Ocean Pi

Run your code at sea aboard Wonder, our 82’ teaching schooner.

Open to aspiring scientists and navigators of all ages.

Our goal is to bring the sense of wonder created by Earth’s oceans, lakes, and rivers to anyone eager to learn and give a sense of what it is like to go voyaging aboard Wonder.

We will run your code on our science equipment, teach you how to navigate using nautical charts and weather forecasts, send you pieces of our old sails to turn into artwork, and show you how to build replicas of our oceanographic sensors.

Keep scrolling to learn about our voyage and the projects you can do.

This project is great for beginners and experienced coders alike. In this project, you will get to do the following:

  • Design a creature on an 8x8 LED array and send your code to Wonder.

  • Use the ship’s light and motion sensors to animate your creature and change its color.

  • Capture a 10 second video to see how the ship was actually moving while your code ran—you may catch the crew doing whale impressions.

  • Receive the results and the video via email once your code has been run on Wonder.

PROJECT #01

Animate A Creature

Where Is Wonder?

Click here to see an interactive version of our voyage plan.

Wonder Is Completing the Great Loop

In June 2024, we acquired Wonder in Key Largo, FL and set out on our maiden voyage to bring Wonder to her new homeport: Detroit, MI. To avoid the frozen Great Lakes, we left Detroit in mid-October and are about to complete the 6,000+ mile journey known as the “Great Loop.” We expect to complete the loop in mid-December 2024.

Click here to see a full screen version of our tracking map.

Adventure Kits

Get all the tools you need to become an ocean voyager.

Navigation Puzzle Kit
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Solve navigation puzzles to unravel this treasure mystery using real navigation principles. You will learn about prevailing winds, currents, and voyage planning as you try to piece together the final voyage of the Bloody Pirate. Consult nautical charts, logbook entries, vintage weather maps, and use navigation tools to find a lost shipwreck. The puzzles will teach you the navigation skills you need to help Wonder plan future voyages.

Requires Coding: No

Sailor Craft Kit
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Knots, stitching, splicing, and sail repair are essential skills for sail voyaging. You will practice all of these skills as you create a ditty bag just like those carried by the crew of Wonder. Our Ditty Bag Kit contains red tanbark sail cloth from one of Wonder’s old sails as well as pieces of rope from Wonder’s rigging. The final design of the bag is up to you, but the kit includes the necessary tools as well as instructions on all the bosun skills you will need to learn.

Requires Coding: No

Ocean Research Kit
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Our water sensor array aboard Wonder includes five sensors to better understand the conditions of the water of the oceans, rivers, and lakes that we voyage upon. Using a Raspberry Pi computer and a LCD screen, you will learn to communicate with these sensors and then build them into a waterproof housing that you can install in your home to monitor your water quality. With some additional waterproofing, you can install this sensor array outdoors too!

Requires Coding: Yes

Ocean Pi Projects

Practice real oceanography and run your code at sea.

Animate A Creature
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Use data from the ship’s sensors to animate a ocean creature that you design and capture a 10 second video of Wonder sailing. This project is inspired by Astro Pi’s “Mission Zero,” though our projects are open to residents of any country. This is a great project for beginners from primary school children to adults.

Availability: Live Now!

Requires Coding: Yes

Difficulty: Beginner

Create a Visualization
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We have three Raspberry Pi-based sensor arrays on board measuring the ocean, the ship, and the atmosphere. Sample the data from those sensors to create a weather visualization of what Wonder is experiencing. You can also include water conditions from our water sensors as well as information about the state of the boat, like our power usage.


Availability: Spring 2025

Requires Coding: Yes

Difficulty: Intermediate

Coming in 2025

Guess Our Sail Plan
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Use the atmospheric and ship sensors to determine what sails are set and guess Wonder’s speed. How much is Wonder tilting? How fast is the wind blowing? What sails do we use in different conditions? Then use the ship’s camera to take a pic and verify your answer. We will test your code periodically during our voyage.

Availability: Spring 2025

Requires Coding: Yes

Difficulty: Advanced

Coming in 2025

How it Works

Read how you can join one of the Sense of Wonder Projects listed below.

Currently, our projects can be worked on at anytime but we are developing projects that are time-based and specific to when our voyages are underway. Our kits can also be completed at anytime and do not rely on Wonder being underway.

If you have questions, we would love to hear from you: oceanpi@planetschool.org.

  • Anyone passionate about sailing, adventure, the rivers, lakes, or oceans! There are no age restrictions or geography restrictions. There is also no obligation—try a project for as little or as long as you like.

    We design these projects with teens and pre-teens in mind and we would love teachers to give us a try too. But we have heard from participants in every decade of life.

  • There is no cost to participate in the Wonder Voyage Project. We are launching kits via IndieGoGo that provide all of the tools you need to do a project, but these are not required. When we launch projects, we include equipment lists and instructions online for free.

  • You can start working on Wonder Voyage Projects at any time. Some of our projects offer the ability to interact with our voyages. If that is the case, we will specify a timeline/deadline for participation.

    Our voyages are in the fall and the spring, usually Oct/Nov and Apr/May. Our next voyage begins on October 14, 2024 in Detroit and ends on December 15, 2024 in the Bahamas.

  • So many reasons, but we'll highlight a few. The planet-level challenge of climate change and rising sea temperatures demands that we have a citizenry more engaged with our aquatic ecosystems. There is something magical about voyaging under sail and we want to make that available to as many people as possible. Our projects help teach the skills necessary to go voyaging. If you are interested in sailing with us one day, these projects are a great place to start. But Wonder can only carry so many, so we want to equip anyone for their own voyage on any ship.