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The Things in IoT: Sensors and Actuators

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Internet of Things From Hype to Reality

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Abstract

 This chapter first defines the “Things” in IoT and then describes the key requirements for things to be able communicate over the Internet.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Jose, CA, USA

    Ammar Rayes

  2. Beirut, Lebanon

    Samer Salam

Authors
  1. Ammar Rayes
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  2. Samer Salam
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Problems and Exercises

Problems and Exercises

  1. 1.

    List the top three requirements for “Things” in IoT? What is the purpose behind these requirements?

  2. 2.

    Why are actuators required in IoT networks?

  3. 3.

    What is the definition of a sensor in IoT? Why is there a need for A/D converters in most sensors?

  4. 4.

    Why are sensors required to convert physical signals into electrical signal?

  5. 5.

    In a table, list and compare the various types of actuators. Which actuator type is considered to be environmentally friendly and why?

  6. 6.

    What are the key differences between sensors and actuators?

  7. 7.

    Chapter 1 (Sect. 1.2) mentioned that connecting objects together is not an objective by itself. Chapter 3 (Sect. 3.1 and 3.5.2) mentioned that collecting data from sensors is not an objective by itself either. What is the business objective for connecting things and collecting data? How to achieve such objective?

  8. 8.

    What are the two main uses of flow sensors?

  9. 9.

    In a table format, list the key functionality of all sensors (A through I) listed in Sect. 3.2.3. Which sensor type is considered to be the least sophisticated, and which type is considered to be the most sophisticated? Why?

  10. 10.

    What is an autonomous sensor? When does it notify neighboring system(s) or IoT gateway? What is the difference between “autonomous” and “user-controller” sensors?

  11. 11.

    In a table, list and compare the ten characteristics of good sensors. Which characteristic you believe is the most important and why?

  12. 12.

    It was mentioned in Sect. 3.3 that actuators use sensor-collected and analyzed data as well as other types of data intelligence to control IoT systems. What is data intelligence? Provide two examples of data intelligence.

  13. 13.

    What is the definition of sensitivity and dynamic range? What are the typical units of sensitivity and dynamic range?

  14. 14.

    What is hysteresis? What is a typical unit of hysteresis?

  15. 15.

    How do touch screens operate with the presence of touch sensors?

  16. 16.

    In a table, list five examples of industries where pressure sensors are used. In each case, list at least one main application.

  17. 17.

    Some people have raised concerns about the potential invasion of privacy in RFID-enabled solutions (e.g., track the whereabouts of a person who checked out an RFID-enabled library book). Is this a major concern? How would you address it?

  18. 18.

    Athletic Timing: Athletic Timing is one of the most popular use cases of RFID, but often race participants never realize they’re being timed using RFID technology. How does it work?

  19. 19.

    Describe how RFID works for laundry management. List three benefits.

  20. 20.

    Provide an example of how RFID works for interactive marketing.

  21. 21.

    How does RFID track the real-time location of assets or employees? What other technology can be used to track an employee location in real time?

  22. 22.

    How do retailers use Wi-Fi access point data in conjunction with video tracking to improve sales and customer experience?

  23. 23.

    This chapter discussed three different ways to obtain information from IoT “Things”: sensors, RFID, and video tracking. In a table, compare the three technologies addressing:

    1. (a)

      Advantages

    2. (b)

      Disadvantages

    3. (c)

      Key requirements for the things

    4. (d)

      Two applications

  24. 24.

    What are transducers? How are they related to sensors and actuators?

  25. 25.

    Wind speed sensors typically involve a rotating element that is set in motion by wind. These sensor report the frequency of rotation of that moving element. An application receiving the frequency readings needs to apply a "transfer function" to translate the frequency to actual wind speed. In the weather monitoring station at Vancouver International Airport, two wind speed sensors are installed: an RM Young 05103 Wind Sensor and a Vaisala WM30 Wind Sensor. The first has the following transfer function: Wind Speed (m/s) = 0.0980 * Frequency.The second has this transfer function: Wind speed (m/s) = 0.699 * Frequency – 0.24.

    1. (a)

      If the RM Young sensor is reporting frequency of 20 Hz, and assuming both sensors are measuring the same wind speed value, then what would be the frequency reported by the Vasiala sensor?

    2. (b)

      What would be the actual wind speed measured?

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Rayes, A., Salam, S. (2019). The Things in IoT: Sensors and Actuators. In: Internet of Things From Hype to Reality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99516-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99516-8_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-99515-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99516-8

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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