Daily Journal 1: I feel that having college professors, living in dorms and just being in COSMOS is an exciting experience. Having college professors teaching me is a different experience, since I am not used to lectures, so I feel it will be a good introduction into college lifestyle. I feel it will help me get used to what college life will be like and what studying will be like. Being in the dorms is also a new experience, because this is the first time I have been away from home for this long. It is interesting living like a college student and I enjoy it personally, but I don’t know if that will last. I like the UC Davis campus and the city, so I enjoy living in the dorms and I look forward to exploring the campus. I feel that. Ring in COSMOS will help me grow as a person while learning more about interesting topics such as biology and robotics.
Daily Journal 2: So far in COSMOS, I have learned a few things. In the biophysics portion, I learned about atoms and their many properties, such as the fact that while they break the speed of sound, due to the diffusion constant, they perform a random walk take weeks to go from point A to point B. I have also learned more about computers and what makes up a computer, such as the input/output with the hardware and the OS, memory and applications that make up the software. I started learning a new coding language, Linux, and how it applies to computers, such as how we convert terminal code into the machine language. In the robotics area, I learned more about for loops, and I’ve learned more about the coding experience, for example, I learned that code is mostly about trial and error. Even though it’s only been two days, I already felt that I have learned a lot.
Daily Journal 3: I feel more comfortable now with loops in C, and I also feel mo re comfortable using Boolean and if/else statements as well, and using inputs and outputs. I also feel comfortable with the basics of Python, a language that I hadn’t used before this program, but I have a lot more to learn on the coding side. I’m also new to Linux, but I feel I’ve gotten down the basics, like navigating the terminal and converting and running C code in the terminal. I was learning how to translate numbers into binary, which was easy after a while, but I have a little trouble converting decimals. On the building side of things, we haven’t built that much, but I have an EV3 at home, so I feel a bit more comfortable with this interface. I’m learning more and more about biophysics and I feel that by the end of this course I will be familiar with coding and biophysics.
Daily Journal 4: I have had a little less than one week of experience here at COSMOS, and I feel that while I understand the basics of most of the things we are learning in COSMOS, and I am learning and absorbing more knowledge as we go on, there are plenty of areas I feel I could work on. I feel I could learn and understand the classes even more if I looked into learning more C and exploring Python. If I research come of the topics I feel uneasy on, such as Linux and Python, I could get ahead, and I also feel that if I advanced further on the topics that we are already learning about, I could have more fun in this course. I can also review some old robotics code I have in C and brush up a bit, which could help the robotics portion of this course a lot more smooth. We haven’t done much collaboration so far, but I feel from prior experience, I think I could work on scheduling with my teammates, and dividing the work so it doesn’t rest on just me or one of my teammates. I feel I could work on giving feedback, and asking more questions so my teammates and I can stay on the same page. While I feel I have strong points and am comfortable in COSMOS, I have some areas that I can work on to make my experience better.
Daily Journal 5: I feel that throughout this robotics experience I have run into a few problems with coding, but I utilized a few problem solving techniques to get me through the problems. When I decided to remove one aspect of the code to see it run smoother, it affected everything poorly. To fix this, I tried two things. First, I tried to adjust everything to make sure everything was compatible. That turned out to be a hassle and I had to rewrite a lot of code. I felt lost for a little while, but then I retraced my steps to where I messed up. I completely removed all of the changes I made, starting with the first adjustment. I took a minute to recollect all of my thoughts, and I started from scratch, and found a way to fix my mistake. When there were small mistakes after I made that change, I observed carefully to see where the mistakes started piling up and I fixed that point and worked my way from there, one mistake at a time.
Daily Journal 6: I feel that the hardest part to complete of our final project will be the part where our arm potentially has options for what it can do. Though it is not final, we are planning on adding a feature where our arm can play songs and has multiple features. The most risky, though not the hardest part of our project will be attaching the robotic arm to our arms and securing the mechanism which lets the arm to go back and forth. Our idea is that we have a beam with gear teeth, and a medium motor that rotates a gear that pushes the beam attached to the arm back and forth. Our contingency plan if the additional features don’t work out is to basically advance the arm, adding voice assistance and instructions, and more precision and automation. If the beam mechanism doesn’t work, we will replace it with a different mechanism.
Daily Journal 7: So far, I have learned or have been introduced to 3 different languages: Python, C, and Linux. Each one has their advantages and all of them are valid languages to learn. C and C++ are older languages, and due to that, if you know C or C++, you can learn any language, due to the fact that most languages are built off of these too. These two languages are also my preferred method of coding robots. But since these two are both older languages, they aren’t the most aren’t really interactive and you have to help it interact with the computer, or put in a cruder way, it is a “stupid language”. Python is a newer language and it is probably the easiest to learn out of the three. Out of all coding languages, Python is one of the easiest to learn. It is a beginner language, since you don’t have to worry about helping the language, and it removed the need for intricate ways to code, for example, “and” is there instead of “&&” and you don’t need semicolons. I don’t really find problems with this language, I just don’t prefer it, though if I learned it I feel I could appreciate it more. Linux is the last language I have Ben exposed to, and it is more useful for running and coding the computer itself. If I wanted to go into the computer and edit the computer’s code. Other than that, Linux isn’t the best language to code anything else. This is just based on my experience, I’m sure there are some applications for Linux other than running and coding computers. This is my opinion on the languages I have been exposed to.
Daily Journal 8: Today Dr. Cone said that pseudo-coding is important and I wholeheartedly agree. Pseudo-coding helps one in the beginning, middle and end of the coding process. In the beginning, pseudo code helps us see what exactly we are coding, in what order and it helps us organize our thoughts. In the middle of the coding process, pseudo code plays a massive part in pure organization of our code. We know what order we should go in, how each piece is linked, and it gives us an idea of how code should be written and placed. In the end of the process, pseudo code helps us test, for example when we code, we can use pseudo code to test and debug. We can observe the tests, look what part of the code went wrong, and we can use pseudo code as comments to find the code, look at what the code was meant to do, and find out and fix the error. For our projects, which will require a lot of intricate and complicated code, pseudo code will help out a lot, especially finding out what we want to do, and with organization.
Daily Journal 9: My view of computer science, coding and robotics has definitely changed over the past few weeks of COSMOS. I was more focused on the coding robots aspect of coding that I didn't look at the other side of coding. This camp helped open my eyes to the full experience of coding. I coded a reverse DNA sequence and so much more, and I'm sure I will learn a lot more in the few days I have left. I feel that I have used my time quite wisely and used it to finish my tasks faster. I feel in the biophysics class I used my time quite wisely and finished my tasks in time, but I feel that I could have gotten less distracted a little less, though it was hard due to the fact we were in that room for 4 hours, though I am getting a lot less distracted than I got in the beginning of this program. In the robotics class, the only thing I could have worked on was getting a little less frustrated at the fact that my color code wasn't working. The frustration held me back and didn't let me progress as fast as I could have.
Daily Journal 10: I feel that random walks represent the movement of real biophysical molecules quite strongly because
Daily Journal 11: I chose a partner for multiple reasons. I feel that I work better with a partner due to the way I think. I always like a second opinion, and I feel my opinion isn't enough to make a rational decision, so I chose a partner so I could engage in productive discourse and exchange ideas until we come to an agreement. Having a partner means you have two brains working on the same problem, different perspectives discussing the same issue, double the power focused on solving a problem. Having a partner also fills in the missing parts of myself. I have faults, so the best way to fill in those holes is to add another person, and learn from them so I can fill in those faults myself. For example, I'm good at structure and writing code, but I'm not the best at fluidity and changing plan if a different solution arrises, and while I am good at building and coding, I do have some areas to improve.
Daily Journal 12: I feel I set an unreasonable goal for the timeframe I had at today's robotics class. I set a goal of finishing the hardware for the first bot, but that did not hash out as planned. With the less than hour we had, we couldn't finish the hardware in time, for we had a problem we had to fix. We got close to finishing the hardware, but we could never have completed the hardware in time. From now on, I feel I have to set goals based on the timeframe and make them stricter and more reasonable based on how much time I have on my hands.
Daily Journal 13: The most interesting that I learned in Bodega Bay was about the acidity and carbon dioxide content in the ocean. The most interesting thing that I learned was that the ocean absorbs 40% of the carbon dioxide that is released into the air, which makes the ocean more acidic, contributing to the loss of many species, including coral and such. I never knew that the ocean absorbed carbon dioxide and that that is one of the reasons the oceans are getting killed off. Another interesting fact that I learned that there is a certain type of underwater vegetation called eel grass which absorbs carbon and is part of the solution to the carbon problem. I also saw how the scientists observe the rising and changing acidity and properties of the ocean, using a machine acting like into the water, which uses machinery to collect data 24/7, and uses gyroscopes, GPS and other positioning methods to give the scientists it's location. I found these facts quite interesting and I am compelled to study them further. Daily Journal 14: A valuable part of my COSMOS experience was learning more about coding with friends. In the Biophysics portion, we learned coding, which was normal, but what made it special was I had friends helping me and I was helping my classmates. We worked together to solve problems and we learned more together, while having fun along the way. If it was just coding, I would feel that going to COSMOS would not be worth it. I could learn coding wherever, and staying in Davis for 4 weeks away from my family would not be worth it at all. Since there is a lot of collaboration going on, I learn more and I grow closer with my classmates instead of it being a normal classroom. We work together outside of class, we go out together, but most importantly, we learn together. This would help convince me to apply to COSMOS, and I would like the experience even more. Daily Journal 15: I hope to gain a sense of satisfaction from the work I have completed by completing the project my team has chosen. All of the projects we have done have led up to this point, the odd-even code, the gambler's ruin code, the 2D random walk code have all taught me so much about coding and the project we chose implements everything we have learned. The project we chose was to compare the results (The number of steps) that we get by running a program that shows the amount of steps that it takes for two molecules on opposite sides of an elliptical shell. We are to change the size of the cells, the distance between the molecules and we are supposed to graph the amount of steps it takes to have the molecules meet while performing a random walk in a histogram. This project combines all I have learned and it is a good way to test my skills and prove that I have learned a lot from this course. Daily Journal 16: The CRISPR technology that Dr. Cone showed us today is a revolutionary technology, and it has so many possibilities. The ability to change the genetic code of a human being, an ability primarily in bacteria has limitless possibilities, and while there are ethical issues, CRISPR could be the new way to cure diseases. Sickle cell was cured in a woman using CRISPR, so the possibilities to change the genetic code in a human to cure diseases on a cellular level are limitless. IT could also be used to make sure diseases are not transmitted into the offspring, though that has been done before by a Chinese professor, and it caused problems in the child. If the ethical issues are resolved and the technology is perfected, the entire medical industry would change, and diseases previously thought to have no cure, such as Sickle cell, can be cured and many lives would be saved.