Eduardo Pedroni

In 2022 I worked on the embedded application software for two customer projects. The applications were implemented in C# and ran on Petalinux on Xilinx Ultrascale+ custom boards. Their main functionality was to configure IP blocks in the FPGA according to user input. I also worked on the FPGA Manager Ethernet SoC Edition, a software solution for easy TCP communication between a host and an SoC module.

In 2023 I worked on improvements for internal tools, such as an extensive build system overhaul, GUI migration and continuous integration infrastructure setup for the Enclustra Module Configuration Tool. I also debugged many software and hardware issues with prototype modules, mostly related to I2C and SPI communication via FTDI chips.

After my internship and the completion of my studies, I joined ABB medium voltage drives permanently as an embedded software engineer on the ACS6080 software team.

On a normal day I designed, implemented and tested features on the ARM-based control platform, spanning both the software (C++) and hardware (VHDL). I also spent time reviewing pull requests from other team members, maintaining the continuous integration infrastructure and debugging field issues. Although the team was spread over multiple locations, we collaborated quite closely on a daily basis through conference calls and chats.

In January 2020 I took the additional role of cybersecurity contact person for medium voltage drives in Turgi going forward. My role was to provide information and support to the software teams and ensure that the product software was up-to-date with the internal cybersecurity guidelines.

In January 2021 I joined the internal software architecture sub-team. In addition to reviewing pull requests with a stronger focus on software quality, we spent time each week discussing and implementing architecture improvements to the codebase.

As an R&D intern at ABB medium voltage drives, I joined the software team working on the subsea drive project. I worked on the C++ product software codebase, which consists of a real time kernel, device drivers, communication protocols and control software.

My primary task was to port an existing real time simulation framework, which enables the product code to be executed directly on PC. I complemented this framework with physical models of the converter and asynchronous motor in order to simulate the control software behaviour. Using this system, I added support for integration tests that can be executed on the PC as well as on the continuous integration servers. I also extended the framework with an interactive GUI that plots internal signals with full resolution in real time, to aid in the development of control features.

At the end of the internship, I continued working part-time alongside my studies to further develop the simulation framework, as well as merge my work into the common platform codebase.

After the end of my 1-year traineeship I was contracted part-time to provide sporadic technical support to the team on a need-basis. Tasks included data entry and SharePoint maintenance.

As a trainee in Syngenta's Project, Program and Portfolio Management Excellence team, I worked primarily on administrating and further developing the team's SharePoint communication sites and teamspaces. I also provided support in meetings and assisted with data input tasks.

My secondary role was to observe the processes and practices followed by the other team members and use my IT and engineering knowledge to optimise them where possible. With that in mind I developed several Microsoft Excel macros for automating routine data manipulation tasks and made suggestions for tool improvements, such as using APIs to automate parts of the workflow. I also took the initiative to document the details and results of my work in detail so that it can be easily resumed in the future.

During this summer internship I produced a literature survey of solar cell imaging methods, and then performed photoluminescence imaging and resistivity measurements in order to determine the characteristics of various experimental types of photovoltaic solar cells. As a scientific research institution, the ISE was a rather different environment than the one I was used to (school) and that gave me good insight into how research is done in the real world.

• Advanced Systems Lab
• Algorithms Lab
• Distributed Systems Lab
• Advanced Operating Systems
• Computer Architecture
• System Construction
• System Security
• Network Security
• Advanced Computer Networks
• Principles of Distributed Computing

• Software Engineering
• Systems Programming
• Biologically Inspired Computing
• Evolvable Hardware
• Digital Hardware Design
• Digital Signal Processing
• Recording Studio Techniques
• Audio for Visual Media
• Interfaces for Audio Interaction
• Physical Modelling Sound Synthesis
• Project Management
• Accounting and Finance

• Higher level: physics, history, music
• Standard level: mathematics, English, German
• Theory of Knowledge
• Extended Essay in Physics: An investigation of the modes of vibration in Chladni plates
• ABRSM Level 5 Music Theory with distinction
• Award for outstanding performance in IB music

I have a small server at home for routing, centralised media storage, web pages, private git repo hosting, CalDAV and WireGuard exit node. As of 2023, the hardware consists of a Supermicro X13SAE-F motherboard with an Intel i7-13700T, 64 GB of ECC RAM, 2x 1 TB SSDs in a mirrored ZFS pool and 2x 4 TB HDDs in another mirrored ZFS pool. A pfSense VM is connected directly to the WAN via a 10 Gbps fibre link with PCIe passthrough and acts as the gateway for the home network. Services are hosted as Docker containers directly on the server. Service deployment is done exclusively through ansible, either manually or automatically triggered by git hooks. The home network is generally 1 Gbps but devices share a 10 Gbps link to the server.

I build analogue guitar effect pedals for my own use, from designing the analogue audio circuits all the way to finishing the aluminium enclosures.

Here is a list of some of the pedals I have built to date.

I wrote a small utility to help me reverse engineer songs, in particular guitar solos. It is a Python library that supports song playback at different rates, A-B looping with preset ranges and external control by MIDI interfaces. It uses libvlc bindings for playing back the files with playback rate support.

The library was entirely written in a test-driven way using pytest. It was designed so that only a thin UI layer is needed to bind the library functions to UI elements. I implemented a Qt5 GUI exposing most of the functionality supported by the library, and a small command line interface which I use most of the time while playing, since it only supports control via MIDI.

The git repo is available for cloning here.

I needed a suitable space for working on projects and could not find anything ready-made that fit my requirements, so I built my own with my father's help. I wanted something rustic and affordable that would last for a long time.

I used a solid beech top from IKEA and ordered spruce boards cut to size from Coop Bau+Hobby. I sanded and sealed the wood over the course of one week and then drilled and assembled everything in two weekends.

The legs are designed to be robust and can be partially disassembled for transportation. The shelves can also be disassembled and were dimensioned for my lab equipment with some tolerance for future upgrades.