SENSORS
What is a sensor?
Put simply, sensors are the measuring tools that collect data and reports it to a “node” (usually a small physical device that connects one or more sensors to a network, which is often wireless). The node then takes that data and sends it over its network to the application. Let’s say you are wanting to monitor the water pressure in a pipe. It’s the sensor that measures the pressure and the node that reports the pressure back to the IoT application. Sensors and nodes are key pieces of a typical IoT solution.
Among the many enablers for the rapid growth of IoT are the improvements in sensor technology which have increased reliability and reduce size, power requirements and cost. Consider that a GPS used to be cumbersome and expensive, and now we all carry them around in our pockets (along with a gyroscope, a magnetometer, biometric sensors, an accelerometer and more). The miniaturization and proliferation, the lowered power requirements, and the significantly lowered cost of sensors are all responsible for the emergence of IoT solutions.