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.