Planet Together

Inspiration

Planet Together was inspired by Netflix's recent serialisation "The Three Body Problem"'s titular conundrum. The three body problem states that it is impossible to develop an analytical solution to a system of three or more bodies interacting with each other under gravity. Together, we created a model to simulate problems of this class.

What it does

Our website provides a realistic physics simulation of a universe that the user creates. A fun app for all ages, it allows for the creation of celestial bodies by the user that are then simulated under gravity with each other, using Euler approximations to the solutions of Newton's law of gravitation. Through this interactivity we hope that it provides a safe and exciting platform to learn about planetary physics.

How we built it

We built the project using Typescript. The frontend was developed using Next.js and we used Three.js (through React Three Fiber) for the modelling of our solar system.

Challenges we ran into

Upon finishing our physics simulation, we ran into roadblocks when considering how we could extend our website. We attempted to introduce collaboration to the website, but due to time constraints and technical difficulties this was not a feature that shipped with the release of the site.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Coming into this project, our team had very little experience with 3D modelling or physics simulation. Having successfully created a cool looking simulation that is realistic, we are proud of our ability to work as a team and adopt new technologies.

What we learned

As aforementioned, we had little knowledge of 3D modelling or how this could be used to represent physics. We reinforced our knowledge of basic orbital mechanics and learnt new technologies on the way. It was an exciting ride and we are happy that we had the ability to challenge ourselves and learn new things.

What's next for Planet Together

Planet Together will hope to introduce collaborative features, so that users can share planetary systems with each other that they can use to experiment together. Furthermore, we would like to add new invigorating textures and animations to make this an even more engaging educational experience.

Built With

• javascript
• next.js
• react
• react-three-fiber
• three.js
• typescript
• vercel