Tracking the ISS With a Glowing Rotegrity Beacon
Combining beautiful geometry with IFTTT web hooks and the WLED JSON API
My beacon performs a little light show every time the ISS passes overhead.
Like many, we have slowly filled our house with smart devices.
Over time we have set up smart plugs, smart speakers and smart lights and have matching smart routines programmed through the Google Assistant. We call out “Good night” before heading upstairs and then our living space shuts itself down. The future is now, right?
Homemade IoT
As well as buying off-the-shelf solutions, I have broken out the soldering iron on a number of occasions. I have created several projects which incorporate Raspberry Pi or micro-controllers and combined them with WS2812 addressable LEDs.
Sometimes I dive deep into code, creating my own interfaces and light sequences, as with my Flying Geese Clock shown above. Other times, like with this ISS tracking beacon, I prefer to load WLED software onto a micro-controller and get up and running in a flash.
