Can you Beat the Buzzer at Coronation Park?
There’s something new to race at Coronation Park in Helston this summer.
South Kerrier Alliance CIC asked Fluxus to create an interactive running track for the park. We built a 25-metre line of outdoor LEDs along the fence, added a painted starting board with five speed buttons, and put a buzzer up in a tree!
Choose your speed, press the button, wait for the countdown and then run. Your challenge is to reach the end before the moving lights do.
As usual, turning the idea into something that could survive outdoors involved plenty of experimenting, testing and changing things. There were cables to protect, electronics to keep dry and 500 individual lights to persuade to behave themselves.
We also discovered that even very bright LEDs have some fairly stiff competition from direct summer sunshine. The lights are easiest to see when it’s cloudy or later in the day, but the beeps carry brilliantly across the park. We adapted the track so the sound helps you follow the race, even when the sun makes the lights harder to spot.
Ed gave it a proper test run, although whether he actually beat the buzzer on the fastest mode is another matter!
The running track is now in Coronation Park as part of its summer programme. Give it a try if you’re visiting and see which speed you can beat.
Thanks to South Kerrier Alliance CIC for asking us to make something playful for the park. We like projects that combine making, electronics, movement and just a little bit of silliness.
