This week, I focused on Task 2 of the machine learning exercise. At first, I really struggled with it because I wasn’t sure where to start and felt overwhelmed. We only had a few lessons on machine learning, and I didn’t fully understand the code. I knew that a lot of the code from the model we built was universal and could be applied to other tasks, but I wasn’t sure which parts specifically were reusable.
During our group tutorial, I asked Diana how to import a dataset I found on the Torch website that she had shared with us. Once she explained the process, I realized it was much easier than I initially thought. Understanding how to set up the dataset import made everything else click into place. I relied on comments and notes from our previous model, which used our own data and ResNet18, to structure my own model, copying relevant parts of the original code where necessary.
With Diana’s help, I also researched ways to improve my model’s accuracy, as my initial results were poor. At first, the highest accuracy I achieved was only 3.9%, even though the loss was quite low. However, after experimenting with different techniques, I managed to increase my accuracy to over 90%, which felt like a huge accomplishment.
Additionally, we had our first Arduino workshop this week, which was really fun but also quite challenging. I felt like I knew a lot less than everyone else, especially when it came to experimenting with circuits. While others seemed comfortable playing around with different setups, I wasn’t sure where to start. I also struggled with writing the code, particularly for making a button toggle an LED on and off. I had to rely on research, using forums and the Arduino documentation, whereas others seemed to figure things out intuitively.
This made me realize that I still lack confidence in coding without referencing external sources. I want to work on improving this, so I don’t have to depend on research as much. This is especially important for me because Arduino’s programming language is similar to JavaScript, which has been one of the languages I’ve struggled with the most. Hearing people say that JavaScript is one of the easier languages to learn has been a bit discouraging, but I’m determined to improve.
Moving forward, I want to focus on building my coding confidence by experimenting more without immediately searching for answers. I know that trial and error is an important part of learning, and I need to get more comfortable with figuring things out on my own.