There's something perverse about me in that I thrive when I'm quite swamped with stuff. Right now, I'm juggling between 2 to 3 research directions I'd like to explore, my preparation of my teaching materials, the e-learning lecture and tutorials to be constructed and two other modules that I need to develop. On top of that, I'm working on this exciting PBL problem for one of the modules I will be teaching.

In this module, the students will have to learn about matrices and geometric transformations. Boring stuff. So, why not make it more interesting and challenging? So the PBL problem is born:

Remember the Mars Rovers? The two robots that really relayed a wealth of info to us about Mars? Well, they weren't going to work if there is no robotic vision, aided by cameras. Of course, cameras capture the image - so from 3D objects to 2D images. So how to get that data? Through the process of translation, rotation, and projection; all of which needs matrices. Then once the robot relayed the image back to earth, how do scientist reconstruct the data into the real world coordinates so they know exact where are the locations and sizes of the objects on Mars?

More interesting? Well, at least I think so. It will show the students how to apply the concepts and skills they've learned to a real problem. I will have to scale down the problem a bit - not using the rovers but instead using the camera calibration problem of a simple object for them to work on. Also, I've got to think about the assessment method and rubrics.

Ah well. Will see whether the students will respond accordingly.

Peace,

Sid