Physical Craft & Electronics
The Workshop
Where code meets the electronics bench. Custom mechanical keyboards, silent 3D-printed homelab clusters, embedded IoT sensors, and physical studio tools.
Custom 65% Alice Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard
A bespoke ergonomic mechanical keyboard built from scratch with custom-machined FR4 plates, hand-lubed switches, and QMK/VIA programmable firmware.
Engineering Highlights
- ↳ Ergonomic angled Alice layout to reduce wrist pronation during 10+ hour coding sessions
- ↳ Hand-lubricated Gateron Oil King linear switches with Krytox 205g0 and GPL 105 for buttery smooth actuation
- ↳ Custom poured silicone dampener inside CNC anodized aluminum casing eliminating hollow case resonance
- ↳ Powered by Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller with custom layer keymaps (Vim navigation on CapsLock)
Bill of Materials (BOM) & Tooling Specs
Key Takeaway: Achieving true acoustic thock requires strict tolerance matching between switch housings, plate stiffness, and gasket compression.
Zero-Noise 3-Node Homelab Cluster & Private Cloud
An ultra-compact, silent 3-node mini server cluster housed in a custom 3D-printed rack running lightweight Kubernetes (K3s), Tailscale mesh VPN, and local LLM inference.
Engineering Highlights
- ↳ Custom PETG modular 3D-printed rack with integrated cable management and magnetic front dust filter
- ↳ Zero-RPM silent Noctua 5V cooling channels keeping SoC temperatures under 48°C under full multi-core load
- ↳ 100% NVMe SSD storage over dedicated USB 3.0 UASP bridges delivering 420 MB/s sustained sequential I/O
- ↳ Automated GitOps deployment via ArgoCD hosting local DNS, Home Assistant, WireGuard, and Docker containers
Bill of Materials (BOM) & Tooling Specs
Key Takeaway: Designing custom ventilation ducts in CAD beforehand prevents hot air recycling between densely stacked SBC boards.
ESP32 Micro-Climate & True NDIR CO2 Sentry
An ultra-low-power environmental desk monitor using Photoacoustic NDIR CO2 sensing and a paper-like e-Paper display to prevent cognitive fatigue during deep focus.
Engineering Highlights
- ↳ Sensirion SCD40 Photoacoustic sensor measuring accurate ppm CO2, temperature, and relative humidity
- ↳ 2.9" black-and-white e-Paper display with zero backlighting glare that remains legible under direct sunlight
- ↳ Deep-sleep firmware cycle waking every 5 minutes, achieving months of battery life on a single 18650 cell
- ↳ Seamless MQTT integration publishing real-time telemetry into Home Assistant and Grafana dashboards
Bill of Materials (BOM) & Tooling Specs
Key Takeaway: CO2 levels above 1000 ppm measurably reduce cognitive sharpness; having a real-time e-paper indicator directly prompts natural room ventilation.
Studio Bias Luminescence & Circadian Smart Lighting
A high-CRI (95+) addressable bias lighting system running custom WLED firmware, automatically synchronizing color temperature with natural solar circadian rhythm.
Engineering Highlights
- ↳ High Color Rendering Index (CRI 95+) LED diodes minimizing eye strain during late night development sessions
- ↳ 45° angled matte black aluminum extrusion channel with heavy frosted diffuser eliminating visible LED hot spots
- ↳ Local HomeKit & Home Assistant integration with hardware rotary encoder for physical stepless dimming
- ↳ Custom sound-reactive visualizer mode using an integrated MEMS microphone (INMP441) for music sessions
Bill of Materials (BOM) & Tooling Specs
Key Takeaway: Level shifting the 3.3V ESP32 data signal to 5.0V with a 74AHCT125 IC prevents high-frequency flickering over long wire runs.