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Applications
Innovate without limits. Bring your boldest IoT vision to life with our versatile use cases.
Applications
Innovate without limits. Bring your boldest IoT vision to life with our versatile use cases.
Internet of things means the process of implanting certain technologies (Sensors, microprocessors, etc.) into objects and devices which makes them smarter, able to connect to the internet or any other communication technology protocols, and able to record data from their environment, communicate data between each other, make decisions and process data.
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Have you ever wondered why your phone is referred to as a smartphone?
Then the answer is next to the obvious. You simply ‘Make your devices Smart’
All of these are simply possible because of the Internet of Things Application.
Before you get to learn just what the Internet of Things Application is. And, how you can get that your refrigerator to not only keep things cool but, also inform you or even contact the closest mall to you for restocking on the orange juice you’re almost out of. You have to know more about how amazing the Internet of Things Application is, and how it can be used.
IoT Applications are designed software that serves as an interface bridge through which the user and IoT sensors can communicate. That is, IoT Applications form the interface through which you can interact with the data recorded by the IoT sensors on the cloud server.
IoT Applications are codded with algorithms with which they analyze the data recorded by the various IoT sensors, process that data, and present them in readable, human language and statistics through dashboards on phones, laptops, or computer screens. The user is, therefore, able to interact with the information provided by the sensors such as, progress reports, Resources inventory, service plans, etc. after which you can then respond accordingly.
IoT Applications are also known as intelligent Applications––also called (SaaS) Software-as-a-Service applications––because they give computer/mobile instructions––similar to your everyday Applications functions–– to display sensor-recorded data. In addition, IoT Applications also aids in the communication of data between IoT devices.
IoT application ideas such as the IoT smart home applications simply make life easier for you. Both in your home, workplace, or industry. Take, for instance, you wake up from sleep to the sound of your alarm. Your alarm is automatically linked to your coffee brewer. So, immediately it goes off your coffee start brewing. You tap your wristwatch (which is linked to your alarm clock and turn it off). You adjust the drapes with a click on your phone. On reaching your workplace. You just check the cloud system to discover you’re almost out of some production materials. But the cloud server had already automatically notified your supplier and they’re presently on their way with the products. Life would feel too good to be true.
With the implementation of IoT, all processes become technologized. This reduces the chances of human-generated errors and thus, improves productivity.
IoT application ensuing smart-machines and devices would reduce the cost of you needing to pay (hiring staff or helping hand) or manually perform such functions. E.g. If your drainage is IoT optimized to automatically activate a flash flood to clean it when it gets clogged to a certain level. You won’t have to spend on periodically hiring a plumber to clear it out.
Other Benefits
What is IoT Application development?
IoT application development is simply the creation of these software apps (IoT applications) for IoT devices. The engineering of apps for IoT devices is what is referred to as “IoT application development”. With its various advantages such as;
These advantages give IoT software a wide range of applications in different sectors of society such as IoT industrial applications, IoT applications in agriculture, IoT smart city applications, IoT applications in healthcare, and lots of other IoT application examples.
To ensure a good App for IoT devices, there are steps to be taken during the development of the IoT app, these are;
How are IoT Applications Deployed?
IoT applications’ numerous functions from interfacing between the user and IoT sensors to their role in Inter-devices data communication make them almost irreplaceable in IoT connections.
Here are some common IoT applications and the functions they perform:
Constantly monitor products and machines & devices; this optimizes manufacturing processes and effectiveness.
The constant monitoring of machines, devices, and products in any manufacturing process is essential for optimizing production processes. The monitoring of machines helps you to detect any sort of problem or fault present and to thus, respond in time. Likewise, constantly monitoring the products will allow you to keep track of the available products, the quality of the products and in general, if both the machines and products are operating in their optimal state.
Keep better track of your physical assets by upgrading their security
Your physical assets are liable to be stolen and directed towards other frivolous purposes if not properly monitored. Therefore, IoT tracking and monitoring of your business’s physical assets make you know exactly where they are located at all times.
Employ the use of sensor bracelets, motion detector, or other wearable IoT sensors to keep track of human health and environmental conditions
If your business involves the deployment of your staff to extreme environmental conditions. You can easily monitor the status of their health and also the environmental conditions through some IoT healthcare device sensors that could be worn either as a bracelet, or necklace, or even swallowed as a smart pill. With this, they can be remotely monitored from any location.
Improve on your present business technique with IoT applications
The major aim of employing IoT should be to improve the efficiency of your present business state. E.g. In a healthcare business (hospital or clinic), you can monitor the number and state of deployed ambulances and their present location with the use of IoT GPS (Global Positioning System). Through which you can easily direct them and improve on their timely arrival.
Reform your business process
IoT applications transform your business into a more technological-oriented business which should reform your entire business process. The ability of the various machines and devices to communicate data between themselves should make the process of decision making, product dispensation, and customer engagement, in short, more appealing and efficient.
What Industries can benefit from IoT?
IoT in various industrial fields can lead to the generation of numerous important benefits.
IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) monitors and optimizes industrial processes through the use and implementation of automated sensors and IoT technologies, operational networks. This keeps track of the various industrial processes, optimizes data storing, and ensures the security of assets and resources amidst other functions.
Some of the various Industries that can benefit from IoT include:
Manufacturing Industry
The Machines used in the manufacturing of goods in any manufacturing industry could be implemented with IoT. Manufacturing-IoT enabled machines––are also known as smart Machines involved in the production, processing of products, and packaging––can communicate data effectively with one another during a manufacturing process. Their processes and functions are thereby automated. And with the new digitalized control. They can easily, perform faster, check or scan for and possibly fix any pre-production, in-production, and post-production errors. They can also determine and estimate accurate statistical value the number of products the available resources would be enough to produce. IIoT therefore, increases the product quality and product in-time delivery thereby, increasing customers’ satisfaction.
Agriculture
IoT applications in Agriculture Industry gives the following benefits:
Marine industry
Some Yachts and Boats stay abandoned for the most part of the year. Except when they’re needed for fun cruises. These types of boats may be subjected to degradation in battery life, corrosion of certain parts, stiffness in their engines, and other types of abandonment-inflicted degradation. To prevent this from happening. Boats and Fun ships can be embedded with IoTs technologies (micro-electronics and long-life sensors and devices). This helps to monitor the boat year-round. The state of the boat is then reported periodically to the user through a user interface (IoT application) displayed on a dashboard.
Healthcare Industry
IoT applications in the healthcare industry have seen:
IoT Devices
Almost anything can be an IoT device. In the most basic explanation, an IoT device is any device that can communicate data. Or you might even say an IoT device is any device that can access the internet.
What makes a device IoT-enabled?
A device is considered an IoT device if:
The primary property of Internet of Things devices is being able to communicate data with other devices over a certain network.
Internet of Things devices is simply smarter everyday devices. Which due to certain technological improvements they are able to do other things in addition to their everyday function. E.g. Your traditional fridge which adds to its normal refrigerating functions can take inventory of its content and automatically order from the closest grocery store when you’re running low.
Do you know that experts estimate a 30.7% annual IoT device installation?
In addition, against the 8-10billion global human population, there are over 19 billion IoT devices this equates to an average of more than 2 IoT devices to a single person. If the estimation takes into account the 1 billion human population that is not internet-literate. That number would skyrocket.
What is Industrial IoT?
Internet of things can be applied in a wide range of fields. And, Industrial IoT simply means the optimization of industrial processes with and implementation of IoT sensors and devices, Technologies (Instrumentation, cloud system platform), and Communication in Industrial processes.
The various types of industries––Fashion, production/manufacturing, Agriculture, Healthcare––have been transformed by IoT real-time applications.
IoT application in Industries has brought about machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. Certain gadgets or sensors are implanted into otherwise normal machines and equipment, and they are synched with IoT applications and software. A cloud system and network protocol are also provided through which they can store data, connect wirelessly, and communicate with one another respectively. This makes them IoT-enabled and you can refer to them as Smart devices. Imagine being able to control your farm’s irrigation system at the push of a button on your smartphone. Or your sewing machine could easily detect when a thread cut and automatically fix in another thread. Or better still, operate itself and even suggests you, new design ideas.
Like the popular saying goes ‘no stress’ But, IoT Industrial applications take that up a notch. ‘0% stress, 100% efficiency.’
Internet of Things applications, in general, have contributed immensely to the development of the world at large including, life, work, industry, etc.
History of IoT application
The first notable mention of IoT application was in the early 1980s. Which saw a sort of smart modification of a Coca-Cola vending machine. The vending machine was located and configured at the Carnegie Mellon University to detect and sense the temperature of the drinks just loaded into it. It then reports drinks as being ‘cold’ or ‘not cold.’ This innovative milestone marked the beginning of smart devices, being able to sense, analyze and report data.
The device-to-device communication feature of IoT application garnered propulsion in the 90s from the collective effort and research of notable persons such as Bill Joy, Reza Raji, Mark Weiser, and others.
The conceptual idea that constitutes ‘Internet of Things.’ was generated in a 1985, annual legislative congress speech by Peter T. Lewis but, the term ‘Internet of Things’––Originally ‘Internet for Things’–– itself was formed by Kevin Ashton. Kevin Ashton considered Radio frequency identification (RFID) as the main driving IoT communication technology.
Trends and Characteristics
The most significant Trend associable with the Internet of Things applications is its mind-blowing explosive growth statistics. :
In addition to these impressive statistics, IoTs have a wide range of applications. Including; healthcare, agriculture, etc. This large range portfolio was made possible through some crucial characteristics of IoT.
Some of which includes:
Intelligence
IoTs devices are labeled as smart devices because of their ability to read and sense data, analyze the recorded data, and display it for the user. The application sensitivity of IoT at different levels of intelligence is paramount to achieving this. Advanced machine learning algorithms and other methods and forms of sophisticated intelligence and sensor units have been implemented in enhancing faster, more intelligent, and better decision making and analysis at each IoT intelligence level––IoT devices, Cloud server computing, Edge nodes––.
Architecture
Internet of Things architecture is pretty straightforward. And, is made up of the under-listed layers:
Complexity
IoT is generally termed a complex process. From the systems and subsystems involved in engaging autonomous decision-making to the complex algorithm loops for data communication and maintenance of data security and integrity on the cloud, the system is enormous.
Size consideration
Any typical Internet of Things connection could effectively accommodate as much as 100 trillion devices and as well as efficiently track all. The total number of IoT devices or Internet-enabled devices is a little bit over 80 million. Which should double soon enough in a few years.
Politics and Civic engagement
Provided IoT devices can allow user control and other inter-operable channels, scholars, some learned individuals, and certain activists had opined that it is possible to optimize IoT to create new ways for addressing public consigns.
According to an academic paper by Philip N. Howard. In which he explained how political life as we know it could be dramatically transformed by simply applying IoT in civic engagement. He further stated that to achieve this the following must be done:
All the civil society groups available should formulate personal IoT strategies with which they can make effective use of data and actively engage the public.
Government Regulation on IoT
For an IoT connection of any kind to occur. There must be the communication of data. That goes without saying. The effectiveness of the IoT connection depends to a large amount on how easily the storage and analysis of that particular data are accessible. This is why the importance of a Cloud server system cannot be overemphasized.
In response to these needs, various cloud hosting companies had sprung up around the globe that specializes in storing data from various IoT parties on their cloud systems. Unfortunately, this exposes users to security risks of potential information leaks or data misuse. Therefore, to protect their citizens and Nationals, Governments of various geopolitical regions had passed some privacy and data collection bills into law. Though the exact specifics of these laws differ from region to region but, there are similar elements in all.
Government regulation on IoT could cover:
Data collected must be secured: IoT Cloud Storage Company is solely and would be held responsible for the data collected. Therefore, they should ensure all the IoT data collected must be properly secured and that each stage of processing and storage of the data is appropriately encrypted with state-of-the-art security systems.
Data must only be obtained through consent: IoT Cloud Storage Company must be completely transparent about the exact type of user’s IoT data that is being stored. Therefore, only data 100% approved by the user can be stored.
Data collected must be exactly what is needed: IoT Cloud Storage Company must not collect more user data than is required for the optimal functioning of the IoT connection. In a situation where more is collected than is needed. It becomes a criminal offense punishable by the law.
Types of IoT Wireless Tech
Internet of Things data communication protocol is established by various wireless communication technologies. All with their specific Pros and Cons.
Some types of IoT Wireless tech are:
Bluetooth and BLE
Zigbee
Cellular Networks (3G/4G/5G)
IoT Life Cycle
Deploy: The life cycle of an IoT device starts from the moment it is deployed (that is, embedded with sensors, microprocessors, actuators, synched with an IoT Application or software, a communication network, and a cloud system, etc.), and the assigning of and Identification code.
Monitor: The deployed IoT Device then, monitors the person, or parameters, or whatever the IoT that defines the device is. The device is in turn being monitored by the main control system and its movements are tracked.
Service: The IoT device then acts in service by carrying out its function by sensing and recording data and storage on a cloud system.
Manages: The device then communicates the obtained data from the cloud server with other IoT devices over an established network protocol. To analyze the data with the help of an IoT Application and come up with useful results.
Update: You would need to carry out periodic updates on the IoT device as the manufacturers are always releasing new upgrades with each technological advancement. The IoT device also updates the user via the IoT Application as a user-sensors interface of the sensors and the users of the decisions, information, and data obtained.
Decommission: As nothing lasts forever, your IoT device will need to be decommissioned someday.
The challenges of the Internet of Things (IoT) application
The benefits provided by IoT are immense and I believe, quite obvious but, along with the vast advantages it brings, it is accompanied by various challenges, some of which are listed below;
Security and privacy
This is arguably the most pressing issue facing IoT. Due to the need for IoT to be connected to the internet, it gives cyber criminals a way to access information and perform other perverse acts using the IoT devices as means to gain access. The lax security provided by a disturbingly large percentage of the device manufacturers does nothing to help the situation.
With adequate preventive measures, it is possible to if not eliminate this problem, at least lessen it to an extent. In this regard, Privacy is sadly different. It is inevitable that with the amount of IoT devices potentially accessible information, privacy will reduce.
Sharing and Management of data
The problem of data sharing consists of many different issues that can affect the application of IoT. These include;
Infrastructure
You should know that as of now, the infrastructure capable of effectively handling such immense data globally is not yet widely available.
How do IoT devices work?
IoT devices’ working mechanisms and methodology are quite simple in theory. IoT devices are connected to a local network, using the sensors they are equipped with, they gather data from their physical surroundings, and this data is then transferred to cloud servers through the use of the internet or an established data transmission protocol.
Furthermore, the data stored in the cloud server is then analyzed by the IoT Application and provided through a user interface in form of a dashboard on a computer or tablet to the end-user.
The End user can, in turn, respond to this information and communicate data to the cloud server which in turn transmits the information to the IoT devices.
Most of this operation is carried out in real-time; the transfer of information is a two-way communication that helps operate IoT devices. Various components make up an IoT, all must be present to ensure the smooth running of devices, they include; the IoT device, local network, the internet, and back-end servers.
What is the fate of IoT-acquired Data?
The process through which data passes after it is collected from IoT devices can be broken down into stages;
Firstly, the data acquired will be sent to the main application to either be sent on or consumed. This can happen in real-time, or it can be sent in batches. The data communication is also in part, dependent on the type of device, the network and power consumption, etc.
Next up is the storing of data, depending on whether data is taken in batches or in real-time, the data is properly stored using database systems such as Cassandra. It possesses nodes that can handle transactions as they come and even if a node is lost due to one reason or the other, the rest of the cluster can continue to process data without being affected, ensuring no data is lost over time
And lastly, analyzing the stored data, data that has been stored over time will be sorted through, to look for trends, which take place over time.
Can IoT function without internet connetion?
With the internet in its very name, IoT (internet of things), it is easy to conclude that it should be impossible for it to work without a connection to the internet but, this is only partly true. The IoT systems are smart gadgets that can observe the physical world, collecting useful information from its surroundings, which help it with a decision. And for this, communication is required.
IoT devices can function without the use of the internet, by having a connection with other gadgets to form a local network, which can be used to automate certain tasks. It can be interacted with using direct commands or by changing its configuration, but it is impossible to access it remotely. For remote access to the system, the internet would be required.
Methods that could be taken to prevent IoT devices and systems
The application of IoT is everywhere, like IoT applications in smart homes, or IoT applications in healthcare and industries. With the convenience that IoT brings it also carries security risks that can lead to the compromising of your data. This is due to the lax requirements of passwords for these devices, or resource constraints, which makes it easy to target by cybercriminals. However, there are ways to ensure you can enjoy the benefits of IoT, while minimizing security risks, such as;
There are further measures which could be taken to protect the devices themselves, such as;
The relationship between IoT and AI
The IoT consist of devices such as cars, home appliances, electronic devices, sensors, etc. which are interconnected in such a way that they can communicate with each other and the external environment, gathering useful data from the environment. While the AI is a device equipped with the ability to possibly mimic the cognitive functions of human beings, responding movements in such a way that it becomes unaware till that point. It is ever-evolving, constantly modifying its performance from past actions, i.e. it can learn.
These two things can stand alone, though they are most effective when synched and working together. With the ability of IoT to gather data from its physical surroundings, the AI can use this data; learn from it, and further improve the performance of IoT devices. With its incredible cloud computing strength, the AI can learn, think and react like a human, helping machines achieve efficiency free from human errors.
The increasing popularity of IoT and AI
There has been an increase in the use of IoT and AI due to the immense benefits they provide, there are now many industrial applications of IoT and AI. Various applications of IoT and AI can be found in healthcare, industries, and even agriculture. Some of the various benefits that have to lead to an increase in the demand for IoT and AI include;
The use of AI and IoT can also be found within healthcare, smart homes, and other aspects of the economy. They open up new prospects, allowing for new technologies that can further improve the standard of living while reducing risks and costs.
What are Business IoT and IIoT and how are they different?
IIoT, the industrial internet of things, it means the Industrial IoT application. It focuses on the usage of intelligent devices in communicating, analyzing, and gathering data in real-time. IoT on the other hand concerns itself with the transformation of dumb devices without processing capabilities into smarter devices with their own computational devices, which are connected through the internet.
There are several benefits that IIoT provides to the business, such as risk management, enhancing production abilities, etc. it makes use of critical equipment and devices connected over a network, to manage important operations. This gives IIoT a more sensitive use. It is unlike the IoT which is used for more general functions and usually employed on a small scale. The use of IIOT is restricted to industrial and business applications and works on a much larger scale.
Disambiguation of IoT from IoE, M2M, and others
The term IoT is as we’ve come to know, widely accepted in referring to the large network of interconnected devices that operate in real-time, but it should be noted that IoT is not the only term that refers to this concept of networking. There is other, albeit lesser-known terms which are used to describe this, they include:
M2M: refers to the machine to machine communication and it is widely used in the telecoms sector. It has been used for over a decade and it initially been a one-to-one communication, linking just one machine to another machine, but with the increase in technology, this has gradually changed.
IIOT: This, as stated above, is a subset of IoT that focuses on industrial connection. The Industrial Internet of Things goes beyond M2M connecting not only machines to each other but, humans as well.
Web of Things: Compared to the IoT is of a less-wide scope. It focuses solely on the software architecture and does not include the physical parts of the connection.
IoE: (Internet of Everything) This is a term that has been newly proposed. It aims to include every type of connection that one can imagine, although the concept itself is still rather vague. But once realized, it should be the concept with the highest reach out of all.
There are still other minor concepts such as the internet itself, industry 4.0.
It should be noted that M2M and IIoT are both subsets of the wider-known IoT.
The Importance of 5G to IoT
5G offers the ability to connect a vast amount of 5G devices within a very small area; this implies that it would be possible to fit more sensors into a smaller area. IoT devices use a wide variety of methods to share and gather data and to communicate with each other, ranging from the standard WI-FI to the use of Bluetooth or even Ethernet, not all of these are efficient and some can only transmit a small amount of data within a small area. This has led to people clamoring for a more standard means of communication between IoT devices, and one of the options that would be used more in the upcoming years will be 5G.
The immense capacity of 5G devices would allow for more sensors within a smaller area, and it would allow the connection of more IoT devices to personal mobiles.
This connection will allow:
All these would be implemented in the future as more advanced 5G devices are developed.
Over the coming years, there is bound to a growing increase in the use of 5G for IoT projects. Examples of these IoT applications include the use of surveillance cameras, interconnected cars, and much more. Although 5G offers a wide range of new prospects to IoT, and there will be a sure increase in IoT devices, most might not be connected by 5G but by 4G.
Features of IoT
These are the important factors on which it performs and they include;
The Future of IoT
Right now the amount of interconnected devices that can be found within society is amazing, and the number will just keep on growing with the continual advancement in technology and the reduction in the cost of implementing this technology into devices. Very soon IoT devices will be found in almost all aspects of our lives, revolutionizing our world with things such as IoT smart cities application, where sensors are distributed throughout cities. The application of IoT in smart cities can be used to monitor various aspects of the city, enhancing the everyday lives of its inhabitants.
Although there is a large possibility for the future of IoT devices, things are still in the early stages due to a variety of reasons, some of which include the fact that the necessary technologies like 5G IoT applications are still developing too. There is a lot to be gained from IoT, but there are also huge risks due to lax security and a reduction in the privacy of the user. If care is not taken and there are bound to be serious mishaps, creating situations where a vast amount of consumer data are lost, or stolen or something of the sort, one should not be surprised as this has happened to companies like Tesla, when they had issues with their Bluetooth.
Some of these security issues can be associated with the fact that IoT application is still in its early stages, and over time there should be an increase in the security of IoT devices. There is still the issue of privacy, and with the increase in the ability of these devices in monitoring our everyday lives, resolving this aspect might not be so easy. It seems for greater convenience there is bound to be a trade-off and this might be in the form of the loss of privacy.
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