ASEN 5070: Statistical Orbit Determination
Syllabus, Fall 2015
Lecture: Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 9:00 - 9:50 AM, ECCS 1B12
Instructors
• Dr. Brandon A. Jones
Office: ECNT 420 / Phone: 303-492-3753 / Email: Brandon.Jones@colorado.edu
Office Hours: Wednesday, 3-4pm; Thursday 11-12noon; By appointment
Teaching/Course Assistants
• TA: Eduardo Villalba
Office: ECAE 135 / Phone: 303-492-0950 / Email: Eduardo.Villalba@colorado.edu
Office Hours: Wed. 2-3pm, Thurs. 2:30-4:30pm in the CCAR meeting room (ECNT, 3rd floor);
By appointment
• Guest Lecturer: Daniel Bryant
Office: ECAE 142 / Email: Daniel.Bryant@colorado.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
• Grader: Mihir Patel
Email: Mihir.Patel@colorado.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Textbook
Tapley, B.D., B.E. Schutz, and G.H. Born, Statistical Orbit Determination, Elsevier Academic Press,
New York, 2004.
Course Website
The archived website for the course may be found at:
http://ccar.colorado.edu/ASEN5070/
We will also use the University of Colorado’s Desire2Learn (D2L) system to post lecture notes, assignments, etc. You can log in at:
https://learn.colorado.edu/
Format and Grading
The course will be comprised of three weekly lectures, weekly homework assignments, three exams,
and a final project. Your highest exam score will be weighted twice as much as the other two when
calculating the average exam grade. Details on the final project will be provided in late September/early
October, and it will be due at the end of the semester. The grading policy is outlined below.
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Homework
Exams
Project
Total
25%
45%
30%
100%
A couple of notes on turned in assignments:
• The write-up for assignments must be uploaded to the D2L as a single, searchable PDF. Free
converters exist and some operating systems, e.g., Mac OS X, include a print to PDF option. We
also recommend taking this opportunity to learn LaTeX, but it is not required.
• Any software must be uploaded to D2L along with the write-up as an appendix in the single PDF
file. Do not provide a zip file with the software.
• We require all of the above for plagiarism detection (see collaboration policy below).
Course Attendance
Attendance is not required, but highly encouraged. Classes are being recorded and documented, and
students will have access to the recordings. However, the instructor notes that there is a positive
correlation between performance and regular attendance. We recommend that you use the lecture time
as an opportunity to ask questions and improve your understanding of the material.
Late Policy
Unless provided documented approval from the instructor, each student is allowed to turn in one homework assignment up to one week late without penalty. This “freebie” will be applied to the first late
assignment and cannot be saved for a later date. This “freebie” is provided to account for conference
travel, work obligations, etc., so please use it wisely. Any subsequent assignments turned in late will
be penalized 10% (off of the maximum allowed) per class day. An assignment is considered late at the
start of class (beginning of CAETE recording) on the day it is due.
The only exception to the above policy comes in the form of documented approval from the instructor.
Documented approval consists of a written acknowledgement from the course instructor by the deadline,
and will only be granted for extenuating circumstances at the instructor’s discretion. Please see the
university policies below for details on accommodations for religious observances, etc.
Collaboration Policy
Students may consult on assignments, but each student is responsible for providing: (1) a unique writeup documenting the work performed for an assignment, and (2) any software used as an attachment in
the PDF. Plagiarism detection software will be enabled in D2L and applied to all documents turned in by
the student. For this reason, you must upload any software to D2L for comparison purposes. Academic
penalties for any violations of university academic integrity policies (see section below) will be handled
at the instructor’s discretion.
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Table 1: Tentative Course Schedule
Week of:
Topic(s)
24-Aug-15
Course Introduction and Basics of Orbit Propagation
–
31-Aug-15
Linear Algebra, Linearization, State Transition Matrix
HW 1
7-Sep-15
Labor Day, Least Squares Estimation
HW 2
14-Sep-15
Least Squares Estimation, Minimum-Norm Estimator
HW 3
21-Sep-15
Probability and Statistics
HW 4
28-Sep-15
Statistical Least Squares, Minimum Variance Estimator
HW 5
5-Oct-15
Maximum Likelihood Estimator, Sequential Processor
12-Oct-15
Kalman Filtering
HW 6
19-Oct-15
Extended Kalman Filter, Numeric Issues, Potter algorithm
HW 7
26-Oct-15
Computation Algorithms, Square-Root Free Formulations
HW 8
2-Nov-15
Observability and Process Noise
9-Nov-15
State Noise Compensation, Dynamic Model Compensation
HW 9
16-Nov-15
Smoothing, Probability Ellipsoid
HW 10
23-Nov-15
Thanksgiving Break
30-Nov-15
Characterizing Solution Accuracy
7-Dec-15
Advanced Topics: TBD
Exam 1
Exam 2
HW 11
Course Schedule
A tentative course schedule is included in Table 1. Note this is subject to change based on progress
through the semester, guest lectures, etc.
University Policies
Accommodations for Disability
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your professor a letter
from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least
one week prior to the exam) so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines
accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or by
e-mail at dsinfo@colorado.edu. If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary
Injuries guidelines under the Quick Links at the Disability Services website and discuss your needs with
your professor.
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Religious Observances
Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably
and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams,
assignments or required attendance. In this class, please notify the instructor at least one week in
advance of any conflicts, and preferably as soon as possible.
See full details at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac relig.html
Classroom Behavior
Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those
who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and
sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race,
color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veteran?s status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and
gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the
student’s legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender
pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate
changes to my records. For more information, see the policies on classroom behavior and the student
code.
Discrimination Policy
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. CU-Boulder will not tolerate acts of discrimination or harassment based
upon Protected Classes or related retaliation against or by any employee or student. For purposes of
this CU-Boulder policy, ”Protected Classes” refers to race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age,
disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political
affiliation or political philosophy. Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against should
contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (OSC) at 303-492-5550. Information about the OIEC, the above
referenced policies, and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination
or harassment can be found at the OIEC website. The full policy on discrimination and harassment
contains additional information.
Honor Code
All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the
academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism,
aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; 303-735-2273).
Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both
academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to
university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Additional information regarding the Honor Code policy
can be found online and at the Honor Code Office.
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