Challenge, Approach, Outcome
Challenge
Battery-powered water and heat meters must measure accurately to EN 1434 for up to 12 years without a battery change — on an extreme energy budget.
Approach
Ultra-low-power firmware in C and assembler with a custom operating system and bootloader, a wireless IrDA update interface, and extensive calibration on specialised test stands.
Outcome
PTB-certified meters achieve up to 12 years of battery life while meeting EN 1434 measurement accuracy — with field-update capability across their entire lifetime.
Technologies Used
Project Description
Smart meters last up to 12 years without being replaced. They measure the flow of water and in cases of warm water meters the energy dissipation too.
The device measures water as per the regulations proposed by EN 1434. The firmware has a custom operating system and drivers. A bootloader ensures update via a wireless interface (IrDA). The device operates in a very energy efficient way. The correctness of its calculations and calibration is done via extensive testing on a specialized test stand.