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Microprocessor Controlled Solar Tracking Device

Light sensitive tracking device.  This was a really fun college project.
Here is a video clip that clearly demostrates the functionality of the device.

This is an excerpt from my project log book.  

Download pdf of project log book.

I put the circuitry on 2 seperate boards with a connecting data ribbon.  1 board was the computer processor and the other was the I/O board.  That way, I could re-use the processor board for future projects.

The potentiometer adjusts the photosensor sensitivity.

The project was based on the 8085 microprocessor.

I used a stepper motor to control rotation of the parabolic reflector.  The reflector was actually a solar cigarette lighter from radio shack.  I attached 2 photosensors side by side on the reflector focal point.

More wire-wrapping technique, same as the digital oscilloscope project.

The electric motor is a 1.8 degree/step 12v stepper motor.

I entered this project into the 1987 DeVry Career Expo (Irving, TX) and won second place.  I didn’t sleep the last 48 hours before the competition and finally got it working just 10 minutes before the expo opened.

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