Abstract
--------

This is a Smartmeter frontend in javascript. It uses a
rrd (round robin db) file as backend.
For details about round robin databases see
http://oss.oetiker.ch/rrdtool/

This project uses code from various sources, mainly
javascriptrrd to access the rrd-file and flotr2 to draw
the graphs.


License
-------

This project is licensed under the LGPL.
All included libraries are subject to their respective licenses.


Dependencies
------------

RRDTool and a webserver


Installation
------------

Just put the directory some place your webserver can access and
edit options.js to suit your needs.


Getting started
---------------

1. Create the rrd file like this:

$ rrdtool create smartmeter.rrd --start 1337212800 --step 60 \
	DS:counter1:ABSOLUTE:120:0:100000 \
	DS:counter2:ABSOLUTE:120:0:100000 \
	DS:counter3:ABSOLUTE:120:0:100000 \
	DS:lost:ABSOLUTE:120:0:100000 \
	RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:2880 \
	RRA:MIN:0.5:1:2880 \
	RRA:MAX:0.5:1:2880 \
	RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:5:4320 \
	RRA:MIN:0.5:5:4320 \
	RRA:MAX:0.5:5:4320 \
	RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:60:4320 \
	RRA:MIN:0.5:60:4320 \
	RRA:MAX:0.5:60:4320 \
	RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:360:3650 \
	RRA:MIN:0.5:360:3650 \
	RRA:MAX:0.5:360:3650

This will give you a rrd file with 4 data sources, "counter1",
"counter2", "counter3", and a counter named "lost". It will
store the data in 4 different resolutions, the finer the
resolution the shorter the storage period.

2. put some data into the rrd file like this:

$ rrdtool update smartmeter.rrd N:1:2:3:4

The part at the end is the actual data and means that you
wrote a value of 1 to the first data source, i.e. "counter1",
a 2 to the second, and so on. The "N" means "now" and could
also be a unix timestamp.

3. repeat this a few times (maybe with different values).

4. Navigate your browser to index.html

5. ???

6. Profit


Hardware
--------

To have this software do anything usefull you need some
hardware to fill the rrd-file.

The most common ways to do that are to either use electronic
power meters that generate some sort of data (there are
different ones out there) or to track the rotation of the
disc in a mechanical counter. Sensors to do that can be
homemade or bought online.

Basically you need to collect information about your
power consumption and feed it to the rrd. How you do it
is up to you, there are lots of ways. You could even go
and insert the data by hand, like in the example above,
but where would be the fun in that?


Right now the code is built around three counters that
generate 2000 impulses per consumed kWh. These counters
are very common in europe and fairly cheap. The hardware
used in this project is described in more detail here:

http://testblog.arles-electrique.de/2012/08/my-diy-smartmeter.html