AE 498 MPA: Motion planning for aerospace vehicles

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Fall Semester, 2006
• Assistant Professor Tim Bretl

Assignments

• Contribute to every class: Do this by reading all assigned papers, by attending every class, and by actively participating in discussion.

• Help teach new material: You will present a certain number of the papers. The exact number will be determined by class enrollment. You will select the papers you wish to present during the first week of class. For each one, you should...
• Read and understand the material. Contact me if you need help.
• Prepare a 25-minute presentation (expecting an additional 10 minutes of discussion) using powerpoint or equivalent. Describe key concepts, limitations, and ideas for how the work could be extended. Focus in particular on the relationship to other papers we have discussed.
• Email me your slides one week in advance, so I can give you feedback.
• Email me corrected slides one day in advance, so I can put them on my laptop.

• Complete an open-ended research project: You will identify an interesting motion planning problem for aerospace vehicles (see suggestions below) and try to solve it using the techniques learned in this class. All projects must involve the implementation of a working motion planner, the results of which you will demonstrate in simulation. Based on current enrollment, projects will be done independently. Note that, in this project as well as this class, "aerospace vehicle" is defined loosely. You are encouranged to choose a topic related to other work you may be doing, particularly if it involves actual hardware. Deliverables are...
• Sep 5. Select a project topic.
• Sep 28. Formal project proposal (approx. four pages). It will consist of a problem description, a literature survey, and a method of approach.
• Oct 31. Interim demonstration. Show me a basic, working implementation of your motion planner.
• Nov 30. Draft report (approx. six pages). It will include a description of your solution, implementation, and results. This is essential so that I can give you feedback on your writing.
• Dec 5-7. Final presentation. It will consist of a 45-minute powerpoint (or equivalent) presentation including a live demo of your implementation.
• Dec 15. Final report. It will consist of an 8-page paper, as one might submit to a conference (in fact, I hope that some of you will do so!).
• The exact format of each deliverable will be discussed in class.

Grading

You will be evaluated based 20% on participation in class, 30% on your presentation of new material, and 50% on your project (10% proposal, 5% if you give an interim demonstration, 5% if you turn in a draft report, 15% final presentation, 15% final report). It is possible for everyone in the class to get an A.