How the synergy of sensors and IoT is revolutionising data and driving the future of Industry 5.0
In current era of Industry 5.0, more and more humans, and robots will work alongside each other in jobs that require physical dexterity, such as manufacturing.
It’s interesting to note that although today there is considerable talk around the opportunities presented by Industry 4.0, the world is already in the era of Industry 5.0! In this era, also known as the fifth industrial revolution, humans and AI-powered robots work side-by-side in the workplace.
Industry 4.0 began with the invention of cyber-physical systems like the internet and data, specifically with the creation and storage of data, easy access to such data, and its analysis.
Today, a mind-boggling 1,000 petabytes of data are generated every day. However, this number - considered on its own - is very misleading because there is much uncertainty about how much of this newly generated data is transformed into information. Hence, it is vital to differentiate between data and information.
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Distinguishing Between Data and Information
Broadly, data is, at best, a raw dump of unstructured and meaningless data points. On the other hand, Information increases knowledge by unlocking meaningful insights - after rigorous analysis - from data. New information is created when a meaningful story emerges from analysing data. Such information must have practical applications and the potential to benefit humanity.
Today, there are billions, and likely more, digital devices and sensors around the world. These devices collect massive quantities of data every day. However, the question is how much of the data collected by these devices can be useful to humanity, and how this data can be communicated between devices and cloud.
IoT devices provide the answer.
IoTs Help Transmitting Data
In farms around the world, soil health monitoring sensors collect data about soil health by monitoring the levels of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and others.
These sensors can collect data from any field, even at remote locations.
While these sensors can, share the NPK data they collect with farmers, unless farmers extract any actionable information from such data, they’re no better off having these sensors in their fields. These farmers have data about their soil but lack the information necessary to optimise parameters for improved crop yields.
That’s where IoT devices come in.
IoT devices can transmit the data collected by soil health monitoring sensors over the cloud to professionals who can extract insights from it. Hence, wherever sensors can be paired with IoT devices that transmit data, new valuable information can be created. Such information can help humanity to understand and validate the data generated on farms in increasing yields.
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How Data from Farms Helps Increase Yields
When the soil data, collected by sensors and transmitted by IoT devices, reaches experts, they convert it into actionable information to help farmers optimise yields. For instance, these experts can inform farmers how to optimize the soil fertility or determine which crops will grow best during specific periods of the year.
Notably, when millions of sensors and IoT devices collect data from thousands of fields across multiple districts, experts at one location can enjoy a granular overview of the soil health and quality of the entire region. This enables them to plan and optimise production for entire districts allowing for cultivation of the most desirable crops.
IoT devices in farmers' fields can be paired to generate new and useful information.
IoT Devices Have Applications in Nearly Every Industry
Sensors and IoT devices have applications wherever data is produced. For instance, IoT devices can help capture all the data about a physical department store, and transmit it to the cloud to extract information from such data. Such information can help stores optimise supply chains.
Data from sensor-powered wearables already help produce information that improves healthcare outcomes. Wearables also improve professional athletes' form by capturing data about their movement. Analysis of such data produces information that helps improve athletes’ performance.
While the data produced by sensors is a force for good, in the wrong hands, data can be used to wreak havoc. Hence, data security is more vital than ever.
Data Security in a Post-COVID World
The pandemic led to a surge in migration to online platforms. Since then, there has been a seismic shift towards collecting data in every sphere and using it to extract information.
While the benefits of data collection far outweigh the costs, the potential misuse of data makes data security paramount. Thankfully, when used sagaciously, data collected by sensors can help bring about a better world.
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A Benign Data-powered World
Data is already creating positive behavioural changes in billions of people. As people learn new information about themselves through sensors and IoT-powered devices like wearables, they proactively take steps to better themselves. Such a behavioural change are widespread in the developed world and in large Indian cities. Over the next few years, information produced by sensors will play a significant part in changing how people live and what they think and feel.
The data generated during Industry 4.0 has played a significant role in giving rise to Industry 5.0. Without the data produced by digital devices and platforms, there wouldn’t have been enough data to train the types of models that have led to the rise to AI. In the current era of Industry 5.0, more and more humans, and robots will work alongside each other in jobs that require physical dexterity, such as manufacturing. Robot co-workers of the future may look like the recently unveiled humanoid developed by OpenAI and Figure AI. This newly created robot is powered by a visual language model that lets it make sense of its surroundings and interact with it appropriately. Expect workers on the factory floor to give such robots commands that’re indistinguishable from those they already issue to their human co-workers, blurring the lines between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence in the dynamic landscape of Industry 5.0.
(Author Sanket Goel is Dean, Research and Innovation (Institute-wide) and Professor, BITS Pilani Hyderabad. Views expressed are personal.)
