Week 2 - Introduction to CPS

Question 1

Understanding cyber physical systems

Answer 1

Benefits include increasing the efficiency and sustainability of many of our current practices, and creating new markets and growth such as

Negatives include waste production and loss of employment.

Question 2

Smart manufacturing:

Answer 2

Integration of computer-based systems (IoT, AI, big-data) and manufacturing with the aim of making production better in:

Reduce waste, increase quality, adaptive to change in demand, time and cost efficient, flexible, collaborative, and innovative.

Question 3

Smart Emergency Response System (SERS)

Answer 3

These systems provides the survivors and emergency personnel with information to locate and assist each other during a disaster.

Question 4

Critical Infrastructure

Answer 4

These are necessary for the survival and welfare of a nation and includes distribution of daily life supplies such as water, electricity, telecommunication, petrol, gas.

Question 5

Air Transport

Answer 5

Includes civil, military aviation and traffic management.

With the introduction of drones and UAVs, CPS are expected to have an important role on the traffic management and control of these autonomous aerial vehicles.

Question 6

Healthcare

Answer 6

Pertains to different aspects of patient care, home care, assisted-living, smart operating-room, smart medical devices.

For example monitoring health and condition of the patients and take necessary action with a pacemaker.

Question 7

Intelligent Transportation

Answer 7

Using monitoring, communication, computation and control mechanisms in transpiration system to improve safety, coordination and traffic management.

The communication would involve vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, satellite, etc.

Question 8

Service Robots

Answer 8

Assist human being by performing services for the welfare of humans. They can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or remotely controlled.

Services could be daily house hold choirs to search and rescue or nuclear plant decommissioning.

Question 9

CPS Overall Architecture

Answer 9

Perception layer,
Transmission layer,
Application layer2;

Question 10

Perception Layer

Answer 10

This is the first layer and it is the recognition or sensing layer. It includes sensors, actuators, microphone, RFID tags, GPS, gyroscope, etc that collect real-time data in order to monitor, track, and interpret the physical world.

Question 11

Transmission Layer

Answer 11

Also known as a network layer, this is the second layer. Exchanges/route data between perception layer and application layers. Data transmission is done through Internet using LAN, Bluetooth, cellular (4G/5G/LTE), infrared, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, etc.

Question 12

Application layer

Answer 12

The third layer receives info from the perception layer, processes this info, determines the corresponding automated action, and finally, issues commands that are executed by the perception layer.

Question 13

Physical Systems

Answer 13

This primarily refers to the railway crossing itself.

Question 14

Automated Control

Answer 14

Managed by an embedded system or controller, such as a programmable logic control unit.

Question 15

Human Interactions

Answer 15

These arise from the local monitoring station or the operation control centre.

Question 16

IT Systems

Answer 16

Facilitates networking and communication between sensors, actuators, the controller, and the local monitoring station (or operation control centre).

Question 17

Sensor

Answer 17

Measures process variable. Sends data.

Question 18

Controller

Answer 18

Decision making. Processes information from the sensors.

Question 19

Actuator

Answer 19

Takes action to control. Receives action from the controller.

Question 20

Data acquisition

Answer 20

Carried out by the sensors.

Question 21

Data transmission

Answer 21

Involves the IT infrastructure to deliver the acquired data to the controller.

Question 22

Data processing & decision making

Answer 22

Carried out by the controller and needs to be sent to the actuators.

Question 23

Data transmission

Answer 23

IT systems transferring the signals/data from controller to the actuators.

Question 24

Actuation

Answer 24

Upon receiving the data through IT systems, actuators change the physical parameters in the environment .