Learn in the textbookAdvanced Systems and Business Software Packages
DefinitionA cyber-physical system (サイバーフィジカルシステム) uses sensors and similar devices to capture the state of the real world (physical space), analyzes it in the world inside computers (cyberspace), and returns the results to real machines or to people's decisions.
ExplanationPhysical space means the world that actually exists, with its machines, people and cities, while cyberspace means the world built inside computers and networks. Repeating the loop of collecting, analyzing and feeding back lets you, for instance, spot a failing machine early and service it before it stops, or retime traffic lights to match the flow of cars. IoT devices commonly handle the data collection, and AI commonly handles the analysis.
AnalogyIt resembles taking your temperature, having a doctor choose medicine from the reading, and measuring again after you take it. The measuring tool and the thinking mind are separate, and the decision comes back to act on the body, just as in a CPS.
Memory hookSplit the name in two: cyber is the world inside computers, physical is the tangible world, and the system links the pair.