I've decided to revisit this project, likely after completing my current one. There have been many great suggestions in the comments, and I plan to incorporate several of them. Here's what I've gathered so far: *Larger panels *Replacing relay with solid-state switching *Tilting panels like a joystick to eliminate the need for a slip ring *Measuring motor current to detect end stops, eliminating microswitches. *Using smaller wires for signals Plans include creating a proper housing for electronics. I will share the improved project files once it's complete, offering a better starting point for anyone interested :)
BRUV I'm super green inspired. I would love to build this with AI vision, my only obstacle is the hardware parts. Is there a class/course/literature you can recommend getting started on the servo motors/ raspberry pi creation? Glad we can have people to show us what can be done
Bro can you give all details regarding this project I wana make this can you give me the details please like circuit for aurdino and 3d middle and wring please
I sincerely hope the algorithm is kind to you and this video gains traction - the idea and creation of the panel system as well as the production quality is fantastic!
Beautiful project. Just call it art if you don't think it fulfills the requirements! I'm sure many people would love one on their windowsill just to see it open in the morning and follow the sun all day.
Instead of the pdr for light sensing, by angling the panels in by 5 degrees, you can use the power difference on the panels as a way of pointing to most powerful source of energy
Very nice project! As an electronics engineer I am jealous of your mechanical design. Only think I would suggest is using thinner wires for your digital signals. I for example use wires from CAT6 cables and they would be much thinner than yours. Thanks for the video!
I appreciate you saying this isn’t a climate solution right at the top of the video. It makes it easier to enjoy this as a little bit of an escapist break.
Designing and building things like this by yourself is one of the best feelings in the world. I've done a bunch of smaller projects combining 3d printing, laser cutting, electronics and software and it's just so much fun. Very inspiring video, thank you for taking your time to make it!
Great idea! But a "small" improvement could be to not rotate the solar array and base, but to tilt the solar array in two directions similar to a joystick(X,Y) to track the sun. That way you don't neet the slipring and you don't have the problem of to many wires going up since they are only going to bend and not twist. Edit: it also makes the project more scaleable
I think this has great potential for scalability, and I love the fact that you designed your own little mechanical piece with the bolt and screw to help raise and lower the device. I would love to have something like this for being able to charge small devices outdoors.
This is super cool. it feels like the sort of thing i would come up with in my head and could never find the exact thing to make it work.. and yet you did it.
Would love to see a video where you compare the power usage of the controller and motors to the gain in power generation that they provide. When space is at a premium, solar tracking makes more and more sense
Brilliant Design! I didn't realize this was a small channel until I checked the Description, I hope you get tons of subscribers! I always enjoy watching fellow tinkerers smarter than me design their own projects!
Nice project! I made a real scale one with 2 axes of movement. The sun reading is also done with LDRs but with different angles and shadow projection, I really liked yours! Congratulations!
Glad to see im not the only one attemting to build a small solar generator like this. I've been building a little more practical version than youre's for the past year
This is super nice. I built something similar back in the day, but minus the solar panels and foldability. I like your innovative way of thinking and your abillity to take off-the-shelf components and make it into something quite functional. This is definitely scalable and I can already think of many uses. So don't leave it here! If you find the right people who know how to design and manufacture larger scale products, you could have the next great idea in your palm.
A single Sunpower Maxeon C60 5x5" cell is 3.6 watts and can be split into 3 and connected in series to minimize the cutting loss while tripling the voltage (3x0.6v at peak power output) for a bit easier conversion. The cell is also copper backed with no front contacts adding to the active area and allowing it to be much more rugged than normal solar cells. I've successfully ran these cells through a desktop laminator for waterproofing. A booster at 80% eff can then deliver around 2.88w from it. Two such cells can do a full 5w charging. If two cells are split you get 3.6v at peak power output from a 6s configuration. The hard part is the 1.9 amps current output which is double what the cheaper micro boosters can handle. High current, low voltage is not ideal for a boosting charge controller either. It is however the most efficient you can get in terms of power per area and these cells are very popular in folding camping chargers as the angle of incidence is not important with them. The cells are antireflective and very good at collecting light at less than perfect angles.
Impressive! Thanks a lot for sharing the incremental progress and your thought process. Would you consider sharing your design files for others to try to rebuild?
VERY COOL project!!! It gives me verification that I needed for my project for a solar follwer needed to maximize solar panel output without any need tfor manual interference! Great Build!
That looks Cool!!! but so many things can be simplified like the need of the slip ring could have been eliminated and just programmed so that after it hit 360 it rotatedin th opposite direction to track the sun, still it look super cool
I could see something like this being suitcase sized with wheels and a motorized lid. Wheel it out, press a button and instant tracking solar power. At that size, having a battery bank inside becomes feasible.
For the sun sensor you can probably get rid of at least two (and maybe three if you don't need a ton of coverage, and four if you use the output of the solar cells) by considering control using your difference in flux during movement in your control loop. As in have a initial movement from expected new position of sun, considering output of the sensors and then do a correct movement to the place that you want. I believe you can also increase the precision of these sensor when close to perpendicular with a recessed ring obfuscating some of the sun, which allows you to have more accurate control. However that is less usefull in this case since the inaccuracy close to perpendicular also already means little difference in energy production of the solar panels. (It does look nicer and is probably more resistant to small errors)
This is a really cool project! Maybe, if you get the stacking of the solar panels a bit more compact, you coud stack 4 of these current flowers together. If I'm visualizing this correctly, if you do it right, the surface area it takes when retracted wouldn't change much, just the height. If you do that though, you'll have to revise the raising and lowering mechanism completely as this idea would make it A LOT heavier. Also, gotta say, great editing!
You could increase the efficiency of the light sensors by reducing them to 1, placing it in a tube pointing at the ideal solar pane (so that only if directly pointing at the sun does it directly 'see' the sun getting most light'), and letting software figure out what direction the sun is in by AB testing going up and down and left and right seeing if more light is received. You can control for cloud providing shade by comparing to charge levels, since light will fall off fast for the sensor but not for the panels if the sun is off ideal axis. Why this is better is because its self-calibrating once the software is written, and you only need 1 switch. Heck, you could get rid of the switches entirely by tilting the panels 5 or so degrees back, away from the sun, and measuring the voltage provided by each panel, and let the software move towards whatever panel provides the most power until the increase of one panel is negated by the other panels losing more collective power (from overturning, passing by the ideal point). just before this point would be directly aimed at the sun with the most efficient panels. This would even correct for one panel being damaged or old, it would automatically prioritize the point that provides the most power.
This can be optimized even further, because the sun travels along a predetermined route, which can be calculated - just the right angle of the device and rotation every certain time, without any sensors, only the device must be properly located
@adiscripts Many suns is not a problem, a lot depends on their configuration. In the case of multiple suns, I would be rather afraid of darkness falling once every 22 years ;)
This is a dope idea,maybe you could get approved to sett up a scaled project in a park or a few in your city. And another cool idea would be if you did a systems check, so when the sun does pop up the system will open up and shut again just to make sure everything works properly, not necessary but it looks cool 😂😂
![[Live] : ONE FIGHT NIGHT 25 วันนี้!! "อเล็กซิส vs รีเกียน"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/suVr9a6BM2g/mqdefault.jpg)
I've decided to revisit this project, likely after completing my current one.
There have been many great suggestions in the comments, and I plan to incorporate several of them. Here's what I've gathered so far:
*Larger panels
*Replacing relay with solid-state switching
*Tilting panels like a joystick to eliminate the need for a slip ring
*Measuring motor current to detect end stops, eliminating microswitches.
*Using smaller wires for signals
Plans include creating a proper housing for electronics.
I will share the improved project files once it's complete, offering a better starting point for anyone interested :)
BRUV I'm super green inspired. I would love to build this with AI vision, my only obstacle is the hardware parts. Is there a class/course/literature you can recommend getting started on the servo motors/ raspberry pi creation?
Glad we can have people to show us what can be done
Looking forward to that one.
Bro can you give all details regarding this project I wana make this can you give me the details please like circuit for aurdino and 3d middle and wring please
I'm glad TH-cam recommended this to me
same as he gained a new sub here
@@OMGitzEDD me too 0:19
Same
same
me too
I sincerely hope the algorithm is kind to you and this video gains traction - the idea and creation of the panel system as well as the production quality is fantastic!
Beautiful project. Just call it art if you don't think it fulfills the requirements!
I'm sure many people would love one on their windowsill just to see it open in the morning and follow the sun all day.
I can't believe you didn't include a time-lapse of it actually working and tracking the sun!
U r not just an engineer, u r an austrian painter
Love the design with more cables and less pcbs. allways reminds me of the old guidance computers you see in cold war era missiles
algorithm gods need to blow your channel up, this video is stunning !!
Instead of the pdr for light sensing, by angling the panels in by 5 degrees, you can use the power difference on the panels as a way of pointing to most powerful source of energy
Very nice project! As an electronics engineer I am jealous of your mechanical design. Only think I would suggest is using thinner wires for your digital signals. I for example use wires from CAT6 cables and they would be much thinner than yours. Thanks for the video!
Thank you for the tip! Bought some 28 AWG solid core wire for the next project 😊
I appreciate you saying this isn’t a climate solution right at the top of the video. It makes it easier to enjoy this as a little bit of an escapist break.
Bro you just gave us a glimps of how foldable solar pannels work in space stations. Great job keep going 👍
This is exactly what I want to do: constructing and developing new things. Thank you for the video
Keep at it because we need people like you! 😊
This and folding origami style sails/panels, is just one of the many things I find interesting in mechanical and electrical engineering.
What a great project to start tackling the subject and learn a bunch of engineering fields - mechanics, electronics, programming
Very cool usage of the OLED screen. I like that you can see what the metrics are without having to connect an external device.
Very nice design! I loved the iterative work that you did and took the time to share. Thanks for sharing!
You are a mechanical and technical genius!
that solar panel looks german
💀
r/accidentalswastika
That's just 45° titled version of Hindu Good Luck symbol. 😂
ERRRRRIKKAAAA
bomp bomp bomp bomp
Accidentally he shouts "Power!" as the panels expand to a known symbol. Okke.
Designing and building things like this by yourself is one of the best feelings in the world. I've done a bunch of smaller projects combining 3d printing, laser cutting, electronics and software and it's just so much fun. Very inspiring video, thank you for taking your time to make it!
Love the cloverleaf design
Awesome video & project, keep it up!
First video I have seen and really cool to see the iteration of the design and concept. Look forward to more.
This is fantastic! Amazing quality, earned a new sub
great stuff dude, keep going. great design. May the youtube gods bless you
Great idea!
But a "small" improvement could be to not rotate the solar array and base, but to tilt the solar array in two directions similar to a joystick(X,Y) to track the sun. That way you don't neet the slipring and you don't have the problem of to many wires going up since they are only going to bend and not twist.
Edit: it also makes the project more scaleable
I’ve had this idea recently after using portable folding solar panels with a power station. Cool to see that someone actually did it!
Woow! Such a cool project!
I really wanna see a future where we can affordably make this proof of concept in a much larger scale 🎉❤
Bruh i swear continue uploading you'll be one of big youtubers
I think this has great potential for scalability, and I love the fact that you designed your own little mechanical piece with the bolt and screw to help raise and lower the device. I would love to have something like this for being able to charge small devices outdoors.
Wow, fantastic design and engineering! Excellent video as well. Keep these coming, I'm subscribed!
this is one of the coolest thing ive seen
Keep them coming .good content
This is super cool. it feels like the sort of thing i would come up with in my head and could never find the exact thing to make it work.. and yet you did it.
Absolutely Amazeballs!!! What a great video and a great build!!
Now this is what engineering is all about. 👍
Great work.
Great project. I just can't unsee the windmill of friendship.
Having a huge version of this would just insane to me
And an army of them!
@@Coda5 Gives solarpunk vibes, no?
It exists, its called the solar flower.
But ofc the design is completely impractical and inefficient so its only something rich people would buy
@@AlexandHuman Yes! Imagine using them as a massive sunshade in the park!
A great project! I especially liked how you showed the iterations required to get it functioning as you wanted. Thanks!
The overall design was quite impressive man
This is very impressive.
pls algorithm gods this guy is amazing pls help him grow
Real cool looking project
Would love to see a video where you compare the power usage of the controller and motors to the gain in power generation that they provide. When space is at a premium, solar tracking makes more and more sense
Great video! You share your success and failure, failed prints iteration and the true workflow ^^
Great design. Actually we are talkin about the idea a year ago and then put it aside... Nice to see someone actually make one!
Brilliant Design! I didn't realize this was a small channel until I checked the Description, I hope you get tons of subscribers! I always enjoy watching fellow tinkerers smarter than me design their own projects!
Make this man a multi million sub youtuber NOW!
I love the mechanics of this device! It looks so awesome and watching it function is so satisfying!
Absolutely incredible. I’m just getting into robotics and Arduino and seeing cool projects like these is inspirational.
Nice project! I made a real scale one with 2 axes of movement. The sun reading is also done with LDRs but with different angles and shadow projection, I really liked yours! Congratulations!
Great video to teach junior engineers in looking for problems
"I think it is possible to determine the elevation angle using GPS location and time." GOOD JOB!
This is really impressive dude!
Quite good approach ❤
Well done, the world needs brilliant people like you!
I literally was working on a electronic sunflower. Great job
Glad to see im not the only one attemting to build a small solar generator like this. I've been building a little more practical version than youre's for the past year
incredible video and process. so inspiring! thank you
This is super nice. I built something similar back in the day, but minus the solar panels and foldability. I like your innovative way of thinking and your abillity to take off-the-shelf components and make it into something quite functional. This is definitely scalable and I can already think of many uses. So don't leave it here! If you find the right people who know how to design and manufacture larger scale products, you could have the next great idea in your palm.
Finally something cool to watch
0:27 such a beautiful view
You got in the algorithm and deservedly so, congrats, got this recommended just as I opened and the video and of course the project itself are so cool
A single Sunpower Maxeon C60 5x5" cell is 3.6 watts and can be split into 3 and connected in series to minimize the cutting loss while tripling the voltage (3x0.6v at peak power output) for a bit easier conversion.
The cell is also copper backed with no front contacts adding to the active area and allowing it to be much more rugged than normal solar cells. I've successfully ran these cells through a desktop laminator for waterproofing. A booster at 80% eff can then deliver around 2.88w from it. Two such cells can do a full 5w charging. If two cells are split you get 3.6v at peak power output from a 6s configuration. The hard part is the 1.9 amps current output which is double what the cheaper micro boosters can handle. High current, low voltage is not ideal for a boosting charge controller either. It is however the most efficient you can get in terms of power per area and these cells are very popular in folding camping chargers as the angle of incidence is not important with them. The cells are antireflective and very good at collecting light at less than perfect angles.
how do you only have 67subscribers?? this video has the same quailty as ones that people with like 500k make
68 now
@@blazinghammer 74 now
172 now
214
236 now, though not sure if that includes mine
Very fun to see proof of concept and prototyping
Great invention and great ideas. I'm proud of you.
Impressive! Thanks a lot for sharing the incremental progress and your thought process.
Would you consider sharing your design files for others to try to rebuild?
Super interesting robotics project with a happy ending. Thanks for sharing.
a larger version of this for boats and cars and camping would be great
I honestly hope to see this on top of many homes one day, at a larger scale of course lol
Maybe we can buy this Solar charger soon. I will buy instantly 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Awesome video
VERY COOL project!!! It gives me verification that I needed for my project for a solar follwer needed to maximize solar panel output without any need tfor manual interference! Great Build!
Great video!
Amazing job! Great work!
What a lovely prototype!
seen less than a minute and i immediately want to build that mechaical device 😍
AMAZING video topic!!!!
Great project! I really like the step by step video concept. You've got a new subscriber and I wish you many more.
this is amazing!
This was a great build. super job.
It is a next level vedio, Great work and effort, may your channel grow big and you earned another sub
This looks like something from a sci-fi game, very cool!
That looks Cool!!! but so many things can be simplified like the need of the slip ring could have been eliminated and just programmed so that after it hit 360 it rotatedin th opposite direction to track the sun, still it look super cool
So nice!
I enjoyed each moment watching this video, you are really amazing man! keep going!
Absolutely amazing stuff!
Can't wait to see more of your designs
Thanks youtube for recommendation ❤😊
Operation Swasti-Tracker is great success!
I could see something like this being suitcase sized with wheels and a motorized lid. Wheel it out, press a button and instant tracking solar power. At that size, having a battery bank inside becomes feasible.
For the sun sensor you can probably get rid of at least two (and maybe three if you don't need a ton of coverage, and four if you use the output of the solar cells) by considering control using your difference in flux during movement in your control loop. As in have a initial movement from expected new position of sun, considering output of the sensors and then do a correct movement to the place that you want.
I believe you can also increase the precision of these sensor when close to perpendicular with a recessed ring obfuscating some of the sun, which allows you to have more accurate control. However that is less usefull in this case since the inaccuracy close to perpendicular also already means little difference in energy production of the solar panels. (It does look nicer and is probably more resistant to small errors)
Бесподобно! Нигде такого ещё не видел!
This is a really cool project! Maybe, if you get the stacking of the solar panels a bit more compact, you coud stack 4 of these current flowers together. If I'm visualizing this correctly, if you do it right, the surface area it takes when retracted wouldn't change much, just the height. If you do that though, you'll have to revise the raising and lowering mechanism completely as this idea would make it A LOT heavier.
Also, gotta say, great editing!
Love when youtube recommends me smaller channels!
I love videos just like this, 3d printing and engineering ❤
Would love to have a brain capable of making this sort of thing. Brilliant work!
You could increase the efficiency of the light sensors by reducing them to 1, placing it in a tube pointing at the ideal solar pane (so that only if directly pointing at the sun does it directly 'see' the sun getting most light'), and letting software figure out what direction the sun is in by AB testing going up and down and left and right seeing if more light is received. You can control for cloud providing shade by comparing to charge levels, since light will fall off fast for the sensor but not for the panels if the sun is off ideal axis. Why this is better is because its self-calibrating once the software is written, and you only need 1 switch.
Heck, you could get rid of the switches entirely by tilting the panels 5 or so degrees back, away from the sun, and measuring the voltage provided by each panel, and let the software move towards whatever panel provides the most power until the increase of one panel is negated by the other panels losing more collective power (from overturning, passing by the ideal point). just before this point would be directly aimed at the sun with the most efficient panels. This would even correct for one panel being damaged or old, it would automatically prioritize the point that provides the most power.
Boom!
This can be optimized even further, because the sun travels along a predetermined route, which can be calculated - just the right angle of the device and rotation every certain time, without any sensors, only the device must be properly located
@adiscripts Many suns is not a problem, a lot depends on their configuration. In the case of multiple suns, I would be rather afraid of darkness falling once every 22 years ;)
Or use the soralpanels itself as a sensors..... not neeting extra comonents wires of hardware
@@mikevandijk8604 yes, very true.
Proof of concept for the power source for an autonomous security drone station.
This is a dope idea,maybe you could get approved to sett up a scaled project in a park or a few in your city. And another cool idea would be if you did a systems check, so when the sun does pop up the system will open up and shut again just to make sure everything works properly, not necessary but it looks cool 😂😂