YAY!

I know this update is ridiculously late, but anyway...

WE WON!

I mean we won the...

*drumroll*

THIRD PRIZE FOR THE BEST RESEARCH AWARD!

Yippeeyahoowhoopee!

All that effort and late nights were worth it. Really.



WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO:

-YOU! (duh)

-Mr Shaun Yong for everything he did.

-Mr Ho Ah Chai for jolting us back to proper work.

-The judges (Especially for research. and, for technical interviews)Especially especially the one who rated our research 98% during the first round of interviews.

-The very friendly lady who somehow became Jael's friend

-Judge Ross, who probably helped us win this award by saying something good about us?

-The schoolgirl from some other secondary school who kindly bought one $1 bookmark from us. (she was our only customer.)

-The RI guys who gave us the yellow Stikfas toy. FOR FREE! So nice of them lah. Mr Yong used it to teach us about C.G. (note: I know broke the Stikfas toy. Sorry!)

-everyone else who helped us, in any way.


OH YES. Our celebration!
We had this insanely expensive and sumptuous lunch with Mr Yong at Billy Bombers, at Century Square!

But of course, we are not millionaires. I had a voucher.

At the end of the lunch, Mr Yong KINDLY & GENEROUSLY offered take the entire bill on his credit card.

But of course, we are Gracious TKGians who would feel bad about that. So we went on dutch.



I would like to thank all of you for being such great team members. Nice working with all of you! Also, I want to apologise to Mr Yong for dropping the Robotics Kit at the carpark of the Science Centre. I understand fully how much effort it took you to meticulously arrange all those miniscule lego pieces. I am REALLY SORRY that I ruined your effort by only holding the cover of the box. =p

Finally, good luck to our juniors, group I Didn't Do It. Mr Yong came up with this name for them because he thought that it was sort of a continuation...

"I think somebody out there..."

"I DIDN'T DO IT!"

There you have it. The continuation. =D

Meeting 9 Date: 23-8-06

Time: 3.00pm to 6.30pm
Venue: Computer Lab 4
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: Syazana


Theme: Loss of a group member; Completion of Robot


Today’s training session was one that we would never forget. Aiming to complete the building of the robot, we stayed focus throughout, with the help with some classical music in the background.

We worked hand in hand, with a common goal in mind. Slowly but steadily, we fixed the completed parts of the robot into the desired structure. It was no mean feat as support had to extend throughout the whole robot, not just concentrated at one spot. At times, the components just went crashing to the ground. We added nuts to tighten the joints of the robot to ensure maximum stability.

Finally, we added the 3 motors. Eureka! The robot was completed. We proceeded to the 2-D mission field where we tested the robot with the program we programmed. We realized that the one of the 3 gears refused to move, affecting the movement of the whole robot. After much investigation, we realized that the motors were the main problem as they were of different speeds. As it was time to go, we left with a heavy heart, hoping that the motors could be changed by the next session and that programming could be done.

To add to our misery, our group leader Syazana tendered her resignation due to the heavy commitment she had in her CCA. We respected her decision. From all of us at Somebody-out-there, we would like to say and big thank you to you for your time and effort and wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Well, this session was certainly an unforgettable and stressful one. With two weeks to go before the day of the competition, can we make a strong comeback? Only time will tell…








Meeting 10 Date: 25-8-06

Time: 3.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Science Centre
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: None



Theme: Entering the Programming Stage

As we count down to competition day, our minds were still very much on the programming segment.

Starting off with the changing of the motors and a slight modification, we were back on track to achieve what we all wanted. However, the construction took quite a long time due to certain problems encountered. The programmers moved on to program the second mission.

Soon, the robot was completed and programming finally began. To our dismay, the robot started was turning in the wrong direction. It was not what we expected to happen as this program worked fine during the past few trials on the 2-D mission field. What could be worse when the robot stumbled and landed on its back upon going down a platform?

We reexamined to program to see if any modifications could be made or if any part of it was incorrect. As this is the new software we are using, the features are rather different. On the matter regarding the instability of the robot, the builders wasted no time in extending the length of the robot by adding 2 small wheels to support its landing.

Testing the robot continued with several failed attempts and hardly any successful attempts. However, with the new robot structure, we had to edit the program that we had used to suit the robot features. E.g. the robot lifts the antennae by simply moving backwards instead of the initial move to lift it up with claws.

Alright, time passes quickly, even more so when you are in need of it. We were forced to stop work, pack up and return to school. It was a big relief for all that we had begun testing the program. Hopefully, the flaw in the program could be discovered in due time.





Meeting 11 Date: 26-8-06

Time: 11.00am to 1.30pm
Venue: Science Centre
Members present: Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: Julia, Xinyi



Theme: Getting Wacky with Mission 2

After submitting our school flag to the receptionist, we proceeded to the mission field. In great shock, we discovered that we were using Mission 2 today. Thankfully, we had the program ready.

After transmitting the program into the RCX, we began on our quest downhill, attempting the task that required the robot to go down a steep gradient. Guess what, the robot went tumbling down. In a bid to rescue the robot, Jael dived just in time to prevent a tragic ending. Phew!

Learning from the mistakes, we carried out robot modification by once again adjusting the length as well as rearranging the positions of motors. Once these were done, we tried the task again. This time the robot had mo problems going downhill, however, we realized that it would not move in a straight line, slanting to one side instead. The extension also caused much problem, preventing the smooth movement of the robot.

Spending quite some time on correcting the program, it improved slightly and we moved on to the activation of the lift. What was hilarious was that Jael sacrificed by stepping into the water-filled mission field to raise the platform, which will then transport the robot to level ground. We had a great time testing out the robot during this section as it tickled to see the funny responses of the robot. Out robot even lost balance and fell straight into the water. That had probably caused the RCX to go cranky.

Upon opening the RCX, water immediately flowed out. I presumed that we had bid farewell to one of our many RCXs. Haha… however, as the saying goes” If you never try, you will never know”. I guess it applies in this situation as well.

Even though not everything went smoothly today, we had noted down what went wrong and has to be improved. These matters will be discussed as a group during the next session. That’s all for now!

Meeting 8 Date: 19-8-06

Time: 11.00am to 3.00pm
Venue: Science Centre
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: Syazana


Theme: Building what we call a “Tri-robot”

Making a trip down to Science Centre once again, we immediately focused on completing the robot. Due to everyone’s busy weekday schedule, progress has been slower than expected.

First, added a few more layers to the base of the robot, raising the position of the RCX. A team member came up with a brilliant idea, or rather a 2-in-1 idea. She suggested that each side of the robot should have a wheel each. The special feature lies with the wheels which are about the same shape and size of a “ketuput”. The materials needed for 1 wheel are as follows:

v 3 small gears
v Tractor rubber grooved band
v Connecting sticks and pieces
v 4 long Lego pieces

The advantages of this design are the fact that it does not only facilitate for the height but also the stability of the robot, especially in the second mission. Well, we shall let you imagine how it looks like, no pictures shall be posted. The final outcome can only be viewed on competition day! Let your imaginations run wild!

Constructing went on rather smoothly. During this training session, everybody was feeling very down and anxious as we have yet to finalize the design of the robot. Construction is on full-swing though and should be completed by the next training session as we foresee more brain-cracking problems during the programming stages.

Just a special catch phrase to end in style. “天下无难事，只怕有心人” This is a Chinese saying that nothing is impossible if you put your best foot forward! Thus, SOMEBODY-OUT-THERE, look ahead towards a brighter prospect as the fate is in our hands!

Meeting 7 Date: 18-8-06

Time: 3.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Science Centre
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: Syazana

Theme: Learning by observing

It was our second trip to the Singapore Science Centre. However, this time the atmosphere was a lot more different as compared to our previous visit. As the day of competition draws closer, teams from many other schools too flocked to make use of the 3-D mission fields. After several attempts, we manage to find a power point and set up the laptop. We followed our teacher’s advice, to observe and learn from other teams’ good points as well as to avoid mistakes made by the teams. In this way, we gained more insights on how to build and program the robot more efficiently.

Next, we settled down to work, splitting work into 2 parts, namely building and programming. The builders were hard at work, trying to improve on the structure of the robot after observing and gathering the necessary requirements. Below were some points what they noted down:

• RCX could be relocated to the upper portion of the robot rather than following the conventional way (Mission 2)
• Wheels for both missions could vary to facilitate for smooth movement of the robot in the 2 missions.
• Expand the width and length for the extension(for collecting buoys) for the robot

As for programming, we completed the 1st mission. In the meantime, we looked into the tutorials portion of the ROBOLAB software. We also realized that we should have gone through the tutorials even programming, but it was not too late. Through this, we found new features that we had not discovered before. We also learnt to program the robot more efficiently. Thus, the skills obtained better prepare us as we moved into editing the 1st mission.

The day did not end too well as the new robot could not withstand the pressure exerted by the RCX while on the field and collapsed. However, we were not discouraged but were determined to reconstruct it again during the next training session. Look forward to better days ahead!

Meeting 6 Date:16-8-06

Time: 3.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Computer Lab 4
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael, Syazana
Members absent: None



Theme: Really getting down to Serious Work

With a week to go before the deadline for the submission of the research and journal portfolios, we combined all our work together neatly into a PowerPoint presentation. With that, a member from our group volunteered to do the finishing touches for the slides at home.

Next, we got down into our individual task and worked like we have never worked before. Knowing that as the day of competition draws closer, we could not rest on our laurels. We were very focused on our respective tasks and manage to achieve quite a bit. Below is just a short summary on what we did:

Xinyi => Worked on the template and layout of the website
Jael => Edited part of research, improved robot structure
Syazana => Did her area for the research
Julia and Chun Ling => Programmed the robot

Well, everything went rather fine except for the programming of the robot. After umpteen times of failure, we realized that the pods on the robot were connected wrongly. Heaving a sigh of relief, all the others assisted the programmers. Finally, we succeeded in programming the robot for the first part of the mission. Due to time constraints, we had to put our work off to the next training session.

Overall, we were very satisfied with what we achieved today and hope to achieve greater heights in the next few training sessions. Kudos to all!

New Layout! =D Yayyy!~

Hey everyone!

Hope you all like the brand new layout! =D Spent quite alot of time on it. Abit of brain-cracking too. =P

I would like to thank all the members of SOT, you all rock! Because you all bore with my constant irritating questions of "what colour should the background be?" etc.

Hope to get the shirts done by next week, so that we can wear them.

We're going to the science centre tomorrow and on saturday... two consecutive days of brain-twisting and programming. Hehe. I can't wait.
Why can't I wait? Because... *drumroll*

I was so busy with the website and the shirt that I didn't have time for programming! Sorry chunling and julia! Wei3 qu1 ni men liao! >_<>
syazana is back!!! YIPPEE!
k lah, I shall end the post of my thoughts now. Cya all tomorrow!

xinyi

Meeting 5 Date: 11-8-06

Time: 2.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Computer Lab 3
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: Syazana


Theme: Research, research and more research


What an afternoon we would never forget! We became researchers, not those you would find in science labs though. This session was dedicated specially to completing the research that we are supposed to submit by 23rd August.

We started off by allocating the different portions of research to each member before setting off to work. To keep us going, we played soothing National Day songs to keep us going. (Just 2 days after National Day. Forever patriotic are we!)
Wanting to come up with a detailed and original research, we really put in our hundred percent not only in sourcing information from reliable websites, but also read up encyclopedias and archive newspaper articles to guide us.

Besides that, presentation of the research is another essential component. Using Photoshop CS software, we were able to create much better text effects as well as background to compliment the slides.

Surely, a robotics session would not be one without the activation of our robots. We tried and made sure that our robot was still in good condition. We also uploaded our journals onto the half-completed website.
Before we called it a day, we decided that the deadline for the research is on the following Wednesday. The design of the T-shirt should also be up by then. Till next week, see ya!

席慕容《无题》

爱原来为的就是相聚
为的是不再分离
若有一种爱是永不能
相见
永不能启口
就好像永不能燃烧起的
火种孤独地
凝望着黑暗的天空

分享快乐和痛苦

在寒冷的夜里，你也许惦念着还没回家的家人，你也许想起了白天在巷口徘徊的流浪狗，你也许担心没有温暖被窝的星星挂在天边发抖，你记挂着很多令你烦心的事情，你想念着令你怀念的人，因此你睡不着了，你走进了雪地,感受了流浪狗遭遇的冷空气,感受了不能回家的家人所感到的寂寞，于是你将自己的温暖分一点点给星星，将自己的寂寞也告诉星星，因此，星星不冷了，它安心的睡着了，你不寂寞了，也满足的睡着了。
分享是交朋友的好方法，分一块蛋糕给你的朋友，当你和朋友都有蛋糕吃的时候，你们不但可以互相分享蛋糕的滋味，还可以分享彼此的笑容。
寂寞和痛苦也可以和人分享，听取别人的经验，对照自己的境遇，可以使自己暂时脱离自己扮演的角色，而能以客观的第三者立场，来评断分析自己所面对的情境。
将来有机会，当朋友遭遇困难时，你也可以提出自己的心得供对方参考。
就像空气是流动的一样，人们的快乐和痛苦也随着空气流动，散布到各处。我们不会一个人独自快乐或痛苦， 因为我们在呼吸， 也在分享。
强陷在自己的烦恼里，几乎无法动弹，但是当你知道你的对手有了更大的麻烦时，自己的麻烦更烟消云散了。本来人生的旅途就是不断克服困难的过程，就是因为克服了新的困难，人才能不停地向前进。如果，在遇到A烦恼时，便安慰自己至少不必面对B烦恼，如此就能好受一点了。
人人都承受着压力，只是种类和程度不同罢了。=]

Meeting 4 Date: 4-8-06

Time: 2.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Computer Lab 4
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: Syazana


Theme: All ready and raring to go!

Continuing from where we ended, we seek help from our administrative officer regarding the unlocking of certain systems. Realizing that the ROBOLAB software had been replaced by version 2, known as LEGO MINDSTORMS, we had to begin programming from scratch. No qualms that it was painstaking. However, after exploring the and analyzing how to use it, we were glad that programming is now made easier due to the additional features present in the software.

Soon, we were back on track, transmitting programmes from the transmitter to the robot. All started well, with the robot moving smoothly along the routes we planned. Since the first task requires the pushing of an antenna to send a signal, we extended the front of the robot, added an extra motor as well as incorporated a touch sensor on the extended portion. The extended portion will be programmed to move downwards to push the antenna once the touch sensor detects the presence of it. Cool, isn’t it? We thought it was creative.

Next came the tricky part whereby the robot had to collect 5 buoys from different places and drop them into a common base. In order to reduce error, we had to work on the same route to each buoy at least thrice as 0.1second makes a big difference to the progress of the robot. We also standardized the starting position of the robot to minimize error.

However, to our dismay, we realized that the “improved” robot did not move as efficiently as the previous one (before we made changes), often going off course. We pondered and brainstormed on what might have caused this to happen. Here are the factors that we thought of:
o One side of the robot was heavier than the other
o Improper positioning of RCX caused the centre of gravity of the robot to be high, thus being unstable
o Moved slower as the mass has increased
o Increased friction due the a little obstruction on the wheels

Well, I guess that life has got its ups and downs. We may never have discovered anything if we did not be bold enough to explore. How then did you think scientists make their breakthroughs? In conclusion, the learning journey is more important than the results we attain!

Meeting 3 Date: 2-8-06

Time: 2.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Computer Lab 4
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: Syazana



Theme: All ready and raring to go!

Yes! Finally after much planning, we settled down to work, I mean design the programme. First, we installed the ROBOLAB software into the two laptops we would be using for the rest of the competition. Meanwhile, with help of the 2-D map, we used markers to label and make markings to help us picture the actual field better. We recorded the estimated timings needed for the robot to travel from one point to another as well as confirmed the routes taken by it.

Being left without an instructor this year, we had to fend for ourselves and make up for much lost timing. The going always gets tough but it has been tougher since the element water is involved. After taking recordings, we made a little adjustment to the features of the robot, adding extra extended mini wheels for better landing and securing the plastic cup holder onto the robot. We tightened a few loosened parts.

After the completion of the installation, we moved straight into programming. This time, we managed to complete half of the programme. We were very pleased. However, our happiness was short-lived when we found out that there appeared to be problems in the transmission of the programme into the robot. The transmitter, which is an external device, has to be unlocked by the school administrator.

As training was ending in 15 minutes, we decided to seek help from the administrator during the next training session. We ended up discussing on the design of the T-shirt that we wanted as a team. We also viewed the layout of the website and suggest ways it can be improved and other things that should be included.

Alright, I dare say we are one step closer to completing the website and programming. Bear in mind, tougher challenges lie ahead! Jia You!

Meeting 2 Date: 28-7-06

Time: 3.00pm to 5.00pm
Venue: Singapore Science Centre
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling, Jael
Members absent: Syazana

Theme: 3-D Mission Field at First Sight

With our spirits soaring high, we made our way to the Science Centre to view the mission field for the first, at least for most of us. Upon arrival, we were lead to a special area on the second level dedicated specially to the users of the mission fields. As we were the only school present, we were privileged to be able to utilize the whole premise.

First, we studied the mission field carefully, scrutinizing every nook and corner, for fear of missing any tiny details. We realized that the wheels of the robot must have a large surface area in contact with the ground as well as light upper body to give it maximum stability. The length should also be extended to ensure that the robot makes a smooth journey down the slope.

We split ourselves into two groups: one group constructed the robot while the other made necessary adjustments to the routes which we planned on paper during the previous session. We had to work closely together to ensure that the structure of the robot suited the way it was to be programmed, e.g. inserting of light sensors, touch sensors etc.

We went on to record measurements of the water level and length of the taken routes. Lastly, we creatively came up with a simple design, which resembles a miniature bridge, to hold the plastic cup for the water collection expedition. Below is what it looks like:
By the time you know it; two hours had already past. We had a debrief session to sum up what we had done and what was left to be completed. Finally, we packed up and left on a high note.

Meeting 1 Date: 26-7-06

Time: 4.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Computer Lab 4
Members present: Julia, Xinyi, Chun Ling
Members absent: Jael, Syazana


Theme: Overall preview of the whole lineup

Oh, what a fruitful first meeting we had. With roles already being assigned, we gathered to discuss on our aims and ideas for the various segments of the competition.

Though only three of us turned up, we put our heads together and drew out a simple plan. We viewed the 2-D mission field provided and analyzed possible routes which we could program the robot to follow. By viewing the 2-D mission field briefly, we manage to come up with a few conclusions regarding the structure of the robot.

Next, we confirmed the layout and completed the final draft of the website on paper. Moving on to work on the write-up, we did a thorough research on the given topic “Crude Oil”. There were certain brain-cracking questions that we had to ponder over. We surf reliable websites to obtain certain key information that we required. Furthermore, we brainstormed on the format, presentation and the facts that should be included in a good write –up.

To sum up the whole session, we ensured the even distribution of tasks and set the dead lines for viewing the pieces of work. Absent members would also be informed on what we discussed. That’s all for now! Bye!