MODULE 2
IoT Sensing and Actuation
2.1 Introduction
A major chunk of IoT applications involves sensing in one form or the other. Almost all the
applications in IoT—be it a consumer IoT, an industrial IoT, or just plain hobby-based
deployments of IoT solutions—sensing forms the first step.
Incidentally, actuation forms the final step in the whole operation of IoT application deployment
in a majority of scenarios. The basic science of sensing and actuation is based on the process of
transduction.
Transduction is the process of energy conversion from one form to another. Sensors and actuators
are deemed as transducers.
For example, in a public announcement (PA) system, a microphone (input device) converts sound
waves into electrical signals, which is amplified by an amplifier system (a process). Finally, a
loudspeaker (output device) outputs this into audible sounds by converting the amplified electrical
signals back into sound waves.
2.2 Sensors
● Sensors are devices that can measure, or quantify, or respond to the ambient changes in
their environment or within the intended zone of their deployment.
● They generate responses to external stimuli or physical phenomenon through
characterization of the input functions (which are these external stimuli) and their
conversion into typically electrical signals.
● For example, heat is converted to electrical signals in a temperature sensor, or atmospheric
pressure is converted to electrical signals in a barometer
Fig 1: The outline of a simple sensing operation
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
Table 1: Basic outline of the differences between transducers, sensors, and actuators
Fig 1 shows the simple outline of a sensing task. Here, a temperature sensor keeps on checking an
environment for changes. In the event of a fire, the temperature of the environment goes up. The
temperature sensor notices this change in the temperature of the room and promptly communicates
this information to a remote monitor via the processor.
The various sensors can be classified based on: 1) power requirements, 2) sensor output, and 3)
property to be measured.
Power Requirements:
● The way sensors operate decides the power requirements that must be provided for an IoT
implementation.
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
● Some sensors need to be provided with separate power sources for them to function,
whereas some sensors do not require any power sources.
● Depending on the requirements of power, sensors can be of two types.
(i) Active: Active sensors do not require an external circuitry or mechanism to provide
it with power. It directly responds to the external stimuli from its ambient
environment and converts it into an output signal. For example, a photodiode
converts light into electrical impulses.
(ii) Passive: Passive sensors require an external mechanism to power them up. The
sensed properties are modulated with the sensor’s inherent characteristics to
generate patterns in the output of the sensor. For example, a thermistor’s resistance
can be detected by applying voltage difference across it or passing a current
through it.
Output: The output of a sensor helps in deciding the additional components to be
integrated with an IoT node or system. Typically, almost all modern-day processors are
digital; digital sensors can be directly integrated to the processors.
Sensors are broadly divided into two types, depending on the type of output generated
from these sensors, as follows.
(i) Analog: Analog sensors generate an output signal or voltage, which is proportional
(linearly or non-linearly) to the quantity being measured and is continuous in time
and amplitude. Physical quantities such as temperature, speed, pressure,
displacement, strain, and others are all continuous and categorized as analog
quantities.
(ii) Digital: These sensors generate the output of discrete time digital representation
(time, or amplitude, or both) of a quantity being measured, in the form of output
signals or voltages. Typically, binary output signals in the form of a logic 1 or a
logic 0 for ON or OFF, respectively are associated with digital sensors.
Measured Property: The property of the environment being measured by the sensors can
be crucial in deciding the number of sensors in an IoT implementation.
Depending on the properties to be measured, sensors can be of two types.
(i) Scalar: Scalar sensors produce an output proportional to the magnitude of the quantity
being measured. The output is in the form of a signal or voltage.
Examples of such measurable physical quantities include color, pressure, temperature,
strain, and others.
A thermometer or thermocouple is an example of a scalar sensor that has the ability to
detect changes in ambient or object temperatures (depending on the sensor’s
configuration).
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
(ii) Vector: Vector sensors are affected by the magnitude as well as the direction and/or
orientation of the property they are measuring.
Physical quantities such as velocity and images that require additional information
besides their magnitude for completely categorizing a physical phenomenon are
categorized as vector quantities. Measuring such quantities are undertaken using vector
sensors.
For example, an electronic gyroscope, which is commonly found in all modern aircraft,
is used for detecting the changes in orientation of the gyroscope with respect to the
Earth’s orientation along all three axes
Fig 2: The functional blocks of a typical sensor node in IoT
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
Fig 3: Some common commercially available sensors used for IoT-based sensing
applications
2.3 Sensor Characteristics
All sensors can be defined by their ability to measure or capture a certain phenomenon and report
them as output signals to various other systems. sensors can be characterized by their ability to
sense the phenomenon based on the following three fundamental properties.
(i) Sensor Resolution:
● The smallest change in the measurable quantity that a sensor can detect is
referred to as the resolution of a sensor.
● The more the resolution of a sensor, the more accurate is the precision. A
sensor’s accuracy does not depend upon its resolution.
● For example, a temperature sensor A can detect up to 0.5 ◦ C changes in
temperature; whereas another sensor B can detect up to 0.25◦ C changes in
temperature. Therefore, the resolution of sensor B is higher than the resolution
of sensor A.
(ii) Sensor Accuracy:
● The accuracy of a sensor is the ability of that sensor to measure the environment
of a system as close to its true measure as possible.
● For example, a weight sensor detects the weight of a 100 kg mass as 99.98 kg.
We can say that this sensor is 99.98% accurate, with an error rate of ±0.02%
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
(iii) Sensor Precision:
● The principle of repeatability governs the precision of a sensor.
● For example, consider if the same weight sensor described earlier reports
measurements of 98.28 kg, 100.34 kg, and 101.11 kg upon three repeat
measurements for a mass of actual weight of 100 kg. Here, the sensor precision
is not deemed high because of significant variations in the temporal
measurements for the same object under the same conditions.
2.4 Sensorial Deviations
● The sensorial deviations are considered as errors in sensors.
● The measurement range between a sensor’s characterized minimum and maximum values
is also referred to as the fullscale range of that sensor. Under real conditions, the sensitivity
of a sensor may differ from the value specified for that sensor leading to sensitivity error.
This deviation is mostly attributed to sensor fabrication errors and its calibration.
● If the output of a sensor differs from the actual value to be measured by a constant, the
sensor is said to have an offset error or bias.
● For example, while measuring an actual temperature of 0 ◦ C, a temperature sensor outputs
1.1 ◦ C every time. In this case, the sensor is said to have an offset error or bias of 1.1 ◦ C.
● if a sensor’s output varies/deviates due to deviations in the sensor’s previous input values,
it is referred to as hysteresis error.
● The present output of the sensor depends on the past input values provided to the sensor.
● Focusing on digital sensors, if the digital output of a sensor is an approximation of the
measured property, it induces quantization error.
● This error can be defined as the difference between the actual analog signal and its closest
digital approximation during the sampling stage of the analog to digital conversion.
● Dynamic errors caused due to mishandling of sampling frequencies can give rise to
aliasing errors.
● Aliasing leads to different signals of varying frequencies to be represented as a single signal
in case the sampling frequency is not correctly chosen, resulting in the input signal
becoming a multiple of the sampling rate.
2.5 Sensing Types
Sensing can be broadly divided into four different categories based on the nature of the
environment being sensed and the physical sensors being used to do so
1) scalar sensing, 2) multimedia sensing, 3) hybrid sensing, and 4) virtual sensing
(i) Scalar sensing:
● Scalar sensing encompasses the sensing of features that can be quantified simply
by measuring changes in the amplitude of the measured values with respect to time.
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
● The sensors used for measuring the scalar quantities like temperature, current,
atmospheric pressure, rainfall, light, humidity, flux are referred to as scalar sensors,
and the act is known as scalar sensing.
Fig 4: The different sensing types commonly encountered in IoT
● Figures 5.3(b), 5.3(d), 5.3(e), 5.3(f), 5.3(g), 5.3(h), 5.3(i), and 5.3(j) show
scalar sensors.
● A simple scalar temperature sensing of a fire detection event is shown in
Figure 4.4(a).
(ii) Multimedia sensing:
● Multimedia sensing encompasses the sensing of features that have a spatial
variance property associated with the property of temporal variance.
● Unlike scalar sensors, multimedia sensors are used for capturing the
changes in amplitude of a quantifiable property concerning space (spatial)
as well as time (temporal).
● Quantities such as images, direction, flow, speed, acceleration, sound,
force, mass, energy, and momentum have both directions as well as a
magnitude.
● Additionally, these quantities follow the vector law of addition and hence
are designated as vector quantities. They might have different values in
different directions for the same working condition at the same time. The
sensors used for measuring these quantities are known as vector sensors.
Figures 4.3(a) and 4.3(c) are vector sensors.
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
● A simple camera-based multimedia sensing using surveillance as an
example is shown in Figure 4.4(b)
(iii) Hybrid sensing :
● The act of using scalar as well as multimedia sensing at the same time is
referred to as hybrid sensing.
● There is a need to measure certain vector as well as scalar properties of an
environment at the same time. Under these conditions, a range of various
sensors are employed (from the collection of scalar as well as multimedia
sensors) to measure the various properties of that environment at any instant
of time, and temporally map the collected information to generate new
information.
● For example, in an agricultural field, it is required to measure the soil
conditions at regular intervals of time to determine plant health. Sensors
such as soil moisture and soil temperature are deployed underground to
estimate the soil’s water retention capacity and the moisture being held by
the soil at any instant of time.
● However, this setup only determines whether the plant is getting enough
water or not. There may be a host of other factors besides water availability,
which may affect a plant’s health. The additional inclusion of a camera
sensor with the plant may be able to determine the actual condition of a
plant by additionally determining the color of leaves. The aggregate
information from soil moisture, soil temperature, and the camera sensor will
be able to collectively determine a plant’s health at any instant of time.
● Other common examples of hybrid sensing include smart parking systems,
traffic management systems, and others. Figure 4.4(c) shows an example of
hybrid sensing, where a camera and a temperature sensor are collectively
used to detect and confirm forest fires during wildlife monitoring.
(iv) Virtual sensing:
● There is a need for very dense and large-scale deployment of sensor nodes
spread over a large area for monitoring of parameters. One such domain is
agriculture. Here, often, the parameters being measured, such as soil
moisture, soil temperature, and water level, do not show significant spatial
variations. Hence, if sensors are deployed in the fields of farmer A, it is
highly likely that the measurements from his sensors will be able to provide
almost concise measurements of his neighbor B’s fields; this is especially
true of fields which are immediately surrounding A’s fields.
● Exploiting this property, if the data from A’s field is digitized using an IoT
infrastructure and this system advises him regarding the appropriate
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
watering, fertilizer, and pesticide regimen for his crops, this advisory can
also be used by B for maintaining his crops.
● In short, A ’s sensors are being used for actual measurement of parameters;
whereas virtual data (which does not have actual physical sensors but uses
extrapolation-based measurements) is being used for advising B.
2.6 Sensing Considerations:
The choice of sensors in an IoT sensor node is critical and can either make or break
the feasibility of an IoT deployment.
The following major factors influence the choice of sensors in IoT-based sensing
solutions:
1) Sensing range, 2) accuracy and precision, 3) energy, and 4) device size.
(i) Sensing Range:
● The sensing range of a sensor node defines the detection fidelity of that node.
● Typical approaches to optimize the sensing range in deployments include fixed
k-coverage and dynamic k-coverage.
● A lifelong fixed k-coverage tends to usher in redundancy as it requires a large
number of sensor nodes, the sensing range of some of which may also overlap.
● In contrast, dynamic kcoverage incorporates mobile sensor nodes post detection
of an event, which, however, is a costly solution and may not be deployable in
all operational areas and terrains.
● Additionally, the sensing range of a sensor may also be used to signify the upper
and lower bounds of a sensor’s measurement range.
● For example, a proximity sensor has a typical sensing range of a couple of
meters.
● In contrast, a camera has a sensing range varying between tens of meters to
hundreds of meters. As the complexity of the sensor and its sensing range goes
up, its cost significantly increases.
(ii) Accuracy and Precision:
● The accuracy and precision of measurements provided by a sensor are critical
in deciding the operations of specific functional processes.
● For example, a standard temperature sensor can be easily integrated with
conventional components for hobby projects and day-to-day applications, but it
is not suitable for industrial processes.
● Regular temperature sensors have a very low-temperature sensing range, as
well as relatively low accuracy and precision. The use of these sensors in
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
industrial applications, where a precision of up to 3–4 decimal places is
required, cannot be facilitated by these sensors.
● Industrial sensors are typically very sophisticated, and as a result, very costly.
However, these industrial sensors have very high accuracy and precision score,
even under harsh operating conditions.
(iii) Energy:
● The energy consumed by a sensing solution is crucial to determine the lifetime
of that solution and the estimated cost of its deployment.
● If the sensor or the sensor node is so energy inefficient that it requires
replenishment of its energy sources quite frequently, the effort in maintaining
the solution and its cost goes up; whereas its deployment feasibility goes down.
● Consider a scenario where sensor nodes are deployed on the top of glaciers.
Once deployed, access to these nodes is not possible.
● If the energy requirements of the sensor nodes are too high, such a deployment
will not last long, and the solution will be highly infeasible as charging or
changing of the energy sources of these sensor nodes is not an option.
(iv) Device Size:
● Most of the applications of IoT require sensing solutions which are so small
that they do not hinder any of the regular activities that were possible before the
sensor node deployment was carried out.
● Larger the size of a sensor node, larger is the obstruction caused by it, higher is
the cost and energy requirements, and lesser is its demand for the bulk of the
IoT applications.
● Consider a simple human activity detector. If the detection unit is too large to
be carried or too bulky to cause hindrance to regular normal movements, the
demand for this solution would be low.
● The wearable sensors are highly energy-efficient, small in size, and almost part
of the wearer’s regular wardrobe.
2.7 Actuators
● An actuator can be considered as a machine or system’s component that can affect the
movement or control the said mechanism or the system.
● Control systems affect changes to the environment or property they are controlling through
actuators.
● The system activates the actuator through a control signal, which may be digital or analog.
It elicits a response from the actuator, which is in the form of some form of mechanical
motion.
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
● The control system of an actuator can be a mechanical or electronic system, a software-
based system (e.g., an autonomous car control system), a human, or any other input. Figure
5 shows the outline of a simple actuation system.
● A remote user sends commands to a processor. The processor instructs a motor controlled
robotic arm to perform the commanded tasks accordingly.
● The processor is primarily responsible for converting the human commands into sequential
machine-language command sequences, which enables the robot to move. The robotic arm
finally moves the designated boxes, which was its assigned task.
Figure 5: The outline of a simple actuation mechanism
2.8 Actuator Types:
Broadly, actuators can be divided into seven classes:
1) Hydraulic, 2) Pneumatic, 3) Electrical, 4) Thermal/Magnetic, 5) Mechanical, 6) Soft, and
7) Shape memory polymers.
(i) Hydraulic actuators:
● A hydraulic actuator works on the principle of compression and decompression
of fluids.
● These actuators facilitate mechanical tasks such as lifting loads through the use
of hydraulic power derived from fluids in cylinders or fluid motors.
● The mechanical motion applied to a hydraulic actuator is converted to either
linear, rotary, or oscillatory motion.
● The almost incompressible property of liquids is used in hydraulic actuators
for exerting significant force.
● These hydraulic actuators are also considered as stiff systems. The actuator’s
limited acceleration restricts its usage
(ii) Pneumatic actuators:
● A pneumatic actuator works on the principle of compression and
decompression of gases.
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
● These actuators use a vacuum or compressed air at high pressure and convert
it into either linear or rotary motion.
● Pneumatic rack and pinion actuators are commonly used for valve controls of
water pipes.
● Pneumatic actuators are considered as compliant systems.
● The actuators using pneumatic energy for their operation are typically
characterized by the quick response to starting and stopping signals.
● Small pressure changes can be used for generating large forces through these
actuators.
● Pneumatic brakes are an example of this type of actuator which is so responsive
that they can convert small pressure changes applied by drives to generate the
massive force required to stop or slow down a moving vehicle.
● Pneumatic actuators are responsible for converting pressure into force. The
power source in the pneumatic actuator does not need to be stored in reserve
for its operation.
(iii) Electric actuators:
● Electric motors are used to power an electric actuator by generating mechanical
torque.
● This generated torque is translated into the motion of a motor’s shaft or for
switching (as in relays).
● For example, actuating equipment such as solenoid valves control the flow of
water in pipes in response to electrical signals.
● This class of actuators is considered one of the cheapest, cleanest and speedy
actuator types available.
● Figures 6(a), 6(b), 6(c), 6(d), 6(e), 6(f), 6(i), and 6(j) show some of the
commonly used electrical actuators
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
Figure 6: Some common commercially available actuators used for IoT-based
control applications
(iv) Thermal or magnetic actuators:
● The use of thermal or magnetic energy is used for powering this class of
actuators.
● These actuators have a very high power density and are typically compact,
lightweight, and economical.
● One classic example of thermal actuators is shape memory materials (SMMs)
such as shape memory alloys (SMAs).
● These actuators do not require electricity for actuation. They are not affected
by vibration and can work with liquid or gases.
● Magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs) are a type of magnetic actuators.
(v) Mechanical actuators:
● In mechanical actuation, the rotary motion of the actuator is converted into
linear motion to execute some movement.
● The use of gears, rails, pulleys, chains, and other devices are necessary for
these actuators to operate.
● These actuators can be easily used in conjunction with pneumatic, hydraulic,
or electrical actuators.
● They can also work in a standalone mode.
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
● The best example of a mechanical actuator is a rack and pinion mechanism.
Figures 6(g), 6(h), 6(k), and 6(l) show some of the commonly available
mechanical actuators.
● The hydroelectric generator shown in Figures 6(g) and 6(h) convert the water-
flow induced rotary motion of a turbine into electrical energy.
● Similarly, the mechanical switches shown in Figures 6 (k) and 6(l) uses the
mechanical motion of the switch to switch on or off an electrical circuit.
(vi) Soft actuators:
● Soft actuators (e.g., polymer-based) consists of elastomeric polymers that are
used as embedded fixtures in flexible materials such as cloth, paper, fiber,
particles, and others.
● The conversion of molecular level microscopic changes into tangible
macroscopic deformations is the primary working principle of this class of
actuators.
● They are designed to handle fragile objects such as agricultural fruit harvesting,
or performing precise operations like manipulating the internal organs during
robot-assisted surgeries.
(vii) Shape memory polymers:
● Shape memory polymers (SMP) are considered as smart materials that respond
to some external stimulus by changing their shape, and then revert to their
original shape once the affecting stimulus is removed.
● Features such as high strain recovery, biocompatibility, low density, and
biodegradability characterize these materials.
● SMP-based actuators function similar to our muscles.
● Modern-day SMPs have been designed to respond to a wide range of stimuli
such as pH changes, heat differentials, light intensity, and frequency changes,
magnetic changes, and others.
● Photopolymer/light-activated polymers (LAP) are a particular type of SMP,
which require light as a stimulus to operate.
● LAP-based actuators are characterized by their rapid response times.
● Using only the variation of light frequency or its intensity, LAPs can be
controlled remotely without any physical contact.
● The polymer retains its shape after removal of the activating light. In order to
change the polymer back to its original shape, a light stimulus of a different
frequency has to be applied to the polymer.
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
2.9 Actuator Characteristics
● The correct choice of actuators is necessary for the long-term sustenance and continuity
of operations, as well as for increasing the lifetime of the actuators themselves.
● A set of four characteristics can define all actuators
● Weight:
1. The physical weight of actuators limits its application scope.
2. For example, the use of heavier actuators is generally preferred for industrial
applications and applications requiring no mobility of the IoT deployment.
3. In contrast, lightweight actuators typically find common usage in portable systems
in vehicles, drones, and home IoT applications.
● Power Rating:
1. The power rating defines the minimum and maximum operating power an actuator
can safely withstand without damage to itself.
2. Generally, it is indicated as the power-to-weight ratio for actuators.
3. For example, smaller servo motors used in hobby projects typically have a
maximum rating of 5 VDC, 500 mA, which is suitable for an operations-driven
battery-based power source.
4. Exceeding this limit might be detrimental to the performance of the actuator and
may cause burnout of the motor.
● Torque to Weight Ratio:
1. The ratio of torque to the weight of the moving part of an instrument/device is
referred to as its torque/weight ratio.
2. This indicates the sensitivity of the actuator.
3. Higher is the weight of the moving part; lower will be its torque to weight ratio for
a given power
● Stiffness and Compliance:
1. The resistance of a material against deformation is known as its stiffness, whereas
compliance of a material is the opposite of stiffness.
2. Stiffness can be directly related to the modulus of elasticity of that material.
3. Stiff systems are considered more accurate than compliant systems as they have a
faster response to the change in load applied to it.
4. For example, hydraulic systems are considered as stiff and non-compliant, whereas
pneumatic systems are considered as compliant.
Dr. Richa Tengshe, Dept. of ECE, CMRIT,
Bengaluru
