Projects

GitHub

This is a rework of my previous attempts at making RGB lighting controller. Bluetooth-based version 1 and 2 were difficult to control from PC. RS485 version 3 didn't survive room rearrangement (not enough cabling). This version 4 is based on ESP8266, controlled via Wi-Fi, and integrated with Ethernet wired network to provide easy contolling from all over the house.

On separate host, I've developed and deployed Linux/Nginx/MariaDB/PHP web-app for creating module groups and profiles. It supports user authentication via Authelia (each user gets to create it's own modules, lists and profiles).

This version is also the first one to have it's PCB professionally manufactured (KiCad/JLCPCB) and 3D printed enclosure. Each RGB strip got it's own controller brick, so it was unfeasible to make each board/case by hand.

GitHub

PDF

I worked on surveying a couple of implementations of the RISC-V processor on low-power iCE40 FPGA with open-source toolchain. I've tested PicoRV32 and VexRiscV, reaching 10.14 and 12.61 DMIPS respectively. I will be writing my master thesis about ways to expand one of these cores with custom DSP blocks.

Pico-ice proved to be a versatile and useful board. It features a RP2040 chip, which I'm already familiar with (eng. thesis). The chip can be programmed to act as multitude of different USB devices. I love exploiting this hybrid approach. The board can, for example, simulate multiple UART interfaces. Separate USB-TTL adapters are not required. However the firmware is still work-in-progress. I got voluntarily involved in it's development. A couple of pull request were created (some approved) for both pico-ice-sdk and pico-ice default firmware.

GitHub

PDF

My engineering thesis. I made internet radio from scratch using Raspberry Pi Pico W (RP2040, dual-core Cortex M0+, Wi-Fi).
Tech stack: C++, pico-sdk, helixmp3, freertos, fatfs + sdlib, littlefs. Other libraries were written by hand. I made a couple of pull requests during this project: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Some even got approved.

Features:

• Playback of stereo radio stations (MP3 format),
• search functionality based on radio-browser.info,
• favourite station list (saved to flash),
• local MP3/WAV files support (SD card),
• concise user interface planned in advance.

Project uses:

• DMA, for raw audio data transfer,
• PIO blocks, for I²S support,
• two cores of the MCU, one used exclusively for MP3 decoding.

Project was aiming quite high, but all planned objectives were met. Hardware-wise, a homemade PCB was fabricated and I designed the enclosure and 3D printed it.

GitHub

I developed a C++ program to generate configs for services managing network hosts. This being DHCP, DNS and nftables. See readme on GitHub for more details.

Features:

• YAML config file, multiple subnets,
• A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR records,
• port forwarding,
• IPv6.

It proved useful to manage a small home network. I can assign addresses to hosts and then use easy-to-remember DNS names without having to manually write all those config files.

GitHub 6502

GitHub UART

PDF

The main trouble I challenged myself to overcome was to implement 6502 core in Verilog by myself. Also, I created debug UART interface and testing infrastructure for it in Python.

Features:

• Working 6502 core written in Verilog,
• Debug UART interface with memory and register access,
• PS/2 keyboard interface

I also ported Wozmon to my hardware.

GitHub

ESP8266-based web app for managing central heating unit. Written using Arduino ecosystem (needed to be functional ASAP). Uses closed protocol to communicate with the unit, decoded with the help of elektroda folks.

Features:

• reading current temperatures,
• setting target temperatures,
• turning on a circulation pump via relay,
• start/stop the heating,
• responsive design for mobile devices.

Not a big fan of web development, but I like to setup a simple page from time to time. This one was written using HTML, CSS, and vanilla JS. Server side uses C++ to deliver JSONs to the frontend, which aquires it with async fetches.

Betelgeza is a codename for a bigger project that sadly never came to life. I was aiming for a mobile app someday, the API was written to future-proof the design. Currently, only the web frontend is available.

First version of this used MicroPython, but had nasty memory related issues. Decided to rewrite it in C++ instead.

GitHub

Advanced C++ uni final project. It implements adaptive Vitter algorithm (no need to store dictionary nor read the file twice). Effective for small and large files (results). Unit test infrastructure in place. See github readme for more details.

Features:

• Own BitArray implementation (extensible array of bits implemented as a template over numeric types),
• Own LinkList implementation as a template,
• Own progress printer (simple ASCII one),
• CLI11 command line options parser,
• Google Test for testing BitArray class.

PDF

Asm code

Inspired by Ben Eater's videos, I decided to make my own version of the 6502-based computer. 65C02 was a single-chip sourced from WDC. I also used 65C51 from them as UART interface. All other logic was done via TTL logic chips. I designed a VGA graphics card and a PS/2 mouse interface. Then, programmed it in assembly using vasm. Got a real grasp of pointers by using indirect addressing modes. Computer supports loading code via UART bootloader. Description was made 2 years later for Digital Systems uni course.

Features:

• 32KiB ROM, 16KiB RAM, rest for MMIO
• 50x37 character mode monochrome graphics (VGA connector)
• PS/2 keyboard controller with extended and break codes support,
• basic shell parsing with argument support,
• custom 16-bit floating point (addition, printf)

GitHub

All You Need Is Stargate.

Minecraft mod. First such a big project, released to the public, downloaded almost 60K times. Written in Java. It required some OpenGL magic and trig math to get all this to render properly within a block game. It once made a thriving community, that is now abandoned due to a shift of interests and lack of time. But thanks to the magic of open source, it is maintained and updated via community as Just Stargate Mod. There is also a simple web app for recipe calculations.

GitHub links

Server

React Native

AVR

Web front

The project started as an idea to control RGB strips from AVR microcontrollers. Later, Bluetooth joined the picture. The first version was absolutely unreliable. I learned the hard way why breadboards aren't any good for permanent projects. Later, it got a reboot based on soldered perfboards. Works to this day! Further, the project was redesigned with a custom PCB (made in KiCad) and RS485 interface connected to simple hub (Node.js) and controller via web or React Native app.