Portrait of Thomas Bigler

Thomas Bigler

Embedded Systems Engineer

Hardware | Software | IoT | Data

Complete hardware, firmware, and connected measurement systems — designed, built, and validated from mixed-signal prototypes through deployed IoT devices.

View Selected Projects

Skills

Embedded Firmware

Bare-metal and RTOS firmware, peripheral drivers, real-time control, and hardware bring-up across multiple platforms

Hardware & PCB Design

Schematic capture, component selection, multilayer layout, mixed-signal and RF design, bring-up, and production documentation

IoT & Connected Systems

Low-power sensor nodes, LoRaWAN, Thread, and Wi-Fi connectivity, provisioning, backends, and digital twins

System Architecture

End-to-end embedded and IoT architecture, interface definition, communication design, system modeling, and validation planning

Mechanical Design

Functional enclosures, mounts, fixtures, and assemblies designed around electronics and manufacturing constraints

Rapid Prototyping & 3D Printing

Iterative fabrication, fit testing, assembly validation, and refinement of functional parts

RF & Wireless Engineering

Antenna matching, VNA characterization, high-frequency front ends, wireless power, and radio-system prototyping

Precision Timing & Synchronization

FPGA-based timing architectures, Ethernet and fiber synchronization, PTP-class concepts, and multi-reference estimation

FPGA & Digital Design

RTL and gateware development, custom bus components, soft-core integration, timing-aware simulation, and verification on Intel/Altera and Xilinx devices

Scientific Computing & Data Analysis

Signal processing, state estimation, simulation, visualization, statistics, and automated reporting with Python and MATLAB

Linux

(Embedded) Linux, server setup, shell automation, services, and reproducible development environments

Containers & Virtualization

Docker-based development, testing, isolation, and deployment workflows

AI-Assisted Engineering

Architecture exploration, implementation, debugging, test generation, and code review, plus literature synthesis and source-verified technical research using AI assistants

Selected Projects

Atomic Force Microscopy Measurement Platform Atomic Force Microscopy Measurement Platform Atomic Force Microscopy Measurement Platform

Atomic Force Microscopy Measurement Platform

Atomic force microscopy platform for correlative nanoindentation and surface analysis, combining precision mechanics, integrated control, and semi-automated measurement workflows.

  • AFM
  • Mechanical Design
  • System Integration
Tools
  • LabVIEW
  • Python
  • FPGA
View case study
Thread Sensor Node Thread Sensor Node Thread Sensor Node Thread Sensor Node

Thread Sensor Node

Compact four-layer Thread sensor node built around the NXP KW41Z, integrating a 2.4 GHz PCB antenna, RF matching, and optional U.FL connectivity.

  • IoT
  • PCB Design
  • RF Design
Tools
  • Altium Designer
  • NXP KW41Z
  • Thread / IEEE 802.15.4
View case study
Distributed MIMO Node Synchronization System Distributed MIMO Node Synchronization System

Distributed MIMO Node Synchronization System

FPGA-based fiber-optic timing system for distributed MIMO nodes, adapted from CERN technology to achieve picosecond precision and sub-nanosecond accuracy.

  • FPGA Design
  • Time Synchronization
  • Fiber Optics
Tools
  • Xilinx Spartan-6
  • Xilinx PlanAhead
  • ModelSim
View case study
LPWAN-Based Smart Dispenser Monitoring System LPWAN-Based Smart Dispenser Monitoring System

LPWAN-Based Smart Dispenser Monitoring System

End-to-end IoT solution for retrofitting disinfection dispensers with low-power LoRaWAN hardware and a scalable backend for monitoring, provisioning, and data management.

  • IoT
  • LoRaWAN
  • Low-Power Design
Tools
  • The Things Stack v3
  • Python/Flask
  • Eclipse Ditto
View case study
Rust HDC2080 Sensor Driver

Rust HDC2080 Sensor Driver

Portable Rust driver for the HDC2080 sensor, designed for embedded Linux using embedded-hal with a reusable I2C interface.

  • Embedded Rust
  • Sensor Drivers
  • I2C
Tools
  • Rust
  • embedded-hal
  • Embedded Linux
View case study

Tools & Technologies

Embedded & Firmware

Microcontroller

Bare-metal and RTOS development across multiple MCU platforms.

  • Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040, RP2350)
  • STM32
  • ESP32
  • Renesas
  • nRF series

Platform IDE

Integrated IDEs for firmware development, debugging, and target bring-up.

  • VS Code
  • STM32CubeIDE
  • CLion

Firmware Languages

Embedded application code, drivers, and bring-up in C/C++, with Rust for selected bare-metal work.

  • C/C++
  • Rust (learning)

FPGA Toolchains

VHDL, simulation, synthesis - Timing-aware FPGA implementation.

  • Altera (Intel)
  • Xilinx

Hardware, PCB & Mechanical

EDA

Professional EDA workflows, schematic capture, multilayer PCB, fabrication and assembly

  • KiCad
  • Altium Designer

CAD

Mechanical CAD for enclosures, fixtures, assemblies, and rapid-prototyping workflows.

  • Autodesk Fusion
  • FreeCAD

Lab & Measurement

Custom-hardware bring-up, debugging, and general project measurements.

  • Oscilloscope / MSO
  • Spectrum & network analyzers
  • Signal & logic generation
  • PCB rework & inspection

Application & Backend Development

Languages

Desktop and system-level application development on Linux and Windows.

  • C / C++
  • Python
  • Go & Rust (earlier projects)

Backend & Data Stack

Backend services for device ingestion, APIs, monitoring, and operational data flows.

  • Flask and REST APIs
  • Redis and InfluxDB
  • Paho MQTT integration

Connectivity & IoT

IoT & LPWAN Stack

Connectivity stacks for low-power devices, telemetry, and fleet-style deployments.

  • LoRaWAN
  • Thread
  • IEEE 802.15.4

Modeling & Simulation

Digital-twin integration, simulation, and architecture modeling for connected systems.

  • Eclipse Ditto (digital twins)
  • SUMO traffic simulation
  • UML modeling

Flutter / Dart

Cross-platform mobile interfaces for configuring and controlling connected devices.

Scientific Computing & Data Analysis

NumPy / Pandas

Scientific computing, automation, visualization, data analysis, and technical reporting.

  • Analysis scripts
  • Reporting
  • Data visualization

Dev Tools & Workflow

Linux / Docker

Reproducible development, service deployment, automation, and isolated runtime environments.

Git

Version control, traceable engineering changes, and collaborative development workflows.

IDEs

Cross-platform implementation and debugging.

  • VS Code
  • Visual Studio
  • PyCharm

AI Assistants

AI assistants for implementation support, technical research, and design and code reviews.

  • Gemini
  • Claude
  • Codex