Prepaid electricity metering system is award finalist

MANILA, Philippines - A team of students from Batangas State University is intent on enabling students at boarding houses to set their electricity consumption for the month, pay the corresponding fee, and monitor and control their usage using their cellphones.

Smart Power Vendo, a GSM-based prepaid electricity system with energy monitoring, SMS inquiries capability and electricity management features is one of the two entries from Batangas State University that have made it to the final 10 of this year’s 7th SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards.

The other entry, “Smart Farmbihira,” is an SMS-based automated bucket drip irrigation system designed by fifth year ECE students.

The projects, together with seven others entered by the school to the SWEEP Awards, were among the 133 entries submitted by 26 colleges and universities nationwide to Smart’s annual search for the most innovative wireless solutions designed to address concerns of the community in keeping with the theme “Empowering Communities through Wireless Technologies.”

The team of fourth year ECE students behind Smart Power Vendo zeroes in on boarding houses as potential beneficiaries of their application, citing the usual problem pattern of unmonitored daily consumption that results in over-consumption of electricity that then leads to unpaid bills and debts, to eventual power disconnection.

With Smart Power Vendo, the team hopes to contribute to addressing the global issue of electricity management which is a major concern in developing countries like the Philippines. The prevalent ineffective practice of energy consumption has only led to the depletion of non-renewable sources of energy.

Manwhile, Smart Farmbihira seeks to make life easier for farmers by allowing them to engage in other activities while caring for and monitoring their crop. 

The user-interactive SMS-based application designed by fifth year ECE students is equipped with soil moisture monitoring, automated water filling, efficient monitoring of crop production and automated soil fertilization features. 

Aside from farmers, it is seen to benefit the agriculture industry and even gardeners and hobbyists.

The project also aims to promote drip irrigation which presents a more efficient water usage compared to the customary irrigation methods usually applied in crop production. As such, Smart Farmbihira hopes to address problems of water shortage, inefficient water usage, and uneconomical use of water in irrigation.

“We adopted the theme of the 7th SWEEP Awards in our Wireless Communications subject where we require students to conceptualize and design wireless applications per group,” says engineer Albertson Amante, an instructor in the ECE, ICE and Mexe departments of Batangas State University. 

As the subject professor, Amante short-listed nine of the projects submitted by the student groups and entered these in the elimination round of the SWEEP Awards. 

“We are overwhelmed to have two entries make it to the final 10. Being given the opportunity to be part of the final event and represent our university is already a victory,” says Amante, who is also the project adviser of both qualifying teams.

Their next goal is to finish the prototypes of their projects on time and be ready for the final judging, which includes an evaluation of the working models and team presentations. 

The Smart Farmbihira team is led by Josephine Medina, with presentor Roy Brian Sanvictores, and members Josef Moren and Ludyneil Bautista.

Leading the Smart Power Vendo team is Ariel San Diego, with presentor Eugene Ereno, and members Vivien Mecaella Maranan, Hazelyn Dimayuga and Gian Carlo Moreto.

The awards is part of the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP), an industry-academe partnership which Smart launched in 2003 to help elevate the level of engineering and technology education, particularly in the field of Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE).