Newly Refurbished Aurora at Trinity Buoy Wharf

Newly refurbished on test bench before installing		Rotating at night

The newly refurbished Aurora was Installed on May 24th 2024. It had been totally rebuilt with new bearings, magnets,electronics and LEDs. The magnets in the generator are 30 percent larger so the sculpture should illuminate at lower speeds.The LEDs are now RGBW meaning they can be any coulour, including pure white, which normal LEDs can't acheive. The electronics are simpler than before and all the LED arrays are the same voltgage. The enclosure, mounted below the turbine, and general insulation of all the wiring for water ingress will greatly improve reliability. Programming the spinning processor was always laboriuos, having to lower the sculpture on its drop-down column, now we can reprogramme by Bluetooth. In the next few month we will be able to play with the colours and timing.For the time being the programme mimics the original sequence but over the next months when we have decent winds, I might try other colours and effects.Below was filmed in 2020, just at the beginning of the first lockdown.

Electronic engineered by Mike Harrison of White-Wing

March 2022

I'm very excited that Aurora is now installed for testing at Trinity Buoy Wharf on the River Thames. The wind
sculpture generates and only lights as it turns - the colours and pettern changing according to the speed of the wind.
The installation of the artwork took place just before the lockdown and, as there was not a breath of wind, I hadn't
seen it working at it new home. That is until this video was posted on Instagram - thanks to @notablefrontier.

This is the original artwork but with all new electronics redesigned by Adrian Godwin. Originally a solar powered
battery was necessary to power the processor. This proved unrelaible, however thenew smaller processor takes its
power directly from the wind. This simplifies the artwork enormously, reducing maintenenance and increasing its
relaibility.

It's exciting to have Aurora sited next to the Faraday Experimental Lighthouse and now part of the Trinity Buoy Wharf- a wonderful and unique arts centre with its moon, tide and kinetic sculptures and schools of drawing and parkour!

Aurora on show at Kinetica Artfair, P3 2014

On test in my garden 2016/7

Aurora on test in my garden. (the solar panels on top have been removed)