Wireless water consumption sensing system for building energy efficiency: A visual-based approach with self-powered operation

Abstract

The use of smart wireless remote water meters has become popular due to their efficiency in avoiding manual labor and automate meter reading. The current implementation of these measurement instruments often requires expensive external power sources and separate data aggregators, posing challenges for circuit safety and the goal of reducing carbon emissions in aging communities. In response, a novel wireless system has been developed to accurately measure water consumption in buildings. This system incorporates advanced machine learning techniques and utilizes the potential of water-based energy in a seamless manner. This novel methodology utilizes optical sensors to acquire visual data of water gauges and exploits machine learning techniques, specifically the AVSM model also called Advanced Visual Sensing Model (AVSM). This methodology employs a rigorous approach to achieve accurate metric determinations, thereby eliminating the necessity for additional hardware or excessive power configurations. Moreover, an integrated micro water generator has been seamlessly implemented, demonstrating the capability to effectively transfer energy to a lithium battery for the purpose of storage. This implementation guarantees consistent functionality and a significant decrease in reliance on external power supplies. The data augmentation procedure involves the stochastic manipulation of image luminance, resulting in encouraging results when used in conjunction with the AVSM model. Significantly, the dimensions of the model have been significantly decreased, while maintaining a commendable mean average precision (mAP). By leveraging this method and visual-based features, the system can contribute to overall building energy efficiency and reduce the burdens of manual meter reading while supporting CO2 emissions reduction as a feasible and cost-effective solution for building management, promoting sustainability, and advancing energy-efficient practices in old communities. This new wireless system for measuring water usage provides a practical and affordable way to enhance energy efficiency in buildings, lessen the workload of manual meter reading, and help meet carbon emissions reduction goals. As well as optimizing resource and energy use, this method also aligns with eco-friendly solutions to combat global warming and climate change.