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Summary: In recent years, the industrial environment has been changing radically due to the introduction of concepts and technologies based on the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. After the introduction of Industry 4.0 in large enterprises, SMEs have moved into the focus, as they are the backbone of many economies. Small organizations are increasingly proactive in improving their operational processes, which is a good starting point for introducing the new concepts of Industry 4.0. The readiness of SME-adapted Industry 4.0 concepts and the organizational capability of SMEs to meet this challenge exist only in some areas. This reveals the need for further research and action plans for preparing SMEs in a technical and organizational direction. Therefore, special research and investigations are needed for the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies and concepts in SMEs. SMEs will only achieve Industry 4.0 by following SME-customized implementation strategies and approaches and realizing SME-adapted concepts and technological solutions. Thus, this Special Issue represents a collection of theoretical models as well as practical case studies related to the introduction of Industry 4.0 concepts in small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Summary: A key aspect of cyber-physical systems (CPS) is their potential for integrating information technologies with embedded control systems and physical systems to form new or improved functionalities. CPS thus draws upon advances in many areas. This positioning provides unprecedented opportunities for innovation, both within and across existing domains. However, at the same time, it is commonly understood that we are already stretching the limits of existing methodologies. In embarking towards CPS with such unprecedented capabilities, it becomes essential to improve our understanding of CPS complexity and how we can deal with it. Complexity has many facets, including complexity of the CPS itself, of the environments in which the CPS acts, and in terms of the organizations and supporting tools that develop, operate, and maintain CPS. This book is a result of a journal Special Issue, with the objective of providing a forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange their latest achievements and to identify critical issues, challenges, opportunities, and future directions for how to deal with the complexity of future CPS. The contributions include 10 papers on the following topics: (I) Systems and Societal Aspects Related to CPS and Their Complexity; (II) Model-Based Development Methods for CPS; (III) CPS Resource Management and Evolving Computing Platforms; and (IV) Architectures for CPS.

Summary: Current trends in Industry 4.0 are largely related to issues of reliability and availability. As a result of these trends and the complexity of engineering systems, research and development in this area needs to focus on new solutions in the integration of intelligent machines or systems, with an emphasis on changes in production processes aimed at increasing production efficiency or equipment reliability. The emergence of innovative technologies and new business models based on innovation, cooperation networks, and the enhancement of endogenous resources is assumed to be a strong contribution to the development of competitive economies all around the world. Innovation and engineering, focused on sustainability, reliability, and availability of resources, have a key role in this context. The scope of this Special Issue is closely associated to that of the ICIE'2020 conference. This conference and journal's Special Issue is to present current innovations and engineering achievements of top world scientists and industrial practitioners in the thematic areas related to reliability and risk assessment, innovations in maintenance strategies, production process scheduling, management and maintenance or systems analysis, simulation, design and modelling.

Summary: In recent years, we have been witnessing the exponential proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), networks of physical devices, vehicles, appliances and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators and connectivity that enables these objects to connect and exchange data. Enabling the introduction of highly efficient IoT, wireless sensing and network technologies will reduce the need for traditional processes that are currently be carried out manually, thus freeing up the precious resources of dwindling working staff, to do more meaningful and human-centered work. This reprint aims to bring together innovative developments in areas related to IoT, wireless sensing and networking. The aspects covered include software-defined network (SDN)-based IoT networks, artificial intelligence (AI) for IoT, industrial IoT, smart sensors, optimization of energy efficiency for IoT, and wireless sensor networks, IoT applications for agriculture, smart cities, healthcare, localization and environment monitoring.

Summary: The Internet of Things (IoT) and related technologies have the promise of realizing pervasive and smart applications which, in turn, have the potential of improving the quality of life of people living in a connected world. According to the IoT vision, all things can cooperate amongst themselves and be managed from anywhere via the Internet, allowing tight integration between the physical and cyber worlds and thus improving efficiency, promoting usability, and opening up new application opportunities. Nowadays, IoT technologies have successfully been exploited in several domains, providing both social and economic benefits. The realization of the full potential of the next generation of the Internet of Things still needs further research efforts concerning, for instance, the identification of new architectures, methodologies, and infrastructures dealing with distributed and decentralized IoT systems; the integration of IoT with cognitive and social capabilities; the enhancement of the sensing-analysis-control cycle; the integration of consciousness and awareness in IoT environments; and the design of new algorithms and techniques for managing IoT big data. This Special Issue is devoted to advancements in technologies, methodologies, and applications for IoT, together with emerging standards and research topics which would lead to realization of the future Internet of Things.

Summary: This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Advances in Intelligent Vehicle Control that was published in the journal Sensors. It presents a collection of eleven papers that covers a range of topics, such as the development of intelligent control algorithms for active safety systems, smart sensors, and intelligent and efficient driving. The contributions presented in these papers can serve as useful tools for researchers who are interested in new vehicle technology and in the improvement of vehicle control systems.

Summary: In 2018, the 16th International Symposium on Magnetic Bearings (ISMB16) was held in Beijing, China. Herein, eight distinguished papers were selected to be published as Special Issues of Actuators. These papers are suggested to provide new insights for the development of magnetic bearings, with emphasis on thermal behavior analysis, electrodynamic thrust bearings analysis, viscoelastic damping design, magnetic spring, condition monitoring, self-bearing motors performance.

Summary: The Special Issue of Energies on the subject area of "Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for Electric Vehicles (EV)", covers new work on EV and associated topics like charging process, smart grids, emerging ITS for EV and applications for electromoV market penetration with an increase of 60% per year, associated challenges of the charging process and system and changes in the energy market and grid. EV is associated with sustainability and the EU has committed to reducing CO2 emissions by 37.5 percent by 2030. The charging process and open energy market with renewable energy create interesting research problems where IoT and intelligent systems play an essential role in the flexibility of the EV charging process and the EV operation.bility. Considering EV market penetration with an increase of 60% per year, associated challenges of charging process and system and the change on the Energy market and Grid. EV is associated with sustainability with the commit of EU in, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by 37.5 percent from 2021 to 2030. Charging process and open energy market with renewable energy creates interesting research problems where IoT and Intelligent System plays an essential role in the flexibility of the EV charging process and the EV operation.