Digital value reader

Thread Starter

xzen01

Joined Apr 8, 2021
5
Hi all. I am new to the forum and self-taught. My knowledge of electronics is rudimentary. So I think about a way to read the values on a water meter. I am therefore thinking of a digital reader capable of reading the value on the meter and sending it to myself.
I have no idea where to start. Does somebody have an idea ?
I have attached a picture of the meter I am trying to read the value.
Thank you
 

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AnalogKid

Joined Aug 1, 2013
10,986
Please post the manufacturer and model number of the meter. Without that, we are just guessing.

That looks like an all-mechanical meter. If so, there is no electrical signal to intercept.

ak
 

Thread Starter

xzen01

Joined Apr 8, 2021
5
Please post the manufacturer and model number of the meter. Without that, we are just guessing.

That looks like an all-mechanical meter. If so, there is no electrical signal to intercept.

ak
AnalogKid you're right, the meter is working on a mechanical system. The Flow or passage of water turns a dial which it turns the numbers that appear on the dial
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,069
You could go through a lot of trouble and use OpenCV and some kind of AI to read the meter with a camera, but it really depends on why you want to read it. The suggestion @BobTPH made of simply using a camera and sending a photo may be your best bet.
 

Thread Starter

xzen01

Joined Apr 8, 2021
5
just pick model that has suitable output that can be monitored.
this one has pulse output which can be connected to a counter. this is very simple (no fieldbus etc.)
https://www.amazon.com/DAE-AS200U-7...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
Panic mode, thank you for your answer, this type will solve the problem right away. The only problem is that the meters equipment are the property of the national water company and can't be switched with another Without their authorization. And they will never do that.
 

Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,843
Your best bet would be to point a camera at it and send a photo.
Problem with pointing camera at it depends where it is. Mine is 5m from the house on the edge of my property, 40cm below the surface in a brick shaft with a cast iron lid. No way to run power to it, and given it would need a light and a fairly powerful transmitter to get the reading out of the hole, pretty impractical to run it on batteries.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
There’s usually a couple of cutouts on the lid. You might be able to run a cable through the cutouts. Mount the camera in the hole and run it’s wires to a weatherproof box on a pole, which contains an MCU that sends you the picture. Run the MCU in low power mode from rechargeable batteries and recharge them with a solar cell.

If you have wireless and it’s signal is available, you can control the camera from a device (laptop, computer or smartphone) in the house.
 

Thread Starter

xzen01

Joined Apr 8, 2021
5
You could go through a lot of trouble and use OpenCV and some kind of AI to read the meter with a camera, but it really depends on why you want to read it. The suggestion @BobTPH made of simply using a camera and sending a photo may be your best bet.
Yaakov i see it as an accessory that can be add on it which will read the number on the meter automatically and send it to me.Of course it could be easier to take pictures but i wanted to come up with something différent, something automated. Your first answer is a good brain storming start
 

Thread Starter

xzen01

Joined Apr 8, 2021
5
You could go through a lot of trouble and use OpenCV and some kind of AI to read the meter with a camera, but it really depends on why you want to read it. The suggestion @BobTPH made of simply using a camera and sending a photo may be your best bet.
Yaakov i see it as an accessory that could be add over the meter. Of course it could be easier to take pictures but I wanted something different. Your first answer is good brain storming start
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
Keep in mind what your image depicts is a totalizer number. Looking at flow you can look at a totalizer or a rate. The totalizer gives you a total in engineering units like gallons or liters where a rate gives you the flow rate as in gallons per min or gallons per hour (unit of time) or liters per unit of time. Now if you want to send that data somewhere it can be wired or wireless depending on what you want. You just need to start with a sensor to get the data. With what you have your only option is to photograph the reading and send the images somewhere at some interval. All depends on exactly what you want to do.

There are also dozens of "Smart Water Monitoring" systems using WiFi where I can look at about anything in my house using my phone. Much like I can turn lights and other things on and off or even read my house temperature and change it. No limit to what you can do and monitor using a simple smart phone and apps.

Ron
 

panic mode

Joined Oct 10, 2011
2,715
The only problem is that the meters equipment are the property of the national water company and can't be switched with another Without their authorization. And they will never do that.

simply do not replace or modify "their" equipment.... add this as a redundant meter... or use camera.

and while utilities may have meter outside so they can take measurements in owners absence, the pipe does enter the house at some point... why not put your meter there? (if house construction methods allow of course, which is the case in North America)
 
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