Learning Nugget 31 - What you may not realise about IOT
It’s often argued that the printing press was the single most important invention in the history of man. It’s hard to argue against that. But right up there, as a close 2nd in my view is the printed circuit board. Just look at the monumental shift in our society that this humble piece of silicon has unleashed.
IOT, is it the biggest acronym in the technology world these days ? It’s highly likely that you have anywhere from a cursory understanding of IOT to a deep understanding. The purpose of this article is not to educate on IOT, there are plenty of blogs, white papers and videos devoted to that. For example here is an excellent infographic that really does a great job of explaining it pictorially. This is provided courtesy of Postscapes and Harbor Research http://postscapes.com/what-exactly-is-the-internet-of-things-infographic My goal with today’s article is to take you to the edge, to explore what those on the frontier of IOT right now are doing. As you cast your eyes over this list, imagine, ponder, stop and think about your clients, what inspiration do you get from these examples that you could use to re-imagine, re-invent and ignite amazing opportunities for your clients. First up a list of the 60+ leading IOT Application by Libelium. The original list can be found here: http://www.libelium.com/top_50_iot_sensor_applications_ranking/ Smart Cities 01 Smart Parking - Monitoring of parking spaces availability in the city. 02 Structural health - Monitoring of vibrations and material conditions in buildings, bridges and historical monuments. 03 Noise Urban Maps - Sound monitoring in bar areas and centric zones in real time. 04 Smartphone Detection - Detect iPhone and Android devices and in general any device which works with WiFi or Bluetooth interfaces. 05 Eletromagnetic Field Levels - Measurement of the energy radiated by cell stations and and WiFi routers. 06 Traffic Congestion - Monitoring of vehicles and pedestrian levels to optimize driving and walking routes. 07 Smart Lighting - Intelligent and weather adaptive lighting in street lights. 08 Waste Management - Detection of rubbish levels in containers to optimize the trash collection routes. 09 Smart Roads - Intelligent Highways with warning messages and diversions according to climate conditions and unexpected events like accidents or traffic jams. Smart Environment 10 Forest Fire Detection - Monitoring of combustion gases and preemptive fire conditions to define alert zones. 11 Air Pollution - Control of CO2 emissions of factories, pollution emitted by cars and toxic gases generated in farms. 12 Snow Level Monitoring - Snow level measurement to know in real time the quality of ski tracks and allow security corps avalanche prevention. 13 Landslide and Avalanche Prevention - Monitoring of soil moisture, vibrations and earth density to detect dangerous patterns in land conditions. 14 Earthquake Early Detection - Distributed control in specific places of tremors. Smart Water 15 Potable water monitoring - Monitor the quality of tap water in cities. 16 Chemical leakage detection in rivers - Detect leakages and wastes of factories in rivers. 17 Swimming pool remote measurement - Control remotely the swimming pool conditions. 18 Pollution levels in the sea - Control realtime leakages and wastes in the sea. 19 Water Leakages - Detection of liquid presence outside tanks and pressure variations along pipes. 20 River Floods - Monitoring of water level variations in rivers, dams and reservoirs. Smart Metering 21 Smart Grid - Energy consumption monitoring and management. 22 Tank level - Monitoring of water, oil and gas levels in storage tanks and cisterns. 23 Photovoltaic Installations - Monitoring and optimization of performance in solar energy plants. 24 Water Flow - Measurement of water pressure in water transportation systems. 25 Silos Stock Calculation - Measurement of emptiness level and weight of the goods. Security & Emergencies 26 Perimeter Access Control - Access control to restricted areas and detection of people in non-authorized areas. 27 Liquid Presence - Liquid detection in data centers, warehouses and sensitive building grounds to prevent break downs and corrosion. 28 Radiation Levels - Distributed measurement of radiation levels in nuclear power stations surroundings to generate leakage alerts. 29 Explosive and Hazardous Gases - Detection of gas levels and leakages in industrial environments, surroundings of chemical factories and inside mines. Retail 30 Supply Chain Control - Monitoring of storage conditions along the supply chain and product tracking for traceability purposes. 31 NFC Payment - Payment processing based in location or activity duration for public transport, gyms, theme parks, etc. 32 Intelligent Shopping Applications - Getting advices in the point of sale according to customer habits, preferences, presence of allergic components for them or expiring dates. 33 Smart Product Management - Control of rotation of products in shelves and warehouses to automate restocking processes. Logistics 34 Quality of Shipment Conditions - Monitoring of vibrations, strokes, container openings or cold chain maintenance for insurance purposes. 35 Item Location - Search of individual items in big surfaces like warehouses or harbours. 36 Storage Incompatibility Detection - Warning emission on containers storing inflammable goods closed to others containing explosive material. 37 Fleet Tracking - Control of routes followed for delicate goods like medical drugs, jewels or dangerous merchandises. Industrial Control 38 M2M Applications - Machine auto-diagnosis and assets control. 39 Indoor Air Quality - Monitoring of toxic gas and oxygen levels inside chemical plants to ensure workers and goods safety. 40 Temperature Monitoring - Control of temperature inside industrial and medical fridges with sensitive merchandise. 41 Ozone Presence - Monitoring of ozone levels during the drying meat process in food factories. 42 Indoor Location - Asset indoor location by using active (ZigBee) and passive tags (RFID/NFC). 43 Vehicle Auto – diagnosis Information collection from CanBus to send real time alarms to emergencies or provide advice to drivers. Smart Agriculture 44 Wine Quality Enhancing - Monitoring soil moisture and trunk diameter in vineyards to control the amount of sugar in grapes and grapevine health. 45 Green Houses - Control micro-climate conditions to maximize the production of fruits and vegetables and its quality. 46 Golf Courses - Selective irrigation in dry zones to reduce the water resources required in the green. 47 Meteorological Station Network - Study of weather conditions in fields to forecast ice formation, rain, drought, snow or wind changes. 48 Compost - Control of humidity and temperature levels in alfalfa, hay, straw, etc. to prevent fungus and other microbial contaminants. Smart Animal Farming 49 Hydroponics - Control the exact conditions of plants grown in water to get the highest efficiency crops. 50 Offspring Care - Control of growing conditions of the offspring in animal farms to ensure its survival and health. 51 Animal Tracking - Location and identification of animals grazing in open pastures or location in big stables. 52 Toxic Gas Levels - Study of ventilation and air quality in farms and detection of harmful gases from excrements. Domestic & Home Automation 53 Energy and Water Use - Energy and water supply consumption monitoring to obtain advice on how to save cost and resources. 54 Remote Control Appliances - Switching on and off remotely appliances to avoid accidents and save energy. 55 Intrusion Detection Systems - Detection of windows and doors openings and violations to prevent intruders. 56 Art and Goods Preservation - Monitoring of conditions inside museums and art warehouses. eHealth 57 Fall Detection - Assistance for elderly or disabled people living independent. 58 Medical Fridges - Control of conditions inside freezers storing vaccines, medicines and organic elements. 59 Sportsmen Care - Vital signs monitoring in high performance centers and fields. 60 Patients Surveillance - Monitoring of conditions of patients inside hospitals and in old people's home. 61 Ultraviolet Radiation - Measurement of UV sun rays to warn people not to be exposed in certain hours.
In fact I recently read about a company that has just designed and patented a pill you swallow that monitors if you have taken your daily medicine. If it detects you have not it can alert nurse, family members etc on their phones. Perfect for older people that may forget to take their daily medication.
For 5 years running Postscapes has been running an industry / global awards event (annually) for the best, newest and most innovative IOT application. They award in 21 categories a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. So 63 winners each year. Here is the link to see all 63 winners for 2015/16. http://iotawards.postscapes.com/winners/2015-16-iot-award-winners However I thought I’d share 5 that caught my interest. #1 – Babybe Bionic Mattress. Really interesting concept that “links” a newborn that needs to be in a humidy crib or the link with their mum. http://www.babybemedical.com Essentially the baby lays on the bionic mattress. The mum places a control unit on her chest and the baby “feels” the heartbeat through the mattress. #2 – Scanalytics floor sensors. Measures foot traffic into retail stores, provides insight on consumer travel within store, and provides interesting insight http://www.scanalyticsinc.com #3 – Stringify is already anticipating one of the future frustrations of IOT. Everyone has their own app, so you are constantly having to go in and out of all different apps to control connected “things” in your life. Syringify brings all those things into one command portal that allows you complete control https://www.stringify.com #4 – IOTUK. Wow, pretty impressive that the UK Govt are behind this, that they are driving serious focus and investment in IOT with clear tangible benefits for the community. Smart cities being a big focus https://iotuk.org.uk #5 – 4Moms. A self installing, self tensioning, self levelling car seat that monitors the restraint of the child and keeps parents advised if a child becomes unrestrained. https://www.4moms.com/carseat Hopefully you found these intriguing and inspirational. The scary par is we have barely scratched the surface of what IOT will do in the next 20-30 years.
