Unit19 internet of things Wiki

 = Introduction to The Internet Of Things Wiki = '''IoT devices are designed with specific uses or users in mind, industrial devices are made with the purpose of being used on a large scale to aid a company in its manufacturing process or service. IoT devices in the home sector, however, are designed with individual users in mind and will function differently because of their different use cases.'''

Smart machinery/ factories
Large scale production environments will use many machines or robotics to produce their product, having these machines connected and monitored through the use of sensors in order to detect faults is beneficial to the company to quickly identify flaws in the production line and fix them as quickly as possible.

The purpose of the systems is to save the company money by allowing them to constantly monitor their machinery, this then lets the company fix problems as soon as they occur which reduces the downtime of accidents, downtime on a production line due to errors costs the company large amounts of money because of the lack of items being produced, monitoring devices through the IoT allows them to cause the downtime to be as low as possible saving them the most amount of money. This is a similar purpose as to how Smart Doorbells are used in the home sector, where systems are used by individuals to monitor their home to increase the ease of access of carrying out daily activities such as monitoring people who come to the door. Although smart factory technology has been optimised to fit the needs of a company by monitoring a mass amount of devices as opposed to just one or two around the users house, this increased scale of the system allows a higher level of monitoring and measuring the status of their systems which will serve to make their business processes more efficient.

These systems have been applied by companies to allow them to monitor their systems remotely without having specialists to do so for them, as well as this they can be controlled remotely without the need to be on-site to make changes to these devices, this saves the company time and the cost of having more employees to carry out these tasks for them. This is also similar to how Smart Doorbells are used in the home sector, wherein users have utilised the technology to observe and interact with their devices remotely, although a company would use this technology to make changes and alter the processes of their devices in order to increase efficiency of their systems as opposed to observing what is taking place.

Main principles of these systems include their robust usages and durability/ longevity, these devices are designed to be used all day every day, and are expected to have minimal amounts of downtime as well as last the company a long time so as to benefit the company and warrant their extended use. this is different to the principles of the Smart Doorbell where its features are not being used or stretched as heavily because devices will only be used for personal reasons and do not need to provide a continued valuable and justifiable usage to its user. Because the company has differing principles which focus more on the lifespan of their systems they increase the return on investment of the devices that have been implemented.

Characteristics of these devices include sensors with the capability to monitor the status of systems within the production line, on top of this, internet or network access must be included on each device in order for them to be remotely controlled by the user/s. furthermore, controlling devices such as these must be simple and easy to grasp for staff at the company in order to better fulfil their purpose of saving the establishment time and money. this is similar to Smart Doorbells because of the wide range of users and use cases, devices must be easy to use for any person who may purchase the system, although business systems may include training packages in order to allow employees to use the systems as effectively as possible, increasing the efficiency of the workforce at the company.

These systems do, however, incur a cyber security risk, if they are connected via a network or the internet it makes them vulnerable to internal or external security breaches, cyber criminals may use this to interfere with the production line or steal the information which is stored on the machines used on the supply line. These risks are similar when using Smart Doorbells where criminals can access connected devices, although the consequences of attacks like these are far greater for companies using IoT devices because of the amount of sensitive data which is stored on their systems.

IoT in Transportation
Transport is a crucial part of various business processes such as production and delivery, optimising these processes through the use of IoT measures can ensure that they become as streamlined and effective for the business as possible. Companies employ technology such as GPS tracking or sensoring technology to make transportation as efficient and optimal for the business as possible.

The purpose of IoT systems in transportation is to allow companies or customers to receive items/ stock faster through the use of technology, this would help the companies involved ultimately make more profits through either a faster overall production time or a faster delivery time for their customers. this is similar to how smart speakers and assistants are used around the home because of its main goal of increasing the productivity of certain tasks and making them easier to complete, although these transport systems are optimised to reduce errors and ultimately increase profits for the company which uses the systems.

The most common application of IoT in transportation is GPS technology which allows the location of the transportation be visible, this can help give directions and alert the company of the precise location of the vehicle, giving them an idea of how long a delivery is going to take and can give them updates if they, for example, get stuck in heavy traffic, or are delayed for another reason. This technology can also help the transport take the fastest possible route to the intended destination through regular traffic updates/ road status. Various sensor systems can also be connected to transport vehicles to make decisions about the transport such as the status of the health of the vehicle as well as important information about cargo e.g. if the vehicle is overweight or if cargo becomes damaged on the trip. this is far different from how IoT is used in the home sector with smart speakers, which only tend to use microphone and speaker systems, this is because the industrial systems utilise as much high-end technology, which would not serve any purpose to a home system, possible to optimise and increase the efficiency of their business processes.

The principles of these devices, like many other systems in industrial IoT, is to ultimately save the company money through the optimisation of business processes, the quicker and more efficiently transportation is carried out, the more money companies involved in this process will save, therefore IoT can immensely help businesses in the transport sector because of its vast use cases which can be optimised to fir the needs of any company. this differs from the smart speakers in the home sector which main principalities are to provide the highest ease of use, systems in industrial sectors do not need to abide by these principles because their employees can be trained to ensure they carry out the most efficient work, and as a result of this, complicated and high-end technology can be used in these systems.

Characteristics of these devices will likely always include GPS technology in order for any parties involved to have maximum disclosure of the whereabouts of the transport or goods being transported, other characteristics are sensors, these can monitor the status of the vehicle/ mode of transport or the goods themselves and can be used to determine the optimal amount of cargo to be carried at one time or if maintenance is needed on any vehicles or modes of transport. this is different to the home sector and smart speakers because of the amount of specialised technology used to optimise business processes, these have been employed because of the amount of information they give the company, this can be used to reduce errors and time taken to deliver items and as a result, return higher profits for the business.

Risks with these systems, however, come with the human side of transport, for example lorry drivers may become distressed or anxious about every detail of their journey being monitored and scrutinized and may serve to be a hindrance to drivers/ vehicle operators using IoT as they may prefer to use 'traditional' methods of transporting cargo.

Smart Speaker/ Assistant
Smart assistants are IoT devices used in a home space, designed to be interacted with by the voice of the user, commands can be given to play music, browse the web through its internet access, or control other appliances in the home connected to the internet such as smart lighting or IoT appliances.

The purpose of a Smart Assistant is to make home living far more convenient and "hands-off" for the user, it can also improve quality of life for disabled people who may not be able to complete certain tasks on their own, e.g. reach light switches. For this reason, interaction with a Smart Assistant has been made as easy as possible in order to make the use of such a system worthwhile for the user, and to achieve its general purpose of ease-of-use. Furthermore, being voice controlled means no physical action is required to interact with many smart devices in the home, as well as no requirement to be in the same room/ location as the device the user wants to control, thus making living easier for its users. this is similar to the purpose of industrial systems such as IoT in transportation which mainly tries to increase the efficiency of particular tasks within a business, although home systems like these are different to business systems because they do not serve to increase sales or profits, for this reason they may be more high quality and responsive to the user, which allows the systems to carry out different tasks for the user and increase their ease of living.

These systems have been applied to allow users to use connected devices from outside of their home, mobile control gives users the power to operate devices or systems e.g. smart thermostat before they reach their home. This is helpful for the user, saving them time through remote operation, and saving them the discomfort of having a cold home. This improves the overall quality of life of its users. this is different from industrial systems like in transport where IoT has been applied to manage and monitor specialised hardware, home systems are only designed to allow the user to control simple devices such as thermostats, lights, etc. these easy-to-use features are better for the user because it allows the IoT devices to fulfil their purpose of improving the lives of its users without the need for complicated tracking and managing technology commonly used by businesses.

The main principle of these products are their ease of use, namely that they can be heard and communicated with clearly by the user, if that is not possible it defeats the point of a smart speaker/ assistant. Furthermore it must be prepared for a wide variety of use cases, the system must be prepared to handle many user requests. The primary purpose of these devices are to be 'smart speakers', as well as simply playing music on a voice command it must have other features such as integration with other smart appliances and internet searching capabilities. these systems are different from industrial devices which are more business focussed and designed to optimise business processes and reduce errors with specially trained employees, home devices feature user oriented design to increase ease of use and allow any user to control each device using only their voice or touch without any need for training or technological experience.

The characteristics of such devices must reflect its principles, having smart speakers/ assistants with loud and clear speaker devices is important so the user can hear and understand the device from throughout their home, as well as having a good quality microphone and interaction software so the device can understand the users voice commands, these are important features so the user experience is the highest possible, fulfilling the ease of use requirements of the product. As well as this, the usefulness of these devices can be improved through linking with other smart appliances throughout the user’s home, e.g. light bulbs, kettles, toasters etc. differing from the specialised technology used in the industrial sector like transport because of the simplicity of their design which allows any user to complete menial tasks in a home environment, saving the user time and energy.

Some risks of these systems, however, come through responsible storing of data by the companies which produce these products, recordings of the user should not be kept by the company and any data collected must be safe from a security breach by law, personal information of the user is at risk of being leaked through a data breach or if a hacker manages to compromise the device/s itself, this poses a major security risk for the owner of the home/ user of the product.

Smart Doorbell
Smart Doorbells are IoT devices designed as security systems which can be used by the homeowner to gather information about who visits the home, recordings can be made of anyone who approaches the door of the home for the safety of the user, and the owner can interact with people at the door through the smart doorbell with a speaker/ screen.

The purpose of a Smart Doorbell is to give home owners more monitoring and surveillance over their property allowing them to see exactly who comes to the front door, this will give them a heightened sense of security around their home and give them ease of mind. When the user can answer the door remotely, even when not in the house, it can also improve the quality of life for the user, giving them more ease of use around their home, this may also help people with a disability who may not be able to come to the door all the time. This is similar to the how smart factories are used in the industrial sector, although this has been optimised for personal use for only several devices because the user only required to monitor a small area.

The application of smart doorbell products come from the fact that the user can see whoever comes to the door in real time, this will help them make decisions on whether to answer the door, and if there will be any danger in coming to the door. The surveillance aspect allows the user to make a recording of any incidents which may have happened in the view of the doorbells camera to file a report to authorities. The user can also make recording which can be automatically played when someone interacts with the doorbell, allowing the user to effortlessly manage their home and incoming packages/ guests, this contributes to improving the quality of life for home owners. this is similar to the application of IoT devices in smart factories, where they are used so remote managing can take place without the need to be on-site, although the doorbell system works better for the user because it is more security oriented, allowing the user to effectively monitor their home.

the principle of these products is to aide the user in the safety and security of their home, if the device cannot record properly in a dark environment or store video files in the long term then it will not serve its purpose of surveillance. on top of this, if the user can't operate the device remotely, then the device has also not served the goal of improving the ease-of-use of a general doorbell product. this is also similar to smart machinery in factories which need to operate effectively for a long time, the quality of the device intended for a single user is much higher because of the fact they only need one or two devices, whereas in a factory they have many, and can afford to repair one device out of one hundred, where a user cannot afford to replace their only IoT device.

Because of these principles, the characteristics of smart doorbell devices include a high quality camera, which is able to operate clearly at night time, as well as having access to either on-site storage or cloud storage solutions for video files which the user can access at any time. They must also come equipped with internet access and remote access software so the user can operate the device without being in their home, this will reflect the principles of these products which help to improve quality of life for its users. this is similar to smart factory systems where different types of sensor technology have been used to create their IoT devices, although these characteristics are specially suited to aide people who want to monitor their home and their features have been optimised to allow the user to maintain a higher level of security and access around their home.

Risks with smart doorbells are similar to those of smart assistants, with these systems being vulnerable to hacking, it is important they are secure so criminals cannot breach the privacy of the user. The companies responsible for storing the data of these devices must also have adequate security so client data is not compromised or leaked, potentially putting customers at risk. although the risks are similar with that of the smart factories, cyber-criminals may have access to video footage of a users own home, which poses a major security risk to the user and their family.

 