COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI)

Project Proposal
(SCOPE DOCUMENT)

for

Smart Electric Meter System (SEMS)

Version 1.0

By
Ahmed Khalil CIIT/SP17-BSE-082/ISB

Supervisor
Ms. Shawana Jamil

Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering (2017-2021)

 SCOPE DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY

No. Comment Action

Supervisor Signature:

Date:

Table of Contents
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Abstract.............................................................................................................................................i

1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................ii

2. Problem Statement...................................................................................................................ii

3. Problem Solution for the Proposed System.............................................................................ii

4. Related System Analysis/Literature Review...........................................................................ii

5. Advantages/Benefits of Proposed System..............................................................................iii

6. Project Scope..........................................................................................................................iii

7. Modules..................................................................................................................................iv

7.1 Module 1: Module Name............................................................................................................v

7.2 Module 2: Module Name............................................................................................................v
8. System Limitations/Constraints...............................................................................................v

9. Software Process and Design Methodology............................................................................v

10. Tools and Technologies........................................................................................................v

11. Project Stakeholders and Roles...........................................................................................vi

12. Team Members Individual Tasks/Work Division...............................................................vi

13. Data Gathering Approach...................................................................................................vii

14. Concepts.............................................................................................................................vii

15. Gantt Chart........................................................................................................................viii

16. Mockups............................................................................................................................viii

17. Conclusion...........................................................................................................................ix

18. References...........................................................................................................................ix

19. Plagiarism Report.................................................................................................................x

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 E- Smartphone Application O- Internet of Things

Abstract

The Smart Electric Meter System based on the Internet of Things is an electricity usage analyzer,
controller, and smart alert system. It is intended for the users who want to plan ahead their
electricity usage, save their lives, their electric appliances, and benefit society by controlling their
electric usage. The Smart Electric Meter System will collect user's electricity data through
microcontrollers and sensors and let the users take control over it smartly by using their
smartphones. The Notification System will alert the user in bad electricity situations so the user will
be protected from any damage. Users can also set usage limits and monitor their usage status.

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1. Introduction
The Proposed project is Monitoring and controlling the electricity usage and alerting the user in
case of a bad electricity situation. Smart Electric Meter System is based on the Internet of Things is
a convenient mobile application using the tools React Native, Node.js, and MongoDB and for the
Internet of Things hardware Arduino.
This project primarily focuses on Analyzing and collecting data from the electric supply and display
it in an understandable format to the common user. The notification system will alert the user in
case of any electricity-related emergency. This way the user will be familiar with his daily use of
electricity and will be able to manage it more efficiently. Current electricity meters are outdated and
are installed in uncomfortable locations which makes it impossible for the reach of users this
system will eliminate that.

2. Problem Statement
The consumers of electricity are facing many issues with the outdated electric meters supplied by
the Electric-Authorities.
 The meters they provide are hard to read.
 The users are unable to understand the working of the meters.
 The meters have no safety features.
 Meters are installed outside the house and get damaged easily.
 Users have a tough time monitoring their usage and estimating cost.
The main reason to implement this system is to give users easy and understandable visualization
and control of their electricity use, users can be alerted in bad electricity situation, and the user can
plan their usage accordingly. Unlike the applications available on the internet which gives the user
no or little control, poor visualization, no alert system and are not at all user-friendly.

3. Problem Solution for the Proposed System

The proposed system will solve the problems in the current electric meters by taking the user's
usage status from the main electricity supply and analyzing the data. Well-formatted reports will be
prepared and presented to the users. The users will be able to monitor the meter anytime anywhere.
users will be able to set the limit for their usage. The users will be notified immediately in case of
any trouble with the supply. The application will keep records of user’s usage activities and
estimate the cost. This way a users will be able to plan their usage easily.

4. Related System Analysis/Literature Review

Table 1: Related System Analysis with Smart Electric Meter System (SEMS).

Application Name Weakness Proposed Project Solution

My Electric Meter [1] No graphical representation User-friendly UI (User

No overview of usage, Interface), Graphical
Limited features, No visualization provided,
Notification Alerts Notification Alerts

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 Energy Consumption Manually import data, Not User-friendly UI, Automatic
Analyzer [2] user-friendly, Limited data collection, Notification
features, No Notification Alerts
Alerts
My Energy [3] Limited Functionality, Support all Devices, User-
works on specific devices, friendly UI, Automatic data
Not user-friendly, No collection, Notification Alerts
Notification Alerts
Meter Monitoring [4] Expensive subscription, Not User-friendly, Automatic data
user-friendly, Limited collection, Multiple features
features, No Notification access, Notification Alerts
Alerts
Smart Energy [5] Limited Functionality, User-friendly UI, Automatic
works on specific devices, data collection, Notification
Not user-friendly, Alerts
Expensive, No Notification
Alerts

5. Advantages/Benefits of Proposed System

Users will be saved from the disasters caused by Electricity related accidents. Users will be able to
plan their usage and save money and Electricity. Users do not have to wait for the monthly bills to
plan their budget. Users do not have to go through complex calculations to read and understand the
bills. by keeping their usage data saved, they will not be on the defaulter's list in case of meter
damage. Every person in the house will be able to monitor and control electricity usage.

6. Project Scope
The Smart Electric Meter System (SEMS) is designed for users who want to manage and control
their electricity usage. The hardware-based on the internet of things will collect Data from electric
Supply. The smartphone application will provide user Profiles. There will be easy to understand
visualizations which will be extracting maximum information from the data. Users will be able to
estimate their usage and can calculate the cost of consumed power. Users can set usage limits.
Users will be notified in case of any misconduct in electric supply which will save many precious
lives and expensive electronic devices. The application will be developed for Android smartphones
only.
The main parts of the project are described below:

a. Data collection with the help of Microcontrollers and Sensors (Internet of Things):
For the collection of data Microcontrollers and sensors are used. The sensor will channel the
data to the microcontroller which will act as a bridge between the gateway device and sensor.
The gateway device will communicate with the other devices over the internet. The data will be
saved in databased and will be processed to extract information. All the data will be collected
without any human to human or human to computer interaction.

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b. Data Processing and visualization:
The collected data will be analyzed, and all the useful information will be extracted from it to
provide maximum information to the user. The data will be transformed into meaningful
information and visualized in understandable formats by following Data Visualization
principles. This part is especially important because raw data is never useful for the user. By
providing data in a format that users can quickly extract desirable information is important.

c. Report and Notification System:

With the help of collected data, reports will be generated to make the user more familiar with
his activities. Users can monitor weekly, monthly, yearly reports. The user will be able to set
customized limits to his usage. Emergency notifications and event-based notifications will
alarm the user before any disaster strikes.

Figure 1: Context Diagram of the Smart Electric Meter System (SEMS).

7. Modules
7.1 Module 1: Sensors and Microcontroller programming and configuration

The Project is based on the Internet of Things and it requires some hardware components these
components need to be configured and programmed to make full use of them. The time delay
between the sensor activity must be controlled and set precisely so that maximum information can
be gained. To achieve this the Microcontroller is programmed and configured with the sensors. The
network module will also be programmed to send and receive the collected data to the database.

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 Data Sensor
The Hall effect sensor will be used to measure the magnitude of a magnetic field of the user's
electric supply. Its output voltage is directly proportional to the magnetic field strength through
it. We will be using this sensor in our project to measure and calculate the usage of electricity.
this sensor will work with a single-phase electricity outlet.

 Data channel Microcontroller

The data collected from the sensors must be channel to the gateway device for this we will use a
microcontroller. the microcontroller will work as a bridge between sensors and the gateway
device. We will be using Arduino microcontroller because it is very cheaply available and easy
to configure.

 Network Gateway
To communicate with other devices or to send and store data in a database a network gateway
will be implemented. This will allow the devices to communicate over the internet. The
gateway, in this case, will aggregates sensor data from devices. In an Internet of things
environment, it translates between sensor protocols and processes sensor data before sending it
onward.

7.2 Module 2: Database Management and User Profiles

 Database
This module is responsible for creating and configuring the database. The database shall contain
all the data collected from the hardware. The data collected from the hardware will be stored in
the database in formatted and usable information.

 User Profiles
This module will allow multiple users to one meter or one user to multiple meters monitoring
possible. The module is responsible for handling user accounts information and holds user data.
it will allow the user to login and logout of different profiles using username and password. The
user profiles will also hold user configurations and activities.

7.3 Module 3: Usage Monitor and Control

 User portal
This part of the module will enhance the user experience. The user portal will be responsible for
the organizing of all the user data. All user activities and reports will be available there. Users
will be able to efficiently utilize this information.

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 Data Processing and Visualization
This module is responsible for processing and Presenting data. Collected data will be processed
to extract maximum usable information. Then the information will be presented in graphics,
tabular, and textual visualizations in a manner that the user can extract useful and important
information at a glance. All the visualizations will be made by following data visualization
principles. By providing an overview of their usage users will be able to optimize their usage
and cut the extra cost of the electricity. The reports will be present in the user portal in an
organized manner where the user can access them conveniently.

 Usage Limit and Notifications alert system

This module adds extra attraction to the system. Users will be given the option to limit their
usage. Users will be able to set remove and modify usage limits so that no electricity will be
wasted. One of the best features of this application will be the “Notification Alert System” by
implementing this user shall be alarmed in a problematic situation. This will save countless
lives and electric appliances.

8. System Limitations/Constraints
 Availability of Hardware required for the project.
 The application will be available on the Android OS (Operating System) only.
 The Purposed system will work only with a single-phase electric supply.

9. Software Process and Design Methodology

 Process Methodology
For the development of the Smart Electric Meter System. I will be using an incremental model
for Software Development. This approach is considered because our system will be developed
in modules and by following this approach development risks can be minimized and debugging,
and testing can be made easy.

 Design Methodology
Object-Oriented design methodology will be used for designing the code structure. Adopting
this approach will make the code more understandable, logical, and maintainable. The object-
oriented design approach will also provide modularity for easy troubleshooting.

10. Tools and Technologies

Table 2: Tools and Technologies for the Smart Electric Meter System (SEMS).

Tools
Version Rationale

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 MS Visual Studio 2019 IDE (Integrated
Tools Development
And Environment)
Technologies MS Word 2019 Documentation
MS PowerPoint 2019 Presentation
React Native 0.63 Application Framework
Node.js 14.7.0 Runtime environment
Mongo DB 4.2.8 DBMS (Database
Management System)
Grammarly 2020 Documentation
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Design Work
Creately 2.4 Design Work
Arduino Uno R3 Microcontroller
ESP12 2019 Wi-Fi module
Node MCU 2020 Wi-Fi module
ACS712 2020 Current sensor
Arduino Software 1.8.13 IDE
Technology
Version Rationale
C 6.0 Programming language
C++ 2017 Programming language
Three.js r/114 JavaScript library
D3.js 5.16 JavaScript library
JavaScript 2020 Programming language

11.Project Stakeholders and Roles

Table 3: Project Stakeholders for the Smart Electric Meter System (SEMS).

Project COMSATS University Islamabad

Sponsor
Stakeholder Student name:
➢ Ahmed Khalil

• Project Supervisor: Ms. Shawana Jamil

• Final Year Project Committee: Evaluation of the project

12. Team Members Individual Tasks/Work Division

Table 4: Team Member Work Division the Smart Electric Meter System (SEMS).

Student Name Student Registration Responsibility/ Modules

Number
Ahmed Khalil SP17-BSE-082 Module 1 - Module 3
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13. Data Gathering Approach
Following are the data gathering approaches used in the development of the project:

 Internet Research
Research on the internet is conducted to check the feasibility of the system. Research about
algorithms and techniques used to implement the Internet of Things platform. Availability of the
hardware, and which hardware will provide the most economical solution and best value for the
user.

 User surveys
I have talked to many people suffering from the problems caused by the present system. An
online survey will be conducted and data from motivated users will be gathered to check the
interest of users towards the project and which type of solution will solve their problems most
efficiently.

 Current system analysis

The current systems are analyzed to get the requirements for the development of the project.
Weaknesses in the current systems are carefully recorded to minimize them and to add extra
features to the project.

14. Concepts

Concept-1: Internet of Things

All data will be transferred without any human to human or human to computer interaction with the
help of the internet, Microcontrollers, and Sensors.

Concept-2: Microcontrollers and Sensors

Microcontrollers will be programmed to collect data with the help of sensors. The collected data
will then be sent to the application for processing.

Concept-3: Data visualization

The data collected will be visualized by following the data visualization principles. Data will be
visualized in formats that will be easy and understandable to all the users and provide maximum
useful information.

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Concept-4: Database Management
For storing the user usage data, MongoDB will be used for storing data sets and learn to use a non-
relational database for storing data.

Concept-5: User Interface Designing and Human Computer Interaction

The application will be developed in a way that the user can quickly get familiar with it. All the
Interactive and visual components will be designed keeping in view of all the Human Computer
Interaction principles.

Concept-6: Android Application Development

The application will be developed for Android OS so it will help me learn the application
development process and methodology.

15. Gantt Chart

Create the Gantt Chart and provide estimated start and end dates of all proposed modules/tasks for
each team member. Also, identify the dependencies (which tasks cannot be started/completed until
the dependent task is completed). Gantt charts can be created using MS Project. A semester
calendar can be useful to develop the Gantt Chart.

Figure 1: Gant Chart of the Targeted Project.

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16. Mockups

Figure 3: Design Mockup for voltage/Ampere meter.

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Figure 4: Design Mockup for Usage limit Settings.

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Figure 5: Design Mockup for Notification Alert.

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Figure 6: Design Mockup for User Portal.

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 Figure 7: Design Mockup for Usage Analysis.

17. Conclusion
This FYP aims to provide users an effortless way to manage, analyze, and control the use of
electricity to save their lives, money, and electricity. The system will let everyone monitor their
usage activity and will immediately notify them in case of any shortfall in electricity. I am very
hopeful that the project will make people's life easy and have a positive impact on society. I
sincerely hope that my project will contribute to saving our beloved country’s precious resources.

18. References

18.1 " My Electric Meter " PoliLabs, [Online]. Available:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=smart.meter.app&hl=en

18.2 " Energy Consumption Analyzer " Christoph Zen, [Online]. Available:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.topfen.ecas&hl=en

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18.3 " My Energy " Myenergi, [Online]. Available:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myenergi&hl=en

18.4 " Meter Monitoring " GmbH EDV, [Online]. Available:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.schultheiss_langner.zaehler&hl=en

18.5 " Smart Energy " Conrad Electronics, [Online]. Available:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cei.android.ble.smartenergymeter&hl=en

19. Plagiarism Report

Following is the plagiarism report of the Smart Electric Meter System (SEMS) scope document.

Figure 8: Plagiarism report.

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