CS81 Project

Go through the following steps to set up your directory for the project.

1. First you need to run setup81 to create a git repository for the project

   If you want to work alone do:

   setup81 project none

   If you want to work with a partner, then one of you needs to run the following while the other one waits until it finishes.

   setup81 project partnerUsername

   Once the script finishes, the other partner should run it on their account.

2. Since each project will be unique there is no common starting point code you need to copy over. However, you should create a file called notes where you keep track of what you've accomplished each week. I will pull this file each week and check on your progress. Be sure to update it by noon every Friday. Once you have created this file do:

   cd ~/cs81/project
   git add notes
   git commit -m "project start"
   git push
   

3. If you are working with a partner, your partner can now pull the changes in.

   cd ~/cs81/project
   git pull
   

• You may explore any of the topics that we discussed this semester:
  • Training neural networks with back-propagation
  • Evolving neural networks with NEAT
  • Novelty search
  • Multi-objective search that combines novelty and objective-based components
  • Developmental encodings, such as CPPN
  • Using developmental encodings to evolve morphology
  • Intrinsic motivation methods, such as IAC or CBIM
  • Unsupervised learning methods, such as growing neural gas
• Try to reproduce an experiment we read about.
• Devise a new experiment using a system we discussed.
• Try to improve on a method we discussed.
• Invent your own adaptive approach using aspects of any of the systems we've discussed.
• Explore an adaptive technique that we did not discuss in class.
• Look at previous student projects to get ideas:
  • Spring 2014
  • Spring 2012

Because training an adaptive system is a time consuming process you will probably want to conduct your experiments in simulation. However, if you have an idea about how to effectively use a physical robot, you may try this as well. Whether you use a physical robot or a simulated robot, you will need to carefully consider the environment and the task. What actions and sensory information should be available to the robot? What is your goal?

When conducting research, it is beneficial to work incrementally towards your ultimate goal. In other words, start with the simplest version of your idea that is likely to yield interesting results. If that works, then you can then add another level of complexity. This approach is more effective then beginning immediately with a very complex set up.

• Use LaTeX
  Many computer scientists use LaTeX to write research papers. I strongly encourage you to try it. I have created a template that you may use to create your paper. It is available in /home/meeden/public/latex-example/.

• Start early
  You should start writing the paper before the experiments are complete. Begin with the introduction, related work and bibliography. Then move on to the describing the experiments. Only the explanation and significance of the results need to wait until the experiments are complete.

• Properly cite related work
  The purpose of writing a research paper is to communicate your discoveries to others. It is important to explicitly acknowledge how your work relates to other work. This can be done either with a direct quotation from another source or by summarizing the key points from another source. You should avoid paraphrasing another source as this can border on plagiarism. When summarizing another source, explain the essential information in your own words. When using the exact language from another source, you must use quotation marks. For a direct quotation, provide a reference with a page number. When summarizing another source, you should also provide a reference, but a page number is not necessary.

Your project proposal should be 2-4 pages long. It should include a clear description of:

• The learning task
  If you will be exploring a robotic problem, describe the environment, learning goal, and agent that you will use in the experiment. What sensor inputs and motor outputs will be employed? Will you be using a simulated agent or a real robot?
  For all other problems, explain what data will be used. Be sure to consider whether the data will need to be preprocessed in any way.
• The adaptive method you will be testing
  Will you be using existing software? If so, you should install it and test it now to ensure that you understand how to use and modify it for your purpose. If you are writing software from scratch, describe your implementation plan.
• Your hypothesis and expected outcome
• How you plan to analyze the results to demonstrate whether your hypothesis is correct

Email me a pdf of your proposal by noon on Thursday, Oct. 29

Each group or individual doing a project will give a demonstration during the week of November 16. Your experiments do not need to be completed at this point, however be prepared to execute some implemented aspect of your system.

You should plan to speak for 10 minutes with an additional 5 minutes for questions. You are encouraged to use slides for this demonstration. Begin by describing your project (cover the same points as in your project proposal) and then demonstrate some aspect of your project.

You will give a 20 minute presentation about your project with an additional 5 minutes for questions. Each group or individual doing a project will be assigned a time to speak during the last two weeks of class.

It may be the case that you are still running experiments at this point. However, you must have some preliminary results to report. If it is a team project, then each team member should speak for an equal portion of the time. You must use slides of some kind.

You should follow these guidelines (put together by Tia Newhall) when creating your talk.

Your paper should be 8-10 pages long and include the following:

• A short abstract of 200 to 300 words summarizing your findings.
• An introduction that contrasts your study with other related work. Find and read at least three articles related to your experiment and discuss these papers here.
• A detailed description of your experiments. There should be enough information provided so that someone could reproduce your experiments.
• An explanation of the results. Use figures and tables where appropriate.
• A discussion of the significance of the results.
• A bibliography.

I have provided a LaTeX template for your paper here: /home/meeden/public/latex-example/.

Your grade will not be based on whether or not your experiment succeeds. Negative results are also useful. Your grade will be based on the design and execution of the experiment as well as the thoroughness and readability of the paper.

Email me a pdf version of your paper by noon on Tuesday, Dec. 15

Your project experiments may require a lot of time to run. Please read the following suggestions for how to conduct your experiments so as not to disrupt the work of other students. Pay special attention to the use of nice and screen.