Wave Buoy Connected Laser Map – Global coverage

This is a laser cut map of a coastline that also indicates the real time wave heights by connecting to a wave buoy. The LED displays 3 different colours relative to the current wave height. Red = Large Swell,  Green = Medium Swell, Blue = Small Swell. The LED can connect to any wave buoy in the UK that is run by the Channel Coast Observatory here The LED can also be programmed to any spot covered by Magic Seaweed on request.

How does it work? A very small computer called a Raspberry PI is housed in the frame. The PI connects to a wi-fi network and deploys a a program using a NODE Red flow which is a visual programming approach that allows developers to connect predefined code blocks, known as ‘nodes’. The flow connects to the specified wave buoy through an API – either Channel Coast Observatory or Magicseaweed, downloads the data and lights up the relevant colour LED. It is very easy to calibrate the different colours for your location so its completely bespoke.

Pictured – Porthleven/Loe Bar

Contains OS Open data © Crown copyright and database right 2020 and API data from Channel Coast Observatory

Project Page – https://github.com/projectsapollo/Project_Insight

Project_Insight from Apollo 50 on Vimeo.