Cam Soper
Sr. Content Developer, Microsoft
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
While in high school, Cam was getting paid for writing code and playing jazz (but not necessarily at the same time!). After flirting with several career paths in college, he decided to stick with what he knew.
Cam's development and IT career began in 1991 when a small town computer consultant took Cam, then 13 years old, as his apprentice. After graduating from Missouri State University in 1999, Cam worked as a trainer, adjunct professor, and freelance developer until he took a full-time developer job in the financial services industry in 2000.
In 2012, Cam achieved his childhood dream of joining Microsoft as a travelling support engineer, where he helped companies and public institutions of all sizes deploy software for .NET and Azure. He is currently part of the Microsoft Skilling team, where he writes content about Azure and .NET for Microsoft Learn. Cam is also one of the co-hosts of the weekly On .NET Live livestream.
Cam lives in Kansas City, Missouri, USA with his wife, three sons, two dogs, two cats, and various small pets. His hobbies include video games, 3D printing, home automation, and leveraging technology to make delicious food.
Area of Expertise
Topics
🔥 Smokin' .NET to Perfection 🔥 Building a smart wood pellet smoker with Raspberry Pi and .NET
Kansas City, Missouri, the Paris of the Plains, is known for jazz, culture, history, fountains… and especially barbecue! Every Kansas Citian has strong opinions on which local BBQ joint is best and which spices and sauces to use when barbecuing at home. Those who are truly serious about barbecue invest in their own smoker.
So what does a Kansas City geek do when his wood pellet smoker isn’t performing up to expectations?
Come see how I created a custom controller for my wood pellet smoker using .NET, a Raspberry Pi, and a soldering iron. The result is a smoker that’s smarter about how it cooks your food. It notifies you when your food is cooked or if there’s a problem with the fire. You’ll leave this session with your curiosity satisfied, but your hunger for ribs piqued!
I’ll cover:
- The hardware I used
- The code, including an industrial process algorithm in .NET
- How I've integrated the smoker into my home automation system, including Alexa
- My secret rib recipe*
* Not really.
🪄 Sorcery 101 🔮 Become a wizard by automating your home
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
― Arthur C. Clarke
Back to the Future Part 2 (1989) predicted that houses of 2015 would be automated, including homes that greeted you on entry and carried out chores based on your vocal commands. The future it predicted was seamless and integrated.
Does it look like we're there in 2023? While "smart" devices are ubiquitous, are we really using them in "smart" ways? Do our smart home devices help us, or does their potential get overshadowed by their complexity?
In this session, I'll teach you the basics of what you need to know to leverage your existing IT skills and knowledge to integrate your smart home devices into a responsive, reactive digital organism--A wizard's castle to rival Mickey's Fantasia adventure!
Using my own home for examples and demos, you'll learn about:
- Common IoT protocols used by smart devices, including Z-Wave, ZigBee, WiFi, and Matter
- The role of free and open source tools like Home Assistant, Mosquitto, Zwave JS UI, and zigbee2mqtt in building your dream smart home
- Examples of how I've applied these technologies in unique and interesting ways in my own home, including with my own code
You'll leave this session inspired and equipped to make magic of your own!
Notes for organizers: I really really need a stable internet connection for this one, since I intend to remote home and show off my actual network. Wired ethernet is best, obviously, but reliable WiFI will do. I'll prepare videos as a backup plan.
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