Module 2: Sensors, Actuators and applications

IoT Sensing and Actuation: Introduction to Sensors, Sensor Characteristics, Sensorial

Deviations, Sensing Types, Sensing Considerations, Actuators, Actuator Types, Actuator
Characteristics
Domain Specific IoTs :Home Automation, Cities, Environment, Energy, Retail,
Logistics, Agriculture, Industry, Health & Lifestyle
Textbooks:
1. Internet of Things: A Hands-On Approach, by Arshdeep Bahga & Vijay
Madisetti, Universities Press, 2014
Reference books:
1. Introduction to IoT, by Sudip Misra, Anandarup Mukherjee, Arijit Roy,
Cambridge University Press 2021
2. IoT Fundamentals: Networking Technologies, Protocols, and Use Cases for the
Internet of Things – David Hanes, Gonzalo Salgueiro, Patrick Grossetete, Pearson
Education, 2017

INTRODUCTION
A major chunk of IoT applications involves sensing in one form or the other. Almost
all the applications in IoT be it a consumer IoT, an industrial IoT, or just plain hobby-based
deployments of IoT solutions sensing forms the first step. Incidentally, actuation forms the
final step in the whole operation of IoT application deployment in a majority of scenarios.
The basic science of sensing and actuation is based on the process of transduction.
Transduction is the process of energy conversion from one form to another. A transducer is a
physical means of enabling transduction. Transducers take energy in any form (for which it is
designed)— electrical, mechanical, chemical, light, sound, and others—and convert it into
another, which may be electrical, mechanical, chemical, light, sound, and others. Sensors and
actuators are deemed as transducers. For example, in a public announcement (PA) system, a
microphone (input device) converts sound waves into electrical signals, which is amplified by
an amplifier system (a process). Finally, a loudspeaker (output device) outputs this into
audible sounds by converting the amplified electrical signals back into sound waves. Table
5.1 outlines the basic terminological differences between transducers, sensors, and actuators.

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Table 2.1 Basic outline of the differences between transducers, sensors, and actuators

Parameters Transducers Sensors Actuators

Definition Converts energy Converts various forms of Converts electrical
from one form to energy into electrical signals into various
another. signals. forms of energy,
typically mechanical
energy.
Domain Can be used to It is an input transducer. It is an output
represent a sensor transducer.
as well as an
actuator.
Function Can work as a Used for quantifying Used for converting
sensor or an environmental stimuli into signals into
actuator but not signals. proportional mechanical
simultaneously. or electrical
outputs.

Humidity sensors, Motors (convert

Examples Any sensor or
Temperature sensors, electrical energy to
actuator
Anemometers (measures rotary motion), Force
flow velocity), Manometers heads
(measures fluid pressure), (which impose a force),
Accelerometers (measures Pumps (which convert
the acceleration of a body), rotary motion of shafts
Gas sensors (measures into
concentration of specific gas either a pressure or a
or gases), and others fluid velocity).

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SENSORS
Sensors are devices that can measure, or quantify, or respond to the ambient changes in their
environment or within the intended zone of their deployment. They generate responses to external
stimuli or physical phenomenon through characterization of the input functions (which are these
external stimuli) and their conversion into typically electrical signals. For example, heat is converted
to electrical signals in a temperature sensor, or atmospheric pressure is converted to electrical signals
in a barometer. A sensor is only sensitive to the measured property (e.g., a temperature sensor only
senses the ambient temperature of a room). It is insensitive to any other property besides what it is
designed to detect (e.g., a temperature sensor does not bother about light or pressure while sensing
the temperature). Finally, a sensor does not influence the measured property (e.g., measuring the
temperature does not reduce or increase the temperature). Figure 2.1 shows the simple outline of a
sensing task. Here, a temperature sensor keeps on checking an environment for changes. In the event
of a fire, the temperature of the environment goes up. The temperature sensor notices this change in
the temperature of the room and promptly communicates this information to a remote monitor via the
processor.

Figure 2.1 The outline of a simple sensing operation

The various sensors can be classified based on: 1) power requirements, 2) sensor output, and 3)
property to be measured.

Power Requirements: The way sensors operate decides the power requirements that must be
provided for an IoT implementation. Some sensors need to be provided with separate power sources for
them to function, whereas some sensors do not require any power sources. Depending on the
requirements of power, sensors can be of two types.

i. Active: Active sensors do not require an external circuitry or mechanism to provide it with
power. It directly responds to the external stimuli from its ambient environment and converts it
into an output signal. For example, a photodiode converts light into electrical impulses.

ii. Passive: Passive sensors require an external mechanism to power them up. The sensed
properties are modulated with the sensor’s inherent characteristics to generate patterns in the
output of the sensor. For example, a thermistor’s resistance can be detected by applying voltage
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 difference across it or passing a current through it.

Output: The output of a sensor helps in deciding the additional components to be integrated with an
IoT node or system. Typically, almost all modern-day processors are digital; digital sensors can be
directly integrated to the processors. However, the integration of analog sensors to these digital
processors or IoT nodes requires additional interfacing mechanisms such as analog to digital
converters (ADC), voltage level converters, and others.

Sensors are broadly divided into two types, depending on the type of output generated from these
sensors, as follows.

i. Analog: Analog sensors generate an output signal or voltage, which is proportional (linearly or
non-linearly) to the quantity being measured and is continuous in time and amplitude. Physical
quantities such as temperature, speed, pressure, displacement, strain, and others are all
continuous and categorized as analog quantities. For example, a thermometer or a thermocouple
can be used for measuring the temperature of a liquid (e.g., in household water heaters). These
sensors continuously respond to changes in the temperature of the liquid. (ii) Digital: These
sensors generate the output of discrete time digital representation (time, or amplitude, or both) of
a quantity being measured, in the form of output signals or voltages. Typically, binary output
signals in the form of logic 0 for ON or OFF, respectively are associated with digital sensors.
The generated discrete (non-continuous) values may be output as a single ―bit‖ (serial
transmission), eight of which combine to produce a single ―byte‖ output (parallel transmission)
in digital sensors.

 Measured Property: The property of the environment being measured by the sensors can be
crucial in deciding the number of sensors in an IoT implementation. Some properties to be
measured do not show high spatial variations and can be quantified only based on temporal
variations in the measured property, such as ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure,
and others. Whereas some properties to be measured show high spatial as well as temporal
variations such as sound, image, and others. Depending on the properties to be measured,
sensors can be of two types.

a. Scalar: Scalar sensors produce an output proportional to the magnitude of the quantity
being measured. The output is in the form of a signal or voltage. Scalar physical
quantities are those where only the magnitude of the signal is sufficient for describing or
characterizing the phenomenon and information generation. Examples of such

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 measurable physical quantities include color, pressure, temperature, strain, and others.
A thermometer or thermocouple is an example of a scalar sensor that has the ability to
detect changes in ambient or object temperatures (depending on the sensor’s
configuration). Factors such as changes in sensor orientation or direction do not affect
these sensors (typically).

b. Vector: Vector sensors are affected by the magnitude as well as the direction and/or
orientation of the property they are measuring. Physical quantities such as velocity
and images that require additional information besides their magnitude for
completely categorizing a physical phenomenon are categorized as vector quantities.
Measuring such quantities are undertaken using vector sensors. For example, an
electronic gyroscope, which is commonly found in all modern aircraft, is used for
detecting the changes in orientation of the gyroscope with respect to the Earth’s
orientation along all three axes.

Figure 2.2 The functional blocks of a typical sensor node in IoT

Figure 2.3 Some common commercially available sensors used for IoT-based sensing
applications
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SENSOR CHARACTERISTICS
All sensors can be defined by their ability to measure or capture a certain phenomenon and
report them as output signals to various other systems. However, even within the same sensor type
and class, sensors can be characterized by their ability to sense the phenomenon based on the
following three fundamental properties.

 Sensor Resolution: The smallest change in the measurable quantity that a sensor can detect is
referred to as the resolution of a sensor. For digital sensors, the smallest change in the digital
output that the sensor is capable of quantifying is its sensor resolution. The more the resolution
of a sensor, the more accurate is the precision. A sensor’s accuracy does not depend upon its
resolution. For example, a temperature sensor A can detect up to 0.50 C changes in
temperature; whereas another sensor B can detect up to 0.250 C changes in temperature.
Therefore, the resolution of sensor B is higher than the resolution of sensor A.
 Sensor Accuracy: The accuracy of a sensor is the ability of that sensor to measure the
environment of a system as close to its true measure as possible. For example,a weight sensor
detects the weight of a 100 kg mass as 99.98 kg. We can say that this sensor is 99.98%

accurate, with an error rate of

 Sensor Precision: The principle of repeatability governs the precision of a sensor. Only if,
upon multiple repetitions, the sensor is found to have the same error rate, can it be deemed as
highly precise. For example, consider if the same weight sensor described earlier reports
measurements of 98.28 kg, 100.34 kg, and 101.11 kg upon three repeat measurements for a
mass of actual weight of 100 kg. Here, the sensor precision is not deemed high because of
significant variations in the temporal measurements for the same object under the same
conditions.

SENSORIAL DEVIATIONS
Most of the sensing in IoT is non-critical, where minor deviations in sensorial outputs seldom
change the nature of the undertaken tasks. However, some critical applications of IoT, such as
healthcare, industrial process monitoring, and others, do require sensors with high-quality
measurement capabilities. As the quality of the measurement obtained from a sensor is dependent on a
large number of factors, there are a few primary considerations that must be incorporated during the
sensing of critical systems. In the event of a sensor’s output signal going beyond its designed
maximum and minimum capacity for measurement, the sensor output is truncated to its maximum
or minimum value, which is also the sensor’s limits. The measurement range between a sensor’s

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characterized minimum and maximum values is also referred to as the fullscale range of that sensor.
Under real conditions, the sensitivity of a sensor may differ from the value specified for that sensor
leading to sensitivity error. This deviation is mostly attributed to sensor fabrication errors and its
calibration.

If the output of a sensor differs from the actual value to be measured by a constant, the sensor
is said to have an offset error or bias. For example, while measuring an actual temperature of 00 C, a
temperature sensor outputs 1.10 C every time. In this case, the sensor is said to have an offset error or
bias of 1.10 C. Similarly, some sensors have a non-linear behavior. If a sensor’s transfer function (TF)
deviates from a straight-line transfer function, it is referred to as its non-linearity.

The amount a sensor’s actual output differs from the ideal TF behavior over the full range of
the sensor quantifies its behavior. It is denoted as the percentage of the sensor’s full range. Most
sensors have linear behavior. If the output signal of a sensor changes slowly and independently of the
measured property, this behavior of the sensor’s output is termed as drift.

Physical changes in the sensor or its material may result in long-term drift, which can span
over months or years. Noise is a temporally varying random deviation of signals. In contrast, if a
sensor’s output varies/deviates due to deviations in the sensor’s previous input values, it is referred to
as hysteresis error. The present output of the sensor depends on the past input values provided to the
sensor. Typically, the phenomenon of hysteresis can be observed in analog sensors, magnetic sensors,
and during heating of metal strips. One way to check for hysteresis error is to check how the sensor’s
output changes when we first increase, then decrease the input values to the sensor over its full range.
It is generally denoted as a positive and negative percentage variation of the full-range of that sensor.

Focusing on digital sensors, if the digital output of a sensor is an approximation of the

measured property, it induces quantization error. This error can be defined as the difference between
the actual analog signal and its closest digital approximation during the sampling stage of the analog
to digital conversion. Similarly, dynamic errors caused due to mishandling of sampling frequencies
can give rise to aliasing errors. Aliasing leads to different signals of varying frequencies to be
represented as a single signal in case the sampling frequency is not correctly chosen, resulting in the
input signal becoming a multiple of the sampling rate.

Finally, the environment itself plays a crucial role in inducing sensorial deviations. Some
sensors may be prone to external influences, which may not be directly linked to the property being
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measured by the sensor. This sensitivity of the sensor may lead to deviations in its output values. For
example, as most sensors are semiconductor based, they are influenced by the temperature of their
environment.

SENSING TYPES
Sensing can be broadly divided into four different categories based on the nature of the
environment being sensed and the physical sensors being used to do so (Figure 2.4): 1) scalar
sensing, 2) multimedia sensing, 3) hybrid sensing, and 4) virtual Sensing
1. Scalar sensing
Scalar sensing encompasses the sensing of features that can be quantified simply by measuring
changes in the amplitude of the measured values with respect to time. Quantities such as
ambient temperature, current, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, light, humidity, flux, and others are
considered as scalar values as they normally do not have a directional or spatial property
assigned with them. Simply measuring the changes in their values with passing time provides
enough information about these quantities. The sensors used for measuring these scalar
quantities are referred to as scalar sensors, and the act is known as scalar sensing. A simple
scalar temperature sensing of a fire detection event is shown in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.4 The different sensing types commonly encountered in IoT

2. Multimedia sensing
Multimedia sensing encompasses the sensing of features that have a spatial variance
property associated with the property of temporal variance. Unlike scalar sensors, multimedia
sensors are used for capturing the changes in amplitude of a quantifiable property concerning
space (spatial) as well as time (temporal). Quantities such as images, direction, flow, speed,

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 acceleration, sound, force, mass, energy, and momentum have both directions as well as a
magnitude. Additionally, these quantities follow the vector law of addition and hence are
designated as vector quantities. They might have different values in different directions for the
same working condition at the same time. The sensors used for measuring these quantities are
known as vector sensors. A simple camera-based multimedia sensing using surveillance as an
example is shown in Figure 2.4

3. Hybrid sensing
The act of using scalar as well as multimedia sensing at the same time is referred to as
hybrid sensing. Many a time, there is a need to measure certain vector as well as scalar
properties of an environment at the same time. Under these conditions, a range of various sensors
are employed (from the collection of scalar as well as multimedia sensors) to measure the
various properties of that environment at any instant of time, and temporally map the collected
information to generate new information. For example, in an agricultural field, it is required to
measure the soil conditions at regular intervals of time to determine plant health. Sensors such as
soil moisture and soil temperature are deployed underground to estimate the soil’s water
retention capacity and the moisture being held by the soil at any instant of time. However, this
setup only determines whether the plant is getting enough water or not. There may be a host of
other factors besides water availability, which may affect a plant’s health. The additional inclusion
of a camera sensor with the plant may be able to determine the actual condition of a plant by
additionally determining the color of leaves. The aggregate information from soil moisture, soil
temperature, and the camera sensor will be able to collectively determine a plant’s health at any
instant of time. Other common examples of hybrid sensing include smart parking systems,
traffic management systems, and others. Figure 2.4 shows an example of hybrid sensing, where
a camera and a temperature sensor are collectively used to detect and confirm forest fires during
wildlife monitoring.

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4. Virtual sensing
Many a time, there is a need for very dense and large-scale deployment of sensor nodes
spread over a large area for monitoring of parameters. One such domain is agriculture. Here,
often, the parameters being measured, such as soil moisture, soil temperature, and water level, do
not show significant spatial variations. Hence, if sensors are deployed in the fields of farmer A, it
is highly likely that the measurements from his sensors will be able to provide almost concise
measurements of his neighbour B’s fields; this is especially true of fields which are immediately
surrounding A’s fields. Exploiting this property, if the data from A’s field is digitized using an
IoT infrastructure and this system advises him regarding the appropriate watering, fertilizer, and
pesticide regimen for his crops, this advisory can also be used by B for maintaining his crops. In
short, A ’s sensors are being used for actual measurement of parameters; whereas virtual data
(which does not have actual physical sensors but uses extrapolation-based measurements) is
being used for advising B. This is the virtual sensing paradigm. Figure 2.4(d) shows an example
of virtual sensing. Two temperature sensors S1 and S3 monitor three nearby events E1, E2, and
E3 (fires). The event E2 does not have a dedicated sensor for monitoring it; however, through the
superposition of readings from sensors S1 and S3, the presence of fire in E2 is inferred.

SENSING CONSIDERATIONS
The choice of sensors in an IoT sensor node is critical and can either make or break the feasibility
of an IoT deployment. The following major factors influence the choice of sensors in IoT-based
sensing solutions: 1) sensing range, 2) accuracy and precision, 3) energy, and 4) device size. These
factors are discussed as follows:

 Sensing Range: The sensing range of a sensor node defines the detection fidelity of that node.
Typical approaches to optimize the sensing range in deployments include fixed k-coverage
and dynamic k-coverage. A lifelong fixed k-coverage tends to usher in redundancy as it
requires a large number of sensor nodes, the sensing range of some of which may also overlap.
In contrast, dynamic kcoverage incorporates mobile sensor nodes post detection of an event,
which, however, is a costly solution and may not be deployable in all operational areas and
terrains. Additionally, the sensing range of a sensor may also be used to signify the upper and
lower bounds of a sensor’s measurement range. For example, a proximity sensor has a
typical sensing range of a couple of meters. In contrast, a camera has a sensing range varying
between tens of meters to hundreds of meters. As the complexity of the sensor and its sensing
range goes up, its cost significantly increases.

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 Accuracy and Precision: The accuracy and precision of measurements provided by a sensor
are critical in deciding the operations of specific functional processes. Typically, off-the-shelf
consumer sensors are low on requirements and often very cheap. However, their performance is
limited to regular application domains. For example, a standard temperature sensor can be
easily integrated with conventional components for hobby projects and day-to-day
applications, but it is not suitable for industrial processes. Regular temperature sensors have a
very low-temperature sensing range, as well as relatively low accuracy and precision. The use
of these sensors in industrial applications, where a precision of up to 3– 4 decimal places is
required, cannot be facilitated by these sensors. Industrial sensors are typically very
sophisticated, and as a result, very costly. However, these industrial sensors have very high
accuracy and precision score, even under harsh operating conditions.

 Energy: The energy consumed by a sensing solution is crucial to determine the lifetime of
that solution and the estimated cost of its deployment. If the sensor or the sensor node is so
energy inefficient that it requires replenishment of its energy sources quite frequently, the
effort in maintaining the solution and its cost goes up; whereas its deployment feasibility goes
down. Consider a scenario where sensor nodes are deployed on the top of glaciers. Once
deployed, access to these nodes is not possible. If the energy requirements of the sensor nodes
are too high, such a deployment will not last long, and the solution will be highly infeasible as
charging or changing of the energy sources of these sensor nodes is not an option.

 Device Size: Modern-day IoT applications have a wide penetration in all domains of life.
Most of the applications of IoT require sensing solutions which are so small that they do not
hinder any of the regular activities that were possible before the sensor node deployment was
carried out. Larger the size of a sensor node, larger is the obstruction caused by it, higher is the
cost and energy requirements, and lesser is its demand for the bulk of the IoT applications.
Consider a simple human activity detector. If the detection unit is too large to be carried or too
bulky to cause hindrance to regular normal movements, the demand for this solution would be
low. It is because of this that the onset of wearables took off so strongly. The wearable sensors
are highly energy efficient, small in size, and almost part of the wearer’s regular wardrobe.

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ACTUATORS
An actuator can be considered as a machine or system’s component that can affect the movement or
control the said mechanism or the system. Control systems affect changes to the environment or
property they are controlling through actuators. The system activates the actuator through a control
signal, which may be digital or analog. It elicits a response from the actuator, which is in the form of
some form of mechanical motion. The control system of an actuator can be a mechanical or electronic
system, a software- based system (e.g., an autonomous car control system), a human, or any other
input. Figure 2.5 shows the outline of a simple actuation system. A remote user sends commands to a
processor. The processor instructs a motor controlled robotic arm to perform the commanded tasks
accordingly. The processor is primarily responsible for converting the human commands into
sequential machine-language command sequences, which enables the robot to move. The robotic arm
finally moves the designated boxes, which was its assigned task.

Actuation Environment
Monitoring Processing

Figure 2.5 The outline of a simple actuation mechanism

ACTUATOR TYPES
Broadly, actuators can be divided into seven classes: 1) Hydraulic, 2) pneumatic, 3) electrical, 4)
thermal/magnetic, 5) mechanical, 6) soft, and 7) shape memory polymers. Figure 2.6 shows some
of the commonly used actuators in IoT applications.
1. Hydraulic actuators
A hydraulic actuator works on the principle of compression and decompression of fluids.
These actuators facilitate mechanical tasks such as lifting loads through the use of hydraulic
power derived from fluids in cylinders or fluid motors. The mechanical motion applied to a
hydraulic actuator is converted to either linear, rotary, or oscillatory motion. The almost
incompressible property of liquids is used in hydraulic actuators for exerting significant force.
These hydraulic actuators are also considered as stiff systems. The actuator’s limited
acceleration restricts its usage.
2. Pneumatic actuators
A pneumatic actuator works on the principle of compression and decompression of
gases. These actuators use a vacuum or compressed air at high pressure and convert it into either
linear or rotary motion. Pneumatic rack and pinion actuators are commonly used for valve
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 controls of water pipes. Pneumatic actuators are considered as compliant systems. The actuators
using pneumatic energy for their operation are typically characterized by the quick response to
starting and stopping signals. Small pressure changes can be used for generating large forces
through these actuators. Pneumatic brakes are an example of this type of actuator which is so
responsive that they can convert small pressure changes applied by drives to generate the
massive force required to stop or slow down a moving vehicle. Pneumatic actuators are
responsible for converting pressure into force. The power source in the pneumatic actuator does
not need to be stored in reserve for its operation.
3. Electric actuators
Typically, electric motors are used to power an electric actuator by generating
mechanical torque. This generated torque is translated into the motion of a motor’s shaft or for
switching (as in relays). For example, actuating equipments such as solenoid valves control the
flow of water in pipes in response to electrical signals. This class of actuators is considered one
of the cheapest, cleanest and speedy actuator types available.
4. Thermal or magnetic actuators
The use of thermal or magnetic energy is used for powering this class of actuators. These
actuators have a very high power density and are typically compact, lightweight, and
economical. One classic example of thermal actuators is shape memory materials (SMMs) such
as shape memory alloys (SMAs). These actuators do not require electricity for actuation. They are
not affected by vibration and can work with liquid or gases. Magnetic shape memory alloys
(MSMAs) are a type of magnetic actuators.
5. Mechanical actuators
In mechanical actuation, the rotary motion of the actuator is converted into linear motion
to execute some movement. The use of gears, rails, pulleys, chains, and other devices are
necessary for these actuators to operate. These actuators can be easily used in conjunction with
pneumatic, hydraulic, or electrical actuators. They can also work in a standalone mode. The best
example of a mechanical actuator is a rack and pinion mechanism.
6. Soft actuators
Soft actuators (e.g., polymer-based) consists of elastomeric polymers that are used as
embedded fixtures in flexible materials such as cloth, paper, fiber, particles, and others. The
conversion of molecular level microscopic changes into tangible macroscopic deformations is
the primary working principle of this class of actuators. These actuators have a high stake in
modern-day robotics. They are designed to handle fragile objects such as agricultural fruit
harvesting, or performing precise operations like manipulating the internal organs during robot

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 assisted surgeries.
7. Shape memory polymers
Shape memory polymers (SMP) are considered as smart materials that respond to some
external stimulus by changing their shape, and then revert to their original shape once the
affecting stimulus is removed. Features such as high strain recovery, biocompatibility, low
density, and biodegradability characterize these materials. SMP- based actuators function
similar to our muscles. Modern-day SMPs have been designed to respond to a wide range of
stimuli such as pH changes, heat differentials, light intensity, and frequency changes, magnetic
changes, and others. Photopolymer/light- activated polymers (LAP) are a particular type of SMP,
which require light as a stimulus to operate. LAP-based actuators are characterized by their rapid
response times. Using only the variation of light frequency or its intensity, LAPs can be
controlled remotely without any physical contact. The development of LAPs whose shape can
be changed by the application of a specific frequency of light have been reported. The polymer
retains its shape after removal of the activating light. In order to change the polymer back to
its original shape, a light stimulus of a different frequency has to be applied to the polymer.

ACTUATOR CHARACTERISTICS
The choice or selection of actuators is crucial in an IoT deployment, where a control
mechanism is required after sensing and processing of the information obtained from the sensed
environment. Actuators perform the physically heavier tasks in an IoT deployment; tasks which
require moving or changing the orientation of physical objects, changing the state of objects, and other
such activities. The correct choice of actuators is necessary for the long-term sustenance and
continuity of operations, as well as for increasing the lifetime of the actuators themselves. A set of
four characteristics can define all actuators:
 Weight: The physical weight of actuators limits its application scope. For example, the use of
heavier actuators is generally preferred for industrial applications and applications requiring no
mobility of the IoT deployment. In contrast, lightweight actuators typically find common usage
in portable systems in vehicles, drones, and home IoT applications. It is to be noted that this is
not always true. Heavier actuators also have selective usage in mobile systems, for example,
landing gears and engine motors in aircraft.
 Power Rating: This helps in deciding the nature of the application with which an actuator can
be associated. The power rating defines the minimum and maximum operating power an actuator
can safely withstand without damage to itself. Generally, it is indicated as the power-to-weight
ratio for actuators. For example, smaller servo motors used in hobby projects typically have a

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 maximum rating of 5 VDC, 500 mA, which is suitable for an operations-driven battery-based
power source. Exceeding this limit might be detrimental to the performance of the actuator and
may cause burnout of the motor. In contrast to this, servo motors in larger applications have a
rating of 460 VAC, 2:5 A, which requires standalone power supply systems for operations. It is
to be noted that actuators with still higher ratings are available and vary according to
application requirements.
 Torque to Weight Ratio: The ratio of torque to the weight of the moving part of an
instrument/device is referred to as its torque/weight ratio. This indicates the sensitivity of the
actuator. Higher is the weight of the moving part; lower will be its torque to weight ratio for a
given power.
 Stiffness and Compliance: The resistance of a material against deformation is known as its
stiffness, whereas compliance of a material is the opposite of stiffness. Stiffness can be directly
related to the modulus of elasticity of that material. Stiff systems are considered more accurate
than compliant systems as they have a faster response to the change in load applied to it. For
example, hydraulic systems are considered as stiff and non-compliant, whereas pneumatic
systems are considered as compliant.

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 Introduction of Domain Specific IoTs
The Internet of Things (IoT) applications span a wide range of domains Home
Automation Cities Environment, Energy, Retail, Logistics, Agriculture, Industry and
Health & Lifestyle.

1. HOME AUTOMATION

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1.1 Smart Lighting
It helps in saving energy by adapting the lighting to the ambient conditions and switching
on/off or diming the light when needed. Key enabling technologies for smart lighting
include solid state lighting(such as LEDs and IP enabled lights. Smart lightning solutions for
home achieve energy savings by sensing the human movements and their environments and
controlling the lights accordingly. Wireless enabled and Internet connected lights can be
controlled remotely from IoT applications such as mobile or web applications.
1.2 Smart Appliances
Make the management easier and also provide status information to the users remotely.

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1.3 Intrusion Detection
It uses security cameras and sensors (PIR sensors and door sensors) to detect intrusion and
raise alerts. Alerts can be in the form of SMS or email sent to the user.

1.4 Home Network Routers:

All the Internet connected devices in homes these days, the network router continues to be
by far the most targeted in attacks. "Most Internet routers that are keystone to our home
network are riddled with security issues, which make them easy picking for hackers. Most
routers worldwide had default or basic username and password combinations, like "admin"
and ―password‖ while others have, they user address, birthday or name as password.
Because of this, most routers are vulnerable to simple password attacks, which is basically
an open invitation to malicious hackers.

1.5 Smoke/ Gas Detectors

Smoke detectors are installed in homes and buildings to detect smoke that is typically an
early sign of fire. Alerts raised by smoke detectors can be in the form of signals to a fire
alarm system. Gas detectors can detect the presence of harmful gases such as CO, LPG etc.,
Smoke detector detects the smoke in the home and it sends signal to the control unit that
displays the smoke unit in display section and temperature sensor mentioned above gives
the temperature of the room and signals are send through IoT to main controller just to
control some activities of room.

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2. CITIES
2.1 Smart Parking

To make the search for parking space easier and convenient for drivers. Smart parking are
powered by IoT systems that detect the no. of empty parking slots and send information over
internet to smart application backends. Smart parking management system can be used to
find the vacant location for a vehicle at different public places.

Smart Parking’s In-Ground Vehicle Detection Sensors are core technologies, playing a key
part in the Smart Parking solution that is revolutionizing how drivers in the malls and city
centers can find an available parking space. Wireless sensors are embedded into parking
spaces, transmitting data on the timing and duration of the space used via local signal
processors into a central parking management application. Smart Parking reduces congestion,
decreases vehicle emissions, lowers enforcement costs and cuts driver stress. For effective
deployment of smart parking technologies, each device needs to have a reliable connectivity
with the cloud servers.

2.2 Smart Lighting

It is for roads, parks and buildings can help in saving energy. With smart lighting, city authorities
can keep real-time tracking of lighting to ensure optimized illumination and deliver demand-based
lighting in different zones. Smart lighting also helps in daylight harvesting and save energy by
dimming out sectors with no occupancies for e.g. parking lots can be dimmed during work hours
and when a car is entering, it will be detected and appropriate sectors can be illuminated, while others
can be kept at diffused setting.

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 2.3 Smart Roads:
Equipped with sensors can provide information on driving condition, travel time estimating
and alert in case of poor driving conditions, traffic condition and accidents. Such
information can help in making the roads safer and help in reducing traffic jams.
Information sensed from the roads can be communicated via Internet to cloud applications
and social media and disseminated to the drivers who subscribe to such applications.

3. Structural Health Monitoring:

It uses a network of sensors to monitor the vibration levels in the structures such as
bridges and buildings. The data collected from these sensors is analyzed to assess the health of
the structures.
By analyzing the data, it is possible to detect cracks and mechanical breakdowns, locate the
damages to a structure and also calculate the remaining life of the structure.
Using such systems, advance warnings can be given in the case of imminent failure of the
structure.

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4. Surveillance
The video feeds from surveillance cameras can be aggregated in cloud based scalable storage
solution. The video feeds from surveillance cameras can be aggregated in cloud-based scalable
storage solutions.

Cloud-based video analytics applications can be developed to search for patterns of specific events
from the video feeds.

4.1 Emergency Response:

IoT systems for fire detection, gas and water leakage detection can help in generating alerts
and minimizing their effects on the critical infrastructures. IoT systems can be used for
monitoring the critical infrastructure cities such as buildings, gas, and water pipelines, public
transport and power substations.
IoT systems for critical infrastructure monitoring enable aggregation and sharing of
information collected from lager number of sensors.
Using cloud-based architectures, multi-modal information such as sensor data, audio, video
feeds can be analyzed in near real-time to detect adverse events.
The alert can be in the form:
 Alerts sent to the public
 Re-rerouting of traffic
 Evacuations of the affected areas
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5. ENVIRONMENT:
5.1 Weather Monitoring:
Systems collect data from a no. of sensors attached and send the data to cloud based
applications and storage back ends. The data collected in cloud can then be analyzed and
visualized by cloud-based applications. Weather alert can be sent to the subscribed users
from such applications.
AirPi is a weather and air quality monitoring kit capable of recording and uploading
information about temperature, humidity, air pressure, light levels, UV levels, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and smoke level to the Internet.
5.2 Air Pollution Monitoring:
System can monitor emission of harmful gases (CO2, CO, NO, NO2 etc.,) by factories and
automobiles using gaseous and meteorological sensors. The collected data can be analyzed to
make informed decisions on pollutions control approaches.
5.3 Noise Pollution Monitoring:
Due to growing urban development, noise levels in cities have increased and even become
alarmingly high in some cities. IoT based noise pollution monitoring systems use a no. of
noise monitoring systems that are deployed at different places in a city. The data on noise
levels from the station is collected on servers or in the cloud. The collected data is then
aggregated to generate noise maps. It uses a number of noise monitoring stations that are
deployed at different places in a city.
The data on noise levels from the stations is collected on servers or in the cloud and then the
collected data is aggregate to generate noise maps.
5.4 Forest Fire Detection:

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 Forest fire can cause damage to natural resources, property and human life. Early detection
of forest fire can help in minimizing damage. IoT based forest fire detection system use a
number of monitoring nodes deployed at different location in a forest.
Each monitoring node collects measurements on ambient condition including temperature,
humidity, light levels, etc.
Early detection of forest fires can help in minimizing the damage.
5.5 River Flood Detection:
River floods can cause damage to natural and human resources and human life. Early
warnings of floods can be given by monitoring the water level and flow rate. IoT based
river flood monitoring system uses a no. of sensor nodes that monitor the water level and
flow rate sensors. IoT based river flood monitoring system uses a number of sensor nodes
that monitor the water level using ultrasonic sensors and flow rate using velocity sensors.
Data from these sensors is aggregated in a server or in the cloud, monitoring applications raise
alerts when rapid increase in water level and flow rate is detected.
6. ENERGY:

6.1 Smart Grids:

It is a data communication network integrated with the electrical grids that collects and
analyze data captured in near-real-time about power transmission, distribution and
consumption. Smart grid technology provides predictive information and recommendations
to utilities, their suppliers, and their customers on how best to manage power. By using IoT
based sensing and measurement technologies, the health of equipment and integrity of the
grid can be evaluated.
Smart grid technology provides predictive information and recommendation s to utilize, their
suppliers, and their customers on how best to manage power.

Smart grid collects the data regarding:

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  Electricity generation
 Electricity consumption
 Storage
 Distribution and equipment health data
By analyzing the data on power generation, transmission and consumption of smart grids
can improve efficiency throughout the electric system.
Storage collection and analysis of smarts grids data in the cloud can help in dynamic
optimization of system operations, maintenance, and planning.
Cloud-based monitoring of smart grids data can improve energy usage usage levels via
energy feedback to users coupled with real-time pricing information.
Condition monitoring data collected from power generation and transmission systems can
help in detecting faults and predicting outage.
6.2 Renewable Energy Systems:
IoT based systems integrated with the transformers at the point of interconnection measure
the electrical variables and how much power is fed into the grid. For wind energy systems,
closed-loop controls can be used to regulate the voltage at point of interconnection which
coordinate wind turbine outputs and provides power support. Due to the variability in the
output from renewable energy sources (such as solar and wind), integrating them into the
grid can cause grid stability and reliability problems.
 IoT based systems integrated with the transformer at the point of interconnection
measure the electrical variables and how much power is fed into the grid.
 To ensure the grid stability, one solution is to simply cut off the overproductions.
6.3 Prognostics:
In systems such as power grids, real-time information is collected using specialized electrical
sensors called Phasor Measurment Units (PMUs) at the substations. The information
received from PMUs must be monitored in real-time for estimating the state of the system
and for predicting failures. IoT based prognostic real-time health management systems can
predict performance of machines of energy systems by analyzing the extent of deviation of a
system from its normal operating profiles.
 In the system such as power grids, real time information is collected using specialized
electrical sensors called Phasor Measurement Units (PMU)
 Analyzing massive amounts of maintenance data collected from sensors in energy
systems and equipment can provide predictions for impending failures.
 OpenPDC is a set of applications for processing of streaming time-series data collected

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 from Phasor Measurements Units (PMUs) in real-time.
7. RETAIL
7.1 Inventory Management:
IoT systems enable remote monitoring of inventory using data collected by RFID readers.

IoT system using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags can help inventory
management and maintaining the right inventory levels.
 RFID tags attached to the products allow them to be tracked in the real-time so that the
inventory levels can be determined accurately and products which are low on stock can
be replenished.
 Tracking can be done using RFID readers attached to the retail store shelves or in the
warehouse.
7.2 Smart Payments:
Solutions such as contact-less payments powered by technologies such as Near Field
Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth.
 Smart payments solutions such as contact-less payments powered technologies such as
Near field communication (NFC) and Bluetooth.
 NFC is a set of standards for smart-phones and other devices to communicate with each
other by bringing them into proximity or by touching them.
 Customer can store the credit card information in their NFC-enabled smart-phones and
make payments by bringing the smart-phone near the point-of-sale terminals.
 NFC maybe used in combination with Bluetooth, where NFC initiates initial pairing of
devices to establish a Bluetooth connection while the actual data transfer takes place
over Bluetooth.

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 7.3 Smart Vending Machines:
Sensors in a smart vending machine monitors its operations and send the data to cloud which
can be used for predictive maintenance.
Smart vending machines connected to the Internet allow remote monitoring of inventory
levels, elastic pricing of products, promotions, and contact-less payments using NFC.

Smart-phone applications that communicate with smart vending machines allow user
preferences to be remembered and learned with time. E.g: when a user moves from one
vending machine to the other and pair the smart-phone, the user preference and favourite
product will be saved and then that data is used for predictive maintenance.
 Smart vending machines can communicated each other’s, so if a product out of stock
in a machine, the user can be routed to nearest machine
 For perishable items, the smart vending machines can reduce the price as the expiry date
nears.

8. LOGISTICS
8.1 Route generation & scheduling:

IoT based system backed by cloud can provide first response to the route generation queries
and can be scaled upto serve a large transportation network. Route generation and scheduling
systems can generate end to end routes using combination of route patterns and
transportation modes and feasible schedules based on the availability of vehicles IoT based
system backed by cloud can provide first response to the route generation queries and can
be scaled upto serve a large transportation network.

8.2 Fleet Tracking:

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 Use GPS to track locations of vehicles inreal-time. Vehicle fleet tracking systems use GPS
technology to track the locations of the vehicles in the real- time.

Cloud-based fleet tracking systems can be scaled up on demand to handle large number of
vehicles,

 The vehicle locations and routers data can be aggregated and analyzed for detecting
bottlenecks in the supplychain such as traffic congestions on routes, assignments
and generation of alternative routes, and supply chain optimization.

 GPS to track locations of vehicles in real-time. Some of the main features that the
modern Fleet Manager in the fleet tracking system are: route optimization, increased
productivity, driver & vehicle safety and time management.

3 types of fleet tracking systems.

i. Cellular

ii. wireless passive

iii. satellite.

8.3 Shipment Monitoring:

IoT based shipment monitoring systems use sensors such as temp, humidity, to monitor the
conditions and send data to cloud, where it can be analyzed to detect foodspoilage.
Shipment monitoring solutions for transportation systems allow monitoring the conditions
inside containers.
E.g : Containers carrying fresh food produce can be monitored to prevent spoilage of food.
IoT based shipment monitoring systems use sensors such as temperature, pressure,
humidity, for instance, to monitor the conditions inside the containers and send the data to
the cloud, where it can be analyzed to detect food spoilage.
8.4 Remote Vehicle Diagnostics:
Systems use on-board IoT devices for collecting data on Vehicle operaions(speed,
RPMetc.,) and status of various vehicle subsystems. It can detect faults in the vehicles or
warn of impending faults.
 These diagnostic systems use on-board IoT devices for collecting data on vehicle
operation such as speed, engine RPM, coolent temperature, fault code number and
status of various vehicle sub- system.
 Modern commercial vehicles support on-board diagnostic (OBD) standard such as
OBD-II

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  OBD systems provide real-time data on the status of vehicle sub-systems and
diagnostic trouble codes which allow rapidly identifying the faults in the vehicle.
IoT based vehicle diagnostic systems can send the vehicle data to centralized servers or
the cloud where it can be analyzed to generate alerts and suggest remedial actions.
9. AGRICULTURE

9.1 Smart Irrigation

Smart irrigation system can improve crop yields while saving water.

 Smart irrigation systems use IoT devices with soil moisture sensors to determined the
amount of moisture on the soil and release the flow of the water through the irrigation
pipes only when the moisture levels go below a predefined threshold.

 It also collects moisture level measurements on the server on in the cloud where the
collected data can be analyzed to plan watering schedules.

 Cultivar’s Rain Could is a device for smart irrigation that uses water valves, soil
sensors, and a WiFi enabled programmable computer. To determine moisture amount in
soil.
9.2 Green House Control: to improve productivity.
 Green Houses are structure with glass or plastic roofs that provide conducive
environment for growth of plants.
 The climatological conditions inside a Green House can be monitored and controlled to
provide the best conditions for growth of plants.
 The temperature, humidity, soil moisture, lightens, Carbon-di Oxide levels are

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 monitored using sensors.
 It controls temperature, humidity, soil, moisture, light, and carbon dioxide level that are
monitored by sensors and climatological conditions that are controlled automatically
using actuation devices.
 IoT systems play an importance role in green house control and help in improving
productivity.
 The data collected from various sensors is stored on centralized servers or in the cloud
where analysis is performed to optimize the control strategies and also correlate the
productivity with different control strategies.

10. Industry
10.1 Machine Diagnosis and Prognosis
Machine prognosis refers to predicting the performance of a machine by analyzing the data
on the current operating conditions and how much deviations exist from the normal
operating conditions. Machine diagnosis refers to determining the cause of a machine fault.
IoT plays a major role in both prognosis and diagnosis of industrial machines. Industrial
machines have a large number of components that must function correctly for the machine to
perform its operations. Sensors in machines can monitor the operating conditions such as
(temperature and vibration levels). The sensor data measurements are done on timescales of
few milliseconds to few seconds, which leads to generation of massive amount of data. IoT
based systems integrated with cloud-based storage and analytics back- ends can help in
storage, collection and analysis of such massive scale machine sensor data.

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 A number of methods have been proposed for reliability analysis and fault prediction in machines.
Case-based reasoning (CBR) is a commonly used method that finds solutions to new problems based
on past experience. This past experience is organized and represented as cases in a case-base. CBR is
an effective technique for problem solving in the fields in which it is hard to establish a quantitative
mathematical model, such as machine diagnosis and prognosis. Since for each machine, data from a
very large number of sensors is collected, using such high dimensional data for creation of case
library reduces the case retrieval efficiency. Therefore, data reduction and feature extraction
methods are used to find the representative set of features which have the same classification ability
as the complete features.
10.2 Indoor Air Quality Monitoring
Monitoring indoor air quality in factories is important for health and safety of the workers.
Harmful and toxic gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen monoxide (NO), Nitrogen
Dioxide (NO₂), etc., can cause serious health problems. IoT based gas monitoring systems
can help in monitoring the indoor air quality using various gas sensors. The indoor air quality
can vary for different locations. Wireless sensor networks based IoT devices can identify the
hazardous zones, so that corrective measures can be taken to ensure proper ventilation. A
hybrid sensor system for indoor air quality monitoring is presented, which contains both
stationary sensors (for accurate readings and calibration) and mobile sensors (for coverage).
In addition, a wireless solution for indoor air quality monitoring is described, which
measures environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, gaseous pollutants,
aerosols, and particulate matter to determine the indoor air quality.

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11. Health & Lifestyle
11.1 Health & Fitness Monitoring
Wearable IoT devices that allow non-invasive and continuous monitoring of physiological
parameters can help in continuous health and fitness monitoring. These wearable devices
may be in various forms such as belts and wrist-bands. The wearable devices form a type of
wireless sensor networks called body area networks in which the measurements from a
number of wearable devices are continuous sent to a master node (such as a smart-phone)
which then sends the data to a server or a cloud-based back-end for analysis and archiving.
Health-care providers can analyze the collected health-care data to determine any health
conditions or anomalies. Commonly used body sensors include: body temperature, heart
rate, pulse oximeter oxygen saturation (SpO₂), blood pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG),
movement (with accelerometers), and electroencephalogram (EEG). A ubiquitous mobility
approach for body sensor networks in health care has been proposed. A wearable ubiquitous
health-care monitoring system is presented that uses integrated electrocardiogram (ECG),
accelerometer, and oxygen saturation (SpO₂) sensors. The Fitbit wristband is a wearable
device that tracks steps, distance, and calories burned during the day, as well as sleep
quality at night.

Figure. Applications of IoT for health

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11.2 Wearable Electronics
Wearable electronics such as wearable gadgets (smart watches, smart glasses, wristbands,
etc.) and fashion electronics (with electronics integrated into clothing and accessories, e.g.,
Google Glass or Moto 360 smart watch) provide various functions and services to assist us in
our daily activities and making us lead healthy lifestyles. Smart watches that run mobile
operating systems (such as Android Wear) can be used as portable communication and
time keeping. With smart watches, the users can record their daily activities and exercise,
make calls with or without paired mobile phones, check calendar schedules, and download
mobile applications. Smart glasses allow users to take photos and videos, check e-mails,
and access web applications by projecting the images onto the glasses lens. Smart shoes
monitor the walking or running speed and jump with the help of built-in sensors and can be
integrated with smart-phones to visualize the data. Smart wristbands can track the daily
exercise and calories burnt.

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