You have heard about IoT (Internet of Things) and how it can transform businesses regardless of the size and industry. It is time that you understand its basics. IoT is described as a system of physically Internet-connected devices, which can collect and share data within a network. In simple terms, IoT is objects connected to the Internet.
These IoT objects are embedded with sensors. In general, sensors can detect changes in a specific environment. Sensors play an important role in your everyday life especially if it is used in an electronic system. For this, you need to know how iot sensors work and how you can utilise them to acquire information.
To understand sensors better, you should look at some of the key sensors or types. Here are sensors used in the IoT world:
Temperature
Temperature sensors have been used for a long time in many devices. In the past, temperature sensors are mostly included in A/C control, refrigerators and other devices for environmental control. With the coming of IoT, temperature sensors found new homes in the manufacturing, agriculture and even the health industry.
The rise of temperature sensors paved the way for many industries to optimise their production process. You must know that there are sub-categories of temperature sensors like RTD (Resistor Temperature Detectors), IC (Semiconductor), and Infrared sensors.
Proximity
Proximity sensors can detect the absence or presence of a nearby object. It can convert the absence or presence into a signal, which can be read by the user. The proximity sensors are hugely used in the retail industry as it can detect motion and correlation between the products and the customers.
You can also find proximity sensors embedded in vehicles. When you are reversing your car and you are notified about an obstacle, that’s the work of proximity sensor. There are many sub-categories of proximity sensors like capacitive sensors, photoelectric sensors, and ultrasonic sensors.
Water quality
Water quality sensors can sense the quality of water as well as the ion. These sensors are utilised in water distribution systems. There are many sub-categories of water quality sensors like chlorine residual sensor, total organic carbon sensor, conductivity sensor, pH sensor, and oxygen-reduction potential sensor.
Pressure
As the name suggests, a pressure sensor can detect the pressure and convert it into an electrical signal. There are many devices that rely on pressure sensors. In the end, this will notify the administrators about any problems that need fixing.
Chemical
Chemical sensors are important for bigger cities because they can help track changes in liquid, which can ultimately protect the population. There are many sub-categories of chemical sensors like chemiresistor, fluorescent chloride sensors, pH glass electrode, hydrogen sulfide sensor and many more.
Image
When it comes to storing files virtually, an image sensor is useful. It is mainly found in digital camera and modules, night vision equipment, thermal imaging devices, media house, biometric, radar, sonar and many more.
Final words
Since there are many sensors, the industry can exploit it to measure almost any physical properties around. In the long run, these measures or data gathered can then be used to improve business functions or operations.