IoT has flourished its arches in every floor possible be it industry, agriculture, energy projects or transportation. Its application is playing a major role in transforming the analog world into a digital one. Industrial IoT is topping the list while talking about the applications area. The industrial IoT application area covers a wide range of connected “things” projects both inside and outside the factory. For example, many IoT-based factory automation and control projects include holistic smart factory solutions with numerous elements such as production floor monitoring, wearables, and Augmented Reality on the shop floor, remote PLC control, or automated quality control systems.
Apart from Industry, IoT is revolutionizing with an unstoppable speed in every area possible such as transportation/mobility, Healthcare, Supply Chains, and Cities. The Internet of Things (IoT) emerged merely as a concept in the early 2000s, and as we approach 2021, trends show that this technology is here to stay. Reports indicate that there will be 35.82 billion IoT devices installed worldwide by 2021 and 75.44 billion by 2025.
Have you ever wondered about a city with talkative Trash Bins, Automated guided streets lights, thousands of E-vehicle charging stations, AI controlled Traffic management systems and a lot more? Obviously we never even imagined this but have seen these things in movies. Now, IoT is making all of this possible in the real world. Today, we have a lot of smart cities with Singapore topping the list followed by Seoul, London and Barcelona. It will be interesting to dig deeper into the topic of smart cities and secure homes with IoT.
Home Automation: Small Changes with major impacts
Automating your home can make a big difference to your daily lifestyle and can pave a smooth way for your rushing routines. The concept of Smart Homes has made our living spaces more interactive and responsive to the needs of users. Home Automation not only helps to reduce the complexity of managing all your electrical appliances within your home, but also gives a personalized feel of living as per the daily routine of the user. The home automation concept covers a wide range of functionality right from operating your lighting, your home security, easy opening of your garage doors, and instant availability of coffee as and when you need it and almost everything that comes across your daily activities.
With the changing scenario, you can find a lot of devices being introduced in the market to make your homes smart. Here is the list of some top pickups-
- Bitdefender BOX IoT Security Solution– Security solution which blocks incoming threats and can scan all your devices for vulnerabilities. It protects all your IoT devices, even when you go out. It can act as a wireless router or go alongside your current one.
- Amazon Echo (2nd Generation) Voice controller– Amazon Echo, the connected voice controller from Amazon, can give you information, music, news, weather, add things to to-do lists, wake you up and, of course, control your home.
- Nest Cam Indoor Camera -Nest Cam Outdoor is the monitoring tool you’ve been waiting for. It brings all the benefits of modern streaming technology and a sleek design so you can watch your home from anywhere.
- Ring Pro Smart Video Doorbell– Ring Pro provides a new level of security, by notifying you when someone is on your property and letting you see and speak with anyone at your front door.
- Amazon Echo plus Voice Controller –Just like the Echo, the connected voice controller from Amazon, it can give you information, music, news, weather, add things to to-do lists, wake you up and, of course, control your home. The Plus will also act as a smart home hub that automatically discovers compatible devices. It can make your switch on- switch off journey pretty easy.
There can be a lot more devices to the list with different brands with different features but these are the most used and have all the recent features available in the market.
Smart Living- Multiplying the benefits of everyday
Smart Living is all about the automation of your home, your city, your transportation. IoT is thankfully making all of this possible. Today, we are using everything automated in some way right from smartphones, smartwatches, smart coffeemakers, smart TV to smart door locks and the list continues. Have you ever thought of a day without your phone, your coffee maker, or for that matter even without your Netflix run on your smart TV? I am sure, you haven’t. This is how we are so much entangled in this smart world and living every day with so much ease without even realizing the importance of it. Look at the list of the key benefits of smart living and try to picture your life without them.
- Managing all your devices at one-stop
The convenience factor here is enormous. Being able to keep all of the technology in your home connected through one interface is a massive step forward for technology and home management. It is as easy as using WhatsApp or any other app on your smartphone and tablet, and you’ll be able to tap into countless functions and devices throughout your home.
- Enhanced Home Security
When you incorporate security and surveillance features in your smart home network, your home security can skyrocket. There are tons of options here — only a few dozen of which are currently being explored. For example, home automation systems can connect motion detectors, surveillance cameras, automated door locks, and other tangible security measures throughout your home so you can activate them from one mobile device before heading to bed. You can also choose to receive security alerts on your various devices depending on the time of day an alert goes off, and monitor activities in real-time whether you’re in the house or halfway around the globe.
- Saving Energy
Depending on how you use your smart-home technology, it’s possible to make your space more energy-efficient. For example, you can have more precise control over the heating and cooling of your home with a programmable smart thermostat that learns your schedule and temperature preferences, and then suggests the best energy efficient settings throughout the day. Lights and motorized shades can be programmed to switch to an evening mode as the sun sets, or lights can turn on and off automatically when you enter or leave the room, so you never have to worry about wasting energy.
- Improved appliance functionality.
Smart homes can also help you run your appliances better. A smart TV will help you find better apps and channels to locate your favorite programming. A smart oven will assist you with cooking your chicken to perfection — without ever worrying about overcooking or undercooking it. An intelligently designed home theater and audio system can make managing your movie and music collection effortless when entertaining guests. Ultimately, connecting your appliances and other systems with automation technology will improve your appliance effectiveness and overall make your home life much easier and enjoyable!
Secure & Sustainable homes with IoT
As the consequences of climate change are increasingly starting to show before our eyes, it is important to consider every possible way that we can decrease carbon dioxide emissions. In most countries, buildings consume more than 40% of primary energy, emitting immense amounts of carbon dioxide. It is therefore crucial to consider how to decrease energy consumption, both in private homes and commercial buildings. The Internet of Things (IoT) can offer solutions to the global environmental challenge, for instance through technology that can help users optimize energy consumption and at the same time IoT is making them secure too.
Increase energy efficiency in smart homes making them sustainable
IoT devices are increasingly being integrated into private homes around the world. Smart homes allow the users to connect IoT devices to their smartphones, tablets, etc. and wirelessly control them, resulting in greater comfort and convenience and also an opportunity to reduce energy consumption. IoT devices like motion sensors and smart plugs make it easy for users to increase energy efficiency. For instance, the motion sensor can be connected to the lights in a room, ensuring that the lights will only consume energy when there are people in the room and light is needed. Smart plugs enable users to turn lights and electronic devices on and off while away from home, reducing costs and energy waste.
Secure Homes with IoT
The ability to monitor what’s happening in your home when you’re not there is one of the most significant ways that IoT provides not only security, but also peace of mind. Today, we have smart locks, threat alarms, CCTVs and devices like Amazon Alexa which can even monitor the sound of window glass breakage and will notify you at the real time even if you are not home. You can also receive notifications when there are other potential problems in your home. “You can be alerted about the hazards of fire, water leaks, and temperature changes. In fact, with IoT locks, you can grant temporary access to visiting guests — or family members (like your kids who always lose their keys). “These same systems can also log a door’s usage, reporting on when your front door was opened throughout the day and for how long.”
IoT has made your security just as simple as liking your Instagram post. Everything can be monitored by just one click on your smartphones or tablets. Smart IoT equipment can be perfectly active 24*7 which a human can’t process even if he/she tries their level best. So, perfection is another advantage in machines over humans.
Smart Homes: Beginning of smart city
What comes to your mind when you imagine a smart city? A Smart city is everything that uses the best of technology to make everything automated and entirely on machines and with IoT, it is sustainable too. The main goal of a smart city is to optimize city functions and promote economic growth while also improving the quality of life for citizens by using smart technologies and data analysis.
A city’s smartness is determined using a set of characteristics, including:
- An infrastructure based around technology
- Environmental initiatives
- Effective and highly functional public transportation
- Confident and progressive city plans
- People are able to live and work within the city, using its technology & resources.
When we talk of comfort or living conditions, it’s best to start with your home. Smart homes were initiated with the help of IoT and made everyday way simpler and comfortable than earlier. A Smart city will surely start from the transformation of your manual home into a smart one. With the latest technologies coming every now and then, the connectivity to these equipment has come easy. The first building block of any smart city application is reliable, pervasive wireless connectivity. While there’s no one-size-fits-all, evolving Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies are well suited to most smart city applications for their cost efficiency and ubiquity. The advent of 5G technology is expected to be a watershed event that propels smart city technology into the mainstream and accelerates new deployments.
