The past 20 weeks of working on this project has taught us many valuable lessons. Here are some of our biggest takeaways!

 

Bing Hong

Throughout the MnT process, there were many hard skills learnt, such as fluid dynamic modelling, coding and understanding code, and hands-on making of things (from 3Dprinting to circuit wiring). Soft skills include patience, troubleshooting, and brainstorming for solutions.

A memorable experience I had was the ‘soldering sweatshop’ my team went through, where we spent a good 1-2 hours soldering all the wires we used in our prototype. A challenge faced was realising the infeasibility of our initial ideas, and coming up with solutions to tackle those issues. The balance struck between desired target outcomes and realistic feasibility is a fine line to tread, and the MnT process has helped me appreciate the work and thought behind many things in life.

Zhen Xuan

One major skill that I picked up throughout the course of the MnT project was the use of CODESYS. Initially, having had some experience in Python and C++, I thought CODESYS might have been something similar. However, I have come to realise that CODESYS emphasises a lot more on the logic of the program as compared to the actual coding and programming terms. It was difficult at first, but after some help from peers, seniors and Tony, it gradually became easier for me to debug and re-organise the code at the end and I was more accustomed to using CODESYS as a programming language. Using CODESYS has broadened my skills in coding and sharpened the logic behind my programming.

One major challenge I faced was also due to CODESYS. There were many instances where the connection between the CODESYS application and the Raspberry Pi refused to function as per normal and it got frustrating each time it happened. It would often hamper the group’s progress and I would feel guilty. However, I received a lot of help from the seniors and Tony in the MnT lab which helped me to solve this issue, and I have learnt to solve this issue and currently it is running without a major hitch (yay)!

Deborah

The MnT process was certainly a fruitful one for me – I learnt many hard skills such as fluid dynamic modelling, 3D printing and circuitry. These are skills that are vastly different from my major or research projects and thus made this project a rare opportunity for me to try something new. Being thrown out of my comfort zone also meant that the learning curve to becoming adept with these softwares and skills was quite steep, with much of my learning being done independently through YouTube or Google. It was challenging to learn something that was not intuitive to me and difficult for me to have the discipline to even start learning these skills. However, the journey was not all boring and difficult. One of the most memorable experiences was  during our earlier phases of our project, where our set-up still required a hot and cold water reservoir. As we spent much of our time testing our prototype outdoors, we also spent a significant amount of time near Mother Nature. Or rather, near the small plant that grew in the drain. Thus, each time we finished our testing, we made it a point to water the plant using the water in from our set-up!

Bing Hong watering our beloved plant

Justin

Over the course of Making and Tinkering, one major skill that I have picked up would be Arduino coding. It was a major challenge learning coding as there was quite little guidance, and even though it was not applied in our project eventually, I think that it could come in handy in the future. One of the more memorable experiences that I had during my time in this module was this one time where my team and I were attempting to solder Y junctions in an effort to create a branch. This was a challenging task, but having my team there with me made it easier. Owing to the COVID-19 situation, making and tinkering brought on an unexpected challenge which was that of time management and additional stress. The additional hours spent working on the project was arduous, but with sufficient rest and optimism, I eventually managed to cope with the stress.