Embedded Systems & Software Consultant - Melbourne, Australia
I'm Scott Penrose. I work on systems from firmware running on Antarctic wave buoys to educational platforms with tens of thousands of users, remotely from Melbourne, Australia.
I have been consulting independently since 2000.
View My Resume See My Products Personal Site Contact Me
What I Do
Systems Integration & Architecture
Connecting systems that were not designed to work together.
- API integrations and data pipelines
- Legacy system modernisation
- Authentication systems
- CI/CD and build systems
- Testing automation
- Factory and farm automation
Embedded Systems Development
Firmware from first prototype to production.
- ARM, AVR, ESP32, STM32, Raspberry Pi
- Linux, Zephyr, FreeRTOS and bare metal
- I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, MQTT, BLE
- LoRa radio, Iridium satellite
- Ultra-low power design
- IoT devices, sensors, data loggers
Educational Software Systems
Learning platforms built and run over twenty years.
- Learning management systems
- Assessment and analytics
- Content delivery
- Institutional integration
- User management
- Scalability for concurrent users
Technical Expertise
- Languages: C/C++, Rust, Go, JavaScript, TS, Python, Perl, Fortran, and more
- Embedded: Linux, Bare metal, FreeRTOS, NuttX, Zephyr
- Electronics: Embedded CPUs, Display Panels, Power Management, Radio including LoRa, Wave Buoys
- Tools: Make, CMake, Linux
- Services: Authentication, APIs, Binary data manipulation
- Web: Dashboards, Single-file Embedded Dashboards
- Infrastructure: Git, automated testing, CI/CD, monitoring
- Approach: Start simple, then build for reliability
How I Work
- Hourly consulting for remote work, with the rate depending on the engagement
- Project-based engagements for defined deliverables
- Part-time availability with flexible scheduling
- Estimates, revised as the work goes, since this kind of work rarely fits a fixed quote
I will tell you what is possible, what it will take, and when the timeline changes.
Why Work With Me?
- Embedded to cloud: I have built every layer of these systems, from the circuit board to the API
- Tool choice follows the job: I pick what fits the problem and the team that will maintain it
- A network when needed: PCB design and hardware specialists I have worked with before
- Remote: I work with clients across Australia and overseas from Melbourne
Examples and Success Stories
Waves In Ice
Wave measurement buoys for Antarctic sea ice: custom firmware and satellite communications, deployed by research groups in several countries, with results published in Nature.
Profitool
64-bit conversion of a legacy Fortran accounting and ERP system, with SQL support, containers and a unit test suite added.
OSDC
Founded the Open Source Developers' Conference, a community-run conference for open source developers in Australia and the region.
Products & Ventures
Products and open-source releases I build, run and consult on. Each has its own site.
LoRaScope
A single-radio LoRa / MeshCore / LoRaWAN spectrum and traffic analyser: live capture, packet decode and link health in one tool, with telnet and REST control for scripts and AI agents.
OGLAS
The Off-Grid Local Alert System: custom sensors, hubs and data analysis for farms, fleets and remote sites. Long-range wireless with data stored on site, so there is no telco link and no subscription.
Waves In Ice (WII5)
The open-source release of the Antarctic wave-measurement buoys: hardware, firmware and the wave-statistics maths. Data from the earlier generations was published in Nature.
I also work through Sh3d for larger automation and IoT engagements, mostly embedded systems in remote places.
Let's Talk
If you have devices that need firmware or systems that need connecting, send me a note about it.
Contact Me and I will tell you whether I can help and how I would go about it.
Scott Penrose, scottp@dd.com.au, +61 (0) 417 885 330