Design Description of our entry into the Dublin Science Hack Day 2012

1. Science Hack Day Dublin 2012
Hackers
Connor Upton
David Perez-Suarez
Marisa Llorens
Neil Kelly

2. Aurora Borealis
(Northern Lights)
Celestial fireworks caused by caused by the collision of
energetic charged particles with atoms
in the high altitude atmosphere

3. • Auroras are caused by increased
solar activity
• This follows a predictable cycle and we will see
significant activity in the next couple of years

4. Auroras are visible from Ireland
• But how do I know when to go look for them?

5. Data is Available
but it's not very accessible
and we'd like a more persuasive reminder

6. Step 1: Make KML from data
Provide a live map of current & predicted solar activity
with additional playback functionality

7. Step 2: Make LED flat map
Northern Perspective
Again hooked into live data source

8. Step 3: Half Globe with LEDs
Build it using geodesic dome pattern?

9. Step 4: Build Aurora Orrery
Build several full globes with LED auroras
Construct an orrery to show relationship between solar
flares and auroras on multiple planets

10. What we need?
Lots of help
- Hardware
- Software
- Model Construction

11. What we Got Done
A Google Earth
KML layer that
feeds off a
database to show
the extent of
Auroras over time
We won the
peoples choice
award for most
interesting project

12. What we Got Done
Robert Fitzsimmons took on a
project extension to develop a
programmable LED globe that
would take our KML layer as an
input to light up aurora zones