Thermostats are one of the first examples of intelligent
systems in buildings. As simple of a device as temperature controlling unit
have evolved throughout the years and today the Nest Thermostat is seen as the future of
thermostats.
To read and watch more about the Nest, you can use this
link:
It exemplifies the different capabilities of former Apple
employee Tony Fadell’s thermostat, as well as the technological evolution of
the industry.
More important than the neat design and touch screen, the Nest has multitude of sensors to help maintain thermal comfort, as well as
save energy in the building. This thermostat does not only have a thermometer
like old thermostats; it also has a humidity sensor, light sensor and even an
activity sensor. The touch screen has a touch sensor and the wifi receiver is
also a sensor. This tiny device includes all of these sensors for a relatively
cheap price. Just like an iPhone, that is sold for $200 and includes many
sensors (and selling the smart device is not even what the phone companies make
their money off of, but the plan), the Nest is small, cheap, and very
intelligent is term of its sensor capabilities. It is unbelievable how some
houses built in the US a few years ago still did not have a central air system
or a thermostat, and now this simple device has expanded to be able to sense
activity in the room, adjust itself, and save energy accordingly.
Looking to the future, sensors are just going to evolve
more. A study that was done five years ago by Kim Fowler (see link below) asked
people what they think about sensor and network development in the next five
years. The study shows how different people think sensors are developing in a
variety of areas. Expectedly, academics who work with sensors predicted the
most drastic increase in sensor use and advancement. Some people don’t even
realize how fast this technology is moving and it is hard to predict how the
future will look like with even more, better, smaller, and cheaper sensors.
Factors like dependability, size, ease of diagnosis, security of data, power
consumption, etc. are some of the areas in which sensors seem to improve
dramatically.
It is funny to think how eight years ago we used to think
the ultra thin Motorola phone was the most advanced piece of technology out
there, and touchscreens, wifi, voice command and other features that exist in
every smartphone today were only science fiction. And this development is all
thanks to sensors.
Sources:
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