Article
A Possible Smart Metering System Evolution for Rural and
Remote Areas Employing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and
Internet of Things in Smart Grids
Giovanni Battista Gaggero , Mario Marchese * , Aya Moheddine and Fabio Patrone
Citation: Gaggero, G.B.; Marchese,
M.; Moheddine, A.; Patrone, F. A
Possible Smart Metering System
Evolution for Rural and Remote
Areas Employing Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles and Internet of Things in
Smart Grids. Sensors 2021, 21, 1627.
https://doi.org/10.3390/s21051627
Academic Editor: Matteo Anedda
Received: 14 January 2021
Accepted: 22 February 2021
Published: 26 February 2021
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4.0/).
DITEN Department, University of Genoa, 16145 Genoa, Italy; giovanni.gaggero@edu.unige.it (G.B.G.);
aya.moheddine@edu.unige.it (A.M.); f.patrone@edu.unige.it (F.P.)
* Correspondence: mario.marchese@unige.it
Abstract:
The way of generating and distributing energy throughout the electrical grid to all users is
evolving. The concept of Smart Grid (SG) took place to enhance the management of the electrical grid
infrastructure and its functionalities from the traditional system to an improved one. To measure the
energy consumption of the users is one of these functionalities that, in some countries, has already
evolved from a periodical manual consumption reading to a more frequent and automatic one,
leading to the concept of Smart Metering (SM). Technology improvement could be applied to the SM
systems to allow, on one hand, a more efficient way to collect the energy consumption data of each
user, and, on the other hand, a better distribution of the available energy through the infrastructure.
Widespread communication solutions based on existing telecommunication infrastructures instead
of using ad-hoc ones can be exploited for this purpose. In this paper, we recall the basic elements
and the evolution of the SM network architecture focusing on how it could further improve in the
near future. We report the main technologies and protocols which can be exploited for the data
exchange throughout the infrastructure and the pros and cons of each solution. Finally, we propose an
innovative solution as a possible evolution of the SM system. This solution is based on a set of Internet
of Things (IoT) communication technologies called Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) which
could be employed to improve the performance of the currently used technologies and provide
additional functionalities. We also propose the employment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
to periodically collect energy consumption data, with evident advantages especially if employed in
rural and remote areas. We show some preliminary performance results which allow assessing the
feasibility of the proposed approach.
Keywords: Smart Grid; Smart Metering; Internet of Things; Low Power Wide Area Network; UAV
1. Introduction
From its birth up to nowadays, energy generation, transmission, and distribution
infrastructure evolved through many steps involving many changes and improvements.
Power generation is changing paradigm, from a completely centralized structure to a dis-
tributed one. The traditional electric grid structure is unable to meet new requirements such
as the need of more efficient transmission means and automated fault and risk analysis,
and challenges related to the integration of renewable resources [1].
The Smart Grid (
SG
) concept was developed to meet the aforementioned requirements
and challenges. The evolution of the electrical grid towards a
SG
involves many aspects and
requires many changes to both the current network architecture and the control functions.
The main idea was to employ information and communication technologies to the electrical
grid in order to improve the efficiency, sustainability and reliability [2].
The Smart Metering (
SM
) concept is considered as a key enabling technology for
SG
[
3
]. Smart Meters (SMes) allow not only to measure user energy consumption and
forward this information more frequently in a more automatic and precise way, but also to
Sensors 2021, 21, 1627. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21051627 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
