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Meeting Scheduler for CITC Faculty

Christmas spirit is in the air, the same goes for our subject requirement. Our system is still far from completion and small progress is appreciated. This week, we, the developers didn't make that much progress because we were busy studying for the removal exam in one of our major subjects which is the System Analysis and Design (SAD). Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) and Data-flow Diagram (DFD) were studied as it will be a part of the removal exam. One progress that we the developers made this week is the back-end of our login panel. A login panel with no back-end will never work. Although the design is simple we the developers focus on the functionality of the entire system. In the login panel, each user will be given the username that will be used to login and password for the security. In the database, if a user tries to login and it matches one of the saved users, the users will gain access to the system. Moreover, after the successful login of the user, he/she then can set up his/her profile.

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Meeting Scheduler for CITC Faculty

A week after the final exam, many subjects require to submit some projects. In System and Design (SAD) we the developers the Data-flow Diagram (DFD) of our system.DFD is a way of representing a flow of data of a process or a system usually an information system. The DFD also provides information about the outputs and inputs of each entity and the process itself. The DFD has logical DFD and physical DFD. The logical DFD depicts how the business operates. The processes represent the business activities, the data stores represent the collection of data regardless of how the data are stored and it's how business controls. The physical DFD  depicts how the system will be implemented or how the current system operates. The processes represent the programs, program modules, and manual procedures,  the data stores represent the physical files and databases, manual files and it shows controls for validating input data, for obtaining a record, for ensuring successful completion of a process, and for system security. By starting  DFD, we the developers map the flow of business actions as they exist, which can highlight any shortcomings or inefficiencies. Or, you may already know the type of functionality you’re seeking to add, and the current logical DFD will help to reveal process steps that may need to be dropped or changed. As with any diagram, the logical DFD should be detailed enough to be actionable. Depending on its scope, the current logical DFD may take time to produce and seem tedious, but the time may be well spent. DFD should also be a guide on how the whole system process works.

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Meeting Scheduler for CITC Faculty

Days were tough this past week, the final exam is in the air together with project requirements. We the developers, just manage to create a login panel for users and Graphical User Interface (GUI) of our landing page. The GUI was just a design that we want the users to see when they view our landing page. And the login page was been configured in the back-end. To make progress for the week, we work on the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) of our system. ERD is a data modeling technique that graphically illustrates an information system's entities and the relationships between those entities. An ERD is a conceptual and representational model of data used to represent the entity framework infrastructure. It is important in our system to have a concrete ERD because it is one of the backbones in building our system and to avoid major mistakes, especially in handling data in the database. ERD contains entity and elements which have attributes. By constructing ERD you make your system more organized as it sets some parameters on what a certain data can do. A primary key will also be used in the ERD because it helps determine the uniqueness of the data. Foreign keys might also be used to access data from a different table.

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Meeting Scheduler for CITC Faculty

A Graphical User Interface (GUI) is expected to be done this week as progress on our system. The GUI may not be fully functional or let's just say its the front-end. Front-end is simple the design you want the users to use or navigate. It may consist of buttons to click or navigation menu. A front-end doest do any task or operation because it only focuses on the system design. On the other hand, the back-end is code which makes the front-end works. When a button is clicked from the front-end a certain operation is being executed by back-end base on the instructions set by the developers.

First we the developers, created a login panel for the users to use when accessing their account. This login panel will ask the users to enter their credentials like username and password. This serves as a security to avoid unauthorized access to the data saved in the system. The login panel looks simple as it only needs to ask the user to login credentials and may not be the center of attraction of the system. When the credentials entered by the user match the credentials saved in the database then the user will be given access to the system.

Lastly, a landing page was made in order for the users to navigate the system easily after successfully logging in their credentials. This landing page serves as the homepage of the system which displays a calendar from which the users can view their upcoming meetings. Users can view it by month, week or even day.

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Meeting Scheduler for CITC Faculty

The final project that was given to us was to make a system that will schedule a meeting among CITC faculty and notifies all recipients about the scheduled meeting. The one that sets the meeting will also receive a notification about faculty that has a prior schedule. In making this kind of system we the developers surveyed with questions prepared for the benefit of the system. The questions are classified as open-ended, closed-ended and scale. Each classification consists of 10 questions which aim to get users impressions and opinion about our system. The feedback that we get will be interpreted and be considered in the progress of the system. The feedback is important because it is the most reliable source of information on which part of the system is doing good or bad. Open-ended questions consist of questions that aim to get a reaction or opinion about our system. A sample question is "What factor or issues do you consider for calling a meeting?". This question mainly focuses on the users' opinions about her/his standards to be considered to call a meeting. The users will respond to any possible factors he/she set based on their standards. Closed-ended questions consist of questions answerable by YES or NO. This helps the developers adjust some features base on the pulse of the users.  A sample question is "Is it a  user-friendly system app?". The users only need to answer the question with yes or no based on her knowledge about the system. Scale questions consist of questions that aim to gather some measurements or statistics about the system. A sample question is "How useful is this system project for the faculties in USTP?". The users are expected to give some numbers based on their satisfaction.

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Introduction to System and Design (SAD)

System and Design is one of our major courses in Computer Engineering. Our instructor for this is Engr. Aileen Amora-Sieras the chair of the Computer Engineering department (CpE) under the College of Information Technology and Computing (CITC). In this course, we are required to create a system of our own. The said project will be done by a group of 3 or 4. Each group will have different systems that will be deployed on our specific users.

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Koresco https://www.instagram.com/p/By-gAv-hyUT/?igshid=skyb302m5hy7

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Smyth https://www.instagram.com/p/ByfPIgnA84X/?igshid=1vsrnz9nlxki2

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The Last Pitch

Final exam is fast approaching so as the final pitching of our Technopreneur project. Pressure is in the air. You can see that everyone is busy preparing themselves for the pitching day. Most of them are polishing their website for better user interface. On the other hand, my team prepared the prototype of our product. We are the only team that will be presenting a physical product because the rest of our classmates decided to make a website for their services.

We are almost ready for the pitching when we suddenly made a mistake. We accidentally burned our gsm module. The reason for this is due to a higher voltage supply that was inserted in it. Our arduino nano was also burned. We did not notice that the connection was wrong and might cause some damage to our circuit. But we were able to get some data before it happened. Our code is just right for our system and our project is on its final stage.

We tried to look for some similar gsm module in the country with a fast delivery as a substitute. But we were unlucky. Most of them are from overseas and has a standard delivery time of 7-15 days. The delivery time was too long. There are some gsm modules in our city but it cost too much and we can’t afford to buy it. Lucky for us that some our classmates used gsm in their previous project and we can borrow the gsm module from them and continue our project.

Tuesday evening, we decided to have an overnight at one of our teammate’s house. We divided the task for us to finish early and study our product. The product was prepared and the code was polished, the PowerPoint presentation was also made. The product was now ready for demonstration in the pitching day.

On the pitching day we were so nervous. One factor for this is the fact that one of the panel is from mechanical engineering department and he might give us a hard time since we will present a product that may relate to his field. At the end we were able to present our project and successfully answered the questions asked. Pitching is done. Sleepless night will now be reduced.

We the team DABB thanks our God for guiding us to the right path. God bless us all!!

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A Week Before Pitching

A week before pitching and people are becoming busy. Pitching in front of many audiences is one of the hardest things we always encounter. Our hipster made the presentation during our overnight. We all contributed in this product hoping for it to be a worth it effort.

It’s still far for our project to be complete. Even with the cycle every day. Every changes that’s happened. It’s not always the same you see, because in every repetition there’s always progress, learning and new discoveries. And that’s what matters most to us.

Every day is like a cycle. The first day we work on our project to give it an update then while working we encounter problems we don’t know where it came from. Then we try to implement solutions based on research and fix it. We try to continue with it and then here comes another problem. So you see, it’s like a cycle. We are already running out of weeks until the last day of Technopreneurship.

We already succeeded in making the GSM module work. What’s lacking right now is the implementation of the device to the car. Luckily, we have a prospect customer. We tried to install it last week and arrived in a successful output. The car alarm works and what we are trying to do now is combine the GSM and the car alarm so that we will be ready for the final pitching.

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Near the Finish Line

With goals in mind everything can be done. Our project the DABB Car Alarm System with GSM is just a simple project that sends you a message every time the sensor is triggered. The problem we are encountering now is how we will be able to install the lasers or the laser module. Our hustlers are still asking questions one regarding if the laser will be an awkward feature for them. While they are validating, our hacker is trying to think of a way on how we could install it while I’m trying to think of another solution.

Few weeks left and it’s going to be the end of this journey. Not just the journey of Technopreneurship but also our journey as fourth year students. Our project is close to finish I guess. Several trial and errors have occurred.

It’s hard to prioritize this subject since this is not the only one with the biggest requirement. I really wish that we could only focus on this one and not have any other priorities. 

All the workshops, seminars that he offered were really great and I’m really excited to attend them. I hope this keeps going on and on because with these we could learn a lot and also be familiar with the communities they are involved in. We hope for the best of this journey. We must strive hard and believe in GOD always.

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Decision Making

Time management is a big factor in our project. It may require you to decide on things instantly. If only we made right decisions back then and knew this was the possible outcome. 

We’re still halfway our project. The update is that our device can now send SMS to users every time it detects vibrations or shock or if the laser is touched or blocked. What’s lacking right now is to tap it to the existing alarm and get the output from it. Installation Is now the lacking requirement so that we can now launch our product. 

We now have several commitments that would affect this course and we hope it will not put us in trouble. We hope that this would be a successful journey. We already have experienced and is continuously experiencing problems, hardships, struggle and much more. We accept these as lessons for us to be the better versions of ourselves and to be mature.

We made this kind of project because we thought that we could make this as a project to another course or subject. But what happened were things changed and the faculty decided to make the project of the other subject be the project of every subject since it would be a hassle to us. But unfortunately, our Techno project didn’t meet the requirements for the other subject’s project. 

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Fully Loaded

Project from different subjects came and pressure arises. Weeks keep on getting busier as requirements and projects compile. The stack of tasks to do keep us frustrated as to which one we should do first. The journey is getting close to an end and here we still feeling like we’re still in the starting line.

Make use of your time cause time is short. We really hope we could make it. If only we could only focus on one project we could’ve done this sooner. Second semesters are always harsh. It’s hard to process all this homework, projects, and quizzes being done at the same time.

Code that will be used in the project seems working but we still have problems with the GSM. Trying to configure what’s wrong if it’s in the hardware or in the software. Every time we print it in the Serial monitor, glitches appear and that’s not what we wanted.

Last Tuesday’s class was all about Customer Segments. One topic was about User Persona, which determines what kind of market we are really targeting. The Customer Workflow, where are we in the daily lives of a customer. Where do we fit in with his/her daily routine. Lots of learning was taught to us by our instructor which was really valuable in business. These are the learning that we should keep as we continue in this track.

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After Exam

We started testing connecting it to a microcontroller, we already coded programs for sensing vibration or getting input and giving output from the shock sensor to the serial monitor of the Arduino IDE. We had results and every time it is being triggered by vibration it reaches to zero (0). If not, the value is above 1000. 

Next we tried the Laser Sensor. We also pre-programmed how we would get input and output from the Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) every time the laser is on or off. Laser is a very concentrated type of light so the values were really great compared to ordinary or the natural light. When the laser is being directed to the LDR it gives value about 1000 also and when it is off there is about 500 or below and when covered we get 0-20 values printed in the serial monitor of the Arduino IDE.

We wanted to try the GSM module next but we had problems with it since it’s our first time trying to configure it. But rest assured we will get this. By now we are still looking for mirrors that would fit in the car and would reflect great for the laser module.

Today is the week for the posting of midterm grades and our hearts cannot stop beating fast every time we open our sis accounts to check our grades. But it never stops us in making our project.

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Arrived

Midterm week ended so easily, so as our pitching. Uneasy feeling is still there caused by my not so high performance in the past exams. This was another week full of new learning during classes and lectures. During our Techno class, our instructor Engr. Mabulay discussed about the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). It’s now Tuesday, exactly a week after the pitching but the materials were still on its way and we are hoping for its fast arrival. I start to create some testing programs for our materials especially for the sensor. Even though materials are not around its better to prepare codes early so it will be tried when the materials arrive. We prepared an Arduino Uno board as the microcontroller that will be used in the testing. I bought a new data cable for the Arduino Uno board because the one which was included of its purchased was not working. An arduino IDE also was installed in our laptops, it will be the one who will compile our code and upload it to the Arduino Uno board. One night at home I heard news about a car being robbed. It was done by breaking one of the glass windows of the car. I feel sad for the car owner. The valuable things inside might be save if our project was created a way earlier. It gives me motivation for our project because I want to stop that certain event from happening with the help of our car alarm system. Finally! The components have arrived. It took long enough for it to arrive but finally we can now start doing our MVP. We know this week will be the start of the busiest week. The materials are in good shape and were transported safely. It is still partial but we can make a big achievement with these. Requirements from other subject’s strikes we know we could do this because the Lord God will always guide us.

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Pitching Day

Midterm exams and pitching of our project are the things that we need to comply this week. The day before the presentation was the most tiring. I try to analyze more our project. I try to study what possible questions were to be ask after the pitching presentation. I'm not the one who will pitch our project but it still gives me pressure. I must answer any questions for us to have good grades. I'm not the only one who will answer the questions but as the hacker i must answer the question as much as possible. We were all tired and exhausted because of the midterm exam scheduled on Monday but still managed to get a meeting for our performance the next day. It may be hard on our part because other scheduled exams but we must be prepared and ready for tomorrow. The hipster of our team also made the power point presentation that will be used for the pitching. He personally took the job since he is the one who will present our project. He is good in making power point presentation and has a very nice and clean presentation performance among us. For our Technopreneurship’s Midterm, we needed to prepare a 5-minute pitch. It’s a very unusual way of taking a Midterm exam because it’s our first time to take one that’s not written but oral. It was held on our room at the 4th floor of the LRC building. Everyone was nervous but our team was relaxed. We were 5th to present and before our turn, we prayed to our Almighty God to give us guidance, wisdom, and knowledge. Ma’am Merriam Mejias commended the presentation of our hipster because it was the best. She is the only one present from the panel because the other judges were not around. Questions were asked and answered with a pressure on our side because it will determine our grades. It’s also a little bit awkward since I got rattled and answered one question in a funny way. It wasn't supposed to be a joke but all the people in the room laughed including sir Bronson and Ma’am Mejias.

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After Approval

A week has passed by after being approved. This week is the week that we are going to present our weekly updates, Business Model Canvas (BMC), and our milestones. The presentation is just fine even though were the last one to present. Questions were asked and answered but just by looking at the milestones I could say that we’ve gone so far now. The fast approaching midterm exam is one of the factors why we have a slow progress on our project. Our hustlers conducted another interview just to check the status of our market. As the hacker, I plan on the design, structure, and flow of our Lo-Fi. I also cater the ideas of my teammates to further improve our project. We then buy some of the materials for the making of our Lo-Fi. The materials we ordered are from overseas so it might take a while. We just hope that the stuff we ordered online would arrive soon so that we could start already. A laser, shock sensor, and a gsm module were ordered. Laser and shock sensor will be used to trigger our alarm. It is the primary component of our project. A gsm module then will send a message about the updates it receives from the laser and shock sensor. As planned, it will be a double security feature because the shock sensor will notify the car owner if a certain amount of force was applied on the glass and the laser will notify the car owner that a window might be damaged and forcibly open. We’re just hoping for the best of this project. It may not be easy but it’s not impossible. Pitching week is very near and various preparations were made. Midterm is tomorrow and things will get busy soon. We can do this together with the team; we just need to be patient because GOD is always with us. We just have to do our part and never surrender.