Internet of Things (IoT) in the Running of Sense & Save
The Sense & Save application is designed in such a way that it provides accurate and real-time data from appliances enabling its capacity to remain in control of utilities in the house. The Sense & Save concept conforms to the IoT aspects as it focuses on embedding all the devices used in the day-to-day activities of the house, prompting a surge in utilities and energy consumption (Gomez et al., 2019). Devices such as those that consume gas, water, and electricity in the house should be connected to Sense & Save through the Internet. This provides a central location in which data is received on a real-time approach every instant when any of the appliances are being used, enabling the user to monitor and control the levels of energy and resource consumption. The Sense & Save utilize devices such as smart sensors and outlets to record data on real-time for the appliances in use, allowing the user to turn the devices on and off should the data record a spike in usage (Elkhodr et al., 2016). For instance, appliances such as showerheads, thermostats, faucets, stoves, laundry machine, fridge, microwave, oven, hairdryer, television, iron, room heater, fan, music system, among others (Figure 1). Thus, the IoT enables the digital monitoring and control of all the appliances in the house.
The use of smart sensors and outlet installation is essential to provide real-time data on the utilization of resources in the house. These devices are connected by the Sense & Save application, which is on the user’s smartphone enabling a click control measure. The connection through the Internet keeps date updates on real-time promoting immediate action should the need necessitate (Figure 2). Thus, mitigate utility accumulation and enhances user’s accountability on the resources available in the house.
The owner of the house utilizing the IoT technology through the Sense & Save application remains to the vital person connected to the system. This comprises the primary user or owner of the house. The addition of secondary users such as siblings, spouses, roommates, or any other person is given the approval by the primary user can be connected to the system to enable subsequent action where necessary. The secondary persons connected to the system should only provide necessary measures if the primary user is inactive or unavailable (Yang et al., 2018). The landlords are provided with data on the utility utilization to advise the users of the houses accordingly. The application provides access to crucial information and services such as real-time data updates, the capacity to switch the systems and different appliances on and off and keep track of the consumption capacity of every device. The system is connected through the Internet, where all communications are executed between the IoT and the user (Yang et al., 2018).
The most efficient types of Application Programming Interface fundamental to the success of the Sense & Save application comprises of the action APIs and perception APIs (Hofman & Rajagopal, 2014). The use of Action APIs enables only authenticated users to access the information on the application. The real-time monitoring needs authenticated users (primary and secondary) as the key actors with the responsibility to issue commands. The Action APIs provide high-level security clearance for the users of the application (IP, 2018). Thus, ascertain the safety of the IoT as used in the house vital to guarantee quality results. The Perception APIs are crucial to interpret, analyze, and send feedback on the sensory recorded data (Snodgrass & Winnie, 2019). The ultimate goal of the Sense & Save application is to increase efficiency in energy and resources consumed in the house through IoT. Thus, Perception APIs are integral to the success of the application and the IoT connections in the house (Hosek et al., 2017). Consequently, the APIs engaged in the IoT filters the information and authentication to ascertain maximum protection and safety, as well as, quality of the IoT meeting its objective.
The IoT requires hardware infrastructure, software functionalities, information transfer functionalities, storage functionalities, communication functionalities, and network functionalities. The coordination of the devices based on their categorization is essential to provide smooth functioning of the application. The hardware infrastructure comprises of a laptop and smartphone for both data analysis and real-time updates. The software used comprises of macOS, Windows, and others such as Python and TensorFlow. The software functionalities must be up-to-date versions to ascertain maximum security features over the Internet. The information transfer functionalities comprise routers for Wi-Fi enable the system, and Internet connection gateways. Communication is done via the Sense & Save application installed on the smartphone and the Mac Book or Windows-running computer. The provision of maximum storage capacity is vital for the processing of the data effectively. This is both on the hardware infrastructure and cloud-based. The use of devices, such as smart sensors and outlets, monitors the functionality of different appliances. All devices in the IoT house should be digitally connected to a common platform (the Sense & Save application) via the Internet. The factor is vital as it ascertains the effective functionality of the application with a capacity to meet its objective.
