Just a jar of JAM

J: 11 SAF marching drill commands you need to know!! Or get screwed!

2014-08-23T23:46:00.001-07:00

Who really listens to and understands the whole sentence of a command? I mean, besides some vulgarities, the only time I speak Malay was during our National Anthem... So for the pass two weeks during confinement, I learnt to filter out unnecessary information in those commands to make my life easier, recognising only the last few syllables to perform drills. Take for example, the command for a platoon to turn right "Begerak Ke-kanan, Empat barisan, Ke-kanan, Pu-sing!" To me it's only "@^%&$*%$&*, Ke-kanan, Pu-sing". Or the command to face front right after Kekanan Lu-rus, "Pandang kehadapan pan-DANG" to me it's only "#@*&$%!, pan-DANG".

Life was alright, and I didn't have any problems following commands. I though that I've cracked the puzzle to marching drills UNTIL I was made to give the commands...

That fateful day was my long awaited book out day and I was allowed to book out 2hours earlier than the rest of my company along with 19 others because we were the top 10% in IPPT(Incentive: heard that sometimes the top can get to book out 1 day ahead of the rest). We were gathered in our company's training shed for routine orders and bag check while our peers were doing area cleaning. After the check was book out time and as a recruit, everywhere we go, we have to march or run. We formed up along the road waiting for the sergeant in charge to lead us to the ferry terminal, smiles and grins on all faces. Boy, how suai can I be, the sergeant just so happens to be from my platoon and he made me lead the squad because I'm the only one he recognised. I screwed up the whole command thing because I knows shit. Got fucked by the sergeant and now need to learn the commands b4 my next book in...

So for your benefit i'm sharing some of the more frequently used commands:

Used in sequence when before moving off:
1. Sedi-A: Stand at Attention. Elbows locked, eyes stare forward, chin up. No movement.
2. Senang di-RI: Stand at Ease. Legs placed shoulder width apart, hands behind backs, right hand over left hand, fingers straightened. Eyes still forward, looking up, no talking.
3. Kekanan lu-rus: Face to the right, Dress
4. Pandang kehadapan pan-DANG: Face front.
5. Dari Kanan, BILANG: Number off from the right.
6. Begerak Ke-kanan/kiri, bertiga-tiga, Ke-kanan/kiri Pu-sing: Move to the right/left, three by three, right/left turn. "Kiri" and "Kanan" stand for left and right respectively. They are interchangeable in commands. "Bertiga-tiga" is also given in context, depending on how many rows deep the formation is. Three by three stands for the standard formation depth of three rows. "Dalam dua/empat barisan" would be used for two and four rows respectively.

Used when squad is marching:

7. Kiri/Kanan be-LOK: Left/Right Wheel

8. Impek Kiri/Kanan: Keep left/right

Used when squad is stopping/ after stopping:

9. Berhen-TI: halt/stop.

10. Hentak kaki, cepat hen-TAK: Quick Mark time

11. Skuad, Keluar-BARIS: Squad, fall out

JAM: SWURSH LED - Smart Water Usage Reduction Shower Head. Our Final Year Project. Water saving shower head.

2014-08-04T11:25:00.002-07:00

I(We) guess one of the reasons why we got together was because of our common interests. The both of us loves nature and the wildlife that inhabits it but we were frightened by the idea that it could all be gone one day. Global warming is widely recognised to be caused by green houses gases(GHGs) by many renowned scientists. The world we lives in runs on electricity generated mostly from fossil fuel and its by-product carbon dioxide is one of the contributing GHGs. We wanted to do our part in saving our environment and thought that alternative, renewable energy could be the answer. That was the very reason why we chose the course.

Clean Energy Management!

Ngee Ann Polytechnic

A SWURSH prototype.

You might have already known this but this is for those otherwise, In NP, final year students in engineering courses are given an option to either do internship or a student project. We decided to go ahead with a student project because we wanted to do something true to our course, which is to help save our environment. And as an added bonus, doing a project could also mean killing two birds with one stone for us because earlier that year, we applied for an innovation fund to develop our idea and was awarded $2,000 to finish it but have yet to started.

Great idea aye!?~

As the name implies the SWURSH shower head help users to reduce their water consumption. Water availability is one of our country’s biggest concern. The way we use or manage our water resource can increase or reduce the stress on our water demand & dependency for import.

Currently water saving measures in Singapore's industries involves coming up with new processes that requires less water for the same work or by recycling used water. Similarly, consumer products like dish washer, washing machine and toilet urinals incorporates new designs and technology to reduce the amount of water required for the same job. What we don't like about this method is that it does not involve the users to save water but rather only involve the product. On the contrary, our project here aims to include the users into the equation by targeting the human psychology to facilitate behavioural changes. We wanted to create a product that can instils water saving awareness in people's minds and hopefully make saving water their second nature.

Just like using a pedometer which count and display the number of steps a person makes to motivate him/her to walk more, our product hope to make users consume less water by providing him/her with the data on their water consumption. We chose to target the daily showering activity because water wastage during a shower is common due to its relaxing nature and also because water usage reduction during this activity can be easily achieved by making users bath for a shorter period of time (behavioural change).

Video of our working prototype is all the way down!!

Our initial sketch of the showerhead.

Block diagram.

The main hardware components of the SWURSH shower head are a microcontroller – the Arduino, a flow sensor, a solenoid valve, LEDs, Bluetooth module, push button, buzzer and battery. All components are in one way or another connected to the microcontroller as it is the brains in this product. The flow sensor measures the flow rate and transfer this data to the microcontroller and in turns the microcontroller calculates the water consumption. The other components are controlled by the microcontroller and displays, transmits or operates when there is changes to the water consumption.

Testing circuitries. Batteries had to be included in the design because we couldn't solve the micro turbine power source issue.

PCB design using eagles software.

After making everything nice and compact.

We even designed a portable system to display our working prototype.

Finally a video showing a working prototype.

Every LED lighted up on the shower head represents 1 litre of water used. When water consumption reaches 20 litres, the showhead will buzz and the LEDs will blink, signalling the user to stop or hasten his/her shower.
However, in the video above the shower head was programmed to light up 1 LED per 0.1 litres of consumption or else it would have taken forever.

As an added feature (for better grades..) We added bluetooth module to our product and coupled it with an android phone app to monitor consumption to show trends in daily/weekly/monthly usage.

The reason why we are sharing our idea is because we really want to see it as a real product! We couldn't perfect it but we are sure that someone can! It could really help save tonnes of water! Micro turbine powered Aesthetic LED showerheads are possible. Why not SWURSH? It serves a real purpose!!

Cheers,
JAM!

J: My Overkill NS Packing List!!!

2014-07-30T00:47:00.003-07:00

Over the past few weeks I have been actively "farming" items for use during my Basic Military Training (BMT) in Pulau Tekong. The list was complied after getting tips and advises from my friends who were already serving. This is an overkill packing list because I wanna be super ready and hopefully get into command school. It's not that I want to build a career in the military sector but I believe that for everything/task I do, I should do my absolute best and leave not regrets(I already have too many regrets..).

So, let's cut to the chase! The list is categorised into Clothing, Hygiene, Tools, Medication, Essentials and lastly Food.

Clothing

1. Underwear

- Qty 7, one per day to last you a whole week. Some people bring 14 so they'll nv have to wash during confinement.. You can also flip it inside out. jkjk LOL~

2. Slippers

- For use in the bunk.

3. Tights/Compression shorts

- Qty 1, To use during road marches. prevents abrasion between your thighs. From what I heard, some companies do not allow it.

4. Velcro belts

- Qty 1, The standard issue belts are the ones with the plastic buckle, many NFS complained that the buckle is a pain in the ass when exercising the prone position. You can get a velcro belt from beach road.

5. Hangers & Pegs

- Qty 10, I heard that you won't get much time to wash. You'll be washing all your clothes in one go, 10 should suffice.

6. Washing powder

Hygiene

Good to keep things organized. Have a little pouch for your toiletries! So much easier, just grab and go!

I prefer compact portable packaging.

1. Shampoo, soap, facial soap

2. Shaver

3. Nail clipper

4. Tooth brush and paste

5. Febreeze, fabric freshener

- Tens of thousands of people have slept on that bed and drooled on that pillow!

6. Toilet paper

- 2 rolls issued won't be enough!

7. Snake powder

- Useful prevention for hong kong feet! Many people contracted foot fungus during NS due to wearing those boots for prolonged periods.

8. Wet wipes

- This will make your life easier for camo removal!

Tools

1. Alarm clock/Watch

- In the army punctuality is very important! Heck, it's important everywhere! Alarm to wake you up!! Get it at Qoo10

- Get a cheap casio wrist watch, it'll surely be damaged they say~

2. Radio

- My Alarm clock have multiple functions though, it also serves as a radio and portable speaker! Some entertainment for NS. haha.

3. AA batteries

- Qty 4, To power my music entertainment and also the issued torch light.

4. S clips

- My brother told me that these clips are useful for attaching stuffs to your vest.. pouches, tools ect.

5. Lighter

- Just in case I needa fire.. Cooking in the jungle maybe?

6. Pen and notebook

- Might need to note down useful information.

7. Swimming goggles

- There will be swimming lesson/s.

8. Portable phone charger/extra batteries

- Some say can, others say cannot. I'm just gonna bring it anyway. Worse come to worse, just get my parents to bring it home. I still have my extra battries. BTW, xiaomi's portable battery is awesome! It charges my GS4 within 2hours from flat to full and was able to do that for 4 times before I have to recharge!!! It holds a whopping 10400mAh and only cost $18.99 SGD! get it from xiaomi!

Medication

My personal first-aid kit

Well, I dont wanna risk missing out on important/interesting exercise due to small issues like sore throat or cough...

*If you're really sick beyond self medicating, please seek a medical officer!

1. Charcoal pill/Baojiwan

- Might just makan some "dirty" food~

2. Tiger Balm

- For the anticipated mosquito bites! Also good for runni nose!

3. Insect repellent

4. Antiseptic/Anti-inflammatory cream

- Minor cuts and scratches!

5. Plasters

6. Muscle rub

- All that exercise will surely strain your muscles! I prefer the thai muscle rub used by Thai boxers! Can be bought at Golden Mile Complex.

7. Panadol cold/fever

- When you know you're getting flu~

8. Strepsils/Herbal honey

- To heal your throat from all that shouting.

9. Vitamins/Pokari sweat isotonic sachet(just mix w water)

- They say prevention is better than cure!~

Essentials

1. Identity card NRIC

- Don't be the fella to search for it in camp!;)

2. $5 worth of change in 20cents

- For use of washing machine. Some company have it, some company doesn't. See if you're lucky~

3. $50

- There's a mart in Tekong where you can buy stuffs, also have enough $ to cab home after the initial confinement~

4. Phone!

- This is my number 1 priority! Gotta stay connected to the world!

Food.

Generally dried food will be accepted, I heard that some companies will not allow instant drinks like milo or holick.

I have not bought any food yet but I guess imma just go with some energy bars, candy, and potato chips...

Cheers,

Jerry JAM