Hardware Setup

On the hardware side, only an ESP microcontroller (e.g. ESP8266 or ESP32, incl. power supply) and an infrared sensor (e.g. TCRT5000) are required. An ESP8266 microcontroller is completely sufficient for the pure functionality of the Ferraris Meter. For the infrared sensor, there are ready-made TCRT5000-based breakout modules with 3.3V-5V input voltage available, which also have an adjustable resistor (potentiometer) to calibrate the digital output of the sensor. These TCRT5000 modules have 4 pins - VCC and GND for the power supply of the sensor chip as well as a digital output D0 and an analog output A0.

Placing the sensor on the cover plate of the Ferraris electricity meter requires a little skill and precision work. The infrared transmitter/receiver pair of the sensor must be aligned centrally above the turntable with millimeter precision and point in a straight line to the turntable.

The Ferraris platform basically supports the following setup variants:

• Use of a single infrared sensor via the digital output

• Use of a single infrared sensor via the analog output

• Use of multiple infrared sensors