Abstract:
Reading meters for electricity and other utilities is a manual and error prone process. This project automates the process of meter reading and billing. This helps reduce billing errors caused due to manual readings and also guides meter readers about the locations of different customers.
The system consists of a web application and an android application. The website administrator can add customers and meter readers to the system database using the web application. He can assign meters from a particular location to meter readers for reading. The meter reader receives locations of meters in the android application. These locations are marked on a map. The meter reader goes to each location and captures an image of customer’s meter using the android device. The captured image is processed to extract the meter reading. This is done using OpenCV and Tesseract (Image Processing Libraries). If the reading is recognized incorrectly, the meter reader is given the facility to manually enter the reading. This reading is sent along with the image to the web application server, where it is verified by the website administrator. After verification the customer’s data is updated and his bill is generated, which is accessible through the web interface.
