Blog | How IoT is impacting industries and the world around us

Ivan Trendafilovski - Technical Engineer - DiGiCOR

IoT is defined by the connected world and has been an important aspect of modern technology. Objects can be classified as part of IoT based on two factors. One; having networking capability. Two; can be connected to a network as well as have functionalities that interact with other objects or users on that network. These include computers, mobile devices, consumer goods, cars, and more. For example, a user can unlock her car or pay for interns using their mobile phone. IoT connects corporate systems as well where it enables companies to save money and improve productivity. For instance, companies can monitor their infrastructure or production lines using sensors and produce real-time alerts via their networks. In addition, Interconnected machines will also allow us to monitor building structures such as power plants remotely for maintenance purposes.

What are the benefits of IoT? 

IoT could potentially save many lives by detecting dangerous situations early on and taking corrective action before they result in fatalities or property damage. IoT, therefore, has great potential for improving our world by making everything smarter and easily accessible via technology and available in real-time at our convenience. 

Example IoT industries that push adoption

What are the advantages and benefits of Adopting IoT?

Older methods of manufacturing include waste. This is a disadvantage as it requires multiple steps before products were produced, resulting in lots of wasted materials along the way. To combat this issue, some manufacturers are adopting smart production lines where machines intelligently execute tasks step-by-step until products are ready for packaging or shipping purposes. The result is less manual work; therefore, these lines reduce material waste while simultaneously increasing productivity rates. 

The results from switching from traditional methods to smart manufacturing have been positive. Factories are saving money through improved throughput rates; this means more goods produced per unit cost due to increased efficiency.  
 

In addition, smart production lines are built at an accelerated pace. This allows manufacturers to greatly reduce safety risks too. Smart manufacturing has revolutionised how we produce goods on a local and international scale. These improvements would never be possible without the implementation and integration of the IoT interconnected devices.

Overall, IoT will deliver more advantages. These include producing even more data, making location tracking easier, enabling faster travels, fostering cheaper and greener manufacturing, and many more.

What Is Edge Computing?

Edge computing is a distributed information technology (IT) architecture in which client data is processed at the periphery of the network, as close to the originating source as possible.

Edge systems from our partners that help IoT Adoption

ASUS Edge Systems

ASUS IoT solutions are tailor-made for manufacturing applications and essential use cases, including AI-driven predictive maintenance of single assets, AI-powered automated optical inspection, production optimization, surveillance, and physical threat detection. 

PE200S Intel® Atom® X Series Processor Intelligent  Edge Computer with mini PCle slot, DDR3L 1866MHz, DP. HDMI, Dual-LAN, Multiple COM, 10-24V DC   Tinker Edge T Tinker Edge T is a SBC developer board  featuring the Google Edge TPU and quad-core ARM-based NXP i.MX 8M processor for Al applications

PE200U Intel® CoreTM17/15/13 Processor Intelligent  Edge Computer with mini PCle slot, DDR4 2400MHz, DP, HDMI, Dual-LAN, Multiple COM,12-24V DC

Supermicro IoT Edge Building Blocks

Industry 4.0 is being driven by the automation of manufacturing, increasing factory downtime, the proliferation of connected intelligent machines, sensors, and vehicles generates an extremely high volume of data, which leads to new challenges. Intelligent Edge computing can be used to solve many of these problems. Supermicro is leveraging advanced product design to provide flexible low-power, ultra-reliable computing, and partnering with forward-thinking software platform partners to build complete solutions for an array of vertical markets, including Industry 4.0, Intelligent Retail, Smart Cities, and more. 

Supermicro Intelligent Edge Systems

Edge Systems are being used everywhere. Data collection and processing are moving away from large centralized installations like enterprise data centers. In addition, new technologies are moving quickly into everyday operations – in stores and factories, hospitals, the street corner, or train stations.

Some of the more exciting areas where Edge computing is becoming part of day-to-day living are: 

• Intelligent Retail Improving customer experience using AI, augmented/virtual reality, digital signage, kiosks, and analytics 
• Providing disruptive AI-based solutions to help retailers and restaurants navigate technological and societal challenges 
• Enabling diverse use cases with an Edge architecture that supports many workloads on a single platform 
• Support for highly secure, Zero Trust, high availability systems to provide complete, optimized solutions – ensuring 100% uptime 

Examples of Supermicro systems ideal for Edge computing in Intelligent Retail include:

E100-12T-C Key Features - IoT Gateway for Smart -Factory/Building/Home - Kiosk, Interactive info system - Environmental Monitor

E302-12D-4C Key Features - IoT Edge Computing - Industrial Automation, Retail - Smart Medical Expert Systems - Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Edge - Machine Learning (ML)

Smart Cities and Spaces 

• Edge computing is distributed across multiple locations supporting transportation, security, venues, cities, and buildings 
• Fully outdoor capable (IP65) high performance compute, with Intel® Xeon D or 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors and accelerator expansion options 
• Solutions to improve community safety and quality of experience (QoE) with innovative connected applications 
• AI inferencing and visual computing in outdoor Edge locations, enabling intelligent surveillance and accurate incident reporting for faster response times 
• Supporting V2X for parking, traffic, and pedestrian safety, autonomous vehicle support, and public transportation improvements 

A selection of Supermicro servers that contribute toward smart cities and spaces:

What’s the future of IoT?

Nowadays everything in our world is connected to the internet and has the potential to be part of the internet of things. In other words, there’s no limit to what can be connected via the IoT devices. With the rapid adoption, the features and the possibilities will keep increasing as the technology improves. With the improvement of artificial intelligence (AI) , the capacity to deploy, automate, and secure has become even quicker and easier to deploy and integrate IoT in everyday life and businesses.

Summary 

IoT is an important aspect of modern technology and is changing how the world is run. IoT enables companies to save money and improve productivity by making everything smarter and easily accessible via technology. Asus and Supermicro provide IoT Edge Systems for specific use cases.