Arduino Day 2014

SSRAC Robot Building Workshop Stage 1 and 2

Hello folks, here's a fast recap of what happened last semester. The post is incomplete as of now, at least until I get the goody pictures from Priscilla and the gang.

As the bulk of the first main activities of this club, the Swinburne Sarawak Robotics and Automation Club had organized 2 sessions of workshops to briefly introduce the foundations of implementing mechatronic and robotic systems. In the span of 2 days, we have explored the building blocks for constructing automated systems to completing basic systems in order to understand how electronics, coupled with motorized actuators and programming skills, create the beginnings of simple robots.

Stage 1 covered the idea and overview of mechatronics and robotics which are not conventionally illustrated in academic lectures. This also had the dual intent of forming a framework of understanding for 1^st year students. Introduction to mechatronic components encompass commonly used sensors and actuators. Finally, the participants learnt what interfacing is necessary between microcontrollers and various sensors, motors and the computer. The first session was completed on the 14^th April 2012 with 21 new members.

Stage 2 builds upon the skills and knowledge introduced in the initial session, extending this experience with a series of challenges that took participants from just merely getting a motor to work, to implementing a speed-controlled actuator, a feature made possible only by adding an encoder and writing a program to model a simple control system architecture. The second, slightly more complicated stage, was conducted on the 28^th April with 12 participants.

Both workshops were aptly conducted by the SSRAC’s 2 main supervisors, Mr. Hudyjaya Siswoyo and Mr. Riady Siswoyo. While it is not entirely possible cover an entire branch of engineering in 2 days, the workshop succeeded in breaking the ice between academic engineering studies and practical implementations of robotic systems. Overall, the events have proven successful at helping engineering students of all fields nip the tip of the iceberg of robotics engineering.

Future workshops will be held to explore other facets of practical skills as well as more advanced lessons revolving around automated systems. Stay tuned!

Open Day Sem 1 2012 Exhibition

The Swinburne Robotics & Automation Club had participated in setting up an exhibition for the Open Day event held on 24^th and 25^th of March, 2012. The site was populated with 6 key items of interest, including both Freescale Challenge 2011 robots as well as a custom built game machine to commemorate the reactivation of the club. A total of 2 club advisors and 6 members took part in preparing and manning the exhibition stations.

Time/Date/Venue: SUTS Block B Ground Floor Hallway, 9.00am – 5.00pm, 24^th & 35^th March 2012.

Preparations for the exhibition were done within the duration of about 1 week, with the setup costs self-funded by club advisors and members. The results consist of 6 items of key interest which populate the allocated space directly outside the Open Day consultation vicinity.  These are illustrated and explained as the following:

a.)    Freescale Challenge 2011 Robots

 

The two award winning competition robots demonstrated full functionality during the full 2 days of the Open Day event. This exhibit took the largest amount of space, with its arena circuit needing laying out a day before hand.

 

b.)    Toilet Roll Challenge Machine

 

Inspired by the Android game called Toilet Paper Pull, this machine was built and programmed specially for the Open Day event. A piecemeal mock-reward was also offered as added incentive to entice audiences.

c.)     Ball-Shooting Robot

 

 

This competition robot was fully constructed using Lego Mindstorms NXT. Its setup also required a sizeable arena circuit.

d.)    Segway

 

 

The same Segway machine created by Mr. Riady Siswoyo during his Final Year Project. This exhibit had garnered much attention during the first day of the event. Unfortunately, a slight accident had rendered it requiring repair. It was restored to working order a day after the event.

e.)    RoboCon Competition Footage

 

 

A video recording of the RoboCon pyramid building challenge featuring the three constructs representing Swinburne, was shown via projector. The projection unit and laptop setup was provided by ITS.

f.)     The Snake Robot

 

 

Another previous FYP project, this machine is unfortunately non-operable due to the absence of the Google Android program and phone required to control it. Nonetheless, it had also provided some entertainment in its own way.

The exhibition attempt by the Swinburne Robotics & Automation Club was largely a success, with most of the items remaining intact while maintaining full functionality. Also, response from the general public as well as current university students had been unanimously positive.

 

 

The Freescale Cup 2011

The Freescale Cup (previously known as Smart Car Competition) is a high speed, autonomous, race of RC (Radio Control) scale cars. The race is part of Freescale’s Univeristy Programs to promote engineering in the classroom. It is open to all local and private universities in Malaysia where students have to come up with a team of 3 (maximum) plus 1 lecturer as advisor.

Background

In 2008, Freescale Semiconductor Malaysia had the first Smart Car Competition which was successfully held on 12 and 13 December at SIRIM Hall, Shah Alam, Selangor. Due to economic crisis in 2009, 2^nd Smart Car Competition was postponed to 2010. The competition was organized in collaboration with IEEE Malaysia Section, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Event was successfully held on 4 and 5 December 2010 at DECTAR Hall, UKM Bangi, Selangor.

Starting from 2011, Smart Car Competition is known as The Freescale Cup. The competition has caught the attention of MOHE hence was invited to be part of PECIPTA 2011. This year’s competition is held in collaboration with MOHE, UiTM and IEEE on 14 and 15 September 2011 at KL Convention Centre (KLCC).

Swinburne Participation

This is the first time we took part in this competition. Two teams are registered to represent Swinburne namely Swinburne 1 and Swinburne 2. Swinburne 1comprises of Riady Siswoyo Jo (4^th Year/R&M) and Jason Yeo Kok Seng (4^th Year/E&E) and Swinburne 2 comprises of Sim Meng Hong (4^th Year/R&M) and Jeremy Chia Wei Liang (4^th Year/R&M). Both teams are supervised and led by Hudyjaya Siswoyo Jo and Prof. Nazim Mir-Nasiri.

This project is one of the activities in Swinburne Robotics and Automation club and fully endorsed by School of Engineering, Computing and Science. The development of the prototypes started in July 2011. Throughout the development process, the participating students were challenged to apply their knowledge and creativity in robotics engineering in general and control engineering in specific.

The assessment criteria of winning the competition are based on the stability performance and the speed of the robot. Each robot is required to run on two different racing track conditions namely “Night Drifter” and “Day Dragger”. In the “Night Drifter” race, the robots are required to run through the obstacles and complete the track in a dark. In the “Day Dragger” race, the robots are expected to run through a more complex track condition in daylight.

Throughout the competition, there are few strong teams who have the potential to emerge as the champion. They are UMS (Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 2008 and 2010 Champion), UTM (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 2008 first runner-up) and Monash University Sunway Campus (2010 second runner-up). This year as a newcomer in the competition, both Swinburne teams have successfully stood up as the first and second runner-ups led by UTM as the champion.

Swinburne 1 (second runner-up) team in prize-giving ceremony with Dato’ Prof. Ir. Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar, Vice Chancellor of UiTM (second left) and Mr. Soon Chong Beng, Managing Director of Freescale Malaysia (third left).

Swinburne 2 (first runner-up) team in prize-giving ceremony with Dato’ Prof. Ir. Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar, Vice Chancellor of UiTM (second left) and Mr. Soon Chong Beng, Managing Director of Freescale Malaysia (third left).

From L-to-R: Jeremy Chia Wei Liang (Swinburne 2), Riady Siswoyo Jo (Swinburne 1), Hudyjaya Siswoyo Jo (Team Advisor), Sim Meng Hong (Swinburne 2) and Jason Yeo Kok Seng (Swinburne 1) together with the winning robots and prizes.

Participating Teams

TEAM NAME	UNIVERSITY
UCSI T1	UCSI
UCSI T2	UCSI
UCSI T3	UCSI
Team A	UTAR
Team B	UTAR
Peace King	UTP
UTP Synthium	UTP
UTP MACH5	UTP
UiTM Alpha	UiTM Shah Alam
UiTM Beta	UiTM Shah Alam
UiTM Gamma	UiTM Shah Alam
MMU Cyber	MMU Cyberjaya
UMS A	UMS
UMS B	UMS
Swinburne 1	Swinburne University
Swinburne 2	Swinburne University
iCAR	UTHM
iCAR2	UTHM
Fast3	UTHM
Curtin Alpha	Curtin University
Curtin Beta	Curtin University
USM Team A	USM
USM Team B	USM
USM Team C	USM
Supernova	Monash University
InnoTech	Monash University
Gradient	Monash University
GMI	GMI
GMI 2	GMI
MHH23	UKM
PHOENIX	UKM
UiTM Terengganu	UiTM Dungun
UTM J1	UTM
Inno Team	UTM
UTM J2	UTM
Uniutara Experience (UnEx)	UUM
UUM-XP	UUM
UTeMEX	UTeM
UTeM car	UTeM
(UPM)	UPM