Smart Sensors in Industry 4.0

Smart sensors are critical in industry 4.0 because they enable manufacturing processes to be more intelligent. The development and advances in smart sensor technology serves as the backbone of successful industry 4.0 implementation across various sectors. This paper presents various aspects of smart sensors from an industry 4.0 perspective, such as their functions, characteristics, components, working principle, fabrication, types, applications, selection criteria, advantages and limitations. Current and upcoming development technological trends in this field are also highlighted. The paper also briefly discusses some of the latest machine learning based ’smart soft sensor' applications in diverse areas.