A public art installation called Hedgework was recently deployed outside of Building 77 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It is a biodiverse habitat for birds and bees that listens to the environment and engages with pedestrians. The Raspberry Pis used in part of the project are powered by our 50 Watt CORE solar system with our built in battery health monitor.
In October 2023, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) initiated a rigorous selection process for two site-specific public art projects centered on the theme of ‘transformation.’ The two sites specified were the public-facing sides of Brooklyn Navy Yard buildings 92 and 77 along Flushing Avenue. A committee of from various Brooklyn-based organizations was selected to handle the submissions and jury process.
Hedgework: A Solar Powered Art Installation in Navy Yard
The two selected projects, Hedgework and Transforming America through Art: A Vision for Brooklyn’s Community, are currently on view along Flushing Avenue, and will be on display through November 10, 2024.
Hedgework
Voltaic Systems is thrilled to be part of Hedgework.
Hedgework is the result of a collaborative effort by a collective of artists, architects, and urban planners comprised of Marek Walczak, co-founder of Civic Space LLC, Mark Shepard, Associate Professor at the Center for Architecture and Situated Technologies (CAST), Antonina Simeti, founder of Timbre Consultants, with support from Robbie Lee, a composer, and Wes Heiss, a fabricator.
The project is composed of native plants and environmental sensors that create a biodiverse habitat supporting butterflies, bees, birds, and squirrels while engaging Navy Yard workers, cyclists, pedestrians, and the residents that surround it. To build the project, the team adhered to the Yard’s commitment to sustainability and supporting the tenant ecosystem by reusing delivery pallets for added structure and weight distribution; sand, stone, and fill from New York Sand & Stone, and a Voltaic CORE solar power system to power a bird feeder and plant bed cameras.
50 Watt CORE Solar Power System
From now through the fall, Hedgework will seasonally transform: growing, generating data, building knowledge, and generating a data-driven soundtrack that reflects the climate and the “feelings” of the site. To actively engage with Hedgework, check out the companion website: https://www.hedgework.net/ where you can “chat” with it (ask the hedge how it is feeling, or find out about its state of mind) or listen to the data-driven composition. You can also follow the project on Instagram.
Hedgework Bird Feeder
“Hedgework, in and of itself, is a community engagement platform that allows people to see, hear and touch nature in new ways, inviting understanding and experience with urban nature in the city rather than pushing it to the sidelines.” -Mark Shepard
Hedgework QR codes
Integrating the CORE solar power system with battery health monitoring allows the Hedgework creators to track their power consumption over time and adjust the system, like controlling when a microcontroller sleeps, as needed. The two charts below illustrate how the Qubitro dashboard helped inform the decisions about tuning the system. You can see the spike in consumption between 12 and 1 pm when the second pi wakes and performs its function.
50 Watt CORE Battery Health Monitoring when first launched
50 Watt CORE Battery Health Monitoring after second week
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