The Internet of things (IoT) can be defined as a world of interconnected things (devices) that are capable of sensing, actuating & communicating among themselves with regard to the external environment. The IoT devices communicate and interact over the Internet and therefore can be remotely monitored & controlled. It is estimated that over 9 billion things are currently connected to the Internet and in near future the number is expected to increase to 20 billion. IoT has become a very widely used concept in recent times due to the need for controlling and computerising surrounding objects with real time data access such as parking sensors and surveillance cameras.
Sensors collect data and send them to a processing device in order to perform a convenient action. The data is locally stored which is subsequently sent out to the cloud. However, the data stored in the cloud is not always useful due to lack of enough local processing of the data before it is sent to the cloud. The ideal concept is to have a computer store data locally, process it for abnormalities or search for relevant segments and upload only the processed information to the cloud. This concept is referred to as Edge Computing according to Intel or Fog Computing by Cisco.
The IoT is involved in various areas such as smart homes, home care, medicine, open data sources, transportation and agriculture.
Some examples of Internet of Things technology that are used today are listed below:
Philips Hue, smart home lighting made brilliant: https://www2.meethue.com/en-us
Samsung SmartThings Hub: https://www.samsung.com/hk_en/support/tv-audio-video/what-is-smart-hub/
Automatic Car Tracking Adapter: https://www.smartparking.com/smartpark-system
1.1 - History of the IoT
1.1.1 - Internet of Things (IoT) story year 2030
1.1.2 - What is the Internet of Things?
1.2 - Introduction to IoT & Cloud
1.2.1 - Getting started with IoT development
1.2.2 - IoT platform capabilities
1.2.3 - Comparing IoT platforms
1.3 - IoT platform Case example Weather station made by Kajaani University Applied of Sciences
1.3.1 - Sensors and remote sensing
1.3.2 - Geospatial data
1.3.3 - JSON
1.3.4 - GeoJSON
1.3.5 - Educational IoT platform: a weather station