Axiom W1 water meter casing for ESP32CAM

This is a simple closed casing designed to allow mounting an ESP32CAM camera module in a robust and easy way on top of an Axiom Qalcosonic W1 water meter. Can be used for e.g. home automation scenarios, where an OCR or AI software is used to check the water meter reading. The casing prevents ambient light or collecting dust from causing problems with the camera imaging.

Parts:

• Main casing

• Lid for the main casing with integrated casing for the ESP32CAM module

• Lid for the ESP32CAM module casing

Notes, tips, and tricks:

• Lighting the water meter display is very difficult to do in a way that does not cause glare on the camera image, but still lights the display well enough. I recommend experimenting with some LED's or strips installed inside the casing, as the ESP32CAM flash LED is pretty much unusable for lightning the display reliably, and causes a lot of heat build-up inside the casing. I had moderately good success with a short COB LED strip mounted on the bottom of the lid.

• Due to the above reason, it's also strongly recommended to print the casing using a filament that has a matte surface and preferably black or very dark grey color, so that the display is the only bright surface within the casing and light is spread more evenly to reduce glare.

• Even tiny movements of the casing or camera will throw off simple OCR tools (e.g. ssocr in Home Assistant). Tape and weights (if your water meter is facing upwards) are your friends for keeping the camera perfectly still and the case reliably closed. Add tape as needed between the ESP32 board and the casing, and between the casing and the water meter, to make them less prone to moving around. If the lid is warped or doesn't want to stay in place, you can try taping or gluing it shut and/or adding weight on top of it.

• Remember to adjust the ESP32CAM focal distance so that you get a crisp image with the short distance.