How to optimize sensor data collection for IoT management

In today’s IoT-driven world, sensor data is the backbone of smart machines and systems. It powers insights, enables optimization, and fuels automation.

Simply put, without efficient data collection, valuable data remains trapped in hardware, limiting its real-world impact.

Whether you’re monitoring a smart building, optimizing manufacturing processes, or enhancing IoT analytics, effective sensor data collection is key to getting to the insights you need to make it all work seamlessly.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the fundamentals, explain how sensors work, and provide tips for simplifying data collection and maximizing the value of your IoT data.

What is sensor data collection?

Sensor data collection is the process of gathering information from various sensors—like temperature, pressure, humidity, or motion—and turning it into valuable data. In IoT applications, this data enables machines to perform tasks, respond to changes in the environment, and optimize their actions over time.

Collecting air quality data to inform the air filtration system (you can build your own here) to turn on when particulate values rise above a specified threshold.

Without proper data collection, IoT devices lack the insights needed to improve performance, plan for maintenance, and operate efficiently. In short, sensor data collection is crucial if you want to unlock the full potential of your IoT system.

How sensors collect data

Sensors gather information by detecting changes in their surroundings and converting that physical data into a digital format. Here are some examples:

Temperature: thermistors, thermocouples
Motion and orientation: accelerometers, gyroscopes
Light and color: photodiodes, RGB sensors
Pressure and touch: pressure sensors, touch sensors

Once sensors capture data, it often ends up scattered across different platforms, making analysis a challenge.

A data visualization from our HVAC automation blog, highlighting temperature differences in the Viam office. — A data visualization from our HVAC automation blog, highlighting temperature differences in the Viam office which prompted our engineers to come up with an automated solution.

Viam offers a hardware-agnostic solution that pulls data from an array of sensors into one centralized, accessible hub so you can manage and analyze your data in one place. In IoT applications, this enables machines to stay connected, monitor their own performance, and adapt to real-world conditions.

What you miss without sensor data collection

When you skip sensor data collection, you’re missing a crucial first step toward real optimization and better decision-making. With accurate data in hand, you can:

Boost performance with real-world insights, fine-tuning your devices for optimal results.
Predict and prevent system failures before they even happen, keeping operations smooth and downtime minimal.
Spot opportunities for improvement and savings across processes.

Viam worked with Canyon Runner to collect data across a fleet of vessels in a single pane of glass, allowing them to enhance fishing operations and improve decision-making on the water.

Data collection isn’t the end goal—it’s the foundation that empowers your devices to evolve and perform better over time. For more on managing sensor data effectively, check out this guide.

How to collect data from sensors

Viam makes sensor data collection simple and flexible, offering support for multiple sensor types and configurations. Here’s how you can start collecting data with Viam:

1. Integrate your sensors with Viam

Connect your sensors to Viam’s platform, which supports a variety of sensor types and protocols.

2. Set up data management

Setting up the data management service within the Viam app.

Use Viam’s data management service to capture data locally and sync it to the cloud for unified access across machines.

3. Configure data capture settings

Define what data to capture, how often to collect it, and under what conditions. This makes it easy to focus on the data that matters, helping you keep storage costs down and insights relevant. For full instructions on how to do this, head to our sensor data collection documentation.

4. Enable conditional cloud sync

Optimize bandwidth and storage by setting conditions for cloud sync. This ensures data is uploaded only when necessary.

See how to set up conditional cloud sync here.

5. Analyze your data

Sensor data as seen within the Control tab of the Viam app.

Once data is collected, Viam’s tools make it easy to export it for analysis. Use third-party tools or custom algorithms to gain insights.

Learn how to export data in our guide.

6. Take your collected data further

Data filtered for the location “Bend Office” and machine “air-sensor1” within the Viam app, ready to be turned into insights.

Now that you’ve collected sensor data, it’s time to make it work for you:

Train machine learning (ML) models: Use your image or sensor data to build ML models that can automate processes and add intelligence to your devices.
Set up predictive maintenance: Spot issues before they happen. Analyzing sensor patterns helps you predict and prevent equipment failures, saving time and reducing costs. Learn more about predictive maintenance.
Visualize data with Grafana or Tableau: Bring your data to life with real-time dashboards that show you exactly how things are running. Check out visualizing data with Tableau or how to get started with sensor data visualization.

Using these tools, you can turn raw data into insights that drive smarter decisions and keep your operations running smoothly.

Best practices for sensor data management in IoT

Good data management goes beyond collection. Here’s how to make the most of your sensor data:

Filter and sync selectively: Capture only the data you need. This keeps data focused and helps you avoid storage overload. Check out our data collection guide for more.
Validate data upon collection: To maintain accuracy, validate data as it’s captured. This is especially helpful for systems with multiple sensors.
Organize with cloud storage: Use a centralized database to manage your data. Cloud storage helps keep everything accessible, backed up, and ready for analysis.
Set up alerts for anomalies: Monitor data to catch unusual patterns before they cause issues.

Viam worked with Digital Yacht to develop the NjordLINK app for their AnchorSafe feature, alerting customers on their phones whenever their anchored boat drifts outside a user-defined radius.

Get the most from your sensor data

Sensor data collection is essential for any IoT system, driving everything from predictive maintenance to automated processes. Viam makes managing sensor data straightforward and adaptable, with features like support for diverse sensor types, real-time access, and seamless cloud or edge integration.

Whether you’re starting with a few sensors or scaling a complex setup, Viam’s flexible, open-source platform grows with you, helping your machines perform at their best.

Ready to get started? Explore our sensor data collection and data management resources for a straightforward path to smarter data management.

Try optimizing your sensor data today

Ready to elevate your IoT data management? Test drive some of our tutorials to get hands-on with sensor data:

We’re excited to see the innovative ways you put your sensor data to work.