Metering Model Overview
The Metering model in TamakiMES is designed to track and manage utility usage, such as water, electricity, or gas, for individual pieces of equipment within a manufacturing environment. Each meter is attached to a piece of equipment and continuously samples a usage counter expression, accumulating usage and cost into historical records that can be reported on later. The model is built from three entities: MeterType, MeterConfiguration, and MeterRecord.
1. meter_types
The Meter Type entity defines a type of meter such as a Flow Meter, Electricity Meter, or Gas Meter. It specifies the unit of measure used for usage tracking and a default cost per unit of measure. Multiple meter configurations may reference the same meter type.
2. meter_configurations
The Meter Configuration entity defines how the data collection engine monitors and records utility usage for a specific piece of equipment. Each configuration references a meter type and an Ignition expression that returns the current usage counter value, along with parameters that control how frequently records are created, flushed to the database, and pruned. Cost can be sourced statically, inherited from the meter type, or evaluated from an expression.
3. meter_records
The Meter Record entity is a historical record of utility usage for a specific meter type, equipment, and location over a period of time. Records are created automatically by the data collection engine while a meter configuration is active, capturing the time period, accumulated usage, computed cost, and status of each measurement run.
Summary
The Metering model in TamakiMES provides a framework for measuring and costing utility consumption across equipment. Through configurable meter types, equipment-specific meter configurations, and the historical records they generate, the model supports detailed utility usage tracking, cost analysis, and reporting.