Martin Zwigl on being a software developer that makes physical things 

Welcome to Tech Explorations Podcast episode 4.

In this episode, Peter Dalmaris talks with Martin Zwigl. Martin attended a technical school for mechanical engineering in Austria. However, he never worked as an engineer and instead became a software developer. Earlier in life, Martin built many remote-controlled cars and planes. As a software developer, most of his work with electronics involves coding, which he considers an essential part of making.

Martin is relatively new to the world of Arduino but has already produced several fun projects. In our conversation, we explored many of these projects and also looked at some ambitious ideas for future projects. For example, in one of his projects, Martin used all of his skills—electronics, coding, and art—to build Light Gary, a colorful creature with a clock and a head that lights up. In another project, with the help of Dario, a friend and electronics expert, he built a gadget that reminds him to drink his beer. The beer gadget consists of just four parts: a buzzer, an accelerometer, a clock, and a diode.

One of Martin’s current projects is Virtual City Windows, a system that consists of large, high-definition video walls installed in cities around the world. These systems enable two-way communications between cities, giving people a view into life around the world. Martin is also very much into virtual and augmented reality, and we spent some time looking into this exciting technology, including a headset that Martin is building.

I'm sure you'll enjoy this conversation. This is Tech Explorations Podcast episode 4.

Peter: Martin, welcome to the podcast. How are you?

Martin: I’m fine, thanks, Peter, and thanks for inviting me.

Peter: It’s my pleasure. I've known you online for maybe about a year now, but it’s the first time we actually see each other and talk.

Martin: Yeah, that’s right.

Peter: So I was really looking forward to it.

Martin: Yeah, me too.

Peter: You are a maker. You live in Austria, and it’s around midnight at your time now.

Martin: Yeah, that’s correct.

Peter: You’re a night owl, as we were talking about earlier.

Martin: Yeah, that’s correct.

Peter: It seems like that’s a common characteristic among makers. A lot of makers tend to do their making at night.

Martin: I never noticed that, but that might be true.

Peter: What is it about the night? Is it because it’s quiet? Does your brain work better?

Martin: Well, I actually don’t know. It’s just the way it is. It’s hard for me to get up, but when I’m up and running, I run until my battery is drained.

Peter: I’m the exact opposite. I’m a morning person, so I get up very early in the morning, which means I go to bed early.

Martin: When do you get up?

Peter: Around 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning. But then, like you, I run with it until I’m drained of energy.

Peter: Let’s start with a little bit of background. Tell us about yourself.

Martin: Sure. As you said, I live in Austria. I was born and raised here. I grew up in a city near Innsbruck, in the western part of Austria. Currently, I live in Salzburg, which is in the middle of Austria. From an early age, I’ve been building things. I started with Lego, and when I was in my teenage years, I attended a mechanical engineering school and became a mechanical engineer. However, I never worked as a mechanical engineer. During school, I built a lot of RC cars and planes. Towards the end of school, I became familiar with programming, and that drove me away from mechanical engineering. I started programming in BASIC, and then we moved to Pascal.

Peter: So, you became a software developer and worked on a variety of projects. What kind of projects did you work on?

Martin: I’ve worked on many different projects. I’ve worked for companies like Siemens, and I’ve written software for antivirus programs and cloud storage. I also worked for a company in Vienna that develops audio samples for the Vienna Symphonic Library. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years.

Peter: That’s a long career in software development. But you’ve always had an interest in mechanical things and hardware projects. How did you get into Arduino and electronics?

Martin: I got into Arduino when I wanted to build an airship, and I needed a controller for it. I had no idea about microcontrollers until I found your "Arduino Step-by-Step" course. That was the trigger for me. From that point on, I started building things with Arduino.

Peter: One of your early projects was Light Gary, right?

Martin: Yes, Light Gary was one of my first Arduino projects. It’s a light installation made from homemade paper mache. It has two rotary encoders and an RGB LED, and it even has a clock built into it.

Peter: That’s quite an ambitious first project! What was it like to go from a simple blinking LED to something like Light Gary?

Martin: It was a steep learning curve, but I was having fun with it. I learned how to use rotary encoders, LEDs, and even made my own PCB. It was challenging, but I enjoyed every step.

Peter: You’ve also built a gadget to keep your beer cold, right?

Martin: Yes! It’s a funny project I worked on with my friend Dario. The gadget reminds you to drink your beer so it doesn’t get warm. It uses an accelerometer and a buzzer. If the beer glass hasn’t moved for a certain amount of time, the buzzer goes off to remind you to take a sip.

Peter: That’s hilarious! And very practical, too. You’ve also been working on something called Virtual City Windows. What’s that about?

Martin: Virtual City Windows is a project I’m working on with Dario. It’s a system of large video walls installed in cities around the world. People in different cities can see each other and interact in real-time, almost like a window into another city. We’re working with some fablabs and makerspaces to set it up in various cities.

Peter: That sounds amazing. What’s the goal of the project?

Martin: The goal is to create a more immersive way for people to communicate across cities. Instead of just using a phone or a video call, you can stand in front of this large screen and see and hear people from another city in real-time. It’s like being there.

Peter: That’s an ambitious project. What other projects do you have planned for the future?

Martin: I’m planning to build a fleet of autonomous cars that communicate with each other using swarm algorithms. I also want to continue working on augmented reality projects, including the AR glasses I’m building with a Leap Motion sensor.

Peter: That sounds like you have a lot of exciting projects ahead. Martin, it’s been a pleasure talking with you. Thank you for sharing your story.

Martin: Thank you for having me, Peter. It’s been great!

This concludes episode 4 of the Tech Explorations Podcast. You can find links to resources and more information about Martin on our website, techexplorations.com. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and we’ll see you next time!