Learning Path for aspiring Internet of Things (IoT) Professionals

Internet of Things(IoT):

Many of them talking about Internet of Things(IoT) and Many of them are not aware of What is IoT? Let me start with What Internet of Things?

What is Internet of Things(IoT)? 

Internet of Things is an ecosystem of connected physical devices/objects that are accessible through Internet. The simple IoT Project has layers,

1)     Device Layer

2)     Protocol Layer

3)     Communication Layer,

4)     Platform Layer

5)   User Experience and Application Layer

Learning Path for an Internet Of Things Experts:

1)   Device: The IoT expert should be well versed in Device/object.  Usually engineering graduates would have studied subjects like Microprocessor, Micro controllers..etc. Those subjects should refreshed. There is no crash course on device and assembly. But there are courses available in Youtube. Few IoT Devices which can be used for practicing are Arduino Uno, Raspberry Pi, Intel Edison, Adafruit Flora, Intel NUC.etc Few sensors that are widely used in the market are Temperature sensor, Proximity sensor, Pressure sensor, water quality sensor, chemical sensor..etc. There are lot of sensors available in the market. Please do a research before selecting the device for the IoT Project. 

2)   Programming Language: Once the device is assembled. The programming language can be used such as C, C++, Python, Java, JavaScript, Go, Parasail and Assembler. Few other programming languages can also be used but need to cautious based on device compatibility

3)   Protocol and Communication: IoT Expert should know about Protocol. Few protocol and communication areathat is widely used in the large scale projects are MQTT, Bluetooth/BLE, Wifi, Zigbee, Z-ware, LowPAN, Cellular, NFC.etc.  One should understand each of the protocol and communication layer and implement it in the project.

4)   IoT Platforms: All the data which are generated in the devices and sensors will be collected and transformed into a IoT platforms. IoT Platforms which are used in the industry are

GE Predix

Thingworx

AWS – IoT

Azure – IoT

Watson – IoT

There are other companies who also provides IoT Platforms such as Bosch IoT Suite, Samsung’s ARTIK, Salesforce IoT.

I guess there is no free sources available to learn about this platforms. But there are free Platforms which you can use to build small IoT solutions/Projects.  

There are so many IoT projects in the real life we can think of. Few IoT projects are listed as Home automation, Smart Garbage bin, Liquid Level Monitor, Smart Vending Machine, Smart Shelving, Smart Parking System..etc 

Wish you all the best..