A Survey: Sensors 4.0 – Smart Sensors and Measurement Technology Enable Industry 4.0

Abstract

“Industries 4.0” or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are two terms for the current revolution seen in industrial automation and control. Everything is getting smarter and data generated at all levels of the production process are used to improve product quality, flexibility, and productivity. This would not be possible without smart sensors, which generate the data and allow further functionality from self-monitoring and self-configuration to condition monitoring of complex processes. In analogy to Industry 4.0, the development of sensors has undergone distinctive stages culminating in today’s smart sensors or “Sensor 4.0”. This paper briefly reviews the development of sensor technology over the last 2 centuries, highlights some of the potential that can be achieved with smart sensors and data evaluation, and discusses success requirements for future developments. In addition to magnetic sensor technologies which allow self-test and self-calibration and can contribute too many applications due to their wide spectrum of measured quantities.