How Do We Measure Development Free Essays

string(32) " France Zimbabwe World Male 80\." In this assessment, I will be comparing two very different countries: France and Zimbabwe. I will be comparing their development using development indicators. I have chosen a MEDC (More Economically Developed Country) which is France, and I have chosen a LEDC (Less Economically Developed Country) which is Zimbabwe. We will write a custom essay sample on How Do We Measure Development? or any similar topic only for you Order Now I will be using development indicators to show how they relate to the country’s development and how the two countries are different. The development indicators that I have chosen are: Life Expectancy, GDP per capita, Mortality Rate, and Unemployment. These indicators are very different from each other and will be excellent in comparing France and Zimbabwe. The North – South Divide is the division in the World between developed countries and undeveloped countries. This is an indicator to wherever of not a country is a MEDC or LEDC. There is a development gap between the MEDC’s and the LEDC’s which is the difference in economic wealth that exists. The gap is largely due to the fact that developing countries have not undergone modern industrialization. There are eight main characteristics that identify a less developed country: Little or no modern industry, High Birth Rate or rapidly increasing populations, Farming is the main economic activity, High poverty, High illiteracy rate and low technological levels, Poor diets which causes starvation, malnutrition and other diseases, Poor Transport facilities, Lack of sufficient services. I will use the eight main characteristics above in my assessment when explaining the indicators as a confirmation to why Zimbabwe is a LEDC and why France is a MEDC. I will now start my assessment by providing background knowledge about my two chosen countries: France and Zimbabwe. France is located in Western Europe and also has various other territories in North America, the Caribbean, South America, the southern Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica. France covers 547,030 square kilometres (211,209 square miles), and has the largest area in the European Union and second largest in Europe. France has a variety of landscapes, including the low-lying wetlands and the high mountain ranges known as the Alps in the south-east. Across France there are rivers, lakes, salt marshes, gentle hills as well as mountains, flat plains and coasts. France has four main rivers, the longest of which is the Loire. Most of France has mild winters and warm summers however the mountainous areas such as the Alps have much colder winter and bring heavy snow falls. In France there are many historic towns, such as Chartres, Orleans and Reims, with lots of historic castles in the Loire Valley, which attract tourists. The capital city of France is Paris and is famous for the Louvre museum and Notre Dame Cathedral. France is also known worldwide for the wood that it produce, in particular its wine and cheese. France is a very developed country and it possesses the fifth largest economy in the world. It receives 82 million foreign tourists annually and is a member of the European Union, United Nations, G8, NATO, and the Latin Union. France also owns the largest number of nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants in the European Union. France is a democracy in which the people elect member of the National Assembly and Senate, which together make up the Parliament. France does not have a royal family since it became a republic in 1789. Every seven years, a President is elected for the French Republic. France’s economic wealth is created by different types of production: Primary (farming and mining), secondary (manufacturing industries) and tertiary (high- tech industries and services). Until recently, manufacturing industries provided most of France’s wealth and jobs, but this has now changed. Since the oil crisis in 1979, the secondary sector in the employment structure has been decreasing while the tertiary sector has been increasing. This has resulted in huge numbers of unemployment and France is now the country with the second highest unemployment rate, which has deeply affected the country’s wealth. France was issued the single European currency, the euro, in 2002, together with 15 other EU member states. This forms the Euro zone. Zimbabwe is located in Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia. Zimbabwe covers an area of 390,580 square kilometres. The terrain of Zimbabwe is mostly high plateau and mountains in the east of the country. The terrain is therefore highly useful for the primary industry especially farming. Like many countries in Africa, primary industry is the main economic activity in Zimbabwe. It generates most of the country’s income, however to reach development, industrialization is need but the country cannot afford this. The climate is tropical but a rainy season occurs between November to March. The official language of Zimbabwe is English, but the majority of the population speak Shona which is the native language of the Shona people. The other language that is spoken widely in Zimbabwe is Sindebele by the Matabele people. In a full flood, the massive Victoria Falls on the river forms the world’s largest curtain of falling water. The population of Zimbabwe is 13,349,000 million although the life expectancy is only 38 years which is extremely low. Life Expectancy and Infant Mortality Rate: Life Expectancy is the number of years that an individual is expected to live as determined by statistics gained over a year for a selected country. It is calculated for men and women separately as well as together. Generally women live longer than men in most countries but that is not always the case in some countries. Many simple things affect life expectancy which is the main problem in developed countries such as France where the main problems are smoking, obesity, and drugs. However, these problems are in people’s control and are mostly people’s actions. However in undeveloped countries like Zimbabwe, the main problems would be AIDS, malnutrition, curable diseases, and civil strife. These factors take a tremendous toll on human life. The Life Expectancy for France and Zimbabwe are: France Zimbabwe World Male 80. You read "How Do We Measure Development?" in category "Papers" 87 39. 73 66. 12 Female 77. 68 40. 87 64. 18 Male and Female 84. 23 38. 55 8. 2 It is very clear that the life expectancy is significantly lower in Zimbabwe than in France. Zimbabwe’s population has such a low life expectancy because of the variety of diseases and also the climate. The warm welcoming climate attracts mosquitoes which carry the disease, malaria. Hepatitis A and typhoid are also common in Zimbabwe because of the poor hygiene standards and unclean water. In Zimbabwe there is not much clean water around therefore people are forced to drink this unclean water and combined with poor health care this gives Zimbabwe its low life expectancy. Another explanation to Zimbabwe’s low life expectancy is its high infant mortality rate. Infant Mortality Rate is the death rate during the first year of a newborn baby’s life. Over one tenth of every newborn African dies within its first year. Infant Mortality Rates greatly affects a country’s life expectancy because every newborn baby dieing in its first year still applies to the number of years an individual lives. Compared to France, the life expectancy of France is higher because of its good health care and constant supply of clean water. The Infant Mortality Rate of France is 3. 6 deaths/1,000 live births which is very low compared to Zimbabwe. The population per doctor in Zimbabwe is 16,667 therefore treatment in Zimbabwe is extremely limited and most people relying on natural healers who provide sick people with herbs and plants which usually don’t have much effect on curing diseases. The Life Expectancy is higher in France because France provides excellent healthcare whereas in Zimbabwe the healthcare is very poor and there are only a few hospitals. Because the healthcare is poor many of the people die or they refer to tribal healers who use ancient healing methods which most of the time fail to work. They can also make the illness worse. The Infant Mortality Rate is also low in France because of the excellent services that hospitals provide during the operation and after the baby is born. In France there are 303 people per doctor and so this confirms that healthcare in France is widely available. Also the climate in France is perfect to avoid catching diseases, resulting in less early deaths increasing the life expectancy. Clean water is supplied to houses through safe taps whereas people in Zimbabwe live in huts and have to collect water from lakes which are usually infected. To conclude, life expectancy is an good indicator in measuring the development of a country, because it takes into account healthcare, standards hygiene i. e. food and water, disease, and infant mortality rate, and the availability of medical services. However, it is not a brilliant indicator because diseases in Zimbabwe like malaria are unavoidable due to the fact that mosquitoes are found in Zimbabwe because of the hot weather. Zimbabwe has a much lower life expectancy because it suffers from problems like malaria, malnutrition, unclean poor, and poor healthcare which developed countries like France do not suffer from. However developed countries like France suffer from minor problems that can be easily prevented such as obesity, smoking, and drugs. These minor problems are increasing in the modern world. It is already affecting many countries and therefore needs to be prevented. I have mostly explained the difference between the countries of Life Expectancy and Infant Mortality Rate but there is one important similarity and that is that both countries have problems that need to be extinguished. GDP per Capita and Unemployment: GDP per Capita is a commonly accepted measure of development and stands for Gross Domestic Product per Capita. It is used to help identify the standard of living for a country by measuring a countries wealth. So GDP per Capita is the net value of all goods and services produced by a country in that specific country only in one year divided by the population of that country. France has a GDP per Capita of $32,700 whereas Zimbabwe’s GDP per Capita is $200. This is a considerable difference and there are many reasons for this. Human factors as well as physical factors both affect Zimbabwe, resulting in the low GNP per capita. Since Zimbabwe’s independence, it has been through many wars. The most recent war with Congo took millions of dollars out of the economy and reduced Zimbabwe’s chances for development. Zimbabwe’s low GDP per Capita is the result of low industrialization in the country. For this to occur the country needs money to spend on the machinery and Zimbabwe doesn’t have a vast amount of money to spend. This is the reason why Zimbabwe’s economy is based around the primary industry of farming and mining as the country has a large quantity of expensive minerals. However many of the mines are owned by foreign companies and not by the Zimbabwe Government, resulting in no change in wealth. Also, developed countries like France trade with primary- based countries like Zimbabwe because France doesn’t have enough primary resources in the country. However, MEDC’s purchase the crops and minerals at an extremely low amount. Zimbabwe cannot refuse because the country needs the money to avoid falling in debt. France would then use their advanced manufacturing industry to produce secondary products. France has the wealth to do this because the economy is high. Zimbabwe would then purchase the secondary goods from MEDCs like France at an extremely high amount. Zimbabwe has no choice but to purchase the developed goods because the country doesn’t have the machinery to convert its primary goods into secondary products. Zimbabwe in the past have tried many National Plans to industrialize the country which is a step towards development however to do this Zimbabwe needs Capital and the only say to get this is to barrow huge sums of money from the world banks. In the end, the plans did not work out because the country could not afford to pay back the loans and the factories were never complete. With huge loans to repay and no complete factories, the country fell into the â€Å"Third World Debt†. Through trying to industrialise, the country’s economy collapsed resulting in an even worse state than before the plans proceeded. Zimbabwe is therefore stuck in the vicious circle of development at the step where they have no money left and so the output per person is low. Another reason why the GNP per Capita of Zimbabwe is so low is because the education system is very poor. Without education, people cannot achieve high paid jobs. At the moment in Zimbabwe, most of the jobs are based around farming and mining which doesn’t need education and leads to low payment. However most of the population in Zimbabwe is unemployed with the rate being 80% which is roughly 9 million people. As I have mentioned earlier, the war with Congo took millions out of the country’s wealth. This money could have been spent on the education system in Zimbabwe which would have over time increased the GNP per Capita as well as reducing the unemployment rate. Now due to the country debt situation, it cannot afford to spend money on the education. This is the main reason why Zimbabwe’s GNP per Capita is extremely low. France differs greatly from Zimbabwe however the two countries have some similarities. France’s high economy is the reason for the vast amounts of money entering the country. This wealth is spent to improve the country to continue its advanced development. France takes a keen interest in the education system resulting in high paid jobs, increasing the money injected into the economy. This gives the country a high GNP per Capita. A similarity is that France unusually has the second highest unemployment rate in the industry. The percentage is 12. 6% which is extremely high even though the economy is well- developed. I conclude this section by stating that even though France has an advanced economy, it has some problems. In the future, Zimbabwe needs to consider all its possibilities for development before making a definite decision because the country could just keep shrinking in terms of its economy. How to cite How Do We Measure Development?, Papers

is everything skin deep Essay Example For Students

is everything skin deep? Essay Id thought about the idea of living as a black person ever since I read John Howard Griffins Black Like Me. This is an excerpt from Skin Deep: Black Like Me My Own Journey into the heart of Race-Conscious America. It was an intriguing story of how a young white male felt such an urge to encompass the life of a black man that he purposely changed his skin color. My first reaction was, How strange for someone to do that yet; as I read on I changed my initial reaction of puzzlement to, What a reality check that must have been. There is no denying that racism still occurs and for someone to put themselves in a situation where they know they will fall victim to that is debatable. Some whites may wonder why a person would do such a thing and blacks may say that a few months in their shoes is nothing to an entire lifetime. White people will never know the magnitude of discrimination placed on the black man however, Joshua Solomon, the white man who lived for a few months as a black man, has had the chance to experience what black people go through every day and have gone through for decades. Even in the first few days as a black man he faced discrimination by whites, ironically by his own nine year-old sister who had for the first time seen him after his transformation yelled, Your Ugly! Sadly, that was just the beginning of what was to come for Joshua as he ventured out into the world as a black man. It was very courageous for him to go to such lengths to understand exactly how bad discrimination is on other races. Before Joshua started his journey, he had the same mind set that most white Americans do. Most white people think that blacks and other races blame everything on race and that it is just a crutch that they use. Curiosity got the best of Joshua and he decided to find out for himself if this were true or not. As I read his tale of I realized that even though he was white and had just simply changed the color of his skin, he was still hurt by the discrimination he endured and even started to think like a black man. This is obvious when he is walking with Chris, the bum from Gainesville and they are in a black neighborhood and Chris makes the comments Lazy Niggers then expects Joshua to walk him back through. Joshua automatically thinks, Sink or swim white boy. The strange thing is that if anyone who has compassion would read this story then they would understand why he would even think such a thing about his own race. At that very moment he was being discriminated against and ev en though he was white, at that moment he was black. Everyday he encountered some sort of racism as a black man, whether he was told that a restaurant was full when it wasnt or whether it was an interrogation by a police officer for simply being on the sidewalk. Once he had enough, he decided to go back to his regular white self. The unfortunate thing is that blacks are basically stuck in the skin that they are in. They cannot change the color of their skin if they feel that they have had enough discrimination. Joshua was able to experience discrimination first hand but still will never know a whole lifetime of struggle. Blacks and all other races have no choice but live in the skin that they are in and sadly deal with the fact that their skin is their sin. While reading Joshuas story, I started to become ashamed of being a white person. I try to treat everyone of all races equal, but it truly upsets me that my respectable encounter with someone of another race or color that could m ake them forget about discrimination could be defeated later by some racist asshole they may encounter next. The whole situation involving racism and discrimination and the fact that it still exists and more than likely, always will seems so unfair. This

Punk Rock and Green Day free essay sample

Green Day is punk Rock Punk rock defined by dictionary. Com is, a type of rock-n-roll, reaching its peak in the late 1 sass and characterized by loud, insistent music and abusive or violent protest lyrics, and whose performers and followers are distinguished by extremes of dress and socially defiant behavior. Personally, the definition that people put to the word punk rock may be a little different than the actual definition, but the original definition still is the backbone of punk rock. A band that stuck out to me as being a punk rock band, even through all the criticism of them being a pop rock band is Green Day. In my eyes they have created their punk ethos through their music. Green Day would perform and be seen with very unorthodox clothes when you think about punk rock. For example, they perform in suits and ties, which was very unorthodox for people to see. We will write a custom essay sample on Punk Rock and Green Day or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It was very unique, and it may not be exactly what the original definition had defined, but they continued the trend of punk rock by being different and not by following what others have already done.That alone, their ability to be risky and try something new, like their outfit, really gives them their punk ethos in my eyes. As well as their unique loathing, they would also wear eyeliner and other accessories that were different for their time, even though it was after the peak punk rock time. Lyrically, being described as a pop rock band means their lyrics dont go against certain social norms, which I strongly disagree with.For example, their song Good Riddance was a risky move that lead them to more success. But during their time, no song similar to that was ever created. The lyrics and the tempo were very different than all past songs. Also, albums like American Idiot in the title alone reject certain social norms. Songs such as Basket Case and Boulevard of Broken Dreams were so unique and were very different than the music being produced by other rock bands.Green Day does not exactly follow some of the ass bands that created the punk rock movement, but Green Day was a different time and yet they still followed some of the ideas that those bands in the ass were formed by. To be fair, the older songs of Green Day were more accepted to be defined as punk rock, but the band is still punk rock and they created a punk ethos by experimenting and being so different from others. Their visual appearance as never seen before, their eyeliner was a very noticeable change from the punk rock era, and their hair was unique as well.Even without their looks, their music is meaningful and rejects the social norm Of their time. Some Of their songs are still to this day unique which is another reason why Green Day is definitely punk rock. One of their famous albums, Doggie, is a perfect example of rejecting the social norm. Their songs, even in the album alone, are different and dont have the same style as other bands. Green Day is definitely a punk rock band, and has created its own punk ethos from their looks and lyrics throughout their time.

The Jungle essays

The Jungle essays The progressive era, being known for reform of political corruption, health laws, and labor laws all came with the suffering of thousands. Many of these reforms were at the torment of the immigrants that came to America in search of a better life. In The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, we are brought to the pain and distress of the progressive era through Jurgis and his family. Through this family we are taken to Packingtown in Chicago to view the effects of progressivism on the nations industries and immigrant families. In Sinclairs, The Jungle we are shown the progressive eras effects on immigrants and their families which lead to the creation of many laws we have today. Immigrant families came to America in search of new opportunities through the idea that America was a place to prosper-possibly become wealthy-and provide a better life for their families. It was Jonas who suggested that they all go to America, where a friend of his had gotten rich. He would work for his part, and the women would work, and some of the children, doubtless- they would live somehow.(Sinclair 22) Every Immigrant who came to America believed that America was the land of opportunity. Between the years nineteen hundred and nineteen hundred and twenty, over fourteen million Immigrants had come to America to make their lives better. Upon arriving in the United States many of the immigrants had a dream that the money would begin to flow in and their dreams would come true. Besides the opportunity to make money most of the Immigrants fled their old lives to escape the shortage of land, and political and religious persecution in hopes that America could free them from all of troubles of their homeland. ...Employment for thousands upon thousands of men, of opportunity and freedom, of life and love and joy. When they came away, arm in arm, Jurgis was saying, tomorrow I shall go there and get a job!&...

Research pROPOSAL Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Proposal Example The problem becomes all the more significant because, as evidence suggests, â€Å"biological, psychological and social factors are all important in understanding the causes of eating disorders† (Keel & Levitt 58). This paper attempts to identify this problem as a major and widespread health concern in the US and will also try to examine various measures to counter the problem. The research will be conducted on the premise that eating disorders are a widespread health issue in the American society and it will focus on the following research questions: Eating disorders are a widespread problem in the US and in order to contain this menace authorities should attempt to create awareness among the citizens about its causes and effects as well as preventive measures. The researcher proposes to conduct the research mainly using secondary sources, in terms of available literature on the topic. The research will be conducted within the campus, using library resources, internet etc. In addition, wherever feasible, the researcher will also attempt to gain some primary data from within the community sources by interviewing a sample population of a few patients ailing with the problem. Besides, the researcher will also explore the possibility of obtaining information from healthcare professionals including dieticians. The paper, towards the end of the introduction, will contain the thesis statement that â€Å"Eating disorders are a widespread problem in the US and in order to contain this menace authorities should attempt to create awareness in the citizens about its causes and effects as well as preventive measures.† Concepts about beauty in the modern day require people to become thin and thus young females and males ignore the need for balanced diet in the hope to become leaner and thereby develop eating disorders. In order to attain a

How does online shoppers' behaviour differ from traditional shoppers Essay

How does online shoppers' behaviour differ from traditional shoppers (see full queation attch on folder) - Essay Example This essay examines the various factors that influence the differences between traditional shoppers and online shoppers, namely, price awareness or sensitivity, size preference, brand perception or loyalty, economic and non-economic motivations, information availability, impulsiveness, and the buying process. Contents Page Section Title Page Number I. Introduction 5 1.1. Problem Statement 6 1.2 Research Rationale 6 II. Review of Related Literature 7 2.1.Differences between Traditional Shoppers and Online Shoppers 7 2.2. The Buying Process 8 2.3. Impulse Buying 9 2.4. Information Availability and Search Costs 10 2.5. Non-Economic Motives 15 2.6. Economic Motives 19 2.7. Brand Loyalty and Size Preference 21 2.8. Price Awareness/Consideration 23 III. Conclusions 24 I. Introduction In reaction to the rapidly changing and enlarging online business activities, scholarly studies on electronic commerce, or e-commerce, is increasing dramatically, as well. A wide range of research topics has b een studied by scholars from a variety of disciplines. Digital technology has generated new ideas and led to major transformations in people’s communication, interaction, and behaviour. The concept of ‘e-commerce’ mainly denotes the process of information exchange and transactions between commercial entities and consumers (Kim et al., 2002). E-commerce provides retailers new ways of reaching consumers and penetrating markets previously inaccessible. A particular area of research on e-commerce is the difference between consumers’ behaviour online and in traditional shopping contexts. In spite of the dramatic increase of online businesses and well documented rivalry between traditional and online stores, there is a surprising lack of empirical research on behavioural differences between online shoppers and traditional shoppers. According to Close (2012), research subjects on this field are primarily interested in identifying disparities in shoppers’ p urchase behaviour and decision-making processes, and providing interpretations of the discovered behavioural differences. 1.1. Problem Statement Traditional shopping and online shopping have numerous differences, as well as similarities. Online shopping could offer interactive activities, convenience, and expediency, and the traditional or, also referred to as brick-and-mortar, shopping could offer customers actual experience with products and/or services and a more relaxing shopping environment (Hoyer & MacInnis, 2008). Both online and traditional stores are exerting considerable efforts enhancing their services. This essay investigates how online shoppers’ behaviour differs from traditional shoppers. In order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the issue, this essay examines the various factors that influence the differences between traditional shoppers and online shoppers, namely, price awareness or sensitivity, size preference, brand perception or loyalty, economic and non-economic motivations, information availability, impulsiveness, and the buying process. 1.2. Research Rationale This investigation is carried out due to the continuous expansion of e-commerce, which, consequently, influences consumer behaviour. It is important to understand the behavioural differences between traditional shoppers and online shoppers, especially for marketers and entrepreneurs, because such differences are indicative of the strengths and weaknesses of each shopping medium. II.

Energy Meter Reading Using Bluetooth Technology

Energy Meter Reading Using Bluetooth Technology This project is designed with microcontroller, Bluetooth transmitter Receiver, and data cable with PC. Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs).Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency. In microcontroller we can program the cost per unit. So it receives the pulse from signal conditioning unit and increments the count value. Corresponding unit and cost are displayed on the LCD display. In this project the energy meter will send the meter reading to the Bluetooth device via the microcontroller. The Bluetooth thus transmits the data and sends it to the receiving side which will be indicated on the computer screen. The reading can be sent back after sufficient calculation to the energy meter display via Bluetooth devices. Introduction: A huge manpower is arranged by electric power company to collect the electricity meter reading. It is a costly job and easily getting wrong readings. In some cases, the staff of electric power company is not able to enter the private house and hence needed to estimate the power usage. An innovative solution is created to simplify the job by using Bluetooth technology. Meter reading can be taken easily and efficiently by using a Bluetooth device connected to the electric power meters with Bluetooth module installed. By using this solution, it eliminates the human error and does not need to estimate the electricity usage anymore. As a result, electric power company can reduce the operation time dramatically. This project basically aims to provide a new wireless design for Energy Meter Reading using Bluetooth Technology. Traditional system: During a research at the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, a questionnaire was conducted about the traditional methods of Assessment of Meter Reading followed in Tamil Nadu and was found that few years ago there were readings taken manually and costs generated by manual calculation which has now been replaced by the project called BEST (Billing for Essential Services in TNEB) scheme which has two phases of implementation. With this project TNEB plans to computerize all their collection centers spread across Tamil Nadu. A handheld device is used by the assessor to generate the bill of the consumer based on the observed reading. The remote rural office of TNEB is being connected to a circle office and the circle office is being connected to the Regional office. Gemini Communication Ltd (GCL), a Chennai based leader in Communication Networking solutions did the first phase for about 456 Collection centers spread across 9 regions and deployed the servers and storage products for this network and hence the data that is being typed in at the remote rural office will automatically be saved in the server of the Regional office. In the second phase TNEB would implement the system in 8 regions catering to 1725 collection centers. This is the second phase of the project and will be used by 8 Chief Engineers and expected to benefit over 1.5 crore consumers. Proposed system: However in the existing system there is no solution provided for the misread meters and manual errors by the assessors. Also it does not provide a solution to reduce the manpower required as assessors. The proposed method is that of a wireless meter reading system. A mobile van or motorbike can be used by the staff to visit a street and it is required to enter only the building code to access all the meter readings of the building. The proposed design involves a microcontroller block that read up to 16 energy meters per building. Then the bill of the individual meter will be generated and displayed on the LCD screen of the microcontroller at the consumer end. This system will provide the readings of each and every meter in a building even if the staff is unable to enter the building. There are further uses of this system which are mentioned in the advantages section. Originality/value: This system has many significant excellences, such as wireless networking, low-workload, great quantity of data transmission, time- saving, security. It is an integrated system with complete hardware, software, and database implementation. Block diagram: Devices used and working: 1. Electricity meter The first block is an electric meter that is to be read. An Electric meter or energy meter is a device that measures the amount of electrical energy supplied to a residence or business. These are customers of an electric company. The most common type is more properly known as a (kilo) watt-hour meter or a joule meter. Utilities record the values measured by these meters to generate an invoice for the electricity. They may also record other variables including the time when the electricity was used. Fig.1: Energy Meter Typical Energy meter data 5-10 v 240 v 50 Hz 1200 revs/kwh 2. IR Transmitter and receiver For the microcontroller to understand the meter reading, we need an IR setup which consists of an IR transmitter and receiver. The transmitter transmits an IR ray via a hole made in the meter disc, and the receiver receives it whenever the hole comes right in straight line with the IR ray. This happens on completion of each revolution of the disc. So this ensures that the microcontroller has track of each revolution and the counter works accordingly. A typical Infrared diode emits a beam of light that reaches the device. A 940 nm wavelength LED is typical. This infrared light is invisible to the human eye but carries signals that are detected by the appliance, as well as by the sensor of a digital camera. The presence of a carrier signal can be used to trigger a function. After the demodulation of the received signal, the appropriate frequency filters are applied to separate the respective signals. Nowadays digital procedures are more commonly used. Fig.2: IR transmitter and receiver 3. Digital comparator The comparator shown in the block diagram is used to sense a high pulse each time the IR receiver receives an IR light. And the comparator compares the coming signal to previous signal. If they are different the output is given as high and if they are same the output is zero. This ensures that when the meter stops on one reading the microcontroller stops counting. A digital comparator is a hardware electronic device that compares two numbers in binary form and generates a one or a zero at its output depending on whether they are the same or not. A comparator can be simulated by subtracting the two values (A B) in question and checking if the result is zero. This works because if A = B then A B = 0. Comparator Operation Input Vs. Output Results Current WILL flow through the open collector when the voltage at the PLUS input is lower than the voltage at the MINUS input of the opamp. Current WILL NOT flow through the open collector when the voltage at the PLUS input is higher than the voltage at the MINUS input of the opamp. 4. 8051 Microcontroller The microcontroller is used to count the pulses coming from the comparator output and to interface it to the Bluetooth device for Transmission and reception. It also interfaces to the LCD display so that the incoming Bill details can be displayed. The microcontroller consists of following sections: 4 Kb program memory. 128Kb RAM (including SFR(special function registers) as well) satisfies basic needs. 4 ports having in total of 32 input/output lines exist. Fig.3: 8051 Pinout and Basic Architecture The diagram above shows the 8051 pinout. The chip is a 40-pin package. Port 0 pins 32 to 39 make up the 8-bit I/O port 0. However, if external memory is used, these lines are used as a multiplexed address and data bus. Port 1 pins 1 to 8 make up the 8-bit I/O port 1. Port 2 pins 21 to 28 make up the 8-bit I/O port 2. However, if external memory is used, these lines make up the high-byte of the external address (A8 to A15). Port 3 pins 10 to 17 make up the 8-bit I/O port 3. However, each of these eight pins also has an alternate function, as detailed in the table below: External data memory read strobe RST the reset input is on pin 9. This pin is used for resetting the 8051 (i.e.; loading the PC with the correct startup value). EA-bar the external access, on pin 31, is used for enabling or disabling the on-chip ROM. When tied high (5V), the 8051 executes instructions in internal ROM when executing in the lower 4K (8K for the 8052) of memory. If tied low the 8051 will always execute instructions in external memory. The 8031 and 8032 should always have pin 31 tied low as there is no internal code memory. ALE the address latch enable is on pin 30. The ALE is used for latching the low byte of the address into an external register. PSEN-bar the program store enable is an output signal on pin 29. This signal is used for fetching instructions from external code memory. The microcontroller memory is divided into Program Memory and Data Memory. Program Memory (ROM) is used for permanent saving program being executed, while Data Memory (RAM) is used for temporarily storing and keeping intermediate results and variables. All 8051 microcontrollers have 16-bit addressing bus and can address 64 kb memory. 5. Bluetooth The Bluetooth device is used create the contact between the Consumerà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s meter and the Assessorà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s laptop or any Bluetooth enabled device which has the Billing Software in it. Bluetooth is the term used to describe the protocol of a short range (10 meter) frequency-hopping radio link between devices. Bluetooth is acceptable for situations when two or more devices are in proximity to each other and dont require high bandwidth. Bluetooth networking transmits data via low-power radio waves at frequency of 2.45 gigahertz (actually between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz, to be exact). This frequency band has been set aside by international agreement for the use of industrial, scientific and medical devices (ISM). A personal computer must have a Bluetooth adapter in order to be able to communicate with other Bluetooth devices (such as mobile phones, mice and keyboards). 6. Visual Basic The software used to enter the received readings and generate the billing cost details is Visual Basic as the front-end software and SQL as the back-end software where the database of each consumer gets stored. Visual Basic is a Graphics User Interface (GUI). The main object in Visual Basic is called a form. Controls are things like text boxes, check boxes and command buttons. Controls are chosen from the Visual Basic à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"tool boxà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ . Once forms/controls are created, you can change the properties (appearance, structure etc.) related to those objects in that particular objects properties window. From this window, you choose the property you want to change from the list and change its corresponding setting. Once all your objects are created, you can combine them to form a single executable program that can be run outside of the Visual Basic environment, in Microsoft Windows as shown: Advantages: Issues with Stand-alone meter reading Highly Person dependant. Human errors cannot be avoided. Accessibility of meters in rural/ Agricultural zones. Energy Audits performed based on bill collection which is highly inaccurate. Billing done mainly on estimated/ monthly average basis Inability to monitor and control discrete loads Billing cycle requires excessive time. Electric company benefits Smart automated processes instead of manual work Accurate information from the network load to optimise maintenance and investments Customized rates and billing dates. Streamlined high bill investigations. Better network performance and cost efficiency. Demand and distribution management. More intelligence to business planning. Better company credibility. Customer benefits Precise consumption information Clear and accurate billing Better and faster customer service Disadvantages: Applying the system in large area with multiple subscribers is not a straightforward task; the system may need some modifications. Bluetooth device costs are affordable only by Apartment residents or residents of colonies but not independents. Future developments: In our project we have used the old fashion mechanically operating meters but they are easy to tamper with. In future digital meters can be used for this project once they become cheaper. The other proposed advancement that can be made is the use of other wireless communication devices. Bluetooth model was used by us essentially for lab testing purposes. The more favourable options could be Modems and Zigbee devices that provide both range and better security. They were not chosen for this project due to budget restrictions.