Welcome, wary web traveler, to my corner of the internet. I
appreciate your company and I hope you learn something while you're
here.
The aim of this webpage is to showcase a little about me, my
projects, my hobbies, and to share the knowledge I have obtained
throughout these adventures. Here, "Home" you can
find general information about me and this website, as well as some
links to what I personally think are the most interesting
projects/articles/topics on here. "Blog & Projects" will
contain instructional articles, project articles, and other
interesting (to me) topics. "Tips and Tricks" lists some software, hardware, and vendors that I personally use
or enjoy. Finally, "Contact" hosts my
contact information, as well as a QR code to the page in the case
you would like to share it with others easily.
If this is your last time here, I wish you good luck and prosperity
in all your future endeavors. 🥳
Well, my name is Jacob, and I am a full time student at the
moment, as well as working in embedded software, based
out of the American mid-west. Primarily, I develop firmware for data
acquisition devices and specialize in device drivers, communication
interfaces, and RTOS programming. My hobbies don't stray far from
work, mostly revolving around robotics, measurement, and automation projects.
Throughout my life, I have been fascinated with the technology and
infrastructure that makes our modern wold run. My mother takes pride
in recounting how as a child, I had a phase where I ran to the front
door on garbage day to watch the articulating arm on the truck
to snatch our trash can and dump it. I exclaimed over and over that
I wanted to be a garbage man when I grew up- just so I could work
with the cool trucks.
Suffice to say, I do absorb all the knowledge I can get my hands on,
especially when it comes to my areas of special interest like
robotics and electronics, which led me to pursue a degree in
electrical engineering. (And not waste management; sorry mom)
Hopefully along the way, I can use all my skills to leave the world
a little bit better of a place than I found it, and have a little
fun tinkering and creating while I do so.
Projects outside of this website that I have worked on, or am actively
maintaining.
Bradley University ECE 398 VIP
Project class at Bradley University where students work on developing "products" in order to gain real-world experience with engineering. Bradley University Weather Station Project
A weather station deployed at Bradley University as part of the ECE 398 Vertically Integrated Projects class. Weather Station Documentation
Documentation for the Weather Station project. Tstamper
A simple command-line utility for getting the current timestamp in the terminal.
Posts or projects on this website that I think are important to highlight.
Chapster the Chapstick Robot
"Chapster" the chapstick robot was designed for one sole purpose: retrieve chapstick from across my desk and move it three feet closer to me. The Arduino 1200 bps Reset
How the Arduino IDE is capable of easily downloading firmware on virtually any controller on demand. Laser Serial - An Experiment
As a quick weekend project, I wanted to see how easy it was to transfer serial data over a couple laser diodes and photo resistors. Custom PCB for RTD Temperature Measurement
A custom breakout board for the MAX31865 RTD-to-Digital converter for measuring temperatures with an RTD probe.
Other places on the internet that I find interesting, or useful.
FIRST Robotics
FIRST robotics is a fantastic program that gets young students involved in STEM by hosting robot games that teams must build a robot and compete in. Teams range from young kids building Lego robots in First Lego League (FLL) to high school students making robots that can weigh ~120 pounds. The Codex
"A collection of questions with imperfect solutions" Beej's Guides
Beautifully written guides on various programming topics.