While the idea of the “Internet of Things” (IoT) has been around for a while, as everything (except, perhaps, human beings) keep getting smarter, the buzz around IoT is on the rise. I recently blogged about the NEST Thermostat, and a while back I asked whether we’re smarter than the average basketball. (You don’t have to answer that.) I’ve had a Fitbit for some time now, and recently added their Aria WiFi enabled scale to the bathroom.
But while a lot of the ooh-ing and aah-ing has been around being able to turn on the porch light and let the dog out using your smartphone, there’s been a parallel universe growing, which we can think of as “The Internet of BIG Things,” or “The Internet of Industrial Things”or “The Internet of BIG, Industrial Things.” And this Internet of Things is growing up around the development of medical, scientific, and industrial applications that increasingly incorporate WiFi, rather than relying solely on more common wired communications interfaces like Ethernet, Serial, USB, etc.
We’re certainly starting to see demand for WiFi support from our customers, so we’re adding WiFi to some of our SoM’s, starting with the MitySOM-335x.
Interestingly, adding WiFi really brought home the value to our clients of integrating SoMs into their apps, rather than building their own via ground-up efforts. When it came to WiFi, we’re not rolling our own. We’re using a module from LS Research, since they have expertise in WiFi that we don’t. WiFi is tricky – as much an art as a science. Plus there’s the added complexity of having to get certified by the FCC, which LSR has taken care of.
Anyway, while those of us at Critical Link have been focusing on the Internet of BIG Things, I came across an interesting article on Wired’s Gadget Lab. In Welcome to the Programmable World, Bill touches on the gamut from the kitchen coffee pot to the shop floor, and describes just how the “programmable world” will become fully realized. It’s worth a read (as are the comments, many of which take Bill on).
The Internet of BIG, Industrial Things. You heard it here…