ELEMENTS OF IOT

Application Sensors & Actuators - Edge Networking (WSN) – Gateways - IoT

Communication Model – WPAN & LPWA, IoT platform for available applications,
Hardware Devices: Arduino, Raspberry pi and Smartwifi, etc, Wearable Development
Boards, Softwares, Programs and Stacks available for building IoT applications, Installation
of various packages necessary for project and list of tools.

1.SENSORS AND ACTUATORS

A transducer is any physical device that converts one form of energy into another. So,
in the case of a sensor, the transducer converts some physical phenomenon into an
electrical impulse that can then be interpreted to determine a reading. A microphone is a
sensor that takes vibration energy (sound waves), and converts it to electrical energy in a
useful way for other components in the system to correlate back to the original sound.
Another type of transducer that we will encounter in many IoT systems is an actuator. In
simple terms, an actuator operates in the reverse direction of a sensor. It takes an electrical
input and turns it into physical action. For instance, an electric motor, a hydraulic system,
and a pneumatic system are all different types of actuators.
Examples of actuators

 Digital micromirror device

 Electric motor
 Electroactive polymer
 Hydraulic cylinder
 Piezoelectric actuator
 Pneumatic actuator
 Screw jack
 Servomechanism
 Solenoid
 Stepper motor

In typical IoT systems, a sensor may collect information and route to a control center
where a decision is made and a corresponding command is sent back to an actuator in
response to that sensed input. There are many different types of sensors. Flow sensors,
temperature sensors, voltage sensors, humidity sensors, and the list goes on. In addition,
there are multiple ways to measure the same thing. For instance, airflow might be measured
by using a small propeller like the one you would see on a weather station. Alternatively, as
in a vehicle measuring the air through the engine, airflow is measured by heating a small
2
element and measuring the rate at which the element is cooling.
We live in a World of Sensors. You can find different types of Sensors in our homes,
offices, cars etc. working to make our lives easier by turning on the lights by detecting our
presence, adjusting the room temperature, detect smoke or fire, make us delicious coffee,
open garage doors as soon as our car is near the door and many other tasks.
The example we are talking about here is the Autopilot System in aircrafts. Almost all
civilian and military aircrafts have the feature of Automatic Flight Control system or
sometimes called as Autopilot. An Automatic Flight Control System consists of several
sensors for various tasks like speed control, height, position, doors, obstacle, fuel and many
more. A Computer takes data from all these sensors and processes them by comparing them
with pre-designed values. The computer then provides control signal to different parts like
engines, flaps, rudders etc. that help in a smooth flight.
All the parameters i.e. the Sensors (which give inputs to the Computers), the Computers (the
brains of the system) and the mechanics (the outputs of the system like engines and motors)
are equally important in building a successful automated system. Sensor as an input device
which provides an output (signal) with respect to a specific physical quantity (input). Sensor
means that it is part of a bigger system which provides input to a main control system (like a
Processor or a Microcontroller).

S.No Sensor Applications Technology

Industrial machinery,
1. Inertial sensors automotive, human MEMS and
activity Gyroscope
Speed Measuring Industrial machinery,
2. Magnetic, light
Sensor automotive, human activity
Industrial machinery, Capacitive,
Proximity sensor
3. automotive, human Inductive, Magnetic,
activity Light,
Ultrasound
PassiveIR,
Occupancy sensor Home/office monitoring
4. Ultrasound most
common
Temperature/humid Home/office HVAC control, Solid state,
5. ity automotive, industrial thermocouple
sensor
Solid state, photocell,
Home/office/industrial Photo
6. Light sensor
lighting control resistor,
photodiode

3
 Coil (Faraday‘s law),
Home/office/industrial
Power Hall effect
7. powermonitoring/control
(current)
Technology
sensor
Industrial
Air/fluid pressure Capacitive, Resistive
8. monitoring/control,
sensor
automotive, agriculture
Industrial
9. Acoustic sensor monitoring/control, Diaphragm
human interface condenser
Industrial Resistive thin films
10. Strain sensor monitoring/control,
civil infrastructure
In the first classification of the sensors, they are divided in to Active and Passive. Active
Sensors are those which require an external excitation signal or a power signal. Passive
Sensors, on the other hand, do not require any external power signal and directly generates
output response. The other type of classification is based on the means of detection used in
the sensor. Some of the means of detection are Electric, Biological, Chemical, Radioactive
etc.
The next classification is based on conversion phenomenon i.e. the input and the output.
Some of the common conversion phenomena are Photoelectric, Thermoelectric,
Electrochemical, Electromagnetic, Thermo-optic, etc. The final classification of the sensors
are Analog and Digital Sensors. Analog Sensors produce an analog output i.e. a continuous
output signal with respect to the quantity being measured.
Digital Sensors, in contrast to Analog Sensors, work with discrete or digital data. The data
in digital sensors, which is used for conversion and transmission, is digital in nature.

4
 Fig 1.Examples of Sensors

1. IR LED

It is also called as IR Transmitter. It is used to emit Infrared rays. The range of these
frequencies are greater than the microwave frequencies (i.e. >300GHz to few hundreds of
THz). The rays generated by an infrared LED can be sensed by Photodiode explained
below. The pair of IR LED and photodiode is called IR Sensor.

Fig 2. LED sensor

2. Photo Diode (Light Sensor)

It is a semiconductor device which is used to detect the light rays and mostly used as IR
Receiver. Its construction is similar to the normal PN junction diode but the working
principle differs from it. As we know a PN junction allows small leakage currents when it
is reverse biased so, this property is used to detect the light rays. A photodiode is
constructed such that light rays should fall on the PN junction which makes the leakage
current increase based on the intensity of the light that we have applied. So, in this way, a

photodiode can be used to sense the light rays and maintain the current through the circuit.
Check here the working of Photodiode with IR sensor.
Fig 3.Photo diode
3. Proximity Sensor

A Proximity Sensor is a non-contact type sensor that detects the presence of an object.
Proximity Sensors can be implemented using different techniques like Optical (like Infrared
or Laser), Ultrasonic, Hall Effect, Capacitive, etc.
5
 Fig 4.Proximity sensor

Some of the applications of Proximity Sensors are Mobile Phones, Cars (Parking Sensors),
industries (object alignment), Ground Proximity in Aircrafts, etc. Proximity Sensor in
Reverse Parking is implemented in this Project: Reverse Parking Sensor Circuit.

4. LDR (Light Dependent Resistor)

As the name itself specifies that the resistor that depends upon the light intensity. It works
on the principle of photoconductivity which means the conduction due to the light. It is
generally made up of Cadmium sulfide. When light falls on the LDR, its resistance
decreases and acts similar to a conductor and when no light falls on it, its resistance is
almost in the range of MΩ or ideally it acts as an open circuit. One note should be
considered with LDR is that it won‘t respond if the light is not exactly focused on its
surface.

Fig 5.LDR
With a proper circuitry using a transistor it can be used to detect the availability of light. A
voltage divider biased transistor with R2 (resistor between base and emitter) replaced with
an LDR can work as a light detector.

5. Thermistor (Temperature Sensor)

A thermistor can be used to detect the variation in temperature. It has a negative
6
temperature coefficient that means when the temperature increases the resistance
decreases. So, the thermistor‘s resistance can be varied with the rise in temperature which
causes more current flow through it. This change in current flow can be used to determine
the amount of change in temperature. An application for thermistor is, it is used to detect
the rise in temperature and control the leakage current in a transistor circuit which helps in
maintaining its stability. Here is one simple application for Thermistor to control the DC
fan automatically.

Fig 6.Thermistor
6. Thermocouple (Temperature Sensor)

Another component that can detect the variation in temperature is a thermocouple. In its
construction, two different metals are joined together to form a junction. Its main principle
is when the junction of two different metals are heated or exposed to high temperatures a
potential across their terminals varies. So, the varying potential can be further used to
measure the amount of change in temperature.

Fig 7.Thermo couple

7
7. Strain Gauge (Pressure/Force Sensor)
A strain gauge is used to detect pressure when a load is applied. It works on the principle
of resistance, we know that the resistance is directly proportional to the length of the wire
and is inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area (R=ρl/a). The same principle can be
used here to measure the load. On a flexible board, a wire is arranged in a zig-zag manner
as shown in the figure below. So, when the pressure is applied to that particular board, it
bends in a direction causing the change in overall length and cross- sectional area of the
wire. This leads to change in resistance of the wire. The resistance thus obtained is very
minute (few ohms) which can be determined with the help of the Wheatstone bridge. The
strain gauge is placed in one of the four arms in a bridge with the remaining values
unchanged. Therefore, when the pressure is applied to it as the resistance changes the
current passing through the bridge varies and pressure can be calculated.
Strain gauges are majorly used to calculate the amount of pressure that an airplane wing
can withstand and it is also used to measure the number of vehicles allowable on a
particular road etc.

Fig 8.Strain Guage

8. Load Cell (Weight Sensor)

Load cells are similar to strain gauges which measure the physical quantity like force and
give the output in form of electrical signals. When some tension is applied on the load cell
it structure varies causing the change in resistance and finally, its value can be calibrated

8
using a Wheatstone bridge. Here is the project on how to measure weight using Load cell.
Fig 9.Load Cell
9. Potentiometer

A potentiometer is used to detect the position. It generally has various ranges of resistors
connected to different poles of the switch. A potentiometer can be either rotary or linear type.
In rotary type, a wiper is connected to a long shaft which can be rotated. When the shaft has
rotated the position of the wiper alters such that the resultant resistance varies causing the
change in the output voltage. Thus the output can be calibrated to detect the change its
position.

Fig 10.Potentiometer
10. Encoder

To detect the change in the position an encoder can also be used. It has a circular rotatable
disk-like structure with specific openings in between such that when the IR rays or light
rays pass through it only a few light rays get detected. Further, these rays are encoded into

a digital data (in terms of binary) which represents the specific position.
Fig 11.Encoder
11 Hall Sensor

The name itself states that it is the sensor which works on the Hall Effect. It can be defined
as when a magnetic field is brought close to the current carrying conductor (perpendicular
to the direction of the electric field) then a potential difference is developed across the
9
given conductor. Using this property a Hall sensor is used to detect the magnetic field
and gives output in terms of voltage. Care should be taken that the Hall sensor can detect
only one pole of the magnet.

Fig 12.Hall sensor

The hall sensor is used in few smartphones which are helpful in turning off the screen
when the flap cover (which has a magnet in it) is closed onto the screen. Here is one
practical application of Hall Effect sensor in Door Alarm.

12. Flex Sensor

A FLEX sensor is a transducer which changes its resistance when its shape is changed or
when it is bent. A FLEX sensor is 2.2 inches long or of finger length. Simply speaking the
sensor terminal resistance increases when it‘s bent. This change in resistance can do no
good unless we can read them. The controller at hand can only read the changes in

voltage and nothing less, for this, we are going to use voltage divider circuit, with that
we can derive the resistance change as a voltage change.
Fig 13. Flex sensor

13.Microphone (Sound Sensor)

Microphone can be seen on all the smartphones or mobiles. It can detect the audio signal
and convert them into small voltage (mV) electrical signals. A microphone can be of many
types like condenser microphone, crystal microphone, carbon microphone etc. each type of
microphone work on the properties like capacitance, piezoelectric effect, resistance
respectively. Let us see the operation of a crystal microphone which works on the

10
piezoelectric effect. A bimorph crystal is used which under pressure or vibrations produces
proportional alternating voltage. A diaphragm is connected to the crystal through a drive
pin such that when the sound signal hits the diaphragm it moves to and fro, this movement
changes the position of the drive pin which causes vibrations in the crystal thus an
alternating voltage is generated with respect to the applied sound signal. The obtained
voltage is fed to an amplifier in order to increase the overall strength of the signal.

Fig 14.Microphone

14.Ultrasonic sensor

Ultrasonic means nothing but the range of the frequencies. Its range is greater than audible
range (>20 kHz) so even it is switched on we can‘t sense these sound signals. Only specific
speakers and receivers can sense those ultrasonic waves. This ultrasonic sensor is used to
calculate the distance between the ultrasonic transmitter and the target and also used to
measure the velocity of the target.
Ultrasonic sensor HC-SR04 can be used to measure distance in the range of 2cm-400cm
with an accuracy of 3mm. Let‘s see how this module works. The HCSR04 module
generates a sound vibration in ultrasonic range when we make the ‗Trigger‘ pin high for
about 10us which will send an 8 cycle sonic burst at the speed of sound and after striking
the object, it will be received by the Echo pin. Depending on the time taken by sound
vibration to get back, it provides the appropriate pulse output. We can calculate the
distance of the object based on the time taken by the ultrasonic wave to return back to the
sensor.

Fig 15.Utrasonic sensor

11
There are many applications with the ultrasonic sensor. We can make use of it avoid
obstacles for the automated cars, moving robots etc. The same principle will be used in the
RADAR for detecting the intruder missiles and airplanes. A mosquito can sense the
ultrasonic sounds. So, ultrasonic waves can be used as mosquito repellent.

15.Touch Sensor

In this generation, we can say that almost all are using smartphones which have widescreen
that too a screen which can sense our touch. So, let‘s see how this touchscreen works.
Basically, there are two types of touch sensors resistive based and a capacitive based
touch screens. Let‘s know about working of these sensors briefly.
The resistive touch screen has a resistive sheet at the base and a conductive sheet under the
screen both of these are separated by an air gap with a small voltage applied to the sheets.
When we press or touch the screen the conductive sheet touches the resistive sheet at that
point causing current flow at that particular point, the software senses the location and
relevant action is performed.

Fig 16.Touch sensor

16.PIR sensor

PIR sensor stands for Passive Infrared sensor. These are used to detect the motion of
humans, animals or things. We know that infrared rays have a property of reflection. When
an infrared ray hits an object, depending upon the temperature of the target the infrared ray
properties changes, this received signal determines the motion of the objects or the living
beings. Even if the shape of the object alters, the properties of the reflected infrared rays
can differentiate the objects precisely. Here is the complete working or PIR sensor.

12
 Fig 17.PIR Sensor
17.Accelerometer (Tilt Sensor)

An accelerometer sensor can sense the tilt or movement of it in a particular direction. It

works based on the acceleration force caused due to the earth‘s gravity. The tiny internal
parts of it are such sensitive that those will react to a small external change in position. It
has a piezoelectric crystal when tilted causes disturbance in the crystal and generates

potential which determines the exact position with respect to X, Y and Z axis.
Fig 18.Accelerometer
These are commonly seen in mobiles and laptops in order to avoid breakage of processors
leads. When the device falls the accelerometer detects the falling condition and does
respective action based on the software.

18.Gas sensor

In industrial applications gas sensors plays a major role in detecting the gas leakage. If no
such device is installed in such areas it ultimately leads to an unbelievable disaster. These
gas sensors are classified into various types based on the type of gas that to be detected.
Let‘s see how this sensor works. Underneath a metal sheet there exists a sensing element
which is connected to the terminals where a current is applied to it. When the gas particles

hit the sensing element, it leads to a chemical reaction such that the resistance of the
elements varies and current through it also alters which finally can detect the gas.

13
 Fig 19.Gas Sensor
So finally, we can conclude that sensors are not only used to make our work simple to
measure the physical quantities, making the devices automated but also used to help living
beings with disasters.

19. Resistive Sensors

Resistive sensors, such as the potentiometer, have three terminals: power input, grounding
terminal, and variable voltage output. These mechanical devices have varied resistance that
can be changed through movable contact with its fixed resistor. Output from the sensor
varies depending on whether the movable contact is near the resistor's supple end or

ground end. Thermistors are also variable resistors, although the resistance of the sensor
varies with temperature
Fig 20 Resistive Sensors
20.Voltage generating sensors
Voltage-generating sensors, such as piezo electrics, generate electricity by pressure with
types of crystals like quartz. As the crystal flexes or vibrates, AC voltage is produced.
Knock sensors utilize this technology by sending a signal to an automobile's on-board
computer that engine knock is happening. The signal is generated through crystal vibration
within the sensor, which is caused by cylinder block vibration. The computer, in turn,
reduces the ignition timing to stop the engine knock.

.
Fig 21.Voltage Generating Sensors
21.Switch
Sensors

14
Switch sensors are composed of a set of contacts that open when close to a magnet. A reed
switch is a common example of a switch sensor and is most commonly used as a speed or
position sensor. As a speed sensor, a magnet is attached to the speedometer cable and spins
along with it. Each time one of the magnet's poles passes the reed switch, it opens and then

closes. How fast the magnet passes allows the sensor to read the vehicle's speed.

Fig 22.Switch Sensors

2.Edge Networking

Embedded systems are already playing a crucial role in the development of the
IoT. In broad strokes, there are four main components of an IoT system:

1. The Thing itself (the device)

2. The Local Network; this can include a gateway, which translates proprietary
communication protocols to Internet Protocol
3. The Internet
4. Back-End Services; enterprise data systems, or PCs and mobile devices

Fig 23.Embedded Point of View

We can also separate the Internet of Things in two broad categories:

.
1. Industrial IoT, where the local network is based on any one of many different
technologies. The IoT device will typically be connected to an IP network to
the global Internet.
15