As a company that specializes in creating Internet of Things devices (what is IoT), we have seen firsthand the many benefits that these devices can bring to various industries. That’s why we want to share 5 real world problems solved by IoT, like home safety, health monitoring, fleet tracking, predictive maintenance, and pollution reduction.
1. Home safety
Among the most interesting and growing markets related to IoT, there is home automation. Why has this market grown so rapidly in the last few years? You may think that people want to save time and energy in activities like turning on the lights, opening the doors, watering the plants, or turning on the washing machine.
However, what people really want is security. Among the problems that can be solved by technology, there is home safety. Homeowners want to monitor their house and be sure that nothing or nobody is going to affect them.
Thanks to IoT devices, people can install motion sensors and thermal cameras to monitor the inside and outside of the house. The great benefit of IoT devices is that they can receive alerts on their phones if something happens.
Thanks to the IoT, people can work more calmly, and from time to time, they can check through the app how things are working out at home.
2. Health monitoring
This is another market that has grown a lot in recent years. There are a lot of Internet of things healthcare examples that can give you ideas on the health monitoring aspect. You may think, how are problems solved by IoT in this case? IoT devices are a great source of data collection and monitoring for the doctors, and the patients who are wearing or using any of these devices, can be sure that the data collected, and a good mobile app or software (firmware vs software) will make a great combination to guarantee a good medical service.
Years ago, a patient could only have a proper monitoring of their vitals inside a hospital. But now, thanks to IoT, they can live a normal life, and a technological device they bring with them will be in charge of monitoring different vitals and sending it over the internet to their doctors.
Another current problem that can be solved by IoT has to do with post-surgical events. With the help of IoT devices, the recovery protocols can be better implemented. And if there are enough IoT analytics, maybe the staff of the hospital or people in charge of the health services can predict if the patient will need assistance according to the data collected in real time.
This means that the Internet of Things has the potential to save many lives that probably are at risk at home or at the office, since these products can send instant alerts if they detect something is not right with the patient.
If you are thinking of contributing to this market, learn more about medical prototyping.
3. Fleet tracking
One of the biggest problems that IoT devices can solve is the issue of tracking and monitoring assets. We know this because we developed a fleet tracking device that helped some of our customers to have a better control over their fleet.
This is a great example of problems that can be solved by technology, since companies invest a lot of money in new vehicles for transportation, and they need to be aware of their location in real time, not only for ensuring the protection of their assets, but to guarantee that the operations of the company won’t be affected by external factors (see IoT fleet management).
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4. Preventing machine failures
This is one of the IoT applications for industry, and it has been a common problem throughout the years in several companies.
Big industries can’t afford to stop the functioning of their machines when they are manufacturing products. With the use of IoT sensors, the managers and operators can have a detailed picture of the performance of the machinery: temperature, energy usage, productivity, voltage peaks.
Thanks to the data collected, anomalies can be detected on time, and the operators can schedule a maintenance routine to guarantee the machines won’t fail during the manufacturing process.
5. Pollution reduction
The growth of population over the world has led the cities to be more crowded and with a higher intensity of traffic. When there are thousands of cars moving around a city, the air gets more polluted.
Some companies are starting to sell Electric Vehicles, however, their cost is not low. Therefore, they are not easy to acquire.
The easiest way to solve this problem with the help of IoT is by implementing smart cities. This means there needs to be a better integration of transportation systems with the citizens, along with better waste management, energy efficiency, and devices that can help with smart parking services around the city.
There are some advances in this area, but a lot is yet to be done to contribute to the reduction of pollution in more cities around the world.
Are there more problems that can be solved by IoT?
Yes, we could mention hundreds of problems that IoT can solve, but we didn’t want to bore you with a long list. However, if you think you have a great idea for a new device that would solve a problem many people are having, we invite you to book a free call with us. We will gladly help you out with our specialized IoT product development consultancy.
