The Internet of Things

Explain what the Internet of Things (IoT) is and name three connected objects you know, stating what data or "sense" each one provides.

What does any given object, such as a lamp, need to become a connected object? Mention at least three elements and explain the role of each.

A smart plug allows you to turn off a radiator from outside the home. Describe the complete chain the command follows (app, networks, plug) and reason what happens if the home Wi-Fi stops working.

The figure shows how various household appliances are controlled from a smartphone, with one element in the chain marked with ?. Identify this element and explain the path followed by the command "turn on the light" from when you tap the screen until the light bulb turns on.

Name three connected objects in your home or neighbourhood and explain what "job" each one performs: measuring something, providing alerts, or automating something.

Compare an infrared remote control with controlling a device over the internet: range, network requirement and privacy. Give an example where each option is clearly preferable.

A fitness tracker records your steps and sleep. Reason what sensors it uses, where this data is stored, and which app displays it. What risk to your privacy do you see in this operation?

A smart thermostat "learns" a family's schedule. Explain what data it needs to record to achieve this, what energy savings or comfort this learning provides, and what privacy risk it involves.

Design an IoT system that alerts a family on their smartphone if the moisture level of a houseplant drops too low: what sensor you would use, how it would connect, how the notification would arrive, and how the system would behave when there is no internet connection.

Explain what "the cloud" means in the context of the Internet of Things: where data is actually stored and what happens to devices if the manufacturer closes the service (real-world cases of devices becoming useless or "dumb").

A city installs sensors in parking spaces to indicate which ones are free. Describe the complete chain (sensor, communication network, platform, application) and two measurable benefits of the system.

The owner of a tourist rental property installs a smart lock connected via Wi-Fi to the router and claims: "I'm not worried about security: the lock has a 16-character random password, so no one from the street can breach it". a) Refute their statement by identifying and justifying two real attack vectors against the lock that do not rely on guessing that password (for example, vulnerabilities in the manufacturer's firmware/cloud or attacks on the local Wi-Fi network). b) Design an improvement in the network and authentication architecture that increases the security of remote access without relying solely on the device's password.

A family is hesitating whether to install three home automation devices: a thermostat with a presence sensor, a robot vacuum cleaner with a navigation camera, and smart speakers in the bedrooms. They want to automate their home but demand that no data regarding private habits, floor plans, or voice recordings be stored on third-party servers. a) Analyze for each of the three devices what type of sensitive data it collects and justify whether it is technically feasible for it to operate 100% via local processing (Edge Computing) without connecting to the manufacturer's cloud. b) Establish a technical decision criterion to reject or accept any future connected device in their home, based on data architecture (local vs. cloud) and privacy policy.

In a smart classroom equipped with CO₂, temperature, and light sensors, the system controls motorized windows, climate control, and blinds. On a cold winter morning (5,0 °C outside), the classroom records 1400 ppm of CO₂ (stale air; recommended threshold: 800 ppm), the indoor temperature is 19,0 °C, and direct sunlight is blinding the digital whiteboard. a) Identify the two operational conflicts that arise when trying to simultaneously optimize student health, energy efficiency, and visibility. b) Design the control algorithm using conditional rules (IF... THEN...) that resolves both dilemmas, justifying which objective must have absolute priority in the event of a contradiction.

A school replaces 60 traditional light bulbs with low-cost "smart" bulbs (5,0 W of LED lighting and 1,5 W of continuous standby power consumption due to the Wi-Fi connection). Three years later, the manufacturer goes bankrupt, shuts down its cloud servers, and the mobile app stops working, preventing them from being turned on or dimmed remotely. a) Calculate the total energy (in kWh) consumed in standby by the 60 bulbs over those 3 years (1095 days) and compare it with the actual lighting consumption if they are turned on 5 hours a day for 180 school days per year. Interpret the result from the perspective of energy savings. b) Explain the "bricking" phenomenon these bulbs suffered and what technical design alternative (local open protocols versus cloud dependency) would have ensured they continued to work after the manufacturer closed down.