California State University Stanislaus

CS 4480: Artificial Intelligence

Fall 2009

MWF  10:10 am - 11:08 am, S137,  Dr. Melanie Martin

[Basic Information]         [Announcements]         [Calendar/Assignments]      [Useful Links]          

Welcome to CS 4480, Artificial Intelligence

Course Description

Notational systems, structures, and strategies for their choice; search strategies; parallel vs. serial processing; communication and perception; applications in psychology, medicine, and robotics.

Goals:
•    Understand in general what AI is and its goals and limitations.
•    Gain a more detailed understanding of some of the core areas of AI, including: search, planning, and knowledge representation.
•    Develop programming skills in languages commonly used in AI, such as Lisp, Python and Prolog.
•    Study in depth one specific area of AI.

Announcements and Upcoming Events

9/9/09

Welcome to CS 4480! Please note room change to S 137 (between MSR and Naraghi).     


Take winter term survey:
                     http://physics.csustan.edu/UEPC/Survey/Survey.htm
12/7/09
 Exam Week Office Hours:
Tuesday, Dec. 15th:            noon - 2 pm and 4 pm - 6 pm
Wednesday, Dec. 16th:      6 pm - 9 pm - By Appointment Only
Thursday, Dec 17th:            9 am - noon and 3:30 pm - 6 pm
or by appointment

Basic Information

Textbook is Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Second Edition, by Russell and Norvig, Prentice Hall 2003

Instructor: Dr. Melanie Martin                                  Office: Demergasso-Bava Hall 276

Email: mmartin@cs.csustan.edu                               Office Phone: (209) 667-3787

Web Page: www.cs.csustan.edu/~mmartin

Office Hours: 

Monday            3:35 - 4:35 pm
Wednesday       3:35 - 4:35 pm
Thursday          3:05 - 4:05 pm
and by appointment.

Best way to contact Dr. Martin:  Email mmartin@cs.csustan.edu  Please put "CS4480" in the subject line of the email.

Prerequisite: CS 3100

Warning: I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus at any time during the term by announcing them in class and on my web page.

Course Email list: There is an email list set up for this course. Please join it at your earliest convenience, since class announcements and discussion may take place on the list.
To sign up, go to: http://majord.csustan.edu
Enter your email address and cs4480-1 as the name of the list.

Campus Employee Furloughs:
For the past 10 years the CSU system has suffered chronic under-funding. This year, because of the state economic crisis, the budget cuts are draconian, $584 million, the worst ever in decades. The CSU administration is attempting to manage these cuts by dramatically increasing student fees and by furloughing almost all University employees, including faculty, staff, and administrators.  A furlough means mandatory un-paid days off for employees; there are 18 of these this year for faculty.

The days when I’m forced to cancel class because of the furloughs will be announced on the class calendar.  These days off are not holidays; they are a very concrete example of how budget cuts have consequences.  If you would like to take action, or simply learn more, I strongly recommend you contact ASI: http://www.csustan.edu/ASI/

Grading and Policies

Final grades will be based on homework, programming assignments, quizzes and a term paper or project. A plus and minus grading scale will be used to assign final grades.

Homework: (20%) There will be homework problems assigned from our text as appropriate. Most assignments will be individual, however some may involve group work.

Programming Assignments: (10%) There will be some programming assignments to provide you with the opportunity to implement and make use of some of the algorithms we study and to develop some proficiency in languages commonly used in AI.

Quizzes: (30%) There will most likely be a quiz on the material from each chapter in our text after we complete it. It is possible that two chapters may be combined on a quiz.

Term Project:  (40%) In order to give you the opportunity to explore a specific area of AI in more depth, you will be required to complete a term project (involving programming and a write up). The tentative grade percentages are broken down as follows:

    Project Proposal              10
    Status Report 1                15
    Status Report 2                15
    Presentation and Demo    30
    Final Write-up                  30

Additional information will be provided in a handout early in the term.

Academic Honesty: The work you do for this course will be your own, unless otherwise specified. You are not to submit other people's work and represent it as your own. I consider academic honesty to be at the core of the University's activities in education and research. Academic honesty is expected at all times in this course.

Cell Phone Policy: During class time, your cell phone is to be turned off and out of sight. Any use of a cell phone during class will result in confiscation of the phone until that day's class has ended or your removal from the class for that day. If you attempt to use your cell phone or leave it on during an exam, you will be considered to have finished your test, and I will collect your exam at that time.  Exceptions may be made only if you discuss your situation with me prior to the start of that day's class, in this case, your cell phone must be set to vibrate/silence.

Important dates:

(See Schedule of Courses or Academic Calendar)

Last day to add a class:                     

Sept 11;

Last day to drop a class:

Oct 6;

Last day to change grade options (CR/NC): 
Nov 20;

No classes:

Oct 13, Nov 11, Nov 26, Nov 27;

Furlough Days for Staff and Administrators
 Sept 25 & 28, Oct 9 & 23, Nov 6 & 20, Dec 4.