So, I’m curious on how IoT \[internet of things?\] applicance works.
You just hook up stuff to internet and controlling it through phone and voice that somehow translated to the command to turn things on/off?
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Basically, the idea is lots of small computers in your things, all of which are connected via wireless or bluetooth to a control device like your smartphone, and able to process commands form that controller. So, the IoT device has a local controller that can execute the commands.
For example, a IoT kettle that you fill before you go to work, then as you get close to home you tell it to boil the water so you can make a brew as soon as you walk in the door.
Or exterior lights/cameras for the house, which you can remotely activate and or monitor, like what Ring offer.
Its basically taking advantage of internet connectivity to allow remote control…….at least in theory. a lot of the IoT products in practive have been a bit “gimmicky” as people shoved it into everything at let someone else work out a use case.
In general, you connect the IOT device to your home WiFi (possibly via a hub, if the device doesn’t speak WiFi natively, for example, ZigBee or ZWave devices). In many cases, that device then talks back to a cloud server on the Internet, where they will link the device to you in some way, typically using an account in an app on your phone. You can then use the app on your phone to instruct the cloud service to instruct the IOT device to do something (turn on/off, set a thermostat, etc), or view sensor readings (temperature, state, camera feed, etc).
This let’s you access the device whether you are at home or out and about, but it does come with a downside, in that if your internet connection is not working, neither is your IOT device! Another potential downside is that as you add more diverse devices, you can end up with multiple apps and multiple accounts, and no single place to manage all of them, unless you buy into a single ecosystem. Additionally, should the vendor decide to discontinue support for the device, you’re out of luck, and have to discard it, even if it was working perfectly.
There is an alternative option, where you run the “cloud” server yourself at home, using a cheap computer like a Raspberry Pi, Intel NUC, or similar, and all the control resides in your own hands. This means that your smart home is no longer (fully) dependent on a working internet connection, so long as you purchase products that have a “local control” option. Projects like Home Assistant are making this easier and easier, and there are options for accessing your home server from the Internet should you want that. This also means that you have a single dashboard for all your devices, regardless of manufacturer or ecosystem, and you are not at the mercy of a manufacturer who decides when a device needs to be replaced or obsoleted.
“IoT” just means “things, which aren’t your phone or computer, that are connected to the internet”.
Controlling it through phone? Maybe. Voice? Maybe. Maybe not. There are no standards.
It might be “your dryer sends a notification to your phone when your clothes are dry”. It might be “you can control your thermostat from a website”. It might also be “your camera is horrifyingly insecure and hackers can see through it”.
I work in IoT appliances, and here’s how they work:
In normal appliances, the buttons on the user interface translate into commands that tell the appliance what to do.
In connected appliances, these same commands can also come from a wifi or bluetooth signal.
Bluetooth signals can be used when the phone and appliance are in close proximity (and if the appliance supports it). In this case, the phone is sending signals directly to the appliance.
For wifi communication, your appliance, your phone, and any voice assistants like Alexa are connected to the internet. The appliance, app, and assistant have all shared account information that let them talk to a central server. All of them send commands and status information to the account on the server, then the server routes those commands to who needs them.
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