IoT Everywhere

The Internet of things, fondly called IoT can be simply put as a collection of things that works in relation to the Internet. IoT devices can communicate independently without human assistance and are not just about smartphones or wearables but about the home appliances as well. 
It is not in the near or far future but exists among us and is gaining momentum because of how easy IoT can make our lives become. With IoT enabled devices, we can set the room temperature before arriving home by reminding our air conditioner via smartphone to switch itself on by a certain time. An IoT enabled refrigerator can request for a service check-up if it senses any malfunction.

The very first IoT device was a coke vending machine. During the 1980s Mr.David Nicholas, a Computer Science Major at Carnegie Mellon University along with his friends Mike Casar and Ivar Durham altered the coke vending machine they had on the campus by embedding microswitches inside the machine and developing software which enabled them to know about the total number of colas left inside the machine, from a computer inside the department itself. Arpanet, the predecessor of the World wide web, was used to connect the device to the computer.

Today's world runs on data, which was nicknamed by Mr.Mukesh Ambani as the Oxygen for today's digital economy, is generated by each and every equipment with a single click or swipe and is transmitted in a swish. IoT was invented as a means to keep track of products to ease the difficulty faced while delivering them. Now it has entered our living area and even cars and can function with very little assistance from us. Automated homes once connected to the internet become a part of the Internet of Things. These devices, so as to collect data, have various sensors embedded in them. The data thus collected is transmitted via machine to machine data transfer technology.

As more and more devices become a part of IoT, the more data is generated thereby posing a real challenge of managing the humongous amount of data across the globe. That is where BigData technology comes into the picture, which helps systematically analyze and separate terabytes of data that comes in. Another key player in IoT is Shodan which is a search engine for IoT devices.

IoT in Farming - By introducing IoT in farming, traditional farmers can gain insights into the variations in the moisture level of soil which can help control irrigation systems and manage water consumption, providing the needed supplements in a timely manner which in turn will help the produce. With IoT sensors in place, farmers can even monitor the air quality and humidity which in turn can help maintain the perfect surrounding for the crop that is being farmed.

IoT in Automobiles - Driverless cars introduced by Google is a first step in having IoT vehicles in our lives, not a distant reality. Connected vehicles with built-in sensors have the ability to gather information from their surroundings and present the driver with suggestions that can immediately be put in action be it regarding parking, avoiding collisions or even communicating with the manufacturer regarding timely maintenance.

IoT in Medicine - Having IoT sensors installed inside the human body will enable an accurate diagnosis of acute illnesses where precision matters. Robotic surgeries where the direct involvement of doctors are not required are in practice even now. But the limitation of which is that the doctor needs to be present inside the operating room during the procedure. With the advent of 5G technology, the service of doctors can be availed from any corner of the world. Recently in Beijing, a patient who was in need of urgent surgery to the brain was treated by a doctor some 3000 kilometres via the internet. The doctor's instructions were given to a robot who performed the surgery without him being present in the room physically.

IoT in Manufacturing - Taking the industrial production perspective, the journey of raw material to a product and thereafter to an end user's possession includes various stages of components, machines, activities, people, information systems, transportation and so on. Hence industrial production is a highly interconnected segment spread across a wide arena of materials and users, where IoT plays a pivotal role in bringing things together.

IoT in cities - Smart devices have become an integral part of our daily lives without us even realizing the extent to which we are being dependent on it. By the proper use of the power of IoT, cities are gradually evolving to be smart cities, where the data collected can be aggregated and used to improve the resident life. A few of the examples can be smart monitoring of water usage, leak detection, energy saving etc.

IoT in Industrial Safety - With the advent of IoT, liquid detection in technological facilities, warehouses and other areas. Mining and power sector is making use of IoT to monitor radiation levels and poisonous or toxic gases during the process.

IoT and Artificial Intelligence - IoT generates a humongous amount of data which is useful only if it is streamlined and can be acted upon. To generate optimal value from the real-time data that streams in from various IoT sources, AI-based analysis of data and response generation can be critical. An IoT environment embedded with machine learning capabilities can provide a segment of connected intelligence.

With growing data comes the challenge to streamline and secure it and provide optimal solutions by managing the data. With the ability of AI incorporated into IoT, smarter homes and cities can make our lives much easier.