Get to know about the Internet of Things or IoT and understand it's applications without any prerequisites.

Have you ever wondered what makes one able to control a lot of daily life objects like AC, lights, or even electric fans miles away from the actual device? Or if someone gets a cardiac arrest or any other health-related problem and requires immediate medical assistance, an Ambulance reaches to his/her location without anyone calling it with the help of a wearable fitness band? This is where IoT comes into play along with much other life and money-saving applications.

Understanding IoT!

Before getting on some useless definitions and hard to understand terms that make no sense to a beginner let us assume a scenario. Suppose there is a normal refrigerator that works just completely fine, cools the things up, and freezes them if needed. What if we make this old school refrigerator a bit smarter by adding in some sensors which can simply detect outside temperature and then adjust itself accordingly which can save some significant amount of electricity during winters and similar can be done with AC’s which can optimize themselves according to the environment without any human intervention. This will not only improve the User experience but benefit the User in terms of saving money. Keeping in mind the same smart refrigerator if we add in some more sensors which can detect if the user is running out on bread, milk, and eggs and alert the user through a notification on his/her device through the internet and can even order some of these items by itself using the internet. Wouldn’t this make your life a lot easier and you never have to do the grocery shopping again as this same refrigerator may also plan your diet and make other food arrangements after being instructed. These installations or additional changes to a device that keeps the original working of the device similar but making it more user-friendly and improving computer-computer and computer-human interaction are called Embedded Systems and these once connected to the internet and can transfer data and share it with authorized users makes it an IoT device. 

Knowing this, we can now build our definition on various technical terms which would have been a jargon for you before.

What is IoT?

IoT which stands for Internet of things is a system or a network of devices that collects some information using sensing devices and embedded systems, which can be transferred over the internet to another computer to store it, analyze it, and make use of it for various purposes.

This is by far the most basic definition you can expect for IoT but at the same time, it fulfills the actual purpose. 

Why IoT?

Now you will wonder why to know about IoT? How is it unique and different from other technologies out there? And How can it be beneficial for you as a high school or a College Student?

First of all, with each new day, we are witnessing innovations like Smart Homes, Driverless Cars, or even your assistants like Siri and Google assistant. IoT has a major role to play in making these things possible which we couldn’t have even imagined 20 years ago. Everyone is coming up with new business ideas and opportunities and is willing to grow his/her business through innovation. IoT is one of those set of concept and technology which aids and can aid many other thriving technologies to reach their full potential like the smart refrigerator. Even with a lot of things out there, there’s still scope for improvement in IoT.

What makes it unique is unlike other technologies like programming, web development, etc which involves more interaction to software and less of hardware, IoT gives you hands-on experience with many hardware stuff like Development Boards like Arduinos and Raspberry Pi, which not only makes IoT more interesting but working with these electronics provides you with a more surreal experience and insights of how it works.

And if you are a worshipper of technology or doing engineering, a basic understanding of IoT and associated Hardware and Software are a must to know things. This may help you in making various interesting projects for Academics and other co-curricular purposes. And who knows if you get involved enough you may end up with a job or Start-up in this sector.

Applications of IoT

IoT comes with a wide range of applications involving an array of sectors that find it useful be it Health, Business Analytics, Robotics, and Technologically advanced like Artificial Intelligence.

Here I have explained different applications of IoT in the form of examples:

1) IoT for a common user

We are well aware of the concept of Smart Homes so let us assume a situation here, You work in an office and you expect that once you reach home you get your doors unlocked automatically without any key just ensuring that it's you the owner which can be done through Face Detection or fingerprint sensing. Also, you want that before you reach home AC already starts working and Cools up the required rooms for you before you reach home exhausted and maybe order you some grocery you want from a nearby vendor through internet and Home delivery services which can be done using IoT and is being used in many day-to-day applications. 

2) IoT for Commercial Purposes

 IoT can be used in keeping attendance of employees by fingerprint sensing and then sharing the data with a Central Database that store and analyze the attendance of every employee. This same IoT platform may also send Absence or Late attendance emails to the concerned employees and the manager thus reducing a lot of Manual labor required for the same work.

3) IoT for Business Analytics

Suppose there is a car manufacturing company producing thousands of cars each day from various manufacturing units across the country. The car manufactured by this company are installed with various sensors and IoT devices that can help detect a flaw or an issue with a particular part of a Car, these sensors will not only inform the user of which part is expected to worn out or go off soon but inform the nearest Service center of the car which can arrange specific parts and Mechanics to prepare for repairing the car before it actually arrives which saves a lot of time and the same system may also ensure the user gets the things repaired in warranty or at a maximum discount by emailing him/her the relevant Coupons and offers. At the same time, the company can get data from thousands of such cars and use this information to design more efficient systems and thus improving their business by enhancing user experience.

4) IoT for Healthcare

There are many situations when people are at risk of health due to past medical problems and they can't be in the hospital for the rest of their life. This can include a person with a history of Minor Cardiac arrests or a person in Coma. In such cases the person may use a wearable device such as a fitness band with is IoT based and sends the relevant information on the health status of the user to the hospital and other members of the family who can monitor the person without being close to him all the time. In such cases, if a person health deteriorates this wearable may even call for an ambulance and in turn save lives.

How to begin with IoT?

With the above-stated applications, you now have an abstract idea about IoT which is much needed as a beginner as whenever you start knowing something you should be aware of where you are heading. You can now get into the technical aspects of IoT, the best way of doing so is to watch Some YouTube videos on Free Courses on IoT. Don’t directly buy a paid course from any website as you end up knowing nothing and losing money. After watching these videos you can go on for paid Certificate courses on websites like Udemy and Coursera, Just look for reviews and ratings of the course and if it is relevant to what you want to learn in IoT.

Initially, you may require to purchase some hardware like Raspberry pi or Arduinos buy it from trusted sites like Amazon but in case you want them at lower prices go find a local store that sells these.

Following these small steps can easily help you learn IoT and create your own interesting projects.

Hope you liked it.

Thank you.