Without smart sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT) would not exist.
While the use of sensor technology has long influenced how manufacturers, industrial organizations, and utilities operate, adding IoT to sensors has expanded its impact and use cases, bringing unprecedented connectivity and analytics capabilities to processes. Today, smart factories, smart cities, smart buildings, and connected individuals are using a range of smart sensors to collect real-time data for real-time insights and decision-making.
Unlike traditional sensors, today's smart sensors are internet-enabled and more complex than ever before.
Next, we will delve into the working principles of smart sensors and their use cases in various vertical industries.
I. What is a smart sensor?
Typically, a smart sensor has three main components: a sensor that captures data from the environment; a microprocessor that calculates the output of the sensor via programming; and a communication function that enables the sensor to communicate the microprocessor's output in order to take action.
Smart sensors may include various types of sensors, as well as sensors, transceivers, amplifiers, analog filters, power supplies, and other components.
Experts say that in order to most effectively realize the functions of IoT sensors, it should include wireless communication, be intelligent enough to perform remote data calculations, and be programmable to adapt to new functions as needed.
II. Types of IoT Sensors
Sensors used in the Internet of Things (IoT) can be used for almost any form of measurement, providing a mechanism to link desired field observations with applications. To categorize sensors, it's essential to first consider them from a physical perspective.
Optical and electromagnetic sensors. These include RFID sensors for retail and logistics applications , imaging and identification sensors for security applications, optical sensors for smart building automation, and radiation sensors for safety and health applications.
Thermal sensors. For example, room temperature monitoring in smart buildings, environmental monitoring or material temperature monitoring in industrial process management.
Vibration and sound sensors. For example, seismic sensors for area security; good pressure sensors for health monitoring and industrial process automation; specific sound monitoring for civil administration, such as gunshot detection; personal health applications, such as fitness and health wearables; or vibration sensors for reliability-based equipment maintenance in factories or industrial organizations.
Material and substance sensors. Many applications in environment, safety, health, agriculture, and environmental automation require specific fluid and gas sensors, such as sensors for detecting chemicals or oxygen, carbon dioxide, humidity, or water level.
Time and space sensors. For example, location sensors for geographic information systems used in logistics management; or location, speed, and acceleration sensors for vehicle and traffic management.
III. IoT Sensor Use Cases
Smart sensors have three broad applications. First, they provide greater visibility into existing processes and workflows, identifying items, locating them, and determining their environmental conditions. For example, smart sensors in an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) environment can track temperature and humidity, record data for historical records and quality management, or be used as triggers for alarms or process management in a factory or warehouse.
Secondly, IoT sensors can be embedded in products to improve processes or the products themselves. During manufacturing, sensors can monitor, control, and improve operations, or be added to logistics to streamline product delivery. Once embedded in devices, smart products can create new revenue streams.
Third, the lower cost and more advanced functionality of sensors have enabled broader and more effective use cases. The cost of physical sensors and RFID tags has decreased significantly, as have the costs of smart sensor software applications, connectivity options, and deployment.
IV. Benefits of Smart Sensors
The three use cases of IoT sensors outlined above can bring three types of benefits.
First, IoT sensors provide greater visibility into existing workflows and processes, enabling companies to identify problems using real-time data. For example, logistics companies can equip their fleets with sensors to detect the location of each truck.
As companies begin to mine data from these sensors, a second benefit emerges: predicting what will happen next. In the same logistics example, collecting real-time data on fleet locations and the time it takes for trucks to complete routes allows companies to predict when drivers will deliver packages. Smart sensors in logistics can also collect information about driver behavior, package size and weight, and external data such as traffic or weather conditions that may affect deliveries.
In another example, smart sensors in manufacturing can collect historical machine data, which companies can use to build models to predict when machine components may fail.
Rather than facing the potentially huge costs of unplanned downtime of production lines or factories, it is possible to proactively replace suspected parts within the planned timeframe.
The third advantage of smart sensors relates to revenue generation; the Internet of Things (IoT) has created many new business models. With data on how machines operate, are used, and wear and tear, manufacturers can offer results-based services to their customers. Manufacturers can now include consumables, repairs, and even replacement parts in the price of machines.
V. The Future of Smart Sensors
Forrester Research predicts that applications based on smart sensors, tracking, and smart products will be the fastest-growing use cases, with compound annual growth rates of 24.2% and 24%, respectively . But applications will not stop there.
During manufacturing, an increasing number of sensors are being built into products . Industrial equipment, trains, airplanes, and buildings are increasingly connected to hundreds or even thousands of sensors.
However, IoT sensors are not limited to new products.
In the industrial manufacturing market, machines can have a lifespan of decades, creating a healthy market for installing sensors on older equipment. As sensor costs decrease and data flows become more prevalent, supporting IoT infrastructure, companies will deploy sensors in large numbers.
Even in today's environment where data latency is a problem, the commercialization of 5G has opened up a wide range of possibilities for sensors.
It's also worth noting the increased use of edge computing. As more and more analytics (including the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence) run at the point of data collection, organizations—either the sensors themselves or IoT edge gateways connected to the sensors—will be able to make decisions more effectively and quickly.
The continued miniaturization of sensors will reshape the future sensor landscape. One could envision it this way: "Over time, sensors will continue to become smaller and smaller, while their computing power will become increasingly stronger."
The sensors will also offer more functionality on the same platform, providing different sensing categories for the same device.
Sensors will be installed in an increasing number of devices, from wearables to dedicated sensors, all connecting people's observations of their environment to computing platforms. Industry experts estimate that "the total number of IoT devices and the potential number of sensors will triple in the next six years, from approximately 25 billion devices currently to 75 billion devices by 2025. "
