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Bosco · 12-16-14, 09:34 PM

Here in Australia we have a problem with foxes which were introduced in the first half of the 19th century for sport.

I keep poultry and have adapted a spare MTM Scientific Picaxe solar tracker board to raise and lower a door in my poultry house to keep foxes out at night.

The system only uses one sensor (west) as I removed the biasing resistor to the east sensor and replaced the sensor with a 330 ohm resistor in series with a 5 volt LED to indicate when the door is open. (If the door fails to close I can see the glow of the LED from my house after dark.)

I have bridged the east and west limit switch terminals and rely on timing to raise and lower the door. It took a few days to match the 'raise' and 'lower' timings to ensure the door returned to the exact same place.

The circuit drives a 12 volt car windscreen wiper motor with a roller on it and a steel cable over a pulley to raise the door. Here are a couple of photos.

and here is the software:

'This program controls a solar tracker relay H-Bridge using a Picaxe-08M, used in this case to open and close a poultry house door
'Output 0 and Output 1 are used to control the relays
'Input 4 (West) monitors the photocell
symbol west = w1 'west is a 10 bit ADC number reading
symbol sun = w3 'threshold for sun detect (Usually 93)
symbol dark = w4 'threshold for dark detect (Usually 1000)
symbol u = w2 'indicator of door up (1) or down (0)
'Initialize all the pins for their respective functions
output C.0 'used for relay control
low 0 'initialize low
output C.1 'used for relay control
low 1 'initialize low
output C.2 'LED control
low 2
input C.3 'slow/normal switch
input C.4 'west photocell
sun = 300 'threshold adc reading for sunlight
dark = 1000 'threshold adc reading for darkness
pause 1000 'pause for 1 second to stabilize power supply, etc.
u = 0 'set door as down
main: read b0,u 'check position of door
if u = 1 then night 'if door up wait for darkness
readadc10 C.4,west '10 bit adc read west photocell
if west > dark then close
if west < sun then open
goto main
open: 'Routine for raising door
low 0 'strictly a blow-through preventing command
high 1 'energize relay
pause 9000 ‘ON time is 9 seconds to raise door
low 1 'stop energizing relay
u = 1 'set door indicator to up
write b0,u 'and store it
high 2 'turn LED on
night:readadc10 C.4,west '10 bit adc read west photocell
if west > dark then close
pause 1000 'pause for 1 second
goto night 'repeat the sensor scan
close: 'Routine for lowering the door, double check signals first
pause 100 'slight delay and then double-check darkness
readadc10 C.4,west '10 bit adc read west photocell
if west < dark then night
'Double-checking completed, proceed with the parking mode
low 1 'strictly a blow-through preventing command
high 0 'energize relay to lower door
pause 7300 ‘7.3 seconds to lower door
low 0 'stop the parking action and wait for dawn
u = 0 'set door indicator to down
write b0,u 'and store it
low 2 'turn LED off
dawn: 'Start the wait for first light to start tracking again
readadc10 C.4,west '10 bit adc read west photocell
if west < sun then main
goto dawn 'continue looping while waiting for dawn

12-16-14, 09:34 PM	#1
Bosco Lurking Renovator Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Western Australia Posts: 20 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Keeping Poultry safe from foxes Here in Australia we have a problem with foxes which were introduced in the first half of the 19th century for sport. I keep poultry and have adapted a spare MTM Scientific Picaxe solar tracker board to raise and lower a door in my poultry house to keep foxes out at night. The system only uses one sensor (west) as I removed the biasing resistor to the east sensor and replaced the sensor with a 330 ohm resistor in series with a 5 volt LED to indicate when the door is open. (If the door fails to close I can see the glow of the LED from my house after dark.) I have bridged the east and west limit switch terminals and rely on timing to raise and lower the door. It took a few days to match the 'raise' and 'lower' timings to ensure the door returned to the exact same place. The circuit drives a 12 volt car windscreen wiper motor with a roller on it and a steel cable over a pulley to raise the door. Here are a couple of photos. and here is the software: 'This program controls a solar tracker relay H-Bridge using a Picaxe-08M, used in this case to open and close a poultry house door 'Output 0 and Output 1 are used to control the relays 'Input 4 (West) monitors the photocell symbol west = w1 'west is a 10 bit ADC number reading symbol sun = w3 'threshold for sun detect (Usually 93) symbol dark = w4 'threshold for dark detect (Usually 1000) symbol u = w2 'indicator of door up (1) or down (0) 'Initialize all the pins for their respective functions output C.0 'used for relay control low 0 'initialize low output C.1 'used for relay control low 1 'initialize low output C.2 'LED control low 2 input C.3 'slow/normal switch input C.4 'west photocell sun = 300 'threshold adc reading for sunlight dark = 1000 'threshold adc reading for darkness pause 1000 'pause for 1 second to stabilize power supply, etc. u = 0 'set door as down main: read b0,u 'check position of door if u = 1 then night 'if door up wait for darkness readadc10 C.4,west '10 bit adc read west photocell if west > dark then close if west < sun then open goto main open: 'Routine for raising door low 0 'strictly a blow-through preventing command high 1 'energize relay pause 9000 ‘ON time is 9 seconds to raise door low 1 'stop energizing relay u = 1 'set door indicator to up write b0,u 'and store it high 2 'turn LED on night:readadc10 C.4,west '10 bit adc read west photocell if west > dark then close pause 1000 'pause for 1 second goto night 'repeat the sensor scan close: 'Routine for lowering the door, double check signals first pause 100 'slight delay and then double-check darkness readadc10 C.4,west '10 bit adc read west photocell if west < dark then night 'Double-checking completed, proceed with the parking mode low 1 'strictly a blow-through preventing command high 0 'energize relay to lower door pause 7300 ‘7.3 seconds to lower door low 0 'stop the parking action and wait for dawn u = 0 'set door indicator to down write b0,u 'and store it low 2 'turn LED off dawn: 'Start the wait for first light to start tracking again readadc10 C.4,west '10 bit adc read west photocell if west < sun then main goto dawn 'continue looping while waiting for dawn Last edited by Bosco; 12-16-14 at 09:51 PM..