Send updates about the position of the ISS every minute to a topic in ActiveMQ
This workflow automatically retrieves the latest position data of the International Space Station every minute and sends it to a specified topic in the ActiveMQ message middleware, ensuring the timeliness and efficiency of the data. By utilizing scheduled triggers, API calls, and data organization, it achieves continuous pushing of the space station's position, eliminating the cumbersome manual queries. This is widely applicable to scenarios such as aerospace data monitoring, tracking by research institutions, and educational projects, enhancing the efficiency of information acquisition and transmission.
Workflow Name
Send updates about the position of the ISS every minute to a topic in ActiveMQ
Key Features and Highlights
This workflow automatically retrieves the real-time position data of the International Space Station (ISS) every minute, including latitude, longitude, and timestamp, and sends this information to a specified topic in the ActiveMQ message broker. It enables continuous and precise push of the space station’s location data.
Core Problem Addressed
It solves the challenge of automatically and periodically acquiring and distributing dynamic position data of the ISS, eliminating the need for manual querying and transmission, thereby ensuring real-time data availability and efficient delivery.
Use Cases
- Aerospace-related data monitoring and visualization platforms
- Research institutions tracking ISS movements in real time
- Real-time position updates in aerospace education projects
- Messaging systems or data pipelines requiring acquisition and processing of ISS location data
Main Workflow Steps
- Cron Scheduled Trigger: Initiates the workflow every minute to maintain data retrieval frequency.
- HTTP Request: Calls the ISS position API (https://api.wheretheiss.at/v1/satellites/25544/positions) with the current timestamp parameter to obtain the latest satellite position data.
- Data Processing: Uses a Set node to extract and consolidate the API response fields—latitude, longitude, timestamp, and name—into a structured data format.
- Message Publishing: Sends the consolidated position information to the “iss-position” topic in ActiveMQ, enabling message queue distribution of the data.
Involved Systems and Services
- HTTP API: Real-time ISS position data interface provided by wheretheiss.at
- ActiveMQ: Message queue system used for pushing and distributing location information
- n8n Nodes: Cron trigger, HTTP request, Set data processing, and AMQP (ActiveMQ) message publishing nodes
Target Users and Value
- Aerospace data developers and engineers needing real-time ISS position data for secondary development or analysis.
- Technical teams integrating ISS real-time location data into messaging systems.
- Educational and research organizations leveraging automated workflows for easy acquisition and distribution of aerospace dynamic information.
- Enterprises or project teams aiming to reduce manual monitoring costs and maintain data timeliness through automation.
By automating high-frequency data acquisition and distribution, this workflow significantly enhances the efficiency of obtaining and delivering space station position data, supporting real-time monitoring and information sharing.