Easy Mobile Meter Reading for Non-Smart Meters: Comparison of AWS Rekognition and Google Cloud Vision Approaches

TL;DR

This paper compares two cloud-based computer vision services, AWS Rekognition and Google Cloud Vision, for automating the reading of standard, non-smart meters to reduce manual effort and costs.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of AWS Rekognition and Google Cloud Vision for automating non-smart meter readings using computer vision.

Findings

AWS Rekognition and Google Cloud Vision both successfully read meter images.

Performance differences between the two services are analyzed.

The study demonstrates feasibility of automating meter reading with cloud AI services.

Abstract

Electricity and gas meter reading is a time consuming task, which is done manually in most cases. There are some approaches proposing use of smart meters that report their readings automatically. However, this solution is expensive and requires (1) replacement of the existing meters, even when they are functional and new, and (2) large changes of the whole system dealing with the meter readings. This paper presents results of a project on automation of the meter reading process for the standard (non-smart) meters using computer vision techniques, focusing on the comparison of two computer vision techniques, Google Cloud Vision and AWS Rekognition.