Open for consulting & collaboration
Austen Bartels
Embedded Systems Engineer · BSEE / BSCE
I design open hardware and the firmware that drives it — motion control, power delivery, and resource-constrained systems where every byte and milliwatt counts. From schematic to silicon to shipping code.
About
Hardware-first, software-fluent.
I can't keep myself away from electronics and microprocessors — I've been taking devices apart since the '90s. I love designing PCBs to break out new and interesting parts, then using those parts to build new and interesting systems. I'm fluent in C & C++ and circuit design, favor FOSS tools, and occasionally bust out an FPGA for some gnarly Verilog.
On the software side I reach for Rust, Python, and TypeScript for rapid prototyping, tooling, and visualization. With a background in computer graphics, I think constantly in terms of compression and efficiency: how do you get more from less? I thrive on resource-constrained microcontrollers, building compile-time abstraction layers without sacrificing codespace — and I love emulating and simulating systems to hammer on a model until the real thing just works.
Beyond the bench, I'm into 3D printing and fabrication, tabletop games, writing, skiing, and data visualization — almost always happier creating than consuming.
Selected work
Featured projects
A curated slice across both workshops — open hardware, custom PCBs, and the firmware that brings them to life.
Plasmarobo
HexCell Mesh
Hexagonal LED boards that connect to each neighbor over UART and pass messages through input/output channels — an embedded art piece and a study in graph-theory networking.
Plasmarobo
MB Pixel
Standalone MCU "pixels" that connect to their neighbors in a square grid and spontaneously network into a coherent, controllable RGB display — an exercise in distributed communication and art.
Straight from GitHub
Live repositories
Pulled live from @Plasmarobo and @millibyte-products. Filter by language to dig in.
Work with me
Consulting
Embedded systems is a wide field with an overwhelming amount of choice. I'm available for private consulting — by phone or video call — to help you cut through it. An initial consult ensures my expertise is a good fit before we go further. Sessions are billed hourly.
Scoping
An initial consult to scope your project, surface risks, and answer questions.
Auditing
Project guidance, solution proposals, design review, and manufacturing & testing concerns.
Design
Solution implementation, part selection, PCB layout, and firmware deliverables.
Fabrication
Designed and executed to spec — board design, firmware, and software, delivered.
// capabilities
CodeDesignPrototype
FirmwareSoftwareTesting
SecurityUpdatesDeployment
Austen D. Bartels
consulting@millibyte.io
Get in touch
Have a board to build or a problem to solve?
Whether it's a one-off consult or a full design-to-fabrication engagement, I'd love to hear what you're working on.