Projects
Digihouse
My most active hobby as of late has been constantly upgrading my house with a combination of home made and commercial automation devices. From the fireplace to the garage door, the goal is to be able to control it with my phone.
| Device | Quantity | Category |
|---|---|---|
| WiFire (WiFi Photon) | 1 | Climate Control |
| Raspberry Pi w/ ZWave | 1 | Home Automation Server |
| DD-WRT Router/Server | 1 | Networking/Web Server |
| ZWave Dimmer | 9 | Lighting Control |
| ZWave Switch | 2 | Lighting Control |
| ZWave Outlet | 1 | Lighting Control |
| ZWave Relay | 4 | Lighting/Appliance Control |
| Nest | 1 | Climate Control |
| Sonos Play 1 | 1 | Audio System |
| Sonos Play 3 | 2 | Audio System |
| Google Chromecast | 3 | Video System |
| Chamberlin MyQ | 1 | Garage door access |
Voltulator
The Voltultor is a website I made to calculate the cost in dollars per month of charging my Chevy Volt. The OnStar website provides a CSV file with details like the time of the charge and the amount of kilowatt hours per charge, that combined with the average cost of gas and the current electric rates and it will tell you how much you spent that month, and how much you saved!
Android Rover
The Android rover is a telepresence robot I created for a 3 credit independent study course in the Computer Science department at Montana State University. The rover is powered by a Motorola Droid smartphone and a IOIO Android development board. The Droid is mounted to a pan/tilt bracket, giving it the ability to look around its environment, and is propelled with mecanum wheels, giving it the ability to drive sideways. This was no doubt the most fun I ever had earning collegiate credit.
Barmonkey
The current iteration of the Barmonkey is a minifridge with a twist. Powered by a Windows XP Netbook, an Ardruino, 4 solonoid valves, an aquarium air pump, a custom relay circuit and dumb luck, the Barmonkey serves beverages by a tap on its touchscreen. You have to be careful with this one, because once in full swing, it can be quite effective at its goal.
WoodPC
The WoodPC is my main personal desktop computer. Back in college I needed a new desktop, but also needed to build it on a budget. Instead of spending a bunch of money on a case, I went to the local craft store and bought a crate. After some staining and finagaling, I fit my PC in there. There are handles on the side for easy carrying, and a GTX 960 inside for gaming.