Overview

What is IoT?

Internet of Things (IoT) is an ecosystem of connected physical objects that are accessible through the internet. The ‘thing’ in IoT could be a person with a heart monitor or an automobile with built-in-sensors, i.e. objects that have been assigned an IP address and have the ability to collect and transfer data over a network without manual assistance or intervention. The embedded technology in the objects helps them to interact with internal states or the external environment, which in turn affects the decisions taken.

Why IoT?

An article by Ashton published in the RFID Journal in 1999 said, “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. We need to empower computers with their own means of gathering information, so they can see, hear and smell the world for themselves, in all its random glory.” This is precisely what IoT platforms does for us. It enables devices/objects to observe, identify and understand a situation or the surroundings without being dependent on human help. Nearly all of the data available on the Internet today was first captured and created by human beings. The problem is, people have limited time, attention, and accuracy, which means they are not very good at capturing data about things in the real world,so, 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 and this is what gave birth to “Internet of Things”.

Architecture of IoT

By now you might have understood that IoT is not just Internet-connected consumer devices. In fact, IoT is the technology that builds systems capable of autonomously sensing and responding to stimuli from the real world without human intervention. We therefore need to develop a process flow for a definite framework over which an IoT solution is built. The IoT Architecture generally comprises of these 4 stages:

stage 1

A thing in the context of “Internet of Things”, should be equipped with sensors and actuators thus giving the ability to emit, accept and process signals.

Stage 2

The data from the sensors starts in analogue form which needs to be aggregated and converted into digital streams for further processing. Data acquisition systems perform these data aggregation and conversion functions.

Stage 3

Once IoT data has been digitized and aggregated, it may require further processing before it enters the data center, this is where Edge Analytic comes in.

Stage 4

Data that needs more in-depth processing gets forwarded to physical data centers or cloud-based systems.

What is the scope of IoT?

Internet of Things can connect devices embedded in various systems to the internet. When devices/objects can represent themselves digitally, they can be controlled from anywhere. The connectivity then helps us capture more data from more places, ensuring more ways of increasing efficiency and improving safety and IoT security.

IoT is a transformational force that can help companies improve performance through IoT analytics and IoT Security to deliver better results. Businesses in the utilities, oil & gas, insurance, manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure and retail sectors can reap the benefits of IoT by making more informed decisions, aided by the torrent of interactional and transactional data at their disposal.

How can IoT help?

IoT platforms can help organizations reduce cost through improved process efficiency, asset utilization and productivity. With improved tracking of devices/objects using sensors and connectivity, they can benefit from real-time insights and analytics, which would help them make smarter decisions. The growth and convergence of data, processes and things on the internet would make such connections more relevant and important, creating more opportunities for people, businesses and industries.

Applications of IoT

Natural Disaster Management with IoT

The Internet of Things platform can be used to accumulate data related to a specific geographic location using remote monitoring tools and perform analytics so that early warnings of a disaster can be found out.

Better Health-Care with IoT

IoT can have a major impact when it comes to remote health monitoring. Even though the patient is on the move, his vitals can be continuously sent to the doctors with the help of IoT platform.

Smart Farming with IoT

The task of irrigation can be automated with the help of IoT. A set of sensors such as light,humidity,temperature can be used to continuously monitor the field conditions.

Smart Energy Management with IoT

With smart grids energy distribution can be optimized. These grids also keep collecting real-time data which helps in distributing electricity efficiently and also to reduce the outages.

Pollution Control with IoT

The IoT platform helps us to continuously monitor the air quality and water quality. This data will be sent to the cloud, where further analytics can be performed so that a proper action can be taken to control pollution.

Conclusion

The internet of things is a concept that will have an enormous effect on the world. Many people are still skeptical about this idea and whether or not it will have a negative or positive impact on society. Like it or not, we will eventually reach a point where almost everything we use is connected to the internet in some way. This will be very useful and can be used to benefit and improve the lives of individuals all across the world. People will be healthier because they will be able to monitor their vitals and eating habits, as well as be safer as they can secure their home from intruders. It will also be used to benefit businesses all around the world by making their strategies and products more effective. There is no doubt that the advantages of the IoT outweigh the disadvantages, and the IoT will have a positive impact on the world. We should be excited for this new concept and look at it as a way to improve our lives everyday.

Author : Arcot Gautham
Edited by: Niveditha M

Cognive

Think and adapt for the future

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