The impact of smart materials, digital twins (DTs) and Internet of things (IoT) in an industry 4.0 integrated automation industry

The automation industries in their initial stages were factories with a limited number of machine com-ponents and a large and skilled worker base. Since the beginning of the 20th century, newer technologies are being adopted in the automation industry, and newer benchmarks are being set up; industry 4.0 is the latest of this trail and brings the idea of smart industries. Elements of Industry 4.0 primarily drive these industries. Intelligent materials, intelligent designs, faster data transmission, and accession shape the cutting-edge revolutions in this age. Researchers are constantly pushing the bars to attain new and smart materials with more applications than we can imagine. Despite being appealing, these technologies face many hurdles while making their way to the mainstream consumer base. This paper discusses the latest developments in such technologies, their potential applications in many fields, and the practical steps to pave their way into the automation industry.Copyright (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-ence on Advances in Materials and Mechanical Engineering. (ICAMME-2022).