Fundamentals of Cyber-Physical Systems

Cyber-physical systems are permeating practical application to become an integral part of manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, transportation, energy systems, financial systems, defense and smart infrastructure amongst other application spaces. It is expected that cyber-physical systems in twenty-first century generate comparable innovation and drive for economic productivity and growth to the Internet revolution of the late twentieth century. This is while educational and training programs, large scale testbeds, and skilled workforces are in short supply and are expected to remain a major challenge to innovation, development and adoption over the next decade. This chapter explores the fundamentals of cyber-physical systems. The chapter begins with a definition of cyber-physical systems and continues with a comparison between cyber-physical systems and the closely related fields of embedded systems, robotics, Internet-of-things and big data. Subsequently, a brief review of the drivers and applications of cyber-physicals systems is provided. Next, the evolution of cyber-physical systems is discussed while explaining their foundations, principles and distinguishing features. Lastly, the challenges and opportunities associated with their development are discussed followed by conclusions.