Conductor in Space

Inspiration

The inspiration for this project came from my curiosity about how science and art can connect. I wanted to find a creative way to represent the planets beyond just numbers, charts, and pictures. The idea of turning planetary data—such as size, distance, and rotation—into music and color felt exciting. It allowed me to combine something logical (space data) with something expressive (sound and light). This blend of STEM and creativity is what motivated me to start building the project.

How we built it

I divided the project into three parts. For Part 1, I created a system where pressing a button plays a single note and displays a specific planet color using an RGB LED. In Part 2, I programmed a longer melody inspired by Studio Ghibli-style music. Each note corresponds to a planet, and the RGB LED changes to that planet’s color during the melody. For Part 3, I created a planet-selection demo where choosing a planet immediately triggers its unique tone and color.

All parts were built using an Arduino, a passive buzzer, buttons, and an RGB LED. I carefully tested timing, brightness, and tone accuracy to make sure the transitions felt smooth and meaningful.

Challenges we ran into

One major challenge was working without an LED strip. This meant I had to adapt all the lighting effects to a single RGB LED. I learned to adjust color values carefully so planets wouldn’t look too similar. Another challenge was tuning the buzzer so the melody sounded pleasant and not too sharp. Timing the color changes with the notes also took a lot of adjustments. Finally, debugging small wiring mistakes and making the circuit stable taught me patience and careful checking.

What we learned

Throughout the project, we learned how to use Arduino to create interactive experiences using sound and RGB LEDs. We practiced mapping scientific values into musical notes using simple numerical relationships, such as:

frequency = base frequency × (planet value/reference value)

This helped us understand how data can be transformed into something sensory, like music. We also learned more about wiring, timing, and debugging circuits, as well as how different components respond to code.