forces. Agriculture 1.0 was labor
intensive with low output and involved usage of simple tools (Zhai et al. 2020).
Invention and improvement of steam engine during nineteenth century not only
brought about progressive influence on various industries but also become force
for second agriculture revolution. Agriculture 2.0 involved usage of agriculture
machineries and synthetics agrochemicals. Agriculture output in terms of effi-
ciency and productivity increased tremendously in Agriculture 2.0 as compared
to Agriculture 1.0. However, improved agriculture output was also accompanied
by several harmful effects such as environment pollution, destruction of ecological
environment, wastage of natural resources, and excessive consumption of powers
(Zhai et al. 2020).
The twentieth century saw the rapid development in computer technology
and robotics resulting in third agriculture revolution. Agricultural machines with
robotics and computer programs became more efficient and intelligent. In Agri-
culture 3.0, precision and intelligence of agricultural machines reduced use of
agrochemicals and wastage of natural resources leading to more productive agri-
culture (Zhai et al. 2020).
Previous few years have seen integration of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) with traditional agriculture. This integration has resulted in fourth
agricultural revolution designated as Agriculture 4.0. Implementation of recent
technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing (CC), Remote Sensing
(RS), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Big Data Analytics
(BDA) has brought about advances in agriculture through development of Smart
Farming practices (Zhai et al. 2020). Agriculture 4.0 is based on principles of
monitoring, recording, collecting, and processing on field data for making suitable
and strategically operational decisions. Traditional farming required farmers to
visit the fields, check the condition of their crops, and make decisions based
1660 A. K. Singh
Fig. 2 Evolution of agriculture from Agriculture 1.0 to Agriculture 4.0
on their experience or seek suggestion from experts. It is estimated that on an

average farmers spent 70% of farming time in monitoring and understanding the
crop status instead of doing actual field work (Saiz-Rubio and Rovira-Más 2020).
Traditional approach of manually monitoring and managing large farm is not
feasible, particularly under labor force limitations. Future agriculture must develop
and rely on technologies that can impart efficiency and sustainability under limited
workforce. IoT empowered smart farming technologies have potential to provide
practical solution to future needs.
SMART Agriculture
Smart farming or Smart agriculture is promising concept of contemporary agricul-

ture sector that aim to minimize waste and enhance productivity by use of advance
supplementary technologies (Saiz-Rubio and Rovira-Más 2020). Present agricul-
turist and policy makers consider smart farming as a green technology approach
as it reduces ecological footprint in comparison to traditional farming practices
(Navarro et al. 2020). Implementation of advance information and communication
Sensing
Technologies
Data analytics Software

Solutions Applications
Smart
Farming
Hardware &
Communication
Software
System
systems
Telematics,
positioning
Technologies
Fig. 3 Important components of smart farming
technologies has improved the quantity and quality of agriculture products while
optimizing the human labor requirements and using fewer natural resources. Smart
farming monitors and analyzes environmental conditions (such as growth status,
soil status, irrigation water, pest, fertilizers, and weed management) for optimizing
various input processes (Doshi et al. 2019).
Smart farming uses hardware and software to record the data and give valuable
insights to handle all on-farm activities (Fig. 3). IoT are important hardware for
proper functioning of Smart farming. IoT-based smart farming enables real-time
monitoring, recording, diagnosis, decision making, and accordingly appropriate
activities in farms (Fig. 4).
Generally, IoT-based system consist of input and output interface for sensors,
interface for connecting to the Internet, interface for memory and storage, as well
as interface for audio or video. Demand for technology-driven smart farming has
increased in recent past particularly after wide acceptance and recognition by
progressive agriculturists. There are several commercially available IoT solutions
for smart agriculture (Table 1).
1662 A. K. Singh
Fig. 4 Important events in

IoT-based smart farming
cycle
Table 1 Some renowned IoT solutions used in agriculture

IoT
platform Services websites
Easyfarm Farm record-keeping http://www.easyfarm.com/
Farmx Impact of management on health of https://www.farmx.co/
canopy
Cropx Optimize input application, leading to https://www.cropx.com/
significant saving of resources like water,
fertilizer, energy, and labor
Farmlogs Farm management system software to https://farmlogs.com/
automatically record and analyze
day-to-day operation
MbeguChoice Suggest type of crop seed to farmers of http://www.mbeguchoice.com/
Kenya
KAA Connect and manage IoT devices via an https://www.kaaproject.org/
open cloud system
Phytech Determine water demand, growth, and https://www.phytech.com/
health of tree
Semios Assess and optimize response to insect, https://semios.com/
disease, and plant health in real time
OnFarm Automatically collect, analyze, and store https://www.onfarm.com/
data to provide real-time field situation in
user-friendly dashboard
Farmtrx Precision yield monitor system that can https://www.farmtrx.com/
be attached with any combine
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is considered as one of the big technological revolution
of the present world. IoT-based technologies are expected to touch the life of entire
human race directly or indirectly (Doshi et al. 2019). The IoT allows things to
be controlled from distance via an existing network infrastructure, thus creating
possibility for direct amalgamation between the physical world and computer-based
systems. Utilization of IoT-based technologies in several sectors (like manufacturing
industry, healthcare, transportation, communications, homes, and agriculture) has
reduced inefficiencies and improved the performance. The phrase “Internet of
Things” (IoT) was first coined by British innovator Kevin Ashtonin in 1999
to describe the network of physical devises that are connected to Internet for
exchanging data (Ayaz et al. 2019; Tzounis et al. 2017). Since its conception, IoT
has improved a lot by embracing various empowering techniques such as wireless
sensor networks, cloud computing, big data embedded systems, security protocols
and architectures, communication protocols, and web services.
Basically, the IoT is assembly of three layers, namely, the perception layer,
the network layer, and the application layer (Fig. 5a). The three-layer architecture
defines the basic idea of IoT but it is not always sufficient in achieving desire results,
hence several researchers have included finer aspects and added more layers to
architecture of IoT (Kumar and Mallick 2018). The five-layer architecture of IoT
includes perception layer, transport layer, processing layer, application layer, and
business layer (Fig. 5b). The role of perception layer and application layer of five-
layer architecture is same as that of three-layer architecture (Tzounis et al. 2017).
The perception layer is physical layer consisting of sensors for sensing and
gathering information from environment (Chen and Yang 2019). This layer has
technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Wireless Sensor
Network (WSN), and Near Field Communications (NFC). RFID technology is
considered as the first and the most suitable example of interconnected “Things.”
RIFD uses electromagnetic waves to automatically identify and track tags attached
to the objects. RFID tags hold data in the form of the Electronic Product Code
(EPC). The RFID readers triggers read and manipulate a large number of tags,
thus allowing object identification, tracking, and data storage on active or passive
tags. Active tags are powered by embedded power supply consisting of battery.
Passive tags do not require embedded power supply as it is powered by energy from
interrogating radio waves of RIFD readers (Welbourne et al. 2009).
A typical WSN is equipped with sensing and computing device, radio
transceivers, and power components for monitoring and recoding the physical
condition of the environments. Data collected by hundred thousands of sensors
are organized at central location. Sensor nodes of WSN communicate among
themselves using radio signals.
NFC is a set of communication protocols used for communicating between two
electronic devices over a very short distance of 4 cm or less. NFC enables a low-
speed connection with simple setup to bootstrap more-capable wireless connections.
NFC devices can act as electronic identity documents and keycards (Tzounis et al.
2017).
1664 A. K. Singh
Fig. 5 IoT solution architecture that includes (a) three layers and (b) five layers
The transport layer constitutes the second layer in five-layer IoT architecture.
This layer transfers the data collected by sensor from the perception layer to
the processing layer and vice versa. This layer uses network protocols to enable
communication between the perception layer and the processing layer. Network
protocols are employed to construct wireless communication between sensor nodes
and application layers. Each protocol has distinctive characters, such as the working
range, data exchange rate, and power consumption. Based on distinct features
network protocols can be grouped into short range, cellular networks, and long range
(Fernández-Ahumada et al. 2019). Short-range network protocols allow communi-
cation over short distances and hence are applied for the communication between
devices that are located close to each other. Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wi-Fi are good
examples of short-range protocols. These protocols have high data transmission
rate and low power requirement. Cellular networks like GPRS and 3G enable long
distance communication with high transmission rate. However, licensing cost and
high power consumption sometimes creates hurdle for extensive application (Mekki
et al. 2019). Long-range network protocols allow communication over very long
distance. LoRaWAN and Sigfox are good examples of long-range network protocols
(Fernández-Ahumada et al. 2019). These protocols have a low power consumption
as well as low data transmission rate. Long-range network protocols are considered
suitable when a small amount of data has to be transferred over very long distances
(Navarro et al. 2020; Fernández-Ahumada et al. 2019).
The network layer constitutes the second layer in three-layer IoT architecture.
This layer is concerned with transmitting and processing of sensor data. Data
collected by wireless sensor nodes are communicated to neighboring nodes or
a gateway and further forwarded to remote infrastructure for storage, analysis,
processing, and dissemination through network layer (Gubbi et al. 2013). Com-
munication protocols formulate over wireless standards, such as 802.15.4, help
the device networking, and fill the gap between the Internet-enabled gateways
and the end-nodes. Such protocols include ZigBee, ONE-NET, Sigfox, Wire-
less HART, ISA100.11a, and 6LowPan. Recently, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE),
LoRa/LoRaWAN, DASH7, and low-power WiFi have also been reported to perform
efficiently in network layer (Suhonen et al. 2012; Tzounis et al. 2017).
The processing layer is also known as the middleware layer of five-layer IoT
architecture. It stores, analyzes, and processes enormous amount of data coming
from the transport layer. This layer can handle and provide a diverse set of services
to the lower layers. It utilizes numerous technologies such as databases, cloud
computing, and big data processing modules (Tzounis et al. 2017). Modeling
information by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for the development
of decision support systems and automation of agriculture process has brought about
true value of precision farming (Navarro et al. 2020).
The application layer is responsible for delivering application-specific services
to the user. This layer is regarded as the most important layer as it facilitates the
realization of the IoT-based smart farming (Tzounis et al. 2017; Navarro et al. 2020).
The business layer handle the whole IoT system, including applications, business
and profit models, and users’ privacy.
Major Equipment and Technologies Enabling IoT-Based Smart

Farming
IoT-based smart farming has been made possible by use of several equipment and
technologies. This section discusses some major equipment and technologies that
have contributed toward realization of smart farming.
Wireless Sensors
Wireless sensors are the most important part of smart farming equipment. Almost
every part of advance agricultural tools and heavy machineries contain wireless
sensors for gathering on site information. Depending upon the application require-
ments, there may be following major type of sensors, namely, acoustic sensors,
field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based sensors, optical sensors, ultrasonic
ranging sensors, optoelectronic sensors, airflow sensors, electrochemical sensors,
electromagnetic sensors, mechanical sensors, mass flow sensors, Eddy covariance-
based sensors, soft water level-based (SWLB) sensors, light detection and ranging
(LIDAR), telematics sensors, and remote sensing (Ayaz et al. 2019).
1666 A. K. Singh
Acoustic sensors function by quantifying the change in the noise intensity as

the tool containing these sensors interact with other materials such as seeds and
soil particles. It has been used successfully for monitoring and detection of pest
(Ayaz et al. 2019). Gasso-Tortajada et al. (2010) have used novel acoustic sensor
for classifying different seeds varieties using sound absorption spectra. Acoustic
sensors are preferred especially in portable equipment as it provides low-cost
solutions with fast response (Ayaz et al. 2019).
Field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based sensors are being used in smart
agriculture due to their flexibility of reconfiguration. It has been employed for
measuring real-time plant transpiration, irrigation, and humidity (Millan-Almaraz
et al. 2010). FPGA-based sensors utilization for agricultural purposes is in infancy
stage primarily due to limitation issues such as size, cost, and power consumption.
These sensors are not suitable for continuous monitoring systems as they have
high operational power requirement (de la Piedra et al. 2012). FPGA-based sensors
have potential to offer satisfactory solutions in smart agriculture once it overcomes
aforementioned limitations.
Optical sensors use light reflectance phenomena for measuring various soil
parameters. These sensors test soil parameters such as organic content, moisture,
color, and mineral composition by reflecting light of different electromagnetic
spectrum on samples. The changes occurring in reflected wavelength help to
quantify various parameters. Molina et al. (2011) have reported use of integrated
optical sensors with microwave scattering for characterizing olive grove canopies.
Fluorescence-based optical sensors have been used for supervising the fruit matura-
tion (Pajares 2011).
Ultrasonic ranging sensors are often considered better than several other sensors.
These sensors have low cost, ease to use, and ability to become part of diverse
applications. It has been used for monitoring tank, crop canopy, and measuring spray
distance (Dvorak et al. 2016). Combination of camera and ultrasonic ranging sensors
has been employed for the detecting weeds in the crop field (Pajares et al. 2013).
Ultrasonic sensors detect height of plants while the camera determines the weed and
crop cover.
Optoelectronic sensors are known to distinguish between different plant types.
It helps to identify weeds, herbs, and other unwanted plants among crops. Andújar
et al. (2009) have used combination of optoelectronic sensor and location informa-
tion to map the weed distribution in maize crop field. Optoelectronic sensors can
also be employed for mapping vegetation area as it can differentiate between plant
cover and soil through reflection spectra.
Airflow sensors are capable of measuring various soil characteristics by pushing
a predetermined quantity of air into the ground at a prescribed depth. It has been
used to determine soil air permeability, soil moisture content, and soil types. It can
perform measurements at a singular fixed position or over long range in the mobile
mode (García-Ramos et al. 2012).
Electrochemical sensors are widely used in smart agriculture for soil test
automation. Standard chemical analysis of soil is expensive and time-consuming
process. However, application of electrochemical sensors can easily substitute these
tests by determining various chemical characteristic of soil such as salinity, pH, and
macro and micro-nutrients of the soil (Cocovi-Solberg et al. 2014).
Electromagnetic sensors record electrical conductivity and transient electromag-
netic response to adjust rate of applications in the authentic situation. These sensors
determine various properties of soil by measuring the capability of soil particles to
conduct or accumulate electrical charges. Yunus and Mukhopadhyay (2011) had
demonstrated that electromagnetic sensors can be applied to determine residual
nitrates and organic matter in the soil.
Mechanical sensors are widely used to determine soil mechanical compaction.
These sensors enter through the soil and record the force experienced by strain
gauges (Hemmat et al. 2013). Soil compaction knowledge aids farmers to determine
the tillage requirement.
Mass flow sensors have been used to determine the yield by measuring the
amount of grain flowing through combine harvester. Sensing mass flow for deter-
mining the crop yield has been used extensively in IoT-based smart farming.
Yield monitoring systems apart from mass flow sensors also contain several other
modules, like the grain moisture sensor, data storage device, and software to analyze
the recorded data (Ayaz et al. 2019).
Eddy covariance-based sensors measures exchange of gases, water vapors, and
energy between surface of the earth and atmosphere. The sensors based on this
technology can quantify exchanges of carbon dioxide, methane, or other gases, and
energy between agriculture field and atmosphere (Kumar et al. 2017). These sensors
are preferred over other sensors due to its ability to measure continuous flux over
large areas with high precision.
Soft water level-based (SWLB) sensors are used in agriculture sectors to describe
hydrological behaviors of catchment area. These sensors measure rainfall and
stream flows by determining water level and flow (Crabit et al. 2011). SWLB has
helped agriculture sector by enabling efficient and effective irrigation, thus reducing
the wastage of water.
Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) is method used to measure distance. It
has been used in a range of agriculture applications, such as land mapping and
segmentation, determining soil type, monitoring soil erosion and soil loss, and yield
forecasting (Ayaz et al. 2019; Montagnoli et al. 2015). These sensors operate by
illuminating the target with laser light and then measure the reflection from targets.
Difference between laser return times and wavelength is used to make digital three-
dimensional representation of targeted site (Ayaz et al. 2019).
Telematics sensors help in telecommunication between two places. In
agriculture-based application telemetry sensors have been employed for communi-
cating between two vehicles. These sensors collect data from remote location and
inform farmers on how the components of machine are working. These sensors also
record location and travel routes of operating machines. Telematics sensors-based
technologies have enabled farmers to record and store all information related to
farm operations automatically (Ayaz et al. 2019).
Remote sensing-based technologies has enabled researcher and farmers to
monitor on field crop, forecast yield dates, model and forecast yield, identify
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weeds and pests, and map land degradation. These sensors capture and store
the geographic information. Information collected by remote sensors is further
analyzed, manipulated, managed, and presented as spatial or geographical data
(Ayaz et al. 2019). Argos-sensor is a well-known example of remote sensor-based
technology. It is a satellite-based sensor system for collecting, processing, and
distributing environmental data from fixed and mobile platforms worldwide (Rose
and Welsh 2010).
IoT-Based Tractors
Tractors are farm vehicles used for imparting power and traction to mechanized
agricultural task like tillage. Demand for tractors has increased with decrease in
rural labor resource. It has been reported that an average size tractor can work
40 times faster at less expenses than traditional farm labor (Ayaz et al. 2019).
Different agriculture equipment manufacturers are continuously adding advance
features to tractor for fulfilling the farm requirements. Several manufacturers
have added automatic-driven and Cloud-computing capabilities to advance tractors.
Manufacturers are working on to commercialize self-driving tractors. The main
benefit of self-driving tractors is their ability to make very precise turns without
the physical presence of driver. Self-driving tractors offer precision with reduced
errors that are mostly unavoidable when a human controls the machinery (Ayaz
et al. 2019).
Harvesting Robots
Harvesting is the last and most critical phase of crop cultivation. It has significant
influence on crop quality and quantity. Some crops are harvested once while
some others crops are picked several times after plants have reached a certain
stage. Harvesting crop at the correct time in a proper manner is very important
for obtaining optimum return from cultivated crops. Early or late harvesting
generally reduces quality and quantity of crops. Labor are predominantly required
for harvesting crops. However, labor shortage is hampering several agriculture
functions significantly. According to Ayaz et al. (2019), there is decline in crop
production annually due to labor shortage. United States Department of Agriculture
reported that costs of wages and labor may range something between 14% and 39%
of total cultivation cost (Ayaz et al. 2019). Considering the importance of this stage
and labor issues, farm experts and managers believe that use of agriculture robotics
will ease the labor pressure and provide the freedom to harvest as per desire (Ayaz
et al. 2019).
Recent decades have seen automation of harvesting process by use of sensitive
robots that can detect shape, size, color, and localization of fruits (Zujevs et al.
2015). Harvesting robots require sophisticated sensors capable of accumulating
accurate information of particular crop and fruit. In real field scenario, the task of
detecting the right target is not simple as most of the fruits are partially or fully
hidden among leaves and branches (Bac et al. 2017). The successful automation
of harvesting process employ computer vision, image processing, and machine
learning techniques. As different fruits vary in shapes, sizes, and colors, researchers
are designing and developing specific robots for specific crops (Zujevs et al. 2015).
SW 6010, Octinion, SWEEPER robot, and FFRobot are some of the leading
harvesting robots being used for crop harvesting. FFRobot is harvesting robots
employed for harvesting tree-based fruits like apples. It has capability to pick up
to 10,000 fruits per hour. SW 6010 and Octinion are able to collect strawberries.
SWEEPER robot is employed to harvest peppers. Another automated strawberry
harvester Tektu T-100 is an all-electric rechargeable harvester that can run silently
with zero emission inside the poly-tunnels (Ayaz et al. 2019; Defterli et al. 2016).
Communication in Smart Agriculture
Smart farming is heavily dependent on accurate and timely communication and

reporting the information to stakeholders. The real purpose of smart agriculture
can only be achieved by firm, reliable, and secure connection among various
participating objects. Successful implementation of IoT in agriculture sector on
a large scale can be achieved only after providing a suitably large architecture
for communication. Deciding upon the means of communication is influenced by
several factors like cost, coverage, energy consumption, and reliability. Currently
several communication modes and technologies are employed in smart agriculture,
depending on the availability, scalability, and application requirements. Cellular
communication through 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G, ZigBee, LoRa, Bluetooth, and Sigfox
has been used successfully to communicate in smart agriculture.
Cellular communication modes from 2G to 5G have been used for communi-
cating information or data. However, availability of appropriate cellular network in
rural region is a major concern worldwide particularly in developing and under-
developed countries. Data transmission via satellite can overcome aforementioned
problem. The cost of communication via satellite is very high thus making it
unsuitable for small- and medium-sized farms.
The choice of communication mode is also determined by the application
requirements. Farms employing sensors that operate with low data rate but work
continuously for long periods require long battery life. Such farms often consider
relatively a new range of Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN). Several
research consider LPWAN a better solution for cellular connectivity, due to long
battery life and a wider connectivity range at reasonable rates (2 to 15 USD per year)
(Beecham Research 2016). Several short-range and medium-level communications
are also being used in mesh networks for communicating information (Zulkifli and
Noor 2017). In a mesh-network based communication system, sensor nodes collect
data and transmit it to the gateway located in the same area. The gateway then sends
collected data via WAN network to the farm management system.
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Fig. 6 Different topologies used for supporting the ZigBee networks: (a) Star, (b) Tree, (c) Mesh
The ZigBee technology has emerged as the new standard for superior wireless
technology in agriculture communication. The ZigBee hardware uses physical
devices to offer a low cost accomplishment. Depending on the application require-
ments the devices based on ZigBee protocol uses three logical device types,
namely, ZigBee coordinator, ZigBee Router, ZigBee End Devices (Oliveira et al.
2017). The ZigBee network uses three different topologies, namely, Star, Tree, and
Mesh (Fig. 6). Star topology is simplest of all topologies. It consists of a ZigBee
coordinator and few ZigBee End Devices. All end devices are connected directly
to coordinator (Fig. 6a). In the star topology, ZigBee coordinator is accountable
for initiating, maintaining, and controlling the entire end devices on the network.
Tree topology consists of coordinator, few routers, and end devices (Fig. 6b).
Router serves as extension for network coverage. End devices can be connected to
coordinator or router. Mesh topology consist of one coordinator and several router
and end devices (Fig. 6c). It is also referred as Peer-to-Peer network. This topology
has capability to find alternate path to destination, in case node fail to communicate,
hence also known as self-healing topology.
ZigBee can play vital role especially in the greenhouse environment where
usually short-range communications are required. Data collected by sensors enable
real-time monitoring of various parameters. Data collected by sensors is transferred
through ZigBee network to end server. For the applications like irrigation and
fertilization, ZigBee modules are networked for communication. For example, in

drip irrigation, soil content like moisture is monitored. Further, SMS is forwarded
to the farmer to update about the field data where GSM is required at long distance
or Bluetooth module can help at the shorter distances.
Bluetooth is a wireless communication standard for connecting small-head
devices over shorter distances. It is used in several smart farming applications
as it is easy to use, utilize less power, and have low cost. Hong and Hsieh
(2016) successfully tested Bluetooth and PLC (programmable logic controller) with
ICS (integrated control strategy) for controlling irrigation timing depending upon
soil moisture content to carry out smart irrigation. Advanced form of Bluetooth
commonly known as Bluetooth Smart or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) has been
used in sensors devoted to monitor moisture, ambient light, and temperature in open
field conditions as well as under protected cultivation area.
LoRa wireless technology offers LPWAN connectivity between the wireless
sensors and the Cloud as it is a long-range and low-power platform. Sensors based
on LoRa can be used in smaller devices for consistent monitoring. LoRa signals
have capability to penetrate thick and insulated objects, hence allowing coverage
over larger network area. As compared to several network platforms, LoRa-based
network have longer lifespan with little maintenance. Jedermann et al. (2018)
successfully tested LoRa-based networks platform in apple storage warehouse for
monitoring temperature and airflow with packet rate of more than 96%.
Sigfox is wireless network connectivity services employed to connect low-
powered objects that emit small amounts of data continuously. This wireless
network connectivity service uses narrowband or ultra-narrowband technology. It
offers high level performance as several sensors can transmit data at the same time
(Lavric et al. 2019).
Smartphones
Smartphones are important part of present-day lifestyle. Recent advances in the

smartphone industry have resulted in sharp decrease in price thus making it afford-
able for small farmers. Cellular communication is the key technology in rural areas.
Mobile phones are important mode of communication within farming community.
It can be easily used to contact or update farmers in the rural setting. With
flexibility and functionality (such as the camera, GPS, microphone, accelerometer,
and gyroscope), smartphones have tremendous potential to participate in IoT-based
smart farming (Table 2).
Realizing the tremendous potential of Mobile-phone-based agriculture ser-
vices, IT professionals are developing mobile apps to fulfill various needs of
farmers (Alfian et al. 2017). In recent years researchers have developed several
Mobile phone-based agriculture services, particularly in developing countries like
Cameroon, China, Turkey, India, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Uganda, and Zim-
babwe to address local farmers issues (Pongnumkul et al. 2015). Table 3 summarizes
some important smartphone-based application for farmers.
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Table 2 Some of the smartphone-based sensors used for various agriculture applications
Smartphone
Sensor Function Agriculture uses References
Image sensors Capture pictures of object Detect disease, chlorophyll Camacho
(camera) status, fruit ripeness, leaf (2018), Chung
area index (LAI), soil et al. (2018)
erosion
Global Measure the latitude and Determine location Wan et al.
positioning longitude information during machine (2018), Stiglitz
system (GPS) driving and tracking, land et al. (2017)
management, crop mapping
Microphone Detects usual/unusual Help maintaining machine, Kou and Wu
sound detect pest, make audio (2018)
enquiries
Accelerometer Measures acceleration Detect movement or Orlando et al.
forces rotation of camera, detect (2016)
worker or machine
movement
Gyroscope Detect the angular velocity Estimate movement of Kou and Wu
of object during rotation equipment, determine (2018)
canopy structure
Barometer Measures air pressure Measures the elevation of Frommberger
agriculture farm as an et al. (2013)
altimeter
Inertial sensor Determine altitude of Help in measuring distance Orlando et al.
object in relation to the of plant, leaves, or any (2016)
inertial system other object with the help
of camera
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing offers on-demand various services (like data storage, server
space, database networking, and software) through the Internet. It is a popular
choice for people as it offers cost saving, high speed, efficiency, performance,
and security. Cloud computing is named so because the information accessed by
individual is present remotely in the virtual space. It has supported smart farming
applications by two means. Firstly, it offers space for collection and storage of
information transmitted from remote sources. Secondly, it allows processing of
collected information and displaying the results to the users.
Hiring Cloud-based services in smart farming has several opportunities but with
few challenges. Smart farming uses vast range of sensors with its own data format
and semantics. Also the most of the decision-support systems utilized in smart
farming are application-specific. Thus, the Cloud-based decision-support system has
to handle the diversity of data and their formats as well as configure these formats for
diverse function. AgJunction developed an open Cloud-based system for gathering
and disseminating the data from different precise agriculture controllers. Fujitsu
Table 3 Some important smartphone applications used for various agricultural purposes
Mobile Apps Application Features References
PocketLAI Irrigation Determine plant’s water Orlando et al.
requirement by estimating leaf area (2016)
index. App uses the mobile camera
and accelerometer sensor
WheatCam Crop insurance Offers picture-based insurance Ceballos et al.
(PBI) to simplify the process of (2018)
crop insurance. Smartphone camera
is used to take picture pre and post
damaged insured areas
AMACA Machinery/tools Estimate the cost of machinery and Sopegno et al.
its performance in various field (2016)
operations
Ecofert Fertilizer Calculates the best possible Bueno-
management combination of fertilizers and cost Delgado et al.
of fertilizer based on current market (2016)
prices
eFarm GIS Applied for sensing, mapping, and Yu et al. (2017)
modeling of agriculture farm land
Weedsmart Weed management This tool is capable of enhancing Scholz (2018)
weed management for a specific
paddock. Based on the answers
given for nine questions about a
paddock‘s farming system, the app
assesses herbicide resistance and
weed seed bank risk
BioLeaf Health monitoring Detects leaf damage and monitor Machado et al.
crop foliar status (2016)
cFertigUAL Fertigation Calculates the amount of fertilizer Pérez-Castro
and water needed for the major crop et al. (2017)
types in greenhouse farming
proposed Akisai-Cloud for increasing the food supply chain in future by focusing
on food and agricultural industries.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Smart Farming
UAVs are aircraft without human pilot on board. These aircraft are controlled by
remote control or autonomous control unit fitted with sensors. UAVs are more
commonly known as drones. Massachusetts Institute of Technology considered
agricultural UAVs as green-tech tool for smart farming. Agricultural UAVs has been
utilized to address several farm-related issues. It provides farmers with luxury of
collecting precise data from large areas without much labor. Collected data can be
further processed and analyzed to draw valuable information. UAVs fitted with high-
resolution cameras and precise sensors have been used for monitoring plant growth
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on an individual plant-level. The application of UAV technology in smart farming

has been successfully employed for weed detection and management in crop field
of sugar beet, paddy, sunflower, and cotton. UAV technology has been applied to
monitor wheat breeding in large trial, monitor key developmental stages of winter
wheat, detect plant stress, predict as well as estimate grain yield and pest monitoring.
Faiçal et al. (2014) used an algorithm to self-adjust UAV route during spray in crop
field to reduce waste of pesticide and fertilizers. UAV-based system has also been
used to detect and chase away birds from cultivated fields by producing sounds.
Application of IoT in Smart Agriculture
The IoT-assisted agricultural operation mainly has three stages, namely, data
collection, cloud-side data analysis, and decision-making. Data are collected with
on field sensors or remote sensors or UAVs. Collected raw data are filtered
and processed by data analysis tool to draw valuable information. The filtered
information is converted to critical information by data mining and machine learning
tools. Information analysis with specific factors such as crop state, soil, and
environment condition allows decision-making. Appropriate application of IoT in
smart agriculture has allowed control of all agricultural operations such as field
preparation, seeding, irrigation, fertilization, pest control, and harvesting (Fig. 7).
Irrigation
Water is crucial input for good agriculture production and maintaining food security.
Irrigation is the process of artificially applying water to the crops for fulfilling
water requirements. Farmers generally depend on wells, ponds, lakes, canals, tube-
wells, and even dam for irrigation. According to an estimate, agriculture sectors
use more than 70% of all freshwater globally (FAO 2019). Competition for water
resource particularly for agriculture sectors is expected to increase in near future due
to population growth, urbanization, and climate change. Future agriculture sector
demands judicious and precise use of water in irrigation.
The IoT has been more widely used in agriculture for executing precision
irrigation. The system uses wireless sensor network (WSN) along with in-field
sensors to monitor plant water requirement. Sensors present in the field measures
temperature and humidity from air, soil, and canopy. Data recorded by sensors are
fed into network gateway. The gateway can be accessed via Internet wirelessly by
use of technologies such as 4G LTE mobile communication network at relatively
low cost. The data transmitted can be received by subscribed web services on the
cloud. The information gathered from farmland and other source (like weather
station and satellite imaging) are analyzed to decide on irrigation index value for
each site on farmland. These results are transmitted back to network gateway and
further forwarded to irrigation controller present on the field. Irrigation controller
utilizes results to manage precise irrigation (Zhang et al. 2018). Specifically
Fig. 7 Architecture of IoT-based agriculture technology
developed web application can enable farmers to access all data and results, as
well as make adjustments in irrigations. Lorvanleuang and Zhao (2018) reported
development of IoT-based automated irrigation system that used smartphone to
capture and process image of soil near root zone of crop. Rawal (2017) reported
development of automated irrigation system capable of monitoring and maintaining
the desired soil moisture content through automatic watering system. Control unit
was developed with Microcontroller ATMEGA328P on arduino uno platform. Soil
sensors present in the field measure and maintain appropriate quantity of water so
as to avoid over or under irrigation (Rawal 2017).
Fertilization
Fertilizers are natural or synthetic material that can provide essential nutrients to
crop plant for proper growth and development. The current agriculture practices
depend heavily on fertilizer application for increasing the production of food,
feed, fuel, fiber, and other plant products. Continuous cropping exhaust soil from
essential nutrients, hence a regular replenishment of nutrients is necessary in order
to maintain the fertility of the soil so as to maintain or improve the quality of the
harvest (Zhang et al. 2018).
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Depending upon the requirement nutrients can be grouped into major and minor
nutrients. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) are important primary
major nutrients. Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), and Sulfur (S) are secondary
major nutrients. Boron (B), Chlorine (Cl), Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe),
Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), and Zinc (Zn) are minor nutrients. The
amount of fertilizer required is influenced by various factors such as crop type, soil
type and soil absorption capability, product yield, fertility type, fertilizer utilization
rate, weather condition, and climate condition (Ayaz et al. 2019; Zhang et al. 2018).
Application of fertilizer in excess amount adversely affects the environment by
depleting the soil quality, deteriorating ground water resource and contributing to
the climate changes across the globe. Adverse effect of fertilizer can be reduced by
precise application of fertilization. Precise fertilization is relatively complicated as
compared to precise irrigation. The main hurdle in precise fertilization is determi-
nation of fertilizer requirement in soil patches and supplying nutrient accordingly.
Remote sensing and IoT approaches have helped in estimating fertilizers require-
ment at particular site with acceptable accuracy and minimum labor. Normalized
Differences Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used for estimating crops health,
vegetation vigor, density, and soil nutrient assessment. NDVI is estimated from
satellite images or images from UAV or IoT ground stations. NDVI value is
used to generate the site-specific fertilization index map. Fertilizer is applied with
automated agriculture machines and vehicles in accordance to the fertilization index
map (Zhang et al. 2018).
Crop Disease and Pest Management
Yield loss due to disease and pest is one of the serious problems of agriculture
sector. According to FAO (2019) nearly 20% to 40% of global crop yield are lost
annually due to pest and diseases. Agriculture 3.0 saw application of large amount
of agrochemicals like pesticides, fungicides for overcoming losses due to diseases
and pest. Globally more than two million tons of agrochemical is used annually.
Most of these agrochemicals are harmful to living organisms.
Use of IoT-based system allows cultivators with real-time monitoring, modeling,
and diseases forecasting. Traditionally, diseases and pest management include
application of agrochemicals at particulars stage of crop or pre-prescribed time
irrespective of infection. The effectiveness of crop disease and pest management
system depends on the sensing, evaluation, and treatment strategies. First stage of
IoT-based crop disease and pest management system is to collect real-time crop
physiological and pathological data. Image processing is most commonly employed
for acquiring physiological and pathological data. Image can be obtained from
on field sensors or remote sensing devices installed on aircraft or satellite. Data
obtained from remote sensing system has higher efficiency and comparatively less
cost as compared to on field sensors. On field sensors enable more function as
compared to remote sensing system. On field sensors can be used to monitor and
collect data from every corner of field throughout the cultivation period (Zhang
et al. 2018). IoT-based system has been employed to develop automated pest traps.
IoT-enabled pest traps capture, count, and characterize pest. Information collected
by automated traps is then uploaded to cloud for analysis (Ramalingam et al. 2020).
Data collected by crop disease and pest management system are sent and stored at
central management system. The center processes and analyzes data or image using
sophisticated models and algorithms to provide functions like pest identification,
diseases identification, behavior of pest, and recommendations from experts. Early
warning and suitable interventions can be suggested to the farmer from the central
managing system in various ways such as text messages or emails. Information
obtained from central system are also utilized in precision farming to precisely
apply diseases treatment and pesticide using automated spray or unmanned aerial
vehicles or automated variable rate technology. Use of advance robot enabled
with multispectral sensing devices, precision–spraying, can locate and deal with
the problem. Several IoT technology systems have been successfully used in
smart farming for monitoring various aspects of crop production. Zhang et al.
(2014) developed IoT system for monitoring diseases, pest, and weeds in field
crops of wheat. The system also has capability to diagnose and predict diseases,
pest, and weeds of wheat. Depending upon data analysis, the system can provide
recommendation to farmers (Zhang et al. 2014). An IoT system developed by Lee
et al. (2017) predicted diseases and pest by utilizing model based on correlation
information. This IoT system helped farmers to control diseases and pest by
judicious usage of pesticides and fungicides.
Yield Monitoring, Forecasting, and Harvesting
Yield monitoring is the means of analyzing quality and quantity of harvest. Grain
mass flow, moisture content, and harvested grain quantity are some important
parameters analyzed during yield monitoring. Accurate yield monitoring helps in
estimating crop performance and deciding on the future course of action. Yield
monitoring is the important part of smart farming as it not only helps in deciding
on the time of harvest but also inform about the quality of yield. Yield quality
depends on several internal and external factors. Genetic composition of the crop
is an important internal factor influencing yield quality. Nutrient availability, good
quality pollination, photoperiod, and sufficient pollination are some external factors
influencing yield quality and quantity. With globalization of agriculture sector,
the demand for good quality fruits has increased tremendously in recent times.
Moreover, good quality fruits must reach right market at right time for harnessing
maximum profit. Consumers prefer fruits with attractive external features like fruit
size, color, aroma, and texture. All these attractive features of fruit can be achieved
only if fruits are harvested at right time and maintained under appropriate post-
harvest care.
Crop forecasting is an art to predicting the yield and production before the
harvesting period. Forecasting is done after taking into account the current status
of crop plant. Forecasting of crop yield helps farmers to decide on near future
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plan. Predicting yield quality and maturity time is critical in decision making and
deciding on the harvesting time. Yield quality and maturity time prediction take into
account the data collected during various development stages of fruit. Fruit color,
size, texture, and appearance are some important parameters that are considered for
predicting right harvesting time. It must be noted that right harvesting time helps to
maximize the crop quality and quantity. It also offers an opportunity to accordingly
adjust the post-harvest management strategy.
Harvesting is the last but most crucial stage of agricultural process. Proper
harvesting at right time can make a great difference. Farmers must know the right
time for crop harvesting as it is essential for drawing real benefits from crops. Farm
area network (FAN) helps in real-time monitoring of the whole farm and deciding
on the harvesting time. A yield monitoring system can be installed on harvester
combine and linked with the mobile app FarmRTX. Mobile app displays live harvest
data and uploads it automatically to web-based platform of the manufacturer. Mobile
app FarmRTX can also generate high-quality yield maps. These maps can be shared
with any agriculture experts. Farmer also has option to export information and
analyze them on other farm management software.
Manfrini et al. (2015) estimated the production and quality of yield by monitoring
fruit growth on apple trees. The group considered the fruit growth as the most
fundamental and appropriate parameter for determining the progression of the crop.
Torbick et al. (2017) used satellite imagining for monitoring rice crop yield in vast
areas. Satellite imagining allows monitoring of large area and thus aids in estimating
yield of large farms. Such method can also be useful in estimating yield of entire
state or country. Sentinel-1A Interferometric images were used to map the rice crop
yield and intensity in Myanmar (Torbick et al. 2017). Color (RGB) depth imagining
has been used to track the different fruit conditions in mango and papaya farms
(Wang et al. 2017). Multiple optical sensors have been employed successfully to
monitor the shrinking of papayas particularly during drying conditions.
Protected Cultivation
Protected cultivation is a process of growing crops in controlled environments.

Green house farming is a good example of protected cultivation. Green house
cultivation is more intense than open farm system, hence requires relatively
more monitoring and controlled farming operations. There are cloud-based IoT
solutions used for monitoring and controlling various operations in green house.
High-precision monitoring of green house has been made possible by IoT-based
technologies. Sensors present in the green house collect data. These data are
uploaded to a cloud infrastructure by Internet facility. Collected data are analyzed
with well-evaluated equations and crop and climate models to provide grower with
valuable information. Depending upon the information grower may take better
decisions or get early warnings.
Online precise irrigation scheduling for greenhouses (OpIRIS) was developed on

the basis of well-evaluated scientific knowledge. OpIRIS uses web application for
communicating with long distance sensors installed in the greenhouses. The system
has climate sensors and machinery for regulating fertigation. Sensors robotically
sense drainage sample and transfer data to the infrastructure. The data is processed
and employed to precisely predict the crop water requirement and notify growers
about when to irrigate and volume of nutrient solution to apply. Tong-ke (2013)
developed automate irrigation system for green house with agricultural information
cloud and a hardware combination of IOT and RFID. The system was able to achieve
high efficiency in resource utilization and significant improvement in maintaining
water quality.
The increasing demand for food requires more farmable lands but soil erosion
and pollution has destroyed nearly one-third of farm land. Current intense agri-
cultural practices are also damaging the soil quality at faster rate than it can be
replenished. Researchers believe that Vertical Farming (VF) and plant factories are
better options to overcome limitation arising due to reduction of arable land and
decrease in water resource issues.
Plant factories are closed plant growing system facilitated with artificially
controlled light, temperature, moisture, and carbon dioxide concentrations. These
enable constant production from plant throughout the year, even under unfavorable
external environment condition. Artificial growth systems heavily rely on IoT-based
technology for imparting suitable condition for plant growth.
Vertical Farming is a form of urban agriculture that offers prospect to stack the
plants in vertical racks. Plants are allowed to grow in limited space under controlled
environment. Vertical Farming is highly efficient in terms of resources consumption
due to smart farming approaches. This method enhances production several folds
by increasing the number of stacks under fraction of ground surface as compared to
conventional agriculture practices.
Indoor farm developer Mirai reported that Japanese vertical farm of 25,000
square meters produce 10,000 heads of lettuce per day which is double the amount
produced under traditional field condition. Japanese vertical farms used nearly
40% less energy and 99% less water consumption as compared to open field type
cultivation practice. Aerofarms, another vertical farm developer, reported 390 times
higher yields and nearly utilizing 95% less water as compared to conventional
cultivation practice. All abiotic parameters required for plant growth is controlled
by sensors. Carbon dioxide concentration in plant growing environment is very
critical parameter. Non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) carbon dioxide sensors play
important role to detect and control the concentration in artificial vertical farms
system. Edinburgh Sensors designed Boxed Gascard for vertical farms environment.
Boxed Gascard employs a pseudo dual beam NDIR measurement system to enhance
the stability and reduced optical complexity. Mint Controls reported development of
IoT-connected vertical farm that do not require human hands to touch the crops at
any stage (Chowdhury et al. 2020).
1680 A. K. Singh
Livestock Applications
Livestock are important part of agriculture sectors. Livestock or farm animals are
domestic animals raised for producing labors and different commodities (such as
meat, eggs, milk, etc.). Water buffalo, cattle, sheep, donkey, camel, and goat are
some common examples of livestock. Maintaining livestock in clean and optimal
environment is necessary for good productivity. Optimum supply of food and water
is also essential for maintaining proper health of livestock. IoT-based application has
been used successfully for managing livestock. WSN-based technology has been
employed for monitoring and controlling the environmental conditions. It has also
been used for monitoring feeding practice, animal tracking, and animal behaviors.
Murphy et al. (2015) reported use of WSN technology for monitoring a beehive
colony. Their group collected important information about activity and environment
within a beehive as well as its surrounding area.
Future Challenges
IoT-based smart agriculture has several challenges that need to be addressed

before it becomes imperative part of agricultural practice. Challenges range from
hardware problem to security concerns. The equipment present at the perception
layer are directly exposed to harsh environmental conditions capable of destroying
the electronics circuits. Environmental condition such as soaring solar radiation,
extreme temperatures, rain, humidity, winds, vibrations, and dust storms can damage
electronic circuits and render perception layer nonfunctional.
The devices of IoT system has to stay active and function perfectly over long
period with limited availability of power resources from batteries. Suitable program-
ming tools and low-power utilizing system needs to be developed as frequent battery
replacement or reset of the system is not an easy task in the large-scale open fields.
Small power harvesting modules like solar panels, wind turbines can be applied to
generate power to some extent in open fields but still low power utilizing equipment
are prerequisite for successful IoT system. Ziegeldorf et al. (2014) highlighted the
importance of small number of interconnected devices produces exceedingly large
amount of data. Small-scale server infrastructures usually fail to handle such large
amount of data (Atzori et al. 2010).
Logistics infrastructure dealing with food and agricultural sector aims to assist
the exchange of information as well as transport of goods. Proper logistics can
optimize the production process and the supply chain networks globally. Including
IoT-based technology in logistics have progressively transformed post-harvest
agriculture business processes by providing more precise and real-time information
to the movement of materials and products. Inclusion of cloud computing into IoT-
based logistics system has increased service quality primarily by offering ample
storage and computational resources to store and process the data generated at the
edge of the network. Botta et al. (2014) used the “CloudIoT” to highlight the ideal
accompaniment of IoT technologies and cloud computing. The enormous amount

of data generated at the edge of the network can sustain unpleasantly high cost for
transferring it to the cloud. Therefore, the researchers and industries must develop
technologies that can draw best possible balancing between the edge storage and
processing as well as determine the portion of the workload that is to be done on
the cloud. Expanding cloud technologies and tools is must for satisfying the future
requirements of IoT-based technologies. Fog computing which is an extension
of the Cloud Computing paradigm offers such advancements. It is decentralized
computing infrastructure that uses edge devises to carry out sizeable amount of
computation, data storage, and application locally and routed over the Internet
(Jukan et al. 2019; Bo and Wang 2011).
Another challenge for IoT-based system is the network layer. Normally wireless
communication systems are preferred over wired base data transfer system in
various agricultural deployments. It is well established that environment condition
has considerable influence on wireless link quality. Environment condition can
decrease wireless link quality through the multi-path propagation effects and its
contribution to background noise (Wang et al. 2017). In the real world, performance
of popular transceivers has been found to be influenced by temperature, humidity,
and presence of human and other obstacles within the space where a wireless node
attempts to communicate. Thus, there is need for robust and reliable data transfer
technologies that can work accurately according to the requirements and challenges
of the rural environment.
Security concerns are another challenge commonly faced by IoT-based system.
The safe IoT-based system transfer data through interconnected Internet that can
ensure the security, legitimacy, confidentiality, and privacy of the stakeholders
involved in this group. A well-protected IoT-based system guard data present in
perception layer, network layer, and application layer from external attacks. It
ensures that only approved entities can access and alter data in the application layer.
IoT security requires to fulfill three primary requirements, namely, authentication,
confidentiality, and access control.
The first layer, that is, perception layer often faces most common security breach.
This layer requires security not only for the acquired information but also physical
security for the hardware components. In case of agriculture, the physical security
of hardware components is quite important, since the devices are deployed in open
fields and work continually without proper surveillance for long periods under
diverse environmental condition. Very often a single security protocol may not
be effective in providing protection to all devices as they are deployed in diverse
environments and distributed nature of IoT.
RFID commonly used in IoT has security concern related to leakage of infor-
mation. Information leakage from RFID may reveal the location identity and other
similar sensitive data. RFID security has been achieved by several countermeasures
like data encryption, use of blocker tags, and tag frequency modification. Jamming
of tags and tag destruction policy which enables physical ending of a tag’s life
has also been used as countermeasures. Security of sensor can be achieved through
several policies like cryptographic algorithms, identity authentication mechanisms,
1682 A. K. Singh
data flow control policies, and data filtering mechanisms (Li et al. 2012). This
layer is also threatened by wiretapping, tampering, cheating, and replay attacks.
Therefore, data acquisition and key management protocols must be guaranteed
with authenticity, confidentiality, and data integrity. Secure routing policies must
be adopted and sensor node verification policies must be controlled to prevent data
access by unauthorized things.
Middleware layer of IoT also has specific security requirements. This layer
is positioned between the perception and application layers and is accountable
for data processing. Middleware layer enables communication interface between
network and application layers. Confidentiality and secure data storage are primary
security requirement of middle layer. Data transmissions through wireless medium
often offer security challenges to IoT system. IoT systems are easily exposed to
threat, such as denial of service attacks, virus attack, man-in-the-middle attacks, and
unauthorized access. These security threats often target and affect privacy and data
integrity of network layer. Security threats of middleware layer can be overcome by
authentication, intrusion detection, key management, and negotiation mechanisms
(Demesticha et al. 2020; Farooq et al. 2019).
Application layer is the top layer in the IoT system. Enormous amount of data
streams end up in this layer, thus requiring improved storage and computational
resources. Often the application layer is so closely related with the cloud and thus
security threats of application layer are similar to the security issues of the cloud
itself. Application layer experiences threats for data security, privacy, backup, and
recovery. Secured application layer must have mechanisms to manage the rights
and ownership of data. It must also control the access rights to all, or part of the
information, both for users and between machines, or even organizations (Farooq
et al. 2019).
Conclusions
The agriculture sector has undergone several important changes during last few
decades. These changes have transformed traditional agriculture sector into a new
smart agriculture. The fourth revolution in agriculture has transformed traditional
farming approaches by introducing ICT technologies. The use of contemporary
software and hardware technologies like WSNs, IoT, UAVs, cloud computing, and
machine learning has enabled development of smart agriculture. These technologies
have potential to further enhance crop yield, improve harvest quality, reduce cost of
production, and lessen the ecological footprint of traditional farming. Smart farming
technologies have aided farmers to practice modern process by monitoring crops
even at a per plant level.
IoT is expected to optimize the agriculture process by many means. Recent
advances in IoT-based open-field and protected cultivation has paved pathway to
move farming from precision to a micro-precision model of agricultural production.
Precise monitoring, pervasive computing, and proper agriculture decision support
system are bound to provide the optimal growing or living conditions for both crops
and animals. Automation of agriculture systems will allow optimization of service

and resource usage as well as control the crop production in harmony to the market
condition. This approach is bounded to maximize the profit and minimize the cost
of production in every possible way.
In a real world, IoT-based agriculture system employ diverse equipment, with
different technical specifications and sensor features. Data coming from vast
heterogeneous sources can be used to optimize agriculture decision support system
or expert system only after making it interpretational, filtration, and the semantic
annotation of the data.
Food supply chains and agriculture logistics system armed with WSN and RFID
equipment can allow monitoring of product at each stage of its life thus imparting
feeling of safety for consumer, through a transparent product lifecycle information
system. All the abovementioned approaches are the optimistic advances of the IoT-
based agriculture system. However, in this perception, several individual players
have to participate in accord. Foremost, the local networks systems have to be
protected against interference from other unwanted networks.
Undoubtedly, IoT-based agricultural technologies have tremendous potential to
serve future human demand in sustainable manner. However, still lots of issues
need to be addressed before IoT-based agricultural technologies become imperative
part of farming and affordable for every farmer. IoT-based agricultural technologies
along with robotics and artificial intelligence algorithms are about to bring about
fifth revolution in agriculture.
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Some Important Websites

http://www.easyfarm.com/
http://www.mbeguchoice.com/
https://edinburghsensors.com/industries/agriculture/
https://farmlogs.com/
https://www.eip-water.eu/projects/opiris-online-precise-irrigation-scheduling-algorithm
https://www.farmtrx.com/
https://www.farmx.co/
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/smart-agriculture-market-239736790.html;
https://www.cropx.com/
https://www.onfarm.com/
Smart Materials in Oil and Gas Industry:
Application 66
Alimorad Rashidi and Soheila Sharafinia
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1690
Smart Materials Used in Oil and Gas Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1692
Application of Smart Materials in Oil and Gas Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1694
Application of Smart Materials in Enhanced the Oil Recovery (EOR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1694
Application of Smart Materials in Drilling Fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1703
Application of Smart Materials in Oil Well Cement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1706
Application of Smart Materials in Oil-in-Water and Water-in-Oil Separation . . . . . . . . . 1708
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1722
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1722
Abstract
In recent years, smart materials are used as a different generation of materials in

different types of fields due to their environmentally friendly advantages, high
efficiency, and low cost. These materials have properties that can be manipulated
for a reversible and controllable response to environmental changes such as
pressure, heat, humidity, voltage, stress, chemical compounds and mechanical
force, pH, electricity, or magnetism. Therefore, these materials are known as
smart, stimuli-responsive or reactive materials. Smart materials are used in a
variety of fields, for example, the oil and gas industry, personal medical diag-
nosis, telephones and entertainment centers, construction, wastewater treatment,
A. Rashidi ()
Nanotechnology Research Center, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Tehran, Iran
e-mail: rashidiam@ripi.ir
S. Sharafinia
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
1690 A. Rashidi and S. Sharafinia
civil engineering applications, and aerospace. In this review, we have focused

on investigating the potential application of smart materials in the oil and
gas industry. Smart materials are used in the oil and gas industry in different
fields. These materials are used as nanotracer and smart water for crude oil
exploration and oil recovery, respectively. One of the important applications of
this material is nano additives, not only is it low cost, but it has high stability and
efficiency. Switchable wettability membranes also showed high performance in
the separation of oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions.
In general, smart materials are economically suitable, and do not require
complex equipment, so they improve the speed of the production process,
increase the final harvest, reduce adverse environmental effects, significantly
improve oil recovery, and also increase water and oil separation, and information
of production.
Keywords
Smart mud · Nanocement · Nanosmart additive · Smart water · Nanosensor
Introduction
Smart materials are called smart because they can reversibly respond to external
stimuli, including temperature, mechanical, light, pH, and electrical and chemical
energy (Rezaeian et al. 2020). This material has wide applications, for example,
controlled drug delivery, robots, switches, artificial muscles, the oil and gas industry,
actuators, and chemical sensors (Rezaeian et al. 2020). In this study, we have
focused on the investigation of smart material applications in the oil and gas
industry. One of the most essential subjects in the oil and gas field is requirements
to oil transfer, which in recent years have been more attentive (see Graph 1).
Major part of oil reserves is formed of carbonate reservoirs, and these carbonate
reservoirs, due to their wettability and tightness of matrix, have little oil recovery
efficiency and therefore the oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs is down. Since the
permeability of the network has more fractures than the rock matrix, the oil inside
the fractures exit when water is transported; however, an enormous value of oil
exists in the rock matrix. The automatic ignition mechanism is one of the primary
methods for oil production in fractured carbonate reservoirs, but the rock matrix
oil-wet nature prevents this method’s effectivity. Recently, the smart water injection
is one of the best approaches for oil recovery from fractured carbonate reservoirs
(Nowrouzi et al. 2020). Also, with the expansion of the industry, the release of
dangerous waste, for example, petroleum, has entered the water and caused severe
damage to the environment (Nowrouzi et al. 2020; Harrison 2007). The different
materials such as activated carbon, smart materials, (Walcarius and Mercier 2010)
metals oxides, metal−organic frameworks (MOF), polymeric and synthetic organic
materials, macroalgae, and inorganic as well as natural solid have been extensively
66 Smart Materials in Oil and Gas Industry: Application 1691
50
40
30
Count
20
10
0
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Year
Graph 1 Developments in the use of smart materials in the oil and gas industry over the past
10 years
used for the removal of pollutants from the wastewater (Kim et al. 2017). But, often
used traditional materials used are usually nonrecyclable and nonselective which
can come with high costs, and recently, smart materials have been able to challenge
conventional (traditional) materials because they have selective adsorption and high
desorption efficiency.
One other case in the oil and gas industry is the drilling fluids. These fluids in
the drilling industry play the blood role, in which hollow drill pipes are pumped
down and then flushed back up using drill cuttings. The shear-thinning rheological
factor is one of the important parameters, which must be highly adhesive to cause
transforming drill cuttings from the down of the good hole (Li et al. 2015a). These
theologies using a lot of nanomaterials such as CNTs, graphene oxide, carbon ash,
magnesium aluminum silicate, laponite, CuO, ZnO, Al2 O3 , TiO2 , SiO2 , Fe3 O4 , and
Fe2 O3 have been modified (Barry et al. 2015). Today, with population growth and
subsequent increase in demand and reduction of oil resources, drilling operations are
carried out in challenging physicochemical conditions such as salinity, pressure, pH,
and temperature, which lead to significant changes in the drilling fluids rheology.
One way to confront with this problem is to produce smart drilling fluids that
change their rheology in response to stimuli, including magnetic/electric field,
mechanical force, salinity, temperature, and pH (Rezaeian et al. 2020). The next
case in the oil industry is oil well cement; the empty places between the pipe and
rock formation are filled using these materials. Also good types of cement have been
used to protect from casing against corrosion, and translocate the drilling fluids,
prevent of corrosion. The most important parameters of cements is their resistance
to corrosive liquids and high pressures. One of the applications of oil well cement
is to increase the strength while having a higher ductility, and currently different
additive nanoparticles such as smart materials are used for this purpose.
Smart Materials Used in Oil and Gas Industry
As mentioned in the types of literature, smart nano-water flooding is obtained

by injecting nanoparticles dispersed in alcohol, brine, and water. The amount of
enhancement in oil recovery depends on the intrinsic properties and the large
surface area of the injected nanoparticles, for example, substances such as SiO2 NPs
greatly reduce interfacial tension (IFT). Nanoparticles such as MgO, NiO, Fe2 O3 ,
CuO and Al2 O3 can also be used to increase the viscosity of injected materials,
reduce the viscosity of the oleic phase, change the moisture content of the rock
surface and improve oil recovery. A summary of the materials used in the oil
recovery process is presented in Table 1 (Gbadamosi et al. 2019). Smart cements are
fabricated by the addition of materials such as nano-SiO2, ZnO, multiwalled CNTs
(MWCNTs) and single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) (Gao et al. 2009), graphene oxide
(GO), carbon nanofibers (CNF) (Phrompet et al. 2019), nanocarbon black (NCB),
and Fe2 O3 NPs to increase the life and safety of the cement structure. Materials
such as nano-Al2 O3 , nickel powder, steel slag, carbon black, steel fiber, and carbon
fiber play a filler and electrical conductive role in cement-based nanocomposites.
The presence of these materials causes increasing pressure, cracks, stress, strain,
and diagnosis (Bogue 2012). The well-known smart materials that are used to
oil-in-water and water-in-oil separating are (1,3-dimethylamylamine) (DMAA)-
grafted Si surface (light and temperature-responsive), poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)
(PNIPAM)/Poly[2 (Dimethylamino)ethyl Methacrylate] (PDMAEMA) grafted
1H, 1H, 2H, 2H perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (PFOTS) modified Al2 O3 (pH
and electrolyte-responsive), P(NIPAAm-co-AAc) thin films (PNIPAAm+PAAc),
Cellulose-PDMAEMA, and PDMAEMA hydrogel coated mesh (pH and
Temperature) (Xia et al. 2007). The next material is smart polymer membranes,
which are widely used in the field of oil-in-water and water-in-oil separation.
These membranes reversibly switch the amount of wettability by changing external
stimuli such as temperature, pH, light, and electricity. Nanoparticles of TiO2 and
ZnO have the property of responding to ultraviolet light, which is easily coated on
the surface of the materials (Gao et al. 2013). Also, the poly(4-vinylpyridine)
and the mix of HS(CH2 )9 CH3 and HS(CH2 )10COOH were grafted with the
nylon membrane, preparing pH-responsive membranes (Zhang et al. 2020). The
membranes prepared of PDMAEMA and PNIPAM (Zhang et al. 2020) indicated
hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity switch ability in different temperatures, therefore
they are used to separating oil-in-water and water-in-oil separation.
Table 1 Some of oil recovery using smart materials

NPs Base fluid Salinity (wt%) Rock type Oil recovery
SiO2 Deionized Brine 1 (2 wt% Limestone –
Al2 O3 water NaCl, 0.2 wt% KCl,
TiO2 0.2 wt% CaCl2 ,
0.1 wt% MgCl2 )
Brine 2 (3 wt% NaCl)
LHPN, Ethanol and NaCl (3 wt%) Sandstone 0.75–36.67%
NWPN, water
HLPN
HLPN Ethanol NaCl (3 wt%) Sandstone 19.31%
SiO2 Brine NaCl (3 wt%) Sandstone 0–14.29%
TiO2 Brine NaCl (0.5–1.0 wt%) Sandstone ∼31%
Hydrophobic Ethanol NaCl (5 wt%) Sandstone 25.43%
fumed 14.55%
SiO2
Al2 O3 , TiO2 , PVP NaCl (3.0 wt%) Sandstone 19–25%
SiO2
SiO2 , IIT DIW NaCl, KCl, Sandstone 50–55%
MgCl2 ·6H2 O,
CaCl2 ,
Na2 SO4 ,
NaHCO3 (2.0 wt%)
SiO2 , Al2 O3 Brine NaCl (7.0 wt%) Sandstone SiO2
(5.14–13.88%
Al2 O3
(− 8.18–4.65%)
Fe2 O3 , Brine Brine A (3.0 wt%) Sandstone 0.9–9.49 wt%
Al2 O3 , Brine B (1.5
SiO2 NaCl,1.0
CaCl2 , 0.5 MgCl2 )
SiO2 Brine NaCl (3.0 wt%) Sandstone 4.26–5.32%
SiO2 Brine NaCl (3.0 wt%) Sandstone 5.0–15%
SiO2 Brine NaCl (5.0 wt%) Carbonate 9–12%
16–17% (24 h
aging)
SiO2 Distilled – Micromodel 8.7–26%
water
SiO2 Brine NaCl (6.5 wt%) Sandstone 9.0–19%
Application of Smart Materials in Oil and Gas Industry
Application of Smart Materials in Enhanced the Oil Recovery (EOR)
The effect of the concentration of soluble ions in seawater was studied using smart
water samples. Acetone and methanol have also been used as a solvent in different
volume ratios. When using acetone as a solvent, a more significant reduction in
surface tension (IFT) is observed than in methanol solvent, it can be said this
reduction is directly related to the presence of solvents in water and the pressure of
CO2 . The value of IFT is decreased with increasing solvent at constant concentration
of seawater, which requires further study of the structure and behavior of the
solvents. Methanol has composed of hydrogen bonds with two parts, one of part is
nonpolar hydrophobic, and the other part is polar hydrophilic. When it was dissolved
in water the water-water hydrogen bond was weakened due to the formation of
the methanol-water hydrogen bond, and as a result, it decreases IFT (Biscay et al.
2011). On the other hand, the density of binary solutions is effective in reducing
IFT. Since water is denser than acetone and methanol solvents when these solvents
are dissolved in water, the solution density is much lower than the density of water
(i.e., close to the density of crude oil). The density difference calculated from Eq. 1:

ρgD 2
γ= (1)
H
In this relation parameters ρ (g/cm3 ), g (cm/s2 ), and D (cm) refer to the

difference in the solutions densities, gravitational acceleration of the earth, and the
larger diameter of the droplet, respectively. Also, H parameter depends on the shape
of the drop.
Simultaneously with the adsorption of the solvent on the water-oil interface,
a new layer is created, which leads to the enhanced adsorption of ions and thus
increases the thickness of the oil solvent-ion layer (Fig. 1). As salinity increases,
the amount of IFT increases and the solubility of solvents decreases, thus increasing
the transfer of solvent mass from the aqueous phase to the oil phase. Therefore, oil
swelling increases through the adsorption of solvent molecules by the oil phase.
By increasing the aging of the carbonate surface of the crude oil, oil-wet is
obtained. Figure 2a and b shows the contact angles of 31 and 161 for oil dropping
on the carbonate surface before and after aging, respectively. This change is due
to the absorption of carboxylic acids in crude oil during the aging process. The
contact angle is decreased with increasing concentration of Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions
in smart water. But because Mg2+ ions have a higher charge density than Ca2+
ions, they have a more significant effect on the change in wettability. As mentioned
in different kinds of literature, carboxylic acid adsorption from the crude oil by
the rock surface affects the wettability, and the cations adsorbed these acids. In
the following, the mechanism of the change of wettability by smart water will be
discussed. The concentration of SO4 2− ions affects the divalent cations and the
Fig. 1 The performances of ions in the formation of the oil solvent ion (Nowrouzi et al. 2020)
wettability of the carbonate rock surface. Increasing these ions increases the divalent
cations and decreases the wettability of the treatment solution, respectively. These
divalent cations, in turn, lead to the separation of carboxylic acids on the rock
surface. Therefore, the contact angle is significantly reduced in smart water due
to the increase in SO4 2− ion concentration. Also, as the concentration of divalent
cations in smart water increases, their activity and performance in dissociating the
carboxylic acids adsorbed on the rock surface will increase. The divalent ion activity
is affected by the concentration of NaCl. As the NaCl concentration increases, the
activity of divalent ion decreases sharply, thereby reducing their access to carboxylic
acids adsorbed. Therefore, the contact angle is increased while the activity of
effective ions is reduced (Strand et al. 2008). As Fig. 2c shows, in the presence
of a cationic surfactant (CTAB) and anionic surfactant (SDS), the contact angle is
hugely reduced. But the nonionic surfactant (TX-100) did not affect the wettability
mode and contact angle. In confirmation of this discussion, we can refer to the
work of Karimi et al. (2015), which has succeeded in reducing the contact angle
and increasing the oil recovery by adding a (CTAB) to the solution. In Jarrahian
et al. (2012), the addition of C12 TAB surfactant to the wettability modifier solution
changed the wettability to a significantly compared SDS and TX-100. It also has a
mechanism similar to increasing the concentration of divalent cations in a smart
water solution (SW + CTAB). It dissociates the carboxylic acids adsorbed on
Fig. 2 The contact angles for oil dropping on the carbonate surface (a) before and (b) after aging.
The mechanism of wettability alteration using (c) SW + C12TAB and (d) SW + SDS (Ahmadi
et al. 2020)
the rock surface using their positive charge, resulting in increasing surface water
wetness. For SDS to cause a considerable change in the wettability of carbonate
rock, it must be mixed with smart water. The SDS by decreasing the positive charge
on the rock surface reduces the access to divalent cations, therefore, reducing the
contact angle. The mechanism of changing the wettability of carbonate rock is
presented in Fig. 2d.
In a discussion of EOR processes, S. Habibi et al. studied the ionic composition
effect of SO4 2− and Ca2+ ions available in smart water in the presence of nanofluid.
They designed IFT measurements, contact angle, and stability to investigate the
effect of this parameter on the ionic composition in EOR processes (Habibi
et al. 2020). Also, for the first time, they used amine/organosiloxane@Al2 O3 /SiO2
(AOAS) nanocomposite along with smart water to change carbonate rock wetta-
bility, and observed that nanofluid with 50 ppm concentration was very stable in
during the flooding cycle. When the SO4 2− and Ca2+ ions concentration increased,
the contact angle is decreased and following that the rock wettability shifted toward
water wetness. As shown in Fig. 3a, the wettability increases with increasing Ca2+
ions but SO4 2− ions alone cannot change the wettability. Therefore, with lack of
Ca2+ ions, the oil recovery factor improvement is not considerable. According
to Fig. 3b, when nanofluid enters saltwater, the nanofluid that has high stability
to improve the wettability decreases for the contact angle. The reason of these
observations is that nanofluids have a negative surface charge and thus reduce
the positive charge of carbonates. As it approaches the surface, the concentration
of Ca2+ ions is increased due to the reduction of repulsive electrostatic forces.
Therefore, crude oil, which has negative carboxyl groups, binds to these ions and
leaves the surface (see Fig. 3c) (Habibi et al. 2020).
Composite membranes including montmorillonite (MMT), polyphenylsulfone
(PPSU), and polyamide (PA) to produce smart water with lower concentrations of
monovalent ions and higher concentrations of Mg2+ , SO4 2− , and Ca2+ were used
for EOR processes synthesized by M.S. Rezaeian et al., and also have been exam-
ined to the change of these parameters: reaction time, trimesoyl chloride (TMC)
concentration, and 1, 3-phenylenediamine (MPD) concentration; FESEM results
are indicated in Fig. 4 (Rezaeian et al. 2020). As Fig. 4 shows, by the increasing
these parameters, the thickness of selective layers of polyamide is increased. The
high solubility of MPD in hexane than the TMC monomer’s low solubility in water
leads to diffusion of MPD molecules from the aqueous phase into the organic
phase and finally the increase in polyamide selective layer thickness. They studied
polymerization conditions effect on the membrane’s efficiency, and observed that
the polyamide layers’ thickness was increased by enhancement of organic phase
monomer, reaction time, and aqueous phase monomer and have investigated the
different ions’ rejection percentage, such as Mg2+ , Ca2+ , SO4 2− , Na+ , and Cl− , in
the synthesized membranes under various polymerization conditions. The increase
in the abovementioned parameters has caused rejection values of these ions to
appear in the order SO4 2− > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > Cl− > Na+1a 1a .
Sangwai et al., using crude oil from an Indian offshore oilfield, have studied
low salinity water flooding efficiency of crude oil with a low acid number (Kakati
et al. 2020). These studies were performed by core-flooding tests on sand, including
two percentage of bentonite saturated with crude oil. Also, to see the low salinity
parameter effects on the crude oil/brine/rock properties, IFT studies were carried
out. To understand EOR process, effluent brine has been investigated, and the results
obtained represented that seawater salinity was inversely related to the EOR process.
To get a clear insight on different low salinity waterflooding effects, they performed
experiments and concluded that with increasing salinity seawater flood, the crude
oil recovery efficiency enhanced until it reached a flat plateau.
Fig. 3 The change of contact angle on carbonate surfaces to the (a) brines and (b) the same
brines+ nanofluid. (c) Proposed mechanism of nanoparticle accumulation in the presence of Ca2+
(Habibi et al. 2020)
Haghighi et al. have successfully used smart water and a novel green surfactant
for the EOR process from a carbonate oil-wet rock. The surfactant, smart water,
and surfactant/ smart water combinations were used because these materials could
provide wettability condition and IFT to the conversion of oil-wet to the water-wet
from these rocks. They concluded that the oil recovery factor for the surfactant/smart
water combination (66%) was higher than water and surfactant, because it has
Fig. 4 FESEM results of TFC membranes (Rezaeian et al. 2020)

become powerful by combination with smart water. When using smart water, it was
observed that increasing concentration of Ca2+ , Mg2+ , and SO4 2− ions decreased
the contact angle. This behavior happened at the 4Ca2+ , 4Mg2+ , and 6SO4 2−
concentrations, and thus the smart water due to the modification of seawater ions
includes 4Ca2+ , 4Mg2+ , and 6SO4 2− . As the surfactant concentration is increased,
the pH of the surfactant solution is decreased, but the conductivity of the solution
is increased, which is related to the chemical structure of dodecanoyl glucosamine.
Thus, when the surfactant concentration reaches the optimal content (i.e., 800 ppm),
the value of IFT reaches 19 mN/m. Besides, wettability conditions are also affected
by the concentration of surfactant, that is, as the surfactant concentration is
increased, the contact angle is decreased, and the wetting condition is changed from
wet-oil to wet-water. The IFT and contact angle of the solutions were measured to
understand the effect of ions of Ca2+ , Mg2+ , and SO4 2− in smart water combined
with surfactant. According to Fig. 5a with increasing concentrations of ions in
the surfactant solutions, the IFT amounts are reduced. Therefore, when Smart is
combined with a surfactant, the wettability of the rock surface also changes and the
lowest IFT and contact angle are obtained. The chemical mechanism was related to
the modification of wettability when injecting seawater, as shown in Fig. 5b and c.
According to Fig. 5b, when the temperature is low, the carboxylic group adsorbed on
the surface highly reacts with Ca2+ ions and is released from the surface. The Ca2+ –
carboxylate group is also displaced by Mg2+ ions at high temperatures (Fig. 5c).
As a result, modification of wettability occurred only at high temperatures. Mg2+ –
carboxylate bond is much weaker than the Ca2+ –carboxylate bond (Haghighi and
Firozjaii 2020).
In another study conducted by A. H. Saeedi Dehaghani et al. using an injection
of a cationic surfactant combination with improved Persian Gulf water as smart
water, the EOR process in an oil-wet carbonate reservoir has been investigated. In
this study CTAB and SDS played the role of cation and anion, respectively, and the
effects of the surfactants’ concentration and smart water salt were investigated. They
found that when SW-1NaCl, SW-4Na2 SO4 , and SW-3KCl were used, smart water
salt concentration was optimum. Moreover, optimized smart water was studied with
0.1CMC and 0.9CMC to the SDS and CTAB, respectively, and they concluded
that the combination of the surfactant with smart water in carbonate reservoirs
significantly affects the change in wettability. According to the results, in all salts
used, the increases their contact angle with the carbonate rock when increasing salt
concentration in smart water. The contact angle was decreased after reaching its
maximum. In the neutral pH, the surface of carbonate rocks is positively charged;
therefore, SO4 2− active anions bonded with the Ca2+ cations on the surface of the
rock, releasing the carboxylic groups of the oil that were previously bonded with
Ca2+ . This can be generalized to 2 CaCl2 and MgCl. To describe this phenomenon,
it can be stated that with improving the bonding between Ca and phosphate, the
electrostatic repultion on the rock surface is reduces, that leads to the cations transfer
to the surface of rock. As a result, it cleans the surface of the stone of oil molecules
due to the formation of bonds with carboxylate ions (Mofrad and Dehaghani 2020;
Fig. 5 (a) The influence of the surfactant and modified sea-water on the reduction of IFT.
Proposed mechanism when Ca2+ and SO4 2− are active at (b) low and (c) high temperature
(Haghighi and Firozjaii 2020)
Fathi et al. 2011). As soon as CTAB enters to the solution of SW-1NaCl, the
contact angle is decreased, and the rock approaches the wet-water condition, but for
SW-3KCl and SW-4Na2 SO4 , no uniform decrease or increase is observed. At very
high concentrations of CTAB, SW-1NaCl has the most excellent effect on wetting
the rock. This indicates that the CTAB optimal concentration is different depending
on the salt concentration in the seawater. The solution’s contact angle increases by
mixing with CTAB and SDS, and the minimum contact angle is related to 0.1CMC
of SDS and 0.9 CMC of CTAB in smart water (Mofrad and Dehaghani 2020).
Kharrat et al., by injection method of hybrid smart carbonated water, were able to
achieve the highest recovery factor in EOR than the other methods (Soleimani et al.
Fig. 6 (a) The results of oil recovery factor and (b) differential pressure for smart brine and hybrid
smart carbonated water (Soleimani et al. 2020)
2020). Oil recovery for smart water and hybrid smart carbonated water injection is
55% and 70%, respectively, as oil recovery amount for the hybrid smart water (15%)
is higher than smart water due to smart and carbonated water dual impact in hybrid
method (Fig. 6a and b). For reasons such as pH variation, wettability alteration, IFT
reduction, and ion exchange in pore volumes injected less than 0.3, oil recovery
for hybrid brine injection is less than smart water injection method. The surface of
the carbonate core becomes negative through the aging of the core, resulting in the
surface covered with oil. With smart water injection, we are seeing more change in
the wettability because of injected negative ions; for example, SO4 is displaced by
negative oil droplets on the surface, and cations are produced according to equations
of 2–5 as follows:
CaCO3 + CO2 + H2 O → Ca2+ + 2HCO−

3 (2)
H2 O + CO2 → H2 CO3 (3)
H2 CO3 → 2H+ + CO2−

3 (4)
H2 CO3 → H+ + HCO2−
3 (5)
Injection of smart carbonated water leads to the CO2 transfer from saltwater to
oil. Because the solubility of CO2 in oil is higher than salt water, the oil is distributed
by a negative charge on the rock surface. As a result, the oil is separated from the
surface. Therefore, the change in wettability for smart water is lower than for smart
carbonated water (Soleimani et al. 2020).
Exploration and mapping of subsurface crude oil reservoirs is a major global

issue. But the information available from oil reservoirs is based on assumptions,
fluid data, well pressure, wireline data, and so on. Currently, information about
oil reservoirs is obtained using probes around boreholes. Since this information is
just around a guess, they are not reliable (Yu 2012). Other techniques to obtaining
information include the use of isotopes and artificial and natural tracers. However,
in environments with abundant microbiotic activity, high temperatures and non-
neutral pH are unstable (Sabir et al. 2000). The other nanoparticles used in the
cementitious matrices are carbon quantum dots (CQDs). D. Wen et al. synthesized
a new hydrocarbon sensor based on CQDs using a hydrothermal way. They used
xylose precursor to produce the sensor and employed it to detect oil saturation in
sandstone cores and reservoirs. They carried out the packed column experiments
for investigating the effect of CQDs. Their results showed that CQDs displayed
tracer-like breakthrough curves (BTC) characteristics, in other words, during the
post-flood process, the transport effect first increases and then decreases rapidly
until it approaches a relative concentration (C/C0). Also, CQDs showed a different
performance than conventional NPs, meaning that when injected into the pores of
the glass column (i.e., where particle agglomeration and retention were impossible
with the presence of electrolytes), they quickly fill up and are completely removed
from the column by washing process. Moreover, according to the results, the
transport behavior of NPs is strongly affected by the presence of salt (Hwang et al.
2012). Varying the ionic strength of the salt has no significant effect on the change
in the shape of the BTCs. Therefore, the CQDs displayed similar behavior to tracers.
BTC for CQDs still acts like a tracer to about 60 ◦ C but starts to fluctuate when it
reaches 80 ◦ C. Since the maximum C/C0 cannot reach 100%, when the temperature
increases, the rate of retention also increases. A significant change in the shape of
BTCs was observed by replacing calcite with glass beads. The CQD breakthrough
for calcite column occurred at about 1 PV, which is the same as the glass bead
packed columns (Hu et al. 2019).
Application of Smart Materials in Drilling Fluids
The fluids used in drilling operations are called drilling fluids, which can be
employed in circulation to balance the fluid formation pressure. Drilling fluid is
a colloidal fluid that includes a combination of several phases of liquid and different
solids used to facilitate and continue drilling operations of various formations. The
reasonable drilling costs (about 80%) are too dependent on the drilling mud cost,
so these prices can be controlled by employing suitable nano additives (Zamani
et al. 2019). Nanotechnology provides a way to manufacture drilling mud with
lower costs, highest efficiency, and stability. Nanofluids are materials that can
be synthesized via adding small amounts of the nanoparticles (NPS) to a fluid.
Also, these materials are called smart fluids because it has controllable properties.
Therefore, their specific heat, thermal conductivity, viscosity, and density can be
easily tuned toward the optimum levels (Zamani et al. 2019). The NPS are inorganic
and can be suspended in the liquids such as oil, and water. In addition they can be
designed to be well-matched with reservoir fluids and are environmentally friendly.
The main advantages of smart nanoparticles used in liquids are as follows (Zamani
et al. 2019; Singh et al. 2010):
1. Better transmission via micro-channels

2. Decrease in erosion and not a requirement of pumping
3. Perform controllable reactions with other available materials
Lee et al. studied a magnetically controllable drilling fluid for viscosity control
using NPs. To achieve this purpose, they prepared magnetic NPs with three different
sizes and two other bentonites such as water-based bentonite and pure bentonite
and then have investigated their role in the complex fluids. They also used four
different surfactants for particle stability in either paraffin oil or water (Amanullah
et al. 2011). They obtained the following results:
1. The fluid viscosity is enhanced when increasing magnetic NPs and bentonite.
2. The fluid viscosity is decreased by adding a surfactant.
3. The use of microparticles (iron oxide with a size of 3 nm) increases the viscosity
more than nanoparticles. It can be related to the microparticle’s ability to disperse
more effectively than the nanoparticles.
Wu et al. synthesized smart water-based drilling fluids (WDFs) with temperature-

responsive property via graft between bentonite and dual-functionalized cellulose
nanocrystals (fCNCs). They observed that the thermocontrollable property of
fCNCs was too related to the molar ratio of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)
and poly (2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid) (PAMPS) monomers
(Kong and Ohadi 2010). As a result of the presence of PAMPS in the fCNCs
structure, a strong bond is formed between BT platelets and fCNCs due to the
negatively charged sulfonate and amide groups on the PAMPS. Due to the presence
of negatively charged sulfonate and amide groups on PAMPS in the fCNCs
structure, a strong bond is formed between BT platelets and fCNCs. These negative
groups lead to a bond between the bentonite and fCNCs. The BT/fCNC clusters
are formed at high temperatures through thermo responsive PNIPAM grafts and led
to thermothickening rheological performance of BT/fCNC-WDFs. The synthesized
smart BT/fCNC-WDFs with good cyclability, in situ rheology controllability, and
high sustainability have excellent efficiency in the drilling industry.
Vipulanandan et al. used the hydrophilic bentonite-based mud to evade the
drilling mud fluid loss, raise the sensing electrical properties, and modify the
rheological efficiency (Vipulanandan et al. 2018). The particle size range of drilling
mud is 12–20 nm and contained 2–8 W% water at a temperature range between 25
and 85 ◦ C. According to the results obtained, electrical resistivity was recognized as
an external stimulus to give smart properties to drilling mud, and they also observed
that:
1. When increasing nanoclay content, temperature, and bentonite content, the

electrical resistance was decreased.
2. The yield stress of drilling mud was enhanced (2 Pa to 31 Pa) by enhancing the
bentonite content (2% to 8%). It can be said that the yield stress is a controlling
parameter for the fluid loss because addition of 1% nanoclay to the drilling mud
enhanced the yield stress and the maximum shear stress tolerance is observed
with bentonite content and temperature.
3. The maximum shear stress of the drilling muds was decreased by increasing
the temperature, but it increased with the bentonite content (Vipulanandan et al.
2018).
Vryzas et al. prepared the controllable, magnetic drilling fluid. This fluid is
formed of custom-made iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (CM Fe3 O4 NPs) that, by
applying a magnetic field, lead to control of yield stress and viscosity in the drilling
fluid (Vryzas et al. 2017). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and transmission
electron microscope (TEM) of the CM Fe3 O4 NPs are shown in Fig. 7a and b,
respectively. Figure 7a confirms that the peaks corresponding to Fe3 O4 NPs have
no impurities and according to Fig. 7b the diameter of Fe3 O4 NPs is in the range of
6–8 nm. When the CM Fe3 O4 NP range is 0.5–1 wt%, shear rates increased about
10–30% due to the NPs optical dispersion. The Herschel- Bulkley (HB) rheological
model is the best model to describe these examples.
In another study, macro and micro type fluid additives have been challenged
due to inadequate thermal and environmental, chemical, mechanical, and physical
characteristics by M. D Amanullah et al. (2011) They used the nanomaterials for the
preparation of smart drilling fluids. They studied the mud cake and solids control,
filtration and rheological properties, and stability of these materials. The results are
as follows:
1. The micro and nanomaterials have a higher surface area and lowest imperfection
than macro material and as a result lower thermal, physical, chemical, and
mechanical properties.
Fig. 7 (a) X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and (b) transmission electron microscope (TEM) of
the CM Fe3 O4 NPs (Soleimani et al. 2020)
2. The nanofluid’s efficiency has been increased due to the concatenation of

functional groups of the nanomaterial.
3. The use of nanomaterials also reduces adhesion to the differential pipe and
increases the penetration rate in rock structures.
Husein and Hareland (Zakaria et al. 2012) studied the filtration and stable
rheology properties of different smart drilling fluids under high-temperature and
high-pressure conditions. The novel smart drilling fluid has been expanding in the Li
et al. work (Li et al. 2016). The smart drilling fluid was prepared by using materials
such as nano-silica, XC- polymer, bentonite, and KCl. The properties of these
materials were investigated using filtration and rheological experiments. According
to the results obtained the rheology properties were better and the filtration was
decreased by the addition of nanomaterials.
Dimitrios et al., to increase the hydraulic properties of drilling processes,
prepared drilling fluids using Fe3 O4 nanoparticles (Fe3 O4 NPs) (Gerogiorgis et al.
2015). They used the Herschel-Bulkley rheological model to compare the corre-
lation shear rate and shear stress of experimental data. The parameters of Fe3 O4
NPs concentration, shear rate rheological effects, and temperature are described by
viscosity correlation and shear stress rheological effects. Increasing the temperature
enhances the viscosity error and shear stress. It also affects fluid-structure and
rheology.
Application of Smart Materials in Oil Well Cement
The important reason for failure in some accidents for example, Macondo
operations, is due to a defect in the cementing job. This is confirming the pressure
accumulation in places under high stress (Christou and Konstantinidou 2012). One
of the essential issues in the oil and gas industry is well cementing because it
provides proper conditions for water, oil, and gas release from the wellbore as well
as prevents pollution and corrosion in hydrocarbons production. In general, the main
purpose of well-cementing consists of the following:
1. The primary cementing includes providing a hydraulic seal, protecting useable

water, making of zonal isolation, preparing structural support for the casing,
protecting casing for correlation, and isolating coverage seat for later drilling
(Christou and Konstantinidou 2012)
2. Remedial cementing such as squeeze cementing and plug cementing (Christou
and Konstantinidou 2012)
In the oil and gas industry, some mistakes such as formulation errors, lead to
explosions on oil rigs. This is usually due to the poor performance of the materials
used to make the cement. They are of lower tensile strength than the polymers and
metals (Han et al. 2011). One of the new ways to avoid these problems in the oil and
gas industry is the use of smart materials. Cement materials with the ability to cause
structural and chemical changes in the face of external stimuli such as magnetic
and electric fields, light, chemical composition, and temperature, smart cement
or cement responsive to external stimulants are called. To prepare smart-cement,
microorganisms, inorganic nanoparticles, and natural and synthetic polymers as
admixtures are added in the cement formulation (Bogue 2012). Nanoparticles have
significantly been used than micro and macro particles because they have a high
surface area, thermal and electrical properties, and excellent chemical activity.
Therefore, the addition of nanofibers and NPs to cement matrices improves their
electrical conductivity.
In D. M Abdullah et al.’s work (Gao et al. 2009) oil well cement was modified by
replacing these particles with ZnO NPs. The results showed the particle size of the
synthesized powder was about 100 nm. Also, it improves the structural properties
by the development of the hydration phase of calcium silicate. Reducing free water
increases compressive strength and density, thus giving it a smart property. The
nano powders lead to reduction of porosity by filling in microstructures (Isaia et al.
2003). Addition of 1% cement dust/ZnO, ZnO, and cement dust at 380 ◦ C increases
the compressive strength by 12.6%, 9.96%, and 15.2%, respectively. The reason
for these differences in the mortars is related to the pozzolanic reaction between
the cement and the nano powder. Since the CD and ZnO are able to fill the space
between the types of cement and thus produce smaller pores, they are more affected
by pozzolanic reactions because these reactions are related to the amount of surface
available (Gao et al. 2009).
Ch. Ruttanapun et al. (Phrompet et al. 2019) improved electrochemical, antibac-
terial, thermal conductivity, dielectric constant, and micro-hardness properties and
developed graphene oxide-nanosized C3 AH6 cement nanocomposite via hydration
method. To determine the micro-hardness, the samples of rGO-C3AH6 were
prepared with different percentages of rGO and determined according to Eq. 6
(Kamalak et al. 2016).

HV = 1854 P/d2 (6)
The parameters of HV, P, and d indicate Vickers micro-hardness value, the

applied load in kg, and the average diagonal length of the impression in mm,
respectively. They observed that the amount of HV enhances with increase of
rGO percent. Also, the dielectric constant, for example, of C3 AH6 is less than
the sample of x%rGO-C3 AH6 , and the smaller the particle size, the larger this
value. The experiment results of x%rGO-C3 AH6 samples on gram-negative bacteria
showed that cement of C3 AH6 is ineffective in killing bacteria, but with the loading
of nanoparticles rGO on C3 AH6 , the antibacterial activity increased because the
sample of x%rGO-C3 AH6 releases phospholipids from the membrane (Kamalak
et al. 2016).
The study on smart cement with different percentages of water to oil was
performed by A. Mohammed et al. (API, R65 2002), which used a conductive filler
(0.1%) to create smart properties at different temperatures. The apparent viscosity
was increased by increasing temperature (85 ◦ C) and proportion of water/oil. Also,

values of the shear stress and yield stress were increased by increasing temperature,
but these were decreased by increasing the ratio of water to oil.
One of the properties of cementitious materials is electrical conductivity affected
by their micro and nanobehaviors. For improving the electrical conductivity,
addition of nanoparticles into the cementitious matrices is the best way. One of
the promising materials is carbon nanotubes (CNTs), because of their piezoresistive
characteristics changing the electrical resistivity upon strain. The amount of CNTs
introduced into cementitious matrices is very important. When the amount of CNTs
in the composite matrix reaches a critical fraction, percolation starts and the material
becomes a conductor. In order to achieve a conductor, it is essential to add sufficient
CNTs into the matrix. It changes the resistance and reactance of strain in matrix, and
the information obtained can be exploited for the purpose of structural diagnosis. A
cement matrix also leads to easy embedding of sensors in concrete elements and
conversion of structures into distributed sensor network systems (Chung and Wang
2003).
Application of Smart Materials in Oil-in-Water and Water-in-Oil

Separation
With growing population and modern industry, water pollution has created more
concerns and adverse effects to public health and the environment. Among the
various pollutants, oil contaminants have obtained abundant consideration in recent
years and have become a great part of water pollution due to their extensive
applications in the industry. Therefore, they must be removed from water sources.
In the process of oil removal from waters, a variety of methods have been proposed,
including gravity biological oxidation, coagulation, separation, flotation, adsorption,
and centrifugal separation (Wang et al. 2017). Among these methods, the adsorption
method has been widely studied as an excellent method for removing pollutants of
oil from water due to its easy studying, high performance, high capacity, and low
cost. Recently, smart materials have been raised as a suitable and effective way for
preparing materials with different diameters, surface areas, and high porosity with
high efficiency (Cai et al. 2014). In the following, we will discuss these materials
in the oil-in-water and water-in-oil separation industry. Smart materials used in
oil-in-water and water-in-oil separation significantly are controllable and employ
different methods to synthesize materials with a single super-wetting surface that
can intelligently separate oil-in-water and water-in-oil. Compared to simple oil-
water mixtures, treatment of oil-in-water and oil-in-oil emulsions has become a
major challenge (Kwon et al. 2012). Membrane separation is an excellent way to
treat these emulsions. These membranes are in a hydrophilic state or hydrophobic
state. When they are hydrophilic, water droplets penetrate the pores and they do not
allow it to enter the oil by blocking the membrane cavities. Also, the opposite is true
of hydrophobic membranes (Cai et al. 2014; Chen and Xu 2013). Therefore, with
the development of membranes with the wettability switchable, the high investment
costs and consumption of materials to separate this emulsion can be significantly

reduced. A membrane that has the ability to change the wettability property in
response to external stimuli such as electrical energies, light, pH, and temperature
is called an intelligent response membrane. These membranes play a very important
role in separating both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions (Xue et al. 2013).
In general, those membranes that have ionizable functional groups are responsive
to pH, and can by controlling pH affect the wettability. Among the materials with
ionizable functional groups can refer to poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) and carboxylic.
At acidic pH, these materials cause oleophobic properties on the surface through
the formation of hydrogen bonds. Li et al. used poly (4-vinylpyridine) (PMMA-b-
P4VP) and poly (methyl methacrylate) to fabricate smart membranes and observed
that in neutral environments membrane adhesion increases due to PMMA lipophilic
behavior (Xue et al. 2013). However, this membrane showed oleophobic behavior
because the small amount of water was trapped in its cavities. In the oil-water
separation process, due to its superhydrophobic/superoleophilic surface of this
membrane, the oil penetrated the membrane structure while retaining water in its
structure. As indicated in Fig. 8a, the opposite result was obtained when acidic
water (pH = 3) was used to treat this membrane. The important point is that under-
water, the conversion between superoleophilicity and superoleophobicity and the
conversion between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity is continuously
repeated (see Fig. 8c and d). The coating of fluorine-free superwetting was also
synthesized by Wang et al., which showed an efficiency of about 99.9% for the
separation of oil/ water. The connection to the porous substrate was made through
polyethylene (Xue et al. 2013). In solutions where the pH changes, wettability and
surface energy are affected by protonated N. Because the protonated N increases
in an acidic environment, the membrane is hydrophilic and, conversely, exhibits
hydrophobic behavior in the basic medium (Fig. 8b) (Xue et al. 2013).
A new surface with temperature-responsive properties is obtained by bonding
between the membrane surface and thermo-sensitive material, which leads
to a wettability behavior. The low critical solution temperature Poly (N-
isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) is about 33 ◦ C (Fig. 9a) (Xue et al. 2013). Xin
et al. prepared a temperature-responsive membrane via bonding of this polymer with
the surface of regenerated cellulose. At temperatures below LCST the PNIPAAm is
hydrophilic due to the hydrogen bond formation. Still, it indicated hydrophobicity
in temperatures higher LCST (Fig. 9a) leading to selectively absorb water or oil
at different temperatures, as shown in Fig. 9b and c. According to the Fig. 9d
Lu et al. synthesized a smart membrane with thermal- responsive property using
polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and PNIPAAm, which has superhydrophilicity at
temperatures below LCST (Fig. 9e–g), but it shows hydrophobicity and oleophilicity
at temperatures above LCST (Fig. 9h and i) (Wang et al. 2015). The wettability of
this membrane is also unchanged for several cycles (Fig. 9j).
The materials such as TiO2 and ZnO (metal oxides) are photo-sensitive due to
their photocatalytic properties and are used in the preparation of smart membranes.
These membranes are stimulated by UV and visible light and act reversibly. For
this purpose, Bhushan et al. have synthesized a UV-sensitive membrane (Li et al.
Fig. 8 (a) Process of the preparation of external stimulus responsive membrane, (b) the mech-
anism of wettability conversion, (c) the wettability conversion between superhydrophilicity and
superhydrophobicity of the membrane, and (d) the wettability conversion between superoleophilic-
ity and underwater superoleophobicity of the membrane (Xue et al. 2013)
2019). The low surface energy of the 1H,1H,2H,2H- Perfluorodecyltrimethoxysi-

lane (PFDMS) used in this coating leads to water repellency (Fig. 10a). As the UV
radiation increases, the contact angle of the oil is increased but the contact angle of
the water is decreased, respectively. The wettability would change after 20 minutes
of the UV radiation and can be recovered by heat treatment (Fig. 10d and e). Also,
many other organic compounds, such as the N = N of azo, break down into cis-
trans isomers under ultraviolet irradiation, as a result of altering their wettability
properties (Fig. 10b). Feng et al. studied the formation of a coating of aminoa-
zobenzene and nano-Ag pine needles on a metal network. The coordination bonds
caused that silver particles to aminoazobenzene. Aminoazobenzene molecules have
improved wettability via the reduction of steric hindrance (Coyle et al. 2004). The
hydrophobicity of this mesh is about 150.0 and in the ultraviolet region (365 nm) it
showed hydrophilicity equivalent to 10.0 degrees (Fig. 10f). Also, the speed of this
mesh for separating water and oil is 4 × 105 L m−2 h−1 (Fig. 10g and h).
The next case is related to the electricity-responsive membranes, which sep-
arate water and oil in a much shorter time due to their high rate of wettability
transformation. The electrical potential leads to chemical change of the surface
by an oxidation-reduction reaction and a change in the amount of wettability. Tian
et al. prepared a superhydrophobic electrical-response membrane (Xue et al. 2014).
The reason for its hydrophobicity is related to hydrostatic pressure (Youngblood
and McCarthy 1999). At high voltages, an electric capillary pressure is produced
(Prins et al. 2001), and if this pressure exceeds the hydrostatic pressure the
membrane exhibits hydrophilic behavior (Fig. 11a–i). Li et al. synthesized a poly-
3-methylthiophene (P (3-MTH)) membrane for separating oil and water mixtures
(Li et al. 2015b). They controlled surface wettability by controlling the voltage to
Fig. 9 (a) Membrane wettability conversion process. (b and c) The adsorption of water and oil at
different temperatures by membrane. (d) The preparation and wettability change of the membrane.
(e and f) Wetting of water and oil droplets at the temperature below the LCST. (g) Spread water
drops on the membrane. (h and i) Wetting of water and oil droplets at the temperature above the
LCST (Xue et al. 2013)
control P (3-MTH) redox. The presence of P (3- MTH) in the membrane structure
causes its hydrophobicity. The higher the voltage, the more ClO4 is produced, which
leads to the formation of hydrophilic dipoles due to the presence of impurities
(Fig. 11j–l). When the voltage reached above 0.8, the wettability changed from
hydrophobic to hydrophilic and was repeated several times (Fig. 11m and n).
Xi et al. by co-depositing TA/DETA on the PPMM prepared a wettability
switchable membrane. This membrane initially had a hydrophilic behavior but after
treatment with ethanol showed excellent hydrophobicity. The efficiency of these
membranes to the separation of the water-in-water emulsions in the hydrophobic
state and the oil-in-water emulsions in the hydrophilic state was excellent (> 98%)
(Zhang et al. 2020). External stimuli lead to ionization of the surface functional
groups and thus switch the wettability of the surface. Membranes with carboxylic
groups such as nylon membranes are hydrophilic but exhibit hydrophobic behavior
1712
Fig. 10 (a) Mechanism of the wettability conversion of the membrane. (b) The effects of UV irradiation on the breaking, rotation, and regeneration of the bond
N = N. (c) The wettability of membrane under ultraviolet irradiation and heat. (d and e) Changes of water contact angle. (d) Underwater oil contact angle and
(e) after ultraviolet irradiation and heat treatment. (f) Cycles of wettability conversion. (g and h) Separation of oil-water mixture after ultraviolet irradiation.
(g and h) Visible light irradiation (Xue et al. 2013)
A. Rashidi and S. Sharafinia
Fig. 11 (a–c) Water contact angle images of the membrane with different voltage. (d–f) Pho-
tographs of the underwater oil contact angle of the prepared membrane after different voltage
treatments. (g–i) Membrane wettability schematics and the analogous enlarged schematic of
the liquid-solid contact at different voltages, respectively. (j) Schematic of wettability alteration
between doped and undoped after electrical treatment. (k and l) The water contact angle of
membrane in before and after electrical treatment. (m) The water contact angle with changing
voltage. (n) Cycles of wettability alteration between hydrophobic and hydrophilic (Xue et al. 2013)
in acidic environments due to the de-protonation and protonation process (Cheng

et al. 2017). Hydrophobicity of membrane is related to the increase in free surface
energy resulting from de-protonated functional groups (Cheng et al. 2017; Cai et al.
2018). On other hand, the hydrophobic surface is created due to the collapse of
structures on the surface by the protonated functional groups (Li et al. 2018b). De-
protonated TA shows a higher surface wettability than protonated TA because it
reduces hydrogen bonds between DETA and TA in TA/DETA networks. They used
molecular simulation to calculate the Gibbs free energy change (G) in the TA
ionization process in the presence of DETA and considered the solvent as ethanol or
water. According to Fig. 12, the G for ethanol (G > 0) is higher than water
(G < 0), so TA is not ionized in ethanol, but first-order ionization occurs in
water. As a result, it can be said that the switchable wettability of the TA/DETA-
functionalized PPMM is changed because TA is protonated in ethanol but becomes
de-protonation in water (Zhang et al. 2020).
Xu et al. prepared a polypropylene membrane with switchable surface wettability
using diethylenetriamine and diethylene triamine co-deposition methods. These
membrane surfaces are hydrophilic and hydrophobic before and after treatment by
ethanol, respectively, and in other words, they have a translation hydrophilicity-
hydrophobicity (Zhang et al. 2020). The prepared membrane showed 98% efficiency
in separating both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions.
Qu et al. synthesized superwettable smart materials that are pH-responsive to
oil/water separation. This smart material can by chemical reaction separate oil and
water, and it also displays chemical stability in difficult conditions. Less surface
energy and roughness are two important parameters to achieve the surface of super-
hydrophobic. They synthesized a rough surface with superhydrophobic property for
water repellency through AIBN polymerization in a mixture of methyl methacrylate
Fig. 12 Results of B3 LYP method on ionization TA in ethanol or water solvents (Zhang et al.
2020)
(MMA) and 3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl acrylate (KH570) and succeeded in synthe-

sizing a pH-responsive copolymer. In the first stage, the silica surface was modified
by aminopropyltriethoxysilane (AMEO). Since AMEO has a large number of amino
groups, it can be easily bonded with carboxyl copolymer groups. It also has the
ability to switch between superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity states at
different pH, as shown in Fig. 13 (Li et al. 2007).
Deng et al. synthesized superhydrophobic, durable, and magnetic carbon sponges
with high BET surface area (309.7 m2 /g), mechanical durability, and chemical
stability, excellent chemical resistance, high oil/water separation ability, and high
superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity. Since the carbon sponges are able to selec-
tively control adsorption of oils, due to the presence of magnetic particles on the
sponge, they are therefore called smart sorbents. In order to study mechanical,
environmental, and chemical stability of superhydrophobic carbon sponges, this
sorbent is tested in different conditions, for example, the superhydrophobic carbon
chemical stability was examined in basic solutions, acidic solutions, and salt with
pH = 7, 1, and 13 respectively. Fig. 14a–e show the hydrophobicity of adsorbent
in acidic, alkaline, and salt media has changed slightly than to pure water. thus
confirming the excellent stability of this adsorben.
Ahmed et al. have reported a switchable smart sorbent manufacture by a
very fast, easy method of modifying different substrates. This method involves
increasing the interaction of melamine foam with a substrate and subsequently by
poly(2-vinylpyridine-b-dimethylsiloxane). In fact, PDA is used for bonding between
melamine copolymer poly(2-vinylpyridine-b-dimethylsiloxane) and foam. The sta-
bility of poly(2-vinylpyridine-b-dimethylsiloxane) on the PDA-MF sponge surface
is provided through the formation of π − π and hydrogen bonding between PDA
and MF and subsequently the formation of a π-conjugated bond between PDA-MF
sponge and poly(2-vinylpyridine-b-dimethylsiloxane) to fabricate P2VP-b-PDMS-
PDA-MF. The modified materials used in this method have excellent efficiency in
Fig. 13 Schematic image of preparation and application of the pH-responsive smart fabric in the
oil/water separation (Qu et al. 2020)
the oil removal from water at various pH and they are also very stable under different
conditions including alkaline and acidic (Ong et al. 2019). This method includes
dopamine oxidation on the material surface and then functionalizing by poly(2-
vinylpyridine-b-dimethylsiloxane), and the materials are pH-prepositive. In order
to study sorption and desorption of oil by the smart sorbent prepared, toluene and
Fig. 14 Photographs of (a) the water droplets (Rhodamine B dye) and (b) the aqueous droplets
of HCl (lacmus dye, pH 1), NaCl (0.1 M, pH 7), and NaOH solutions (lacmus dye, pH 13) on
the surface of an MSCS. Photographs of the dyed water droplets on the MSCS after (c) heating at
200 ◦ C for 2 h, (d) freezing at −196 ◦ C for 2 h, and (e) UV irradiation (λ = 365 nm, 500 W) for
24 h. Insets: the related measurements of the water contact angle. (f) The water contact angle of
the MSCS after abrasion for 50 times by sandpaper. Insets: image of the dyed water droplets on
the surface and its water contact angle after abrasion (50 times) (Wang and Deng 2019)
Fig. 15 Adsorption and desorption of oil by P2VP-b-PDMS-PDA-MF at pH = 2 and 7 (Ong et al.

2019)
1,2-dichloroethane removal from water were tested at pH = 7, and the desorption at

pH = 2 using the formerly oil-loaded oil smart sorbent. In water with pH = 2,
all chains of P2VP were protonated, and as a result, exterior surface became
hydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic (see Fig. 15) (Zhang et al. 2012).
Wang et al. prepared carbon blackcoated membrane adsorbent with suitable
chemical composition and a hierarchical surface structure and ideal underoil
superhydrophobic and underwater superoleophobic smart properties and tested them
in oil-water separation. Results reveal that carbon black-coated membrane enable
sufficiently to separate the multiphase emulsion mixture, esatablishing an oil area.
By this way, they were able to overcome problems such as the blocked liquid layer
that occurs when mixing multi-phase emulsions with traditional membranes (Cao
et al. 2019).
The fabrication of a smart sorbent with self-cleaning property, pH-responsive,
and superwettable properties using a mild and convenient method has been studied
by M. Qu et al. Among the important factors for preparing a superwettable surface
are low surface energy and roughness (Li et al. 2007). As shown in Fig. 16, a
combination of ethylene base [3 (trimethoxycylcyl) propylene], PFOA, and kaolin
is used to fabricate a highly pH-responsive and smart surface. Kaolin particles
are interconnected together by bis[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl]ethylene binders. In
the presence of these binders, kaolin particles can be compressed. The bis [3-
(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] ethylene diamine groups are affected by the amidation
reaction with PFOA due to their high activity, and thus lead to the formation
of fluorocarbon chains. These chains have low surface tension and easily bond
Fig. 16 The pH-responsive wettability of the superwettable material surface (Qu et al. 2019)
with the surface of kaolin particles, resulting in a superamphiphobic surface

that has oil and water repellency properties. This smart sorbent is dependent
on pH due to having a rough surface with specific chemical composition and
therefore can vary reversibly between superoleophobicity-superhydrophilicity and
superamphiphobicity for many times The obtained smart sorbent can be used
for different types of separation such as oil/water separation due to having an
effective and sequential separation. Also, smart materials reported in this work
are very stable than the mechanical abrasion and solutions containing salt. These
superamphiphobic materials are more useful and better than other materials due
to their pH-responsive properties in the oil/water separation process (Qu et al.
2019). To show superhydrophilicity properties in the oil/water separation process, n-
hexane/water mixture with ratio of 1:1 at pH = 7 was passed over this material and it
was observed that water solution passed through these superwettable materials, and
therefore, the separation of n-hexane/water mixture was carried out successfully.
Also, the pH-responsive properties in the n-hexane/water mixture separation process
with ratio of 1:1 at pH = 7 were displayed by adding water solution at pH = 13
into the mixture, and they found that the pH of the passed solution through these
materials was equal to 12.7.
Fig. 17 Free radical polymerization process to modify cotton fabric by DMA (Liang et al. 2019)
X. Meng et al., investigated on the oil/ water separation by a new cotton fabric
with interesting features such as switchable wettability and CO2 responsive. During
the manufacturing process, the cotton fabric was polymerizedwith 2 (dimethy-
lamino) ethyl methacrylate and then CO2/ N2 alternation. this investigation has
successfully demonstrated that oil/water separation can use for control of CO2 .
Also, the modified fabric by N2 has wettability, and therefore they are useful in
the smart separation of oil and water. Figure 17 represents the protonation process,
and during this process, the hydrophilic and hydrophobic transfer behavior of
CO2 - released from the modified fabric using periodic CO2 addition and removal
of deprotonate and protonate amines was reversible and repeatable. Because the
modified fabric with 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) polymers
can be converted from a hydrophobic to a hydrophilic state by stimulating CO2 ,
bicarbonate was produced due to the reaction of amine with CO2 in the aqueous
medium (Liang et al. 2019). X. Meng et al., investigated on the oil/ water separation
by a new cotton fabric with interesting features such as switchable wettability and
CO2 responsive. During the manufacturing process, the cotton fabric was polymer-
izedwith 2 (dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate and then CO2/ N2 alternation. this
investigation has successfully demonstrated that oil/water separation can use for
control of CO2.
Shami et al. prepared multi-purpose and PH-responsive smart nanofibers. They
used styrene−acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymer by electrospinning process and then
treatment by NaOH which can well switch between superoleophobic and superhy-
drophobic states (Shami et al. 2019). Figure 18 shows the fabrication method and
production mechanism of these nanofibers.
By pouring the neutral water on the NaOH-treated mesh, a hydration layer was
formed via COO− groups interaction on the mesh surface with the water. Since these
groups are hydrophilic, they easily form a bond. This layer prevents oil contact
with the mesh, and results in the fabrication of the superoleophobicity and on
the other hand increases the superhydrophilicity of the mesh. Also, the states of
1720
Fig. 18 Fabrication process of the SAN mesh, treatment with by NaOH and switching between oil-removing and water-removing wetting states at different
pH (Shami et al. 2019)
A. Rashidi and S. Sharafinia
superhydrophobic and superoleophilic have been confirmed by treatment of the acid

of mesh with neutral water. This means that due to their contact, the contact angle of
the oil decreases (0◦ ) and, conversely, the water contact angle increases to 159.3◦ .
Therefore, the carboxylate and carboxylic groups form the intermolecular and the
intramolecular hydrogen bonds with the water, respectively, and the water contact
angle increases to 159.3◦ . The carboxylic group ionization state of the poly (acrylic
acid) leads to a reversible structural transition from the extended coil to the collapsed
ball at pH 4.5:
RCOOH H+ + RCOO− (7)
and the amount of neutral water absorbed on the mesh is gradually increased by
the increase in pH to 7. Therefore, the wettability is dependent on pH (Shami et al.
2019). The surface ability to control the material wettability in response to external
changes is called the wettability control. The surface wettability of the material
undergoes a transition between oleophobic-oleophilic and hydrophobic-hydrophilic,
which leads to regulatable oil-water separation (Li et al. 2015b).
Wang et al. using the electrochemical deposition method produced a pH-
responsive superhydrophobic copper network. This copper network represented
various properties such as superhydrophilicity to alkaline water droplets and showed
superoleophobic and superhydrophobic properties to the acidic and neutral water
droplets (Wang and Guo 2013).
In another study by Cheng et al., a pH-responsive reversible wettable biomass
was prepared using acrylamide and acrylic acid bond with eucalyptus paste
cellulose. By conversion of the pH from 1 to 9, the hydrophilic oleophobic
cellulose-g-PAM (cellulose-g-pam) and the hydrophobic lipophilic cellulose-g-
PAA (ellulose-g-paa) were changed into hydrophobic lipophilicity and oleophobic
oleophobicity, respectively (Cheng et al. 2019).
Gao et al. discovered that ZnO, TiO2 , and other materials have response to UV
light properties. so, using of a responsive to UV light inorganic material can generate
a smart compound which can be applied for water/oil separation. Therefore, they
used a hydrothermal method to create a bond between TiO2 NPS with the copper
mesh surface and finally to produce a superoleophobic- superhydrophobic copper
mesh using octadecylphosphoric acid. In addition, electric field and temperature
external stimuli can also reason a change in wettability. A controlled surface can be
achieved by connection between the surface and a thermo-responsive material such
as poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) (Gao et al. 2013).
Zheng et al. by polymerization process have created a bond between polyaniline
and the steel mesh surface to construct polyaniline. When the voltage has changed
from 0 to 160 V, the polyaniline keeps on superoleophobic while the water droplets
reduce contact angle from 146◦ to 70◦ . This confirms the ability of the smart
wettability and superoleophobic property under the influence of an electric field
(Xue et al. 2014). Some of the dual superwettability and smart materials are reported
in Table 2.
Table 2 Dual stimuli-responsive super-wettable materials

Materials Stimulus Ref
Cellulose-PDMAEMA – Zhao et al. (2018)
P(NIPAAm-co-AAc) thin films – Xia et al. (2007)
(PNIPAAm PAAc)
Fe3 O4 @SiO2 /PNIPAM Magnetic and Thermo Chen et al. (2014)
(Temperature)
PNIPAM/PDMAEMA grafted PFOTS pH and Electrolyte Liu et al. (2010)
modified Al2 O3
DMAA-grafted Si surface Light and Temperature Moreno et al. (2019)
PDMAEMA hydrogel coated mesh pH and Temperature Gao et al. (2013)
Conclusion
Potential applications of smart materials in the oil and gas industry were studied.
According to their properties, they are used in different fields of oil and gas industry.
These materials are used as nanotracer and smart water for crude oil exploration,
enhanced oil recovery, and nano additives in drilling fluids. According to the
observed results, the quantum dots are the best candidate to produce the sensor
and detect oil saturation in sandstone cores and reservoirs. Quantum dots can be
utilized as a significant sensor for hydrocarbon compounds. As sensors, the CQDs
can easily detect the oil saturation in the matrix core and reservoirs. In the contrary
of pure brine matrix, the existence of oil would affect the incivility of quantum dots.
It can be concluded that nowadays improved smart cements with nanostruc-
tures have attracted the attention of researchers due to advantages such as easy
measurement of pressure and stress, increased flexural strength and ductility, and
cost-effectiveness. The traditional methods used in oil/water separation process
are usually non-recyclable and nonselective that can be coming with high costs.
Recently, smart materials have been able to challenge traditional sorbents because
they have properties such as selective adsorption, efficient desorption, and high
sensitivity and can easily respond to external stimuli pH, temperature, light, and
electricity. Also, the wettability membranes can separate the water-in-oil and oil-in-
water emulsion with very high speed and efficiency, even despite the long distance
between the actual industry and laboratory, these membranes have an excellent
ability to separate these emulsions.
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Food Industry: Applications of
Digitalization 67
Vahid Mohammadpour Karizaki
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1732
Classifying the Application of Digitalization in Food Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1734
Different Levels of Digitalization’s Relation with a Process in Food Industry . . . . . . . . . . . 1736
Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1736
Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1736
Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1737
Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1741
Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1744
Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1744
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1747
Useful Websites for Further Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1748
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1748
Abstract
The utilization of digitalized technologies, data, and systems in food industries

can offer potential solutions to different challenges across personalized nutrition,
food processing, production line, and supply chain monitoring and management.
This chapter classifies the applications of digitalization in the food industries on
the basis of different criteria. The shifting toward digitalization is a strategic and
necessary change that can increase the satisfaction of consumers and producers
of the food industry throughout the world. It is also shown that how the
digitalization can be related to a process in food industries. Different levels
of digitalization’s relation with a process in food industry include legislation,
data collection, processing, monitoring, economy, and communication. It will
V. M. Karizaki ()
Chemical Engineering Department, Quchan University of Technology, Quchan, Iran
e-mail: v.mohammadpour@qiet.ac.ir
1732 V. M. Karizaki
be expected from traditional producers to accept and apply digital changes in

the future. The food producers that resist the digital changes will not be able to
compete with those have applied digitalized systems for production.
Keywords
Digitalization · Food industry · Digitalized technology
Introduction
Digitalization is generally defined as utilization of digitalized technologies, data,

systems, and their interconnection which creates new or modified activities. The
entire systems of control, management, production, and consumption as well as
modern economies are being transformed by digitalized products, services, and
technologies (FAO 2020). Connecting producers and consumers by digitalization
in novel methods is an opportunity for renewing business models. In other words,
access of entrepreneurs to global markets is facilitated by digitalization that opens
up new and different opportunities (Commission 2019; FAO 2020).
Digitalization can increase the connectivity of sectors in food industries, and
decrease losses and inefficiencies in different ways. For example, consumers
and producers can service and share required information even internationally
with access to a stable Internet connection. Digitalized systems can be used by
producers for working more efficiently, precisely, and sustainably (Garitta et al.
2013; Mohamed and Shalaby 2019; Shafaei et al. 2019).
Also, these systems have a good potential for offering greater transparency
to consumers as to how a product is prepared (Commission 2019). The quick
development of digital technology makes companies and industries eager for
changing and modifying their business models.
The five domains of how digital technology can change a business model have
been considered by Rogers (2016). The first domain called customer perspective is
a critical issue for manufacturers to use social media and digital communication for
interacting with the customers. Competition with the other companies is the second
domain that often results in development of industry. The third domain is data,
which is how to analyze, manage, and apply the available information and statistics.
The innovation process is the next domain. The digitalized systems and services
make it easier for industries to utilize novel approaches for creation of new products
(MaryAnne 2018). Also, receiving continuous feedback from the market for new
products can be carried out easily (FAO 2020). Value is the last domain that is
introduced by Rogers (2016). New entrant companies and organizations are digitally
born. In other words, their business models are digitalized from the beginning.
In contrast, the established industries must struggle to overcome difficulties and
challenges that are created by new entrants. Consequently, changing and improving
their value proposition is very important in this respect.
Over the last years, producers and manufacturers have been faced with several
challenges that are related to the demand volatility and to the changing requirements
67 Food Industry: Applications of Digitalization 1733
from suppliers as well as consumers. One of these challenges is the introduction and
integration of novel techniques and technologies for improving efficiency, quality,
and competitiveness. The other challenge in food industry deals with changing
supply base to demand-based approaches, in which the customers tell manufacturers
what they want to buy.
Production of foodstuff with different and individual tastes shows that production
will be adapted to consumer demand. According to this view, companies are
trying to boost applying of digitalization in different elements such as machines,
processes, storage systems, and utilities (Demartini et al. 2018). The sharing of
digital information is also one of the advantages of digitalization. It will show a
new surface of accountability between primary producers and customers and among
other actors at different levels of the food chain. Availability of information with
higher transparency enhances trust and confidence among customers, and trading
partners alike (WHO 2019). However, the adoption of digitalization also creates
questions related to data ownership, privacy, use, and so on that must be determined
and addressed.
Digitalization can offer potential solutions to different challenges across per-
sonalized nutrition, food processing, production line, and supply chain monitoring
and management (Pichawadee and Kim 2020). Certainly, food manufacturers that
resist the digital changes will not be able to compete with those that have applied
digitalized systems for production.
In order to find the current level of published data related to digitalization in
the food industries, literature review can be conducted. Investigating the scientific
body of knowledge shows the subject “application of digitalization in food sector”
is increasingly being studied by researchers in the recent years. As an example, the
number of publications in Sciencedirect database concerning this topic in the last
five years is shown in Fig. 1. The word “digitalization” in the title of article and the
Fig. 1 Development of the

topic “digitalization in food
industry” in the literature in
the last five years
1734 V. M. Karizaki
“food” in the journal name are selected for retrieving the articles of interest. As it is
possible to understand from the figure, the numbers of publications started growing
from 2017 and reached its maximum in 2020.
This chapter presents the different applications of digitalization in food indus-
tries.
Classifying the Application of Digitalization in Food Industry
The applications of digitalization in the food industries can be classified on the

basis of different criteria. One of the important criteria is processing step that shows
which step (before, during, or after processing) is related to digitalization. In other
words, this criterion determines which digitalized system is involved in which of the
following parts: raw materials, process in progress, or products.
The shifting toward digitalization is a strategic and necessary change that can
increase the satisfaction of manufacturers and consumers of the food industry all
around the world. The mentioned change may involve the processing of a food
material, just like three-dimensional printing of food ingredients that is a completely
digitalized processing in the food industry. Furthermore, digitalization before or
after processing is an important part of approaches that are changing the food
production and consumption throughout the world. For example, sampling and
quality control of raw materials using digital image analysis is a digitalized step
that may perform before processing in food factories.
Also, digitalized packaging of products is an example for final steps in manu-
facturing lines. Packaging that is defined as the art and the science of protecting
or enclosing products for sale is usually applied after processing of food materials.
As is shown in Fig. 2 using of digitalization can be applied before, during, or after
processing of food materials. The presented example in this figure can be explained
in terms of “intersection of sets” in mathematics.
Figure 2 contains three set of data called A (before processing), B (during
processing), and C (after processing). The intersection of two sets consists of all
data that is in the first set and also belongs to the second set. For example, “food
economy” is an element that is common in both A and B. Also, the intersection of
two sets B and C includes the term food economy. Therefore, it is concluded that
digitalization of food economy is a key factor for all steps of food industry (i.e.,
before, during, and after processing).
The other criterion that can be used for categorizing the application of digi-
talization in food industry is whether the subject has been commercialized in the
last decades, or will be considerably developed in the future years. For example,
characterization of products by digital analysis is a common technique that has
been applied from last decades. Sapirstein et al. (1987) used the image analysis
for determining the morphologic characteristics of whole grains. Guillaume et al.
(1996) designed a sensor and analyzed the in-flow images for characterization of
mill products.
Fig. 2 Intersection of sets in mathematics for presenting an example of involving digitalization in

food industries before, during, and after processing
The subjects of characterization and analysis of products by digitalized systems

have been developed very well in the past, although many advances will be expected
to happen in the future. As an example of subjects that aren’t commercialized all
around the world so far, the three-dimensional printing of food ingredients can be
mentioned. The 3D printing systems are in the nascent form currently, and limited
business projects have been commercialized up to now (Jayaprakash et al. 2019).
Although the subject of 3D printing of food materials is being considered by many
researchers in the world, the practical applicability of these printers is still low due
to the technical difficulties and market challenges. Also, the type of digitalization’s
relation to processes can be considered as an important criterion. Figure 3 shows
how digitalization can be related to a process in food industries.
This relation should be first defined in legislation level. It is a requirement for
governments and international organizations to develop plans for adapting laws on
utilizing the digital technologies in different food processes (Sidorenko and van
Arx 2020). Digitalization for data collection is a main part that can be dealt with
the process. Digital tools offer a faster approach in high quality for collecting
the required data. The other level of digitalization’s relation with the process is
processing. Digitalization of a unit operation or process means that the process
itself is related to digitalized system. In other words, digitalization is applied during
processing of food materials.
Monitoring, data analysis, and control are also important parts in the food
industries. A process can be affected by digitalization of these parts by reducing
the cost and increasing the speed of analysis and control.
Digital economy is the next part that has close relation with a process. Digital
economy is known as an economy that is formed on the base of digital computing
technologies. This type of economy is also referred to as Web economy, or Internet
economy which implies that the businesses are being conducted and controlled
today based on the World Wide Web.
1736 V. M. Karizaki
Fig. 3 Different levels of

digitalization’s relation with a
process in food industry
Finally, digital communication can be used for increasing the satisfaction of

producers and consumers of food products. Digital communication is related to the
design and application of a variety of systems such as voice digital telephone, video
digital telephone, wireless LANs, satellite devices, and so on (Barry et al. 2004).
Sending any image or text-based message through streaming videos, website, audio,
digital photography, or graphic design is defined by digital communication.
Different Levels of Digitalization’s Relation with a Process

in Food Industry
Legislation
With the rapid development of digitalization, creation of global, comprehensive,

and coherent legal safeguards in order to minimize risks of digital technology and
to legitimize new assets is essential. Governments and international organizations
are currently developing strategies to adapt different laws on using of novel digital
techniques (Sidorenko and van Arx 2020).
Data Collection
Data collection is a procedure for measuring and gathering information on variables

in a system or process. Determination of fat content of potato during frying process
can be considered as an example of data collection. Digitalized systems or devices

employed for data collection differ by unit operation and vary from one type of
producer to another (McNamara 2017).
For example, a digital thermometer may be used in osmotic dehydration for mea-
suring the osmotic solution temperature, and a digital flow-meter may be utilized in
a cabinet dryer for determination of hot air flow rate during drying process.
As mentioned earlier, digitalization offers a rapid and accurate approach for
achieving better results. For example, the moisture content of a food sample in
different processes such as drying and evaporation can be determined by traditional
methods. Different methods for moisture content determination all consist of
removing moisture from food sample through heating. A common technique is the
procedure proposed by Association of official analytical chemists (AOAC 1990).
The amount of water that is removed after 24 h in an oven at a temperature of
105 ◦ C can be defined as moisture content value. This traditional technique is
time-consuming and relatively accurate. Employing a digital moisture analyzer
instrument provides faster and more accurate results.
Processing
Several researches related to application of digitalization in process study are

published in literature (Li et al. 2014, 2015; Tomita et al. 2019). Process study by
digitalized system or device is an effective way for evaluation of the process, and
finding the important parameters involved in the process. Some researchers have
applied digitalization for process study in food industry.
For example, Li et al. (2014) considered the application of digital image analysis
for studying the gelatinization process. The authors combined information from
differential scanning calorimetry and light microscopy. Then, the digital image
analysis method was employed for information analysis. The effect of sodium
chloride solution on the gelatinization of potato, corn, and pea starch was studied in
this work. Li et al. (2015) investigated the effect of different sugar concentrations
on the gelatinization process of corn starch by using digital image analysis. In the
other research work, Tomita et al. (2019) studied the absorption process by using
digital image analysis technique. They developed a novel approach in which a digital
microscope is applied to visualize the process of water absorption in real time.
The characteristic of water absorption in rice grain at 10, 25, 40, and 55 ◦ C was
consistent with the obtained results of digital image analysis.
The digital image analysis method is also employed for studying the baking
process of bread. Paquet et al. (2012) used a multilevel oven for conducting the
baking process. An imaging and analysis system was able to detect color and volume
changes of bread rolls online. Therefore, by presenting color, shape, and size of
dough, the state of the bread-baking process was identified reliably.
Digitalization during packaging is the other subject that has been considered
by investigators. Although packaging is a unit operation that is usually applied
at the end of production lines, it may be considered as an independent process
1738 V. M. Karizaki
or step in food industries. Protecting products or raw materials from deteriorative

effects is the main goal of packaging. Furthermore, packaging is known as an
effective way of marketing to communicate with the customers. Over the past
decades, terms such as smart packaging and intelligent packaging have been used in
literature. These terms often show the capability of a packaging process in carrying
out smart/intelligent features (such as detecting, tracing, sensing, recording, or
communicating) to make easier a decision for shelf life extension, safety increment,
information and data collection, and quality improvement (Schaefer and Cheung
2018). Digital technology is a powerful tool for creation of more transparent
and efficient packaging system. This system consists of different steps such as
packaging design, artwork preparation, pre-press operations, package printing,
cutting, folding, and distribution. All stakeholders, from designers and suppliers,
to machine manufacturers, and company owners need to adapt with digitalization
techniques.
A considerable amount of published data on application of digitalization in
process study is related to 3D printing of food materials. The three-dimensional
printing in the food industry is a digitalized process to create layer-by-layer
construction of simple or complex 3D food objects. The process is also known as
additive food manufacturing, or solid freeform fabrication. The whole operation is
automatically controlled by a simulation program with the lowest level of human
interaction.
The different types of materials such as natural polymers and a wide variety of
food ingredients can be utilized in 3D printing systems. Unlike robotic technology
that can easily control and automate the homemade cooking procedure, additive
food manufacturing allows production of individualized edible components through
printing of food materials. Although different studies related to 3D printing have
been presented in the literature over the last decades, the first 3D food printer called
Fab@Home model 1 capable of manufacturing edible structure was introduced by
researchers from Cornell University in 2007 (Godoi et al. 2016; Jayaprakash et al.
2019).
However, 3D food printing techniques are at the beginning of a long way, and
limited projects have been commercialized so far. In other words, the products of
3D food printing are obtained with higher cost in comparison with the conventional
food manufacturing technologies (Jayaprakash et al. 2019). The other drawback of
3D printing is that the general public prefer the traditional product, because the 3D
food printed materials are unknown and unrevealed (Sun et al. 2018).
The available information in the scope of 3D food printing has to do with the
applying of the printable food ingredients, rheology optimization of the food mate-
rials, and development of the 3D food printing technology. Also, the researchers are
focusing on the broad range of 3D food printing applications from applying in home
kitchen and restaurant, to the installing in the airplane and shuttles (Jayaprakash
et al. 2019). Due to the change of consumption patterns in different groups such as
children, elderly, and athletes, the researchers are working on new approaches for
production of flavor, vitamins, and additives with pleasant properties, and longer
lifetime duration.
Employing 3D printing for teaching and education is an amazing example related

to application of digitalization in food processes. Teaching shape, color, and taste
to children is an important step in early education. Therefore, using the 3D food
printing for production of edible pieces with special and customized shapes is an
efficient method for learning. The researchers showed that this idea is successful
in practice. They attracted children in an exhibition station for showing 3D food
printing. A large number of children were invited for recognizing the shapes of
cookies in an exhibition. The results confirm that the use of 3D printing can improve
the education process (Sun et al. 2018).
The other application of 3D printing is introduced by the term “personalized
nutrition.” It is a unique nutrition recipe that is prepared and served for a special
group of consumers. For example, personalized nutrition can be produced by 3D
printing for elderly people that have difficulties in chewing or swallowing (Sun et al.
2018). The three-dimensional printing is one of those techniques that is involved in
building unique food structures.
Depending on the food material supply, the current 3D printing equipments are
classified into three groups. The first group is liquid system that has been applied
to generate 3D constructs through deposition of liquid-based ingredients. The layer-
by-layer deposition of liquid materials can be carried out via ink jet printing or
extrusion process (Godoi et al. 2016).
The second printing group is powder system that produces powder-based struc-
ture. This type of structure is formed by edible powder deposition. A heat source
such as hot air or laser is applied simultaneously or at the following of deposition
process. The last group is the cell culture system, also known as bio-printing
technique. This system is mainly applied for production of meat analogue.
Ink jet tool as a common printing system is based on the accumulation of food
liquid droplets deposited by printer nozzles (Kruth et al. 2007; Godoi et al. 2016).
This type of 3D printing system is shown schematically in Fig. 4.
Usually, thermal or piezoelectric heads are utilized for operating the ink jet
printers. Thermal head in a printer is electrically heated to create pressure pulses for
moving liquid droplets from the nozzle. Piezoelectric head includes a piezoelectric
crystal that generates sound wave. The created waves are applied to separate the food
liquid into droplets. The low viscosity materials such as liquids, paste, or semi-liquid
ingredients can be generally deposited by ink printers. As a result, these printers
can’t be used for generation of complex food structures. The most common food
materials deposited by ink jet printer include liquid dough, meat paste, chocolate,
sugar icing, gels, cheese, butter, honey, jams, and so on (Murphy and Atala 2014;
Godoi et al. 2016).
The extrusion process as a printing method has been primarily utilized in
deposition of hot-melt polymers layer by layer. Currently, this technique is adapted
for printing of food materials to build 3D edible objects. Depending on the
food ingredients entered to the extruder, the different binding mechanisms can
be performed for deposition of layers. Several studies showed that the control of
rheological properties of food material is an effective way for proper and accurate
accommodation of layers (Lipton et al. 2010; Godoi et al. 2016; Periard et al. 2007).
1740 V. M. Karizaki
Fig. 4 Schematic illustration

of ink jet printing system
(Godoi et al. 2016)
For example, Lipton et al. (2010) investigated the effect of concentration of

food ingredients including yolk, butter, and sugar on the 3D printing process.
Solidification of a melted material upon cooling is another way for building and
fixing the edible layers. Deposition of melted chocolate to create a 3D object was
reported by investigators (Hao et al. 2010a, b). The authors produced the solid
chocolate upon cooling of melted materials. Gel formation is also used as a common
method for creation of layers in 3D food objects. The gel forming mechanism during
3D printing of food ingredients such as protein and starch has been considered by
Cohen et al. (2009). The extrusion-based 3D printing has several steps that have
been presented in Fig. 5.
The first step is designing a three-dimensional model. Using a computer program
for converting the 3D designed model into separated and individual layers is the
second step. In this step the available software creates the correspondence codes
for printing process. In the third step, the final programming code is uploaded and
transferred into a 3D food printer. Then, the required food recipe is selected for
printing.
Three-dimensional printing of food materials is the final step. According to the
designed patterns by the machine program, the food materials are extruded and
dispensed by extruder nozzle.
Depending on the type of products, a post-printing process such as cooking or
baking may be applied on the 3D food printed pieces. The extrusion process in
three-dimensional printing is digitally controlled. It has a robotic structure that can
create complex 3D pieces from food ingredients. At the beginning of the process,
Fig. 5 Schematic illustration of extrusion-based three-dimensional printing steps; 1) designing of

3D model, 2) generation of programming code, 3) uploading the code into printer, 4) printing of
food material (Sun et al. 2018)
the raw materials are loaded by the extruder. Then the charged equipment pushes
and moves the materials through a predesigned path.
Finally, a bonding mechanism is carried out during layer deposition for creation
and fixing a solid structure (Sun et al. 2018). The speed of layer deposition in
the 3D food printing is one of the most important parameters in the process. This
factor determines the process productivity and is related to the resolution of the
extrusion process. The characteristics and properties of food materials are also main
parameters in 3D printing. For example, deposition of very thin layers of a low
viscosity food material leads to increase the cost and time of operation (Godoi et al.
2016). Table 1 summarizes several researches related to application of 3D printing
systems in food industries.
Monitoring
As mentioned earlier, digital technology can play an important role in monitoring,

data analysis, and control of different processes in food industries. Monitoring,
data analysis, and control are procedures that focus on determining the defects of
products. In other words, these procedures will try to ensure consumers receive
the final product without deficiency. Instead of monitoring, data analysis, and
control, some researchers have applied other terms such as “quality management”
1742 V. M. Karizaki
Table 1 Application of 3D printing systems in food industries

Printed Printing
material temperature Main goal of
No. base (◦ C) study Highlight result Reference
1 Cocoa 18, 20 Investigation of The print stability (Rando and
butter the print stability and heat transfer Ramaioli
of chocolate in dynamics of the 2021)
different process are
temperatures strongly changed
with temperature
changes.
2 Garden pea, Room Three- Optimized ink (Pant et al.
carrot, and temperature dimensional food formulations for 2021)
bok choy printing of printed materials
different show minimal
vegetable inks for water seepage,
dysphagic patients and excellent 3D
printability.
3 Starch gels [70–80] Investigation of Inhomogeneity of (Zeng et al.
the relationship foodstuff formed 2020)
between new crystal
rheological structure during
properties, the process of 3D
structures, and 3D printing.
printability of
food material
4 Cookie Room Three- Pre-heating of (Pulatsu et al.
dough temperature dimensional food foodstuff can 2021)
printing of significantly
pre-heated cookie improve the
dough quality of printed
cookie dough
structures.
5 Wheat Room Improvement of Pulsed Electric (Maniglia
starch, temperature the 3D printability Fields (PEF) et al. 2021)
cassava of wheat and treatment affected
starch cassava starch by the properties of
using pulsed wheat and cassava
electric field starch.
(PEF) treatment
6 Egg yolk [72–84] Investigation of The heat (Xu et al.
the relationship treatment of egg 2020)
between protein yolk at 76 ◦ C for
structure, 8 min resulted in
rheology, and obtaining the best
printing behavior printing
of egg yolk performance.
that provide a similar concept. The shift toward digitalization leads to a better
performance in quality management. The routine methods and techniques of
monitoring, data analysis, and control are usually time-consuming and costly. The
high consumption of reagents and waste generation in utilization of these techniques
are also reported. The other drawbacks of using routine methods include complex
sample preparation, inaccurate or incomplete results generation, and so on (Silva
and Rocha 2020).
Now, using digitalized system is known as a novel technique for quantification
and classification of raw materials or final products, quality assessment, on-
line monitoring and control. Digital technology generally provides a simple and
inexpensive tool for obtaining rapid and accurate results (Lei et al. 2020; Reile et al.
2020). Several applications of digitalization in food industries in this issue have been
considered by investigators. Many studies have reported the application of digital
technology in data analysis and quality control in food industries. The published
works show that different parameters such as color, texture, moisture content, fat
content, and sugar content of a food material can be detected or evaluated by a
digital system.
As an example, Silva and Rocha (2020) determined protein content of milk by
digital image calorimetry. The authors developed a rapid, novel, cost-effective, and
practical way for detection of milk frauds that are caused by dilution. Their approach
involves the milk proteins precipitation by the salting-out of copper sulfate and
determination of the remaining copper concentration. Because the intensity of color
measured by digital image calorimetry is inversely proportional to the milk protein
content, this technique can be used as an indicator of milk adulteration.
The other example is work of ElMasry et al. (2009) related to digital image
analysis of peanut. The authors considered the effect of moisture content on
morphological properties of peanut by digital imaging technique. For this purpose,
moisture-mechanical and moisture-morphological features equations were built.
Also, the peanuts depending on their properties were classified at different moisture
contents. Similar works on application of digitalization for classifying the grains
and cereals, and determining the seed features have been published in recent years.
Uniformity determination of soybeans (Shahin et al. 2006), detection of color and
shape of flax seeds (Dana and Ivo 2008), determination of geometrical features in
rapeseeds (Tańska et al. 2005) are some examples in this respect.
As an example for application of digital technology in data analysis the work
of Yam and Papadakis (2004) is considered. In food industries, it is very important
to analyze the color of food sample surfaces both quantitatively and qualitatively.
The food samples are visually inspected and compared with together in qualitative
analysis. In quantitative analysis, the color distribution and the color averages can
be obtained. The authors presented a simple way that combines computer, digital
camera, and graphic software for measuring and analyzing the color of microwaved
pizza.
1744 V. M. Karizaki
Also, Table 2 shows a brief review of recent attempts for employing digitalization
in monitoring, data analysis, and control of different processes in food industries,
from freshness detection of packaged chicken breast, to determination of lettuce
shelf life, to analysis of crumb softness in bread.
Economy
Digital economy is also known as the Internet economy. The basis of digital
economy is digital computing technologies. It is a term that captures the effect of
digitalization on patterns of consumption and production. In other words, digital
economy determines how goods, products, and services are marketed, sold, traded,
and paid for. The new wave of economical and technological development has been
formed by superior connectivity speed and computing power.
Also, the number of physical objects or things connected to the Internet (i.e., the
Internet of things) is considerably being increased. The Internet of things definition
is the network of physical things that are connected to other systems and devices
over the Internet for the purpose of exchanging data and information. The Internet
of things is predicted to contribute to future economical growth: about 125 billion
devices and systems are estimated to be connected to the Internet by 2030 (CEPS
and Barilla 2019).
Due to the importance of digital economy in food industries, the manufacturers
and company owners are greatly focusing on electronic commerce (e-commerce).
E-commerce is being increased and developed every year and traditional retailers
are moving to online retailers. An online retailer is not only global but is also
available everywhere all the time. Information speed to online retailing determines
the degree of maturity and ripeness of a food company. Old manufacturers that
started before digitalization age must rethink for rapid joining to the digital economy
(FAO 2020).
Communication
Connectivity is a factor that shows whether or not a food process is involved with
digitalized systems.
More than 4.5 billion people had Internet access in 2020, encompassing near
to 60% of the world’s population. The Internet access through the world in the
future years will be increased. In addition, it will be easier to connect a process with
other digitalized systems and devices that are connected to the Internet. Therefore,
connectivity of million tools and devices to Internet network and people will change
human life in the near future.
Furthermore, digitalization will change all areas of food industry: from the way
raw materials are processed, to the way final products are packaged, to the way
we buy and consume foodstuff (McNamara 2017). Growing population throughout
the world is a significant ongoing change that results in increasing of global food
Table 2 Application of digitalization in monitoring, data analysis, and control of food processes
Purpose of
Food digitaliza-
No. material tion description Main results Reference
1 Chicken Freshness A colorimetric Digital (Lee et al.
breast detection array for technology can 2019)
and indicating provide a
monitoring freshness was sensitive, specific,
of packaged used to monitor and low-cost
foodstuff spoilage in pathway for
chicken breast monitoring of
over the storage freshness in food
time. products.
2 Lettuce Determination Changes in color The digital (Zhou et al.
of shelf life composition and analysis of 2004)
and accept- brown area browning is an
ability percent of effective and
foodstuff were reliable research
determined. tool for
Lettuce quality quantitatively
was evaluated by determination of
digital image shelf life and
analysis. quality.
3 Bread Analysis of The digital images The bread crumbs (Wang et al.
crumb of bread crumbs in digital form 2013)
softness were compared exhibited
against real bread similarities to real
samples via strain foodstuff in terms
compression of wall
experiments and thicknesses as
visual texture. obtained from
surface
appearance.
4 Milk High- The Digital LAMP (Tao et al.
performance high-performance technique 2020)
detection of molecular provided higher
pathogen experiment for sensitivity and
detecting accuracy for
mycobacterium detection of
bovis in milk pathogen in milk,
samples was in comparison
performed by with the common
digital LAMP methods.
(digital loop
mediated
isothermal
amplification).
(continued)
1746 V. M. Karizaki
Table 2 (continued)
Purpose of
Food digitaliza-
No. material tion description Main results Reference
5 Meat Determination Residual amounts The obtained (Azeem et al.
of nitrite of nitrite in meat results of using 2019)
residue in products were the digital image
processed determined method were in
meat through a novel good agreement
analytical with the available
approach that data that has been
applies digital published by
images. official AOAC.
6 Edible oil Evaluation Peroxide values of The proposed (Singkhonrat
of lipid edible oils and method is et al. 2019)
oxidation in their emulsion nondestructive
edible oil were evaluated by and can be
using digital employed as a
image rapid monitoring
colorimetric technique.
analysis.
7 Edible Assessment The authors Digital color (Shenoy et al.
powder of the utilized the imaging has good 2014)
quality of coordinates of potential for
edible food CIELAB color assessing the
powder space for quality of powder
mixes describing the mixes.
color of edible
powders.
8 Pear Determination Digital pear A digital (Quevedo
of sample surface methodology for et al. 2009)
enzymatic images have been texture analysis of
browning utilized for pear was
kinetics of describing successfully
pear enzymatic applied.
samples browning.
9 Olive Determination Digital image Rheological (Silva et al.
oil-lemon of aging analysis was behavior of olive 2010)
juice mechanisms employed for oil-lemon juice
in emulsions measuring of emulsion was
mean droplet size evaluated.
of emulsions.
10 Broccoli Sensory Evaluations of The (Garitta et al.
assessment digital images corresponding 2013)
of broccoli were compared images with the
over time with the real real broccoli
broccoli obtained from
appearance. digital sensory
analysis were in
good agreement.
demand. A growth of 70% of food demand by 2050 is provided by food and

agriculture organization (FAO 2020).
As a result, the total number of humans living all around the world are considered
as an important piece of digitalization puzzle in food industries (Casper 2019). On
the other hand, it is obvious from the interview that the food in the future is not only
dependent on science and technology but also on the social conditions (Jayaprakash
et al. 2019). Therefore, digitalization in the food industries without paying attention
to digitalization of social media is an incorrect decision (Tania and Michelle 2018).
Digital technologies such as web and mobile systems have transformed the
business method in food industry. The different processes such as food ordering
have been changed to a simple and fast form.
The signs of oversaturation in food distribution and delivery market resulted
in providing opportunities to create novel business models by digital innovation.
Online services through Internet are working on these opportunities stronger than
ever. Linking between offline and online worlds by mobile applications allows
the customers to choose from the list option in sale order, check pieces, compare
products, and place orders online (Tanmay 2019).
Digitalization also provides information about cancelation, unusual transaction
or returns. Thus, a transparent and efficient system is formed for serving customers.
In addition to mobile applications, social media platforms such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, and so on can be employed for communication
between producers and consumers (Sima 2017; Tanmay 2019).
Social media and food industry share a unique relationship, so that an inseparable
whole is created. Understanding the reputation and historical background of a
brand, finding the different target markets, asking from manufacturers and sales,
and responding to the consumers are a small part of activities that can be rapidly
and accurately performed due to the digital technology and social media relationship
(Tanmay 2019).
Conclusion
Paying attention to digitalization as a novel approach for employing in food indus-

tries is very essential and vital. New or modified activities can be created by using
digitalized technologies, data, system, and their interconnection. Digitalization
can offer potential solutions to different challenges across personalized nutrition,
food processing, production line, and supply chain monitoring and management.
Additionally, trust and confidence among customers and trading partner will be
increased due to the availability of information with higher transparency. It will be
expected from traditional producers to accept and apply digital changes in the near
future. Otherwise, they will not be able to compete with those that have applied
digitalized systems for production.
1748 V. M. Karizaki
Useful Websites for Further Information
http://chocedge.com/ Accessed January 27, 2021

https://www.foodjet.com/ Accessed January 27, 2021
https://www.naturalmachines.com/press-kit/ Accessed January 28, 2021
https://www.impactmybiz.com/blog/digitalization-food-and-beverage-industry-out-
look/ Accessed January 28, 2021
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Detection of Tuberculosis and Lung Cancer
Using CNN 68
S. N. Hankare and S. S. Shirguppikar
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1752
Related Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1753
Description of Dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1754
Discussion and Working of Various Architectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1755
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1759
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1760
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1761
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is contagious disease spread through air from bacteria called
M. tuberculosis. This disorder has high risk factor in humans. It also causes a
high risk of lung cancer. Pulmonary tuberculosis and lung cancer share same
clinical as well as radiological features. This imitation of symptoms between
tuberculosis and lung cancer may lead radiologist to misdiagnose one for the
other. This chapter discusses the Machine Learning (ML) tools which is to be
used in the detection of tuberculosis and lung cancer. The two main ML tools
from deep learning networks in convolutional neural network (CNN) we used
are the VGG16 and VGG19 (ILSVRC Runner-up 2014). The datasets of CT
Md Badrul Alam Miah, Mohammad Abu Yousuf, “Detection of Lung cancer from CT image
using image processing network”, 2015 International Conference on Electrical Engineering and
Information Communication Technology (ICEEICT), May 2015
S. N. Hankare · S. S. Shirguppikar ()
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajararambapu Institute of Technology, Rajaramnagar,
India
e-mail: Shailesh.shirguppikar@ritindia.edu
1752 S. N. Hankare and S. S. Shirguppikar
scan and X-rays of tuberculosis and lung cancer has been taken from Kaggle
Data Science to train an Algorithm differentiating between a tuberculosis patient
and a lung cancer patient. We achieve an accuracy of 71.2% to 74.3% by VGG16
and 89.2% to 97.6% by VGG19. The proposed work illustrates the possibility
of the proposed technique in helping the radiologists to differentiate between a
tuberculosis patient and a lung cancer patient.
Keywords
Convolutional neural network · Deep learning · Tuberculosis detection · Lung

cancer detection · Machine learning
Introduction
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease. If it is not treated in early stages, the risk of

spreading the disease to other body parts like spine and brain increases. Nearly
ten million individuals were diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2019 out of which
1.4 people were died (Global Tuberculosis report 2019). The number of cases of
tuberculosis are even worse in 2017, 10.4 million patients were reported positive for
TB out of which 1.7 million were reported dead (Global Tuberculosis Report 2017).
It is registered as top 10 most dangerous diseases having a death rate of 4000 lives
each day (Global Tuberculosis Report 2020). While, cancer is the second major
disease causing most number of deaths globally, lung cancer alone has 25% deaths
of all the cancer deaths. Lung cancer leads to divide the cells in lungs uncontrollably.
This phenomenon increases the growth of tumors which can cause severe breathing
problems. In 2018, 9.6 million deaths occurred around the globe out of which 2.09
people died due to lung cancer alone (WHO Report 2018).
Tuberculosis and lung cancer both share similar prodrome as well as the initial
procedure of diagnosis of the disease is also same. As a result, it becomes hard
for radiologists to differentiate between these two cases. Chest radiography images
(X-Ray) and computerized tomography scans (CT scan) usually being the first test
used for diagnosis of tuberculosis as well as for lung cancer (Hussein et al. n.d.).
This may lead doctors to misdiagnose the tuberculosis with lung cancer. However,
early diagnosis of these vicious diseases will lead to providing necessary treatment
and will reduce the death cases around the world.
The Deep Learning or Deep Neural Network is an Artificial Neural Networks
(ANN) which contains various different layers between input and output layers. In
the past few years, it has been considered to be one of the most powerful tools due to
its ability to handle a substantial amount of data. The idea of getting hidden layers
recently began to become popular over classical methods and has a great future in
various fields.
In recent years, deep learning methodologies have accomplished remarkable out-
comes in the field of machine learning (Schmidhuber 2015). Convolutional Neural
Networks (CNN) (LeCun et al. 2010) has made its mark in image classification
68 Detection of Tuberculosis and Lung Cancer Using CNN 1753
applications such as face detection (Li et al. 2015; Farfade et al. 2015), image-driven
autonomous cars (Huval et al. 2015), morphology prediction (Dieleman et al. 2015),
video classification tasks (Karpathy et al. n.d.), etc. Due to such advancement in
Technology especially in the sector of artificial intelligence grant an advantage to
researchers to study the automatic diagnosis possibilities of certain diseases. The
automatic detection and diagnosis of both the disorders by differentiating them
may come really handy for doctors to move further. This speed up the process of
diagnostics and lowers its cost. The classification between tuberculosis and lung
cancer have been done by very few researchers.
Related Work
ANN (Artificial Neural Network) methods can be used for nodule detection (Chen
et al. 2015; Akram et al. 2015). Promising results have been shown by CNN in lung
nodule detection [35]. Researchers can build their own CNN architecture or there
are Ready to be used [36].
A. Teramoto et al. (Teramoto et al. 2016) developed a method for reducing
false positive cases. Authors used 104 PET/CT for pulmonary nodule detection
with Convolutional Nueral Networks (CNNs). The results show sensitivity of 90.1%
eliminating almost half of the False positives of Previous studies with only 4.9 false
positives/case.
According to S. Antani (Antani 2015), tuberculosis detection can be possible
by detecting specific patterns in the chest radiographs. Some of these patterns are
opacity in lobes, military patterns, enlargement of lymph nodes, plural effusion
and airways enlargement. Presence of these patterns can be helpful for detection
of tuberculosis. Also, Patients infected with other pulmonary infections also can
have similar patterns that a Tuberculosis infected person (Daley et al. 2003).
J Melendez et al. (Melendez et al. 2015) developed a tuberculosis detection
method. In his proposal, every radiograph is separated into instances and extracted
its features based on pixel intensity distributions. As the standard formulation of
SVM was unable to classify radiographs at instance level the researchers proposed
a new reformulated SVM (MiSVM) (Andrews et al. 2003). This allows them to
classify groups of samples rather than just individual isolated samples. The three
datatsets evaluated by authors were Zambia, Tanzania and Gambia. The obtained
results showed promising results with an AUC in the range 0.86 to 0.91.
B. Van Ginneken et al. (Van Ginneken et al. 2002) was one of the first
researchers to invent a CAD (Computer Aided Diagnosis) for Tuberculosis detec-
tion. The features of the chest images were extracted with the help of multiscale
filter bank. The classification is done with the help of weighted nearest-neighbor
scheme. For validation purpose LOOCV is used. The results were taken out for two
different small datasets giving AUC of 0.86 and 0.82.
L. Hogeweg et al. (Hogeweg et al. 2010) proposed a model for TB detection hav-
ing combination of pixel-level textural abnormality analysis with other techniques.
Results showed an accuracy of AUC from 0.67 to 0.86.
J.H. Tan et al. (Tan et al. 2012) introduced a method for statistical details of
pixel distribution is given as input. Test were carried out in a small dataset which
gave best accuracy of 0.949.
Jaeger et al. (Jaeger et al. 2014) combined different algorithms for extraction of
features associated with radiographic images. This experimentation is into various
parts – Segmentation (Stirenko et al. n.d.; Candemir et al. 2012), feature extraction
(Dalal and Triggs 2005), and classification. Segmentation is done to divide the data
into various parts and remove unnecessary data associated with image (Candemir
et al. 2012). Feature extraction is done by combining various algorithms like
oriented gradient histograms (Dalal and Triggs 2005), local binary patters (Ojala
et al. 2002), hu moments (Hu 1962), etc. (Tamura et al. 1978; Howarth and Ruger
2005). This data is fed to binary classifier for classification of image as healthy and
unhealthy. Support vector Machine (SVM), Multiplayer perceptron (MLP), logistic
regression, and decision trees were used as classifiers of which logistic regression
and linear SVM has given best results. For Montgomery dataset the value of AUC
was 0.87 with an accuracy of 78.3% and for Shenzhen dataset the AUC value
obtained is 0.9 with accuracy of 84%.
Chan and Vese et al. (Chan 2001) investigated a curve evolution method for
detection and segmentation of lungs. It is used for energy minimization based
segmentation.
Kumar et al. (Kumar et al. 2015) proposed a CAD system with the help of
deep features taken out from autoencoder. It is used for classification of lungs into
malignant or benign.
J. Tan et al. (Tan et al. 2017) invented a method for lung nodule detection with
significant amount of reduction in false positive cases with the help of CNN and
DNN. The dataset was comprised of 85 patients. The final results give a sensitivity
of 82% and the number of false positives was reduced by 0.329 with DNN.
R. Golan et al. (Golan et al. 2016) designed a framework to detect lung nodules
in the CT scan data. The framework trains the weights with the help of back
propagation. The results showed 78.9% sensitivity with 20 being false positive.
(c) shows Lung cancer cases
Description of Dataset
In this study, the dataset taken consist of 5932 frontal chest X-ray images provided
form Kaggle and non-disclosed local Hospitals or Covid-19 Wards. The images in
the dataset are of resolutions 96dpi whereas the varying dimensions such as 728x368
to 2746x2382. There are 1040 normal case, 3808 tuberculosis case 1062 lung cancer
images in the dataset. Also, for organizing the dataset optimization techniques were
also used (Phan et al. 2021; Shirguppikar and Dabade 2018; Shirguppikar et al.
2020). X-ray samples from the dataset have been shown in Fig. 1 and Table 1 shows
the dispensation training data, validation data, and testing data phases of the model
introduced in this chapter.
Fig. 1 Data samples from the dataset, (a) shows normal cases and (b) shows tuberculosis cases
Table 1 Distribution of Train Validation Test

dataset
Normal 1040 305 305
Lung Cancer 3808 390 390
Tuberculosis 1062 92 92
Discussion and Working of Various Architectures
A. Image Processing and Neural Network [35]:
The proposed system focuses on detecting lung cancer from a CT image, which is
done automatically. The method for detecting lung cancer is dependent on machine
vision. This thesis’ key contribution is the development of a rotation, scaling, and
Image Binarization of Y Abnormal

#B>Thresh1
Prepossessing CT Image Full Lung
Input Lung N
CT Image Segmentation
Segmented Right Segmented Left

Lung Lung
Binarization of Binarization of
Right Lung Left Lung
N N
#B>Thresh2 #B>Thresh3
Y Y
Normal or Abnormal Abnormal
Abnormal left/ Right Lung Left Lung
right Lung
Neural Network Feature

Recognition Extraction
Fig. 2 Lung Cancer and Tuberculosis Detection System Architecture [35]
translation invariant feature extraction system for lung cancer identification. Md

Badrul Alam Miah et al. [35] established the overall lung cancer identification
device architecture seen in Fig. 2. and the same architecture will be used for
Detection of Tuberculosis. The whole lung cancer screening procedure is broken
down into the steps below. Neural Network Detection, Binarization, Segmentation,
Image Preprocessing.
I. Image Processing: The image preprocessing steps are applied to the images. The
block diagram of image preprocessing steps is seen in Fig. 3.
II. Binarization: Image binarization is a method for converting a grayscale image
to a black-and-white image. Binary images are also known as two-level or bi-
level images. This means that each pixel is stored as a single bit, i.e., a 1 or a 0,
as seen in Fig. 4.
III. Segmentation: Image segmentation is the method of partitioning a visual image
into several segments in a computer vision device. The aim of segmentation
is to make an image more coherent and easier to interpret by simplifying
and/or changing its representation. Points and borders (lines, circles, etc.) in
Fig. 3 Block Diagram of

image preprocessing
photographs are usually located using image segmentation. To be more specific,

the method of assigning a label to each pixel in an image such that pixels with
the same label share certain characteristics is known as image segmentation.
In the proposed system, segmentation processes consist of different steps. At
first convert the original grayscale image into edge only image shown in Fig. 5.
Then, as seen in Fig. 6, transform the edge-only image to a dilated image and
then to a filled image. Finally, the picture in Fig. 7 is segmented into Right Lung
and Left Lung.
IV. Neural Network Detection: Following the Thresholding process, the majority
of the Lung Cancer and Tuberculosis Detection System employs a neural
network, which is a highly efficient and effective method. Following the feature
extraction process, the features are fed into a neural network, which is used
to train the algorithm for classification or identification. Image Acquisition,
Image Preprocessing, Segmentation, Feature Extraction, and Neural Network
Classification are the measures that make up the proposed training method for
lung cancer and tuberculosis detection.
The suggested method’s outcome is achieved in two ways: Binarization Tech-

nique and Neural Network Binarization Technique. Binarization Technique provides
a 99% (approximately) accurate result for this system. Table 2 shows the preliminary
effects of the system’s neural network.
Fig. 4 (a) Gray scale image, (b) Binarized image
Fig. 5 (a) Original Grayscale image, (b) Edge Only
Fig. 6 (a) Dilated image, (b) Filled image

a b
20 20
40 40
60 60
80 80
100 100
120
120
140 20 40 60 80
20 40 60 80 100
Fig. 7 (a) Segmented right Lung, (b) Segmented Left Lung
Table 2 Total Detection rate of the system

Feature Total Images Correct detection (%) Error (%)
Normal 305 98.63 1.37
Lung Cancer 390 95.33 4.67
Tuberculosis 92 87.31 12.69
Conclusion
Lung cancer and tuberculosis are two deadly illnesses that must be detected at an
early stage. Lung cancer and tuberculosis, on the other hand, are very difficult
to diagnose. According to the literature review, a variety of methods are used to
diagnose lung cancer and tuberculosis, but each has its own set of limitations. Our
proposed method uses methods in which binary thresholding is done first, followed
by feature extraction, and then these features are used to train and evaluate the neural
network. From CT scan and X-ray scans, the proposed device successfully detects
lung cancer and tuberculosis. By the end of the day, the system can be seen to
have met its objectives. The proposed system tested 150 different types of lung CT
images and came up with a result of 96.67% total system performance, which meets
the system’s expectations. This procedure may be used to identify brain tumors,
breast cancer, and other cancers in the future.
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Covid-19 or Viral Pneumonia Detection
Using AI Tools 69
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1764
Description of Dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1766
Discussion and Working of Various Architectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1767
CovXNet (Mahmud et al. 2020) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1767
Modified AlexNet Network (Chen et al. 2020) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1769
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1771
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1772
Abstract
Viral pneumonia is a disease which occurs in lungs due to bacterial infection.

Since middle of December 2019, many cases of pneumonia with unknown
cause were found in Wuhan City, China; at present, it has been confirmed
that it is a new respiratory disorder caused due to coronavirus infection. Lungs
abnormality is highly risky condition in humans; the reduction of the risk is done
by enabling quick and efficient treatment. The Covid-19 pneumonia is mimicking
viral pneumonia, that is, their symptoms are undistinguished. Lung’s abnormality
is detected by Computed Tomography (CT) scan images or X-ray images. By
viewing the X-rays or CT scan images, even for a well-trained radiologist, it is
difficult to detect Covid-19/viral pneumonia. For quick and efficient treatment,
it is necessary that proper detection must take place and during this epidemic
situation, late detection can lead to doubling of cases; hence, there is a need
of proper tool for quick detection of Covid-19/viral pneumonia. This chapter is
M. V. Pachore · S. S. Shirguppikar ()

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajararambapu Institute of Technology, Rajaramnagar,
India
e-mail: Shailesh.shirguppikar@ritindia.edu
1764 M. V. Pachore and S. S. Shirguppikar
discussing various AI tools for quick detection as a part of our contribution for
quick detection and cure of Covid-19 to front line corona worriers and safety of
viral pneumonia patients from Covid-19. The two AI tools are from deep learning
(DL), that is, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Recurrent Neural
Network (RNN), which are used for the detection of Covid-19/viral pneumonia.
The algorithm is trained using available X-ray images of health lungs, viral
pneumonia-affected lungs, and Covid-19-affected lungs available through Kag-
gle and nondisclosed local hospitals or Covid-19 wards. Also transfer learning
method is also used for long-lasting validation of the model. The results give us
an accuracy for CNN 83.2 to 94.1% results which are also matched with practi-
cally tested positive Covid-19 patients using swab tests by doctors. After testing
the various models, we also came through that every model of DL has its own
specialty.
Keywords
Covid-19 · Viral pneumonia · Computed Tomography (CT) · X-ray image ·

Deep learning (DL) · Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) · Recurrent
Neural Network (RNN) · Transfer learning
Introduction
Many cases of pneumonia were suddenly found in Wuhan, China, with unknown
cause which has been later considered as an acute respiratory infectious disease
caused by coronavirus until the February 12, 2020, after the announcement of
official calcifications of new coronavirus, that is, severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of
Viruses (Sohrabi et al. 2020; Lai et al. 2020; Gorbalenya et al. 2020). The alarming
increase in mortality rates throughout the world hence made WHO to call out a
global pandemic which has crumbled the healthcare organizations throughout the
globe leading to high demand in diagnosis and prevention against the increasing
spread of the disease (Rothan and Byrareddy 2020). The Covid-19 symptoms
detected from patients are so varying of which fever, dry cough, tiredness are
being common and sore throat, headache, acute respiratory distress syndrome
(ARDS) which are almost similar to the symptoms of viral pneumonia (Bai
et al. 2020). Since the finding of new mutation of Covid-19 in UK has created
a great risk to mankind (Dawood 2020). Both reverse transcription-polymerase
chain reaction (RT-PCR) and SWAB diagnosis test used for Covid-19 have a
low sensitivity and large test period. Furthermore, the test is only carried out in
specific labs and test samples are transported to these labs, which causes more
time consumption and the limited supply of expensive test kit (European Center
for Disease prevention and Control 2020) is making the situation even worse.
69 Covid-19 or Viral Pneumonia Detection Using AI Tools 1765
Hence, chest X-rays and CT scans have been provided to all individuals having
positive symptoms of pneumonia to diagnose and isolate patients. As a serious
shortage of experts to differ patients as having large similarities of Covid-19 and
traditional pneumonia, an artificial intelligence (AI) assists which automatically
detects the patient’s infection can be a significant change for filtration of Covid-
19 patients form traditional pneumonia and separate isolation of individuals. Also,
this can also help in deciding the priority order of the testing samples of the
patients.
Today, much research is being conducted in the area of deep learning, and
convolutional neural networks (CNN) have shown considerable promise in image
recognition and classification (Krizhevsky et al. 2012). The central idea behind
CNNs is to create an artificial replica of the human brain’s visual cortex. It has
the potential to remove more important features from the whole picture rather than
handcrafted features, the key benefit of CNNs (Krizhevsky et al. 2012; Xie et al.
2020). Various CNN-based deep networks were developed by researchers and these
networks achieved state-of-the-art results in computer vision recognition, segmen-
tation, target detection, and localization (Krizhevsky et al. 2012; Ronneberger et al.
2015). In addition to natural machine vision issues, CNNs have obtained very good
outcomes in the resolution of medical problems such as identification of breast can-
cer (Ragab et al. 2019), segmentation of brain tumors (Pereira et al. 2016), diagnosis
of Alzheimer’s disease, recognition of skin lesions (Esteva et al. 2017; Ayan and
Ünver 2018). Detailed articles on deep learning in medical image processing are
presented here (Ker et al. 2018; Litjens et al. 2017). As far as we are concerned, we
are aware that there are a few experiments using deep learning to classify pneumo-
nia. Antin et al. used a DenseNet-121 sheet in 2017 using the transition leaning
technique and obtained 0.60% area under the curve value (AUC) (Antin et al.
2017). A 121-layer convolutionary neural network based on DenseNet (Huang et al.
2017) was proposed by Rajpurkar et al. in 2017 and named as CheXNet (Rajpurkar
et al. 2017). They trained their network of 10,000 frontal view chest X-ray images
containing 14 different diseases. They calculated the performance of their network
with four expert radiologists using the f1 score metric, which is the harmonic
average of the accuracy and recall metrics. CheXNet received an f1 score of 0.435
(95 percent CI 0.387, 0.481), which was higher than the radiologist’s average of
0.387 (95 percent CI 0.330, 0.442).
On the other hand, RNN architecture-based methods have also been put forward.
LSTM (Rajpurkar et al. 2017), which is capable of learning about long-term
dependencies, is the most popular RNN. Usually, Xu et al. (Zhou et al. 2018)
suggested a model with SDP knowledge introduced using long short-term memory
networks (LSTM) to help explore essential text constructs for classification of
relationships. Cai et al. (Xu et al. 2015) also introduced LSTM with SDP encoding
into neural networks without taking SDP information into account as a standard
function, allowing their model to outperform all previous models on the SemEval-
2010 task 8 dataset. Zhang and Wang (Zhang et al. 2018), on the other hand,
used a simple RNN-based model and outperformed the KBP37 dataset of CNN
models. Although these strategies make use of automatic RNN feature extraction,
their efficiency is limited because the information obtained by RNN does not often
contain local features.
Some of the other works are based on a mixture of CNN and RNN to do
the role of relationship classification, aside from the approaches described above.
And it was also possible to benefit from certain sentence classification work
(Hassan and Mahmood 2018). Rotsztejn et al. (2018), who introduced a method
of classification of relationships based on an ensemble of CNNs and RNNs,
suggested a relatively representative approach. Moreover, there are works that are
also common based on attention (Li et al. 2018). While their solution performs
better on three of the four subtasks on SemEval-2018 challenge 7, ensemble learning
methods are more nuanced and require much more time and energy to compute
than single models. Since the size of a dataset is small, ensemble models can take
much longer to adjust parameters, and it may also be easier to overfit. Also, to
organize the data some optimization techniques were also referred (Shirguppikar
and Dabade 2018; Shirguppikar and Patil 2020; Nguyen Huu et al. 2021). Our
ultimate aim is to develop a simple, single deep learning model that can easily
and effectively differentiate relationship types without the need to train multiple
models.
Description of Dataset
To test this approach, the dataset consists of collection of five various datasets of
210 X-ray and 398 CT images of Covid-19. The distribution of collected dataset
is shown in Tables 1 and 2. These datasets are unique as they are collected from
different sources and from different parts of the world which is important for
building an advanced tool to help medical experts diagnosing Covid-19 all over the
world. Also, the images from dataset are openly available for researchers and public
(Cohen et al. 2020; Covid-19 bsti imaging database 2020; Hacking and Bickle 2020;
Mooney 2020). The images used in this will collectively be available in a GitHub
repository (Cohen et al. 2020). The given data in Table 1 clearly shows that we do
not have enough data of Covid-19 images which is publicly available. This makes
hard for research communities to conduct full investigation and the need of more
images from radiology is high (Fig. 1).
Table 1 Covid-19 X-ray and Covid-19 GitHub BSTI Total

CT scan images and their
X-ray 70 15 85
source
CT 16 187 203
Table 2 Normal X-ray and Normal Kaggle Radiopedia Total

CT scan images and their
X-ray 206 89 295
source
CT 42 153 195
Kaggle Radiopedia and GitHub
X-ray
BSTI Radiopedia
CT
Fig. 1 X-ray and CT scan Images from different Sources
Discussion and Working of Various Architectures
CovXNet (Mahmud et al. 2020)
The schematic representation of the workflow is given in Fig. 2. The similarities

between traditional pneumonia and pneumonia caused by Covid-19 are very high
from clinical and physiological views (Bai et al. 2020; Chung et al. 2019); trans-
ferring information acquired from chest X-rays of traditional pneumonia patients
can be an effective way to utilize smaller Covid-19 X-rays for extracting additional
features.
Hence, the training phase should have a big dataset containing both X-rays
(normal pneumonia and non-Covid pneumonia) and should be used for training
CovXNet. Then for optimization of predictions, an algorithm is applied on all the
networks through meta-learner. As the convolution layers get optimized to extract
Fig. 2 The workflow of the proposed by Tanvir Mahmud et al. (2020)
Fig. 3 Significant portions of the test X-rays that instigate the decision are localized by imposing
the activation heatmap obtained from CovXNet (Mahmud et al. 2020)
features from X-rays, weights of layers are directly transferred in the transfer
learning phase. After that a dataset having Covid-19 and other pneumonia patients
is used to train other layers integrated with the CovXNet. At last, the modified
CovXnet is applied to predict X-ray images.
A deep neural network is used (CovXNet) for the detection of Covid-19 and dif-
ferent pneumonia types with distinctive localization from chest images as shown in
Fig. 3. Depth-wise convolution is used in the CovXNet with changing dilation rates
which integrate features from various receptive fields for analyzing abnormalities in
the images. For utilization of a few X-rays, large dataset is utilized having x-rays
from normal and various traditional pneumonia patients for initially training deep
network. Because of the similar characteristics of Covid-19 and pneumonia, we can
obtain satisfactory results with the help of smaller datasets containing Covid-19 X-
rays by transfer of trained convolutional layers with additional fine-tuning layers.
Also, it can be seen that a stacking algorithm provides improved performance
by further optimization of prediction obtained from variations of CovXNet. A
generated class activation map also provides discriminative localization of abnormal
areas which is able to help to diagnose the variations of clinical features of
pneumonia on X-ray. Improvement in the performance of these schemes can be
done by including more samples of Covid-19 X-rays for training in transfer learning
phase. Extensive simulation of experimental results can also be effective to quick
diagnostics of Covid-19 and pneumonia patients. Hence, the given CovXNet model
has a high scalability with high receptive capacity which can be applied to various
computer vision applications.
Modified AlexNet Network (Chen et al. 2020)
AlexNet is a pretrained network which referred to CNN family having trained more
than million images on ImageNet in a wide range of objects (Maghdid et al. 2004).
By modifying the pretrained AlexNet, we are able to transfer the weights, bias,
and features for the detection of Covid-19. After this, input datasets (CT scans and
X-ray images) are applied on the parameters for training. These transfer learning
algorithms lay out perception of how an individual can design new architectures to
detect Covid-19. It is due to the fact that training a CNN network from scratch using
random weights values would take far longer than tuning a pretrained network. It
also requires less computational power especially if the dataset has small number of
images.
However, in order to use a pretrained network for our project, the model is
changed by replacing the last layers with the layers we choose to use. Furthermore,
as seen in Fig. 4, our collected datasets were used to train a new network.
When the width is equal to 227, the height is equal to 227, and the channel color
number is equal to 3, the input images of the dataset are clipped and the sizes of
the images are unified according to the AlexNet model. In addition, the updated
1770
Fig. 4 The modified AlexNet network for diagnosing disease Covid-19 (Chen et al. 2020)
Fig. 5 Identified all Covid-19 X-ray images correctly, while 23 normal X-rays images out of 25
images (Chen et al. 2020)
network’s minimum batch size has been set to 10, the number of epochs has been
set to 20, the learning rate has been set to 3e-4, shuffling has been set at every epoch,
and the validation frequency has been set to 3.
When checked on CT images of Covid-19 patients, pretrained AlexNet per-
formed well in distinguishing Covid-19 X-ray images from standard X-rays, but not
as well as X-ray scans of chest radiographs. Furthermore, unlike traditional CNN,
the Pretrained AlexNet is not learned from scratch. The AlexNet transfer learning
algorithm, which has been trained, performs exceptionally well in extracting silent
features from Covid-19 X-ray images (Fig. 5). As seen in Fig. 5, the enhanced
AlexNet accurately diagnoses all Covid-19 X-ray images, thus correctly identifying
23 regular X-ray images out of 25 images, implying a 98% overall accuracy.
Conclusion
The latest integrated kernel is demonstrated on a chest X-ray dataset from a

multibranch convolution network in this chapter. In a simple network, it is obvious
that numerous divisions of convolution are capable of extracting vital data from
textural knowledge. It has been discovered that a stacking algorithm improves
performance by improving predictions obtained from different versions of CovXNet
that are primarily configured for different resolutions. Based on the results of
comprehensive simulations, it seems to be a viable option for quicker diagnosis
of Covid-19 and other pneumonia patients. Furthermore, the proposed CovXNet is
highly flexible and has a large receptive power, making it suitable for a wide range
of other computer vision applications. This research aims to assist radiologists in
using a device that can be used on cell phones, particularly because the majority
of people nowadays have smartphones with adequate computational capacity. As a
result, if a basic CNN model can be built and shown to be accurate, it is simple
to evaluate prospective radiography images and does not take a lot of computing
resources. It can also be readily tailored to smartphones. Hopefully, the findings of
this research would act as a first step toward developing a sophisticated Covid-19
disease detection system from X-ray or CT images as quickly as possible, in order to
save as many lives as possible. While the proposed models’ accuracy is insufficient,
the effect of the detection may be offset by using other disease signs.
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Part IV
Industry 4.0: Concept of Smart, Intelligent, and
Sustainable Society
Iranian Small and Medium-Sized
Industries 70
S. Jithender Kumar Naik, Malek Hassanpour, and Dragan Pamucar
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1778
The Weighing and Ranking Models Applied in Classification of Iranian Industries . . . . . . 1781
Iranian Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1788
Reviewing Statistical Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1789
Classified Iranian Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1790
Iranian Future Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1798
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1798
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1799
Important Websites for Further Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1803
Abstract
The definition of small and medium industries varies from country to country
and is governed by economic and industrial circumstances. Some of the criteria
used to determine the type of industry (small, medium, and large) are: number
of employees, invested budget, total assets, sales, and production quantities,
energy consumed, etc. By present review, Iranian industries classified based on
five main criteria in various multicriteria decision-making systems according to
initial screening of the Iranian evaluator team to confirm and confer installation
permissions. Hereby, a list of nine group industries has discussed classification
S. Jithender Kumar Naik

University College of Science, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India
M. Hassanpour ()
Department of Environmental science, UCS, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana State,
India
D. Pamucar
Department of logistics, Military Academy, University of Defence, Belgrade, Serbia
1778 S. Jithender Kumar Naik et al.
stages in weighing and ranking practices along with some statistical analysis.
Iranian government encouraged to support the stakeholders to implement modern
techniques to generate high value-added industries from waste and raw materials
streams. Findings developed a narrow channel to expand the science and will
mature a valuable database based on current and future preliminary screening
information of evaluator teams prior to the complete appearance of an industrial
project on the territory of Iranian country. Therefore, the classification can be
deployed to comprise new industries along with executing the energy stream.
Keywords
Iranian industries · MCDM · Assessment · Project
Introduction
Globally, industries divided into four sections such as micro, small, medium, and
large industries. Large industries beset about 2% of Iranian industries proportion
with a major role in the industrial revolution in Iran. But below we have another
type of Iranian industries classification including mining and construction aggre-
gates, food materials, beverage and tobacco industries, textile, apparel and leather
industries, cellulose materials industries, chemical industries and miscellaneous
materials, appliance, and basic metal industries, machinery, tools, equipment, and
metal products industries and recycling industries (Ghanatabadi 2005; Hassanpour
2020). By current review Iranian industries listed into nine main groups such as
Iranian Food Manufacturing and Processing Industries (IFMPI), Iranian Wood and
Cellulose Industries (IWCI), Iranian Plastic Industries (IPI), Iranian Mining and
Aggregate Industries (IMAI), Iranian Chemical Industries (ICI), Iranian Automotive
Industries (IAI), Iranian Textile and Leather Industries (ITLI), Iranian House-
hold Appliance Industries (IHAI), and Iranian Electronic Products Manufacturing
Industries (IEPMI). Ghanatabadi (2005) classified Iranian industries as electrical
and electronics, information technology, petroleum, oil and gas, construction,
communication, healthcare, automobile and aerospace, agriculture, food, and retail,
distribution, and warehousing, banking, and manufacturing partitions. Global clas-
sification of industries has been done as Cluster 1: food products – crop using,
Cluster 2: food products – processed food using, Cluster 3: food products – livestock
using, Cluster 4: tobacco products, Cluster 5: apparel and textile products, Cluster
6: miscellaneous textile products, Cluster 7: leather apparel, Cluster 8: manmade
fibers and chemical products, Cluster 9: chemical products, Cluster 9.1: chemical
products (cont’d.), Cluster 10: paper products, Cluster 11: printing services, Cluster
12: petroleum products, Cluster 13: lumber and wood products, Cluster 14: stone
and pottery products, Cluster 15: concrete and glass products, Cluster 15.1: concrete
and glass products (cont’d.), Cluster 16: metals and fabricated metal products,
Cluster 16.1: metals and fabricated metal products (cont’d.), Cluster 17: machinery,
Cluster 17.1: machinery (cont’d.), Cluster 18: nonelectrical machinery, Cluster
70 Iranian Small and Medium-Sized Industries 1779
19: telecommunications equipment, Cluster 20: miscellaneous manufacturing, and

Cluster 20.1: miscellaneous manufacturing (cont’d.) and those industries without
detailed materials records.
To understand the implication of the small and medium-sized industries in
Iran, it needs to explain that there is no certain and approved definition for the
medium-sized industries according to existing laws and documents. The small
industries included up to 50 staff and vice versa. The first proclamation about
the classification of Iranian industries was posed in 1955 called the program for
Economic Development Plan (EDP). By the way, the industries classified into two
groups the artisan firms and the large industries. EDP proclamation devoted up to
500 staff for large group industries. According to the Fourth EDP rules (1968–
1972), artisan industries were defined based on two criteria: the number of staff
(less than 10) and invested budget (less than USD 70,000.00). After the revolution
of 1979, the Central Bank of Iran changed the criteria, limiting it to the number
of employees and adjusting the numbers to less than 50 for small industries and
more than 500 for large firms. In 1991, in a new endeavor, the Central Bank of Iran
changed the criteria to 10 employees, at the same time. The Ministry in charge of
small industries used 50 employees as the criteria for defining the small firms. At
present, according to the law, artisan firms with less than 10 employees are defined
as small businesses. With regard to the bereavement of existing information about
the right classification of small and medium-sized industries and the difficulties of
accessibility to the precise references and sources, we need to notice that due to
published data by European Union, up to 250 staff defined as the upper limit for
medium-sized firms (Ghanatabadi 2005).
Iranian industrial sector sought to achieve methods and practices to reduce
manufacturing expenses, impede soaring and floating waste materials flow, escalate
commodities quality, elevate productivity, and increase customer satisfaction along
with business excellence run-up. Universally, industries are prominent resources
of production with heavy demand in energy supply aims particularly for water,
electricity, and fossil fuel consumption, etc. Iranian government pays a huge
budget to compensate for energy consumed in the industrial sector. So, according
to the aforementioned demands and plan of the environment protection agency,
all industrial projects need to go through the Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) program once start confirming an industry by in-charge organizations. By
the current review, we tried to present the energy demand evaluation of industries
including the number of employees, water, fuel, and power consumed in industries
individually along with areas devoted to building and landscaping activities. Iranian
evaluator team gathered the mentioned information to allow the stakeholders and
industries managers to receive the required permissions to dig the well, install power
facilities (according to their demands), the stake for fuel subsidiary, and recruit staff
to run the plants. Some of the important aspects followed by the current review can
be listed as (1) benchmarking the spectrum for future growth rates, (2) comparison
of Iranian industries with industries of other nations, and (3) comparison of the
levels of energy resources consumption including water, electricity, and fuel and
employee recruited, etc.
One prominent challenge that came into view in the expansion of industrial
ecology encompassed energy stream networks and lack of access to a highly granted
database to design and execute energy channels towards industries loops. There is no
database about the preliminary screening of Iranian industries prior to constructing
industries, ranking, and weighing the industries and their criteria. The current data
encompassed the most authoritative database for Iranian industries, which is the
first report in English in this regard. This review noticed quantities of energy
consumed for industries, a weighted average of factors among whole industries,
a new type of classification for industries, significant differences and correlation
among industries, and their factors in a certain framework. This review encompassed
the secondary data collected from the initial database of both Iranian protection
agency and Iranian industries organization in Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) plan. In a clustering method, around 405 types of Iranian small and medium-
sized Industries studied individually before (as case studies). Obtained data came
through of decision-making systems supported by SPSS and EXCEL software in
different studies and then the results collected in the current review. Recently lots of
multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) models have been emerged and introduced
to classify, prioritize, and sort out both the uncertain and big data. As mentioned
above, we collected full details of references to cover all concepts about MCDM
models applied to offer a realistic decision by a list of literature reviews in this
regard (Hassanpour 2020).
The MCDM models of Fuzzy set theory, Fuzzy Technique for Order of Pref-
erence by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), TOPSIS, Weighted Aggre-
gated Sum-Product Assessment (WASPAS), Simple Additive Weighting (SAW),
COmplex PRoportional ASsessment (COPRAS), Vlse Kriterijumska Optimizacija
I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR), Additive Ratio ASsessment (ARAS), and
COmbinative Distance-based ASsessment (CODAS) were requested to assess
Iranian industries (Shirazia et al. 2017; Zagorskas et al. 2014; Kaklauskas et al.
2006). By Table 1, we offered a strong literature review of recent studies inside
Iran and all over the world associated with the subject discussed. Kavousi and
Salamzadeh (2016), Zagorskas et al. (2014), Hosseini et al. (2013), Onat et al.
(2016), Tobiszewski et al. (2017), Indahingwati et al. (2018), Georgiadis et al.
(2013), Farzami and Vafaei (2013), Dace et al. (2014), Rostami et al. (2017),
Askarifar et al. (2018), Dinmohammadi and Shafiee (2017), and Forghani et al.
(2018) used TOPSIS model for Indicators influencing the success of a strategic
planning process, historical buildings preservation (five new insulation materials
chosen to reclaim), weighing and ranking 50 large industries on Tehran Stock
Exchange since 2009–2011, sustainability efficiency of alternative vehicles (both
hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were the excellent options to supersede),
evaluating the environmental distribution of solvents in dyeing industry (both
alcohols and esters were much harmless than aromatic hydrocarbons including
1 to 78 chemicals), four kinds of fertilizer selection, finding the overwhelming
technique of weapon systems, the best contractor selection, choosing a relevant
catalyst for CO2 conversion and CH4 selectivity, financial performance of chemical
companies in Tehran stock exchange (Ahvas Petrochemical Company, Persian
Gulf, and Iran chemical industries enlaced the highest efficiency), investment
opportunities for public demands, wind turbine system selection, and suppliers
selection of four pharmaceuticals, respectively. The COPRAS model exploited by
Zolfani and Zavadskas (2013), Popovic et al. (2012), Medineckiene et al. (2011),
Vujicic et al. (2016), Jamali et al. (2015), and Zarbakhshnia et al. (2018) for
evaluating the sustainability of five types of buildings with 13 criteria and 5 options
(Iranian traditional systems used in deserts > light gauge steel frames > insulating
concrete frameworks > Tronco systems > 3D Sandwich panels), selecting the best
investment projects among four cases, evaluating building life-cycle assessment in
sustainability, the best option selection in purchase a fluorescent lamp, ranking five
Iranian automotive manufacturers containing seven criteria and prioritizing third-
party reverse logistics creators in the presence of risk factors, respectively. The
WASPAS model assigned for selection of the best green suppliers, removing the
difficulties of eight industries, selection of the position of a garage considering
four alternatives, and six criteria and the best supplier selection including 10
alternatives along with five criteria respectively (Yazdani et al. 2016; Chakraborty
and Zavadskas 2014; Bausys and Juodagalyiene 2017; Azadfallah 2016).
Hereby, to complete the review, we have done a depth literature review, then
used the weighting and ranking systems, statistical analysis results, and managerial
application of study to declare the first report of evaluating Iranian industries based
on five main criteria in the EIA plan. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
first report and review which encompassed whole Iranian industries to pass through
the EIA program conducted by the in-charge organizations. There is no report to
encompass Iranian small and medium-sized industries for the five main criteria.
In Table 1, we tried to point out the recent studies completed using MCDM
models and a brief description of their methodology, type of industry, the covering
content, and main achievement of the study.
The Weighing and Ranking Models Applied in Classification

of Iranian Industries
According to Fig. 1, the steps followed in the current review complied sections of
project identification and initial screening of the Iranian evaluator team, introducing
decision-making systems used, introducing weighing and ranking models applied,
introducing obtained ranking, and literature review collection. It needs to explain
that the raw data of initial screening have been passed through the decision-making
systems, weighing, and ranking stages to approve the projects in previous studies of
the authors. The public involvements in projects demand some pollutants discovery
practices that are not a big deal in EIA for industrial projects. This review collected
the obtained results from previous studies of the authors, which are shown in figures
and tables.
In Iran, due to the lack of laws, in some cases, no evaluation report was
prepared before. But recently under environmental laws, the government has given
the authority to require environmental inspections for some projects. These laws
Table 1 Literature review of some recent studies

Type of
industries or Main
Methodology location Subject achievements References
Fuzzy Shannon Heat and power Combined heat Gas turbine > Cavallaro et al.
entropy and systems and power steam turbine > (2016)
fuzzy TOPSIS systems fuel cell >
assessment reciprocating
engine >
microturbine
Fuzzy AHP 10 biggest Key 40 energy Mardani et al.
Iranian hotels energy-saving factors classified (2016)
technologies into five groups
Fuzzy TOPSIS – Investment Prioritized the Yazdani-
strategy existing Chamzini et al.
selection alternatives (2013)
Delphi and – Climate policy Weighing and Nikas et al.
TOPSIS ranking (2018)
Fuzzy system Iranian shipping Investment Joint venture and Radfar and
industries practices in the subsidiary Ebrahimi
technology companies got (2012)
transfer the highest and
lowest priorities
Fuzzy TOPSIS National Iranian Performance Offering a score Parsa et al.
gas Company analysis and rank system (2016)
Fuzzy network Iranian Stock exchange The bubble Sorayaei et al.
model automobile growth of stock (2012)
industries exchange
Fuzzy system Iranian power Risk A new ranking Ebrahimnejad
plant industry identification model outlined et al. (2012)
and management
Fuzzy system + 133 automotive Performance Classifying Behrouzi et al.
SPSS industries measurement options, (2011)
weighting and
ranking
Fuzzy AHP 9 enterprises The importance Ranking criteria Hsu and Hu
of 4 criteria and (2008)
20 approaches
Fuzzy AHP Publishing Sustainable Ranking factors Shaverdi et al.
industry development (2013)
Fuzzy system 8 Iranian cement Financial Sabhan, Sarab, Moghimi and
companies in the performance Sedasht, Safar, Anvari (2014)
Tehran stock Sekaroun,
exchange Sakarma, Sanir,
and Sahrmoz
companies
prioritized with
scores of around
0.55, 0.51, 0.50,
0.49, 0.42, 0.37,
0.36, and 0.33,
respectively
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
Type of
industries or Main
Fuzzy cognitive Iranian Agile new Items were Fekri et al.
map manufacturing product process classified and (2009)
enterprises and their sorted into six
connections main groups and
the connections
tabulated
Entropy Urban sprawl Finding the Weighting Danaei (2017)
Shannon urban sprawl
based on four
criteria
Entropy Kish airport Classification of Weighting Mkhalet et al.
Shannon the 13 projects (2018)
containing 7
criteria
Entropy Supplier Supplier Weighting Zhao et al.
Shannon selection (2017)
Fuzzy + entropy Basin Eutrophication Weighting Taheriyoun
Shannon index et al. (2010)
Fuzzy TOPSIS Detergent Four suppliers Weighing and Roshandel
powder up to 25 assessment of ranking et al. (2013)
criteria in an tripolyphosphate
Iranian industry
AHP-TOPSIS Iranian Connections Weighing and Rahdari (2016)
petrochemical among three ranking
industry major criteria
Fuzzy TOPSIS Offshore boat Demystifying Classification of Osezua-
engine the main causes overall scores Aikhuele et al.
of defeat (2017)
DEMATEL and Serbia To select a Weighting and Pamucar et al.
COPRAS temporary ranking (2018)
military road
VIKOR + Sanitation in Development Ardabil County Yazdani et al.
entropy Shannon Ardabil province process placed the first (2017)
rank and Sarein
County the last
rank
VIKOR Research Offering a The Thipparat and
projects in strategy to sustainability Thaseepetch
Thailand impede index calculated (2013)
expanding along with
pollution and ranking and
hazards weighting
values.
Fuzzy + Turkish A performance Obtained results Yalcin et al.
TOPSIS + manufacturing analysis revealed the (2012)
VIKOR industry same
classification
style
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
Type of
industries or Main
VIKOR + AHP Iranian state 22 Iranian state Weighting and Mazdeh et al.
universities universities ranking (2013)
VIKOR + fuzzy Basic metals Assessing the Weighting and Farrokh et al.
analytical generating basic metals ranking (2016)
hierarchy industries generating
industries
VIKOR A texture Parameters Weighting and Fallahpour and
industry selection ranking system Moghassem
difficulties between 0–0.4 (2012)
and 0–1,
respectively
VIKOR Suppliers Supplier Weighting Alimardania
selection with around 0.713, et al. (2013)
four criteria 0.472, 0, and 1
for four
suppliers
Fuzzy VIKOR + – Difficulties of Ranking system Liu et al.
AHP risk assessment valued from 0 to (2015)
processes 1
VIKOR and Iranian 24 Supplier The Saze Azar et al.
TOPSIS supplier selection Pouyesh (2011)
techniques companies including six company got the
criteria highest rank in
the TOPSIS
method while
Kosar Sanat
Abzar company
reached the
highest rank in
VIKOR
technique.
Shannon entropy – Classifying 25 Weighting and Omidvar and
+ VIKOR types of ranking Niromand
equipment (2017)
failures with
four alternatives
AHP and Coastal zones in Assess Developing a Pourebrahim
VIKOR Khuzestan, Iran conservation ranking system et al. (2014)
priority based on in the range of
17 factors and 6 0–1
alternatives
VIKOR + fuzzy Mehrcam pars Difficulties Weighing and Amiri et al.
sets theory company of the raised from ranking 15 (2011)
automobile, Iran supplier priority criteria for five
in materials supplier
chain supply companies
networks
(continued)
Table 1 (continued)
Type of
industries or Main
Grey relational Iranian dates Analyze the Figure out the Ghane (2014)
analysis industries interaction main barriers
among the major and ranking
barriers them
Delphi-AHP and Large extractive Site selection of Prioritizing and Kamali et al.
fuzzy-GIS industrial units large extractive ranking the (2015)
approaches (100,000 t/year) industrial units criteria and
in Iran identifying the
suitable sites in
such
applications
AHP and Expert Iranian particle Major criteria Density of the Azizi et al.
Choice 2000 board industries intensities products and its (2009)
high intensity
got the highest
priority
Cochran test Iranian mega Assessment of Ranking based Khamseh and
motor company technological on sub and main Mohagheghi
capability dimensions (2014)
AHP method Iranian facial Weighing factors Softness, time of Azizi (2007)
and expert tissue industries absorption,
choice software appearance
quality, basis
weight, and
price criteria
have high
priority
respectively
Markov chain Iran’s industrial Energy demand Scientific basis Kazemi et al.
Grey model sector forecast for the planned (2013)
development of
the energy
supply of
industrial sector
in Iran
Integrated Iranian mining Evaluating the Improving Azimi et al.
VIKOR sector strategies exploitation (2011)
technique ability and
production
outperforms;
other strategies
Fig. 1 (This study)
include items 7 and 6 on Environment Protection and improvement and item 50

of the Constitution. The first EIA resolution was adopted in 1997 by the Supreme
Council for Environmental Protection, which was amended in 1997. With this
decree, it became clear that some projects are required to submit an EIA report.
The Supreme Council for Environmental Protection is composed of 12 members,
including the Ministers of Health, Treatment and Medical Education; agrarian;
industry; country; housing; urban planning and Jihad Sazandegi Organization; Head
of Program and Budget Organization; the head of the Environment Protection
Organization; and four qualified persons and officials on the proposal of the head
of the Environment Protection Organization and the approval of the President
for 3 years. The High Chairman of the Council is the President. The Scientific
Committee for Environmental Assessment consists of the head of the Environment
Protection Organization and five experts selected by the head of the organization;
agents of the Program and Budget Organization; forests and pastures; Institute of
Standards and Industrial Research; the ministry or organization is involved in the
evaluation plan.
EIA first began in the United States in 1970, Germany in 1971, Sweden in 1972,
the United Kingdom in 1973, Canada, Australia, and Denmark in 1974, and France
in 1976. Environmental concerns as a result of economic growth in the 1950s and

1960s, resource degradation and economic scarcity in the 1970s, the discussion
of sustainable development in the 1980s, the development of new perspectives on
economic progress with an emphasis on natural resources management, and the
ideas presented at the Rio Conference in 1992 contributed to the EIA plan. Rule
17 of the Rio Declaration emphasizes that EIA should, as a national instrument, be
required for proposed activities that have significant, potential adverse effects on the
environment and require national decision-making.
Project management operates in a broader environment in comparison with the
project environment itself. The project management team needs to understand this
broader concept. Managing the day-to-day activities of the project is necessary for
success, but it is not enough. Key aspects of project management include several
dimensions such as project stages and project life cycle, project stakeholders,
organizational impact, key public management skills, social, economic, and envi-
ronmental impacts. The sum of the project stages is called the project life cycle.
The project life cycle is used to determine the start and end of a project. The
project life cycle will determine: Whether the feasibility study is the first stage
of the project or is considered as a separate independent project. What transition
measures are planned at the beginning and end of the project and what measures are
not planned? The project life cycle definition can be used to relate the project to the
current operations of the executive organization. Due to the inseparability of the two
issues of environment and development, the need for environmental management
instruments in development programs to minimize the damage to the environment
is identified. The environmental management system has various features, including
complementing and continuing sustainable development, combining different devel-
opment perspectives, etc. It integrates social sciences, policy-making, and planning,
making it inevitable to pay attention to the needs of human societies and to expand
them globally and regionally. The objectives of the evaluation include the above (1)
erasing and repairing damage to the environment, (2) increasing public awareness,
(3) using the views and opinions of the public in the decision-making process, (4)
recognizing issues and problems of environmental damage that they are likely to
occur, (5) predicting the occurrence of significant and sustainable environmental
impacts, (6) creating a balance between the long-term development goals and the
need for the majority of people to have development resources to protect the
environment, (7) increasing the level of cooperation and coordination between
public and private organizations, (8) applying and integrating environmental criteria
in development planning, (9) defining the duties of each government agency
to protect the environment, (10) establishing a balance between population and
environmental resources, (11) maintaining the quality of renewable resources to
maximize efficiency with proper maintenance of life cycles, (12) providing a healthy
and active life for the community, (13) identifying the correct methods of using
the environment, and (14) recognizing critical environmental issues and problems
that need to be studied, controlled, and cared for. The reasons for the need to
evaluation can be mentioned in the following cases. Community professionals and
their representatives want to identify the various activities of a proposed project and
seek to recognize its effects. This desire is formed based on the following needs:
(1) awareness of how to locate and implement the project and reduce the effects
for project managers, (2) damages and losses to the project for project investors,
(3) the need to know the results of the evaluation to provide a project permit for
environmental officials, (4) the impact of the project on other projects for other
government officials, and (5) the impact of the project on the quality of life of the
local community or their representatives. The benefits of an assessment include (1)
resolving public dissatisfaction, (2) eliminating incompatibility between individuals
in society and government agencies, (3) increasing the quality of the environment,
(4) crediting the government at the international level, (5) creating appropriate
planning, (6) increased environmental awareness and knowledge at various levels of
society, officials, and decision-makers, (7) and increased executive power referred to
laws and regulations. Evaluation by the project employer (public or private sectors),
responsible departments (usually government). Planner (usually government) or a
combination of the two or more above. Factors involved in an assessment are the
sensitivity of the local environment, the degree, and dimensions of development
and the proposed project and its potential effects, the social value of the project at
national and local levels in terms of improving environmental quality, resources, and
scientific expertise of the country and assessment time (Qavamabadi 2013).
Weighing and ranking systems: The source for the data gets back to initial
screening of engineering and industrial projects in the preliminary steps of study
and industries confirmation to acquire the required licenses which have been
accomplished by both Iranian industries organization and Iranian protection agency
once in the beginning. Both weighing systems of Friedman test and Entropy
Shannon have been chosen to conduct the classification of industries based on the
five main criteria, that is, the number of employees, water, fuel, energy consumed
along with land area occupied by each industry in previous studies of authors. The
reason for assigning these weighing systems refers to the fact that the Friedman
test is a valuable test to present low, high, and medium weights for the low, high,
and medium values. This prominent point was acquired by author research to
conduct the thesis in this regard. The Entropy Shannon weighting system provides
an excellent platform to judge about industries situations containing positive and
negative criteria to sort out. Actually, the Friedman test sets up a matrix of data
in the framework of SPSS software to offer the values of weights for configured
data in the software (Eisinga et al. 2017; Hassanpour and Pamucar 2019). The
ranking systems used were Fuzzy set theory, Fuzzy-TOPSIS, TOPSIS, WASPAS,
SAW, COPRAS, VIKOR, ARAS, and CODAS.
Iranian Industries
By the current review, nine groups (including 405 industries) of Iranian industries
have come through the MCDM models to classify the industries pertain on five main
criteria such as IWCI (16 various kinds), ITLI (38 various kinds), IMAI (26 various
kinds), IFMPI (57 various kinds), IAI (71 various kinds), IPI (21 various kinds),
IEPMI (33 various kinds), ICI (118 various kinds), and IHAI (25 various kinds).
The existing information indicates the five main industry-specific factors that are
calculated by the team of evaluators of Iranian organizations for industries.
Reviewing Statistical Analysis Results
In this step, the statistical outputs of industrial groups were collected based on five
main criteria to further assess. There was no significant difference among the criteria
of IFMPI via t-test analysis. Also, Friedman’s two-way analysis of variance by
ranks emerged to zero significance in this regard. In IWCI were found significant
differences around (p-value ≤0.001, 0.002) among the criteria via t-test analysis. An
equal probability manifested about 0.982, 0.437 (via one-sample Chi-Square test),
0.299 (via one-sample Kolmogorov Smirnov test), and 0.309 and 0.185 (via one-
sample Kolmogorov Smirnov test) among criteria of IWCI. The findings proved
a normal distribution among the criteria of IWCI. The t-test analysis had shown
a significant difference among parameters (p-value ≤. 0.009) along with a high
value of Pearson correlation for both factors of land and water approximately 0.835
(in IPI). The related samples Friedman’s two-way analysis of variance by ranks
appeared with a significant value of about 0.007 among the values of IPI. The normal
distribution trend was proved by one-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test among
criteria with a significant difference (p-value ≤0.015) among the criteria using the
t-test (in IMAI). The highest correlation distinguished by Pearson correlation sig.
(2-tailed) about 0.797 between the values of land and employees (The values of
IMAI). According to the t-test, there was no significant difference among the criteria
of ICI. The Chi-square test obtained around 388.645 (N = 118). The Null hypothesis
completely rejected. No significant difference was acquired using both t-test and
related samples Friedman’s two-way analysis of variance by ranks for the IAI.
There was a normal distribution among the criteria. The Null hypothesis completely
rejected. Pearson correlation sig. (2-tailed) came into view with the maximum
correlation between land and water amounts approximately 0.82. The distribution
of criteria obtained normally and Pearson correlation analysis had shown the top
correlation between land and power values ranged about 0.818 with zero significant
differences among criteria of ITLI. Using the Chi-square test provided a value
of around 90.321 via Friedman test along with 0.879 for the highest correlation
between two criteria of land area used and employee’s number (in IHAI). Also,
it has acquired a significant difference (p-value ≤0.025) via t-test analysis among
the five main criteria of IHAI. The Pearson correlation sig. (2 tails) appeared with
a value of about 0.837 between both criteria of water and power consumed (In
IEPMI). It has completed the statistical analysis with emerging zero significant
differences among the main criteria of IEPMI (Hassanpour 2018a, b, c; Hassanpour
2020; Hassanpour 2019a, b, c, d).
Similar studies covering the same concept are listed as follows. Hosseininia and
Ramezani (2016) used SPSS analysis to classify and prioritize with the call out
of 130 participants and 12 owner-managers in the food industry considering the
fact about the sustainability in small and medium-sized industries. The study of
Hourali et al. (2008) weighted indicators for around 45 Iranian small and medium
enterprises (SME) using Minitab and SPSS software. Dadashpoor and Allan (2010)
used SPSS analysis to find intra-metropolitan supply linkages, industrial clustering,
and driving forces in the Iranian automotive sector. By the way, it was achieved
with insufficient evidence of industrial clustering. Significant relationships between
accounting variables were observed in the study by Salehi and Hematfar (2012) in
10 models SPSS analysis on the data of chemical companies listed on the Tehran
Stock Exchange from 2005 to 2010. The relevant quality improvement was reported
by Yunus et al. (2016) in a process efficiency assay of Iranian food industries
via SPSS analysis. SPSS analysis of Kaab Dogloss carried out on Iranian small-
scale industries resulted in development of two mathematical production functions
(Shahroudi 2011). The promotion of knowledge management practices has been
taken into attention by Valmohammadi (2010) in a study on the Critical Success
Factors (CSFs) of Iranian SMEs via SPSS analysis. A significant relationship has
been obtained in an investigation based on the connection between new and old
industries to survive using SPSS analysis in new firms established in Mazandaran
province (Madhoushi and Nasiri 2011). The Esfahan Steel Company got a survey to
identify CSFs via SPSS analysis (Moohebat et al. 2011). A model for E-Readiness
has been assessed concerning weight the indicators in 45 Iranian SMEs using
Minitab and SPSS analysis (Hourali et al. 2008).
Classified Iranian Industries
In the following steps, the values of weights (VW) for nine groups of industries are
listed in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, and the classification of industrial groups is
summarized in Table 2 by the number of industries in each cluster, weight, and rank
released for them.
To rank, the IHAI, ITLI, IAI, and IMAI have used both the weighing systems of
Friedman test and Entropy Shannon regarding the future expansion in industries
Fig. 2 VW developed in the ranking system for IMAI (Hassanpour 2019a)

Fig. 3 VW developed in the ranking system for IHAI (Hassanpour and Pamucar 2019)
Fig. 4 VW developed in the ranking systems for IHAI and ITLI (Hassanpour and Pamucar 2019;
Hassanpour 2019b)
Fig. 5 VW developed in the ranking systems for IAI (Hassanpour 2019c)
Fig. 6 VW developed in the ranking systems for IFMPI and IPI (Hassanpour 2018a, b)
Fig. 7 VW developed in the ranking systems for IWCI (Hassanpour 2018c)
Fig. 8 VW developed in the ranking system for ICI (Hassanpour 2020)
including negative and positive criteria among the five main criteria mentioned.
The WASPAS model assigned to rank the IMAI in both systems of weighting and
revealed no significant difference between them. Also, the IAI have been classified
using SAW and COPRAS ranking models in the same weighting systems (p-value
≤0.00). IHAI have been classified based on both systems of CODAS and ARAS.
According to the findings, the ARAS and CODAS created very close results in a
ranking system with a significant difference around (p-value ≤0.001) for the ranking
system of ARAS with the weighting system of Entropy Shannon. Then, ITLI came
through the ranking systems of SAW and VIKOR to prioritize the industries with
both weighing systems of Friedman test and Entropy Shannon (p-value ≤0.00).
According to Fig. 6, IPI and IFMPI were ranked in Delphi fuzzy set (integrated
with the SAW model) via normalization, de-fuzzification, and criteria/symbols
versus factors based on the Likert Scale. The Friedman test was employed to
estimate the VW for five main criteria. Then SAW model integrated with Delphi
Fig. 9 VW developed in the ranking systems for IEPMI (Hassanpour 2019d)
fuzzy set requested to release the weights for each industry and finalized the ranking
system.
The same procedure was applied for the IWCI (Delphi fuzzy set integrated with
the SAW model) with IPI and IFMPI along with two other methods of Fuzzy
TOPSIS and TOPSIS supported with the weighting system of Friedman test for
the criteria. The normalizing and weighing for alternatives (industries) followed
the TOPSIS method and finalized with the calculation of Euclidean distances and
division of them. The Fuzzy TOPSIS also underwent the same procedure except
using fuzzy numbers instead of real numbers in order to normalize the alternatives
values. By the way, it observed no significant difference between the three methods
of ranking systems.
Also, the TOPSIS method was assigned to classify ICI, so the procedure was
united with the weighting system of the Friedman test for the criteria. Therefore,
118 various types of ICI were classified in a certain cluster.
The ranking systems of ARAS and SAW classified the IEPMI using the
weighting system of the Friedman test for the criteria that resulted in the same ranks
with different VW (p-value ≤0.00). The sequence number of the VW in various
ranking models is drawn in Fig. 10.
The sequence diagram usually shows interactions between different classes of
models discussed to prove the functionality of the explained models where they
graphically undergo development steps. The distribution of the values of the weights
Table 2 Classified Iranian industries (Hassanpour 2018a, b, c, 2019a, b, c, d, 2020)

Industries/ranking
system Classification
IFMPI/fuzzy set theory (42) > (43) > (51) > (14) > (31) > (1) > (41) > (7) > (4) > (52) > (23) =
(25) > (15) > (5) > (17) > (19) > (3) > (11) > (35) > (34) > (47) > (48)
> (45) > (33) > (54) > (16) > (53) > (20) > (49) > (9) > (29) > (39) > (6)
> (12) = (50) > (18) > (57) > (56) > (21) > (38) > (24) > (2) > (36) > (46)
> (37) > (8) = (26) > (30) > (32) > (27) > (40) > (55) > (22) > (44) > (10)
= (13) = (28)
Weighing based on Friedman tests
Land (4.98)> power (3.95) > fuel (2.26) > employees (2.17) > water
(1.64)
IWCI/fuzzy set theory Fuzzy set logic 15 > 11 > 16 > 5 > 1 > 3 > 10 >
4 > 8 > 7 > 9 = 12 > 2 > 6 >
13 = 14
Fuzzy TOPSIS 15 > 7 > 11 > 1 > 5 > 16 > 3 >
10>8 > 4 > 12 > 9 > 2 > −;
(6 = 13 = 14)
TOPSIS 15 > 11 > 1 > 16 > 5 > 3 > 4 >
8 > 10 > 7 > 12>9 > 14 > 2 >
13 > 6
Weighing based on the Friedman test
Employees (2.59), power (4), water (1.53), fuel (1.88), and land (5).
IPI/fuzzy set theory 1> 2> 7> 8> 13> 10> 3> 20> 18> 9 > 6> 14> 19 > 11 > 16 = 4 > 15>
5> 12 > 17 > 21
Employees (2.88), power (3.86), water (1.74), fuel (1.52),
and land (5).
IMAI/WASPAS 26 > 17 > 9 > 4 > 21 > 10 > 19 > 11 = 12 > 20 > 2 > 5 > 16 > 24 > 3 >
8 > 25 > 22 > 6 > 14 > 1 > 18 > 13 > 15 > 23 > 7.
and land (5).
17 > 26 > 2 > 9 > 21 > 20 > 10 > 19 > 4 > 16 >11 = 12 >
6 > 5 > 24 > 3 > 13 > 8 > 22 > 25 > 1 > 14 > 7 > 23 > 18 > 15.
Weighing based on the entropy Shannon
and land (0.1849)
ICI/TOPSS 85 > 10 > 68 > 54 > 108 > 11 > 70 > 110 > 31 > 95 > 1 > 118> 48>
115>116> 33> 55> 96> 72>113 > 24> 60>97 > 103>27> 21>107 >
14 > 50> 32> 53 > 30> 114> 8> 81> 109 > 3> 62> 94> 65> 41> 34>
19> 56 > 76> 84> 100> 18> 5> 73> 63> 80> 47> 42> 101> 43>
83> 16> 87> 38> 15> 99 > 86> 40> 88> 37 > 105> 98> 51>
44> 46 > 17> 29> 58> 34> 112> 23 > 79> 36> 26> 82> 117> 90>
67> 89> 92> 69> 13> 77> 6> 2> 20> 66> 93> 35> 104> 28> 7> 78 >
106> 9 > 52> 75> 111> 102> 64> 59> 91> 93> 35> 12> 4 >
57> 71> 74> 45> 22> 61.
Employees (2.52), power (3.94), water (1.6), fuel (1.94), and land (5)
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Industries/ranking
IAI/SAW and COPRAS Saw;52>2>48>13>5>7>70>67>17>56>24>27>65>66>53>12>38>
3>68>30>16>36>19>34>21>4>37>50>41>29>39>43>15>61>35>
47>63>26>10>62>54>42>64>57>23>8>31>51>46>33>25>58>49>
40>11>1>69>6>60>59>45>28>32>14>55>44>22>71>9>18>20
Employees (2.94), power (4), water (1.78), fuel (1.27), and land (5).
COPRAS; 70 > 52 > 50 > 2 > 3 > 53 > 48 > 25 > 19 > 38 > 13 > 66 >
17 > 56 > 62 > 27 > 36 > 24 > 5 > 57 > 59 > 15 > 65 > 39 > 10 > 63 >
29 > 47 > 33 > 42 > 44 > 35 > 21 > 55 > 58 > 9 > 64 > 46> 14 >
34 > 40 > 51 > 8 > 43 > 26 > 23 > 68 > 31 > 11 > 49 > 12 > 18 > 71 >
1 > 69 > 20> 54 > 45 > 67 > 6 > 61 > 28 > 4 >60 > 22 > 41 > 37 >
16 > 7 > 30 > 32.
Employee (0.0801), power (0.1592), water (0.1039), fuel (0.5589),
and land (0.0976).
ITLI/VIKOR VIKOR; 10 > 34 > 3 > 21> 17 > 19 > 15 > 6 > 11 > 18 > 9 > 14 >
36 > 4 > 31 > 37 > 7 > 2 > 28 > 8 > 27 > 1 > 38 > 35 > 26 > 23 > 24
> 29 > 32 > 13 > 25 > 16 > 33 > 5 > 30 > 20 > 22 > 12.
and land (4.97)
SAW; 36 > 10 > 34 > 3> 21 > 4 > 17 > 11 > 15 > 19 > 6 >
18 > 9 > 14 > 31 > 8 > 28 > 7 > 35 > 27 > 38 > 1 > 2 > 37 > 24 >
23 > 26 > 16 > 25 > 32 > 13 > 5 > 29 > 33 >
20 > 30 > 22 > 12.
IHAI/ARAS and CODAS ARAS; 5 > 22 > 23 > 19> 25 > 9 > 24 > 17 > 8 > 10 > 16 > 3 > 15 >
4 > 14 > 11 > 20 > 7 > 18 > 21 > 2 >12 > 13 > 6 > 1.
and land (5)
ARAS; 22> 23 > 5 > 19> 9 > 24 > 17 > 25 > 10 > 8 > 16 > 15 > 3 >
4 > 11 > 7 > 20 > 18 > 14 > 21 > 2 > 12 > 13 > 1 > 6.
and land (0.0975)
CODAS rank; 5 > 22 > 23 > 19> 9 > 25 > 17 > 28 > 8 > 10 > 16 > 3 >
14 > 15 > 4 > 20 > 11 > 7 > 18 > 21 > 2 > 6 > 12 > 13 > 1.
Weights based on the Friedman test;
and land (5).
CODAS rank; 22 > 23 > 5 > 24> 9 > 17 > 19 > 25 > 16 > 10 > 8 >
15 > 3 > 4 > 11 > 7 > 18 > 20 > 14 > 21 > 2 > 1 > 12 > 13 > 6.
Weights based on the entropy ShannonEmployees (0.09454463),
power (0.19462021), water (0.136873268), fuel (0.476367041), and
land (0.097594852)
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Industries/ranking
IEPMI/SAW; ARAS SAW; 32 > 1 > 25 > 15> 28 > 17 > 10 > 29 > 33 > 30 > 31 > 23 >26
> 16 > 3 > 24 > 4 > 5 > 27 > 14 > 20 > 7 > 19 > 13 > 12 > 6 > 9 > 21
> 11 > 18 > 2 > 22.
ARAS; 32 > 1 > 25 > 15> 28 > 17 > 10 > 29 > 33 > 30 > 31 > 23 >
26 > 16 > 3 > 24 > 4 > 5 > 27 > 14 > 20 > 7 > 19 > 13 > 12 >
6 > 9 > 21 > 11 > 18 > 2 > 22.
Land (5.00) > power (3.91) > employee (3.08) > water (1.89) >
fuel (1.12)
Fig. 10 (Supplementary analysis)
in MCDM models has not appeared in linear consequences approaches. On the other
hand, there is no high overlapping for the functions deployed. The VW for IHAI
(Entropy Shannon, ARAS) had shown a significant difference (p-value ≤0.001)
among 18 groups of the values of weights for nine groups of industries via t-test.
The managerial applications of the current review encompassed a valid refer-

ence for the energy demand of Iranian industries based on nominal capacity as
benchmarking, comparison of industries in the national, local and global levels,
set up a national database, possibility in the exploitation of available resources,
future studies, and extensions towards demystifying efficient industries, offer to
develop a relevant classification of industries, optimization of energy demands for
the stockholder’s claims and expansion in financial surveys, etc.
Iranian Future Industries
Diamond synthesis and deposition using plasma reactors with raw and waste
materials stream: Wastes and lots of raw materials provided suitable feedstocks
to create high value-added products for human demands. By the way, recent
signs of progress and development moved towards plasma technology applications
to rotate the steer for converting and depositing some new products employing
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and make up the value-added commodities,
valuable gasses, H2 generation, diamond, and diamond-like materials deposition
using wastes as a feedstock. The methods matured for synthesis and generate
diamond and analogous materials included many practices such as synthesis of high
pressure and high-temperature diamond, flame diamond synthesis, bias-enhanced
nucleation diamond synthesis, synthesis of detonation diamonds, ion implantation
diamond synthesis, and CVD. Similarly, new MCDM methods also are developing
and need to be applied for current issues in this regard (Purushothaman et al. 2011;
Yoshimoto et al. 2001; Honga et al. 2002; Khachatryan et al. 2008).
Conclusion
Considering the need to expand and develop a useful database to evaluate Iranian
industries at the stage of obtaining the necessary permissions, this review has taken a
step towards achieving this goal. The need for comprehensive information on energy
consumption in industries has recommended and emphasized in many new studies,
depending on the nominal capacity of the industry. Awareness of the energy used
to compensate for production costs and how to use alternative energy resources
are very important points. By this review, classified Iran’s small and medium-sized
industries with different ranking systems were described based on the five main
factors. The Iranian government has gained a golden opportunity to build new indus-
tries in line with the production of valuable materials, especially diamonds, from
raw materials and waste streams as new suggestions to expand the industrial scope
and area according to sustainable development aims. The growth rates and signs
of progress in developing the ecological industry targeted to universal indices, so
optimal exploitation can be cited in the future plans of the current review. The future
developments demand allocating whole industries in certain clusters depending
on nominal capacity. Data envelopment analysis will enhance materials streams

integrated with the energy stream and classification of industries more specifically.
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Important Websites for Further Information

https://en.doe.ir/portal/home/
https://isipo.ir/
https://teh.mimt.gov.ir/
https://www.mimt.gov.ir/
mimt.gov.ir
Decentralized Privacy: A Distributed
Ledger Approach 71
Pavlos Papadopoulos, Nikolaos Pitropakis, and William J. Buchanan
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1806
Background Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1807
Privacy Paradox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1807
Blockchain Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1808
Hyperledger Fabric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1812
Distributed Ledger Technology Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1817
Healthcare Oriented Use Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1817
Passive DNS Use Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1820
Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1824
How Blockchain Technology Ensures Data Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1824
Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1824
Big Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1825
Cloud Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1826
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1827
Supplementary Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1827
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1827
Abstract
Our world due to the technological progress became fast-paced and is constantly
evolving, thus changing every single day. Consequently, the most valuable asset
on earth is not gold or oil anymore but data. Big data companies try to take
advantage of this situation and maximize their profits using people’s data. It
is common to offer free of charge services to collect vast amounts of data that
P. Papadopoulos () · N. Pitropakis () · W. J. Buchanan

Blockpass ID Lab, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK
e-mail: pavlos.papadopoulos@napier.ac.uk; N.Pitropakis@napier.ac.uk;
B.Buchanan@napier.ac.uk
1806 P. Papadopoulos et al.
most of the times are considered personal and sensitive. On the other hand,
their users, everyday and ordinary people without any technological background,
take the opportunity to communicate with their friends and family freely and
use their services without hesitation and second thoughts. But, if we take a step
back and observe these free of charge services, the first concern that comes out
of our mind is how all these companies are profitable since they offer a free
product/platform/service. Most of the times, big data companies sell their users’
data to advertisers to offer personalized ads. There is an innovative technology
that can securely store the aforementioned data but also enable its monetization
to the actual producers of it, the people. This technology is the blockchain and
its variants.
Keywords
Privacy · Big data · Distributed ledger technology · Blockchain · Hyperledger

Fabric
Introduction
Privacy concerns attract more popularity over time. Europe had already taken care
of the privacy of the citizens to a certain point, from 1995 with the Data Protection
Directive (DPD) (Yeh 2018). This legislation aimed to facilitate cross-border data
transfer and required an absolute recognition of individual privacy rights. Further
harmonization occurred under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
GDPR implies there is always a controller that can be held responsible for
complying with a set of regulations if personal data are processed. These regulations
are (1) the principle of awfulness, fairness and transparency; (2) the principle of
purpose limitation; (3) the principle of data minimization; (4) the principle of
accuracy; (5) the principle of storage limitation; (6) the principle of integrity and
confidentiality; and (7) the principle of accountability.
GDPR specifies that the processing of special, sensitive personal data and data
relating to criminal convictions and offences is forbidden outside specific regulated
circumstances or without explicit consent. Additionally, data controllers must be
transparent about the processing of personal data, including the purposes for which
data are processed. Individuals can apply their data subject rights, including the
rights to access data, request correction of incorrect data, erasure (the right to be
forgotten), data portability, and dispute to and not be subjected to a decision based
merely on automated processing, including through profiling. Big data companies
that collect citizens’ personal data were acting uncontrollably these years, in the
altar of profit (Yeh 2018). GDPR legislation regulates this kind of actions and
gives the opportunity on people to control their personal data. This can be further
enhanced by utilizing the blockchain technology. Except for the ability it gives to
people, to sell their data to companies, it also helps to protect their privacy from
devices they use daily. In addition to that, sometimes citizen’s views on privacy
71 Decentralized Privacy: A Distributed Ledger Approach 1807
change if they have some kind of profit that directly impacts their lives (Kokolakis
2017).
Blockchain technology provides an innovative concept for information storage
that is able to build trust within a non-trusted network, by executing and reserving
time-stamped transactions. Cybersecurity and cryptography disciplines could evolve
by elaborating blockchain technologies in the future, with multiple case studies
ranging from financial applications that utilize cryptocurrency ecosystems such
as the Bitcoin to automated electronic health record (EHR) management systems
that can perform functions without involving human interaction. Recently, the
interest of the blockchain technology has grown exponentially both in academia
and industry. However, since it is still immature, the security and privacy challenges
of the blockchains are being discussed extensively when deploying blockchain in
distinctive applications (Zhang et al. 2019).
Blockchain technology allows the participants within a transaction to be sure
that the rest can view identical information. This technology does not require a
trusted intermediary to approve and present each transaction. Often the “blockchain”
term is confused with the “distributed ledger technology” (DLT), which is the
underlying framework of blockchains. DLT is similar to a decentralized database
that is controlled by various participating entities, where blockchain is a type of
DLT that each stored transactions on the ledger that are certified with a unique
cryptographic stamp called a hash. A number of transactions compose a blockchain
block, and each one carries a hash of the previous block. The very first blockchain
block is called genesis block. Blockchains get their name from the fact that their
blocks are chained together (Zhang et al. 2019).
DLT is one of the most significant advancements of the recent years, with features
such as a decentralized architecture, immutability and transparency. These features
offer a new approach to data storage and protection. Generally, a reliable method to
store data is using a conventional database, and, similarly, a private permissioned
DLT does not majorly diverge from it. The actual power of blockchains shines in
public permissioned or permissionless DLTs. Public blockchains are compliant with
various data protection legislation by enabling powerful cryptographic mechanisms
to achieve it. However, particular features may affect the users’ privacy if not
precisely set, and vast ecosystems such the Bitcoin ledger may collapse if not
created properly. A non-rigorous decentralized infrastructure may harm more than a
centralized equivalent (Zhang et al. 2019). Recently, various applications had been
developed that utilize DLT and blockchains for several use cases and disciplines
(Casino et al. 2019). In Fig. 1, a few crucial case studies are presented.
Background Knowledge
Privacy Paradox
According to Kokolakis (2017), the definition of privacy is composed of three main

aspects:
Fig. 1 Blockchain development overview
1. Territorial privacy, which describes the physical area surrounding a person

2. Privacy of a person, which refers to the protection of a person against unjustified
interference, like physical search
3. Informational privacy, which is how personal information is gathered, stored,
processed, and interpreted
However, an interesting question that derives is “Do people care about their
privacy?” (Kokolakis 2017). More and more people use services like social media,
arbitrary, without realizing possible costs for their privacy. The article unveiled that
the privacy paradox is common when people who express that they are responsible
regarding their privacy and their data tend to disclose their sensitive personal data,
when they have an economic incentive, such as discounts. The reason is that the
judgment for a decision is being taken at the time of question and not before it,
without realizing potential security risks. Privacy has no direct impact on their
lives, and they do not have anything to gain in return; for all that, they choose an
immediate profit like a discount (Kokolakis 2017).
Blockchain Technology
Blockchain is a technology created by Satoshi Nakamoto which originally served

as the underlying technology for the cryptographic currency named Bitcoin – both
originally described in Bitcoin’s whitepaper (Nakamoto et al. 2008). The identity
of Satoshi Nakamoto remains a mystery, with a belief that this name belongs to
a group of people (Lemieux 2013). The authors established trust in a distributed
system designed for finance transactions. Moreover, the solution is based on digital
signatures, timestamps, and distributed storage among peers where not a single
entity is allowed to tamper data. Furthermore, blockchain technology can be adopted
by more areas of interest in addition to finance. Scientists have developed techniques
and mechanisms that use the advantages of blockchain technology such as the
immutability that leads to a tampered proof ledger and the ease of auditing since
stored information can be publicly available (Carlozo 2017).
Blockchain technology may be perceived as the development of secure cryp-
tographic algorithm applications on modern decentralized databases. In specific,
a distributed ledger is a sequence of blocks containing a complete history of
transaction records and a cryptographic hash value of the previous linked block.
Additionally, the very first block of the chain is called the genesis block.
As mentioned the blockchain network is a distributed append-only timestamped
peer-to-peer (P2P) network, where non-trusted entities can securely interact with
each while eliminating the requirement of a central trusted jurisdiction (Casino
et al. 2019). There are several participating entities, called nodes that verify each
transaction. These nodes verify and validate both the participating users and the
produced transaction by successfully calculating the corresponding hash value
through adopting an authoritative consensus algorithm, in order to generate a new
transaction, that would be included in a block of transactions (Zheng et al. 2018).
In a blockchain, the decentralized network of peers is capable of storing data in a
ledger where no participating party can arbitrarily change the data. All participants
and data are digitally signed to create a distributed trust relationship. Each peer
keeps a history of all the transactions, and each transaction must be approved by
the majority of the network, eradicating circumstances of tampered data (Nakamoto
et al. 2008). Some variations of the blockchain technology include a cryptocurrency
such as the Bitcoin and Ethereum (Wood et al. 2014), to store transactions on the
ledger. Some other technologies, such as the Hyperledger Fabric, do not involve a
cryptocurrency at all (Androulaki et al. 2018).
A distributed ledger network handles the following cryptographic mechanisms
in order for the blockchain structure to operate successfully, while the identity of
an associated user is preserved, and the validation of the generated transactions is
continuously monitored:
– Asymmetric cryptography – a procedure also recognized as public-key cryp-

tography, where a pair of cryptographic keys is operated in order to achieve
proper encryption and authentication
– Cryptographic hash function – a mathematical algorithm that is being used by
the computer software that produces a one-way value known as a hash which
protects the integrity of data
The hash function such as SHA-256 that is currently deployed by blockchain

frameworks like Bitcoin is capable of mapping an arbitrary-length data input to an
exclusive fixed-length binary output while eliminating the probability of hijacking
the generated output, in order to recover the original input or produce the exact
output for two different inputs (Wang et al. 2018). Therefore, hashing algorithms
allow blockchain nodes to create a digital digest of the transaction, known as a hash
pointer, and append the hash value to the original block, thus generating a digitally
certified document (Zhang et al. 2019).
In addition, an asymmetric cryptographic mechanism such as the Elliptic Curve

Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) can be utilized to assure reliable encryption
and authentication. Specifically, in the work of Wang et al. (2018), the authors
address how the users practice a private key, which remains hidden to the entire
blockchain network, as a digital signature function, to provide a fixed-length string
for any random-length input, whereas a widely acknowledged key is associated
with a verification function in order to validate a signed transaction. It should be
mentioned that it is mathematically infeasible to produce an identical public key
with a dissimilar private key and the other way round (Zhang et al. 2019). As
a result, the aforementioned cryptographic procedures are integrated with regard
to protecting the data integrity through hashing while successfully encrypting the
related auditable transaction and validating the authenticity of a blockchain node.
Moreover, effective hashing procedures are utilized in the context of blockchain
transaction size reduction. In specific, in the work of Wang et al. (2018), the authors
present that each block includes both a hash pointer within the block header and the
hashcodes of the associated blocks, in the form of a cryptographic data structure of
a Merkle tree, to preserve the integrity of the generated chain. The related binary
tree contains both the limited size hashcode of each transaction in the form of a leaf
and the hash values of the sequential child leaves, where the root node of the Merkle
tree is known as Merkle root.
In addition, a typical block structure contains a block header and a primary block
body. Specifically, according to Zheng et al. (2018), a block header is consisting
of:
– Block version – a representation of the block validation rules

– Parent block hash – a 256-bit hash value that indicates the previous block
– Merkle tree root hash – a hash value of all the activities within a block
– Timestamp – present time as seconds in universal time since 1 January 1970
– nBits – ongoing hashing target of the valid block hash
– Nonce – a 4-byte value, which is initiated with a zero value and then rises as the
hash calculation advances
Furthermore, the main block body is composed of a transaction counter and

transaction data. Strong validation and protection of data are achieved by utilizing
feasible cryptographic mechanisms. The amount and the authenticity of the val-
idators and the end users of the described decentralized platform, which generates
the transactions, may be initially specified (permissioned), while public and anony-
mous approaches could be implemented alternatively (public/permissionless). One
such case example is Hyperledger Fabric, a permissioned open-source blockchain
platform, which endorses strong security and identity features (Stamatellis et al.
2020).
The DLT and the blockchains demonstrate several significant benefits over
distributed database management systems (DDBMS). In the work of Kuo et al.
(2017), the authors address the five assets of blockchain technology as follows:
– Decentralization: A peer-to-peer network that provides decentralized database

management as all non-trusted entities can individually comply to a regulated set
of rules to operate on the distributed ledger network.
– Immutability: One of the most fundamental attributes of blockchain is that the
authorized participating nodes may only view and create transactions; hence,
blockchain is suitable to record and manage critical records in an immutable
ledger.
– Data provenance: Blockchain data ownership may be altered only by the data
owner, while the origin of the information is identifiable and could be examined
as a ledger verifying technique.
– Robustness and availability: The complete record of the verified transactions is
held by each participating node independently; therefore, blockchain achieves a
high level of data redundancy and availability.
– Security and privacy: Effective implementation of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST)-certified cryptographic procedures such as
the SHA-256 and 256-bit ECDSA produces secure identities for the users and
preserves the digital asset management.
Blockchain Consensus Algorithms

This subsection presents a review of various consensus mechanisms while critically
investigates the potential benefits and difficulties that they have, regarding the
efficient selection of blockchain consensus algorithm. A distributed P2P network
consensus scheme requires a formal agreement between the blockchain validators
in order to interact with each other to ensure the successful authentication, integrity
of the transactions, non-repudiation, sufficient fault tolerance, decentralized gover-
nance, and efficient network performance (Baliga 2017).
Furthermore, there are various proposed consensus algorithms implemented in
the blockchain frameworks that involve digital currencies referred to as cryp-
tocurrencies. The two leading criteria that define a blockchain architecture and a
recommended general agreement process, as proposed by Kravchenko (2016), are
as follows:
– Level of anonymity of validators: The nodes which approve the blockchain

transactions or participate in the distributed network may either be anonymous
(public blockchain) or verified to a certain extent (private blockchain) through
identity certificates.
– Level of trust within the validators: The validators’ authority to interact in
a blockchain network and a penalty for misconduct are to be defined in each
incident; therefore, permissionless and permissioned blockchain designs refer to
the classification of the node and user permissions.
Moreover, the fundamental consensus protocols, from which numerous varia-

tions are derived and are currently being deployed in several blockchain applica-
tions, are the following:
– Proof of work (PoW): Bitcoin blockchain utilizes the corresponding consensus

mechanism as a method of establishing proof that each node has performed an
amount of work for a block to be appended to the distributed network chain
(Baliga 2017). In specific, in the work of Baliga (2017), the author analyzes
how the first node which successfully computes a hash value of the desired
block, through a dynamically rising difficulty level process, broadcasts it over
the P2P network, and receives a mining reward. Additionally, the author also
notices that the Bitcoin PoW consensus algorithm operates satisfactorily in
public and permissionless network where every participant engages as a validator
with no prior knowledge or authentication. However, in the work of (Chaudhry
and Yousaf 2018), the authors examine that the PoW consensus algorithm
provides notable scalability regarding the amount of the participating nodes but
at the same time produces trivial transaction processing rate and massive energy
consumption.
– Proof of stake (PoS): The concept of proof of stake consensus design is that
each node willing to participate in the mining procedure needs to own an amount
of the associated cryptocurrency. That introduces the appropriate blockchain
license and is bet as a reward to be received in the event of a lucrative block
contribution or as a penalty to be deducted in the event of fraudulent activity
(Nguyen and Kim 2018). In the work of Baliga (2017), the author presents that
a validator’s amount of stakes provides analogous block creation possibilities
through a pseudorandom selection process. The PoS algorithm is designed to
overcome the disadvantages of PoW design in terms of energy consumption.
– Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT): The Byzantine Fault Tolerance-
based consensus has been deployed by the Hyperledger Fabric framework, as a
technique of eliminating crashing and corrupted nodes when reaching consensus
between the verified validators of a privately distributed network (Nguyen and
Kim 2018). Furthermore, three-round message exchanges are utilized between
the participating nodes in order to reach to an agreement. Additionally, the
PBFT consensus model demonstrates moderate scalability of a peer network
and decentralization, due to the amount of exchanging messages. Since the
identity of nodes is already distinguished, it supports high transaction rates and
no economical cost for the participation (Baliga 2017).
– Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA): A variation of the Byzantine Fault
Tolerance consensus model is adopted by blockchain frameworks such as Stellar
and Ripple whose task is to achieve open-ended participation of trusted end users
(Baliga 2017). Nevertheless, the FBA model does not achieve optimal safety
against ill-behaved nodes in contrast to PBFT (Bach et al. 2018).
Hyperledger Fabric
Permissioned blockchains originally developed for small to medium enterprise net-

works where the identity of each participating entity can be validated. Hyperledger
Fabric is a distributed ledger technology where each action of the participating
entities can be specified. The blockchain can be private to one or several organiza-
tions that form a consortium. It is also possible that different ledgers can be present
and only authorized organizations and entities have access to them. The consensus
mechanism can be defined during the time of creation, and complex fault-tolerant
algorithms can be used for each transaction’s validation (Androulaki et al. 2018).
Each entity is validating itself on each action on the ledger, and a Membership
Service Provider (MSP) is used to generate and validate their identities. Hyperledger
Fabric allows the use of chaincode to perform actions on the ledger. Chaincode is a
blockchain program that runs autonomously performing a set of actions defined by
the developer (Androulaki et al. 2018). It shares the same logic as the smart contracts
of Ethereum (Wood et al. 2014), though the main difference is that, in Ethereum,
the program code is written in a blockchain-specific programming language, named
Solidity. Nevertheless, in Hyperledger Fabric, the chaincode is written in general-
purpose programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, or Go. The transactions
in Hyperledger Fabric adhere to the following order:
– Execution: Each peer executes the chaincode according to the designated

policy to interact with the blockchain ledger and signs the transaction with its
obtained credentials from a Membership Service Provider (MSP), an entity that
is responsible for the identities’ management of all the participants.
– Order: Each peer sends the constructed transaction to the ordering service,
which is a group of nodes also referred to as orderers. The orderers are able
to combine various accepted transactions into a single block that is transmitted
to all participating peers.
– Validation: Each peer receives the block of transactions, verifies these transac-
tions according to the specified policy, and updates its local ledger state.
Hyperledger Fabric employs novel security mechanisms such as the private data
collection, which allows specific data to be accessed only from particular authorized
participants (Papadopoulos et al. 2020). Additionally, Hyperledger Fabric is able to
utilize sophisticated zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) security mechanisms to create
authorized identities and ensure the anonymity of its users, such as the Identity
Mixer (Idemix) cryptographic protocol (Stamatellis et al. 2020). Each participant
is associated with an identity certificate in order to interact with the distributed
ledger. The identities issued are X.509 digital certificates signed from the certificate
authority (CA) and examined from the corresponding MSP. These identities can be
generated with the cryptogen tool for development environments during the creation
of the system (Androulaki et al. 2018). The X.509 digital certificates issued by
the CA involve cryptographic techniques that use the public keys of the users in
combination with the private key of the CA (Chokhani et al. 1999).
Additionally, Hyperledger Fabric’s team has developed various projects such
as Hyperledger Iroha, Burrow, Cello, Composer, and Explorer combining features
from other blockchain technologies, extending its capabilities and offering quality-
of-life improvements to its developers. Hyperledger Composer is an extension of
the original project that offers the creation and management of a blockchain project
in a development environment. Hyperledger Explorer provides a visualization of

the whole blockchain network to its developers, thus enabling its management via a
graphical user interface (Dhillon et al. 2017).
In Hyperledger Fabric, the participating entities can be constructed using Docker
containers. A Docker container (Bernstein 2014) is a virtualization method, often
confused with a virtual machine (VM). Docker containers use the host operating
system instead of their own, contrary to VMs, and only the Dockerized applications
run isolated. The Dockerized applications include all the related programming
code and dependencies to execute effectively. Moreover, a Docker container is a
lightweight deployment compared to a typical virtual machine that needs fewer
resources while providing the same functionality from the blockchain’s perspective.
Another critical feature that extends their capabilities is that multiple Docker
containers can exist under the same Kubernetes cluster. Kubernetes (Bernstein
2014) is an open-source platform created by Google that allows the orchestration
and management of groups of Docker containers. Coexisting Docker containers
form a pod that can be separated from other pods in the same Kubernetes cluster.
Kubernetes offers semi-infinite scalability to its applications since new Docker
containers can be added automatically when needed, sharing the same features
as the rest of them. Kubernetes provides self-recovering capabilities from fails to
its applications, alongside with the management of the distribution of hardware
units.
In Hyperledger Fabric, the scalability is considered from the number of peers,
organizations, ordering services, and channels. The chaincode that contains all the
blockchain’s logic, security structures, and competences is installed and instantiated
in the peers and the orderer nodes (Papadopoulos et al. 2020). The main advantage
of chaincode written in Go programming language is that it requires fewer resources
to run in each container than in JavaScript that needs a library of modules to be
installed. During the creation of the blockchain network, the state database that each
entity is going to use can be defined. An example of that is CouchDB (Thakkar et al.
2018).
CouchDB is a complete database available in Hyperledger Fabric that stores data
in key-value pairs and also offers rich queries to them. Using rich queries from the
CouchDB and a set of APIs, data can be available to users in many forms, covering
their needs and extending the capabilities of the infrastructure as a whole (Thakkar
et al. 2018).
Peers possess the most crucial role in the blockchain network since they install
the chaincodes and host the blockchain ledgers. Peers can communicate privately
with other participants by hosting multiple ledgers and chaincodes. That can be
achieved by creating private Channels where groups of peers can interact privately
with participants only within the channel. Each peer should join a channel to interact
with others and perform actions on the ledger. In addition to that, peers are part
of Organizations. A group of peers forms an organization, and the permissions of
the whole organization could be defined by the established policies (Papadopoulos
et al. 2020). The blockchain network is formed by different organizations that all
together form a consortium (Dhillon et al. 2017). In the case that a peer fails, the
other peers continue to operate normally. When the peer recovers back, it uses the
gossip protocol to update its ledger from the other peers (Papadopoulos et al. 2020).
Each peer holds its identity certificate which has been composed by the certificate
authority. This certificate is a .X509 digital certificate that contains all the required
information about its owner (Papadopoulos et al. 2020). For the validation of those
certificates, another entity called Membership Service Provider (MSP) is able to
authenticate the identity of each blockchain participant. The role of this entity is to
manage and examine all the cryptographic mechanisms and certificates that peers
are using to perform actions in the ledger (Androulaki et al. 2018).
Ordering service is the entity that receives the transactions from the peers’
applications and updates the ledger according to the defined consensus.
The administrator of the blockchain defines the consensus that the orderers are
using to approve or reject transactions (Androulaki et al. 2018). In test environments,
only one orderer is needed for the creation of the blocks. The problem of a single
point of failure arises for the writes in the ledger. It can be easily prevented in a
production environment where more ordering services are being used under a Kafka
cluster (Androulaki et al. 2018). Hyperledger Fabric is able to use Apache Kafka to
create a cluster of ordering services to create new blocks on the ledger. Peers of
the blockchain network are sending the transactions directly to the Kafka broker,
and it specifies the orderer that is going to create the new block. In situations of an
orderer failure, the operations of the blockchain can be continued normally, as long
as one or more orderers are still available. When the orderer approves a transaction,
broadcasts it to the peers in order to update their own ledgers, where each one
of them is performing a validation of the transaction. Peer nodes that approve the
transaction are updating their local ledgers. A peer node is participating in the agreed
consensus protocol for the rest of its life cycle since it has to ensure that the data it
possesses is remaining valid (Androulaki et al. 2018).
The administrators are configuring the agreed consensus protocol in Hyperledger
Fabric. It is not a proof-of-work or proof-of-stake algorithm; instead, it can be
configured to be one such as Paxos, RAFT, or even one of the BFT algorithms.
Since the agreed consensus protocol is something different than resource-hungry
PoW, the performance of the blockchain is better. Hence, with a BFT consensus
protocol, it is able for the system to defend in situations where adversaries took
control of some peers, continuing its operations normally (Baliga 2017).
For each transaction in Hyperledger Fabric, each peer is executing the installed
chaincode and signs its result with his identity. The corresponding MSP examines
its identity, and if it succeeds, it sends the transaction to the orderer. According to
the defined consensus, the orderer rejects a transaction or creates a new block on
the ledger, signs it with its own identity and delivers it to the peers. Lastly, each
peer that receives the new block checks the orderer’s identity and then saves it to its
correlated ledger. Transactions are stored in a state database on each peer with the
most common to be GoLevelDB and CouchDB (Thakkar et al. 2018). An overview
of the architecture in Hyperledger Fabric can be seen in Fig. 2.
Another essential feature of Hyperledger Fabric is the gossip protocol. Peers
can initiate the gossip protocol after a crash, to query other peers of the network,
Fig. 2 Hyperledger Fabric overview (Papadopoulos et al. 2020)
for potential updates to the ledger (Androulaki et al. 2018). Furthermore, peers
are using the gossip protocol to update their private data collections that only
authorized entities hold a copy of it. Since Hyperledger Fabric v1.2, private data
collections can be created and configured to allow access to specific data only to
authorized participants in a single channel. The private data is sent peer-to-peer to
each authorized participant via the gossip protocol. All the other peers have a hash of
the data for proof of evidence in auditing. Private channels are used over private data
collection when peers want to keep entire ledgers and transactions private, instead
of situations that only a subset of fields must remain private. Consequently, when it
comes to private data collection, the data is transferred peer-to-peer, and it remains
private from the ordering service and even the administrators of the blockchain
(Papadopoulos et al. 2020).
Hyperledger Fabric provides the necessary chaincode APIs to extend the func-
tionalities of the peers by utilizing command-line (CLI) tools. These APIs are
distinguished in the Init API, Invoke API, and Query API. The Init API is used
when initialization or upgrade of the chaincode is executed. The Invoke API and
Query API are used when storing or reading transactions to the ledger have been
performed (Papadopoulos et al. 2020).
Peers of the blockchain can store data on the ledger using Hyperledger Fabric’s
Invoke API and CLI tools. First, they have to specify their identity and then use
the Invoke API with the corresponding storing function and the arguments in JSON
format to send each transaction to the orderer. The orderer receives the data and
performs the storing function defined. In case of success, this procedure will create
a new block on the ledger and will send an update signal to each of the peers to
update their ledgers.
To receive data from the ledger, peers use the Query API, sending a query
transaction to the orderer. Peers should specify their identity and then use the query
function with the arguments in JSON format to send the transaction to the orderer.
The orderer receives the transaction and, in continuation, displays only the allowed
data to the recipients according to the defined query function and the private data
collection configuration. The specified identity functionality enables a peer to query
only specific blocks.
The chaincode is installed to all the peers and instantiated from the orderer. To
store data in the blockchain ledger, the CLI tools can be used via the command line
of the Docker containers’ interface. Additionally, the blockchain’s administrator
is able to configure a Hyperledger Fabric Software Development Kit (SDK) to
interact with the blockchain. SDKs are tools that the administrator can use to
manage multiple channels, install and instantiate chaincode or simply invoke and
query transactions. SDKs are communicating directly with the Hyperledger Fabric’s
APIs for each process, and the officially supported SDKs are written in Node.js and
Java. There are more SDKs written in Go, Python, and Rest that are available for
testing (Papadopoulos et al. 2020; Androulaki et al. 2018). Without an SDK, the
administrator can only use the CLI tools for each process.
Data stored in the blockchain’s immutable ledger cannot be manipulated by
potentially malicious actors. Each transaction is authorized by the policy, thus
making unauthorized requests to be rejected automatically. Each participating entity
prior to interacting with the blockchain needs to install the associated chaincode
that contains all the blockchain logic and security mechanisms. A collection
configuration is developed to advise the orderer about the state of the stored data,
the time of their availability until they purge, and each corresponding entity that
has access to them. Any access attempt by unauthorized entities is denied. Only
authorized entities are allowed to store and receive data from the ledger. Each peer
is obliged to prove its identity to the orderer before each transaction. According to
the configured policy, the store and query transactions are restricted to peers which
are not included in the policy. These fundamental principles eliminate the possibility
of a malicious actor to store arbitrary data to the ledger without the correct identity.
Furthermore, a malicious actor is not able to query data at all. The private data can
be queried only by specified entities, and the rest of the data are available only to
participants.
Distributed Ledger Technology Use Cases
Healthcare Oriented Use Case
Healthcare is one of the disciplines that due to its importance and complexity needed
considerable more time to adapt to the new digital era. Health records contain
highly sensitive patients’ data, and their privacy and security must be ensured. It
is common in healthcare institutions to maintain patient’s health records physically

in papers. These institutions have to follow several regulations, auditing, and
compliance regarding these records, and since the arrival of General Data Privacy
Regulation (Voigt and Von dem Bussche 2017) in Europe, their sustainability has
been challenged. Healthcare institutions that favored to use EHR instead faced other
novel challenges. Privacy, at first, was not a concern, particularly when these records
are being routinely shared with other healthcare providers, pharmacies, and patients
in order to improve the diagnosis and treatment (Stamatellis et al. 2020). EHR are
considered highly sensitive, and they should only be shared with other parties only
after patients’ approval and consent. However, their management and sharing with
other necessary parties implies and is decisive that the EHR would be encrypted in a
way that a correlation to the patients’ identity would not be possible (Papadopoulos
et al. 2021; Abramson et al. 2020).
Blockchain technology promotes the aforementioned privacy-preserving mea-
sures that need to be taken. Therefore, many researchers utilized blockchain’s
innovative technology in order to provide novel precautionary measures (Hölbl et al.
2018), but also extend its capabilities in other areas of the healthcare industry,
such as drug counterfeiting and medical research (Casino et al. 2019). There are
a number of researches that combined blockchain technology with eminent cloud
computing. Some of them focused on improving and extending familiar centralized
infrastructures with decentralized features and methods (Zhang et al. 2019). These
decentralized features involve cloud storage and access in order to improve the
system’s availability, scalability, and cost-efficiency; thus, appropriate access policy
and identity management are crucial (Papadopoulos et al. 2020; Stamatellis et al.
2020).
The perseverance of privacy, the availability, and scalability have been identified
as the most important features of an efficient blockchain EHR management infras-
tructure. Cryptography, in general, has a key role for that perseverance of privacy. In
their work Dubovitskaya et al. (2015), the authors utilized a public key infrastructure
(PKI) to encrypt patients’ medical data in their cloud storage and local databases, in
order to provide a scalable privacy-preserving system.
Furthermore, the main challenge for a successful blockchain decentralized EHR
management infrastructure is the fact that data sit in multiple devices and orga-
nizations. There are several authors who presented efficient and scalable systems
without a real-world implementation, Roehrs et al. (2017), Guo et al. (2018),
and Patel (2019) yet. Those research attempts include practical proofs of concept
developed in both permissioned and permissionless blockchain schemes. Most of
the permissioned blockchain infrastructures were developed on top of Hyperledger
Fabric framework (Stamatellis et al. 2020; Ichikawa et al. 2017; Liang et al. 2017b),
while most of the permissionless blockchain systems were developed on top of the
Ethereum network (Azaria et al. 2016; Al Omar et al. 2017; Yang and Yang 2017).
The research approaches that utilized Hyperledger Fabric performed their opera-
tions faster and more efficient and can be easier extended and operated by multiple
devices, such as mobile devices (Stamatellis et al. 2020; Ichikawa et al. 2017;
Liang et al. 2017b). From its nature, Hyperledger Fabric identities management
minimizes the risks of malicious participants, since the identity of each participant
is known. However, the uncertainty of an insider attack still exists (Stolfo et al.
2008). Another approach with characteristics similar to permissioned blockchains
is MedShare (Xia et al. 2017), although their underlying technology is not explicitly
specified.
On the other hand, notable researches were utilized on top of the Ethereum
network such as MedRec (Azaria et al. 2016; Yang and Yang 2017) and Med-
iBchain (Al Omar et al. 2017). MedRec presented a decentralized and easily
auditable EHR management system; however, its scalability, alongside users’ pri-
vacy, through anonymity and unlinkability, has been questioned. Their infrastructure
has been further extended to enhance the protection mechanisms to a certain degree
(Yang and Yang 2017). A combination of the permissionless blockchain network
and cloud infrastructure has been proposed in MediBchain (Al Omar et al. 2017).
One of its advantageous characteristics is its scalability. However, the cost of each
transaction and potential information leakages should be resolved in order for this
system to be utilized in production environments.
Challenges
A centralized collection of private records in either local or cloud-based databases
introduces several loss-making complexities, apart from common disadvantages
such as the likelihood of a single point of failure or violation of privacy and
anonymization as a result of a third-party service provider’s unethical behavior.
Certain healthcare providers misinterpret national regulations such as Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) by sharing limited medical
information, thus restricting patients and proxies from accessing data while creating
costly obstacles with regard to effective EHR distribution (Ivan 2016).
In the work of Albeyatti (2018), the author demonstrates how a medical error,
which could be generated by ill-informed clinical decisions, is the third leading
cause of death in the United States in 2016 and at the same time telemedicine market
was estimated to be worth 23.8 billion dollars in 2017 and is projected to exceed 55
billion dollars by 2021. This is due to both intentionally or accidentally tampered
record and fragmentary medical information distribution.
It should also be noted that conventional infrastructures regarding health record
management and storage demonstrate particular threats concerning data breaches
and cybersecurity attacks. Healthcare information is considerably more valuable
than other industry data for exchanging in the black market regarding unethical or
illegal actions, while the average cost of a hijacked medical record is 380 dollars,
which is twice the average cost across all industry-related data breaches (Coventry
and Branley 2018).
Furthermore, the economic incentive leads the malicious actors to craft sophis-
ticated malicious software in order to infect as many machines as possible. That
malicious software is commonly in the form of a ransomware, which is a software
that completely encrypts all the files of an infected machine until the associated
ransom is paid. Traditional decryption techniques are often incompetent, and only a
complete reconstruction of the file system is able to restore the system to a normal
operation state (Coventry and Branley 2018). Recently, there was a disastrous attack
such as the aforementioned, namely, WannaCry ransomware, that compromised
millions of machines worldwide. Victims of that attack were also governmental
bodies such as the National Health Service (NHS) computers and servers, with
losses reaching to 92 million pounds (Smart 2018).
Finally, in the work of Alvarez (2017), the author examines that weak security
mechanisms provided by a third-party vendor that usually offers management
solutions to healthcare providers led to an extensive compromisation of over a
quarter-million healthcare records from multiple organizations located in the United
States. Nevertheless, 68% of all security attacks within healthcare institutions are
carried out by malicious insider individuals, who recklessly or unwittingly introduce
threats such as a 400,000 Protected Health Information (PHI) record loss from
an unencrypted password-protected laptop in February 2016 (Alvarez 2017). The
following attack vectors target the healthcare industry and EHR handling:
– Command injection: The leading attack mechanism involving manipulation

of malicious data input to databases, such as Structured Query Language
(SQL) database injection, allows unauthorized access to critical data and the
compromisation of users and healthcare facilities.
– Data structure manipulation: The attacker attempts to gain unlawful access by
exploiting common vulnerabilities existing in current database designs.
– System resource manipulation: The resources of a distributed network are
manipulated in order for a successful denial of service (DOS) or arbitrary code
execution to be achieved, thus undermining availability and data privacy.
– Probabilistic technique employment: The malicious actor explores and over-
comes the security features of a target by profitably calculating system creden-
tials and gaining access to the healthcare server.
Consequently, there is a need for a countermeasure against all the aforementioned

attacks. This defensive mechanism needs to be adequately flexible to preserve the
privacy of the stored records but at the same time robust to guard them effectively
against misuses. The adoption of a distributed ledger technology solution can
succeed in those terms and assist various healthcare institutes to defend against
insider and malicious attacks.
Passive DNS Use Case
Domain Name System (DNS) created to translate servers’ IP addresses into easily
remembered names, as in Fig. 3. Each DNS query encapsulates crucial information
that can be used from security analysts to identify malicious misuses such as
phishing domain names (Papadopoulos et al. 2020; Christou et al. 2020).
Passive DNS data is a concept introduced by Florian Weimer (2005), who used
recursive name servers to log responses received from different name servers and
then copied this logged data to a central database. These passive DNS data includes
Fig. 3 Overview of the Domain Name System (Papadopoulos et al. 2020)
the queries and responses from the authoritative name servers before the recursive
name servers.
Taking their example, many researchers have used passive DNS data in con-
junction with machine learning to build domain name reputation scoring systems
to detect abuse on the Internet (Antonakakis et al. 2010). EXPOSURE (Bilge
et al. 2011) follows a similar technique but needs less training and can detect
a range of malicious services (e.g., fast-flux networks, phishing, botnets). Khalil
et al. (2016) proposed a passive DNS analysis through graphs, using public
aggregated passive DNS data. Notos and EXPOSURE rely on DNS queries
that may contain sensitive data of the end users. Following a similar way of
thinking, Lever et al. (Lever et al. 2016) used passive DNS to identify possible
domain ownership changes, while Alrawi et al. (2019) evaluated home-based IoT
devices using the DNS traffic. Khalil et al. (2016) relied on public passive DNS
databases which belong to companies such as Farsight (DNSDB) (Farsight Secu-
rity DNSDB: https://www.farsightsecurity.com/solutions/dnsdb/) and VirusTotal
(VirusTotal Passive DNS replication: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/search).
Related research in identification of malicious domain names through passive DNS
collection and analysis such as Notos (Antonakakis et al. 2010) assigns a reputation
score to each website based on DNS queries.
Tian et al. (2018) proposed a novel methodology which detects phishing squatted
domains based on a classifier that introduces features from visual analysis and
optical character recognition (OCR) which managed to overcome the heavy content
obfuscation from attackers. Kidmose et al. (2018) stated that the detection should
take place during the pre-registration time before the first update to the zone, where
it is guaranteed that the domain has not been abused on the Internet, as it has not
yet been published in the TLD zone. From another point of view, Piredda et al.
(2017) achieved the detection of typosquatted domains by creating a similarity
measure using n-gram-based representation and DNS traffic analysis. In a similar
way of thinking, Selvi et al. (2019) used masked n-grams to detect algorithmically
generated malicious domain names because it provides a great combination of
training time and accuracy.
Shulman (2014) challenged the security of the DNS and summarized that to
effectively and efficiently protect DNS, a combination of mechanisms should apply.
The authors proposed that defensive mechanisms such as the recursive authoritative
name server (RANS) have the ability to reduce the traffic of the infrastructure and
perform their operations faster. They also mentioned that public DNS resolvers
could solve similar issues, but the privacy of the end users in the DNS caching is
crucial and must be ensured. Ranjan (2012) developed a patent for the identification
of DNS fast-flux attacks, where a domain name is changing swift IP addresses to
forward users to malicious web servers. The users can have no idea since moments
before they may have used the same website that responded to a benign web
server.
Kambourakis et al. (2007) proposed a system to protect local DNS servers from
DNS amplification attacks. This type of attacks aims to waste the recursive DNS
server’s resources to perform a DOS to legitimate users. The attackers, to achieve
their goal, are sending numerous DNS requests even from various sources to flood
the infrastructure. To successfully protect end users, the authors proposed solutions
such as the acceptance of DNS queries only from trusted sources reducing the size
of the sample significantly (Kambourakis et al. 2007).
DNS cache poisoning is a kind of attack where a malicious actor is able to
forge the cache of a benign name server with potential malicious information. It
is one of the most crucial DNS attacks, and defensive mechanisms are difficult
to protect users completely. In his work, Stewart (2003) stated that only with the
configurations of DNSSEC name servers can be fully protected. The author created
a method where a DNS query goes through two different DNS servers instead, to
minimise the possibility of both of them to be exposed (Stewart 2003).
Despite the success of Weimer’s concept, the impact of the collection of passive
DNS to end user privacy was soon questioned. Users could be clueless if a passive
DNS collector is placed in their DNS resolver. In situations where the passive DNS
collector is placed in the ISP or the TLD, and the dataset is massive, the privacy
issue arises. Since each query can be correlated to each user and their DNS behavior
can be tracked, the personal data must remain private (Spring and Huth 2012).
Consequently, the security community focused on this issue, and several approaches
were published.
One of the first approaches was using tools that could eliminate confidential
information from collected network packets (Zdrnja 2007). Another point of view
instructed that a cryptography-based prefix preserving anonymization algorithm

should be used to address this issue (Govil and Govil 2007) or other encryption
techniques that would secure the IP prefix (Xu et al. 2002). Other researchers trying
to overcome this conflict came up with a totally different solution, the collection of
active DNS data (Kountouras et al. 2016). In specific, they created a system called
Thales which can systematically query and collect large volumes of active DNS
data using as input an aggregation of publicly accessible sources of a vast amount
of domain names and URLs. These include but are not limited to public blacklists,
the Alexa ranking, the Common Crawl project, and various top-level domain (TLD)
zone files.
Liu et al. (2018) proposed a decentralized DNS (DecDNS) system which has
a stored database of DNS records and performs the resolution using the nodes of
the blockchain. The advantages and security mechanisms of blockchain by default,
such as the tampered proof state of the data and the distributed denial of service
(DDoS) attack resilience, are essential features of the system. The DNS resolution
is performed by each node of the network, so in the case of a DDoS attack that
multiple nodes may go offline since one or more continue operating normally, the
proposed system is able to resolve DNS queries. Their attempt is a potential solution
to the existing DNS issues without significant changes (Liu et al. 2018). Liang et al.
(2017a) proposed a system that combines two technologies such as blockchain and
cloud computing to effectively and efficiently create a decentralized storage system
as a DNS record database. Regarding the privacy of the data stored, they used a
hashed version of the sensitive data to work as a proof of identity, and only the
administrator of the system has the ability to correlate each identity to the hashed
data.
From another point of view, there are some systems developed to change the
existing DNS infrastructure. These promising systems such as Namecoin (Kalodner
et al. 2015) and Blockstack (Ali et al. 2016) were developed to build a more secure,
easily audited, transparent domain name organization. They created a substitution
for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), where
each user is not relying on a third party to buy a domain name. The proposed system
is built on a blockchain network, Bitcoin in their case, where users can mine for
the domain name cryptocurrency. Then users are able to use this cryptocurrency to
buy domain names with new .bit, .id TLDs that were not existing before (Ali et al.
2016). The privacy of the users can be ensured since their identity is protected from
Bitcoin’s identity management. The downside of these systems is that users need
specific extensions to be able to query blockchain registered domain names.
A system that is built on Hyperledger Fabric, utilizing its privacy features,
such as the private data collection, and takes into consideration the existing DNS
infrastructure is PRESERVE DNS (Papadopoulos et al. 2020). In their work, the
authors presented a secure, scalable, and efficient infrastructure that is able to store
passive DNS data, by ensuring the privacy of the end users. In their proof of concept,
there is a simulation of a real-world scenario where multiple participating entities
have access to the blockchain ledger, with some having access to only specific data
and others to all data.
In a similar approach, by utilizing the Hyperledger Fabric framework, the DNS

Trusted Sharing Model (DNSTSM) (Yu et al. 2020) is a high-performance and
efficient system that can mitigate various DNS attacks. DNSTSM can be utilized
in the current global DNS infrastructure without any changes needed. However, due
to the older v1.1 version of Hyperledger Fabric, that the DNSTSM is using, the
private data collection feature is not possible to be implemented since it has been
introduced in the later v1.4 version. Thus, the DNSTSM needs a complete re-design
of its architecture to benefit from the enhanced security mechanisms that became
available in the newer versions of its backbone technology.
In the literature, the majority of the proposed solutions try to improve DNS by
reinventing many of its features or even the whole of it. Judging from the adoption
of proposed solutions, it might take longer than expected as the whole Internet
infrastructure functions are built on top of the existing DNS form. Consequently,
priority should be given to the creation of systems that can be implemented on top
of the existing functionalities of DNS, securing it, with always taking the privacy
into serious consideration.
Challenges
Commonly, the human factor is the weakest link in systems that include certificates
and identities such as the Hyperledger Fabric. A malicious user could perform
arbitrary queries to the blockchain ledger in a potential theft of the identity
certificates of a blockchain participant. The system’s security could be completely
exploited according to the endorsed policy. However, in Hyperledger Fabric, this
scenario is not possible, since no participating entity controls the blockchain
ledger, even the administrators of it. A possible risk inherited from traditional code
programming lays into the chaincode that is installed and executed by each peer.
Since chaincode is an autonomous piece of code that runs without supervision,
extensive examination and testing should occur to ensure that it executes as intended
(Androulaki et al. 2018). Another challenge of blockchain technology relies on
the fact that it is still immature; new bugs and attacks may be introduced in the
future. Moreover, all the systems that involve passwords, encryption mechanisms,
and hashes may be at risk when quantum computing would be developed. A direct
countermeasure to quantum computing is to utilize quantum-robust techniques from
now if they are efficient and expedient (Papadopoulos et al. 2020).
How Blockchain Technology Ensures Data Privacy
Internet of Things
In the work of Dorri et al. (2017), the authors mention that the Internet of things
(IoT) devices produce, process, and exchange immense amounts of security and
safety-critical data as well as privacy-sensitive information; therefore, they are an
appealing target of various cyber-attacks. The author analyzes the example of a

blockchain-based smart home and the relationship between privacy and information
security of the IoT data, ensuring the three core principles of security: confidential-
ity, integrity, and availability (CIA). Subsequently, the author presents the example
of blockchain-based smart home and explains how privacy can be ensured. Existing
security mechanisms are not correctly suited for IoT because of the high energy they
consume. Low-resource IoT devices can efficiently use the blockchain technology
that delivers a platform to interconnect reliably and avoid the threats that plague
central server models. The main characteristic of blockchains is that their data is
decentralized and available to all of its nodes. The security and privacy of the stored
data can be assured since blockchain is utilizing reliable and strong encryption
algorithms. This way of protection also complies with the GDPR and adds an extra
layer of protection since an unauthorized transaction is immediately perceived and
is rejected automatically. Encrypted data is considered pseudonymized, and GDPR
defines that the pseudonymization of data should be performed in a way that a
correlation back to each individual cannot be achieved (Voigt and Von dem Bussche
2017). However, one of the concerns of the IoT is data security and privacy. There is
intense competition between the IoT developers, and, as a result, they release their
devices to the market urgently without ensuring about their stability and security.
Unsecure devices may lead to exploitation attacks such as recently in which the
Mirai botnet spread in IoT devices (Kelly et al. 2020). In terms of privacy, the GDPR
requires that if any personal data, like a name or email address, is exposed during a
data breach, the affected individual must be notified. Likewise, users of IoT devices
have the right to be forgotten from companies’ data centers. Furthermore, the per-
sonal data economy promotes the concept that individuals need to handle their data,
and to be in complete control of it, allowing its further commercialization to third
parties on their terms (Elvy 2017). This model is based on the exchange of data that
is threatening the traditional model of big data companies selling their users’ data.
Big Data
Everyone leaves a digital data trail on a daily basis, sometimes by buying a cap of
coffee using a credit card or a mobile application. Vendors track and collect data
about consumers’ use of their services. Consumers may, at first, regard such use as
harmless and believe the vendors use the collected information only for promotional
reasons. Many consumers believe that it is not concerning since they do not have
anything to “hide” (Solove 2011). However, a promotional strategy is not only what
is produced from the collected data. What may initially appear naive at an individual
transaction level may not be harmless when data is gathered and aggregated on a
large scale through big data analytics. Using months’ or years’ worth of transactions,
vendors can construct considerably accurate pictures of individuals. These simple
insights into private lives are extremely valuable. According to an official report in
2012, the annual revenue of the nine largest data brokers in the United States was
approximately US$426 million (Commission et al. 2012).
This profit raised the last few years from the increased use of social networks.
Such a high return is why most data vendors retain the right, through privacy
policies and user agreements, to sell customer information to third parties (Yeh
2018). Since profits are enormous, data brokers may try to bypass GDPR in Europe
and continue their operations in the United States since there is no regulative
framework about personal data. Particularly, the possibility of exceptions, divergent
interpretations, legal cultures, and national laws that lack harmonization remains of
concern. Another concern of the author is that because GDPR states that the process
of anonymized data for statistical and research objectives is permitted. Hence, data
brokers may claim that they process anonymous data, denying the fact they are a data
controller or structure their operations to avoid European jurisdiction (Yeh 2018)
and taking advantage of this loophole since pseudonymization has not yet been
standardized. Although consumers generally do not read the privacy policies, and
even when they do, they often do not completely understand them, to make sensible
decisions. Consumers, in general, are unaware of how data brokers consolidate,
aggregate, analyze, and sell their data. Unlike the legislation in the United States,
which leaves personal data largely unprotected in the private sector, European data
protection legislation covers all private-sector processing of personal data (Yeh
2018).
Cloud Computing
In recent years, cloud computing is being used vastly on a personal and business
level, offering benefits such as elasticity of resources. Nevertheless, privacy and
security remain a gray area. However, it should be noted that even if data is not
stored centralized in servers on-premises, it may be stored in a single cloud platform,
thus facing similar issues. The security risks of a centralized infrastructure in the
cloud may be reduced but not eliminated. In the work of Roman et al. (2018),
the authors suggest methods such as fog computing, mobile edge computing, and
mobile cloud computing, to protect the three principles of security, confidentiality,
integrity, and availability, from various attacks and malicious intents. Furthermore,
the authors analyze threats and challenges that appear in edge data centers and
provide the security mechanisms that should be present in all edge examples.
Furthermore, various threats such as DDoS, man in the middle, privacy leakage, and
privilege escalation attacks could be mitigated successfully when proper security
mechanisms set within these infrastructures. The security mechanisms consolidate
identity and authentication, access control systems, protocol and network security,
error resistance, and durability (Pitropakis et al. 2020). Blockchain technology
and particularly the Hyperledger Fabric framework provide these related security
mechanisms to protect the stored data from exploitation and malicious usage. By
utilizing its novel architecture and backbone technologies, a combination with cloud
infrastructure such as Kubernetes can efficiently keep the data private and secure,
with high availability (Papadopoulos et al. 2020).
Conclusion
Blockchain technology attracted much interest in the last few years. Mostly, this
interest was focused on its financial aspects, the cryptocurrencies. However, it has
been evolved to benefit a broader spectrum of fields that can help humanity to solve
previously non-investigated problems. This growth created similar architectures
such as DLTs. This chapter presents the background knowledge related to one of
the most important DLTs, the Hyperledger Fabric, alongside significant and novel
related use cases. Additionally, this chapter discussed other areas that can benefit
from this innovative technology such as the IoT, Big Data, and Cloud computing.
The aim of this chapter was to review the literature in order to provide valuable
insights into the described topic. Moreover, its intention is to present the future
direction of blockchains and DLTs, to create a secure world. However, the question
that derives is whether we can build a secure world, on top of an insecure one
(Bruce Schneier in Privacy, Trust and the Future at Edinburgh Napier University:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFmsCSIEMlw). As the whole world becomes
data-centric, the privacy of the end users is remarkably valuable, thus motivating all
future solutions to aim to preserve it.
Supplementary Material
Hyperledger Fabric community provides a range of tutorials and supplemen-

tary material on their website (https://hyperledger-fabric.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
tutorials.html) and their GitHub repository (https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric-
samples). Additionally, there is a range of case studies focused on the adoption and
development of Hyperledger Fabric as a whole (https://www.hyperledger.org/learn/
case-studies).
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Toward a Circular Economy in the Copper
Mining Industry 72
An Industry 4.0 Approach
Ingrid Jamett, Ernesto D. R. Santibanez Gonzalez, Yecid Jiménez,

and Paulina Carrasco
Contents
Introduction to Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 in the Mining Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1832
Adoption of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy in the Copper Mining
Industry in Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1835
CODELCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1836
The Escondida Mine– BHP Billinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1836
Antofagasta Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1837
Perspectives in the Implementation of Industry 4.0 in the Copper Mining in Chile . . . . . . . 1838
Use of Seawater in the Copper Mining Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840
Water Consumption and Supply Problem in Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840
Projections of Water Consumption in Copper Mining Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1841
A Solution to the Intensive Consumption of Continental Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1842
Current Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1848
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1849
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1850
I. Jamett · P. Carrasco
Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Antofagasta,
Antofagasta, Chile
e-mail: ingrid.jamett@uantof.cl; paulina.carrasco@uantof.cl
E. D. R. Santibanez Gonzalez ()
CES 4.0, Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Talca,
Curicó, Chile
Y. Jiménez
Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Procesos de Minerales, Facultad de Ingeniería,
e-mail: yecid.jimenez@uantof.cl
1832 I. Jamett et al.
Abstract
In this chapter we analyze the application of Industry 4.0 concepts to advance the
adoption of the circular economy in the mining industry. The mining industry
makes intensive use of some essential and currently scarce resources such as
water and non-renewable fossil fuels, and at the same time is one of the main
generators of CO2e. The adoption of a circular economy framework makes it
possible to assess the impact that changes in the production processes from
copper mining towards more sustainable mining may have on the management of
scarce resources such as water and on cost management. Desalination projects in
the mining industry are described in the context of a circular economy practice to
reduce the consumption of continental water. We briefly explore different mining
projects that integrate industry 4.0 technology and its potential integration in the
implementation of circular economy practices.
The results of this study will inform managers, professionals, and decision
makers about the importance of using Industry 4.0 in a circular economy
framework to increasing sustainability in the mining extractive sector.
Keywords
Circular Economy · Industry 4.0 · Mining Industry · Supply Chain · Water

and Energy
Introduction to Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 in the Mining

Industry
To cope the demand of 9 billion inhabitants in 2050, production systems will devour
about 140 billion tons per year of minerals, ores, fossil fuels, and biomass – three
times the current consumption, and global food production alone needs to increase
by 50%. In the still prevalent and traditional supply chain management approach
where goods or products are made, used and then disposed of, and raw materials
and natural resources have been severely depleted. Large amount of greenhouse
gases are every day emitted to the atmosphere percussing climate change and
aggravating its effects, great volume of finished goods are lost even before to
reach the customers, and important quantities of waste is generated alongside the
supply chain which end up in landfills without any further use. In addition to losses
generated by institutional agents in the supply chain, consumers continue to devour
products and services under the same approach of unlimited availability of resources
(Gonzalez et al. 2018; Santibañez-Gonzalez et al. 2019).
Some products and parts of them end up in landfill without any treatment or
recovery effort. For example, globally, only between 10% and 40% of generated
e-waste and just 10% of plastics are recovered and recycled. This non-virtuous
model of natural resources exploitation, production of goods and services, and
their consumption has brought our planet to a critical situation, putting at risk
the availability of natural resources and their derivatives as products and services
72 Toward a Circular Economy in the Copper Mining Industry 1833
necessary to satisfy the needs of future generations. In this context, mining industry
is not the exception, it consumes large volume of natural resources such as water
and produces huge volumes of waste. Mining operations produce several types of
waste, e.g., overburden – material that lies above an area that lends itself to economic
exploitation, such as the rock and soil, waste rock – bedrock that has been extracted
and transported out of the pit with metal concentrations without economic interest,
tailings – slurry that remains after the mineral of interest has been extracted from the
crushed ore at the processing plant, heap leach spent ore – tail of the heap leaching
process, and lateral but not less important waste derived from the use of a large
variety of inputs such as vehicle tires. In addition to the huge volume of waste
generated by the mining industry and the embedded carbon and water footprint of
several inputs, mining operations make directly use of immense volume of water and
energy. To tackle with environmental and sustainable issues, a number of efforts
undertook by some mining companies around the world have been documented
in the scientific and grey literature. However, environmental indicators claim for
renewed efforts and the adoption of strategies to decouple grow population and
demand from this intensive natural resource consumption. While the actual volume
of mine waste worldwide that has to be disposed of in dumps and tailings storage
facilities is difficult to assess, according to Blight (2011), over 35 × 109 t/annum
of waste were generated in 1995 alone by the world’s iron, copper, gold, lead, and
bauxite (aluminum) mines together.
A no less important consequence of this traditional take-make-consume
approach, known as linear economy, has been the generation of large quantities
of greenhouse gases, which synergy has undoubtedly enhanced the scarcity of
natural resources.
Circular economy (CE) is the paradigm shift, which should allow to reverse
this situation transform the linear approach into a virtuous circle, where the use
of natural resources and energy consumption are optimized, waste generation is
reduced and recovering, and restoring activities are maximized (Gonzalez et al.
2018; Santibañez-Gonzalez et al. 2019). The widespread adoption of CE should
help to walk toward a more sustainable planet, seeking an efficient balance between
the exploitation of natural resources and the economic objectives of companies,
respecting society and the environment.
According to The Ellen MacArthur Foundation by 2030, a shift toward a CE
could reduce net resource spending in the European Union (EU) by A C600 billion
annually, improve resource productivity by up to 3% annually, and generate an
annual net profit of A C1.8 trillion (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2015). For example,
taken Sweden as a case in terms of environmental benefits and compared to today,
Wijkman and Skanberg (2015) estimate about 25% increase in energy efficiency and
25% increase in overall material efficiency “by organizing manufacturing according
to CE principles, minimizing waste, and maximizing the reuse and recycling of
materials.” Ecofys and Circular Economy (2016) report that the implementation of
CE practices could reduce up to 7.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent
globally through materials substitution in construction sectors, nutrient recovery in
agriculture, chemical leasing, and shared ownership models in transport systems
worldwide. Despite these promising economic benefits and a substantial amount of

recent literature deals with this subject, only a small amount – 6% – of all materials
processed around the world are recycled (Haas et al. 2015).
The transition toward a CE model in the mining sector is possible by imple-
menting innovative business models that takes advantages of secondary material
marketplaces and collaboration alongside the supply chain to adopt novel material
stewardship practices. However, the implementation of CE practices in mining
operations has been very scarce (Kinnunen and Kaksonen 2019; Lèbre et al. 2017).
In the past few years, research on the application of CE in mining has been
dominated by resource (valuable metal) recovery from the mine waste stream,
particularly from tailings. While some authors recognize that mining operations
consume an enormous volume of water and energy, literature on how CE practices
can contribute to improve water and energy management is limited. In addition
to those limited efforts so far, the mining industry need to consider the adoption
of disruptive technology as a means to make a qualitative leap toward new forms
of CE implementation. In this context, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) paradigm can play a
key role in integrating technology-based CE solutions making use of blockchain
for traceability, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data Analytics (BDA), Artificial
Intelligence, among others. According to Lu (2017) I4.0 aims to provide real time
information on production, machines, and flow of components, integrating this
information in order to help managers to make decisions, monitor performance,
and track parts and products. On spite of the applications of I4.0 in CE is in its
infancy, significant potential benefits can be envisioned both in mining operations
and throughout the mining supply chain.
I4.0 disruptive technology has the power to transform a high volume of data into
valuable information to make sound decisions in mining companies. An increasing
number of researchers and practitioners have realized that with such a volume of
data being generated so quickly in many different contexts, the key challenge to
face is how we can help decision makers to improve resource management and make
better decisions for business. In this context, big data analytics can enable successful
implementation of circular economy strategies by improving the availability of data.
But more important than that, it is by proposing decision makers the best alternatives
to effectively balance economic objectives with environmental and social impacts of
the mining company operations in a broad sense. For example, in a general setting,
Gupta et al. (2019) explore the use of BDA as a fundamental pillar for making
informed and data-driven decisions in supply chain networks supporting CE.
Our propose in this chapter is to advance the knowledge on the applications of
Industry 4.0 – based technology in circular economy in the mining industry. We
analyze and discuss two real cases on the application of CE based on technology
in mining processes and key inputs. First, from the perspective of supply chain,
we focus on a single copper mining company and the natural capital as a provider.
Second, we select water as a natural resource and one of the main inputs in the
copper mining industry. Third, we focus in some process in the copper mining
industry that makes intensive use of water and can generate large volume of waste
with a large embedded hydric footprint. Figure 1 shows the evolution over time of
Generation of
proposals at the
national level for
water efficiency
Early mining projects in and industry 4.0
Industry 4.0
Implementation of
projects associated
with the water
problem
Identification of
the need to
incorporate
Industry 4.0 in
the mining sector
Fig. 1 Industry 4.0 evolution: Chilean mining water efficiency. (Based on: COCHILCO (2018),
Consejo Minero, F. C. and C. A. L. (2020))
the adoption of the concepts of CE and I4.0 to address the water shortage problems
in the mining operations of the north region of Chile.
Adoption of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy in the Copper

Mining Industry in Chile
Mining 4.0, to refer to the application of Industry 4.0 in the mining industry, has
been uneven strategy adopted for large mining companies around the world. While
some companies are seriously investing in the adoption of technologies to improve
the performance of their core business, other companies still do not consider that
technologies such as Industry 4.0 can properly support their business and therefore
have stayed away from these advances (CESCO 2020).
Example of companies adopting Industry 4.0 technologies to improve the perfor-
mance of their processes are Anglo American and its FutureSmart Mining project,
Rio Tinto with its Mine of the future® project, CODELCO with its Integrated
Operations Center Project, Escondida with its Smart Mining Market and its EWS
desalination plant, Minera Centinela with its project Integrated Operations Center
of Minera Centinela and its desalination plant.
Efficient water management is one of the great challenges facing society,
where technology is a fundamental tool for developing good water management.
Desalination becomes a necessary process so that mining companies can continue
with their production processes, applying artificial intelligence technology, data
analysis, sensors, among other.
Table 1 Technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution

Group Technologies Empresa
1 Digital technologies, blockchain, or CODELCO, Escondida Mine
internet of things
2 Technologies with physical connection, CODELCO, Escondida Mine,
artificial intelligence with robotics, Antofagasta Minerals
advanced materials, or IT manufacturing
(3D printing)
3 Technologies with Human connection, Antofagasta Minerals
biotechnologies, neurotechnologies, and
virtual and augmented reality.
4 Sustainable technology associated with Escondida Mine, Antofagasta
the capture, storage, and transmission of Minerals
energy, geoengineering, and space
technologies.
Based on Schwad (2016)
According to Schwab (2016), there are 12 types of technologies associated with

the industrial revolution 4.0, which can be classified into four groups as indicated in
Table 1. Taking this classification as a reference, we briefly discuss the adoption of
I4.0 in different copper mining operations in Chile.
CODELCO
The Integrated Operations Center (CIO) and Management project of CODELCO

in Chile, consists of the automation of the control room of all the operations of
the company in the country (CODELCO 2020). It began in 2010 with the Andina
mining operation, where the first CIO room. Three years later a new room was
inaugurated in the Ministro Hales mining operation. In 2019, the automation of the
underground mine began where the transport and trucks uploading, the crushing
system, the conveyor belt system to reach the plant, the concentration processes, the
smelter, and refinery processes can be controlled remotely from a single place.
Within the Schwab classification (Schwab 2016), CODELCO would be in group
1 and 2, since, with the Integrated Operations and Management Centers, it is adding
technologies such as the Internet of Things, technologies with physical connections,
digital technologies, and the application of artificial intelligence.
The Escondida Mine– BHP Billinton
The Escondida is the largest copper mine (by production) in the world and is located
in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, one of the driest deserts on Earth (BHP
2020). She has launched the “Smart Mining Market” project valued at US $ 6.8
billion in 2019 and it is estimated that it will reach US $ 20.31 billion by 2025.
This project will bring automation, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, drones,
smart businesses, 3D modeling techniques, among other technologies, allowing the
company to gain in efficiency, safety, and sustainability.
On the other hand, the mining company also has a 2018–2030 Water strategy,
which will allow it, through technology adoption, to cease groundwater extraction
for operational mining processes. Escondida began planning a transition from the
use of groundwater resources to desalinated seawater since the mid-2000s. In 2006,
Escondida started up the first large-scale desalination plant for industrial use in
Chile. In early January 2020, a second desalination facility started production. The
project, named Escondida Water Supply Expansion (EWSE), started in 2017, and
is the largest desalination plants in the world. The facility has a maximum design
capacity of 3800 l per second, over seven times the capacity of the desalination
plant in Jeddah’s international airport, on the coast of the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.
With the operation of these two desalinations facilities and the adoption of I4.0, in
2020 (10 years ahead of target) Escondida ceased groundwater extraction from the
aquifers Salar de Punta Negra and Monturaqui.
Antofagasta Minerals
Antofagasta Minerals is adopting Industry 4.0 technologies in several ways under

the umbrella project Integrated Operations Center of Minera Centinela (Antofagasta
Minerals 2020). The operation of a fleet of autonomous trucks in the new pit of this
mine, the developing of a digital literacy program for its workers, the use of seawater
in its processes, among other initiatives that it has been developing since 2015.
Antofagasta Minerals is adopting Industry 4.0 technologies in various ways, one
of which is the general project Integrated Operations Center of Minera Centinela.
The operation of a fleet of autonomous trucks in the new pit of this mine, the
development of a digital literacy program for its workers, the use of seawater in
its processes, augmented reality, among other initiatives that it has been developing
since 2015.
In the industry 4.0 application, Antofagasta Minerals was the first company
to incorporate seawater desalination technology in mining operations worldwide,
allowing efficient use of water resources, during 2016. Currently, 48% of the water
used in its operations it came from the sea. In desalination, sensor technology, big
data, artificial intelligence, among others, are applied.
Augmented reality (AR) is another technology adopted in some Antofagasta
Minerals operations. For instance, Minera Centinela, which is owned by Antofa-
gasta Minerals, in 2019 it produced 276,000 t of copper (cathodes and concentrates)
from the treatment of approximately 30,000,000 t of ore, accounting for about 40%
of Antofagasta PLC’c group copper production. This operation has a 3D Design
of the Semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) Mill Lining. SAG mill is one of the most
critical equipment in a concentrator plant which needs to be shut down every year
commonly due to a liner maintenance among other devices. With the use of AR,
maintenance times are reduced.
Perspectives in the Implementation of Industry 4.0 in the Copper

Mining in Chile
Today there are numerous projects under development by several mining companies
toward achieve mining 4.0 in Chile, in order to improve production and mitigate
environmental impacts. Published literature on the applications of 4.0 in the mining
industry is scarce. Readers interested in this field are recommended to see,for
example, Bertayeva et al. (2019) and Deloitte Insights (2020).
Although the investments are high, the benefit that the projects would bring to the
companies is greater. The Roadmap “Digitization for mining 4.0” seeks to identify
those areas in the mining industry where the adoption of new technologies can add
value to the companies in the next 15 years (Consejo Minero 2020). It is an initiative
carried out by the Mining Council, Fundación Chile and Corporación Alta Ley, with
the support of CORFO/Chile and the technical advice of the Interop program. This
roadmap project is part of the strategy of the Chilean Ministry of Mining and aims
to provide guidance at the sector level, to take advantage of the opportunities offered
by digital technologies to the mining sector.
The structure of the Roadmap is composed of two types of cores (a) the traction
cores, which are those that, at the heart of the mining process, constitute the most
crucial technological challenges for the evolution of the mining industry and (b) the
enabling cores, which group Those dimensions that, without being exclusive to the
mining process, condition the industry’s ability to carry out its development plan,
Fig. 2 shows the structure of the Roadmap.
The driving core NT2, named Green Mining, focuses on the adoption of 4.0
technologies to make mining more sustainable, minimizing its impacts on the
environment and communities, reducing emissions, managing waste, increasing the
use of renewable energies and the efficient use of energy resources and water, and
promoting circular economy (Consejo Minero, Fundación Chile and Corporación
Alta Ley 2020). Figure 3 presents the challenges and solutions presented in the
traction core NT2.
- NT1: Integrated and Intelligent Mining

TRACTION
- NT2: Green Mining
CORES
- NT3: Safe Mining
- NH4: Digitization
ENABLING - NH5: Cybersecurity
CORES - NH6: Development human capital
- NH7: Social and political license to innovate
Fig. 2 Roadmap structure: digitization for mining 4.0. (Based on: Consejo Minero, Fundación
Chile and Corporación Alta Ley 2020))
TRACTION CORE 2: SOLUTION

GREEN MINNING
Transparent control and − Capture and monitoring technologies of

monitoring of resources and
CHALLENGE 1:
operational data in real time

SHORT TERM
(2020-2025)
relevant parameters as we − Data storage technology (Cloud)

operate (Water, air, − Implementation of management systems -
pollution, contamination and energy, water, emission - responsible -
others) and delivery to the budget – objectives
community − Open and public platform for manage and
share information
TERM (2020-
CHALLENGE
− Data Science
2: SHORT
Include energy and water − Scenario simulation

efficiency in projects − Include in BIM Planning
− Predictive modeling
− Decrease in water consumption
− Real-time consumption sensors

CHALLENGE 3: MEDIUM
− Carbon footprint measurement

TERM (2025-2030)
− Link sustainable / environmental KPIs

with productive
Improve traceability in
− Definition of traceability standard
energy consumption
− Blockchain implementation for asset
throughout the process identification
− Platform to identify source / origin of
energy
− Generate a platform of clean energy
suppliers
MEDIUM TERM
CHALLENGE 4:
− Resource models. Data capture, storage,

(2025-2030)
analysis and optimization

Include energy and water
− Management system implementation
efficiency in projects
− Interoperability (autonomous cisterns,
dispatch sensors)
− Use of artificial intelligence
Fig. 3 Challenges and solutions driving core 2: Green mining. (Consejo Minero, Fundación Chile
and Corporación Alta Ley 2020)
One of the solutions presented in the short-term challenge 2 is the reduction

of water consumption in the different mining processes. The main objective is the
implementation of a closed circuit with zero water losses. The investigations have
focused on the study of pool water evaporation, low cost dry tailings, comminution
and dry mineral separation. This approach is new for what the mining industry is
doing today. It consists in the use of seawater in the different mining processes due
to the scarcity of water in the country. In this direction, we can mention the initiatives
of BHP Billiton (Escondida), CODELCO and Sierra Gorda, and Antofagasta
Minerals. In this last case, in addition to use seawater in their operations, they
also incorporated options for water reclamation in tailings disposal, managing to
recover between 75% and 80% of the water used. More details on the efficient use
of water and the incorporation of seawater in mining companies are presented in the
following sections.
Use of Seawater in the Copper Mining Industry
While the public available information regarding the several desalination projects in
the mining industry is very limited, in this section we describe the importance of the
adoption of this technology toward a substantial reduction in the use of groundwater
in the mining site. The mining industry contributes significantly to the depletion of
some essential natural resources on the planet, such as groundwater. One of the
objectives of the implementation of CE practices in the industry is that they can
help save essential natural resources. Then, as it is described in this section, the
implementation of desalination facilities in the mining industry is helping to save
groundwater, and in some cases to cease the extraction of groundwater from aquifers
in the most dried dessert of the world.
Water Consumption and Supply Problem in Chile
Currently, there is a worldwide problem that is undoubtedly present in Chile related

to the climate change impact and the footprint left by industrial activities on the
planet. Water scarcity is one of these important consequences, especially in the
mining industry, which has a constant need for water supply for the development
of its processes. It is estimated that, by 2029, water consumption will increase by
56% on year 2018, moving from 16.25 m3 /sg in 2018 to 25.35 m3 /s in 2029 (Chilean
Copper Commission 2018).
In the mining industry is necessary to develop plans that promote the adoption
of technologies, and practices in line with sustainability principles (Bebbington and
Bury 2009; Humphreys et al. 2007; Kates and Parris 2003). The that balance of
environmental and social impacts with economic and productive activities should
contribute to reducing the environmental footprint and the social impact generated
by the mining industry in the planet and, in particular, in Chile as one of the main
copper producers in the world.
Chile has had a decrease in water resources for several years. The National Water
Balance of the General Water Directorate (DGA), indicate that the availability of
water has decreased by up to 37% in some sectors of the country and national rainfall
RECIRCULATED CONTINENTAL SEAWATER

WATER WATER
Fig. 4 Data extracted from the report on water consumption in mining (National Mining Society
Chile 2018)
have decreased by 30% since the last measurement (DGA 2017). The 37% decrease
in water supply corresponds to the central area of the country, between Aconcagua
and Maule, so the increase in the consumption of this resource in mining presents a
challenge in its operations and future projects.
Of the total exploitation of copper in Chile, 54% is concentrated in the Antofa-
gasta region and its consumption of continental water represents about 40% (Chilean
Copper Commission 2018). This region is home to several multinational mining
companies such as: BHP Billiton, Antofagasta Minerals, CODELCO, Goldcorp and
Teck. The Antofagasta Region, with more than 30,000 Km2 , is an area anchored
in the driest desert in the world, with annual rainfall of 1.7 mm. Therefore, the
consumption of water in mining is currently centralized in the Antofagasta region,
identifying three types of water to consume, see Fig. 4 (Chilean Copper Commission
2018; Escenarios Hídricos 2030 2020).
1. Recirculated Water: They correspond to all those flows that are reinjected into the
system, these can be previously treated or not. Its consumption in copper mining
corresponds to 57.55 m3 /s, 74.8% of the total water consumption. Year 2018.
2. Water of continental origin: considers all permanent bodies of water found
in the interior of the continent, away from coastal areas. Some continental
waters are rivers, lakes, flood plains, reserves, and wetlands, among others, their
consumption in copper mining corresponds to 11.75 m3 /s, 19.3% of the total
water consumption. Year 2018.
3. Water of oceanic origin: They come from the sea and have a high brackish
content. Its consumption in copper mining corresponds to 4.55 m3 /s, 5.9% of
the total water consumption Year 2018.
Projections of Water Consumption in Copper Mining Processes
The Chilean Copper Commission (COCHILCO) has made a projection of the

consumption of continental and sea water in mining, applying the projection in
Continental Water Sea Water

25
20 10,69 10,82
9,43 9,68 9,96 10,33
8,14 8,75
6,18 6,81
4,74
15 3,28
m3/seg
10
13,76 13,81 13,79 13,89 13,82 14,21 14,09 13,87 13,82 14,2 14,53
12,98
5
0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
Año
Fig. 5 Water projection in copper mining 2018–2029 (Chilean Copper Commission 2018)
the production of copper, according to unit coefficients of water consumption to

obtain the future demand of a certain period. This projection includes consump-
tion by origin based on the different categories of projects, including existing
desalination and impulsion projects. The study methodology was based on the
unit consumption of each task in each process; the maximum production profiles
determined through the registry of mining investments, and the probability of
materialization of such portfolio by virtue of the historical background. According
to values obtained through a Monte Carlo simulation, (Chilean Copper Commission
2018) the estimated total water consumption of continental origin expected to 2029
reaches 14.53 m3 /s, which represents an increase of 12% regarding the expected
consumption for 2018. In the case of sea water, it is expected to reach 43% of the
total water required in the copper mining industry, reaching 10.82 m3 /s by 2029,
which represents an increase in 230% compared to the expected value for 2018, see
Figs. 5 and 6.
A Solution to the Intensive Consumption of Continental Water
The projections of water consumption, both continental and sea, for the Antofagasta
region are presented in Table 2.
As can be observed in Table 2, the consumption of continental water shows a
decrease, very contrary to the consumption of seawater, which shows a considerable
increase, of approximately 178% more in 2029, compared to 2018. Clearly the
decrease in water continental is related to the increase in the consumption of
seawater, a resource that is projected to be increasingly used in current operations
and in future projects.
The copper mining processes where water is consumed are presented in Fig. 7.
72 Toward a Circular Economy in the Copper Mining Industry
Fig. 6 Water consumption, according to stages of the mining process. LX, Leaching; SX, Solvent extraction; EW, Electrowinning (Chilean Copper Commission
2018)
1843
Table 2 Projection of water consumption in copper mining, Antofagasta region, 2018–2029

period
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
Continental 5.4 5.6 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.1 5.2 5.1 4.9 4.8 4.5 4.4
L•s−1
Seawater L•s−1 2.8 4.2 5.1 5.5 6.4 6.5 6.9 7.1 7.3 7.6 7.7 7.8
Based on COCHILCO (2018)
Fig. 7 Copper mining

processes where water is
consumed
The mine section includes the underground or open-pit mine, as well as the
transport of the material to the primary crushing. The greatest use of water in this
area is associated with the extraction and pumping from underground operations,
and the dust abatement on roads.
In the case of the concentration area, this includes comminution, classification,
flotation, and thickening of minerals. Considering the total volumes, this area
represents the highest water consumption, among all the areas mentioned.
The hydrometallurgical part covers the heap leaching, solvent extraction and
electrowinning processes. In this process, the leaching stage is the one that
consumes the most water due to its evaporation from the leaching heaps. Fresh
water consumption in hydrometallurgy is of the order of 0.13 m3 /t of mineral and it
is considered that leaching uses 1/3 of the fresh water used by flotation.
Next, there is the smelter and refinery, where the dry concentrate, product of the
concentration stage, is subjected to a pyrometallurgical process to obtain copper
anodes. This product can be further refined or commercialized, in the case of
refining, this is carried out in electrolytic cells with a sulfuric acid solution, where
an electric current is applied, dissolving the copper from the anode and depositing
on the cathode.
The other area includes services such as the use of water for drinking, cooking,
washing, irrigation and bathrooms. This consumption with respect to the afore-
mentioned is much lower. In the Antofagasta region, the operations that currently
use seawater are: Centinela, Escondida, Michilla (in the process of reopening),
Antucoya, Las Cenizas Taltal, Mantos de la Luna, Sierra Gorda, and J.A. Moreno.
Likewise, there are projects that plan the implementation of desalination facilities,
among others, we can mention: CODELCO’s northern district plant to supply
the divisions of Chuquicamata Radomiro Tomic and Ministro Hales progressively,
Esperanza upgrade and its subsequent network extension to supply the Encuentro
project, Spence Growth Project, and El Abra Mill Project.
Table 3 shows the companies in the Antofagasta Region that use seawater in their
operations, desalinated or not, as well as the projects in the area.
(*) Production started during 2020.
The use of seawater in the region is long-standing, and in this sense the following
operations can be mentioned in chronological order:
• Mantos Blancos 1961, heap leaching of the ore atacamite and chrysocolla with
belt agglomeration with sodium chloride. 90% extraction of copper is achieved,
with an acid consumption of 3 kg H2 SO4 / kg copper.
• Tocopilla 1987 plant, leaching with seawater and later solvent extraction.
• Lince 1991 Plant. Specifies the production of grade A copper cathodes, overcom-
ing the problems of transferring the chloride ion to the electrowinning stage.
• Minera Michilla: Leaches its ore (secondary oxides and sulfides) using seawater
and calcium chloride, CaCl2 , in a sulfuric acid medium.
• Las Luces, Mantos de la Luna, heap leaching.
On the other hand, in recent years the Pampa Norte Division of BHP Billiton
has studied at an industrial level the addition of sodium chloride in its mixed
minerals and secondary sulfides. Similarly, Sierra Gorda and its Catabela plant
mine complex is supplied with sea water supplied from the filtering plant located in
the city of mussels through a 142 km long, 36 diameter aqueduct and two pumping
stations located in its trajectory and stored in a process water pool, replacing the
reservoir that for the same purpose had originally been proposed.
The water that is used in its entirety comes from the sea, and then from the
cooling system of the thermoelectric plant, located in the industrial district of
Mejillones. This is captured in an accumulation pond in the filtering plant and sent
to the process water pool of the Catabela mine-plant at an approximate rate of
1305 L/s. In the mine plant sector, water is used in different amounts and types:
seawater without desalination for the processing of sulfides, feeding the osmosis
plant and the fire network (4737 m3 /h); fresh water obtained from the desalination
plant for the processing of oxides, washing trucks and machinery, and sanitary
systems (227 m3 /h); and treated drinking water for human consumption (39 m3 /h)
(Cisternas and Moreno 2014).
Mining only represents 9% of water consumption at the national level (DGA
2013); however, in the case of the Antofagasta region, it is 68% and this must be
resolved urgently with the participation of all stakeholders, water consumers, and
state bodies with decision-making power.
The portfolio of efficiency and strategic use of water, (see Fig. 8) presents four
types of measures associated with preserving water resources and adopt actions
aimed at reducing the water gap in Chile.
Table 3 Desalination plants and projects in the Antofagasta Region

Production Stage Owner Name Capacity Capacity
start
desalination seawater
l/s l/s
– Closed Haldeman Michilla 75 25
(Expected
reoperation
2019)
– Operating ENAMI Planta J.A. Moreno – 15
(Taltal)
– Operating Las Las Cenizas Taltal 9 12
Cenizas
– Operating Mantos Mantos de la luna 5 20
de la luna
– Operating BHP Escondida – Planta 525 –
Billiton Coloso
– Operating AMSA Distrito Centinela 50 1500
(Esperanza + El
Tesoro)
– Operating AMSA Antucoya 20 280
– Operating KGHM Sierra Gorda – 1315
Int.
– Operating BHP Escondida EWS 3800(*) –
Billiton
2020 Feasibility AMSA Mining development – 850
Centinela – Stage 1
2020 Feasibility BHP Spence Growth 1000 –
Billiton Option
2020 Feasibility CODELCO Desalination plant 630 –
adaptation RT
Sulfides – Stage 1
2021 No Goldcorp Nueva Unión 740 –
environmental y Teck
impact
assessment
2023 Feasibility Capstone Santo Domingo 30 400
stop Mining
2024 Feasibility AMSA Mining development – 1650
Centinela – Stage 2
2025 No Freeport El Abra Mill Project 500 –
environmental McMoran
impact
assessment
Source: (Montes 2019)
The third line being “efficiency and strategic use of water resources” and the
fourth line “Migration and incorporation of new water sources,” those destined to
Axes of the Water Description Actions

transition
Management Delivers the enabling conditions to achieve security • Integrated management
institutionality of water of water resources
the Water
• Integrated national water
information system
• Incentives to savings and
efficiency in sectors
productive
Conservation and It considers as the basis of management development • Recovery and
protection of our of water policies, programs and plans that guarantee conservation of rivers,
ecosystems Water the protection, recovery and conservation of hydric banks, wetlands, cushion
ecosystems bogs, estuaries and peat
bogs
Efficiency and use Raises efficient use and responsible for water, the • Systems and techniques
strategic of the reduction of withdrawals by users intensive in water optimized irrigation
resource Water consumption, taking care of their quality • Replacement minor
crops request hydric
• Reservoirs for
accumulation of waters
Migration and Refers to the planning, design and enabling of • Desalination through
incorporation of systems multipurpose that allow the incorporation of osmosis inverse with and
new Water sources. water for address the Water Gap in the territories, without energies
allowing a decoupling between the development of renewable
productive sectors and the use of fresh water in the • Treatments wastewater
basin. • Water reuse residual in
Emissaries Submarines
Fig. 8 Axes of the hydric transition, based on Scenarios hydric 2030
the use of technology 4.0 and the concepts of circular economy. It can be indicated
that the examples of application of these strategies are not yet consolidated,
remaining as practices associated with nations and companies in particular. Some
of these practices have a high environmental commitment, such as the installation
of desalination plants, which is mostly promoted by mining companies. Optimized
systems and techniques are mostly used in the agricultural industry, but it is
highlighted that they do not present negative environmental impacts.
In order to promote the efficient use of water resources in the mining industry, it
is necessary to implement some of the technological strategies outlined by Schwab
(2016) and taking as a reference the Green Mining proposals contained in the
Roadmap digitization for mining 4.0. Although some of these technologies are
currently being applied in the industry, it is recommended the adoption of industry

4.0 to in conjunction with circular economy to continue to reduce the consumption
of continental water in several mining processes.
The need for an effective reuse and recycling technology becomes in conjunction
with an adequate management of supply sources to reduce consumption are essential
circular practices to move toward mining 4.0.
The use of seawater, salty or desalinated, already represents 23% of all the water
used by mining operations. It should be noted that according to the latest Cochilco
report, by 2029 it is expected that the consumption of seawater will represent 43%
of that required by the industry. Considering that large-scale mining operates in arid
areas, and that there is a country challenge due to the scarcity of water, “seawater is
and will continue to be an important source of supply for the sector.”
Beyond the benefits that desalination provides as a water source, this type of
supply source implies a high cost that many operations cannot assume, especially
those far from the coast and at a higher altitude above sea level.
This higher cost is mainly due to the huge amount of electricity that is required
to carry out desalination and, mainly to drive water to mining sites located, for
example, more than 3000 m above sea level, with a desalinated seawater supply
costs of up to 8% on mining production values.
Due to the costs involved in using seawater, the first concern of the sector is the
efficient use of this resource. This is how recirculation has remained above 70%,
which means that only 30% or less of the water used in mining is new water.
On the other hand, the consumption of water per ton of processed mineral in the
concentrator plants has decreased persistently, from 0.57 m3 /t in 2013 to 0.36 m3 /t
in 2018, which means a decrease of 36% in the last 5 years.
Current Projects
One strategy to address the water shortage is also to increase the rate of recirculation
of water in several mining processes so that the resource can be reused within the
operation, generating significant savings as a result of optimization. This is achieved
by introducing innovations and technological advances that allow less evaporation
and use of water in tailings. One such example is Minera Centinela, owned by
Antofagasta Minerals, which has incorporated tailings thickened with seawater on
an industrial scale, allowing greater efficiency and a lower risk of infiltration in the
soil and subsoil layers. Attempts are being made to recover the maximum amount
of used water, for example, in obtaining copper concentrate – a process that requires
the most water – between 75% and 80% of the water used is recovered from the
tailing dams. In this regard, if previously only a certain amount of this element was
recovered from the tailing dams, today the aim is to recover the highest percentage
of water resources and reuse as much water as possible. That is the great challenge
that mining faces today. An objective that is constantly seen in mining companies
investing in water management and treatment projects, through projects called “zero
effluents.”
Conclusions
From the analysis carried out is concluded that the mining industry has not taken
a key role in the fourth industrial revolution. Due to large investment involved, the
diversity of geographical location of mining projects, and the age of some mining
operations, among others, are influencing on the adoption mining 4.0, and it has
still a long way to a widespread adoption in the industry. But there are successful
projects, where technology has become the protagonist of the mining production
process, achieving lower costs, clean productions, and reducing accidents. In Chile,
a Roadmap was generated to implement Mining 4.0, which has short-, medium-,
and long-term activities, within 15 years planning horizon. One of its short-
term activities (2020–2025) is to include energy and water efficiency in mining
projects, through the use of data science, scenario simulation, BIM planning, and
predictive modeling. The integration of these Industry 4.0 related technologies
with circular economy practices in the mining industry is still in its infancy. To
continue advancing in the reduction of inland water consumption and the efficient
management of seawater in mining operations, strategies that consider at least
the following three areas must be implemented: (1) large-scale use of sensors
and IoT applications along the water supply network. This will allow real-time
monitoring of water consumption in relevant stages of mining production; (2) the
use of cloud computing and big data to cope with the increasing amount of data
captured from sensors deployed in the water supply network. The use of IoT allows
a greater number of devices to be connected, generating a greater volume of data
to be captured. The captured data must be stored, then processed and converted
into information, to finally be translated into useful knowledge to make the right
decisions; (3) The adoption of decision-making tools based on Artificial Intelligence
will allow the use of collected and stored data to transform it into real value-added
information so that decision makers can make better decisions, in order to reduce
the consumption of continental water, recirculate water, and recycle it at each stage
of mining operations. As a result of the water scarcity in the Antofagasta Region
and the high demand for the use of water by mining companies, the incorporation
of seawater in operations has been a solution not only to water scarcity but has also
been beneficial for processes such as the leaching of certain copper sulfides, as well
as in the concentration process. This is reflected in the increased consumption of
seawater in the region, as well as in the increase in projects for desalination plants
for seawater or without desalination.
It is concluded that the reduction in water consumption in operations is associated
in most companies with the reduction of water losses due to evaporation as well
as the increase in recirculation. In this line, although there are advances such as
those of Antofagasta Minerals, there are still challenges associated with materials,
equipment, control, monitoring, among other, that need to be addressed to continue
reducing water consumption in mining operations.
Acknowledgments Research of the author Ernesto DR Santibanez Gonzalez was partially funded
by FONDECYT No. 1190559 (regular project, ANID-Chile).
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Sustainability Index of Metalworking
Fluids in the Manufacturing Industry for 73
Sustainable Manufacturing
Sustainability Index
Muralidhar Vardhanapu and Phaneendra Kiran Chaganti
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1855
Sustainability Index (SI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1858
Sustainable Manufacturing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1861
Process Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1862
Product Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1863
The Four Principles of Sustainability Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1864
Consolidated Framework for Sustainability Index (SI) Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1864
Evaluation of Deterministic Components of SI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1865
Understanding the Evaluation of Nondeterministic Components Using
a Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1868
Overall Sustainability Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1870
Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1871
Material and Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1871
Sustainability of Various Elements Used during Various Stages
of the Life Cycle of MWFs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1871
Categorization of Deterministic Components and Nondeterministic Components . . . . . . 1871
Evaluation of SI for Deterministic Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1872
Evaluation of Nondeterministic Components of SI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1876
Sustainability Index of the System under Consideration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1876
Conclusion/Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1877
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1879
Important Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1880
M. Vardhanapu · P. K. Chaganti ()

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India
e-mail: cpkiran@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
1854 M. Vardhanapu and P. K. Chaganti
Abstract
Having said that metalworking fluids (MWFs) are advantageous in many ways
during the machining operations in the manufacturing of a product, yet MWFs
are always a debatable topic for the researchers because of their adverse effects
on the environment and operator health. Better surface finish, enhanced tool life,
avoiding the formation of built-up edges (BUEs), avoiding tool tip welding, and
reduced thermal deformation of the work-piece, as well as the tool, are included
as the advantages of MWFs, while the disadvantages being contamination
of the machinery and workplace, weak storage stability, polluting the work
zone atmosphere, causing respiratory problems for the operators and disposal
problems. Industry 4.0 is not only known for improvising productivity but also
paves the way for solving social problems. One of the major contributions to
society through Industry 4.0 is the value addition to a process or product by
concentrating on sustainability aspects without deteriorating the environment.
As a countermeasure to hard challenges faced by our planet, entire mankind
is thriving toward establishing sustainable systems. While the whole world is
routing its steps toward achieving sustainability, the manufacturing industry is
no bar. Sustainable manufacturing is gaining a lot of interest of the renowned
OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers) across the globe. As a part of
achieving sustainable manufacturing, there is an urging need to assess the
sustainability index of the MWFs with respect to socioeconomic concerns.
Assessing the sustainability of any system is quite difficult in practice because
of the uncertainty of various factors that are under consideration in a study.
In practice, the sustainability index is defined first, in order to define any
system. The sustainability index is often defined as a decision-making tool or
parameter which helps the firm or a retailer to make decisions regarding a
certain product or a system keeping its responsibility intact toward social and
environmental areas. On the other hand, the sustainability index consists of
two components, namely, deterministic and nondeterministic. The deterministic
factors are machining cost, waste management, and power consumption, while
the nondeterministic factors are safety, health, and environmental issues. In this
work, an assessment of the sustainability index of MWFs with respect to various
deterministic and nondeterministic components is carried out. A hypothetical
case study has been presented in this chapter with the assumed data and in
reference to the previous works in this domain. This chapter of the book provides
insights of the assessment of the sustainability index of MWFs with MQL setup
in the manufacturing industry.
Keywords
Sustainability · Sustainability index · Metalworking fluids · MQL · Fuzzy

logic
73 Sustainability Index of Metalworking Fluids in the Manufacturing. . . 1855
Introduction
Industry 4.0 represents the fourth revolution that occurred in the manufacturing
industry, which is often referred to as digital transformation and value creation to
the production process. The productivity has claimed to be increased considerably
with the advent of Industry 4.0. Sustainability is an integral part of Industry 4.0,
as its origin is from Germany which is one of the most competitive manufacturing
industry hubs in the world, and Industry 4.0 is the strategic initiative used by the
Germans to sustain their position in the market (Rojko 2017). Thus, Industry 4.0
is termed as an enabler of sustainable development. Sustainable development is
defined as the integration of various processes and making the system capable of
producing higher quality products and services using sustainable resources while
keeping the environment and social circles safer during the life cycle of a process
(Machado et al. 2020). Industry 4.0 technologies and sustainable operations are
having interlinks, while few studies suggest the underdevelopment of convergence
between digital transformation and sustainability (Machado et al. 2020). Industry
4.0 and sustainable production systems are built on the nine pillars of tech-
nological advancements, namely, autonomous robots, simulation, horizontal and
vertical systems integration, Internet of things (IoT), cybersecurity, cloud, additive
manufacturing, augmented reality (AR), and big data analysis. Sustainability has
become a significant area of interest across the globe with the production systems
concentrating on the control of environmental impacts. Societal, ecological, and
economic impacts are the three dimensions of sustainable development as illustrated
in Fig. 1. These are also called a triple bottom line (TBL). Sustainability index (SI)
is used to measure the sustainability of any system, considering various factors. The
sustainability index is often used at the industry level to determine a company’s
performance and compare it with other companies worldwide. SI even helps the
consumer to understand a product’s environmental impact by providing information
regarding the process involved in making the product and how the process affects
the environment. In this chapter, the sustainability index of metalworking fluids
(MWFs) is assessed as a part of achieving sustainable manufacturing.
Metalworking fluids (MWFs) are part of the manufacturing industry for various
advantageous reasons but are often a debatable topic for researchers because of
their adverse effects on human health and the environment. Metalworking fluids are
used at the cutting zone between the tooltip and the workpiece for the reduction
of temperatures, for providing lubrication effect, for flushing away metal fines,
and for many other advantages. Better surface finish, enhanced tool life, avoiding
the formation of built-up edges (BUEs), avoiding tool tip welding, and reduced
thermal deformation of the workpiece are included as the advantages of MWFs.
The disadvantages are contamination of the machinery and workplace, weak storage
stability, polluting the work zone atmosphere, causing respiratory problems for the
operators, and disposal problems. There are different ways of applying MWFs at
the cutting zone like liquid and gaseous lubrication. In general, the MWFs are
Fig. 1 Three dimensions of

sustainable development
introduced at the cutting zone using the flood coolant system (liquid lubrication),
but of late, a lot of industries are implementing the minimum quantity lubrication
(MQL) technique for reduced quantity usage of MWFs, which produces a very
similar effect to the Flood coolant system. MQL can be a potential solution to
the increased quantity usage of MWFs (in flood coolant lubrication type) that are
responsible for environmental degradation as well as fossil fuel depletion. Also,
MQL offers more required cooling and lubrication effect at the cutting zone where
the high temperature is generated due to friction developed during chip formation, as
MQL spray can be targeted at the right area while the regular flood coolant type fails
to reach the actual cutting zone (Ali et al. 2011). In the MQL type of lubrication,
the MWFs are applied on to the cutting zone with a flow rate of 50–500 ml/hr.,
which is found to be 3 to 4 orders of magnitude lesser than the quantity that is
used in the flood coolant lubrication (Ali et al. 2011). In general, there are three
types of MQL setups available in the market. The first type are the low-pressure
spray systems with a flow rate of 0.5 to 10 l/hr. The second type of system uses
dosing pumps to deliver a definite amount of lubricant on to the machining surface
without air. These types of systems have a flow rate of 0.1 to 10 ml/cycle with an
adjustment up to 260 cycles/min. The third type is the most widely used pressure
systems in which the lubricant is mixed with compressed air at a certain pressure
to form a mist of the lubricant. The lubricant is pumped to the nozzle, where it
is mixed with compressed air to form the mist. The quantities of compressed air
and lubricant can be varied separately. The generated mist is targeted or sprayed on
the machining surface to enhance the effect of lubrication and heat dissipation. In
this type of system, the flow rate generally varies from 50 to 300 ml/hr., making it
much viable and operational among the available systems. Earlier, petroleum-based
mineral oils are regularly used, as they give well-desired outputs. Later vegetable
oils came into existence as supplements to those petroleum-based mineral oils to
counter the adverse effects of petroleum-based oils (Sen et al. 2019). Currently,
the trend has changed; the nanoparticles based MWFs are prevailing (Hegab et al.
2018).
Metalworking fluids (MWFs) are harmful to the environment as well as to human
health due to their high oil content, biological oxygen demand, and hazardous
surfactants. Several research studies found out that the MWFs show carcinogenic
effects on the operators’ health (Lu et al. 2012). Also, these MWFs are prone to
various instabilities caused by ingredient depletion, evaporation, contamination,
and microbial growth, not only making them harmful to the atmosphere but also
not economically viable in a broader view. Because of these adversities, avoiding
these metalworking fluids and adopting the dry machining can reduce a lot of costs
associated with them; however, the lack of cooling and lubrication effect provided
by MWFs may result in rapid tool failure, poor surface finish, and dimensional errors
(Skerlos et al. 2008). Dry machining may be encouraged to an extent in case of
turning and milling operations, but it is very uneconomical to prefer dry machining
in case of drilling, tapping, and grinding. Hence, there is a scope for sustainability
assessment of MWFs and to develop sustainable metalworking fluid systems.
In the recent times, focus has shifted to sustainability irrespective of discipline
and gained the interest of researchers. With a massive shift in researcher’s and
industries’ ideology to adopt sustainable practices, Fig. 2 shows the recent research
trends in sustainability assessment across the domains. In similarity, Fig. 3 demon-
strates the trend of sustainability assessment over the past 5 years in manufacturing
in terms of the number of journal paper publications. Figure 4 provides insights
into the number of publications related to sustainability assessment in context with
machining, nano-MWFs, and MQL.
Fig. 2 The percentages of journal papers in sustainability across all the fields for the past 5 years
obtained from Scopus and Google scholar
Fig. 3 The number of journal papers with the keyword “sustainability AND manufacturing”
between 2015 and 2019. (Data was obtained from Scopus in October 2020.)
This shows the significant importance of sustainability assessment of any system.

The sustainability can be assessed by evaluating the sustainability index. In this
research work, MWFs along with MQL setup while conducting a specific machining
operation is the system under consideration for the sustainability assessment. An
example has been presented for better understanding of the calculation of SI.
Sustainability Index (SI)
Sustainable development is said to be achieved only when all the three elements,
societal sustainability, environmental sustainability, and economic sustainability
are very well balanced (Palit and Hussain 2018). The sustainability index is used
to assess any system’s sustainability under consideration by taking into account
various factors. The sustainability index (SI) is a decision-making tool that helps the
firm or a retailer make decisions regarding a particular product or a system keeping
its responsibility intact toward social and environmental areas (Sandoval-Solis et al.
Fig. 4 The number of publications in the area of sustainability in context with machining, nano-
MWFs, and MQL
2011). The sustainability index is basically divided into two components, namely,
deterministic and nondeterministic components. The deterministic components are
those factors that can be quantified, for example, the machining cost, which can take
a certain value. The nondeterministic are those that cannot be physically quantified,
for example, the health of an operator or safety aspects that are nonquantifiable.
With metalworking fluids in the manufacturing system as a subject of consid-
eration for this study, the deterministic components of SI are considered to be the
manufacturing/machining cost, waste management, and power consumption that are
associated with the usage of MWFs. The nondeterministic components are safety,
the health of an operator, and environmental issues that may be caused due to
usage of MWFs. These six factors constitute the implementation of sustainable
practices during the use of MWFs in the manufacturing industry (Najiha et al. 2016).
Figure 5 illustrates these six essential elements of a sustainable manufacturing
process. The sustainability index has to be assessed first in order to assess the
sustainability of any manufacturing system. The critical challenge in assessing the
Fig. 5 Six basic elements of the sustainable manufacturing process (Lu et al. 2012)
sustainability of any machining process is that among the six basic elements of
sustainability, only three components can be quantified by using analytical and
numerical models because they are relatively deterministic in nature (Jawahir and
Jayal 2011). The other three components, because of their nondeterministic nature,
require logic-based models such as fuzzy logic for their assessment, which is
quite difficult. The system under consideration for this study is the machining
operations performed with the metalworking fluids used as lubricants and these
MWFs are applied onto the cutting zone using the MQL technique. To measure
the sustainability index of this system, the six basic elements of sustainability are to
be assessed.
Sustainable Manufacturing Systems
Sustainability in manufacturing can be evaluated at various levels, namely, product,

process, and systems (Gholami et al. 2020). The sustainable manufacturing system
in the MWFs point of view assists the eco-design of MWFs formulation and the
development of sustainable metalworking fluid systems in countering the economic,
health, environmental, and performance liabilities associated with MWFs (Skerlos
et al. 2008). The target objectives of the sustainable MWF systems are improved
sustainability, improved microbial stability, improved longevity, reduced eco-inputs,
and improved performance, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The sustainable manufacturing
systems emphasize the requirement of physiochemical sensors to track the various
parameters such as pH, concentrations of corrosion inhibitors, surfactants, biocides,
ions, and particulate in MWFs over a period to maximize the performance. These
automated technologies can increase the speed of microbial quantification at
reduced costs, thereby helping the cause.
Along with the sensor technologies, sustainable manufacturing systems focuses
on the development and upgrade of MWF actuator technologies. Actuators are
employed for various applications, viz., chemical addition, phase separation, mag-
netic separation, filtration, and microbial inactivation. These actuators play an
important role in controlling contamination, reducing health risks, and environ-
mental loadings. Altogether, the development of MWF control systems making use
of the physiochemical sensors, biological sensors, and contamination controlling
actuators aids the achievement of a sustainable MWF system. Figure 7 pictograph-
ically represents the conceptualized sustainable MWF system with various control
Fig. 6 Target objectives of sustainable MWF Systems (Skerlos et al. 2008)

Fig. 7 MWF control system (Skerlos et al. 2008)
systems. These control systems are designed with the aim to maximize the lifetime
of the sustainable MWF systems. Thus, these sustainable MWF systems are targeted
toward achieving minimized system inputs and outputs such as materials, energy,
and toxicity; this maximizes the life span of the system by maintaining the physical,
chemical, and biological parameters within the functionality limits.
Process Sustainability
Process sustainability can be evaluated for manufacturing using the 6R (Reuse,

Reduce, Recycle, Recover, Redesign, and Remanufacture) approach (Kishawy et al.
2018). There were a fair amount of papers published in this domain, where metrics-
based sustainability evaluation of the various manufacturing processes were carried
out (Lu et al. 2012). Qualitative and quantitative metrics are necessary for evaluating
the sustainability of the manufacturing process. These metrics are developed with
the goal of reducing the decision-making burdens involved in optimizing the
Table 1 Potential sustainable manufacturing process metrics (focus is on the process) (Haapala
et al. 2013)
Metric type Example
Environmental impact Emission (kg CO2 eq./unit)
Ratio of renewable energy used (%)
Total water consumption (kg/unit)
Manufacturing Labor cost ($/unit)
cost/economic cost Energy cost ($/unit)
Maintenance cost ($/unit)
Operational Exposure to corrosive/toxic chemicals (incidents/person)
safety/worker safety Injury rate (injuries/unit)
Near misses (misses/unit)
Energy consumption In-line energy use (kWh/unit)
Energy use for maintaining the working environment (kWh/unit)
Energy consumption for material handling (kWh/unit)
Waste management Mass of disposed consumables (kg/unit)
Consumable re-use ratio (%)
Ratio of recycled chips and scrap (%)
Personal safety/worker Chemical contamination of the working environment (mg/m3 )
health Mist/dust level (mg/m3 )
Physical load index (dimensionless)
economic and environmental concerns in a manufacturing process life cycle. The

potential sustainable manufacturing process metrics are listed in Table 1 (Haapala
et al. 2013).
The metrics mentioned in Table 1 can be used to assess the sustainability of
a process. The total life-cycle approach can also be used to develop metrics for
sustainable product development (Gupta et al. 2011). The design of sustainable
manufacturing, an approach in developing a sustainable manufacturing process
by integrating the information with various factors throughout the life-cycle of a
process, was also studied by some authors (Gupta et al. 2011; Gao et al. 2016b).
Product Sustainability
Having discussed the assessment of sustainability at system and process levels, it

is said that there is a major impact of the product on the TBL (triple bottom line)
throughout its life cycle during various stages, namely, pre-manufacturing stage,
manufacturing stage, and use and post-use stages (Weinert et al. 2004; Jaafar 2006).
The product sustainability index method can be used as a tool for assessing the
sustainability of a product (Schmidt 2007). Product Sustainability Index (PSI), as
an outcome of a rating system that can be used for a wide range of products, was
developed as a new assessment methodology to evaluate product sustainability.
The product sustainability index can be divided into three subindices belonging
to environmental, ecological, and social aspects, which are again classified into
subclusters. Once the subclusters are classified for a particular product, the product
sustainability index can be calculated by making use of the normalizing, weighting,
and aggregating approaches (Zhang et al. 2012).
The Four Principles of Sustainability Measurement
There are four fundamental principles of sustainability measurement (Fiksel et al.

1999). The first principle emphasizes that the evaluation of sustainability should
address the dual perspectives of resource consumption and value creation. The
general list of resources that are associated with product development, namely,
energy, material, water, land, waste, cost, human capital, and investment capital.
As per the literature, the general categories of performance associated with value
creation, namely, functional performance, information content, customer satisfac-
tion, environmental quality, economic value-added, business competency, human
health, and social welfare. The second principle accentuates the consideration of the
triple bottom line, the social, economic, and environmental aspects while evaluating
sustainability.
The third principle highlights the systematic consideration of each stage in the
product life cycle as an important event while evaluating the sustainability as the
resource consumption and value creation takes place throughout the life cycle of
a product, that is, during the supply of raw materials, manufacturing, and use and
post-use (disposal). In other words, the different stages, namely, the pre-production,
production process, product usage, and post usage, are to be considered while
evaluating the sustainability of a product/service. The fourth principle points out
the need for combining lagging and leading performance indicators while evaluating
sustainability. The lagging indicators are the measure for outcomes of improvements
that are made in the processes, while the leading indicators are the measure of efforts
made to improve future performance. Having given the principles of sustainability
measurement, insights of sustainability performance measurement process were
also provided along with different steps to be followed during the various phases
of the process, namely, plan phase, review phase, and implementation phase (Fiksel
et al. 1999).
Consolidated Framework for Sustainability Index (SI) Assessment
Sustainability index assessment of metalworking fluids was done by quite a few

researchers (Skerlos et al. 2001). Some of the researches in this area focused on
the sustainability assessment of the manufacturing system as a whole but very
few researchers have focused on the sustainability assessment of MWFs (Jawahir
and Jayal 2011). Most of the papers published in this area were either quantifying
deterministic or nondeterministic elements of sustainability of MWFs, but a holistic
view is missing in the literate. The present study aims to present the assessment
of the sustainability index of the MWFs used during the machining process with
the MQL setup. This study focuses on quantifying the overall sustainability index
of the MWFs in the manufacturing system applied at the cutting zone using the
MQL setup. The sustainability index can be assessed based on the valuation and
aggregation of deterministic and nondeterministic components.
Evaluation of Deterministic Components of SI
The deterministic components associated with MWFs used during the machining
applied with MQL setup are the costs related to machining, energy consumption,
and waste management. The scope of the work is restricted to the sustainability
evaluation of MWFs that are applied to the cutting zone with the MQL technique.
Figure 8 demonstrates the various elements of the manufacturing system with
MWFs and MQL setup.
These costs can be numerically evaluated using the techniques available in the
literature. The total costs include the various costs that are shown in Fig. 9. Even
though all these costs are to be mentioned while discussing product manufacturing,
as the main focus of this chapter is on MWFs and hence the Fig. 10 illustrates the
cost associated with MWFs and MQL setup that are specifically adopted from the
Fig. 9 (Gao et al. 2016a). The deterministic components associated with MWFs and
MQL are classified as demonstrated in Fig. 10.
To evaluate these deterministic components, process-based cost modeling can be
used. This process-based cost modeling also called the bottom-up cost calculation
method, has been used to evaluate the costs associated with product manufacturing
Fluids
- Fatty alcohols
- Synthetic esters
Machine tool Tools

- MQL supply - Internal feed
- Upgradability - External feed
MQL
Equipment
Settings
- Int. / Ext. feed
- Air flow
- 1 or 2 Channels
- Oil flow
Fig. 8 Elements of the manufacturing system with MWFs and MQL (Weinert et al. 2004)
Fig. 9 Total costs associated with product manufacturing (Gao et al. 2016b)
Fig. 10 Total costs associated with MWFs and MQL setup
(Gao et al. 2016a), and the equations, as well as the analysis, have been thoroughly
resonating the past literature (Lajevardi et al. 2011). The limitations of the previ-
ously available cost models are addressed in this process-based cost model (Gao
et al. 2016a). The various costs demonstrated in Fig. 10 are evaluated using the
following equations, and upon evaluating all of them and summing up all of them
would give the deterministic components of SI. The methodology used to formulate
the equations is based on the literature (Gao et al. 2016a).
Raw Material Cost

The raw materials that are used to prepare the MWFs are oils, add-ons like sur-
factants, nanoparticles (in case of nanoparticles-based MWFs), corrosion inhibitors,
etc. Let V be the volume of the MWF and cR is the total raw material cost. If i (i = 1,
2, 3 . . . x) types of raw material are used. Let PR be the unit price of each item and
the quantity used is nR . The total cost of raw materials used in the preparation of
MWFs can be obtained by using the below formula:
x
cR = PRi × nRi (1)
i=1
MWFs Synthesis Process Equipment Cost

To synthesize the MWFs, special equipment like glass wear, magnetic or regular
stirrers, vibrating machinery, heat source, etc. are used. The cost of the equipment is
to be incorporated into the total cost. Let tE represent the life span of the equipment
in years. P is the volume of MWF produced using the equipment over the life span of
the equipment. Let c1 , c2 , c3 . . . . cn be the costs of the “n” number of equipment that
are used in the process of synthesis of MWFs. Let cE be the total cost of equipment.
To calculate the cost of the equipment, the below-mentioned formula can be used.
(c1 + c2 + c3 . . . . . . . . . . + cn )
cE = (2)
tE × P
Similarly, the remaining costs, namely, MQL setup cost (cSO ), maintenance cost
(cM ), and storage cost (cST ), associated with the usage of MWFs in combination
with MQL that are represented in Fig. 9 can be calculated numerically and all these
costs are summed up to obtain the total machining cost component amongst the
deterministic elements of SI. Let CM be the total machining cost component and the
total machining cost component (CM ) is the f (cR , cE , cSO , cM , cST ).
By using a similar method, the remaining two deterministic components, the
energy (power consumption) and waste management components, can be numer-
ically determined. Let CP be the total energy consumption component associated
with usage of energy during the production of MWFs and during their usage of
machining a product. Therefore, the CP is the f (ePR , eU ), where ePR is the cost
component of energy consumed during the production of MWFs and eU is the cost
component of energy consumed during the usage of MWFs for machining (i.e., for
pumping the MWFs from the MWF storage tank to the cutting zone via MQL setup).
Let CW is the total waste management components associated with the management
of waste that is generated during the production and usage and post-usage of MWFs.
Therefore, the CW is the f (wPR , wD , wR ), where wPR , wD are the cost component of
waste managed during the production and disposal of MWFs, respectively. The wR
is the cost component of the recycled waste, which is a positive input to the system
as it again adds value in the form of revenue, while wPR and wD are negative inputs.
Among these waste management components, the wD and wR are negligible as the
proposed system is using an MQL setup for the application of MWFs at the cutting
zone. The whole idea of using MQL is to spray the MWF in the form of a mist
which cannot be recycled and the disposal only happens in the case of spoiled or
outdated/unused MWFs.
Once all these three cost equivalent components are determined numerically,
the total deterministic component of SI for the system under consideration can be
obtained by multiplying each of three deterministic components with a weighting
factor and summing up all of them. The weighting factors for three individual
components can be taken according to their respective impact on the triple bottom
line and their respective performance levels. Let SOP be the total deterministic
component of the sustainability index and the SOP can be obtained by the summation
of the three deterministic components of SI, that is, the cost components associated
with machining, energy consumption, and waste management. Therefore, SOP can
be mathematically written as (Jaafar et al. 2007),
SOP = (WM × CM ) + (WP × CP ) + (WW × CW ) (3)
WM , WP , and WW are the weighting factors respective to machining, power con-

sumption, and waste management. These weighting factors take a value depending
on the performance levels.
Understanding the Evaluation of Nondeterministic Components

Using a Case Study
Several analytical tools can be used to calculate the deterministic component

of the sustainability index for the system under consideration. In contrast, the
nondeterministic components are nonquantifiable, and their fuzziness makes it a
difficult task to evaluate them. The three nondeterministic components are social,
economic, and environmental components. In a manufacturing system, they are
more precisely termed as the operational safety, personal health of the operator,
and the ecological impact. To evaluate these nonquantifiable components, Najiha
et al. (2016) implemented the fuzzy logic technique in his work, and this approach
gives very reliable results in case the uncertainties are involved. Making use of
fuzzy logic to evaluate these nondeterministic components is very well echoing the
past literature. Granados et al. (2009) also employed the fuzzy logic and analytical
models to assess sustainability in manufacturing, more precisely in machining.
Applying fuzzy logic, which is a theoretically comprehensive and straightforward
methodology to evaluate nondeterministic components of SI, can be well justified
as it deals with parameters that are not easy to understand, and it also takes into
consideration the values or the opinions. Fuzzy logic happens to play a successful
role in the case of human subjectivity.
A similar attempt was made in the past to quantify the nondeterministic

components of SI of machining a part using MWFs for lubrication with MQL setup
(Granados et al. 2009). The fuzzy logic was applied to MWFs used in machining
operation involving MQL type of lubrication to predict the nondeterministic
component of SI using the fuzzy logic toolbox of the MATLAB software (Najiha
et al. 2016). The assumptions were made at the three different levels contributing to
three different factors of operational safety, operator’s health, and environmental
impact, as illustrated in Table 2. Once these three levels are well defined, the
three factors were considered as linguistic variables and processed through fuzzy
logic rules. As described in this work, the application of fuzzy logic is a three-
tier process consisting of fuzzification of inputs, application of fuzzy operator, and
application of the aggregation method. Once the composition and aggregation is
done, the aggregated fuzzy output is then to be defuzzified to get a numeric value.
The CoG defuzzification method can be used to defuzzify the aggregated fuzzy
output.
A three-level fuzzy logic-based model is constructed to evaluate the uncertain-
ties, thereby assessing the nondeterministic components of SI, and after defuzzi-
fication of the aggregated result outputs, the numerical values obtained by Najiha
et al. (2016) has been tabulated in Table 3. The total nondeterministic component
of SI for a particular machining operation with MQL setup obtained through
their study is 64.2%. Their results are compared with the results obtained by
Granados et al. (2009), who considered the entire conventional turning operation
to evaluate the nondeterministic component, while Najiha et al. (2016) considered
only MWFs with MQL set up as part of their study. The results did not vary much,
though. Let SSHE be the total nondeterministic component of the system considered
by them.
Table 2 Three different levels contributing to three different factors as segregated by Najiha et al.
(2016)
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Environmental friendliness Safety operator Mist generation
Process safety Safety of process Coolant losses
Operational safety Waste generation Chip recycling rate
Workplace contamination Toxic & dangerous additives
Level of recycling Equipment malfunction
Table 3 Numerical interpretation of outputs (sustainability indicators) (Najiha et al. 2016)

Output Sustainability Indicators (%)
Environmental friendliness (%) 79
Operator’s personal safety (%) 50
Operational safety (%) 63.6
SSHE 64.2
Overall Sustainability Index
The scheme for the evaluation of the overall or total sustainability index is
demonstrated in Fig. 11. Initially, while evaluating the sustainability of any system,
the societal, economic, and ecological factors are to be identified, and then those
factors are to be converted into sub-indices. These indices are again classified as
deterministic and nondeterministic components depending upon the nature of the
component. The total nondeterministic component of the sustainability index of
any system or operation under consideration can be evaluated using a fuzzy logic-
based methodology. The total nondeterministic component obtained can be summed
up with the numerically or analytically calculated total deterministic component to
evaluate the total overall sustainability index of any system under consideration.
Let “S” be the overall sustainability index of a system under consideration and it
can be numerically written as,
S = (CSH E × SSH E ) + (COP × SOP ) (4)
Fig. 11 Scheme for the evaluation of the overall sustainability index

where S is the overall sustainability index, SSHE is the total nondeterministic

component of SI, SOP is the deterministic total component of SI {can be obtained
from Eq. (3)}, COP is the weighting factor for deterministic component, and CSHE
is the weighting factor for the nondeterministic component.
Example
Having discussed the various aspects such as elements, metrics, and measurement
processes of the sustainability index in the above sections, in this section, the
evaluation SI is illustrated with an appropriate example.
Material and Process
The system under consideration for evaluating the SI is metalworking fluids

(MWFs) used during the machining process with minimum quantity lubrication
(MQL). The machining process selected for this example is a simple step turning.
Based on the available literature, with more work being focused on steels, mild
steel/AISI D2 tool steel/alloy steel are the materials chosen for this example. In
the machining process, the independent process parameters such as speed, feed,
and depth of cut play a major role in achieving optimum levels of the depen-
dent parameters like surface roughness, tool life, material removal rate (MRR),
tool wear rate (TWR), and residual stresses. There are various MWFs that are
taken into consideration and this example is confined to petroleum-based mineral
oils only.
Sustainability of Various Elements Used during Various Stages

of the Life Cycle of MWFs
One of the principles of sustainability measurement is the consideration of each and

every stage in the life cycle of a product (Fiksel et al. 1999). The various stages in the
product life cycle are pre-production, production, usage, and post usage. Figure 12
illustrates the different elements and energies involved in various stages of the life
cycle of MWFs [3].
Categorization of Deterministic Components and Nondeterministic

Components
The categorization of deterministic and nondeterministic components falling under

the triple bottom line is shown in Table 4. In each of the TBL, the various factors
are again classified as deterministic and nondeterministic components. There may
Fig. 12 Various elements and energy involved in various stages of the MWFs life cycle
be other abysmal and many relatable factors apart from the ones that are mentioned
in Table 4; however, these are the factors identified from the literature. The
deterministic components can be numerically evaluated using analytical methods,
while the nondeterministic components are to be quantified by employing the
fuzzy logic method. To evaluate the deterministic components, the weighting and
aggregating techniques discussed in Sect. “Evaluation of Deterministic Components
of SI” can be employed, and the overall deterministic component of the MWFs
system in combination with MQL setup while performing a turning operation can
be determined.
The nondeterministic components of the case study, as mentioned in Table 4,
can be quantified and aggregated by using a fuzzy logic-based methodology, as
discussed in Sect. “Understanding the Evaluation of Nondeterministic Components
Using a Case Study”. Decisions regarding the nondeterministic elements like the
toxicity of chemical components and the toxicity data sheets can be employed
to find out the permissible limits. The reliability and probabilistic models can
be employed individually to quantify the nondeterministic elements like rate of
injuries, labor injury costs, machine equipment downtimes, and related costs. Thus,
once the individual nondeterministic components are quantified, the weighting and
aggregation is done to find out the total nondeterministic component of SI.
Evaluation of SI for Deterministic Components
In this example, the concentration is on the MWFs that are applied on to the cutting
zone using minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), sometimes referred to as near dry
machining or micro-lubrication (Ali et al. 2011). The quantity of MWFs used for a
Table 4 Categorization of deterministic and nondeterministic components of the hypothetical example
Economic Aspects Environmental Aspects Societal Aspects
Deterministic Nondeterministic Deterministic Nondeterministic Deterministic Nondeterministic
Raw material cost Labor injury costs Life-cycle energy Smog creation in the Rate of injuries Employee satisfaction
Recycle revenue Downtime costs CO2 emissions workplace Lost time for injuries Mist generation
Equipment costs (equipment The carbon footprint of Depletion of fossil fuels Occupational hazards
Capital malfunction) electricity generation and used in MWFs over prolonged usage
Labor cost water treatment preparation of MWFs (cohort
Storage cost Biodegradability of the Level of recycling studies)
Electricity cost disposed components Workplace Toxicity of chemical
Disposal costs contamination components
73 Sustainability Index of Metalworking Fluids in the Manufacturing. . .
1873
Mixing Pressure
Dynamometer Gauge
chamber
Tool
Head stock
Pressure MWFs
Gauge
Work-piece Tail stock Compressed

air
Fig. 13 Line diagram of the experimental setup for turning operation along with MQL circuit
Fig. 14 Schematic diagram of the workpiece after turning operation
particular MRR over a time period is calculated. A cylindrical bar (rod) with 35 mm
diameter and 120 mm length, which is to be step turned to a final diameter of 33 mm
as represented in Fig. 14, is considered for the hypothetical example. The MRR of
the hypothetical step turning is determined using the following formula (Pant et al.
2017) (Table 5, Fig. 14):
MRR = π ∗ f ∗ d ∗ Davg ∗ N (5)
The experimental setup for the example is represented in the form of a line
diagram in Fig. 13. For this case, the feed, cutting speed, depth of cut, length of
the rod, initial and final diameter of the rod, and rotational speeds are assumed to be
0.2 mm/rev, 190 m/min, 0.1 mm, 120 mm, 35 mm and 33 mm, 500 rpm, respectively,
from the available literature, assuming this optimal setting of the process parameters
will give the nominal output. MRR for the cylindrical bar with the abovementioned
optimal setting of process parameters is calculated to be 1068.14 mm3 /min. The
cutting time (also known as machining time) for this example can be obtained by the
L/(f ∗ N) (Pant et al. 2017). The cutting time is calculated to be 1.2 min. The motive
of finding the MRR is to calculate the average lubricant quantity consumed for its
Table 5 Assumed values of the various parameters used in the hypothetical example
Average Diameter
Initial Diameter (Di ) Final Diameter (Df ) (Davg ) Length (L) Feed (f ) Rotational Speed (N) Depth of Cut (d) Cutting Speed (v)
35 mm 33 mm 34 mm 120 mm 0.2 mm/rev 500 rpm 0.1 mm 190 m/min
73 Sustainability Index of Metalworking Fluids in the Manufacturing. . .
1875
corresponding machining time. Assuming a flow rate of MQL to be 150 ml/hr.,

the total quantity of lubricant that is flown at the cutting zone for a cutting time
of 1.2 min is 3 ml. Once the cutting time is determined, the amount of MWFs
used in that particular time is determined. The cost of the MWF for the determined
usage quantity over a period can be calculated, which is one of the deterministic
components of SI.
Depending upon the cutting time calculated for the hypothetical example, the
annual usage of MWFs is approximately calculated to be 252 liters assuming
the number of working days to be 20 per month with 7 actual cutting hours per
day. The total cost (cMWF ) of MWFs for 252 liters is | 25,200 (assuming cost of
MWFs/liter = | 100). The cost (cSO ) of MQL setup is assumed to be | 1000. The
average annual storage and maintenance cost (cM & cST ) of MWFs is assumed to be
| 2000. Based on the above set of assumptions, the total cost component (CM ) for the
annual usage of MWFs during the turning operation can be determined by weighting
and aggregating all the costs. The other deterministic component is the cost of the
power or the energy consumed during the production and usage of MWFs. Let the
total energy consumed for the pumping of 252 liters of MWFs is 504 units or kWh
(assuming that the 5 liters of pumping consume 10 units of energy). Therefore, the
total cost (eU ) for pumping 252 liters is determined to be | 4032 (| 8 per unit).
Let the total units of energy assumed to be consumed during the production of
MWFs be 50 units and the cost of energy consumed (ePR ) during the production
of MWFs is determined to be | 8. The total deterministic component (CP ) of energy
can be determined by weighting and aggregating both the abovementioned costs.
Having calculated the two deterministic components, it is assumed that the total
annual cost component (CW ) of waste management is approximately | 2000. The
overall deterministic component can be calculated by using Eq. (3) for different
weights of WM , WP , and WW . The total deterministic component of the system under
consideration is calculated to be 82.12% at the weights of WM , WP , and WW taken
as 0.2, 0.4, and 0.4, respectively.
Evaluation of Nondeterministic Components of SI
Following a similar kind of division of levels of the nondeterministic factors and

the same set of assumptions for the present work, the SI index of nondeterministic
components for the system under consideration can be obtained from the literature
(Najiha et al. 2016). The SI of nondeterministic components (SSHE ) for the MWFs
with MQL setup, thus obtained from the previous work, is 64.2%, which was
quantified using a fuzzy logic-based methodology.
Sustainability Index of the System under Consideration
To calculate the overall sustainability, the weights for the deterministic and non-
deterministic components are assumed to be 0.6 and 0.4. The SI for deterministic
components and nondeterministic components are 82.12% and 64.2%, respectively

(from Sects. “Evaluation of Nondeterministic Components of SI” and “Sustainabil-
ity Index of the System under Consideration”). Therefore, the overall sustainability
index aggregated as per the weights for this hypothetical case study is 74.96%.
Thus, the SI for any system can be calculated using this methodology, which is
a combination of numerical or analytical methods to compute the deterministic
components and fuzzy logic-based methodology to determine the nondeterministic
components of SI.
From the Eq. (4),
S = (CSH E × SSH E ) + (COP × SOP )
Therefore, S = (0.4 × 64.2) + (0.6 × 82.12); S = 74.96%

The other aspects to be considered while calculating the deterministic compo-
nents of SI for any system is the quantification of CO2 emissions, the Carbon
footprint of electricity generation and water treatment, the biodegradability of the
disposed components, rate of injuries, and lost time for injuries which were not
accounted in the presented example. The most realistic approach would be to
consider these aspects while calculating the deterministic part of the sustainability
index for its precise assessment.
Conclusion/Summary
Sustainability can be classified into process sustainability, product sustainability,

or overall system sustainability. In this chapter, previous literature is thoroughly
referred to assess sustainability at the process and the product levels. This chapter
focuses on the process implementation to assess the sustainability index with which
the overall sustainability of any system under consideration of the study can be
determined. The system under consideration in this chapter is the MWFs used for
various advantageous purposes during machining operations and in combination
with minimum quantity lubrication (MQL). The sustainability index is a combi-
nation of three deterministic components and three nondeterministic components,
hence to assess the overall sustainability of any system, these deterministic and
nondeterministic components are to be evaluated. In this chapter, the numeri-
cal or analytical approach of evaluating the deterministic cost components of
the SI is illustrated, which can be evaluated using bottom-up cost calculations.
These deterministic components are relatively easy to evaluate because of their
deterministic nature, while the difficult part remains to be to evaluate the non-
quantifiable/nondeterministic components that are operational safety, the health of
the operator and environmental impact. To evaluate these value or opinion based
components, the Fuzzy logic technique can be used effectively as a fuzzy logic
gives reliable justifications to the relatively difficult to understand parameters and
for things that involve human subjectivity. The defuzzification methods can be
implemented to convert the aggregated outputs of nondeterministic components
to achieve a numerical value. To understand the computations of nondeterministic

components, an example is presented. Once the deterministic and nondeterministic
components are evaluated, they can be summed up as per equations available in
the literature to find out the overall sustainability index, taking into account the
weighting factors. This chapter paves the way for understanding a structure and
scheme of evaluating the sustainability index of any MWFs system with MQL
setup. Thus, the sustainability level of any system can be assessed by evaluating
the sustainability index as a part of achieving sustainable manufacturing in the era
of Industry 4.0.
Nomenclature
MWFs Metal Working Fluids
SI Sustainability Index
TBL Triple bottom line
AHP Analytical hierarchy process
MQL Minimum quantity lubrication
PR Unit price of raw material per Kg (in |)
nR Quantity of raw material in Kg
cR Total cost of the raw materials (in |)
tE Total life span of equipment in years
V Volume of MWFs
cE Total cost of equipment used for the synthesis of MWFs (in |)
cSO Total cost of MQL setup (in |)
cM Total maintenance cost of MWFs (in |)
cST Total Storage cost of MWFs (in |)
ePR Total cost for the energy consumed in the production of MWFs (in |)
eU Total cost of energy consumed for pumping the MWFs from the storage to the cutting
zone (in |)
wPR Total cost associated with waste management during the production of MWFs (in |)
wD Total cost associated with waste management during the disposal of the used MWFs
(in |)
wR Total cost associated with recycling of the used MWFs (positive input to the system)
CM Total production cost of MWFs (in |)
CP Total cost of energy consumption during the production and usage of MWFs (in |)
Cw Total cost associated with the waste management during production, usage and post-
usage of MWFs
SOP Total value for deterministic components of SI
SSHE Total value for nondeterministic components of SI
S Overall sustainability index
CSHE weighting factor for nondeterministic components (0 to 1)
COP weighting factor for deterministic components (0 to 1)
MRR Material removal rate in mm3 /min
TWR Tool wear rate in mm3 /min
f Feed in mm/Rev.
d Depth of cut in mm
Di Initial diameter of cylindrical work piece in mm
Df Final diameter of cylindrical work piece in mm
Davg Average diameter of the cylindrical work piece in mm
N Rotational speed of the work piece in rpm
v Cutting speed in m/min

L Length of the work piece
cMWF Total Purchase cost of MWFs
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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207543.2014.993773
Wind Energy System: Data Analysis
and Operational Management 74
Vikas Khare and Cheshta J. Khare
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1882
Basics of Descriptive Statistics in the Field of Wind Energy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1885
Measurement of Central Tendency of Wind Energy System Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1886
Percentile and Quartile (PQ) Assessment of Wind Energy System Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1894
Mean Absolute Deviation, Variance, and Standard Deviation (MVS)-Based
Assessment of Wind Energy Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1895
Frequency Distribution of Prefeasibility Data of Wind Energy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1897
Measurement of Central Tendency and Variability of Wind Energy Grouped Data . . . . . . . 1897
Regression Analysis of Wind Energy System Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1901
Cross Tabulation and Scatterplot of Wind Velocity Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1904
Operational Management of Wind Energy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1904
Operational Management of Flexible Generation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1908
Operational Management-Based Maintainability and Availability Function
of Wind Energy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1911
Maintainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1911
Confidence Level of Repairable System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1916
Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1918
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1918
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1919
Website for Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1920
V. Khare ()
STME, NMIMS, Indore, India
C. J. Khare
SGSITS, Indore, India
1882 V. Khare and C. J. Khare
Abstract
In the recent scenario, renewable energy system plays very vital role, and growth
of such type of green industry is increased in very splendid way because green
energy also decreases the pollution from the atmosphere. Wind energy system is
one of the highly recognized renewable energy sources to generate the electricity
in all over the world. This chapter introduces data analysis and operational
management of wind energy system because in industry 4.0, data analytics and
operation and strategic management are the very hot topic and are utilized for
prediction analysis and total quality management of wind energy system. In this
chapter, we analyzed frequency distribution of wind velocity of certain location
and qualitative and quantitative analysis of wind energy system, and further
result of given data is also assessed through R-language. After the completion
of prefeasibility assessment of wind energy system, we explain optimum design
of wind energy system through operational management process. A three-tier
model of wind energy system for assessing the competitiveness of a location is
presented, and location decision in wind energy distribution system must address
the requirement of responsiveness. Wind energy component manufacturing
company needs to spend a considerable amount of money to carry inventory.
The cost of stores and the administrative cost related to maintaining inventory
and accounting for it form a significant part of this cost. So arise such type of
issues in this chapter to explain inventory and total quality management of wind
energy system for increasing the system efficiency and reducing the loss.
Keywords
Wind energy system · Total quality management · Decision science ·

R-language
Introduction
In the recent scenario, it is necessary to develop green and effective environment

and reduce greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Nowadays, lots of country
are working toward the renewable energy sources such as solar energy, biomass,
small hydro system, tidal energy system, wave energy system, and wind energy
system. Wind energy system is one of the most prominent energy sources, and with
phenomenal development in the field of electricity generation through wind energy
system, wind power data sources have raised sharply. Wind speed or wind flow
velocity is a fundamental atmospheric rate which is caused by air moving from
high pressure to low pressure usually due to changes in temperature difference.
Wind speed data are measured at height above the ground level and is known
as anemometer height. The mathematical modeling of wind energy conversion
system depends on wind turbine dynamic characteristics and parameter of the wind
generator. Nondimensional shown as a motivation behind the tip speed proportion
is a fundamental trait of wind turbine. Fundamentally produced power is, to a
great extent, relying upon the 3D square of the breeze speed. In the wind energy
74 Wind Energy System: Data Analysis and Operational Management 1883
framework, it is important to successful use of given information and viable working

of in general wind energy framework. Comprehensive utilization of wind power
information investigation and operational administration can give a compelling
method to safe activity of excellent force flexibly of a breeze energy framework.
The viable objective of information examination and operational administration
research in the field of wind energy framework is to gotten mindful of ignorance,
and unbiasedly, there are verifiable truths and obscure realities which influence the
working of wind energy framework. Information Analysis causes us, in realizing
what we don’t have, the foggiest idea and is done in two different ways: from little
too huge and from large excessively little. It is important to build up an appropriate
knowledge perspective on information examination in the field of wind energy
framework and model out the structure of wind energy framework through the
successful operational administration. The logical disobedience in the breeze energy
framework area is creating huge volumes of information with significant power in
the business and viable cycles of framework administrators, age organization, and
the customer. Information investigation strategies can be applied to state assessment,
estimating, and control issues, just as to help the cooperation of market specialists
in the power market. The information removed from a breeze energy framework
and market information has a huge effect in key execution pointers, as operational
effectiveness (e.g., working costs), speculation deferral, and nature of gracefully.
Besides, plans of action identified with information examination and operational
administration handling are developing and boosting new energy administrations.
Wind speed information is estimated tallness over the ground and is known
as anemometer stature. The numerical plan of wind energy change framework
incorporates wind turbine elements and generator demonstrating. Nondimensional
introduction as a component of the tip speed proportion is a fundamental attribute of
wind turbine. Fundamentally created energy is generally relying upon the shape of
the wind speed. The output of mechanical power captured from the wind by a wind
turbine can be formulated as
Cp λρAV 3
Wt =
2
and torque developed by a wind turbine can be expressed as
Wt
Tt =
ωm
where Wt is the output power, Tt the torque developed by wind turbine, Cp the power
coefficient, λ the tip speed ratio, ρ the air density in kg/m3 , A the frontal area of wind
turbine, and V the wind speed. In wind energy system data, Weibull distribution
factor which is the distribution of wind speed over a year is 1.961. Autocorrelation
factor is 0.86 which presents random behavior of wind speed.
Lots of researchers work toward the data analysis of wind energy system, where
Azad and Rasul (2015) described assessment of power generation through wind
energy system by Weibull distribution. Three different Weibull distribution methods
were used to find out Weibull parameters which were verified using different widely
acceptable statistical tools. Relative percentage error, chi-square error, analysis of
variance, etc., are the efficient statistical tools to rank the method which was used
in this study. Khare (2020) explained assessment of solar wind hybrid renewable
energy system through big data analysis. The objective of this research is to present
a technological framework for the management of large volumes, variety, and
velocity of solar system-related information through big data tools such as Hadoop
to support the assessment of solar and wind energy system. Zhang (2020) described
calculation and analysis of wind turbine health monitoring indicators based on the
relationships with SCADA data. Taking the normal operation state model of the
wind turbine as the standard reference and based on the Euclidean distance between
the state model curve and the standard model curve, the health index of the wind
turbine operation state is proposed. Luo (2017) explained wind turbine condition
monitoring by physical-based analysis. Physics-based data analysis methods for
improving damage feature extractions, especially for that lower-frequency shaft-
related component, are proposed and demonstrated.
This chapter developed new insights in the field of wind energy system and is
distributed into 12 sections. Sections “Basics of Descriptive Statistics in the Field
of Wind Energy System”, “Measurement of Central Tendency of Wind Energy
System Data”, “Percentile and Quartile (PQ) Assessment of Wind Energy System
Data”, “Mean Absolute Deviation, Variance, and Standard Deviation (MVS)-Based
Assessment of Wind Energy Data”, “Frequency Distribution of Prefeasibility Data
of Wind Energy System”, “Measurement of Central Tendency and Variability of
Wind Energy Grouped Data”, “Regression Analysis of Wind Energy System Data”,
and “Cross Tabulation and Scatterplot of Wind Velocity Data“” described assess-
ment of wind energy system through data analysis further. Sections “Operational
Management of Wind Energy System”, “Operational Management of Flexible
Generation System“”, and “Operational Management-Based Maintainability and
Availability Function of Wind Energy System” explained operational management
of wind energy system. Section “Basics of Descriptive Statistics in the Field
of Wind Energy System” described basics of descriptive statistics in the field
of wind energy system. Sections “Measurement of Central Tendency of Wind
Energy System Data” and “Percentile and Quartile (PQ) Assessment of Wind
Energy System Data” explained measurement of central tendency and percentile
and quartile assessment of wind energy system data, respectively. In Sect. “Mean
Absolute Deviation, Variance, and Standard Deviation (MVS)-Based Assessment
of Wind Energy Data”, assessment of wind energy system data is done through the
mean absolute deviation, variance, and standard deviation. Frequency distribution
of prefeasibility data of wind energy system is assessed in Sect. “Frequency
Distribution of Prefeasibility Data of Wind Energy System”. Section “Measurement
of Central Tendency and Variability of Wind Energy Grouped Data” described
measurement of central tendency and variability of wind energy grouped data.
Section “Regression Analysis of Wind Energy System Data” analyzed regression
analysis of wind energy system data. In Sect. “Cross Tabulation and Scatterplot
of Wind Velocity Data”, cross tabulation and scatterplot of wind velocity data are
presented. Section “Operational Management of Wind Energy System” described

operational management of wind energy system. Operational management of flex-
ible generation system is analyzed in Sect. “Operational Management of Flexible
Generation System”. Section “Operational Management-Based Maintainability and
Availability Function of Wind Energy System” described operational management-
based maintainability and availability function of wind energy system. This chapter
ends with the conclusion and reference section. In this chapter, some analysis is also
done through the R-language programming.
Basics of Descriptive Statistics in the Field of Wind Energy System
Prior to installation and operation, the prefeasibility study of wind energy system
has to be done. In any wind energy projects, an initial study is undertaken to
determine whether it is worthwhile to continue to the viability study stage. A precise
feasibility study should provide a chronological background of the projects. In
addition to climate condition of the application site, availability of wind energy
sources, potential of wind energy sources, and load demand of application sites are
included to find out the best location to develop a wind energy system. Generally, a
feasibility study is preceded by technical development and project implementation.
It must therefore be conducted with an impartial approach to provide information
upon which decisions can be based. Here, you can apply concept of descriptive
statistics in primary level assessment of wind energy system. Following are the
primary level qualitative factors, which are necessary to assess through descriptive
statistics for proper functioning of wind energy system (Tummala 2019):
• Availability of wind velocity

• Load capacity
• Size of the generator
• Hub height
• Cost analysis of the overall project
If any wind energy company want to establish 50 kW wind power plant at a

particular location, top-level management visits number of sites and decides which
location will be more compatible for wind energy system, so in that case, one
question keeps in mind, amount of wind velocity at that place. So now, it is necessary
to data analysis in terms of descriptive statistics of wind velocity of a number of
locations. Here, first, you can assess measures of central tendency of wind velocity
in terms of ungrouped data. Measures of central tendency yield information about
the center, or middle part, of a group of number.
For the analysis of wind energy system, it is necessary to know the level
of data measurement (Fig. 1) represented by the numbers being analyzed. The
appropriateness of the data analysis depends on the level of measurement of the
data gathered. The phenomenon represented by the numbers determines the level
of data measurement. The lowest level of data measurement of wind energy system
• Prefeasibility Assessment Data

• Optimum Sizing Data
Nominal Level • Control System Data
• Reliability Analysis Data
• Ranking of wind energy system according to the plant capacity

Ordinal Level
• Day-wise, month-wise and year-wise wind velocity and load

Interval Level demand
• Efficiency of generator, turbine and overall system

Ratio Level
Fig. 1 Data measurement of wind energy system
is nominal data level, and it is only used to classify or categorize the given data
sets. In the wind energy system, the terminology such as prefeasibility analysis,
modelling, controlling, and reliability analysis comes under the category of nominal
data because in this type of data measurement, whole data of wind energy system
is categorized into prefeasibility analysis data, modelling data, controlling data,
and reliability analysis data. In the ordinal level of wind energy system, data
measurement is used to rank or order the different factors, for example, ranking
of wind energy system according to the capacity of the plant. Nominal and ordinal
data measurement is the nonmetric type of data because it shows only qualitative
analysis of the wind energy system. At the next stage, data measurement through
interval level and ratio level is called the metric level type and quantitative analysis
of wind energy system. In interval level of data measurement of wind energy system,
we can assess day-wise charging and discharging rates of electric battery and day-
wise, month-wise, and year-wise data of wind velocity at the particular location.
Ratio-level data measurement is the highest level of data measurement, in which we
can identify efficiency of generator, battery, and overall wind energy system.
Measurement of Central Tendency of Wind Energy System Data
When you will apply the concept of central tendency to assess the wind velocity,
then assessment is done through the “3M,” which means MODE, MEDIAN, and
MEAN. The mode is the most frequently occurring value of wind velocity in a
given set of data. Median is the middle value of wind velocity in an ordered array
data. For an odd number of values of wind velocity, find the middle value of the
ordered array as a median, and for an even number of values of wind velocity,
find the average of the middle two terms. The arithmetic mean is the average of
a group of numbers and is computed by summing all numbers and dividing by the
number of numbers (Hussain 2018a). So again, for establishment of 50 kW wind
energy system, a company identifies three possible locations and collects month-
wise average wind velocity (m/s) of an individual location in Table 1. Table 2 shows
data of wind velocity in ordered array.
Then according to the given data set of wind velocity, find out the value of mean,
mode, and median. Figure shows the mean of wind velocity for locations 1, 2, and
3 through R-language programming (Figs. 2, 3, and 4).
Mean of location 1 = (5.1 + 6.4 + 7.4 + 9.4 + 9.4 + 11.1 + 11.2

+11.3 + 12.6 + 13.9 + 14.3 + 15.8) /12 = 127.9/12 = 10.65
Mean of location 2 = (5.8 + 6.9 + 8.3 + 9 + 11 + 12.4 + 12.4 + 13.3 + 15
+16.5 + 17.3 + 18) /12 = 145.9/12 = 12.15
Table 1 Month-wise Month Location 1 Location 2 Location 3

average wind velocity (m/s)
January 5.1 9 4.5
February 6.4 6.9 7.3
March 11.3 11 7.3
April 9.4 12.4 8.9
May 12.6 15 6.2
June 11.2 13.3 10.8
July 15.8 17.3 11.6
August 14.3 18 12.9
September 7.4 5.8 14.6
October 11.1 12.4 7.4
November 13.9 16.5 5.1
December 9.4 8.3 8.9
Table 2 Month-wise Induction 1 Induction 2 Induction 3

average wind velocity in
5.1 5.8 4.5
ascending order (m/s)
6.4 6.9 5.1
7.4 8.3 6.2
9.4 9 7.3
9.4 11 7.3
11.1 12.4 7.4
11.2 12.4 8.9
11.3 13.3 8.9
12.6 15 10.8
13.9 16.5 11.6
14.3 17.3 12.9
15.8 18 14.6
Fig. 2 Mean of wind velocity for location 1 through R-Language

Mean of location 3 = (4.5 + 5.1 + 6.2 + 7.3 + 7.3 + 7.4 + 8.9 + 8.9 + 10.8
+11.6 + 12.9 + 14.6) /12 = 105.5/12 = 8.79
In the next step, you identify mode of wind velocity data of locations 1, 2, and
3. Figure shows mode of wind velocity data of locations 1, 2, and 3 through R-
Language programming (Figs. 5, 6, and 7).
Mode of location 1 = most frequent value of wind velocity = 9.4

(number of occurrence 2)
Mode of location 2 = most frequent value of wind velocity = 12.4
Fig. 5 Mode of wind velocity for location 1 through R-Language

Fig. 8 Median of wind velocity for location 1 through R-Language
Mode of location 3 = most frequent value of wind velocity = 7.3, 8.9

After the mean and mode, we identify the median of locations 1, 2, and 3. Figure
shows median of locations 1, 2, and 3 through R-language programming (Figs. 8, 9,
and 10).
Median of location 1 = odd number of values, so median is the average of 6th

and 7th number of the value of wind velocity = (11.1 + 11.2) /2 = 11.15
Median of location 2 = (12.4 + 12.4) /2 = 12.4
Median of location 3 = (7.4 + 8.9) /2 = 8.15

Table 3 Comparative Location 1 Location 2 Location 3

analysis of data
Mean 10.65 12.15 8.79
Mode 9.4 12.4 7.3, 8.9
Median 11.15 12.4 8.15
Table 3 shows that in descriptive statistics of all the location and result according
to the data of wind velocity, location 2 is suitable rather than location 1 and location
3. Because the mean of location 2 is 12.15 m/s, which is greater than the mean of
other location, so easily understand that 12.15 is suitable value of wind velocity
for electricity generation. The mode of location 2 is 12.4 which is greater than
mode of locations 1 and 3. So that central tendency is useful to find out the
descriptive statistics of wind velocity and also useful to find out suitable location
for establishment of wind power plant. After the descriptive assessment, now you
can develop data visualization of wind velocity data through bar chart in Fig. 11.
Now, it is necessary to identify the descriptive statistics of load demand of
location 2 (Table 4), which is finalized to establish the wind energy system.
Month-wise wind velocity for 3 location

20
18
18 17.3
16.5
16 15 15.8 14.6
14.3 13.9
14 13.3 12.9
12.4 12.6 12.4
11.3 11.2 11.6 11.1
12 11 10.8
10 9 9.48.9 9.48.9
Location 1
7.3 7.3 7.4 7.4 8.3
8 6.9 Location2
6.4 6.2 5.8
6 5.1 5.1
4.5 Location3
4
2
0
Fig. 11 Month-wise wind velocity for three locations
Table 4 Month-wise Month Load capacity (kw)

average load capacity kW
January 32
February 29
March 35
April 37
May 36
June 41
July 32
August 34
September 28
October 26
November 29
December 29
Mean of location 2 = (32 + 29 + 35 + 37 + 36 + 41 + 32 + 34 + 28+

26 + 29 + 29) /12 = 388/12 = 32.34
Mode of location 2 = most frequent value of demand capacity = 29
Median of location 2 = (41 + 32) /2 = 36.5
Above descriptive statistics shows that mean of load demand is 32.34 KW and
median is 36.5 KW. Value of mode for the load demand of location 2 for wind
power plant is 29, and number of occurrence is 3, which shows that load demand is
Load Capacity (KW)

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Fig. 12 Month-wise load capacity
45
41 Load Capacity (kw)
40 37
35 36 Wind Velocity (m/s)
34
35 32 32
29 28 29 29
30
26
25
20 17.3 18
16.5
15
15 12.4 13.3 12.4
11
9 8.3
10 6.9 5.8
5
0
Fig. 13 Comparative analysis of load capacity and wind velocity
saturated or steady state (Hussain 2018b). Now, you can develop data visualization
of load demand and also comparative data visualization between wind velocity of
location 2 and load demand of location 2 (Figs. 12 and 13).
Percentile and Quartile (PQ) Assessment of Wind Energy System

Data
In the previous analysis, assessment of wind energy system data is evaluated through
the “3M” concept, which means mean, mode, and median. Now, assessment is
done through the “PQ” concept. PQ is the percentile and quartiles measurement
of wind energy system data. Percentiles are measures of central tendency that
divide a group of data into 100 parts. There are 97 percentiles because it takes 97
dividers to separate a group of data into 100 parts (Hussain 2019a). In the percentiles
calculation, first arrange the wind energy system data into an ascending order, and
then identify the percentile location (k) by

P
k= n
100
where P is the percentile of interest, k is the percentile location, and n is the number
in the data set. If k is a whole number, the Pth percentile is the average of the value
at the kth and the value at the (k + 1)st location, and if k is not a whole number, the
Pth percentile value is located at the whole number part of j + 1.
Quartiles are measure of central tendency that divide a group of data into four
subgroups or parts. The three quartiles are denoted as Q1, Q2, and Q3. The first
quartile Q1 separates the first or lowest one fourth of the data from the upper three
fourths and is equal to the 25th percentile. The second quartile Q2 is located at the
50th percentile and equals the median of the data. The third quartile is equal to the
value of the 75th percentile.
In the “PQ” assessment, you can determine 40th percentile of the following 12-
month average wind velocity data of location 2 (Table 5).
Table 5 Wind velocity data Month Location 2 (wind velocity)

of location 2
January 9
February 6.9
March 11
April 12.4
May 15
June 13.3
July 17.3
August 18
September 5.8
October 12.4
November 16.5
December 8.3
First, organize the data into ascending order:
5.8, 6.9,
8.3,
9, 11, 12.4, 12.4, 13.3, 15, 16.5, 17.3, 18
k = 10040
12= 4.8
Because k is not a whole number, the value of k + 1 is 4.8 + 1 = 5.8. The

whole number of 5.8 is 6. The 40th percentile is located at the sixth value. The sixth
value is 12.4, so 12.4 is the 40th percentile of wind velocity data set. In the quartile
measurement, you want to determine the values of Q1, Q2, and Q3 for the above
number set of 12th month average wind velocity of location 2 (Shtessel et al. 2014).
The value of Q1is found
at the 25th percentile, P25 , by
For n = 12 k = 100 12 = 3
25
Because k is a whole number, P25 is found as the average of third and fourth
value of wind velocity P25 = (8.3 + 9)/2 = 8.65
The value of Q1 is P25 = 8.65.
The value of Q2 is equal to the median, n = 12, so median average of two middle
values is
Q2 = (12.4 + 12.4) /2 = 12.4
The value of Q3is found

at the 75th percentile, P75 , by
For n = 12 k = 100 12 = 9
75
Because k is a whole number, P25 is found as the average of ninth and tenth value
of wind velocity P75 = (15 + 16.5)/2 = 15.75
Mean Absolute Deviation, Variance, and Standard Deviation

(MVS)-Based Assessment of Wind Energy Data
MVS is another measure of variability in terms of “M = mean absolute deviation,”

“V = variance,” and “S = standard deviation.” The mean absolute deviation is
the average of the absolute values of the deviations around the mean for a set of
numbers. The variance is the average of the squared deviations about the arithmetic
mean for a set of numbers. The population variance is denoted by σ 2 . The standard
deviation is the square root of the variance (Guediri 2017). The population standard
deviation is denoted by σ . Table 6 shows deviation from the mean for wind velocity
data of location 2. Table 7 shows variance and standard deviation of wind velocity
data.
Now, the value of variance and standard deviation is

(x − μ)2 183.19
Variance = σ =2
= = 15.26
n 12
Table 6 Deviation from the mean for wind velocity data of location 2
Deviation from mean
Month Wind velocity (x) (x–μ)
January 9 9–12.15 = −3.15
February 6.9 6.9–12.15 = −5.25
March 11 11–12.15 = −1.15
April 12.4 12.4–12.15 = −0.25
May 15 15–12.15 = 2.85
June 13.3 13.3–12.15 = 1.15
July 17.3 17.3–12.15 = 5.15
August 18 18–12.15 = 5.85
September 5.8 5.8–12.15 = −6.35
October 12.4 12.4–12.15 = −0.25
November 16.5 16.5–12.15 = 4.35
December 8.3 8.3–12.15 = −3.85

x=145.9 (x − μ) = 0
Mean μ = 145.9/12 = 12.15
Table 7 Variance and standard deviation of wind velocity data

Deviation from mean
Month Wind velocity (x) (x–μ) (x − μ)2
January 9 9–12.15 = −3.15 9.9225
February 6.9 6.9–12.15 = −5.25 27.5625
March 11 11–12.15 = −1.15 1.3225
April 12.4 12.4–12.15 = −0.25 0.0625
May 15 15–12.15 = 2.85 8.1225
June 13.3 13.3–12.15 = 1.15 1.3225
July 17.3 17.3–12.15 = 5.15 26.5225
August 18 18–12.15 = 5.85 34.2225
September 5.8 5.8–12.15 = −6.35 40.3225
October 12.4 12.4–12.15 = −0.25 0.0625
November 16.5 16.5–12.15 = 4.35 18.9225
December 8.3 8.3–12.15 = −3.85 14.8225

x=145.9 (x − μ) = 0 (x − μ)2 = 183.19
Mean μ = 145.9/12 = 12.15

(x − μ)2 √
Standard Deviation = σ = = 15.26 = 3.906
n
The standard deviation is the separate entity and is a part of other analysis of
wind energy system.
Frequency Distribution of Prefeasibility Data of Wind Energy

System
A first step in exploring and analyzing data is to reduce important and sometimes
expensive data to a graphic picture that is clear, concise, and consistent with
the message of the original data. Frequency distribution is a summary of data
presented in the form of class interval and frequencies. Frequency distribution is
the assessment of grouped and ungrouped data. Raw data, or data that have not
been summarized in any way, are sometimes referred to as “ungrouped data.” Data
that have been organized into a frequency distribution are called “grouped data.”
The distinction between ungrouped and grouped data is important because the
calculation of statistics differs between the two types of data (Naidu 2020). Table 8
shows the raw data of wind velocity of 364 days for a particular location.
The table shows the frequency distribution of wind velocity data of 364 days.
In this analysis, whole data of 364 days is categorized into number of intervals, and
minimum and maximum value of class interval is 5 and 19, respectively. Frequency
of class interval shows the number of occurrences in between the given class
interval. The table shows the class midpoints, relative frequency, and cumulative
frequency of given data sets of wind velocity. The midpoint of the class interval is
called the class midpoint and is some-times referred to as the class mark. Relative
frequency is the proportion of the total frequency that is in any given class interval in
a frequency distribution (Mann 2018). The cumulative frequency is a running total
of frequencies through the classes of a frequency distribution (Tables 9 and 10).
In the next section, we assess and find out central tendency of grouped data to
find out the key insights of wind energy data measurement.
Measurement of Central Tendency and Variability of Wind Energy

Grouped Data
Grouped data do not provide information about individual values. Hence, measure
of central tendency and variability for grouped data must be computed differently
from those for ungrouped or raw data.
Mean: The mean for grouped data is then computed by summing the products of
the class midpoint and the class frequency for each class and dividing that sum by
the total number of frequencies. The formula for the mean of grouped data follows.

F i Mi F i Mi
Mean of grouped data : μGrouped = =
n Fi.
where Fi is the class frequency, Mi is the class midpoint, and n is the total frequency.
Median: The median for ungrouped or raw data is the middle value of an ordered
array of numbers. For grouped data, solving for the median is considerably more
complicated. The calculation of the median for grouped data is done by using the
following formula:
1898
Table 8 Wind velocity (m/s) data of 364 days for a particular location
5.1 7 8.9 10.8 12.7 14.6 16.5 18.4 8.1 11.2 13.1 16.6 7.1 9 10.9 12.8 14.7 6.8 12.3
5.2 7.1 9 10.9 12.8 14.7 16.6 6.3 8.2 11.3 13.2 16.7 7.2 9.1 11 12.9 14.8 6.9 12.4
5.3 7.2 9.1 11 12.9 14.8 16.7 6.4 8.3 11.4 14.9 16.8 7.3 9.2 11.1 13 5.1 7 12.5
5.4 7.3 9.2 11.1 13 14.9 16.8 6.5 8.4 11.5 15 16.9 7.4 9.3 11.2 13.1 5.2 7.1 12.6
5.5 7.4 9.3 11.2 13.1 15 16.9 6.6 8.5 11.6 15.1 17 7.5 9.4 11.3 13.2 5.3 7.2 12.7
5.6 7.5 9.4 11.3 13.2 15.1 17 6.7 8.6 11.7 15.2 17.1 7.6 9.5 11.4 13.3 5.4 7.3 12.8
5.7 7.6 9.5 11.4 13.3 15.2 17.1 6.8 8.7 11.8 15.3 17.2 7.7 9.6 11.5 13.4 5.5 7.4 12.9
5.8 7.7 9.6 11.5 13.4 15.3 17.2 6.9 8.8 11.9 15.4 17.3 7.8 9.7 11.6 13.5 5.6 7.5 13
5.9 7.8 9.7 11.6 13.5 15.4 17.3 7 8.9 12 15.5 17.4 7.9 9.8 11.7 13.6 5.7 7.6 13.1
6 7.9 9.8 11.7 13.6 15.5 17.4 7.1 9 12.1 15.6 17.5 8 9.9 11.8 13.7 5.8 7.7 13.2
6.1 8 9.9 11.8 13.7 15.6 17.5 7.2 9.1 12.2 15.7 17.6 8.1 10 11.9 13.8 5.9 7.8 13.3
6.2 8.1 10 11.9 13.8 15.7 17.6 7.3 9.2 12.3 15.8 17.7 8.2 10.1 12 13.9 6 7.9 13.4
6.3 8.2 10.1 12 13.9 15.8 17.7 7.4 10.5 12.4 15.9 6.4 8.3 10.2 12.1 14 6.1 8 13.5
6.4 8.3 10.2 12.1 14 15.9 17.8 7.5 10.6 12.5 16 6.5 8.4 10.3 12.2 14.1 6.2 8.1 13.6
6.5 8.4 10.3 12.2 14.1 16 17.9 7.6 10.7 12.6 16.1 6.6 8.5 10.4 12.3 14.2 6.3 8.2 13.7
6.6 8.5 10.4 12.3 14.2 16.1 18 7.7 10.8 12.7 16.2 6.7 8.6 10.5 12.4 14.3 6.4 11.9 13.8
6.7 8.6 10.5 12.4 14.3 16.2 18.1 7.8 10.9 12.8 16.3 6.8 8.7 10.6 12.5 14.4 6.5 12 13.9
6.8 8.7 10.6 12.5 14.4 16.3 18.2 7.9 11 12.9 16.4 6.9 8.8 10.7 12.6 14.5 6.6 12.1 14
6.9 8.8 10.7 12.6 14.5 16.4 18.3 8 11.1 13 16.5 7 8.9 10.8 12.7 14.6 6.7 12.2 14.1
14.2 14.3 14.4
V. Khare and C. J. Khare
Table 9 Frequency Class interval Frequency

distribution of wind velocity
5 under 7 51
(m/s) data of 364 days for a
particular location 7 under 9 73
9 under 11 48
11 under 13 71
13 under 15 58
15 under 17 40
17 under 19 23
Table 10 Class midpoints, relative frequencies, and cumulative frequency

Class interval Frequency Class midpoints Relative frequencies Cumulative frequencies
5 under 7 51 6 0.14011 51
7 under 9 73 8 0.200549 124
9 under 11 48 10 0.131868 172
11 under 13 71 12 0.195055 243
13 under 15 58 14 0.159341 301
15 under 17 40 16 0.10989 341
17 under 19 23 18 0.063187 364
Total 364

n
− CF P
Median of the grouped data = Median = l+ 2
D
FMED
where l is the lower limit of the median class interval, CFP are a cumulative total of
the frequencies up to but not including frequency of the median class, FMED is the
frequency of the median class, and D is the width of the median class interval.
Mode: The mode for grouped data is the class midpoint of the model class. The
modal class is the class interval with the greatest frequency.
Measures of Variability: The measures of variability for grouped data are
presented here: the variance and standard deviation. Again, the standard deviation
is the square root of the variance.
“Original Formulas” for Population Variance and Standard Deviation of Grouped
Data:

Fi (Mi − μ)2
σ =
2
n

σ = σ2
Formula for “computational version” is
2
Fi Mi2 − (
Fi Mi )
σ2 = n
n
Table 11 Calculation of grouped mean

Class Cumulative
Class interval Frequency (Fi ) midpoints (Mi ) frequencies Fi Mi
5 under 7 51 6 51 306
7 under 9 73 8 124 584
9 under 11 48 10 172 480
11 under 13 71 12 243 852
13 under 15 58 14 301 812
15 under 17 40 16 341 640
17 under 19 23 18 364 414

Total 364 Fi Mi = 4088

Fi Mi
μGrouped = n = 4088
364 = 11.23
Mean = 11.23
where Fi is the frequency, Mi is the class midpoint, n is the total frequencies of the
population, and μ is the grouped mean for the population. Refer to the table wind
velocity (m/s) data of 364 days for a particular location and frequency distribution
of wind velocity (m/s) data of 364 days for a particular location. Table 11 shows
calculation of grouped mean.
The first step in calculating a grouped median is to determine the value of n/2,
which is the location of the median term. Since there are 364 values (n), the value
of n/2 is 364/2 = 182. The median is 182th term.
The question to ask is, Where does the 182th term fall? This can be answered
by determining the cumulative frequencies for the data, as shown in Table. An
examination of these cumulative frequencies reveals that the 182th term falls in the
fourth-class interval because there are only 172 values in first three class intervals.
Thus, the median value is in the third-class interval between 11 and 13. The class
interval containing the median value is referred to as the median class interval. Since
the 182th value is between 11 and 13, the value of median must be at least 11.
How much more than 11 is the median? The difference between the location of the
median value, n/2 = 182, and the cumulative frequencies up to but not including
the median class interval, 172, and the frequency of median class is 71 (Wawrzinek
2020). Width of the class interval is 2. Now, we put the value in the formula of
median:

2 −172
364
182 − 172 10
Median = 11+ 2 = 11+ 2 = 11 + 2 = 11.28
71 71 71
Median = 11.28
The mode for grouped data is the class midpoint of the modal class. The modal
class is the class interval with the greatest frequency. Modal class is 11 under 13,
Table 12 Calculating grouped variance and standard deviation with the original formula
Class
Class Frequency midpoints (Mi –μ) Fi
interval (Fi ) (Mi ) Fi Mi μ = 11.23 (Mi –μ)2 (Mi –μ)2
5 under 7 51 6 306 6–12 = −6 36 1836
7 under 9 73 8 584 8–12 = −4 16 1168
9 under 11 48 10 480 10–12 = −2 04 192
11 under 13 71 12 852 12–12 = 0 00 0
13 under 15 58 14 812 14–12 = 2 04 232
15 under 17 40 16 640 16–12 = 4 16 640
17 under 19 23 18 414 18–12 = 6 36 828

Total 364 Fi Mi (Mi − μ)2 Fi(Mi –
= 4088 = 112 μ)2 = 4896

F (M −μ)2
σ 2 = Variance = i
n √ = √
i
364 = 13.45
4896
Standard deviation = σ = σ2 = 13.45 = 3.66
Table 13 Calculating grouped variance and standard deviation with the computational formula
Class midpoints
Class interval Frequency (Fi ) (Mi ) Fi Mi Fi Mi 2
5 under 7 51 6 306 1836
7 under 9 73 8 584 4672
9 under 11 48 10 480 4800
11 under 13 71 12 852 10,224
13 under 15 58 14 812 11,368
15 under 17 40 16 640 10,240
17 under 19 23 18 414 7452

Total 364 Fi Mi = 4088 F i M 2i =
50, 592

( F i Mi ) 2 2
F M2− 50592− (4088)
σ2 = i i n
= 364
= 50592−45911 = 13.45
n √ 364√ 364
Standard deviation = σ = σ = 13.45 = 3.66
2
and then class midpoint is 12.
Mode = 12
Measures of Variability:
“Original Formulas” for Population Variance and Standard Deviation of Grouped
Data (Tables 12 and 13).
Regression Analysis of Wind Energy System Data
Regression analysis is a process which identifies the relationship between the two
parameters, and it is categorized into two-part linear regression analysis and multi-
regression analysis. In linear regression analysis, one is dependent parameter, and
Table 14 Data of solar radiation and wind velocity

Month Solar radiation (x) (kWh/m2 /day) Wind velocity (y) (m/s)
1 6.3 9
2 7.1 6.9
3 8.4 11
4 8.6 12.4
5 8.8 15
6 9.0 13.3
7 7.6 17.3
8 7.1 18
9 6.5 5.8
10 6.6 12.4
11 6.8 16.5
12 6.4 8.3
one is independent parameter. The equation of regression analysis is given by

y = b0 + b1 x, where y is the dependent variable, x is the independent variable, b0
is the intercept of regression analysis, and b1 is the slope of the regression analysis
(Padhya 2020). In this analysis, find out the relationship between wind velocity and
solar radiation, where wind velocity is the dependent parameter, which depends on
the amount of solar radiation, or in the other way, solar radiation is the independent
parameter of this linear regression analysis (Table 14).
Slope of the Regression Analysis:

xy − ( )(
x y)
b1 = n
2 ( x )2
x − n
Intercept of Regression Line:

y x
b0 = − b1
n n
Correlation is a measure of the degree of relatedness of variables (Table 15). The

term “r” is a measure of linear correlation of the two variables. In this analysis,
identify the correlation between wind velocity and solar radiation, and the value of
r is 0.3419, so the + value denotes the perfect positive relationship between these
two parameters (Dupuis et al. 2020).
Table 15 Computation of correlation “R”

Wind
Solar radiation (x) velocity (y)
Month (kWh/m2 /day) (m/s) x2 y2 xy
1 6.3 9 39.69 81 56.7
2 7.1 6.9 50.41 47.61 48.99
3 8.4 11 70.56 121 92.4
4 8.6 12.4 73.96 153.76 106.64
5 8.8 15 77.44 225 132
6 9.0 13.3 81 176.89 119.7
7 7.6 17.3 57.76 299.29 131.48
8 7.1 18 50.41 324 127.8
9 6.5 5.8 42.25 33.64 37.7
10 6.6 12.4 43.56 153.76 81.84
11 6.8 16.5 46.24 272.25 112.2
12 6.4 8.3 40.96 68.89 53.12
2 2
X = 89.2 Y=145.9 X = 674.24 Y = 1957.09 XY = 1100.57

x y
xy −
n 1 1100.57 − 89.2×145.9
r= × = 12

2 ( x )2 89.22
674.24 −
2
y2 − (
y)
x − n n
12
1
× = 0.3419
145.92
1957.09 − 12
1100.57 − 89.2×145.9
1100.57 − 1084.52 16.05
b1 = 12
= = = 1.43
674.24 − (89.2)
2
674.24 − 663.05 11.19
12
145.9 89.2
b0 = − 1.43 = 12.15 − 10.62 = 1.53
12 12
y = 1.53 + 1.43x
Wind velocity = 1.53 + 1.43 (solar radiation)

Table 16 Wind energy Days Solar radiation (kWh/m2 /day) Wind velocity (m/s)
system data by wind velocity
1 6.3 9
and solar radiation
2 7.1 6.9
3 8.4 11
4 8.6 12.6
5 8.8 15
6 9.0 13.3
7 7.6 17.3
8 7.2 18
9 6.5 5.8
10 6.6 12.4
11 6.8 16.5
12 6.4 8.3
. . .
. . .
. . .
365 0.401 6.3
Cross Tabulation and Scatterplot of Wind Velocity Data
It is very common in descriptive statistics to want to analyze two variables

simultaneously in an effort to gain insight into a possible relationship between
them. Two of the more elementary tools for observing the relationship between
two variables are cross tabulation and scatterplot. Cross tabulation is a process
for developing a two-dimensional matrix that displays the frequency counts for
two variables simultaneously (Beltran et al. 2012). As an example of prefeasibility
analysis of wind energy system, gather a sample of 365 days’ data of solar radiation
(kwh/m2 /day) and wind velocity (Table 16).
By tallying the frequencies of responses for each combination of categories
between solar radiation and wind velocity, data are cross tabulated according to
the two variables (Table 17). A scatterplot is a two-dimensional graph plot of pairs
of points from two numerical variables. The scatterplot is a graphical tool that is
often used to examine possible relationship between two variables. Figure 14 shows
the scatterplot between wind velocity and solar radiation.
Operational Management of Wind Energy System
An operational management of wind energy system is defined as the assessment

of several activities such as generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity
through the wind power plant. In wind energy system, operations management
is a systematic approach to understanding the nature of issues and problems
related to electricity generation. In systematic approach, we studied the data of
Table 17 Cross tabulation table of wind energy data

Wind velocity (m/s)
Solar
radiation 5.8 6.9 8.3 9 11 12.4 12.6 13.3 15 16.5 17.3 18
6.3 4 3 6 2 3 5 1 1 3 3 3 1 35
6.4 5 5 4 3 6 1 3 4 2 3 1 3 40
6.5 3 2 1 1 2 4 3 5 2 3 2 1 29
6.6 2 4 3 5 2 3 2 1 2 1 1 1 27
6.8 5 5 4 3 6 1 3 4 2 3 2 3 41
7.1 4 3 5 2 3 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 29
7.2 4 4 4 3 5 1 3 3 2 3 1 3 36
7.6 3 2 3 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 1 3 23
8.4 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 1 2 21
8.6 3 3 4 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 1 2 26
8.8 3 3 4 2 5 1 3 3 2 3 1 3 33
9 3 3 4 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 2 1 25
41 39 44 25 36 26 23 31 25 34 17 24 365
Solar Radiation V/S Wind Velocity

20
18
16
14
12
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fig. 14 Scatterplot of wind velocity and solar radiation
the prefeasibility analysis, modelling, and controlling of wind energy system. For
successful operations management, the focus should be on developing a set of
tools and techniques to analyze the problem faced within an operations system of
wind energy system. Operations management involves addressing various issues
of wind energy system. Simple problem includes deciding how to provide supply
and find alternative when turbine or generator is not capable to convert the energy
from one form to another. On the other hand, decisions include such as where to
locate the wind power plant, what capacity to build in the system, and in which
manner to distribute the energy to the electricity consumer. Operational management
provides alternative methodologies to address such wide-ranging issues in an
organization. Transformation and conversion processes are central to operations
system and ensure that wind velocity as an input is converted into useful output
in terms of electricity generation. Therefore, the focus of operations management
is to address the design, planning, and operational control of the transformation
process. The operations management also involves the development of performance
evaluation systems and framework through which the operating system can make
improvements to meet targeted performance measures (Evangelista et al. 2017).
In wind energy system, location decision pertains to the choice of appropriate
geographical sites for locating variations manufacturing and/or service facilities of
an organization. Locating facilities in regions that offer attractive cost advantages is
one aspect of the trade-off. It may be expensive to set up a distribution system that
is both efficient and responsive to an increase in transportation costs and the costs of
coordinating and communicating with the supplier about products and availability.
Location planning essentially addresses different issues and provides the operations
manager the needed tools and techniques to study the location problem. Location
issues have been more prominent in recent years due to the increased pace of
economic reforms in several countries and the consequent globalization of markets.
Figure 15 shows affecting parameters of location decision for an organization.
The most significant factor that drives globalization is the ongoing financial
and regulatory reforms in several developed and developing countries. Beginning
Financial
Reforms
Saturation of Financial
Development High Investment Cost
How Location choice

Affect on Organization
Regulatory and Policy

Market Condition
Issue
Multi-Location Environment
Fig. 15 Affecting parameters for location decision on organization

from 1991, we embarked on a set of regulatory changes that made India much
more attractive in terms of locating a manufacturing facility. Two events have been
broadly responsible for this. First is the reduction in customs and excise tariffs and
a move forward the single-point value-added tax (VAT) regime. The other is the
delicensing of several sectors of industry and the progressive removal of the cap on
foreign direct investment. Another relevant point for location planning with respect
to regulatory issue is the emergence of regional trading blocs (Hussain 2019b).
Location Factor Rating: Factor rating is a simple methodology to assess the
attractiveness of each potential location. This method involves four steps in which
the relevant parameters are identified, their relative importance established, the
performance of each location in each factor assessed, and finally, all this information
combined to rank the locations.
The four-step process of identifying an appropriate location is as follows:
(a) Identify and list all the relevant parameters for the location decision for wind
energy system.
(b) Establish the relative importance of each parameter in the final decision for
location of wind energy system.
(c) Rate the performance of each candidate location using a rating mechanism.
One of the wind energy company is actively considering five alternative locations
to install the wind power plant. Based on the survey related to wind power plant,
company has arrived at eight factors to be considered for final site selection for
wind power plant. The ratings (Table 18) of each factor on a scale of 1–100 provide
this information of location of wind energy system.
The first step in the solution is to develop the relative importance of each
parameters using a normalization factor. The sum of all the parameters related to
wind energy system is 325. Therefore, by dividing each parameter rating by 415,
one can obtain the relative weight of the parameters (Tables 19 and 20).
Since the normalized weight of each parameter, one can compute how each
location fares by weighing the rating of the location against each factor with the
weight for the factor. The computation for location 1 is as follows:
Table 18 Factor rating

Factors Rating (1–100)
Amount of wind velocity 80
Load demand in KW 75
Monsoon circulation 70
Technical potential 60
Government policy toward wind energy at a particular location 65
Subsidy policy toward wind energy at a particular location 65
Table 19 Factor rating

Factors Rating (1–100) Relative weight
Amount of wind velocity 80 0.192771084
Load demand in KW 75 0.180722892
Monsoon circulation 70 0.168674699
Technical potential 60 0.144578313
Government policy toward wind energy at a particular 65 0.156626506
location
Subsidy policy toward wind energy at a particular 65 0.156626506
location
Sum of all factor rating 415 1
Table 20 Rating of each location of wind energy system against each factor
Relative Location Location Location Location Location
Factors weight 1 2 3 4 5
Amount of wind 0.192771084 45 60 75 62 42
velocity
Load demand in KW 0.180722892 30 58 70 56 55
Monsoon circulation 0.168674699 35 41 63 45 47
Technical potential 0.144578313 30 45 55 25 51
Government policy 0.156626506 40 40 60 42 50
toward wind energy
at a particular
location
Subsidy policy 0.156626506 35 30 55 35 45
toward wind energy
at a particular
location
Sum of all factor 36.084 46.433 63.698 45.337 48.216
rating
Ranking of the 5 3 1 4 2
locations
(45 × 0.192771084) + (30 × 0.180722892) + (35 × 0.168674699)

+ (30 × 0.144578313) + (40 × 0.156626506) + (35 × 0.156626506) = 36.084
Similarly, factor rating of locations 2, 3, 4, and 5 is 46.433, 63.698, 45.337, and

48.216, respectively. So according to the above assessment, location 3 is a more
feasible location for wind energy system.
Operational Management of Flexible Generation System
In the operational management of wind energy system, flexible generation system

usually consists of dynamic component control system as a wind farm controller
(Fig. 16). The purpose of the control system of a wind turbine is to manage the safe,
SINGLE WIND FARM HYBRID

ELECTRICAL
ENERGY
MODERATE HIGH
COMPLEXITY COMPLEXITY
NO OF ENERGY
CONVERSION
LOW MODERATE
COMPLEXITY COMPLEXITY
MECHANICAL
ENERGY
AC LOAD LOAD DC LOAD
Fig. 16 Flexible generation system of wind energy system
automatic operation of the turbine. This reduces operating costs, provides consistent
dynamic response and improved product quality, and helps to ensure safety. This
operation is usually designed to maximize annual energy capture from the wind
while minimizing turbine loads. In flexible generation system, wind turbine control
systems are categorized into the three separate forms:
1. A controller that controls numerous wind turbines in a wind farm

2. A supervisory controller for each individual turbine
3. Separate dynamic controllers for the various turbine subsystems in each turbine
The flexible wind energy generation systems offering several flexibilities are as
follows:
• Machine Flexibility: This is related to the ease of making changes required to

generate an electricity from the wind generator or store the energy in the number
of batteries. Technological process, proper operational management, and the
technological capability of blade, hub, wind turbine, and wind generator along
with the different technical factors will improve this flexibility.
• Process Flexibility: For effective operational management of wind energy sys-
tem, it is necessary to develop process flexibility in the generation of electricity.
In the process flexibility, it should be proper functioning of rotor shaft and
generator, and use ideal switchgear system to transfer the energy from generator
to the power transmission tower.
• Routing Flexibility: This is the ability of wind power plant to handle breakdown
of supply and continue the generation of electricity through another number of
wind turbine. This ability exists if either a part of electricity generation can
be processed by several transmission routes or each operation of wind farm is
performed by more than one wind generator.
• Expansion Flexibility: It is the capability to build a wind power plant of fixed
capacity, and in the future, it can be expanded according to the load demand
because load demand is variable according to the consumer load (Hussain

2019c).
There is much complexity in operational management of wind energy system due

to the number of stages or number of energy conversion, types of load, and types of
wind power plant.
The complexity of operational management of wind energy system is described
through the low, moderate, and high complexity. Complexity is mainly depending on
the types of wind farm, which may be single or hybrid wind energy system, number
of stages of energy conversion, and types of load, which may be AC or DC load.
In the low complexity, the consumers demand an AC load, and during the process,
turbine converts kinetic energy into the mechanical energy. During the electrical
energy conversion, moderate complexity is occurring because it is necessary to
assess which type of generator will be better for the conversion of mechanical to
electrical energy. According to the load, in most of the cases, it may be AC load
so in that case, induction or synchronous generator is much better compared to
the DC generator. If the load is DC, some complexity will be occurring because
in the case of induction or synchronous generator, it is necessary to convert AC
into DC through the suitable converter. High complexity is occurring when hybrid
wind energy system is connected at the particular location because hybrid wind
energy system is just like a jumbled process, and the overall process depends on
which type of auxiliary system is used with wind energy system. Some conventional
system is connected with wind energy system, but in the new era of electricity
generation, solar wind hybrid renewable energy system is the most prominent source
of electricity generation. From the operational management point of view, solar
wind hybrid renewable energy system is a much complex system because setup
of solar power plant is very much different from the wind energy system.
The operations function and its linkages with wind energy system are shown in
different forms such as consumer layer, operational layer, technical layer, and core
operational layer (Fig. 17). In every manufacturing or service organization, there are
several subfunctions within the core operations functions. For proper operational
management of wind energy system, it is necessary to perfect coordination between
the different layers. Consumer layer is depending on the load demand, types of load
which may be AC or DC, and transmission and distribution of electricity through
the wind energy system. The capacity of wind energy system always depends on the
proper functioning of consumer layer. Operational layer is related to the operation
and maintenance of wind energy system, which is the combination of different
layers such as unit sizing and accurate modelling of wind energy system. Unit sizing
of wind energy system is the part of optimum sizing of wind turbine, generator, and
converter and their working according to the overall capacity of wind power plant.
Nowadays, the importance of information technology in the field of wind energy
system increases in the tremendous way because lots of software such as supervisory
control and data acquisition system (SCADA), RET Screen, and HOMER are used
for assessment of prefeasibility, modelling, and controlling of wind energy system
(Hussain 2020a, b; Wu et al. 2008).
OPERATIONAL LAYER
CONSUMER LAYER
MAINTENANCE OF WIND POWER PLANT
LOAD DEMAND QUALITY OF ENERGY SUPPLY
TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRICITY OPTIMUM DESIGN OF WIND ENERGY SYSTEM
DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICITY WIND ENERGY SYSTEM WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
TECHNICAL LAYER
CORE OPERATIONAL LAYER
INNOVATION STRATEGY
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TESTING

OF ASSEMBLY
WIND ENERGY SYSTEM FABRICATION
MACHINING
&
SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM
OF
WIND ENERGY SYSTEM
Fig. 17 Operational layer of wind energy system
For effective functioning of wind energy system throughout the life span, it is
necessary for innovation and research and development in the field of wind energy
system. It is also necessary to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning in
the field of wind energy system to enhance the performance of overall wind power
plant. Technical layer of operational management of wind energy system is directly
linked with the core operational layer of wind energy system, which consists starting
final stage of wind power plant. Manufacturing of turbine blade, hub, generator, and
different types of converter and their fabrication and testing are the main component
of this layer (Hu et al. 2010; Javadi et al. 2018; Hussain 2020c).
Operational Management-Based Maintainability and Availability

Function of Wind Energy System
Maintainability
In operational management of wind energy system, if any component and elements

such as wind turbine generator are repaired in a specific period of time, then that is
known as maintainability of wind power plant. Maintainability is a most important
part of operational management. For example, in electricity generation through wind

power plant, it is necessary to maintain transmission and distribution system in a
proper way. Then it transmits large amounts of electrical power. Maintainability is a
very specific property of modelling of a wind energy system framework. It is always
related to the concept of economy, replacement, and safety measures, which is very
helpful to run any physical system. Maintainability of any system is classified into
following categories:
• Wind energy system component activity

• Wind energy system component repair time
• Wind energy system repair time
• Wind energy system downtime
• Wind energy system verification time
Component Activity: A specific task performed by individual component of

wind energy system of any specific physical arrangement is known as component
activity. For example, wind turbine is used to convert kinetic energy into mechanical
energy, and generator is used to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.
Maintainability of individual component directly affects the maintainability of
whole system because overall wind power plant efficiency is depending on the
performance of individual component. The component activity is also related to
what manner individual components are connected. If wind turbine and generator
are connected in series, then performance of the overall system is affected at large
level through performance of individual components. If possible, it is necessary to
connect a large number of components in parallel to maintain the framework of the
complete system in a proper way (Hussain 2020d, e).
Component Repair Time: A time required to minimize the failure of different
elements of wind energy system is known as component repair time. Wind energy
component repair time is directly proportional to the maintainability of the overall
system.
System Repair Time: A time required to minimize the failure of the overall
wind power plant is known as system repair time. System repair time is directly
proportional to the maintainability of the overall system.
System Downtime: It is a time required for the wind power plant when it reaches
from ON condition to OFF condition (Kenne et al. 2015; Lei et al. 2006).
Availability: It deals with the duration of uptime for operations of wind energy
system and is a measure of how often the system is alive and well. It is often
expressed as
Uptime
Availability =
Uptime + Downtime
MT BF
Availability =
MT BF + MT R + MT W S
Table 21 Comparison Operational management Maintainability Availability

between three parameters for
Constant Decreases Decreases
wind energy system
Constant Increases Increases
Decreases Constant Increases
Decreases Constant Decreases
MTBF = mean time between failure

MTR = mean time to repair
MTWS = mean time to waiting for spares, reflecting supply
In operational management, one is worried about outlining a thing to keep going

to the extent that this would be possible without disappointment; in maintainability,
the accentuation is on planning a thing so a disappointment can be redressed as fast
as would be prudent (Table 21). It is a component of the gear, plan and the establish-
ment, workforce accessibility in the required expertise levels, sufficiency of support
techniques and test hardware, and the physical condition under which upkeep is
performed. Similarly, as with operational management, practicality parameters are
additionally probabilistic and are examined by the utilization of consistent and
discrete arbitrary factors, probabilistic parameters, and measurable circulations. We
consider performance of any component so that concepts of maintainability in terms
of functions are analogous to the terms of operational management. They may
be derived in a way identical to that done for operational management by merely
substituting t (time-to-restore) for t (time-to-failure), μ (repair rate) for λ (failure
rate), and M(t) probability of successfully completing a repair action in time t, or
P (T ≤ t) for F(t) probability of failing by age t (Hussain 2020f, 2021). In other
words, the following correspondences prevail in maintainability and operational
management of wind energy system.
1. The time-to-failure probability density function in operational management

corresponds to the time-to-maintain power density function in maintainability.
2. The failure rate function in operational management corresponds to the repair
rate function in maintainability. Repair rate is the rate with which a repair action
is performed and is expressed in terms of the number of repair actions performed
and successfully completed per hour.
3. The probability of system failure, or system operational management, corre-
sponds to the operational management of successful system maintenance or
system maintainability. Figure 18 shows probability of repair of wind energy
system.
These and other analogous functions are summarized in the following:

There are three categories of availability:
Fig. 18 Probability of repair

of wind energy system
Pr
Probability
of
Repair
Time to Repair T
1. Inherent availability:
MT BF
AI =
MT BF + MT T R
2. Achieved availability:
MT MA
AA =
MT MA + MMT
3. Operational availability:
MT MA
AO =
MT MA + MDT
where MTBF = mean time between failure, MTTR = mean time to repair
Frequency of Failure: This is the number of failure of wind power plant that
occurs divided by the total elapsed calendar time during which those events occur
or by the total number of demands, as applicable. The frequency of failure is directly
related to the wind turbine and wind generator failure and component failure mode.
Failure Density: This is the ratio of the number of failures during a given unit
interval of time to the total number of components of the primary stage of the test.
Repairable System: In order to assess repairable system, we already discussed
above the function of availability, where availability is the operational management
that the particular system, component, and element are operating and working
satisfactorily at time “t.” On the other hand, operational management is the
probability that the given system has operated satisfactorily over the time interval of
0 to t. Repairable system always increases the system life span and performance
of the given system. By and large, upkeep is characterized as any activity that
reestablishes fizzled units to an operational condition or holds a non-fizzled unit
in an operational state of wind power plant. For repairable frameworks, support
assumes a fundamental part in the life of a framework. It influences the framework’s
general dependability, accessibility, downtime, cost of the task, and so forth. A
repairable system is a system that can be restored to an operating condition

following a failure. Questions of interest in repairable systems analysis include:
• How many failures will occur over a fixed time interval in wind energy system?
• What is the probability of a failure in the next time interval of wind energy
system?
• What is the availability of the system of wind energy system?
• How many spare parts should be purchased of wind energy system?
• What is the cost of maintaining the wind energy system?
• What is the optimum overhaul time of wind energy system?
Mean Time to Repair : Mean time to repair (MTTR) is a basic measure of the
maintainability of repairable items. It represents the average time required to repair
a failed component or device of wind energy system. Expressed mathematically, it
is the total corrective maintenance time for failures divided by the total number of
corrective maintenance actions for failures during a given period of time. It generally
does not include lead time for parts not readily available or other Administrative or
Logistic Downtime (ALDT). The equation for MTTR will be obtained in two ways.
Mean time to repair (MTTR) is the average time required to troubleshoot and repair
failed equipment and return it to normal operating conditions. It is a basic technical
measure of the maintainability of equipment and repairable parts of wind energy
system. Maintenance time is defined as the time between the start of the incident
and the moment the system is returned to production. This includes notification
time, diagnostic time, fix time, wait time, reassembly, alignment, calibration, test
time, back to production, etc. It generally does not take into account lead time for
parts. Mean time to repair ultimately reflects how well an organization can respond
to a problem and repair it. Expressed mathematically, the MTTR calculation is the
total maintenance time divided by the total number of maintenance actions over a
specific period.
MT T R = (Total maintenance time) / (no.of repairs)
Let N be the items undergoing repairs simultaneous under identical conditions.

Let t be the time intervals when we note down the number of units that have been
repaired. Let n1 be the number of units repaired during the first t interval and nk
the number of units repaired during the k-th t interval. Let the last t interval
when all the N units have been repaired be the l-th t interval.
l
n1 + n2 + . . . nk + . . . nl = ni = N
i=1
Let kt = t. Then the number of units repaired within time t is
k
n1 + n2 + . . . nk = ni
i=1

Hence, the maintainability Ma (t = kt) = n1 +nN
2 +...nk
= N1 ki=1 ni .
The number of items repaired during the k-th t interval was nk . Its value is
obviously
nk = N [Ma (t = kt ) − M (t = kt − t)]
1 1 l
MT T R = [n1 t + n2 2t + . . . nk kt + · · · + nl lt ] = nk (kt)
N N i=1
Practical Model of Repairable System : When we develop wind energy system

and after the failure of those systems, there are two possibilities. They are repaired
and may be replaced, but some complex systems such as wind turbine, wind
generator, inverter, transmission and distribution systems, etc., are repaired and are
not replaced when they fail. The operational management of repairable system is
different from a reliability of actual systems. The reliability of repairable system
depends on the number of failures during the warranty period, which is mentioned
by the shopkeeper, the total lifetime of the product, and the replacement cost of
the product. The most powerful theory to determine the reliability of repairable
system is a power law model. The power law model is easy to understand, and it
is used to find out the frequency of failures. In statistics, a power law is a functional
relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results
in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial
size of those quantities: one quantity varies as a power of another. If power law
is applied in reliability assessment, then performance of individual component is
directly related to the performance of the overall system. The power law model is
often used to analyze the reliability for complex repairable systems in the field. A
system of interest may be the total system such as wind energy system, or it may
be subsystem, such as rotor blade of wind energy system, which is also complex
repairable system. The chances of repairing of any system depend on the failure
rate, where if the failure rate is increasing, then this is indicative of component
wear out. If the failure rate is decreasing, then this is indicative of infant mortality.
If the failure rate is constant, then the component failures follow an exponential
distribution.
Confidence Level of Repairable System
On account of repairable framework, it is important to discover at what level

shortcoming is limited, and the framework is fixed at the ideal level. The evaluation
of a repairable framework discovers by the idea of certainty level, the certainty
level is the likelihood of a framework at standard boundary, and those boundary
lies among lower and maximum cutoff points. The certainty level of a repairable
framework additionally relies on the ideal yield and reference yield. The maximum
furthest reaches of the span are known as certainty cutoff of the general framework.
The certainty level of the framework is done in two habits: confidence level of
individual component of wind energy system and confidence level of overall system
of wind energy system
There are three possible cases are developed to a confidence level of individual
and overall systems.
1. The confidence level is greater than actual operational management.

2. The confidence level is equal to actual operational management.
3. The confidence level is less than actual operational management.
In the event that the certainty level is more prominent than genuine operational
administration, at that point, flawed framework is fixed more than the ideal level,
and it expands the lifetime of the general framework. On the off chance that
the certainty level is not exactly genuine unwavering quality, at that point, it is
important to supplant the individual segment or generally arrangement of wind
energy framework with another one. The ideal condition is discovered when the
certainty level is equivalent to the real operational administration. Figure 19 shows
confidence of reliability of wind energy system.
The probability of repairable system is a ratio of the number of times successful
maintenance (MS ) is to be done to repair the system to total number of maintenance
(MT ) is to be done.
MS (t)
Probability of repairable system (RP ) =
MT (t)
Rewriting the numerator yields:
MT (t) − MF (t) MF (t)

RP = =1− = 1 − Q(t)
MT (t) MT (t)
where MF (t) = number of missions of “t” duration each than unsuccessful mainte-
nance and Q(t) = probability of unsuccessful maintenance.
Fig. 19 Confidence of Output

reliability
Confidence Level is greater than actual reliability
Confidence Level =
Actual Reliability
Confidence Level is less than actual reliability
Input
This applies when one unit undertakes MT (t) missions out of which Ms (t) mission
succeed, and when the unit fails, it is restored to the same condition it was started on
the first mission. If all maintenance of repairable system is failing, then Ms (t) = 0.
If Ms (t) missions are completed successfully, the definition of probability of
repairable system as (M _ S(t))/(M _ T(t)) is again conditional to the fact that all
mission objectives and design for performance objectives are attained. Their design
adequacy is 100%. A better way of seeing the complete picture of repairable system
or system effectiveness is defined by
M AC
Effectiveness of system = O × R × D =
MT
where O is the operational management that the actual system is either available at
the beginning of the project, R is the operational management that has completed
the successful maintenance without failure, and D is the operational management
after the maintenance system is performed successfully, and this is called design
adequacy.
Future Scope
It is at the center of a growing ecosystem of data analysis technologies that are

primarily used to support advanced analytics initiatives, including predictive analyt-
ics, data mining, and machine learning applications. Following are the possibilities
through data analysis in the field of wind energy system:
• Create Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) for prefeasibility analysis,

modelling system, and control system data which is also used for predictive
analysis of wind power plants.
• Create YARN-based framework for sustainable force plant, which incredibly
extended the applications that Hadoop groups can deal with to incorporate stream
handling and constant examination applications in wind velocity-based wind
energy system.
• Create a basket model of technical and managerial parameters of wind power
plant.
Conclusion
This chapter is the complete assessment of wind power plant through the data
analysis and operational management. There are a number of technical parameters
in the wind power plant, but it is necessary to take perfect decision from cradle to
grave process of wind power plant or wind energy system. From the mean, mode,
and median, you can assess ideal value of wind velocity and load demand. All the
data of wind energy system-related parameters should not be analyzed in the same
way statistically because the entities represented by the numbers are different. For
this reason, it is necessary to apply the concept of data analysis and operational
management in the field of wind power plant or wind energy system.
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Website for Further Reading

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK481626/
www.tutorialspoint.com
www.sas.com
www.webopedia.com
www.sciencedirect.com
Biomedical Data Retrieval Using Enhanced
Query Expansion 75
Muhammad Qadeer, Chuadhery Ghazanfar Hussain,
and Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1923
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1923
Motivation and Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1923
Review of Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1924
Biomedical Datasets Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1924
Trec Genomic Dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1925
Ohsumed Dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1925
Query Expansion and Relevance Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1925
Automatic Query Expansion in Biomedical Data Retrieval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926
Biomedical Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1927
Ontologies in Biomedical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1927
Data Retrieval Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1929
Biomedical Data Retrieval Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1929
Query Preprocessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1930
Documents Ranking Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1932
The Probabilistic Retrieval Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1932
Materials and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1934
Query Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1934
Biomedical Data Retrieval Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1936
Query Expansion from Ranked Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1936
Term Scoring Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1937
Average Precision (AP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1941
Mean Average Precision (MAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1942
Semantic Filtering for Biomedical Information Retrieval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1942
Semantic Similarity Measures and Query Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1942
M. Qadeer · C. G. Hussain
Department of Education, Computer science and Technology, Punjab, Pakistan
C. M. Hussain ()
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology,
Newark, NJ, USA
e-mail: chaudhery.m.hussain@njit.edu
1922 M. Qadeer et al.
Evaluation of Semantic Similarity Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1943

Classification of Semantic Similarity Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1943
Methodology Adopted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1946
Experimental Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1947
We Used Three Different Documents Retrieval Models: LM
Jelinek-Mercer, LM Dirichlet, and BM25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1947
Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1948
Selection of Documents Ranking Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1948
Evaluation of Terms Scoring Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1949
Semantic Similarity Measures Application for Query Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1950
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1951
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1953
The Biomedical Information Retrieval Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1953
Research Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1954
Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1954
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1954
Abstract
Biomedical data is growing up rapidly, and a better retrieval system is the

need for its utilization. A basic problem while retrieving data from a system
related to the queries is mismatch of words, which indicates the use of dissimilar
words for expressing the identical concepts in given queries and in the stored
documents. Two techniques are commonly used to solve this problem, i.e.,
query paraphrasing and query expansion. Query paraphrasing refers that the
query is paraphrased by using synonyms of terms in the query. Query expansion
techniques are further categorized as local and global. Local query expansion
technique focuses on the analysis of the documents having top ranks retrieved
for a query. Different ranking models have been introduced to rank documents
in collections based on terms and features. A collection of candidate terms
is obtained for expanding the given query from these documents. On feature
selection from term pool, final selected candidate expansion terms contain a
few terms which cause query drift problem. To overcome this problem, the
semantic filtering technique was used. Semantic similarity measures are the basic
techniques for successful semantic filtering. However, global query expansion
relies on the analysis of the whole collection to find out word relationships.
Synonyms of query words are extracted from a dictionary or thesaurus. In this
research, we evaluated the famous probability-based ranking models such as LM-
Dirichlet, LM Jelinek-Mercer, and BM25 for biomedical data retrieval process.
We performed experimental analysis using diverse preprocessing techniques
iteratively on 36 biomedical-related queries for the evaluation. State-of-the-art
biomedical dataset Trec Genomic was used as a core for whole experimentation.
It was observed that BM25 was the best information retrieval model for biomed-
ical data. We used different terms scoring techniques such as Baseline, BNS,
Chi-Square, CoDice, BIM, KLD, LRF, PRF, and RSV to score the terms related
to the query. The average of MAP scores of all the queries was compared that
exhibited BNS term scoring technique is the best for biomedical data. Different
75 Biomedical Data Retrieval Using Enhanced Query Expansion 1923
semantic similarity measures such as path-based, Wu and Palmer, Leacock, and

Chodorow were applied on terms extracted from BNS to get most appropriate
terms for query expansion. Finally, queries expanded with the most similar terms
each time and documents retrieved through the expanded queries and the MAP
results were evaluated for the purpose of final declarations of this research. The
results of biomedical data retrieval through query expansion were improved, and
the LCH semantic similarity measuring technique found best for query expansion
in biomedical data retrieval system.
Keywords
Biomedical data · Query paraphrasing · Retrieval system · Automatic query

expansion · Information retrieval system · Unified medical language system
Introduction
Background
Data retrieval is concerned to retrieve related documents from a large collection

of the documents according to the user’s desire mentioned in the query. Various
relevancy measuring techniques have been developed and applied in open as well
as in the biomedical domain. Biomedical information retrieval systems usually find
documents (the large text units) to satisfy user needs mentioned in a query. Some
keywords or terms exist in the query. These terms are actually indexing units which
have been simplified through different processes of normalization such as stemming
and tokenization. Most of the techniques are query terms dependent, and systems
compare these terms with the term occurrences in an individual document. They
require initial retrieval through the ranking of documents on the basis of term
similarity. The focus of this research is the betterment in biomedical data retrieval
systems which is challenging in this era. There is also a need to consider and
improve the performance of techniques and methods used in data retrieval systems.
This research is based on Enhanced Biomedical Retrieval Using Discriminative
Term Selection for Pseudo Relevance Feedback. The base research is covered
in limited approaches and techniques. The better data retrieval techniques for
biomedical data are to be proposed through enhancement of research and evaluation
(Wasim et al. 2018).
Motivation and Problem Statement
The information retrieval system is the core need for most of the network-
based applications. Prominent widespread information retrieval systems are the
search engines. Today, it is impossible to find our desired information on the
World Wide Web without them. Biomedical information retrieval system has also
become a demand with growing research in this field. Intrinsic uncertainty of

biomedical information retrieval system distinguishes it from other information
systems. Uncertainty about a document whether it has query relevant contents
or not is called intrinsic uncertainty. Information needs can be precisely mapped
in query formulation at least in standard database applications because properly
defined elements of a database can form the exact answer, but it is much difficult in
biomedical information retrieval system.
Query formulation can never represent user-required information precisely, and
there is not a clear procedure which can decide whether an object is the relevant
answer or not. As the volume of biomedical information is rising exponentially, new
problems and challenges are also appearing constantly for biomedical information
retrieval systems. Developments in information retrieval technologies require theo-
ries and experimentations side by side to improve these systems. If a theory does not
guide the experimentation, trials and errors become the parts of engineering which
are not enough to solve newly arising problems and meeting the new challenges
in the biomedical domain. Since the last two decades, a lot of new theories have
been presented and empirically tested to cope with the problems and meet new
challenges. These theories are known as formal models. Each of them guides toward
the development of some information retrieval technology tool. It is necessary to
learn these models or theories to understand these tools. Probabilistic models are
most famous from them which have been deployed specifically to cope with the
uncertainty in biomedical information retrieval. There are two approaches used in
probabilistic models: The first is a classical approach which is based on the concept
of relevance. It means a user gives a judgment about documents through relating to
the query given by the user. The second novel approach is generalizing the proof
of theoretical models for a particular result which overcomes the multidimensional
judgment about an answer of given query to biomedical information retrieval system
(Hiemstra 2009).
Review of Literature
Biomedical Datasets Structure
A dataset is the collection of related data which corresponds to a particular database

table contents or a statistical data matrix. Each column in the matrix or table
corresponds to a particular variable, and every row represents a member of the
dataset. Dataset term is also used for the data collection of closely related tables,
which corresponds to a particular event or experiment. Major properties of the
dataset are attributes of a variable, have specific types and different statistical
measures, and can be applied to them. Research in biomedical is growing which
is determined by analysis and acquisition of large digital datasets. These datasets
promote reproducibility in different ways, i.e., extraction of the available biomedical
data, which is usually expensive in collecting and analyzing. Though the propaga-
tion of openly available data exhibits new challenges for researchers, the datasets
75 Biomedical Data Retrieval Using Enhanced Query Expansion 1925
are relevant to their concern and might be scattered across the multiple repositories
and indexed conflictingly (Cohen et al. 2017).
Trec Genomic Dataset
It is also the collection of biomedical documents containing 162,259 documents

from the 49 journals in the format of HTML. It is a total of 59 .zip files, one for each
journal. Each document file is named by PMID with .html extension. There are 36
official topics available in this dataset, and available fields are the body, header, and
other HTML basic tags. The python script is available to evaluate the results.
Ohsumed Dataset
It is the collection of biomedical documents with 348,566 references commencing

MEDLINE in nxml format. The presented fields are the title, abstract, the MeSH
indexing terms, the author, the source, and the publication type. Fields include the
titles or abstracts extracted from 270 medical journals over the five-year period
(Xiong and Callan 2015).
Query Expansion and Relevance Feedback
In the biomedical domain, the retrieval of query-relevant documents which can

fulfill the user requirements is the great challenge for data retrieval systems. One
of the most reliable and successful techniques is pseudo relevance feedback (PRF)
to meet the challenge. While considering problems in the retrieval of required
information, the PRF-QE is a feasible approach when some top-retrieved documents
in the first retrieval are used to expand user’s given query. The approach is shown
in Fig. 1. Here required an automatic relevance-based method for applying query
Fig. 1 Pseudo relevance feedback architecture

expansion technique that can automatically remake the given query (Singh and
Sharan 2015).
Automatic Query Expansion in Biomedical Data Retrieval
Biomedical data has been increasing dramatically, but the number of searched query
terms remained almost constant. In the past, the average number of query terms
were two to three. According to recent research, average has become five numbers
of terms which are being used in a query which are required to expand with an
appropriate automatic method, so that can retrieve most relevant results. Most of
the users still use one, two, or three words in their queries to search required
biomedical information. In this situation, the need for an automatic query expansion
(AQE) has increased in biomedical data retrieval system. A user mentions required
information in the query, and after normalization, the terms are given to a particular
ranking model such as BM25 which ranks and retrieves corpus documents by
comparing query terms with the terms in biomedical documents. Top k documents
are considered to extract a pool of terms for further query expansion process.
Terms collected in the pool are evaluated through different available methods for
the purpose of scoring. Different scoring methods like Kullback-Leibler divergence
(KLD), Co-occurrence, probabilistic relevance feedback (PRF), and Robertson
Selection Value (RSV) are the available methods for biomedical data retrieval. Then
from these scored terms, broad ranking algorithm is applied to rank terms. Finally,
these ranked terms pass through semantic similarity measures for semantic filtering,
and at last, the filtered terms are supplemented in the original query for query
expansion. These expanded queries retrieve a huge collection of relevant biomedical
documents for the user. This automatic expansion process may also be repeated
multiple times for better retrieval of information for the user. The cyclic approach is
mentioned in Fig. 2 (Singh and Sharan 2015).
There are still some problems that occur while using automatic query expansion
(AQE) in the biomedical information retrieval system. The major problem is that it
does not work well when integral sparseness related to the terms is used by the user
in query for the corpus with high dimensions. Another difficulty is that all the terms
in top-retrieved documents (feedback) are not significant for expansion of the query.
Some of them can be irrelevant or redundant and can misguide the retrieval
process. Removal of irrelevant terms from the bulk of terms retrieved from the high-
ranked documents is the main target of query exp

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Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain

ISBN 978-3-030-84204-8 ISBN 978-3-030-84205-5 (eBook)

Industry 4.0 is a digital revolution, concentrated on all digital technologies able to

Verona, Italy Paolo Di Sia

Part I Industry 4.0: Concepts, Themes, and Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1 Industry 4.0 Revolution: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

9 Control and Informatics for Demand Response and

Part II Industry 4.0: Mode of Materials, Technology,

10 From Industry 4.0 to Pharma 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

20 Industry 4.0: Cloud–Assisted Internet of Things Applications

32 Design, Implementation, and Experimental Study on 3-RPS

Part III Industry 4.0: Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011

39 Cloud Hadoop for Enterprise Collaboration System . . . . . . . . . . . . 1013

41 Oil and Gas Upstream Sector: The use of IEC-61499

53 Construction Sector: IR 4.0 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1341

65 Smart Farming: Applications of IoT in Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . 1655

Part IV Industry 4.0: Concept of Smart, Intelligent, and

70 Iranian Small and Medium-Sized Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1777

77 Business Ecosystem Approach to Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1975

89 Big Data Analytics and Advanced Technologies for

99 Green Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Characterization, and Their

Part V Industry 4.0: Dangers/Warning Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2717

107 Environmental Side of Fourth Industrial Revolution:

Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain, PhD, is an adjunct

Paolo Di Sia is currently adjunct professor/senior

He has obtained several international awards and is

Jawad Abbas Department of Business Administration, Iqra University Islamabad,

Shahla Andleeb Department of Environmental Science, Government College

G. Bhati Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology, Pandit

Márcio Rojas da Cruz Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovations (MCTI),

Ramachandiran Gunabalan School of Electrical Engineering, VIT Chennai,

Yecid Jiménez Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Procesos de Minerales,

Syed Jawad Ali Kazmi Department of Business Administration, Iqra University

Gajanan B. Kunde Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,

Shahid Mansoor Agricultural Biotechnology Division, National Institute for

Sherin Monichan Panaiyaanmai (Palmyraculture), The Centre for Self-Reliance

Ricardo Ohta IBM Research, São Paulo, Brazil

Nikolaos Pitropakis Blockpass ID Lab, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh,

S. Sai Sudeep Reddy School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of

T. P. Shelke Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Pune

Abhishek Srivastava CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, Uttarak-

P. Vinod Babu Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Nuzvid, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 3

Industry 4.0 · Evolution · Technology · Science · Informatics · Robotics ·

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

The common factor is the “interconnection” between multiple elements of a

Industry 4.0 is a revolution that gradually affected a growing number of sectors

Costs, Security, and Privacy

Increased knowledge of the company’s processed data, knowing how to distinguish

Advanced Human-Machine Interface

Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA): Stereolithography was one of the first tech-

Cyber Physical System

cars, already in circulation, based on data collected by them (https://blogmitcnc.

The cloud is a service provided by a supplier, such as companies or external

Complex accessories: To be fully operational, they require the connection to another

Robotics is an interdisciplinary science requiring the involvement of several dis-

Humanoid robotics: one of the most fascinating research, creating robots

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Smart Home and Building Automation

The new school is an environment completely immersed in the future, in a reality

To show clear and specific information.

The “Hospital 4.0” is a technological environment, in which man and machine

Agriculture is a strongly growing sector having as objective more production, to