Summary

This project was for CPSC 1490, where we made and programmed a closed-loop solar tracker. My part of the project was to work on the software control while the other members worked on the mechanical design of the project. This solar tracker was my first big project, where I used a microcontroller to automate a task. Through my research, I discovered that the NOAA had algorithms for predicting the sun’s angle for the next 1000 years, so I used that algorithm as the basis for my code. Interfacing this with a GPS gave me the exact angle for any location in the world and by interfacing the arduino with 2 stepper motors I was able to track the sun with the platform. This repository contains all information regarding the specifics of the code and how it works I also wanted to integrate a compass into the system so that the device could determine its orientation by porting code from the World magnetic model C legacy code into an Arduino library. I did not have enough time to get it integrated for the deliverable but the finished code is in this repository.

CAD