Optics and Precision Engineering, Volume. 33, Issue 9, 1365(2025)

Design of sun tracking system based on model predictive control algorithm

Ruopeng FANG1,2, Renshi LI1, Ting JIAO1, Zhenyu XU1, Hao DENG1, Lu YAO1, Yabai HE1、*, and Ruifeng KAN1、*
Author Affiliations
  • 1Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei23003, China
  • 2Science Island Branch, Graduate School of USTC, Hefei3006, China
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    A solar tracking system tailored for mobile platforms has been developed to fulfill the requirement for high-precision solar position tracking in a vehicle-mounted laser heterodyne solar radiation spectrum detection system. This study transfers data processing tasks to an edge computing platform, significantly enhancing processing speed and ensuring rapid system response in dynamic environments. Concurrently, the integration of camera distortion correction and vision detection algorithms enables precise determination of the solar centroid position within the camera image and calculation of the angular offset. This angular offset serves as the system model's state variable, and the introduction of a model predictive control algorithm facilitates optimal control of the attitude adjustment motor speed, thereby markedly improving tracking accuracy and stability. Experimental results demonstrate a system response delay of only 14.6 ms, with tracking accuracies of 0.13° and 0.04° along the X- and Y-axes, respectively, when deployed on an onboard platform traveling at 15 km/h. The findings confirm that the designed solar tracking system combines high precision with low latency, meeting the stringent demands of heterodyne measurement for precise solar position tracking on vehicle platforms.

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    Ruopeng FANG, Renshi LI, Ting JIAO, Zhenyu XU, Hao DENG, Lu YAO, Yabai HE, Ruifeng KAN. Design of sun tracking system based on model predictive control algorithm[J]. Optics and Precision Engineering, 2025, 33(9): 1365

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    Paper Information

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    Received: Jan. 3, 2025

    Accepted: --

    Published Online: Jul. 22, 2025

    The Author Email: Yabai HE (kanruifeng@aiofm.ac.cn)

    DOI:10.37188/OPE.20253309.1365

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