In this post, we will discuss Building-an-Automatic-Solar-Tracker-With-Arduino-Nano-V2: Hi! This Instructable is meant to be a part two to my Solar Tracker project. For an explanation of how solar trackers work and how I designed my first tracker, use the link below. This will offer context for this project.
The goal of this project was to improve on my old solar tracker, as well as add a couple of bells and whistles to make it more interactive. Some changes in the design are a new circuit board, fully laser cut wood body, and indicator LEDs and a buzzer.
Steps for Building an Automatic Solar Tracker With Arduino Nano V2:
Step 1: 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
I have attached the SVG laser cut files below. Make sure the scale is set correctly before cutting.
Attachments
Step 3: Assemble the Base
After laser cutting the parts, we need to file the edges of the rectangular pieces so they fit together. After that, we can hot glue the entire thing together. Make sure to have the piece with the arrows in the same position as the picture above, and make sure the piece with the wire hole is on the opposite side.
Step 4: Mount Servo, LEDs, and Buzzer
Now its time to mount the base hardware. For the LEDs and buzzer, I soldered wires to each lead and covered the bare sections with shrink wrap. I then labeled each component (to connect to Arduino properly) and glued it into place. Make sure to label each wire, otherwise, it will be difficult to troubleshoot later.
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