Size your power budget
for edge AI deployments
Input device count, PoE class, UPS runtime requirement, and cooling approach. The engine calculates total power draw, recommends PSU sizing, UPS capacity, and PoE switch spec.
// Define requirements
// Power Budget Recommendation
// Power bill of materials
// Infrastructure recommendations
What this Power Budget Planner decides
This tool estimates the electrical envelope of an edge AI deployment based on five decision inputs: platform class, device count, camera or peripheral load, UPS runtime target, and cooling environment. It is designed for engineers sizing PSU headroom, PoE budgets, backup runtime, and thermal overhead before finalizing deployment infrastructure.
The selected edge compute platform and number of deployed nodes define the base system load.
Camera and peripheral power adds directly to the total deployment draw and often determines switch budget requirements.
UPS runtime targets and thermal environment change the practical PSU size, backup requirement, and thermal margin needed in production.
The engine calculates platform load, peripheral power, and cooling overhead to estimate total system draw. It then applies headroom for peak load and startup behavior, recommends a PSU class, estimates required UPS capacity for the requested runtime, and suggests PoE switch capacity when camera power is present.
- Base compute-device power draw by platform class
- Total deployment power as device count scales
- Camera and PoE contribution to overall system load
- Cooling overhead for passive, forced-air, cabinet, and outdoor conditions
- PSU sizing with deployment headroom and UPS runtime planning
- Total system draw: combined power of compute, cameras, and cooling overhead
- PSU size: recommended power-supply class with headroom
- UPS capacity: required watt-hours for the selected backup runtime
- PoE switch recommendation: switch class sized for camera power and port count
- Infrastructure notes: operational guidance for outdoor, passive, or backup-heavy deployments
- Machine-readable JSON: a structured result for copying, sharing, or downstream reuse
{
"schema": "edgeaistack/power-budget/v1",
"inputs": {
"platform": "jetson_nano",
"device_count": 4,
"poe_class": "poe_15",
"ups_runtime": "30min",
"cooling": "forced"
},
"computed": {
"platform_load_w": 40,
"camera_poe_w": 60,
"cooling_overhead_w": 5,
"total_system_w": 105,
"psu_spec_w": 150,
"ups_capacity_wh": 55
},
"recommendations": {
"psu": "150W DIN Rail PSU (24VDC)",
"ups": "APC BR1500G Back-UPS Pro 1500VA",
"poe_switch": "Netgear GS308PP (8-port PoE+)"
}
}
Why is PSU size larger than calculated system draw?
Production PSU sizing should include headroom for startup surges, peak load, power-supply aging, and future expansion. A PSU sized exactly to average draw is usually too tight for real deployments.
Does passive cooling change the recommendation?
Yes. Passive cooling affects sustained operating feasibility because enclosure temperature and thermal dissipation become practical deployment constraints. The planner includes cooling overhead for this reason.
When is a UPS required?
A UPS is required when the system must survive short or extended outages, or when controlled shutdown is necessary to protect local storage, system state, and uptime expectations.
Does PoE load matter more than compute load in some systems?
Absolutely. In camera-heavy deployments, peripheral and PoE draw can exceed the power required by the inference device itself, which is why total system planning must include both.