Dual Axis Solar Tracker
Description
Here are video links:
youtube.com/watch?v=sbksReSEpJc
youtube.com/watch?v=HqACH3WS-w8
Instructions
Print all parts.
Attach horizontal servo motor to tracker base before attaching the horizontal gear or you will have trouble with tool access to get the motor mounted. The vertical servo gear should be ok to assemble first due to the smaller size. To mount the gears to the servo motors, I cut tiny brass nails just a bit smaller than the thickness of the gears and made little groves on the nail to give a rough surface for the plastic to bond to. I then used a soldering iron to heat the nail and fuse it through the white servo gear attachment and then into the plastic gear. Makes for a nice, clean installation. Just make sure that your gear is exactly centered when you mount it to the servo.
Attach motors, gears, and panel mount.
Hook up wires according to schematic.
Load program into Arduino and test it out.
Depending on the light that you use to move your tracker around, you might need to change the resistor size on breadboard (they should all be equal value, higher value resistors for less light).
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Thanks. I have the arduino USB plugged into my laptop for power. Arduinos have a variety of power supplies that you can use. The arduino program code is as simple as I could make it for dual axis tracking purposes. If you know about arduino programming, you can add the proper language to make it do whatever you want (in absense of light return to a certain position=sunrise). Too much for me at this point. Good luck and post if you make one. I'd like to see how it turned out.
I like your design a lot. What is powering the motors and arduino board? Do you have a separate power supply for the motors and board? I'm interested in using a similar design and was wondering how it powers itself to return to sunrise?
License
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Thanks for sharing this project. You did such good job on it I had to build one, so... I'm printing the parts now, and should have it assembled and working by tomorrow. With my Dimension printer total print time will be about 22 hours which is not too bad. I'll post a picture when it's done.
How do you like the Dimension printer?
Sweet! Just be careful with the Arduino code. Make sure that your sensors are easily distinguishable when plugging into arduino. Your code should reflect that exactly. That was the biggest hurdle I had with the project. That's why I found the multicolored ribbon cable to be helpful. I drew the schematic on ppt based on my model. Your model may be a little different depending on what color wires you use.