C
Caleb J. Carlson
LinkedIn

Engineering & Builds

Electrical Engineering student at UMN-Duluth with a focus on PLC logic, embedded hardware, and critical infrastructure systems.

Engineering Projects

PLC Functional Block Diagram

4-Zone Heating Controller

Multi-zone HVAC simulation built in Siemens LOGO! Soft Comfort. Features precise hysteresis control and HMI setpoints.

Control Strategy: Utilized analog comparators to maintain a 3°F hysteresis band, preventing rapid relay switching of heating elements.

Safety Logic: Integrated master E-stop overrides and simulated analog sensors to model real-world thermal zone behavior.

Siemens LOGO! PLC Programming HVAC Controls
Solar Garden Final Build

Solar Automatic Garden System

Off-grid 50W IoT system using an Arduino Portenta to manage watering schedules via a custom web server.

Hydraulics: Designed a custom reservoir with one-way valves and four 5V pumps to ensure zero backflow and consistent pressure across irrigation lines.

Connectivity: The Portenta runs a web-based dashboard allowing for manual watering overrides and real-time monitoring of system stats.

Arduino Portenta IoT Web Interface Solar Power

Critical Infrastructure Analysis

Practical insight into large-scale power, district energy, and high-reliability backup systems.

UMD Steam Plant

UMD Steam Plant

Analysis of boiler plant operations, fuel redundancy, and underground steam tunnel distribution.

Duluth Energy Systems

Duluth Energy Systems

Study of district heating generation, pulverized coal systems, and emission reduction scrubbing.

Essentia Generator Plant

Essentia Health

Inspection of 4×1600 kW Caterpillar 3516B diesel generators and medical air backup facilities.

Professional History

Owner & Founder

MAR 2025 — PRESENT

Carlson Solutions LLC

Engineering and installing custom network infrastructure and security arrays. Specialized in root-cause analysis for embedded security controllers and low-voltage distribution.

Chief Operating Officer

SEP 2025 — PRESENT

Hoffworks Painting Services LLC

Directing financial reporting and business operations to optimize company growth and efficiency.