First Post

If anyone wanted to get some ideas for writing a “First Post” then you probably shouldn’t be taking tips from me. Because I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. But since my determination is at an all-time high, enough to veer on stubbornness, I shall attempt a “First Post” anyway.

Firstly, I’d like to state what the purpose of this blog will be. It will serve to document my journey on improving my robotics and engineering skills. Hopefully, I could then track and assess the level of my expertise, and explore the domains where I need to put in more effort. Also, let’s say if I forget something, I could always come back to my blog and revise up on the lost knowledge. ( Let’s be real us engineers are always in need to freshening up our skills every once in a while).

Secondly, by sharing my projects, tutorials, codes and experiences I hope they will prove to be useful for other people as well (any budding engineers or enthusiastic hobbyists and makers). I look forward to other people sharing tips on how to improve my projects and codes, if they feel the need to. As I said, this is to improve my skill level and I will always appreciate any constructive criticism (emphasis on the “CONSTRUCTIVE” part 😝 )

I will leave a warning that one must be prepared to see frequent silly posts because, well—that’s who I am as a person. And most likely anything I will pursue and work on will reflect that. So beware and my apologies in advance.

My expertise lies mostly in the robotics and mechatronics domain. Although, I do have have a Masters in Robotics, I feel I am lacking knowledge and skills in certain robotics domains. As it happens, the more you learn, the more you feel like you know nothing at all. (I’m sure I fumbled up the original quote.)

Specifically, I’d like to try my hand creating my own (very silly) robots, master electronics and embedded systems, ROS, Computer Vision, AI Path Planning, 3D printing, drone technology, creating my own games, and creating VR/AR apps for Google Cardboard. Lately, I’ve been drawn towards IoT and specifically IoRT.

In addition, I want to improve my programming skills. When I learnt programming, (C/C++, C# and Python), I learnt them quite superficially. I didn’t learn it the way Computer Scientists and Software Engineers did. They tend to have a sound understanding of the standard coding guidelines, how to efficiently code a program and know how to write good algorithms.

For instance, I did not know about Version Control or what Build Systems were until recently. In my previous experience, we compiled our code in an IDE and then deployed it onto a microcontroller. Or compiled a program in the terminal and run it as a node in ROS. My goal is to take my programming skills to a much higher level.

Currently, I want to properly master object oriented programming and learn to code in such a way that is more memory-efficient. And the only way to do is by constant practice and challenging myself. Because I’m very keen on creating my own video games and VR apps, I already have an excuse to follow through this goal.

When it comes to Electronics, I have yet to learn a lot of topics. Although, I was taught a lot about electronics at university. There is quite a bit of practical knowledge that I want to gain. For instance, currently I’m comfortable with working with up to 5 V when it comes to DC motors. But eventually, I will be working with higher voltage motors and I need to learn about creating safe power supply circuits so that all the components in my projects get adequate current and nothing gets fried (specifically, my Arduino board 😑) I once read in a forum, that the best way to learn electronics well is to open up old electrical devices and figure out what the actual circuit does. (Within reason of course!)

For example, I opened up an old power bank circuit (carefully, of course), and was surprised to know that they often use Buck-Boost converters. Now, I did learn about them in a Power Systems module at uni, but I shrugged it off as being something Power Electronics related. Only recently, did I apprehend myself for not realizing how useful they are. So obviously, I have yet to get the hang of more advanced electronics concepts. I do believe having a deep understanding of electronics will help me become a better Robotics Engineer.

Now when it comes to Computer Vision and Machine Learning, while I did learn in depth about various concepts and algorithms, and implemented them in MATLAB. I don’t believe that is enough. I’d like to implement them practically in various projects. I would love to try out Computer Vision with C++ first and then later with Python as well. Path planning and Control Systems are two other domains I’d like to work focus on. For the former, perhaps I could try out simulating the algorithms in ROS. 

Which brings me to ROS, I am very keen on trying out SLAM in it as well. And I want to master ROS in full, because previously, I worked with it within a limited capacity.To conclude, there will be a lot of CV, ML and ROS related content here. And perhaps I shall try my hand at NLP (if I’m feeling ambitious enough) :D

I’ve always seen Robotics as a creative field rather than a purely technical field. Surely, the technical knowledge required to master Robotics is the “medium” with which we create our “masterpieces”. And thus, my goal is to learn all the technologies I mentioned earlier, create projects with my own flair and creativity. And most importantly, have fun along the way.

Insha’Allah (God Willing).