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Daniel Kent

@danielkent.net

8 Followers 8 Following

I'm a PhD student who likes to build and break things and occasionally pet nice cats and dogs.

A Red-Tailed Hawk sitting on a light looking into the distance.
A dilute tabby cautiously accepts pets while lounging in an enclosure.
A tabby cat lounges on his side, his eyes and ears forward with one front paw tucked onward.
Front view of the Soraben PCB. On the left, a 4-port JST-PH header sits above a 3 volt Panasonic relay. A 47uH capacitor decouples the input power coming from the barrel plug, which is converted to 3.3v using a bunch converter directly below it. Output headers from left to right include one JST-PH for lights, one vertical JST-PH for the SEN6X sensor (intended to be internal to the enclosure), and a JST-SH for Qwiic-flavored I2C.
A purple printed circuit board, after solder reflow of surface mount components. All components appear to have reflowed correctly. Through hole components have not yet and will be added manually.
A purple printed circuit board on an aluminum tray. Surface mount components are placed on solder paste. A workbench with additional parts are visible in the background.
"The thesis office is thirsty for colons." -MSU Thesis LaTeX class documentation, June 24, 2024.
A GitHub Pull Request indicator showing only two lines were changed. It's me. I'm the one who made the trivial change.
A blue spoon with a scoop on each side. The spoon was 3D printed with PETG filament. The spoon has a "Dishwasher" label, and labels for each of the spoon sides of 24mL and 4mL respectively. There is a container of white dishwasher detergent powder behind the spoon.
A 3D render of a prototype printed circuit board.
A 6-pin 2.4mm header soldered to a 2mm pitched JST-PH connector. This is an extremely jank hack that you shouldn't ever do. Just buy a breakout, or just put some breadboard header pins onto a cable.
Mouser order receipt showing the cost of the SEN66 sensor as $44.26, plus $8.85 in tariffs as of 20 August 2025. Order was shipped 9 September 2025.
CAD model mockup of air sensor enclosure (right), including a spacer on the bottom, the enclosure for the sensor itself in the middle, and the microcontroller and interface boards above it. A Bento Box air scrubber is shown to the left of the sensor enclosure, for both scale and to demonstrate intended use.
A small rectangular air sensor, approximately 1 inch by 2 inches, resting in the palm of a hand.
A photo of a light green praying mantis standing on asphalt in the sun.
A 3D model of a standing fan shroud in Prusa Slicer.
Photograph of a wild rabbit standing still with alert ears, standing in front of a brick wall with ivy growing on it.
A shadowbox containing the results of an old electronics project for controlling LED lights. The shadowbox is about 15 inches tall and 7 inches wide. Inside, 3D printed labels state what the project is ("RPi Pico CWWW Lamp Controller") as well as denote what revision each set of PCBs is. Version 1.0 has three boards: a front and back of two unpopulated boards, and a populated board in the middle including multiple bodges to fix errors in the design. V1.1 contains two unpopulated boards, as no boards of that revision were ever produced. V1.2 contains an unpopulated board showing its gruntand two populated boards, one front and one back. V1.3 has an extra placard stating "In service 7/2023 - 3/2025" as well as two populated boards (one front, one back), one (non-working) Raspberry Pi Pico W that was used, the solder stencil, two button input interface breakouts, and the button interface breakout cable. The bottom has a placard with "Designed by Daniel Kent" on it.
A black and white tuxedo kitten looks out from a tube.
A light-colored torbie cat lays on a ledge attached to a window, looking directly at the camera with her ears fully forward and her green eyes wide open, indicating a friendly demeanor.
A fluffy, long haired domestic cat with an all black coat and yellow eyes stares past the camera. Probably looking to climb onto the photographer's shoulders again.
Three purple PCBs with components reflow soldered onto them. There is a component near the bottom of the left board that is not quite positioned correctly from the solder reflow process.
A workbench with a GamersNexus blue Flux soldering mat. In the center is a PCB with a solder paste stencil on top, all in a custom 3D printed jig. Two other PCBs are to the upper right of it, awaiting their turn. Under the jig is a putty knife, to be used for applying the solder paste down the stencil. Some other parts include a 3D printed case, some rotary encoders, and a container of solder paste are to the left.
Video demonstrating a Gridfinity adapter plate for the Gamer's Nexus soldering mat. The video shows the adapter plate on its own, then shows a Gridfinity bin being placed onto the adapter plate. Then, the bin is removed, then the adapter plate is removed from the mat to show the underside, which consists of extruded squares that fit into the soldering mat's square holes.
A black and white cat tries to chew open a tube of Churu treats.
Florentina the calico cat moving quickly to attack a rainbow colored teaser toy.
A black and white tuxedo cat looks to the right while sitting on a wooden cabinet in front of a purple wall.
A calico cat sleeps on top of a wooden cat tree.
An orange colored adult tabby cat looks on with some trepidation, unsure of whether to approach the cameraman. Don't worry, he got plenty of pets!
A seafoam green 3D printed rectangle with inset slots designed for a specific circuit board and stencil to fit in. The metallic stencil is shown fitting in the designated slot, The underlying PCB's gold pads are shown aligning with the stencil.
A seafoam green 3D printed rectangle with inset slots designed for a specific circuit board and stencil to fit in.
A group of Mallard ducks standing on a partially frozen river. One duck in the middle of the frame exhibits unusual, lighter-colored plumage.
A toaster oven modified into a PCB reflow oven using the Controleo3 kit. The oven is colored brass and red. A black control box with a servo motor is attached on the right side, and the user interface says "Controleo3" with buttons that day "Profiles", "Bake", and "Settings". There is a lot of clutter around the oven, mainly tools and supplies.
A red 3D printed box and its lid sitting side by side on a desk. Box dimensions are 75mm x 75mm. The box's corners are rounded. Inside the box is a set of four mounting posts to attach a Raspberry Pi Pico. There are some holes on the front of the box.
A sleepy tabby and white cat receives head scratches while laying in a grey cat bed.
A long haired black cat looks out from a cat-shaped cubbyhole, while a seal color point colored cat sleeps in the back of the cubby.
A grey kitten sitting on a high shelf, looking down and meowing intently.
A dilute calico cat sitting high on top of a wooden cat tree, looking down.
3D rendered printed circuit board. Raspberry Pi Pico W is on the left side of the board. A rotary encoder appears near the center. The text "Pi Pico W CWWW Controller, Version 2.0, Daniel Kent, danielkent.net, December 2024" appears on the right, with an outline of the US State of Michigan and the text "Designed in Michigan" below that.
A Raspberry Pi Pico W microcontroller fitted into a purple PCB containing an optoisolator, a two pin terminal block, and empty pads for two resistors and one capacitor. The PCB has the text "RPi Pico W Isolated Analog Sensor Board Version 1.0, Daniel Kent, danielkent.net" on it, along with a graphic of the State of Michigan with the text "Designed in Michigan."
A tabby cat lays on top of a cabinet, while a white and tabby cat looks on mischievously from underneath in a hidey hole.