Sensors for IoT are experiencing large-scale deployment in diverse end-user applications across verticals in standalone, integrated, combined, embedded and, more recently, wearable and ingestibles.
Sensors are becoming highly intelligent with analytical and decision-making capability at the edge. Driven by the IoT evolution, sensors form the cornerstone of an integrated approach to remote connectivity for real-time monitoring and control. Now, smart sensors are evolving toward the predictive.
“These trends impact everyone in the value chain and demand a shift in strategies to survive and succeed in the dynamic marketplace,” said Rajender Thusu, Principal, Sensors & Instrumentation Industry, Frost & Sullivan. “For instance, monitoring and control using the IoT platform is driving wearable sensors that provide various physiological data and enable quantified self-movement. They provide mobility, connectivity, and context awareness with each other and the rest of the world. This will transform health wellness through preventive care and see increasing penetration in other vertical markets such as industrial, sports, security, firefighting, military and security.”
According to the “Global Sensor Outlook 2016” report, part of Frost & Sullivan's Sensors & Instrumentation Growth Partnership Service program, sensor adoption is on the rise and use of software and protocols helps network compatibility, both wired and wireless.
It estimates the global sensors market to generate $162.36 billion in 2019, with industrial control, smart cities, and eHealth being top revenue contributors.
A few of the other transformative changes involving sensors include:
- Increasing adoption of 3D sensors and their integration into monitoring systems;
- Silicon photonics: silicon chips with integrated optics and electronics;
- Biosensors: rapid detection devices to address gaps in healthcare and food safety;
- Energy harvesters: micro-energy harvesting systems that generate electrical energy from solar, vibration and thermal energy;
- Intelligent vehicles: fully automated and driverless;
- Bulk acoustic wave and surface acoustic wave: will enable highly economical industrial and consumer applications;
- Infrastructure and sensor towers: will completely automate building monitoring through new integrated sensor systems.
“Wireless sensor networks are the future of connectivity,” said Thusu. “Sensor technology will continue to advance in terms of natural user interface, ubiquitous computing, and sensory tracking. By 2025, sensors will not only be intelligent and prognostic, but also autonomous, self-healing and failsafe, paving the way for Industrial IoT (IIoT).”
Edited by
Alicia Young
