IoT in Brief

                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                       

Hi All,

Welcome back.

Today we are dealing in brief about IoT.

In the last few years communication and smart devices/sensors which connect physical world with digital world are becoming ubiquitous in our daily life.

What is IoT:

Internet of things(IoT) refers to the ever-growing network of physical smart devices with features of Internet connectivity, the communication between these devices and other Internet enabled systems.Sensors,actuators,servers,user interface devices and the communication network form the core infrastructure of an IoT framework.However,there are many software aspects that need to be considered which can be used to connect and manage all these heterogeneous components.We need a lot of standardization to connect many different devices.

IoT is the inter-connection of smart devices.These can include smart phones,machines buildings and so on.

In broad sense smart devices can be anything which are embedded with sensors,electronics,software,network connectivity and which exchange information and in some cases also include actuators which can act on the instructions from connected world.

In short the IoT is the inter-networking of physical smart devices.

Examples are

Smart street lighting systems which can be switched on/off from a PC or mobiles device.

Network enabled CCTV system which can communicate its pictures and videos to a web server as per configured time intervals.And the stakeholders of this information can log in to the web server and use the information.

Another classic example is when we login to any on line store like amazon and search for products or make purchases.In this case your mouse and the web browser are smart devices.Data about every mouse click and every purchase is exchanged with the server of the on line stores. Data Servers store this data for each and every user and using data analytics on this data, systems extract the information underlying in this data-like  user preferences,shopping behaviour. And when you go to store next time,they use this information to recommend you products that match your preferences.This is a continuous process.

Another example is the home automation systems where you can control the smart objects of your home from a mobile app sitting in your office.These devices can be lighting system,air conditioner,washing machine and can be anything.

Another good application of IoT is Manufacturer of transport vehicles like trucks,equipping their trucks with smart devices with network connectivity.These devices regularly communicate with OEM and exchange various operating parameters of the truck like Odometer reading,break & engine oil levels, tyre pressures and so on to its OEM. Using this information OEM can plan the maintenance schedules and guide the truck owners accordingly.This will not only improve the life of the truck,but also results in improved customer service.

Benefits of IoT:

The quantity of data being collected and analysed through the IoT will be huge.The more the data we analyse the better solutions we get through new business insights which was not possible before.

I will dedicate few posts to discuss about the types of data collected through IoT/IIoT.

The IoT will increase automation in homes, schools, hospitals,stores,and public utilities like transport systems and so on.

The volume of information IoT will share is going to benefit a lot to sectors like agriculture,infrastructure,education.

IoT can increase the comfort levels in our lives.

Some more benefits of IoT are - resource  optimisation,network computing or connected computing,automation in marketing(good example for this is on line stores.)

And this list never ends and is growing as more and more smart devices are coming under IoT umbrella year after year.

One survey on IoT says ,”The number of Internet connected smart devices will cross 50 billion by 2020”.

By now you should be clear  what (the most buzz word of this decade) IoT is?

I don't want my posts to be lengthy and boring.Whenever you get time in this week,I encourage you all go ahead and dig out some more information on IoT.

That’s all for the week.We will get into another more interesting subject, IIoT next week.

Have a nice week ahead.

Thanks,

Sailendra

                                            HOME

Information shared and the intended audience

Hi All,

Welcome back.

Today I will brief about the information we are going to share through this Blog and who is 

the intended audience of this Blog.

Information that will be shared through this Blog:

We will be covering fundamental concepts of IoT/IIoT and Data analytics and the real time

 stories of  experts of various niche areas of this promising domain.

Though  both technologies,IoT and IIoT looks similar we will see in brief how they differ.

IoT ,Internet of Things is referred to as connecting smart objects of our daily life( like smart phones,smart cars) to Internet. IoT is basically used to provide convenience to the consumer. 

IoT is a means of connecting smart objects and humans and to enhance communication 

between them.

IIoT,Industrial Internet Of things involves interconnecting more sophisticated devices and is 

used in manufacturing,utilities,supply chain etc. to extend existing automation and to enhance monitoring,control and visibility of industrial processes.

Failures in IoT causes only inconvenience to consumers( in most cases),but that in case of IIoT results in life-threatening or other emergency situations.

Since IIoT is designed to handle critical machines,IIOT uses more precise and sensitive sensors 

in the plant.On the contrary IoT uses simpler sensors and applications with low risk impact.

Thus both IoT and IIoT looks similar,but they differ  not only in sensors,protocols,communication, 

software and technologies employed but also in their application in real world.

Future challenges of the automation industry is to integrate both the IoT and IIoT data

and carry out analytics on this data for better solutions.

During our journey we will be covering various technologies,sensors,embedded programming models,data communication protocols,Open source software tools,database models used at 

different levels of IoT and IIoT. And finally we will cover various data analytic techniques also.

To whom this Blog is intended for:

-Any one who is directly or indirectly involved with this domain irrespective of their educational      qualifications.

-Young techies who are looking for a career in this domain or in the beginning of their career.

-Experts in the respective fields of this domain-Solution architects,System Designers,Software    Developers,Testers,System Integrators,Data Analysts,Customer support Engineers...

 

-Customers of various industries who are looking for IoT/IIoT data solutions.

Hope we all are clear about our journey.I promise that we will try our best to make this , one of the most enthusiastic and enjoyable learning journey of your life.

Only excuse from my end is due to paucity of time some times there may be delay in my postings.

Let us start our tour from my next posting.

Thanks,

Sailendra

Purpose of this Blog

Hi All,


Welcome back.


Today I am going to share with you two points -


1.What prompted me to start this Blog.

2.The purpose of this Blog.


         For some tech buddies few topics may be boring and looks repetitive,but keeping in mind the young techies, I decided not to skip a thread in between so that they have an idea how this industry has been evolving over decades.My request for the experts of the specific domain please bear with me and I need your valuable inputs/feedback in the area of your expertise.

What Prompted me to be here today?

         I am basically an Electronics & Instrumentation Engineer by certificate and during my Journey, as part of my job requirements I have completed various courses/certificates which include Unix/Network admin, DBA,SQL,C/C++,VC++,JAVA,R,..... ,various types of vendor specific protocols and recently Big Data courses.These are in addition to Management courses and various application software of Honeywell,ABL,SIEMENS... .


           This is not the case of just mine,every Industry Automation Techie might have gone through the same.All these years, Automation Engineers have struggled a lot due to lack of open standards.

           Right from beginning this Industry lacks proper platform for learning and in Institutes also we learn a little about this field except may be in few now.Due to these reasons not only the techies but also consumers and the industry also struggled.

Let me go back and share few of my stories in short:

           I remember in my first job I have to deal with pneumatic transducers and control valves which were controlled by pneumatic signal.And we have to run a long length of copper tube and after few night calls I realised how difficult that job was to go night and work on running plant.

         In those days I used to feel jealous of the electrical engineers by seeing their electrical cables.In the mid night calls I used to curse,”what the hell, why can not we use cables instead of these air pipes?”.

          After few years most of the new plants/utilities started operating with electronic controllers and many places air/hydraulic tubes were replaced by signal/control cables except in few hazardous locations.

          And the era of integrated control centres (with PLC/DCS/SCADA) started.This brought into fore the other problem of multiple vendors and their custom protocol/software&hardware and the volume of signal cables has gone up by huge multiples.

          Top & Middle management decision support systems like ERP started receiving the real time process/plant/utility data from these control centres.

          Then once the wireless/cellular technology came, we started dreaming of the days when majority of the sensors can be connected wirelessly and there can be open software.

           Finally that era also emerging,But this again brought a double whammy -Huge real-time data generated  not only by sensors/machines but also  by humans and the environment.And the necessity of integrating this huge data (with both business intelligent systems and plant/utility level control systems) is going to be a big challenge for Automation industry in the days to come.

             Many existing plants/utilities are already equipped with sensors/intelligent devices dealing with vendor specific protocols.And these industries can not afford to replace these sensors over night.So we have to deal with both vendor specific and open standards as part of this data integration.

             This world has been expanding by many folds as both the plant/utilities sensor data and human/environment data started coming together under one umbrella.That is IOT/IIOT.

            By now I hope that we are clear about the amount of complexities this is going to bring and the efforts we need to put in to be successful in this domain.But the Question lies

Are we well prepared to face this in coming future?

               It is like a sleeping giant.once it wakes up, to sustain in this competitive world every industry will run for solutions( off course this run has already started in few countries,if I am not wrong).

             Yes we are not well prepared for this,there is a  dearth of talented/trained techies.But thanks to the initiation taken by few organisations in this domain.

             If we will not act now and prepare for these challenges,these challenges are going to out power the capabilities of Automation experts/industry.And the Countries/Industries which are not going to prepare well for this are going to struggle.

          And these problems can not be solved by few individuals/firms as we are going to be in a highly interconnected world.
     

Purpose of this Blog:

          Main purpose of this Blog is to provide a systematic learning path for  aspiring techies of this domain.

          You will be learning right from the sensors/controls to data analytics.This Blog will give you brief knowledge about Open source software tools,Protocols,BigData tools and Data Analytics.

          Due to the dynamic nature of this technology,for may of us this is always going to be a new domain.After going through this Blog you can identify your strengths and choose a career in one of the niche fields of this promising IoT/IIoT industry.And there are many ways to get expertise in your chosen field.

          One more important purpose of this blog is to interconnect the techies of this promising industry so that it will facilitate us in providing better solutions.

         And finally I have my own selfishness also in starting this Blog.

        

        This is a little effort by a tiny techie,hope that I(we) will succeed in this endeavour with all your support and this Blog will benefit our community.


Sorry I tried to keep this as short as possible,but could not


Thanks,

Sailendra
e-mail:sailendrafl@gmail.com

                                          IoT-IIoTsolutions

Future World of IoT/IIoT and Bigdata

Hi

    Welcome all to this info sharing Blog......

    This is Sailendra, Freelancing consultant in the field of IoT,IIoT and BigData.

     I am basically an Industry Automation expert with varied expertise in DCS/SCADA/PLC
and Networking.

      In my 25 years journey I was involved in System Design,Software/Database Design/Development,Testing,Integration and Support.

    New Buzzwords of recent times are IoT/IIoT and BigData. Increased availability of
 communication and sensors at affordable prices aided by open Source Software is going
to bring a  revolution in real-time data processing and its applications.

     For the last few years the smart devices/sensors and communication networks are becoming ubiquitous,be in our daily life or in Industrial world.

   Though India is  lagging behind in this domain,but with recent developments in communication technologies ,This country is also going to witness sea changes in coming years.

    And in coming years the world is going to see a huge dearth of real experts in this domain.

   I am fortunate to be in this domain right from the era of pneumatic/hydraulic controllers to the present and future world of IoT/IIoT.

      Main Objective of this Blog is to share  my expertise in this domain with you all
and learn new ideas from you fellow Techies.And in the process  prepare the young
 aspiring techies for  future challenges in this domain.

     Looking forward for  a great and valuable companion with you all and hoping to contribute my bit for the development in this domain.


Thanks,

Sailendra
                                                  IoT-IIoTsolutions