Internship week 9

The ninth week of my internship.

I have been focusing on the software portion of my product for the past two weeks. Finally i have been able to get the object to move in the Unity 3D with little or no drifting during the use of the MPU 9150. The past few weeks i have been researching on the equation however there is another way of doing so by filling the buffer of the MCU (micro controller unit) so that the stability of the object would increase. The directions of movements are also correct and i finally got a code working in the way that i want mine final product to do or act.

There has been a part that is missing from my progress which is the real actualization part of my product, i have been focusing on the software and mostly neglecting the hardware part. I spent the other half of the week getting my hands dirty to start doing my product. I started doing the soldering of the Blend Micro board on the strip board. I then carried on soldering the switch on the strip board and to ensure that the switch works. The information that i learned in Polytechnic really helped me alot but i had to practice more as i have not been doing any soldering since the last semester. I then planned how to solder on the remaining parts of the product.

On Friday, we also met up with the mentor of my Lean LaunchPad group, Mr Kang Choon Seng, the Senior VP/ Head, Services BU. Both my supervisor and i met up with him in the office and we discussed about our product. we discussed on the feasibility of our product and whether there is a need in the market for the product. We also discussed which field we should go into, entertainment or health and etc. and which market contains the most opportunities and has a middle to low barrier of entry. Since the LLP programme will not start till January, thus we decided to discuss further in depth when the official thing started. He encouraged us to continue working on the product as it has great potential and we should work on it. He also said that we could ask for his help or opinion if we needed any of it. He said he could help us with the communication of the sensor to the cloud or computer.

This sums up the ninth week of my internship.

internship week 8

The eighth week of my internship here at NUS.

Last week, we used a code which was based on the basic Euler angles of the object in real space. By calculating the different accelerometer and gyroscope values on their respective x, y and z axis resulting in roll pitch yaw as mentioned last week. However the code was too unstable for my application thus i embarked on a journey to find another of such code which is more stable. Thus i saw a video online regarding a HMD head tracker device which was what i wanted with my device. They used another program named FREEPIE which was a programmable input emulator which was able to read the ahrs data from the 9dof( nine degree of freedom and it would act accordingly to the movement of a mouse on the computer. I then begin researching and found many codes online however i could not get most of it to work as due to many varying reasons such as different Arduino IDE versions to the lack of library resources, I then tried to get the algorithm in the codes as it may be very helpful to our super jittery code which we were using currently. I then recorded it down so that i could provide it as a reference to the undergraduate when he comes into the office on Wednesday.


I worked with him when he came into the office. We were both helpless on how to get the code going as we could not find any useful sources online. Most of it was either too jittery, too unstable or in some binary output values which we would not understandable to us. We both tried to understand the algorithm within but to no avail. We knew we ould not use Euler angles as it would result in a problem of Gimbal Lock, which is the locking of any two angles in the rotation axis and rendering the last available axis useless no matter where it turns. The original code that we use resulted in crashes when we turned too much too a certain degree example too much to the left. I was not too good with the programming portion as i really could not understand some of the codes online. We both decided that we would continue on with our individual research and would meet up again next week to discuss about any new finding in the code.

 
Thus i could not touch much of the software part, i then started developing the hardware portion of my project. My supervisor advised me to put an equal amount of effort and time on both the hardware and software portion as it was both equally important, he also told me to manage my time so that i do not put too much focus on a single portion. I then started designing and decorating my 3d printed casing, My supervisor provided me with a can of spray paint and i started using it. I found ot that once dried the spray paint would give a matte finishing which was not something i wanted, I wanted a more glossy finish to it. I also found out that spray paint would not spread out evenly on uneven surfaces thus i decide to hand paint it myself with acrylic paint. Without the materials, i went down on Friday to the Artfriend at Bras Besah to get the glossy finish and paint. i decided to leave the paining to next week s it would take time for the object to dry.

I believe the software problem would not be too huge of a a problem as many people are already doing it online thus i believe with the right code, i would be able to get mine working as well. The hardware portion was also easy as it was just the painting of the external case. I believe that my product is progressing well. I inten to start on the circuitry of the product next week. That sums up my eighth week here. Half of my internship is over and i look forward to the second half of it. I must complete my work before the end of my internship.

Internship week 7

The seventh week of my internship here at NUS

I begin the software designing part for my product. What i had to do was to find some way to communicate between the arduino IDE and the Unity 3D application so that icould move a virtual object by moving my product.

The first few days i researched on the various ways to do so. Getting different codes from online sources such as Github and even the Arduino forum so that i could print raw data out from my MPU 9150 such as accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer data so that i could use it for further development and coding into the Unity 3D. I found out some things was not as simple as it seems as the user may be using a certain version or a certain library which was available at the moment thus for you to be able to get the same results, you would have to download all the separate libraries. I ended up with a whole lot of different libraries from various users on Github. Slowly but eventually, i found the right code to be able to print the raw datas.

i then carried on researching for the way unity 3D reads the information provided and found out that there were many methods but however transferring data serially was the best option forward as the information tend to be the most reliable as compared to sending it over the air via Bluetooth. I then started to research on how to compile a code which was able to fit my application. I was totally clueless as i really did not know how to start. Fortunately, there was an undergraduate which was also helping my supervisor at the same time and he was from the faculty of computer programming in NUS. M supervisor told me to work with him to come out with a code so that i could get the desired effect. His help was greatly appreciated i could finally get a start on the programming. By using simple equations we could calculate the roll, pitch and yaw which were values used to calculate the rotation of the object.

However after finally getting it to work, we found out that there was something wrong with the code such that when we tilt the MPU 9150 to the left and right, it would give different variation on the Unity 3D image. Also the image were quite unstable as the raw data keep changing irregularly. We then proceeded to solve the problem in the code. I found that there were errors in the code he used and we edited that specific line to get all the orientations working in the right directions. The other problem had to pushed to next week as he would only come to the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

This sums up my week at NUS as the coding really spend up a lot of my time, from researching on the different algorithms to troubleshooting the code so that it is accurate. It was also a new learning experience for me as we had very little exposure to cross platforms programming such as from Arduino to Unity 3D in our DEB modules. I dod not touch much of the hardware portion as i was kept busy in the office the whole week.

Slowly but steadily, the end product and its application is taking shape. This really encourages me to carry on to work hard so that the product would be a success.

Internship week 6

The sixth week of my internship here at NUS CUTE Center. Since the change of microcontroller board that i have mentioned last week, i have been busy downloading all the different libraries which is needed for the board and all the examples which will be needed for the sensors and screen to work. While downloading, i came across a website named codebender which is exactly like the Arduino IDE and it allows the user to program the microcontroller board however this website is unique such that the website downloads al the necessary drivers required for all the board that they support to work. They also support a wide variety of boards, from Arduino Uno and even the ATmega board. this greatly reduced the time which was required for me to download the installer and i was wondering why it took me so long to discover a website which was so useful. It also has its own existing library which contains the similar codes to the Arduino IDE. You may think i have to pay like a certain membership fee to be able to use this website however this website is also completely open source and free for all users, all you have to do is to have an account with them. 

I also began soldering the header pins to the controller board but due to my lousy soldering skills, i accidentally damaged the board which my supervisor provided for me. That resulted in me going down to the local Singapore distributor of the board, Sgbotics. They provide a wide variety of microcontrollers to students and professionals who requires such technology. They even provide 3D printing machines. My supervisors were very understanding and did not reprimand me for my costly errors and told me they would cover the cost and i would be able to reimburse the costs of the board. I then heaved a sigh of relief as i thought i would have to pay for it myself as i was the person who damaged it.

By Thursday, i got the screen working and all the other sensors working as this board is an easier board as it is a more similar board compared to the Arduino. i was able to find codes and examples online which aid me greatly in doing the programming. I started to think of applications for my screen and the first thing that came to mind would obviously be a clock as this basically is a wearable technology. i started thinking of a way to get the time of the day however without using a RTC, real time clock module which would use up more ports and increase the size of the watch. Thus i started research and found out that it was able to get a serial timing to the Arduino as long as you connect it to a computer and thus i was able to get a digital clock to show the time of the day. In the following days, i will use it to display on the LCD screen.

As i was going back to Singapore Polytechnic for napfa on Friday evening, that basically concludes my sixth week of internship here. Hope that everything will turn out fine and i would have something to handover by the end of my internship here.

internship week 5

Fifth week of my internship here. Progress has been good and continuous. I have ordered a few devices from Adafruit such as the screen and the USB dongle. I connected up the screen to the breadboard to show a few images. The applications of this screen would obviously be to show a clock face or certain images. I also installed the dongle to my laptop. I also boght a Google Nexus 4 smartphone so i could go into researching of the applications market. To my surprise, there have already been several completed or testing Android applications which uses the Bluetooth LE function to communicate with the board such as Nordic Bluetooth application or the Red Bear Lab Bluetooth controller which are all quite cool. I plan to do something like that for my product. That's the end of my update to the hardware part.

I also had to send my prototype for printing in Singapore Polytechnic. I designed a C4D object which would be the body of my product. Initially i thought i could get to use the rapid prototyping room in SP to do the printing, however when i went down the lab technician told me i had to get approvals to use the 3D printer in school. i sent an email to my course chairman and he helped me to forward the email to the in charge of the MAE department, however i received no reply for the whole week, thus i decided to give up on that idea and instead just used the 3D printer which the DEB lab provides. It is just a makerbot and i had to learn how to print the models all by myself. Some processes include downloading the makerware software and changing it into xtl file before converting it into another file frmat before the 3D printer would even accept.

While waiting for the 3D printer to print, i did not waste the time i spent in SP, i also researched on how to create the Bluetooth LE application on eclipse, even learning various videos tutorial from Youtube. I learnt how to use the sample application in which a user provided on Github. All the approvals problems wasted my first trip to SP as by the time i could get to the 3D printer in the DEB lab, it was already too late as i have also not installed any of the programs. Thus the most regretful part of this week is i had to spend two days in SP before i could even complete a small 3D printing.

On friday, i also met up with my supervisor in the morning and told them about my problems regarding the lack of input and output ports which was available on the small Rfduino board and thus he handed me another microcontroller which was slightly bigger but had more digital and analogue pins which i could use thus i started from square one, downloading all the applications need to programme the board.

That concludes my hectic week 5 of rushing from my office to SP to and fro. Hope the following weeks will be better and that the progress of my board would steadily improve.

internship week 4

Fourth week of my internship here. i am finally getting used to the pace of work and the demands of my internship. The progress of my product is going into the fabrication part and like i said last week. I spent week 4 completing up the strap for my product or smartwatch. I hand sewn the pieces of leather together leaving a gap at the top to ensure that i would still be able to edit it there were any changes. As i expected, the strap was more secured after sewing it together and obviously it does not split anymore. Regarding the main body of the product which was the casing, i designed another model with all the screen and strap size taken into considerations. I used the Cinema 4D program which i also used for my PDR module this year. I created it and would send it for 3D printing in school in the next week. That marks the end of my progress for the hardware part of my product.

The other thing that i was racking my brains for this week would have to be the game creation part. Since last week i used stencyl, i changed to the Unity 3D and started creating a game. Since DEB does not teach you anything in game creation, this was a platform which was seriously alien to me. I started with the beginner tutorial on the Unity 3D website and downloaded the available assets. Assets are actually resources in which Unity 3D create for you to aid you in the learning process. Some of the objects also known as 3D renders were all created beforehand, even background designs were given to give you a better understanding. I thus created the game till it was fully functional before i started out on the FPS- first person shooter game. I started with a few basic assets which was available on the assets store. I then completely finished the game and could successfully move the player to explore the map while being able to shoot with a gun. I spent the whole week thinking of how to animate my game and it was really a new experience for me. i finally understand that game creation was actually not as easy as it seems to be, thus i would appreciate good graphics games in the future. I then continued to researched on how to edit the script of the player so that it would be able to incorporate the gyroscope and accelerometer sensors. this was another huge challenge which i really need to think over. I went online to research but could not find anything as the Rfduino communication to Unity 3D is a more advanced issue as Rfduino was a new programming board and users have not experimented it. Thus i decided to leave it to next week to do more advanced research.

Actually that sums up my week 4, working progressively on both the hardware and software of my product and working towards my final end goal which is a working prototype. I really hope that i would be able to overcome the difficulties about the game.

Internship week 3

Third week at NUS KEIO CUTE Center. Things that i have been required to do just gets more and more difficult. From learning how to program a new microcontroller board to basic and simple application and game creation, allowing me to learn many things which i missed out in my education at SP.

Since last week, i have completed my prototype with the materials i bought. i decided to do a leather strap which i super glued together. The result was however not that satisfactory as the strap would split open upon excessive bending thus i have decided the only way to make it better would be to sew the two pieces of cloth together. That wold be the only way to beautify it yet make it durable to the excessive bending.

Last week i used the Stencyl game creator to start on a basic game however the graphics of the platform was clearly created for the production of 2D retro games such as Mario and games like Angry Birds which was not something i wanted cause it would be quite useless to purchase a gadget to play such games thus i decided to download Unity 3D game creator as it provides games tutorials to beginners in game developments which are quite easy to follow. They also provide you with assets from their library to help in the process of game creation. I also intend to create a simple FPS game to show how this product can be used for it.

I also went ahead to purchase the various devices and equipment i needed for the project online. I ordered an 1.8 inch TFT LCD display and a USB Bluetooth 4.0 dongle from Adafruit, an US supplier for such components. The screen would be another feature of the watch, and i decided to use this screen as there were many tutorials online from the supplier website too which would make the programming and installation much more efficient. The dongle would be the device in which would connect the Rfduino the any desktop or laptop which thw user would be using,

The longer i work in NUS, the more i find that a researcher job is actually quite interesting an fun at the same time. The product or device you create is like another identity of yourself. It all depends on what you want to put in the device. You can make it very simple which results in no USP for the device. You must also put yourself in the shoes of the user to think for their uses and application and whether it would be comfortable and at the same time useful for them to use the product that you create. You must also keep the cost of the components cheap so that the final production cost is cheap and that would result in a more competitive market pricing for the product in that specific market.

Internship week 2

The second week of my internship at NUS KEIO CUTE Center. Since the last post, i have succeeded in achieving the results from the sensors on the serial monitor of the programming IDE. I have thus proceeded to creating the prototype watch strap which i have planned and designed for in the first week,

I had to think of the suitable material and how i would build up the watch strap. It as to be flexible yet strong at the same time to be able to achieve the best results in its applications. I could not use plastic as it was too soft and may break easily upon repeated bending of the watch around the wrist. I also could not use certain type of metals as it may be too hard and would restrict the bending of the watch around the wrist. Thus i proceeded to the Artfriend branch at Bras Besah to purchase materials for my prototype. I have decided on a metal piece which could be used for modelling of architecture buildings and rapid prototyping. I bought two different versions to try out which one was the best. I also bought a piece of leather to simulate the maerials of the actual watch strap so that the user would feel comfortable when using it.

On a side note, the other task for the second week would be to think of applications for my project. i decided that games and a mobile application would be the best use for this product thus i also set out in creating an Android application using Eclipse which i installed in my computer and the creation of a game which should be simple enough to display the functions of this product. I also installed the Nvidia game creater and Stencyl so i could start on the job.

The tasks this week make me feel satisfied as i got to learn more things which i did not learn in my education time at Singapore Poly. The process of Ideation of a product to creating the prototype and thinking of applications for that product and thinking of how to appeal to potential buyer or investors of that product. I also had to learn how to do many things by myself as the researchers here expect you to learn all the things you do not know by yourself so that you can learn something from it. I am appreciative that my supervisors still assist me sometimes when i am not clear.

I look forward to the remaining 14 weeks of my internship and would work hard to complete the final goal which would be the final working prototype.

Day 4

Day 4 of my internship at NUS CUTE center. This is the last day of my first week working, it had been a new and interesting experience for me. From getting used to the working hours to the expectations and goals i had to fulfill during my internship here. I was also introduced to another type of controller board which was totally new to me. So i had to play around with the board before slowly getting used to the programming IDE.

The first task of the day was to meet my supervisor and the industry liaison officer of NUS to update them about my daily progress. I showed them the designs and informed them about my progress during the past week regarding the prototyping and programming. When i showed them the designs, they were quite satisfied, however the design of my watch had to be changed due to the applications of the product. Initially i thought it would be a smart band or watch however due to the applications of the product it had to be conformed to be a sword for gaming purposes ths the position of the controller board had to be adjusted to the bottom of the product to make it feel realistic.

They also reminded me that by he end of November, i had to come out with a prototype to show to the professor thus invisibly giving me a deadline for my prototype. I will work hard towards that goal. At the end of the discussion, both of them were satisfied with my progress and encouraged me to keep up the good work. i then carried on with the programming of the sensors. I had to get used to the codes of the sensors so that i could edit it for different applications which would be useful for our product. I got the both the sensors working on individual programs which i was very contented with as i have been trying to figure these codes out for the past few days. Below is how the sensors would look like on a breadboard.

Soon it came to the end of the day, i approached Yuichiro, my supervisor with my logbook for him to sign on regarding my progress for work. He gave me overall grade of an A for my first week. I take it as a form of motivation and work even harder for the remaining 15 weeks of my intern so as to be able to give them a workable prototype which they can actually use in the future.

Day 3

Third day of work. As i downloaded the Cinema 4D program in my laptop, i started of the day designing the 3D models of the prototype, i tried to use some functions which i used in school so that the overall image would look nice. I also added different materials to the 3D image to make it look realistic. These are a few renders of my models.

As the time passes by, I realized that Arduino programming IDE was actually quite simple however to upload it to an RFduino board, it requires a different method. you have to actually power up each GPIO (general purpose input/output) port so that it will be able to configure in the IDE. I started programming for the flex sensors and i built up the individual circuit and somehow the serial monitor of the IDE just do not show me the change in resistance when i flex the sensors. Thus i have to spend the remaining time troubleshooting.

Day 2

Second day of work. I brought my laptop along with me today and i started to download the programmer for the RFduino. I followed the step by step instructions on the Arduino website to download the installation files. However it is not as easy as i thought it would be. Since Rfduino is another subpart of the Arduino, it has it's own individual applications library which you also have to install to be able to program it in the IDE. The RFduino also has its individual driver for which the computer does not recognize thus i also have to download another Virtual COM Port driver from the website so that the computer can sense the RFduino board. I also learned the Arduino is an open source software where people can develop their applications and share it with the Arduino community online.


After getting my brains fried by following the instructions online. i decided to start the implementation of the circuitry in the prototype. I started by researching online how to incorporate the various sensors into a single RFduino board. I found out that the flex sensors are easy to implement however the gyroscope with the complicated functions are more challenging. I then tried to go to the RFduino online forum to check if anyone has attempted the same thing but to no avail. Thus i would keep the gyroscope research for a later date.


I then continued to do the research on the design for my product. As i was meeting the liaison officer and my supervisor on Friday morning, i decided to do a 3D sketch by using Cinema 4D so as to be able to give them a better representation about my idea and what i plan to do for my prototype. From online, i decided to adapt a watch design for the Mini Ninja Track as it would not only be comfortable yet fashionable for the user to use or put on when in use.

I decided to leave the designing to Thursday as it would give me sufficient time to improve on the design of my prototype.

Day 1

First day of work in KEIO-NUS-CUTE Center. I met up with the Senior Manager of the industry liaison office first thing in the morning and he briefed me on the things that i has to accomplish by the end of my four months intern here.
He sketched out a brief diagram describing to me what the actual product already consists of and what the new and improved smaller version of the product should consists. For example, they would like to go into a wearable technology market thus they made me design a few innovative designs for a type of smart watch or smart band. He also briefed me on the type of sensor they expect to be on the new product and reminded me to take that into consideration.

I then followed him to his office to collect all the necessary sensor and controller boards. He passed me a Rfduino, a new and improved arduino board with Bluetooth capabilities, a flex sensor and a gyroscope. I was also passed all the items the previous intern have completed such as a rough prototype of the design of a watch. I then came back to my own table and i was left alone the whole day to brainstorm about ideas. I hand sketched a few designs which i thought could work out.

As i did not bring my laptop on the first day, i could not start on the installation of the IDE of the rfduino board. Thus i used my IPad to research on the latest wearable technology and fashion trends in the current market, such as the latest Samsung Galaxy Gear and the Apple IWatch and some of the new innovative smart band ideas from companies such as Nike. what i realized is that no matter how good the functionality wise of the band or watch the tactile feel and material of the product should also be comfortable to wear for the user to adapt to it quickly and comfortably. It also has to be fashionable to attract the use of people of all age group.

That was it for day one. As i ended the day, i reminded myself i had to bring my laptop the next day so i could start on the hardware and software part of the product soon.