Why Intelligent Sensors are Critically Important for Businesses

Given the importance of sensors, understanding sensors developed for IoT applications is vital for digital transformation.

FREMONT, CA: While connectivity is a vital ingredient in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications, sensors run a close second. Most industrial IoT projects are centered on aggregating and analyzing sensor data from various devices to enhance maintenance and production operations. Most IIoT applications involve implementing several more sensors than having conventionally been harnessed as a means of collecting as massive data as possible for analysis.

Given the significance of sensors to the IIoT, understanding sensors tailored for IoT applications is a vital need of digital transformation. A traditional sensor is an analog sensor. They can only convert a physical factor, like stress, force, or temperature, into an electrical signal. Then that signal is fed into some type of device for analysis, he said. These post-test analyses connected with traditional sensors are expensive and needed a lot of manpower.

An essential feature of IoT sensors is their potential to self-identify on a network. It used to be a real challenge to hook up sensors on a network and then have to find out which sensor. IoT sensors' potential to self-identify, combined with their speed and analytics potentials, means firms can do a lot more processing in real-time on the device. The data reduction and combining of the data is an essential feature, especially when users try to extract information and make decisions.

Pricing should be reviewed in light of a sensor's potentials to conduct essential functions like self-identification and self-calibration because these capacities mitigate operating costs. It is advisable to leveraging wired or wireless IoT sensors because users may need both. As with any connected device, connected sensors bring with them many security concerns. Industrial network security is complicated because users don't even know what is all connected to the Internet in a facility. Firms should also stick with the tried and proven standards with robust multi-path security checks.

See also: Top Industrial IoT Solution Companies