Microprocessor-based Mobile Robot with On-board Vision System Driving Range Golf Ball Retriever :: essays research papers

Microprocessor-based Mobile Robot with On-board Vision System Driving Range Golf Ball Retriever   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Golf Retrieving Mobile Robot is an undergraduate thesis of the DLSU students. It is a robot that is capable of retrieving golf balls automatically without the assistance of a person. This is very useful in a driving range or the area where golfers practice their swings to hit golf balls. The robot is named Greg, it is able to accumulate golf balls on the field. The problems that might arise are the confusion of the driving ranges and re-use of golf balls.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The flow of the operation starts from capturing the image, after which is the process image for detection of the borders as well as the golf balls. Using image processing base on the RGB values or the white and non-white image, the system is capable of distinguishing whether the object is a golf ball or not. The logic of the system is created using neural networks. The logic is programmed in such a way that the robot is able to determine how far the golf ball is and whether the object is actually a golf ball or not. The dimples of the golf ball are also one of the considerations they use in creating the logic of the system. The person is able to set the boundaries for the robot to move around. This is done by putting a boundary using blue or red tapes for the robot to sense. The border detection and avoidance is used to prevent the robot from going out of the prescribed area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main objective of the system is to be able to identify and retrieve golf balls. There are five main components of the system, namely, the PC compartment, the remote control, the wheels and chassis, the vision system, and the ball counter. The vision system used is the modified desktop computer. Wheels and chassis are utilized to have the mobot move around the field. The robot is capable of moving around and retrieving golf balls by itself, but the user has the option of controlling the robot through the use of the remote control or the master control of the robot. The robot consists of a front wheel which is the caster wheel and a back wheel or the rubber wheels.

The Importance of Work :: essays research papers

The Importance of Work During the birth of this country, Puritans had to work hard to ensure the success of the new state. In order to make work more appealing, the Puritans emphasized the fruits of labor. This attitude, reflected in modern day by the act of "working for a living," is considered as a "badge of pride." Puritan attitudes toward work and the attitudes of two modern day writers toward work all agree that the act of working has virtuous effects, an attitude that I share because of my working experience (Clee and Clee 233-234). Three different attitudes toward work, expressed by several writers whom I have recently studied agree that hard work yields positive rewards. Henry F. Bedford, a history teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy, and Trevor Colbourne, a teacher at the University of New Hampshire, examine the Puritan attitude toward work in their book The Americans: A Brief History. Puritans stress the goodness of working by relating it to religious beliefs. Sloth is sinful, but the Puritans also pointed out that it was self-defeating. Leisure is even considered an "evil temptation" (Bedford and Colbourne 235-238). Marge Piercy, a modern day poet, essayist, and novelist, attempts to explain why work is desirable on contemporary terms in her poem "To Be of Use." To Piercy, hard workers who really persevere are admirable because of the fact that the world is full of temptations to stop working, or to not work altogether. This admiration for determination is apparent because work is as "common as mud," and it must be done sometime (Piercy 242-243). Wendell Berry, an English teacher at the University of Kentucky, explains the basis of the desire to work in his essay "The Joy of Work." In response to the prediction that there will be no work in the future, Berry emphasizes the importance of work to human nature.

Persuasive Paper on Paintball - Original Writing -- Sports Paintball P

Persuasive Paper on Paintball- Original Writing You were just running, the leaves crush under your feet and are not sure if anyone is following you, but a gut felling keeps you going. Then you come to a quick halt. There you stand unprotected and vulnerable to any one, as the trees close in around you. Then a twig snaps you avert your eyes to the origin of the sound. As you frantically look about; you hear leaves shuffle around, knowing someone is stalking you. You begin to panic, your heart beating faster and faster and your breathing increases. It is unbearable to withstand. In a blind furry you let loose a barrage of paintballs in every direction. You look around at the surrounding trees painted by your gun. BAM! You cringe, feeling a stinging sensation in your back. This is, because you have just become a victim of someone’s paintball gun. You walk off the field feeling miserable, but you smile knowing the war is not over. That was a scenario that I hoped you enjoyed. I am going to address the topic of why should you should try paintball as a sport. First you are going to need standard equipment for paintball. I will talk to you in three areas: first, the best equipment for you, second standard equipment, and third where to purchase your equipment. This will help you understand why you should play the sport. To choose the best equipment for you is to first find your main style, there are two main paintball styles: â€Å"Turtle and Rabbit.† The turtle style consists of finding a safe location and then taking the enemy, but while doing so you must not let your location be known. To be a turtle you must have great patience. For... ... their equipment. The internet website: www.xpaintball.com , www.anythingextreme.com, and www.walmart.com. This website and my internet browsing helped me on where to purchase my equipment. To refresh you on my main topics: First, You need to know what your style is in paintball whether turtle or rabbit. Second, when you know your style, get your equipment based on your style and try out of different type’s equipment. Finally when you decide to buy your equipment use the internet and get multiple types of equipment to compare and read reviews on the equipment you choose to buy. I want to thank for listening to my speech and you were just informed about standard equipment for paintball. I also encourage everyone to go and at least try paintball, because this sport is excellent for people who like to just have fun. Persuasive Paper on Paintball - Original Writing -- Sports Paintball P Persuasive Paper on Paintball- Original Writing You were just running, the leaves crush under your feet and are not sure if anyone is following you, but a gut felling keeps you going. Then you come to a quick halt. There you stand unprotected and vulnerable to any one, as the trees close in around you. Then a twig snaps you avert your eyes to the origin of the sound. As you frantically look about; you hear leaves shuffle around, knowing someone is stalking you. You begin to panic, your heart beating faster and faster and your breathing increases. It is unbearable to withstand. In a blind furry you let loose a barrage of paintballs in every direction. You look around at the surrounding trees painted by your gun. BAM! You cringe, feeling a stinging sensation in your back. This is, because you have just become a victim of someone’s paintball gun. You walk off the field feeling miserable, but you smile knowing the war is not over. That was a scenario that I hoped you enjoyed. I am going to address the topic of why should you should try paintball as a sport. First you are going to need standard equipment for paintball. I will talk to you in three areas: first, the best equipment for you, second standard equipment, and third where to purchase your equipment. This will help you understand why you should play the sport. To choose the best equipment for you is to first find your main style, there are two main paintball styles: â€Å"Turtle and Rabbit.† The turtle style consists of finding a safe location and then taking the enemy, but while doing so you must not let your location be known. To be a turtle you must have great patience. For... ... their equipment. The internet website: www.xpaintball.com , www.anythingextreme.com, and www.walmart.com. This website and my internet browsing helped me on where to purchase my equipment. To refresh you on my main topics: First, You need to know what your style is in paintball whether turtle or rabbit. Second, when you know your style, get your equipment based on your style and try out of different type’s equipment. Finally when you decide to buy your equipment use the internet and get multiple types of equipment to compare and read reviews on the equipment you choose to buy. I want to thank for listening to my speech and you were just informed about standard equipment for paintball. I also encourage everyone to go and at least try paintball, because this sport is excellent for people who like to just have fun.

Applying Theory Essay

Healthy aging is positively correlated with continued psychological and social participation of senior citizens with activities that may not be very similar to those that they have been used to, but substitutes them to accommodate their age and limited capabilities. Building a senior citizen’s center would allow them to participate in modified activities that they have pursued in middle age. The community would be creating a venue by which the elderly could get educational training, physical and leisure activities suited to their age to reduce boredom. The center would encourage them to stay active, less depressed about aging. In the long-term, the center would promote a positive well-being among the elderly. Exchange Theory Building a senior citizen’s center would benefit the senior citizens in many ways but on the part of the community, the project would have benefits as well as incur costs. A center would provide senior citizens a productive means by which to spend their retirement years. It would make them more active and social than they would if they simply spend most of their time at home or a retirement home. On the part of the community, the monetary cost of the project might make it impractical if the amount could be better spent in a much more needed community project. Then again, the elderly is as much a part of the community as much as the younger members and constructing a center would provide a psychological benefit for both age groups. To the elderly, a center is a reassurance that the community values them in spite their old age. To the younger generation, the center equally reassures them that they are doing something right for the elderly. Functionalism Every age group needs to belong to an institution which would foster a sense of their membership in the larger community. Furthermore, to survive as a whole, all members should work together and slip into roles aimed towards fulfilling the needs of society. A senior citizen’s center would make the retirees a sense of belonging in the community as it would serve as their institution now that they have lost membership in their former workplaces. They would form into a social group which could organize activities to benefit the entire community. It would make the cohesion of the community stronger as an organized group of senior citizens means that even the elderly are contributing towards the stability and constant activity of the community, factors which characterize a healthy, working community. Continuity Theory Senior citizens would continue to seek for the same activities, relationships and lifestyles they had in younger years. A senior citizen’s center would be a good way by which the elderly members of society can organize, assemble and socialize—just like when they were younger. Since they all belong to the same age group, members would develop a distinct culture and this would give everyone a sense of stability and support system. A center with activities and programs geared for the elderly would help ease the difficulties of adjusting to old age. The community, in turn, would have less of the stereotyped bitter and bad-tempered elderly members because it has a place which helps the elderly experience aging as a positive, supportive and gently-sloping experience. Theories that would argue against the senior citizen’s center. Conflict Theory Building a senior citizen’s center would benefit the elderly, however it would acknowledge their continued worth in society and their influence in terms of policy-making. The senior citizens have passed their prime, and the younger generation controls public administration including the budget and planning. The latter would disapprove the spending of $3M for a center that would not be profitable to the community. The community could maximize its spending by allocating the budget for other projects and simply put the care of the elderly under their respective families or elderly homes. This way the family or home would be spending only for the necessary expenses to support the survival needs of the elderly without funneling the community’s financial resources. Political economy of aging The corporate interest precedes personal interest of the market. A senior citizen’s center would surely not justify the $3M that the community would be spending towards constructing and running it. A center for the elderly would simply be a place for them to engage in pursuits like physical activities, entertainment, seminars conducted by volunteers and other non-profitable, self-serving endeavors. If the aim is to spend the money in a project that would benefit the aging population, a wiser idea would be to revert the funds towards the construction of a managed care institution. To be profitable in the long run, this institution could give the elderly the same services and activities as the proposed center, but at certain prices. Recreation for the elderly should be a privilege instead of a charitable act. Disengagement theory The elderly and society engage in mutual separation. A senior citizen’s center is impractical because it would mean integrating the elderly into the community when they should realize that they have to withdraw from social activities they have been used to prior to retirement. A center would give the elderly a false sense of importance regarding their role in the community. It would pose a burden to the community which has to constantly bear with the expenses incurred by the center and its useless programs. The elderly cannot anymore contribute to society and compete with its standards of excellence; therefore, for the benefit of society, they should interact with the community and with each other less. Social Competence/Breakdown Theory Building a senior citizen’s center would create greater dependency on the part of the already vulnerable senior citizens. If the center is realized the elderly would feel self-important, ask for extra services and special privileges. If the demands are refused, it would cause emotional distress. To show sensitivity to the elderly, they should be allowed to face the challenges in life, without spending $3M to build a center especially for them. They should not be doled out with charity. They should be left to find the means to be happy and productive in their late years. The community would be doing them well if they are made to feel like they have worked hard to accomplish something.

Importance of Communication Skills

STUDENT NAME: NYAGOL ONYANGO BRIAN ADM NO. :EC/16/11 COURSE CODE: IRD 107 COURSE TITLE:COMMUNICATION SKILLS WORK:ASSIGNMENT. TITLE:IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO A UNIVERSITY STUDENT LECTURER: MR. KHWALIA DATE OF SUBMISSION: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦/†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. /†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ STUDENT SIGNATURE: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO A UNIVERSITY STUDENT. Communication skills are the skills that every individual requires in order to send information to an audience in the most efficient way and receive information from a sender and interpret it correctly. A university student is in dire need of good communication skills to help him/ her undertake all fields of activities in the university including social and academic fields. This is because he/ she will be required to communicate in the most accurate and efficient way to make sure that the information sent or received is perceived in the intended manner. To start with, communications skills will help a student to have good listening habits in class. This will ensure that the student gunners a lot from what he/ she is taught in class since she learns to fully concentrate in the lectures and their subsequent subject matter. Among the skills that will help the student is listening carefully, asking questions, requesting for clarification, responding accordingly, among other things. Communication skills will be very vital for any university student who is a leader. To ensure that all their followers and supporters get them clearly, and interpret their words, gestures and facial expressions correctly, the student has to know how and when to apply these in the communication process. Without appropriate communication skills, the students may risk losing supporters or derailing the people’s confidence in him/ her. The life of a student in the university involves entry into various offices like deans’ offices, lecturers’ offices, Vice Chancellors’ offices, security offices and so on. The student will only get the expected information from the people he/ she finds in the offices if only appropriate communication skills are employed. The student has to ensure that the correct enquiry or question is asked. The student has to give full details of events especially in security offices when reporting a case in order for the correct follow up to be undertaken. Academic life of a university student also entails discussion, public speaking and presentation or research projects and group assignments. The student with good communication skills will deliver his/ her content correctly, in a chronologically planned order and confidently in front of other students. This will ensure that fear in him/ her does not distract the audience from getting the message being communicated by the student. Lack of communication skills may make the student express the information wrongly and hence wrongly interpreted by the audience. Communication skills are also vital to university students in their social relations to their fellows. This comes whenever there is any disagreement on an issue, an extended argument, or a conflict between two or more students. Good communication skills help in conflict resolution and effecting negotiations. When communication skills are implemented at such times, several damages are barred such as fights, insults and even mob actions. For example a student resolving conflict between two other students will ask questions from both parties and evaluate their responses effectively in order to come up with the best solution which suits both parties. University students stay together like four or three students in one room. Angry face all the time, quarrelling at high tones, making noise, are examples of lack communication skills that interfere with the harmonious living if such students together. However, absence of these will leave the students at ease in living together with one another and make them be able to communicate effectively and assist each other in many ways. In conclusion, communication skills are as well important to a university student as academic skills. It is evident that without good communication skills, a student may not be able to acquire knowledge effectively, may get into dangers of misunderstanding and commotions, not get intended replies in university offices, lead an unsuitable social life and many other disadvantages. All students should therefore strive to equip themselves with appropriate communication skills to ease their academic and social life in the university.

Learning Psychology Essay

Education and learning are one of the most important ingredients to becoming all that you can be. How open you are to learning will help determine your path in life. Education and learning are one of the most important ingredients to becoming all that you can be. How open you are to learning will help determine your path in life. Education does not just happen at school. It is not just about Math and other subjects. Your education and learning are happening all the time. They happen any time your mind is open to learning. Education is not just about learning facts, but more so about learning how to think. It is learning to make good choices. It is learning to act with purpose. Becoming educated is a lifelong process. It can be hard and frustrating at times, but it can also be incredibly exciting and enriching. Most importantly, learning and education can help you: Change the world Become a better person Reach your potential Eliminate your fears Make the most of mistakes Support your family Here are some inspiring quotations that capture the power of education and what it can do for you and the world: Motivation in Learning by Haibat Khan haibiniazi@gmail. com. â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. † – Nelson Mandela â€Å"When you know better you do better. † – Maya Angelou â€Å"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. † – Carl Sagan â€Å"Even the wisest mind has something yet to learn. † – George Santayana â€Å"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. † – Henry Ford â€Å"The important thing is not to stop questioning. † – Albert Einstein â€Å"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. † – Chinese Proverb â€Å"None of us is as smart as all of us. † – Ken Blanchard â€Å"A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. † Benjamin Franklin â€Å"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled. † – Plutarch â€Å"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. † Aristotle â€Å"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions. † – Naguib Mahfouz â€Å"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. † – W. B. Yeats â€Å"If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. † – Albert Einstein. â€Å"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. † – Marie Curie â€Å"A mistake is a crash-course in learning. † – Billy Anderson â€Å"We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn. † – Mary Catherine Bateson â€Å"He who opens a school door, closes a prison. † – Victor Hugo â€Å"Knowledge will bring you the opportunity to make a difference. † – Claire Fagan â€Å"Education is teaching our children to desire the right things. † – Plato â€Å"I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the  same. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired. † – Martha Graham†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world’s work, and the power to appreciate life. † – Brigham Young â€Å"I received the fundamentals of my education in school, but that was not enough. My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family could not afford to buy  books, the library was the open door to wonder and achievement, and I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the wit to charge through that door and make the most of it. †- Isaac Asimov â€Å"Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us – and those around us – more effectively. Look for the learning. † – Louisa May Alcott â€Å"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. † – Albert Einstein Haibat Khan haibiniazi@gmail. com.

Economic freedom Essay

Does economic freedom help explain why the standard of living improves in some countries and declines in others? First of all we have to understand, what economic freedom is? Economic freedom according to William W. Beach and Tim Kane, PhD. â€Å" Economic freedom is that part of freedom that is concerned with the material autonomy of the individual in relation to the state and other organized groups. An individual is economically free who can fully control his or her labor and property.† (Taken from 2007 Index of economic freedom chapter no.3 by William W. Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). Or in simple words we can also say that everybody in his or her own country is said to be economically free, if their respective government protects their rights in every possible way and without any constraint. i.e. if an individual wants to learn anything, to do any kind of business or wants a job, then, he or she has a right to do that, while it is the responsibility of the government to make it convenient and possible for them. The first study of economic freedom was published in the year 1995, and it was improved over the years. There are about ten different types of economic freedoms, which are known as index of economic freedoms. The main purpose of defining these freedoms is to rank the countries in order to pave the way for foreign investment. Following is the list of ten economic freedoms: (taken from 2007 Index of economic freedom from chapter no.3 by William W Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). 1) Business freedom: To check the status of starting, operating and closing any business in how much time. 2) Trade freedom: To check the barriers and constraints in tariffs, import and export in the country. 3) Monetary freedom: To check the measure of price stability and how governments are controlling the prices, inflation etc. 4) Freedom from government: To check either state is providing public goods with minimum expenditure or not. 5) Fiscal freedom: To check the burden on the government with respect to revenue side. 6) Property rights: To check whether the public have keeping the private property rights, defined and secured by the laws, and are clearly defined by the government. 7) Investment freedom: To check whether the government deserves to have the foreign investment or not. 8) Financial freedom: To check the operation of financial institutions i.e. banking systems; are they out of government control or not. 9) Freedom from corruption: To check the status of corruption in the society, i.e. in the business system, judiciary, and administrative system in the country. 10) Labor freedom: To check the status of growth of labor and business either they are working without government interruption or not. (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.3 by William W Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). Each one of the ten freedoms is measured on a 0-100 percent scale, 100 as the maximum freedom while 0 is the least or minimum freedom. The study of economic freedom was conducted on about 157 countries of the world. To show how it works, I choose two countries that are North Korea and South Korea. North Korea has a communist form of government and is ranked at no.157 in the index of 157 countries, its economy is 3% free. It has exports of $1.3 billion, it exports: minerals, metallurgical products, manufacturing (including armaments), textiles, fishery products etc. and imports of   $2.3 billion, it imports: petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textile grains etc. In communist form of government every asset in the country belongs to the state, therefore there is no business freedom i.e. 0 % (in 0-100 % scale) in N. Korea. Also government controls all the imports and exports so trade freedom i.e. 0 % is also nil. No data on income or corporate taxes is available so fiscal freedom i.e. 0 % is also zeroed. Also government owns all the property including businesses therefore freedom from government i.e. 0% is also nil. No publicly record of inflation data therefore monetary freedom i.e. 0% is also zero. Also no private financial sector, therefore financial freedom i.e. 0% is also nil. Wages and incentives are also controlled by government therefore labor freedom i.e. 0% is also nil, also corruption is heavily present in the country so corruption freedom i.e. 10% is also negligible, but there is some investment freedom i.e. 10%, after the opening of foreign investment zone in the far remote area of rajin sonberg where basic facilities are also not provided till date. The government does not cover property rights i.e. 10%, so they are also negligible.   (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.5). While South Korea has democratic form of government and it is ranked at no.36 out of 157 in the index of economic freedom, and its economy is 68.6% free. S. Korea has export of $299.2 billion, it exports: semi conductors, wireless telecommunication, equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships and petrochemicals etc. It has imports of $269.8 billion, it imports: machinery, electronics, electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport, organic chemicals and plastics etc. As South Korea has democratic form of government, in that form, the government tries every possible effort to please its citizens, therefore starting, operating and closing the business in that country is relatively easy, there is a lot of business freedom i.e. 83.1% present in the country. S. Korea as compared to N. Korea has good trade freedom i.e. 64.2% present but there are some restrictions in its some activities like import, non-transparent regulations and standards etc. S. Korea has high income tax rate of about 38.5% and relatively low corporate tax of about 27.5%, so we can say that it has a good fiscal freedom i.e. 0-100 bracket it has about 81% free. After the foreign investment promotion act of Nov 1998 the government opens the doors to foreign investment in almost every sector except media, electric power and some agricultural sectors, and also residents and non residents can now holds foreign exchange accounts, so there is a lot of investment freedom i.e. about 70% free. The private property right i.e. 70% is secure by the government; corruption i.e. 50% is present at some extent in the country. The labor i.e. 57.7% market is working under restrictive employment regulations due to which employment and production growth rate is very low. Government interference in private sector is negligible, so freedom from government is 81.5%. The government regulates the prices in some sectors like agriculture, telecommunication and other utilities, which monetary freedom 79%, the government in retained some ownerships, second largest domestic bank is under them, which makes the financial freedom about 50% free. (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.5).   In short economic freedom in South Korea is much superficial than North Korea, and it is mainly due to democratic and communism forms of governments, democratic people are enjoying the fruits of freedom while others do not.