What is The Internet of Things?

Introduction to The Internet of Things.

According to Wikipedia, The Internet of Things (IoT) is “The network of physical devices, vehicles and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators and network connectivity enabling these objects to collect and exchange data.

The Beginning of IoT

The first IoT first appeared as early as 1982 when students at Carnegie Mellon University connected their “Taste The Feeling” Coke machine to the internet. Reza Raji CEO of Xenio Systems described this occurrence in 1994 as “small packets of a large set of nodes so as to integrate and automate everything from home appliances to entire factories” However, the term Internet of Things didn’t really catch hold until almost 20 years later in 1999 when Kevin Ashton Co-founder and Executive Director of the Auto-ID Center at MIT presented this phrase to Procter & Gamble. He said: “ The problem is, people have limited time, attention and accuracy -- all of which means they are not very good at capturing data about things in the real world. If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things -- using data they gathered without any help from us -- we would be able to track and count everything and greatly reduce waste, loss, and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling and whether they were fresh or past their best" Yet, we would have to wait another 10 years before the concept of The Internet of Things would actually take off and start to be truly implemented in not just Vending Machines, but our everyday lives.

The Rise of IoT

In 2010 information leaked that Google’s 360 view stored tons of data of people’s Wifi networks therefore not only allowing them to not only index the internet but also index physical world. How? Most importantly who would benefit? Turns out we do, every single day.

Applications of the Internet of Things:

So, how do we use the Internet of Things? According to IoT Analytics, here are the top 10 Internet of Things Applications:

Smart Home

• • More than 60,000 people are searching for this term on average per month.
  • According to IoT Analytics, Smart Home startups funding has totaled over $2.5 Billion.
• Ex. Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Nest, etc.

Wearables

• • Smartwatches and fitness trackers are just scratching the surface with wearable connected devices.
• Ex. Apple Watches, Fit Bit, Smart Glasses, or Translate other languages immediately with this wearable earbud.

Smart Cities

• Smart cities leverage IoT in cases like traffic management, waste management, and urban security.
• Leveraging the use of parking garage sensors (to notify whether there are open parking spaces or not) allows for a solution for traffic congestion problems in high traffic areas.

Connected Cars

• Connected cars are being developed to further connect us. They can transmit wifi connections to external and internal devices.

Smart Supply Chain

• Tracking goods in transport has become increasingly important in logistics.
• Monitoring the vitals of shipments in real time keeps customers and shippers informed about the well being of cargo.

Smart Farming

• The remote aspect of farming operations has led the Internet of Things to revolutionize certain aspects of farming.
• Farmers can use drones (Agricultural UAVs) for planting, crop spraying, or crop monitoring.
• Livestock can be monitored remotely for their location, fill level on feed bins, and health status.

These items, of course, are familiar. However, they would cease to exist if companies like MaxBotix Inc. doesn’t create the sensors so we can utilize and analyze the data to better our everyday lives. Own a brewery? Your tanks can stir itself once it reaches a certain level, depending on the temperature of the tank. In this situation, our MB7389 HRXL-MaxSonar-WRMT or MB7589 SCXL-MaxSonar-WRMT will work perfectly. * Download the datasheet* Waste Management companies can save time and overall cost using our Protected and Unprotected Environmental Sensors like the XL-TrashSonar-WR has high power output, noise rejection, and automatic calibration.

See how USB Sensors like the MB8450 Car Detection Sensor by MaxBotix are making cities smarter. Click here to download the data sheet From measuring corn feed to snow depth measurement to gun prevention and safe city planning, MaxBotix provides it all. Delivering Innovation and Creating a Vision for the Future. Note: Our sensors are not application specific. We do have sensors that work better in some applications than others. If you review our datasheets and beam patterns, it will assist you in choosing the right sensor for your application. If you need assistance in the process of sensor selection, contact our Technical Support techsupport@maxbotix.com

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