What is IoT? How Does it Function?

Imagine spending an entire day without the internet. From attending our morning meetings and online classes to listening to our favourite song and binge watching shows; the internet remains constant throughout our routine life. Being such an avid user of the internet, do you know what is IoT? The Internet of Things or IoT establishes a physical network between various devices via the internet. Be it household devices or technical equipment used in the industries, when connected to the IoT helps once have the access to them from anywhere around the globe. Read the blog to know everything about IoT!

What is IoT?

The mere act of connecting things to the internet and letting them have proper access to the internet can be defined as the Internet of Things. In today’s world, we are all equipped with numerous devices that can perform wonders when connected with the internet. Our devices these days are fully plugged in with various sensors and software that can act as both the signal or command received through the internet. 

The most basic example of what is IoT would be our smartphones and tablets. If connected to the internet, we can play songs; watch a movie; examine the temperature or weather of any other country or a specific state along with hundreds of such activities through our smartphones. 

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How Does IoT Works? 

To get a hold of the working of IoT, latest consider a scenario full of smart devices that are web-enabled embedded in a system including sensors, processes, communication hardware, etc that help them acquire data from the surroundings. The collected data by the devices is then shared through a gateway or any other edge device either to collect it in the cloud or analyse it locally. The entire process is complete without any human intervention, although some initial commands related to service that are installed by humans. 

Categories and Benefits of Internet of Things

It is quite clear to us that whenever something is connected to the internet it is capable of sending information, receiving information or both. This ability to perform this process makes the device smart. For example, let us consider our smartphones. Being in any part of the world, we all have access to listen to any song that we love. The point to be noted here is, that our phone does not have that song stored in it, rather it is stored in some other software to which our phone can send a request for playing and hence receive the due information. To perform as a smart device, a thing must not have huge storage capacity, instead, it should be able to connect itself with the other networks. 

After understanding what is IoT, let us take a look at three main categories of IoT from which we seek numerous benefits every other day. 

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Collecting and Sending Information 

Just like the sensors of the human body such as Sight, Smell, Touch, Hearing, etc. The artificial sensors help devices grasp information and act accordingly. The sensors perform functions automatically and help us with the desired results. For example: Farmers have now started to use soil sensors that help them understand the moisture content present in the soil. With the help of this, the farmers now can examine the moisture content of the soil and can accordingly regulate the irrigational facilities. 

Receiving and Acting on Information 

Living in the era led by technology, we are now very well familiar with machines reciprocating to our orders. There are various devices around us that receive information from us and perform functions. All the machines are prefixed with software and sensors that help them in performing the right function that is being asked. Some of the most common examples of this would be sending the printing command to the printer, sending a signal to open the door of the car through remote car keys, etc. 

Combination of Both 

A combination of the above two categories forms this one. There are ample smart devices around us which receive as well as reciprocate according to the information received. For a better understanding of which category under what is IoT, the most common example would be fully automatic washing machines. The user only has to put in clothes along with liquid soap and the machine automatically fills up as per the weight of the clothes and displays the minimum time it will take to wash, rinse and speed dry the clothes. 

This brings us to the end of our blog! Hope you understood what is IoT well. Leave your answers in the comment section below. To know more about such exciting educational trends and how you can pursue a career in them, stay tuned with Leverage Edu. You can also book a free e-meeting with our career experts. Get in touch with us today!