Week 7: Solution Oriented

 WEEK 7: SOLUTION ORIENTED

Hello again guyssss! 😉
new update is here again! 
Check out for more on our team progression and obstacles faced!

Yes, as the title mentioned itself, "solution oriented", we definitely faced a lot of problems and obstacles on this week. From zero knowledge on Arduino until the stage we are at today at such a short and rush time, it is not easy at all, but we are still on our effort and never give up. Thats the spirit!


Following from last week where the motor spinning direction is some how out of control and lack of sensitivity, we have solved it by using a sliding switch with 3 terminals instead of tact button. The sensitivity is greatly enhanced by doing this and now the motor can spin in either clockwise/anticlockwise direction and are fully under our control, YAY! 😆

As there are an extra terminal on the push button compared to the previous tact button, the middle terminal was connected to the ground row on the breadboard, and the remaining two terminals (most left and right) are connected in the same way as the tact button (see the breadboard layout on week 6 post for more info).

Push button

(To the left is anticlockwise and to the right is clockwise spinning direction)

Now that we have solved the sensitivity problem. The problem arises next is that how to let the motor stop?
Because the motor is programmed to spin in clockwise/anticlockwise direction by the control of a switch. No one teaches it how to stop 😟😟 

We tried to modify the sketch code but some how things doesn't seems to work. And we guess that it's time to look for help from our lecturer, Dr.Woon.


Dr. Woon suggested us that we does not need to focus on the programming part to let the motor stop, instead, focus on the breadboard connection. 

Yes!

This is very useful and fruitful tips for our team. If we can add a switch in between the motor connection, that means we can control the current flow to the motor and therefore controlling its activation!

 

Initial breadboard layout

To do this, the motor yellow cable (pin 3 on L293D IC) is plugged out, a jumper cable is connected to replace the yellow cable and another point of the new jumper cable is connected to any unused pin on the opposite part of the breadboard (let's assume we plug it in at row 20). 

A tact switch is needed next. The tact switch (with 4 terminals) was tested on it's resistance first to ensure which terminal are connected to each other, this can be done by connecting any two points of the four terminal to a multimeter, press the switch and observe the resistance drop. After the two connecting and functioning terminals are identified, label it for convenience. 

The two functioning switch terminals is soldered to a jumper cable for convenience purpose (or else you will face difficulties when pressing the switch if you connect it directly to the breadboard because all the wires are so messy on there , it's like you are sitting on a helicopter and try to find a lost person in a big jungle filled with trees from above). 

Now that the terminals is soldered, lets name them terminal A and B. Cable A is connected under the same row (row 20) to the cable connecting to the IC pin 3 just now. Cable B is connected under row 20 too but on the another side of the breadboard(the main part we are using). Finally, under the cable B, plug in the yellow cable that is connected to the motor. 

Testing the switch terminals by using a multimeter.

Circuit connection

Feeling too much of explanation, information and get confused??

Hahahah! Worry not!

Feel free to approach us on the KLESF exhibition held this 3,4,5 of November at The Mines exhibition center and we will give you a consultation on this!(You can reach there by taking KTM Komuter and disembark at station Serdang, then take a cab or car to the venue).

 Can't come over?? 😭

Awww don't be sad, you can leave us a comment below and we will reply you as soon as possible too! 💜💜💜

However, there is a problem arises next. Now that there are a switch, another extra 3 cables connected which means there is an increase in the resistivity! The current supplied to the motor therefore dropped and it can't really have the enough the power to spin unless we initiate it by giving it a manual push. This problem is to be diagnosed and hope to be solved before the exhibition day.

However, the rough idea to solve this is to give the motor an extra external power supply, so to do this, we would need a lithium cell 18650 rechargeable battery. The maximum current Arduino board can hold is 1A, giving the extra current of 3800mAH from the lithium cell should not burn the Arduino out. As the IC (L293D) acts as motor driver, by modifying some connecting pins and cables on pin 8 (+V motor), we believe that it can gives the motor an extra push. Stay tuned on the next post for this! 😀

Lithium Cell 18650

MECHANICAL PART

Back to the mechanical part. As the rough design layout we suggested on last week doesn't seems to work (due to lack of stability and power to turn the roller), we found another initiative, which is by using the mechanical part from a DVD player. 

DVD Mechanical Part

You might wonder why do we choose this? 
Check out the video below!

As the lever is controlled by gear, the smallest gear should be the lightest to move the lever up and down, therefore, the motor should be having enough power to rotate the smallest gear and in turn rotate the larger gear, resulting in the up and down motion of the lever. By connecting the motor pin to the smallest gear and adjust the smallest gear to gently connect and touch the following gear, the mechanical part should be ready to serve our needs!

 However, time is short and we have some faulty motor happens at such a critical moment! 

We then bought a new motor and things work out as expected, however, there is some part to be improvised further, such as how to let the motor stay at the height where the smallest gear gently connect to the following gear. We still have a few days before the exhibition and this problem should to be solved before the day. 

That's all for week 7 update guys!

It is indeed a hectic week with a lot of problems and obstacles. fuhhhh! 😫😫 

However, most of the problems are solved (or in good progression to be solved, that's why the title for this week is named in such a way). 

Wish us luck and remember to come and visit us on 3,4,5 November at The Mines Exhibition Center KLESF 2017.

Oh ya, this is our group poster.

 Recognize this poster and find us at the exhibition! Team Sotong waits you! 💚

 See you there! 💘💘💘

XOXO 💘,

Team Sotong

Week 6: Making Things To Be More Convenient.

              WEEK 6 : MAKING THINGS TO BE MORE CONVENIENT

Hi guysss!
We are back again with some exciting updates, progress and also ideas!
Here we go! ☺☺☺

Now that our microscope looks fine and should be ready to serve our needs. However, because we are using the camera from smartphone, we realized a problem which is the image resolution. The sample specimen somehow need to be brought close enough but yet not too close to the lens in order to produce a nice and sharp image. This can be done simply by holding the specimen and adjust it accordingly using hand, while adjusting the level of the specimen holder, but the problem is, different specimen has different focal length and sometimes even we adjusted the specimen holder to the maximum top height, the specimen is still too far away to be focused! Although this problem can be solved simply by holding the specimen and stay static (never move your hand away!) so that it can be brought focus, but imagine, what if the user is using the microscope alone and there is no other extra hand(s) available around! He/she might have not enough hand to take the image picture, record down the observation or to do other things, because one or both of his/her hand is holding the specimen !


Nobody wants that to happen! 😓

Therefore, we came out with an idea. To build something that can move up and down accordingly while holding the specimen! And yes, this is the part that we are going to involve some computer programming.

To begin with, we have constructed a rough plan about how the lever should roughly looks like. The motor will control one of the roller attached with belt to control the ascending/descending motion.

However, a draft is a draft. There is still some details to be modified still. For example, how to make sure the clip is hung properly and stable on the belt. These are the mechanical parts that are to be discussed among our group again. But anyway, let's start with the electronic part first. 

Now, we need a "brain" to control the lever. The "brain" is actually a microcontroller in which we can program the things we hope the machine will do into it. In our case, we brought an Arduino UNO and DC motor from a robotic store located at South City Plaza, Seri Kembangan.

DC Motor
i) 3.7V coreless 60000rpm motor (smaller in size)
ii) 3.7V coreless 50000rpm motor (larger in size)

Arduino UNO microcontroller

Some major component of an Arduino microcontroller

The tutorial about how to use an Arduino UNO can be easily available on the internet. We found the tutorial at http://www.funduino.de/Arduino-tutorials-08092014.pdf.

The LED on the pin 13 is served to test out if the Arduino board is functioning well or not. The default setting should be blinking of the LED once per second. However, we can easily change this setting by changing the programming code(we called it 'sketch') that is uploaded into the Arduino. The sketch can be constructed and uploaded through a software named "Arduino IDE". Below is the link to download the software. 

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

Arduino IDE

Homepage of Arduino IDE

Basically, the sketch (code) contain three main parts. The first part is the "Name Variable", second part is the "Setup", and finally the third part is the "Loop". Let's start with first part.

1) Name Variable

In this part, the elements of the program are named. This part is not really necessary and can be avoided most of the times, but can be useful when it is to be used.

2) Setup

This is the part where no one can escape. Here, we need to tell the program for example what pin(slot for cables) should be the input and which one should be the output. The input means that the board should read out a voltage, and the output means that the pin should give out a voltage. For example, when a switch is on, the board recognize this action because there is incoming votage (input) and causes the LED to be lighted up(output).

3) Loop

Looping causes the action to be repeated continuously by the board. It reads the sketch from the beginning till the end all over again and therefore performing the action repeatedly.

A test on the Arduino board is then done. The test is done by manipulating the blinking frequency of the LED on pin 13. The sketch and tutorial can be seen as from page 12/100 in the tutorial link posted above. Greatly, everything work out just fine.

Blinking frequency: 1 second (default setting)

Blinking frequency: 100millisecond

Of course, an Arduino board and motor is totally not enough to complete our project. This time, we choose to visit an electronic component shop called Nixie Electronic which are located at Jalan Pasar to buy our stuff. 

Nixie Electronics. 

(We're unable to take the photo straight in front of the signboard because there are some mamak stalls located there)

Alligator clip

Belt pulley set (roller)

Drive shaft

Jumper wire

Solderless breadboard

L293D IC

LED and resistor (100ohm x2 and 200ohm x2)

Rubber belt set

Strip board in line

Tactile push switch

10k ohm variable resistor

Multi core wire

6V DC motor

The LED and the resistor are brought in order to learn some basic skills and the function of the Arduino board first. Following the tutorial, we managed to test the alternating blinking of LED and also fading of LED which are controlled by the Arduino.

Alternate blinking LED - pg16-17

Fading LED - pg18-20

Alternate blinking of LED

Fading LED

Next is to make the motor to be able to turn in either clockwise/anti-clockwise direction so that the clip can move up and down. The circuit is connected as shown below.

The difficulties and obstacles faced while doing this is that, although the motor did really turn in reverse direction when the switch button is clicked, however, the sensitivity is not there yet. This means that let's say the motor is turning in clockwise direction initially, then, after clicking the switch for one time, the direction did not change yet. The direction is only to be changed after a few clicking on the switch. But for sometimes, only by clicking the switch once, the spinning direction changed immediately. Also, sometimes after the switch is clicked, the motor slowed down (ready to change spinning direction) but somehow, it spins in the same direction again after slowing down. The problem is to be continue diagnosed and solve on the following weeks.

Beside doing all these thing, we also think of something to let the audience have an optimum view on the image our microscope shows. We borrowed a mini LCD projector from Chiam's elder brother and connect it to the computer so that the image can be projected to a larger screen on the exhibition day. However, as projector requires a dark surrounding and we are not yet sure about the environment of the exhibition spot, we should see again if we can bring the LCD and bring it to action on that day! Fret not, guys! a laptop should be enough to get a very good view already and you guys will see our image clearly that day! 😏😏😏

Testing the LCD projector.

Ok till then, guys!

Time is running out! we gotta prepare the gear for the remaining work!

Pray for us, ya! 👄

XOXO 💘,

Team Sotong

Week 5 - Testing the polarizing microscope using various samples

                   WEEK 5 - TESTING THE POLARIZING MICROSCOPE USING VARIOUS SAMPLES

Hi, guys! Its week 5 already! Fuhh... how fast time flies, isn't it ?  😊

So without further due, lets get started!

For week 5, we are testing various samples using the polarizing microscope for both of the lab sessions. Basically, this week is all about capturing various samples under the polarizing microscope. We were amazed of how beautiful these samples are!!! Truly magnificient ❤

Before that, lets clean the polarizer film first!

The preparation we did before the testing session

Here are the various samples that we tested:-

1. Toothbrush

2. Polyethylene plastic bag

3. Sand

4. Leaf

5. Liquid crystal

6. Outer layer of onion. 

(can you see the cell wall? it is very clear, right? 😍 )

7.  Washer

MAGNIFICATION

Every microscope has their own magnification - magnification of the microscope determine their efficiency and therefore, our microscope too has its own magnification power!

The way to determine the magnification of a microscope is by using the formula:

Total Magnification = M1 x M2

where

M1 = Linear magnification of objective lens

M2 = Linear magnification of eyepiece

In our case, the objective lens is the lens we extracted from the laser pointer and eyepiece is the camera from the smartphone! Thus, the way to calculate the total magnification of our DIY microscope is:

Total Magnification = Linear Magnification of laser pointer lens  x  Linear Magnification by smartphone camera

We then took a copper wire with diameter of 0.65mm (measured by micrometer screw gauge) and observe it under our microscope. 

Micrometer screw gauge

The precaution here is never zoom the phone camera in order to get accurate reading. The diameter of the shown copper wire image in the smartphone was measured to be 0.75cm. Diameter in the smartphone is divided by the real diameter in order to obtain linear magnification of laser pointer lens. The result we obtain is 7.7x magnification.

Then, its time to obtain linear magnification by smartphone camera. This can be simply done by zooming in the smartphone camera and observe the reading shown directly. But however, as iPhone do not shows the magnification power while zooming in, we used another camera apps named 30x Zoom Digital Video Camera which having that function to complete our calculation.

But however, be noted that every different smartphone or device used for the microscope gives different total magnification because they all have different diameter length shown without zooming in or out the camera initially. Anyhow, the total magnification can be easily calculated using the formula and method mentioned above.

What have we learned?

  Every problem has a solution.

  In our case, the linear magnification of the phone is very important part to obtain. However, unlike other smartphones, iPhone did not show the magnification power while zooming in. Therefore, we have searched for several websites on Internet to find the information about how much can you zoom for iPhone, but we could not find any of it. We then installed an application called 30x Zoom Digital Video Camera which can zoom up to 30x magnifcation power! Thats it! So we can say that every problem has their own solution, right ? Just stay calm and try to find another alternatives because sometimes, life doesn't always give something that you want.

Thats all for this week, guys!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Byeeee! 

👋👋👋👋

XOXO 💘,

Team Sotong

Week 4 - Buying equipments and building polarizing microscope

WEEK 4 - BUYING EQUIPMENTS AND BUILDING POLARIZING MICROSCOPE

Hello, everyone!  We are back again for this week! 

Lets check out our updates for week 4 😉

For Week 4, we are planning to do some buying equipments session and building the polarizing microscope base. 

On Tuesday, we went to several places around Petaling Jaya to look for some plywoods, acrylic plastic and some hardware components. Luckily, we passed by a store where they put their unwanted woods and some stuffs in front of it. Therefore, we asked for a permission from the worker of the store to bring some of them to our lab. 

Choosing the suitable plywoods

Looking for some unwanted stuffs; acrylic plastic in the store. Thanks to the workers for letting us take the stuffs that we want! 😏

Finally, we got them secured in our hands! Thanks God, we do not have to spend our money on these equipments hehehe 😛

Next, we went to nearest store to buy other hardware components.

Washers

Compression spring and wingnuts

Toothbrush for cleaning the polarizer film

After buying those components, we went back to our lab and measure the stuffs that we got earlier.

 Seen here is Gerard trying to measure the plywood in the lab.

On Thursday, we split into two groups. Qila and Gerard stay in the lab where Gerard make a further observation by trying out  the lens and polarizer using the onion sample, while Qila searching for an application in the Internet to turn smartphone into webcam.

The images captured by Gerard

Qila is testing the application that she has installed called iVCam. The application can be installed here : http://www.e2esoft.com/ivcam/

The other group which is Zati, Chiam and Syahirah went to Syahirah's house to cut the plywood and the acrylic plastic because the cutting tools are at Syahirah's house. Her father volunteered to help our team to build the microscope base. Here are some shots during the entire process.

Electric circular saw

     

         

       Some videos during the cutting and drilling process

Below are the components needed to build this microscope:

1. Base - Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF)

2. Sample and microscope stage - Acrylic plastic 

3. Roofing bolts and nuts 

4. Convex lens

5. Wingnuts and washers

6. Compression spring

Our team expressing our gratitude to Syahirah's father for his help in this entire process. Thank you Mr Jaffril! 

Yeah finally, we got two sets of microscope base!

Looks user-friendly right? 😆

What have we learned?

1. Patient

       We must always be patient and be positive! In order to make an experiment succeed, we have to set a positive mindset that things will work out soon. Just be patient and try as many as possible because failure is the best teacher in life. In this case, we still dont have a proper and clean polarizer film yet. Therefore, we tried to fix the current polarizer that we have and at the same time, we tried our best to buy it at any stores or by online.

2. Communication

In any grouped project or experiment, communication is the key to success. In our case, we have to split into two groups on Thursday. First group will carry out the process of cutting the plywoods and acrylic plastic while the other group will stay at the lab to do some testing on lens and polarizer as well as to test the application for webcam. During that day, we always keep updating on each other of what we have achieved and accomplished. As a result, we have less problems in terms of teamwork.

Thats all for this week!

Till next time, guys!

See ya!👋

XOXO 💘,

Team Sotong