Learning Experience

Shane:

Learning the importance of precision and patience in 3D printing through Autodesk Fusion 360 and overcoming setbacks from overlooked details.

I’ve done 3D printing before in secondary school, but it was nothing like the experience in the MnT course. Back then I worked with Tinkercad which was much simpler than Autodesk Fusion 360, and making the jump from one software to another was jarring at first. I did not expect the rigor of detail demanded by Autodesk, but at the same time the potential for precision in the software was very intriguing. I had to be more patient and careful when making models for printing, making sure I accounted for any awkward angles, what kind of load the piece would be bearing, or how to create enough tolerance for screw treads. Although we did not print a great many pieces for this project, the ones we made could take up to 5 hours to print which was rather unforgiving for any careless mistakes. On one occasion, I forgot to account for the thickness of tape holding two pieces of corrugated cardboard together as I assumed it was negligible. That width which I failed to account for caused enough strain to snap the 3D printed support that took the entire afternoon to print, costing us a significant delay. Through mistakes like these, the MnT course has taught me to be meticulous in my work and to not overlook any potential gaps in order to make the best use of my time and resources.

 

Shan Lyn:

This project was very daunting because I have no experience with building hardware from scratch and I was scared that I would not be able to contribute to the project or help my teammates. But I think I just tried to be present, learn as much as I can and try my best to understand what was going on. I really enjoyed building the bin together with my teammates and though the trial-and-error process was difficult, going through it together as a team and pulling through each challenge with perseverance was rewarding.

 

Tiffany: 

M&T was an interesting module full of new experiences for me. Personally, I had never worked on anything of this nature before: involving electronics, hands-on work with circuitry and assembling parts. I enjoyed the skills learnt such as soldering, which I don’t think I would have had the experience to pick up anywhere else! Working on bringing our ideas to life was a tricky process, as we had to think of how we could translate theoretical concepts, such as how we could detect the height of trash in the bin, into reality. There were also many errors along the way, such as loose connections, improper soldering, or when our hardware components simply stopped working. Identifying and resolving these errors were tedious as the root of the problem wasn’t always obvious. But with each error encountered and resolved, I definitely learnt something new: for example, upon first integrating our PCB into the circuit, we couldn’t find out why the ultrasonic sensors suddenly stopped working, despite verifying that all of them were perfectly functional and all connections were secure. It was only after Jeremy pointed it out that we realised this was due to improper soldering of the JST XH connectors to the PCB, something we always checked for from that point on. Overall, the project has really trained my problem solving skills, to think of alternative solutions to issues faced, and vastly expanded my knowledge of electronics and even taught me a little about IoT, through learning from my teammates. Despite the setbacks, the takeaways and satisfaction of seeing each component/prototype/final product work each time made the entire experience much more fulfilling.

 

Josiah:

Practical implementation requires attention to detail.

I faced this most when building the circuits, especially for the weight sensor circuits. For example, when we draw circuit diagrams on paper, we hardly must think about how the wires are connected, and whether they are secure – they are but lines that perfectly join to each other on the diagram, and we would never think that wires would cause any problems – they are assumed to be ideal, after all. But when implementing the circuit practically, we instead face problems like loose connections, broken cables, inadequate soldering cause intermittent connections etc. – things that a theoretical circuit analysis would not have accounted for. To solve these problems, we had to implement engineering and design measures, such as searching for more secure cable heads (JST XH 2.54mm connectors) and doing frequent testing with the Digital Multimeter (DMM) after soldering. In practical implementation, we must ensure through testing that things work as intended, and their functioning cannot be assumed, unlike in a theoretical argument.

Wesley:

Personal growth in IoT integration, mastering hardware, software, and cloud connectivity.

Through this project, I gained valuable experience integrating hardware and software into an IoT solution. Working with the Raspberry Pi camera, Arduino for weight and distance sensing, and developing a React Native app linked with Adafruit IO exposed me to data collection, real-time communication, and cloud-based control. I learned to work with sensors like the HX711 and ultrasonic sensors while solving issues such as slow sensor response and buffer management. Integrating these components into a mobile app and handling MQTT communication for real-time updates enhanced my understanding of system architecture and IoT cloud platforms. This project improved my technical and problem-solving skills in both IoT and mobile development.