Digital Twins and Intelligent Systems for Condition-Based Industrial Maintenance

A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Machines Testing and Maintenance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1099

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Research Centre, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Interests: predictive modelling; smart maintenance planning; life cycle cost optimisation; digital twins; sustainable manufacturing

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Research Centre, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Interests: Industry 4.0; smart manufacturing; sustainable manufacturing; life cycle engineering; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Interests: condition monitoring; prognostics and predictive maintenance; intelligent manufacturing; Industry 4.0; digital twins
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Research Centre, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Interests: Industry 5.0; digital remanufacturing; smart manufacturing; advanced manufacturing processes
College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Interests: smart and sustainable manufacturing; digital manufacturing; digital twin; cyber-physical production systems; industrial internet of things; machine tools and machining processes; machine learning & big data analytics; human-machine collaboration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent advances in Industry 4.0 have paved the way for digital twins and intelligent systems to transform how machines are monitored, maintained, and optimised throughout their operational life. By integrating real-time sensor data, AI-driven diagnostics, and virtual replicas of physical assets, this Special Issue aims to showcase cutting-edge solutions that enable condition-based maintenance (CBM) for enhancing reliability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness in industrial settings.

We invite original research papers and comprehensive reviews that explore topics including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Design and implementation of digital twin frameworks for real-time machine monitoring.
  • AI-powered fault detection, diagnostics, and prognostics.
  • Integration of IoT and cloud infrastructures within CBM architectures.
  • Case studies demonstrating digital twin applications in industrial maintenance.
  • Optimisation strategies that bridge virtual and physical systems for intelligent maintenance decision-making.

Submissions may include theoretical models, data-driven techniques, hybrid simulations, real-world implementations, or comparative studies in sectors where machinery and intelligent maintenance systems play a critical role, such as manufacturing, energy production, and automated industrial environments.

This Special Issue offers a platform for researchers and practitioners to share breakthroughs, methodologies, and practical insights in deploying digital twins and intelligent CBM systems. Our goal is to support cross-disciplinary dialogue and accelerate the development of next-generation smart maintenance strategies for industrial machinery.

Dr. Nasser Amaitik
Prof. Dr. Yuchun Xu
Prof. Dr. Jihong Yan
Dr. Muftooh Siddiqi
Dr. Chao Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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.

Keywords

  • digital twins
  • condition-based maintenance (CBM)
  • predictive maintenance
  • machine learning and AI in maintenance
  • fault detection and diagnostics
  • remaining useful life (RUL) estimation
  • life cycle cost modelling
  • sustainable maintenance strategies
  • intelligent decision support
  • prognostics and health management (PHM)
  • data-driven maintenance systems
  • maintenance planning optimisation
  • Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
  • smart manufacturing
  • cyber–physical systems

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 20184 KB  
Article
Path Planning for Manipulators of Automotive Welding Unit Based on an Improved RRT* Algorithm
by Xiang Li, Pengxiang Wang, Yuchun Xu and Jihong Yan
Machines 2026, 14(4), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14040447 - 17 Apr 2026
Viewed by 389
Abstract
An automotive welding unit is a modular production cell within a welding workshop that integrates industrial manipulators, welding equipment, fixtures, and control systems to perform specific welding and assembly tasks. A large number of industrial manipulators are utilized in the automotive welding unit. [...] Read more.
An automotive welding unit is a modular production cell within a welding workshop that integrates industrial manipulators, welding equipment, fixtures, and control systems to perform specific welding and assembly tasks. A large number of industrial manipulators are utilized in the automotive welding unit. The capability to quickly plan a short and collision-free path in the workspace of the manipulator is of great importance for improving the manipulator’s intelligence level and production efficiency. The RRT* algorithm, based on random sampling, has been widely applied in path planning for high-dimensional manipulators due to its probabilistic completeness and powerful exploration capabilities. However, the RRT* algorithm performs poorly in spaces containing narrow passages. Research on the practical application of path planning for 6-DOF manipulators is still insufficient, particularly in planning posture. To solve these two problems, an improved RRT* algorithm is proposed in this paper. New sampling and node connection strategies are designed to improve the expansion and convergence speed of the random tree in spaces containing narrow passages. A distance-constrained posture quaternion interpolation method is presented to generate smooth and continuous paths for manipulators of the automotive welding unit. Simulations and experiments are carried out to validate the proposed method, which confirms that the method can plan collision-free paths for manipulators more quickly compared to other methods. Full article
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