Batang Yagit Feeds

Ok. We we’re given (again) a project for finals in our Digital Microcontrollers class. It’s a digital clock which has an alarm feature. The time of the clock could be set and it should be in the 12-hour format. Aside from that, there should be five user-programmable alarm slots that can be set. The alarm should use a buzzer. Only one PIC16F84A chip should be used in the project. The circuit should either be mounted and soldered in a universal PCB or in a custom-designed printed circuit board.

I volunteered to do the project for our group since my other groupmates are going to be busy on our other projects. Programming is one of my fortes. What makes Digital Microcontroller class more exciting is we do not program applications for software but for hardwares instead. We embed the compiled application we have created in a PIC16F84a Microchip. It’s a 16-bit microcontroller readily available in our ’suking tindahan’.

This afternoon, I started working on the circuit design. I used Eagle Software to make the circuit’s schematic diagram and circuit board layout. Here’s how it looks,

I already have the printed copy of the design.  The next thing to do is transfer the design on the presynsethized printed circuit board which fortunately I still have some left.  The software part is not yet done.  I’ll keep you updated then.

After working on our thesis proposal for few weeks now, my sufferings finally came to an end (or rather started). We had our thesis defense a couple of days ago. We were scheduled for an hour of defense in front of our panelists. A lot of modifications were suggested by our panelists. They also criticized our capacity to implement our project given the short time that we have. And what’s worse is we need to purchase a Php 12,000.00 worth of SMS Module w/ Global Positioning System from abroad. Wow. Where would we get that kind of money?

Since our thesis proposal was already approved, all we have to do now is wait for the semester to end so we could submit the revised thesis proposal and start working on our prototypes during the semestral break. Miss B suggested that we put our thesis on hold so we could start working on the many projects that we have. Now I know how expensive it is to graduate. Our grades were not the only thing which suffers, our pockets too.

It’s not the thesis (project study) alone which bothers me now. I still have a research work to finish for our Environmental Engineering. We submitted the draft last week but the teacher just checked the data. He did not read what was written on it. When I checked it this evening, I laughed my a$$ out on what I have written last week. I was so sleepy when I did that paper and I did not read it either. I wrote a lot of funny stuff in it that I was not aware of. I mentioned about a ‘father’ and ‘kalasag’ on my Envi Engineering research paper. I do not know why or how I placed those words. Am I dreaming when I made that paper?

I’m partially done now. I hope I didn’t wrote anything funny in it anymore. My group mates would surely kill me.

I think i’ll go to sleep now. Good night morning.

By the way, the PRC already published the results of the Registered Electrical Engineer (REE) Board Exam (September 2007 Exam Results). Congratulations to my fresh Engineer friends.

I posted on my Batang Yagit blog once on how I ranked 1st on class tardiness (an exaggeration of course). I checked my attendance record last Monday after our class. Our teacher told us that anyone who had 11 absences will be marked failure debarred from the class. OMG, when I checked mine, it was 8 already. I have no plans of taking the subject (Environmental Engineering) twice. I have no plans of attending the graduation rites as one of the photographers.

Environmental Engineering was the subject that I once skipped because I simply got lazy. This is one of the most neglected subject in class since it’s only a minor subject. More than half of the class have the same dilemma as I have. I am not the only one who’s being threaten by the FD.

Anyway, the only thing that I could do now is to sleep early so I can wake up early tomorrow. I already told Mama to wake me early tomorrow morning. That if my alarm would miss, which usually happens on me. Good night guys.

Miss B, one of our teachers, plays a very significant role in my life as a student. Whether I am pleased or annoyed by her actions, it does matter because I get to meet her everyday of my college life.

Who is Miss B anyway?

Miss B is the teacher in most of my major subjects. I first encountered her when I was on my third year in college. She got to teach in one of our major subjects. She’s the type of person that I find hard to like. She’s one of those persons that I also want to please (Does it sound ironic?). Now, she’s teaching in three of our subjects. Two major subjects and one laboratory. She’s also teaching our subject for the thesis next semester.

Why would I talk about Miss B?

Simple. She’s the cause of my despair in college. She’s keeping hell close to us. She’s the talk of the town. She’s the only person whose actions leaves mark on us, whether it’s good or bad.

Our teacher, I’ll call her Miss B since I’ve mentioned her in this blog a couple of times, finally appeared yesterday morning and gave us our Midterm Exam for Control Systems. This exam has been postponed several times before. Most of us were not pleased about the exam.

There were 3 problems and I only got to answer 1 out of the 3. Though my other 2 items were not empty, I still have a big feeling that I’ll fail that exam. I guess most of us answered 1 problem only. My quizzes were good. I still have a good feeling that my grade for midterms won’t fail since quizzes comprise a bigger percentage in our grades.

Failing an exam is not new to us anymore. Almost every engineering student can relate no matter how intelligent or good they are. Almost, if not all, have experienced the same situation as I am yesterday. If all other non-engineering students would feel bad after failing an exam, we feel the complete opposite. I dunno. It’s already a habit not to feel sad after a failed exam. Engineering students either eat or drink.

As a result of yesterday’s dilemma, after having lunch, we went to the Durian Paradise in F. Torres Street. I went with few of my classmates. We were six but only 5 of us took part in eating the 10kg durian that we bought. The other one, who happened to be a Muslim, was having his Ramadan.

Of all the possible response to depression, eating is my refuge. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I eat, a lot.

After eating the fruit at Torres, we headed back to school with our breathes having the strong smell of durian.