Part 1 of this assignment is due by class time on Monday of Week 5. Part 2 is due Wednesday of Week 5. Again, "submission" will just be creation of log entries and web pages.
This assignment has both an individual and a group portion. You should complete the individual portion first, and then complete the group portion collaboratively with your group and link the deliverables from your group page.
This assignment is the first assignment in a series of assignments that will lead you to your research proposal.
Part 1 (Individual): Identifying general research problems and technical challenges
It is an important skill to be able to identify problems that need to be solved, at both a broad and detailed level. In the first part of this assignment, in your individual log, brainstorm the various problems that your broader research group is focused on. Try to include both high-level problems (E.g. "Computers cannot understand drawings the way people can") as well as more specific technical problems (E.g., "We need to find a way to figure out the boundaries between two different objects in a sketch, given stroke data").
After you have a list of all of the problems you can think of that your broader research group is focused on, highlight or copy the problems that your ERSP group will focus on. I am not looking for solutions to these problems here. I just want to know what the problems are that your group will work to solve.
Record these problems in your log (or a page linked from your log). Make sure they are readable to Professor Mirza, grad mentors and your advisors, at least.
Part 2 (Group): Refining your research problem and getting a start at a solution
Get together with your group, and compare the specific problems you each identified. Refine these problems and merge them so that you have a single list of the research problems that your group will be working to address in your work this year. On your group log, record these problems. These problems should be addressed at several levels, from high level, to more specific, but they should all focus on a single project.
Next, record whether your adviser has given you any specific direction in solving these problems. Did your adviser propose a method or approach that you should use to solve these problems? If so, what is it? If not, what ideas do you have for starting to solve this problem?
Don't forget to log all your activities!