The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Sept. 18 released a draft Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) Framework document for public comment meant to help manufacturers create new systems that can work with other smart physical-computational systems.
Cyber Physical Systems are “smart systems that include engineered interacting networks of physical and computational components,” the draft framework said.
CPS is related to the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet that are all recognized as having great potential to allow innovating applications and impact many economic sectors, the draft said.
“While the field is still new, a common characteristic of CPS is the tight integration of physical and computing devices—such as movement sensors that inform your fitness bracelet how far you have walked, or the computer controlling the transmission and antilock brakes in your car,” NIST said.
The framework is the product of the CPS Public Working Group (PWG), which was established to bring together a range of CPS experts in an open forum to help define key characteristics of CPS. The working group is composed of several hundred members from industry, academia, and government. The CPS PWG seeks to help better manage the development and implementation of CPS characteristics across application domains.
The CPS PWG used a three-stage plan to produce this initial framework. First it developed initial framework element documents in five subgroups, combined them into an initial framework draft, and then revised them into this released version. The effort took over a year, NIST said.
“Creating a complex device involves a lot of people with varying interests and concerns, from the designers to the engineers to the safety testers. What the framework provides is an organized treatment of these concerns so the group can address and manage them all effectively,” David Wollman, co-chair of the NIST Cyber-Physical Systems Public Working Group, said in a statement.
“It will prompt them to think of concerns they may not be aware of, and support understanding and integration of different CPS,” Wollman added.
The framework will probably undergo a second draft release for expanded public comment before a final version is published, Wollman said.