What is the Internet of Things(IoT)?
Imagine being away from home and you realized you forgot to close the window blinds. Do you know that instead of traveling back home you actually can close them all from your phone even while you are not in the house? Yes, that is possible with the help of IoT.
What Exactly Is IoT?
IoT which is an abbreviation of Internet of Things is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people installed with sensors, software and other technologies with the aim of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet or the ability to transfer data over a network without the need of human to human or computer interaction. It can also be said to be a system of interrelated devices connected to the internet to transfer and receive data from one to another.
Uncountable networked objects all over the world, in cities, streets, homes and hospitals are collecting and sharing data over the internet which is giving them a degree of intelligence.
A smart home is a very good example of IoT. Home appliances like doorbell, AC,smoke detector,thermostat,water heater, security alarm, etc can be inter connected to share data with the user over a mobile app. The user can get details of the working of the devices around him.
Years ago access to the internet was limited to devices like Desktops, Laptops,Tablets and Smartphones. The Internet helps people connect and interact with one another. But with the Internet of Things, inanimate objects have the ability to sense their surroundings to interact and collaborate with one another. Inanimate objects can be connected to the internet and monitored from any distance.
An example is when your alarm goes off in the morning, with the help of IoT you can open the window blinds, turn on the coffee maker and even turn off the water heater.
The World Economic Forum said that there are even more connected devices than people all over the world and it is predicted that by 2025, 41.6 billion devices will be taking data of how we live our lives,work and move from one place to another and would also operate and maintain the machines we use.
IoT is shaping the way we live our lives. It helps us to get a better perspective into the way things around us work.
The History of IoT
The Internet of Things was named officially until 1999 by a Visionary Technologist named Kevin Ashton who was MIT’s Executive Director of Auto-ID Labs. While he was making a presentation for Procter And Gamble. He believed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was a requirement for the Internet of Things as an inventory tracking solution.
He came to the conclusion that if devices were “tagged”, computers could manage and track them. The tagging of things har been achieved with technology to some extent. Like QR codes and Barcodes.
But before Kevin Ashton named it, the idea of adding sensors and intelligence to physical objects was first mentioned in 1982. It was when some university students decided to redesign a Coca-Cola vending machine to track its content from a distance. But during that time, technology was cumbersome which limited the progress.
In 1989, British Scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web(WWW)while he was working at CERN. The first website that he bought online from the Swiss Alps is still available
In 1990,John Romkey was the one to create the first ever IoT device which was a toaster that could be turned on and off over the internet.
In 1991, John Romkey automated the device by adding a crane system which can insert the bread itself.
In 1993, the Trojan Room Coffee Pot was installed at the University of Camb
Over decades, the public showed interest in the Internet of Things and more connected devices came into existence.
In 2000 the first smart refrigerator was announced by LG.
In the year 2002-2003, Walmart alongside the US Department of Defense were the first big organizations to acknowledge Ashton’s tracking inventory using tagged RFID and the Internet of Things.
In 2005 June to be specific the Nabaztag which is an early version of smart homes devices like Alexa and Google Home, was an electronic device which has the shape of a rabbit with the ability to alert its owner and talk to them about stock market change, weather,etc.
The first iPhone was launched in 2007 and by 2008 the amount of connected devices became more than the number of humans
A doorbell that links to your smartphone which was named Ring was developed in 2011 by Jamie Siminoff is a perfect example of the Internet of Things being used at home. Ring lets you know when the doorbell is pressed, allows you to see who it is and also speak with them. The inventor Jamie Siminoff developed it because he wanted to see who was at his door while he was working in his garage. And because he couldn’t hear the doorbell from there, he kept missing deliveries.
By 2013, IoT was already a system using multiple technologies, which ranged from the Internet to wireless communication and also from micro-electromechanical systems(MEMS) to embedded systems.
This consists of almost anything you can think of. From mobile phones to building maintenance. Even medical devices such as a heart monitor implant or bio-chip transponder in farm animals can transfer data over a network and are also members of IoT.
According to McKinsey, about a quarter of businesses were using IoT technology from 13% used in 2014.
How IoT Works
The IoT description is interesting indeed but there is so much that goes on in the background to guarantee uninterrupted performance. A lot of things are involved from efficient communication between devices to accurate processing of the data received.
Hardware in IoT is classified into two. General Devices and Sensing Devices
General Devices
They are the main parts of the data center and information exchange. They are connected by wired or wireless interface. Home appliances are examples of such devices like mobile phones, coffee machines, microwaves, air conditioners, fire alarms etc
Sensing Devices
These include sensors and actuators. They measure the temperature, pressure, humidity, light intensity,etc.
IoT devices have sensors embedded in them. The sensors are capable of sensing their environment. These sensors emit data about the environment and working information of these devices constantly.
IoT is like a platform to dump all data collected by these devices.
These IoT devices are connected to the network with the help of gateways. These gateways pass the information gathered from the sensing devices and send them to the cloud.
IoT platform includes cloud servers and large databases. IoT platform works on data. It merges and processes the information gathered. This platform goes over the data thoroughly to collect important details.
The platform sends back instructions based on data that is being provided. Then the data accumulation is shared with other devices for better performance and user experience later in the future.
The cloud has access to both the storage and processing unit. Work is done on the collected data for further inferences.
Wired and Wireless inferences like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM, etc are used to provide connectivity.
To ensure omnipresence, applications need to support the devices and communication protocol. From tiny sensors capable of sensing and reporting the desired factor to powerful back-end servers utilized for data analysis and knowledge extraction. An example is the ability of an irrigation sprinkler to be automatically turned on when the moisture level of the soil drops.
Advantages of IoT Now And In The Future
IoT is greatly used to lessen the burdens of humans. It is deployed for smart homes, watches, bracelets, smart cars,smart farming,smart retails, smart cities, smart health care and every other sector. With such an extensive range of applications, the future of technology is more promising than ever before. IoT’s aim is to connect all devices with the power of the internet.
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Consumers use IoT as wearable e.g smartwatches or bracelets.
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Enterprise use IoT on smart factories and precision agriculture
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Public spaces use IoT on waste management
Every building in New York for example has been modernized with a wireless water meter since 2008. It is used instead of the manual system where a person has to walk up to a meter to read the numbers and generate the bills.
A lot of cities now use surveillance cameras, traffic counters, radiation sensors, red light cameras and license readers to manage their day to day activities.
Natural Resources will be used to build effective and better smart cities and also improve clean and affordable energy substitutes.
Crimes could be prevented with the help of real-time crime detectors and predictive policing tools.
IoT has been helpful in the medical sector by helping to improve healthcare through real-time patient monitoring from a distance, robots carrying out surgery,etc
IoT has been so helpful in the curbing of Covid-19 Pandemic. Applications like thermal cameras, health monitoring wearable, contact tracking devices help in providing important data that is needed to help fight the disease.
Temperature Sensors and Parcel Tracking helps to ensure that sensitive Covid-19 vaccines are distributed safely.
Smart roads that would be in sync with self-driving cars would improve driver’s safety and traffic flow.
Risks of IoT
IoT can also be misused. This includes security issues, probing into people’s private lives, cyber-crime, surveillance of work,home or public activities and also control of expression.
Conclusion
IoT actually does a lot more benefits to the world than harm. With IoT the world would be lived with ease and less stress.
Combining IoT with other technologies like Cloud Computing, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence is paving ways for many new innovations.