IoT(Internet of Things) is the future
In this world where technology is used in almost everything, Internet has become an integral part of man’s day to day life. Now a days there will be very few people in this world who does not use internet for their regular use. Internet is used to make calls, video calls, send an email, play games, in offices to complete task etc. Even to write this blog I need Internet and people who will read this blog also would require internet. When internet is such an important part, what will happen when the same internet is used to make our houses, offices, car smart or in other words connected to internet.
What is IoT ?
Internet of Things or IoT is extending the use/capability of internet beyond computer and smartphones to many other processes and environments. IoT has the power to radically change our lives, from the way we manage and operate our homes, personal vehicles, offices, industries etc.
Connecting devices to an internet connection gives us many benefits. Everyone has experienced the benefits of Internet with our smartphones, laptops, computers etc. Using Internet we can experience many more things that would be connected to not just these electronic devices but many other things as well, that is the magic of IoT.
The concept of IoT means taking all the available things in the world and connecting with the help of Internet
When anything is connected to the internet, it means that that particular thing can send information/data or receive information or both. This process makes that thing SMART.
To make a thing smart, it need not have a super storage or a supercomputer built inside it. It just has to connect to a super storage or a supercomputer. In recent years, IoT has gained a lot popularity in various fields. IoT uses the internet to provide the connectivity between traditionally smart devices like mobile phones, computers, laptops etc. and other not so smart electronic devices such as refrigerators, air conditioners, gas meters etc. IoT is used to make our homes and cities smart.
In IoT, collecting and sending of data/information is done by the sensors. Sensors could be of any type like motion sensors, temperature sensors, moisture sensors, light sensors, air quality sensors, voice sensors etc. These sensors when connected with an internet it allows us to collect information from the given environment which helps in taking smart decisions.
For eg. if a house is a smart home and the air conditioners and the lights are connected to the internet then it can be used to sense the presence of people in the house. If the people of the house have gone out for a journey and they come back to their house late at night when they enter the house they need lights to see inside the house. Instead of physically going to the switches and switching on the lights, a smart home using IoT light sensors would detect a person’s presence and darkness of the room and switch on the lights automatically. Same is the case with air conditioners, if the general temperature of the environment and the room is high then it would sense a person’s presence and switch on the AC at a set temperature.
Receiving information and acting on that information is one of the main aim of IoT devices. Whether it’s recognizing a voice command or setting a device to complete a certain task. In this case, if a car is a smart car then with just a voice command by the owner like ‘Switch on the AC’ over the phone can switch on the AC of the car before he/she enters the car.
There are algorithms in each devices that can learn a lot from the information collected by the sensors. These algorithms can create incredible findings about various environment details.
The above images are of the IoT based gas meters and its sensor. The smart gas meter systems are used to automatically collect the usage of gas by each customer and the collected information is used to generate automated bills.
So, the IoT based systems will take over our homes, cars, cities, schools etc. and it will become an integral part of our life and make it easy for everyone.