AstroSchool is a project aimed at younger school children around the ages of 6-12 (KS2 Age). It aims to create a more fun and engaging way for young kids to learn about the solar system.

The project consists of all 8 planets and the sun painted in Glow in the dark UV paint. They are attached to styrene tubes and held inside a box, which have both been painted matte black to make them invisible in the dark, giving the impression the planets are floating. Inside each planet is a wire which acts as a capacitive sensor, which is connected to an Arduino Uno inside the box, this is then connected to a Laptop via USB. Once a sensor is activated by the user touching the planet, it will trigger a video to play either through a projection or HDMI connection. This video consists of amazing visuals and interesting facts which are related to the object the user touched.

This project was a steep learning curve for me as I dived straight into some complicated coding without much initial knowledge on the subject. I encountered a lot of problems throughout the design process which I am actually grateful for as they have taught me a lot about the complete design process and the best method for solving or avoiding these problems. I feel I have created a project with a strong USP and through my user testing it shows it does help to educate children. The project has helped develop my skills as a Designer and taught me some valuable lessons which I can take forward into the future.

I am proud of the process I went through and my Design Document I have created detailing every step. I would be happy to show my Document to anyone wanting to see my process. My Email is available to the left as well as the video I made which goes into more detail on how the product works.