Independent Study · Heckscher Prize
Track Pacer
A 400 meter pacing light for the St. Paul's track that paces up to eight runners at once, survives a Concord winter, and powers itself. A work in progress, with the first prototype planned to be completed by winter break.
Funded by the St. Paul's $500 Heckscher Prize
The goal
The St. Paul's school track is open to the public. But I've realized that many runners would benefit from pacing lights, especially when someone isn't there to coach them. But Concord is rainy, snowy, and icy for a good chunk of the year, so I came up with an Independent Study Project proposal (ISP) to build out a pacer with strong infrastructure that survives the early ice and self-sustains itself with solar power.
What makes up the pacer?
- RGB lights. RGB lights will be distanced 1 meter away from each other and also be RGB to allow multiple different colors to go around
- A solar panel. The device should be self sustaining through a solar panel
- A custom 3D-printed structure. Keeps rain and snow away from the circuits so nothing shorts in Concord weather.
- A spiral fold. The whole strip coils up so one person can carry it to the track and back.
- A screen attached to the device This is here so that anyone can set a pace for a distance or event.
Current progress
This is a work in progress. For now I've sketched out diagrams, planned out the materials, calculated costs, and built a schedule. By mid-December, I hope to have a small prototype working in the lab with a scale down by 1:40 (so 10 meters). After the prototype succeeds, I'll move onto building the full 400 meter track device to place on the St. Paul's track.
The light's function
The lead LED for each colour is a function of elapsed time and that runner's target pace.