NIT develops computing stack to monitor electrical consumption of appliances

To monitor and control electrical loads, researchers at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Andhra Pradesh have developed an edge computing stack. With the use of smart powerline communications, the computing stack will also be commercialised.

The IoT-based electrical switch will check the consumption of electrical appliances and has applications in areas such as IoT farming, smart street lighting, energy management in micro and smart grids. An Indian patent has been issued for the unique hybrid device that involves power line communication and Wi-Fi.

Phani Krishna Karri and LN Sastry Varanasi were behind the development of the patented device. The former is an assistant professor while the latter is a research scholar in the department of Electrical Engineering at NIT, Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking about the key aspect of the device, Karri stated, “The system addresses energy mismanagement at the consumer end, which is a problem for both the utility company and customer. This product is intended to optimally manage electrical energy and monitor appliance level health by utilising the existing electrical infrastructure. This will also reduce the recurring maintenance cost and the power bill.”

The device comprises two modules which have been given the names ‘Slave’ and ‘Master’. The task performed by the slave device is to sense the voltage, current, power and power factor of the appliance it is directly connected to. The master device, on the other hand, communicates with mobile devices wirelessly. The slave device communicates the sensed information to the master device through a Power Line Communication (PLC).

Thus, the system uses the electrical infrastructure to communicate and record the consumption of electrical appliances. The appliances are then available for the user to control and monitor remotely through a mobile device.

“We are planning to commercialise the product by establishing a start-up and growing as an individual entity. However, for wider outreach, we are looking at licensing the technology to develop various products,” said Varanasi.

The device is unique as it optimally uses Wi-Fi and PLC while existing devices rely on either Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or a combination of both. The automatic electrical switches in existing devices are limited and they do not record and store consumption data of each appliance. NIT’s invention is a miniaturised, low-power, flexible and easy to mount plug-and-play energy management system.

Another novel feature is the artificial intelligence-based suggestive mechanism which will provide users notifications on the health of the appliances.

CSP Rao, Director, NIT Andhra Pradesh appreciated the work of the faculty member and the scholar. He encouraged the staff for such interdisciplinary based collaborative research work in emerging applications. He recognised that the IoT-based monitoring system will help the consumer balance utilisation of energy and also save on power bills.