Hobbies

As much as I love diving into the intricacies of code, my interests extend far beyond the digital realm.

In essence, my hobbies reflect my eclectic interests and insatiable curiosity. They serve as a source of inspiration, allowing me to continuously evolve and grow both personally and professionally.

Here’s a glimpse into what keeps me inspired and energized outside of work:

Added ability to use EV Charging Stations

Replacing Motor, Batteries, Switches, Motor Controller

Adding toolbox liner to prevent shorts when working with battery cables

Graphing energy usage on trips: Lead Acid averaged 250 wH/mile and 1 mile per hour recharge

Automotive Adventures

One of my most cherished hobbies revolves around automotive tinkering. I proudly own and maintain a 1976½ (aka transition model) Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar Electric Vehicle. I enjoy every aspect of enhancing its performance and functionality. It’s well known around town and often appears in parades and events regarding electric vehicles, arbor day, and conservation efforts. Here are a few things that I worked on:

Lead Acid batteries were swapped with Lithium Ion Batteries. I added a battery management system (BMS) to each module that I manage over bluetooth. The time to charge to full capacity was reduced, and the range increased by 200%. The original batteries were used in a portable solar charging station. I’ve had lots of fun crimping my own custom wires to handle more amps and reduce the voltage drop.
Added a J1772 port that allows the car to use public Level 1 & 2 EV Charging stations. The charge controller for the battery automatically senses and switches itself for the voltage supplied.
Various brackets were fabricated, and holes were drilled. Two of the batteries had their water cooling tubs trimmed so that they could all fit into the cars battery box. Parts were created such as a link between the accelerator pedal and the potbox to allow the original voltage towers solenoids to still operate for nostalgia.
I ordered a custom series wound motor to be created that could not only take on additional voltage, but had better ratings for heat, rpm, amps, and horsepower. A new motor controller was installed to use modulation instead of voltage to control the speed. It could also handle more voltage and up to 500 amps. I programmed the controller to be suitable for road conditions. The main contactor switch and reversing switches to change the direction of the motor were upgraded as well.

In the end, I now have the knowledge to work on repairing and upgrading electric golf carts. I’ve got the basic concept of how an EV works. I understand how to multi-celled lithium ion batteries charge, and are managed with a BMS. I made many changes in the name of safety, adding a non-conductive material inside the battery box. I’ve also learned the importance of having the correct fuse on everything.

Other things I’ve learned include field weakening, regenerative breaking, how forklift motors work, and building battery modules from 18650 batteries (aka laptop batteries).

Vintage Technology Enthusiast

My love for vintage technology knows no bounds. In my childhood, I learned to program using an Atari 400 at home, and various computers at libraries and schools such as the Apple II, Tandy, and IBM computers. I enjoy delving into the inner workings of classic IC chips like

CMOS Technology RCA 1802 (COSMAC) was used in spacecraft such as the Galileo probe. The Membership Card was my first introduction to vintage computer kits.
8080 used in the Altair 8800 fascinated me with its history as the first commercially successful personal computer. An emulator was gifted to me at my housewarming party by a coworker who introduced me to vintage computing.
MOS Technologies 6502, found in Atari game consoles and computers, the Commodore 64, Apple II, Nintendo Entertainment System’s NES & SNES, and Ben Eaters 6502 Computer Kit. With new found knowledge, I was also able to restore my Atari 400 and program it in assembly.

Exploring the roots of modern computing not only satisfies my curiosity in programming in assembly and machine code but also provides valuable insights into the evolution of technology.

Ben Eater’s 6502 Breadboard Kit & Clock Module Kit

The Raspberry Pi Zero W and a Solar Charge Controller

A DIY universal power supply (UBS) with recycled 18650 batteries

UV Lights on phosphorescent masking tape with a Arduino Nano

Microcontroller Programming

There’s something inherently satisfying about programming microcontrollers. Whether it’s experimenting with Arduino projects or tinkering with Raspberry Pi, I find joy in bringing ideas to life through hands-on experimentation.

Solar Log uses a Raspberry PI Zero W to communicate with solar charge controllers using the MODBus protocol using PHP as the back-end and a MySQL database. Google Charts was used to graph various aspects of daily activity.
Universal Power Supply. With the need to have a consistent power supply when the lead acid batteries ran out of power overnight, a UPS was created with an old 18650 lithium battery that had it’s own charge controller to keep the battery charged during the day and cut off if the voltage dropped. In addition, it could supply the correct voltage to the Pi.
Speech Chip. I have a passion for speech processors from long ago – specifically the SP0256-AL2 chipset from General Instruments. I was able to control the allophones with an Arduino UNO.
Pixel Art Box. I soldered a strip of addressable LED’s (WS2812B) into a 16×16 grid, covered with cardboard in a shadowbox, and used fluorescent light covers to diffuse the light in each cell. Initially controlled with an Arduino MEGA 2560, I later switched to an ESP32 development board to control the cell colors with bluetooth. I created a small app on the Android platform where you could choose a color and paint each cell with your finger. Some of the interesting things I learned was power management over long distances with low voltage.