Automated Solar Tracker Using Arudino Nano V2: Solar Tracker Project. To explain how solar trackers work and how to design a tracker,
The goal of this project was to improve my old solar tracker, as well as add more bells and whistles to make it more interactive. Some changes to the design include a new circuit board, fully laser-cut wooden body, and LED indicators and a larger one.
Steps for Automatic Solar Tracker Using Arduino Nano V2
Step 1: Required Materials and Equipment
Here are the materials used to build the tracker:
- Arduino Nano
- 5x 220 Ohm Resistors
- 3x 10k Ohm Resistors
- 3x Light Dependent Resistors
- 2x Servos
- 4x Blue LEDs
- Red LED
- Buzzer
- Perfboard/Breadboard
- Wire
This is the equipment used to build the tracker:
- Laser Cutter
- Soldering Iron
- Heat Gun
Step 2: Laser Cutting the Base Assembly
Attached the SVG laser cut files below. Make sure the scale is set correctly before cutting.
Attachments
Step 3: Making the Base
After cutting the parts with laser, we need to file the edges of the rectangular pieces so that they fit together. After that, we can heat the whole thing together. Make sure the piece with the arrow is the same as the picture above, and make sure the piece with the perforated wire is in the opposite direction.
Step 4: Mount Servo, LEDs, and Buzzer
Make the base hardware. For LEDs and buzzer, Solder the wires at each edge and wrapped the bare sections with shrink wrap. Then labeled each component (to properly connect to the Arduino) and fix with glue into place. Label each wire, otherwise it will be difficult to fix later.
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