Sensors for Embedded & IoT Applications

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In Electronics, the basic definition of a sensor is a device or a module that senses a physical parameter in the environment and converts the measured parameter into information that is usually understandable by a processor or a micro-controller. The electronic sensors we use with respected to Embedded Systems and IoT convert the physical parameter into electrical voltage or a digital logic level(which is same as voltage but only allowing 2 levels i.e. 0 and Vcc).

It is very important to understand that as we human beings have senses that help us obtain information and process it, the micro-controller or processor can obtain such physical information through these electronic sensors.  So knowing and understanding these sensors is very important if we want to build an application or a smart device using IoT. Our device or application via the sensors can obtain all sorts of information from the real world like temperature, pressure, concentration of variety of gases, infrared sensor and many more. The data from these sensors can then be processed by the micro-controller or the embedded system and various outputs or actuation can be achieved according to different scenarios. For instance, using a temperature sensor, we can obtain the temperature of a room and control the fan or an AC depending upon the temperature of the room. We can even monitor the temperature using an App on our mobiles. The same concept could be extended to industrial and various other domains also.

Some of the commonly used sensors are mentioned below. Most of the sensors are self explanatory and you can also find more information about them on the web. I have added a brief description about some of the uncommon sensors:

  • Infrared Sensors
  • Temperature Sensors
  • Pressure Sensors
  • Ultrasonic Sensors
  • Sound Sensors
  • Light Sensors
  • Humidity Sensors
  • Pulse Sensor
  • Heart Beat Sensor
  • Air Pressure Sensors
  • PIR Sensor-Passive Infrared Sensor for human detection
  • Accelerometer - To find acceleration in different directions. 
Accelerometer
Ultrasonic Sensor
DHT11 Humidity and Temperature Sensor




Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 8, 2018 at 5:53 AM

    The information is very interesting. I did not know that existed all those things. Over all because I only use the devices or heater or fan but I never thought about how they are working. Now I learned through your explanation so I will consider it for my next air conditioner or fan or a simply bulb to switch them on or off from my bed. Thanks for sharing.

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