Interfacing Arduino boards with optical sensor arrays: overview and realization of an accurate solar compass

In this paper, an overview of the potentiality of Arduino boards will be presented, together with the description of the Arduino interfacing with light multi-sensors. These sensors can be arranged in linear arrays or in a matrix configuration (CCD or CMOS type cameras), and are equipped with tens, hundreds or even thousands of elements whose size ranges from a few microns to tens of microns. The use of these sensors requires electronics that have high time accuracy, since they work due to regular pulses sent by an external source, and, furthermore, the ability to digitize and store voltage signals precisely and quickly. We will show that, with the appropriate settings, a simple Arduino board can handle both 1-D and 2-D optical sensors. Finally, we will describe a solar compass, capable to provide the North direction with a very high degree of accuracy, made with such a board coupled to one of the tested optical array sensors.