if the sensors pick up enough activity, they release pheromones
This feels like it was developed for the porn industry, coming to a dogging spot near you....
Macario Namie, head of IoT strategy at Cisco Jasper, has been working in the connected device space "before it was known as IoT” and was with Jasper for nine years before it was acquired by the networking borg in 2016 for $1.4bn (£1.1bn). The outfit began as a machine-to-machine wireless comms specialist, Jasper Wireless, …
While I can get away with room thermostats, smart valves, etc without the need for a central controller in the house, it is difficult to get even something as trivial as automated watering (when you are away from home) done without a proper controller.
That will be my next IoT project - automated watering of the garden at both my main and my summer home based on actual soil moisture content measurement.
" automated watering of the garden"
Remember to build in an independent fail-safe mechanism that limits the time for which water can flow. Otherwise a controller fault could waste a lot of water.
I suspect that any such device needs approval by the local water authority if connected to the mains supply.
You would not require approval in Australia from the local water authority provided you adhere to any local day/time restrictions dealing in areas prone to drought. A typical failsafe is to use two values in series driven by different controller outputs. You could do this with a master value and value on each spur.
I understand the automatic watering controller based on soil moisture content sensors part of the project but I fail to understand where the internet comes into the equation.
That is just Autonomous Things not Internet of Things
(unless it is a £1300 Rentokil one that phones a bloke who comes round with a watering can)
I understand the automatic watering controller based on soil moisture content sensors part of the project but I fail to understand where the internet comes into the equation.
What I see in my area from talking to orchard owners when buying fruit is that the watering stuff has no access to the Internet but only to the LAN. It records watering times, has alarms say if a valve was on to water a specific tree but the sensor either fails to read moisture or valve fails to close, etc. While these owners are pretty sharp on things, some of the LAN stuff they leave up to a specific contracting company who's specialty is this.
Sound like it might just work, although it may also burn up the lawn. For cats a proximity sensor that triggers a light spray of citrus-themed water will chase them off without harming the curious cat.
" the humble Amazon Kindle in 2006 and 2007 that started the whole IoT craze"
What was this then? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_VII
There's probably more cases of prior art of a handheld/Internet connected device than a Kindle. The era prior to smartphones/pads merely forced you to fill up on web content/apps, then sync them to your mobile device for portable use. For me IoT is Raspberry Pi and other tiny connected devices like microPython or Arduinos with cell and wifi capabilities. Embedded devices, but Internet connected/connectable as well, no? IoT hairbrush? Not so much, although being wireless and connected it does qualify, I just refuse to accept that. :P
IoT devices should do multiple things, and do them well enough to displace their unconnected cousins.