Here are some of my proudest projects.
I spend most of my working time leading the Seattle Makers electronics lab. Read about that on this other page.
If you would like to read about everything else I’m working on, check out bits & bobs.
Open Sauce 2025 (Jun ‘25)
I exhibited some of my projects and represented Seattle Makers at Open Sauce 2025 in San Mateo, CA. It was an immense amount of fun and I’m so excited for next year!
For our booth we needed a banner, so I designed and laser-cut one from felt. Our booth featured many of my music-adjacent electronics projects as well as my mom’s book.
TS-10 MIDI controller (Jun. ‘25)
An instrument for computer music. Designed so that touch pads correspond to the frets on a (bass) guitar, so it’s easy to learn scales. RP2040-based; programmable via CircuitPython in any text editor. Notes can be “plucked” or “strummed” with the sensors on the right-hand side. It took a few prototypes to get the touch sensor size & layout right to be playable. Case made of PLA and wood, with a wool felt backing; mounted with screws to the back. Fits 2 to 4 octaves of keys (depending on scale settings) in a 2”x8” package.
I exhibited and sold several units at Open Sauce 2025, also representing Seattle Makers and my other work.
Open source software and hardware. github.com/torbers/ts10
Faux stained glass window (Jan. ‘24)
I made this stained glass window for a culture project in my Junior year French class. I sketched the art in Photoshop, vectorized it, and laser cut it out of plywood. Then I painted the wood black and glued it to a clear acrylic backing. I used art epoxy dyed with alcohol ink (each color in a condiment bottle) to add the color. The project took a whole lot of planning and trial and error to figure out the best way to make something resembling stained glass in a few days and on a budget, but I think it turned out really nice.
This was one of the last projects I did on the laser cutters before Seattle Makers moved to our Interbay location.
“Pupnik” modular MIDI controller (Jan. ‘24)
Another instrument for computer music. TRS and USB MIDI I/O, as well as analog gate & CV for modular synthesizers. Pressure-sensitive touch pads for input. Lots of experimenting with resistive & capacitive touch, with varying degrees of success. Laser-cut wood & cork case. RP2040 based, all electronics & art designed by me. My first working PCB!
