Robotics Essay

Robotics
Matthew T. Mason and Henrik I. Christensen
This essay summarizes the current state of robotics, and previews the findings of a
robotics roadmapping effort currently under way.
Robotics originated with the goal of building human‐like machines, but it has become
much more than that. Even though we are still decades away from human‐like
machines, the developing robotics technologies are proving useful in ways that nobody
expected: robot‐assisted noninvasive surgery; disposal of roadside bombs; automated
lab science for drug discovery; even auto‐focus features in digital cameras. The broad
impact of robotics is proven, even though robotics is still in the early stages of its
development.
Robotics thus affords a unique opportunity to make a cross‐cutting investment that
advances both fundamental research and development in an area vital to U.S.
competitiveness while providing the potential for near term job, business development
and educational returns. Outlined below are the broad critical application areas for
robotics. The creation of a $100 million initiative to be matched by industry to establish
test beds in the major application areas could generate nearly 10,000 new jobs
impacting a wide range of sectors. The specific proposal advanced is to create a
competitive process to establish a series of robotics test beds in communities across the
nation. These test beds would be devoted to specific health, transportation, agriculture,
manufacturing and extended care services. The selected test beds must include large
and small industrial partners, universities and engaged partners in the end use
community. Recognizing the unique capacity of robotics to be a powerful tool for
education, each proposal should incorporate a strategy for the test bed to engage K‐12
students and to foster the development of new educational applications.
The remainder of the essay addresses the unexpected breadth and significance of
robotics.
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Benefits of Green Tea

Review
Beneficial Effects of Green Tea—A Review
Carmen Cabrera, PhD, Reyes Artacho, PhD, Rafael Gime´nez, PhD
Departamento de Nutricio´n y Bromatologı´a, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Granada, SPAIN
Key words: green tea, polyphenols, catechins, antioxidant activity, human health
Tea is the most consumed drink in the world after water. Green tea is a ‘non-fermented’ tea, and contains
more catechins, than black tea or oolong tea. Catechins are in vitro and in vivo strong antioxidants. In addition,
its content of certain minerals and vitamins increases the antioxidant potential of this type of tea. Since ancient
times, green tea has been considered by the traditional Chinese medicine as a healthful beverage. Recent human
studies suggest that green tea may contribute to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease and some forms
of cancer, as well as to the promotion of oral health and other physiological functions such as anti-hypertensive
effect, body weight control, antibacterial and antivirasic activity, solar ultraviolet protection, bone mineral
density increase, anti-fibrotic properties, and neuroprotective power. Increasing interest in its health benefits has
led to the inclusion of green tea in the group of beverages with functional properties. However, although all the
evidence from research on green tea is very promising, future studies are necessary to fully understand its
contributions to human health, and advise its regular consumption in Western diets, in which green tea
consumption is nowadays limited and sporadic.
Key teaching points:
• Green tea contains numerous components with antioxidant activity: polyphenols (especially catechins), minerals, vitamins.
• Green tea contains more catechins than black or oolong teas.
• The strong antioxidant potential of catechins, and especially EGCG, are widely demonstrated in vitro and in animal studies. In
addition, catechins possess antimutagenic, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral properties.
• Recent human studies suggest that green tea may contribute to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and has another
beneficial effect on health.
• Although research of green tea is very promising, future studies considering dietetic, environmental and life style factors, are
necessary to fully understand its contribution to human health.
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The Programmable Logic Controller (The PLC)

Section Objectives:
Before the invention of the Programmable Logic Controller
(PLC), most industrial control was done using relay control
panels.
Switches and relays can be arranged in circuits to make
logical decisions. Output from these circuits can be used to
drive “loads” such as motors, heaters, or electromagnetic
coils. A relay control panel is comprised of a single to
thousands of these circuits.
In this Section, relay control panels will be presented.
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PLC Programming Guide

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Health Benefits of Watermelon

Healthnotes Newswire (June 26, 2003)—Regular consumption of watermelon juice can increase
blood concentrations of lycopene and beta-carotene, according to a study in Journal of Nutrition
(2003;133:1043–50). Studies suggest that these potent antioxidants may have protective effects
against heart disease and certain cancers, such as prostate, bladder, and cervical cancer.
Lycopene and beta-carotene are compounds called carotenoids, which are highly colored
pigments that help protect plants against damage from sunlight. Carotenoids are important to
humans because they have antioxidant activity and prevent free radicals from causing harm to
the body, similar to other types of antioxidants such as selenium and vitamins C and E. Some
carotenoids are also converted to vitamin A, which is necessary for normal immune function and
development of cells. Other significant carotenoids include lutein and zeaxanthin, which play a
role in visual function.
In the study, 23 healthy adults between 36 and 69 years old consumed three of four possible
diets that each lasted three weeks. All participants completed the first two treatments, which
included consuming daily (1) a controlled diet, low in lycopene and (2) the controlled diet plus
watermelon juice containing 20 mg of lycopene and 2.5 mg of beta-carotene. As a third
treatment, participants were assigned to consume either (3) the controlled diet plus watermelon
juice that was twice as concentrated as in the second treatment or (4) the controlled diet and
tomato juice containing 18 mg of lycopene and 0.6 mg of beta-carotene. The quantities of
watermelon and tomato juice needed to provide the amounts of lycopene and beta-carotene
used in this study were approximately 3 cups of diced watermelon and 1 cup of tomato juice.
Blood levels of lycopene and beta-carotene were measured at the beginning and completion of
each three-week treatment period.
The watermelon juice diet increased blood concentrations of lycopene and beta-carotene almost
five-fold and two-fold, respectively, compared with the diet without watermelon juice. However,
there was no significant increase in lycopene or beta-carotene levels when the amount of
watermelon juice was doubled. Consumption of tomato juice produced a similar increase in
blood lycopene concentrations, but failed to increase beta-carotene levels.
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POZESTY'S GUIDE TO TERRARIA

Chapter 1: What is Terraria?
Terraria is a 2D, side scrolling, action, adventure game with some sandbox elements incorporated. Terraria has a functioning multiplayer system with server-based play and a PvP option. It is often referred to as a cross between Metroid and Minecraft, though it may have been inspired by those games, it should not be thought of as a rip-off of either. Terraria has NPC’s, Bosses, magic, a wider variety of monsters, numerous items and armor sets, and dynamic events. The building and mining elements of the game are mostly there to supplement the action and exploration aspect of the game.
When you create a character in Terraria, they are carried over into any world you enter whether it be on Singleplayer or Multiplayer allowing for in-game trading and easy PvP. When you create a new world, a randomly generated map of a preset size will be created. Every map in Terraria contains a Dungeon (guarded by the most difficult boss Skeletron) and an Underground Jungle (containing exclusive mobs and items). The two locations are always generated on opposite sides of the map and are generally end game areas. Along with the Dungeon and Underground Jungle, a series of 3-5 (depending on map size) Floating Islands that hold a small brick room with a chest inside. These chests may contain items that you can’t find anywhere else including the Starfury, Lucky Horseshoe, and Shiny Red Balloon. Due to the random map generation and persistent character, you can’t really ever run out of resources or areas to raid.
Before you can start venturing into the vast world, you should create a home for you to take shelter in the dark of night. Terraria lets you construct structures and furniture using the materials you find throughout the world. Ad you expand your base of operations NPC’s will make their way into your house and provide you with chatter and buyable goods. There are a lot of items that can be purchased only through NPC’s and some of the items just make exploring much more convenient early game.
Moving ahead in Terraria is mostly done through gear progression. Gear progression means that instead of leveling a character up like a normal RPG, your character becomes more powerful in conjunction with the armor and items he wields. If you want to you can think of each armor set as a level, with Molten and Cobalt being the highest level of each specialization. Armor is obtained through mining and smelting, with the exception of a couple sets that are found and crafted through monster drops. Most of the basic weapons can also be crafted with ores, though the more powerful weapons and accessories are found through monster drops and chests scattered throughout the world.

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Configuration Spaces, Braids, and Robotics

 

ABSTRACT. Braids are intimately related to configuration spaces of points.
These configuration spaces give a useful model of autonomous agents (or
robots) in an environment. Problems of relevance to autonomous engineering
systems (e.g., motion planning, coordination, cooperation, assembly) are directly
related to topological and geometric properties of configuration spaces,
including their braid groups. These notes detail this correspondence, and explore
several novel examples of configuration spaces relevant to applications
in robotics. No familiarity with robotics is assumed.

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