據(jù)說,，聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備將改變你的家居、你的汽車,、你的生活,。不過至今為止，物聯(lián)網(wǎng)在真實(shí)世界的應(yīng)用仍舊受到了某些限制,，至少對消費(fèi)者而言是如此,。當(dāng)然，你已經(jīng)可以給你的電燈和調(diào)溫器設(shè)定程序,，但物聯(lián)網(wǎng)的大規(guī)模創(chuàng)新（以及掙大錢的潛力）正在商業(yè)領(lǐng)域悄然發(fā)生,。

我們把它稱作工業(yè)物聯(lián)網(wǎng)（Industrial Internet of Things, IIOT）

科技研究公司高德納（Gartner）預(yù)計,，到2020年由互聯(lián)網(wǎng)驅(qū)動的“物”將達(dá)到208億件，其中有72億件將會為企業(yè)服務(wù),。不僅如此,，研究公司MarketsandMarkets稱，工業(yè)物聯(lián)網(wǎng)的投入預(yù)計將從2014年的939.9億美元增長到2020年的1,510億美元,。

以下三大物聯(lián)網(wǎng)產(chǎn)品可能將會帶來顛覆性的影響,。

1. 智能感應(yīng)器

感應(yīng)器只有一盒撲克牌大小，它們易于安裝,，帶來的影響卻將遠(yuǎn)超它們的體積,。Helium感應(yīng)器可以測量溫度、濕度,、氣壓,、光線和運(yùn)動，在不充電的情況下使用時間長達(dá)三年,。醫(yī)院和餐廳正用它們來保證藥品和食物在合適的溫度下儲存,。Helium的董事長羅伯?錢德霍克在接受Fast Company采訪時表示：“這可以歸結(jié)為一個問題：你如何獲取物理世界的信息，并讓你的企業(yè)從中受益,？”谷歌風(fēng)投（Google Ventures）最近給該公司投資2,000萬美元,。

Cargosense感應(yīng)器能密切關(guān)注移動中的產(chǎn)品。除了跟蹤溫度,、濕度,、壓力和光度之外，它們還能監(jiān)視震動和傾斜的情況,，記錄貨物在貨板或集裝箱的運(yùn)送途中得到了怎樣的處置,。由于美國食品與藥物管理局（FDA）的新規(guī)定中為運(yùn)送食品的條件設(shè)立了標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，Cargosense的服務(wù)引起了食品行業(yè)許多公司的興趣,。

2. 通用電氣的Predix

重點(diǎn)研發(fā)工業(yè)物聯(lián)網(wǎng),，是通用電氣（GE）促進(jìn)銷量、讓公司重歸業(yè)內(nèi)巔峰的計劃的重大組成部分,。通用電氣的首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?伊梅爾特甚至發(fā)明了術(shù)語“工業(yè)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)”,。據(jù)The Street報道，該公司打造了一個名為Predix的軟件平臺,，希望它“給工廠帶來的革新能像蘋果（Apple）的iOS給手機(jī)帶來的一樣”,。

Predix能提供工業(yè)規(guī)模的數(shù)據(jù)、分析和自動化,。風(fēng)力渦輪發(fā)電廠正在使用該產(chǎn)品搜集溫度,、軸心差和震動水平的數(shù)據(jù)。通用電氣在接受The Street采訪時表示：“工作人員可以實(shí)時改變?nèi)~片的彎曲度或是做出其他調(diào)整，每座100兆瓦特的發(fā)電廠可以據(jù)此增加1億美元的價值,?！?/p>

據(jù)Fast Company報道，Predix還被用于火車,，火車可以利用其感應(yīng)器提前通報機(jī)械問題,，并能通過其“巡航定速的功能，整理大量數(shù)據(jù)并進(jìn)行綜合分析,，幫助駕駛員全程以最有效率的速度行駛火車,，同時節(jié)省燃料?！?/p>

3. 人機(jī)合作機(jī)器人

Rethink Robotics表示,，他們研發(fā)的制造機(jī)器人Baxter和Sawyer并不是為了完成企業(yè)的制造工作而存在的。公司的共同創(chuàng)始人羅德尼?布魯克斯在接受《時代》（Time）雜志采訪時表示：“購買這些機(jī)器人的公司需要完成的是人力無法完成的任務(wù),。他們會用更積極的方式使用員工,，更多利用他們的聰明才智?！?/p>

Baxter和Sawyer比傳統(tǒng)工業(yè)機(jī)器人要先進(jìn)得多。它們可以通過演示來學(xué)習(xí)——工人抓著機(jī)器人的“手腕”,，展示如何完成一個任務(wù),，機(jī)器人就能在幾分鐘內(nèi)學(xué)會。與這些家伙一起工作會不會很奇怪,？為了讓工友們更加自在,，這些機(jī)器人擁有數(shù)碼“臉”，它們的眼睛會看向接下來要前往的地方,，還擁有感應(yīng)器,。所以，它們不會無意間撞到真人,。辦公家具制造商Steelcase已經(jīng)開始使用Sawyer機(jī)器人了,，它們的起售價為3萬美元。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

Internet-connected devices were supposed to change your home, your car, and your life. For now, though, the real-world applications for the internet of things (IoT) have been somewhat limited, at least for consumers. Sure, you can program your lights and your thermostat, but the big innovation (and the potential for big money) is happening on the business side of things.

Call it the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Technology research company Gartner predicts there will be 20.8 billion internet-enabled “things” by 2020, and 7.2 billion of those will serve businesses. Not only that, IIoT spending is expected to grow from 2014’s $93.99 billion to $151 billion by 2020, according to research firm MarketsandMarkets.

Here are three use cases with the potential to make waves.

1. Smart sensors

Small, easy-to-install sensors, about the size of a deck of cards, could have an impact far greater than their size. Helium sensors run for three years without power and measure temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, light, and motion. They’re being used in hospitals and restaurants to help ensure both medication and food are being kept at the proper temperature. “What it boils down to is this: How do you detect information from the physical world, and bring it into your business?” Rob Chandhok, president of Helium, told Fast Company. GV, née Google Ventures, recently lead a $20 million investment round in the company.

Cargosense sensors keep tabs on products on the move. In addition to tracking temperature, humidity, pressure, and light, the sensors monitor shock and tilt and provide a historical record of how goods are handled in each pallet or container shipped. Thanks to new FDA regulations that set standards for the conditions of food during transport, Cargosense has many in the food industry interested in their services.

2. GE’s Predix

Focusing on IIoT is a big part of GE’s plan to boost sales and bring the company back to its industrial roots. GE CEO Jeff Immelt even introduced the term “Industrial Internet.” The company has built a software platform called Predix, which it hopes “will do for factories what Apple’s iOS did for cell phones,” according to The Street.

The software offers data, analytics, and automation at an industrial scale. Predix is being used on wind turbine farms gathering temperature, misalignments, and vibration levels. “Operators can change the curvature of a blade or make other alterations in real time, which can add $100 million in value to every 100-megawatt farm,” the company told The Street.

Predix is also being used on trains by using sensors to predict mechanical problems and by implementing “a type of cruise control that combs through piles of data and synthesizes them for the driver in a way that allows him to steer the locomotive to maintain the most efficient speed at all times and reduce fuel burn,” according to Fast Company.

3. Cobots

Baxter and Sawyer, the manufacturing robots created by Rethink Robotics, are not here for your manufacturing jobs, their creators swear. “Companies who are buying robots are filling in the tasks they can’t get people to stay and do,” Rethink Robotics co-founder Rodney Brooks told Time. “They’re using the people they have more positively by using their intelligence.”

Baxter and Sawyer are far more advanced than traditional industrial robots. They learn by demonstration– a worker will take the robot’s “wrist” and show it how to perform a task. And the robots learn in a matter of minutes. Think it will be weird to work alongside these guys? Well to make co-workers more comfortable, the robots have digital “faces” with eyes that focus on where it is going next and sensors, so they don’t bump into real people. Office-furniture manufacture Steelcase uses the Sawyer, which starts at about $30,000.