MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2014 Activities by Sponsor - Lincoln Laboratory

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Build a Small Phased Array Radar System

Dr. Bradley Perry

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

Are you interested in building and testing your own phased array radar system? MIT Lincoln Laboratory is offering a unique course in the design, fabrication, and test of a laptop-based phased array radar sensor capable of imaging moving targets in real-time, like a ‘radar video camera’. This course will appeal to anyone interested in the following: electronics, amateur radio, physics, electromagnetics, or phased array systems. Teams of three will make a phased array radar system and attend four sessions spanning topics from fundamentals of radar to digital beamforming. You will bring your radar into the field and perform imaging of moving targets around campus. Imaging unusual targets is encouraged; a final radar video competition will determine the most creative radar imagery.    

*This work is sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract #FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Bradley Perry, LIN-S2-227, (781) 981-0861, radar.course@ll.mit.edu


Build a Small Phased Array Radar System

Jan/15 Wed 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, SEE BELOW
Jan/16 Thu 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, SEE BELOW
Jan/21 Tue 02:30PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/22 Wed 02:30PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/23 Thu 02:30PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/27 Mon 12:00PM-05:00PM 3-133, SEE BELOW

IMPORTANT:

Sessions 1/21, 1/22, 1/23 will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor

Laptop computer running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux. Other versions of Unix should work but have not been tested. At least one available USB port.  Matlab 2009b or later (The Instrumentation Control Toolbox for Matlab is strongly encouraged)

 


Build a Small Radar System

Dr. Patrick Bell

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

Are you interested in building and testing your own imaging radar system? MIT Lincoln Laboratory is offering a course in design, fabrication, and test of a laptop-based radar capable of forming Doppler, range, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. This course will appeal to anyone interested in the following: electronics, amateur radio, physics, or electromagnetics. Teams of three will receive a radar kit and will attend four sessions spanning topics from fundamentals of radar to SAR imaging. Experiments will be performed as the radar kit is implemented. You will bring your radar into the field and perform experiments such as measuring the speed of passing cars or plotting the range of moving targets. A final SAR imaging contest will test your ability to form a detailed and creative SAR image of a target scene of your choice. The best image wins.

*This work is sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002.  Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Patrick Bell, (781) 981-6239, radar.course@ll.mit.edu


Build a Small Radar System

Jan/15 Wed 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, SEE BELOW
Jan/16 Thu 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, SEE BELOW
Jan/21 Tue 12:00PM-02:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/22 Wed 12:00PM-02:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/23 Thu 12:00PM-02:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/27 Mon 12:00PM-05:00PM 3-133, SEE BELOW

IMPORTANT:

Sessions 1/21, 1/22, 1/23 will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor

Laptop computer running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux. Other versions of Unix should work but have not been tested. At least one available USB port.  Matlab 2009b or later (The Instrumentation Control Toolbox for Matlab is strongly encouraged)


Cyber Design Challenge

Diane Staheli

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/03
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

Cyber situational awareness relies on the ability of a network analyst to detect and identify anomalous activity on a network. In this design challenge, students will work in teams of three to design a network visualization that will help analysts see where problems are occurring, using a provided data set. Students will learn the basics of visualization design and data analysis for cyber SA using Python and browser-based visualization tools. Cash prizes will be awarded to the winner and first two runners-up!

Session 1--10 January:  Overview & Data Analysis using Python

Session 2--17 January:  Visualization Basics
Session 3--24 January:  Lab and Critique Session
Session 4--31 January:  Final Presentations and Project Showcase

*This work is sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering under Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Diane Staheli, (781) 981-4880, cyberdesignchallenge@ll.mit.edu


Jan/10 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below
Jan/17 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below
Jan/24 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below
Jan/31 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below

IMPORTANT:

All sessions will be held in the small classroom at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor.

Pre-requisites:  Programming experience in Python and basic algorithm design is highly recommended.  Experience with visualization toolkits is helpful but not required.


Hands-on Computational Imaging & Spectroscopy

Dr. Christy Fernandez-Cull

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

Course will focus on hardware and simulation exercises associated with computational imaging and spectroscopy systems;  students build a coded aperture spectrometer. Computational imager and spectrometer design explore non-isomorphic mapping from the object plane to the image plane of an optical architecture. This course will focus on non-traditional sensor design in simulation and delve into some hands-on approaches to hardware design. We will begin the course with a discussion associated with basic principles of ray optics and wave optics and delve into coded aperture imaging and spectrometer design. Participants will build their own spectrometer and assess performance characteristics of coded aperture imagers and light field sensors alike. A brief overview of past and present state-of-the-art computational imagers will be discussed. Supplies and MATLAB starter coded will be provided.

Session Leaders: Dr. Christy Fernandez-Cull, Research Staff, Dr. Evan Cull, Research Staff, Professor Ramesh Raskar,MIT Professor, Dr. Robert Freking, Research Staff,  Dr. Christopher Barsi, Postdoctoral Associate

*This work is sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract #FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory
Contact: Dr. Christy Fernandez-Cull, LIN-S4-247, (781) 981-8284, compimagspeccourse@ll.mit.edu


Jan/14 Tue 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below
Jan/15 Wed 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below
Jan/16 Thu 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below

All sessions will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor.

Special Meeting Information:  All participants must supply their own laptops with MATLAB installed.  MATLAB experience required.  Please bring your cell phone to class.


Hands-On Holography

Dr. Robert A. Freking

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Bring laptop with MATLAB installed. Have MATLAB experience

Misjudged as passé art or entertained only as an amusing physical paradox, holography critically encompasses all the essential principles governing propagating wave interactions across every domain of matter and energy.  Yet, surprisingly few in the applied sciences and engineering appreciate how to leverage holographic phenomena in real-world sensing applications.  This course will demystify holography by demonstrating how to gather and interpret 2-D, phase-preserving recordings to recover a hidden, encoded third dimension of information. Course topics progress from basic phenomenology on to specialized applications of holographic techniques in the physical and computational domains.  Participants will practice holography hands-on in the electromagnetic and audio domains through interactive laboratory exercises employing traditional film, computer-generated holography (CGH) and sonic recordings.  Measurement devices, supplies and MATLAB starter code will be provided.. 

*This work is sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002.  Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Robert A. Freking, holographycourse@ll.mit.edu


Hands on Holography

Jan/13 Mon 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.
Jan/14 Tue 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.
Jan/15 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.
Jan/16 Thu 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.
Jan/17 Fri 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.

IMPORTANT:

All sessions will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor (Next to NE47-MIT-CBE)

Special Meeting Information:  All participants must supply their own laptops with MATLAB installed.


Instrumenting a Foucault Pendulum

Dr. Frank Robey

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None, SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

The Foucault pendulum was demonstrated in 1861 as the first simple proof of the earth's rotation.   While at the heart this is a weight on a string, the mechanical design has evolved such that table-top demonstrations are now possible.  However, the electrical design that makes up for the friction of the air to keep the pendulum moving and the sensors to observe the motion are generally not modern.   For most museum pendulum a small electromagnet near the upper pivot provides energy input and they knock over small pegs to track the motion.  In this class, we will build a small Foucault pendulum driven from below by an electromagnet and in the tradition of MIT will instrument the pendulum to publish the motion in real time.

The class will be organized with 4-5 person teams that will meet in the MIT Beaverworks.  Teams will be organized around 1) radar sensing, 2) optical sensing, 3) integration and control, and 4) other sensing.  Teams are encouraged to propose their own approach to measuring the motion.  Teams using optical sensing will be provided access to a pre-release Microsoft Kinect 2 for Windows, and those doing radar sensing will be provided with a stereo K-band radar kit of parts.

*This work is sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract #FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Frank Robey, LIN-LI-258D, (781) 981-7865, pendulum.course@ll.mit.edu


Jan/21 Tue 09:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Lecture 9-12/Open Lab 1-5
Jan/22 Wed 09:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Lecture 9-12/Open Lab 1-5
Jan/23 Thu 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/24 Fri 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/27 Mon 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/28 Tue 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/30 Thu 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/31 Fri 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab

IMPORTANT:

All sessions will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor.

Prerequisites:  None, but participation in Build a Small Radar System course would be useful.