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Light-Tracker

nmahadevan12·Light-Tracker·Kicad Files/light tracker dfm/light tracker dfm.kicad_pcb

Light-Tracker PCB layout, top view — open source AVR/Arduino board by nmahadevan12

About the Light-Tracker PCB

Light-Tracker is an open source AVR/Arduino PCB design by nmahadevan12, published on GitHub. It is a 4-layer board measuring 74 × 49.5 mm, with 43 components from 17 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the ATmega328P-P, from the AVR/Arduino family. Other key parts include the OP495GS. By type, the board carries 13 resistors, 8 transistors, 8 diodes, 6 connectors, 5 capacitors and 2 ICs.

From the project

Solo dual-axis light tracker on ATmega328P — DC motors, Kalman filtering, Hall limits, KiCad PCB.

Solo ELEE 4230 project: a battery-powered dual-axis light tracker on an ATmega328P. Bare-metal C drives DC motors (not servos) through MOSFET H-bridges, with LDR sensing, fixed-point Kalman filtering, Hall-effect tilt limits, and UART telemetry to a Python logger.

- Kalman on ADC: smooths LDR, potentiometer, and battery channels (peak noise cut from ~3 LSBs to under 1 LSB on the portfolio write-up measurements). - Closed-loop DC motor control: base and panel axes via H-bridge direction outputs from thresholded LDR differentials. - Auto-calibration: startup sweep into Hall-effect limits to…

Main components on the Light-Tracker

ATmega328P-POP495GS

Light-Tracker bill of materials (BOM)

43 components, 17 distinct parts.

QtyPartRefs
1
ATmega328P-P
U1
1
OP495GS
U3
4
IRF9540N
Q3, Q4, Q7, Q9
4
RFP40N10
Q5, Q6, Q8, Q10
1
9.216M
Y1
1
LDR + POT
J1
1
HALL SCREW TERMINAL
J2
1
BATTERIES + MOTOR OUTPUTS
J3
1
FTDI CABLE
J6
1
CAPACITIVE SENSOR
J7
1
ISP
J8
8
1N4007
D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10
3
100n 1%
C1, C2, C5
2
12p 1%
C3, C4
5
10k 1%
R4, R6, R8, R9, R20
4
40k 1%
R5, R7, R10, R21
4
1k 1%
R15, R16, R18, R19

Light-Tracker design files

The KiCad project lives in the nmahadevan12/Light-Tracker repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Light-Tracker: common questions

What microcontroller does the Light-Tracker use?

The Light-Tracker is built around the ATmega328P-P, from the AVR/Arduino family.

How big is the Light-Tracker PCB?

The Light-Tracker measures 74 × 49.5 mm, has 4 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the Light-Tracker?

43 components, from 17 distinct parts. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Light-Tracker design files?

From the nmahadevan12/Light-Tracker repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout and the schematic; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Light-Tracker design in my own project?

The repository has no license, so all rights stay with nmahadevan12. Use it as a reference, and ask the author before reusing the design.

Can I test firmware for the Light-Tracker without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug AVR/Arduino firmware against it before you order a PCB.

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