Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, nonlinear system identification and soft sensor design have became more significant in various scientific and industrial domains. Nonlinear systems are ubiquitous, found in areas such as Industry 4.0, IoT, biology, economics, and environmental science. The accurate modelling and control of these systems are essential for optimizing processes, enhancing performance, and ensuring safety. Additionally, soft sensors, which are data-driven models capable of estimating unmeasured process variables, play a crucial role in the real-time monitoring and control of complex systems, providing cost-effective alternatives to traditional sensors. Soft sensors are usually designed to exploit nonlinear system methodologies and machine learning/deep learning approaches.

This Special Issue aims to explore the latest advancements, challenges, and applications in the interdisciplinary domain of nonlinear system identification and soft sensor design. By collating researchers from different fields, we aim to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange in this rapidly evolving area.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Feature extraction;
• Outlier detection;
• Data selection;
• Big and small datasets;
• System identification;
• Linear and nonlinear models;
• Deep learning techniques;
• Optimization strategies;
• Recurrent neural networks;
• Reservoir computing;
• Bio-inspired learning techniques;
• Model validation;
• Soft sensor maintenance;
• Transfer learning;
• Model interpretability;
• Sparse modeling;
• Neuromorphic computing;
• Soft sensors for time-varying systems;
• Industrial applications of soft sensors;
• Fault detection.

Prof. Dr. Luca Patanè
Prof. Dr. Maria Gabriella Xibilia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• system identification big and small datasets
• soft sensor maintenance
• transfer learning
• model interpretability
• industrial applications of soft sensors
• soft sensors for predictive maintenance