Poster Presentation

Based on our earlier discussion, we are going to run our STEM Showcase with poster presentations and demonstrations. The following is a general template for the poster. You can start collecting information along those lines.

1. Title & Author(s) 
2. Motivation (Explain the problem and the value of solving it.) 
3. Methods (How to solve the problem? Comparison of different methods.) 
4. Design & Implementation (How the solutions are designed and implemented?) 
5. Test Results (Summarize and analyze the test results.) 
6. Future Improvement (What can be done in a better way?) 
7. Reference

You can add video/PowerPoint presentation on your laptop to show the dynamic aspects of your project. If you have physical demonstration, you should start planning for it.

STEM Seminar (12/14-15)

We are going to have our STEM Seminar this coming Thursday (12/14) and Friday (12/15). Each team should prepare to present a key topic of your research field in depth based on both your study and research experience. The contents should be informative and educational to the class. The presentation should be no longer than 15 minutes (including 3 minutes for Q&A). You are encouraged to use PowerPoint, videos, demonstrations and handouts to help the class understand and grasp the new materials in a short time. Presentation materials should be in professional quality: concise, accurate, logical, rich in contents, and visually pleasant. Please plan, coordinate, and rehearse your presentation in advance.

Robotics Mechanism Simulation Lab

Goal

Create a planar mechanism simulation of linkages or expanding structure utilizing MATLAB. Each student in Robotics is required to pick a unique mechanism for your simulation. You can find various options from the PowerPoint presentation. 

You will have to deliver:  

1. a functioning MATLAB script to simulate the mechanism 
2. a technical report to document the mathematical model of your mechanism 
3. a demonstration and a presentation of your mechanism simulation.

Resource
MATLAB Code: The basic MATLAB code of the crank-slider mechanism is here, and the four bar linkages can be found here. The code is still generic, and is being modified to make it more robust. You can adapt the code to meet your project needs. The theoretical calculation can be found in this document.

 

Project Presentation Date: 

Thursday, 12/07/2017

 

STEM Progress Meeting (Monday, 11/20/2017)

We are going to have our next STEM Progress Meeting coming Monday (11/20/2017). Please prepare it thoroughly and be ready for any questions. Each team will have 10 ~ 15 minutes to present and answer questions depends on the size of the team. Everyone in the team should present and participate in Q & A. The outlines of the presentation are listed below. 

STEM Progress Report Slide Outlines 

1. Topic    

     a. Research topic    

     b. Team member(s) 

2. Research Problem 

    (if your problem stays the same, recap in one slide. If your project is refocused, elaborate it.) 

3. Method 

    (Methods chosen to solve the problem. By now you should have more detailed description.) 

4. Progress    

    a. Gantt chart : current status & next steps (Where are you in the chart? Reach milestones or delayed?)  

     b. Show project achievements through demonstrations (Must have!) 

5. Problems & Risks    

     a. Technical issue(s)    

     b. Resource issues(s): tools, materials, etc. need purchase (vendor, price, and time frame) 

6. References 

     (updated your Project Resource post/page.)  

Every team member should have the equal opportunity to present/demo. Group and individual performance will be evaluated by teacher. Teams should prepare to answer clarifying and critical questions.  

Good luck!

MATLAB Resource

MATLAB Video Tutorials Progress Chart

MATLAB Video Tutorials: Watch the MATLAB tutorials such that you can use this powerful tool to help you solve a wide spectrum of STEM problems. Please use the Progress Chart to document your personal progress in watching the tutorials.  

Part I: MATLAB Overview

1. MATLAB Overview: Get an overview of MATLAB®, the language of technical computing. (2:05)
2. Analyzing and Visualizing Data with MATLAB: Explore, visualize, and model your data with MATLAB®. (3:26)
3. Programming and Developing Algorithms with MATLAB: Write programs and develop algorithms using the high-level language and development tools in MATLAB®. (4:32)
4. Developing and Deploying Applications with MATLAB: Develop and share MATLAB® applications as code, executables, or software components. (3:51)
5. Getting Started with MATLAB: Get started with MATLAB® and learn how to get more information. (7:00)
6. Working in The Development Environment: Access tools such as the command history workspace browser and variable editor, save and load your workspace data, and manage windows and desktop layout. (5:21)
7. Top Ways to Get Help: Find online support to help solve your toughest problems while using MATLAB® and Simulink® products. (3:20)
8. Importing Data from Text Files Interactively: Use the import tool to import numeric and text data from delimited and fixed width text files. Generate MATLAB^® code to repeat the process on similar files. (7:01)
9. Importing Data from Files Programmatically: Import data from spreadsheets, text files, and other formats into MATLAB^® using file I/O functions. (3:55)
10. Importing Spreadsheets into MATLAB: Select and load mixed textual and numeric data from spreadsheets interactively then generate the required MATLAB^® code. (4:34)
11. Using Basic Plotting Functions: Create plots programmatically using basic plotting functions. (5:52)
12. Working with Arrays in MATLAB: Create and manipulate MATLAB® arrays, including accessing elements using indexing. (8:17)
13. Introducing MATLAB Fundamental Classes (Data Types): Work with numerical, textual, and logical data types. (5:46)
14. Introducing Tables and Categorical Arrays: Manage mixed-type tabular data with the table data container, and data from a finite, discrete set of categories with the memory-efficient categorical array. (6:01)
15. Introducing Structures and Cell Arrays: Use structures and cell arrays to manage heterogeneous data of different types and sizes. (5:04)
16. Writing a MATLAB Program: Write a MATLAB® program, including creating a script and a function. (4:57)
17. Publishing MATLAB Code from the Editor: Share your work by publishing MATLAB® code from the MATLAB Editor to HTML and other formats. (5:57)
18. Developing Classes Overview: Design classes by defining properties, methods, and events in a class definition file. (10:48)
19. Calling MATLAB from C Code: Call MATLAB® from C, C++ or Fortran code using the MATLAB Engine Library. (1:30)

Part II: Computer Programming with MATLAB

Lesson 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction (11:43)
1.2 The MATLAB Environment (23:03)
1.3 MATLAB Online (27:43)
1.4 MATLAB as a Calculator (14:25)
1.5 Syntax and Semantics (5:01)
1.6 Help (8:37)
1.7 Plotting (19:06)

Lesson 2: Matrices and Operators
2.1 Introduction to Matrices and Operators (11:25)
2.2 The Colon Operator (8:45)
2.3 Accessing Parts of a Matrix (21:33)
2.4 Combining and Transforming Matrices (10:06)
2.5 Arithmetic Part 1 (18:07)
2.6 Arithmetic Part 2 (11:52)
2.7 Operator Precedence (13:31)

Lesson 3: Functions
3.1 Introductions to Functions (5:39)
3.2 Function I/O (22:15)
3.3 Formal Definition of Functions (2:52)
3.4 Subfunctions (6:17)
3.5 Scope (5:24)
3.6 Advantages of Functions (2:39)
3.7 Scripts (4:27)

Lesson 4: Programmer’s Toolbox 
4.1 Introduction to programmer’s Toolbox (7:06)
4.2 Matrix Building (15:11)
4.3 Input / Output (20:47)
4.4 Plotting (17:47)
4.5 Debugging (22:17)

Lesson 5: Selection
5.1 Selection (11:53) 
5.2 If-Statements, continued (8:33) 
5.3 Relational and Logical Operators (34:51) 
5.4 Nested If-Statements (2:12) 
5.5 Variable Number of Function Arguments (6:40) 
5.6 Robustness (8:37)
5.7 Persistent Variables (6:54)

Lesson 6: Loops
6.1 For-Loops (38:50)
6.2 While-Loops (20:16)
6.3 Break Statement (29:31)
6.4 Logical Indexing (37:29)
6.5 Preallocation (8:59)

Lesson 7: Data Types
7.1 Introduction to Data Types (20:27)
7.2 Strings (29:04)
7.3. Structs (14:51)
7.4 Cells (21:47)

Lesson 8: File Input/Output
8.1 Introduction to File Input/Output (15:00)
8.2 Excel Files (9:12)
8.3 Text Files (12:17)
8.4 Binary Files (38:55)

STEM Progress Meeting 1 (10/19-20/2017)

We are going to have our first STEM Progress Meeting this Thursday and Friday (10/19-20/2017). Please prepare it thoroughly and be ready for any questions. Each team will have 10~15 minutes to present depends on the size of the group. The outlines of the presentation are listed below.

STEM Team Progress Report Outlines
1. Topic
   a. Research topic
   b. group members
2. Research problem
   a. Definition
   b. Scope
   c. Functional specification
   d. Performance specification
3. Prior Arts / Resource Inventory  
   a. Survey of literature
   b. Work from last year
4. Method
   a. Possible methods/strategies to solve the problem
   b. The method (currently experimenting) & rationals of choosing
5. Technology Analysis
   a. Mechanical
   b. Electronic
   c. Algorithms 
   d. Software
   e. Chemical
    f. Biological
6. Network Diagram & Gantt chart (Time & Human Resource)
   a. Major activities/milestones
   b. Dependence
   c. Task/resource assignment
   d. Current status
7. Material Resource (Highlight Items Need Purchase)
   a. Tools
   b. Materials
   c. Software
   d. Equipment
8. Progress
   a. Learning progress
   b. Failed experiments
   c. Project achievements
   d. Demonstrations
9. Problems
   a. Technical issues
   b. Resource issues (time, human, material)
10. Safety/Risks Management
   a. Potential show stopper
   b. Safety issues.
   c. Backup plan
11. References
   a. Books/magazines
   b. Video tutorials
   c. Websites
   d. Papers from professional journals
   e. Thesis/dissertations

Project team members should coordinate with each other to create a seamless presentation. Every group member should have the equal opportunity to present/demo. Group and individual performance will be evaluated by peers and teacher.

Good luck!

Engineering Notebook

All project members are required to maintain daily online logs about their progress on their own blogs. The writing should be clear and concise. The following list is a template for your logs.

• Progress: tasks accomplished, problems solved, questions answered, lessons learned, new idea identified, etc.
• Problem: difficulties encountered, missing information, equipments required, materials missed, open issues, new risks or show stopper identified, etc.
• Plan: steps to attack the problems, action items for tomorrow, experiments to conduct, ideas to try, etc.