If discrepancies in electricity meter reading is a major concern for consumers during the pandemic, the students of the TKM College of Engineering have come up with a cost-effective solution.
The final-year students of Electrical and Electronics Engineering department and MCA department have developed an Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system to convert digital electronic energy meters to smart meters, making them more reliable and efficient.
“Smart energy meters are popular in countries that use smart grids. Instead of replacing all digital electronic energy meters with smart meters, we have opted to convert them, which is an affordable exercise. Using the method, energy consumption details can be collected remotely and transmitted to a cloud server through WiFi,” says Anoop S. Kumar, team leader. Others in the team include Joys Joseph, Arunjith P.M., Amal S., Ajith R. Nair, Aswanth T., Anusree Mohan, Aswin U. and Joseph Jose.
The students believe that with the Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project in progress, their idea can be adopted easily. The proposed system involves an external circuit that can be connected to the existing meters and the readings can be uploaded into the server. “For automatic billing and management of the collected data, a responsive web interface will be associated with the energy meter. With proper authentication, both service providers and consumer can access the web page from anywhere in the world. The total energy consumption and bill can be obtained from this webpage,” he says.
Setting limits
He points out that this system will enable the consumers to regulate their energy use along with helping to improve the grid efficiency. “Consumers can use the android app, an additional feature of the system, for easy monitoring and they can also set limits to reduce consumption,” he adds.
Faculty members Sheeba R., Naufal N. and Nadeera Bevi S. guided the project.
