Inspiration
Nikola Tesla, Green energy advancements, fighting climate change, promoting sustainability, NASA x BYU collab (complient mechanism)
What it does
Tracks the sun to make the solar panels more efficient
How we built it
Using Arduino IDE with an Uno, photoresistors to send signals to the Arduino, recycled materials from other hackers and students at the University of Ottawa's Makerspace and various cables and resistors from other projects.
Challenges we ran into
We originally wanted to use a bending machine (complient mechanism) for the movement, but the print did not turn out well (support too hard to remove without damaging the needed structure) and we had a very strict timeline. We switched to a simpler axel design made from a chopstick that would have been otherwise thrown out.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Using reused and recycled materials almost exclusively and creating a device that actually works and is complete. (and our code working basically first try )
What we learned
We gained lots of experience with Arduino, soldering, using photoresistors, using solar panels as a power source and working as a team under pressure.
What's next for Recycle Everything Under the Sun
Working on more sophisticated solar or green energy projects in future hackathons or other engineering competitions or events. Expanding the range of motion from 180 degrees to half a sphere's.
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