Electronics Page

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After a year of retirement from high tech I had the urge to do some hardware and software again. I think it must be in my blood. It had been a long time since I programmed small computers (micro controllers and/or micro processors) so I thought I would get back to it. Since starting again, I have been having great fun designing and building electronic gadgets. I also think continuing to program will help keep my mind sharp in case I have to get a real job again in the future.

I have a backlog of projects I would like to build. I was building this backlog of projects subconsciously while I was working. I just didn't have the time to build any while I was working 60 to 80 hours per week. Things are different now and I have the time to work on these things.

As has been usual for me once I get a project completed I write an article or book about it. Most of the projects detailed below have been written up in either Nuts and Volts magazine or Dr. Dobb's Journal. See the individual projects for more info. If you are interested in the articles and books I have written click here.

These are some of the project I've completed since retirement. Projects are listed from oldest to newest.

Psychedelia II - A Digital Color Organ	If you are interested in what a Color Organ is, click this link to find out.
1st Generation Webster Web Server	I designed and built a low power webserver for our website. It was built with an 8 bit PIC microprocessor running at 20 MHz just to see if it could be done.Click the link to see how I did it.
3rd Generation Webster Web Server	The 1st generation Webster just wasn't fast enough to serve media rich pages so I built this web server to fix the performance issues once and for all. This generation Webster can serve up images and music without breaking a sweat as it is built on a 32 bit processor running at 147 MHz. I thought this would be the last of my designs but no, there is one more. See below.
4th Generation Webster Web Server	The 4th and (hopefully) final version of Webster. It is fast and it is easy to build. Click the link for details.
Computerized Picture Frame	It had to happen eventually. I would have to computerize a picture frame for the house. Not only did the frame come out great but the software I wrote for it is awesome.
The Infinity Portal	Fun with blinking RGB LEDs controlled by an Arduino processor. This is a first cousin of an Infinity Mirror. Check it out.
The Big Pixels	More blinky RGB LEDs controlled by an Arduino processor. This time the LEDs are network addressable and connected via a 4 wire bus which makes the wiring much, much easier.
Theremin	My packaging of the JayCar theremin.
Wifi Internet Radio	My first Wifi Internet Radio build. This project turned out nicely and will be used for a long time to come.
Wifi Internet Radio and Music Player	My second Wifi Internet Radio build with new functionality. Check out the cabinet for this one!
Three D Cube Color Organ	A frequency sensitive 3D cube of RGB LEDs. Another "blinky thing".
Sophie's Music Box	I built a combination music box/light show device for my friend Sophie. Check it out. It is easy to build if you want to build one yourself.
Modern, Classic LED Clock	Check out the LED Clock I made from lexan plastic. It not only displays time, date and various lighting patterns, at night it projects a constantly changing light show on the wall behind it.
Dalek - The Next Blinky Thing	A remote controlled mood lighting device that is colorful and fun.
The Desktop Contemplator	How about a personal light show for your desk ?
The Light Appliance	1024 RGB LEDs with many functions.
MIDI Buddy	Micro controller based MIDI synthesizer
The Crystal Palace	Bluetooth controlled light display
Ray Tracing Minion	Raspberry Pi based ray tracing device
Thinking Of You	An amazing device for keeping in touch with your friends or family.
NeoPixel LED NTP Clock	A clock that never needs setting as it uses the Internet NTP protocol to keep very accurate time.
NeoPixel Laser Cut Tree	A remote controllable NeoPixel tree laser cut from Baltic birch plywood.
NTP Nixie Tube Clock	I've always wanted to build a Nixie Tube clock and now I have.
NeoPixel Cube	Circuit sculpted 6 sided NeoPixel cube which displays messages, time and date (timezone and DST corrected) and current weather conditions.
E-Paper ESP32 Weather Station	An all in one weather station that takes its data from Open Weather Map.com. My first project with an E-Paper display which is really amazing.
Music Player Evolution	Over time I have built many generations of music players to fit my needs. Three of those generations are described here.
3D Printed Sun Clock	A motion controlled night light and clock that uses the Internet NTP protocol to keep very accurate time. The clock knows how to deal with daylight savings time so the time is always correct without any human interaction.
Earth Quake Display Map	Uses a Raspberry Pi Model 3B along with the official 7" touchscreen display to show earthquakes happening around the world in near real time.
Internet Radio 3	New Internet Radio project using an ESP32 which solves many of the issues I have had with my previous Internet Radio projects.
The Flower Garden	A 3D printed motion sensitive creation using optical filaments to convey NeoPixel goodness.
Tri Light	A 3D printed NeoLeaf like project that hangs on the wall. This blinky is made up of 15 3D printed triangles each containing 12 NeoPixels. This device is controlled via WiFi and has many built in lighting patterns to choose from. It also has an *auto* mode which does pattern selection for you.
Fireworks Light	Another 3D printed creation using optical filament
HMSynth - MIDI Keyboard	The first part of a home made synthesizer I am building.
Microphone Mute Pedal	A microphone mute pedal I use when I perform live
Multi-Display Clock Gadget	A project I designed to investigate multiplexing tiny I2C OLED displays. To make it somewhat useful it displays the time and date.
Motion Clock	A clock that only displays the time and date after motion has been detected.
Laser Harp	A harp made with laser beams instead of strings all controlled by a web app.
Mega Picture Frame	A picture frame made up of 9 LCD displays used to display an assortment of images I have collected over the years.
MagTag Weather Station	I finally put the MagTag device I bought to use.
Digital Pocket Watch?	My experiment with a round 1.28" LCD display.
8 step MIDI Sequencer	A compact 8x8 MIDI sequencer utilizing an ESP32 with code written in ESP32Forth.
Crystal Light	A color changing base for displaying crystals.
Agate and Wood Light	An all natural lighting piece
Antique Radio	A laser cut radio cabinet with music playing capabilities.
Triangle Clock	A 3D printed clock that takes some training to read
LED Matrix Clock	A new take on the 32x32 LED matrix I did a long time ago.
Clock Calendar	A new clock calendar built into a bent red acrylic frame utilizing a ESP32 and a RA8876 LCD panel
The Watcher	A mildly weird project meant to be a little creepy.
Clock Calendar 2	A port of the Clock Calendar code above to an Elecrow 7" module
Crystal Palace 2	I built a small version of this years ago but I always wanted to go bigger.
ESP32 CYD GPS	A GPS system built with what is called the Cheap, Yellow Display (CYD) module.
ESP32 CYD Music Player	Another application for the CYD.

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