Making of an IOT Device- Part I

The first thought of Internet of Things(IOT) manifest an image of a world where every object is connected to the other. It adds WOW!! Factor to this concept. But if you think on a deeper level Won’t it be quite dangerous to have such connectivity? Especially, taking our privacy under consideration and it should rather be called as Internet of Everything(IOE) instead of Internet of Things. So, What exactly is Internet of Things(IOT)?

To satisfy your curiosity I will describe my perception of Internet of Things(IOT). Internet of Things(IOT) is a connection of different objects through small electronic devices to store and communicate information about each device. The transfer of data shall not take place through internet providers rather it will have its own network preferable on IPv6 protocol.

“Internet of Things” was first used by Kevin Ashton in 1999 during his presentation at Proctor and Gamble. 


Now when we are clear on the concept of What Internet of Things is, the very first question arises how we will make it a reality and for which appliance? And that is the intent of this article.

For that matter, we will initiate it with ideas of few feasible IOT applications:

  1. MailBox IOT: Its correct, your mailbox outside your house can be quite intelligent. Whether you are on a vacation or hiding in your house due to snow, this mailbox will inform you of all the incoming mails with the senders name and address and you can choose to ignore or take action over it. There will be small IOT device connected to your mailbox which shall immediately sense dropping of mail and shall read the senders address and email the information to you.
  2. Pill Case IOT: This unique IOT device will be attached to your pill Case. A card containing magstripe shall be inserted in the IOT to read the prescription from magstripe. As you fill you pill case, this IOT will match it with your prescription and inform you if you are short of any medicine on any given day.Yes this would require an extra effort by clinics to store prescription on magstripe cards.
  3. Personal Assistant Car: This small car shall go around and capture info from each person and then let the owner know who is where .

As I mentioned earlier objects shall comprise of IOT devices (perhaps chip size) to make IOT a reality. Accordingly, we are required to built these small devices comprising of all the facilities to sense, scan and communicate data. For this purpose, we would require following material in an IOT device:

  1. Lego/ Car / Pill box/ Mail box
  2. Raspberry Pi 3B+  battery
  3. Sensor
  4. Camera +Mic
  5. Data Center Time
    1. Ultrasound
    2. PHT
    3. Gyro
    4. Light
    5. Smoke Sensor
  6. Magstripe/chip Scanner

The total cost of the device will be around $200-$300. This is just an introduction towards building of an IOT device. Next steps can be found in the upcoming article- Making of an IOT-Part II.  

Author: Sadiya Ahmad