Projects
Each project is an instrument. Each instrument makes something invisible visible. Each connects back to fusion.
In progress now
A fluxgate magnetometer built from scratch — winding the coil, deriving Biot-Savart from first principles, calibrating against Earth's field, and confronting the gap between theory and measurement. Five-episode video series.
- · Biot-Savart Law
- · Vector calculus
- · Calibration methodology
- · Magnetic field diagnostics
- · GoPro Hero 12
- · Manim
- · Python
- · Blue Yeti
Magnetic diagnostics in tokamaks use the same instrumentation principles. A Rogowski coil measuring plasma current is this magnetometer at reactor scale.
Mapping the resonant modes of an Ibanez AS73G semi-hollow electric guitar using frequency sweep, impulse response, and Chladni pattern visualization. The Helmholtz resonance of the body cavity connects directly to plasma oscillation modes.
- · Wave equation on bounded domain
- · Helmholtz resonance
- · Standing wave modes
- · Mechanical impedance
- · Blue Yeti
- · iPhone 17 Pro
- · Python FFT
- · Manim
The eigenvalue problem for acoustic modes is identical in structure to quantum mechanical bound states and plasma wave modes. Different boundary conditions, same mathematics.
Real-time OBDII data acquisition using an ESP32 microcontroller. Sensor fusion via Kalman filtering to estimate road grade — a quantity the car doesn't directly measure — from accelerometer and vehicle dynamics data.
- · Kalman filtering
- · Sensor fusion
- · Vehicle dynamics
- · Optimal estimation theory
- · ESP32
- · OBDII
- · Python
- · Manim
Optimal estimation under Gaussian noise is the same mathematical framework used in plasma diagnostic systems and spacecraft attitude determination. The car is the accessible laboratory.
Coming next
Two coils separated by their radius produce a uniquely uniform central field. Derive the uniformity from Biot-Savart, verify it experimentally, and characterize a Hall sensor against it. Becomes a permanent calibration tool.
Build a Langmuir probe diagnostic for a plasma globe. The IV curve encodes electron temperature and density via the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. A direct fusion diagnostic technique at bench scale.
Diffraction grating, collimating slit, iPhone 17 Pro as detector. Calibrate against neon lamp emission lines. Measure unknown spectra. Connects to optical emission spectroscopy in tokamak plasma diagnostics.
Measure Newton's gravitational constant G using a mirror, laser pointer, and lead weights. Extract angular displacement from GoPro slow-motion footage. The same experiment that first weighed the Earth.
Contingent on lab access
These require coursework and institutional access to execute properly. Running BOUT++ before the plasma physics coursework means turning knobs without understanding what you're seeing.
Run actual tokamak edge plasma simulations. Visualize field line tracing, confinement geometry, instability modes. The ThinkPad's RTX 2000 Ada handles it — but the physics knowledge needs to come first.
Measure resistivity of a flat conductor sample using four perimeter contacts. The math involves conformal mapping — complex analysis applied to measurement. Requires materials lab access.