https://sailingdatalakes.com/tags/optimization/Recent content in Optimization on SailingDataLakesHugo -- gohugo.ioenSun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://sailingdatalakes.com/projects/forward-baseball-ballistics/Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://sailingdatalakes.com/projects/forward-baseball-ballistics/Forward Baseball Ballistics: Mapping the Power Matrix Link to heading Introduction Link to heading In the last post, I worked a real home run backwards: given a rough hang time, a rough distance, the wind, and the pitch I saw, the model solved for the exit velocity, launch angle, and swing speed that would have produced it. That’s an inverse problem - one observed flight, one recovered answer. But once you have a swing speed number for yourself, a much more interesting question opens up: not “what did I do,” but “what could I do?https://sailingdatalakes.com/posts/gradient-descent/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://sailingdatalakes.com/posts/gradient-descent/Purpose Link to heading In linear regression, we were able to solve for the optimal parameters directly, in closed form, using ordinary least squares. Most models we care about don’t afford us that luxury. Gradient descent is the general purpose optimization algorithm that lets us fit a model’s parameters iteratively, whenever we can’t (or don’t want to) solve for them directly. In this article, we’ll cover what gradient descent is, the math and algorithm behind it, and an example implementation, building on the linear regression problem to check our work against a known answer.https://sailingdatalakes.com/projects/home-run-ballistics/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://sailingdatalakes.com/projects/home-run-ballistics/Inverse Baseball Ballistics Calculations Link to heading Introduction Link to heading A radar/camera rig like TrackMan or Rapsodo will hand a hitter exact numbers for exit velocity (how fast the ball leaves the bat), launch angle (how steeply it comes off the bat), and swing speed (how fast the bat itself is moving at contact). Those systems cost tens of thousands of dollars and live in college programs and MLB parks, not on a random weeknight beer-league field.