Tribotronic components: A revolution transforming machine elements into cyber-physical systems

This paper explores the development of a subject called “tribotronics”, the science of actively controlled tribological elements and considers the potential of tribotronics as part of a revolution machine element design for the future. It presents a “state of the art” assessment of some devices that can be considered to be “tribotronic” which are in common use now, as well as reviewing examples of recent progress in research in tribotronics. It also presents a “perspective” on the future challenges and likely developments in the subject, including the integration of tribotronics with developments in other fields of digital technology, such as Industry 4.0, the “Internet of Things” and machine learning, potentially leading to “cyber tribotronic systems”. It is concluded that it is inevitable that tribotronics will contribute significantly to transforming the design of the components and machines of the present day into the cyber-physical systems in the future.