Opinion Piece:
The Internet of Things, or IoT for its acronym in English ( Internet of Things ), is a term that refers to the connection of objects to each other and to humans through the Internet.
The applications of IoT technologies are multiple, because it is adjustable to almost any technology that is capable of providing relevant information about its own operation, about the performance of an activity and even about the environmental conditions that we need to monitor and control at a distance.
Nowadays, many companies from different sectors or sectors are adopting this technology to simplify, improve, automate and control different processes. Next, we show some of the surprising practical applications of the IoT.
1. Wearables.
Virtual glasses, fitness bands to monitor for example calorie expenditure and heart beats, or GPS tracking belts, are just some examples of wearable devices that we have been using for some time now. Companies such as Google, Apple, Samsung and others have developed and introduced the Internet of Things and the application thereof into our daily lives.
These are small and energy efficient devices, which are equipped with sensors, with the necessary hardware for measurements and readings, and with software to collect and organize data and information about users.
2. Health.
The use of wearables or sensors connected to patients, allows doctors to monitor a patient's condition outside the hospital and in real-time. Through continuously monitoring certain metrics and automatic alerts on their vital signs, the Internet of Things helps to improve the care for patients and the prevention of lethal events in high-risk patients.
Another use is the integration of IoT technology into hospital beds, giving way to smart beds, equipped with special sensors to observe vital signs, blood pressure, oximeter and body temperature, among others.
3. Traffic monitoring.
The Internet of things can be very useful in the management of vehicular traffic in large cities, contributing to the concept of smart cities.
When we use our mobile phones as sensors, which collect and share data from our vehicles through applications such as Waze or Google Maps, we are using the Internet of Things to inform us and at the same time contribute to traffic monitoring, showing the conditions of the different routes, and feeding and improving the information on the different routes to the same destination, distance, estimated time of arrival.
4. Fleet management.
The installation of sensors in fleet vehicles helps to establish an effective interconnectivity between the vehicles and their managers as well as between the vehicles and their drivers. Both driver and manager/owner can know all kinds of details about the status, operation and needs of the vehicle, just by accessing the software in charge of collecting, processing and organizing the data. Even, receive alarms in real time of maintenance incidents without having been detected by the driver.
The application of the Internet of Things to fleet management assists with geolocation (and with it the monitoring of routes and identification of the most efficient routes), performance analysis, telemetry control and fuel savings , the reduction of polluting emissions to the environment and can even provide valuable information to improve the driving of vehicles.
5. Agriculture.
Smart farms are a fact. The quality of soil is crucial to produce good crops, and the Internet of Things offers farmers the possibility to access detailed knowledge and valuable information of their soil condition.
Through the implementation of IoT sensors, a significant amount of data can be obtained on the state and stages of the soil. Information such as soil moisture, level of acidity, the presence of certain nutrients, temperature and many other chemical characteristics, helps farmers control irrigation, make water use more efficient, specify the best times to start sowing, and even discover the presence of diseases in plants and soil.
6. Hospitality.
The application of the IoT to the hotel industry brings with it interesting improvements in the quality of the service. With the implementation of electronic keys, which are sent directly to the mobile devices of each guest, it is possible to automate various interactions.
Thus, the location of the guests, the sending of offers or information on activities of interest, the realization of orders to the room or room service , the automatic charge of accounts to the room or the request of personal hygiene supplies, are activities that can be easily managed through integrated applications using the Internet of Things technology.
With the use of electronic keys, the check-out process is automated, disabling the operation of doors, offering information about the rooms immediately available, and even assigning housekeeping tasks to maintenance personnel.
7. Smart grid and energy saving.
The progressive use of intelligent energy meters, or meters equipped with sensors, and the installation of sensors in different strategic points that go from the production plants to the different distribution points, allows better monitoring and control of the electrical network.
By establishing a bidirectional communication between the service provider company and the end user, information of enormous value can be obtained for the detection of faults, decision making and repair thereof.
It also allows offering valuable information to the end user about their consumption patterns and about the best ways to reduce or adjust their energy expenditure.
8. Water supply.
A sensor, either incorporated or adjusted externally to water meters, connected to the Internet and accompanied by the necessary software , helps to collect, process and analyze data, which allows understanding the behavior of consumers, detecting faults in the supply service, report results and offer courses of action to the company that provides the service.
Likewise, it offers final consumers the possibility of tracking their own consumption information, through a web page and in real time, even receiving automatic alerts in case of detecting consumption out of range to their average consumption record, which could indicate the presence of a leak.
9. Maintenance management.
One of the areas where the application of IoT technology is most extensive is precisely maintenance management. Through the combination of sensors and software specialized in CMMS/ EAM maintenance management, a multifunctional tool is obtained whose use can be applied to a multiplicity of disciplines and practices, with the purpose of extending the useful life of physical assets, while guaranteeing asset reliability and availability.
When the characteristics of the software in charge of processing and arranging the data collected by the sensors are designed to specifically address the maintenance management needs of physical assets, their application is almost unlimited.
The real-time monitoring of physical assets allows determining when a measurement is out of range and it is necessary to perform condition-based maintenance (CBM), or even applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms such as Machine Learning or Deep Learning to predict the failure before it happens.
Fracttal for maintenance management and the Internet of Things (IoT)
FRACTTAL is the CMMS/ EAM software specially designed to help organizations and institutions from any industry, sector or services to better manage the maintenance of their physical assets. It has unique features that facilitate maintenance management, and at the same time, has a great versatility that allows it to adapt to the specific maintenance needs of fleet management, equipment, medical equipment and facilities, hotels, smart grids or smart cities, and water supply, among others.
While other uses of IoT technology or the Internet of Things, are concerned with offering an innovative approach to quality of life, urban challenges, food production, agriculture, manufacturing, medicine, energy supply, water distribution and how to offer a wide variety of products and services, an application oriented to maintenance management such as Fracttal CMMS, is responsible for helping all these organizations take care of the assets on which their fundamental activity is based. Fracttal CMMS does so by applying disruptive Artificial Intelligence technologies such as Machine Learning or Deep Learning to predict a failure, even before it happens.
With native and friendly mobile applications, intergrated plug-and-play IoT sensors and a 100% built int the cloud, Fracttal CMMS offers its users the freedom and comfort of monitoring the status and operation of their equipment from anywhere, facilitating collaborative work, the allocation of tasks, the automatic recording of activities initiated and completed, the duration of these activities, as well as the absolute visibility of pending maintenance tasks.
If you're not yet a Fracttal CMMS user, why not sign up for a FREE trial account today!