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Ezekiel Wheeler

7th Grade, Homeschool
Portland, OR

Zeke was eight years old when he decided he wanted to contact the International Space Station (ISS) using ham radio. Of course, since a ham radio alone isn’t enough to contact the ISS, Zeke would need to track it. He built his own satellite tracker with a 10-foot-long antenna, and two more small trackers out of Legos. “I wanted to provide a fun, hands-on way to teach students about mechanical and electrical engineering,” he says, so he decided to 3D print a desktop satellite tracker.

An Affordable, Portable Orbital Desktop Satellite Tracker

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2024 Thermo Fisher JIC Finalist Ezekiel Wheeler poster: An Affordable, Portable Orbital Desktop Satellite Tracker
An Affordable, Portable Orbital Desktop Satellite Tracker Ezekiel Wheeler
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Project Background

In his previous models, Zeke had used a potentiometer to measure the position of his antenna to track the ISS. But they require calibration, and can’t always rotate as much as he needed. So he decided to see if an accelerometer — a device measuring acceleration — and a magnetometer — which measures magnetic field — could do it instead. He designed and 3D printed his parts and programmed a microcontroller and an LCD screen with a list of stars, satellites and planets to track.

He was able to track objects to within 7.1 degrees of error. “That means when I try to get a signal from satellites, I should be well within the beam width of my antenna.” His proposal to Amateur Radio on the International Space Station was accepted this year, and he is excited to guide students as they speak to an astronaut on the ISS using his ham radio and tracker.

2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific JIC Junior Innovators Challenge Public Day Washington DC
Lisa Fryklund/Licensed by Society for Science

Beyond the Project

Zeke has always been excited by engineering. “When I was one year old, I had a battery, switch and a lightbulb drilled to a piece of wood that I made with my dad. Once I figured out how it worked, I would run around the house with it, saying ‘Battery, switch, lightbulb!’” he says. But he also loves horseback riding, survival skill training, making primitive tools, and piloting small planes.

2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC) Finalist - portrait