Section: Overall Objectives

Context

In the construction of complex systems, information technology (IT) has become a central force of revolutionary changes, driven by the exponential increase of computational power. In the field of telecommunication, IT provides the necessary basis for systems of networked distributed applications. In the field of control engineering, IT provides the necessary basis for embedded control applications. The combination of telecommunication and embedded systems into networked embedded systems opens up a new range of systems, capable of providing more intelligent functionality thank to information and communication (ICT). Networked embedded systems have revolutionised several application domains: energy networks, industrial automation and transport systems.

20th-century science and technology brought us effective methods and tools for designing both computational and physical systems. But the design of cyber-physical systems (CPS) is much more than the union of those two fields. Traditionally, information scientists only have a hazy notion of requirements imposed by the physical environment of computers. Similarly, mechanical, civil, and chemical engineers view computers strictly as devices executing algorithms. To the extent we have designed CPS, we have done so in an ad hoc, on-off manner that is not repeatable. A new science of CPS design will allow us to create new machines with complex dynamics and high reliability, to apply its principles to new industries and applications in a reliable and economically efficient way. Progress requires nothing less than the construction of a new science and technology foundation for CPS that is simultaneously physical and computational.