Hands-On Exercises

The hands-on material turns the course investigation workflow into participant-owned evidence. Each exercise states a numerical question and accuracy requirement, starts with a prediction, varies one factor at a time, and ends with a qualified conclusion.

Module 10 capstone

The Stable Total And The Unstable Split asks participants to investigate a two-component sensor calculation whose threshold decision changes with arithmetic precision.

The exercise includes:

  • a runnable starter with explicit TODOs;
  • a structured evidence-record template;
  • controlled precision, conditioning, and input-bound variations;
  • tests that distinguish expected starter failures from completion;
  • a separately checked reference implementation and evidence record;
  • instructor notes with timing, checkpoints, expected results, and common mistakes.

Only Python’s standard library is required. Start from the repository root:

cd hands-on/10-sensor-inversion/starter
python3 capstone.py

Exercise expectations

Every participant investigation should record:

  • the numerical question, quantities, units, scale, and valid input range;
  • the required accuracy and decision threshold;
  • a prediction or competing hypotheses;
  • a reference, invariant, or independently motivated expected trend;
  • controlled variations and observed diagnostic quantities;
  • the improvement made and the limitation that remains;
  • completion checks and revealing edge cases;
  • a reliability statement with assumptions and limitations.

Reference solutions are aids for comparison, not unquestionable ground truth. Review their formulation and evidence as critically as the starter calculation.