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A: An introduction
My name is Erivelton Gualter and I am a first year PhD student at Cleveland State University, USA. My overall background is related to robotics applied to biomechanics. I am currently developing a robotics transfemoral prosthesis and I built a robotic wheelchair when I majored in Automation and Control Engineering at FEI University in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I am fluent in Portuguese, English and Intermediate Spanish.
It is my first time applying to the Google Summer of Code. However, I have been in touch with a couple organization: Octave and Sympy. My primary goal to participate in the gsoc is to build a long term relationship with the open source community. I want to take it serious and get involved. I have been using a lot of open source tools, and now I fell it is time to contribute for it.
I choose Octave because I have used MATLAB during my entire undergraduate program and I still use it for my PhD. However, now It is time to switch gears, so I decided to use Octave due the similarity to m scripting. Unfortunately, Octave still lacking some crucial functions which prevent some group of people to also switch gears. Therefore, I want to be part of maintainers group and I want to be able to use Octave for all my projects.
C: Contact
- My time zone is UTC-4.
- I usually sleep at 2am to 8pm. So besides that I am flexible to work any time.
- Here is my nickname:
- wiki, IRC and Savannah: erigualter
- github: EriveltonGualter
- Personal Webpage: https://eriveltongualter.github.io/
However, I was using dev101 in the IRC chat, which I will not longer use anymore.
E: Coding experience
Short answer of Programming Languages (in approximate order of proficiency):
- M-file scripting;
- C/C++;
- Python;
- HTML, CSS, Javascript, Pelican (Web development);
- Java.
Some illustration about what I have done:
Simulator of gait walking with amputee subjects using prosthesis built.
Inverted Pendulum Interface to simulate different parameters.
Power-Assisted Wheelchair. Embedded Controller in C.
Strategy and Controller of robots to play soccer in C++.
Deep and detailed answer about programming language experience:
- M-file scripting Octave/Matlab
- I have been used Matlab/Octave in several classes at my undergraduate, such as: Numerical Calculus, Classical Control Systems I and II, Modern Control, Digital Signal Processing, Artificial Intelligence, and Computational Intelligence Applied to Control.
- Also, in Online Courses at Coursera plataform: Aerial Robotics, Computational Motion Planning and Mobility: code
- Here is a link with the overall projects developed in m-scriptiong file:code
- I also have created some GUI (graphical user interface) in matlab:
- C/C++
- I used C and C++ in several classes: Introduction to Computer Programming, Laboratory Automation Engineering, Embedded Systems, Advanced Programming Language I and II, Data Structure.
- I joined to the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics laboratory to develop robots with the ability to play soccer. I developed part of the strategy to pass system and intercept algorithms.
- I build an Power-Assisted Wheelchair controlled by EMG signals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjgii2i_xP4 , here is the link for the full project: https://eriveltongualter.github.io/wheelchair.html
- Python
- I built an Airhockey table, which I developed the repository mechanism, upgraded airflow system, and display interface. For this task I used a Raspberry Pi as an interface. code
- I have done some web scraping for fun.
- HTML, CSS, Javascript, Pelican (Web development):
- I have developed some webpages, such as my personal webpage and others:
The biggest coding project I worked on with a big group was the period I was an undergraduate researcher at Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory. We were in 6 programmers, 4 mechanicals and 3 electronic guys. For the software development, we used TortoiseSVN and then we switched to Bitbucket. Back then I was amused how efficiently everyone could collaborate to the software without messing up. Since then, I have been using github for my classes and research to be more organized.
I discovered GSoC in the end of January of this year, I have been exploring the Octave community and I performed some basic tasks, just as downloaded and build the system. Also, I started working in the following bug:
- # 51437 - mean(zeros(1,0)) does not return NaN for Matlab compatibility
However, In the meanwhile I decided to focus in control system functionalities. So, I started to develop a prototype for a GUI sisotool (Interactive adjust of poles and zeros in Octave).
In this evaluation code, the user can:
- add poles and zeros by clicking with the left and right button in the mouse;
- Reallocated/Reposition by clicking and drag the pole/zero to desired position;
- To delete the pole/zero, you can click with the scroll on this.
Here is the code I have been working:
and videos about the performance of the interface which it was a concern. However, it has been proved promising:
F: Feeling fine
- “IRC and mailing list”: I have been hanging out in the IRC and following the mailing list without any problems;
- “Mercurial”: I have been using git a quite time and I used hg just in order to clone and update the Octave project. I might ask about hg later on or I am sure I can find the majority answers in hg documentation.
- “mediawiki”: I fell fine editing the wiki.
- “development tools”: Basic understand to build a GNU system, using configure-make-make install. Although I have built several programs when I was a windowns user in Microsoft Visual Studio.
After the GsoC, I feel confident in stay in the community. For sure, I will be using Octave in my phd research at least for more three years, since I just started. However, my main goal is to became a maintainer of the Octave as hobby independent of my research and job.
O: Only out of interest
I first heard about Octave in third year of my undergraduate program. I had a problem with my Matlab license and I needed to conclude a homework. Therefore, I found Octave by myself surfing on Google. Actually, in that time I did not feel the Octave appearance really welcoming (just noting I was a window's user in that time). Then in the last year of college I did a dual boot Windows and Ubuntu 14.04, and I installed Octave in the Ubuntu side. However, I have been using both Octave and Matlab since I share code with my adviser, I still use Matlab a lot. (I am still trying to convince him to switch with me).
In back the time I used Octave for the first time in window's, I faced some installation issues with took a while to figure out. I am not using windows anymore, so I assume it is fine nowadays.
P: Prerequisites
- I have a personal laptop with Ubuntu 16.04 and Windows 10 (but I only use windows for specific software of my research). Also, I have full access for both system.
- I basically spend my whole day in my laptop (24h).
S: Self-assessment
I belief that construct critics is essential for anyone looking to improve their abilities in certain tasks.
I am autonomous in my tasks and I consider myself very pro-activity individual. I prefer to discuss the goals desire prior to coding. After established the goals, even if we do not discussed what is the right path is to reach the goal I will be proactive and find a solution to reach this goal. Obviously with a feedback and construct criticism, the work will be concluded much faster.
Y: Your task
- Did you select a task from our list of proposals and ideas?
- If yes, what task did you choose? Please describe what part of it you especially want to focus on if you can already provide this information. Please also wiki-link the page for your elaborated proposal here.
- Please provide a rough estimated timeline for your work on the task. This should include the GSoC midterms and personal commitments like exams or vacation ("non-coding time"). If possible, include two or three milestones you expect.