The Internet of Things is a growing network of everyday objects from industrial machines to consumer goods that can share information and complete tasks while you are busy making other plan. Our Bikes, our homes, our audio system and even our city streets will be connected to the Internet, creating a network of objects that is called the Internet of Things, or IoT for short.
The IoT is creating a new world, a quantifiable and measurable world, made up of millions of sensors and devices that generate incessant streams of data and can make more timely and better informed decisions. This new connected world brings with it fundamental changes to society and can be used to improve our lives and our businesses in many ways. But how it impact our day to day life?, how does it work? And Is IoT a new source of wealth creation?
The IoT is creating a new world, a quantifiable and measurable world, made up of millions of sensors and devices that generate incessant streams of data and can make more timely and better informed decisions. This new connected world brings with it fundamental changes to society and can be used to improve our lives and our businesses in many ways. But how it impact our day to day life?, how does it work? And Is IoT a new source of wealth creation?
How Internet of Things impact our day to day life?
In our day to day life prospective, IoT devices can be classified in three categories:
Smart home devices are also part of the IoT and usually connect to the Internet via ZigBee or low power wireless communication and the home router. These include all domestic devices, from lights and light switches to motion sensors, thermostats, door locks and automated curtains. The smart phone also becomes an online dashboard and control device for Smart Home applications via its WiFi connection to the router.
The third category, M2M (Machine to Machine) devices, comprises devices that are directly connected to the cellular network and internet, such as vehicle that can report their location (in case of an accident or theft), vending machines that can alert when their stocks are running low, industrial machines that can predict their fault very early stage and alert before failure etc.
- Wearables
- Smart home devices
- M2M devices
Smart home devices are also part of the IoT and usually connect to the Internet via ZigBee or low power wireless communication and the home router. These include all domestic devices, from lights and light switches to motion sensors, thermostats, door locks and automated curtains. The smart phone also becomes an online dashboard and control device for Smart Home applications via its WiFi connection to the router.
The third category, M2M (Machine to Machine) devices, comprises devices that are directly connected to the cellular network and internet, such as vehicle that can report their location (in case of an accident or theft), vending machines that can alert when their stocks are running low, industrial machines that can predict their fault very early stage and alert before failure etc.
How does Internet of Things work?
Whatever the type of IoT device, it consist of a sensor, a micro-controller and a real time operating system running on micro-controller. Sensor will sniff a wide variety of information ranging from Location, Weather/Environment conditions, Grid parameters, Movement on assembly lines, Jet engine maintenance data to Health essentials of a patient. Microcontrollers and RTOS together create a IoT Gateway, that enables companies to seamlessly interconnect industrial infrastructure devices and secure data flow between devices and the cloud.
At device end various range of hardware boards, like PanStamps, Raspberry Pi, and Pinoccio, different RTOS like Contiki, TinyOS and Kura, many communication technologies like Zigbee, 6LoWPAN, and WiFi and protocols like CoAP and MQTT are playing vital role to put these device online. On the other side at cloud end various type of infrastructure are there to provide a middle layer for IoT devices and real world, currently REST API is the best choice as a middle layer. Mobile Apps and Web Applications are working as presentation layer, providing UI to control and access IoT devices.
At device end various range of hardware boards, like PanStamps, Raspberry Pi, and Pinoccio, different RTOS like Contiki, TinyOS and Kura, many communication technologies like Zigbee, 6LoWPAN, and WiFi and protocols like CoAP and MQTT are playing vital role to put these device online. On the other side at cloud end various type of infrastructure are there to provide a middle layer for IoT devices and real world, currently REST API is the best choice as a middle layer. Mobile Apps and Web Applications are working as presentation layer, providing UI to control and access IoT devices.
Is Internet of Things a new source of wealth creation?
Cisco estimates that 50 billion devices and objects will be connected to the Internet by 2020. Yet today, more than 99 percent of things in the physical world remain unconnected. The growth and convergence of processes, data, and things on the Internet will make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before. This growth creates unprecedented opportunities for industries, businesses, and people, but the real benefits of the Internet of Things will not, however, be realized until leading companies develop the next generation of applications that address specific business needs.The IoT can potentially transform nearly every industry-locally and globally. It is creating new opportunities for business in four main ways
- Advance business models: The IoT will help companies create new value streams for customers, institute processes that speed time to market, triage market performance, and respond rapidly to customer needs. Uber is one of the example of such a business model.
- Real-time critical information: With IoT, organizations can capture more data about their processes and products in a more timely fashion to create new revenue streams, improve operational efficiency, and increase customer loyalty, e.g. vending machines that can alert when their stocks are running low.
- Diversification of revenue streams: The IoT can help companies create new services and new revenue streams on top of traditional products, e.g smart shopping malls and their automated inventory management system.
- Efficient and intelligent operations: Access to information from autonomous end points, as today’s smart grid already supplies to utility companies, will allow organizations to make on-the-fly decisions on pricing, logistics, sales, and support deployment, etc.
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