Projects
Building, experimenting, and documenting what works (and what doesn't).
🔧 Currently Active Projects
These are the projects I'm actively working on right now. Each one teaches something new and usually leads to unexpected discoveries.
In Progress
🔭
Hadley Telescope Build
3D printing precision components for a complete telescope assembly. This project is teaching me when accuracy matters vs. when speed is acceptable, and how to balance print settings for different mechanical requirements.
3D Printing
Precision Manufacturing
Optics
Mechanical Design
Current Focus: Optimizing print settings for the focuser mechanism and testing bearing assemblies.
Active
🌱
Polytunnel Automation
Raspberry Pi-based climate control for a 33ft x 18ft growing space. Managing temperature, humidity, and ventilation automatically while dealing with Northern Ireland's unpredictable weather patterns.
Raspberry Pi
Sensors
Automation
Agriculture
Python
Current Focus: Fine-tuning temperature control algorithms and adding soil moisture monitoring.
Testing
📹
ESP32 Bird Camera
Solar-powered wildlife monitoring system with mesh networking capabilities. Testing power management, weatherproofing, and range for remote deployment in various outdoor conditions.
ESP32
Solar Power
Mesh Networking
Wildlife Monitoring
Weatherproofing
Current Focus: Optimizing power consumption and testing LoRa mesh range in wooded areas.
Experimenting
🤖
Local AI Experiments
Privacy-first automation using Ollama and local LLMs for practical tasks. Exploring what actually works for real-world applications without sending data to external services.
Ollama
Local LLMs
Privacy
Automation
Docker
Current Focus: Testing various models for document processing and automation scripts.
🔍 Project Philosophy
Every project here serves multiple purposes: solving a real problem, learning new skills, and documenting the process for others who might face similar challenges.
I focus on practical solutions that can be built with reasonable effort and budget. The goal isn't perfection - it's understanding, functionality, and sharing what works.
"Every project teaches you something unexpected. The documentation is as important as the build itself."
📋 Coming Next
Projects in the planning or early research phase:
⚡
Off-Grid Power Management
Comprehensive solar power system for workshop and garden projects. Learning about battery management, load balancing, and seasonal power planning.
Solar Panels
Battery Management
Power Electronics
🍄
Automated Mushroom Growing
Controlled environment system for mushroom cultivation. Precise humidity, temperature, and air circulation control with monitoring and alerts.
Environmental Control
Mycology
Monitoring
📡
Local Mesh Network
LoRa-based mesh network for property-wide communication and sensor data collection. Testing range, reliability, and practical applications.
LoRa
Mesh Networking
IoT
💬 Project Collaboration
Working on something similar? Have ideas for improvements? Stuck on a similar problem?
Always happy to discuss approaches, share details, or collaborate on interesting challenges.
Each project here represents dozens of small discoveries and dead ends that might save someone else time.
The failures are often more educational than the successes.