What
is IoT. Internet
of things or devices connected to internet.
In simple
words the devices which are connected to internet, interact with each other,
collect and exchange data. A device is connected to internet can be controlled or
operated by remote control room.
History:
Necessity
is the mother of invention, Retail industry were struggling to track the items,
inventory, to meet demand and supply. Researchers at MIT found a way to improve Procter
and Gamble business by linking RFID info to the internet, and also with the invention
of RFID, internet led to the era of IoT.
Term IoT was
first coined by Peter T Lewis in 1985 speech to FCC, he said “IoT is the
integration of people, processes and technology with connectable devices”.
Kevin Ashton
is one of key member in development of IoT, while working at MITs autoID lab
developed technique to linking RFID information to the internet. Ashton wrote:
“RFID and sensor technology enable
computers to observe, identify and understand the world—without the limitations
of human-entered data”
Though its
simple automation solution at that time but not simple anymore now.
Bottom line of IoT are automation, no human
intervention, less errors, improve productivity, machine to machine communications,
cost savings.
Things which make IoT to work: (Sensor | IP
number | Internet | Cloud | You)
Actually its
convergence of multiple technologies makes IoT to work. But here are the main
components of IoT:
Sensor: “a device that detects or measures a
physical property and records, indicates, or otherwise responds to it” – wiki. It can any sensor heat, pressure, bio, touch, … if you don’t know,
your (human) body is full of sensors!!
IP number: thanks to IPv6, without this it’s tough to implement IoT. IPv6 is based
on 128 bit address so theoretically 2 ^ 128 addresses. Based on ipv6 we can
assign a unique number to each device.
Internet: another
major component through this we transfer data or communicate.
Cloud: via internet we store the sensor data,
process and analyze it
You: you or smart phone or machine will
have the information about a device. You will decide what to do with that data.
Here is a hypothetical
scenario of how above components work together:
You have
installed a temp monitor Sensor at your home. Sensor detects that air temperature
inside your home is above 85 deg F. Sensor has connected to internet, so it
will send data to cloud. Your smartphone is hooked up to cloud data or registered
to receive alert from cloud. So on cloud you have logic if data of air
temperature rise above certain level you inform registered devices. So you get
an alert notification. You can respond to that alert by saying to reduce the temperature.
In reverse order signal goes to cloud,
cloud to sensor via internet and sensor reduces the temperature.
IoT is
heavily used in Industrial automation, Health care, Power & Utilities and
many other. You can even monitor your refrigerator too.
Create your own IoT device:
With little
effort you can create your own IoT device. I have listed things you need to
create a device.
Scripting/Programming
language. (ex:
Python, C)
You need to
know a scripting\programming language. With very basics if else conditions you
can create script to-do on and off functionality. If you need here is the link to learn python.
https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Programmers
Basics of
Electronics
You should
know basics of electronics like voltage, current, resistors, capacitors and
couple others. Here is the link if you need to learn or brush up.
https://www.clear.rice.edu/elec201/Book/basic_elec.html
Arduino or
Raspberry pi
Both are
often misunderstood about the usage. Here is basic difference of them:
Arduino
is a microcontroller / basic computer, you can run just one program at a time.
(Costs around 20$)
Raspberry
pi is full-fledged computer with Linux OS. You can run multiple programs at a
time. (Costs around 35$)
I suggest you start with Arduino, because it’s
simple and easy to learn.
Download
Arduino IDE: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage
Buy
Arduino basic controller
Follow:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage
