COSC 4P78 - Project

Due: April 19^th (No later!)

For your project, you may select either of two options: A written report, or some form of implementation. The expectations and procedures are a bit different for each.

Project Types

Written Report

For a written report, choose a central theme or topic (e.g. Object Detection across multiple frames). Your report will include an explanation of that topic, including why it's challenging; background information necessary to understand what will follow in the report; explanations of branches of the problem (or subproblems, or other subtopics still related to the central topic); solutions for the subproblems, including detailed explanations; remaining issues and concerns; a look at future work; your references.

Your report should probably be around 25 pages long. You must write it in LaTeX. It must make appropriate use of section headings. It needs to have a table of contents (note: if you're using LaTeX and section headings, this is actually trivial). You must provide citations for claims made, and must also include references for where you found source material. Anything not clearly identified as being a specific quote must be written in your own voice. Material should only be quoted when the precise phrasing or source is of significance.

In other words, this is a fourth year course; if you're going to write, write!

Implementation

Build or implement something related to the fields of robotics and/or machine vision.

You are highly advised to consult with your instructor (i.e. me) to verify that your proposed project is both "sufficient" and "not impossibly complicated or expensive or deadly". Pick something more advanced than the tasks done in our labs. It doesn't need to be a unique problem; but you need to do it yourself.

Besides what you're actually implementing, you'll also have to provide documentation of it. What this entails will depend on what you make. In general, expect to at least:

• Provide instructions on usage
• Describe the problem, both in summary form and in detail
• Describe your approach for how you solved it
• Describe any remaining problems/quirks (especially if there are things I shouldn't try to do with it when testing it out!)
• List any significant resources you used, and explicitly state what you took from each; especially if it's code/libraries

You will probably need to document other aspects of your project, but that will depend on what you chose.
Please note that communication is important; if you're sloppy with spelling or grammar, it can be very hard to follow the idea you're attempting to convey. Style may not matter as much as with the written report, but they do still matter.

Though this will vary substantially across different projects, I expect the average writeup length will be on the order of 6 pages.

Tip: if you want an idea of how favourably your writeup will be graded, ask yourself this question: "could I, from reading this, have a reasonable idea of how to reproduce the work?"

Submission Instructions

Of course, you may have special requirements, depending on your chosen project. Unless you make special arrangements, however:

For a written report, all you need submit is just the report itself. At least include an electronic submission. If there's some reason you also need to include a physical copy, arrangements can be made. Use the submit4p78 script, and enter it as assignment 3. Your final report must include a PDF copy. You must also include your .tex files (as well as any .eps or .png files you also used). If there are any special instructions (or project files) for compiling your document, then include those as well.

For an implementation, submit both your code and your report electronically (using PDF format for your writeup), unless you otherwise make special arrangements. Additionally, the TA needs to have some means of testing your project. If it doesn't run on the lab hardware, that means you'll have to arrange a demonstration. Do not expect to receive credit for your project if it can't actually be tested/used. It is your responsibility to arrange any demonstration in a timely fashion, or else you'll be assigned a grade that reflects how much one can observe from a glance (hint: you won't make it past the 40% threshold). As with the written version, treat your electronic submission as assignment 3 when it asks.

Reserved Mindstorms Kits

There are a finite number of Mindstorms kits; they're being assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis. Requests are only treated as official when made via email. You should have a reasonable idea of what you're using the kit for before trying to reserve it.

Group Work

Though there are possibilities for implementations for anywhere from one student to three, I expect that pairs will be the most common. For written reports, the description above is for individual work, and so pairing up isn't likely to be warranted.