Sensing technology and IoT are inextricably linked to each other as they need each other. How has the evolution of sensing technology changed the IoT, and how has the evolution of the IoT changed what is required of sensing technology? Introducing the relationship between sensing and IoT, and the changes in industry caused by the connection with AI and edges.
Close relationship between sensing technology and IoT
It can be said that sensing technology has evolved by interacting with each other by connecting with IoT. What kind of connection led to the evolution?
What the evolution of sensing technology has created?
Sensing technology is a technology that applies information by measuring various information with sensors, digitizing it and transmitting it.
Sensing technology can be said to be a technology that was born at the same time as the use of sensors, but a certain change triggered an increase in attention and importance. The change is the spread of IoT throughout society.
The IoT sends information obtained from various things via the Internet. At this time, sensing technology plays an active role as a means to obtain information. If we compare the overall picture of IoT to that of humans, if it is the nerves and brain that carry and process information, it can be said that the parts related to the five senses such as eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin are sensing technologies.
In this way, sensing technology is indispensable for IoT. Please see this article for more information on the relationship between sensing technology and IoT.
→ “Sensor sophistication and diversification-what the evolution of sensing produces”
The evolution of IoT demands information diversity
When the idea of IoT first appeared, there were few types of information that could be measured by sensors, and human senses were superior, so it was not practical. However, with the evolution of elemental technologies, the IoT has exploded into practical use. The core elemental technology is sensing technology.
It can be said that the evolution of sensors has not only increased the types of information that can be measured, but also improved the accuracy, and the value of the information obtained from the sensors has increased. As a result, IoT has actually come to be used in various fields.
On the other hand, as the number of fields in which IoT has been used increases and it is applied at a higher level, the information operated there is also required to have higher accuracy and diversity. As a result, further evolution of sensing technology is required.
In this way, sensing technology and IoT have the potential to create various innovations by advancing each other and to significantly change society in the future.
Sensing and IoT are changing industries
As sensing and IoT become more sophisticated and evolve with each other, major changes are also being brought about in the industry. Examples of three industries are typical examples.
In the manufacturing industry, we will go to a factory that combines reality and virtual.
The link between the manufacturing industry and the IoT attracted a lot of attention was the German government’s industrial project called “Industry 4.0”. This also includes the meaning of the fourth industrial revolution and aims to make full use of IoT.
Among them, the most talked about was the concept of a new factory called “Smart Factory”. This “smart factory” means that all kinds of equipment are connected to the Internet, and the factory itself has become IoT. It is defined as a new factory that continuously improves business process improvement, quality, and productivity by changing the way information is collected, transported, and used.
In addition, the idea of processing information obtained in the physical space in this way in the digital space and feeding it back into the physical space to improve efficiency was born. This is called a cyber-physical system (CPS) and creates a new relationship between cyber (digital) and physical (physical).
As an extension of this, a technology called the digital twin also appeared. With the information obtained from smart factories where the entire factory is IoT, we will recreate a virtual factory in the digital space. You can run these twins in digital space, or digital twins, to predict the challenges that may arise there, and to perform tests that are difficult in physical space.
As a prerequisite for such technology, IoT of the entire factory is necessary, and sensors are required in all kinds of devices and places. Sensing technology supports the way new factories should be.
In the logistics industry, we move to smart logistics
Logistics operations are broadly divided into warehouse operations and transportation operations, and the application of sensing technology and IoT is progressing in both of them.
There have been warehouses called automated warehouses that automatically load and unload goods for a long time. What can be said to be the evolution system is a robot warehouse that makes full use of IoT and robotics.
In a traditional warehouse, it was a common sight for workers to move with the cart and perform picking work. However, in robot warehouses that have already been introduced and are in operation, picking work is carried out in a way that overturns conventional wisdom. There, a robot lifts a shelf and carries the goods along the shelves to where the workers are. Workers do not move around the warehouse but receive designated products from shelves that are brought in order.
In order for this robot to move, sensors are required not only on the robot itself, but also on the floors, walls, and racks in the warehouse. It can be said that robot warehouses are realized only with sensing technology.
On the other hand, autonomous driving technology is attracting a lot of attention in the transportation business and the logistics industry. Truck transportation supports more than half of domestic logistics, but in recent years, the labor shortage in the transportation industry has become more serious. Therefore, the logistics industry has high expectations for solving the labor shortage and improving efficiency through autonomous driving technology.
Autonomous driving technology requires not only advanced sensing technology and the process of gathering information such as IoT but also the processing method and the speed of feedback. It is believed that safe autonomous driving will be realized by collecting accurate information using sensing technology and combining edge computing to ensure the real-time performance of information.
In the medical field, expectations are expected to support doctors by AI
In the medical field as well, sensing technology is already indispensable. Various sensors, such as heart rate sensors and respiratory sensors, are used and operated on to understand the patient’s condition. By combining such sensing technology with AI, research on AI diagnosis to detect cancer and detect lesions is also progressing.
Monitoring of physical condition using wearable devices and online diagnosis that allows patients to receive medical examinations without going to the hospital can also be said to be new forms of medical care that apply sensing technology and IoT.
In this way, the application of sensing technology and IoT is progressing in the medical field, and it is expected to contribute to the shortage of doctors and the reduction of the workload of medical professionals.
What will happen to the world with IoT?
With the evolution of IoT and sensing technology in this way, various industries are changing their shape.
For example, autonomous driving technology and AI diagnosis in medical care, which are expected in logistics, were previously considered to be “tasks that humans must do.” However, sensing technology and IoT have the potential to greatly change the way we do things.
One of the reasons why such work could only be done manually in the past is that there was a problem with the processing speed of the obtained information. However, there are also technologies that are making great strides in addressing this challenge. That’s edge computing.
Edge computing may be the technology that holds the key to how sensing technology, IoT, and AI play an active role.
Sensing and IoT Combine with AI to Take Edge Computing to the Next Stage
We introduced how sensing technology, IoT, and AI are connected.
Sensing technology and IoT are deeply connected technologies that require each other. By influencing each other, each of them has evolved greatly. And by processing the data obtained by these materials by AI that utilizes it as big data, the use of IoT is also changing. In addition, by adding real-time performance by edge computing to this, AI has given the possibility that AI will be able to do things that were previously thought to be “impossible without humans”. Together, these technologies are taking the industry to the next level.
