Industry 5.0 and Beyond: Sensor and Digital Technologies for Sustainable, Circular, and Human-Centric Systems
A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Sensors".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2025 | Viewed by 138
Special Issue Editors
Interests: smart sensors; IoT; digital twins; smart manufacturing; supply chains; modelling; simulation; systems thinking; sustainability; human-centric
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: electrical and electromagnetic tomography; X-ray CT; ultrasound tomography; multi-modality tomography; inverse problems; machine learning; applications in industrial tomography, robotic touch sensing, and medical imaging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: circular economy; bioeconomy; LCA; sustainable supply chain management; applications of operations research and optimisation in engineering sustainable systems
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Industry 5.0 marks a transformative shift in industrial practices, moving beyond Industry 4.0’s focus on efficiency and innovation to place equal emphasis on sustainability, circularity, and human-centric principles. This paradigm shift extends its influence beyond industry, shaping key sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and supply chains.
Advanced sensor and digital technologies, such as smart sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), Digital Twins (DTs), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML), offer unprecedented capabilities for real-time monitoring, data-driven decision-making, and optimisation. For instance, smart sensors based on microelectromechanical (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) can be deployed in confined spaces or on moving components. Advanced, non-invasive and non-destructive technologies like computed tomography (CT) facilitate the IoT monitoring and/or control of previously inaccessible areas and processes, like in harsh environments. Using system data and digital technologies such as AI and ML, the virtual models underlaying the system’s DT can be built.
Supported by such technologies’ capabilities, system-level approaches provide the means to develop strategies and solutions that can foster economic efficiency, environmental stewardship, and social wellbeing. Indeed, tools and methods like life cycle analysis (LCA), operations research, and optimisation techniques provide the means to assess circularity and enhance environmental (e.g., waste reduction and resource conservation) and economic (e.g., efficiency and cost-effectiveness) performance. By embedding human-centricity, data-driven strategies can designed that address sustainability’s economic, environmental, and social dimensions, such as human well-being and safety.
This Special Issue will publish original and visionary research works and review articles on advances in and applications of smart sensors and digital technologies in sustainability, circularity, and human-centricity, with a particular interest in integrative approaches like the above. Topics include but are not limited to the following:
- Smart sensors/edge sensors;
- Wearable sensors, devices, and electronics;
- Signal processing and data fusion in sensor systems;
- Internet of things;
- Smart manufacturing and industry;
- Industrial IoT sensors (IIoT sensors);
- Industrial wireless sensor networks;
- Sensor technology and applications in agriculture, industry, and the environment;
- Machine learning, deep learning, big data and AI in industrial sensors;
- Human–computer interaction;
- Sensors and robotics;
- Industry 4.0;
- The Industry 5.0 revolution.
Dr. Maria Valero Bernal
Prof. Dr. Manuchehr Soleimani
Dr. Anthony Basco Halog
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 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
- smart sensors
- wearable sensors
- internet of things (IoT)
- industrial internet of things (IIoT)
- digital twins
- artificial intelligence
- machine learning
- smart manufacturing
- Industry 4.0
- Industry 5.0
- manufacturing systems
- robotics and sensors
- sustainability
- human-centric systems
- circularity
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
