Design, modelling, simulation and integration of cyber physical systems: methods and applications

The main drivers for the development and evolution of Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) are the reduction of development costs and time along with the enhancement of the designed products. The aim of this survey paper is to provide an overview of different types of system and the associated transition process from mechatronics to CPS and cloud-based (IoT) systems. It will further consider the requirement that methodologies for CPS-design should be part of a multi-disciplinary development process within which designers should focus not only on the separate physical and computational components, but also on their integration and interaction. Challenges related to CPS-design are therefore considered in the paper from the perspectives of the physical processes, computation and integration respectively. Illustrative case studies are selected from different system levels starting with the description of the overlaying concept of Cyber Physical Production Systems (CPPSs). The analysis and evaluation of the specific properties of a sub-system using a condition monitoring system, important for the maintenance purposes, is then given for a wind turbine.

Optimization of physical and optical properties of biodegradable edible films based on pea starch and guar gum

The influence of process variables (pea starch, guar gum and glycerol) on the viscosity (V), solubility (SOL), moisture content (MC), transparency (TR), Hunter parameters (L, a, and b), total color difference (ΔE), yellowness index (YI), and whiteness index (WI) of the pea starch based edible films was studied using three factors with three level Box–Behnken response surface design. The individual linear effect of pea starch, guar and glycerol was significant (p < 0.05) on all the responses. However, a value was only significantly (p < 0.05) affected by pea starch and guar gum in a positive and negative linear term, respectively. The effect of interaction of starch × glycerol was also significant (p < 0.05) on TR of edible films. Interaction between independent variables starch × guar gum had a significant impact on the b and YI values. The quadratic regression coefficient of pea starch showed a significant effect (p < 0.05) on V, MC, L, b, ΔE, YI, and WI; glycerol level on ΔE and WI; and guar gum on ΔE and SOL value. The results were analyzed by Pareto analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the second order polynomial models were developed from the experimental design with reliable and satisfactory fit with the corresponding experimental data and high coefficient of determination (R2) values (>0.93). Three-dimensional response surface plots were established to investigate the relationship between process variables and the responses. The optimized conditions with the goal of maximizing TR and minimizing SOL, YI and MC were 2.5 g pea starch, 25% glycerol and 0.3 g guar gum. Results revealed that pea starch/guar gum edible films with appropriate physical and optical characteristics can be effectively produced and successfully applied in the food packaging industry.