sc robotics
external fusion
feel the passion
please click on the images
on the left and right side
to navigate
our team members
jennet koh
age- 14
role- team leader, constructor and programmer
description- our resident source of laughter and merriment. she never fails to crack us up when we're stressed. her amiable and vivacious nature makes her a capable and talented leader. besides that, she is a gifted programmer and self-taught constructor who is extremely talented in robotics.
achievements- NJRC 2004, FLL 2004, FRS 2005, SRG 2005
tham yi hui
age- 15
role- programmer and researcher
description- the most outstanding artist, she's the designer behind all the artistic aspects of our team. besides doodling and drawing out creative impulses, she also aids in programming the robot and is skilled in robolab.
achievements- NJRC 2004, WRO 2004, FRS 2005, SRG 2005
renee goh
age- 14
role- constructor
description- the support facility who backs up jennet, she is extremely capable in the building of robots. though having undergone only very basic training, she has picked up many new skills along the way through experimentation with lego parts.
achievements- SRG 2005, FRS 2005
kelly eu
age- 13
role- programmer
description- the newest addition to the sc robotics family, she is by no means the weakest. by constant training and self study, she had risen quickly to be on par with all of us. mentoring from us and other seniors have also aided her to be up for the challenge of NJRC.
achievements- SRG 2005
grace teh
age- 15
role- researcher
description- the loudest and most outgoing of the lot, she takes care of all the soft skill aspects of the team, from journal to marketing.
achievements- NJRC 2004, FLL 2004, FRS 2005
welcome to the website of
external fusion
learn more about our pursuit of success
feel the passion
updates:
29 August 2005 - Due date of website submission, research journal and submission of school flags
31 August to 2 September 2005 - Dates of presentation for Secondary schools
7 September to 9 September 2005 - Dates of competition for Secondary schools
for more information on our progress/ learning experience, check out our team blog!
we can't live without
tribal studioz
our trainers
mr gilbert, mr oliver, miss wendy and mr richard for their tireless persistence and encouragement. although sometimes we feel exhausted after a long days work, their relentless enthusiasm and drive continue to spur us on. they are the "robot destroyers" who reject robot after robot that we build although we understand that at the end this is all for our own good. despite being the first people who criticise our work, they are also the first to provide us with encouragement when we're feeling down. without them this would not be possible.
mr teh
our teacher-mentor
our teacher in charge who constantly pops in to give his fullest assistance and help readily whenever we need it. he also aids us in securing funds and monetary aid from the school and champions our cause enthusiastically.
the sc it club
the family and home
although only 9 of us are actually taking part in the competition, the rest of the club had voluntarily given up much time and effort to take an active role in our road towards achieving our goals. without grumblings or complaints, they have given us all the necessary help and support we need so essentially and are truly the backbone of our team. behind every great team there is a great group of people who believe in them and this definitely describes our fellow club mates. we thank them for believing in us and sharing our dream.
Singapore Science Center
the organizers
and of course we thank YOU for giving us this fantastic opportunity to test our skills and push ourselves to the limit. we believe that NJRC will give us the necessary exposure to allow us to bring our skills to a higher level.
the sc robotics experience
Friday, August 26, 2005
11:59 PM
kelly had to leave early today so jennet programmed all by herself today.
i built one more attachment today so all in all we have eight attachments now.
initially, jennet and i built one attachment each so that we could combine both our ideas and construct the best attachment we need. teamwork(:
grace came in after oral and worked on our research and made quite a big mess out of herself. haha. which was good since she provided us with comic relief; something we realy needed because we were all so quiet and stressed.
she had spray paint all over herself and we took a few photos to remember the day.haha.
everyone's been so busy with schoolwork and njrc. work hard external fusion.hang in there(: takecare everyone.
-renee
Sunday, August 21, 2005
4:30 AM
looks like i haven't been updating much. guess its cos i'm so preoccupied with the 'technical' aspect of this blog. haha.
these few weeks have been pretty hectic on a whole, rushing for research since its due on friday already. but this whole exprerience has been great! working as a team and seeing how much we can accomplish as a whole, i'm always so amazed at the drive and persistence of my juniors. and of course with the help of yi hui our research and everything else is coming along so well. (: *thumbs up*
sigh only couple days left till submission and with all the tests on this week its going to be hard but together WE CAN DO IT! (:
winding up our robotics awareness campaign in school tmr. its been a fun ride. (:
i <3 sc robotics and external fusion OH-FIVE so much and i'm sure its gonna be just as fun when we get closer and closer to the competition date!
everyone remember to stay healthy ok! wldn't want anyone to fall sick ok! we will get thru this final stretch together! and remember to keep the balance between school and robotics! relax and sleep well!
[i'll supply the mentos on 080905!]
loves, GRACE-
Friday, August 19, 2005
5:38 PM
Njrc is coming really soon, and all our members are getting quite stressed over it. With probably less than a week left because of Health week, Jennet and Kelly have been programming non-stop for the past few meetings. I guess the room was pretty quiet except for the ringing tune of the downloaded RCX.
Grace impressed me by printing out pages and pages of research before editing them. It's qiute amazing what she can do. (: Renee was helping out everywhere, with either construction, research, or the website, while i edited the website from the code Grace wrote. It's so cool! Now i know how to use a code to make a button (:
And who cares if there are websites better than this? I had my fun (:
+yihui
today mr teh was not around. grace was VERY busy printing research and summarising everything, sometimes i just wonder how she has the ability and patient to look through SO much paper :) yihui also as busy. all the while she was seen at the computer from the start until 6pm. she was doing some art design which i have toatlly no talent in. she's really good at it. renee was hepling grace do a lot of tpying. probably improved her typing skills :) kelly and i were dealing with the robot. she do the programme then i bring to the playfield to test. and this procedure just repeats non-stop. walking keeps me warm in the air-coned room :) so today is also another busy day. busy. busy. busy. i predict that the days nearer the competition we will be busier, and much busier. the website looks really nice! all thanks to the wonderful grace and artistic yihui. i'm so impressed by them :)
`=* jennet
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
6:04 PM
it's stressful today. only about three weeks left to the actual competition. i guess everyone is as stressed as i am. less bickering and more work today. it was until our trainers reminded us that we realised we dont have that much time left to complete everything. haha. we set targets. to finish which mission by when and how long to put into it. it was very fulfilling to see that we've completed a mission. haha whether or not we were stressed, i'm sure we have all enjoyed ourselves. everyone in my team is busy engaged with something to do, grace and yihui went to another lab to work on the research part. kelly renee and i stayed to do the technical part. completed some stuff. haha. although it was a rather quiet training, i could tell that every single one of us enjoyed themselves. we would surely learn new and interesting things as we go along that would follow us for the rest of our lives :)
`=* jennet
Grace and I have set out to finish our research before the dateline arrives. Like what she had said. "Test after test after test."
That's the biggest difficulty faced by me - juggling studies and NJRC. I almost admire how my seniors did it. It's extremely frustrating to have our final examinations one week after the september holidays when NJRC would be held. But i guess this is all part of our holistic education (:
+yihui
Today is really busy. Renee and Jennet have stopped bickering for today. Anyway, like I said, today has been really busy. We're now working on our missions and programming like crazy. Going back and forth to make changes and then programme again is no joke I tell you. But it's quite rewarding to see the robot finally work adn almost complete the missions. Very nice to watch. Now, ouir constructors, Jennet and Renee, have started bickering a little but the situation isn't too bad yet. They're making changes to the robot and I'm waiting before I can programme it again. Still waiting...hehe...fun...I got the robot! Yay. That's all for today.
:-P Kelly
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
6:07 PM
hmmm..indeed a very "mentally draining day". the playfield still looks very challenging to me like before. as usual, we came together and think of attachment to build onto our robot to complete the mission. we tried to think of ways that are different of what we used to build. although there's no such a thing as the best robot, we should always try to strive for the best. that's what makes a mission challenging. if we just simply stick to our old ideas and never try new things, we'll never improve or learn.
today, yihui and kelly started to do programming. though in between there were some problems, but we still managed to salvage it as one team. the important thing is that we brainstormed and think through this as one team. in the end, the robot was performing smoothly. it has been so long ever since i felt a sense of fulfiilment (:
in the next few days, we're going to set up booths in school to raise awareness and promote njrc to the student body. think its going to be fun. a look forward to the competition - 37 days more!
`=* jenent
we did more constructing and started on programming today. we brainstormed and came up with more ideas for our different attachments for our respective missions. the most difficult attachment to construct was the attachment for the last mission.we came up with a few ideas but all of them had more cons than pros. and at the end of the whole sessions, we still haven't decided which attachment to use for the last mission. kelly and yihui have also already started on programming for the robot to go down the stairs and slope. hmm..it seems like the drawing of circle is tougher than going down the stairs. it indeed has been a mentally draining day.
-renee
It's true that Renee and Jennet bicker like a couple. Since it's very entertaining, we don't stop them.<> The playing field is set up. We've even tried our robot on it a few times. We tried to get it down the steps and were sorta successful. It was fun since Jennet, Renee, Yi Hui and I kept bursting into laughter. Renee was acting a litle odd today. But it was still fun. Since we all were acting odd, it was ignored. The playing field is still so cool. Clarissa kept crawling underneath it and lying down. It's funny. More next session.
Kelly :-P
Friday, July 29, 2005
6:37 PM
we've got new lego sets and the playing field is finally here(:
kelly and i are so excited about the new sets.-grins.
the new lego sets are so cool.they're shiny but the wheels are gross.o.O
but after we tested the robot on the playing field; its now dirty but its still gross.haha.
jennet and i finally got down to building the robot.its kind of done after we talked alot of rubbish.
we get along pretty fine and the rest of the team thinks we bicker like husband and wife.haha.
we also managed to come up with solutions to overcome the problems we will face while attempting to complete the mission.
hmm.. we've got new ideas for marketing gimmicks too.yay!
-renee
the playfield FINALLY arrived after ages.
although i've seen the playfield at the science centre before, it seems extraordinarily bigger than ever. we were all very excited when the technicians from the science centre came to fix it. while they were fixing, to prevent us from getting distracted by the knocking and banging, we went to the back of the room to continue our dicussion and planning for the robot construction. now since we have the playfield to test on, everything is easier and much more convenient for us. everyone actively threw in creative ideas to overcoming the obstacles we might face in the mission. although we foresee some problems, not unless we really go about working on the mission will we fully understand the mistakes we'd made. (:
i feel that this competition allows us to unleash our potential and to work with new people and make new friends. this session, i've learnt that at times, there will definitely be some bickering and quarelling within our team mates due to different views. as long as we take it as a learning experience and try to look at things with an open mind, these bickering are actually quite an advantage to the team. (:
`=* jennet
Today, they playing- field arrived. It was so exciting. Then the technicians from Science Center came too and our playing field was set up. Currently, the robot is being planned and built. Then we'll start on programming. The playing field is so cool. It's got a lot of pictures on it. And bases and etc. We understand the missions quite well now so we are pretty sure on what to do. Our project manager, Grace, also one of our researchers, adn Jennet, our team's constructor as well as a programmer briefed us very well on it by illustrating the different missions and where the bases would be etc. Now that I'm seeing it personally, I'm really,really excited. Can't wait to get started. It's so BIG! And cool and....and....well never mind. I"M JUST SO EXCITED!!!!
Kelly :-P
Yay! The playing field has finally arrived! This means we can finally start on the missions and get some programming done! (:
It was such a pleasant surprise when the men finished building up the playing field. Three floors! This has got to be the coolest playfield I've ever seen.
Anyway, we've done some research so far, but there's still a lot of fine-tuning to be done. We've got a pretty long to-do list but we'll manage to pull through despite all the common tests, some how. (:
+yihui
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
5:31 PM
today at robotics, we talked about the mission.
grace and i were the only ones who attended the briefing, so we had to tell the others what the mission's about and how we can approach it. after explaining and giving them a few examples, everyone else gave feedback and contributed their ideas.
i find that the discussion was very fruitful and received TONS of positive feedback (: everyone in the team was very participative and we were also very efficent. we EVEN built the prototype! (:
i feel that our team is cool and we get along well (: but sometimes this can be bad, cos we tend to get distracted easily and go off topic. but overall, we have alotta fun together and i look forward to working with them (:
`=* jennet
The playing field will be arriving soon. It's really exciting . Once the playing field is here we can start everything for NJRC. The briefing about our missions was very beneficial in understanding more about the competition. Everyone jokes around but also works hard. We have fun while working at the same time. It's a great combination. Everyone in my team gets along great though this means that we might sometimes get carried away and not concentrate. But when we get serious, we really get alot of work done. I enjoy these meetings. Now that I'm participating in NJRC, I realize how much harder Robotics is than other people make it out to be. It really takes alot of concentration. :-P
// kelly
we were briefed about the mission today. i thought the mission was pretty cool and funky as we are actually able to programme a robot to complete all the tasks. at first i thought it would be pretty tough to find solutions to solve the problems but with grace, jennet and yihui's experience in NJRC last year. it didn't seem so difficult and impossible anymore ((:
we all get along with each other pretty well despite knowing each other just this year. although we tend to get distracted really easily, somehow we still manage to get back to the main topic; which is really important and good.
i look forward to this competition as the whole mission is really interesting furthermore, i have great team mates to work with on this competition ((:
-renee
Today we discussed about the missions...
Even though the playing field hasn't arrived yet, all of us were just bursting with ideas for our robot! From concepts as to how to climb down the steps, to strategies as to how to collect the most number of cones in mission one.
After the discussion on the missions, I started on the designs for the mascot. Jennet and Renee started filling me up with ideas that would have been brillant if not for the practicality. Certain pending ideas include wearing neon blue shirts with shimmering pieces of plastic hanging from them.
haha. NJRC is gonna be so fun! (:
we're all pretty excited, aren't we? *grin*
+ yihui
we just finished our first team meeting for njrc! i feel so excited about how njrc is going to turn out this year... it's our second year taking part and its going to be tough ahead to live up to last year's hype. the playing field is arriving this week and i can't wait for it to arrive in school. from the way it looked when we saw it at the challenge announcement, it looks very unique and radically different from past year's playing field's.
i can't wait till our team can really get cracking and started on the mission. i think we're going to have a lot of fun as a team just like last year plus our new junior kelly!
njrc 2005 hereeee wee commmme!
-grace
Looking at Singapore's Water
History- From past to present
1890- Mr. James MacRitchie, a Municipal Engineer, prepared the first proposal on how to handle used water in Singapore.
1893- MacRitchie prepared a further report that proposed a more feasible solution to handle used water.
1910s- First water borne structure was built in Singapore
1911- Mr. R. Pierce, a Municipal Engineer, submitted a report to the Municipal commissioners and proposed to divide the city into three areas and each serviced by a tank sewer that drained into a pumping station.
1912- Construction work begins for this revised scheme
1915-1917- It was gradually completed.
1930s- Mr. J.D. Waston and city engineer submit a report to Municipal Commissioners proposing that night soil will be collected, pumped to a sludge plant to be mixed and digested with sludge.
1955- City Town Council engaged a consultant to prepare plants to remove the Alexander Sewage Disposal Works.
1961- New facilities were completed.
1963- Kim Chuan Sewage Treatment Works was expanded to serve the new development.
1979-1985- New Sewage Treatment Works built in Bedok, Kranjim Seletar and Jurong.
1987- Night soil removal service phased out and replaced by alternative on-site sanitation system.
2001- the six sewage treatment works renamed water reclamation plants.
2003- Newater factories in operation
2004- Third newater factory at Seletar
2005- North Tunnel [i.e. influent pumping station], an outfall system at Changi and reclamation plants will be constructed.
2007- Changi East Water Reclamation plants completed.
2015- Another water reclamation plant and outfall system named the South Tunnel to be constructed. Changi Water Reclamation plant expanded.
2045- All existing water reclamation plants and sewage pumping stations completely expected to be phased out.
Conservation Efforts- water efficiency
1. Water efficient homes
i. Thimbles installed at taps and shower hoses to reduce excessive flow rates and cistern water saving bags installed in the old 9-year flushing cistern to reduce the amount of water used for flushing.
ii. Do-It-Yourself water saving kits supplied to grassroots organizations for distribution to residents, free.
iii. Mobile exhibitions set up to brief residents on the installation procedures and demonstrate the effectiveness of the water saving devices.
2. Public education and publicity campaigns/ programmes
i. Customers reminded through mailers to practice water conversation
ii. Talks on water conservation regularly organized for schools and organizations.
iii. Save water campaigns and sustained publicity held with activities organized for all sectors of the economy.
iv. Customers actively encouraged to read their water meters to monitor their own consumption so that unusual high consumption, due to leaks, can be detected quickly.
3. Mandatory Installation of water saving devices
i. Installation of water saving devices (e.g. self-closing delayed action taps and constant flow regulators) mandatory at all non-domestic premises.
ii. Low capacity flushing cisterns have been installed in all new public housing apartments
4. Reuse and recycling of water
i. Industries encouraged to reuse their processed water through various means (e.g. cascading systems, counter flow systems, reverse osmosis, etc)
ii. Water conservation fund set up to encourage and assist companies to invest in technologies that help reduce the usage of potable water for industrial processes.
5. Substitution of potable water with alternative sources
i. Industries are actively encouraged to substitute potable water with alternative uses
6. Use of Newater
i. Encourage the use of newater for air conditioning and in industrial processes.
7. Regular water audit
i. Regular checks carried out by PUB officers for companies that use an excessive amount of potable water.
8. Check on excessive flow rates
i. Fittings installed to curb flow rates for taps.
NeWater Technology
A viable source of water in the future
1) Step one : Conventional waste water treatment
2) Step two : Microfiltration
Treated water is passed through membranes to filter out and retain various impurities on the membrane surface.
Resultant filtered water contains only dissolved salts and organic molecules.
3) Step three : Reverse Osmosis
Semi permeable membrane is used which only allows very small pores to move through.
Hence NeWater is free from viruses and bacteria and contains very low levels of salts and organic matter.
4) Step four : Ultraviolet Disinfection
All organisms are inactive and the purity of the product water is guaranteed. pH adjustment to restore balance.
-frees large amount
-can be used in the wafer fabrication process
-blending with reservoir water
-supplement our water supply
Future Plans- subsisting in the future
Benefits
⢠Barriage will keep seawater out at the Marina Channel
⢠The barriage will turn Marina basin into a body of freshwater through natural flushing.
⢠New Marina Reservoir will add to the local water supply and increase catchment water by 2/3
1. Imported water
⢠Singapore will continue to import water from Johor
2. Newater
⢠Newater will be supplied directly to industries
⢠Some will be blended with reservoir water
3. Desalinated water
⢠Supplied to reservoirs
function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) {
if(window.addEventListener) {
window.addEventListener('load',
function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false);
} else {
window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; });
}
}
