Things in
IoT
Module 2
Sensors
➔It senses
➔ A sensor measures some physical quantity and converts that
measurement reading into a digital representation
➔ That digital representation is typically passed to another device
for transformation into useful data that can be consumed by
intelligent devices or humans
➔ Sensors are not limited to human-like sensory data. They can
measure anything worth measuring
➔ They are able to provide an extremely wide spectrum of rich and
diverse measurement data with far greater precision than human
senses
Classification of Sensors
● Active or passive
● Invasive or non-invasive
● Contact or no-contact
● Absolute or relative
● Area of application
● How sensors measure
● What sensors measure
Types of Sensors
Name Descirption Example
Position A position sensor measures the position of an object; the proximity sensor
position measurement can be either in absolute terms (absolute
position sensor) or in relative terms (displacement sensor).
Position sensors can be linear, angular, or multi-axis.
Occupancy Occupancy sensors detect the presence of people and animals in Radar
and motion a surveillance area, while motion sensors detect movement of
people and objects. The difference between the two is that
occupancy sensors generate a signal even when a person is
stationary, whereas motion sensors do not.
Velocity and Velocity (speed of motion) sensors may be linear or angular, Accelerometer
acceleration indicating how fast an object moves along a straight line or how
fast it rotates. Acceleration sensors measure changes in velocity.
Force Force sensors detect whether a physical force is applied and Tactile sensor
whether the magnitude of force is beyond a threshold. (touch sensor)
Pressure Pressure sensors are related to force sensors, measuring force Barometer,
applied by liquids or gases. Pressure is measured in terms of Piezometer
force per unit area.
Types of Sensors
Name Descirption Example
Flow Flow sensors detect the rate of fluid flow. They measure the Mass flow sensor,
volume (mass flow) or rate (flow velocity) of fluid that has passed water meter
through a system in a given period of time
Humidity Humidity sensors detect humidity (amount of water vapor) in the Hygrometer,
air or a mass. Humidity levels can be measured in various ways: Soil moisture
absolute humidity, relative humidity, mass ratio, and so on sensor
Light Light sensors detect the presence of light (visible or invisible). Infrared sensor,
photodetector
Temperature Temperature sensors measure the amount of heat or cold that is Thermometer
present in a system. They can be broadly of two types: contact
and non-contact. Contact temperature sensors need to be in
physical contact with the object being sensed. Non-contact
sensors do not need physical contact, as they measure
temperature through convection and radiation
Biosensors Biosensors detect various biological elements, Blood glucose
such as organisms, tissues, cells, enzymes, biosensor,
antibodies, and nucleic acid pulse oximeter
Actuators
● Actuators are natural complements to sensors
● They convert their measurements into electric signals or digital
representations that can be consumed by an intelligent agent
Fig: How Sensors and Actuators Interact with the Physical World
Smart Objects
➔ Definition
◆ It is often used interchangeably with terms such as smart
sensor, smart device, IoT device, intelligent device, thing, smart
thing, intelligent node, intelligent thing, ubiquitous thing, and
intelligent product
Topology
Smart Objects - Characteristics
➔ Processing unit
➔ Sensor(s) and/or actuator(s)
➔ Communication device
➔ Power source
Trends in Smart Objects
➔ Size is decreasing
➔ Power consumption is decreasing
➔ Processing power is increasing
➔ Communication capabilities are improving
➔ Communication is being increasingly standardized
Architecture of Wireless Sensor Networks
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
➔ Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), sometimes simply
referred to as micro-machines they can integrate and combine
electric and mechanical elements, such as sensors and
actuators on a very small scale
➔ One of the keys to this technology is a microfabrication
technique that is similar to what is used for microelectronic
integrated circuits
➔ This approach allows mass production at very low costs
Near Field Communication
Near Field Communication (NFC)
➔ NFC is a set of short-range wireless technologies
➔ Typically requiring a distance of 4cm or less to initiate a
connection
➔ NFC allows you to share small payloads of data between an
NFC tag and an Android-powered device or between two
Android-powered devices
➔ NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup
that can be used to bootstrap more capable wireless
connections
IEEE standard 802.15.4
