Gifted lunch food by students of Microprocessor class

On the afternoon of 14 February 2025, Group 14 from the Microprocessor class generously gifted lunch to their lecturer, another student from my lab, and me as a token of appreciation for the time and effort we dedicated to helping them with their class assignment.

Before the lecturer and the male student left for Friday prayers, we took a photography session to commemorate the moment.

The look of the gifted food package. 

6 pieces of fried chicken. 

The portion taken by the male student of my lab.

The portion taken by the lecturer. For his tea break. It does helps a lot as after that he stay back to finished up his marking works.

My portion from the gifted food.

Receiving such appreciation from students was truly heartwarming. Despite offering my help as a voluntary effort, seeing their gratitude made it even more rewarding. They showed a greater willingness to learn and take initiative compared to the rest of their classmates.

Although I was not paid to assist them, this gesture made me feel appreciated for my time and dedication. Both their lecturer and I often remind students to show gratitude to those who help them. This principle is something we try to instill in them.

Beyond this meal, I also received a pack of chips from another group of students as a small thank-you for assisting with their classwork.

It’s always a joy to witness students practicing gratitude. Remember to appreciate those who help you. Whether through a meal, a simple thank you, or another thoughtful gesture.

Until next time, let’s continue spreading kindness and appreciation! 

Harvesting rambutan using long pole trimmer

This photo was taken on the evening of 24 January 2025, after I helped harvest ripe red rambutan fruits. My colleague had been talking about it for the past two weeks, and it was a rewarding experience after completing all the tasks below. The sweetness of the fruits made it worth enduring the bites from the angry weaver ants (kerengga) that swarmed me.

The students in the PCB Lab are seen here wrapping up their SDK V4 boards for the Microprocessor class assignment, right after the Jumaat prayer.

Later, students came to the Vecad Lab to show their progress on the SDK V4 boards and to collect extra components to replace those damaged by incorrect soldering techniques. They also picked up their marked Test 2 papers for the Microprocessor subject, after 5.20 pm.

A quick photography session was held to document that all students had taken their Test 2 papers and completed their soldered SDK V4 boards.

Until next time, enjoy the work and the full day's schedule!

The look of fully assembled SDK V4 board

This document details the SDK (System Development Kit) V4 board for the Microprocessor class, finalized and fully assembled as of noon on 20 January 2025. Below are the features and development process for the board:

Overview of the SDK V4 Board

Front View: The board features key interfaces for microprocessor learning.

Back View: Shows the compact and well-designed component layout.

Components:

• IC socket configured for the Black Pill STM32 microcontroller.
• LEDs, 7-segment displays, keypads, and DIP switches are provided on the SDK V4 board for students to program and observe output functionality.

Development and Contributions

The SDK V4 board was designed and developed by the UTM Johor Bahru team, led by:

1. Dr. Zulfakar Aspar, FKE, UTM : Primary contributor for concept and design.
2. Ryan, 3rd year, Electronic Undergraduate : Responsible for hardware design and PCB assembly.
3. Me : Focused on software testing, documentation, and manual creation.

The collaboration among team members was crucial for the successful development of this board.

Assembly Challenges

• Component Type: The SDK V4 uses SMD (Surface-Mount Device) components, which are small, fragile, and densely packed. This increases the complexity of soldering and assembly.
• Best Practices: Assembling components incrementally and testing each stage is essential. For example, Group 10 successfully tested and assembled one 7-segment display at a time before completing all four units, ensuring proper connections and functionality [1].

Programming Support

The SDK V4 board is compatible with the following development environments:

1. STM32CubeIDE
2. Keil uVision
3. Arduino IDE

For the Microprocessor class final exam, Keil uVision is the primary platform for questions involving assembly language programming. However, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with STM32CubeIDE for broader programming capabilities.

Conclusion

The SDK V4 board offers a practical learning platform for programming STM32 microcontrollers. It equips students with hands-on experience in both hardware and software development. 

Enjoy exploring the capabilities of the SDK V4 board and mastering the STM32 microcontroller!

Reference:

[1] Assembly Tip: Incrementally assemble and test components, such as connecting and testing individual 7-segment units, before proceeding to full assembly. This ensures connection accuracy and simplifies troubleshooting. Example done by Group 10, SKEE 3223: Microprocessors (Section 9 & 10), Semester 1-2024/2025.

https://youtube.com/shorts/FCHz6SIEJvg?si=8EWaoYNWsFDQHyCz

The look of quiet Microprocessor class

This photo was taken at noon on 8 January 2025, during the Microprocessor class. The students were unusually quiet, as they typically only exhibit this level of silence during test sessions.

That day, I was giving a briefing on the SDK V4 board, which was the first design using the STM32 microprocessor. The lecturer had asked me to brief the students before distributing the SDK V4 PCB boards and components. However, I requested to hand out the hardware first, and this sequence worked well. One group even noticed that I had forgotten to include a voltage regulator in their set, indicating they were paying close attention to the briefing and thoroughly inspecting their hardware.

I had divided the components into nine sets, and on that day, I only distributed three of them.

Overall, it was a productive class, and I hope the students enjoyed learning about PCB assembly.

Reference:

[1] Sorting components for SDK V4 board with ARM  Microprocessor https://serinurulbeauty.blogspot.com/2025/01/sorting-components-for-sdk-v4-pcb-board.html

The pretty look of blooming melur jawa@jambak flowers

This is taken on the noon of 8 January 2025. After microprocessor class. I managed to harvest 4 stalks of melur jawa@jambak flowers. After last week harvest 2 stalks of them. As yesterday,  I counted there is more than 22 blooming stalks of melur jawa@jambak flowers.

The pretty 4 stalks of blooming melur jawa@jambak flowers.

The initial 2 stalks of melur jawa@jambak flowers.

I have informed few friends to self harvest the melur jawa@jambak flowers. Since this month it is 2 times output than normal.

For this one, I put it inside vecad lab pantry. So it will have good fragrant melur jawa@jambak flower smell.

Until then, have fun in harvesting melur jawa@jambak flowers.

First harvest for year 2025=pisang raja (banana) fruits

This was taken on the morning of 12 January 2025. When I successfully harvested my ripe, yellowing pisang raja (banana) fruits. 

First layer/comb (sisir/sikat) = 12 pisang raja (banana) fruits. 

Second layer/comb (sisir/sikat) = 10 pisang raja (banana) fruits. 

Third layer/comb (sisir/sikat) = 10 pisang raja (banana) fruits. 

Fourth layer/comb (sisir/sikat) = 12 pisang raja (banana) fruits. 

Fifth layer/comb (sisir/sikat) = 12 pisang raja (banana) fruits. 

I used only three tools for the process: a serrated steak knife, a 12-inch saw, and a hoe (tajak). It took me 45 minutes to complete the harvest and clean up afterward. Just as I finished, the rain began to drizzle.

In the evening, I have to reply to questions from student of Microprocessor class. As they was eager to finished up the given components to be assembled on SDK V4 board. Basically my weekend is more like working from home. 

Until then, stay safe while harvesting your pisang raja (banana) fruits. 

Sorting components for SDK V4 PCB board

This was taken at noon on 7 January 2025, when I received help from a group of students from the Microprocessor class to sort the components for the SDK V4 PCB board. The task took 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete due to my detailed and meticulous sorting method. I prefer organizing the components thoroughly to ensure students don’t need to ask me which parts are for specific soldering tasks. For example, I have grouped the needed components for power supply part on the SDK V4 PCB board. Which I have also make the presentation slide on its assembly. 

I had to adopt this approach as I am currently tied up with finalizing my thesis corrections and managing other work and tasks. I am truly grateful for the assistance from these three students—it made a significant difference.

Close up on the components arranged by group. This is for Group 2 (power supply). For Group 1 is the Black Pill STM32F411 board set.

Until then, have fun in sorting components for your PCB board assembly.