IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTOMATIC METER READING SYSTEM USING ZIGBEE-

INTEGRATED RASPBERRY PI
Abstract: Accurate metering, detection of energy theft and implementation of proper tariff as
well as billing system are vital in wise energy management. These objectives can be achieved by
using Smart Meters. This paper introduces a microcontroller based Smart Meter using wireless
communication and Lab view suitable for the Indian Energy Scenario The advantages these
electric metering system offers make it a more accurate measuring device than the conventional
electro mechanical meter reading system being used in developing countries like the. AMRs
capacity to automatically transmit data real time increases the reliability of this metering system,
unlike electromechanical meters which occasionally make use of previous readings as a basis of
the consumer's current billing. It also puts consumers at a disadvantage as the accuracy of power
consumption readings is being compromised.

Keywords - Receiver, Transmitter, Transceiver, Automated Meter, Wireless Transmission,

Monitoring System

I. INTRODUCTION
Electric meters are devices determining billing charges are monthly basis and are computed in
kilowatt-hours. Automatic meter reading is the technology of automatically collecting data from
energy metering and the transfer of the collected data for billing and analysis. AMR are not only
used to measure power consumption, it can also be used to read water consumption, like in
where low-power radio transmitters installed on household water meters which send readings to
a central server for billing to up to four times a day the two after mentioned are yet emerging
technologies since there have been minimal number of applications implemented in the
country .The emerging field of wireless sensor networks combines sensing, computation, and
communication into a single tiny device. The costs involved in manual reading of the meter are
eliminated and the consumption goods become more transparent. Manual meter reading systems
using electromechanical meters are installed within the premises of residential or commercial
consumers and data on information consumption are collected on a monthly basis. However, this
present convention has the following is an advantage: Manpower must be hired to go from
household after household to read energy consumption, record data and communicate with a
receiving module. Use of manual meters could translate to meter reading mistakes and errors of
leakage Estimated billing is applied at times when extreme weather conditions occur and meters
to be read are not easily accessible to the reading personnel - so as not to invade their customers'
privacy. With this, previous energy consumptions would be the basis for the current period's
electric bill. With the development of wireless technology and systems automation, the demand
for AMR systems is gaining rapid pace not only in the developed countries but also developing
nations. The smart meter reading employing ZigBee technology is an innovative alternative and
replacement to existing automatic and electromechanical meter reading systems Not only the
availability of power is an issue but also the accuracy of metering and billing strategies. The
development of wireless communication technology in recent years resulted in evolution of for
low cost equipment of wireless networking technology, called ZigBee. It is a short range, low-
complexity, low cost, low power consumption, low data rate two way wireless communication
technology with high network capacity, short time delay, safety . On the power distributor side,
the need for manpower to manually read the meter would be eliminated - reducing cost and lab
or intensity while improving power reading efficiency. Industries and those from the commercial
sector using this metering system in the future could be provided with timely comprehensive
information about their energy usage for better load balancing and utilities management. The use
of AMR systems could benefit both the country and its citizens. This same feature of AMR abets
the saving of electricity, since it helps consumers understand how electrical power is used and
consumed in their homes. There are numerous applications that are ideal for the redundant, self-
configuring and self-healing capabilities of ZigBee wireless mesh networks.

II. METHODOLOGY
AMR system integrating ZigBee as a wireless protocol will be designed and developed in two
general parts will be the focus. A block diagram of the proposed design is shown in following
fig. The main objective of the system is to send periodical readings of an electricity meter
wirelessly to a server in the billing office of the electricity supply company.
 Remote meter Figure.1 General Block Diagram
In this block diagram shows that the central server at power development, GSM network, home,
industry, office. This premises unit metering information are gathered and processed, In this
central server connected to the GSM networks. GSM network also connected to the home,
industry, office, remote monitoring. The server in the billing office will have a highly secured
database system which enables authorized staff members of the electricity supply company to
read and print electricity bills. This added a constraint on the wireless device used for such
purpose because such a device should have the capability of both sending and receiving the data.
The phases of this study design and creation of the two main parts: the transmitter and the
coordinator or the receiving end. The database server and monitoring system is the next phase.
Lastly, this will be completed through the evaluation of the proposed study.
Phase1: Transmitter/Receiver Design
A block diagram of the transmitter is shown in Fig. 2. Its main function is to transfer the data
being measured to the receiver end also involves Raspberry Pi that controls the communication
from one end to another end and a ZigBee module that serves as the transmitting chip. When
data have to be transmitted wirelessly over long distances, it is necessary to have some
mechanism at predetermined distances from the sender for temporarily receiving and
retransmission of data to the designated receiver. In this way, the said transmitter can also act as
a router, so at the time of implementation of the system, each premises unit can be con figured to
behave both as a sender (when transmitting its data) and a router (for temporarily
receiving/retransmission of data coming from other neighboring premises units) at different
times.

Figure.2 Transmitter/Receiver power line Block Diagram

 a) Metering device

The digital metering device measures power consumption. The device is connected to the
Raspberry Pi using a certain connection which is shown in Figure. The said connection is
composed of a cable (RJ45 to RS232), 089, Serial to USB Converter, and a USB Hub. The said
cable is connected to the Serial to USB Converter through a 089.Moreover; The information
being measured by the device are then converted into electrical signals and go through the signal
conditioning circuit that functions to make sure them voltage or current produced by the
metering device is proportional to the actual values of parameters being sensed. Then, it is passed
to a Raspberry Pi that processes it to the value understandable by human. Metering Device RJ45
to
b) Transmitter Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that can be connected to electronic devices.. Its
main function is to control the communication between the transmitter and the receiver. Also, it
controls communication between the transmitter and the other router whenever the ZigBee
module cannot transmit wirelessly over the distance. The program on the Raspberry Pi reads the
energy consumption, transmitting time and the processed output in digital form are sent to the
personal computer through ZigBee transmission. Another feature of Raspberry Pi is that it has its
own Random Access Memory (RAM) where data could be stored. It uses Python as its
programming language which emphasizes code readability, and its syntax allows programmers to
express concepts in fewer lines of code than would be possible in languages such as C. As shown
in Fig.5, Raspberry Pi Model B has different parts. Transmitter Raspberry Pi to Arduino Shield
Connection Bridge allows to use any of the shields, boards and modules designed for Arduino in
Raspberry Pi. It includes also the possibility of connecting digital and analog sensors, using the
same pin out of Arduino but with the power and capabilities of Raspberry Pi.
Phase 2: Design and Creation of Receiver
Receiver:
The receiving end, a ZigBee module identical with the ones on the transmitting unit is used to
ensure compatibility of the two modules. This allows the periodically-transmitted meter reading
to be received and send a command from the receiving end to the transmitting end whenever the
user prompted it to send a reading at any given time. Personal Computer
The transmitted meter readings are displayed in the Pc. This will be done with the aid of a PHP
Coding and AMP Software for its database. It is coded to show the meter reading at a specific
time interval. ill addition, a database of all transmitted data is installed in the pc.
Phase 3:
Database Server and Monitoring System The database server requires software for
communication with the premises unit of each consumer and based on the consumption data
received. This data received can be accessible to consumers through an online website whenever
and wherever they want to check for some updates regarding their energy consumption readings.
The online website will consist of three distinct username, password and their respective meter
readings and the date and time of acquisition. Before the data will be reflected on the website, in
the coordinator side, the data received will be first converted to a comma separated value
file(.csv file) which will be uploaded in the database on the website.
Phase 4:
Evaluation of the Proposed Study in order to prove the effectively of this study, some parameters
have to be evaluated. These parameters are the time of transmission and accuracy of the sent
information. To evaluate these parameters in relation to the readings of the proposed automated
meter, mean square error (MSE) strategy will be used of transmission, MAD or Mean Absolute
Deviation is applicable where n again will be the number of tests performed, Xi is the
Transmission time for every test performed and m(X) is the average (Mean) time of transmission
of sent information. This statistical tool will evaluate the transmission time of the proposed AMR
and this will be done for all the different distances as stated in the methodology.

III.CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
An automated meter reading system was used to measure the voltage outputted by an electric
outlet for accurate recording of real-time consumption of electricity. The AMR utilizes RS232,
which uses few wires by means of serial transmission method, to transfer the data collected to
the Raspberry Pi, that is why a crossover must be executed to make the data format collected
from the AMR transferrable to and readable by the Raspberry Pi and also to facilitate
bidirectional communication between the two. The transmitter (L), receiver (R x), and ground
wires of RS232 were connected to DB9 to establish communication between the two devices.
Since the RS232 to DB9 connection makes use of the serial transmission method, a serial to USB
converter was used to make the connection fit to the USB hub of the Raspberry Pi. To make the
data wirelessly transferrable, a ZigBee was attached to the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi alone does
not have the capability to transmit and receive data, so a Raspberry Pi to Arduino Shield
Connection Bridge was used to interface the Raspberry Pi and ZigBee, since the ZigBee module
has to transmitter and receiver capabilities. The collected data will then be transmitted to another
Raspberry Pi for the uploading of the collected data to the online database where consumers can
access and monitor their voltage usage based on real-time consumption. The meter will start
reading the voltage consumption of the user. The data read will be directed to the Raspberry Pi's
SO memory card. The coordinator will send then send a query. If the end devices receive the
query, it will respond and will be prompted to send information the ZigBee module. Otherwise e,
the reading of the metric data will repeat. Once the end device has responded to the coordinator
query, data will be forwarded to the ZigBee module then to the coordinator.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A demand based smart metering system using Lab VIEW and ZigBee has been designed, which
is capable of monitoring energy consumption during peak hours and normal hours separately,
alerting the utility provider on energy theft, remote turn ON/OFF the supply of individual
consumers and capable of incorporated TOD tariff. The proposed design modify the consumption
of the consumers, thereby reduces the energy consumption. The system is useful to
both consumers and utility providers. The proposed AMR system, which incorporates ZigBee
module in a Raspberry Pi, has been successfully implemented. The Raspberry Pi-to-Arduino
Shields connection bridge interfaced the ZigBee module to the Raspberry Pi. The use of the
ZigBee module made the wireless transmission of the meter data possible. The transmitted data
were received by the coordinator ZigBee and were converted into CSV file through java. The
CSV file was utilized so data, specifically the voltage consumption, can be accessed by
consumers through the built website hour of consumption. MSE was used to validate the
accuracy of the gathered data. The first test rendered a mean square error of only 3.664. The
maximum length in which the receiver can still receive the data sent by the transmitter was also
determined. The five trials rendered a result of a mean distance of meters, rendering a MAD of
only 3 further proving the system's efficiency in transmitting data over long distance. The third
test involving the use of a repeater further improved the distance covered by the transmission of
data, reaching to up to a mean distance of 185.6 meters and producing a MAD Proven in the
experimentation, the Zig8ee module acted as a transceiver, as each module can both receive and
transmit data. ZigBee's transceiver capability allowed data hopping, which permitted the
transmission of data from the meter to the coordinator, even when the distance was beyond
ZigBee's transmissible range. The group recommends the automatic execution of the Python
program upon the boot-up of the Raspberry Pi so that the use of peripherals (i.e. monitor) will be
minimized. It is also recommended that energy reading be included. This can be done by
attaching load to the meter. Moreover, the group

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