INTERNET OF

THINGS

- Department of Software
Engineering
- Dr. Bushra Bashir Chaoudhry
 SMART OBJECTS: THE
“THINGS” IN IoT
 Smart objects are, quite simply, the building blocks of IoT.
They are what transform everyday objects into a network of
intelligent objects that are able to learn from and interact with their
environment in a meaningful way.
Real power of the smart objects in IoT comes from being networked
together rather than being isolated as standalone objects.
The ability to communicate over a network has a multiplicative
effect and allows for very sophisticated correlation and interaction
between disparate smart objects.
“Smart objects are any physical objects that contain embedded
technology to sense and/or interact with their environment in a
meaningful way by being interconnected and enabling communication
among themselves or an external agent.”
SMART OBJECTS: THE
“THINGS” IN IOT

Fig3.1: How Sensors and Actuators Interact

with the Physical World
SENSORS

sensors are one of fundamental building blocks of IoT

networks.
the “things” in the Internet of Things.
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.
There are myriad different sensors available to
measure virtually everything in the physical world
CLASSIFICATION OF SENSORS
1. Active or passive: Sensors can be categorized based on whether they
produce an energy output and typically require an external power supply
(active) or whether they simply receive energy and typically require no
external power supply (passive).
2. Invasive or non-invasive: Sensors can be categorized based on whether a
sensor is part of the environment it is measuring (invasive) or external to it
(non-invasive).
3. Contact or no-contact: Sensors can be categorized based on whether they
require physical contact with what they are measuring (contact) or not (no-
contact).
4. Absolute or relative: Sensors can be categorized based on whether they
measure on an absolute scale (absolute) or based on a difference with a fixed
or variable reference value (relative).
5. Area of application: Sensors can be categorized based on the specific
industry or vertical where they are being used.
6. How sensors measure: Sensors can be categorized based on the physical
mechanism used to measure sensory input (for example, thermoelectric,
electrochemical, piezoresistive, optic, electric, fluid mechanic, photo-elastic).
IOT SUITABLE* TYPES
IOT SUITABLE* CATEGORIZ
SENSORS IN A SMART
PHONE

Fig 3.2: Sensors in a Smart

ACTUATORS
Actuators, receive some type of control signal (commonly an
electric signal or digital command) that triggers a physical effect,
usually some type of motion, force, and so on.
As we learned, IoT sensors are devices that sense and measure the
physical world and (typically) signal their measurements as electric
signals sent to some type of microprocessor or microcontroller for
additional processing.
A processor can send an electric signal to an actuator that
translates the signal into some type of movement (linear, rotational,
and so on) or useful work that changes or has a measurable impact
on the physical world.
The interaction between sensors, actuators, and processors and the
similar functionality in biological systems is the basis for various
technical fields, including robotics and biometrics.
ACTUATORS

Fig. 3.3: Comparison of Sensor and Actuator

Functionality with Humans
CATEGORIES OF
ACTUATORS
Much like sensors, actuators also vary greatly in function, size, design,
and so on. Some common ways that they can be classified include the
following:
Type of motion: Actuators can be classified based on the type of
motion they produce (for example, linear, rotary, one/two/three-axes).
Power: Actuators can be classified based on their power output (for
example, high power, low power, micro power)
Binary or continuous: Actuators can be classified based on the
number of stable-state outputs.
Area of application: Actuators can be classified based on the specific
industry or vertical where they are used.
Type of energy: Actuators can be classified based on their energy
type.
ACTUATOR CLASSIFICATION BY
ENERGY TYPE
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SMART OBJECT
A smart object, is a device that has, at a minimum, the following four
defining characteristics:
1. Processing unit: A smart object has some type of processing unit for
acquiring data, processing and analyzing sensing information
received by the sensor(s), coordinating control signals to any actuators,
and controlling a variety of functions on the smart object, including the
communication and power systems.
The specific type of processing unit that is used can vary greatly,
depending on the specific processing needs of different applications.
The most common is a microcontroller because of its small form
factor, flexibility, programming simplicity, ubiquity, low power
consumption, and low cost.
2. Sensor(s) and/or actuator(s): A smart object is capable of interacting
with the physical world through sensors and actuators. As described in
the previous sections, a sensor learns and measures its environment,
whereas an actuator is able to produce some change in the physical
world. A
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SMART OBJECT

3. Communication device: The communication unit is responsible for connecting a

smart object with other smart objects and the outside world (via the network).
Communication devices for smart objects can be either wired or wireless.
Overwhelmingly, in IoT networks smart objects are wirelessly interconnected for a
number of reasons, including cost, limited infrastructure availability, and ease of
deployment. There are myriad different communication protocols for smart objects.
4. Power source: Smart objects have components that need to be powered.
Interestingly, the most significant power consumption usually comes from
the communication unit of a smart object. As with the other three smart object
building blocks, the power requirements also vary greatly from application to
application. Typically, smart objects are limited in power, are deployed for a very
long time, and are not easily accessible. This combination, especially when the
smart object relies on battery power, implies that power efficiency, judicious
power management, sleep modes, ultra-low power consumption hardware, and so
on are critical design elements. For long-term deployments where smart objects
are, for all practical purposes, inaccessible, power is commonly obtained from
scavenger sources (solar, piezoelectric, and so on) or is obtained in a hybridized
manner, also tapping into infrastructure power.
 TRENDS IN SMART
OBJECTS
1. Size is decreasing: There is a clear trend of ever-decreasing size. Some smart objects are so small
they are not even visible to the naked eye. This reduced size makes smart objects easier to embed
in everyday objects.
2. Power consumption is decreasing: The different hardware components of a smart object
continually consume less power. This is especially true for sensors, many of which are completely
passive. Some battery-powered sensors last 10 or more years without battery replacement.
3. Processing power is increasing: Processors are continually getting more powerful and smaller.
This is a key advancement for smart objects, as they become increasingly complex and connected.
4. Communication capabilities are improving: It’s no big surprise that wireless speeds are
continually increasing, but they are also increasing in range. IoT is driving the development of more
and more specialized communication protocols covering a greater diversity of use cases and
environments.
5. Communication is being increasingly standardized: There is a strong push in the industry to
develop open standards for IoT communication protocols. In addition, there are more and more open
Communication into
source efforts the Internet
advance of Things (IoT) is becoming more standardized, meaning that there
IoT.
is a strong effort in the industry to create common rules and protocols that devices can use to talk
to each other. This standardization is important because it allows different devices from various
manufacturers to work together smoothly.
In addition to this, there are many open-source projects being developed to help improve IoT
technology. Open source means that anyone can contribute to or use these projects, which
encourages collaboration and innovation among developers. Together, these efforts to standardize
communication and promote open-source initiatives are helping IoT solutions grow and become
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SMART OBJECT

Fig 3.4: A Smart Object

 SENSOR NETWORKS
Sensor Actuator Networks (SANETs) is a network of sensors that
sense and measure their environment and/or actuators that act on
their environment.
Effective and well-coordinated communication and cooperation is a
prominent challenge, primarily because the sensors and actuators in
SANETs are diverse, heterogeneous, and resource-constrained.
SANETs offer highly coordinated sensing and actuation capabilities.
For example, smart homes can have temperature sensors that are strategically
networked with heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) actuators. When
a sensor detects a specified temperature, this can trigger an actuator to take
action and heat or cool the home as needed.
Suchrefers
•Self-contained networks canthat
to components theoretically
are independent be
and connected in a on
capable of functioning wired orwithout
their own wireless
relying on
externalfashion
systems for basic operations. In the context of SANETs, this implies that each sensor or actuator can perform
its designated task without needing constant support from other devices or systems.
WIRELESS OR WIRED SENSOR
NETWORKS?
Q1: What do you think such networks should be wireless or wired?
And why?
Majorly they are Wireless SANETs.

Homework#02: 1 A4 Pg only
Q2: Please come up with at-least two examples of each such sensor
networks.
Q3: What problems we can face when sensor networks are
connected using wires
and when connected wirelessly?
Note
Wireless SANETs are typically referred to as wireless
sensor and actuator networks (WSANs). Because many
IoT deployments are overwhelmingly sensors, WSANs are
also often interchangeably referred to as wireless sensor
networks (WSNs).
In this course, we commonly refer to WSANs as WSNs,
with the understanding that actuators are often part of
the wireless network.
WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORKS
Wireless sensor networks are made up of wirelessly connected
smart objects, which are sometimes referred to as motes.
The fact that there is no infrastructure to consider with WSNs is
surely a powerful advantage for flexible deployments,
There are a variety of design constraints to consider with these
wirelessly connected smart objects.
Most significant limitations of the smart objects in WSNs:
1. Limited processing power
2. Limited memory
3. Lossy communication
4. Limited transmission speeds
5. Limited power
WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

Fig 3.6: Trends in Smart Object

REFERENCES
- IoT Fundamentals, Networking Technologies, Protocols, and Use Cases
for the Internet of things by David Hanes, Gonzalo Salgueiro
- Inter of Things Hype to Reality by Ammar Rayes, Samer Salam