Internet of Things a perspective

A lot is written on the Internet of Things and this is just to focus on for Discreet machines, and may also be called as the Industrial internet of things, - discreet machines. There are two ways to enable a machine to be "smart" and only one method will sustain.

A discreet machine has umpteen parameters that it performs. It has all the systems and subsystems inbuilt in it to perform all the value add functions required to convert the Input to Output

However the input /output process is owned by customer and mostly it could be a secret for the end user. The is akin to the “soul” of the machine, the very purpose of the machine (body).

The intention of the machine maker (OEM) is to make the machine perfect. For this the OEM can monitor the machine parameters but in order to give the customer confidence, they must stay away from monitoring the I/O parameters.

Example – A cell phone is one such discreet machine wherein the calls and messages are the property of the customer and his right to privacy must be respected – Input-Output.

The cellphone maker is not expected to record calls/Text messages or call logs that could go to a third party. If such things happen the confidence of the customer will be broken.

The cell phone can log performance parameters like noise, battery drain rate, temperature, RAM usage, and his operating system efficiency. – And can hook to the manufacturer for improvement.

Second example: A Chocolate making machine could be another discreet machine.

If the machine maker tracks the formulae of the chocolate and keeps a record and send to the OEM, it will be a violation of customer secrecy. - Touching the soul parameters is a strict no.

The machine can however record and optimize the machine performance, like loss of heat, pressure drop leak etc. The OEM can also monitor the parts wear, abnormal vibrations and predict failures.

These parameters are usually logged on any intelligent programmable machine to collect such performance data.

If we can classify the secret data as the“soul” and the proprietor is customer (“GOD”) then designing a machine that is “thinking” on its own terms using algorithms could be made flexible and the control of such "soul" parameters should be left to customer/user only without any internet connectivity for such data, especially to the OEM.

Secondly as regards the machine operation parameters (systems) that can be compared to that of the body parameters, the machine maker (OEM) is encouraged to device systems and intelligence to collect such data to make the machine perform better. Example: an early warning for parts that wear, a fault detection that could detect leaks and energy loss. These  prompt the user to change some essential serviceable parts.  The IOT acts as a tool in the hands of the doctor (the OEMs) who can track these. and give value add service to the user.

The next step is to analyze these data realtime and come-up with feedback to customer of a predictive performance and machine accuracy. It can forewarn customers to change a rapidly wearing part or replenish or change the coolant where heat builds up.

In short customers will prefer a machine which is in safe care of the manufacturer even though they operate/own it. the IOT will be useful in this domain.