Portrait of Callum Dyson-Gainsborough

Callum Dyson-Gainsborough

.NET Software Engineer
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About Me

I’m currently a software engineer working mainly within the security sector. My personal work focuses on desktop software, hardware/software integration, data-driven systems and technically unusual projects that cross software, physical devices, visualisation and real-world data.

  • Based in Lincolnshire, UK
  • Degree BSc Computer Science, First Class
  • Current focus .NET desktop and hardware/software systems

What I Build

Desktop software

Maintainable applications and modular runtimes built around C#, .NET and clear system boundaries.

Hardware systems

Software that works with Raspberry Pi, displays, lighting, physical controls, telemetry and device interfaces.

Data-driven tools

Mapping, environmental data, caching, processing and visualisation designed around useful decisions.

Technical experiments

Unusual engineering projects spanning astronomy, media, robotics, vehicles and ambient interfaces.

Resume & Skills

Education

2017–2020
BSc Computer Science, First Class
University of Lincoln

A broad computer science foundation, with later work in robotics, machine learning, parallel programming and a telemanipulation dissertation.

Engineering focus

CURRENT FOCUS
Software and systems projects

Recent personal projects centre on .NET desktop applications, modular integrations, Raspberry Pi systems, hardware output and data-heavy planning tools.

Technical Skills

Core Engineering

  • C#
  • .NET / .NET Framework
  • WPF / Avalonia
  • Python
  • C++

Desktop / UI

  • WPF
  • Avalonia
  • WinForms
  • Desktop application architecture
  • plugin-based modular systems

Systems / Hardware

  • Raspberry Pi
  • Hardware integration
  • Telemetry
  • GPIO / I2C / serial devices
  • Windows / Linux

Data / Tooling

  • SQL / SQL Server
  • APIs and data processing
  • HTML / CSS / JavaScript
  • GitHub / SVN
  • Automated testing

The downloadable CV contains the fuller work and education history; this page focuses on skills demonstrated by the projects below.

Projects

Current engineering work comes first. Selected earlier projects remain visible for context, with coursework and smaller utilities kept in the archive.

Substantial projects under active development or representing recent completed work.

Flagship project
IN DEVELOPMENTCurrent

Noctaxis

A free astronomy and astrophotography planning application created after identifying a gap between capable but increasingly complex, subscription-led tools and a more accessible planning experience. Built with .NET 10 and Avalonia using freely licensable libraries and public or open datasets where practical, Noctaxis brings celestial planning, camera and lens field-of-view and orientation tools, interactive mapping, weather and saved scouting locations into one cohesive desktop application. Its visibility model accounts for observer elevation, camera height and surrounding terrain, with terrain horizons, environmental data, caching and processing treated as core planning inputs rather than decorative map layers.

  • C#
  • .NET 10
  • Avalonia
  • Desktop architecture
  • Astronomy calculations
  • Camera FOV
  • Terrain and visibility
  • Weather
  • Data caching
In active development
The restored Ember Deck Hitachi media console with waveform visualisation on its built-in display
V1 COMPLETEPaused after V1

The Ember Deck

An end-to-end physical-computing project that restores a vintage Hitachi TV, radio and cassette unit as a Raspberry Pi 5 media console while retaining original controls where practical. Custom Linux and Python software uses supervised worker processes and shared state to monitor health, restart unhealthy workers, coordinate Plexamp, Bluetooth and MPRIS playback, centralise hardware ownership, and drive multiple displays, analogue and digital indicators and RGBW audio visualisation. The build also spans low-voltage power distribution, fused branches, voltage conversion, GPIO, I2C, ADC and LED peripherals, and custom audio hardware.

  • Python
  • Raspberry Pi 5
  • Linux
  • Supervised processes
  • Electronics
  • GPIO / I2C
  • Media integration
  • Audio visualisation
  • Physical computing
Source
Desktop Shrine hardware telemetry rendered on a GOverlay display beside ambient lighting
ACTIVECurrent

Desktop Shrine

A modular .NET 10 Windows desktop runtime that turns media, audio and hardware activity into configurable ambient output. Its plugin architecture integrates Windows media and Steam, desktop audio analysis, CPU and GPU telemetry, artwork colour extraction and priority-based routing to GOverlay LCD and BlinkStick RGBW devices. The project also covers installer and release engineering for a deployable desktop product.

  • C#
  • .NET 10
  • Windows
  • Plugin architecture
  • Media integration
  • Audio analysis
  • Hardware telemetry
  • GOverlay
  • BlinkStick
SourceReleases / Download

Selected Earlier Work

Older work that still demonstrates useful technical depth or project history.

RViz telemanipulation demo showing tracked hands and a simulated Franka Panda robot arm
DISSERTATION2020

Leap Motion Telemanipulation

A robotics telemanipulation system completed as third-year and dissertation work, using single- and dual-Leap-Motion hand tracking to control a simulated Franka Panda arm through ROS, MoveIt and custom C++ and Python nodes and messages. It translated gestures and tracked hand coordinates into constrained robot-workspace movement and gripper control. Because the available Linux Leap Motion support was obsolete and problematic, the input and Ubuntu/ROS environments were separated through a networked-systems workaround rather than abandoning the intended architecture.

  • C++
  • Python
  • Ubuntu
  • ROS
  • MoveIt
  • Leap Motion
  • Coordinate transforms
  • Networked systems
Source
EndlessModding blue space artwork and logo
EARLIER WORK2019–2023

EndlessModding

An early post-graduate C# desktop project that reworked and expanded the original Endless Space 2 hero designer into a broader toolset for creating and managing custom game content. It was an important step in learning desktop-development techniques later used professionally.

  • C#
  • .NET
  • Desktop UI
  • Game modding
Source

Archive / Early Work

Smaller utilities, group projects and university coursework, retained as project history.

Browse the early-work archive

Recent Work

Curated monthly development snapshots, compacted into broader summaries as the timeline matures.

  1. Monthly snapshot
    • Reached the Desktop Shrine 2.0 Alpha milestone with revised lighting controls, live configuration and a new desktop settings and Quick Access experience.
    • Advanced Noctaxis camera field-of-view planning and terrain-aware visibility, with environmental overlays and clearer planner feedback.
    • Refreshed this portfolio, the GitHub profile and project documentation with clearer project curation, local imagery and updated public context.

  2. Monthly snapshot
    • Completed The Ember Deck V1 after roughly nine months of hardware and software work, finishing the restored media console, physical controls, dual displays, 2.1 audio system and serviceable internal wiring.
    • Refined its playback routing, process supervision, status indicators and album-art-driven RGBW visualisation into a coherent finished system.
    • Began Fox Shrine, an ambient Windows display and lighting experiment that evolved into Desktop Shrine.

  3. Half-year summary
    • Reworked The Ember Deck from a working Raspberry Pi media prototype into a modular system with supervised worker processes, shared state, health monitoring and automatic recovery.
    • Developed its multi-display interface, playback routing, physical-control integration and diagnostics around media metadata, lyrics, system state, audio visualisation and process heartbeats.
    • Built a Raspberry Pi car telemetry prototype around OBD data and a connected dashboard display, moving from Bluetooth experimentation to a wired USB adapter for more dependable long-term logging.
    • Prototyped a compact Pi Zero 2 dashboard enclosure and mounting arrangement, iterating after the first resin case proved too deep, cracked and too heavy when fitted with a Pi 3.
    • Defined a conservative in-car power and cabling approach using an existing 12 V USB supply, separate from the dashcam, with the eventual aim of integrating a cloned Diagbox interface.

  4. Annual summary
    • Started The Ember Deck by restoring a vintage Hitachi TV, radio and cassette unit around a Raspberry Pi 5, establishing headless Plexamp playback, Bluetooth audio, a USB DAC and the first hardware prototype.
    • Expanded the build toward physical controls and an RGBW audio visualiser while documenting the restoration, Linux setup and electronics as a practical build log.
    • Built a searchable Google Sheets and Apps Script serial-number lookup for a friend's historical collecting website, turning a structured archive into a simple public-facing research tool.

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