In the exciting world of the Internet of Things, sensors are the foundation where IoT solutions come into play. Sensors will be ubiquitous across various fields, collecting diverse information anytime and anywhere, monitoring the changing states of everything. IoT solutions based on sensors will make the environment better, life more convenient, species more diverse, and industrial production more efficient. This article compiles 61 application areas of IoT sensors and illustrates their applications through case studies.
►Smart Cities
1. Smart Parking: Monitoring vacant parking spaces in the city to assist parking lots with charging.
2. Structural Monitoring: Monitoring the vibrations and material conditions of buildings, bridges, and historical sites.
3. Urban Noise: Real-time monitoring of noise in bar areas and central areas.
4. Smartphone Detection: Detecting iPhone and Android devices using any device with WiFi or Bluetooth interfaces.
5. Electromagnetic Field Intensity Monitoring: Monitoring the energy radiated by communication base stations and WiFi routers.
6. Traffic Congestion Monitoring: Monitoring vehicle and pedestrian conditions to optimize driving routes.
7. Smart Lighting: Weather-adjusted streetlights and smart bulbs that change colors automatically.
8. Waste Management: Monitoring the contents of trash bins to optimize garbage collection routes.
9. Smart Roads: Smart roads provide warning information and detours based on weather conditions and emergencies (such as accidents or traffic congestion) and even provide power to vehicles. Case Study: Smart City Project Monitoring Parking Sensors
Real installation of parking sensors in Santander City
The SMART SANTANDER project is developed and implemented by several companies with the aim of designing and integrating an IoT platform composed of sensors, actuators, cameras, and screens to provide useful information to citizens. Currently, 375 Waspmotes have been deployed to monitor parking spaces. 375 Waspmotes are installed at different locations in Santander City, measuring the magnetic field to detect whether parking spaces are vacant.
►Smart Environment
10. Forest Fire Monitoring: Monitoring combustion gases and automatically warning of fire conditions to define alert areas.
11. Air Pollution: Controlling factory CO2 emissions, automotive emissions, and toxic gases produced by farms.
12. Snow Conditions Monitoring: Real-time monitoring of ski trail quality to prevent avalanches in advance.
13. Landslide Prevention: Monitoring soil moisture, vibrations, and soil density to monitor dangerous geological conditions.
14. Earthquake Early Warning: Distributed monitoring of vibrations at specific locations.
Case Study: Sensor Network for Monitoring Urban Air Pollution
Using Waspmote and gas sensors to monitor the quality of the air we breathe, such as the levels of CO2, CO, NO, and other harmful gases, monitoring air pollution with Waspmote is simple and cost-effective because its wireless communication is based on the 802.15.4 / Zigbee protocol and powered by batteries, which makes the deployment of sensor networks very easy and quick to operate. Solar panels can recharge the batteries, ensuring continuous operation, and additionally, the GPRS module can ensure data communication at any time, while also being able to send SMS alerts based on defined thresholds.
►Smart Hydrology
15. Drinking Water Monitoring: Monitoring the quality of city tap water.
16. Chemical Leakage Detection in Rivers: Detecting waste emissions and chemical leaks from factories into rivers.
17. Remote Measurement of Swimming Pools: Monitoring the water quality conditions of swimming pools.
18. Marine Pollution Levels: Monitoring real-time leaks and waste emissions at sea.
19. Leak Detection: Monitoring whether there are liquids outside tanks and pressure changes around pipes.
20. Flood Monitoring: Monitoring water level changes in rivers, dams, and reservoirs.
Case Study: Water Quality Monitoring in Europe’s Largest Aquarium
Monitoring the water quality of the piranha in the freshwater aquarium
The Fluvial Aquarium is the largest water cluster aquarium in Europe, with more than 70 tanks and over 2.5 million liters of water. Most animals living in the aquarium are very sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, and to thrive, it is necessary to regularly monitor various physical and chemical parameters in the water. In each micro-ecosystem, appropriate ranges are set for these critical parameters, and through filtration systems and regular water changes, biomass control and system maintenance are kept at appropriate levels.
►Smart Measurement21、Smart Grid: Energy consumption monitoring and management.
22. Tank Capacity: Monitoring the levels of water, oil, and gas in tanks and reservoirs.
23. Photovoltaic Systems: Monitoring and optimizing the performance of solar power plants.
24. Water Flow Monitoring: Water pressure measurement in transportation systems.
25. Warehouse Inventory Calculation: Measuring the vacancy and weight of goods.
►Safety and Emergency Situations
26. Perimeter Access Control: Access control to restricted areas and detection of unauthorized personnel.
27. Liquid Detection: Monitoring liquid levels in data centers, warehouses, and sensitive buildings to prevent damage and corrosion.
28. Radiation Levels: Distributed measurement of radiation levels around nuclear power plants, issuing leakage alarms.
29. Explosive and Hazardous Gases: Detecting gas levels and leaks around industrial environments, chemical plants, and mines.
►Smart Retail and Smart Logistics
30. Supply Chain Control: Monitoring warehouse conditions and product tracking to achieve traceability.
31. NFC Payments: Real-time payments based on specific locations or durations of activities, such as public transportation, gyms, theme parks, etc.
32. Smart Shopping Applications: Sales suggestions based on customer habits, preferences, allergen presence, or expiration dates.
33. Smart Product Management: Controlling the automation of products on shelves and in warehouses, implementing automated replenishment processes.
34. Shipping Quality Conditions: Monitoring vibrations, impacts, container opening and closing states, or cold chain maintenance.
35. Project Positioning: Locating individual items in large areas such as warehouses or ports.
36. Monitoring of Stored Prohibited Items: Issuing alarms when containers storing flammable materials approach;
37. Vehicle Tracking: Monitoring the transportation of some vulnerable goods, such as medical drugs, jewelry, or hazardous materials.
Case Study: Cold Chain Monitoring and Smart Tracking
Bread and Pastries
Vehicle Tracking
The central dispatch office is responsible for listing the routes of each delivery vehicle, transporting cakes to bakeries, and delivering pastries and fresh bread to retail stores, restaurants, or dining establishments. Through a wireless sensor network (WSN) system, the temperature and location of each transport vehicle can be monitored remotely using connected PCs/smartphones/tablets.►Smart Industry
38. M2M Applications: Machine automatic diagnostics and asset control.
39. Indoor Air Quality: Monitoring toxic gas and oxygen levels within chemical plants to ensure the safety of workers and goods.
40. Temperature Monitoring: Management of temperature-sensitive goods in industrial and medical refrigerators.
41. Ozone Levels: Monitoring ozone levels during the drying process of meat in food factories.
42. Indoor Positioning: Using ZigBee and RFID/NFC for indoor asset positioning.
43. Vehicle Automatic Diagnostics: Collecting information from the CAN bus, sending real-time alerts or providing advice to drivers in emergencies.
Case Study: Smart Factory: Reducing Maintenance Costs and Ensuring Product Quality in the Manufacturing Process
Polibol Factory Workshop
Sensor monitoring of temperature within pipes
Libelium designed specific applications for Polibol using Waspmote Plug & Sense, and monitored key processes, environmental variables affecting product quality, and parameters impacting work conditions through the Meshlium portal. By utilizing Libelium’s sensor network technology, Polibol can monitor air temperature around printers and pipes, brightness of final products, and CO2 levels in worker areas using connected PCs, tablets, or smartphones. The integration of Libelium’s sensor technology with Microsoft Azure Cloud allows the data collected by Libelium’s sensor nodes to be directly transmitted to the cloud for analysis and use in various applications by Polibol.
►Smart Agriculture
44. Wine Quality Improvement: Monitoring soil moisture and trunk diameter in vineyards to control sugar content and health status of grapes.
45. Greenhouse: Controlling microclimate conditions to maximize the yield and quality of fruits and vegetables.
46. Golf Course: Selectively irrigating dry areas to conserve water resources needed for vegetation.
47. Weather Stations: Predicting weather conditions, forecasting ice formation, rainfall, drought, snow, or wind changes.
48. Compost: Controlling humidity and temperature levels of alfalfa, hay, straw, etc., to prevent contamination by fungi and other microorganisms.
49. Hydroponics: Controlling precise conditions for plants in water to achieve maximum production efficiency.
50. Breeding Care: Monitoring the growth status of offspring in animal husbandry to ensure their survival and health.
51. Animal Tracking: Tracking the location and identity of animals grazing in open pastures or large stables.
52. Toxic Gas Levels: Monitoring ventilation and air quality on farms, detecting harmful gases in manure.
Case Study: Italy is the second largest producer of kiwifruit after China, with sales reaching approximately 448,000 tons last year.
Kiwifruit Orchard
Sensor Deployment Diagram
FAMOSA is an Italian company that has developed wireless sensor networks for crop monitoring and management, creating accurate irrigation solutions for farmers in kiwifruit orchards with GPRS and Sigfox. The agricultural sector is deploying advanced technology in orchards to improve processes, maintain high-quality standards, and reduce the daily workload of farmers.
FAMOSA installed two different wireless sensors to monitor soil moisture conditions for arranging irrigation plans in kiwifruit orchards.
►Home Automation
53. Energy and Water: Monitoring energy and water consumption to obtain suggestions on how to save costs and resources.
54. Remote Appliance Control: Remotely turning devices on and off to avoid accidents and save energy.
55. Intrusion Detection Systems: Detecting the opening and closing of doors and windows and intrusion situations to prevent intruders.
56. Preservation of Artwork and Goods: Monitoring environmental conditions in museums and art warehouses.
►Smart Health57. Fall Detection: Providing assistance for the elderly or disabled in their daily lives.
58. Medical Refrigerators: Controlling conditions inside freezers for storing vaccines, medications, and organic elements.
59. Athlete Care: Monitoring vital signs on the field during sports events.
60. Patient Monitoring: Monitoring patients in hospitals and nursing homes.
61. Ultraviolet Radiation: Measuring the intensity of sunlight’s ultraviolet rays to warn people against excessive sun exposure at specific times.
Case Study: Low-Cost Sensors for Early Detection of Children’s Diseases
INSPIRE device measures respiratory rates to diagnose infant pneumonia: Early prototype
INSPIRE device measures respiratory rates to diagnose infant pneumonia
To reduce child mortality caused by acute respiratory infections (ARI), Guardit invented and licensed by Inspire Living Inc. a smart object sensing array that signed a contract with the global NGO HOPE project to create a device that helps effectively detect respiratory distress, and then based on an electronic health sensor platform, provides early alerts for pneumonia in children.
Inspire Living is an innovative company that has developed a new sensor system for monitoring respiratory rates in developing countries after years of development and hundreds of iterations. They obtained a sensor patent and selected a special material that can adhere to children’s skin to ensure the device is placed correctly. They also created easy-to-read icons to display respiratory counts; in areas lacking batteries and with little sunlight, they designed a manual method for the device to recharge automatically.
INSPIRE device identifies breathing patterns through algorithms, and the displayed data can be understood even by non-professionals. The device tests the respiratory rate every 15 seconds and can perform multiple tests within a minute, allowing healthcare personnel to closely monitor changes in patient conditions.
Healthcare personnel place the INSPIRE device on the child’s sternum and press the start button; at the end of the test, it beeps and displays the count. Repeat tests can be conducted to obtain more accurate information. Once the respiratory rate is displayed, the device gives diagnostic suggestions based on age and respiratory rate. To avoid errors, a built-in storage chip in the device can transfer data to external devices.
Reference Source: IoT Home
