ai
Wiki · 40 explainers
Short, interactive explainers behind my projects. Pick a topic and play with the model.
robotics
Robotics & planning
science
Genomics & vision
math
Math, data & systems
40 of 40
Algorithms
A* Search: Open Set, Closed Set, and f-score
A* finds paths by balancing the cost already paid with a heuristic estimate of what remains.
FoundationalRoboticsAdvantageKit Logging and Simulation Separation
Separate hardware access from control logic so one robot program can run with real, simulated, or replayed inputs.
IntermediateRoboticsAprilTag Vision for Robot Pose Estimation
Use known field landmarks to produce time-stamped, uncertainty-aware pose measurements that complement wheel odometry and a gyro.
AdvancedAPI engineeringAsync API Clients with Rate Limits and Backoff
Reliable API clients treat failure as a flow-control signal, not just an exception to retry immediately.
IntermediateTransit analyticsCampus Bus Load Curves by Time of Day
Transit demand becomes legible only after irregular vehicle observations are validated, deduplicated, aligned, and aggregated with their coverage visible.
FoundationalProduct algorithmsConflict-Free Schedule Generation
Course scheduling is a constraint problem disguised as a registration chore.
IntermediateAI educationCourse Materials to Queryable Knowledge Base
A course knowledge base turns files, assignments, and notes into searchable objects with source context.
FoundationalRobotics planningDual-Arm Scheduling with CP-SAT
A dual-arm robot needs more than an action list; it needs a schedule that respects resources, precedence, and collision risk.
AdvancedRobotics planningDual-Arm Task and Motion Planning Pipeline
TAMP connects symbolic task choices to geometric motion checks so a robot plan is both logical and physically executable.
AdvancedMathElementary Symmetric Functions
Elementary symmetric functions collect every square-free product of a fixed degree into one permutation-invariant polynomial.
AdvancedAI infrastructureEvidence-Backed Think Envelopes
A think envelope turns an agent answer into a reviewable object with citations, gaps, conflicts, and next actions.
IntermediateRoboticsField-Relative vs Robot-Relative Driving
The same joystick vector means different motion depending on the coordinate frame in which it is interpreted.
IntermediateEconomicsFRED and BLS API Time-Series Plotting
Economic plotting is a data-contract problem before it is a charting problem: identity, frequency, units, adjustment, missingness, and revision status determine the claim.
IntermediateGame engineeringGodot VehicleBody3D Racing Physics
A racing game feels right when engine force, steering, friction, suspension, and track design reinforce each other.
IntermediateAlgorithmsHeuristics: Manhattan vs Euclidean Distance
A heuristic is a guess about remaining cost; the right guess depends on how movement is allowed.
FoundationalComputational biologyHi-C Contact Maps and TAD Triangles
A Hi-C map turns an ensemble of ligation events into a binned view of how often genomic regions were near one another.
AdvancedAI agentsLangGraph Multi-Agent Study Backend
A multi-agent backend is a graph of roles, tools, state, and handoffs, not just a pile of prompts.
AdvancedRobotics planningLearned Feasibility Prediction for Robot Plans
A feasibility predictor estimates which symbolic actions are likely to survive expensive motion checks.
AdvancedRoboticsLookup Tables vs Equations for Shooter Tuning
When robot physics is messy, a measured lookup table can beat a beautiful but incomplete equation.
IntermediateAI infrastructureMarkdown Frontmatter Knowledge Graphs
Markdown becomes a lightweight knowledge graph when notes carry typed metadata and relationships with enforceable meaning.
IntermediateAI infrastructureMCP Tools for Agent Workflows
MCP standardizes how AI hosts connect to servers that expose tools, resources, and prompts; the host still owns workflow policy and safety.
IntermediateAI researchModel Size, Speed, and Accuracy Trade-Offs
Small-model engineering chooses a Pareto point across task quality, latency, throughput, memory, and operational constraints.
AdvancedComputational biologyMulti-Scale TAD Boundary Detection
A boundary call is stronger when its insulation pattern persists across justified window sizes, resolutions, and replicates.
AdvancedData agentsNatural Language to Reproducible Pandas Code
A data agent becomes reviewable when a plain-language request leaves behind executable code, explicit assumptions, output data, and validation evidence.
IntermediateRoboticsPathPlanner Autonomous Routes
Autonomous routing combines preplanned paths, event markers, robot constraints, and live pathfinding.
IntermediateAI agentsPersistent Semantic Memory for AI Assistants
Semantic memory lets an assistant retrieve relevant past context instead of treating every conversation as isolated.
IntermediateControlsPID Control for Robot Mechanisms
PID control pushes a mechanism toward a setpoint by reacting to present, accumulated, and changing error.
IntermediateMathq-Integers and the Meaning of q-Analogues
A q-analogue recovers a classical object while using powers of q to record additional structure.
IntermediateAI educationRAG Pipeline for Student Documents
Retrieval-augmented generation turns messy course files into ranked evidence before an AI tutor answers.
IntermediateData systemsReal-Time Transit Data Collection Loops
A polling loop turns a changing vehicle feed into an auditable historical time series.
FoundationalResearch infrastructureRepo as System of Record for Research
A research repository can preserve the plans, source definitions, assumptions, transformations, artifacts, and verification records needed to reconstruct a result.
AdvancedComputer visionSemi-Global Block Matching
SGBM estimates stereo disparity by combining local matching evidence with smoothness costs accumulated along multiple image paths.
AdvancedAI infrastructureSLURM Training Jobs on HPC Clusters
An HPC training run combines a resource request, executable batch script, recorded environment, and durable outputs.
IntermediateAI educationSource-Grounded AI Wikis
An AI wiki is useful when every explanation remains tied to the material that produced it.
FoundationalComputer visionStereo Vision and Disparity Maps
Calibrated stereo turns horizontal correspondence shifts into metric depth, with uncertainty that grows as disparity shrinks.
IntermediateRoboticsSwerve Drive Basics for FRC Robots
A swerve drivetrain independently steers and drives each wheel module so the chassis can translate and rotate at the same time.
IntermediateComputational biologySynthetic Enhancer Design Pipeline
Designing an enhancer is a constrained propose–predict–filter–test loop, not a request for the sequence with the largest model score.
AdvancedMathThe q-Binomial Theorem
The finite q-binomial theorem expands a product whose choices carry position-dependent q-weights.
AdvancedAI educationVector Search vs Keyword Search in Study Tools
Keyword search finds exact words; vector search finds nearby meaning. Strong study systems usually need both.
IntermediateControlsVelocity PID for Intake and Shooter Wheels
Velocity control is about holding speed under load, not merely sending a motor percentage.
Intermediate