A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low -- or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network.
IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), microservices and the internet. The convergence has helped tear down the silo walls between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), allowing unstructured machine-generated data to be analyzed for insights that will drive improvements.
Practical applications of IoT technology can be found in many industries today, including precision agriculture, building management, healthcare, energy and transportation. Connectivity options for electronics engineers and application developers working on products and systems for the Internet of Things include:
Although the concept wasn't named until 1999, the Internet of Things has been in development for decades. The first internet appliance, for example, was a Coke machine at Carnegie Melon University in the early 1980s. The programmers could connect to the machine over the internet, check the status of the machine and determine whether or not there would be a cold drink awaiting them, should they decide to make the trip down to the machine.
Some consumer applications have been criticized for their lack of redundancy and their inconsistency, leading to a popular parody known as the “Internet of Shit.” Companies have been criticized for their rush into IoT, creating devices of questionable value,and not setting up stringent security standards.
A second application of smart home is even more sophisticated. One can guide his or her connected device at home even from far away. If one for example leaves the office, it is possible to tell a connected air conditioner device via smart phone to cool down the house to a certain temperature.
Another example would be to use smart devices as for examples Amazon's Alexa to get the most recent and most important news of the day while cutting the vegetables for the meal you are cooking at the moment. In general, Smart Home devices make life easier at home and give us the possibility to make several things at the same time.
Digital control systems to automate process controls, operator tools and service information systems to optimize plant safety and security are within the purview of the IoT. But it also extends itself to asset management via predictive maintenance, statistical evaluation, and measurements to maximize reliability. Smart industrial management systems can also be integrated with the Smart Grid, thereby enabling real-time energy optimization. Measurements, automated controls, plant optimization, health and safety management, and other functions are provided by a large number of networked sensors.
The term industrial Internet of things (IIoT) is often encountered in the manufacturing industries, referring to the industrial subset of the IoT. IIoT in manufacturing could generate so much business value that it will eventually lead to the fourth industrial revolution, so the so-called Industry 4.0. It is estimated that in the future, successful companies will be able to increase their revenue through Internet of things by creating new business models and improve productivity, exploit analytics for innovation, and transform workforce. The potential of growth by implementing IIoT will generate $12 trillion of global GDP by 2030.
Besides home-based energy management, the IoT is especially relevant to the Smart Grid since it provides systems to gather and act on energy and power-related information in an automated fashion with the goal to improve the efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity. Using advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) devices connected to the Internet backbone, electric utilities can not only collect data from end-user connections but also, manage other distribution automation devices like transformers and reclosers.
Another application is a currently undergoing project in Santander, Spain. For this deployment, two approaches have been adopted. This city of 180,000 inhabitants has already seen 18,000 downloads of its city smartphone app. The app is connected to 10,000 sensors that enable services like parking search, environmental monitoring, digital city agenda, and more. City context information is used in this deployment so as to benefit merchants through a spark deals mechanism based on city behavior that aims at maximizing the impact of each notification.
Other examples of large-scale deployments underway include the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City; work on improving air and water quality, reducing noise pollution, and increasing transportation efficiency in San Jose, California; and smart traffic management in western Singapore. French company, Sigfox, commenced building an ultra-narrowband wireless data network in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014, the first business to achieve such a deployment in the U.S. It subsequently announced it would set up a total of 4000 base stations to cover a total of 30 cities in the U.S. by the end of 2016, making it the largest IoT network coverage provider in the country thus far.
Another example of a large deployment is the one completed by New York Waterways in New York City to connect all the city's vessels and be able to monitor them live 24/7. The network was designed and engineered by Fluidmesh Networks, a Chicago-based company developing wireless networks for critical applications. The NYWW network is currently providing coverage on the Hudson River, East River, and Upper New York Bay. With the wireless network in place, NY Waterway is able to take control of its fleet and passengers in a way that was not previously possible. New applications can include security, energy and fleet management, digital signage, public Wi-Fi, paperless ticketing and others.
IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), microservices and the internet. The convergence has helped tear down the silo walls between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), allowing unstructured machine-generated data to be analyzed for insights that will drive improvements.
“Today computers -- and, therefore, the
internet -- are almost wholly dependent on human beings for information.
Nearly all of the roughly 50 petabytes (a petabyte is 1,024 terabytes)
of data available on the internet were first captured and created by
human beings by typing, pressing a record button, taking a digital
picture or scanning a bar code.
The problem is, people have limited
time, attention and accuracy -- all of which means they are not very
good at capturing data about things in the real world. If we had
computers that knew everything there was to know about things -- using
data they gathered without any help from us -- we would be able to track
and count everything and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would
know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling and whether
they were fresh or past their best.”
IPv6’s huge
increase in address space is an important factor in the development of
the Internet of Things. According to Steve Leibson, who identifies
himself as “occasional docent at the Computer History Museum,” the
address space expansion means that we could “assign an IPV6 address to
every atom on the surface of the earth, and still have enough addresses
left to do another 100+ earths.” In other words, humans could easily
assign an IP address to every "thing" on the planet. An increase in the
number of smart nodes, as well as the amount of upstream data the nodes
generate, is expected to raise new concerns about data privacy, data sovereignty and security. Practical applications of IoT technology can be found in many industries today, including precision agriculture, building management, healthcare, energy and transportation. Connectivity options for electronics engineers and application developers working on products and systems for the Internet of Things include:
Although the concept wasn't named until 1999, the Internet of Things has been in development for decades. The first internet appliance, for example, was a Coke machine at Carnegie Melon University in the early 1980s. The programmers could connect to the machine over the internet, check the status of the machine and determine whether or not there would be a cold drink awaiting them, should they decide to make the trip down to the machine.
Consumer application
A growing portion of IoT devices are created for consumer use. Examples of consumer applications include connected car, entertainment, home automation (also known as smart home devices), wearable technology, quantified self, connected health, and appliances such as washer/dryers, robotic vacuums, air purifiers, ovens, or refrigerators/freezers that use Wi-Fi for remote monitoring. Consumer IoT provides new opportunities for user experience and interfaces.[citation needed]Some consumer applications have been criticized for their lack of redundancy and their inconsistency, leading to a popular parody known as the “Internet of Shit.” Companies have been criticized for their rush into IoT, creating devices of questionable value,and not setting up stringent security standards.
Smart Home
IoT devices are a part of the larger concept of home automation, also known as domotics. Large smart home systems utilize a main hub or controller to provide users with a central control for all of their devices. These devices can include lighting, heating and air conditioning, media and security systems. Ease of usability is the most immediate benefit to connecting these functionalities. Long term benefits can include the ability to create a more environmentally friendly home by automating some functions such as ensuring lights and electronics are turned off. One of the major obstacles to obtaining smart home technology is the high initial cost.Applications
One key application of smart home is to provide assistance for disabled and elderly individuals. These home systems utilize assistive technology to accommodate an owner's specific disabilities.Voice control can assist users with sight and mobility limitations while alert systems can be connected directly to Cochlear implants worn by hearing impaired users. They can also be equipped with additional safety features. These features can include sensors that monitor for medical emergencies such as falls or seizures. Smart home technology applied in this way can provide users with more freedom and a higher quality of life.A second application of smart home is even more sophisticated. One can guide his or her connected device at home even from far away. If one for example leaves the office, it is possible to tell a connected air conditioner device via smart phone to cool down the house to a certain temperature.
Another example would be to use smart devices as for examples Amazon's Alexa to get the most recent and most important news of the day while cutting the vegetables for the meal you are cooking at the moment. In general, Smart Home devices make life easier at home and give us the possibility to make several things at the same time.
Enterprise
The term "Enterprise IoT," or EIoT, is used to refer to all devices used in business and corporate settings. By 2019, it is estimated the EIoT will account for nearly 40% or 9.1 billion devices.Media
Media use of the Internet of things is primarily concerned with marketing and studying consumer habits. Through behavioral targeting these devices collect many actionable points of information about millions of individuals. Using the profiles built during the targeting process, media producers present display advertising in line with the consumer's known habits at a time and location to maximize its effect. Further information is collected by tracking how consumers interact with the content. This is done through conversion tracking, drop off rate, click through rate, registration rate and interaction rate. The size of the data often presents challenges as it crosses into the realm of big data. However, in many cases benefits gained from the data stored greatly out weighs these challenges.Infrastructure Management
Monitoring and controlling operations of urban and rural infrastructures like bridges, railway tracks, on- and offshore- wind-farms is a key application of the IoT. The IoT infrastructure can be used for monitoring any events or changes in structural conditions that can compromise safety and increase risk. It can also be used for scheduling repair and maintenance activities in an efficient manner, by coordinating tasks between different service providers and users of these facilities.IoT devices can also be used to control critical infrastructure like bridges to provide access to ships. Usage of IoT devices for monitoring and operating infrastructure is likely to improve incident management and emergency response coordination, and quality of service, up-times and reduce costs of operation in all infrastructure related areas. Even areas such as waste management can benefit from automation and optimization that could be brought in by the IoT.Manufacturing
Network control and management of manufacturing equipment, asset and situation management, or manufacturing process control bring the IoT within the realm of industrial applications and smart manufacturing as well. The IoT intelligent systems enable rapid manufacturing of new products, dynamic response to product demands, and real-time optimization of manufacturing production and supply chain networks, by networking machinery, sensors and control systems together.Digital control systems to automate process controls, operator tools and service information systems to optimize plant safety and security are within the purview of the IoT. But it also extends itself to asset management via predictive maintenance, statistical evaluation, and measurements to maximize reliability. Smart industrial management systems can also be integrated with the Smart Grid, thereby enabling real-time energy optimization. Measurements, automated controls, plant optimization, health and safety management, and other functions are provided by a large number of networked sensors.
The term industrial Internet of things (IIoT) is often encountered in the manufacturing industries, referring to the industrial subset of the IoT. IIoT in manufacturing could generate so much business value that it will eventually lead to the fourth industrial revolution, so the so-called Industry 4.0. It is estimated that in the future, successful companies will be able to increase their revenue through Internet of things by creating new business models and improve productivity, exploit analytics for innovation, and transform workforce. The potential of growth by implementing IIoT will generate $12 trillion of global GDP by 2030.
Agriculture
The IoT contributes significantly towards innovating farming methods. Farming challenges caused by population growth and climate change have made it one of the first industries to utilize the IoT. The integration of wireless sensors with agricultural mobile apps and cloud platforms helps in collecting vital information pertaining to the environmental conditions – temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed, pest infestation, soil humus content or nutrients, besides others – linked with a farmland, can be used to improve and automate farming techniques, take informed decisions to improve quality and quantity, and minimize risks and wastes. The app-based field or crop monitoring also lowers the hassles of managing crops at multiple locations. For example, farmers can now detect which areas have been fertilised (or mistakenly missed), if the land is too dry and predict future yields.Energy management
Integration of sensing and actuation systems, connected to the Internet, is likely to optimize energy consumption as a whole. It is expected that IoT devices will be integrated into all forms of energy consuming devices (switches, power outlets, bulbs, televisions, etc.) and be able to communicate with the utility supply company in order to effectively balance power generation and energy usage.Such devices would also offer the opportunity for users to remotely control their devices, or centrally manage them via a cloud-based interface, and enable advanced functions like scheduling (e.g., remotely powering on or off heating systems, controlling ovens, changing lighting conditions etc.).Besides home-based energy management, the IoT is especially relevant to the Smart Grid since it provides systems to gather and act on energy and power-related information in an automated fashion with the goal to improve the efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity. Using advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) devices connected to the Internet backbone, electric utilities can not only collect data from end-user connections but also, manage other distribution automation devices like transformers and reclosers.
Environmental monitoring
Environmental monitoring applications of the IoT typically use sensors to assist in environmental protection by monitoring air or water quality, atmospheric or soil conditions, and can even include areas like monitoring the movements of wildlife and their habitats. Development of resource-constrained devices connected to the Internet also means that other applications like earthquake or tsunami early-warning systems can also be used by emergency services to provide more effective aid. IoT devices in this application typically span a large geographic area and can also be mobile. It has been argued that the standardization IoT brings to wireless sensing will revolutionize this area.Building and home automation
IoT devices can be used to monitor and control the mechanical, electrical and electronic systems used in various types of buildings (e.g., public and private, industrial, institutions, or residential) in home automation and building automation systems. In this context, three main areas are being covered in literature:- The integration of the internet with building energy management systems in order to create energy efficient and IOT driven “smart buildings”.
- The possible means of real-time monitoring for reducing energy consumption and monitoring occupant behaviors.
- The integration of smart devices in the built environment and how they might be used in future applications.
Metropolitan scale deployments
There are several planned or ongoing large-scale deployments of the IoT, to enable better management of cities and systems. For example, Songdo, South Korea, the first of its kind fully equipped and wired smart city, is on near completion. Nearly everything in this city is planned to be wired, connected and turned into a constant stream of data that would be monitored and analyzed by an array of computers with little, or no human intervention.[citation needed]Another application is a currently undergoing project in Santander, Spain. For this deployment, two approaches have been adopted. This city of 180,000 inhabitants has already seen 18,000 downloads of its city smartphone app. The app is connected to 10,000 sensors that enable services like parking search, environmental monitoring, digital city agenda, and more. City context information is used in this deployment so as to benefit merchants through a spark deals mechanism based on city behavior that aims at maximizing the impact of each notification.
Other examples of large-scale deployments underway include the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City; work on improving air and water quality, reducing noise pollution, and increasing transportation efficiency in San Jose, California; and smart traffic management in western Singapore. French company, Sigfox, commenced building an ultra-narrowband wireless data network in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014, the first business to achieve such a deployment in the U.S. It subsequently announced it would set up a total of 4000 base stations to cover a total of 30 cities in the U.S. by the end of 2016, making it the largest IoT network coverage provider in the country thus far.
Another example of a large deployment is the one completed by New York Waterways in New York City to connect all the city's vessels and be able to monitor them live 24/7. The network was designed and engineered by Fluidmesh Networks, a Chicago-based company developing wireless networks for critical applications. The NYWW network is currently providing coverage on the Hudson River, East River, and Upper New York Bay. With the wireless network in place, NY Waterway is able to take control of its fleet and passengers in a way that was not previously possible. New applications can include security, energy and fleet management, digital signage, public Wi-Fi, paperless ticketing and others.