James Daugherty — embedded software and firmware engineer.

JIMD Group

Principal Embedded Software Engineer and Consultant

• Developed a wearable Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) system that captured and quantified Parkinson's disease tremor data for FDA drug trials conducted by Johns Hopkins University.
• Designed a three-phase power control system integrating solar arrays and compressed natural gas turbine generators for Capstone 35 kW generators, delivering both the control PCB and the Modbus-based control software with an iOS operator interface (2022 – present, Delta Positive Slope).
• Developed an embedded Linux video distribution system for hotel advertising screen management, delivering a working prototype for a client under non-disclosure agreement (2017).
• Built a Bluetooth 4.1 vehicle access and immobiliser system for a subprime auto lending institution using 32-bit ARM firmware, CAN bus integration and 12 V relay control, for a client under non-disclosure agreement (2016).
• Served as testifying expert witness in the court case that overturned red light camera citations, proving by video frame analysis that the yellow interval was set to 3 seconds instead of the 4-second standard (2014).
• Engineered a flight simulator control board supporting 64 buttons with ADC input, 56 buttons with 4 quadrature encoders, and RS-485 connectivity at 20 mA — replacing a $3,000 Xilinx board with an interrupt-driven bare metal ARM design (2012, Platinum Simulators).
• Developed earthquake sensor software, drivers and installers for Windows and macOS for the Quake Catcher Network with Caltech and Stanford University (2008).
• Designed a voter database and GIS mapping system covering 1.4 million registered voters and generating reports exceeding 80,000 pages for San Diego County precinct operations (2003 – 2005).

Embedded firmware development  /  ARM Cortex-M  /  Bluetooth Low Energy  /  PCB design  /  Modbus  /  CAN bus  /  Embedded Linux  /  iOS development  /  Expert witness testimony

Escondido Charter High School

Digital Video Technology Instructor and Curriculum Developer

• Designed, created and implemented the digital video technology curriculum at the largest charter high school in California. The curriculum is now WASC accredited.

Sony Electronics

Project Lead (Manager) and Software Engineer

• Managed the product introduction of six Sony optical storage models — 4X SCSI CD-ROM, 2.6 GB magneto-optical, and 2X–4X CD-R drives, internal and external — covering FCC/CE certification, shock and vibration testing, bundled software verification and production line test procedures.
• Supervised a project team of six, negotiated software revisions and release schedules with Corel (CD Creator), and edited the user and service manuals for all six models, which were translated into French, German and Spanish.
• Built a software compatibility lab that tested drivers and bundled software across Macintosh 68000, Macintosh PowerPC, DOS, Windows 3.11, Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51/4.0. The procedure was adopted by other departments.
• Wrote the custom diagnostic installation program shipped with the 4X CD-ROM (760E), which sold 200,000 units, and maintained CD-ROM and CD-R device drivers.
• Defined software requirements for PowerPC 40X and ColdFire processors on the Player Recorder Project, selecting compilers, IDE, RTOS, debuggers and simulators.

Project management  /  Cross-functional team leadership  /  FCC/CE compliance testing  /  Device drivers  /  Vendor negotiation  /  Technical documentation

ACIS

Head of Software Development

• Led development of the image capture and ID card printing system deployed across Price Club (now Costco) warehouse stores nationwide.
• Designed and programmed a serial-controlled strobe light interface that synchronised capture timing to individual video fields at 1/60 second, and integrated the ID card system with an IBM AS/400 host environment.

Phoenix Graphics

Lead Software Engineer

• Developed a Windows 3.1 configuration utility that automatically wrote system.ini settings to install the Phoenix Graphics video processor in DOS notebook systems.
• Customised Video BIOS source code to make the VideoPak-1024 high-resolution adapter compatible with Toshiba notebooks.
• Produced custom installation drivers, manuals and test utilities, and defined hardware and software compatibility test procedures.

JVC (Japan) / ATIS Assmann (Germany) / HLA3 (USA)

Software Engineer

• Wrote the servo processor and embedded host software for a 16 GB SCSI S-VHS digital tape drive. The controller software was included in the patents filed for the device.
• Created host software that emulated the main processor interface so servo controller functions could be tested independently, keeping the project on schedule.
• Integrated the servo, host and main processor software with two other programmers into a single working system, adapted the host program into a field diagnostic tool for service technicians, and evaluated Adaptec SCSI controllers and device drivers under DOS and Windows.