My personal idea revolves around "can I run it on a basic smartphone, with whatever the 'floor' for basic smartphones under lets say $300 is for memory (let's pretend RAM prices are normal).
Edit: The fact this runs on a Smartphone means it is highly relevant. My only thing is, how do we give such a model an "unlimited" context window, so it can digest as much as it needs. I know some models know multiple languages, I wouldnt be surprised if sticking to only English would reduce the model size / need for more hardware and make it even smaller / tighter.
Started a comment to write basically what you said. I've been commuting like that for five years. At the end I didn't bother trying anything productive anymore.
Losing 2-3h per day commuting is not something I am gone miss anytime soon.
I still remember when Google (and Facebook?) used XMPP for their chat functions. You could log into any XMPP client and chat with people using Google infrastructure.
Plus at least one motor plus sun tracking controller. All of that has to operate 24/7, all year.
Depending on your local climate, that has to be sun and rain proof. (Most Nema 7 "3D printer" motors are not waterproof... Ask me now I know )
Nothing a quick hack job can't solve for you, but if you want to sell it (and make sure your customers will be satisfied for decades) it quickly adds up in price.
You don't need a motor. You need a recurring calendar reminder to send someone out there to spin them all 2x per year at whatever day you determine to be the ideal crossover point where you want to switch between NS and EW.
The panels can be stayed in their correct positions by a trash tire or whatever buried in the ground with two chains poking out to clip to the panel corner.
None of this is rocket science. This is all stuff that has been proven out over the past 200yr of fence and gate construction.
Similar could be used for changing between tilted and vertical though you'd need more material.
I've been playing Go with my spouses brother for a while. He had a lot of free time to studyGo back then, I didn't. I couldn't get a single win out of him, still I enjoyed every single game.
We rarely play anymore, I should invite him over sometime :-)
I'm on the other side of this, meeting a friend two or three times a month to play Go and giving him a three stone handicap on a 13 by 13 board.
Sometimes I play a move with a huge, but hidden threat behind it. If he plays elsewhere instead of answering locally, I get to play a clever sequence and capture some stones. I could just wait for the blunder and win. Instead I give a quick lesson in tactics: here is my plan, if you want to play elsewhere, your move needs to have an even bigger threat behind it.
He is learning, and now I face my clever moves being player against me. This makes it harder for me to win (it is about 50:50 with the handicap), but also more fun for me to play.
You could ask your spouses brother for a "teaching game" or a larger handicap, or a bit of both.
On a 19 x 19 board the ranks are traditionally determined by the handicap needed to give an even game. So a 14 kyu would give 20 - 14 = 6 stones to a 20 kyu. 20 kyu is a rank that often sees rapid improvement, as the basic ideas "click" just through play and experience. You might be stronger than that now.
Handicap stones give a greater advantage on smaller boards, but 19 x 19 is the standard size. I've not seen any specific guidance for smaller boards.
