Internet Of Things (IOT)

Internet of Things(IOT) is a collection of ‘things’ around us such as wearable devices, automobiles, traffic signals, mobile phones, water pipes, lights (and even people!) connected over internet and enabled to communicate and interact via embedded components such as gateways, sensors and actuators. Internet of things can identify, store and process the data and analyze it to draw smart conclusions. IOT has got potential applications in all aspects of human life. Let us see some interesting examples.

Traffic signals can identify when the traffic is reaching a certain threshold value. Once this value is reached, they can send signals to other traffic signals in the vicinity via the water pipes which are also connected to the internet. This way a car dashboard can show an alert to the driver about the heavy traffic on the road and can also suggest an alternative route. This is a simple example showing how IOT can make our lives easy. Another simple example of IOT application could be a smart air conditioner which can identify the needs of people inside the room and control the temperature accordingly. IOT can also have a potential use in tracking anklets of all the felons inside the prison so that an automatic alarm can be raised if any of the criminal gets out of prison boundaries and the prison guards receives instant notification.

 Typical IOT components:

Components	Description
Things	Physical objects such as car dashboards, smart watches, refrigerators, lights etc
Sensors	Identify the surroundings to gather data, triggers and subsequent changes.
Gateways	Stores and process data collected by sensors before sending to network.
Actuators	Triggers an action when supplied with energy.
Services	Cloud services which can process the data collected and give analysis.
Platforms	Platforms are middleware between sensors and network.

                       

                                                

Application areas of IOT are way beyond what we can see today. As of now IOT have applications in various domains such as:

-Home Automation

-Construction and Manufacturing processes

-Automobiles

-Health care

-Smart Cities

-Wearable

-Reactive Computing and Analytics

Despite all this, there are numerous security concerns, limitations and considerations about IOT implementations such as:

-Precise selection of use cases for IOT

-profit margins after investment and implementation

-choosing a type of connection

-adherence to standards

-choosing a type of energy source like battery

-data misuse etc