Week 3&4: What did I get stuck?
Generally, my winter holiday started on the 18th of January and lasted for two weeks. I decided to mainly focus on programming languages and technology during the holiday. Before enjoying the next new activity, I had to take a day off when I could completely feel such a sense of relief after I finished final exams. Badly, it took only a single day.
The procedure that I wanted to aim at is creating and developing an algorithm for a line follower machine. It is a small prototype of a project. Currently, I am working on the project to make a coffee delivery servant robot (abbr. S-Bot) for our university and one of mechanic engineering professors is in charge of a supervisor. I am responsible for software developer; programming microprocessors, named Raspberry Pi, using Python programming language and testing blueprints of the script. The project system consists of a lot of operations, such as taking an order, informing barista the need for coffee, taking and delivering a coffee and empty mug. Apart from performing routines perfectly, S-Bot has to face some challenges, in particular, using an elevator, detecting obstacles and people as well as communicating with customers. We use a down-to-up technique that allows us to design small parts and combine them after all parts of the body are ready to assemble.
In the first week of the break, I went to the university every morning and went back home in the evenings. It was just like a nine-to-five work and the only difference was that the sun sets the schedule. Normally, our team handles all the problems together by discussing and studying. There was a time when I worked alone and made own decisions on the algorithm. It was quite an arduous task for me and I had to test the code after each edit. Even a small bug of the script took notice of me and debugging took not a short time. I fully understand that self-working skill is sometimes evaluated higher than teamwork. We cannot bypass the self-work and shift into advancing expertise on cooperation. Thus, I strongly believe that the activity can be one of the valuable pieces which make our life gorgeous.
Furthermore, I attended training at the National University of Mongolia on Friday afternoon. It was about CanSat (can satellite), which is a type of rocket payload used to teach space technology and does not leave the atmosphere, and the training was dedicated to preparing students of 8 universities for the national competition. It consists of three parts such as system engineering especially in space technology, project management and an experience of a previous year participant. “Systems engineering is the art and science of developing an operable system that meets requirements within imposed constraints.”
The interesting point was that there was no difference between the best design, the worst execution, and the worst design, the best execution. In the beginning, I was wondering why they were the same as each other because no one would admit bad work as a perfect one even though the first idea was just great. But it is. In reality, people tend to allow the equality of a designer and a maker. Even if there is a very low probability that a dream or an imagination can be fulfilled, it still keeps its precious value for a long time. Designing very astonishing things would seem to some people as punching above the weight. However, we have to believe in others’ skills which can advance them. It was proven by a fascinating study of two researchers in 1968 that high expectation increases the performance and termed the Pygmalion Effect. According to the research, our hope about others strongly affects their productivity. The very weak connection can influence fruitfulness thus, self-belief is the best thing that we can give to ourselves.
Obstacles are an opportunity to create something new.
In the second week, I was told to leave a dormitory of the university by the academic and student affairs department because the Government of Mongolia had ordered to stop all kinds of activities of higher education institutions until 2nd of March, 2020 (Now it was extended to the end of March) due to the new form of coronavirus. Therefore, I faced a problem that I had to survive on my own in study life. There were neither my classmates nor the lecturers. I was unable to work with even the teammates. Nobody would check my work and I could not too. However, I did not want to waste my time on things that were not important, which prevented me from spending quality time with other people.
To be honest, self-deception played an important role in my life, schedule, and habit tracker. I used to like being orderliness at everything, but not about room arrangement and cleaning. The whole thing is about my action. When I missed one of my habits, I would mark it as done. I told me that it was just a single lie, no one had to know about it. Because I can not manage my todos in due time. I successfully noticed my weakness and afraid. Then I made a brave choice that I get used to telling my to-do list behind the schedule. It helps me to decide whether to step forward or keep focusing on the point. Revealing the secret which I got stuck in makes others figure out the truth of my condition and stop pressuring me with works. Studying at home pushed me to know myself much deeper.
