Objectives for this topic

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

describe the technologies used by IoT devices to communicate with one another;
describe a range of sensors that may be used by IoT devices.

You might also be able to:

consider which connectivity technology is most appropriate in a given situation.

Introduction

One of the most powerful aspects of IoT devices is their ability to sense their surroundings. Sensors can be considered as any item which somehow measures its environment and feeds the readings back to a computing device. This could be the temperature in your smart fridge, the amount of water in your smart kettle, the fact a button has been pressed on a ‘re-order’ button, or a myriad of other things.

That feeding back of the data to the computing device can be a tricky question though, with a balance of range, speed and cost all being important, as well as the obvious problem of security.

Working through your coursebook

Read pages 12-13 in your Computing Stage 7 book.

Make sure you have read through the learn box on page 12.
Make sure that you understand the key words described. Add them to your cram.com flashcards.
Complete the practice task on page 13.

Read pages 14-15 in your Computing Stage 7 book.

Make sure that you understand the key words described. Add them to your cram.com flashcards.
Complete the practice task on page 15.
Complete the two worksheets below. You will need to copy them into your own Google drive to complete them. Watch the following video for help if you need to.

(Note. If the video looks blurry you can select a higher bandwidth by clicking on the cog symbol on the bottom right of the video. You can also make it full screen by clicking on the double headed arrow next to the cog symbol)

- COMPLETE - IoT Technologies.
- COMPLETE - templatesensors.
Make sure to save templatesensors as ‘sensors’ as you will be using this in the next topic.

Review

Reflect upon the four pages you have just covered. In your notes summarise:

what you have learned:
what you already knew;
what surprised you;
what you are curious to know more about.

Support activity for this topic

A video reviewing a number of types of sensors that could be used in IoT:

Extension activity for this topic

Some sensors are used just to read the environment, while others form part of a control system. Can you find out what a control system is, and where it might be used? Do you think the sensors in control systems are any different to simple systems?