Week 4 - GSoC '21

Major highlights of this week-

1. I got the TransferFunctionMatrix PR merged (#21653).
2. I opened a new PR for refactoring Series and Parallel classes. You can find a detailed description of additions and deletions in the PR’s (#21703) first comment. I have added a checklist this time to keep track of things, and most of the work is already finished. I only have to add tests and make some minor changes in the latex parser for MIMO systems.
3. I have started the work on pole_zero() and unit_step_response() plots. Although it requires more refinement now, I plan to open the PR as soon as the results are satisfactory. A new issue corresponding to Phase-2 will also be added accordingly, and I can close the Phase-1 issue (#21539). At present, I am learning how the plotting module in SymPy works. I will add these graphical analyses in a separate file (graphical_analysis.py maybe) in the control directory.
4. I have started to refactor the documentation of the Feedback class and make it more robust. I plan to add some good examples and explanations in the docstring (like in the TransferFunction class). Support for positive Feedback can be added, and for that, I am referring to the implementation of Feedback in other control system modules (MATLAB, Harold). Also, I plan to add MIMO support for Feedback soon.

First evaluations are round the corner, and in my opinion, I have achieved a substantial portion of my proposed plan. Progress might have been a bit slow in the first few weeks, but I have improved a lot after that. Let’s hope for the best.

On a side note, I have been the 3rd highest contributor at SymPy in the past month. I agree that commits solely cannot be a suitable parameter to judge the quality of contributions. Still, as a beginner (relatively) to the OSS realm, I feel great about this achievement.

I look forward to contributing more in the months to come!!