Arduino Sun Tracking / Heliostat Program Updated to 0.9.6

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Gabriel Miller

The code for both the Open Source Arduino Sun Tracking / Heliostat Program and the Single Machine Sun Tracking / Heliostat Electronics Set Up has been updated to V.0.9.6.

Ver. 0.9.6 fixes a bug in the code which caused the altitude and azimuth of the heliostat to be calculated incorrectly for certain inputted angles. The entire “heliostat angle” algorithm was rewritten and tested throughly inside a computer simulation, so it should be good to go.

Code for the new Arduino IDE 1.0 has also been added.

As always, let me know if you encounter any issues.

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Sun Tracking / Heliostat Project Entered in Build Lounge Laser Cutter Contest

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Gabriel Miller

 

The Open Source Sun Tracking / Heliostat project has been entered in the Build Lounge laser cutter contest. These contests are always a lot of fun since they inevitably introduce new individuals to your project. You can read about the contest and also view the contest entries by clicking the banner below. You can then vote (ideally for my project :) ) by selecting the the entry on the left side of the page and clicking the “vote” button. Thanks!

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Sun Tracking / Heliostat Project Introductory Video

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Gabriel Miller

It’s been a fairly quiet around the site over the last several months as I have been busy with school. I’ve still been working on various projects, but just haven’t had much time to document them.

Over this winter’s break between semesters, I decided it was about time I finished the introductory video to the Open Source Sun Tracking / Heliostat Project which is shown below. It was a bit of a learning experience (aka a serious pain in the you know what) to put everything together, but overall it didn’t turn out too bad.

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Sid’s Sun Tracking Machine at Minnesota State Fair

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

 

If you remember Sid’s Sun Tracking Machine posted on this site a couple of months ago, you’ll no doubt recognize its design in these pictures at the Minnesota State Fair. The event itself is massive. Their website gives the number of attendees for 2011 at 1,769,782!

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Single Machine Sun Tracking / Heliostat Electronics Set Up

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

This page shows off a single machine sun tracking / heliostat electronics set up. You may have already found it, but, if not, there is a more elaborate electronics system here which includes things like shift registers for increasing the number of controllable machines, relays to allow multiple machines to be controlled with just one set of driver boards, and switches to change heliostat targets.

Not surprisingly more elaborate also means more complicated. To try and make life a little simpler, the system on this page leaves out some of the extra bells and whistles and instead keeps only the bare essentials. Should you ever wish to include some of the previously mentioned “extras” they can, of course, still be added later down the road.

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Wiring a Step/Dir Type Stepper Motor Driver Board to an Arduino

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

This page will show you how to wire a  step/dir type stepper motor driver board to an Arduino. The driver board used in this particular example is available from Avayan Electronics and has thus far proven to be quite superb.

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Posted in Arduino Projects | 4 Comments

Sid’s Solar Panel Sun Tracking Machine

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

 

The solar panel sun tracking machine in the above picture was built by Sid Frantz. Sid and I have been communicating back and forth by email in an effort to get the Open Source Arduino Controlled Sun Tracking / Heliostat System to work with his machine. There have of course been hurdles, and there are still likely more to come, but, for the moment at least, it seems to be working!

This page contains a quick overview of the tracker’s mechanics and electronics.

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Posted in Arduino Projects, Solar Projects | 3 Comments

Another Bug Fix in Arduino Sun Tracking/Heliostat Program

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

There has been yet another bug fix for the Arduino Sun Tracking/Heliostat Program. Download the latest version at the link. This one fixes a bug in the table which causes the position of the sun to be calculated incorrectly during the winter months. It also adds a more robust calculation for the sun’s declination which improves the calculation of the sun’s position somewhat.

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Heliostat Project at ZininZelfdoen

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

Here is a Heliostat project which, if I have my facts correct, was designed and built by industrial design students from Amsterdam. The site itself features several open source solar builds and is definitely worth keeping your eye on in the future.

One thing is certain, the design of this heliostat is a heck of a lot better looking than what I made. :)

Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to get the tracking figured out yet. Some of my code from the Arduino Sun Tracking / Heliostat project was used for the main tracking calculations, but they made the switch from stepper motors to DC motors with a Hall sensors to provide position feedback and ran out of time before being able to get it to work.

Interestingly enough, Brendan at Heliostats.org has been working on this exact thing. It certainly would make for a great addition to the Open Source Arduino Sun Tracking / Heliostat project if someone was able to get this idea to work.

 

 

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DIY CNC Dust Collection Cyclone Separator

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

Owning a CNC machine means that you must inevitably find ways of dealing with the endless stream of dust that is created when cutting material. This dust can easily be controlled with the use of a shop vac. The downside, however, is that the dust filter inside the shop vac can only handle a limited amount of the stuff before it is overwhelmed and has to be cleaned to regain good suction. This is where adding a cyclone dust separation system can make your life much easier.

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Posted in CNC Projects | 5 Comments