Portable Generator made smart

ESPHome
1

Hello Folks. I am trying to make my portable silent diesel generator smarter with a fuel guage being the first challenge.

It has one of these guages and because it is still under warranty I would like to make a non intrusive sensor to stick on top of the guage.

17621482803202601499024086418786
176214828032026014990240864187861920×1440 262 KB

I need some guidance from the forum please. Would it be better/easier to use esphome esp32 with a color sensor to measure the red/white ratio, or an esp32 cam to determine the guage reading?

I could not find a post where someone has tried this approach to measure this type of guage.

1 Like
2

3d print a new cap for the tank with a distance sensor on?

3

I have used ESP32cam as a colour sensor with MQTT connection for sensor data. The code may be able to read that gauge with some mods - but it’s covered by a NDA so can’t link it unfortunately.

The concept was based on some open source code - if you decide to try the ESP32cam I can see if I can find that.

4

Glue a small magnet on dial and use linear hall sensor to detect it

1 Like
5

Question: Is the fuel tank on the generator? That would mean vibration is an issue.

If not, then I’d go with an ultrasonic sensor tucked into the existing cap or a replacement one.

If so, look at regular analog float sensors used in vehicle and marine fuel tanks.

Either way, an ESP32 (or even an ESP8266) could easily send the signal to HA.