Internet of Things (IoT):

Sensors and Actuators

Mohammad Alharbi
[email protected]
Office 0120
Contents
● Sensors
● Actuators
● Smart Objects
What is sensors
● They sense!
● 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.
● Sensing vs analysing what is being sensed!
● Some parameters are difficult (or maybe impossible) for humans (PH, magnetic
field, altitude)
What sensors measure?
Sensors can be categorized
based on their applications
or what physical variables
they measure.
What sensors measure?
Sensors can be categorized
based on their applications
or what physical variables
they measure.
What sensors measure?
Sensors can be categorized
based on their applications
or what physical variables
they measure.
What sensors measure?
Sensors can be categorized
based on their applications
or what physical variables
they measure.
Sensors Categorization
● Active or passive
○ Do they produce an energy output and typically require an external power supply? (active) or they
simply receive energy and typically require no external power supply (passive).
● Invasive or non-invasive
○ Is the sensor inside (invasive) or outside (non-invasive) the environment it is measuring.
● Contact or no-contact
○ Do they require physical contact with what they are measuring (contact) or not (no-contact)?
● Absolute or relative
○ Do they measure on an absolute scale (absolute) or based on a difference with a fixed or variable
reference value (relative)?
Sensors Form Factors
● Sensors can be on any shape, size, and be embedded in any object.
● However, we tend to want them to be small
Actuators
● Actuators receive a signal and trigger an action effect, usually some type of motion,
force, and so on.
Actuators Categorization
● 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 where they are used.

● Type of energy:
○ Actuators can be classified based on their energy type.
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
● Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), also known as micro-machines, can
integrate and combine electric and mechanical elements, such as sensors and
actuators, on a very small (millimeter or less) scale.
● This approach of integrating sensors, actuators and processing units inside on tiny
object allows mass production at very low costs.
● MEMS devices have already been widely used in a variety of different applications
and can be found in very familiar everyday devices.
○ Medical applications such as drug delivery systems
○ Smart phones also use MEMS technologies for things like accelerometers and gyroscopes.
○ Automobiles use airbag accelerometers, brake force sensors and suspensions.
Smart Objects?
Is this a smart object? Smart thing? IoT object?

If a sensor is a standalone device that simply measures the humidity of the soil, it is
interesting and useful, but it isnʼt revolutionary. If that same sensor is connected
as part of an intelligent network that is able to coordinate intelligently with
actuators to trigger irrigation systems as needed based on those sensor readings,
we have something far more powerful.
Smart Objects?
The term smart object 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.

Definition of smart object:

● Size is decreasing
● Power consumption is decreasing
● Processing power is increasing
● Communication capabilities are improving
● Communication is being increasingly standardized
References
● Hanes, David, et al. IoT fundamentals: Networking technologies, protocols, and use

cases for the internet of things. Cisco Press, 2017.