JK Fab Academy

project description

The Spacecraft Tracker is a piece designed to spark ongoing conversation in my classroom around space exploration and current missions. The idea is to have a modular display consisting of a 3D printed model of a spacecraft and a screen that displays current events related to that spacecraft. The modular design means that it can be updated regularly: a new model can be made and the board can be reprogrammed to display different headlines. Currently one spacecraft (the Curiosity rover on Mars) is being tracked, but there is room to follow two at a time.

The electronics consist of two parts: a Rapsberry Pi and a breakout board with an OLED screen and an ATMega microcontroller. The Raspberry Pi connects to the internet and uses Feedparser to retrieve headlines from the Curiosity's RSS feed. Those headlines are communicated via serial to the breakout board, then via I2C to the screen to be displayed. The 3D printed model was designed in OpenSCAD, and the base was designed in Inkscape and cut from plywood on the laser cutter.

My goal is that the Spacecraft Tracker will be something that my astronomy students will check regularly, which they would be less likely to do directly from the website. Headlines that are particularly interesting can lead to discussions of what the Curiosity is doing, as well as larger discussions about the reasons, history, and progess of space exploration.

what I learned

If I try to describe everything new that I learned over the last few months in Fab Academy, the list would be quite long and surely I'd forget something. So I'll limit myself to things I learned or improved specifically through this project.

I learned to use a Raspberry Pi, which I hadn't tried out before. I was really impressed by its capabilities and the potential for future projects - both mine and my students'.
I got a much better understanding of communication. Despite having covered this in week 13, I didn't really get how it works until making this project.
I got further practice in developing my 3D design skills. Initially I had planned to use this design from Thingiverse for the spacecraft model, but I was pushed to design my own, which was ultimately the best way to do it, even though my design is much less detailed.
I learned to be content with doing a project that is smaller in scope than what I had pictured months ago - as Neil says, "not my life's work". I'm glad that when it really came down to planning and building, I kept my own skill level and future plans in mind. In other words: though the project is fairly simple, it's something that will be approachable, understandable, and hopefully inspiring for my students, which was really my goal in taking Fab Academy.

next steps

tweak the program for the screen to make the display look nicer
3D print a model of a second spacecraft (probably New Horizons)
either make a second breakout board to display New Horizons' headlines, or (since that would require a second Pi) figure out how to control the OLED screens directly from the Pi, so two can be displayed at once
set up the project in the classroom and encourage students to check the headlines often
continue to practice my 3D design skills to improve the quality of the models I make
as new, exciting missions are launched, choose and create more models to be swapped in and out

original final project (abandoned)

final project concept & planning

final project build

project description

what I learned

next steps