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IoT in the home: Liquid Volume Measurement

My neighbour and I share a set of water tanks - 2 units of 750 gallon tanks. Without any warning, the rate of water consumption seemed to have increased. Instead of having to pump water up once in two days, it became twice a day - morning and evening daily. I got worried because of the impact on electricity cost and wear and tear on the pumps themselves. There are two possible reasons for this: increase in our water consumption or a leak from the piping system. The former is easier to swallow than the latter which may require "breaking up" the building to access the pipes buried in the walls IoT to the Rescue How can technology help? How can IoT point to the root cause of this simple yet expensive problem? (solution may even be more expensive or not solving a leak on time may even be so so expensive) How many litres of water did we consume daily? When did we consume the water most - morning, afternoon or evening? So, how many litres were we consuming before
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IoT in Security: Visitor Car Register

During the 2017 Christmas holiday, I went to Ibadan . I drove through University of Ibadan , the premier University in Nigeria. At the main gate of the institution, a security guard on duty handed me a plastic "tally" as a proof of entry. I think another copied down my car plate number. I drove through the school: passed by the famous Trenchard Hall, the University Bookshop, the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Catholic Church,  the Chapel of Resurrection , the Abadina Schools and exited through the gate on Abadina Road. At the gate, the security guard on duty simply collected the same "Tally" I was given at the main gate and that was all. I drove off the grounds of the University. Four days later, I entered through the Abadina gate, drove through the school and exited through the main gate of the school. A few questions came to my mind: Is there any reliable information captured that says I passed through the school? 10 years from now, will there still be infor

Power Monitoring: Remote Data Capture and Analysis

Sample Prepaid Energy Meter source: Awoyemi Awoyokun I live in one of those estates where there are shared facilities like street lights, water treatment plant but not 24 hours electricity. I walked from my house to the gate and heard the Estate generator switched on though there was public supply as at when I left home. Upon enquiry, I found out that the credit on the prepaid electricity meter for the Estate Shared Service Meter was used up. As such, the maintenance officer on duty switched on generator to power streetlights and pump water. How could this have happened? Shouldn't the maintenance office have known that the credit was almost depleted? Shouldn't.....  I ranted for about 5 minutes. Before I came back to ask: how could IoT have prevented this from happening? These are the questions: Could IoT have been used know that the prepaid credit was almost exhausted? Could a system have analysed the average rate of electricity consumption, determined how many

Remote Power Management: IoT for Street Lights

Source: http://www.centrinity.com While I was running for my life, after I exited the Lekki Treadmill and jogged into Alexander Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria, I came across a 20ft "portakabin" container that seems to be someone's place of abode. I figured out that he is the one manning the generator that powers the street lights for Alexander/Bourdillon roads. I thought to myself, what if this man's job can be performed by a series of IoT devices and this man can be gainfully employed somewhere else which will allow him sleep comfortably in a bed under a real roof. What does he do? He switches on the generator when there is no public power and switches off the generator when he is aware that public power has been restored He switches on (or ensures this) street light when it is dark   he is the first responder if there is an issue on site However, let us evaluate replacing that function totally with IoT devices: Automatic Generator Start/Shutdown: