Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
(OP)
I am trying to build this Planter and place it on a rotating device which is programmed to rotate at a speed which gives each side the same amount of sunlight for each side. Of coarse if I can program it to a T and make it adjust every day to account for the added or lose sunlight throughout the summer that would be great but the ability to simply program it for a single day, that would work. Also the system would be solar powered and self sustaining so nothing connecting to the house, except perhaps a remote way to control the system. Does anyone know of a supplier who may have the rotating element which can be programmed and any other components which may be required to make this operational? any advice or suggestions are welcome. The idea is creating a self sustaining planter which could maximize an amount of space which it is in and give each side an equal amount of sunlight for the length of a year without any human interference. An added bonus would be connecting the system to the houses water supply and programming it to water each day. Anything that doesn't create long vines would flourish.





RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
Obviously, you need a motorized turntable, capable of supporting a couple hundred pounds of dirt, plants, and planter, and also large enough to deal with the overturning moment from unbalanced loading and the occasional windstorm.
Perhaps less obviously, if you really want it solar powered, you have to make it run on just a few watts of power, which in turn requires that it have bearings much better than are commonly supplied in cheap turntables.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
However, yes it would be feasible, a one off is dead easy, if not cost effective, and for large numbers, perhaps you might consider the advantage of floating the planter in a tub of water rather than indulging in low friction bearings. The control side of things is banal, two intensity meters and you are done.
Cheers
Greg Locock
New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
The platform MUST be evenly balanced on smooth weatehrproof rollers near the circumference but sheltered from dirt, snow, rain, critters, and debris in the tracks. A centerpole only suspension probably won't work well because the required torque and bearings will be too big, too expensive.
What latitude are you? The further north (or south) the more the energy available when you swing the platform. Between 40 north and 40 south I doubt you'd get much advantage.
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
If noting else, you could set up your tracking system to follow the sunflowers. Sunflowers don't flinch when clouds pass over.
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
Orientation of cortical microtubules (cMTs) is suggested to be affected by mechanical stress existing in cell walls. However, in mutants exhibiting helical (chiral) growth, there is a correlation between orientation of cMTs in outer tissues and helical growth direction. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of a chiral mechanical stimulation on cMTs. For this purpose, the orientation of cMTs was investigated in hypocotyls subjected to either a right- or a left-handed twist, resulting from a steady torque. cMTs were visualised in fixed material using the immunofluorescence method. The cMTs in untouched control hypocotyls were mostly transverse with respect to the cell long axis. In immobilised, but not twisted control hypocotyls, the transverse orientation was also most frequent, while applied twisting resulted in a change in cMT orientation from transverse to oblique. The data provide additional evidence that changes in tissue stress can be reorganized by cortical microtubules.
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
Cheers
Greg Locock
New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
Video of a turntable made of wood powered by a rotisserie motor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIbVLQlcDrU
RE: Solar Powered Rotating Pyramid Planter
I ask because it's not entirely clear from teh picture. If you have plants on all sides then why bother with sun tracking control, just spin the whole thing at a moderate speed and things will even out over time.
(BTW Greg, love your floating idea, like those big marble balls you see some places.)
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