Landen was born and raised in Waipahu, Hawai?i and is currently a
junior studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Hawai?i at
M?noa. He aspires to pursue a PhD and give back to the community
that has shaped him. His interests include robotics, signal processing,
and control systems. In his free time, he enjoys bouldering outdoors,
swimming, and working on personal engineering projects.
Home Island: Oahu
High School:
Institution when accepted: UH Manoa
Site: Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (NSO/DKIST). Pukalani, Maui
Mentors:Tim Williams & Rodell Agdinaoay
Project title: Upgrading the Seismic Monitoring System for DKIST
Project Abstract:
The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST), located in Haleakal?, houses sensitive optical
instruments. Significant seismic events, such as earthquakes, may threaten safety, disrupt operations,
and damage sensitive equipment at this remote, high-altitude facility. DKIST has an inoperable
seismic monitoring system that requires modernization to improve reliability and support
operational needs. This project implemented and evaluated the Raspberry Shake 3D (RS3D), a
commercially available, low-cost, open-source seismic sensing system as a replacement sensing
platform. The primary objective was to acquire, process, and transmit real-time data for integration
with DKIST’s monitoring infrastructure and Global Interlock Controller (GIC). An end-to-end data
acquisition and processing pipeline was developed where three-axis waveform data from the RS3D
were transmitted to a Raspberry Pi edge computer. Custom Python middleware calculated seismic
metrics and published the resulting data using Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT). The
measurements were integrated into the Ignition supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
platform for monitoring and future alarm integration. When seismic measurements exceeded the
trigger threshold, the system actuated a relay interface that provided a discrete hardware output for
communication with the GIC. Ambient vibration data and recorded earthquake signals were analyzed
to evaluate frequency-band selection, seismic metrics, and candidate trigger thresholds. System
testing demonstrated continuous acquisition, processing, and transmission of live measurements
from the RS3D into Ignition displays, as well as successful actuation of the relay output used to
communicate a seismic trigger state. This work modernizes DKIST’s seismic monitoring capabilities
and provides a foundation for operational threshold
validation, database integration, and telescope safety
interlock support.