Personal Blog
Below is a running archive of some of my favorite personal projects
Android App
I got the inspiration for this app from the job I had working in a plant nursery during high school. I designed it with Android Studio and was able to get it on my tablet and phone. Basically, the app prompts the user to select different attributes that they are looking for in shrubbery (flowers, fruit, height, growth rate, etc.) and then gives them a list of all plants that match their selection. They can then click each plant to see pictures and learn more about them.
Python App
As with my Andriod app, I got the inspiration for this program from the nursery I used to work at as well. I made it with Python and was able to deliver it as a standalone executable for any Windows machine. With this, the user (an employee of the nursery) would enter the SKU or UPC for the item in our inventory that they were looking for. Then, the program would tell the user where the item can be found and show an animation directing them to which section of the property to look in.
Guitar Pre-Amplifier
During college I was very interested in audio electronics so I decided to make an effects box for my guitar. I didn't have any amps or pedals that made good use of an echo effect so I decided to make that the basis for this project. I ended up going with the PT2399 chip, frankensteined together a schematic based off of various examples, built it, tested it, and made a circuit board! While it looks like a rats nest, it is 100% correct and functional! I 3D printed a simple case (the lid and box look different because I used different 3d printers), glued them together and gave it a rough paint job. While crude looking, she gets the job done! It sounds great too! It can control volume and gain, as well as the echo separation, duration, and effect volume.
Custom Restored Antique Radio
This project started with an antique radio. I gutted it and removed the tuner face for a clear view of the inside from the front. I painted the radio to give it a retro look and replaced the old turn knobs with chrome buttons. I also replaced the old cracked speaker with a new, larger one. It now plays music via an SD card that I have interconnected with an Arduino Nano, so I can load any music or sounds I wish onto it. It can play/pause, turn volume up and down, shuffle, and skip songs.
Stereo Amplifier
Continuing with my affection for audio devices, I decided that a custom speaker box for my record player would be a good project. I used an LM1877 dual channel chip so that I would be able to have stereo output. I just based this design off of an example from the chip datasheet and threw it together on a breadboard. Usually I would solder together an actual circuit board, but I made this project at a time that I didn't have access to my soldering iron and settled for just taping down all the components in the breadboard. I made a case, made room for the speakers and controls, and threw on some fabric! It features two 6.5's in the front and a 6x9 in the rear for bass. It sounds awesome!
Analog Infrared Proximity Sensor
This circuit uses IR LEDs and an IR photodiode to detect IR light reflections and generate a signal if enough light is detected (i.e. if the target is close enough). When a target gets close enough, I have it set up so that a red LED will turn on. In the future, I would like to connect an Arduino and a camera so that a picture or video can be taken if movement is detected.
External HD Monitor from Old Laptop LCD
I received an old laptop from a friend who was going to throw it out. I decided to see how much I could salvage from it and one of the uses I made from it was an external monitor! I simply removed the LCD from the old laptop, bought controller board for this specific screen from Amazon that had HDMI input, and connected the ribbon wires! While it looks crude with the exposed controller on the back of the screen, it gets the job done and keeps it from going to the landfill! It works great as a second monitor for my laptop.
HID Keyboard from Telephone
This project makes use of an analog telephone I had lying around, plus an Arduino Pro Micro. I started by cleaning and removing most of the internals of the telephone. I found that the buttons on the phone were the rubber-silicon conductive type and didn't have a good feel to them. I made a simple array of DIP buttons with a better 'clicky' feel and mounted it behind the buttons. From there I connected the buttons to the Arduino and use a generic keyboard macro program (WinHotKey) to set macros for the phone buttons! It can unlock my computer, run applications, copy/paste, and more!
Bench Power Supply from Old 20-pin ATX
Created using the power supply from my family's old desktop PC, this custom bench power supply can supply fixed 12V, 5V and 3.3V. It also has a buck-boost converter that can supply 0-30V with adjustable current as well. This power supply is good for 300W which is more than enough for testing and powering various electronics on my workbench. I was lucky that I was able to fit everything inside the original housing without creating any shorts or accidentally knocking anything loose!
External Cooling Fan for Surface Pro 7
This is an external cooling fan for a Microsoft Surface Pro 7 tablet/PC. Under medium-to-heavy loads or even while charging, these tablets sometimes tend to get relatively hot. Using a USB-A plug, a buck-boost converter, a 12V fan and some 3D printed parts, I designed a solution that greatly decreases the temperature of the device! While crude-looking, this solution is easily attached and removed. Because thermal throttling is reduced, this allows the device to handle increased workloads - I have even been able to reliably run older games such as Fallout: New Vegas on here without any throttling issues (without the fan, there would be a lot of heat).
Automotive
Before electronics, automotive work was my passion. I've done everything from body repair to drivetrain work to electrical. Most of the work I've done was to my 1986 El Camino, and a lot of that work was due to necessity from the car being so old (seems like something breaks every other week!). I also enjoy working on my motorcycle as well. The best part though is that none of it feels like work to me - it feels like I'm having fun! In my opinion, there's no better way to start learning than to just start by taking something apart and putting it back together.
