DIY Solar collecting RC robot (Sun collecter Bee)

Discussions about solar power and solar energy projects.
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hi_tech_guy_18
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue May 07, 2013 6:46 pm

DIY Solar collecting RC robot (Sun collecter Bee)

Post by hi_tech_guy_18 » Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:01 pm

This little guy could run around all day collecting sun / daylight from various GPS set Waypoints that are based on time of day / month year
once at a way point it can spin itself 360 and survey the current sun situation and then actively track it throw the sky
when full it runs back to a base station and unloads the power it collected directly in to you main battery bank using wireless power transfer technology

1x 2000W 48V Inverter
http://www.amazon.com/GTSUN-Stackable-I ... 00DFSKWBG/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
1x 115V AC 25A Solid State Relay
http://www.amazon.com/Solid-State-Relay ... 0087ZTN08/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
1x Reed switch
2x Top Swan off microwave transformers (2nd 15,000V high energy coil Removed) that matches up with another in the unload base station that has a 400V recertifyer the 115V AC now 115V DC can feed though to your MPPT Controller) it should be 1:1

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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BUAJVY
This is are shell and frame for the robot but its also the mount for the solar panels to attach too

4x RENOGY® 250W Watt Monocrystalline Black Solar Panel UL Listed

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http://www.amazon.com/RENOGY®-Monocrystalline-Black-Solar-Listed/dp/B00F9HUXWO/
EPsolar eTracer ET6415N MPPT Solar Battery Charge Controller 60A 12V/24V/36V/48V

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http://www.amazon.com/EPsolar-eTracer-ET6415N-Battery-Controller/dp/B00N3KB7S8/
- You can get the Cubietruck to interface with it and grab Battery voltage / Solar output
- Firmware upgrade will Support Lithium ion
- Such short wires to the 48V collection battery's should give you an edge

2x LCD Black Wheel Electric Bicycle Motor Kit 48v 1kw 26in

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http://www.amazon.com/Black-Wheel-Electric-Bicycle-Motor/dp/B00KRIRE0E/
- you rewire accelerator grip to the Cubietruck and monitor its outputs then get the Cubietruck to emulate them so the EBike ESC thinks its a person sendining it commands
2x upto 10x (odiously lead acids are going to be too heavy however these bad boys will be fast recharging and will store a lot of current aHs Plus be immune to the cold )
http://www.amazon.com/Currie-Technologi ... 004K1ZXQG/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Brains / Electrical interfaces
Cubietruck / Cubieboard 3
- GeauxRobot Cubieboard3 Allwinner A20 Dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 2G DDR3 8G Flash Sata 2.0 open hardware Single-board Computer mini pc

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http://www.amazon.com/GeauxRobot-Cubieboard3-Allwinner-Dual-core-Single-board/dp/B00N2FXB4C/
> This is a very easy ARM to Program, debug and de-brick [Just needs a SD Card to restore it] and Easy to plug in a Keyboard & Mouse + HDMI TV or Portable HDMI Screen
> The OS is Android means nice user friendly user gui
> The ARM CPU Uses very little power yet the resource this board gives you is plenty

DROK DCDC Buck Voltage Converter 22-60V 24V/36V/48V to 5V 3A Volt Regulator

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http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Voltage-Converter-22-60V-Regulator/dp/B00KL770IC/
- Cubieboard3 cubietruck 570 Expansion Board with 6 module diy kit

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http://www.amazon.com/Cubieboard3-cubietruck-Expansion-Board-module/dp/B00KX8PFUO/
inc package list
1. DVK570 x1
2. USB Camera OV7670 x1
3. UART GPS x1
4. AT45DBXX DataFlash Board x1
5. MAG3110 Board x1
6. RS485 Board (3.3V) x2
7. DS18B20 x1

- Waveshare DVK571 Cubietruck Cubieboard 3 Expansion Development Board for Arduino Further Development

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http://www.amazon.com/Waveshare-Cubietruck-Cubieboard-Developmen-Development/dp/B00MY0834Y/
TP-LINK TL-MR3020 3G/4G Wireless N150 Portable Router, AP/WISP/Router Mode

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http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-MR3020-Wireless-Portable-Router/dp/B00634PLTW/
allows the Cubieboard3 to interface with your Main Base MPPT Controller + Give it a 3G 4G pay and go Internet connection so if it gets suck it can upload a photo with GPS Info Current Visual status if it in the main Wi-Fi range it wont cost you anything

The ARM CPU and ram are going to be your best friends due the the work of image processing (object avoidance) most of the works been done for you and are open source
You can also print off A4 QR Codes so if the Robot goes too far it can See the QR Codes and shuts down or obey speed limits, set way points

most of the programmings been done for you and exists as modules
you pretty much only to needed to wire a few variables and conditions, timings, events output controls
This thing has a Arduino Emulator so all the sketches + Modules are all compatible with it, but the Cubietruck has and edge due it can use a RTC (Real Time Clock) so it will know the time and date and can recover its self if it crashes loss or main power
it can also run MySQL and other things to make it more smarter - easier to set return paths , No go zones, roaming arias, speed limits, battery conditions, waypoint history, wifi zones so it can talk to you and you can remote it

techman
Site Admin
Posts: 1329
Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:49 am

Re: DIY Solar collecting RC robot (Sun collecter Bee)

Post by techman » Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:06 am

Wow, that is some amazing stuff. Do you have or have you seen a fully functioning version of this?

I finally have internet and power!!!

I have been fighting with poor internet for months so I have had very sporadic connections.

My power was pitiful at best.

Now my internet is fixed and faster and I have the new 750 AH forklift battery pack connected to the tiny house on wheels.

hi_tech_guy_18
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue May 07, 2013 6:46 pm

Re: DIY Solar collecting RC robot (Sun collecter Bee)

Post by hi_tech_guy_18 » Wed Feb 04, 2015 7:15 am

This just a theoretical idea
but there is alot of YouTube videos of users making Autonomous Computer GPS Waypoint Controlled RC cars

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... ous+rc+car" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Autonomous R/C Car With GPS Navigation & Collision Avoidance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMksrzmAj88" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- this little guy you could strap a 100W Mono to it and collect power

Sparkfun Autonomous Vehicle Competition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPJGqkyuRHU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Same Car - Different view point
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1zqDicOEWA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

car a year later

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGbrmp9R6Vg
Now throw in some creativity & brains storming You will come to the conclusion You can Reprogram, Redesign give these Autonomous Vehicle to do Time Based GPS Task jobs to do
(Collect sun / Collect Water / clear snow and ice from drive/walk ways / cut grass)
and up its size and modification to the code + Put a Set of solar panels on it + MPPT + Bigger Power storage and you get a Sun collector Bee Autonomous robot (or build for other tasks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR2uR0xwjWY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )
that both follows GPS Waypoints and Waits at Other "Solar Collection" Waypoints and spin in the spot to find the best axis watt output from the sun

techman
Site Admin
Posts: 1329
Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:49 am

Re: DIY Solar collecting RC robot (Sun collecter Bee)

Post by techman » Thu Feb 05, 2015 9:49 am

I hope to one day get into robotics again. When I was younger I used my Commodore 64 to program a homemade robot arm. The arm actually helped me with soldering projects. Was pretty cool. I had it programmed with a PWM controller through software and it had a positioning sensor with a POT and the joystick port. Was pretty cool for its day.

These days stuff is so expensive though in that area. And living out in the wood I need bigger and more robust parts to handle the terrain.

One day.....

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