Reducing the Covid risk with IoT
A lot has been said about the Covid-19 pandemic. It really did a quite the number on the entire world and seems it will continue to do so for a while. So, people and organizations around the world are all adapting to living with the virus instead of waiting it to pass (if it does at all). And technology once again can make a big difference in saving lives and improving the overall quality of life.
The IT industry was at the forefront when the pandemic started. It provided us with the needed services to continue working and learning remotely. It helped us stay in touch and have fun. But it also helps us battle the virus in several ways. For one, supercomputers are crunching various studies for both the virus and treatments. This significantly reduces the time needed to explore various scenarios and come to a conclusion.
Technology also improves care for patients in hospitals, helps people get telehealth consultations, robots assist for disinfection and so much more. There’s also one less known vertical to battle Covid via technology – the Internet of Things (IoT).
Small but powerful
IoT is generally associated with smart cities, smart buildings, factories and similar things. In reality, all small sensors and devices are part of IoT. All together they form a powerful alliance which is capable of incredibly impressive results. Including allowing people to create new ideas, approaches and devices to reduce the risk of spreading the virus and/or even helping with recovery.
The telecom Orange for example notes that in Hong Kong businesses have been finding new use cases for IoT to tackle Covid “all the time”. It started with the use of wristbands and QR codes to track visitors and help reduce movement in areas of risk. It also was part of a GPS-enabled app to track movements and trace contacts in case of infection.
On the other hand, venues in Hong Kong like restaurants, retailers and other populated places have introduced IoT sensors to detect abnormal body temperature, to monitor U-traps in drainage systems to not dry out so that they prevent viruses from passing into living areas and so much more.
You can do it, too
IoT tends to sound a bit complex and overwhelming due to the type of words being used. In reality, now it is easier than ever to add IoT sensors and devices and use them to their full potential. For example, you can add IoT sensors to monitor the air quality in classrooms, office spaces or other indoor areas. Today this is very easy to do so and wireless technologies like LoRaWAN facilitate the process.
Milesight has developed a whole range of LoRaWAN based IoT devices which you can use in an office, supermarket, classroom, hospitals, restaurants and even churches. All with the same goal – monitoring the indoor air quality, including CO2 levels and ensure there’s ample fresh air in the area. Fresh air is vital for our wellbeing, feeling well and also for keeping any possible air-spread viruses, Covid included, at as low levels as possible.
You can use the AM107 air quality detector for the office. It will also track the temperature and humidity and you can use it to automatically control the HVAC system via an additional controller. It will also track air pollutants including CO2 and TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds). The same sensor can also adjust lights and other conveniences.
The same sensor will also help in classrooms or conference rooms to keep everyone safer. You can use other sensors from the AM300 or the AM100 series to add more functions or focus on those which are more important to you – for example also track PM2.5 and PM10 values with the AM300 series. All of them are either battery powered or via USB and very easy to install in minutes.
Easier than ever
Of course, choosing the sensors is one thing, but making them work? Even easier. Modern IoT devices are very easy to work with. For example, the Milesight sensors use the LoRaWAN standard and thus they are fully supported by the Helium wireless network. This means what you can either add a Helium hotspot or simply use the ones that are already widely available in thousands of cities and areas around the world.
LoRaWAN is specifically designed for low-powered IoT devices and provides them with fast, reliable and low-latency connections. This allows even battery-powered IoT sensors to work for years and years without recharge. So, you can simply mount the sensor on the wall, configure it, and use it. No wires, no hassle.
Configuration and management of the sensors is also easy. They support NFC for quick and easy configuration via a mobile app. And you can also connect them with the Milesight Cloud IoT platform where you will get access to all features, better visualizations of the data to adapt the settings and so on. It really is that easy. And you can bring a significant improvement to the quality of life to your team with a small investment.
And if you want to create more complex IoT solutions, HeliumMart team can help you, creating and implementing the right solution for you.