What is Sensor? Different Types Of IoT Sensors.

Fatimaambreen
4 min readSep 14, 2021

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Sensors are a very important building block in the IoT world. There are Different Types Of IoT Sensors in the IoT world. In IoT Devices, having hardware is classified as General Devices and Sensing Devices.

WHAT IS A SENSOR?

A sensor is a device that detects or measures a physical property and responds to it. A sensor detects changes in the ambient conditions or a system and processes the information in a certain specified manner in which it is asked to do so basically sensors have the capabilities to study and observe the ambient conditions and on the basis of the changes they respond to it.

TYPES OF IoT SENSORS

IoT Devices, having hardware, are classified as General Devices and Sensing Devices. Different Types Of IoT Sensors in the IoT world are following:

TEMPERATURE SENSORS

Temperature sensors detect the temperature of the air or a physical object and convert that temperature level into an electrical signal that can be calibrated accurately to reflect the measured temperature. These sensors could monitor the temperature of the soil to help with agricultural output or the temperature of a bearing operating in a critical piece of equipment to sense when it might overheat or nearing the point of failure.

Some sub-categories of temperature sensors

Thermocouples

RTDs (resistance temperature detectors)

Thermistors

Semiconductor based integrated circuits (IC)

MOTION SENSORS

Motion sensors or detectors can sense the movement of a physical object by using several technologies, including passive infrared (PIR), microwave detection, or ultrasonic which uses sound to detect objects. We can use these sensors in security and intrusion detection systems, it can also be used to automate the control of doors, sinks air conditioning and heating, or other systems.

Ultrasonic :

Basically, in terms of industrial application ultrasonic sensors are characterized by their reliability and outstanding versatility also ultrasonic sensors can solve even the most complex tasks because they have a very high precision which we can call millimeter precision also and more importantly, ultrasonic sensors are preferred because their measuring methods work reliability in all different conditions which is a very good advantage considering the different types of sensors that are available which may work in some scenarios, some might not work in other scenarios whereas ultrasonic sensors work in most of the scenarios so they are quite reliable.

Passive infrared :

A passive infrared sensor is an electronic sensor, and it measures infrared light. It uses infrared light to measure an object in its view, also they are more used in you know PIR-based motion detectors.

PRESSURE SENSORS:

Pressure sensors measure the pressure or force per unit area applied to the sensor and can detect things such as atmospheric pressure, the pressure of a stored gas or liquid in a sealed system such as a tank or pressure the vessel or the weight of the object.

LEVEL SENSORS

Level sensors translate the level of the liquid relative to a benchmark normal value into a signal. There are two basic level measurements types:

Continuous level sensor

Point level sensor

Example: Fuel gauges display the level of fuel in a vehicle’s tank as an example, which provides a continuous level reading. There are point level sensors, which go-no/go or digital representative of the level of the liquid. Some automobiles have a light that illuminates when the fuel is very close to empty, acting as an alarm that warns the driver that fuel is about to run out completely.

HUMIDITY SENSORS

Humidity sensors can detect the relative humidity of the air or the other gas, which is a measure of the amount of water vapor contained in that gas. The most commonly used term is Relative Humidity (RH).

Controlling environmental conditions is critical it the production processes of material and humidity sensors enable readings to be taken and changes made it mitigate increasing or decreasing levels.

We can find their applications and use in Industrial & residential domain for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems control. A common application is in HVAC systems to maintain desired comfort levels.

IMAGE SENSORS:

Image sensors function to capture images to be digitally stored for processing. License plate readers are an example, as well as facial recognition systems. Automated production lines can use image sensors to detect issues of high quality, such as how well a surface is painted after leaving the spray booth.

Types of image sensors

CCD (charge-coupled device).

CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) imagers.

For more in detail, visit https://getaknowledge1.blogspot.com/2021/09/What-is-Sensor-Different-Types-Of-Sensors.html

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