Unmanned vehicle-aided automated meter reading

This paper presents a novel approach of using unmanned vehicles for Automated Meter Reading (AMR) applications in rural areas where there are a few consumers scattered around a wide area. The proposed system does not require a fixed network infrastructure to transfer data to a central database, since data collection is carried out by unmanned vehicles. Compared to traditional meter reading systems, the use of unmanned vehicles for AMR brings several advantages, such as low cost operation, flexibility, and online system management. However, the realization of these potential gains directly depends on reliable communication capabilities of the deployed system and successful navigation of unmanned vehicles. Overall, in this paper, the design principles and challenges of using unmanned vehicles for AMR applications in rural areas have been presented. Also, the communication architecture of the proposed system has been explained and comparative simulation studies have been performed in terms of energy efficiency and navigation accuracy.