Into the Sun

Rounding out the week bagging the last of the orders.  It's going to take a feat of organization to organize our coffee shop and wholesale department so as to extricate myself from the day to day operations.  I'm going to have to figure out how to put more time into this solar design project in the next month or two.  Within three months, I will be working full-time on the R&D for the new heliostat motors. 
      I had 4 glass mirrors cut to scale and picked them up yesterday.  The development plan looks something like this, in rough outline:

1) Build and Test motor
         1000 cycles  (mechanics durability)
          Freezer test  (low temp to -10˚F)
          Oven test  (Pueblo Summer temp up to 120˚F)
          Bathtub test (water immersion)

2) Build and Test single Heliostat
          Test accuracy & repeatability to  1/16˚ per axis
          Car-Roof-Driving Test (aka wind-tunnel testing for high wind stowing capability)
          Coffee-Shop-Ice Drop (aka testing under hail-impact conditions)
          Sun Track to Target -I'll test it with an ad-hoc controller to target a spot in my back yard.

3)  Build and test 5 Heliostats
         Finalizing the control scheme electronics
         Demonstrating a practical set-up procedure and calibration cycle
         Demonstrate safety procedures and guidance corridores (mirrors must not shin in windows!)

4)  1/8 Scale array test:  25 Mirrors in my back yard and on-target
         Test calibration procedure for 25 mirrors on wooden frame
         Test targeting control system
         Test all safety systems
         Make last changes for mass-production of heliostats.

5) Manufacture remaining 200 heliostats, set up on bus garage in downtown Pueblo

           (More detail to follow!)