Use Cases of Internet of Things


Use Cases of Internet of Things



We all have heard of the internet; we know it and we use it. INTERNET is interconnectivity and enables the global connection. It has sort of connected people, we have this facility to contact someone far away using the internet. On a broad scale, it is something that connected only people back then, so it could be considered as the Internet of People. But if someone thinks of connecting our daily routine devices; like AC, TV, refrigerator, fan, lights, etc. then what would that be called? It is an INTERNET OF THINGS. Taking everyday things and connecting them to Internet without human intervention is the Internet of Things or IoT.

Concept of internet of things was proposed by Kevin Ashton in 1999

The concept of the Internet of things was proposed by Kevin Ashton in 1999 during his work at Procter & Gamble for the optimization and automation of the supply chain system. The focus was to draw the senior’s attention to the technology called RFID. That’s when came into application. The term

Internet of Things 

It is the interconnection between the devices, enabling them to communicate and collect data from each other through a common IOT platform. The devices are Smart devices i.e. these are embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and many more; this is known as pervasive computing or ubiquitous computing (enabling computing in any device).

agricultural land and a crop

Let us look at an example, there is an agricultural land and a crop, say wheat, has been grown in the field, here a sensor is fitted in to suspect the moisture level of the soil. In an instant, the moisture level of the soil drops, and the sensor detects it. After the detection a signal is sent to the water sprinkler and it gets activated to water the crops as required. Meanwhile, a notification regarding the situation is also sent to the owner of his/her gadget. Thus, here is a Smart system to facilitate the owner and run the processes smoothly in time. The discussed smart system is set up by using the technology called the Internet Of Things. 

What happens in IOT?

The sensors in devices sense the parameters in real time and sends the data to a common platform called IOT platform. Then the data there, is being processed and some useful information is retrieved from that data. Later the information is sent to other devices that are connected through a network.

Let’s discuss about the above example of an agricultural field, the sensor in the field was constantly sensing the moisture level and sending all the data in real time. At the instant when moisture level dropped the data is sent in the same way but now the data in the cloud (IOT platform), is being processed and fetches out an information that the moisture level has dropped and the crops needs to be watered. Then a signal is sent to the actuator that has been fitted in the sprinkler. As the actuator receives the message it turns on the sprinkler and the crops are watered. Meanwhile the owner is also notified about it as the message is sent from the IOT platform. 

IOT platform



 

 The different devices are connected under some communication protocols via wire or wireless network through an internet cloud depending upon the range, cost, power usage, etc. And that’s how the devices are able to share and collect data from each other using different communication protocols and technologies.

wireless communication

Major Components of IOT –

  •  Hardware-

1)     Sensors- These are the devices that sense the physical parameters like motion, temperature, humidity, etc and converts it into data. These are usually embedded with microprocessors which processes and sends the data further.

2)      Actuators- These devices transforms the energy into motion. They work as a response to sensors, as above in sprinkler. As soon as the information gets in, these make it happen.

sensors

Connectivity-  

The devices connect by some communication protocols and technologies like wifi, radio frequencies, Bluetooth, Zigbee, or RFID. Accordingly, the right one is used.

RFID Tags- All the devices are to be identified as we humans do, we are all identified by our names. Similarly, the devices are also provided with a unique IP address. A microchip is present for the automatic identification of each device. This helps in communication between devices. It lets the platform know where the data is gathered and where the information has to be sent. Although, the IP addresses will not be used to identify devices in the future because of the constantly increasing number of devices in IOT, since we have limited IP addresses.

Data processing

Then data is collected and then processed by different data manipulation techniques. The data is aggregated, extracted, and manipulated, and useful information is retrieved out of it. As in the above case, the information was retrieved that the moisture level is low and the crops need to be watered, out of the different data that was aggregated.  

User interface 

The information then is sent to the user to its final destination as an alert, notification, message, etc. or it is reacted as a motion so as to get the task done as we saw in the case of the sprinkler where the actuator turns the energy into motion and the crops are watered. 

user interface

 

Advantages of IOT –

  1. It minimizes the human effort and saves our time.
  2. It leads to more automation and technical optimization.
  3. It also plays a vital role in improving the technology.
  4. Helps us use our resources efficiently.
  5. A lot of resources are saved for forex. Electricity, fuel, water, etc.

 

Disadvantages of IOT –

  1.         Security of any sort of confidential data is a topic of concern.
  2.         It can lead to any kind of network attack.
  3.         Maintaining our privacy becomes difficult.

Applications of IoT –

  • Smart city
  • Smart home 
  • Smart Education
  • In agriculture
  • smart supply chain
  • Smart Health Care
  • In retail market

and in many more sectors and industries.

smart city components

 

 

Dr. Anju Singh

Associate Professor

School of Advanced Computing

Enquire Now