IAP 2016 Activities by Sponsor - Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Holly Sweet, PhD, licensed psychologist

Jan/12	Tue	04:00PM-05:30PM	36-112
Jan/19	Tue	04:00PM-05:30PM	36-112

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 25 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

In this workshop, we will explore different styles of communication with
others, including passive, passive-aggressive, assertive and aggressive
behaviors. Through role playing, personal inventories, and group
discussion, we will examine what gets in our way of being assertive and
what helps us be more assertive in both personal and professional relationships.

Limited to 25 participants. Sign up link: http://goo.gl/forms/tUf9i6jg9t.
There will be a waiting list.

Priority will be given to women undergraduate in Course 6.    

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Sheena Nie, HKN Outreach, xnie@mit.edu

Daniel Dardani

Jan/13

Wed

12:00PM-01:45PM

56-114

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13

Ever wanted to pen a novel, code a video game or mobile app?

Maybe you are an artist or an architect?

Copyright issues affect musicians, photographers, and software programmers alike. As such, copyrights offer a unique and fun look at the protection of your creative works of authorship whether developed at MIT or elsewhere.

Join Daniel Dardani, Technology Licensing Officer and IP expert for an overview of copyright law, its history, common use, and its relevance to the MIT Community as a type of intellectual property. Daniel will explore issues such as: the nature of originality, the doctrine of fair use, how copyrights function in the digital age, and more. All are welcomed. No prior knowledge of the law or IP is required.

This event is co-sponsored by the MIT Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (EECS) 

To register please email: kmkhalil@mit.edu

 

Sponsor(s): Technology Licensing Office, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Katrina Khalil-Iannetti, NE18-501, 617-253-6966, kmkhalil@mit.edu

Stephen M. Hou, Course 6 alum, Chih Yun Wu, Julian Pymento

Jan/23

Sat

02:00PM-05:00PM

32-144

Enrollment: Advanced sign-up preferred; walk-ins allowed
Sign-up by 01/21
Limited to 60 participants

Patent protection for inventions is a valuable part of business
strategy for both start-ups and established companies.   
Covers the basics of patent law, including the patent
application process, prosecution, litigation, and licensing. Intended
for undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs in science,
engineering, and business. Examples from fields
ranging from computer software to pharmaceuticals. Discusses
the America Invents Act of 2011, the most far-reaching change in
U.S. patent law since 1952, switching the United States from a "first to
invent" to a "first to file" system. Looks at how notable Supreme
Court and Federal Circuit cases shaped patent law and what they mean
for inventors.

Some questions we will explore are:
* Why should I patent my invention?
* Which inventions are patentable?
* How high are the "novelty" & "non-obviousness" standards for
patentability?
* What are the differences between a scientific publication, a patent, &
a trade secret?
* What if I want a patent, but my co-inventor doesn't (or is deceased)?
* How much do I have to disclose to obtain a patent?
* What do patent claims mean?
* What is the scope of my patent?
* What should I do if my patent application is rejected?
* What rights does my patent give me?
* What makes my patent valuable?
* If I'm sued for patent infringement, what recourse do I have?
* How do I find & hire a patent attorney?

Instructors are NYU Law students.

Seminar is oversubscribed and no longer accepting sign-ups.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, EECS Graduate Students Association, Graduate Association of Mechanical Engineers
Contact: Stephen M. Hou, stephenhou@alum.mit.edu

Patrick Bell

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: See Course Description

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 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.

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)

*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, MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Contact: Dr. Bradley Perry, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, radar.course@ll.mit.edu

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Build a Small Radar System

Jan/11	Mon	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE-45 2nd floor
Jan/13	Wed	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE-45 2nd floor
Jan/15	Fri	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE-45 2nd floor
Jan/20	Wed	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE-45 2nd floor

IMPORTANT:

Sessions 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)

Danielle Class, Patrick Kane, Mike Daly, Craig Cheney, Steven Leeb, Greg Landry

Jan/26	Tue	10:00AM-05:00PM	EDS, 38-501
Jan/27	Wed	10:00AM-05:00PM	EDS, 38-501
Jan/28	Thu	10:00AM-05:00PM	EDS, 38-501

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Programming, circuits, soldering experience helpful

The goal of the competition is to build an RC Bot that can be controlled using the Bluetooth Low
Energy (BLE) protocol. If you have an iPhone 4 or newer or an Android device, BLE is already
built into it.
You will compete in a Programmable System on a Chip (PSoC) design competition using a
Cypress CY8CKIT-042-BLE PSoC 4 Pioneer Bluetooth Low Energy development kit. PSoC 4
BLE is a programmable device with an ARM Cortex M0, programmable digital and analog
blocks, and a BLE radio all on a single chip!
Workshop Breakdown
• Session 1: Combination of lecture and hands-on labs to introduce you to PSoC 4 BLE
and its design environment (PSoC Creator), as well as the RC Bot structure.
• Session 2: Hands-on RC Bot build day.
• Session 3: Finish RC Bot project and present your version of the solution.
Space is limited. To apply, please e-mail your full name, MIT class year and major, and MIT email
address to iap-psoc@mit.edu. We’ll let you know after January 10th if you have received a
spot in the class. We will maintain a waiting list in the event that spots open up.

Circuit boards sponsored by Sunstone Circuits -  quoting.sunstone.com

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Danielle Class, iap-psoc@mit.edu

Amartya Shankha Biswas, Michaela Ennis

Jan/11	Mon	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/13	Wed	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/15	Fri	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/20	Wed	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/22	Fri	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/25	Mon	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/27	Wed	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/29	Fri	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Programming experience in Python

Covers the core material of 6.006 very, very fast.

Basic algorithms, data structures, including sorting, dynamic programming, and graphs.

Weekly programming assignments, twice-weekly office hours.  

You will gain the background necessary to apply algorithmic techniques to your area of interest, and to succeed at software engineering interviews.

 

 

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Eta Kappa Nu, Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Amartya Shankha Biswas, asbiswas@mit.edu

Ron Chaney

Jan/20	Wed	05:30PM-07:00PM	36-156
Jan/21	Thu	05:30PM-07:00PM	36-156

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: one MIT programming class or equivalent; 6.006 useful

Ever wanted to work at a company like Akamai, Facebook, Google, or TripAdvisor? There's just one thing standing in your way: the interview.  Whether you're a beginning programmer or a seasoned expert, this class can help you prepare for a technical interview. The class will focus on computer science topics that frequently come up in programming interviews.  We will cover topics like time complexity, hash tables, binary search trees, and some other things you might learn in 6.046. Most of the time will be spent teaching participants how to formulate responses to technical questions during an interview. Real life examples will be used.  If you have any interest in working at a computer science company, make sure you don't miss this class!

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Jaime Perkins, jperkins@akama.com

Grant Falkenburg

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: some experience with hardware and electronics helpful.

Lasers are cool and so are you. So why haven't you built any yet?
Wait, you don't know how? Let's fix that.

For the intro class the goal is to make it as easy
as possible to order some parts and build your own custom laser pointer!

The advanced class is geared towards those who have experience building things and want to try
building a more challenging laser pointer. Lase on!

 

 

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Eta Kappa Nu
Contact: Grant Falkenburg, grantf@mit.edu

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Basics of Building Laser Pointers

Jan/23	Sat	12:00PM-02:00PM	66-154
Jan/24	Sun	12:00PM-02:00PM	66-154

In this class we'll discuss the design process behind building
lasers, bridging the gap between theory and practice. Emphasis is placed on
learning about actual components and knowing when to use them. Topics
include laser diode, driver, and hardware options and acquisition,
along with practical building techniques.

Grant Falkenburg

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Building Advanced Laser Pointers

Jan/23	Sat	03:00PM-05:00PM	66-154
Jan/24	Sun	03:00PM-05:00PM	66-154

This class aims to stretch the realm of possibilities with laser
pointers.  Ultra small, efficient, and powerful laser pointers will be reviewed,
discussing practical implementations and limitations. Emphasizes
optimizing optics and electronics, offering insight to various
concepts involved in laser pointers. Topics include driver design
with component and topology selection, and lens, battery, hardware
selection.

Grant Falkenburg

Patrick Henry Winston, Ford Professor of Engineering/MacVicar Fellow

Jan/29

Fri

11:00AM-12:00PM

10-250

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Professor Winston offers heuristic rules that enable you to do better oral exams, job talks, lectures,
and conferences presentations, and make your listeners consider your performances to be inspiring.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Patrick Henry Winston, phw@mit.edu

Beverly Kahn, Risa Kahn

Jan/20

Wed

05:00PM-07:00PM

36-112

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Join recruiting industry veterans in an interactive discussion lead by Beverly Kahn Founder/President of  New Dimensions in Technology (NDT), a boutique Boston-area recruiting firm, that has worked successfully to place many MIT students and alums over  30 years and Risa Kahn, Recruiting Manager, New Dimensions in Technology (NDT) who offers 15+ years of coaching "early career" tech professionals. NDT has successfully partnered with generations of MIT students and alums to build and grow their careers!

 

All are welcome.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Anne Hunter, 38-476, 617 253-4654, ANNEH@MIT.EDU

Sabrina Drammis

Jan/07

Thu

12:00PM-02:00PM

56-162, Bring laptop

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: no programming required

An introductory workshop to the UNIX command line and Bash.  Come learn how to use your terminal!

Will mostly concentrate on learning to use and navigate the terminal.

When you know how your terminal works and have an installed system that works for you it becomes a lot easier and more fun.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Sabrina Drammis, sdrammis@mit.edu

Tony Eng, EECS

Jan/29

Fri

02:00PM-04:00PM

MIT Museum

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none

Come watch MIT students compete for prizes in the "MIT Can Talk: Speaking Competition".  Participants give a 4-5 minute speech in English that relates to this year's competition theme. Material must be original, but it can include excerpts from other works (a speech, a literary work, a poem, a story, etc.) so long as sources are properly attributed. Prizes will be awarded by a panel of judges to those who are best able to deliver their material to a live audience. The event is open to everyone in the MIT Community.

To compete please visit http://mitcantalk.mit.edu/competition.html to register and for more information.

 

Add yourself to the mitcantalk-announce mailing list for reminders about general upcoming events related to MIT Can Talk.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Tony Eng, tleng@mit.edu

Dr. Tony L. Eng

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: none

Many great thinkers of the past excelled in both Engineering/Science and Exposition/Rhetoric/Oration. The creative men and women who will be the leaders of tomorrow can do so as well. "MIT Can Talk" promotes campus-wide awareness of good oral communication skills. It consists of: (1) a series of independent workshop sessions on public speaking/oral communication, followed by (2) a speaking competition. The workshops are open to the MIT community, but the contest is open only to MIT students. The various workshops address different aspects of speaking and oral communication. They are meant to be practical and hands-on. Sometimes, audience volunteers will be asked to participate in a demonstration; preference will be given to those who have entered the speaking competition. Check out the website for the most updated information on the workshops and competition!

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Tony L. Eng, mitcantalk@mit.edu

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Organizing Your Thoughts

Jan/22

Fri

12:00PM-01:30PM

26-168

A brilliant mind ferments many intelligent ideas. Being able to express ideas clearly to others is a key element in successful communication. This interactive workshop will help you to transform your random thoughts into succinct presentations with a solid structure. Bring your "spaghetti thoughts"; we will straighten them out here.

Kitty Huang

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Storytelling

Jan/23

Sat

01:00PM-03:00PM

26-328

Nothing grabs an audience's attention than a well-told story. You will workshop and develop a story. Want to enter the MIT Can Talk competition but don't know what to talk about? Come to this workshop!

Dr. Tony L. Eng

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Speaker ready? Check! Message prepared?

Jan/23

Sat

03:00PM-05:00PM

26-328

Speaker ready? Check! Message prepared? Check! Audience engaged? Wait¿what?  Engaging your audience is an often unexplored key to delivering a great presentation.  Learn ideas for connecting with your listeners. When someone actively participates in your presentation, they become emotionally & psychologically involved in the message you are sharing, allowing you to serve them more effectively.  

Kyle Keldsen

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Connecting with Your Audience

Jan/24

Sun

01:00PM-02:30PM

32-141

The best speakers connect with their audience. Try out some ideas for speaking from stillness, being comfortable in your own skin and talking to (and not at) your audience. 

FULL.

Dr. Tony L. Eng

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Voice Modulation

Jan/24

Sun

03:00PM-04:30PM

26-328

Help the audience better parse (and consequently understand) what it is you are saying by learning to use things like silence, emphasis, speed and intonation to punctuate your speech.

Dr. Tony L. Eng

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Wielding Humor : Comedic Delivery

Jan/25

Mon

02:00PM-04:00PM

26-168

Sponsored by the De Florez Fund for Humor 
Learn techniques for delivering comedic lines such as explosions, reversals and staircases. Come and "find your funny." Squares encouraged to attend!

George Gallagher

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Wielding Humor: Comedic Writing

Jan/25

Mon

04:00PM-06:00PM

26-168

Sponsored by the De Florez Fund for Humor 
Learn techniques used by Hollywood comedy writers to mine your own personal reservoir of comedy. You'll discover how to create a comedic throughline to build your content on, or merely ways to inject a dose of humor into your writing. You will learn various exercises including 'The Cluster', 'The 7 Deadly Sins' and other ways to access your funny bone.

David O'Donnell

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Effective Delivery

Jan/26

Tue

02:00PM-04:00PM

26-328

This workshop is designed to provide you with tips and strategies for delivering an effective speaking engagement. The more prepared you are, the more confident you will be. We will also discuss room set-up, body language and verbal delivery.

 

 

Bob Dolan

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Your Presence in Space

Jan/27

Wed

01:00PM-03:00PM

Walker 201

An effective confident speaker is more than just physically "there" -- they are present, they are in the moment, they take up space. Learn how to find and fill both the space within you and the space immediately around you, so that you can be yourself in front of an audience.
Wear loose clothing conducive for physical movement. Limited to 25 participants.

Anna Kohler

Paul Kalebu, Kevin Chan

Jan/10	Sun	02:00PM-04:00PM	38-501
Jan/15	Fri	02:00PM-04:00PM	38-501

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/31
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: none

Soldering is a critical skill for all EE's and really enables you to take
your project to the next level by getting off the breadboard. At this
seminar, students will practice through hole soldering with a traditional
soldering iron by assembling a PCB business card (which they also get to
keep)! More advanced methods like surface mount soldering will also be
demonstrated. Other topics to be discussed include considerations for
designing easily solderable PCBs and techniques for soldering things in
mass production.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Eta Kappa Nu
Contact: Paul Kalebu, pkalebu@mit.edu

Douglas Sweetser '84

Jan/21

Thu

03:00PM-05:00PM

54-100

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

A new proposal for explaining gravity will be detailed (the URLs below). A prediction we will try to confirm is that measuring the Poynting vector (ExB) in the Green building should be the same in 54-100 as near the top.

http://bit.ly/qg_sketch
http://bit.ly/vp-qg
http://bit.ly/vp-qg_talk
http://bit.ly/qg_paper
http://quaternions.com

Doug Sweetser '84
Course 7 and Course 10

Register today!

Sponsor(s): Alumni Association, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU

Prof. Sertac Karaman, Dr. Michael Boulet, Owen Guldner, Ken Gregson, Dr. Luca Carlone, Postdoctoral Associate, Aero/Astro

Jan/04	Mon	01:00PM-05:00PM	32-081
Jan/06	Wed	01:00PM-05:00PM	32-081
Jan/08	Fri	01:00PM-05:00PM	32-081
Jan/11	Mon	01:00PM-05:00PM	32-081
Jan/13	Wed	01:00PM-05:00PM	32-081
Jan/15	Fri	01:00PM-05:00PM	32-081
Jan/20	Wed	01:00PM-05:00PM	32-081

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/01
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: See description.

Modern robots tend to operate at slow speeds in complex environments, limiting their utility in high-tempo applications. In this course you will push the boundaries of unmanned vehicle speed. Teams of 4-5 will develop dynamic autonomy software to race an RC car equipped with LIDAR, cameras, inertial sensors, and embedded processing around a large-scale, “real-world” course. Working from a baseline autonomy stack, teams will modify the software to increase platform velocity to the limits of stability. The course culminates with a timed competition to navigate the MIT tunnels. Classes will provide lectures on algorithms and lab time with instructor-assisted development. Must attend every class and plan on 6-10 hr/week of self-directed development.

Prereqs: Advanced undergraduates and graduates with some background in controls or robotics. Majors include AeroAstro, Mechanical, Ocean, and EECS. Students with a background in computer science with interest in robotics and controls may also effectively participate. Must have experience with software development. Past exposure to robotics algorithms and/or embedded programming will be useful. Email racecar-iap-course-subscribe@mit.edu with a brief description of your programming/robotics experience.

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

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics, Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Owen Guldner, racecar-iap-course-subscribe@mit.edu

Tim Leek, Jeremy Blackthorne, Patrick Hulin

Jan/04	Mon	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE 45 2nd floor
Jan/05	Tue	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE 45 2nd floor
Jan/06	Wed	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE 45 2nd floor
Jan/07	Thu	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE 45 2nd floor
Jan/08	Fri	01:00PM-05:00PM	NE 45 2nd floor

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/01
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: see description.

Software reverse engineering (RE) is the process of discovering undocumented internals in computer programs. RE is a critical activity in cyber operations not just in the government sector, but also in industry, finance, and anywhere that computer programs and information need to be protected. It is also fun and challenging! This course will provide a brief, hands-on, immersive introduction to RE. The course will driven by hands-on labs with theory and visual aids as needed. On days one through four, students will cover static and dynamic analysis of programs. The class will then culminate on the fifth day, with students tackling a single large RE challenge.

Prereq: Students are expected to have a familiarity with programming, assembly, and enjoy problem solving. We will not be programming assembly but we will be looking at programs and their disassembly. No previous reverse engineering experience is expected.

* This work is sponsored by 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): MIT-SUTD Collaboration, Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Tim Leek, tleek@ll.mit.edu

Alex Sloboda, Alyssa Cartwright, Julia Belk

Jan/04	Mon	02:30PM-04:00PM	38-501
Jan/05	Tue	02:30PM-04:00PM	38-501
Jan/06	Wed	02:30PM-04:00PM	38-501
Jan/07	Thu	02:30PM-04:00PM	38-501
Jan/08	Fri	02:30PM-04:00PM	38-501

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/31
Limited to 16 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: 8.02, familiarity with 18.03

One week crash course on circuits. Starting from 8.02 and 18.03, we
will study linear and nonlinear circuits from an application-based
perspective. Throughout the course there will be hands-on lab
exercises designed to give students real-world experience and
reinforce concepts introduced in lecture. We will cover resistors,
inductors, capacitors, diodes and transistors, focusing on their
applications in filters and amplifiers. No prior lab experience
necessary.

Sign up by emailing asloboda@mit.edu

 

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Alex Sloboda, asloboda@mit.edu

Nicholas Arango, Former 6.01 LA, Joe Steinmeyer, Lecturer in EECS, Jacob White, Professor in EECS

Jan/11	Mon	02:00PM-05:00PM	38-501
Jan/12	Tue	02:00PM-05:00PM	38-501
Jan/14	Thu	02:00PM-05:00PM	38-501

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/04
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: a little circuits, a little programming

Beta-test and improve MIT's first hands-on MOOC.
Build an Arduino-controlled propeller-levitated arm, use it to learn the
theory/practice of controller design, stability, tracking,
and disturbance rejection, using both mathematical models and experiments.

Ever build a line-following robot, or used a PID controller,
and wondered about the theory? Curious about the design
principles behind temperature controllers, quad-copters, self-balancing
scooters, or standing robots? 

Each day of this three-day class will start with an
essential theoretical concept; by the end of class
students will have designed, implemented, and
measured, a propeller-arm feedback system design. Since this
is a *Beta* class, you'll be part of an experiment incorporating
physical labs into an on-line class. Your experiences, and
contributions, will shape the final version, and impact a worldwide
community.

You'll modify a few lines of C in the Arduino programming
environment, so a little programming background will help, but is not
essential.

You'll learn:
1) To set up a control system and understand and optimize its
performance (the Arduino-controlled propeller-levitated arm).
2) Modeling Feedback Control systems Using Difference Equations.
3) What unstable systems are like, practically and mathematically.
4) To measure control system performance.
5) How proportional, delta (aka derivative) and summation (aka integral)
feedback reduce tracking errors and increase disturbance rejection.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Joe Steinmeyer, jodalyst@mit.edu