On Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:45:55 -0600, the infamous Morris Dovey
scrawled the following:

On 3/13/2010 12:30 AM, Morris Dovey wrote:
On 3/12/2010 11:44 PM, Nonny wrote:
With the rapid and frequent movement of the small Hobie, wouldn't a
solar tracking system be large, complex and take a good deal of power to
operate effectively?

Not necessarily. The control portion can be as tiny/simple/inexpensive
as this:

http://www.redrok.com/electron.htm#led3x (warning: large page!)

and small 12 VDC automotive motors with appropriate reduction gearing
driving lead screws should be adequate for positioning. I'd guess that a
marine/deep discharge battery should be enough for the test drive.

Oops - I meant to point out (but forgot) that the tracking system's
primary job will be to accommodate the inertia of the collector - to
keep it in the same orientation while the boat moves under it. This
should provide minimal loading on the motors.

Tracking the apparent movement of the sun will, I think, be smallest
part of the job.

How about air-loading some cylinders connected to the collector
system's (weighted) base to allow semi-free pivoting? It would
counteract the rocking motion of the boat to a great extent so
feedback from the position sensors would be diminished, lessening the
collector's "need to adjust" sensing. Are you using some sort of time
delay, too?

--
Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to
make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done,
whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be
learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably
the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.
-- Thomas H. Huxley