Picture a simple home thermostat. When set to a specific temperature, it measures ambient temperature and signals the HVAC systems to heat or cool the house accordingly. IoT sensors function much like the thermostat, but with one key difference: They connect to the internet. Because sensor-embedded devices can relay the data they measure through the Internet, enterprises can develop models to analyze the data and fine-tune operating conditions for hundreds of thousands of systems. Operational efficiencies follow.
The potential for IoT and IIoT (IoT's industrial equivalent) is enormous. The global market for IoT sensors will grow at a compounded annual rate of 28.6% from 2021-2026, reaching $29.6 billion, according to research firm MarketsandMarkets.
Types of IoT sensors
With this huge potential comes IoT applications for nearly all industries. This means that there is an IoT sensor for practically every parameter that enterprises across every industry could possibly need to measure. A few common ones include:
Temperature sensors
Just like a thermostat, temperature IoT sensors measure fluctuations in heat and relay that information, but they also relay that data through the internet. In agriculture, soil temperature measurements can dictate crop plantation and watering schedules. In manufacturing, measuring temperature profiles of machines can signal when they are about to break down and deliver predictive maintenance.
Pressure sensors
Pressure sensors used in IoT convert varying pressure to a measurable electrical signal. For example, in chemical plants, measuring pressure can help to detect vacuum leaks in equipment. Gas pipelines use pressure sensors to warn of faults in infrastructure.
Proximity sensors
These sensors used in IoT can detect, without contact, when objects come close to the sensor's field or range.
Autonomous driving sees implementations of proximity sensors for collision avoidance. These kinds of IoT sensors also find uses in retail where personalized store offers can be pushed through mobile notifications depending on the customer who walks in through the door. Frequently used with proximity sensors, motion detectors help turn systems on and off strategically in building monitoring systems.
Accelerometers
The rate at which an object is approaching is useful information for central monitoring systems to process. These IoT-enabled sensors can measure acceleration as well as changes to gravity. For example, to detect falls among the elderly IoT-based accelerometers can detect movement associated with waking up, walking as well as falls.
Humidity sensors
These sensors used in IoT measure the amount of water vapor in the air and convert it into a measurable electrical signal. Combined with temperature sensors, these devices can be used extensively in agriculture to verify growing conditions. Globally, 12 million sensors will be used in agriculture by 2023, as Insider Intelligence predicts. The combination of temperature and humidity sensors also plays a key role in supply chains and cold chain management. Perishable foods and pharmaceuticals especially benefit from use of such sensors.
Sensors used in IoT vary in addition to these. Industries use level sensors (to detect filling of tanks in production, for example), gas sensors for air quality measurements and radar sensors for measuring vehicular distance. The smart cities of the future will drive ahead with such sensors to ease traffic congestion.
Why IoT needs Network as a Service (NaaS)
Industrial implementations of IoT will need not only the sensors but also a way for machine-to-machine communications (M2M) to be relayed to the cloud through a secure, reliable and scalable network. The IoT ecosystem is often complex, and the sampling of data needs to consider device life and communication capabilities.
In essence, without network connectivity, you cannot realize the full potential of IoT or work with it in real time.
Many businesses who might have ambitious IoT deployment plans find that the rigorous network infrastructure they need can be a real obstacle to a successful implementation. Such businesses may find the inability to scale connectivity infrastructure needs up and down as IoT deployments change especially frustrating. Dynamic applications, such as IoT and AI, need dynamic, scalable platforms to support them—something that is not easily achieved.
Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) offers a workaround for such infrastructure challenges. Virtualized services can be scaled up and down quickly, and enterprises only pay for as much as they consume. They do not need to invest in heavy capital expenditures but instead move NaaS to operational expenses. As a result, businesses that need mission-critical IoT sensors but cannot afford the frequently changing hardware and infrastructure needs could consider Network as a Service (NaaS).
The pay-as-you-go model ensures that enterprises can scale demand up or down as needs change. Equally important, these services update with the latest hardware, so enterprises can rest assured that the infrastructure they are working with is current and suited to their needs. An additional advantage: NaaS services are frequently monitored for security concerns and stay current with patches.
The NaaS model is compelling for businesses that want to realize the promise of IIoT without large upfront investments in necessary network infrastructure—and the talent to manage entire ecosystems.
IoT sensors are helping to drive data-driven digital transformation. Learn how using the right IoT sensors and ensuring connectivity can enable enterprises to harvest information at scale and realize operational efficiencies.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.