Final Project¶
Proto Trac ( a solar tracking project)¶
A renewable energy project which would not only have a real world application but can be used in my work for educating visitors of the technology.
Final Project Slide¶
Final Project Video¶
2D and 3D Modeling¶
Electronics Design¶
For my final project I uitilised the PCB board I created during my output week to control the stepper motor and input week to control the sensors.
Computer Aided Design with Fusion¶
For my final project I designed the enclosure in Fusion 360 . This allowed me to visualise the project before it was created.
## Enclosure
Solar Panel Holder & Servo Plate¶
Spacers and Brackets¶
Materials¶
| Qty | Description | Price | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1’x2’x1/8” Plywood | $20.00TT | ||
| 1 | 1’x2’x1/8” Acrylic Clear | $48.00TT | ||
| 1 | Duouble sided copper laminate PCB | $0.87US | Amazon link | |
| 1 | PLA Fliament (black) | $11.50US | Matterhackeers | Roll |
| 1 | ATtiny 1614 | $0.90US | DigiKey | |
| 1 | 1uf capacitor | $0.50US | DigiKey | |
| 1 | Conn 6 FTDI smd header | $0.54US | DigiKey | |
| 1 | 4.99K ohn resistor | $0.03US | DigiKey | |
| 1 | servo | $0.00 | aquired from old resources | |
| 1 | solar panel | $20.00US | ||
| 1 | screws | $20.00TT | ||
| 1 | nuts | $0.00 | acquired from old resources | |
| 11 | 1x3 vertical header | $3.30US | DigiKey |
Programming¶
For the programming of my final project I utilised aspects of two example codes from the arduino IDE, button and Servo sweep . I also reviewed a tutorial for creating an on -off state with a button. There were several iterations of the code before I found the one that worked for me.
1.Button Code
2.Servo Sweep Code
3.Code iterations
4.Code that worked for me.
#include <avr/io.h>
#include <Servo_megaTinyCore.h>
const int photoA = 2; // Connect the phototransistor to the analog input pin
const int photoB = 8; // Connect the phototransistor to the analog input pin
const int ledPin = 9; // Connect the LED to digital pin 9
const int buttonPin = 0; // connect to button
int buttonState= LOW; // create buttonState variable
int lastButtonState = LOW; // create a lastButtonState variable
int pos= 0; // Create a servo variable and set to zero
Servo myservo; // create servo object to control a servo
void setup() {
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // Set the LED pin as an output
pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT); // Set button pin as input
myservo.attach(3); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
}
void loop() {
int lightLevel1 = analogRead(photoA); // Read the analog value from the phototransistor
int lightLevel2 = analogRead(photoB); // Read the analog value from the phototransistor
int buttonRead= digitalRead(buttonPin); // Read the state of the button
if (buttonRead != lastButtonState){ // Compare button position
delay(50); // Debounce
buttonRead = digitalRead(buttonPin);
}
if (buttonRead != lastButtonState) { // check button position
buttonState = buttonRead;
}
if (lightLevel1 < lightLevel2) { // Compare light level
myservo.write(pos=180);
} else if (lightLevel2 < lightLevel1 ){ Compare light level
myservo.write(pos=0);
}
if (buttonState == HIGH) { // Compare button position
digitalWrite(ledPin,! digitalRead(ledPin));
}
lastButtonState = buttonRead;
delay(150); // Debounce
}
Assembly¶
