Cloud, Edge, and Digital Twin Architectures for Condition Monitoring of Computer Numerical Control Machine Tools: A Systematic Review
Condition monitoring has come to the forefront of intelligent manufacturing and is particularly important in Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining processes, where reliability, precision, and productivity are crucial. The traditional methods of monitoring, which are mostly premised on single sensors, the localized capture of data, and offline interpretation, are proving too small to handle current machining processes. Being limited in their scale, having limited computational power, and not being responsive in real-time, they do not fit well in a dynamic and data-intensive production environment. Recent progress in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud computing, and edge intelligence has led to a push into distributed monitoring architectures capable of obtaining, processing, and interpreting large amounts of heterogeneous machining data. Such innovations have facilitated more adaptive decision-making approaches, which have helped in supporting predictive maintenance, enhancing machining stability, tool lifespan, and data-driven optimization in manufacturing businesses. A structured literature search was conducted across major scientific databases, and eligible studies were synthesized qualitatively. This systematic review synthesizes over 180 peer-reviewed studies found in major scientific databases, using specific inclusion criteria and a PRISMA-guided screening process. It provides a comprehensive look at sensor technologies, data acquisition systems, cloud–edge–IoT frameworks, and digital twin implementations from an architectural perspective. At the same time, it identifies ongoing challenges related to industrial scalability, standardization, and the maturity of deployment. The combination of cloud platforms and edge intelligence is of particular interest, with emphasis placed on how the two ensure a balance in the computational load and latency, and improve system reliability. The review is a synthesis of the major advances associated with sensor technologies, data collection approaches, machine operations, machine learning, deep learning methods, and digital twins. The paper concludes with what can and cannot be performed to date by providing a comparative analysis of what is known about this topic and the reported industrial case applications. The main issues, such as the inconsistency of data, the lack of standardization, cyber threats, and old system integration, are critically analyzed. Lastly, new research directions are touched upon, including hybrid cloud–edge intelligence, advanced AI models, and adaptive multisensory fusion, which is oriented to autonomous and self-evolving CNC monitoring systems in line with the Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 paradigms. The review process was made transparent and repeatable by using a PRISMA-guided approach to qualitative synthesis and literature screening.