# Asterism (2027)

Asterism (n) A recognizable pattern or group of stars in the night sky that is not officially classified as one of the standard constellations.

Burning Man and regional Burning Man events have a long history of using kerosene lanterns as street lamps. The silent parade of Lamplighters placing the lanterns up on posts at dusk is a well-loved ritual and tradition. Unfortunately these lanterns are not safe to use at wooded events and burn fossil fuels.

Simply acquiring enough LED lanterns could be a solution, but I wanted to do something more. I wanted a solution that not only provided improved lighting for civic safety but was also art in and of itself. I also wanted it to be an open-source platform other events could easily copy and expand on.

Asterism aims to be a complete open-source kit - CAD designs, electronics, and software - to build LED lanterns for a outdoor events. The lanterns will be mesh networked with each other to not only provide light for safety, but can change color and even animate across the entire event nearly instantly. This will allow for all kinds of creative uses including neighborhood color palettes, visual “chimes”, and animations to lead participants places.

Major design goals include:

• Use cheap but robust and easily acquired parts
• Be easy to assemble, install, and repair
• Support the re-use of commonly discarded rechargable batteries
• Be easy and economical to recharge, particularly from renewable energy sources
• Provide lighting for 8-12 hours at the level of a kerosene lantern
• Allow lanterns to change color and animation individually, by group, or as a whole
• Easy control of the entire mesh network through a self-hosted web application
• Completed documented software and communication protocol

Asterism is being funded through the 2026 Green Regionals Grant provided by Burning Man and will be released in September 2027.

You can follow along with the creation of Asterism on the project GitHub page.