Solspot – Solar-Powered Smart Vehicle for Efficient Parallel Parking

Parallel parking in congested urban areas has always been a challenge—and that’s where Solspot comes in. This blog post is a full walkthrough of how I designed and built a solar-powered smart vehicle prototype with 360° wheels, controlled wirelessly using ESP32 microcontrollers and a mobile-responsive web interface.

💡 Project Overview

Solspot is a prototype electric vehicle that can be manually or autonomously parallel parked, powered by solar energy, and maneuvered in any direction thanks to 360° rotating wheels.

Key concepts:

• Solar energy for sustainable operation 🔋

• Dual ESP32 setup for transmitter and receiver 📶

• Web interface control (no mobile app required) 🌐

• Compact, efficient movement with omnidirectional wheels 🔄

✅ Features

• 🔋 Self-sustaining with a solar panel and lithium battery

• 🌐 WiFi-based web interface (no router needed)

• 🔄 360° movement for tight-space parking

• 🛠️ Dual ESP32 microcontrollers for signal transmission and execution

• 🔌 UBEC for stable voltage regulation

• 📱 Mobile-friendly control dashboard

Hardware Stack

🔌 Installation Guide

Hardware Setup

1. Assemble chassis, attach motors and wheels.

2. Connect the L298N motor driver to ESP32 (receiver).

3. Wire the solar panel and battery through the UBEC.

4. Mount both ESP32s and ensure safe cable management.

Software Setup

1. Open Arduino IDE, install the ESP32 board manager.

2. Upload the transmitter and receiver code to the respective ESP32 boards.

3. Install required libraries like:

   • ESPAsyncWebServer

   • WiFi.h

4. Power on the receiver ESP32 to start broadcasting its WiFi network.

WiFi Interface

• Connect your smartphone or laptop to the ESP32 hotspot.

• Access the control dashboard via browser.

• Use the directional buttons to move and park the vehicle.

🛠️ How It Works

• The transmitter ESP32 hosts a web UI.

• Commands from the dashboard are sent over WiFi to the receiver ESP32.

• The receiver processes the command and actuates the motors via L298N.

• The solar panel continuously charges the battery while in operation.

🧪 Circuit Diagram

A full schematic showing ESP32 communication, motor driver, 360° wheels, and the regulated solar power supply. Matching this setup precisely helps avoid voltage-related issues.

🚧 Challenges Faced

• Voltage Instability: The ESP32s were sensitive to direct battery output. I resolved this using a UBEC for smooth 5V regulation.

• Library Conflicts: ESPAsyncWebServer required specific versions to work properly with ESP32.

• WiFi Drops: High request frequency sometimes caused crashes. I optimized control timing using millis() instead of delay().

• Component Sourcing: Finding a solar panel with a suitable form factor and current output was tricky.

🎥 Demo Video

🧑‍💻 Author & Credits

This project was researched, designed, and developed by Arush.
If you'd like to collaborate or need help building your own version of Solspot, feel free to reach out.

📜 License

Solspot is licensed under the MIT License.
You’re welcome to fork, build on top of, or improve the idea for your own use cases.

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Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this project or have questions, drop a comment or connect with me on GitHub. 🚀

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