ECE 57000 Assignment 1

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ECE 57000: Artificial Intelligence
Assignment Instructions
Introduction
 The goal of lab assignments is to familiarize you with various tools that are used in AI/ML
research and implementation. In particular, we will focus on training and testing machine learning
models in Python using packages such Numpy, Sci-kit Learn, Pytorch, and Keras. We will implement
our code using the Jupyter notebook environment in Google’s Colaboratory or simply Colab. Colab is
a cloud-based system with an interactive coding environment that is easy to use and widely
available. Most of the lab instructions are specified in the Jupyter notebook files so you will need to
open these in Colab. All solutions to the lab assignments should be implemented in Python.
Environment setup
For these assignments, we will use Google Colab which is a Jupyter notebook environment that does
not need any setup on your personal PC/MAC and the it runs entirely in the cloud. Since Colab runs
on cloud-based servers, it is important to run assignments on computers that have an internet
connection. Here are the steps to open assignments via Colab.
1. Download the assignment files (.zip file) from the class website and save them to your
computers.
2. Set up a Google account if you do not already have one and log into Google Drive using your
Google account.
3. Upload the Jupyter notebook files in the assignments to your Google Drive. You should be
able to do this by right-clicking and select “Upload files”.
4. Double click the Jupyter notebook files and then select “Open with Colaboratory” on the
top middle of your web page. This should direct you to the Colab working space.
(Not recommended) If you prefer to use your own computers’ python environment, you are
welcome to do so. However, the instructor and TA will not provide any technical support for
this option. You will be responsible for configuring and installing all necessary packages with the
same versions as on Colab. Any delays in submission or other issues arising from using your own
environment will be your responsibility. All testing of your code will be done on Colab.
Colab instructions
Colab uses Jupyter notebook environment as its core; therefore, if you are already familiar with
Jupyter notebook, you should find Colab pretty easy to use. Here are some instructions and tips on
how to use Colab.
1. The executable code blocks are in dark shaded areas. You can add code block by clicking
+Code on the top left page right below the ribbon. You can further run all the commands in
one block or cell by either click the Play icon in the upper-left corner of your clock or type
Ctrl/Cmd + Enter.
2. Sometimes it is helpful and even necessary to run all blocks of code before you run the
correct code block. You can do this by select Runtime → Run before.
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3. You also have the access for GPU accelerators. You can do this by finding on Menu, select t
Edit → Notebook Settings → Hardware Accelerator → GPU
Assignment submission
You should only submit the PDF version of your “Assignments_XX_Exercise.ipynb” notebook.
It is recommended to do this step by using Chrome. Here is how you create the PDF.
1. For each exercise, write your code under the one block as provided in the skeleton.
2. Run all the blocks on your “Assignments_XX_Exercise.ipynb” notebooks so that all the
outputs are displayed after each block.
3. Please close the content list on the left side, and on Menu, select File → Print
4. Change the print destination to Save as pdf to download the pdf version of your Jupyter
notebook.