projects

There are so many amazing things that can be done with electronics and computers. Ever since I was a small child I have been fascinated by circuits and code, and have built a lot of projects. Some of the documented ones are presented here. Some of the older projects are now obsolete, but are presented here for fun and learning purposes. Hardware development is my full-time job, so I rarely do large projects for purely hobby purposes anymore. I find greater enjoyment and purpose designing things that get made in quantity than making single one-off prototypes.

Project Portfolio

Here are a list of some of the projects that I've done, some with pages containing more information, code and schematics. Some projects are for commercial use and have no additional information available. If you have questions or want to know more, please contact me. Projects are presented in reverse chronological order.

• Low-profile Media Engine - 2007 (commercial) - A low-profile, low-cost rack-mount PC enclosure that uses normal PC parts. This allows desktop multimedia performance in a form factor suitable for the digital signage industry.
• Video over CAT5 System - 2006 (commercial) - A high quality long range VGA distribution system that sends high-res VGA video, audio and control signals over a single CAT5 cable up to 1000 feet. It combines features found in commercial units with special control and monitoring features desired by the digital signage industry. Even a year after release it contained the most advanced features available in its class of CAT5 video line products.
• Shoutmatica - 2006 - modern Shoutcast souce with many features
• ChickenPhoto - 2006 - photo gallery with iPhoto exporting
• PIC Microcontroller Tutorials - 2006 - information to help with PIC microcontroller projects
• 6 Output Bench Power Supply - 2006 - yet another power supply project
• Low-cost LED Dimmer / Controller - 2005 (commercial) - A very low-cost LED dimmer for embedding in light fixtures. Allows high performance, remote configuration, and compatibility with industry standard protocols, as well as a special low-speed, long range protocol. Was developed along with a complete diagnostic and configuration PC application.
• Blue Hysteria™ DMX Lighting Board - 2005 (commercial) - The second product from my company. Blue Hysteria was designed as a better small lighting board for theatres and AV rental companies. It incorporated many important features not found on similar sized boards. Development included control panel and moving fader servo controller hardware, firmware and protocol, as well as a complete light-weight FreeBSD installation and all the lighting board userland code with GUI, network protocols for remote control and many other important features.
• Onestop Digital Signage Network - 2004-2005 (commercial) - Digital signage system installed in the Toronto TTC Subway. Work included acting as a technical advisor, designing the overall digital signage hardware system, developing custom software and control PCBs, and supplying the first 120 systems under contract.
• Huge LED Numeric Display - 2004 (commercial) - A huge LED sign designed for Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty". Featured on the side of the Molson building (now demolished) on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto.
• MIDI conductor - 2004 - a handy bunch of blinkenlights
• distributed audio - 2004 - my whole-home audio system
• IR mixer - 2004 - IR remote controlled room audio distribution
• aerial photography - 2004 - touching the sky with a camera
• RTTY modulator - 2004 - a very simple data modulator
• Gerkin™ DMX Lighting Controller - 2003 (commercial) - The first product from my company. The Gherkin is a 12 channel hand-held DMX lighting controller that runs on batteries or plug-in power. Target market was the theatre/AV rental sector. It was my first design of a commercialized product.
• stereo amplifier - 2003 - a high quality audio amplifier for about $75
• time lapse camera - 2003 - an old digital camera made useful again
• itti bitti - 2003 - MCU-based audio destroyer
• telephone AC load control - 2003 - controls an AC load with the telephone line status
• moving sign - 2003 - a hack based on an old scrolling LED sign
• little_speakers - 2002 - a small pair of inexpensive speakers... and they sound pretty good too!
• door chimes - 2002 - a small set of microcontroller controlled door chimes with real bells
• optic's car stereo mod - 2000 - a silly project to improve the sound in Dan's car
• theremin - 1999 - a theremin
• spdif - 1999 - some S/PDIF circuits
• laserharp - 1998 - Andrew's MIDI Laser Harp
• colour quickcam hack - 1997 - a very old (1997) project - not relevant anymore, but fun
• prior to 1997 - the internet barely existed

random hacks and diversions

Not really projects, but stuff I found interesting to document anyway.

• Asus Eee PC - 2007 - the laptop I've dreamed about forever
• freezer thaw indicator - 2007 - all fridges should come with this device
• video microscope - 2007 - a video microscope for electronics assembly and inspection

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