I’ve always been interested in CNC machines, 3D printers and plotters, so I decided to build my own drawing plotter based on the COREXY design. The goal was to create something that was both functional and open-source, so others could build or modify it for their own projects. At the time all the alternatives were quite expensive.

Why a COREXY Plotter?

After looking at different plotter designs, I settled on the COREXY configuration because it offers some nice advantages. The COREXY design uses a belt system that keeps both motors stationary, which means less moving mass and potentially faster, more accurate movements. This seemed ideal for a drawing plotter where precision is important and I also wanted to make use of linear rails.

This project started because of a random conversation in our company Slack. Someone mentioned building a custom keyboard for trading with our Cryptowatch Desktop product, similar to those Bloomberg trading terminal keypads. I thought it would be a fun side project to work on.

The Concept: 4k20 Keypad

I wanted to build a small companion keypad with 4 rows and 5 columns of keys (20 keys total), plus 4 rotary encoders for extra control. The plan was to use a Teensy LC as the brains, with the keypad working as a shield that would connect to it.

For quite some time, I’ve been curious about the Twitter API and its potential applications. Finally, I decided to spend a weekend exploring this technology and embarked on a fun DIY project that combines my interest in programming, photography, and Raspberry Pi.

Raspberry Pi Twitter Bot

The project’s goal was to create a Twitter bot that runs on a Raspberry Pi, specifically using a Pi Zero and a Picamera. The bot would be set up to take photos of the picturesque Richmond Riverside from my living room window and tweet the images for the world to enjoy. To add a touch of interactivity, I wanted the bot to capture images every three hours between 8 am and 5 pm, and also allow users to request live photos by simply mentioning a specific keyword in their tweets.

I’ve been curious about generative art for some time but never really got into it until recently when I decided to experiment with p5.js. Helias is my first attempt at a fun little project that uses noise functions to generate unique abstract art pieces with each run.

What is Helias?

Helias is a generative art experiment I built using p5.js. It creates these colorful, blobby organic shapes arranged in a grid-like pattern, but with enough randomness to make each generation unique. The name doesn’t really mean anything, I just thought it sounded cool and it somewhat reminded me of flowers.

This summer my fiancé offered me a flight experience for my birthday. It was an amazing surprise which I thoroughly enjoyed, but left me wanting more. I don’t think I necessarily wanted to go through proper flight training and get a license, but I wanted to know the ins and outs of flying an airplane to a degree that I would know what to do if I had to fly the real thing.

Flight Simulators

There are a bunch of flight sims out there, but in terms of graphics, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is the best one hands down. I remember watching YouTube videos from E3 2019 while it was still in development and being fascinated by the life-like graphics the game presented, so I immediately went on Steam to check it out. The graphics were even better than I remembered, stunning visuals throughout. Thanks to the use of photogrammetry and Bing Maps imagery, the game simulates the entire planet from topographical data. The world around you looks incredible, the ground has huge amounts of detail, so much so that you can actually fly around your hometown and recognize it from above.

After designing some Star Wars lightsabers, I wanted to continue challenging myself with more complex movie prop designs. I decided to tackle Officer K’s blaster from Blade Runner 2049, which would be a great companion piece to the original Deckard blaster from Tomenosuke that I’d recently added to my collection.

The Harrison Ford Trifecta

One thing that motivated this project was my goal to eventually complete what Adam Savage coined as the “Harrison Ford trifecta”. His iconic weapons from three major roles: the Deckard’s Blaster from Blade Runner, Han Solo’s DL-44 blaster from Star Wars and Indiana Jones Smith&Wesson revolver.

I’ve always been a Star Wars fan, so I decided to try my hand at creating some lightsaber replicas using Fusion 360 and my 3D printer. These were my first movie prop models, and they turned out to be a really fun project!

Why Lightsabers?

Star Wars lightsabers are iconic and have a nice mix of simple and complex shapes that make them interesting to model. I thought they’d be a good project to try out with Fusion 360 since they combine different modeling techniques.

I’ve been watching Adventure Time for a while now, and ever since I started the show, I’ve wanted to make a prop from the series. So here it is – my very first handmade prop: Finn’s Golden Sword of Battle!

The golden sword of battle (also known as Scarlet) is Finn’s go-to weapon through most of seasons one and two. The blade is dented, chipped, and worn. It has a black hilt with weathered leather grip straps and a red gemstone in the pommel. In “Business Time,” the Business Men polish and sharpen the sword, making it the only episode where the golden sword looks brand new.