The Internet of Things — An introduction to IoT
By: Volkmar Kunerth
Tags: Iot Platform, Iotex, Internet of Things, Iot Security, IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has many implications for how people will live now and in the future. New business models are emerging in nearly every sector of the economy. These range from tracking goods and animals in the food industry to predictive maintenance of transportation systems such as trains and planes.

For now, commercial and technical motivations are paramount, but the implications the Internet of Things will have profound changes on business models, the national economy and society.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has the technical transformational power to change our world. While we are only beginning to understand how its impact will unfold, we are only at the beginning of the journey.

There are already many successful companies from Germany and the US that have implemented IoT business models.

Some of the most well-known companies using IoT business models are companies like NEST (home automation), Uber (transportation), and Siemens (manufacturing). One of the most successful companies in the IoT space is Nest. With a clean design, a simple user interface as existing programmable thermostats, and financial support from Google, Nest has had great success. The Nest solution can learn the schedule of electrical devices such as lights, TVs, computers and stereos, program itself and be controlled from the cell phone. This allows users to save 20% on energy costs. Nest was bought by Google in 2013 for $2.3 billion.

Uber and Airbnb are in effect Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, as each user carries sensor technology with them on their smartphone.

The Uber model is based on the hardware and applications available on a typical smartphone. Global positioning (GPS) is the most obvious, but many other sensors are already built in and more will be in the future.

In Germany, Siemens produces nearly 12 million programmable logic controllers annually in Amberg, Germany. A PLC is a control panel that can control systems as diverse as cruise ships, ski lifts and assembly lines.

Microsensors in the production process have helped the company virtually eliminate errors: It claims its PLCs are 99.99885% perfect.

Germany-based startup KONUX combines machine learning algorithms and IoT to provide software-as-a-service solutions for automating rail operations, monitoring and maintenance processes.

Connected devices can reduce costs and increase efficiency in production and manufacturing. They promise not only more effective management, but also smarter work.

Through the Internet of Things, systems can function better without human intervention, and organize predictive maintenance, without our intervention.

Soon, every device we own — and nearly every product we use — will be connected to the Internet. Whether it’s a cell phone, wearable devices or everyday household items, the Internet of Things (IoT) connects us in ways we struggle to grasp.

Gartner Research estimates there will be 25 billion connected things by 2020: smart cars, smoke detectors, door locks, industrial robots, streetlights, heart monitors, trains, wind turbines, even tennis rackets and toasters.

The IoT market — which includes hardware, software, systems integration, and data and telecommunications services — is expected to grow to $520 billion by 2021. This represents an increase of more than 100 percent from the $235 billion in sales in 2017.

More than half of the world’s population now lives in urban centers, and nearly two-thirds will do so in 2050 — meaning 2.5 billion more city dwellers

Cities struggle with traffic, smog, crime and inefficient lighting that consume between a quarter and half of municipal electricity budgets.

Technologies currently being tested will help cities of the future manage these problems using IoT technology.

Smart cities use IoT infrastructure to collect and analyze data. Cities then use this data to improve infrastructure, public utilities and services and.

Smart grids help manage electricity intelligently. The European Commission projects that 72% of consumers in the European Union will have smart electricity meters in their homes by the end of 2020, and 40% of households will have smart gas meters.

San Diego has deployed 14,000 streetlights connected to current LightGrid mesh networking technology. The CityIQ nodes are installed on select light poles in San Diego adjacent to the LED lights, but do not directly rely on or interact with the lights. The smart LED streetlights in San Diego only turn on when a pedestrian or vehicle approaches.

The CityIQ nodes are equipped with sensors that can detect air quality, temperature and wind speed.

The Industrial Internet of Things is based on concepts in manufacturing companies that lead to smart and horizontally integrated production systems. The resulting smart factories are able to meet dynamic customer requirements with high variability at small batch sizes, integrating human ingenuity and automation.

The Industrial Internet (Industrie 4.0) is useful for automation and control functions by leading to process optimization and optimized resource consumption.

Where does the term Industry 4.0 come from?

There are four different industrial revolutions that the world has either experienced or is still experiencing today. The term stands for the 4th industrial revolution.

Right now we are in the transition from the third to the fourth industrial revolution.

This is important for this book because each industrial revolution has caused major upheavals in the economy, business models and society.