Project to design and build a light rig simulating the movement of the sun. Image The completed light rig The Workshop carried out a design and build project for the Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences to produce a rig that would effectively simulate the movement of sun for plant growth experiments. Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences (IMPS) We used a control system based on the PIC24FJ64GU205 Microchip microprocessor to control the display screen and a number of stepper motors. The rig is comprised of a main arm to lift a LED light array and a rotation table to spin the plant through 360°. The user can enter the desired sunrise time and day length and when the sunrise time is reached the rig will switch a LED array on and start lifting the light at a constant rate. Once midday is reached the plant will rotate by 180° and the light will begin to lower. This process is repeated until the user ends the operation. This article was published on 2024-06-17
