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Industrial Internet of Things in the Industry 4.0: New Researches, Applications and Challenges (Volume II)

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Internet of Things".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 18037

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Salvatore Cavalieri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Full Professor, Department of Computer Engineering, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Interests: smart grid; industrial informatic
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nunzio Marco Torrisi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Associate Professor, Center of Mathematics, Computing and Cognition (CMCC), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André, Brazil
Interests: computing; engineering; energy; manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last few years a lot of effort is being put in the context of Industry 4.0 and in particular in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The application of the concepts of Internet of Things in an industrial environment opens a lot of different new application like Smart Factory, Smart Logistics, Smart Lifecycle, among others. The application of smart sensors, for instance, eases the digitalization process demanded by Industry 4.0 providing access to the information and configuration of field devices. Reference Architectures has been defined in this context, like Reference Architecture Model for Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) or Industrial Internet Reference Architecture (IIRA). In particular, the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) has been proposed in RAMI 4.0 to realize the concept of Digital Twin coming from Internet of Things to represent every asset, and its functionality, in the digital world. The digitalization process of Industry 4.0 and IIoT brings a lot of new scenarios and technologies that can be applied in the manufacturing process like Plug-and-Produce, Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Fog and Edge Computing, Interoperability and Integration protocols, and so on.

The main objective of this special issue is to collect state-of-the-art contributions on the latest research and development, up-to-date issues, and challenges in IIoT. We invite researchers from academia and industry to submit their high-quality works and research findings. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Emerging sensors in IIoT
  • IIoT for industrial Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance
  • Intelligent robots based- IIoT for industrial applications
  • Human machine interface in IIoT for industrial applications
  • Smart manufacturing using IIoT
  • Advances in reference architectures for Industry 4.0 and IIoT
  • Plug-and-Produce, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Fog and Edge Computing in Industry 4.0
  • Interoperability and Integration in IIoT and Industry 4.0
  • New applications of IIoT in industry
  • Machine-to-machine communication protocol (OneM2M, OPC UA, DDS, etc.)
  • Novel Information models, standards mapping and software development techniques for IIoT
  • Novel network technologies applied for IIoT (TSN, 5G, SDN etc.)
  • Network management and industrial communication protocol
  • Digital Twin, Device Models, Automation Models
  • Novel applications of service-oriented architectures in IIoT (e.g., Microservices, REST, Serverless computing)
  • Application of Blockchain Technology in the Manufacturing Industry
  • Algorithms for remote IIoT data collection and filtering.

Prof. Dr. Salvatore Cavalieri
Dr. Nunzio Marco Torrisi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 8634 KiB  
Article
Asset Administration Shell Tool Comparison: A Case Study with Real Digital Twins Used in Petrochemical Industry
by Fatih Kaya, Ezgi Şanlı, Özlem Albayrak, Perin Ünal and Pinar Kirci
Sensors 2025, 25(7), 1978; https://doi.org/10.3390/s25071978 - 22 Mar 2025
Viewed by 480
Abstract
Being a cornerstone of Industry 4.0, Asset Administration Shell (AAS) enables seamless integration and interaction among the physical and digital worlds. There are multiple different tools and technologies available for implementing AAS. The purpose of this study is to support the tool and [...] Read more.
Being a cornerstone of Industry 4.0, Asset Administration Shell (AAS) enables seamless integration and interaction among the physical and digital worlds. There are multiple different tools and technologies available for implementing AAS. The purpose of this study is to support the tool and technology selection decision of AAS modelers and implementers. For that purpose, we conducted a literature survey and identified four active tools, and in the study, we included all of them: AASX server, Eclipse BaSyx, FA3ST service, and NOVAAS. Using a comprehensive criteria list, we conducted a thorough comparison of the selected technologies. The comparison was made in two steps: first for initial learning exercises and second for a real case study where digital twins belong to real assets in a facility belonging to the petrochemical industry. Among the evaluated tools, Eclipse BaSyx demonstrated superior performance compared to the other three tools investigated in this study. Future research will focus on incorporating machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) models associated with the assets, leveraging datasets generated by the sensors installed on the system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Internet of Things in the Industry 4.0: New Researches, Applications and Challenges (Volume II))
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26 pages, 7102 KiB  
Article
Towards a Unified Management Interface for 5G Sensor Networks: Interoperability between Yet Another Next Generation and Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture
by Devaraj Sambandan and Devi Thirupathi
Sensors 2024, 24(19), 6231; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24196231 - 26 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1232
Abstract
Fifth-generation (5G) sensor networks are critical enablers of Industry 4.0, facilitating real-time monitoring and control of industrial processes. However, significant challenges to their deployment in industrial settings remain, such as a lack of support for interoperability and manageability with existing industrial applications and [...] Read more.
Fifth-generation (5G) sensor networks are critical enablers of Industry 4.0, facilitating real-time monitoring and control of industrial processes. However, significant challenges to their deployment in industrial settings remain, such as a lack of support for interoperability and manageability with existing industrial applications and the specialized technical expertise required for the management of private 5G sensor networks. This research proposes a solution to achieve interoperability between private 5G sensor networks and industrial applications by mapping Yet Another Next Generation (YANG) models to Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture (OPC UA) models. An OPC UA pyang plugin, developed to convert YANG models into OPC UA design model files, has been made available on GitHub for open access. The key finding of this research is that the proposed solution enables seamless interoperability without requiring modifications to the private 5G sensor network components, thus enhancing the efficiency and reliability of industrial automation systems. By leveraging existing industrial applications, the management and monitoring of private 5G networks are streamlined. Unlike prior studies that explored OPC UA’s integration with other protocols, this work is the first to focus on the YANG–OPC UA integration, filling a critical gap in Industry 4.0 enablement research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Internet of Things in the Industry 4.0: New Researches, Applications and Challenges (Volume II))
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41 pages, 20649 KiB  
Article
A Robust End-to-End IoT System for Supporting Workers in Mining Industries
by Marios Vlachos, Lampros Pavlopoulos, Anastasios Georgakopoulos, Georgios Tsimiklis and Angelos Amditis
Sensors 2024, 24(11), 3317; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24113317 - 22 May 2024
Viewed by 1512
Abstract
The adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the mining industry can dramatically enhance the safety of workers while simultaneously decreasing monitoring costs. By implementing an IoT solution consisting of a number of interconnected smart devices and sensors, mining industries can improve [...] Read more.
The adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the mining industry can dramatically enhance the safety of workers while simultaneously decreasing monitoring costs. By implementing an IoT solution consisting of a number of interconnected smart devices and sensors, mining industries can improve response times during emergencies and also reduce the number of accidents, resulting in an overall improvement of the social image of mines. Thus, in this paper, a robust end-to-end IoT system for supporting workers in harsh environments such as in mining industries is presented. The full IoT solution includes both edge devices worn by the workers in the field and a remote cloud IoT platform, which is responsible for storing and efficiently sharing the gathered data in accordance with regulations, ethics, and GDPR rules. Extended experiments conducted to validate the IoT components both in the laboratory and in the field proved the effectiveness of the proposed solution in monitoring the real-time status of workers in mines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Internet of Things in the Industry 4.0: New Researches, Applications and Challenges (Volume II))
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21 pages, 1896 KiB  
Article
Digital Twin Meets Knowledge Graph for Intelligent Manufacturing Processes
by Georgia Stavropoulou, Konstantinos Tsitseklis, Lydia Mavraidi, Kuo-I Chang, Anastasios Zafeiropoulos, Vasileios Karyotis and Symeon Papavassiliou
Sensors 2024, 24(8), 2618; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24082618 - 19 Apr 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3066
Abstract
In the highly competitive field of material manufacturing, stakeholders strive for the increased quality of the end products, reduced cost of operation, and the timely completion of their business processes. Digital twin (DT) technologies are considered major enablers that can be deployed to [...] Read more.
In the highly competitive field of material manufacturing, stakeholders strive for the increased quality of the end products, reduced cost of operation, and the timely completion of their business processes. Digital twin (DT) technologies are considered major enablers that can be deployed to assist the development and effective provision of manufacturing processes. Additionally, knowledge graphs (KG) have emerged as efficient tools in the industrial domain and are able to efficiently represent data from various disciplines in a structured manner while also supporting advanced analytics. This paper proposes a solution that integrates a KG and DTs. Through this synergy, we aimed to develop highly autonomous and flexible DTs that utilize the semantic knowledge stored in the KG to better support advanced functionalities. The developed KG stores information about materials and their properties and details about the processes in which they are involved, following a flexible schema that is not domain specific. The DT comprises smaller Virtual Objects (VOs), each one acting as an abstraction of a single step of the Industrial Business Process (IBP), providing the necessary functionalities that simulate the corresponding real-world process. By executing appropriate queries to the KG, the DT can orchestrate the operation of the VOs and their physical counterparts and configure their parameters accordingly, in this way increasing its self-awareness. In this article, the architecture of such a solution is presented and its application in a real laser glass bending process is showcased. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Internet of Things in the Industry 4.0: New Researches, Applications and Challenges (Volume II))
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13 pages, 1875 KiB  
Article
Industrial Internet of Things Gateway with OPC UA Based on Sitara AM335X with ModbusE Acquisition Cycle Performance Analysis
by Cornel Ventuneac and Vasile Gheorghita Gaitan
Sensors 2024, 24(7), 2072; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24072072 - 24 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1454
Abstract
This article presents the hardware and software architectures used to implement the Modbus Extension (ModbusE) IIoT gateway, the performance of the acquisition cycle at the PRU real-time programmable core level, the acquisition cycle communication flow—dispatcher—OPC UA server (Linux)—OPC UA client (Windows) as well [...] Read more.
This article presents the hardware and software architectures used to implement the Modbus Extension (ModbusE) IIoT gateway, the performance of the acquisition cycle at the PRU real-time programmable core level, the acquisition cycle communication flow—dispatcher—OPC UA server (Linux)—OPC UA client (Windows) as well as the performance analysis of data communications between the IIoT ModbusE gateway and the OPC UA client (Windows). In order to be able to implement both the ModbusE acquisition cycle and the OPC UA server, the BeagleBone Black Board was chosen as the hardware platform. This board uses the Sitara AM335x processor (Texas Instruments (TI), Dallas, TX, USA) from Texas Instruments. Thus, the acquisition cycle was implemented on the PRU0 real-time core, and the OPC UA server, running under the Linux operating system, was implemented on the ARM Cortex A8 processor. From the analysis of the communication speed of the messages between the OPC UA client and the ModbusE servers, it was found that the ModbusE acquisition cycle speed was higher than the acquisition speed of the OPC UA client. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Internet of Things in the Industry 4.0: New Researches, Applications and Challenges (Volume II))
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27 pages, 5359 KiB  
Article
Digital Twin of a Water Supply System Using the Asset Administration Shell
by Salvatore Cavalieri and Salvatore Gambadoro
Sensors 2024, 24(5), 1360; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24051360 - 20 Feb 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2552
Abstract
The concept of digital twins is one of the fundamental pillars of Industry 4.0. Digital twin allows the realization of a virtual model of a real system, enhancing the relevant performance (e.g., in terms of production rate, risk prevention, energy saving, and maintenance [...] Read more.
The concept of digital twins is one of the fundamental pillars of Industry 4.0. Digital twin allows the realization of a virtual model of a real system, enhancing the relevant performance (e.g., in terms of production rate, risk prevention, energy saving, and maintenance operation). Current literature presents many contributions pointing out the advantages that may be achieved by the definition of a digital twin of a water supply system. The Reference Architecture Model for Industry 4.0 introduces the concept of the Asset Administration Shell for the digital representation of components within the Industry 4.0 ecosystem. Several proposals are currently available in the literature considering the Asset Administration Shell for the realization of a digital twin of real systems. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, at the moment, the adoption of Asset Administration Shell for the digital representation of a water supply system is not present in the current literature. For this reason, the aim of this paper is to present a methodological approach for developing a digital twin of a water supply system using the Asset Administration Shell metamodel. The paper will describe the approach proposed by the author and the relevant model based on Asset Administration Shell, pointing out that its implementation is freely available on the GitHub platform. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Internet of Things in the Industry 4.0: New Researches, Applications and Challenges (Volume II))
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23 pages, 17341 KiB  
Article
Industrial Internet of Things over 5G: A Practical Implementation
by José Meira, Gonçalo Matos, André Perdigão, José Cação, Carlos Resende, Waldir Moreira, Mário Antunes, José Quevedo, Ruben Moutinho, João Oliveira, Pedro Rendeiro, Pedro Oliveira, Antonio Oliveira-Jr, José Santos and Rui L. Aguiar
Sensors 2023, 23(11), 5199; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23115199 - 30 May 2023
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 6708
Abstract
The next generation of mobile broadband communication, 5G, is seen as a driver for the industrial Internet of things (IIoT). The expected 5G-increased performance spanning across different indicators, flexibility to tailor the network to the needs of specific use cases, and the inherent [...] Read more.
The next generation of mobile broadband communication, 5G, is seen as a driver for the industrial Internet of things (IIoT). The expected 5G-increased performance spanning across different indicators, flexibility to tailor the network to the needs of specific use cases, and the inherent security that offers guarantees both in terms of performance and data isolation have triggered the emergence of the concept of public network integrated non-public network (PNI-NPN) 5G networks. These networks might be a flexible alternative for the well-known (albeit mostly proprietary) Ethernet wired connections and protocols commonly used in the industry setting. With that in mind, this paper presents a practical implementation of IIoT over 5G composed of different infrastructure and application components. From the infrastructure perspective, the implementation includes a 5G Internet of things (IoT) end device that collects sensing data from shop floor assets and the surrounding environment and makes these data available over an industrial 5G Network. Application-wise, the implementation includes an intelligent assistant that consumes such data to generate valuable insights that allow for the sustainable operation of assets. These components have been tested and validated in a real shop floor environment at Bosch Termotecnologia (Bosch TT). Results show the potential of 5G as an enhancer of IIoT towards smarter, more sustainable, green, and environmentally friendly factories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Internet of Things in the Industry 4.0: New Researches, Applications and Challenges (Volume II))
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