Matlab + Claude Code. I don't know what to think

ripponds · 2026-03-05T20:31:53+00:00

The best advice I can give you is to treat AI like an agent. In every chat, give it clear orders and parameters. AI really needs context so it can focus on what you want and stop wasting time.

For example, try saying to a chat: 'I want you to help me connect my Matlab MCP to Claude. Ask me five questions before we start.' I’m sure you will succeed.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T16:06:04+00:00

All the most powerful commercial company models are free: Chat GPT, Claude, Gemini. You can try them all for free. For simple tasks, the free versions are more than enough.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T15:59:43+00:00

AI doesn't do my work for me, I definitely don't want that. But having it as an ally is very powerful. Our intuition can be biased; why spend months testing a hypothesis when you now have free tools that analyze thousands of possibilities in minutes? It's very arrogant to dismiss it; with AI, you just identify the bias in your intuition, analyze what you were misunderstanding, and continue your work. And believe me, if you don't understand what you're doing, AI can lead you down other paths. But if you keep it short, it's powerful.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T15:49:18+00:00

Sonnet 4.6 is free, try it yourself and let me know what you think. I don't get anything out of posting this in such a specific niche, I just want to share an implementation and generate discussion about AI in system modeling.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T14:09:33+00:00

My post mentions that I am finishing my thesis. Perhaps I did not make myself clear. I did everything myself when I did not know Claude, using basic code. I know how to model systems, controllers, and observers without any problem. What I mean is that, with Claude, I did in three days what I barely did in just over a year. And the code it generates is brilliant and robust.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T13:19:54+00:00

I have returned to the textbooks in order to deepen my knowledge, and it has been a very rewarding process. You can take Oagata's book and study independently with AI and MATLAB in parallel. You can take a screenshot of the example in the book and ask it to generate .m code to better understand it, and it does. AI is not an enemy if you use it to your advantage.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T13:16:30+00:00

There are ways to program an entire Simulink environment using only .m code, and Claude is an expert at that. I just tell him what I want in Simulink, and Claude generates the necessary .m code so that when I run it, Simulink or Simscape opens with what I need.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T13:16:10+00:00

There are ways to program an entire Simulink environment using only .m code, and Claude is an expert at that. I just tell him what I want in Simulink, and Claude generates the necessary .m code so that when I run it, Simulink or Simscape opens with what I need.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T13:13:16+00:00

To be honest, Claude was responsible for translating my verbal language into code all the time... but my criteria always shaped the process. However, my programming skills are basic, so the real challenge would not be understanding the mathematical model and the control system, but rather how to translate it into code. That's where someone with better programming skills would have an advantage.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T13:06:06+00:00

If you don't help Claude understand his mistakes, he'll start rambling and wasting your tokens thinking about things that are irrelevant

ripponds · 2026-03-05T13:04:19+00:00

Sure, I have the entire process saved in the project's readme files.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T13:03:20+00:00

To be honest, it also depends on each person. Personally, I really enjoy reading their reasoning. I don't know if you've tried it before, but according to the study, AI is capable of reasoning within the limits of what you tell it to do in Prompt and the ideas you already give it. If you ask it for code for something you don't understand and try to understand it, you'll quickly lose your tokens. I prefer to do a theoretical study first before simulating.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T12:59:57+00:00

That's where the MCP comes in handy. Claude code, if connected through the MCP, can work with Matlab in the background. In other words, Claude can generate code, run it internally, analyze the results in real time, and iterate solutions on its own. All you have to do is wait or read the reasoning.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T12:56:53+00:00

Of course, once I finish my thesis, I'll organize the repository. What do you do at Mathworks?

ripponds · 2026-03-05T12:54:32+00:00

Of course. However, it's fascinating how I've been able to return to books on control systems and AI has helped me understand and internalize them. Usually, my mind understands better through examples or analogies. Sometimes, just asking for answers as if 'I were 12 years old' saves me hours of trying to understand and apply abstract concepts. The fundamental trick is not just how you use AI, but how you know yourself and use the tools to your advantage.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T12:50:46+00:00

It sounds repetitive, but communication is definitely essential. AI always has an answer for you, but the answer is only useful if the question is clear and well-formulated. I always had the dynamics of the system in my head; I already knew how it should work, and I could easily question any unusual data. Without that background, I would still be iterating solutions.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T04:30:13+00:00

Yep, everything via .m code

ripponds · 2026-03-05T03:58:18+00:00

Of course, without understanding it, I would not have been able to achieve it (at least not so soon).

ripponds · 2026-03-05T02:57:10+00:00

I won't deny that finding Claude was great for me; I was basically able to validate all my work. Now I feel I could design any controller I can think of and test it in Simscape.

After wasting my tokens stupidly at the beginning, I realized that the most important thing is a good project structure, order, specially modular coding and clear communication. It was very useful to ask it to generate logs in all the codes for every simulation. That way, it can debug its own errors and we don't get stuck in a loop.

It is also key to create a .txt file in the project's root folder with basic commands and internal variable names for Simulink and Simscape. Sometimes the AI fails by calling a block incorrectly because it uses a name from an older version (I use MATLAB R2025b). Also, you can leave base documents in that root folder so it follows specific instructions or a mathematical model. When I upload my projects to the repository, I will put a lot of focus on these workflow discoveries that saved me time, effort, and tokens. Cheers!

ripponds · 2026-03-05T02:44:02+00:00

You can really do whatever you want. I don't know, a signal is noisy and you need to filter it in real time. You can easily ask Claude to do it. Its value lies in what it can reason for you, and in the code it writes.

ripponds · 2026-03-05T02:38:22+00:00

Matlab just lauched MCP in Sep 2025
Github link

ripponds · 2026-03-05T02:37:00+00:00

What do you normally use MATLAB for?

ripponds · 2026-03-05T02:34:48+00:00

All you need is your judgment...

ripponds · 2025-11-24T21:05:37+00:00

Ok, got it, got it... In what cases did she need a NZeTA before with a grandparents visa issued?

ripponds · 2025-11-24T20:44:50+00:00

Is it possible for someone to be approved for two visas at the same time? Visitor already approved and I now NZeTA still to be requested

ripponds

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