What is IoT? Internet of Things decoded
In the Smart Buildings world, you may have come across the term 'IoT' or 'Internet of Things' from time to time, and heard of it's importance in the next industrial revolution, but what is it?
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network of physical objects – or “things” – which are embedded with sensors, integrated software and other technologies, in order to connect and transmit data across other devices, via the internet.
Why is IoT so important?
Over recent years, IoT has grown to become one of the most important technologies of the 21st century. Providing the ability to connect everyday objects, such as kitchen appliances, cars, thermostats etc, to the internet via embedded devices, allowing for seamless communication between people, processes, and things.
IoT paves the way for numerous new data points, allowing you to obtain more accurate analytics with minimal human intervention.
What are IoT applications?
Business-ready, SaaS IoT Applications.
IoT Intelligent Applications are prebuilt software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, which can analyse and present IoT sensor data via dashboards.
Utilising machine learning algorithms, IoT applications can analyse staggering amounts of connected sensor data in the cloud. By incorporating real-time IoT dashboards and alerts, you gain visibility to numerous key performance indicators, statistics for mean time between asset failures, and much more.
What are some ways IoT applications are deployed?
IoT’s ability to provide sensor information, as well as enable device-to-device communication, is driving a broad set of applications.
Enhance efficiencies in Manufacturing via machine monitoring
Machine monitoring allows for continuous analysis of production assets, to ensure they are performing within required tolerances. If not, algorithms can send alerts to users or trigger proactive counter measures, in order to rectify any defects before they lead to machine downtime.
Improve the tracking and “ring-fencing” of physical assets
Determine the location of assets via tracking. Ring-fencing enables businesses to protect high-value assets from theft and removal.
The Airthings Wave Plus, monitoring the indoor air quality of our Ashby Boardroom.
Which industries can benefit from IoT?
Retail
Whether it’s utilising temperature and humidity data to drive energy savings, or improving customer experience, IoT can offer a breadth of benefits to the Retail sector.
Unlike their traditional fixed-place predecessors, IoT sensors are wireless, which enables them to be installed almost anywhere, and in more optimal locations. As a result, superior and more insightful data can be gathered, in order to drive a more precise control over the environment. It is this quality of data, that paves the way for analytical platforms to squeeze energy savings out of a BeMS (Building Energy Management System).
An example of the amount of benefits one single sensor can provide, is humidity. If humidity on a retail shop floor is excessive, with refrigerant equipment installed, the building’s cooling assets would be working to mitigate the effects on produce, which would result in an increase in energy usage in order to meet the demand, therefore increasing risks of asset failure, due to the increased workload
Public Sector
IoT can offer a range of benefits in the public sector and service-related environments. For instance, government owned utilities can utilise IoT to notify users of mass outages, as well as interruptions to water, power, or sewer services.
Hospitality
Hospitality has been one of the major casualties of COVID-19. Due to national lockdowns inhibiting people’s freedom to travel, and eating establishments having to accommodate social distancing upon reopening, revenues across the board have taken a significant hit - with £30bn worth of revenue lost as a result of the first lockdown alone.
The implementation of indoor air quality monitoring would allow venues, such as pubs, restaurants and nightclubs, to determine how hospitable their spaces are for virus growth. Feeding back the information they need in real time, on what changes need to be made to the building’s HVAC system, to reduce the risk of virus transmission.
Healthcare
The importance of safe indoor air quality is crucial in helping the hospitality sector survive the COVID-19 pandemic. With the hospitality industry generally being first in the pecking order when it comes to enforcing counter-COVID measures, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs must do whatever they can to prove the safety of their establishments.
It’s because of this, that the implementation of indoor air quality IoT sensors is so beneficial, allowing hospitality businesses to ensure their environments are safe, with reduced risk of virus transmission.
Manufacturing
The IoT world is at the heart of Industry 4.0. Marrying the data and analytics for improved manufacturing operations. IoT sensors can collect data, such as vibration rates, to provide an indication of the intensity your machinery is operation at, and how likely it is to reach failure. As a result, your operations team can run a more proactive machine maintenance programme, to prolong the life of manufacturing equipment.
Commercial Real Estate
Ensuring occupant comfort and well-being is just one of the ways IoT can benefit Commercial Real Estate. By incorporating indoor air quality sensors, businesses can see what is causing their indoor air quality to be poor, and adjust accordingly, to see stark improvements in occupant comfort.
General safety across all industries
Worker Health
Hard hats containing sensors can monitor physical conditions such as heart rate, fatigue, temperature, oxygen levels and other stresses. Ford recently introduced exoskeleton vests to reduce worker injury and fatigue.
Monitoring Potential Risks
A feature of IoT software is its predictive maintenance. By monitoring workplace equipment, IoT can identify potential structural failures of connected devices, and take a more proactive approach before a serious error, or accident, occurs.
Read more about IoT in practice
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