The Internet of Things (IoT), commonly referred to as the Internet of Things, refers to connecting objects and humans via the Internet.
There are a number of applications for IoT technologies because they can be applied to almost any technology that is capable of providing relevant information regarding its own operation, the performance of an activity, as well as the environmental conditions that we have to monitor and control at a distance. This is the reason why IoT technologies are so versatile.
There are a lot of companies from different sectors and industries that are adopting this technology today in order to simplify, improve, automate, and control the processes they operate. In the next section, we will present some of the surprising practical applications of the Internet of Things.
Wearable devices such as virtual glasses, fitness bands that monitor heartbeats and calorie expenditure, or GPS tracking belts have been available for some time now. The Internet of Things and its applications have been developed by companies such as Google, Apple, Samsung, and others.
A smartphone is a small and energy-efficient device that is equipped with an array of sensors, the hardware necessary for measurements and readings to take place, and the software necessary to gather and organize information about the user.
Doctors can monitor a patient's condition outside of the hospital and in real-time by using wearables or sensors connected to patients. The Internet of Things improves patient care and the prevention of lethal events in high-risk patients by continuously monitoring certain metrics and sending automatic alerts on their vital signs.
Another application is the incorporation of IoT technology into hospital beds, resulting in smart beds outfitted with special sensors to monitor vital signs, blood pressure, oximeter, and body temperature, among other things.
The Internet of Things can be very useful in managing vehicular traffic in large cities, contributing to the smart city concept.
When we use our mobile phones as sensors, collecting and sharing data from our vehicles via apps like Waze or Google Maps, we are utilizing the Internet of Things to inform us while also contributing to traffic monitoring, showing the conditions of different routes, and feeding and improving the information on different routes to the same destination, distance, and estimated time of arrival.
Sensors installed in fleet vehicles aid in the establishment of effective interconnectivity between vehicles and their managers, as well as between vehicles and their drivers. Both the driver and the manager/owner can access the software that collects, processes, and organizes data to learn about the vehicle's status, operation, and needs. Receive real-time alerts of maintenance incidents that have not been detected by the driver.
The use of the Internet of Things in fleet management aids in geolocation (and thus route monitoring and identification of the most efficient routes), performance analysis, telemetry control and fuel savings, the reduction of polluting emissions to the environment, and can even provide valuable information to improve vehicle driving.
Smart farms are now a reality. Soil quality is critical for producing good crops, and the Internet of Things allows farmers to gain detailed knowledge and valuable information about their soil condition. A significant amount of data on the state and stages of the soil can be obtained by implementing IoT sensors. Soil moisture, acidity level, presence of specific nutrients, temperature, and many other chemical characteristics help farmers control irrigation, make water use more efficient, specify the best times to start sowing, and even detect the presence of diseases in plants and soil.
The application of IoT to the hotel industry results in interesting improvements in service quality. It is possible to automate various interactions by implementing electronic keys that are sent directly to each guest's mobile device.
Thus, the location of the guests, the sending of offers or information on activities of interest, the fulfillment of orders to the room or room service, the automatic charging of accounts to the room, or the request for personal hygiene supplies are all activities that can be easily managed through integrated applications that use the Internet of Things technology. The use of electronic keys automates the check-out process, disabling door operation, providing instant access to room information, and even assigning housekeeping tasks to maintenance personnel.
The progressive use of intelligent energy meters, or meters equipped with sensors, and the installation of sensors at various strategic points along the path from the manufacturing plants to the various distribution points, allows for better monitoring and control of the electrical network.
By establishing bidirectional communication between the service provider company and the end user, information of enormous value for fault detection, decision-making, and repair can be obtained. It also enables the end user to receive valuable information about their consumption patterns and the best ways to reduce or adjust their energy expenditure.
A sensor, either built into or attached to water meters, connected to the Internet and accompanied by the necessary software, aids in data collection, processing, and analysis, allowing consumers' behavior to be understood, detecting faults in the supply service, reporting results, and offering courses of action to the company that provides the service.
Similarly, it allows final consumers to track their own consumption information in real-time via a web page, even receiving automatic alerts in the event of detecting consumption that is out of range with their average consumption record, which could indicate the presence of a leak.
Maintenance management is one of the areas where IoT technology is being used extensively. The combination of sensors and software specialized in CMMS/EAM maintenance management yields a multifunctional tool whose use can be applied to a variety of disciplines and practices, with the goal of extending the useful life of physical assets while ensuring asset reliability and availability. When the features of the software in charge of processing and arranging the data collected by the sensors are specifically designed to address the maintenance management needs of physical assets, their application is nearly limitless. Real-time monitoring of physical assets enables determining when a measurement is out of range and condition-based maintenance (CBM) is required, as well as applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms such as Machine Learning or Deep Learning to predict failure before it occurs.