Need help to design and build -Solar powered automatic LED insect trap

Thread Starter

scorpionchild

Joined Oct 6, 2021
6
Hi, Greetings all, I am basically a farmer. Would like to know if someone could help me to design automatic solar powered light to trap insects in farm

The system should have 12v battery, 12v solar panel, 3 set of 8x1.5v(12v) ultraviolet LEDs in parallel.

During daytime, the battery need to charged from solar panel

At 6pm, the LEDs need to powered on and at 10pm, the LEDs need to powered off.


In case of any issues in powering the pic (which affects the timer), we need a press switch to be reset the timer. It could be done at particular time say 8am
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
hi scorpion,
When you say trap insects, do you mean catch them alive or kill them.

I know that in some area's, farmers trap and collect insects as animal feed supplements
E
 

Thread Starter

scorpionchild

Joined Oct 6, 2021
6
hi scorpion,
When you say trap insects, do you mean catch them alive or kill them.

I know that in some area's, farmers trap and collect insects as animal feed supplements
E
We could place a wide plastic bowel the LEDs and fill it with water and few drops of kerosene. When insects fall in the water, it will trapped and killed.
 

Juhahoo

Joined Jun 3, 2019
302
Thanks. I wanna build it with locally available modules or components (in India) and also I am novice to electronics and microcontroller.
They were examples what's available, you need to source similar items locally.
If you want to build everything by yourself, that's another story. But if you are not very experienced, ready made solutions are propably the easiest and safest to go on with.
 

Thread Starter

scorpionchild

Joined Oct 6, 2021
6
They were examples what's available, you need to source similar items locally.
If you want to build everything by yourself, that's another story. But if you are not very experienced, ready made solutions are propably the easiest and safest to go on with.

I have sourced two different brands of readily available traps but those are not working as expected. I have little knowledge about programming Arduino so I thought if someone help me with schematic diagram, I could build the system.
 

Juhahoo

Joined Jun 3, 2019
302
I have sourced two different brands of readily available traps but those are not working as expected. I have little knowledge about programming Arduino so I thought if someone help me with schematic diagram, I could build the system.
I don't know what are your "traps" and what are you trying to catch and how. It's not as simple as "draw a circuit diagram" when we don't know what your goals are. You talked about series connected LEDs? How's that going to fit to your solution and is that the trap, or is it part of more complex solution?

Ready made units are basically just making connections between them and setting them up. Is that the circuit diagram you're hoping for ?
Make a sketch of your plans what you have in mind. But I think if this is going to be all the way DIY, like literally you build everything from scratch, its a long way to go. Like I said, rely on ready made solutions, ready made circuits, choose your complexity and price level what you want and can afford, and we maybe come up with some sort of a solutions.

Battery charger, solar panel, battery are all general components you can source almost everywhere. Timer clock you can maybe build yourself if you can do programming. The relay control etc, Lots of that stuff is available free on internet as circuit diagrams and even ready made codes are available for Arduino.

Circuit diagrams are no problem, what you need ?
 

Thread Starter

scorpionchild

Joined Oct 6, 2021
6
I don't know what are your "traps" and what are you trying to catch and how. It's not as simple as "draw a circuit diagram" when we don't know what your goals are. You talked about series connected LEDs? How's that going to fit to your solution and is that the trap, or is it part of more complex solution?

Ready made units are basically just making connections between them and setting them up. Is that the circuit diagram you're hoping for ?
Make a sketch of your plans what you have in mind. But I think if this is going to be all the way DIY, like literally you build everything from scratch, its a long way to go. Like I said, rely on ready made solutions, ready made circuits, choose your complexity and price level what you want and can afford, and we maybe come up with some sort of a solutions.

Battery charger, solar panel, battery are all general components you can source almost everywhere. Timer clock you can maybe build yourself if you can do programming. The relay control etc, Lots of that stuff is available free on internet as circuit diagrams and even ready made codes are available for Arduino.

Circuit diagrams are no problem, what you need ?
Thanks for your time and kind reply.

Please find the photo of trap which is readily available in below url

https://harmonyecotech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SolarLightTrap-Mini1.jpg

Also attached are the photos of circuit in the trap which I purchased.

When the LEDs glow in night and insects get attracted and fall into the water in the plastic bowl/basin below the LED. Few drops of kerosene is mixed in the water to kill the insects.

Hope it helps you to understand my need.
 

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Juhahoo

Joined Jun 3, 2019
302
And this is to do what?, does it protect something from insects, mosquitos?, harmful some other stuff flying ?
If you purchased one, whats wrong with it, doesn't it work?
Why do you need a clock timer, can't you rely on ambient light level instead? when light level goes low, system activates, just like any outdoor lights do.
Still, I do not know what you need if you have already a device.
 

Thread Starter

scorpionchild

Joined Oct 6, 2021
6
And this is to do what?, does it protect something from insects, mosquitos?, harmful some other stuff flying ?
This is to protect the plants by trapping harmful insects.
In general, there are harmful insects and predator insects. The harmful insects come and eat leaves, lay their eggs in plants to regenerate between 6pm and 10pm. The predator insects eat the harmful insects and survive. The predator insects visits after 10 pm.


When the LEDs glow between 6pm and 10pm, the harmful insects get attracted and fall into the water in the plastic bowl/basin below the LED. Few drops of kerosene is mixed in the water to kill the insects.

If you purchased one, whats wrong with it, doesn't it work?
The purchased ones are getting faulty every two months. To repair I need to ship to manufacturer. It takes two weeks to get it repaired and I need to pay for shipment and service charges. The manufacturer says some components are got damaged and I am not sure if the manufacturer is trust worthy.

Why do you need a clock timer, can't you rely on ambient light level instead? when light level goes low, system activates, just like any outdoor lights do.

As I answered in your first question, I need to save the predator insects. For which I need to switch off the LEDs by 10pm so that I need timers.

Still, I do not know what you need if you have already a device.
Hope you got my points.
 

Juhahoo

Joined Jun 3, 2019
302
My advice: If you are not able to source parts online, purchase stuff you can find in your area and construct a system. Its is easy to do, just connect stuff together according to the instructions coming with the units.

You need:
12V battery
Solar panel
Solar charger controller
Battery backup Clock timer, Arduino DIY or something else.
Light source
Bunch of wires and stuff.
There is nothing to do for me until I know what devices you manage to source, then I'm able to help you more. From online resources you can find how to make 12V solar systems in generally.
 
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