Projects We Have Done
3M 2001- 2003
Led the team for improving the existing electronics of a 60" flat panel DLP DMD display. Collaborated with the entire division to develop the next generation product. Found a way to reduce product cost from $12,000 down to $2,000, with minimal NRE and higher reliability. Projected to boost income by over $10,000,000 in the first year alone. Redesigned the previous audio and video processing PCB for a 60" flat panel DLP DMD projector to obtain clean signal integrity, low EMI, and high reliability. Invented a new hardware method to reduce EMI in transmission line PCB traces. Patent applied for. Debugged and redesigned VHDL CPLD problems. Managed FCC emissions, signal integrity, power supply, and HDTV options for a second generation 60" DLP DMD projector.
AB Dick 1982
Collected test parameters for the Magna SL word processing system in New Hampshire and Phoenix. Created self diagnostics for the data transfer hardware used to communicate between the 80 Megabyte hard disk and a cluster of Magna SL terminals. The hard disk diagnostics were written in C. The other 8085 diagnostics check RAM, ROM, SDLC transfers, DMA controller, and timers. Used an Intel MDS.
Abbott Laboratories 1985
Wrote a hospital database management system in Basic. This system monitors patient data and maintains various medical files.
Airguide 1992-1993
Used Orcad to design an 80C552 speedboat speedometer. Holds boat-specific calibration data in EEPROM. Wrote Quick Basic code for table calibration procedure.
Alnor Instrument 1994
Provided an engineering design review of their Manometer.
Amptec Research 2003
Added a GPIB transceiver to a Motorola Coldfire 5272 system. Consulted regarding video and other subsystems. Provided approaches to improve signal integrity.
Awtrax
Designed a remote controlled Venetian Blind system. Minimal cost design uses only standard components. No custom or programmable parts were used.
Baxter Travenol 1986-1987
Designed analog and digital hardware plus software for a mass and fluid flow measurement and dispensing system. It autoranges a 16 bit A/D to assure maximum accuracy.
Bay Area Rapid Transit 1998-1999
Updated 80C537 based ticket reader software to operate with higher bit density tickets. Performs an automatic ticket speed selection. Includes error correction for tears, hole, and other paper defects.
Bionetics 1979-1980
Designed a carotid pulse spectral analyzer. This device used 8 pole Butterworth filters and logging amplifiers to quantify the degree of stenosis present in carotid phonoangiograms.
Borg Warner 1984-1985
Was sent to England to evaluate an 8748 based video educational product and cost it out for mass production.
Designed and built the Ufonics voice synthesis system for Apple computers used in schools for computer aided education. Uses a TI 5220 synthesizer, 6500 microcomputer, and 64K bytes of auto-incrementing, dual port, dynamic RAM. Speech data is downloaded from disk to Ufonic RAM. Commands are passed from the Apple to control speech output. Wrote 2K of code for the 6500; and 8K of operating, diagnostic, and debugging code for the Apple. Adapted above design for use on the Apple IIc and the IBM PC jr. Reduced product cost by half using innovative techniques. Designed a music synthesizer for the IBM PC using a GI 8910 music chip. Wrote all 80x86 code needed to run it.
Chamberlain 1993
This company is one of the largest manufactures of electronic garage door openers. Wrote Z86C04 software, which scans a keypad and outputs certain codes to an RF transmitter.
Chamberlain 9/1999-1/2000
Wrote Sican 4 bit RISC microcontroller code for secure remote controller applications. Uses rolling codes for security. Learned to optimize 4-bit code size in a 2 layer stack environment.
Datamate 1981-1982
Sold, installed, and maintained custom Cobol report generator software on NCR mainframes.
Data Specialties 1984
Corrected a bug in a 8035 based paper tape puncher/reader that uses 5K ROM. Bug was unsolved over 6 months before my assistance. Used a Tektronix logic analyzer and special TTL triggering circuitry to complete this project in only 6 days!
Datavoice 1979-1985
Designed a unique, low-cost voice recording, compression, and expansion system.
Early Warning 1993-1994
Used Orcad to design a complete home security system, using RF and telephone modem links. Detects smoke, CO, burglar, water, motion, AC power loss.
Federal Signal 1980
Consultant for production testing of a 6800 based cash register system.
FTI Consulting 11/1999 www.ftiConsulting.com
Provided expert opinions as an undisclosed expert witness to an OEM of industrial PC's. This matter involved fitness for merchantability.
Fyrnetics 1978-1979
Designed four custom CMOS and PMOS integrated circuits for use in smoke detectors and home security equipment. Designed and setup IC testing and sorting instruments in Hong Kong for mass production. Designed and setup a system to align 370 MHz transmitters and regenerative receivers for production. Conducted field strength tests for these transmitters and receivers. Designed the logic used in the "Lifesaver" home security system marketed by Norelco.
General Engineering 1979-1981
This company makes custom lighting systems, including the one used in the movie "Saturday Night Fever". Designed hardware and all software for a 24,576 bulb, four color light system now in a Paris nightclub. This system uses 20 parallel microprocessors, a megabit of TI bubble memory, and a color graphics crt with a light pen. Patterns may be drawn on the crt with the light pen, stored in bubble memory, and displayed on the giant light screen. The system supports full editing of these patterns (in French), as well as text messages. Microprocessors used: 6802 (17), 9900 (2), and Z80 (1); system uses 76K ROM and 72K RAM. The work was very well documented with 54 pages of flow charts and complete, fully commented, source listings.
Wrote Basic and 6502 code for a custom light display editor and formatter used for the above system. Wrote 6802 code for a stepper motor controlled X-Y axis spot light which draws light patterns.
Health O Meter 1994-1995
Used Orcad to design an electronic postal scale. This scale handles all major domestic and foreign parcel carriers. Software was written in ‘C’ for an 8051, and includes graphic displays. Designed a custom LCD hardware driver, and strain gauge driven A/D for weight measurements.
Health O Meter 1995
Updated postal scale software to operate with new package carrier charges and services. This is an update to my earlier design.
Hypermax Engineering 2004 - 2005
Wrote software in C to analyze and modify automotive CAN bus communications. Reverse engineered requirements using a protocol analyzer which I wrote in C to validate the system. Will add 100 horsepower to diesel engines.
Reverse engineered the BDM ports on a Ford EEC-V, then downloaded the code, altered it, and re-flashed both MPC555 devices.
Delivered in-house training for these systems.
Hypermax Engineering 1993-1994
Used Orcad to design an engine controller, which works in conjunction with the existing controller to boost diesel engine power by more than 100 HP. Debugged the system on a Ford diesel truck.
Illinois Tool Works 1984
Created an automatic joystick calibrator to aid manufacturing.
In-Flight Phone 1990-1992
Designed a 68HC11 based inventory control system, which allows Flight Attendants to accept credit cards as payment for In-Flight purchases. A radio link updates the mainframe computer about the inventory, and credit card transactions are processed immediately. Developed an airplane wireless phone using a debit key / credit card. Made an unattended key dispenser.
Infrared Research Laboratories 1992-1993
Designed hardware to interface IR remote controls to a PC for code analysis. Wrote C software to analyze and graph collected data in color on a PC. Required BIOS modifications for greater accuracy.
I Spy Systems 2000-2001 www.IspySystems.com
Reduced cost and size of a 2.4 GHz Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum wireless internet surveillance camera. System provides VGA resolution of 640H x 480V pixels over a wireless T1 Ethernet connection to a local server. The Ethernet connection uses full duplex IEEE 802.11 with CSMA/CA or TDMA. Multiple 500mW wireless cameras on separate frequency hopping channel sequences may be over 1000 feet away from the local server. System has worldwide license-free operation, and accepts standard 'C' mount lenses. We were able to cut unit costs by $1000 each, while making the entire system fit within a standard weather-proof housing.
Partially designed a surveillance camera with a built in web server. The camera works in daylight or infra red, and sends encrypted signals via a wireless LAN to a server. Battery saving methods were used to allow 30 minutes of operation when AC power is cut.
Researched patents which apply to the wireless surveillance industry. Found a way to use cheaper wireless access points to replace a wireless Ethernet bridge. This saves $400 per system and speeds it up by a factor of ten. Located and configured software to use a WWV time receiver to keep servers on accurate time.
Kettelson Law Offices 1997
Analyzed 24-bit interactive color PC games for improvements and possible patent infringement. Added some graphical animation to the source code and evaluated performance.
Landis & Gyr Powers 1993-1994
Wrote C code to interface foreign lighting control products to Landis & Gyr Powers Local Area Network. Wrote 68HC11 assembler code for special applications of HVAC controls. Uses Proportional Integral Derivative loops to provide laboratory clean room pressurization, and compensates for fume hood exhaust.
Wrote Microsoft Visual C++ code to interface with other manufacturers lighting systems.
Molex 1983-1987
Made custom equipment for lamp switch testing and sorting in Mexico. Wrote Windows routines for their Smart House home automation system.
Morey Corporation 1995
Took over project responsibility for a truck mounted spread-spectrum communications system. My revised design worked correctly and fit the form factor on the first pass. Used Orcad for the hardware design, and debugged the PCB.
Morey Corporation 1991-1992
Cost reduced an existing airline armrest telephone handset, and added game controller functions in hardware and software for a PC using a 24 bit color LCD. Projected savings are over $600,000 per year. Used Orcad.
Morey Corporation 1990
Used Orcad to design a protection buffer to isolate manufactured components from the testing platform. Otherwise, defective units would destroy the testing platform. The units under test are digital telephone handsets, and VGA LCD modules.
Motorola (Automotive) 1987-1989
Organized and updated an Electronic Engine Control tester for HDR and ZETA models, and worked on engine knock sensor software. Designed a gate array for an 8097 based diesel engine controller. This 1200 cell, 76 pin gate array contains: a double buffered UART (like the 6850), programmable baud rate generator, programmable 8 level interrupt controller, programmable 8097 wait state generator, chip select logic allowing dynamic remapping, selectable 1 or 10 mS EEPROM timer EEPROM, 11.6736 MHz oscillator, and 16 I/O lines. Control lines were built in to allow external devices to control the Read, Write, and Memory Access lines. This allow real time simulation, debug, and trace functions to facilitate engine software development.
Designed and debugged an automatic gate array tester. The tester checks all above functions and uses a 100 MHz reference oscillator to measure critical chip timings.
Motorola (Automotive) 10/1999-12/1999
Used Orcad to design analog and digital hardware, and wrote a 68HC11 software for an optical blood glucose analyzer.
Motorola (Cellular) 1994
Wrote Digital Electronic Cordless Telephone R&D system code used by RF engineers to develop and test their system.
Motorola (Cellular) 1984-1985
Defined software structure for a multitasking cellular radio telephone analyzer. Used 80k of 6301 assembly code, developed on a Unix system. Wrote calibration and operation software for hybrid watt meters, SAT phase angle, SINAD, distortion, VSWR, peak frequency deviation, RSSI, and about 30 other hardware metering functions. Wrote fast routines for calculating SIN, COS, TAN, arcSIN, arcCOS, arcTAN, LOG, antiLOG, extrapolate, interpolate, plus extended 32 bit multiply and divide. Also designed hardware and software for the European cellular telephone security authorization network. (SIS) Made a cellular radio board tester for international UK and NMT use.
Motorola (Communications) 1994-1995
Working in the Engineering Computer Support Group, I upgraded Macintosh computers to System 7.5 OS. Cataloged, maintained, and upgraded 44 PC’s to meet internal security auditing standards.
Motorola (Communications) 1983-1984
Wrote 32K of 68HC11 code for a voice synthesized emergency radio communications system. It handles trunking repeaters, PL, DPL, and automatic code ID.
Motorola (Semiconductor) 1999-2000 www.Motorola.com
Wrote assembler and C code for CMF flash memory drivers. Invented new software approaches to speed up flash memory programming by up to 50%. (patent applied for) Learned how to optimize C code to outperform assembler code for maximum driver performance. Code will program/erase/verify main and shadow flash data in serial or parallel programming modes. Cross platform code runs MPC555, 68F372, 68F375 and 68HC12 processors. Learned to create software work-arounds for problems with the analog properties of silicon. Analyze, test, and debug problems with initial silicon wafers. Perform Vt distributions, cell depletion tests, etc. Tools used: Cosmic, Zap debugger, P&E debugger, Diab, SDS.
Motorola (Test Engineering) 1980-1982
Performed two automatic test equipment projects for the new R-2200 Communications Service Monitor (Papoose): The first ATE project performs over 100,000 separate tests on the cpu board. The system simulates a 6805 using 5K of 6800 code. Board components are tested starting at minimum circuit complexity in order to catch defects in their simplest mode.
The second ATE project tests the 6805 processor itself. Every addressing mode of every instruction is tested by 3K of 6805 code. Error messages indicate which mode of which instructions have failed.
Neoteric Systems 1986
Designed an analog interface between a microcontroller and a satellite receiving station. Worked on an electronic compass and a WWV calibrated clock. Designed an 8031 based residential HVAC controller.
Panasonic 1992-1993
Interfaced Panasonic barcode readers to the IBM Point Of Sale LAN. A complex series of inter locking codes had to be de-crypted to achieve success. The interface uses an 80C32. Did both the software and hardware.
Pelouze 2/1998-10/1998
Updated postal scale software for year 2000 operation. Postal rates finally got too big for 8 bit data. This involved software for COP and Intel.
Radon Environmental Monitoring 5/2001-7/2001 www.RemRadon.com
Updated a manufacturing process to a PC based system. Automating the radon analysis to use PC based image analysis for more accurate results.
Rand McNally 1992-1993
Designed R & D equipment for a new method of magnetic stripe data encoding. This new method copy-protects each card individually.
RIAA 1988-1990
Designed a secret inaudible audio band signaling system to identify copyrighted audio works. This is now called audio watermarking. Data rides 40dB to 90dB below maximum audio program levels, yet is recovered with a 20dB S/N. For use with Digital Audio Tape (DAT), and all other digital media. Was interviewed for the front page of EE Times. Has covert RF communication applications as well.
Sun River 1996
Used Orcad to desig hardware, and wrote Z80 software to control up to 250 ozone generators, which are used to purify water. Built, debugged, and tested it.
Trippe Manufacturing 1992
This company makes the popular Trippe Lite series of uninterruptable power supplies. Wrote Z86C08 software, which senses line and battery voltage, and controls the inverter.
VictorMaxx 1993
This company makes Virtual Reality headgear. I provided cost reduction, audio and video enhancements, EMI suppression, power supply design, and technical evaluation. Upgraded the display and video timing to handle 180,000 color pixels per eye. Uses 24 bit color. Used Orcad for the hardware designs.
Zenith Controls 1994
Modified software on an Emergency Power Transfer Switch to provide weekly timing operations.
Zenith Data Systems 1994-1995
Provide expert witness services on various legal issues involving patent infringement. Wrote Windows 95 code using MicroSoft Visual C++ V4.0, made a 68HC11 data analyzer, using Orcad for the hardware design.
Zenith Data Systems 1/1997-3/1998
Provide expert witness services on various legal issues involving patent infringement. Wrote Windows 95 code using MicroSoft Visual C++ V4.2, wrote Borland C++ code, designed hardware with Orcad, then built and debugged hardware for high-speed parallel port data transfers.
Last update Feb 2005