Descriptive writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Descriptive writing - Assignment Example I won’t pack up the porch furniture today, because I want to hold on to this late remnant of the warm days just a little longer. The squirrel is sitting there by the pond, grooming herself. She turns and bounces towards for her store of hazelnuts. Every year I try to beat her to it, but every year she strips the tree before I even realize it is time to gather the harvest. She moves like a sine-wave, swift and light on her feet, chattering as she goes. Every hour of daylight means another layer of provisions in the dark earth. Soon she will sleep. I wonder if the squirrel dreams of summer in her hibernation haven? A solitary bee settles on the hedge before me. Just one. When I was a child there were lots of bees, and the hedge reverberated with their buzzing. Now there is only one and he drops lazily onto a tired-looking rose blossom. He lumbers on, somewhat clumsy, and carrying too much weight, in search of the last remaining blooms. Making the most of the time, he is, like me, grateful for the sun’s cheerful company. It is very still in the garden now. Where have all the bees gone? The rhythmic crash of the farmer’s mowing machine in the distance reminds me that the bees, too, have to adjust to modern lifestyle changes. Solitary bees, like self-employed couriers in the city, must learn to occupy their time alone, zooming from place to place, picking up and dropping off, guided by the logic of supply and demand. A cloud creeps over a quarter of the sky. The landscape before me now is cast in two shades: full color and muted shadows. Perhaps I should fetch my jacket. A pink petal drops from the fading rose. Fingers of cloud reach out for the sun, and now half of the sky is gray. The back door creaks behind me, as a light wind rises in the West. Now the sun has gone and the temperature has dropped. My old summer chairs need a coat of paint, and the table has a shaky leg. I make a mental note to have a look at

Budgeting in Health Care Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Budgeting in Health Care Organizations - Essay Example There are numerous other types of budgets such as annual statistics budget and revenue budget and they vary according to their purposes (Gapenski). These budgets can vary across different health care institutions. The reason for this is the diversity of the financial structures, organizational culture and reporting systems of organizations (Finkler and McHugh, 2008, p.171). The process by which health care organizations design and implement budget based on such organizational structure, culture and reporting system determines whether they will achieve budgeted operating margin targets. This is demonstrated in the experience of University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics (UUHC). It was found that the institution's personnel are not knowledgeable on budgeting and finance and that there is no organizational mechanism or aspect of the organizational culture that encourage the education of the staff. As a result, expenses always exceed the budget and what is worse, the extra expenditures are found to be unnecessary (Clark, 2005, p.79). Budgeting, or correct budgeting, is important because it supports the operation of the health care organization. ... lth care institutions and it needs budgeting in order to maintain positive performance and deal with problems, such as "shrinking revenues and rising expenses" (Schwieters and Harper, p.76). The benefit of budgeting is aligned with the importance of cost information. As managers and hospital personnel are informed about budgeting and cost, a sound operating budgeting process can finally be implemented in order to achieve financial health. This point was explained by the intervention introduced at UUHC in 2004 to improve budgeting results. The organization pursued an aggressive education drive for its staff about budget and finance, "offering incentives to stay within budgets, holding budget variance meetings with managers, and requesting corrective action plans from managers". The result was improved budgeting performance. The intervention model highlighted by the case of UUHC included an important tool in budgeting: variance analysis. It is a method that focuses on comparisons of ac tual results and budgeted expectations for each line in the budget of each cost center in the health care organization (Finkler, Ward and Baker, 2007, p.200). The flexible budgeting variance analysis is one of its types that is widely used in health care organizations. The methodology follows a framework of gathering information the comprehensively cover the composition of departmental expenses. This could lead UUHC, for instance, to subdivide total variance (the difference between standard prices and quantities and actual prices and quantities) into three: price, quantity and volume (Baker, 1998, p.128). Baker explained these three in detail: Price variance pertains to the proportion of the overall variance caused by the differences between actual and expected price input; Quantity

Summarize the reasons for the failure of Lehman Brothers Essay

Summarize the reasons for the failure of Lehman Brothers - Essay Example hat the problems of the Lehman Brothers were well published over the media which gave time to the derivatives market to prepare for the worst (The Economist, 2008). The statement was pretty correct as the credit-default swaps market had not been broken but buckled up (The Economist, 2008). The bank was unable to assess the risk of the borrower or trading partner which resulted in defaults paralyzing the cash flows of the bank. According to The Economist, a senior bank executive quotes this mistake of deregulated leasing â€Å"the mistake of a lifetime† (The Economist, 2008). The Lehman Brothers was caught up amidst US$ 613 billion of debt of which US$ 160 billion was held by international investors as unsecured bonds. The European pension funds and the individuals in Asian markets had believed in the high rating of the Lehman Brothers and put their investments in this unsecured bonds. The price of this unsecured bonds collapsed quickly destroying the share price of the company to half overnight. The shareholders had already witnessed downfall of the prices of shares in the past few months. These losses caused a spiral in the money market. International investors pulled off US$ 400 billion from the money market funds which was supposed to be a safer investment. This action was taken when a fund suffered losses which were loaded on Lehman’s debts (The Economist, 2008). Dick Fuld was the CEO of the Lehman Brothers at the time of the collapse of the bank. The Lehman Brothers has been the 4th largest investment bank in the US since 1994. Mr. Fuld has been partly blamed for the collapse of the bank and the losses made by the investors. The CEO enforced many policies and precautions to avoid any financial storm, but still the bank revealed US$ 2.8 billion losses in the next quarter. On the 15th of September, 2008, the share price of the bank went down 94% as compared to the previous year. The redundancy of 24,000 employees caused a great human cost. All these factors

Budgeting in Health Care Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Budgeting in Health Care Organizations - Essay Example There are numerous other types of budgets such as annual statistics budget and revenue budget and they vary according to their purposes (Gapenski). These budgets can vary across different health care institutions. The reason for this is the diversity of the financial structures, organizational culture and reporting systems of organizations (Finkler and McHugh, 2008, p.171). The process by which health care organizations design and implement budget based on such organizational structure, culture and reporting system determines whether they will achieve budgeted operating margin targets. This is demonstrated in the experience of University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics (UUHC). It was found that the institution's personnel are not knowledgeable on budgeting and finance and that there is no organizational mechanism or aspect of the organizational culture that encourage the education of the staff. As a result, expenses always exceed the budget and what is worse, the extra expenditures are found to be unnecessary (Clark, 2005, p.79). Budgeting, or correct budgeting, is important because it supports the operation of the health care organization. ... lth care institutions and it needs budgeting in order to maintain positive performance and deal with problems, such as "shrinking revenues and rising expenses" (Schwieters and Harper, p.76). The benefit of budgeting is aligned with the importance of cost information. As managers and hospital personnel are informed about budgeting and cost, a sound operating budgeting process can finally be implemented in order to achieve financial health. This point was explained by the intervention introduced at UUHC in 2004 to improve budgeting results. The organization pursued an aggressive education drive for its staff about budget and finance, "offering incentives to stay within budgets, holding budget variance meetings with managers, and requesting corrective action plans from managers". The result was improved budgeting performance. The intervention model highlighted by the case of UUHC included an important tool in budgeting: variance analysis. It is a method that focuses on comparisons of ac tual results and budgeted expectations for each line in the budget of each cost center in the health care organization (Finkler, Ward and Baker, 2007, p.200). The flexible budgeting variance analysis is one of its types that is widely used in health care organizations. The methodology follows a framework of gathering information the comprehensively cover the composition of departmental expenses. This could lead UUHC, for instance, to subdivide total variance (the difference between standard prices and quantities and actual prices and quantities) into three: price, quantity and volume (Baker, 1998, p.128). Baker explained these three in detail: Price variance pertains to the proportion of the overall variance caused by the differences between actual and expected price input; Quantity

Transformation of Asean Community to Aec and the Effects to Thailand Essay Example for Free

Transformation of Asean Community to Aec and the Effects to Thailand Essay Recently, the world has experienced financial crisis, those countries that have been powerful and have strong economies such as the members of European Union (EU) such as the United Kingdom, France and Greece, are facing a big financial collapse. So now a new economic community is arising with intense competition because new markets are developing and financial opportunities are sought. Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is one of significant players in the world’s economy for centuries. It has emerged strongly from the financial crisis offering the new opportunities for investors and businesspeople. The interest and attention of investment are moving to the ASEAN area more and more each year because of the available untapped market in the ASEAN and the potential of being the production base that eases and facilitates those new incoming traders and investors. Many investors have kept their eyes on the region’s performance and its transition into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which is the newest area of economic integration in the world. To study this economic bloc is significant in order to capture the great opportunities and prepare to be ready in taking the supreme advantages from the AEC. In the transforming processes, some practices will be applied to the members and that can make the difference between failure and success of the AEC project apparent. This could lead to a modification of the plan for AEC integration in the future, from the beginning of origin point to the change of community which takes place in four phases, its visions and four pillars. They should be taken into consideration to learn how it works to move forward because this economic community will possibly be the new engine of the world economy. This essay consists of an introduction, explanation and clarification on the ASEAN and the AEC. In order to critically examine the AEC; most of its dimensions will be discussed. There are three areas included in the paper which are, firstly; identify and describe both communities’ purposes of existing as well as the characteristics of the community, these explanations can be used to explain and clarify what the AEC represents in the past, present, and future. The detail of each four-pillar, the core targets of the AEC, will be carefully interpreted. Secondly; the benefits of the AEC will be briefly examined. And lastly, the challenges that the AEC may face in the progression of it transformation from ASEAN will be analysed. Some suggestion will be offered in the conclusion. What are ASEAN and AEC? Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. The founding members are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. After that Brunei Darussalam, Viet Nam, Lao PDR and Myanmar, and Cambodia joined in 1984, 1995, 1997, and 1999, respectively. At the beginning, â€Å"it was for political purposes and was declared a preferential trade area in 1977.† (Frankel and Wei, 1997, p.312) that is the point where the ASEAN started moving towards the economic community and move further in 1992 when the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) was established. Source: International Monetary Fund, 1994, World Economic Outlook, October 1994: A Survey by the Staff (Washington) Its performances have been outstanding. Apparently from many measurements, for example, the increasing of ASEAN’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the indicator that used to calculate health of the areas’ economy, compares to other countries’ is remarkable. In figure 1, from 1960-70, its Real GDP was 5.6. It has gradually increased and in 1990-2000, the real GDP was 7.6 which comparable with Republic of Korea, slightly lower than China and even higher than Japan that was at 2.5 (Larsen F., Aziz J., 1997, p.309). The Real GDP Growth of the ASEAN-6 (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) is forecasted to reach 6.0% on average from 2011-2015 while the EU’s real GDP growth before 2015 will not be more than 3% (The Conference Board, 2012). Additionally, the inflation has remained stable which reflects the notable performance of the ASEAN in setting fiscal and financial policies. Furthermore, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows that was unattractive in the past, now it has distinguished among the world FDI inflows. As of 1995-2005, the FDI inflows of the ASEAN was about US$15,773 to US$38,083 million (ASEAN FDI Database, 2006, p.13) but after that it has been rocketed to US$47,075.6, US$ 38,266 and US$76,207 million in 2008-2010, respectively.(ASEAN Foreign Direct Investment Statistics Database, 2012, p.1) Part One: Purposes of Establishing AEC The main purpose of the establishment of ASEAN was cooperation in many areas such as economic, social, and etc. that promotes the regional peace and stability. (Economic Community Factbook , 2011, p.viii) Even though, there are many changes in the framework of improvement in the ASEAN, the shared vision â€Å"outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies†(ibid., p.viii) is maintained and used as fundamental outline in the future for every ASEAN nations. In 2003, all ASEAN members decided to create the more committed and strong economic community which is called â€Å"AEC†; they targeted to reach the plan by 2020. But then in 2007, they have changed to accelerate the established to 2015. The understanding on core four-pillar of the AEC can acknowledge the main purposes of the AEC and build an awareness on how the opportunities will be occurred in the region. Regard to the four-pillar (ASEAN Secretariat, 2012, p.3-14), first is ‘Single Market and Production Base’, the ASEAN attempts to bring 10 nations to become one market and a key production base of the world by executing â€Å"Five Free Flows† which are; firstly, Free Flow of Goods by creating a tariff liberalisation and a trade facilitation within the region. Making the custom process more ready and standardised to build an ‘ASEAN Single Window’, this flow leads to economies of scale, and reduction in cost while increasing productivity, to the region. Secondly, Free Flow of Services which liberalises every service sector to leverage the flexibility within the ASEAN. Thirdly, Free Flow of Skilled Labour, support efficiency and effectiveness of qualified professionals’ mobility. Fourthly, Free Flow of Investment eliminates restricted regulations that not facilitate free flow and openness in an investment. Lastly, Free Flow of Capital that integrat es the ASEAN’s financial market and capital market to ensure the trade’s strength and flow. The willingness of each nation to consolidate market is the problem that brings the most difficulty in success this pillar. The second pillar, ‘Competitive Economic Region’, aims to create the appropriate competition environment within the ASEAN by setting policies in order to protect the customer right and businesses in the ASEAN. The most important component of this pillar is an infrastructure development which includes the transportation and logistics services. The crucial point is to enhance the efficient and secure transport network; not only physical infrastructure, e.g. road and rail, but also the soft infrastructure such as high-speed connection on internet and ICT application. To ease inter-border investment and financing on regional infrastructure are the most significant leverage to create a competitive economic in the region. The infrastructures are important in catching up the world’s advancement and speed up the equal competition within the region. The third pillar, ‘Equitable Economic Development’, purposes to support the Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV) and SMEs in the region for creating the fair competition and promoting the advanced competitiveness environment. It also aims to strengthen the ASEAN’s competitive capacity in international level. The gap that exists within the region can slow down the process in success of this pillar. The last pillar, ‘Integration into the Global Economy’, even though it has existed over the decades that ASEAN has signed Free Trade Area agreement with major partners in the world market, the AEC will act as the one partner to the other markets, for instance, with China where the ASEAN benefits most because of its early economic recovery. Part Two: Benefits of AEC In 2012, the ASEAN is in the phase III of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint which consists of four phases, the master plan in creating the AEC, which some benefits and obstacles in turn into new economic community have appeared and those can be learned in order to adjust the new plan, maintain the effectiveness of it and hasten the efficiency. Regard to the four-pillar, the benefits of the AEC are; attract new FDI both from within and outside the region as a result of larger market, openness and free flow within the ASEAN that are caused by non-tariff barriers. These can promote the technologicals improvement and hasten the trade integration of the region which leads to the independence from external regions’ economy. In the past, the ASEAN has relied its economic growth and trade with the major partners such as United States and European Union. As the AEC becomes more integrated, the more productivity growth and more strength in international competition capacity it will be and it will also less vulnerability to external crisis. The economies of scale is another benefit that the AEC can received if the successful of the ‘Single Market and Production Base’ happens which bring about to the cost reduction in production because of the tariff liberalisation. As soon as the free flow of skilled labour occurred, the level of education will increase dramatically which improves the living standard and income standard. Not only well-beings will arise but also the decreasing of poverty in the region will truly happen. By adding the new infrastructure to region, the convenience in communication, travel and trade will support the competitiveness of the ASEAN. Part Three: Challenges of Becoming AEC When the massive progression takes place, the challenges and problems that present obstacles and slow down the processes of transformation will occur and cause difficulties in reaching the goal. From the earlier processes till 2012; the third phase, the problems that struggle the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint have been reviewed and observed through the scorecard measurement that evaluates each phases of four-pillar. The percentage of completed tasks comparing to the benchmark is showing both successful and unsuccessful performance of the AEC. Source: Adapted from ASEAN Secretariat (2012).Chartering Progress toward Regional Economic Integration .ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard, 8-15. Retrieved August 21, 2012, http://www.aseansec.org/publications/ASEAN_AECFactBook.pdf According to the scorecard the most successful area in the four-dimension is the ‘Integration into the Global Economy’; phase I achieved 100% and phase II achieved 77.8% (on average of 85.7%), as suggested in the prior part that ASEAN have done many agreement with world partners so it is the task that every nations in ASEAN can do best as a result of well experienced. The most difficult part is ‘Single Market and Production Base’; phase I achieved 93.8% and phase II achieved 49.1% (on average of 65.9%) and closely followed by the ‘Equitable Economic Development’ that is on average of 66.7%. These are the areas where the ASEAN cannot do well because of the gap between members, obviously that ASEAN-6 and CLMV are very apart in standard of living and education which lead to lack of attention from those laggards in improving equality abilities toward the AEC, as well as the behindhand infrastructure development countries such as the Philippines, Lao PDR and Vietnam that have to catch up with others (Basu Das, 2012, p.4) the lack of financial support could be the main cause because to build up the strong infrastructure network, it requires massive financial investment not only for the construct platform but also the management tasks. Those other countries are also slow in implementing the plan, for example, in Thailand; the corruption has slowed the development progress. In Cambodia and Myanmar, political restrictions and barriers are controversial and unpredictable. Another challenge is the ASEAN nations see each other as competitors not partners, for instance, Thailand and Vietnam in Rice industry, they compete to lead in the sector, they not intend to become the single market in reality. Moreover, trade within the ASEAN is relatively low compared with other regions in the world (A. Frankel J. Wei S., 1997, p.312). This causes the weakness of the ASEAN in competing with other regional integration because its economy, including the export and import, depends on other countries and leads to financial weakness. Lastly, the language struggle is a major issue. People in the ASEAN are lacking in linguistic skills, except in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, they cannot speak English and Chinese which are the main business median languages so it seems to bring the inequality to the people in region and slow the success of ‘Free Flow of Labour’. Conclusion The AEC is the most crucial task that the ASEAN has to complete in order to have a sustainable growth in financial and economic affairs in the future. Though the establishment of the ASEAN was long, the gap between nations still exists. And even though outstanding performance is the most attractiveness from investors, the readiness in infrastructure is still questionable. Towards the AEC era requires hard working and cooperation within the ASEAN, the success of the AEC can come from the readiness of individuals in region. Thus, education is the fundamental factor to create understanding in the AEC’s purposes. It can empower people to obtain the most benefits from the AEC and not to be taken advantages by foreign investors. The foundation principles of the AEC are the four-pillars which will assist it in becoming a single market and key production base of the world. With an appropriate competitive environment and a developed uniformity the region can become a significant global economic engine. People should also be well-informed about the positive sides as well as the challenges in the transformation to the AEC so they can take full advantage of these opportunities. Nevertheless, the AEC is like other economic communities, it is essential to have a consistency in development, discipline and commitment of each nation in the community. As can be seen from the failure of the other communities such as the EU, the carelessness and indiscipline can cause on uncontrollable crisis that can affect people around the world and diminish confidence. Bibliography ASEAN FDI Database (2006).FDI Flow to ASEAN 1995-1st Quarter 2006.Statistics of Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN, 13. Retrieved August 14, 2012, from http://www.aseansec.org/5187-1.pdf ASEAN Foreign Direct Investment Statistics Database (2012).Top ten sources of foreign direct investment inflow to ASEAN.ASEAN Statistics.1. Retrieved August 14, 2012, from http://www.aseansec.org/stat/Table27.pdf ASEAN Secretariat (2012).Chartering Progress toward Regional Economic Integration .ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard, Retrieved August 21, 2012, http://www.aseansec.org/publications/ASEAN_AECFactBook.pdf Basu Das, S. (Eds.) (2012). Achieving the Asian Economic Community 2015: Challenges for member countries and business. Singapore: ISEAS. Frankel, J., Wei, S. (1997).ASEAN in a Regional Perspective. In J.Hicklin D.Robinson A. Singh(Eds.), Macroeconomic Issues Facing ASEAN Countries (pp.311-365). Washington D.C.: External Relations Department, Publication Services. International Monetary Fund, 1994, World Economic Outlook, October 1994: A Survey by the Staff (Washington). Larsen, F., Aziz, J. (1997).ASEAN in the World Economy. In J.Hicklin D.Robinson A. Singh (Eds.), Macroeconomic Issues Facing ASEAN Countries (pp.299-310). Washington D.C.: External Relations Department, Publication Services. The Conference Board (2012).Comparison of Base Scenario with Optimistic and Pessimistic Scenarios, 2012 – 2025.Global Economic Outlook 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012, from http://www.conference-board.org/data/globaloutlook.cfm

Features of Robot Design

Features of Robot Design ROBOT DESIGN Section 1 Requirements 1.1 Introduction Robot is a kind of automatic machine, which has particularly a series of similar competences as human-being, such as sensing capability, planning capability, moving capability and so on. The word ‘Robot was referred by Czech writer Karel ÄŒapek in his play R.U.R (Rossums Universal Robots), which was published in 1920. [1] Moreover, the word robotics, which describes this kind of field of study, was referred accidentally by the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. In his science fiction, all the robots must obey the Three Laws of Robotics (a set of three principles). The laws are stated as follows: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. With the developing of science and technology of modern society, robot is moving toward the trend of the development of intelligent. The one we will design is called Autonomous Mobile Robot which is a kind of mobile robot. It has varieties of sensors and controllers on itself. In addition, it is a robot that can independently complete some tasks without external information input and control during operations. The target for autonomous mobile robot is to, in the absence of external intervention and without making any provisions on the circumstance and changing conditions in carrying out the process, sense around the local circumstance information continuously and make a variety of decision-making independently and finally move purposeful and the complete the tasks. Accordingly, navigation technology is the core of autonomous mobile robot. 1.2 Lifecycles The diagram of lifecycles for this project is given below. It shows from the beginning of the project to the end. The system project management is an extremely vital part in every project, though it is always ignored in many teams. We need make a point of doing project management before do everything. We could discuss in a group to think out all of the possibilities which may happen in the project. ‘Many torpedoes are better than a single bullet. [7] Therefore, a group discuss together may motivate more and more inspiration rather than each single thinks it alone. A typical system feature should have simple function but complex design. It need also make a series of requirements after discussing by group, because it provides some different point of views. Possibly, there will be some quarrels during the discussion, hence, we need to respect to everyone and every point of view. In addition, a straight discipline will be built throughout the project. Every engineer should behave in honest and ethically responsibility. Otherwise, they will not be treated as a professional engineer in their fie ld. Nearly half of team, who is failed in the project, is due to a bad project management. However, the majority of teams may give incomplete requirements in the project; therefore, the result for them is also fail. To sum up, building a high-quality project management and system engineering will decrease project failure probability. 1.3 Quality Plan The quality plan displays the required product qualities and how these are measured and defines the most important quality attributes. The product quality is defined in High-level which emphasize the capabilities of developers for this project. Therefore, we have to consider if the project objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-limited. The quality plan structure is showed in table 2. Process Description Build all of the motors, microcontrollers, sensors and other components on the housing. Then connect all components to the power supply. In addition, build the software code into microcontrollers. Finally, before the formal race, we need to test the robot and improve on the ability such as speed, stable and so on. Quality Goals To drive as fast as possible and also ensure the egg will not get out of the car. Table 2. Quality Plan Structure 1.4 Requirements specification There are a series of requirements going to be given in the paper. It can be grouped in terms of Mandatory, Preference and Operational. Three specific tables of these requirements are given as follows:  ·Mandatory Requirements Motor To make the wheels rotate. Designer need two motor corresponding with two rear wheels. Sensor To provide the robot drive on the right route. It uses A/D conversion to send the signal into singlechip. DC Converter To step-down the voltages from the power supply. The work voltage for singlechip is around 5V, but the power supply given is much higher than it. Hence, designer needs to reduce the voltage. Wheels To make the robot running. Designer need two rear wheels which measure the speed of rotating and one base wheel which makes the robot balance. It Microcontroller To integrate all inputs, outputs and memory etc. into one chip. Housing To put all components on. It is a base for the robot car. Power Supply To provide voltage so that works successfully. Wires To connect all components from one hole to another. Spoon To carry an egg whilst undertaking its journey. Black line To give the robot a track to race. The black line is 5 meter long. It can be designed any shape of routes.  ·Preference Requirements Aesthetic Appearance To prettify the robot from inside to outside. It will be done after dealing with all Hardware and Software components, including adding several Led lights or a sound box. Also, orderly wires connected on the breadboard will be considerate. All of the opinion above would make consumer happy. Battery To give a wireless robot car. Using a pack of battery instead of wired power supply can make a ‘real robot. However, it will increase the weight of robot itself.  ·Operational Requirement Personnel To distribute each part of project to each of six team member specially. In the project, there are different tasks such as programming design, hardware design, mechanical construction etc. After discussion by group, we can filter out the best parts of each section. Therefore, the project can be distributed to each team member who did the best in his field. In addition, there should be a team leader, for supervising and coordinating every part in this project. Test Equipment To test the robot after designing and assembling work. Designer can use different types of raceways to test the ability of the robot such as the maximum speed, minimum and maximum radius of turning circle etc. Facilities To fix the robot with exact tools. Designer needs some basic tools to assemble the components on the housing. Technical Data To give some specific details. Designer may search online to get some technical data, which can prove our design point. Computer Software To design the programming code. Using Microchip MPLAB(if designer use PIC microchip) or other similar software to build the programming code. Cost To control the budget. As we know, designer should give a budget before working. In this project, the budget is 40 pounds, while we can exceed the budget by paying own. However, it is not a good solution. Therefore, the budget should be controlled strictly. Section 2 Design 2.1 Design Outline We divide the design outline into two parts. One is Hardware, and the other is Software. Both of them are extremely vital in this project. We will use EE2A laboratory component to guide us design the project throughout. [8] All of the specific details for each component will be given in each part. A table for design outline is as follows: HARDWIRE Motor Housing Sensor Microcontroller Power Supply SOFTWARE MPLAB IDE 2.1.1 Hardware 2.1.1.1 Servo Control The key of Servo Control is motor. In this paper we will give two kinds of motors—Servo motor and Stepper motor.  ·Servo Motor: It is one kind of indirect subsidy motor speed changing device which can control the mechanical components of the engine running. It can control the speed, displacement accuracy. In addition, it makes voltage signal into torque and rotational speed to drive the controller. The servo motor is divided into DC servo motor and AC servo motor. Servo motor mainly relies on impulse to locate. Also, when servo motor receives a pulse, then it will rotate an angle which is corresponding to one pulse. Thus, it may achieve a displacement. Because of the servo motor has sent a pulse function itself, hence, each servo motor will sent the corresponding numbers of pulse when it rotates an angle. Moreover, it is connected to the pulse which is received by the servo motor, or called ‘Closed-loop. Furthermore, the system will know how many pulses have been sent and how many pulses have been received simultaneously. Accordingly, we can control the motor rotation accurately, in order to achieve precise positioning which can reach 0.001mm. In DC servo motor, it is divided into brush and brushless motors. The characteristics of brush motor and brushless motor are as follows: Brush: Low cost, simple structure, large starting torque, speed range is wide, easy control. Do need to maintain (but easy maintenance). Brushless: Small size, light weight, fast response, high speed, small inertia, smooth rotation, stable torque. Complicated control, easy to implement intelligence. High efficiency, low operating temperature, small electromagnetic radiation. Motor maintenance-free.  ·Stepper Motor: Stepper motor is an open-loop control element which translates electrical impulse signals into angular displacement or linear displacement. Under the non-overload condition, motor speed and stop location only depend on pulse frequency and pulse number, regardless of the load change. That is, to send an electrical pulse signal, then turn one motor step angle. The existence of this kind of linear relationship, coupled with only a periodic error of stepper motors without the accumulated error, makes simple to control the stepper motor in terms of speed, position and other control areas. The characteristics of stepper motor are given as follows:  · Stepper motors are constant power devices When there is a motor speed increasing, then the torque decreases The torque curve may be extended by using current limiting drivers and expanding the driving voltage. Stepper motor has more vibration than any other motors. The vibration becomes awful at some speeds and may affect the motor to lose torque. The effect can be reduced by increasing velocity quickly through the problem speeds range, actually damping the system, or using a half-stepping motor. Motors with many phases also display smoother operation than those with fewer phases. The technical requirements of the servo control system 1. System Accuracy The accuracy refers to the reappearance of the input signal corresponding with the output of the precision required, which performs in the form of errors. It can be summarized as dynamic error, steady-state errors and static errors, which are composed of three aspects. 2. Stability The stability of the system means that when acting on the system after the disappearance of the interference, the system can be restored to its original steady-state capacity; or when there is a new input to the system command, the system will reach a new stable operation of state capacity. 3. Response The response refers to the output follow the input commands changing in reaction speed, which determines the efficiency of the system. The Response speed corresponds with a number of factors, such as the computers speed, movement system damping and quality etc. 4. Operating Frequency The operating frequency usually refers to the system which allows the input signal frequency range. When the operating frequency signal is input, the system will work according to the technical requirements, while the other frequency signal is input, the system will not work properly. The classifying of servo control system There are three kinds of common classifying as follows: 1. According to the different characteristics of parameters. 2. According to the types of the driving components. 3. According to the control theory. The Structure of servo control system Servo control system typically includes in five partscontroller, controlled object, implementation part, testing part and comparison part. 1. Controller Controller is usually a computer or a PID control circuit. The most important task is to compare the warpage output signal and deal with the transform processing, in order to control the implemental components act under the requirements. 2. controlled object The object is controlled including displacement, velocity, acceleration, force and torque. 3. implementation part The function of the implementation part is in term of control signals, according to the requirements of the various forms energy of the input transform into mechanical energy, in order to drive the controlled object. 4. testing part Testing part is a device which is able to measure the output and convert into more areas of the dimension that needed to. Typically, it includes sensors and conversion circuits. 5. comparison part Comparison part is to compare between the input command signals and the feedback signals of system, in order to attain the deviation between the output and input signal, which is usually achieved by a specific circuit or computers. Accordingly, we design this project with using stepper motor. Considering with the difficult in doing the program code, we have to give up using DC servo motor. Moreover, DC servo motor may create some pulses when it works; we have to make each program separately. Furthermore, the advantage for using stepper motor is that we have already programmed the code. Hence, we could use it with some modification easily. 2.1.1.2 Housing In this project, housing is as to the robot, just like trunk as to human-being. The stability and adaptability is the key of the project. Therefore, we prefer buy a readymade housing or the car online. There are 3 advantages for using this method. Firstly, we do not need to deal with the mechanical construction anymore. All of the basic components have already been built on the housing model. It can save an amount of time to do other work; secondly, the housing model is reliable, for the seller has sold so many models already, particularly to the competitors for the race; thirdly, the cost is lower than we do it ourselves. It can control the budget very well. To sum up, we choose this way to get the housing. In addition, the specific size of each component should be given on the prospectus. Therefore, after choosing kinds of different type of housing, we pick up an advanced housing with wheels. The size of wheels could affect the speed and the angle when it is driving. Under the same condition, using big wheels can go fast in the straight line. However, when there is a curve at the end of straight line, it is harder to turn the right direction immediately than small size wheels, because of its big radius of turning circle. The material of wheels could also affect the speed and angle when it is driving. Using plastic rear wheel may provide a high speed because of less friction. However, without more friction, it may get trouble at turning point with high angular velocity. In our case, to make sure the robot go through the black line track is the most important task. Therefore, rubber wheels should be in favour. Hence, to make wheels rotate flexible, we choose a stainless steel base wheel with 3mm inter radius, 10mm outer radius, 4mm thickness. Moreover, two rear wheels were designed with 20mm radius to make sure it has still some space under the housing to build our sensors on. According, the manufactory constructed the housing for these details we need. Finally, we fix two O-type rubber rings on the wheels. In the front of the housing, we still need to deal with some specific works. Firstly, we need two stepper motors discussed before, the point is, how to fix them on the housing steady. Right, we need two clips to fix them on the housing. Then use one screw and one nut for each side to fix the motor steady. Secondly, to make the housing tidy, we need to add a steel plate. It can not only steady the housing, but also provide another new flat to fix chips on so that do the connection work later easier. Furthermore, we have another goal in this project. It is called ‘egg race. It means we must build a spoon provided to carry an egg throughout the race. Hence, we have to consider how to ensure the egg will not be dropped off. Consequently, we design it that put the spoon on the cover of that added steel plate. It is a good place to lay the egg on, for it is not too high. In addition, we could add several wires around the spoon to double ensure it successfully. 2.1.1.3 Sensors Image Sensor An image sensor is a device which converts an optical image to an electric signal. It is used regularly in digital cameras and other imaging devices. Normally, an image sensor is a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) active-pixel sensor. Most digital still cameras use either a CCD image sensor or a CMOS sensor. Both types of sensor achieve the same task of capturing light and converting it into electrical signals. [2] CMOS A CMOS chip is a type of active pixel sensor which is made by using the CMOS semiconductor method. Extra circuitry adjacent to each image sensor converts the light energy to a voltage. Moreover circuitry on the chip might be included to convert the voltage to digital data. It is a sensor which has high system integration. That is to say, a CMOS chip can integrate all of functions needed by image sensor into a system-on-chip so that to achieve the goal of reducing the cost of the production. CCD A CCD is an analog device. When light hits the chip, it is held like a small electrical charge in each photoelectric sensor. The charges are converted to voltage one pixel every time when they are read from the chip. Moreover, the circuitry in the camera converts the voltage into digital data too. A CCD has a series of advantages as follows:  · High Resolution  · Low Noise  · High Dynamic Range  · Linearity  · High Quantum Efficiency  · Large Field of View  · Broad Spectral Response  · Low Image Distortion  · Small Size, Light Weight  · Low Consume Power, Without Strong Magnetic Fields Effect  · High Charge Transmission Photoelectric sensor A photoelectric sensor is a device used to detect the displacement, absence, or presence of an object by using an infrared transmitter and a photoelectric receiver. They are used broadly in industrial manufacturing. There are three different functional types: opposed, retro reflective, and proximity-sensing. A self-contained photoelectric sensor contains the optics, along with the electronics. It requires only a power source. The sensor performs its own modulation, demodulation, amplification, and output switching. Some self-contained sensors provide such options as built-in control timers or counters. Because of hi-tech progress, self-contained photoelectric sensors have become more and more small. In addition, fibre optic is passive mechanical sensing components. They may be used with self-contained sensors. They have no electrical circuitry and no moving parts, and can safely pipe light into and out of antagonistic environments.[3] After discussing both image sensor and photoelectric sensor, we decide to use photoelectric sensor during the project. From the comparison of advantages and disadvantages, we can easily find that image sensor (usually use CCD method) is a complicated and advanced technology. It is based on photoelectric infrared transmitter and receiver, but use analogue signal to digital signal. It could be used in some complex task such as 3-D race track. In our project, we only challenge to do up to 5 meters race track. Hence, it is not so much useful to get such an exact detection. Moreover, one of the advantages of photoelectric sensor is high response. It is faster than using image sensor to detect the unknown track. Accordingly, we prefer use photoelectric infrared sensor during the project. As we know, the point of photoelectric infrared sensor is infrared. We have to confirm two beside sensors do not disturb each other work. Hence, to get an appropriate distance between two sensors is the problem in this part. From reading several example projects before, we find a majority of them prefer put all the sensors into one straight line where elicits our attention. It does not matter to put them in front or back of the robot. It is similar to the X-axis. We can define each sensor a coordinate. We prefer use seven infrared sensors (1cm space between two sensors), so we can define all of these sensors into [-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3], which are the y-coordinate. Connect a LED light to the receiver of each sensor. Thus, we can know which sensor is working and which one is not. The specific diagram of sensors are showed in 1. For example, the robot starts at the centre of black line, so the LEDs should send us a data with [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0] (when sensor detects black line, the LED will light. Because the different reflectivity of black and white line). Then it will go along the track until meet a turning point. The receiver might be received a data with [0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]. Thus, from the defin ition of setting before, we can identify the robot has departed from the centre of the black line to left. Therefore, the robot should turn left. There will be some possible troubles during debugging the robot car. The sensors are not reliable after using for a long time. Therefore, the fixed LEDs will solve this problem definitely. When they work, the LEDs should be lighted. 2.1.1.4 Microcontroller A Microcontroller is a small computer based on a single IC (integrated circuit) which is consisting of a relative simple central processor unit combined with specific functions such as a crystal oscillator, timers, and watchdog timer etc. [4] From the comparison with kinds of microcontroller, we choose MC33886 chip which is a member of the low-cost, high-performance HCS08 Family of 8-bit microcontroller units (MCUs). It is a monolithic H-Bridge ideal for fractional horsepower DC-motor and bi-directional thrust solenoid control. The 33886 chip is able to control continuous inductive DC load currents up to 5.0 A. Output loads can be pulse width modulated (PWM-ed)at frequencies up to 10 kHz.[5] The 33886 chip is parametrically detailed over a temperature range of -40 °C ≠¤ TA ≠¤ 125 °C, 5.0 V ≠¤ V+ ≠¤ 28 V. The IC can also be operated up to 40 V with derating of the specifications. The IC is available in a surface mount power package with uncovered pad for heat sinking. The features of MC33886 chip is showed below: [6] Features:  · Similar to the MC33186DH1 with Enhanced Features  · 5.0 V to 40 V Continuous Operation  · 120 mÃŽ © RDS(ON) H-Bridge MOSFETs  · TTL /CMOS Compatible Inputs  · PWM Frequencies up to 10 kHz  · Active Current Limiting via Internal Constant OFF-Time PWM (with Temperature-Dependent Threshold Reduction)  · Output Short Circuit Protection  · Under voltage Shutdown  · Fault Status Reporting  · Pb-Free Packaging Designated by Suffix Code VW In addition, the simplified application diagram and internal block diagram for MC33886 chip is given as follows: The 33886 chip has 20 pins. The diagram and specific Pin Layout function description will be given in 4 and table 1 as follow: Pin Layout Pin Layout Name Formal Name Description 1 AGND Analog Ground Low-current analog signal ground. 2 FS Fault Status for H-Bridge Open drain active Low Fault Status output requiring a pull-up resistor to 5.0 V. 3 IN1 Logic Input Control 1 True logic input control of OUT1 4, 5, 16 V+ Positive Power Supply Positive supply connections. 6, 7 OUT1 H-Bridge Output1 Output 1 of H-Bridge. 8, 20 DNC Do Not Connect Either do not connect or connect these pins to ground in the application. They are test mode pins used in manufacturing only. 9, 10, 11, 12 PGND Power Ground Device high-current power ground. 13 D2 Disable 2 Active Low input used to simultaneously tri-state disable both H-Bridge outputs. When D2 is logic Low, both outputs are tri-stated. 14, 15 OUT2 H-Bridge Output 2 Output 2 of H-Bridge. 17 CCP Charge Pump Capacitor External reservoir capacitor connection for internal charge pump capacitor. 18 D1 Disable 1 Active High input used to simultaneously tri-state disable both H-Bridge outputs. When D1 is logic High, both outputs are tri-stated. 19 IN2 Logic Input Control 2 True logic input control of OUT2 Table 1. Pin Layout Function Definition Some details for using the MC33886 chip should be noticed that how to use several chips together in this project. The method is using a number of MC33886 chips together in parallel. For there is no need to drive backward, hence, we could use half H-bridge and also make two half H-bridge in parallel. The consequence for this method is to enhance the driving ability of the chips. It is a common variation from full H-bridge that uses two transistors on one side of the load. Moreover, use one of the half H-bridge to drive the motor and the other one to provide power for the sensors. 2.1.1.5 Power Supply Power supply is one of the most important components and the fundament for all components working. A regulated DC power supply provides 0~15 V voltage. There are two different way to build the power supply in this project. One is using two wires to connect 0 and +15V to the DC-DC converter; the other one is building a battery on the robot itself. Both of them have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, we have to analyze both of them first.  · Wired Power supply The advantages for the wired power supply are reliable, stable, durable and savable. The power supply is a regulated DC power supply. The only thing we need to do is using wires to connect both 0 and +15V to the DC-DC converter. Because the working voltage for whatever microcontroller, sensors and stepping motors is 5 volts, we need a DC-DC converter to convert voltage from 15V to 5V. Moreover, we do not need to consider the duration of the power supply. It will still work normally even if works after several hours. Furthermore, using wired power supply is an excellent method to consider the cost during the project, for the power supply is a preference requirement in this project. Hence, we do not need to cost a lot on it. The disadvantage for the wired power supply is obviously wired. We have to let one person hold wires when it is driving. This is a consideration from personnel aspect. It is a waste of energy to the team.  · Wireless Power Supply The advantage for the wireless power supply is that we can design a really autonomous robot. We do not need to contribute one person to look after it. However, we may meet a series of problems when using battery. Firstly, it may increase the weight of whole robot. As we know, it is hard to turn left or right when you drive a high weight car. It is similar to an autonomous robot. Secondly, the duration is limited. For we have to test the robot before the race competition, the problem is how long does this pack of battery provide the power. The answer is not too long. Therefore, if we choose to use battery as the power supply, we have to solve how to charge the battery first. To sum up, it is not a good method to use battery in this project. Basically, we consider from the duration and the cost these two aspects. Accordingly, the final scheme we designed is to use wired power supply. 2.1.2 Software Because we do not have MC33886 chip yet, we have to use PIC 16F648A chip to simulate this design. It should be kinds of similar to each other, but particularly in using different software. With the purpose of writing program data into a PIC chip, a software programmer is required. In the design, a USB controlled PICkit2 may be used. We will give following steps to guild us through the generation of the programme. Moreover, make sure retain a simple ‘debug programme in order to exercise any hardware, such as a simple flashing LED. There are a series steps to help us how to program the device. We pick them up from the laboratory notes.[8] 1. Connect the PICkit2 Microcontroller Programmer to the PC by using the USB cable. Socket the 6-pin header on the bread board or frankly on to the hardware (for in-circuit programming). 2. Start MPLAB IDE from the shortcut icon on the desktop, or the Start menu. In addition, check the version number is MPLAB IDE v7.62 or above. 3. From the MPLAB IDE menu bar, select Project > Project Wizard†¦ 4. It opens up the Project Wizard. Click Next to continue. 5. Wizard Step One: The laboratory project target device is the PIC 16F648A (Which we will give an example in the next section). In the wizard, select the ‘PIC 16F648A from the drop-down box and click next. 6. Wizard Step Two: select the use of the ‘CSSC Compiler for PIC12/14/16/18 for the project language tool suite from the Active Tool suite drop-down box. We should browse so as to discover the location of the files on the hard disk. Then Click Next and continue. 7. Wizard Step Three: Name the project and select a directory. Then Click Next. 8. Wizard Step Four: There is possible that we want to add a file which has been written previously. The file tree view box on the left should already be prolonged to the project directory. Select the file which we want to add and click the ‘Add >> button to add it to the project. Since the project directory is the same as the file directory, there is no need to check the box to copy it. Then Click Next when done. 9. Wizard Summary: Click the Finish button. A new page and project are created in the MPLAB IDE. The new page includes information on the selected PIC MCU device, the active programmer and/or debugger, open windows and their location, and other IDE configuration settings. The page is also related with a ‘project, which includes the files which are needed to build an application (source code, include files, linker scripts and so on.) along with associated language (co

Agamemnon, Symbolism Of Darkne Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout the ages of literature, darkness has often been used as symbolic in representation for evil, concealment, and blindness. In the opening of Agamemnon, the darkness that consumed the scene was used for effect in order to convey indirectly, themes of evil, concealment, and blindness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme of evil was clearly supported by the actions of the character. The play was one of murder and revenge, both of which are traditionally sinful in nature. Agamemnon is murdered in the play by his wife Clytaemestra, who does so in hopes of avenging the death of her daughter, among other reasons. Clytaemestraà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s daughter was killed in an act of sacrifice by Agamemnon, ironically, in hopes of ending a cycle of revenge already out of hand within the families of Agamemnon and his enemy Aegisthus. Although justice can skeptically be looked at as a noble cause, in that traditionally justice represents the protection of all that is good, it seems evident that evil still plays a part in motivating one to kill. Hence the symbolic darkness of night present in the opening scene of the play, foreshadowing the death of Agamemnon, and Clytaemestraà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s conversion to the dark-side of hatred and revenge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another commonly used significance of darkness is that of concealment. When a soldier wishes to hide his actions from an enemy, it is typically said that he will do so à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“under the cover of darkness.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Just as a soldier used darkness t...