High-Level Project Summary
This challenge required a live tracking of the international space station (ISS) in 3D view using as much details as possible including 3D models for Earth, ISS and other celestial backgrounds (e.g. stars). Also, the tracker should be located on a public web page so that everyone can visit it.We developed an open web page in HTML and JavaScript so that it tracks the ISS in real time and in 3D. We utilized NASA repository on GitHub to develop the code. Numerous resources have been imported from NASA WorldWind library to add further details to the solution in addition to the ISS ISS graphical COLLADA model. Everyone can now cherish our 3D ISS live tracker and get to know this satellite.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
We implemented a live tracker of the international space station in 3D view. We used as much details as possible including 3D models for Earth, ISS, stars and sun all were interfaced from NASA WorldWind repository on GitHub. Moreover, we added some extra details such as viewing a tracing orbit of the ISS trajectory, and the real time status of the day/night times on the planet's surface. The tracker was successfully deployed on a web page for the public.
The visitors can control the views from the tracker, whether to navigate or zoom, the views coming from the live traces of ISS with respect to Earth are pretty nice and much fun to use.
We purchased a private web hosting (VPS) to host the tracker. The web development involved the use of HTML and JavaScript for front-end interfacing, JSON for data management and fetching APIs, and BLENDER for modifying and converting the 3D-MAX (3DS) model of ISS to COLLADA model (DAE). In addition, we sought help from numerous coding forums to find the right syntax and fix many errors during the hackathon such as: StackOverFlow, GitHub, Geek-for-Geeks, and many others.
We hope that this ISS live tracker brings knowledge and much joy to whoever visits it.
Space Agency Data
NASA Web WorldWind
https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/web/examples/
https://github.com/NASAWorldWind/WebWorldWind
https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/autodocs/WebWorldWind/
Almost everything depended on this repository, we got inspired by many lines of codes while navigating through this rich library.
The ISS graphic model was modified using BLENDER, it was downloaded from NASA 3D Resources:
https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/
Hackathon Journey
It is very inspiring for me to think that although I know other programming languages but two days ago I did not have a clue on how to code in JavaScript at all, I never used this language before. But now, I have learnt a great deal on how to develop simple web applications with simple UIs thanks to this hackathon. Also, I have never used web-based 3D models before, this is my first time to upload a graphical model onto the web and interact with it too.
I got motivated to pursue this particular challenge since I am already working in the field of localization and tracking. I usually use other technologies to track robots and/or personnel in industrial venues but only through algorithms and telecom-based devices such as Ultra wide-band, WiFi, and GPS. So it was very nice to finally got to sketch some nice user interfaces to visualize the tracking for the public in a user-friendly environment.
References
The ISS live tracker
https://epic-lalande.198-244-149-122.plesk.page/administrator/logs/HelloWorldWind/index.html
The main JavaScript file
https://epic-lalande.198-244-149-122.plesk.page/administrator/logs/HelloWorldWind/helloWorldWind.js
The 3D model for ISS
https://epic-lalande.198-244-149-122.plesk.page/administrator/logs/HelloWorldWind/collada_models/ISSmax_rotated.dae
A snapshot from the ISS tracker after completing one revolution (in 90 minutes)
https://epic-lalande.198-244-149-122.plesk.page/administrator/logs/HelloWorldWind/Capture%20ISS.PNG
Tags
#ISS #tracking #space #earth #technology #satellites #localization