Everyone wants to save money. I have never heard someone say they would like to pay more for something. What is one great way to save money? Lowering your energy bill of course. Everyone has got one- wouldn’t it be nice to have a lower energy bill and use your extra money on things you actually want to pay for? Better yet, wouldn’t it be awesome to save money on your energy bill AND help save the planet?! You would feel like a great person- a great person with a little extra dough in your pocket.
We all like to think that we are doing all we can to help conserve energy and save the planet, but there is a lot of wasted energy we do not see. Through the use of Big Data analytics, energy companies can receive information on the amount of energy each household is using and send the consumer a usage report. This report can highlight wasted energy and inform the consumer of better ways to conserve their energy. By informing the consumer of their wasted energy, they will be able to adapt their habits to reduce their energy use and also save some money on their bill.
Another way to reduce unnecessary energy use in the household is to install a thermostat that is connected to the internet such as the Nest. Nest is a “smart” thermostat that learns the habits of the household and adjusts the temperature to ensure optimal efficiency. For example, a family may like their house to be sixty-five degrees in the summer while they are home, but when everyone leaves for work and school for the day, does the air conditioning need to keep the house at sixty-five degrees? No, unless you think your couch will get too warm without it. This is where Nest would turn off the air conditioning for the day, saving energy and money, and then return the house to your preferred temperature shortly before you return home.
These big data devices like Nest are a great way to ensure you are conserving energy without having to do the work yourself. I’m sure it also does a great deal to lower your bills as well, only using energy sucking devices when they are most needed. America has a long ways to go and much to change before being recognized as an energy efficient country, but these are some simple changes the energy companies and average families can do to help the cause!
Imagine you are driving along your morning commute, there is slight traffic, but it is still moving at a decent pace. SUDDENLY the car in front of you comes to a complete stop causing you to skid into the back of their car! You get out of your car to exchange some not so nice words with the driver who decided to slam on their breaks causing you two to collide, but wait… there is no one in the car.
Driverless Cars.
Yep, its a thing.
Large companies such as Google have been developing driverless cars for years and they are now making an appearance on our neighborhood roads. I must admit it is quite amazing that a driverless car is even possible, but is it safe? Not only would passengers be putting their lives in the hands of a computer, but can a computer really drive a car as well as a human can? You may be laughing right now as I am sure we all know some pretty terrible drivers. The difference is that humans have instincts and can react in various levels rather than simply on/off or go/stop.
When a computer reacts to a possible threat it simply stops, there is no hovering over the break or easing, it is a complete halt. This is where we are finding issues with self-driving cars trying to drive alongside humans. Driverless cars are too cautious and need to drive more like humans do. Even if a driverless car is an excellent driver, it can still be at fault for a crash, but who determines this?
As a computer based system driverless cars are producing a ton of data, but who is collecting this data. If someone gets into an accident with a driverless car, who determines fault? I think this is where we can produce a whole new line of jobs- driverless car data scientists. There needs to be a team of people who receive the data produced from driverless cars and store it. This way when there is an accident the driverless car data scientists can quickly collect the data and determine if the fault was of the computer or the human.
If self-driving cars are going to continue to make an appearance on our roads, a team of data scientists the monitor their actions is definite necessity. What do you think? Do you think it is safe to have driverless cars alongside human drivers? Would you ride in a car that was being driven by a computer? Let us know what you think!
How Your Sensor Data and The Internet of Things Can Save You A Lot Of Money
The Internet of Things, Industrial Internet, Internet of Everything, no matter how you name it, the upcoming connected world will change everything and create massive amounts of sensor data.
For manufacturers, the Internet of Things (IoT) will mean using sensor data to optimize manufacturing processes and improving products.
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