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David
David
Last activity on 8 Aug 2024

A library of runnable PDEs. See the equations! Modify the parameters! Visualize the resulting system in your browser! Convenient, fast, and instructive.

Hi everyone,

I've recently joined a forest protection team in Greece, where we use drones for various tasks. This has sparked my interest in drone programming, and I'd like to learn more about it. Can anyone recommend any beginner-friendly courses or programs that teach drone programming?

I'm particularly interested in courses that focus on practical applications and might align with the work we do in forest protection. Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

"What are your favorite features or functionalities in MATLAB, and how have they positively impacted your projects or research? Any tips or tricks to share?
Marisa
Marisa
Last activity on 26 Aug 2024

I am trying to earn my Intro to MATLAB badge in Cody, but I cannot click the Roll the Dice! problem. It simply is not letting me click it, therefore I cannot earn my badge. Does anyone know who I should contact or what to do?
Something that had bothered me ever since I became an FEA analyst (2012) was the apparent inability of the "camera" in Matlab's 3D plot to function like the "cameras" in CAD/CAE packages.
For instance, load the ForearmLink.stl model that ships with the PDE Toolbox in Matlab and ParaView and try rotating the model.
clear
close all
gm = importGeometry( "ForearmLink.stl" );
pdegplot(gm)
To provide talking points, here's a YouTube video I recorded.
Things to observe:
  1. Note that I cant seem to rotate continuously around the x-axis. It appears to only support rotations from [0, 360] as opposed to [-inf, inf]. So, for example, if I'm looking in the Y+ direction and rotate around X so that I'm looking at the Z- direction, and then want to look in the Y- direction, I can't simply keep rotating around the X axis... instead have to rotate 180 degrees around the Z axis and then around the X axis. I'm not aware of any data visualization applications (e.g., ParaView, VisIt, EnSight) or CAD/CAE tools with such an interaction.
  2. Note that at the 50 second mark, I set a view in ParaView: looking in the [X-, Y-, Z-] direction with Y+ up. Try as I might in Matlab, I'm unable to achieve that same view perspective.
Today I discovered that if one turns on the Camera Toolbar from the View menubar, then clicks the Orbit Camera icon, then the No Principal Axis icon:
That then it acts in the manner I've long desired. Oh, and also, for the interested, it is programmatically available: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/cameratoolbar.html
I might humbly propose this mode either be made more discoverable, similar to the little interaction widgets that pop up in figures:
Or maybe use the middle-mouse button to temporarily use this mode (a mouse setting in, e.g., Abaqus/CAE).
Honzik
Honzik
Last activity on 18 Jul 2024

I've noticed is that the highly rated fonts for coding (e.g. Fira Code, Inconsolata, etc.) seem to overlook one issue that is key for coding in Matlab. While these fonts make 0 and O, as well as the 1 and l easily distinguishable, the brackets are not. Quite often the curly bracket looks similar to the curved bracket, which can lead to mistakes when coding or reviewing code.
So I was thinking: Could Mathworks put together a team to review good programming fonts, and come up with their own custom font designed specifically and optimized for Matlab syntax?
An option for 10th degree polynomials but no weighted linear least squares. Seriously? Jesse
Twitch built an entire business around letting you watch over someone's shoulder while they play video games. I feel like we should be able to make at least a few videos where we get to watch over someone's shoulder while they solve Cody problems. I would pay good money for a front-row seat to watch some of my favorite solvers at work. Like, I want to know, did Alfonso Nieto-Castonon just sit down and bang out some of those answers, or did he have to think about it for a while? What was he thinking about while he solved it? What resources was he drawing on? There's nothing like watching a master craftsman at work.
I can imagine a whole category of Cody videos called "How I Solved It". I tried making one of these myself a while back, but as far as I could tell, nobody else made one.
Here's the direct link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoSmO1XklAQ
I hereby challenge you to make a "How I Solved It" video and post it here. If you make one, I'll make another one.
The Ans Hack is a dubious way to shave a few points off your solution score. Instead of a standard answer like this
function y = times_two(x)
y = 2*x;
end
you would do this
function ans = times_two(x)
2*x;
end
The ans variable is automatically created when there is no left-hand side to an evaluated expression. But it makes for an ugly function. I don't think anyone actually defends it as a good practice. The question I would ask is: is it so offensive that it should be specifically disallowed by the rules? Or is it just one of many little hacks that you see in Cody, inelegant but tolerable in the context of the surrounding game?
Incidentally, I wrote about the Ans Hack long ago on the Community Blog. Dealing with user-unfriendly code is also one of the reasons we created the Head-to-Head voting feature. Some techniques are good for your score, and some are good for your code readability. You get to decide with you care about.
goc3
goc3
Last activity on 7 Jun 2024

There are a host of problems on Cody that require manipulation of the digits of a number. Examples include summing the digits of a number, separating the number into its powers, and adding very large numbers together.
If you haven't come across this trick yet, you might want to write it down (or save it electronically):
digits = num2str(4207) - '0'
That code results in the following:
digits =
4 2 0 7
Now, summing the digits of the number is easy:
sum(digits)
ans =
13
Hello and a warm welcome to everyone! We're excited to have you in the Cody Discussion Channel. To ensure the best possible experience for everyone, it's important to understand the types of content that are most suitable for this channel.
Content that belongs in the Cody Discussion Channel:
  • Tips & tricks: Discuss strategies for solving Cody problems that you've found effective.
  • Ideas or suggestions for improvement: Have thoughts on how to make Cody better? We'd love to hear them.
  • Issues: Encountering difficulties or bugs with Cody? Let us know so we can address them.
  • Requests for guidance: Stuck on a Cody problem? Ask for advice or hints, but make sure to show your efforts in attempting to solve the problem first.
  • General discussions: Anything else related to Cody that doesn't fit into the above categories.
Content that does not belong in the Cody Discussion Channel:
  • Comments on specific Cody problems: Examples include unclear problem descriptions or incorrect testing suites.
  • Comments on specific Cody solutions: For example, you find a solution creative or helpful.
Please direct such comments to the Comments section on the problem or solution page itself.
We hope the Cody discussion channel becomes a vibrant space for sharing expertise, learning new skills, and connecting with others.
A high school student called for help with this physics problem:
  • Car A moves with constant velocity v.
  • Car B starts to move when Car A passes through the point P.
  • Car B undergoes...
  • uniform acc. motion from P to Q.
  • uniform velocity motion from Q to R.
  • uniform acc. motion from R to S.
  • Car A and B pass through the point R simultaneously.
  • Car A and B arrive at the point S simultaneously.
Q1. When car A passes the point Q, which is moving faster?
Q2. Solve the time duration for car B to move from P to Q using L and v.
Q3. Magnitude of acc. of car B from P to Q, and from R to S: which is bigger?
Well, it can be solved with a series of tedious equations. But... how about this?
Code below:
%% get images and prepare stuffs
figure(WindowStyle="docked"),
ax1 = subplot(2,1,1);
hold on, box on
ax1.XTick = [];
ax1.YTick = [];
A = plot(0, 1, 'ro', MarkerSize=10, MarkerFaceColor='r');
B = plot(0, 0, 'bo', MarkerSize=10, MarkerFaceColor='b');
[carA, ~, alphaA] = imread('https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2013/07/12/11/58/car-145008_960_720.png');
[carB, ~, alphaB] = imread('https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/04/03/10/54/car-311712_960_720.png');
carA = imrotate(imresize(carA, 0.1), -90);
carB = imrotate(imresize(carB, 0.1), 180);
alphaA = imrotate(imresize(alphaA, 0.1), -90);
alphaB = imrotate(imresize(alphaB, 0.1), 180);
carA = imagesc(carA, AlphaData=alphaA, XData=[-0.1, 0.1], YData=[0.9, 1.1]);
carB = imagesc(carB, AlphaData=alphaB, XData=[-0.1, 0.1], YData=[-0.1, 0.1]);
txtA = text(0, 0.85, 'A', FontSize=12);
txtB = text(0, 0.17, 'B', FontSize=12);
yline(1, 'r--')
yline(0, 'b--')
xline(1, 'k--')
xline(2, 'k--')
text(1, -0.2, 'Q', FontSize=20, HorizontalAlignment='center')
text(2, -0.2, 'R', FontSize=20, HorizontalAlignment='center')
% legend('A', 'B') % this make the animation slow. why?
xlim([0, 3])
ylim([-.3, 1.3])
%% axes2: plots velocity graph
ax2 = subplot(2,1,2);
box on, hold on
xlabel('t'), ylabel('v')
vA = plot(0, 1, 'r.-');
vB = plot(0, 0, 'b.-');
xline(1, 'k--')
xline(2, 'k--')
xlim([0, 3])
ylim([-.3, 1.8])
p1 = patch([0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 1, 1, 0], [248, 209, 188]/255, ...
EdgeColor = 'none', ...
FaceAlpha = 0.3);
%% solution
v = 1; % car A moves with constant speed.
L = 1; % distances of P-Q, Q-R, R-S
% acc. of car B for three intervals
a(1) = 9*v^2/8/L;
a(2) = 0;
a(3) = -1;
t_BatQ = sqrt(2*L/a(1)); % time when car B arrives at Q
v_B2 = a(1) * t_BatQ; % speed of car B between Q-R
%% patches for velocity graph
p2 = patch([t_BatQ, t_BatQ, t_BatQ, t_BatQ], [1, 1, v_B2, v_B2], ...
[248, 209, 188]/255, ...
EdgeColor = 'none', ...
FaceAlpha = 0.3);
p3 = patch([2, 2, 2, 2], [1, v_B2, v_B2, 1], [194, 234, 179]/255, ...
EdgeColor = 'none', ...
FaceAlpha = 0.3);
%% animation
tt = linspace(0, 3, 2000);
for t = tt
A.XData = v * t;
vA.XData = [vA.XData, t];
vA.YData = [vA.YData, 1];
if t < t_BatQ
B.XData = 1/2 * a(1) * t^2;
vB.XData = [vB.XData, t];
vB.YData = [vB.YData, a(1) * t];
p1.XData = [0, t, t, 0];
p1.YData = [0, vB.YData(end), 1, 1];
elseif t >= t_BatQ && t < 2
B.XData = L + (t - t_BatQ) * v_B2;
vB.XData = [vB.XData, t];
vB.YData = [vB.YData, v_B2];
p2.XData = [t_BatQ, t, t, t_BatQ];
p2.YData = [1, 1, vB.YData(end), vB.YData(end)];
else
B.XData = 2*L + v_B2 * (t - 2) + 1/2 * a(3) * (t-2)^2;
vB.XData = [vB.XData, t];
vB.YData = [vB.YData, v_B2 + a(3) * (t - 2)];
p3.XData = [2, t, t, 2];
p3.YData = [1, 1, vB.YData(end), v_B2];
end
txtA.Position(1) = A.XData(end);
txtB.Position(1) = B.XData(end);
carA.XData = A.XData(end) + [-.1, .1];
carB.XData = B.XData(end) + [-.1, .1];
drawnow
end
Chen Lin
Chen Lin
Last activity on 3 Jul 2024

Northern lights captured from this weekend at MathWorks campus ✨
Did you get a chance to see lights and take some photos?
Dear MATLAB contest enthusiasts,
I believe many of you have been captivated by the innovative entries from Zhaoxu Liu / slanderer, in the 2023 MATLAB Flipbook Mini Hack contest.
Ever wondered about the person behind these creative entries? What drives a MATLAB user to such levels of skill? And what inspired his participation in the contest? We were just as curious as you are!
We were delighted to catch up with him and learn more about his use of MATLAB. The interview has recently been published in MathWorks Blogs. For an in-depth look into his insights and experiences, be sure to read our latest blog post: Community Q&A – Zhaoxu Liu.
But the conversation doesn't end here! Who would you like to see featured in our next interview? Drop their name in the comments section below and let us know who we should reach out to next!
Updating some of my educational Livescripts to 2024a, really love the new "define a function anywhere" feature, and have a "new" idea for improving Livescripts -- support "hidden" code blocks similar to the Jupyter Notebooks functionality.
For example, I often create "complicated" plots with a bunch of ancillary items and I don't want this code exposed to the reader by default, as it might confuse the reader. For example, consider a Livescript that might read like this:
-----
Noting the similar structure of these two mappings, let's now write a function that simply maps from some domain to some other domain using change of variable.
function x = ChangeOfVariable( x, from_domain, to_domain )
x = x - from_domain(1);
x = x * ( ( to_domain(2) - to_domain(1) ) / ( from_domain(2) - from_domain(1) ) );
x = x + to_domain(1);
end
Let's see this function in action
% HIDE CELL
clear
close all
from_domain = [-1, 1];
to_domain = [2, 7];
from_values = [-1, -0.5, 0, 0.5, 1];
to_values = ChangeOfVariable( from_values, from_domain, to_domain )
to_values = 1×5
2.0000 3.2500 4.5000 5.7500 7.0000
We can plot the values of from_values and to_values, showing how they're connected to each other:
% HIDE CELL
figure
hold on
for n = 1 : 5
plot( [from_values(n) to_values(n)], [1 0], Color="k", LineWidth=1 )
end
ax = gca;
ax.YTick = [];
ax.XLim = [ min( [from_domain, to_domain] ) - 1, max( [from_domain, to_domain] ) + 1 ];
ax.YLim = [-0.5, 1.5];
ax.XGrid = "on";
scatter( from_values, ones( 5, 1 ), Marker="s", MarkerFaceColor="flat", MarkerEdgeColor="k", SizeData=120, LineWidth=1, SeriesIndex=1 )
text( mean( from_domain ), 1.25, "$\xi$", Interpreter="latex", HorizontalAlignment="center", VerticalAlignment="middle" )
scatter( to_values, zeros( 5, 1 ), Marker="o", MarkerFaceColor="flat", MarkerEdgeColor="k", SizeData=120, LineWidth=1, SeriesIndex=2 )
text( mean( to_domain ), -0.25, "$x$", Interpreter="latex", HorizontalAlignment="center", VerticalAlignment="middle" )
scaled_arrow( ax, [mean( [from_domain(1), to_domain(1) ] ) - 1, 0.5], ( 1 - 0 ) / ( from_domain(1) - to_domain(1) ), 1 )
scaled_arrow( ax, [mean( [from_domain(end), to_domain(end)] ) + 1, 0.5], ( 1 - 0 ) / ( from_domain(end) - to_domain(end) ), -1 )
text( mean( [from_domain(1), to_domain(1) ] ) - 1.5, 0.5, "$x(\xi)$", Interpreter="latex", HorizontalAlignment="center", VerticalAlignment="middle" )
text( mean( [from_domain(end), to_domain(end)] ) + 1.5, 0.5, "$\xi(x)$", Interpreter="latex", HorizontalAlignment="center", VerticalAlignment="middle" )
-----
Where scaled_arrow is some utility function I've defined elsewhere... See how a majority of the code is simply "drivel" to create the plot, clear and close? I'd like to be able to hide those cells so that it would look more like this:
-----
Noting the similar structure of these two mappings, let's now write a function that simply maps from some domain to some other domain using change of variable.
function x = ChangeOfVariable( x, from_domain, to_domain )
x = x - from_domain(1);
x = x * ( ( to_domain(2) - to_domain(1) ) / ( from_domain(2) - from_domain(1) ) );
x = x + to_domain(1);
end
Let's see this function in action
Show code cell
from_domain = [-1, 1];
to_domain = [2, 7];
from_values = [-1, -0.5, 0, 0.5, 1];
to_values = ChangeOfVariable( from_values, from_domain, to_domain )
to_values = 1×5
2.0000 3.2500 4.5000 5.7500 7.0000
We can plot the values of from_values and to_values, showing how they're connected to each other:
Show code cell
-----
Thoughts?
I recently had issues with code folding seeming to disappear and it turns out that I had unknowingly disabled the "show code folding margin" option by accident. Despite using MATLAB for several years, I had no idea this was an option, especially since there seemed to be no references to it in the code folding part of the "Preferences" menu.
It would be great if in the future, there was a warning that told you about this when you try enable/disable folding in the Preferences.
I am using 2023b by the way.
In the MATLAB editor, when clicking on a variable name, all the other instances of the variable name will be highlighted.
But this does not work for structure fields, which is a pity. Such feature would be quite often useful for me.
I show an illustration below, and compare it with Visual Studio Code that does it. ;-)
I am using MATLAB R2023a, sorry if it has been added to newer versions, but I didn't see it in the release notes.

Hello MathWorks Community,

I am excited to announce that I am currently working on a book project centered around Matrix Algebra, specifically designed for MATLAB users. This book aims to cater to undergraduate students in engineering, where Matrix Algebra serves as a foundational element.

Matrix Algebra is not only pivotal in understanding complex engineering concepts but also in applying these principles effectively in various technological solutions. MATLAB, renowned for its powerful computational capabilities, is an excellent tool to explore and implement these concepts, making it a perfect companion for this book.

As I embark on this journey to create a resource that bridges theoretical matrix algebra with practical MATLAB applications, I am looking for one or two knowledgeable individuals who have a firm grasp of both subjects. If you have experience in teaching or applying matrix algebra in engineering contexts and are familiar with MATLAB, your contribution could be invaluable.

Collaborators will help in shaping the content to ensure it is educational, engaging, and technically robust, making complex concepts accessible and applicable for students.

If you are interested in contributing to this project or know someone who might be, please reach out to discuss how we can work together to make this book a valuable resource for engineering students.

Thank you and looking forward to your participation!

Chen Lin
Chen Lin
Last activity on 12 Apr 2024

What's the weather like in your place?