INTERNET OF

THINGS

- Department of Software Engineering

- Dr. Bushra Bashir Chaoudhry (S10)
SMART OBJECTS: THE
“THINGS” IN IOT
 Smart objects are, quite simply, the building blocks of IoT.
They are what transform everyday objects into a network of
intelligent objects that are able to learn from and interact with
their environment in a meaningful way.
Real power of the smart objects in IoT comes from being
networked together rather than being isolated as standalone
objects.
The ability to communicate over a network has a
multiplicative effect and allows for very sophisticated
correlation and interaction between disparate smart objects.
Smart objects are any physical objects that contain embedded
technology to sense and/or interact with their environment in a
meaningful way by being interconnected and enabling
SMART OBJECTS: THE
“THINGS” IN IOT

Fig3.1: How Sensors and Actuators Interact with the

Physical World
SENSORS

sensors are one of fundamental building blocks of IoT networks.

the “things” in the Internet of Things.
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.
There are myriad different sensors available to measure virtually
everything in the physical world
CLASSIFICATION OF SENSORS
1. Active or passive: Sensors can be categorized based on whether they produce an energy output and
typically require an external power supply (active) or whether they simply receive energy and
typically require no external power supply (passive).
2. Invasive or non-invasive: Sensors can be categorized based on whether a sensor is part of the
environment it is measuring (invasive) or external to it (non-invasive).
3. Contact or no-contact: Sensors can be categorized based on whether they require physical contact
with what they are measuring (contact) or not (no-contact).
4. Absolute or relative: Sensors can be categorized based on whether they measure on an absolute
scale (absolute) or based on a difference with a fixed or variable reference value (relative).
5. Area of application: Sensors can be categorized based on the specific industry or vertical where
they are being used.
6. How sensors measure: Sensors can be categorized based on the physical mechanism used to
measure sensory input (for example, thermoelectric, electrochemical, piezoresistive, optic, electric,
fluid mechanic, photo-elastic).
7. What sensors measure: Sensors can be categorized based on their applications or what physical
variables they measure.
IOT SUITABLE* TYPES
IOT SUITABLE* CATEGORIZA
SENSORS IN A SMART PHONE

Fig 3.2: Sensors in a Smart Phone

ACTUATORS
Actuators, receive some type of control signal (commonly an electric signal or
digital command) that triggers a physical effect, usually some type of motion, force,
and so on.
As we learned, IoT sensors are devices that sense and measure the physical world
and (typically) signal their measurements as electric signals sent to some type of
microprocessor or microcontroller for additional processing.
A processor can send an electric signal to an actuator that translates the signal into
some type of movement (linear, rotational, and so on) or useful work that changes or
has a measurable impact on the physical world.
The interaction between sensors, actuators, and processors and the similar
functionality in biological systems is the basis for various technical fields, including
robotics and biometrics.
ACTUATORS

Fig. 3.3: Comparison of Sensor and Actuator Functionality with

Humans
CATEGORIES OF ACTUATORS
Much like sensors, actuators also vary greatly in function, size, design, and so on.
Some common ways that they can be classified include the following:
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 or
vertical where they are used.
Type of energy: Actuators can be classified based on their energy type.
ACTUATOR CLASSIFICATION BY
ENERGY TYPE
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SMART OBJECT
A smart object, is a device that has, at a minimum, the following four defining characteristics:
1. Processing unit: A smart object has some type of processing unit for acquiring data,
processing and analyzing sensing information received by the sensor(s), coordinating
control signals to any actuators, and controlling a variety of functions on the smart object,
including the communication and power systems. The specific type of processing unit that
is used can vary greatly, depending on the specific processing needs of different
applications. The most common is a microcontroller because of its small form factor,
flexibility, programming simplicity, ubiquity, low power consumption, and low cost.
2. Sensor(s) and/or actuator(s): A smart object is capable of interacting with the physical
world through sensors and actuators. As described in the previous sections, a sensor learns
and measures its environment, whereas an actuator is able to produce some change in the
physical world. A smart object does not need to contain both sensors and actuators. In fact,
a smart object can contain one or multiple sensors and/or actuators, depending upon the
application.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SMART OBJECT
3. Communication device: The communication unit is responsible for connecting a smart
object with other smart objects and the outside world (via the network). Communication
devices for smart objects can be either wired or wireless. Overwhelmingly, in IoT networks
smart objects are wirelessly interconnected for a number of reasons, including cost, limited
infrastructure availability, and ease of deployment. There are myriad different
communication protocols for smart objects.
4. Power source: Smart objects have components that need to be powered. Interestingly, the
most significant power consumption usually comes from the communication unit of a smart
object. As with the other three smart object building blocks, the power requirements also
vary greatly from application to application. Typically, smart objects are limited in power,
are deployed for a very long time, and are not easily accessible. This combination,
especially when the smart object relies on battery power, implies that power efficiency,
judicious power management, sleep modes, ultra-low power consumption hardware, and so
on are critical design elements. For long-term deployments where smart objects are, for all
practical purposes, inaccessible, power is commonly obtained from scavenger sources
(solar, piezoelectric, and so on) or is obtained in a hybridized manner, also tapping into
infrastructure power.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SMART OBJECT

Fig 3.4: A Smart Object

TRENDS IN SMART OBJECTS
1. Size is decreasing: There is a clear trend of ever-decreasing size. Some smart objects are so
small they are not even visible to the naked eye. This reduced size makes smart objects easier
to embed in everyday objects.
2. Power consumption is decreasing: The different hardware components of a smart object
continually consume less power. This is especially true for sensors, many of which are
completely passive. Some battery-powered sensors last 10 or more years without battery
replacement.
3. Processing power is increasing: Processors are continually getting more powerful and
smaller. This is a key advancement for smart objects, as they become increasingly complex and
connected.
4. Communication capabilities are improving: It’s no big surprise that wireless speeds are
continually increasing, but they are also increasing in range. IoT is driving the development of
more and more specialized communication protocols covering a greater diversity of use cases
and environments.
5. Communication is being increasingly standardized: There is a strong push in the industry to
develop open standards for IoT communication protocols. In addition, there are more and more
open source efforts to advance IoT.
WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORK

Fig 3.5: Trends in Smart Object

SENSOR NETWORKS
Sensor Actuator Networks (SANETs) is a network of sensors that sense and
measure their environment and/or actuators that act on their environment.
Effective and well-coordinated communication and cooperation is a
prominent challenge, primarily because the sensors and actuators in SANETs
are diverse, heterogeneous, and resource-constrained.
SANETs offer highly coordinated sensing and actuation capabilities.
For example, smart homes can have temperature sensors that are strategically networked
with heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) actuators. When a sensor detects a
specified temperature, this can trigger an actuator to take action and heat or cool the home
as needed.

Such networks can theoretically be connected in a wired or wireless fashion

WIRELESS OR WIRED SENSOR NETWORKS?

Q1: What do you think such networks should be wireless or wired? And why?
Majorly they are Wireless SANETs.

Homework#01: [Mapped on CLO1] 1 A4 Pg only

Q2: Please come up with at-least two examples of each such sensor networks.
Q3: What problems we can face when sensor networks are connected using wires
and when connected wirelessly?
Note
Wireless SANETs are typically referred to as wireless sensor and
actuator networks (WSANs). Because many IoT deployments are
overwhelmingly sensors, WSANs are also often interchangeably
referred to as wireless sensor networks (WSNs).
In this course, we commonly refer to WSANs as WSNs, with the
understanding that actuators are often part of the wireless network.
WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORKS
Wireless sensor networks are made up of wirelessly connected smart objects, which
are sometimes referred to as motes.
The fact that there is no infrastructure to consider with WSNs is surely a powerful
advantage for flexible deployments,
There are a variety of design constraints to consider with these wirelessly connected
smart objects.
Most significant limitations of the smart objects in WSNs:
1. Limited processing power
2. Limited memory
3. Lossy communication
4. Limited transmission speeds
5. Limited power
WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

Fig 3.6: Trends in Smart Object

REFERENCES
- IoT Fundamentals, Networking Technologies, Protocols, and Use Cases for the Internet of
things by David Hanes, Gonzalo Salgueiro
- Inter of Things Hype to Reality by Ammar Rayes, Samer Salam