Current Projects

Robotic Cat Toy

Five years ago, I adopted a colorpoint siamese with a lot of personality and a penchant for playing with my feet. More recently, I have been teaching myself Python and was looking for a project to cement and further my new skills. The robotic cat toy for Nicolas was born. I'm using a RaspberryPi Zero as the "brains" because it's compact and wifi capable, meaning I will be able to control the toy from my phone. The toy is outfitted with a light sensor to prevent the toy from getting lost or stuck under furniture, a piezo sensor to detect hits or bumps, and a vibration motor to produce feedback when struck. The body of the toy will be laser cut and 3D printed to resemble a mouse that will hopefully be more afraid of Nick than he is of it.

Weather Station

Growing up in Kansas City, I was no stranger to massive thunderstorms rolling across the plains. (Some might think me a little crazy for missing them out here in Boston!) I was terrified of the storms, often hanging out in the basement refreshing Weather.com, until I decided to conquer my fears by learning more about them. I read the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Weather: North America cover to cover along with several other books, and you know you're a nerd when on your twelfth birthday you were very excited to a pileus form above a towering cumulonimbus cloud or when you constantly monitor your grandpa's weather station. I'm currently using the Sparkfun Weather Shield to compare the fluctuation of temperature and humidity of my apartment to those occurring outside, but I am committed to adding on Weather Meters so that I can start contributing to Wunderground (also trying to convince my mom to let me install one at our house).