Smart integrated systems: From components to products

Abstract

Customer demands for devices with new increasingly complex functionalities, higher quality, lower cost, long-term reliability and usability both for investment and consumer goods constitute new technological challenges [EPoSS, the European Technology Platform on Smart Systems Integration (http://www.smart-systems-integration.org)]. The key factor for successful products will be system integration, miniaturisation and last but not least transdisciplinary technology approaches. Bridging the gap between the nanometre scale and the customer's macro-world will affect a multitude of technologies, materials and processes and their combination. Smart systems technologies and their integration will therefore have a significant impact on the competitiveness of entire sectors such as automotive, aeronautics, medical technology, logistics, security, and process engineering. It will consequently contribute to solving major socio-economic problems in the health, environment, mobility and other domains. Smart systems will provide solutions for assistive technologies for the handicapped and elderly, will be the enabling technologies for new solutions in medical care and will help to reduce CO2 emissions. Smart systems development will evolve from current first generation smart systems as, for example, object recognition devices through Smart systems of the second generation as artificial human organs up to third generation Smart systems combining technical and cognitive functions. The following considerations will address the various aspects related to smart systems integration taking into account the major socio-economic megatrends. © 2009 Springer-Verlag US.