I wanted an NTP clock with time zones and automatic daylight savings time. I found ESP32-2432S028 with a TFT display. You can buy it for under $10 in China, but I paid under $20 in the US so I wouldn't have to wait for shipping.
Github Project Page
Version 1 (21x21) QR Code with M level (15%) error correction. Originally planned to use 1 foot square vinyl floor tiles but thought it would be a problem with them blowing away in the wind. Instead used tiles as paint mask. Realized too late I could use Q level (25%) error correction if the url is all caps. Now I just have to wait for Google Maps to update.
For visibility when walking in the dark. WS2812B Individually Addressable 8x32 Pixel LED Matrix Flexible FPCB Full Color, Adafruit Metro Mini 328 Arduino Compatible 5V, USB Power Bank
Take apart everything I own. For Android Broke-anic 1. Broke-anic 2.
Various household data displayed on an iPad1. Internet usage scraped from modem. Water usage downloaded from EBMUD. Power usage from PG&E smartmeter over zigbee. Other data from zigbee2mqtt. All data entered into sqlite database and built into graphs using php. Original used Google charts, but not supported by iPad1, so switched to jpgraph. iPad1 works great despite being unsupported since 2012.
Augmented Reality Cube Solver. Uses OpenCV and algorithms and code courtesy of Herbert Kociemba. For IOS and Android.
Solves cube when touch sensor activated. Built upgraded version of earlier project for Sci-Tech Discovery Center in Frisco, Texas. Pololu laser cut acrylic framework (for precise motor mount and prettiness), Sparkfun ESP32 Arduino controller (for simplicity), Adafruit touch sensor (optical is better than capacitive).
Youtube
Solves cube when touch sensor activated. TechShop laser cut acrylic framework, Pololu DRV8825 stepper motor drivers, Sparkfun ESP32 Arduino controller, Adafruit touch sensor.
Youtube
A number of people have posted YouTube videos of train rides from the driver's point of view. I find it fascinating to see so much of the world this way. But I wanted to know where it was, so I plotted a few trips side by side on Google Maps. (HTML, Javascript, YouTube API, Google Maps API)
AC Transit drops me off at the Temporary Transbay Terminal and I work at 650 Townsend, so I am trying to walk all the streets between those two places. I wrote a little iPhone app to record GPS points to Dropbox and then render them with Google Maps.
Two Nexus 7 Android tablets play Words With Friends against each other forever. Uses monkeyrunner testing framework to screenshot and control tablets. Performs simple OCR by comparing screenshot tiles against known bitmaps. Errors are fixed by validating against dictionary. Tries each of 168881 words in dictionary in every location on board. No future looking strategy is involved. Written in Python and C. Originally written entirely in Python, until it was discovered that the Python version was 4000 times slower than same algorithm in C. Fitting algorithm is multi-threaded since this is a classic application of parallel computing. Snapshot Youtube
Solves cube when touch sensor activated. Actobotics framework, Pololu servo controller, Raspberry Pi. Grippers custom built using CNC at TechShop. OLED status display, Adafruit touch sensor. Youtube
Guess which office contains the engineer. I bricked in my office window. It took about 14,000 bricks and $700. Why? Ummmm... Can I get back to you on that?
(No Fortunato's were harmed during the making of this picture) I had to take this down, so I rebuilt it at my house. Fell down due to daily temperature expansion/contraction.
I wrote up a few classic computer programs in Javascript. Monte-Carlo shows how random numbers generate a Gaussian curve. Tic-Tac-Toe is an implementation of the game, with a simple computer played strategy. Maze randomly generates and solves a variable sized maze. Element Quiz is a timed element symbol quiz.
NFC system to ticket riders boarding a bus. Wrote Android software for a Nexus 7 for GPS and NFC collection. Designed and built custom mount for Nexus 7 tablet. NFC sensor on back of tablet, so custom mount required. Built first version at TechShop. Customized Android AOSP to make Nexus 7 only run one app from boot.
Video resizing hardware to play Adobe Flash advertisements wrapped around a live video window. Wrote VHDL for Xilinx FPGA. Wrote C and C++ software for PowerPC and Intel CE4100. Designed device and server architecture. Designed PCB and mechanical drawings. This system was installed in over 1000 restaurants nationwide.
Control a LEGO Power Functions Train from a Raspberry Pi. Uses LIRC and an Infrared LED connected to a GPIO to emulate a LEGO controller. Built a custom battery for more power and no auto-shutoff. Added LightBlue Bean Bluetooth LE module for battery control and monitoring. Project page is at nishioka.com/train/.
The Sci-Tech Discovery Center in Frisco, Texas runs an annual trivia competition as a fundraiser. I built the trivia game with a GNU/Linux server running UDP packets over WiFi for real-time response. Wrote iOS and Android apps, so people play using their smartphones. Points go down and possible answers disappear as time runs out. In 2014, I moved the server to an iOS app using html graphics. In 2017, I moved the game to the web using socket.io and node.js.
I built a 1:100 scale model of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri using LEGO bricks. I like the fact that the arch was originally designed using a couple of mathematical equations. This model was built using those equations. If it were built entirely with 1x1 bricks, it would contain 25,422 1x1 bricks. The arch is 6.3 feet tall, self-supporting and no glue was used.
I needed a new computer so I built this one. It has 62 processor cores for a total of 158GHz. It is being used to see if there are actually any numbers larger than 45,000,000,000. Current rank: 18 of 6959. FAQ
Electronic enclosure prototype. Built from acrylic using an Epilog Helix 45 laser cutter at TechShop in Menlo Park. Projects don't seem quite real until you can hold them in your hand. This also helps make sure the mechanicals are going to work as designed.
An animated LED name tag. Displays my name and other data with various reveals, crawls, wipes. Uses a Microchip PIC16C55. I chose this chip because it was small, surface mount and could be ordered from Digikey. Data is stored in a serial eeprom. The main drawback is the LED's draw a lot of power. The four AA nicad battery pack lasts about one day.
I designed this High Definition Digital Video Effects box for Accom. It uses up to 13 Xilinx XCV1000E FPGA's and could cost up to $150,000. It has been used for the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and the Super Bowl.
brochure
Most pianos have 88 keys; my MIDI keyboard goes to 97! I built this out of two smaller keyboards from Weird Stuff Warehouse. I used a Motorola MC68701 microcontroller. I built a programmer on a breadboard. I ended up frying a whole stack of them during the debugging process. (Jameco gave me a free screwdriver!) It has a rotary dial to select instrument because I had just bought it and it was neat. I had TAP Plastics cut and glue two pieces of plastic for the back. Sound is produced with a Roland Sound Canvas.
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68030, SCSI, Ethernet, RS-232, Mouse, 1MB RAM, 256KB ROM, 479 Nets, 6 Layers. This is officially the first device I got paid to design. It ran VxWorks on a Motorola 68EC030 and was way overkill for a control panel. If I were to do this again, it would be way simpler. I would also put more metal in it to make the keyboard feel less mushy. When everybody else quit, I stayed on to finish and ship the chassis hardware. ESPN sent me to the very first X Games in 1995 to support Texus.
ebay
Connected a couple of stepper motors to an Etch-A-Sketch. Wrote a bit of computer software, and Voila! I would still like to write this up as a magazine article (when I have time). Curves are very hard to draw on an Etch-A-Sketch, so I wrote a spirograph program.
Project page is at www.nishioka.com/esketch. This project won the 2007 Make Magazine / IEEE Specturm DIY contest.
Warp, Lighting, Texture, Wipe, Color process, Key extract, SRAM field store, 1455 nets, 12 layers. Used several ASIC's and Altera EPM7128 CPLD's. This card is part of the Scitex Digital Video Microsphere non-linear editor. It was also OEM'ed to Discreet Logic and Pinnacle Systems.
Warp, Lighting, Texture, Wipe, Color process, Key extract, Motion adaptive frame store, Target store, Movie-2 bus, 1444 nets, 16 layers. Used several ASIC's and Altera EPM6016 CPLD's. SDRAM frame store, Logic Devices filters, Texas Instruments 320C32 DSP. Wrote software and hardware. Designed 54MHz circuits. This card is part of the Accom Affinity non-linear editor. email
Used a 74LS164, 74LS86, 74LS30 to build an 8 bit pseudo-random sequence generator. This drove an optoisolated triac in a box that I bought from Weird Stuff.
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Wrote a program to print library catalog cards. You entered the title, author, subject, etc. and the program printed all the necessary cards. I won a Stephen G. Wozniak Achievement Award for this and I got to meet Steve.
wozzie
San Jose Mercury News article
Wrote a magazine article for Electronics Now (formerly Radio Electronics). This was my first magazine article (okay, my only one). It covered using laser printer toner fused to copper boards and etched at home. Gernsback Publications sent me a Christmas card.
I won First Place in the Second California Resource Conservation Software Competition. The prize was an Epson FX80 printer. It was dot matrix and pretty cool at the time.
entry form entry back letter.
I won First Place in the First California Resource Conservation Software Competition. The prize was an Atari 1200XL computer. Star Raiders on the Atari is still one of the best playing video games.
letter.
Used an Apple IIe to create hi-res smooth rolling TV credits for Albany High School videos. I used a technique I found by disassembling "Super Rabbit" (Basically, it was an unrolled loop). This was broadcast on CATV (but we weren't subscribers). Later, it was enhanced to use an extended 80 column card and double hi-res mode so more colors could be used.
Used a magnetic card reader to read the stripe on my new driver's license. I connected a 74LS164 shift register and a 74LS163 counter to an AY-5-1013A UART to get the data into the serial port of my computer. The article I sent to Risks Digest mailing list has ended up all over the net. It's just the same information that is printed on the front.
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Attached a mouse to my Commodore PET Computer. Wrote a little drawing program. Not very useful, I suppose. But it was an interesting exercise.
Built a short audio clip player into an old radio. Connected a couple of 4040 ripple counters to an EPROM, a resistor ladder DAC and an amplifier. Plays "He's dead Jim" catchphrase from Star Trek.
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Used a Motorola MC68705 microcontroller. Programmed with an infrared remote control sequence which can then be used to turn power receptacle on or off. Wired using a piece of a surplus pcb that was designed for something else.
Used PostScript printer language to format my weekly class schedule. Programming in PostScript is an interesting way of thinking. Yes, I probably could have used Excel, but where's the fun in that?
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Used PostScript printer language to draw a greeting card complete with Snoopy.
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Used 2 inch 5x7 LED matrix modules to build an LED display. Designed and etched my own pc boards.
The first LED sign I bought had to be programmed from a keyboard. I built an emulator so I could program custom messages from my computer.
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Christiana: The First Four Years (1999)
I cut these two videos on a Microsphere non-linear editor with my DveousFX effects card.
Built a driver for a surplus LCD display (Hitatchi LM215). Allows data download from a computer serial port and has battery backup. Designed and etched my own pc boards.
schematic
pcb
lm215 pinout
lm215 datasheet
hitachi lcd controller/driver databook
macpaint format
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email
Created by fitting together numerous diamond shaped paper pieces. Someone showed me how to build a 24-sided figure. I expanded it to 150-sides and also built a different 24-sided figure.
Connected my Atari paddles to an Apple computer using a resistor network. Not very difficult, but I like the way this was put together.
Control PC application with IR remote control. Uses software from LIRC project www.lirc.org.
bom zip
Newspaper core covered with newspaper strips and painted.
Corrugated cardboard frame with glued on dried beans, corn and macaroni. Painted and shellacked.
Class assignment was to invent something. This was appropriate because we had just gotten a dog. Wood with metal hardware. Aluminum foil and plastic bread bag from defunct Co-op grocery store (Berkeley).
Built to keep valuable possessions from nosy little brothers. Plywood with metal hardware. Abus pin and tumbler padlock.
From June 1986 Radio-Electronics article. PCB drawn with rub on traces and etched by hand. Hand lettered cardboard front panel.
Built when I couldn't afford to buy test equipment. From May 1988 Radio-Electronics article. Purchased PCB, but bought all parts from Electronics Etc, Jameco, Mouser, Radio Shack. Based on XR2206 function generator IC. Hand lettered cardboard front panel.
Wood with metal hardware.
Pine with metal hardware and plastic wheels. Decorated with acrylic paint and stickers.
Paper and ink.
Built during a one day Invention Workshop at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Indicates an early fascination with magic. The top hat didn't turn out as desired. Fabric with polyester filling. String fasteners and felt features. Wooden supports.
Added Reuge music box mechanism so it plays The Carousel Waltz and rotates. Paper and Elmer's glue.
Took a good picture on Mount Bachelor in Oregon, and decided to make it look like a magazine cover. Transparent overlay and old magazine.
Built a model of the Panama Canal for a 6th grade report. I built it out of milk cartons. The doors weren't water tight, so it didn't work. But I recently found the boat I made to float in the canal. Wine cork, toothpick, cigar can lid.
Alan on the set of ESPN SportsCenter.
(They wouldn't let me take any pictures :-(
