.Thursday, August 20, 2009 ;
10:13 PM
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The world needs your light....
We have learnt that many people work in many different ways. Only if we accept compromises can we make progress. But if one loses hope of completing a task, then the group would suffer entirely. Hence, it is crucial to stay focused and optimistic as a team. What we want to emphasise is that we have learnt a lot of teamwork, we understand the weaknesses of each of us and we work together to cover up for each other. This ensures that we complete our tasks on time and not impede the progress of the project.
Of course, we have learnt many new skills in the process. Lab practical skills in the field of engineering were an eye-opener to the few of us when we got to explore and learn more through hands-on, even if we make a big accident. Skills such as welding, attaching digital circuit components, using a spanner or wheel and axle efficiently are not skills you can learn in the school's science labs. Such practical skills require you to step out of your comfort zone, find someone you are truly able to work with and then hone your skills as both an individual and as a group. Such a project definitely expands our horizons, lets us learn whether we are truly interested in something and most importantly, it tests our determination. We even had to work till 9 p.m. on some days to settle our reports and also our labwork. When one screw fails, we try another screw and if it fails, we try another till it succeeds.
Finally, we have of course met new people, like our dearest mentors and got to understand them even better. This project also enables us to work in an industrial lab with so many new tools, milling machines, large knives for cutting metals etc. We can then learn more and understand more about these tools and I am sure we can put this knowledge to good use in the future.
We would like to thank our three dearest mentors who have helped us a lot and of course, the various lab technicians who have helped us in one way or another. This project will not stop here, we will keep on simplifying it till it looks small and yet magnificent.
.Monday, August 17, 2009 ;
9:43 PM
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The world needs your light....
Meeting started at 2:45 p.m. at Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Half of the projector has been completed. The heavy base for added stability is now in place and the rotating mirror is ready and working. It spins at a high speed to generate a centralised image in the middle of the vortex while the laser beam is dispersed into a 360 degrees arc in the surroundings, creating a visual impact.
Meanwhile, we added 2 more screws onto the base of the rotating volumetric screen for added security. It ensures that the screen will remain tightly attached onto the heavy metal base and will not start moving when the screen spins, which can be extremely dangerous and hazardous to onlookers.
Next, we decided the arrangement of our circuit components, ranging from our Compact Visual System, our Digital Signal Processor, our laser power supply and the laser controller. We placed these components in their approximate positions and stuck masking tape on these areas so that the lab technicians knew where to drill a hole into the heavy metal base. We intend to connect our electrical and digital components by Thursday.
Finally, we placed an order for a perspex box, which would allow us to see through into the image, but it ensures added security as well because should the volumetric screen fly off its support while rotating at a high speed, the perspex, being a tough material, would weaken the impact and lower the speed of the screen so as to minimise damage and hurt.
Meeting ended at 6:00 p.m.
.Monday, August 3, 2009 ;
8:22 PM
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The world needs your light....
Today, we had finally conceptualised our third prototype, and the main motivation is to make it even more portable for the purpose of convenience. Since the second prototype was extremely bulky and hard to be carried around, the third prototype could settle this problem easily. The main working principle behind our third prototype is that it can be detached into three separate portions: a heavy metal base for stability, a long perspex vertical column, and a top box consisting of the optical components. These three components can be brought around separately and then reassembled at the presentation venue.
The next step is to disassemble our second prototype which was what we did. We retained all useful components like the crossbars and golden rods, but disposed of faulty equipment like rusty and loosened screws. Every single optical component was also removed and placed onto the working bench separately.
We then placed orders for a motor of higher power so that it can rotate more quickly and generate a higher resolution image and also for a 3.0 metre long perspex cylinder with one covered end for our supporting column.
Mr Lee agreed to help with the welding and milling portions, but we are to do the optical arrangement by ourselves.
Meeting ended at 5:30 p.m.