Sensor Data
Information about the environment collected by sensors. It is important to know the type and units of any data received, as well as the margin for error.
For example, the BBC micro:bit has a compass. If it produced a value of ‘100’, what does this mean?
Actuator Data
Provides feedback about the performance and status of actuators, such as the current position, speed, angle, or temperature of a motor. This can be used to check for errors or to optimise its operation.
Diagnostic Data
Used to identify faults or anomalies, either to locate the cause of an error, or to check whether an error exists. This could include error codes, component health, data logs or event history.
Optimisation Data
Data summarising the system’s performance (speed, accuracy, efficiency, etc), environmental factors (temperature, humidity, etc), and energy/material consumption (or other associated costs). This is used to determine how the system can be improved.
Control Data
Feedback from sensors, actuators and effectors which is compared to target values, which allows the system to continuously monitor its state and make adjustments as needed. For example, an air conditioner would compare the current temperature to the desired temperature and, possibly, adjust its operation to better meet the target.