Solar System
Skills Used
Unity 3D
C#
Project Description
This personal project is an interactive simulated model of the solar system developed in Unity. The program calculates gravitational attraction for different planets using Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation to create orbital behavior. The user is able to control a camera to navigate through the solar system. This project strengthened my understanding of physics and mathematical concepts and incorporating them into object-oriented programming.
An animation of the simulation running, showcasing the planets in orbit alongside the user’s camera moving throughout space.
A photo of the solar system simulation.
The solar system in the Unity editor.
Technical Highlights
Gravitational Physics
Implemented Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation to calculate force vectors of the different planets based on mass and distance as opposed to coding pre-defined paths.
Simulation
Performed physics calculations using C# to update positions and velocities each frame to produce natural orbital behavior. Designed a visually realistic system in the Unity editor with planetary textures from the NASA website to provide immersion.
Scalability
Designed a system where new planetary bodies and properties such as mass and distance could be easily adjusted for experimentation.
Interactivity
Implemented user-controlled camera movement for users to freely traverse the solar system and view different planets up close.