Portfolio
Caleb Pollreis
- Autonomous Systems Lead · UMSAE Formula Electric
- B.Sc. Computer Engineering, Co-op · University of ManitobaClass of 2028
My student team designs and builds an electric race car from scratch. Day to day, I make system design choices that bring our team one step closer to a driverless car by 2028. Off the team I build personal projects and shoot photography.
Open to internships · Jan to Aug 2027
About
The best way to understand something is to build it from scratch.
I'm a computer engineering student in Winnipeg. Off the race car I chase personal projects end to end and keep a camera close. The work below is where that goes when no one assigns it.
/ Caleb Pollreis
Build log · 23 entries
Team group shot with the car
Team group shot with the car. Imported from the Portfolio album, source DSC07366.jpg.
Read the entry →- AV · FIG.02AutonomyJUN 2026
Standing Up the Driverless Program
Year one as Autonomous Systems Lead: reading the driverless ruleset like a spec, architecting a C++/ROS 2 monorepo for the Jetson Orin, and securing the sensors that will let the car see. Target: driverless by 2028.
FirmwareJUN 2026BMS control panel, CAN module log
BMS control panel, CAN module log. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_5189.jpg.
AutonomyMAY 2026Sensor units laid out for fitting
Sensor units laid out for fitting. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_5039.jpg.
ManufacturingMAR 2026Filament and print stock delivery
Filament and print stock delivery. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_4805.jpg.
- FW · FIG.06FirmwareFEB 2026
From Bench to Rolling Chassis: First Drive Firmware
Placeholder entry. Everything the firmware had to prove before the car's first drive: ready-to-drive sound, torque ramps, fault handling, and a checklist nobody skips.
- AV · FIG.07AutonomySEP 2025
Choosing Eyes for the Car: LiDAR and Camera Trade Study
Placeholder entry. A trade study for the perception stack: LiDAR against stereo cameras for cone detection, weighed on range, cost, compute budget, and weatherproofing.
- MFG · FIG.08ManufacturingAPR 2025
Harness Season: Routing 400V Through a Race Car
Placeholder entry. Building the high-voltage harness: conductor sizing, strain relief, interlock loops, and keeping HV and LV physically separated end to end.
- PRJ · FIG.09ProjectAPR 2025
BMO, an Embodied AI Agent
A local multimodal AI agent living in a BMO shell, in progress: a quantized Qwen 3 LLM on a Raspberry Pi 5 with Whisper voice input, TTS output, a live camera for real-world context, and Steam game streaming to double as a console.
FirmwareFEB 2025Hand drawn CAN network topology
Hand drawn CAN network topology. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_1878.jpg.
- PRJ · FIG.011ProjectFEB 2025
Music Spectrum Analyzer
A 28-band acrylic spectrum analyzer for a home sound system, in progress: FFT-based DSP on an STM32 driving WS2812B LED strips over DMA, on a custom Altium-designed PCB.
FirmwareFEB 2025Controller board in the printed fixture
Controller board in the printed fixture. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_7904.jpg.
- FW · FIG.013FirmwareJAN 2025
Pedal Signals You Can Trust: APPS Plausibility Checks
Placeholder entry. Implementing the accelerator pedal plausibility rules in firmware: redundant sensors, disagreement windows, and what the car does when the pedal lies.
- PRJ · FIG.014ProjectDEC 2024
Rocket League RL Bot
An offline Rocket League bot being trained with reinforcement learning, in progress: custom reward shaping and training loop in PyTorch, using a mocked Unreal Engine environment for sample-efficient training.
- FirmwareNOV 2024
Wiring the Car's Nervous System: CAN, the BMS, and the Motor Controller
Developing CAN 2.0 communication between our custom PCBs, the battery-management system, and the PM100DX motor controller, on STM32, where a dropped frame is a safety problem.
ManufacturingSEP 2024Trackside work on the car
Trackside work on the car. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_7081.jpg.
ManufacturingSEP 2024Car parked up after a run
Car parked up after a run. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_6980.jpg.
- MFG · FIG.018ManufacturingJUL 2024
Building the Accumulator, Safely
Manufacturing the HV accumulator: qualifying every cell through tab testing, assembling segments, and the harnessing and safety discipline that a 400V pack demands.
ManufacturingJUN 2024Rolling chassis in the shop
Rolling chassis in the shop. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_6001.jpg.
ManufacturingJUN 2024Car from above, packaging check
Car from above, packaging check. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_5981.jpg.
ManufacturingMAY 2024Harness and pack hardware staged
Harness and pack hardware staged. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_5912.jpg.
FirmwareMAY 2024Bench test rig with the dev board
Bench test rig with the dev board. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_5782.jpg.
ManufacturingFEB 2024CAD review at the workbench
CAD review at the workbench. Imported from the Portfolio album, source IMG_5643.jpg.
Photography
21 photos and films from the field: race cars, prairie storms, and Winnipeg at minus 30.
Open the gallery