ISS Mimic is an open-source mash-up of hardware + software that mirrors the International Space Station’s solar-array and radiator motion in real time.
Runs on Raspberry Pi • 12 motors drive a 3-D printed ISS • Live telemetry visualizer
ISS Mimic is a 3D printed model of the International Space Station that connects to the actual live data from the real ISS to control a model that rotates solar panels and radiators to match the real one in real time. The goal of this project is to connect people with the ISS. There are three different mimic models: Mimic, Mini Mimic, and Edu Mimic. These models are designed for teachers, students, museums, hobbyists, and anyone who wants to learn more about the ISS.
Join the discussion, help out, ask for help, chat about the ISS here: Mimic Discord
Table of Contents
- Live telemetry pull from NASA’s Lightstreamer endpoint – no scraping needed
- Interactive dashboards (more capable than the original ISSLive site)
- Real-time kinematics: 12-axis motion matches α- and β-gimbal joint angles
- Modular design: Separate Pi (telemetry & UI) ↔ Arduino (motor control)
- Low- / High-fidelity STLs you can print today
# 1. Clone & install deps
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ISS-Mimic/Mimic.git/
cd ~/Mimic
python setup.py
# 2. Run the Mimic GUI dashboard
cd ~/Mimic/Pi/
python GUI.pyFull software guide: Wiki » Software Setup Instructions.
Telemetry is data remotely collected from the ISS and transmitted to the ISS Mission Control Centers for monitoring the operational status of ISS systems.
In 2011 some incredible JSC employees released a subset of the 100,000+ ISS telemetry items to the public under the ISSlive! project and an associated website. Sadly, that website is no longer running, but they opened the door for dozens of projects to follow in their footsteps.
NASA contracted the wonderful folks at Lightstreamer to provide this subset of ISS telemetry out to the public and that is the source of all the public telemetry projects today.
We have made three telemetry pages to show off all of the public data (as well as our Pi application screens).
A filterable table here: https://iss-mimic.github.io/Mimic/ (and in Russian: https://iss-mimic.github.io/Mimic/index_ru.html) and a great dashboard here: https://iss-mimic.github.io/Mimic/dashboard.html
┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐
│ NASA LS │────────────▶│ Raspberry Pi │───────────────▶│ Arduino(s) │───────────────▶│ Motors │
└──────────┘ telemetry └──────────────┘ joint angles └──────────────┘ motor commands └──────────┘
Pi side (Python + Kivy) shows telemetry dashboards and forwards joint targets.
Arduino side (C++) drives stepper/servo motors in the 3-D-printed truss.
| Fidelity | STL pack | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Low | /3D_Printing |
✔ Complete |
| High | /3D_Printing/high_fidelity |
In progress – contributors welcome! |
Mechanical details, BOM, and wiring live in the Hardware Wiki section.
Start by opening an issue to suggest am improvement or bug or by chatting on Discord.
Coding guidelines:
- Follow PEP 8 and keep GUI layout in
.kvfiles (Kivy best practice). - Fix all our mistakes.
Other help: -Feel free to suggest ideas! Best place to talk is out discord, or feel free to publish an issue
- Finish high-fidelity CAD & release STEP source
- Complete build guide
- Finish Kivy telemetry screens
This project is licensed under the MIT License – see LICENSE for details.
The code is ugly and awful but it works *mostly* (click to vent)
We’re hardware engineers moonlighting as coders. Expect caffeine-driven hacks and the occasional refactor fiasco. Contributions and constructive feedback are super welcome!
