MATLAB, short for Matrix Laboratory, is a programming language that scientists, researchers, and engineers use due to its advanced scripting and easy-to-remember syntax. If you’re pursuing a job as a programmer or data scientist where MATLAB skills are relevant, creating a portfolio can help you get hired.
You can advance your MATLAB skills with this list of MATLAB projects for beginners and experts. This article covers the skills you’ll practice while working on MATLAB projects, tips for building your MATLAB portfolio, and a comprehensive list of projects you can practice to level up your skills.
5 Skills That MATLAB Projects Can Help You Practice
To get started with MATLAB, you will need to have a working knowledge of computer programming and at least basic experience with the MATLAB syntax. You can learn the basic concepts of MATLAB on your own, but the easiest way to learn is through an online MATLAB course or bootcamp program.
Engineers and developers agree that the best way to sharpen your MATLAB skills is to practice with various projects. While the standard project structure may vary depending on the type of project environment you’re working in, here are some general skills you can practice in a MATLAB project.
- Advanced Mathematics. MATLAB’s functionality is well-known for its problem-solving capabilities and easy application of mathematical models and techniques. These are often applied in the fields of engineering, advanced computing, and physics.
- Machine Learning. MATLAB allows you to practice powerful machine learning by extracting patterns from data, utilizing classification methods, applying the Naive Bayes algorithm within the MATLAB environment.
- Data Analytics. MATLAB projects usually cover all areas because it requires dealing with large datasets or organizing data from various sources and databases. MATLAB provides a high-performance environment when working with big data that allows you to practice descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analysis.
- Coding. MATLAB is categorized as a programming language and can improve your coding skills. MATLAB projects require a lot of coding that will challenge you to improve your coding techniques and coding style.
- Simulink. Simulink is a model-based design system on MATLAB that enables you to design your systems using multi-domain models before moving into hardware building. If you’re doing MATLAB projects, Simulink is a valuable tool to learn to deploy projects without writing codes.
Best MATLAB Project Ideas for Beginners
Although MATLAB is generally easy to learn, novice programmers may need to create projects to understand this programming language fully. Fortunately for beginners, many resources and helpful communities share source codes and project information. Here is a list of beginner MATLAB projects you can do to ramp up your skills.
Cotton Leaf Disease Detection Through Image Processing
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Coding, machine learning
This project distinguishes plant diseases at their early stages to prevent agricultural losses. The program uses image processing to capture pictures of the plants, analyze the plant malady symptoms, and notify the farmer through a global system for mobile (GSM) interface. This system is faster than checking the plants manually, especially when covering large farm areas.
License Plate Detection
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Coding, machine learning
This project works like an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system. This vehicle number plate detection system covers template creation, letter detection, and plate detection. The camera captures the image of the plate number, and an algorithm reads its alphanumeric equivalent. The program then converts it to digital text format for license plates to be correctly detected.
Driver Drowsiness Detection
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Machine learning
This project aims to alert drivers who get drowsy while driving to prevent road accidents. It uses the Viola-Jones algorithm for face and facial features detection and eye-tracking to detect blinking and eye closing. If a driver falls asleep beyond the threshold time, the vehicle automatically stops, and an alarm is activated to wake up the driver.
Automatic Certificate Generator
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Coding, machine learning
MATLAB is an excellent tool for automating tasks. This project presents a code that can generate and automate certificates for attendees of workshops, symposiums, conferences, and other gatherings. It uses MATLAB codes to create analysis reports for large data sets and makes this frequent task of reproducing certificates easier and faster.
For this certificate generator project, the blank certificate is the input in the code. The name and details come from an Excel spreadsheet. A MATLAB code generates the data and writes it over the blank certificates, and you can save the generated certificates in a project folder.
Antenna Analysis and Design
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Coding
This MATLAB program designs antenna arrays and conducts antenna analysis. To do this project, you should have a basic concept of how an antenna works, particularly the Yagi-Uda antenna, a directional antenna with long transmission lines. A good antenna design will result in higher efficiency and more beam-with for long-distance transmissions.
Best Intermediate MATLAB Project Ideas
If you’ve tackled a few beginner projects and want to continue to expand your skills, there are more complex projects out there to try. Below is a list of some of the best intermediate-level MATLAB project ideas that will challenge and advance your intermediate skills.
Automatic Segmentation of Knee Cartilage Using Quantitative MRI Data
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Coding, Data Analytics
This project investigates whether support vector machine classification is the best approach when performing automatic segmentation of knee cartilage using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging data.
It also tests if the results can serve as a clinical outcome for the patient. The data used in this project is part of developing research on whether patients who suffered knee damage will consequently develop cartilage damage.
Kidney Stone Detection Through Segmentation Techniques
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Machine learning
This project explores the three segmentation techniques using MATLAB programming to enhance kidney stone detection. The segmentation techniques included in this project are water-based segmentation, threshold-based segmentation, and edge-based segmentation. This project will help you understand how MATLAB can identify and differentiate between various tissue types.
Two-Wheeled Self-Balancing Robot
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Machine learning, coding
This project creates a two-wheeled, self-balancing robot based on the concept of an inverted pendulum. It uses Arduino Uno, which is an open-source microcontroller, and the Linear Quadratic Regulator controller. In addition, the validation process for this thesis was performed using a PID-regulator.
An Agricultural Robot
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Machine learning, advanced mathematics, coding
This agricultural robot can perform basic functions and common tasks such as harvest, pick, weed prune, plant, and graft. It uses robotic technology and image processing to teach the robot to find grass, identify crops on the field and cut them precisely.
Collision Mitigation System
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Advanced mathematics, coding, machine learning
This project creates a robotic pedestrian test target that can survive the low-speed impact of a moving vehicle. The purpose is to aid in the improvement of the advanced emergency braking system. This ties into a project currently being developed by Daimler Trucks North America, to automatically apply brakes on vehicles upon the detection of a pedestrian.
Advanced MATLAB Project Ideas
Advanced MATLAB projects encompass more challenging elements because it often deals with expensive hardware, complex algorithms, and long, arduous project path and testing phases. Below, you will find some of the best projects for advanced programmers to practice.
Intelligent Electronic Differential System
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Simulink, data analytics
This is an experimental study on the Electronic Differential System, a new technology used in electric vehicles that provides better balance on a curved path. The project models carry out intelligently supervised electronic differential design and test it on electric vehicles. It uses MATLAB’s Fuzzy Control Simulation and Simulink to deploy the application.
Image Encryption
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Machine learning, coding
Image encryption is crucial to protect the privacy and security needs of mobile users. There are different encryption techniques being developed today. This project presents a new algorithm for the image encryption and decryption scheme using a chaotic neural network. It aims to use Artificial Neural Networks for chaotic cryptography applications.
Simulation of Extra High Voltage Long Transmission Lines
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Machine learning
This project simulates long transmission lines using MATLAB to analyze the waveforms at the sending and receiving end, monitoring behaviors and parameters of transmission lines under actual conditions. After running simulations on the data in the project folder, the obtained result will be used to design extra-high-voltage, transmission models.
Automated Inspection System
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Machine learning, coding
This project is for an industrial-use MATLAB-based automated inspection system through image processing techniques. It uses machine vision technology to scan objects and identify them through various methods such as pixel counting, thresholding, edge detection, and neural net processing. This project is helpful for industrial enterprises with manufacturing and development activities.
Brain Tumor Extraction
- MATLAB Skills Practiced: Machine learning, coding
This project is a proposed medical image processing using MATLAB software that aids in detecting brain tumors through a patient’s MRI scan. This technique does not replace surgeons but instead incorporates existing noise removal functions, segmentation, and morphological concepts of image processing.
Next Steps: Start Organizing Your MATLAB Portfolio
Some engineers and developers neglect taking time and effort to build their career portfolios. It’s tedious and challenging to create, but having one can be beneficial for career development. It allows you to gauge your skills, showcase your best work, and gives recruiters a preview of your technical skills. Below are some tips to consider as you organize your portfolio.
Create a Personal Webpage
Creating a website will show your programming, design, and web development skills. Keep a detailed list of all the projects you’ve completed, and include a reference project that’s easily accessible by employers. You can also share project information in short descriptions. Websites are easier to customize if you want to update your skills, add a new project, or include media files.
Include Unique Projects
Creating diverse projects will show your skill, flexibility, and range of knowledge, but you don’t need to include everything in your tech career portfolio. Hiring managers won’t browse through every one of them. You only need to highlight your most significant, unique, and complicated work that will demonstrate the depth of your skillset.
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Include projects accomplished through collaborative efforts and state your contribution, so recruiters know that you are a good team player. If your projects are protected because you did them for a previous client, you can ask permission to use selected screenshots or show limited project parts.
Show Your Personality
The best way to catch the attention of hiring managers is to show your personality through a bit of creativity. You can add an exciting layout to your website portfolio or show a photo of yourself that includes your accomplishments and interests, such as being a Peace Corps volunteer, finishing a marathon, or hiking through stunning country sites.
MATLAB Projects FAQ
Some of the things you can program in MATLAB include real-time face detection, poly space, signal processing, image processing, iterative analysis, remote sensing, parallel computing, medical imaging, and content-based image retrieval.
MATLAB can create algorithms, build models, and analyze data using different methods. It helps resolve complications in communication, deep learning, control systems, and many other areas. MATLAB has built-in functions that make it capable of solving various tasks.
MATLAB projects is a scalable environment within the program wherein you can create your projects or collaborate with other programmers. Inside your MATLAB projects folder, you can manage your data files, spreadsheets, test results, and generated files.
Simulink is a programming environment within MATLAB that allows you to collaborate with other programmers to work on a project file. This collaborative design platform provides each member with tools that make work more efficient, allowing the team to manage their data and results in one space.
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