How does a connected object work?

With the advancement of technology, there are more and more connected objects that are very useful in everyday life. By communicating with their environment, they facilitate data exchange and offer you a host of services that simplify your activities.

Watch, glasses, keychain, television, car, door or lock, they gradually transform your behaviors, your habits, and even society in general.

Despite their success, almost the general public ignores how they work. To help clarify this, this article summarizes the essentials to know about this technology.

How does a connected light bulb work?

When you are asked how to repair a resin sink or how to make a wood lathe, any handyman quickly finds answers. But when it comes to the functioning of connected objects, people prefer to change the subject.

Let’s start with the mechanism of a connected light bulb. Since the rise of LED lighting, manufacturers have been very ingenious and offer connected LED bulbs.

Thanks to integrated technologies, they provide innovative options for indoor lighting. Their operating principle is relatively simple. The device is actually a lamp enhanced with a wifi or Bluetooth module.

The latter is used to adjust the home lighting remotely through devices paired with the bulb. It is also possible to integrate other components depending on the features, for example a rotating camera or a colored LED device.

In general, a connected light bulb allows you to turn the light on or off from a distance. It also helps you adjust the brightness.  

For waking up, it gives you the possibility to configure a gentle turn-on. You can also program the color temperature towards cool or warm according to your desires.

How does a connected speaker work?

The connected speaker is nothing other than a device connected to Bluetooth technology or the wifi network. It connects to a domestic device such as a tablet or a smartphone. It offers you the opportunity to control it remotely by voice.

To do this, there are microphones that are included in the speaker and these pick up everything you say. The phrase must be specific to help the device understand that you are speaking to it.

The speaker was originally intended only to indicate the weather or time. Through a built-in voice assistant, this smart device can now offer you a number of relevant pieces of information. You just have to ask it a question out loud and it responds instantly.

Thanks to it, it becomes easy to control different settings in your home. The speaker can connect to your security cameras, LED bulbs, electrical outlets or thermostats.

Component	Role	Connection	Importance
Sensor	Data collection	Internal	Essential
Microprocessor	Processing	Internal	High
Wi-Fi / Bluetooth	Transmission	Wireless	High
Mobile application	User control	Cloud	Essential
Cloud server	Data storage	Internet	Medium

How does a connected watch work?

Also called a smartwatch, a connected watch becomes an essential everyday gadget. Due to its many included technologies, it resembles a microcomputer or a smartphone.

Like a classic watch, it gives you the time as well as the day. Beyond that, it has multiple functionalities.

When someone calls you, it can notify you. That’s not all, it allows you to monitor your daily water consumption and assess your heart rate. This device has several uses, but these are just examples among many others.

At first, it remains a Bluetooth receiver. When it emits a signal, your smartphone can detect it, facilitating synchronization. In this way, it collects the same alerts and information in case of a call or message.

Then, connected watches use wifi sensors. Even better, activity sensors as well as GPS have also been added. To be able to enjoy it for a long time, manufacturers integrate quality batteries.

How does a connected television work?

Just like tablets, watches, or smartphones, televisions today can be connected. To transform an ordinary TV into a connected one, a simple connection can suffice.

Using an Ethernet cable, you connect the device to an Internet equipment, a wifi antenna, or a box. For more autonomy and smoothness, it is advisable to use a microprocessor as well as a hard drive.

With connected televisions, the screen is no longer just for watching your favorite series. It also allows you to enjoy a complete experience by installing applications of your choice. For example, you can listen to music while checking your emails.

With just a few clicks, your smartphone can communicate with the television to control the applications. Take the opportunity to surf the web from your bed or couch.

How does a communicating object work?

You can find communicating objects in almost every field. They come in many versions such as a smart card, a smartphone, a watch, a television, and a lock. By the way, take the time to read our article: How to change a lock cylinder?

Back to our topic, a communicating object is defined as a device that interacts with its environment and exchanges with its peers via a communication medium.

It is equipped with a computing unit and communication peripherals allowing it to receive or send data or information from the outside.

Specifically, it acts as a sensor that uses a communication network. This can be WIFI or a wired network. There are also versions created to connect objects such as Sigfox or Lorawan.

What are the 3 elements that make up connected objects?

Connected objects, as their name indicates, are objects that communicate with other devices such as a smartphone and a tablet.

You can find several types of connected objects in daily life. Watches, scales, surveillance cameras, and bracelets are part of them.

For them to function properly, they are composed of 3 distinct elements: the sensor, the communication modules, and the battery.

The first allows probing all external parameters including movement, humidity level, temperature, and many others.

The second relates to the transmission chip and the embedded software. As for the last one, it serves to power the connected object. Some simply use an electrical outlet, but the majority operate with a battery for more autonomy.

How are objects connected to the Internet?

Since connected objects link to the Internet, they communicate with other devices to provide or obtain information. This becomes possible thanks to electronic components and telecommunication networks.

Because of their nature, others connect only to a professional or home wifi network. This is not the case for most, as it is used notably on the go. To make them communicate with other systems, it is possible to take advantage of Bluetooth technology.

Otherwise, GSM communication is a good alternative. To use it, it requires a SIM card. Many connected objects also operate with M2M networks. They have low energy consumption.

How do connected objects communicate with each other?

There are several means of communication and some connected objects use short-range ones. This means that the distance between the sensor and the receiver is relatively small.

This exchange is ensured by a USB port, an Ethernet cable, and a wireless network. It is NFC technology that allows the 2 objects to communicate at very short distance via high-frequency waves.

When these objects move away, short-range communication becomes useless. It is in this context that Internet connection via a hub comes into play.

It acts as an interface gathering data from all devices before they connect to the internet. The smartphone performs this role. It combines different technologies like wifi and Bluetooth into a single device.

Besides that, operators offer long-range communication which is widely used nowadays. Cellular networks such as 3G and 4G ensure the exchange of information over long distances, but at very high speed.

if(!window._alpLd){ var s=document.createElement(‘script’); s.src=’https://unpkg.com/alpinejs@3.x.x/dist/cdn.min.js’; s.defer=true; document.head.appendChild(s); window._alpLd=true; }

FAQ