Glen
M&T was definitely a very enriching experience for me. Even though I was part of the Robotics Club CCA back in secondary school, this module still challenged me in many ways, and I gained a lot of practical knowledge out of it. I learnt a lot about the nitty-gritty details about electronic circuitry, which I realised I actually did not know that much about, despite my robotics background. This is because back in secondary school, the robots that I made were quite modular in nature (think Lego Mindstorms, which you can just piece together like Lego blocks), whereas for M&T we had to build almost everything from scratch and wire them all up together. I gained a deeper understanding of how the various electronic components worked, and I was able to put into practice what I had learnt about circuits during Physics lessons. I also got some hands-on experience on skills like soldering.
I also learnt how to troubleshoot problems — a very useful skill considering one rarely encounters success straightaway most of the time. Indeed, our project’s path was far from smooth, and we had to overcome many obstacles before we could come up with our final product. For the electronic circuitry and programming (which I spent most of the time working on), one particularly effective way of troubleshooting was to isolate the problem. This meant taking apart the prototype or splitting up the code and testing the components one by one to see which part(s) is/are the one(s) causing the problem. Once the problematic component(s) is/are identified, we can then look for ways to rectify the issue. I found this method to be very useful and effective in helping us troubleshoot problems that we encounter, especially considering that our final product contains a lot of parts working together — isolating the problematic parts helps us to better identify the cause of the problem, and from there, we can look for possible solutions. I’m certain that this troubleshooting method would prove to be useful in other projects that I may work on in the future.
Bryan
I viewed the project we chose to embark on as one that was very challenging, especially since I did not have any prior experience with electronics, coding, or 3D printing. Over the course of the project, I feel that I have learnt the most in designing and creating a 3D product. I spent a lot of time on Fusion 360, with a lot of trial and error to figure out the best way to 3D model a workable product. I realised the need to be very detailed in my planning because a small measurement error or a misjudgement in the size of a certain hole needed for wiring could mean that I would have to reprint the entire 3D model, wasting time, effort and material in the process. Consequently, I also learnt to be smart in the way I design prototypes. For example, instead of making multiple holes on a 3D-printed attachment for a screw to fit through so that the position of the attachment could be adjusted relative to the fan body, it is more efficient to print the attachment with an elongated hole so that the screw can slide laterally for easy adjustment. This can help to save a lot of time when designing the product.
Other than 3D design, I also learnt how to solder wires onto circuit board components. Being rather clumsy with my hands, I struggled with holding the solder and the wire at the same time during soldering. However, after a few rounds of practice, I got better at it and I feel that it is a skill that I can apply in the future to fix ‘broken’ appliances. For example, I have discovered that many appliances that I deemed to be broken before simply had poor connectivity issues in their wiring. All I had to do to fix them was to take the appliance apart with a screwdriver and solder broken wires together, test for connectivity using the multi-meter and put everything back together. I feel that having the soldering skill under my belt would encourage me to fix broken appliances more often instead of throwing them away and purchasing a new replacement.
I also learnt how the voice-control element can be implemented in many home devices today, giving rise to an age of the Internet of Things (IoT), to create a more convenient environment to live in. This is done by using a Raspberry Pi’s (RPi) GPIO (General Input/Output) pins to control specific motors in a device. Python code on the RPi is used to control the state of the pins to control the voltage and current supplied to the motors. This code is triggered to run using a conjunction of the If This Then That (IFTTT) and Adafruit.io web services. Prior to this project, I had no idea that any of these web services existed and I did not know what a RPi was. Now, I learnt how each of them works and how the web services can be used to control code on the RPi and how this code can control electrical appliances to automate their operation. I also recognise the challenges that come with the software, including the need for constant debugging and trial and error. I also learnt that some web services (such as Particle.io) might not be very compatible with our RPi and that RPi + Adafruit.io is not the only way to do an IoT project, there are many alternatives that can be tried (e.g. using Arduino).
Overall, this project was a challenging and fulfilling experience that brought me out of my comfort zone to deal with electronics, code, and hardware design (all of which I was new to). At the same time, I grew to appreciate the thinking and hands-on process behind engineering a workable product and the satisfaction one can get from finally getting the device to work after failing in countless attempts.
Zann
During the past few months of the Making and Tinkering module, I have picked up a variety of hard skills and soft skills through this valuable learning experience. MnT is very different from what I usually do in research or in my own school’s modules, and thus I had learnt a lot as a person with essentially no background in design and no understanding of electrical components or coding.
For the hard skills, we had two main parts of our project, which is the hardware design and the software design. I was more heavily involved in hardware design, while my teammates were more involved in software design. During the design process, I understood more about some key elements and the process of prototyping, especially since our project had undergone many, many iterations to make the best possible design in the time that we had. The prototyping and fine-tuning of the design was also where we spend the bulk of our time. We had done up our attachment using Fusion360, which is an application I have never used before. I learnt about the different applications and features of the programme and this can be applied to future work such as in my research projects. I have learnt the skills to use Fusion360 and can now apply it to other projects other than this one. Other than 3D printing, I also learnt about the assembly process of parts such as screws and nuts and how to properly use certain tools and the difference between these tools. I am now more familiar with the existence and usage of tools, such as the difference between a standard screwdriver and a ball hex screwdriver, how to increase efficiency by using a wire stripper, and also health/safety precautions of using these tools or of 3D printing that we may often overlook. We had also experimented with different kinds of adhesives, giving me more knowledge on the benefits and limitations of some different materials.
On the electrical side, I learnt about circuits and the electrical components. I have very little background on this and was thus greatly enlightened. For example, I have never heard of a H bridge until this project, and I now understand roughly on how it works and how it is relevant to our project and accomplishing our goal. I was not heavily involved in the actual circuit assembly as that was primarily handled by my groupmates, but I had learnt the theory of it and also did some practical work. I learnt soldering and helped to assemble some parts of the circuit board using this newly picked-up skill.
Lastly, for the software development, this was largely handled by my groupmates Yu Yun and Glen. I have no background in this at all, and thus learnt a lot about the process of writing code and debugging. I also gained basic understanding of how the code works and although I may not be able to recreate the code, I am aware of the different components of the code and what each part does.
For soft skills, I learnt about the importance of communication and teamwork in a project such as this, especially when we are each working on different parts of the project simultaneously, especially when we have to take note of details such as size of components, the specifications of electronic parts, etc. Without proper communication and organization, we would not be able to successfully make our working prototype. We also needed a lot of patience and the willingness to learn, as our prototype had to be revised many times. We had also learnt to increase efficiency in our working, and how to maximize our limited time in the lab.
This was a rewarding experience overall.
Yu Yun
Having dabbled in 3D printing and Arduino, I was expecting MnT to be a platform to put what I had previously learnt to use, and also learn new skills along the way. Sure enough, my very very basic knowledge of electronics that I gleaned from my limited exposure before university and in my first year helped me greatly in the debugging process, but it was definitely not enough.
MnT was a rollercoaster of “WHY IS IT NOT WORKING” and “YES IT WORKED!”. I have learnt so much from the Tony and the TAs who were always there to help us in the tiresome debugging process. If I had to sum up my MnT journey and choose one thing that I really learnt from MnT, it would be the skill of debugging. Things never work the first time, and it’s important to know what to do when things don’t work. Isolating the problem, testing everything separately, replacing components, knowing how to check if something is working, knowing when to give up and having a plan B. These were the valuable things that I have learnt throughout these months.
As the only engineering student (Fake EEE student) in my MnT group, I also felt responsible for making sure that our project worked in the end, but I also wanted my groupmates to learn as much as they could about what we were doing, so I made some opportunities for them to try some hands-on electrical engineering stuff like soldering, and explained how the connections work. Trying to explain these things to people who might have never touched or experienced it before in their life deepened my own understanding of them as well.