Bruno Osorno, Electrical and Computer Engineering – AIMS^2

Design and Implementation of Dual-Axis Solar Tracking System

Six students took part in a project to develop a mobile solar charging station with a dual-axis tracking system to follow the sun. For four of them, all AIMS2 students who had transferred to CSUN from community colleges, it was their senior design project. (It was the second year that Bruno Osorno had incorporated the AIMS2 project into students’ senior design capstone experience.) The other two were not AIMS2 students but were interested in the project and served as “shadow” students to gain experience with projects. The solar tracking system has to contend with current, wind, irradiation and voltage sensors interfacing with an LCD touch screen. In addition, a microprocessor (Arduino) was programmed to track the position of the sun at any given time. The project was a success, and Osorno intends to use it again as a senior design project.