The applications of IoT technology are multifaceted, since it can be adapted to almost any technology that can provide relevant information about its own operation, the performance of its activities or even the conditions of the environment that we need to monitor and control from a distance.
Today, many companies from different sectors or departments are adopting this technology to simplify, improve, automate and control different processes. Next, we show some surprising practical applications of IoT.
1. Wearables
Virtual glasses, fitness bands for monitoring calorie consumption and heart rate, or GPS tracking bands are just a few examples of wearables that we have been using for a while. Companies such as Google, Apple, Samsung and others have developed and introduced the Internet of Things and its applications into our daily lives.
These are small, energy-efficient devices equipped with sensors, the hardware needed to take measurements and readings, and the software to collect and organise user data and information.
2. Health
Using wearable devices or sensors connected to the patient, doctors can monitor the patient’s condition in real time outside the hospital. By continuously monitoring certain indicators and vital signs with automated alerts, the IoT can help improve patient care and prevent fatal events in high-risk patients.
Another use is to integrate IoT technology into hospital beds, giving way to smart beds equipped with special sensors to observe vital signs, blood pressure, oximetry and body temperature.
3. Traffic Monitoring
IoT is very useful in managing vehicular traffic in big cities, contributing to the concept of smart cities.
We are using IoT to inform us when we use our mobile phones as sensors to collect and share vehicle data through apps such as Waze or Google Maps, while contributing to traffic monitoring, displaying traffic conditions different routes and providing and improving information about different routes to the same destinations, distances, estimated time of arrival.
4. Fleet Management
Installation of sensors in fleet vehicles helps in creating effective interconnections between vehicles and their managers and between vehicles and their drivers. Both the driver and the manager/owner can access the software responsible for collecting, processing and organising the data to learn a variety of detailed information about the status, operation and needs of the vehicle . Even, without being detected by the driver, receive alerts about maintenance events in real time.
The use of IoT in fleet management facilitates geolocation (as well as monitoring routes and determining the most efficient routes through it), performance analysis, telemetry control and fuel savings, reduction of polluting emissions to the environment, and can even provide valuable information to improve the driving of vehicles.
5. Agriculture
Smart farms are a fact of life. Soil quality is crucial for producing good crops, and IoT offers farmers the possibility to access detailed knowledge and valuable information about the condition of their soil.
Through the implementation of IoT sensors, a large amount of data about the state and stage of the soil can be obtained. Information such as soil moisture, acidity, presence of certain nutrients, temperature and many other chemical properties can help farmers to control irrigation, improve water use efficiency, specify the best time to start planting, and even detect the presence of diseases plant and soil.
6. Hospitality
The application of IoT in the hospitality industry brings interesting improvements in the quality of service. The implementation of electronic keys sent directly to the mobile device of each guest allows for the automation of various interactions.
Thus, the location of the guest, the delivery of offers or information about events of interest, the fulfilment of room or housekeeping orders, the automatic charging of rooms or requests for personal hygiene products can all be easily managed using IoT technology through integrated applications.
Through the use of electronic keys, the checkout process is automated, access control is operated, instant availability information about the room is provided, and even housekeeping tasks are assigned to maintenance staff.
7. Smart Grid And Energy Efficiency
The progressive use of smart energy meters or sensor-equipped meters and the installation of sensors at different strategic points from production plants to different distribution points allow for better monitoring and control of the grid.
By establishing two-way communication between service provider companies and end-users, information of immense value for fault detection, decision-making and repair can be obtained.
It also allows valuable information to be provided to end-users about their consumption patterns and the best ways to reduce or adjust their energy consumption.
8. Water Supply
A sensor, which can be integrated or adapted externally to the water meter, connected to the Internet and accompanied by the necessary software, facilitates the collection, processing and analysis of data in order to understand the behaviour of the consumer, detect faults in the supply service, report on the results and provide a course of action to the company providing the service.
Likewise, it offers the final consumer the possibility of tracking their consumption information in real time through a web page, and even receiving automatic alerts when it detects consumption that is outside the range of their average consumption record, which may indicate the existence of a leakage …
9. Maintenance Management
One of the most widely used areas of IoT technology is precision maintenance management. Through the combination of sensors and dedicated software for CMMS/EAM maintenance management, a multifunctional tool is obtained that can be applied to a wide range of disciplines and practices, with the aim of extending the useful life of physical assets, while guaranteeing their reliability and safety. Availability.
When the features of the software responsible for processing and arranging the data collected by the sensors are designed to specifically address the maintenance management needs of physical assets, their applications are almost limitless.
Real-time monitoring of physical assets allows for determining when measurements are out of range and it becomes necessary to perform Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) or even apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms such as Machine Learning or Deep Learning to predict failure before it occurs.