I’m here to say that you can. I spent many years in pure, high level software, but about five years ago, got an interest in electronics. Started with a learning kit, but just kept at it and now a project like this, while impressive, is 100% within my understanding and, while not underestimating or discrediting the amount of work and ingenuity put in by the author, my abilities. You can do it! Look to places like SparkFun and Adafruit to get started.