About this Website

This website displays metrics collected on the Whirligig attractions at Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. These metrics include wind speed, rotation speed, vibration, and overall tilt. For this particular project, we plan to integrate these sensors with BB Blue Star!  

The rotation speed is calculated by using hall effect sensors to "count" how many segments of the whirligig has passed the sensor. This count is multiplied by the segment length in order to get the total degrees and divided by the time elapsed to get the rotation speed in degrees/period.  

The vibration is measured with gyroscope attached to the base of the Whirligig. The vibration sensor is on at all times and reports the peak Hertz after a period of time.  

The overall tilt is measured with another gyroscope, but measures the wheel rotation in terms of tilt instead of at the base.  

Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park is an attraction park in Wilson, NC. The attractions are kinetic sculptures made of recycled materials, all of which were made by Vollis Simpson.