Robot Lab Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Robot Lab Report - Essay Example To define more precisely, Robot is â€Å"a device that automatically performs complicated often repetitive tasks† (merriam-webster). The task is instructed to the robot in the form of programs using any programming language. Robot can either be guided using a remote control or can be made completely automatic by pre-defining the directions in the program thereby replacing the complete human interventions. One such application of automated robots would be in industries where these robots handle tasks like cutting, welding, packing and moving to the correct destinations and so on, thereby increasing productivity, safety and profitability. Though the initial cost of purchasing a robot is comparatively higher, the advantages they offer simply overwhelms them. As a part of our Robot study course, we have designed and programmed one such automated robot using Lego NXT, a programmable robotics kit from Lego. Lego NXT comes with a brick shaped device called NXT Intelligent Brick which forms the brain of the robot. This device can be thought of an intelligent micro computer that can be programmable with many compatible programming languages. It can operate with up to four sensors and up to three motors. It also comes with an in-built LCD display and necessary buttons to navigate the user interfaces using hierarchical menus and a speaker to play sound files. Simple programs can be developed using this menus and more complicated programs can be downloaded through USB or Bluetooth. Though it can be programmed with many compatible languages, we have chosen Lejos, a high level open source language based on Java, for programming the device. A step by step procedure on how we have developed the robot is summarized below: Sensor Calibration: â€Å"A sensor (also called detector) is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument† (Wikipedia). Sensor is like an eye for the Robot, without which they are actually blind. A robot uses sensors for detecting what is happening around them so that they can respond or react to varying circumstances. In our design, we have used a simple ultrasonic sensor. This ultrasonic sensor is attached to the Lego NXT brick and series of measurement were taken in order to calibrate the sensor. The various factors involved in sensor calibration include sensitivity- the smallest change in input that will be detectable in the output, range- the minimum and maximum distances it a can measure, precision- the degree of reproducibility of a measurement i.e if the same value were measured a multiple of times, and good sensor would output exactly the same value every time, resolution- the smallest detectable incremental change of input parameter that can be measured in the output signal, accuracy- the maximum difference between the actual value (which can be measured by a ruler) and the indicated value at the output of the sensor, linearity- an ex pression of the extent to which the actual measured curve of a sensor departs from the ideal straight line and Hysteresis- the measure of capability of the sensor to follow the changes of the input parameter regardless of which direction the change is made. The measurement for each factor is recorded and the device is calibrated. Odometry and Dead Reckoning: Now that we have calibrated the sensor for the robot to recognize when to respond, the next step is to help the robot know

Cake is a form of art Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cake is a form of art - Research Paper Example After discussing the different types of cake designs that are readily available in the market, valid reasons why cake designing is considered as an edible art will be provided in details. The modern confetti cakes we can find in the market is made out of different shapes including shoes, bags, purses, a wine bottle in a crate, cameras, sports equipment, multi-tiered cups among others. A cake design can also be inspired by a comic book art wherein the different comic icons such as superman, batman, or Doctor Manhattan’s logo can be used as the main theme of cake design (The Weekly-Crisis). Mainly used for children’s birthday party, a cake design can be inspired by specific cartoon character such as the shape of Bumblebee or Optimus Prime’s head (ibid). In other words, the list of possible cake designs is endless depending on the theme the cake decorator would dream of sculpting. Cake decorating styles can be inspired by different cultures. Specifically in Europe, Victorian style which is characterized by multi-tier styled cakes with pillars of flowers are used in wedding ceremonies whereas the Lambeth style which is characterized by layers of icings applied on the cake is often used in countries like North America and New Zealand (Gitundu). In some cases, cake designing can also be inspired by Islamic or the 18th century (You Tube). Designing a cake has always been considered as an art because of the fact that cake designing requires good mix-and-match of colors, developing a strong cake designing concept, precision in making details in cake designs, and pipework (Garrett, Needham and Mathews, p. 9). Cake designing highly depends on the cake designer or the customers’ preferred motifs. In fact, most of the famous cake designers have strong background in fine arts in order to get the execution technique right (You Tube). In making different fun cake designs,

Pope Rebuking Priest Using Several Modern Day Christian Thinkers Essay

Pope Rebuking Priest Using Several Modern Day Christian Thinkers - Essay Example According to the church history, a lot has changed where there has been emergence of new technology and practices altering the way religious teaching are being done. Pope Paul III has also raised concerns about the modern changes of Christian teachings; he has pointed various modern day Christian thinkers, who have used their new perceptions, ideas and understandings to alter the traditional Christian religious teachings. These characters include Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Soren Kierkegaard, Pierre Teilhard De Chardin, Rudolph Bultmann, Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, and Dietrich Bohoeffer (Brown). Rogers states that Pope Benedict XVI, who in the past few years has guided the church’s doctrinal agency, delivered his homily in St. Peter’s Basilica during the time that priests recall the swearing they made when ordained (233). He sharply condemned a team of rebellious Austrian priest and laymen for going against major teachings of Catholic Church; this group is of ficially known as Pfarrer initiative and it has posed a lot of challenges to the church on issues such as banning of female priests and priestly celibacy. During a Maundy Thursday gathering in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI made a speech that he was not to tolerate disobedience. He was actually referring to the current efforts made by priests in both Austria and Europe of disobeying the church. Speaking from the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict said that despite these priests claiming their concerns for the church, they are influenced by their own ideas and preferences to create desperate actions for changing the church, and that they should instead be turned into radicalism of obedience. In the year 2006, a team of Austrian priest opened the Pfarrer initiative led by Rev.Helmut Schuller; the former leader of a Catholic aid organization, with the intentions for calling for disobedience. Their aim was to abolish priestly celibacy and opening clergy to women in order to relieve priest shortages. However, according to Italian news reports, together with priest across Europe and United states, the Pfarrer initiative claims to acquire more than 300 Austrian priest and deacons together with supporters in other nations. Its influence has therefore increased to such an extent that Vatican officials met with superior Austrian bishops with an aim of discussing on how to handle them. Benedict also mentioned that in June the same year, about 2000 Austria’s priests in the initiative, had essentially threatened a schism, claiming that Vatican’s refusal to consider their protests left them with no option but to follow their conscience and take action independently. These priests made a revised call to disobedience, stating that parishes were capable of celebrating Eucharistic services in absence of priest and that they would make public speech about female and married priesthood. Benedict rejects the dissident’s idea, made during the second Vatican committee, of fossilizing the church and reviews that on the contrary; the development of new religious society in recent decade illustrated the vitality and true rejuvenation of the church by the 1962 to 1965 Vatican II. Benedict’s message is one of the greatest – and most straight- speeches that have mostly been dominated by a scandal of sexual abuse, Vatican hierarchy in disarray and recurring tangles with other faiths. It also has made Benedict discover who has

A Power Play for Howard in Many Acts Assignment

A Power Play for Howard in Many Acts - Assignment Example This paper illustrates that West Unseld, Bullet General Manager, was the very first to offer Juwan Howard a $78.4 million 7-year contract and commended him for his loyalty. The NBA Star felt his market value was higher. He valued loyalty and would feel sad about leaving Washington. But he was considering that a much better offer would be worth the sacrifice. Bill Brubaker and Mark Asher (1996) reported that Miami Heat NBA Team bid $100.8 million + other benefits for a 7-year contract â€Å"with luxury hotel suites and limousine service† to win over Juwan Howard. The entire Washington NBA enthusiasts needed to see the Bullets win. People saw that Juwan Howard could make that happen because of his height, shooting, rebound, and assist averages, and his attitude of being polite, soft-spoken, and charitable. However, his cash compensation from the viewpoint of the team’s General Manager was not satisfactory considering that he had been receiving better offers. Grant Hill of Detroit, Alonzo Mourning of Miami Heat, and Patrick Ewing of New York Knicks were inviting him to join their teams. So he tried asking for a much higher compensation. Such problems can be identified in this case: Taking the point of view of Miami Heat, how can Juwan Howard be convinced to take a stand for his decision to sign the first contract and be supportive for the arbitration contesting the results of bidding? (How can the basketball fans of the Bullets be satisfied with whatever will be the decision of Juwan Howard? How can the NBA League officials and the Union appease all parties of the negotiation, including the fans? How can Juwan Howard achieve his goal to get what he believes to be the market value of his basketball skills?

Advanced Bioinformatics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advanced Bioinformatics - Essay Example Bioinformatics is mainly directed on facilitation of ideas and obtained data. Biological research turns into an interesting and not a really hard task, when computer deals with information processing. These days bioinformatics is focused on answering the following questions: a question about new genes, protein functioning, finding the difference between healthy cell genes and cancer cells genes etc. As far as we can see, these global biological issues are solved from a quite different perspective. Bioinformatics reconsiders previous approaches and methods used in biology, and make them more advanced and modern, while there is a combination with computer science and information techniques. There are some exact benefits of bioinformatics in the face of the coming age. For example, various diseases are treated in an innovative way, protein function is considered in details nowadays, innovative drugs and medicine are on the way to discovery, microarrays are applied for diagnosis, genetically modified foods occupy its niche in the modern market and so on. All these benefits and innovative visions and approaches are mediated by means of bioinformatics. It is relevant to look beyond the initial objective of bioinformatics, which was focused on biological data analysis only. Nowadays this scientific field includes many other studies, such as genomics, gene expression studies, structural biology, etc. (Luscombe, p. 356) Biological processes should be processed by means of computation and this can be explained in the following way: the experiments focused on design of biological data or application of innovative technology in the field of data mining are mediated and facilitated by computational methods and approaches for sure (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2004) . Drug discovery is the issue of crucial importance nowadays. The leading pharmaceutical companies are operating on

Expanding To Emerging Market Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Expanding To Emerging Market - Assignment Example This paper therefore investigates the various factors that justifies reasons for choosing emerging markets for investment and also looks critically into factors that must be taken before making such a move. The motivation for most global enterprises to expand to emerging markets relative to other growth oriented options is highly justified in the response that various emerging markets are giving to such new expansions that are coming from the emerging markets. Commonly, emerging markets were tagged as places of inactive global business because of the absence of needed infrastructure to be engaged in competitive globalised business orientation. But this phenomenon which dates back to the pre-2000s could be said to be a thing of the past especially when the argument is made in terms of technological advancement (Kanter, 2008). One factor that remains an open secret about globalised enterprise expansion is that most of these corporations that go into these forms of expansions depend gre atly on the power of the internet. This is because a lot of them engage in proactive virtual business engagements that require the exchange of communication, ideas, logistics and resources via the use of information systems and information technology. As emerging markets, especially those in African and the Middle East open themselves up for such forms of virtual business operations to take place and still hold on to their core economic principles as providing investor friendly environments for business, multinational corporations have no other option than to include these areas in their global expansion agenda. Having justified the importance of including an emerging market as a strategic option for global enterprise expansion, it is important to note that the actual act of moving into an emerging market must take place as a process rather than an event. What this means is that the act of moving must be characterized by series of preparations and planning that are focused and aimed at achieving a sustainable expansion program (Bremmer, 2005). Key among the processes that precede the movement must be a need for critical decision making to take place. As part of the decision making process, four key steps will be outlined for following. The first of this shall be a market feasibility study, which shall help in making decisions on the forecasted viability of the new movement. The second is a business strategic option that will be suitable for the proposed destination, whether it would be a focused option, differentiation strategy or cost leadership (Kim, 2008). Thirdly, decision shall be made on implementation approach to know the best form of implementation approach to use, noting that the presence of competitors allows for the need to have an entrant approach that readily catches the attention of consumers. Finally, an evaluation program that helps in taking decision on the workability of the plan shall be instituted. Whiles writing on the decision making proc esses, the issue of strategic option came up. Specifically on this, there are very important considerations that any company would want to make as a means of meeting the customised needs of consumers. From this perspective, two major considerations will be expanded, which are the bargaining power of consumers and the quest for differentiate products and services from consumers. For the former, the

Pearl Harbor Essay Example for Free

Pearl Harbor Essay When we were asked to consider a question to answer, which would have been suitable for our personal study, I knew straight away that I would want to structure my question around Pearl Harbor. Since childhood, watching movies about Pearl Harbor always caught my attention. From most movies and books it seemed to me as if the Japanese people were just cruel and evil people, who had no basis to attack America; so was this the reason for the bombing? That they were just cruel people? Or did they have a legitimate reason which had been completely cut out of history by authors and the Hollywood directors? That question was embedded in my mind, and I always thought that I would research it when I had time, or to speak the truth, be motivated to. After sitting a few classes in lower sixth history, which was based upon our personal studies; I had realised that this was the time I was looking for. I could answer a question that really made me think, and not only that I would also be doing it as a little study. This furthered my interest on such a crucial time during World War Two. I went to the library and took out a couple of books regarding Pearl Harbor. Once I had read the books; I assumed I would now know the reason for Japan bombing Pearl Harbor, but the books I read had something in common, it told me how the bombing took place, how many were killed or injured etc, but never once mentioned why this all had taken place. The bombing by a few historians was seen as a focal point in that era, which helped secure a win for the Allies, so why was only half of the story published? In-fact it I possessed the same amount of knowledge on this particular topic, as I had done previously. This was when I decided to take it a step further and took out a selection of books regarding the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and also did some research on the internet. At first it was overwhelming having so much information in front of my eyes and now knowing how I should analysis it all. This was when I decided that I would read each book/site at different times of the day so I did not get confused. After each book or site I had read, I took a notepad and jotted down all the crucial sentences, phrases, and even copied pictures which would give me jump start. Now knowing that the question was answerable, I submitted it to my history teacher. Whilst I was awaiting her acknowledgment, I for some unknown reason had left everything unfinished. It was only during Christmas holidays, did I really start to think about a basic plan for my personal studies. I knew that in total I should be aiming to have at least three chapters (which did not include my conclusion). I would separate them into three separate categories; time leading up to the bombing, the day the bombing had taken place, and finally a key reason for the atrocity following a conclusion to tie up the lose ends. After receiving a conformation on the title, all I had to do was to read my notes which had been previously written a little while before. I would say that making my notes before writing the study had helped me a lot. I did not have to waste my time finding and analysing facts, as I had already done so. By the end of January, I had completed my first complete draft. It seemed to me that I had covered all the relevant issues which had to be mentioned which would help me get an answer. In total my first draft was made up of two-thousand one-hundred words, around a little more than a thousand words short than the maximum allowed. I took advantage of this and decided that I would use this gap to analysis each fact I presented. This was a good idea as I could comment on whether I thought a source was reliable or not. Overall I was satisfied with what I had achieved, in the space of time I had left. In future if I were ever given a similar task as this, I would remember to use the time wisely, and not take it for granted. I am sure if I had done that this time round, I would have been able to go through more sources, which would have given me a much better image to discuss. Another aspect of this study, which I am happy about is the fact it has shown me that I am capable of answering such an awkward question, and can make a sound judgment on what are relevant facts and what are just unreliable. This study also gave me a new perspective on the whole topic surrounding the incident at Pearl Harbor; I got an answer to my question, and had been implanted a new question in my head. Did America provoke Japan into making the first move, which would secure the fate of America fighting the Nazi regime? Who knows, some time in the future when I have the motivation I may be very well be answering that question, and am sure I could to a reasonable job of it due to the skills I have picked up from answering this study. Please Note: The writing in italic is the quote and the writing in bold is my comment on the source. The letter or number beside the quote indicates where I got it from, the list of books and sites can be seen on the last page. Chapter One Events leading up to the attack of Pearl Harbor The Japanese attack on the American fleet based at Pearl Harbor was less an attempt to provoke the United States into a declaration of war than a final admission that war between the United States and Japan was bound to come. Through hindsight I know that this quote is quiet reliable; it shows that there was hostility between the twp nations which had provoked the bombing. When trying to answer the question (above) and you come across such quotes; you can see the jigsaw taking shape. On the other hand, I still have to be cautious as this was written thirty-nine years after the bombing, and could have been exaggerated to make Japan look as if they were ware mongers. This signaled the end of a long period of increasing bitterness between the two nations. The struggle was centered on Japans ambitions for an unchallenged hegemony in the Far East. During the early 1920s the Americans held a conference in Washington. This was in direct result of Japan ceasing Manchuria. The reason America had condemned and refused to recognize the state of Manchukuo (which was set up to replace Manchuria) was solely due to the fact that the Japanese troops had just marched into Manchuria and took it over, as well as the fact that it presented a direct threat to the open door policy. Japan was becoming an increasingly crowded country; Manchuria offered around 200,000 square kilometers of land, which to the Japanese looked as an attractive offer. By 1931 Japan had invested vast sums of money into the economy of Manchuria, which at that time was controlled by the South Manchuria Railway Company. In order to protect the money Japan had invested, they stationed a large army in the South of Manchuria. An explosion on a section of the South Manchuria Railway had given the Japanese an excuse to blame the local population of sabotage and to occupy Manchuria. The Americans in Washington stated that Great Britain, United States, and Japan would be allowed to have the amount of ships in a naval fleet at the ration of 5:5:3. Obviously the Japanese were the ones to pull the short straw. As years went by, there were several more treaties signed and enforced, which furthermore restricted Japan and its naval fleet. The same treaties also had an impact on the United States and Great Britain, but it had a deeper impact on Japan, rather than on the western super powers. In December of 1936 Japan has urged the United States to be lenient and allow them (Japan) to have naval parity, but this was rejected on the grounds of pre-existing treaties. The rejection had given no other alternative, but to withdraw from the London Conference, which was going to be held on January of 1936. Within a year of the withdrawal, the Japanese construction of naval vessels had, exceeded that of France, Italy, Germany and Russia. They were now looking to be a formidable rival to the American fleet in the Pacific. As they were re-arming their forces, they had noticed that many countries in Asia seemed to fear the Japanese. This to Japan looked like a new opportunity for Japan to conquer Asia. Already Japans leaders were declaring a policy of Japanese hegemony over Eastern Asia. When President Roosevelt declared I hate war in a speech in 1936, Japan must have sensed that they would most probably get away with attacking USA. When President Roosevelt said that he hated war, I would say that it had a hidden agenda behind it. Knowing that the only way he could go to war was is someone from the axis would attack the USA; he knew that Hitler was scared to bring in America, so they had to provoke another member of the axis, as Italy was to far, it would have to be Japan. Knowing that if Japan was provoked they would make a rash move, he set out to trap them. First say he hates ware, then secondly move and rename a fleet to the pacific, giving a mirage which showed that American troops were sitting ducks which was not capable of defending itself from an attach. This source is quiet reliable as it has from the President of America during the period it question, and it also had a direct correlations with the study title, as it shows that America was trying to play a cat and mouse game with Japan. In the month of July of the year 1937, Japan had ceased the opportunity and moved its forces to Inner Mongolia, and Northern China. The reason they did this was because they could extend their control of power. The Americans had sympathized with the Chinese and public opinion asked for something stronger to be done, rather than moral gestures put forward. President Roosevelt replied with nothing more forceful than his Quarantine speech of October 1977. The President saw war as a disease and that the best thing would be to stop the contagion spreading. He suggested A quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease. The League of Nations in 1932 had condemned the actions that were inflicted by Japan, which violated the Nine Power Treaty and the Kellogg Pact. To show Japan and the entire world, that the League of Nations would not accept such atrocities, they offered to hold a conference in Brussels. As anticipated, Japan bluntly did not attend. Shortly after this, the Americans had decided that they were going to evacuate all their nationals from Chinese territories. The Japanese militarists saw this move as a sign of weakness. To test the ever so fragile cabinet and leader of the Americans, Japan had bombed and sunk Gunboat Panay, on 13th December 1937 in the Yangtze River. The Americans immediately protested, demanding reparations. Japan apologized promptly and paid indemnities. Japan had taken over most of Northern and Central China by 1938. This led America to urge to manufactures to put a moral embargo on the shipments of aircrafts and other ware attributed material. This did not seem to disturb, nor stop the Japanese from invading. By 1940 they had marched to the French-Indo China region, and had taken control. By now, there was sharp disagreement on United States policy towards Japan in American government circles, with the cabinet itself divided. Experienced diplomats and statesmen such as Henry Morgenthal and Henry L. Stimsom said that some sort of ultimatum should have been given to Japan. In mounting pressure Roosevelt issued an order restricting the supply of strategic materials, especially petroleum products to Japan. After much deliberation, he also allowed a naval fleet to re-base itself from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, which was in Honolulu, Hawaii. They were later renamed to the Pacific Fleet. Now tensions between the two nations were going to increase to a new level. The Japanese had to avoid provoking the Americans into war diplomatically, whilst still taking their exploiting their opportunity to the fullest possible.