Welcome to Robotics & AI!

Hi All,

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are two extremely exciting and fast-growing STEM fields that have potential to impact and transform our society dramatically. The number of people and the amount of investment involved in these fields grew almost exponentially in the past few years! For example, based on a study by Brookings Institution, more than 80 billions dollars of investment had been pouring into the Autonomous Vehicle industry within a three-year span (from August 2014 to June 2017)!  Another example, more than 3,369,494 people have already enrolled in an online AI course called Machine Learning from Coursera! The purpose of this course is to help students develop basic understanding of these fast-changing fields, and develop real-world STEM skills through project-based learning. 

The following is an introductory video of our course. Most of the projects in the video belong to Robotics in the past few years. We are going to develop new contents this year to enhance the AI part of the curriculum.

 

In the first semester, we will be focusing on the Robotics including robot construction, simulation, programming and control. During the second semester, students will be learning Artificial Intelligence focusing on the Machine Learning (ML). Special emphasis will be on schemes using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). We will investigate both the theoretical and computational aspects of the Neural Network, and it’s possible applications.

Since the applications of Robotics & AI are booming and widening on daily bases, our curriculum and projects will also evolve and update on the fly. You are more than welcome to give ideas, suggestions and feedbacks about the course anytime to steer the course in a direction fitting most students' interests.

I am looking forward to working with you and have an exciting year! 

Mr. Lin

 

C Programming Tutorials

Here are a list of C programming tutorials and their descriptions: 

1. C Programming Tutorials by thenewboston: A playlist of 58 short, easy-to-follow, beginners C tutorial videos (lengths range from 3:14 to 12:38, total video length 6:32:13). The tutorials use an open-source tool- Code Block as as its IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Code Block has a simple, yet friendly Graphical User Interface, and it can edit, compile and execute C/C++ code all inside the same environment. The environment can run on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
2. C Programming Tutorials by Caleb Curry: A playlist of 59 short, easy-to-follow, beginners C tutorial videos (lengths range from 3:34 to 11:57). The videos not only explain how to program C code, but also elaborate on many entry-level concepts of computer science. It is great for students having no background in computer. The tutorials use command-line tool gcc as its compiler and vim as its text editor. There is no Graphical User Interface, and the tutorials are more suitable to run on Mac OS X.
3. C Programming Tutorial for Beginners by freeCodeCamp.org. If you are tired of clicking around tons of video clips, this single video edition of length 3:46:12 can serve the same purpose. Basically, this single video edition is made of a list of 30 well organized tutorials. It also use  Code Block as as its IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Code Block has a simple, yet friendly Graphical User Interface, and it can edit, compile and execute C/C++ code all inside the same environment. The environment can run on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

When you learn a human language, listening or reading is just half of the story. If you really want to be proficient in a language, you also need to practice speaking and writing. Likewise, learning a computer language is not just about watching video tutorials. You need to practice programming while watching tutorials. Actually, it is a fulfilling process to see how you can gradually conquer and control this powerful machine - computer!

Python Programming Tutorials

Here are a list of Python programming tutorials and their descriptions: 

1. Python 3.4 Programming Tutorials by thenewboston: A playlist of 56 short, easy-to-follow, beginners Python tutorial videos (lengths range from 3:09 to 11:41). The tutorials use PyCharm as the IDE (Integrated Development Environment). PyCharm can edit, compile and execute Python code all inside the same environment. The environment can run on Windows and Mac OS X. 
2. Python Tutorial for Beginners by Telusko: A playlist of 77 comprehensive Python tutorial videos (lengths range from 1:06 to 15:59) covering many, many topics in Python. The tutorials also use PyCharm as the IDE (Integrated Development Environment). It can run on Windows and Mac OS X.
3. Python Programming Tutorials (Computer Science) by Socratica. A playlist of 33 short, high-quality Python tutorial videos (lengths range from 1:04 to 10:32). Though most of the videos are very short, the contents are concise and rich. They covered most of the important topics for beginners.
4. Python Tutorial for Beginners [Full Course] 2019) by Programming with Mosh. If you are tired of clicking around tons of short video clips, this single video edition of length 6:14:06 can bring you from zero to hero! The instructor starts from very basic programming concepts and guides you step-by-step to complete 3 advanced Python projects: web page design, artificial intelligence task, and spreadsheet processing. The tutorials use PyCharm as the IDE (Integrated Development Environment). This tutorial is good for students need more challenges!

Python is getting very, very popular recently in the machine learning and data science circles. Many libraries have been developed for Python and make it a very powerful language. Python has become a basic job skill for students want to pursue computer-related careers.