Every aerosolar sculpture, while on air, can be equipped with the SensAIR, the sensing kit enclosed in the Aerocene Backpack, a tool for perceiving and measuring atmospheric properties collaboratively developed by the Aerocene community.
Contained within a reused plastic bottle, a Raspberry Pi single-board computer connects to a Raspberry Pi camera, a BME280 pressure/humidity/temperature sensor, a solar battery back, an SD card, and a WLAN stick (USB 2.0). It can also include Motion Trackers and Particulate Matter Sensors.
Prior to list off, the device is attached to the sculpture and enables the gathering of aerial pictures and atmospheric data, such as temperature, humidity and pressure, along with air pollutant measurements.
Fully open-source via the GitHub repository, the SensAIR enables the low-cost, non-intrusive, emissions-free scientific study of airborne matter, and encourages citizen-science approaches to atmospheric investigation.
The motion tracker embedded in the SensAIR is able to record the movements of the floating sculptures, the invisible traces left by it – the Aeroglyphs.
Like handwriting or fingerprints, the swirling trace that follows any Aerocene flight is unique. While eagerly adapting to the ever-changing rivers of the wind, atmospherics laws and weather conditions, aerosolar spheres create signatures in and of the air. In contrast to fuel-powered flights that leave behind visible, straight lines in the sky, the trajectories of an Aerocene float are invisible to the eye.