Position sensors and the Internet of Things Today's blog looks at how position sensors are a vital component of the IoT and the benefits it has for commercial and industry use, together with the possibilities for domestic use. There has been a lot of talk about the Internet of Things (IoT) recently, with technology experts warning of the potential dangers of internet enabled devices being used as part of cyber-attacks; it is unlikely that a hacker is desperately interested in the contents of your fridge or the location of your robotic vacuum cleaner, rather they use the internet connection of these items to launch DdoS attacks on websites and servers.Despite the risks identified there is no slowing down of the move towards smarter technology making life easier and working practices more cohesive, and sensors are a vital component of the IoT. RFID tags are used alongside sensors to transmit information to a central server, such as in the case of warehouse systems that can automatically log the delivery of a certain pallet and store the location in a warehouse map. Position sensors detect the presence of an item and the information is transmitted wirelessly to a computer that marks that item as arrived.In some cases, RFID technology used alone can be better than when used in conjunction with position sensors. When a large array of parts is delivered and distributed daily in large volumes, it can be more efficient to use the programmable identification capabilities of RFID to flag each item type, leading to easier stock picking in the warehouse. This can reduce the amount of human intervention in selecting stock and parts, create a more efficient route through the warehouse and thereby increase productivity.Although the applications of position sensors within IoT devices are far reaching for commercial and industrial areas, there are also possibilities for domestic uses of position sensors for internet enabled devices. Home security systems can make use of position sensors to identify whether a door or window is fully closed (and this could extend to fridge doors, internal doors and baby/pet barriers) and enable the homeowner to be able to check these things from anywhere. Knowing the open or closed status of every door and window in the house at any given times means you can tell if someone has been in the house in your absence and at what time. This can be useful, not only for knowing if there has been a burglary, but also knowing if a pet has escaped from a room, or whether another family member has been home in the meantime. Using the same technology on a fridge door will tell you whether that person had a snack when they got home without needing to have more complex in-fridge sensors that detect what has been taken.This is a topic we will revisit as the IoT develops and becomes more main-stream, and we would love to hear from any readers who have created or used systems that incorporate non-contact sensor technology within the IoT. Article published on: 13/01/2017 Article last updated on: 13/01/2017