I've always been interested in how things work, and in making machines and electronics of my own! Most of these don't have an express purpose, and don't solve any particular problems, they're merely part of what i do in my free time.  With each one, i try to push my understanding of concepts further, and try to learn something in the process! Have a look through these, and enjoy!

All Projects

>PVC Nerf Rifle (new!)

Mostly for fun, I made an improved Nerf Rifle.  This one shoots regular nerf darts for about 160 ft, and has a +-5 inch accuracy at 30 ft. Click to read more!

>CNC router (In progress!)

This project is still in progress!  I'm currently building a 3D cnc Machine which will be able to cut out 3 dimensional shapes with computer control.

 >Zapamole

This one was finished in 11th grade.  It is a very small adaptation of the famous Whack-a-Mole arcade game, except with lights and buttons.  This project had some of the most difficult challenges I had to overcome!

>Pacman on Graphing Calculator

With the spare time in math class, I wrote an adaptation of the Arcade Game Pac-man for the graphing calculator (ti-43/ti-84)

>Wooden Clock

This project was for school, and the title says it all: its a simple pendulum clock made of wood, gears and all!

 >Altoids Speakers I , Altoids Speakers II

These are speakers made from Altoids tins, the first one in red, and its upgraded revised version in green!  

More Projects!

Music is one of my biggest pastimes.  I play both the piano and trumpet, the piano for around 10 years, trumpet for 8.  I play both jazz and classical on both instruments.

>Rhapsody in Blue
This is a recording of me playing Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin.  I've been playing it since the end of summer, and finally can go through it without stopping! Please pardon all the mistakes...

>Slide's Derangement RHS Jazz II
(I'm on the left end of the trumpet section) We played at the Swing Central Festival in Savannah, GA in 2011 with the Roosevelt Jazz II band, this is one of the pieces we played, called Slide's Derrangement, by Slide Hampton.

>I'll remember April
This is me playing I'll Remember April as part of Evan Woodle's trio at a recital in 2011.

I've always enjoyed sketching, doodling, designing, and sometimes even painting.  Most of my artwork is just a pastime, although every once in a while, I've gotten the opportunity to create more professional artwork for publication and other purposes.  I am a graphics editor on The Roosevelt News, our school newspaper.  I work primarily with pencil, charcoal, watercolor, acrylic, and in the past few years, digital and 3-D painting.  Enjoy!

The Internet Map (new!)

For the December issue of my school newspaper, I drew a cartoon map of the internet- websites depicted as places.  This has been done before, so this is my own take on it. Enjoy!

[edit] thanks to my friend, this picture made the front page of r/pics on reddit!

Spin Wave Website Header

Dr. Kozhanov, my research mentor for my internship this summer, asked me to create a header for his website, http://www.phy-astr.gsu.edu/kozhanov/.  The image is an abstraction of spin waves, and rendered in Blender 3D.  Read more for production and rendering process!

Children's Book Illustrations (new!)

My friend is writing a children's counting book for her senior project, so i agreed to do the illustrations for it! Watercolor on paper. It involves large amounts of [cute] animals! More updates to follow, in the meantime, enjoy!

3D Character

After learning about character modeling in Blender, I decided to put my skills to work, and started this project, which took a while.  The boy, including clothes and hair, is composed of less than 1500 triangles, and has one 512x512px texture. Modelled in Blender, texture drawn in Photoshop. Read more for the whole production process!

Painting of Downtown Seattle

Commissioned by my Uncle, this is a painting of downtown Seattle at Night (As seen from the space needle). 2011, acrylic on canvas.

Sketching and Drawing

Some of my sketches: realistic, cartoony, shaded and not, you can find them here!  Mostly in pencil.

Dremel tool CNC milling machine (in progress)

See Full Progress Here!

This is my ongoing project to make a cnc out of a dremel tool.  The working area will be about 24" x 22", with 5" of vertical work space.  I have not yet decided on the rotary tool that will be used for the actual cutting bit, however i am considering the dremel as of now.  The machine is constructed almost exclusively out of wood and aluminum. The machine is still very early in the construction, stay tuned for updates! Comments and suggestions are always appreciated!

The Internet Map!

Click to View Whole Image

A Map of The Internet...

For the December issue of our School Newspaper, I illustrated a cartoon depiction of the Internet.  The image is quite large, and i've hidden a lot of references and jokes- most placements are well thought out and make sense! Enjoy, see how many references you can find and understand!

The comic at the bottom is by Logan Pendergrass.

[edit] This was posted by my friend on Reddit, and made the front page of r/pics!

The process of drawing the backpage
I started with a pencil drawing, then added black lines, and filled in color. The style is specific for printing, hence the cartoony simplicity! All done in photoshop.

Cutting!

Finally, I was able to get the machine cutting! I'm quite glad it works, though there are some shortcomings.  I was only able to engage each axis at a time- so i was only able to make linear cuts. ( the X was achieved by rotating the workpiece ) Each groove took about 20 runs back and forth, since the dremel tool wasn't powerful enough to make deep cuts in the plywood.  Much more room for improvement and software development, but hey, it works!!

Electronics...

 So begins the long task of wiring all the components together.  I already tested each board and connection with an individual motor, but placing the wires unobtrusively which would reach around the board proved to be a different task.  I ended up using over 24 feet of wire, of different kinds, to reach to all the motors and controllers.

I should note here, that I encountered a pretty serious problem.  One of my Easy Drivers turned out to be defective, which was a nightmare since shipping a new one would take a week.  To make a quick solution to the problem, I ended up wiring the two X axis motors to the same drivers, since they would have the same control anyways.  A quick solution, but it ended up working!

Mounting the Dremel

Now for the most important part of the X gantry- the rotary tool.  I spent a large amount of time thinking of ways to mount the dremel tool which would allow it to be removed easily, while retaining a firm grip on the tool, and not allowing movement. In the end, i found that two simple screws and a zip tie combined with a mount plate at the bottom sufficed!

Notice the rubber bands stretched on the Z axis.  After more problems with stalling on the Z axis motor, I discovered a simple solution- to counteract the weight. The rubber bands work well in the working distance of the dremel tool, easing the load on the captive nut, allowing for smooth rotation of the motor. Simple, but effective!