IoT the key to a Smart City
Every year millions of people migrate to different countries and cities in search of a better lifestyle, employment opportunities, etc. With the ever increase in population growth and migration rate, cities will need to become more efficient with its transportation system, energy use, sanitary management, healthcare, communication networks and numerous other factors. In short there would be a need to build a smart city that would improve our lifestyle and bring in sustainable development.
How to build a smart city?
The key to building a smart city is the Internet of things (IoT). In today’s world IoT is emerging as the third wave in the development of internet. A technology which has the potential to change our lifestyles, workplace productivity and consumption. IoT technology makes every possible device internet ready and offers connectivity that enables the flow of data by creating a network of objects.
Smart cities use IoT enabled devices such as connected sensors, lights, and meters to collect, monitor, control and analyze the data. The cities then use this data to improve infrastructure, public utilities and services, and more.
Some essential components of a smart city include Smart Infrastructure in the form of Smart homes, Smart transportation and Smart waste management. In this blog-post I will be covering up the Smart Homes aspects of the smart cities. The remaining two will be explored in my upcoming blog-posts.
Smart Infrastructure: Smart homes
Builders and Architects throughout the world are more frequently looking to incorporate IoT devices and solutions into their infrastructures to reduce costs and improve the quality of their buildings.
Smart homes or intelligent homes refer to a house equipped with devices that possess integrated intelligence to communicate with other similarly integrated devices to manage and exchange data. Smart homes filled with connected products are loaded with possibilities to make our lives easier, more convenient, and more comfortable. Imagine that you’re driving home on a hot summer day. But rather than turn the air conditioner on when you get home and wait for your house to cool, you simply use your smartphone when you leave your office to tell your smart thermostat to lower the temperature. This shows that smart home IoT devices not only make our lives easier but also are efficient tools to reduce costs and conserve energy.
Some of the smart home applications involves Access Control, Appliance Control, Temperature Monitoring, Hazard Notification, etc.
Access Control: You can manage doors, locks & shutters with a click on your mobile screen. You can can remotely control the locks in your house. For example in case your relatives arrived earlier and you want to give them access to your drawing room or you want to open the shutter of your garage using mobile app while sitting in your car.
Appliance Control: You can switch ON or switch OFF the lights, bulbs, fans and electronics appliances like AC, geyser, TV, refrigerator etc. and control them remotely. You can switch On the air purifier or your air conditioner way before you actually reach your home. This way you can have the desired environment as soon as you enter the room. If you accidentally leave some appliance On, you can switch it Off just by a click on an app. This way you can save energy, time & effort.
Hazard Notification: This can really be useful to monitor the potential fire hazards & LPG gas leakage in the house. The monitoring device can constantly check for smoke or gas leak in the house and trigger the alarm system and generate push notifications on smart devices & web devices. This way you can get help in minimum time and damages to life & property can be prevented.
Temperature Monitoring: You can keep a real-time check on the temperature conditions inside your bedroom, living room, garage, attic or the outside to be aware of the changes in temperature you might be exposed to. This can be really useful in extreme summers & extreme winters when there is a huge difference in inside & outside temperatures.
Inventrom has developed the Bolt IoT Platform which can be used to develop such applications in a day’s time & deploy at your home. You need not to be an expert in electronics or a technology geek to make your home hi-tech. The platform is designed in such a way that anyone can develop IoT product onto it. Following is a link to a video on how you can can connect your home appliances to the Internet and remotely manage them using the Bolt IoT Platform.
We also have many products developed in the same segment which we plan to launch in the near future. If you are looking to build an IoT product or looking for an end to end IoT solution for your company? I will be glad to speak to you and guide through the process. Please fill this short form at http://boltiot.com/app/consult.php to schedule a call.
