Flow meter reading with image recognition secured with mask and software connected by mobile device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10612940-B2
Application number	US-201715820250-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2017
Priority date	Nov 21, 2017
Publication date	Apr 7, 2020
Grant date	Apr 7, 2020

Abstract

A system, product, and method of automatic reading any flow metering device, including generating a first image of the device associated and secured with a mobile device with a camera, recognizing a type of device according to a database of metering's, generating a mask for any following image based on the mobile device and the first image, based on any following image, analyzing it to extract information based on the image recognition related to the type of device, and validating the extracted information with location, timestamp, and the mask.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method of reading a device, the method comprising:
generating a first image of the device;
creating a mask of the device according to a database;
generating a second image based on the mask;
recognizing a type of device based on the second image;
analyzing the second image to extract information based on the type of device; and
validating the extracted information according to the database.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the database includes a plurality of saved images of different types of devices in a delimited zone, and
wherein the devices are flow meter devices.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mask is generated by forming an outline of an area to be read and an area for identification of the device to provide matching information for generating the second image.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the analyzing includes based on the type of device, selecting automatically a zone and a type of recognition to be performed on the second image.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the validating includes after reading values that have been derived from the analyzing, checking a consistency of resulting measures using previous values stored in the database.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the database is stored in a cloud environment, and
wherein the first image and the second image are associated with the information of a mobile device that captures the first and second images and stored in the mobile device as encrypted code that will be a secure signature of the mobile device when connecting to the cloud environment used for calculations and information storage.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein any new image captured by the mobile device is encrypted with the encrypted code and sent together with a time stamp and actualized GPS (global positioning system) coordinates of the mobile device, and
wherein the validating further includes the time stamp being used to verify a validity of the reading and the GPS coordinates are used to confirm the identification of the device.

8. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions and hardware descriptions readable and executable by a computer to cause the computer to:
generate a first image of a device;
create a mask of the device according to a database;
generate a second image based on the mask;
recognize a type of device based on the second image;
analyze the second image to extract information based on the type of device; and
validate the extracted information according to the database for output.

9. The computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein the database includes a plurality of saved images of different types of devices in a delimited zone, and
wherein the devices are flow meter devices.

10. The computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein the mask is generated by forming an outline of an area to be read and an area for identification of the device to provide matching information for generating the second image.

11. The computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein the analyzing includes based on the type of device, selecting automatically a zone and a type of recognition to be performed.

12. The computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein the validating includes after reading values that have been derived from the analyzing, checking a consistency of resulting measures using previous values stored in the database.

13. The computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein the database is stored in a cloud environment, and
wherein the first image and the second image are associated with the information of a mobile device that captures the first and second images and stored in the mobile device as encrypted code that will be a secure signature of the mobile device when connecting to the cloud environment used for calculations and information storage.

14. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein any new image captured by the mobile device is encrypted with the encrypted code and sent together with a time stamp and actualized GPS (global positioning system) coordinates of the mobile device, and
wherein the validating further includes the time stamp being used to verify a validity of the reading and the GPS coordinates are used to confirm the identification of the device.

15. A system, comprises:
a network;
a virtual computer connected to the network, comprising:
a virtual memory storing computer instructions;
a virtual processor executing the computer instructions and configured to generate a database with a plurality of images of devices and information of the devices; and

a mobile device, comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions and hardware descriptions readable and executable by a computer to cause the mobile device to:
generate a first image of the device;
create a mask of the device according to the database;
generate a second image based on the mask;
recognize a type of device based on the second image;
analyze the second image to extract information based on the type of device; and
validate the extracted information according to the database.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the database includes a plurality of saved images of different types of devices in a delimited zone, and
wherein the devices are flow meter devices.

17. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the mask is generated by forming an outline of an area to be read and an area for identification of the device to provide matching information for generating the second image.

18. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the analyzing includes based on the type of device, selecting automatically a zone and a type of recognition to be performed.

19. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the validating includes after reading values that have been derived from the analyzing, checking a consistency of resulting measures using previous values stored in the database.

20. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the database is stored in a cloud environment,
wherein the first image and the second image are associated with the information of the mobile device that captures the first and second images and stored in the mobile device as encrypted code that will be a secure signature of the mobile device when connecting to the cloud environment used for calculations and information storage,
wherein any new image captured by the mobile device is encrypted with the encrypted code and sent together with a time stamp and actualized GPS (global positioning system) coordinates of the mobile device, and
wherein the validating further includes the time stamp being used to verify a validity of the reading and the GPS coordinates are used to confirm the identification of the device.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Amaral Barros Ruberth Andre
• Borrel Paul
• Bueno Buoro Alvaro

Classifications

• G01D4/006 Primary

  Remote reading of utility meters to a non-fixed location, i.e. mobile location · CPC title

• G06Q50/06

  Energy or water supply · CPC title

• G06F16/51

  Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures · CPC title

• H04L63/123

  received data contents, e.g. message integrity · CPC title

• H04W12/10

  Integrity · CPC title