Phonergy

Senior Design Project - Group 20

“The smart-smart energy meter”

Phonergy �The Smart Meter

To create a safe, secure, smart meter that is easy to install and use. Putting an emphasis on data security, long-range communication, and real-time accurate readings that allows consumers to easily trim wasteful energy consumption.

Alexander Kusy 

Estefania Aguilar

Electrical Engineer

(Power Track)

Electrical Engineer

(Comprehensive Track)

Electrical Engineer

(Power Track)

Electrical Engineer

(Power Track)

Kenneth Thompson

Nabeel Khan

Our Team

Design Goal

Project Motivation 

• Wasteful Energy Consumption
• Hard to have cost understanding of what devices use real-time
• People take energy for granted these days, often leaving appliances like a desktop powered while not using it
• Rising Energy Cost
• Due to high inflation, the price of energy is on the rise
• Continuous increase in population and movement from non-traditional generation, can propagate into higher energy prices.
• Remote Monitoring/Security
• Most smart meters require a Wi-Fi connection, this can be a problem in areas that lack internet
• Energy data consumption is sensitive using Wi-Fi may not be the safest way to send data
• Space In The Market
• Our group recognized the potential security vulnerabilities of existing devices on the market
• Currently no smart meter on the market supports license free long-distance communication

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Project Features

Real-time

Accurate Measurements

Measurement Storage

Long-Distance

Communication &

Data Security

Notifications

Mobile/Web Application

Goals and Objectives�

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• Real Time Accurate data:
• Users will be able to track their real consumption and appliance usage.
• Users will be provided with reports and data that allow them to be informed about their home energy consumption.
• Users will be able to save money by saving energy.
• Users will have a real-time dollar understanding of their usage.

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• Construction, Cost, and Installation:
• The cost will be kept minimal and competitive with the market.
• Installation of the current sensors used on this project is safer since the CT's design is clipping around the breaker conductor.  So non-invasive changes were made to the panel board connections.

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• Communication and Transmission:
• Low power and low data transmissions. 
• Ability to service a radius of up to 10 miles of devices.
• IoT technology implementation. Communication with a large variety of devices with varying data demands.

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• Web-app Interfacing:
• Smart Analytics that offers intelligent solutions and info-graphics to the data gathered from every user.
• Trustable data storage and data backup system. Users' data will be sent with a high level of security.

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Requirements �& Specifications

Overall Block Diagram

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Hardware Design- Block Diagram ��

PCB Schematic -Subsystems

PCB Layout

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• Allows the mains voltages to be sensed and measured accurately by the MCU. 

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• Detects voltage value to perform calculations on real and reactive power. 

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• AC-to-AC power adapter is used to lower the voltage to 9V(RMS).

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• To meet ESP-32 requirements the, adapter’s output needs to be conditioned

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• The following formula was used to provide a positive peak of less than 3.3V. 

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• Higher value resistance is used as it lowers energy consumption.

First Subsystem-Voltage Sensor

Second Subsystem – Current Sensing

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• Three of the most common sensor technologies used today are the low resistance current shunt, hall effect sensor and the current transformer (CT)

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Current Sensor Schematic

• The current from the output of the CT sensor needs to be converted into a usable voltage
• Input requirement of the ESP-32 MCU is a positive voltage between 0 and 3.3V
• A DC bias voltage is required to provide a DC offset to the AC waveform
• A bypass capacitor is implemented to reduce noise and any AC impedance

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Testing  

Third Subsystem – Power Supply

Original system:

• The design methodology that was implemented was an AC to DC switching converter, which implemented a flyback transformer.
• The power supply board was providing an output voltage of 3.3V but was not regulating that voltage under desired load conditions.
• After troubleshooting the board on numerous occasions which was not successful, a different approach was taken to power the MCU under the consent of the group’s assigned advisor.

Third Subsystem – Power Supply

• Powers the MCU and other systems for the overall operation of the device.
• The 120VAC coming from the utility must be regulated by a voltage regulator/voltage step-down.
• Frequency range: 47-63Hz.
• Output voltage: 3.3V ±1%. Output current: 1A.
• Isolated Precision Buck Power Supply Module
• Wide voltage range input with overload
• Over temperature protection
• Ultra-small size and high efficiency.
• Ripple: less than 60mVp-p
• Output accuracy: ±1%
• Voltage regulation rate: ±1%.

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Fourth System Back-up Battery Switch-Over System 

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• Battery selection: 4 alkaline AA batteries with a voltage range of 3.6-6V with a battery capacity rating of 860-1200 mA-hr. 

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• Acts as a secondary power supply to keep the ESP-32 PICO running for an extra 2-4 hours if there is a failure of power coming from the mains

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• A low dropout linear regulator is implemented to produce an output voltage of 3.25V

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• A Schottky diode is attached to each voltage source, prioritizing the main power supply to power the device for the majority of the device’s operation

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Microcontroller

• Specs: # of ADC Pins, Size, UART
• The MCU must support 16+ ADC pins
• The size of the MCU should be relatively small
• UART communication must be present

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• Selection: ESP32-PICO-D4

Transmitter

RYLR896

NUCLEO-WL55JC

65mm

70mm

17mm

30mm

Raspberry Pi Gateway

Rak2245

LoRa Transceiver (SPI) 

Raspberry Pi 8GB

LoRaWAN Antenna

• The LoRa Gateway acts as an extension of the cloud allowing us to retrieve data locally, this is better than Wi-Fi because we can have a whole bunch of voltage sensors transmitting data to a singular point, making transmission much easier.

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• LoRaWAN or (Low Power Wide Area Network) is a new and growing alternative to Wi-Fi in IoT applications. The big advantages being the low power consumption and long-range capabilities.

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Selection of components: 

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• Microcontroller/Processor: Raspberry Pi 8GB -> This is most definitely overkill but we already had this on hand, if we were to buy this again 4GB model would work.

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• LoRaWAN Transceiver: The RAK2245 is based on the Semtech 1301 and dual SX1257/58 frontend chips. This multichannel concentrator is capable of handling up to 150 devices. -> This device is capable of handling much more than our intended use; however, it was one of the only still available for our PI.

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• LoRaWAN Antenna: Compatible antenna for correct operating frequency (915MHz). In the US this is the designated frequency for LoRaWAN communication.

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Inside The RAK2245

Raspberry PI 40 Pin connection

UART and I2C Pin connections for GPS, IPEX antenna output

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RAK2245 uses the Semtech Concentrator SX1301 chip. Dual Sx125's can receive/transmit up to 8 uplink/1 downlink channel.

The 1PPS line routes the signal to the GPS module SPI is used to route the signal to the raspberry PI.

Note: not pictured here is the PI connection and operation, the raspberry pi processes the RF messages, while preforming protocol related tasks. It then forwards the processed data to a LoRaWAN server.

Formatting of packets 

Enclosure

• Fully 3-D printed custom enclosure

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• Design Choices:
• Compact Design
• Standoff PCB mounts
• Flush mount connectors
• Hidden PSU & Battery Compartments
• Engraved Logo
• Removeable covers
• Custom Painted

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210mm

90mm

LoRaWAN Network Protocol

Why we chose to use LoRaWAN:

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• Long distance communication without any licensing
• TLS encryption 
• Large scale capabilities
• Power efficiency
• Low hardware wear and tear

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Cons:

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• Hardware can be a bit expensive
• Low bandwidth limits how often we can send data, large data payloads often use long airtime.

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On-Board Software

The software implemented on the ESP32 is responsible for sampling the various current and voltage sensors, filtering those signals, and performing the necesarry calculations to determine various key data points, before packaging this information to be sent to the LoRaWAN Transciever over a UART connection.

Mobile Application �

Logs Account to Product Code and Phone Number

Store Login information

Login/Signup Page:

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• One time process
• User inputs password, phone number, and product code.

Landing Page:

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• Smart meter power check
• Location and Amount register
• Graphical Display and networking buttons (registered to product number)

Graphic display:

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• Buttons direct you to the third and fourth page of the app.
• One leads to graphics display and the other to network API hardware connector

Notification System 

Grafana

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 Main Page Grafana Dashboard 

• Within the Grafana dashboard, users will be able to cover all captured analytical data points and can even view old data up to 5 years.

• Alerts can be set up by the user interface. These alerts can be used to notify the end-user whenever their daily power consumption has exceeded a certain level, if the power factor of their home deviates too far from unity, or if their estimated monthly bill has exceeded the budget currently in place.

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• Each Room of the home will be assigned a sub-dashboard, with the main dashboard mostly displaying a summary of the complete home system for power analytics

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• The power consumption component will display the total power consumed for that day, while the estimated cost of that consumption will also be displayed nearby.

Full Stack Development

Node-Red:

• Backend API uses Node-Red runtime environment
• Routes all API request

InfluxDB:

• NoSQL database
• Cloud database on ec2

Android Studio is a framework that allows users to test flutter applications

• Applications can be modified and test on the fly in emulator
• Android mirroring allows easy deployment of app on smartphone
• Essential for testing changes

Application Development Framework

We used flutter to build mobile application:

• JavaScript based application
• Good documentation and easier than of frameworks
• Easy integration with firebase

Phonergy Webapp 

Phonergy webapp features:

Home page has the following options:

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1.  Grafana for telematics & data display
2.  Product information
3.  About page
4. Featured technologies, offers, and news
5. Contact information
6. Demo video
7. Shop and cart
8. Customer services chat 
9. Story, our vision and technology 

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�Design Constraints�

• Economic
• $1000 budged provided by our sponsor Contec Americas Inc.
• Time constraint
• Testing hardware and software in short time
• The length of two semesters
• Shipment time from some components
• Redesign
• Environmental
• There is no Environmental constraint

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• Social
• Privacy and security
• Health & Safety
• Equipment should be installed by an electrical technician
• Manufacturability
• Phonergy’s dimension limitations
• Sustainability
• Longevity

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Identification and review of related standards�

• Based on Article 312 from NFPA 70 “Power Monitoring or Energy management equipment. The wiring space of enclosure for switches or overcurrent devices shall be permitted to contain power monitoring or energy management equipment in accordance with article 312.8.

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• Area. The total area of all conductors, splices, taps, and equipment at any cross section of the wiring space shall not exceed 75 % of the cross-section area of that space. 

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• Conductors. Article 408 Panel boards. Unless a panel board is a market to indicate the characteristic for wiring sizes. The standard ampacity is 60 °C for wire sizes 14 AWG through 1 AWG.” [4.1] 

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• From the IEEE guide for evaluating and testing the Electrical performance of Energy saving devices Std 1889™-2018 [4.1.4]

Bill of Materials

Project Management Tools

Text Messaging

GitHub

Overleaf

Google Drive

Discord

Work Distribution

Kenneth Thompson

• Mobile App
• LNS
• Edge device
• Voltage Sensor
• Node Red
• Grafana
• Instance

Alex Kusy

• Enclosure
• LNS
• Transmitter
• Power Supply
• Node Red
• UART
• Edge Device

Nabeel Khan

• Team Leader
• Switching Circuit
• Power Supply
• ESP Smart Meter
• LNS
• Ct Sensor

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Estefania Aguilar

• Back-up Battery
• Web App
• Notifications
• UCF Web Page
• Node Red
• Grafana

Future Milestones

• Mobile App Upgrades:

Turn on & turn off the device from the cellphone.

Suggestions bot regarding energy saving.

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• Buy more gateways and send data in parallel to different gateways to improve data throughput.

• More compact size

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Thank you!

Are there any questions?