Project#

The purpose of the project is for you to dive deeper into any of the topics covered in the course. Depending on your background and prior experience, possible project ideas include but not limited to:

  • Re-implementing an algorithm from a paper and tweaking it.

  • Diving deeper into various concepts covered in the course and perform a comparative/trade-off study on some representative systems.

  • Applying techniques learned in this class to an application motivated by real-world system.

  • Using techniques from this course for your current (PhD/MS) research topic.

Note that you do not need to implement things from scratch. It is encouraged to utilize any material from your homework or demos from the course, material from other courses, and use open-source material. Of course, proper acknowledgment/referencing must be given.

You may work on the project individually or in groups of 2. For group projects, the expectation is that the project should be larger in scope compared to an individual project, and that the activities of each group member and the collaboration plan are clearly scoped out. See proposal section for more details.

NOTE: For those working in groups, it is critical to have a thought-out collaboration plan and have the project scope clearly defined, including each member’s role and deliverables. And consider potential bottlenecks and find ways to mitigate them. Since it is a group project, the project needs to be larger in scope compared to an individual project, but that means more moving parts and possible sources of issues. Ensure there are contingency plans so that if some components don’t go to plan, the other components are not significantly affected. This information should be described in the collaboration plan (item 6 below).

Proposal#

Due week 5. In your proposal, you should propose your project idea and outline the activities you plan to carry out. Your project proposal should be concise, clear, and well-structured, spanning around 1 but no more than 2 pages. 2 pages should be more than sufficient, including any figures or tables. Below are the key components to include and tips to help you craft a compelling proposal.

NOTE: Your project must have a clear connection to the material covered in this course. For example, a project on only learning a neural controller (e.g., end-to-end controller) is not allowed. But it is okay if the neural controller is, for example, compared to a trajectory optimizer and a trade-off study is performed, or CBF/CLF concepts are incorporated into the development of the neural controller to achieve some desirable behavior.

NOTE: You are welcome to combine this project with another course project this quarter. However, you must clearly scope out which part of the project belongs to this course, and which parts belong to the other course. Also describe which components are common to the projects (e.g., you are using the same simulation evironment). Understandably, you cannot submit the same body of work to different courses.

1. Title and Team Information

  • Provide a descriptive and engaging title for your project.

  • List the names of all team members (if applicable).

2. Motivation and Background

  • Briefly explain the motivation behind your project. Why is this topic important or interesting?

  • Provide relevant background information to contextualize your project. Highlight connections to course topics or real-world applications.

3. Objective

  • Describe the problem you seek to solve.

  • Clearly state the goal(s) of your project. What do you aim to achieve by the end of the project?

  • Are there questions you hope to answer by performing this project?

4. Proposed Approach

  • Outline the methods, techniques, or tools you plan to use. Be specific about how you will approach the problem or topic.

  • Define the scope of your project. What will you focus on, and what is outside the scope?

  • Describe how you plan to evaluate your technique, or outline the experiments you plan to perform.

  • If applicable, mention any datasets, software, or frameworks you intend to use.

5. Timeline

  • Provide a high-level week-by-week timeline or milestones for your project. Break it down into phases (e.g., research, implementation, testing, and finalization). Note: You will need to give a lightning pitch and poster in week 10, and a final report during finals week.

6. Collaboration Plan (for group projects)

  • If working in a group, describe how tasks will be divided among team members.

  • Describe each member’s ownership of the project (i.e., which component are they in charge of) and how the components connect with each other.

  • Include a plan for how you will collaborate and ensure accountability.

7. Project scope (for projects overlapping with another course)

  • If you are combining your course project with another course, describe which part of the project belongs to this course, and how efforts for that part will be different from the rest of the project.

  • If applicable, describe the synergies between this course and the other course(s).

8. References

  • Cite any papers, resources, or tools you plan to use as part of your project.

Tips

  • Be Specific: Avoid vague statements. Clearly articulate your ideas and plans.

  • Stay Focused: Ensure your proposal aligns with the course topics and is feasible within the given timeframe.

  • Use Visuals (Optional): Simple diagrams or charts can help convey your ideas more effectively.

  • Proofread: Check for clarity, grammar, and formatting before submission.

Lightning pitch#

Happening during Monday Lecture Week 10 June 2nd

You will be required to give a lightning pitch (a.k.a. spotlight talk) to the rest of the class. Given the current enrollment, you will have less than 2 minutes.

Your pitch should be catchy, concise, and accessible to a general audience. Use of slides is optional.

If you use slides, please add to this Google slide.

The RISE framework is a simple approach to constructing an effective pitch.

Relevance: Quickly establish how the topic is relevant to the audience.

Issue: State what the issue is. Or it can also be the questions or challenges you seek to tackle.

Solution: Describe the solution you are proposing to resolve the issue.

Evidence: Provide the evidence to show that your solution has successfully addressed the issues.

Poster session#

Happening during Wednesday Lecture Week 10 June 4th

We will have a poster session during regular class time. There will be two sessions ~35 minutes each where one half of the course is presenting the poster and the other half will go check out the posters. Then the two halves will swap. Students will be assigned posters to peer review and provide feedback to their peers.

The poster session is a medium for you to practice your technical communication skills, both in the written format (in the form of a poster), and in a verbal format (in the way you communicate with the audience). The peer review is an opportunity for you to give feedback toy our peers and also receive feedback from them.

Some tips and guidelines on how to create and present your poster#

  • Keep each discussion to less than 10 minutes per person (each session is only 30 minutes and you should have at least two visitors!)

  • Make use of figures, plots, tables, bullet points, equations and avoid large blocks of continuous text. This makes it easier for you to quickly refer to key information rather than scan and search through lines of text.

  • Avoid standing silently and watching the audience just read your poster. Greet them! Introduce yourself! And offer them your 30-second elevator pitch.

  • Help the audience “walk through” your poster by giving short summaries for each section of your poster.

  • Pause and allow the audience to ask questions.

  • If multiple people are at your poster at the same time, try your best to include everyone in the discussion.

Poster printing instructions#

You are required to create a poster, print it, and bring it to the poster session. Please take a look at the suggested \(30 \times 24\) inches poster template. For reference, \(30 \times 24\) inches is approximately the size of \(3 \times 3\) letter-sized paper. But you are free to use a different design or size.

There are several printing options:

  1. (\(\approx\)$10) As a student, you should have access to The Mill on campus which offers printing service for a small fee (~$10 from what I hear). Typically this can be done on the spot. Your poster will be on a large sheet of (thick) paper. Though you should check if the printer is working beforehand as it can often be out-of-order.

  2. (\(\approx\)$30) FedEx offers poster printing services, but may take a few days.

  3. (\(\approx\) free) You can print your poster with a regular printer but spread over multiple pages. In Adobe Acrobat Reader, in the print settings, click on `Poster’ button. You will need tape to put the poster together and scissors to trim the edges of the paper.

  4. (free) If you submit your poster before 9:30AM on Wednesday June 4th (day of poster session), the teaching team will print them out using Option 3. The printed poster can be picked up at the A&A front office. But you must tape them together. It is your responsibility to check the print out and find alternative solutions if the printing is not what you expect. Link to submit your pdf: https://forms.gle/7QcqFj489yTa8rXk9

NOTE: For options 3 and 4, you are responsible for taping the pieces of papers BEFORE the poster session. There will be no tape or any stationery provided at the poster session.

Peer evaluation#

Due Friday Week 10 June 6th

You must submit 2 reviews based on your assigned posters via the Google Form.

It is recommended you take a photo of the poster in case you want to refer to it later as you write up your peer review.

NOTE: Your reviews will be shared with the author(s). So please write your review as though you could be receiving the feedback yourself. It is fine to be critical, but please be constructive and professional and you should not be mean/aggressive in your phrasing.

These reviews guidelines share similar principles to how one should approach reviewing research papers/journals. In your review, you should include the following:

  • In your own words, provide a concise summary of the project (i.e., objective, technical approach, results)

  • Were there any insights/knowledge/perspectives that you gained from this work? New technique? New application? New formulation?

  • What did you find enjoyable and interesting about the work? This can include anything from the technical details, the clarity in which the work is presented, the figures, experimental design, etc.

  • What could be improved about this work? Again, this can be anything from the technical details, technical approach, experimental plan, poster organization, figures, etc.

  • How was the interaction during the poster session? Was there anything the presenter did that was particularly effective? Anything that could be improved?

  • Any other comments/feedback (e.g., typos, minor questions/comments about specific details that don’t make or break the work).

Project report or website#

Due June 11th 11:59PM. Submit on Canvas.

You have two options to choose from:

  1. A written report in a IEEE conference format that should be accessible to a first year graduate student. The report should be 4–6 pages. See the template for guidelines on what to include.

  2. A blog-like project webpage that is accessible to a high-school senior or college freshman. It should have approximately 4–6 pages worth of content. You may use any website format you wish. Google sites is recommended as it is the easiest and most straightforward to create and publish.

Group projects For page limit for group projects, you can submit up to 8 pages for the entire group, or equivalent to 8 pages for the website.

Both are valuable options to consider. The first could potentially evolve into an actual conference paper in the future, while the latter could be shared on your personal website/resume for a more general audience to enjoy and learn from.

In either option, you will need to submit a PDF (of the report or webpage) to Canvas before the assigned deadline. For the webpage, also include the link.

You will be evaluated on technical correctness, clarity, and organization.

Past projects#

Here are some past project ideas

  • Optimal Control of Thrust-Vectored Spacecraft Landing with Trajectory Optimization

  • A Stackelberg game approach for multi-robot object transportation

  • Spacecraft Trajectory Optimization with Discrete Control Constraints

  • Obstacle Avoiding Robot Arm: How to make robotic arms avoid obstacles like Neo?

  • LQR Greenhouse Humidity Control

  • Stabilizing a Rudderless Aircraft with Rotary Horizontal Tail

  • Safe Navigation in Human-Robot Interaction using Control Barrier Functions

  • Control allocation for aircraft states control and wind gust alleviation

  • Safe Leg Exoskeleton Control Using a Human Data Based CBF

  • Safe Reinforcement Learning through Barrier Functions

  • Hybrid Trajectory Optimization for a Biped Walker

  • Path Planning and Control for VTOL Aircraft Landing

  • Optimizing low-thrust orbital transfers with successive convexification

  • CoBL-Diffusion: Diffusion-Based Conditional Robot Planning in Dynamic Environments Using Control Barrier and Lyapunov Functions

  • Replicating CMU’s Ballbot using LQR Optimization and MPC

  • Investigating Sampling Based MPC: MPPI through Planar Quadrotor

  • Safety-Critical Model Predictive Control with Discrete-Time Control Barrier Function

  • 6-DoF Quadrotor Trajectory Optimization with Dynamic Obstacles and Free-Final-Time

Why writing compelling proposals are important#

Writing compelling project proposals is crucial because it helps articulate your ideas clearly, demonstrates the feasibility of your project, and secures approval or support from stakeholders whether you end up in academia or industry. A well-written proposal can also showcase your understanding of the subject matter and your ability to plan and execute a project effectively. Going through the process of writing a proposal forces you to really think about the problem, organize your thoughts, and develop a well-reasoned plan before starting the project. Not writing a proposal is like starting to code up something without knowing what what your code should be doing!

In the near and distant future, you may find yourself needing to write a proposal. For example, as a researcher or start-up founder applying for external funding, an employee of a company applying to secure a contract/project with another company seeking service, or convincing your team to pursue your idea. Other examples include:

  • Writing a research statement for PhD applications.

  • Applying for research grants or funding opportunities (e.g., fellowships, seed funding).

  • Pitching a new project idea to your team or organization.

  • Seeking approval for a thesis or dissertation topic.

  • Collaborating with external partners or institutions on joint projects.

  • Proposing a new feature or product in a professional setting.

By crafting a compelling proposal, you can effectively communicate your vision, gain buy-in, and set the stage for a successful project. Naturally, in academic settings, writing compelling proposals is key to securing research funding, fellowships, and convincing decision-makers to support your research activities. While this course project is relatively low-stakes, this is a good opportunity to get some practice on setting a research/project vision and articulating it clearly in written form.

Why an effective lightning pitch is important#

A lightning pitch is a concise and engaging way to present your project idea to an audience. It is important because it forces you to distill your project into its most essential elements, making it easier for others to quickly understand your goals, approach, and significance. A strong lightning pitch can:

  • Capture the audience’s attention and generate interest in your project.

  • Help you practice clear and effective communication of complex ideas.

  • Provide an opportunity to receive immediate feedback and refine your project direction.

  • Showcase your ability to think critically and present your work confidently.

In professional and academic settings, the ability to deliver a compelling lightning pitch is a valuable skill, whether you’re presenting to potential collaborators, stakeholders, or funding committees. Often times, you have very limited time to communicate your idea and convince you audience why they should continue to pay attention to you (e.g., have a follow up meeting, invest in your company, etc.)

Resources on proposal writing#

Here are some useful links for proposal writing, primarily geared towards research grants. These can hopefully give you an idea on what to think about when writing a proposal, but note that not all of the points in these resources apply for the course project proposal.

  • The Heilmeier Catechism is a series of 8-questions to help researchers clearly and concisely communicate their research in a way that resonates with government program managers

  • The National Science Foundation (NSF) evaluate proposal (including fellowships) based on intellectual merit and broader impact. NSF evaluates proposals using the following merit review criteria.

Resources on reading/writing research papers#