I am gearing up to return to this OpenCV project. Changing jobs and such do make hobbies a challenge.
Looking at how to power the Pi once it is installed on the oil tank is causing me some headaches.
I’d love to keep this thing running on WiFi and not have to run an Ethernet cable, but then I am left with having to run an extension cord and power the device via the USB port.
That is OK on a desk, but this is going to be installed on an oil tank!
Running the power via Ethernet is the only sane way to go.
The POE HAT for the Pi 3 B+ requires a little workaround in order to get at the GPIO pins, which I will need for the temp/humidity sensor and the LED to light up the oil gauge.
Fortunately, the workaround has been documented.
I just dug out my Ubiquiti PoE ToughSwitch. I needed to make sure this sucker is up to the challenge. 802.3af power is required.
Bummer. It was designed only to power their APs, which require 24 volts. I think this would fry my Pi.
Looking at injectors now.
This got crazy complex for something that is supposed to be saving me time. I went with a TP-Link injector and decided not to screw around with the official POE HAT, but rather went with the NavoLabs Raspberry Pi 3B+ POE Hat. Moving forward.