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Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

robotics.umich.edu

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Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#21

Post by lupire »

mp05 wrote: post #16
angry_moose wrote: post #4

Man this would have been nice when I was in school. For some reason linear algebra still isn't part of standard Mechanical Engineering course load (Calc 1, 2, 3, DiffEq) which made life extremely difficult in some of the later classes. I remember spending weeks brute forcing a lot of things that would have been trivial with a little bit of matrix math. I took a superficially similar class as a 400 level elective but…

Yes back in 2005 when I first went to undergrad as a mech engineering major, linear algebra was not a requirement. Our mechanics professors were highly irritated by this. I don't think this has changed much (but absolutely should). I've watched in real time as Micron representatives reject mechanical engineers and prefer résumés from industrial engineers for design roles due to their superior grasp on linear algebra…

Why can't professors set LA as a prereq for their courses?

Or use it in their courses and earn students that they need to learn it so succeed?

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#22

Post by Sanzig »

angry_moose wrote: post #15
BeetleB wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For some reason linear algebra still isn't part of standard Mechanical Engineering course load (Calc 1, 2, 3, DiffEq) Wow. In my undergrad all engineering majors had to take linear algebra (calc 3 was optional for computer engineering).

Maybe some schools do but it's baffling to me its not a universal requirement. It'd be dramatically more useful than Calc3 for most engineers. Michigan doesn't seem to require it as the College of Engineering core classes or as part of the BSME (checked because they're who this course is through): https://me.engin.umich.edu/academics/undergrad/handbook/bach... And my alma mater has a very similar progression.

First year linear algebra is a requirement in Canada for national accreditation of any engineering program.

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#23

Post by ellisv »

byefruit wrote: post #9
RobbieGM wrote: post #7

I took this course 3 years ago. I found it fast-moving, and it focused a lot more on applications than fundamentals, which meant it was more wide than it was deep. This didn't turn out so well when I decided to study ML later and needed stronger linear algebra fundamentals, but it was a fun course. There were a couple interesting course projects, one of which was using linear algebra to balance a (simulated) 2D robot…

What would you recommend for building a strong linear algebra foundation?

Anything by Gilbert Strang

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7DDD91010BC51F8

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#24

Post by krosaen »

byefruit wrote: post #9
RobbieGM wrote: post #7

I took this course 3 years ago. I found it fast-moving, and it focused a lot more on applications than fundamentals, which meant it was more wide than it was deep. This didn't turn out so well when I decided to study ML later and needed stronger linear algebra fundamentals, but it was a fun course. There were a couple interesting course projects, one of which was using linear algebra to balance a (simulated) 2D robot…

What would you recommend for building a strong linear algebra foundation?

Also a big fan of Strang. "Linear algebra and its applications" has problem sets with solutions for odd number questions.

Would highly recommend https://mathacademy.com/courses/linear-algebra or https://mathacademy.com/courses/mathematics-for-machine-lear...

I originally spent time working through practice problems from one of Strang's books, now really appreciate how systematic math academy is in assessing, building a custom curriculum, then doing spaced repetition.

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#25

Post by profgrizzle »

Chapter 13 of the textbook was added in January 2022. It covers separating hyperplanes, signed distance to a hyperplane, Max-margin Classifiers, a remark on Soft Margin Classifiers, and the Orthogonal Projection Operator. The material was added to support EECS 445, Machine Learning at Michigan.

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#26

Post by profgrizzle »

Chapter 13 of the textbook was added in January 2022. It covers separating hyperplanes, signed distance to a hyperplane, Max-margin Classifiers, a remark on Soft Margin Classifiers, and the Orthogonal Projection Operator. The additional material was added to support EECS 445, Machine Learning at Michigan.

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#27

Post by tptacek »

profgrizzle wrote: post #26

Chapter 13 of the textbook was added in January 2022. It covers separating hyperplanes, signed distance to a hyperplane, Max-margin Classifiers, a remark on Soft Margin Classifiers, and the Orthogonal Projection Operator. The additional material was added to support EECS 445, Machine Learning at Michigan.

This is (one of?) the authors of the course, for what it's worth. Welcome to HN! Pelt him with questions, everybody. :)

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#28

Post by tptacek »

RobbieGM wrote: post #7

I took this course 3 years ago. I found it fast-moving, and it focused a lot more on applications than fundamentals, which meant it was more wide than it was deep. This didn't turn out so well when I decided to study ML later and needed stronger linear algebra fundamentals, but it was a fun course. There were a couple interesting course projects, one of which was using linear algebra to balance a (simulated) 2D robot…

Where do you feel the gaps were for what you needed for ML? Downthread, Jesse Grizzle notes they've added some stuff in 2023 (it's on Github I think?) to support an ML class.

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#29

Post by gertlex »

yardie wrote: post #6

I love Linear Algebra. I took it in college almost 20 years ago and I still use it everyday. The higher level maths almost broke me academically. And it was a course in LA that really kept my head in the game. Even now, when I'm talking to students I try and encourage them to take the class if it's available.

For me LA was spread across several courses (I was at Michigan in engineering too), and I never got enough internalization of when it was useful from these, sadly. It definitely seemed more useful that a lot of the higher level maths, like you imply.

Re: Robotics 101 at UMich: Applied numerical linear algebra as intro linear algebra

#30

Post by javiramos »

krosaen wrote: post #24
byefruit wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would you recommend for building a strong linear algebra foundation?

Also a big fan of Strang. "Linear algebra and its applications" has problem sets with solutions for odd number questions. Would highly recommend https://mathacademy.com/courses/linear-algebra or https://mathacademy.com/courses/mathematics-for-machine-lear... I originally spent time working through practice problems from one of Strang's books, now really appreciate how systematic math academy is in assessing, building…

I took 18.085 (applied linear algebra) as a grad student at MIT. The best taught math course I've ever taken. Strang is a fantastic teacher.
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