Astrophotography typically starts with a mount or tracker that can counteract the Earth's rotation to allow long exposure photography. The price for an entry level, commercial tracker capable of holding a DSLR camera can be $350+ USD. DIY trackers (typically called Barn Door Trackers) made of two pieces of wood, a bolt, and hand power to rotate a nut to drive the tracker have been developed. Nico Carver (YouTube Nebula Photos) has such a device with plans and how-to use it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_qqLA0WKJg.
The goal of this project is to create a DIY Barn Door Tracker based on Nico's general design and power it with an inexpensive set of electronics (microcontroller, stepper motor, and a motor controller). Additionally, use WiFi to help control the device via a web browser. The end goal would be to create reliable, wide-field DIY Automated Barn Door Tracker for under $50 USD.
Current / near future plans are:
- Utilize dual core microprocessors to off-load all tracking functions to a dedicated core.
- Allow for customization and user-defined settings for fine tuning the tracking rates, WiFi settings, and UI.
- Use an inexpensive accelerometer to further refine the speed of the motor to more precisely match the Earth's rotation (closed loop system).
- Slightly modify the design to create a table-top version that does not require a tripod.
- Utilize an inexpensive ESP32 camera to aid in polar alignment.