What is (IOT) Internet of Things?
Internet of Things is essentially a hyperconnected network of billions of devices, each of which can be assigned an IP Address. These devices collect and share data through sensors, processors and wired/wireless networks. The technology has been so disruptive that it has been successful in converting anything from a watch to a high-end car into a connected smart device. Consequently, IoT has added a good dose of digital intelligence to devices and has enabled them to transmit data independently. This has facilitated the blurring of boundary lines between the digital and the physical worlds.
IoT history: how it all began?
Although the Internet of Things has not been around for more than two decades, one could quite safely claim that there was a man who foresaw the rise of IoT almost a hundred years before its arrival. This man was Nikola Tesla, a famed Serbian visionary, who stated back in 1926 that ‘...when wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain and the instruments through which we shall be able to do this will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.’
Even if we put Tesla’s grand ideas aside and have a closer look at the timeline of the communications technology, it becomes apparent that the concept of machine-to-machine communication on which IoT is founded has been alive and kicking practically since the invention of the telegraph. Simple as they were, telemetric devices from the second half of the 19th century could collect and transmit portions of data about wildlife or weather over wired transmission circuits, as in the case of a 1874 system of snow-depth sensors installed on Mont Blanc that were able to transmit real-time information straight to Paris, to name just one example.
Fast-forwarding a hundred years, a bunch of coke-thirsty Carnegie Mellon University programmers were forced to make a virtue of necessity when faced with the problem of a quickly emptying refrigerated Coca-Cola vending machine located on the campus. In order to know whether their favourite drink was still available and properly chilled, they devised a system of sensors that tracked the status of each column of glass soda bottles and sent the information over the ARPANET, the predecessor to the today’s Internet, which then could be viewed by anyone having access to an ARPANET-connected computer. Thus, their desire to avoid making unnecessary trips to the machine led them to construct probably the first smart appliance on the planet, and all this in the times when the Internet of Things still seemed a far-off fantasy.
It wasn’t very long after Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web in 1989 that the first home appliance was connected to the newly-founded Internet. John Romkey’s smart toaster could be turned on and off over the Internet, and while it offered next to nothing in terms of other functionalities, it is considered to be the first IoT device in strict terms.
In 1999, Kevin Ashton coined the phrase ‘Internet of Things’ in his presentation about the RFID technology, which coincided with the time around which the IoT revolution really began to gain momentum. From that moment onwards, technology institutions, businesses and societies alike have been gradually turning their minds towards the idea of IoT and started to seek ways of putting this new vision into practice.
The rise of connectivity standards such as Bluetooth or WiFi, along with the rapid spread of smart hardware (think of the ubiquitous smartphone!) and growth in cloud computing greatly fuelled the development of the Internet of Things technology. By 2008, there were more devices connected to the Internet than there were people inhabiting the Earth, and the estimates for the next couple of years leave no doubts about what future has in store for the Internet of Things scene: the IoT market is projected to grow to $8.9T in 2020, with the connected devices topping at mind-boggling 30.3 billion worldwide.
The Internet of Things or iot is influencing our lifestyle from the way we react to the way we behave. From air conditioners that you can control with your smartphone to Smart Cars providing the shortest route or your Smartwatch which is tracking your daily activities. IoT is a giant network with connected devices. These devices gather and share data about how they are used and the environment in which they are operated. It's all done using sensors, sensors are embedded in every physical device. It can be your mobile phone, electrical appliances, Pecos, barcode sensors, traffic lights and almost everything that you come across in day-to-day life. These sensors continuously emit data about the working state of the devices.
The important question is how do they share this huge amount of data, And how do we put this data to our benefit ?
Iot provides a common platform for all these devices to dump their data. And a Common language for all the devices to communicate with each other. Data is emitted from various sensors and sent to iot platform security iot platform integrates the collected data from various sources further analytics is performed on the data and valuable information is extracted as per requirement. Finally. The result is shared with other devices for better user experience Automation and improving efficiencies.
Let us look at a scenario where iot is doing wonders. In an AC manufacturing industry both the manufacturing machine and the Belt have sensors attached they continuously send data regarding the machine health and the production specifics to the manufacturer to identify issues beforehand. A barcode is attached to each product before leaving the belt. It contains the product code, manufacturer details, special instructions Etc. The manufacturer uses this data to identify where the product was distributed and track the Retailer's inventory hence, the manufacturer can make the product running out of stock available. Next this products are packed and parcel to different retailers. Each retailer has a barcode reader to track the products coming from different manufacturers, manage inventory, check special instructions and many more. The compressor of air conditioner has an embedded sensor that emits data regarding its health and temperature. This data is not allies continuously allowing the customer care to contact you for the repair work in time. This is just one of the million scenarios. We have Smart appliances, SmartCars, Smart Homes, Smart Cities where iot is redefining our lifestyle and transforming the way we interact with Technologies. The future of iot industry is huge.
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