A team of student-innovators from the Iloilo City National High School has developed an application that allows automated electric meter reading using artificial intelligence (AI) technology and helps customers track their power use.
The app also landed second place in the first Concentrix NEXT MOVE Challenge participated in by 26 schools nationwide.
The innovation aims to deliver more effective, efficient, and accurate data processes with real-time customer information of power distribution companies in the Philippines.
“You take a picture of your electric meter, preferably digital meter, using the application. Automatically, the application will reflect the details, such as location, meter number, and the bill,” Rey J. Gonzales, teacher and one of the team advisers, said in an interview. “We have tried one (electric) meter a hundred times. It is 99 percent accurate.”
One of the inspirations of their students in developing the application was to address the concern of their parents on high electricity bills.
The application has three phases consisting of the district utility (DU) administrator, meter reader, and the customer.
“There is a feature in the application for the customer phase wherein consumers can track the consumption of their appliance. If they notice that they already exceeded their allowance, they can be guided on appropriate action,” Gonzales said.
The father of their expert student programmer used to be affiliated with a distribution utility so he knows how they work, he added.
The team is planning to commercialize the application but for now, they only developed a prototype.
They are expected to meet with the More Electric and Power Corp., Iloilo Electric Cooperative, and the DUs in the city and province of Iloilo, respectively.
The student-innovators, composed of team leader Maria Lilian Jem Montero, Joseph Andrean de la Cruz, Leonardo Rosal, Ralph Archie Agreda, and Raf Jeanel Simonio, worked on the project together with their advisers Joemarie Selibio, Francis Planto, Astrid Haresco, and Gonzales.
They are all Grade 12 senior high school students pursuing the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) academic track.
They earned a P50,000 cash award during the virtual ceremony on November 15, which according to Gonzales, is up to their students to decide on what to do with the money.
“What is important for us is the pride and honor of our school to be pitted against bigger private schools,” he said.
The first Concentrix NEXT MOVE Challenge awarding ceremony was held on November 15 but the participating schools were given more than a month to finish their entries.PNA
