Personal Projects

Bitcoin Overview

BitcoinOverview is an easy to use Bitcoin trading value display application. Fire open this app from anywhere you’re connected to the Internet and easily track the high, low and current trading value of the Bitcoin in USD via the Mt. Gox ticker feed.

 

 

 

 

FI-AUAV

The FI-AUAV was a project started in early 2010. The end goal of the project was to build a platform that would allow me to better learn low level programming. I choose to build a fully autonomous UAV system based on a Arduino platform. Once the platform was built, hundreds of hours of testing was concluded to optimize each system implemented. The FI-AUAV can run a complete mission, from take off to mission objective to landing. All way points are calculated pre-flight and then carried out by the system autonomously. At any time the ground pilot can take control of the flight via a remote cockpit on the ground.

 

 

 

 

Tap Madness

In the early months of 2011, Research in Motion put out a notice to any developer willing to create an application for their upcoming tablet (the Playbook). If their application was submitted and approved before the Playbook was publicly launched, they would receive one for free. Many of us in the office were interested so in our free time we each wrote a simple application. Tap Madness was the result of a one weekend push to get a application created. Tap Madness is a very simple game with cool graphical effects and good music. Since launch there as been well over 35,000 games played and tons of positive review. As this application was created for the sole purpose of getting a tablet, it has not been updated since it’s original launch in April 2011.

 

 

 

FI-ApartmentBot

Wanting to learn more about autonomous movements in robotics, I spent a weekend building the FI-ApartmentBot. This Arduino based platform is a simple treaded robot that will autonomously rove around your home. The goal was to create a system that would learn where it had been to make better decisions about getting there in the future. The knowledge gained from this project was critical in the creation of the FI-AUAV.

 

 

 

 

FI-FoamBurner

In the very early stages of the FI-AUAV project, I was creating simple Depron based foam planes to test electronic systems needed for a final UAV. From compass modules and IMU’s to radio and video relay, everything was tested. During these stages crashes and destruction was inevitable. In the 6 months of early testing, 17 planes were made and lost from some many incidents. The FI-FoamBurner was created to alleviate some of the time needed to build each plane exactly the same as the previous one for proper testing. With the hot wire in the in the FoamBurner, I could now cut into any foam as if it was butter with extreme precision you would never have with a knife.

 

 

 

FI-ATCSRP

When creating final versions of electronic platforms I have designed, I love to make custom printed circuit boards or have them made for me. The hardest part of creating a circuit board in my opinion was layout out top mounted components by hand. The components don’t have wires running right threw the board for easy soldering. So, I created the FI-ATCSRP. This device is a simple skillet from a yard sale with a servo connected to the thermostat of the device. There is also a thermophile attached to the skillet to detect the current temperature. With this system I could now reflow any circuit board I wanted to either add or remove components any time.