Daily Archives: October 25, 2016

Gambling Addiction Treatment Center, Rehab – Non Gambler

Posted: October 25, 2016 at 7:48 am

You have decided that you or your loved one is in need of treatment. Now what? How do you find out about treatment facilities? What level of care is needed? How do you know if a treatment center is a right fit? How do you know if you are getting what you pay for? Here are a few tips for making the best decision for treatment.

Identifying the appropriate level of care is the first step when looking for a treatment facility. Speak to your doctor or mental health provider to determine the appropriate level of care. Levels of care for treatment facilities include residential or partial hospitalization. Knowing the appropriate level of care will determine what treatment facility is appropriate.

Not all treatment facilities are created equal. So, how do you know which treatment facility to choose? The individual needs of a person is the first thing to consider when choosing a treatment facility. For example, choose a facility that can address specific addiction (gambling, substance use) and mental health needs. Check out what therapies are offered, such as evidence based-practices (Cognitive Behavioral Therapies, Dialectal Behavioral Therapies, Expressive Therapies, and Trauma Therapies). In addition, addiction treatment should include work with peer counselors (counselors who are in recovery) and provide follow up care, such as referrals for additional treatments and support in identifying recovery needs. Another way to determine if a facility can meet your needs is to check out the staff credentials and ensure that the facility has appropriate licensing. In addition to treatment needs and therapies, also consider the individual attention that is given to each patient. A low staff to patient ratio and a focus on individual sessions will ensure that you or your loved one will receive one on one attention.

Addiction and mental health treatment is expensive, making affordability a consideration when planning for treatment and for your future. It is important to consider the value of treatment when determining the cost. Are you paying for treatment or for the location and amenities? We offer the look and feel of home with the safety and security of an inpatient/residential treatment facility. Patients are surrounded by 400 acres of beautiful farmland with modern amenities and an in house chef. In addition to the beautiful surroundings and amenities, Williamsville also focuses on meeting individual needs through intensive individual and group sessions. At Williamsville, we have a 1:1 therapist patient ratio and offer 15+ individual sessions per week. The focus on individual sessions ensure that each patient is receiving individual attention, encouragement and support for processing and exploring root issues to addiction and mental health concerns. We address issues of addiction and mental health through a variety of evidence-based therapies and have on site peer counselors that support patients through the steps of AA/NA/GA. We are in-network with most major insurers which enables you to have intensive therapy in an excellent environment at the lowest possible cost.

Read this article:

Gambling Addiction Treatment Center, Rehab - Non Gambler

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off

Objetivismo, la filosofa de Ayn Rand | La Rebelin de Atlas …

Posted: at 7:48 am

Ayn Rand, llam a su filosofa, "Objetivismo", describindola como la filosofa para vivir en la tierra. El objetivismo es un sistema integrado de pensamientos, que define principios abstractos en los que el hombre debe pensar y actuar si es que quiere vivir la vida propia de un hombre. En primer lugar, Ayn Rand, present su filosofa a travs de las novelas, ambas best-sellers, "The Fountainhead" (1943), traducida al castellano como "El Manantial", y "Atlas Shrugged" (1957), como "La Rebelin de Atlas". En estas se presenta al hombre como un ser herico, un individuo racional digno de vivir en la tierra, ya que puede lograr lo mejor de s msmo. Posteriormente, present su filosofa en forma de no-ficcin.

METAFISICA:

La realidad, el mundo exterior, la existencia independiente de la conciencia del hombre; independiente de cualquier conocimiento, creencias, sentimientos, deseos o temores. Esto significa que A es A, los hechos son hechos, las cosas son lo que son; y la tarea de la conciencia del hombre es percibir la realidad, no crearla o inventarla. As, el objetivismo, rachaza toda creencia en lo supernatural, y cualquier aclamacin de individuales o grupos que dicen crear su propia realidad.

EPISTEMOLOGIA:

La razn del hombre es completamente competente de conocer los hechos de la realidad. La razn, facultad conceptual, es la facultad que identifica e integra el material provisto por los sentidos del hombre. La razn es el nico medio del hombre para adquirir conocimientos. As, el objetivismo, rechaza al misticismo (no acepta a la fe y a los sentimientos, como medios de conocimiento); y al escepticismo (que proclama la imposibilidad del conocimiento y/o estar seguro de algo). La naturaleza humana: El hombre es un ser racional. La razn, nico medio de conocimiento del hombre, es su medio de supervivencia. El hombre es un ser de conciencia volitiva, por eso el ejercicio de la razn depende de la eleccin de cada individuo. Tu conciencia es lo que sols llamar alma o espritu; y a lo que llams 'libre albedro', es a la libertad que tiene tu mente de pensar o no. Esta es la nica eleccin que tienes. Es la eleccin que controla tadas las otras elecciones que hacs; y determina tu vida y tu caracter . As, el objetivismo, rechaza toda forma de determinismo; la creencia de que el hombre es vctima de fuerzas que escapan a su control (como ser: dios, el destino, los genes, condiciones de nacimiento o econmicas).

ETICA:

La razn del hombre es la nica fuente que le permite juzgar valores y guiarlo hacia la accin. Un estndar de tica correcto es: la supervivencia del hombre como hombre, es decir, lo requerido por su naturaleza para sobrevivir como un ser racional (y, no una momentnea supervivencia fsica como un bruto sin mente). La virtud bsica del hombre es su racionalidad, y sus tres valores fundamentales son: razn, propsito, auto-estima. El hombre es un fin en s msmo, y no un medio para los fines de los dems; debe vivir por su propio propsito, sin sacrificarse para otros o sacrificar a otros para s; debe trabajar por su propio inters racional y lograr su propia felicidad como el propsito moral ms alto de su vida. As, el objetivismo, rechaza cualquier forma de altruismo (que dice que la moralidad consiste en vivir para otros o para la sociedad).

POLITICA:

El principio social bsico de la tica objetivista es que ningn hombre tiene el derecho de buscar valores ajenos por medio de la fuerza fsica. Ningn hombre o grupo tiene el derecho de usar la fuerza fsica contra otros; con exepcin de cuando acta en propia defensa y solo contra quienes inicien su uso. Los hombres deben tratar unos con otros como comerciantes, dando valor por valor, por medio de un libre y mutuo consentimiento y mutuo beneficio. El nico sistema social que erradica de las relaciones humanas, la fuerza fsica, es el capitalismo de laissez-faire (libre comercio). El capitalismo es un sistema basado en el reconocimiento de los derechos individuales, y protege a los hombres de aquellos que inician el uso de la fuerza fsica. As, el objetivismo, rechaza cualquier forma de colectivismo, como lo son, el fasismo y el socialismo. Tambin rechaza la actual 'economa mixta', nocin de que el gobierno debera regular la economa y redistribuir la riqueza.

ESTETICA:

El arte es una re-creacin selectiva de la realidad, acorde al juicio metafsico del artista; es concretizar su visin fundamental de la existencia. Ayn Rand, describe su aproximacin al arte como: "Realismo Romntico": "Yo soy Romntica en el sentido de que presento a los hombres como deberan ser. Soy Realista en el sentido de que los ubico aqu, ahora y en esta tierra". El propsito de las novelas de Ayn Rand no es didctico; es artstico: la proyeccin de un hombre ideal: "Mi propsito, primera causa y desencadenante, es el retrato de Howard Roark o John Galt o Hank Rearden o Francisco d'Anconia como un fin en s msmo, y no como un propsito para un fin posterior".

Dijo uno de los presentes: - Convnceme de que la lgica es til. - Quires que te lo demuestre? - S. - Entonces....es necesario que recurra a una demostracin. Y al ver que el otro asenta le dijo: - Si te engao con sofismas, cmo hars, pues, para darte cuenta? El otro guard silencio. - Ya ves como te das cuenta de que la lgica es necesaria y que, apartndote de ella, ni siquiera puedes llegar a saber si es necesaria o no. Epicteto, Conversaciones, II, 25.

La democracia es dos lobos y una oveja votando sobre que se va a comer. La Libertad es la oveja, armada, impugnando el resultado. Benjamin Franklin

info @ objetivismo . com

Read this article:

Objetivismo, la filosofa de Ayn Rand | La Rebelin de Atlas ...

Posted in Ayn Rand | Comments Off

What does Liberal mean? – Definitions.net

Posted: at 7:47 am

liberal(Noun)

One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia on Liberalism for a description of the various and diverging trends of liberalism).

liberal(Noun)

A supporter of any of the particular liberal parties.

liberal(Noun)

One on the left-wing of the American political spectrum. Sometimes used pejoratively in political campaigns.

liberal(Noun)

A person who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, individual gun rights, laissez-faire markets, and the gold standard.

liberal(Adjective)

Pertaining to those arts and sciences whose study was considered "worthy of a free man" (as opposed to servile, mechanical); worthy, befitting a gentleman.

He had a full education studying the liberal arts.

liberal(Adjective)

Generous, bountiful.

He was liberal with his compliments.

liberal(Adjective)

Generous in quantity, abundant.

Add a liberal sprinkling of salt.

liberal(Adjective)

Unrestrained, licentious.

liberal(Adjective)

Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions, conventions etc.; permissive.

Her parents had liberal ideas about child-rearing.

liberal(Adjective)

Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.

Liberal(Adjective)

Generous, in great amount, a large proportion

He had a full education studying the liberal arts.

Liberal(Adjective)

Of or relating to the Liberal party, its membership, or its platform, policy, or viewpoint.

He had a full education studying the liberal arts.

Liberal(ProperNoun)

A member or supporter of a Liberal Party

Liberal(ProperNoun)

A member or supporter of the Liberal Party of Canada, or its predecessors, or provincial equivalents, or their predecessors

Liberal(ProperNoun)

A Liberal Democrat.

Liberal(ProperNoun)

A Whig

Origin: From liberal, from liberalis, from liber.

Continue reading here:

What does Liberal mean? - Definitions.net

Posted in Liberal | Comments Off

Seychelles – Wikipedia

Posted: at 7:45 am

Coordinates: 435S 5540E / 4.583S 55.667E / -4.583; 55.667

Seychelles (i say-SHELZ; French: [sl]), officially the Republic of Seychelles (French: Rpublique des Seychelles; Creole: Repiblik Sesel), is an archipelago and country in the Indian Ocean. The 115-island country, whose capital is Victoria, lies 1,500 kilometres (932mi) east of mainland East Africa. Other nearby island countries and territories include Comoros, Mayotte, Madagascar, Runion and Mauritius to the south. With a population of roughly 92,000, it has the smallest population of any independent African state; however, it does have a larger population than the British overseas territory Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.[4]

Seychelles is a member of the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations. After proclamation of independence from the United Kingdom in 1976, Seychelles has developed from a largely agricultural society to a market-based diversified economy, with agriculture being supplanted by rapidly rising service and public sectors as well as tourism. Since 1976, per capita output has increased nearly sevenfold. In recent years, the government has encouraged foreign investment in order to upgrade these sectors. Today, Seychelles boasts the highest nominal per capita GDP in Africa. It is one of only a handful of countries in Africa with high Human Development Index. Despite the country's newfound economic prosperity, poverty remains widespread due to very high level of income inequality, one of the highest in the world, and low wealth distribution.

The Seychelles were uninhabited throughout most of recorded history. Some scholars assume that Austronesian seafarers and later Maldivian and Arab traders were the first to visit the uninhabited Seychelles. The earliest recorded sighting by Europeans took place in 1502 by the Portuguese Admiral Vasco da Gama, who passed through the Amirantes and named them after himself (islands of the Admiral). The earliest recorded landing was in January 1609, by the crew of the "Ascension" under Captain Sharpeigh during the fourth voyage of the British East India Company.

A transit point for trade between Africa and Asia, the islands were occasionally used by pirates until the French began to take control starting in 1756 when a Stone of Possession was laid by Captain Nicholas Morphey. The islands were named after Jean Moreau de Schelles, Louis XV's Minister of Finance.[5]

The British controlled the islands between 1794 and 1810. Jean Baptiste Quau de Quincy, French administrator of Seychelles during the years of war with the United Kingdom, declined to resist when armed enemy warships arrived. Instead, he successfully negotiated the status of capitulation to Britain which gave the settlers a privileged position of neutrality.

Britain eventually assumed full control upon the surrender of Mauritius in 1810, formalised in 1814 at the Treaty of Paris. Seychelles became a crown colony separate from Mauritius in 1903. Elections were held in 1966 and 1970.

Independence was granted in 1976 as a republic within the Commonwealth.[6] In the 1970s Seychelles was "the place to be seen, a playground for film stars and the international jet set".[7] In 1977, a coup d'tat by France Albert Ren ousted the first president of the republic, James Mancham.[8] Ren discouraged over-dependence on tourism and declared that he wanted "to keep the Seychelles for the Seychellois".[7]

The 1979 constitution declared a socialist one-party state, which lasted until 1991.

In the 1980s there were a series of coup attempts against President France-Albert Ren, some of which were supported by South Africa. In 1981, Mike Hoare led a team of 43 South African mercenaries masquerading as holidaying Rugby players in a coup attempt in what is known as the Seychelles affair.[7] There was a gun battle at the airport, and most of the mercenaries later escaped in a hijacked Air India plane.[7] The leader of this hijacking was the infamous German mercenary D. Clodo, a former member of the Rhodesian SAS.[9] Clodo later stood trial in South Africa (where he was acquitted) as well as in his home country Germany for air-piracy.[10]

In 1986, an attempted coup led by the Seychelles Minister of Defence, Ogilvy Berlouis, caused President Ren to request assistance from India. In Operation Flowers are Blooming, the Indian naval vessel INS Vindhyagiri arrived in Port Victoria to help avert the coup.[11]

The first draft of a new constitution failed to receive the requisite 60% of voters in 1992, but an amended version was approved in 1993.

In January 2013, Seychelles declared a state of emergency; the tropical cyclone Felleng caused torrential rain, and flooding and landslides destroyed hundreds of houses.[12][13]

The Seychelles president, who is head of state and head of government, is elected by popular vote for a five-year term of office. The cabinet is presided over and appointed by the president, subject to the approval of a majority of the legislature.

The unicameral Seychellois parliament, the National Assembly or Assemble Nationale, consists of 34 members, 25 of whom are elected directly by popular vote, while the remaining nine seats are appointed proportionally according to the percentage of votes received by each party. All members serve five-year terms.

The Supreme Court of Seychelles, created in 1903, is the highest trial court in Seychelles and the first court of appeal from all the lower courts and tribunals. The highest court of law in Seychelles is the Seychelles Court of Appeal, which is the court of final appeal in the country.[14]

Seychelles' previous president France Albert Ren came to power after his supporters overthrew the first president James Mancham on 5 June 1977 in a coup d'tat and installed him as president. Ren was at that time the prime minister.[15][16][17]

Ren ruled as a strongman under a socialist one-party system until in 1993, when he was forced to introduce a multi-party system. During his tenure, he was accused of involvement in criminal activity. US Ambassador to Seychelles (198285) David Fischer has stated publicly that Ren was complicit in money laundering and murder, among other things. He stepped down in 2004 in favour of his vice-president, James Michel, who was re-elected in 2006 and again in 2011.[15][16][17] On 28 September, 2016, the Office of the President announced that Michel would step down effective 16 October, and that Vice President Danny Faure would complete the rest of Michel's term.[18]

The primary political parties are the ruling socialist People's Party (PP), known until 2009 as the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF), and the socially liberal Seychelles National Party (SNP).[citation needed]

Seychelles is a member of the African Union, the francophone Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), La Francophonie, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Commonwealth.

Seychelles is divided into twenty-six administrative regions that comprise all of the inner islands. Eight of the districts make up the capital of Seychelles and are referred to as Greater Victoria. Another 14 districts are considered the rural part of the main island of Mah with two districts on Praslin and one on La Digue which also includes respective satellite islands. The rest of the Outer Islands (les Eloignes) are the last district, recently created by the tourism ministry.

An island nation, Seychelles is located in the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar and about 1,600km (994mi) east of Kenya. The archipelago consists of 115 islands. The majority of the islands are uninhabited, with many dedicated as nature reserves.

The islands as per the Constitution are divided into groups as follows.

There are 45 granite-based islands known as the Granitic Seychelles. These are in descending order of size: Mah, Praslin, Silhouette Island, La Digue, Curieuse, Felicite, Frgate, Ste-Anne, North, Cerf, Marianne, Grand Sur, Thrse, Aride, Conception, Petite Sur, Cousin, Cousine, Long, Rcif, Round (Praslin), Anonyme, Mamelles, Moyenne, Eden, Ile Soleil, Romainville, le aux Vaches Marines, L'Islette, Beacon (le Sche), Cache, Cocos, Round (Mah), L'Ilot Frgate, Booby, Chauve Souris (Mah), Chauve Souris (Praslin), le La Fouche, Hodoul, L'Ilot, Rat, Souris, St. Pierre (Praslin), Zav, Harrison Rocks (Grand Rocher).

There are two coral sand cays north of the granitics: Denis and Bird.

There are two coral islands south of the Granitics: Cotivy and Platte.

There are 29 coral islands in the Amirantes group, west of the granitics: Desroches, Poivre Atoll (comprising three islandsPoivre, Florentin and South Island), Alphonse, D'Arros, St. Joseph Atoll (comprising 14 islandsSt. Joseph le aux Fouquets, Resource, Petit Carcassaye, Grand Carcassaye, Benjamin, Bancs Ferrari, Chiens, Plicans, Vars, le Paul, Banc de Sable, Banc aux Cocos and le aux Poules), Marie Louise, Desnoeufs, African Banks (comprising two islandsAfrican Banks and South Island), Rmire, St. Franois, Boudeuse, Etoile, Bijoutier.

There are 13 coral islands in the Farquhar Group, south-southwest of the Amirantes: Farquhar Atoll (comprising 10 islandsBancs de Sable Dposs le aux Golettes Lapins le du Milieu North Manaha South Manaha Middle Manaha North Island and South Island), Providence Atoll (comprising two islandsProvidence and Bancs Providence) and St Pierre.

There are 67 raised coral islands in the Aldabra Group, west of the Farquhar Group: Aldabra Atoll (comprising 46 islandsGrande Terre, Picard, Polymnie, Malabar, le Michel, le Esprit, le aux Moustiques, Ilot Parc, Ilot Emile, Ilot Yangue, Ilot Magnan, le Lanier, Champignon des Os, Euphrate, Grand Mentor, Grand Ilot, Gros Ilot Gionnet, Gros Ilot Ssame, Heron Rock, Hide Island, le aux Aigrettes, le aux Cdres, les Chalands, le Fangame, le Hron, le Michel, le Squacco, le Sylvestre, le Verte, Ilot Dder, Ilot du Sud, Ilot du Milieu, Ilot du Nord, Ilot Dubois, Ilot Macoa, Ilot Marquoix, Ilots Niois, Ilot Salade, Middle Row Island, Noddy Rock, North Row Island, Petit Mentor, Petit Mentor Endans, Petits Ilots, Pink Rock and Table Ronde), Assumption Island, Astove and Cosmoledo Atoll (comprising 19 islandsMenai, le du Nord (West North), le Nord-Est (East North), le du Trou, Golettes, Grand Polyte, Petit Polyte, Grand le (Wizard), Pagode, le du Sud-Ouest (South), le aux Moustiques, le Baleine, le aux Chauve-Souris, le aux Macaques, le aux Rats, le du Nord-Ouest, le Observation, le Sud-Est and Ilot la Croix).

The climate is equable although quite humid, as the islands are small,[19] classified by Kppen-Geiger system as tropical rain forest (Af). The temperature varies little throughout the year. Temperatures on Mah vary from 24 to 30C (75 to 86F), and rainfall ranges from 2,900mm (114in) annually at Victoria to 3,600mm (142in) on the mountain slopes. Precipitation is somewhat less on the other islands.[20]

During the coolest months, July and August, the average low is about 24C (75F). The southeast trade winds blow regularly from May to November, and this is the most pleasant time of the year. The hot months are from December to April, with higher humidity (80%). March and April are the hottest months, but the temperature seldom exceeds 31C (88F). Most of the islands lie outside the cyclone belt, so high winds are rare.[20]

Environmental legislation is very strict, and every tourism project must undergo an environmental review and a lengthy process of consultations with the public and conservationists. Seychelles is a world leader in sustainable tourism.[according to whom?] The end result of this sustainable development is an intact and stable natural environment, which attracts financially strong visitors (150,000 in 2007) rather than short-term mass tourism. Since 1993 a law guarantees the citizens the right to a clean environment and at the same time obliges them to protect this environment. The country holds a record for the highest percentage of land under natural conservationnearly 50% of the total land area.[citation needed]

Like many fragile island ecosystems, Seychelles saw the loss of biodiversity when humans first settled in the area, including the disappearance of most of the giant tortoises from the granitic islands, the felling of coastal and mid-level forests, and the extinction of species such as the chestnut flanked white eye, the Seychelles parakeet, and the saltwater crocodile. However, extinctions were far fewer than on islands such as Mauritius or Hawaii, partly due to a shorter period of human occupation (since 1770). Seychelles today is known for success stories in protecting its flora and fauna. The rare Seychelles black parrot, the national bird of the country, is now protected.

The granitic islands of Seychelles are home to about 75 endemic plant species, with a further 25 or so species in the Aldabra group. Particularly well-known is the coco de mer, a species of palm that grows only on the islands of Praslin and neighbouring Curieuse. Sometimes nicknamed the "love nut" because of the shape of its fruit which, with the husk removed, presents a "double" coconut resembling buttocks, the coco de mer produces the world's heaviest seed pods. The jellyfish tree is to be found in only a few locations on Mahe. This strange and ancient plant in a genus of its own (Medusagynaceae) has resisted all efforts to propagate it. Other unique plant species include the Wright's gardenia (Rothmannia annae) found only on Aride Island Special Reserve.

The freshwater crab genus Seychellum is endemic to the granitic Seychelles, and a further 26 species of crabs and five species of hermit crabs live on the islands.[23]

The Aldabra giant tortoise now populates many of the islands of Seychelles. The Aldabra population is the largest in the world. These unique reptiles can be found even in captive herds. It has been reported that the granitic islands of Seychelles supported distinct species of Seychelles giant tortoises; the status of the different populations is currently unclear.

There are several unique varieties of orchids on the islands.

Seychelles hosts some of the largest seabird colonies in the world. The outer islands of Aldabra and Cosmoledo are home to the largest numbers. In granitic Seychelles the largest numbers are on Aride Island including the world's largest numbers of two species. The sooty terns also breed on the islands.[24]

The marine life around the islands, especially the more remote coral islands, can be spectacular. More than 1,000 species of fish have been recorded.

Since the use of spearguns and dynamite for fishing was banned through efforts of local conservationists in the 1960s, the wildlife is unafraid of snorkelers and divers. Coral bleaching in 1998 has damaged most reefs, but some reefs show healthy recovery (e.g., Silhouette Island).

Despite huge disparities across nations, Seychelles claims to have achieved nearly all of its Millennium Development Goals.[citation needed] 17 MDGS and 169 targets have been achieved.[citation needed] Environmental protection is becoming a cultural value.[citation needed]

Their government's Seychelles Climate Guide describes the nation's climate as rainy, with a dry season with an ocean economy in the ocean regions. The Southeast Trades is on the decline but still fairly strong.[25] Reportedly, weather patterns there are becoming less predictable.[26]

When the British gained control of the islands during the Napoleonic Wars, they allowed the French upper class to retain their land. Both the French and British settlers used enslaved Africans, and although the British prohibited slavery in 1835, African workers continued to come. Thus the Gran blan ("big whites") of French origin dominated economic and political life. The British administration employed Indians on indentured servitude to the same degree as in Mauritius resulting in a small Indian population. The Indians, like a similar minority of Chinese, were confined to a merchant class.[27]

Through harmonious socioeconomic policies and developments[citation needed] over the years, today Seychelles is described as a fusion of peoples and cultures. Numerous Seychellois are considered multiracial: blending from African, Asian and European descent to create a modern creole culture. Evidence of this harmonious blend is also revealed in Seychellois food, incorporating various aspects of French, Chinese, Indian and African cuisine.

As the islands of Seychelles had no indigenous population, the current Seychellois are composed of people who have immigrated. The largest ethnic groups were those of African, French, Indian and Chinese descent. French and English are official languages along with Seychellois Creole, which is primarily based upon French, yet nowadays is often laced with English words and phrases. Including second-language speakers, Seychellois is the most-spoken official language in the Seychelles, followed by French, and lastly English [1].

The median age of the Seychellois was 32 years.[28]

According to the 2010 census, most Seychellois are Christians: 76.2% were Roman Catholic, pastorally served by the exempt Diocese of Port Victoria or Seychelles (immediately dependent on the Holy See); 10.6% were Protestant, (Anglican 6.1%, Pentecostal Assembly 1.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.2%, other Protestant 1.6%).

Hinduism is practiced by 2.4%, and Islam by 1.6%. Other non-Christian faiths accounted for 1.1% of the population while a further 5.9% were non-religious or did not specify a religion.[28]

During the plantation era, cinnamon, vanilla and copra were the chief exports. In 1965, during a three-month visit to the islands, futurist Donald Prell prepared for the then crown colony Governor General, an economic report containing a scenario for the future of the economy. Quoting from his report, in the 1960s, about 33% of the working population worked at plantations, and 20% worked in the public or government sector.[29][30] The Indian Ocean Tracking Station on Mah was closed in August 1996 after the Seychelles government attempted to raise the rent to more than $10,000,000 per year.

Since independence in 1976, per capita output has expanded to roughly seven times the old near-subsistence level. Growth has been led by the tourist sector, which employs about 30% of the labour force, compared to agriculture which today employs about 3% of the labour force. Despite the growth of tourism, farming and fishing continue to employ some people, as do industries that process coconuts and vanilla.

As of 2013[update], the main export products are processed fish (60%) and non-fillet frozen fish (22%).[31]

The prime agricultural products currently produced in Seychelles include sweet potatoes, vanilla, coconuts and cinnamon. These products provide much of the economic support of the locals. Frozen and canned fish, copra, cinnamon and vanilla are the main export commodities.

Since the worldwide economic crises of 2008, the Seychelles government has prioritised a curbing of the budget deficit, including the containment of social welfare costs and further privatisation of public enterprises. The government has a pervasive presence in economic activity, with public enterprises active in petroleum product distribution, banking, imports of basic products, telecommunications and a wide range of other businesses. According to the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom, which measures the degree of limited government, market openness, regulatory efficiency, rule of law, and other factors, economic freedom has been increasing each year since 2010.[32]

The national currency of Seychelles is the Seychellois rupee. Initially tied to a basket of international currencies it was depegged and allowed to be devalued and float freely in 2008 on the presumed hopes of attracting further foreign investment in the Seychelles economy.

In 1971, with the opening of Seychelles International Airport, tourism became a significant industry, essentially dividing the economy into plantations and tourism. The tourism sector paid better, and the plantation economy could only expand so far. The plantation sector of the economy declined in prominence, and tourism became the primary industry of Seychelles.

In recent years the government has encouraged foreign investment to upgrade hotels and other services. These incentives have given rise to an enormous amount of investment in real estate projects and new resort properties, such as project TIME, distributed by the World Bank, along with its predecessor project MAGIC.[citation needed] Despite its growth, the vulnerability of the tourist sector was illustrated by the sharp drop in 19911992 due largely to the Gulf War.[33]

Since then the government has moved to reduce the dependence on tourism by promoting the development of farming, fishing, small-scale manufacturing and most recently the offshore financial sector, through the establishment of the Financial Services Authority and the enactment of several pieces of legislation (such as the International Corporate Service Providers Act, the International Business Companies Act, the Securities Act, the Mutual Funds and Hedge Fund Act, amongst others).

During March 2015, Seychelles allocated Assumption island to be developed by India.[34]

Although multinational oil companies have explored the waters around the islands, no oil or gas has been found. In 2005, a deal was signed with US firm Petroquest, giving it exploration rights to about 30,000km2 around Constant, Topaz, Farquhar and Cotivy islands until 2014. Seychelles imports oil from the Persian Gulf in the form of refined petroleum derivatives at the rate of about 5,700 barrels per day (910m3/d).

In recent years oil has been imported from Kuwait and also from Bahrain. Seychelles imports three times more oil than is needed for internal uses because it re-exports the surplus oil in the form of bunker for ships and aircraft calling at Mah. There are no refining capacities on the islands. Oil and gas imports, distribution and re-export are the responsibility of Seychelles Petroleum (Sepec), while oil exploration is the responsibility of the Seychelles National Oil Company (SNOC).

Seychellois society is essentially matriarchal.[35][36] Mothers tend to be dominant in the household, controlling most expenditures and looking after the interests of the children.[35]Unwed mothers are the societal norm, and the law requires fathers to support their children.[36] Men are important for their earning ability, but their domestic role is relatively peripheral.[35]

Until the mid-19th century, little formal education was available in Seychelles. The Catholic and Anglican churches opened mission schools in 1851. The Catholic mission later operated boys' and girls' secondary schools with religious Brothers and nuns from abroad even after the government became responsible for them in 1944.

A teacher training college opened in 1959, when the supply of locally trained teachers began to grow, and in short time many new schools were established. Since 1981 a system of free education has been in effect requiring attendance by all children in grades one to nine, beginning at age five. Ninety percent of all children attend nursery school at age four.

The literacy rate for school-age children rose to more than 90% by the late 1980s. Many older Seychellois had not been taught to read or write in their childhood; adult education classes helped raise adult literacy from 60% to a claimed 100% in 2014.

There are a total of 68 schools in Seychelles. The public school system consists of 23 crches, 25 primary schools and 13 secondary schools. They are located on Mah, Praslin, La Digue and Silhouette. Additionally, there are three private schools: cole Franaise, International School and the Independent School. All the private schools are on Mah, and the International School has a branch on Praslin. There are seven post-secondary (non-tertiary) schools: the Seychelles Polytechnic, School of Advanced Level Studies, Seychelles Tourism Academy, University of Seychelles Education, Seychelles Institute of Technology, Maritime Training Center, Seychelles Agricultural and Horticultural Training Center and the National Institute for Health and Social Studies.

The administration launched plans to open a university in an attempt to slow down the brain drain that has occurred. University of Seychelles, initiated in conjunction with the University of London, opened on 17 September 2009 in three locations and offers qualifications from the University of London.

Staple foods include fish, seafood and shellfish dishes, often accompanied with rice.[37][38] Fish dishes are cooked in several ways, such as steamed, grilled, wrapped in banana leaves, baked, salted and smoked.[37] Curry dishes with rice are also a significant aspect of the country's cuisine.[38][39]

Additional food staples include coconut, breadfruit, mangoes and kordonnyen fish.[40] Dishes are often garnished with fresh flowers.[40]

The music of Seychelles is diverse, a reflection of the fusion of cultures through its history. The folk music of the islands incorporates multiple influences in a syncretic fashion, including African rhythms, aesthetic and instrumentationsuch as the zez and the bom (known in Brazil as berimbau), European contredanse, polka and mazurka, French folk and pop, sega from Mauritius and Runion, taarab, soukous and other pan-African genres, and Polynesian, Indian and Arcadian music.

A form of percussion music called contombley is popular, as is Moutya, a fusion of native folk rhythms with Kenyan benga. Kontredans (based on European contredanse) is popular, especially in District and School competitions during the annual Festival Kreol (International Creole Festival). Moutya playing and dancing can often be seen at beach bazaars. Their main languages are Seychellois Creole of The French Language, French and English.

The main daily newspaper is the Seychelles Nation, dedicated to local government views and current affairs and topics. Other political parties operate other papers such as Regar. Foreign newspapers and magazines are readily available in most bookshops and newsagents. The papers are mostly written in Seychellois Creole, French and English.

The main television and radio network is operated by the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation which offers locally produced news and discussion programmes in the Seychellois Creole language. Broadcasts run between 3pm and 11:30pm on weekdays and longer hours during the weekends. There are also imported English and French language television programmes imported on Seychellois terrestrial television and international satellite television has grown rapidly in recent years.

The most popular sport in the Seychelles is basketball, which has particularly developed in this decade.[43] The country's national team qualified for the 2015 African Games, its greatest accomplishment to date. There, the team competed against some of the continent's largest countries such as Egypt.

The Military of Seychelles is the Seychelles People's Defence Force which consists of a number of distinct branches: including an Infantry Unit, Coast Guard, Air Force and a Presidential Protection Unit. India has and continues to play a key role developing the military of Seychelles. After handing over 2 SDB Mk5 patrol vessels namely INS Tarasa and INS Tarmugli to Seychelles Coast Guard, built by GRSE which were subsequently renamed SCG Constant and SCG Topaz, India also gifted a Dornier Maritime Patrol aircraft built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.[44] India also signed a pact to develop the Assumption Island, one of the 115 islands that make up the country. Spread over 11km2 (4sqmi), it is strategically located in the Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar. The island is being leased for development of infrastructure, a euphemism for developing strategic assets by India.[45]

In 2014, Seychelles had the highest incarceration rate in the world of 799 prisoners per 100,000 population, exceeding the United States rate by 15%.[46] As of September 2014, Seychelles had 735 prisoners, only 6% of whom were female, incarcerated in three prisons.[47] The high prison population, however, was not incarcerated citizens, but rather 68% of the country's prisoners were Somalian hijackers.[48]

Seychelles is a key participant in the fight against Indian Ocean piracy mainly by Somalians.[48] President James Michel said that piracy costs between $712 million a year to the international community: The pirates cost 4% of the Seychelles GDP, including direct and indirect costs for the loss of boats, fishing, and tourism, and the indirect investment for the maritime security, factors affecting local fishing one of the countrys main national resources which had a 46% loss in 20089.[48] International contributions of patrol boats, planes or drones have been provided to help Seychelles combat sea piracy.[48]

International organizations

See original here:

Seychelles - Wikipedia

Posted in Seychelles | Comments Off

How have robots changed manufacturing? | HowStuffWorks

Posted: at 7:41 am

Break things down to the original Latin and manufacturing is literally a matter of using your hands (manu) to make things (factura). Robots are a different story. The term comes to us from the Czech word robotnik, which means nothing short of slave labor. Don't let science fiction and Japanese cuteness confuse you: Humans created robots to do their drudge work.

Factories first opened their doors to modern industrial robots in 1961. That's when Unimate joined the General Motors workforce. Unimate was essentially a 4,000-pound (1,814-kilogram) arm attached to a giant steel drum. The Unimate robots boasted remarkable versatility for the time and could easily pour liquid metal into die casts, weld auto bodies together and manipulate 500-pound (227-kilogram) payloads.

In other words, Unimate could perform tasks that humans often found dangerous or boring, and it could do them with consistent speed and precision. It never called in sick, went on strike or violated company rules. It covered all three shifts in a 24-hour period without drawing a single minute of overtime. Needless to say, factory owners grew to like this no-nonsense new addition.

Robot factory workers aren't without their limitations, however. In their simplest forms, industrial robots are mere automatons. Humans program them to perform a simple task, and they repeat that task over and over again. Tasks that require decision-making, creativity, adaptation and on-the-job learning tend to go to the humans.

But when a job's just right for a robot, productivity tends to increase dramatically. For instance, Australia's Drake Trailers installed a single welding robot on its production line and benefited from a reported 60 percent increase in productivity [source: ABB Australia].

The most obvious impact of industrial mechanization is that it eliminates many unskilled job positions. This has especially been the case in United States and Japan, two countries that illuminate important factors in the robot takeover.

Japan suffers from negative population growth, and the younger members of its workforce are generally disinclined to take what they may perceive as dull manufacturing jobs. Industrial robots, therefore, have been a true advantage in that they fill unwanted factory jobs and create more technical positions dedicated to their upkeep. In the same way that a computerized office depends on various techies, so too do robotic workers require technical upkeep.

The United States, on the other hand, has seen a great deal of its factory business flee to China and other countries, where human labor is simply cheaper. Even domestic factory automation, with its allure of improved productivity and efficiency, has failed to tip the scales.

What will the future bring? Despite the economic downturn in 2009, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) observed a global surge in industrial robot demand for 2010. According to IFR estimates, the year 2013 will see Earth's population of industrial robots exceed 1.1 million [source: IFR]

Meanwhile, roboticists continue to stretch the boundaries of what industrial robots can do, such as in the field of machine learning, tactile sensing and socially intelligent robots. The future will likely see machines working alongside humans and even learning from them to perform an increasing number of manufacturing tasks.

Read this article:

How have robots changed manufacturing? | HowStuffWorks

Posted in Robotics | Comments Off

Professional Development | Robotics Academy

Posted: at 7:41 am

The Robotics Academy is a world leader in robotics education and trains teacher internationally. To learn more about our online, face to face, or onsite training, scroll down to see all the available training sessions.

Click here for more details

June 20th 24, 2016 [ENDED] July 18th 22nd, 2016 [ENDED] August 8th 12th, 2016 [ENDED]

Click here for more details

No sessions currently scheduled

Click here for more details

June 20th 24, 2016[ENDED] July 18th 22nd, 2016 [ENDED]

Click here for more details

July 11th 15th, 2016 [ENDED] August 1st 5th, 2016 [ENDED]

Click here for more details

September 29th November 3rd, 2016[ENDED] Thursdays,6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Vu

Click here for more details

September 26th October 31st, 2016[ENDED] Mondays,6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Jesse

Click here for more details

September 28th November 2nd, 2016[ENDED] Wednesday, 6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Heath

The Robotics Academys qualified trainers can come to your site and offer classes for groups of teachers from September through May. Robotics Academy are not typically available to train during the summer. Cost for training begins at $2000/day plus expenses. Please send an email to training@rec.ri.cmu.edu to discuss your schools training needs.

All training is conducted at the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) in Pittsburgh, PA. The NREC is part of the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute, a world-renowned robotics organization, where youll be surrounded by real-world robot research and commercialization.

On-site training takes you through four and a half days of training and also includes:

Hands-on training using provided hardware and software Robotics Academy Certification for Graduates Certificate of Completion for Graduates ACT 48 Credits (for PA Teachers) Tour of the National Robotics Engineering Center Lunch!

You also can take advantage of Pittsburghs attractions, from world-class museums and entertainment, to shopping, excursions sports, and more.

Click here for more details

June 20th 24, 2016[ENDED] July 18th 22nd, 2016 [ENDED] August 8th 12th, 2016 [ENDED]

Click here for more details

No sessions currently scheduled

Click here for more details

July 11th 15th, 2016 [ENDED] August 1st 5th, 2016 [ENDED]

Click here for more details

June 20th 24, 2016[ENDED] July 18th 22nd, 2016 [ENDED]

Enjoy the convenience of taking Robotics Academy courses without leaving your own computer workstation.

Enjoy these benefits with Online Training:

Assisted training using provided hardware and software Screen sharing amongst the class Networking opportunities with other professional educators Robotics Academy Certification for Graduates

The Professional Development courses provide teachers and coaches with a solid foundation for robot programming in the respective languages, and experience in troubleshooting common student mistakes. It also focuses on identifying and extracting academic value from the naturally occurring STEM situations encountered in robotics explorations.

Click here for more details

September 29th November 3rd, 2016[ENDED] Thursdays,6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Vu

Click here for more details

September 26th October 31st, 2016[ENDED] Mondays,6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Jesse

Click here for more details

September 28th November 2nd, 2016[ENDED] Wednesday, 6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Heath

We will not be offering classes for less than 8 registrants in an online class.If a class does not have enough registrants, we will ask if you would like to join a different session if one is available. We will not send out software or hardware until there are enough registrants in the class.

Original post:

Professional Development | Robotics Academy

Posted in Robotics | Comments Off

ROBOTC | Robotics Academy

Posted: at 7:41 am

Online Professional Development Courses Start this February!

Online Professional Development Courses Start this February! We are excited to announce our latest online training schedule! Classes start in February and you can enjoy the convenience of taking Robotics Academy courses without leaving your own computer workstation! Register for a class here! Benefits of Robotics Academy Online Training Courses:

The latest chapter within the VEX CORTEX Video Trainer Curriculum is now available Competition Programming!Located in the Engineering Section,this chapterincludes lessons designed to help students prepare their programs for a VEX Competition. Some of the lessons youll learn within this chapter includes: Creating a Competition Legal Program with the

The latest chapter within our VEX CORTEX Video Trainer Curriculum is now available Using the LCD!Located in the Sensing section, this chaptercovers how to configure and implement the LCD as a useful tool in your program. Some of the lessons youll learn within this chapter includes: Three steps to

We are excited to share our latest chapter available within our VEX CORTEX Video Trainer Curriculum Gyro Sensor!Located in the Sensing section, this chapter will allow you toto turn the robot by measurements of degrees. Some of the lessons youll learn within this chapter includes: How the Gyro Sensor

We are excited to announce our Fallonline training schedulethatstarts in September! The Robotics Academy is a world leader in robotics education and trains teacher internationally. Enjoy the convenience of taking Robotics Academy courses without leaving your own computer workstation. Robotics Academy online training includes: Online access to supplemental lessons from

We are excited to share our latest chapter available within out VEX CORTEX Video Trainer Curriculum Integrated Encoders! Located in the Movement section, this chapter will allow you to increase movement accuracy and automatic movement corrections. Some of the lessons youll learn within this chapter includes: Introduction to the

Our Robotics Summer of Learning (RSOL) opens today! This summer, students have the opportunity to learn how to program virtual robots using a FREE copy of Robot Virtual Worldswhere they can program VEX IQor LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3virtual robots.All RSOL courses are self-paced with e-mail support available at rsol@cs2n.org. Sign

We are proud to announce the return of our Robotics Summer of Learning program!This summer, students have the opportunity to learn how to program robots, earn a programming certificate and badges, and play with cool software for FREE!We will provide all of the software and training materials at no cost

Our on-site (in Pittsburgh, PA) and online Summer Professional Development classes for VEX CORTEX, VEX IQ, and LEGO MINDSTORMS are filling up quickly. Register todayto make sure you get into your preferred course (listed below!) Highlights of the Robotics Academy Training: Acquire new skills with technology and new ways to

My name is Ringo Dingrando and I teach Robotics and Physics at International School Manila in the Philippines. For the past three years, high school students have been inquiring into how to program using ROBOTC and how to use their programming skills to build robots, often with VEX hardware. In

Read the original post:

ROBOTC | Robotics Academy

Posted in Robotics | Comments Off

Robotics Toolbox – PeterCorke.com

Posted: at 7:41 am

Introduction

This, the ninth release of the Toolbox, represents over fifteen years of development and a substantial level of maturity. This version captures a large number of changes and extensions generated over the last two years which support my new book Robotics, Vision & Control.

The Toolbox has always provided many functions that are useful for the study and simulation of classical arm-type robotics, for example such things as kinematics, dynamics, and trajectory generation. The Toolbox is based on a very general method of representing the kinematics and dynamics of serial-link manipulators.

These parameters are encapsulated in MATLAB objects - robot objects can be created by the user for any serial-link manipulator and a number of examples are provided for well know robots such as the Puma 560 and the Stanford arm amongst others. The Toolbox also provides functions for manipulating and converting between datatypes such as vectors, homogeneous transformations and unit-quaternions which are necessary to represent 3-dimensional position and orientation.

This ninth release of the Toolbox has been significantly extended to support mobile robots. For ground robots the Toolbox includes standard path planning algorithms (bug, distance transform, D*, PRM), kinodynamic planning (RRT), localization (EKF, particle filter), map building (EKF) and simultaneous localization and mapping (EKF), and a Simulink model a of non-holonomic vehicle. The Toolbox also including a detailed Simulink model for a quadrotor flying robot.

Advantages of the Toolbox are that:

the code is quite mature and provides a point of comparison for other implementations of the same algorithms;

the routines are generally written in a straightforward manner which allows for easy understanding, perhaps at the expense of computational efficiency. If you feel strongly about computational efficiency then you can always rewrite the function to be more efficient, compile the M-file using the Matlab compiler, or create a MEX version;

since source code is available there is a benefit for understanding and teaching.

Downloading the Toolbox

Download it from here in zip format (.zip).

The Toolbox is tested with MATLAB R2011a.

To install the Toolbox simply unpack the archive which will create the directory (folder) rvctools, and within that the directories robot, simulink, and common.

Adjust your MATLABPATH to include rvctools

Execute the startup file rvctools/startup_rvc.m and this will place the correct directories in your MATLAB path.

Run the demo rtbdemo to see what it can do

To get the MEX version of rne visit the folder rvctools/robot/mex and follow the directions in the README file

Documentation

The book Robotics, Vision & Control (Corke, 2011) is a detailed introduction to mobile robotics, navigation, localization; and arm robot kinematics, Jacobians and dynamics illustrated using the Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB.

The manual robot.pdf is a printable document (around 100 pages). It is auto-generated from the comments in the MATLAB code and is fully: to external web sites, the table of content to functions, and the ``See also'' functions to each other. You can find this in the Toolbox as rvctools/robot/robot.pdf

The Toolbox documentation also appears in the MATLAB help browser.

Related publications

If you like the Toolbox and want to cite it please reference it as:

P.I. Corke, Robotics, Vision & Control, Springer 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-20143-1. [bibtex]

The following are now quite old publications about the Toolbox and the syntax has changed considerably over time:

P.I. Corke, MATLAB toolboxes: robotics and vision for students and teachers, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Volume 14(4), December 2007, pp. 16-17 [PDF]

P.I. Corke, "A Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB", IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Volume 3(1), March 1996, pp. 24-32. [PDF]

P.I. Corke, A computer tool for simulation and analysis: the Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB, Proceedings of the 1995 National Conference of the Australian Robot Association, Melbourne, Australia, pp 319-330, July 1995. [PDF]

Support

There is no support! This software is made freely available in the hope that you find it useful in solving whatever problems you have to hand. I am happy to correspond with people who have found genuine bugs or deficiencies but my response time can be long and I can't guarantee that I respond to your email. I am very happy to accept contributions for inclusion in future versions of the toolbox, and you will be suitably acknowledged.

I can guarantee that I will not respond to any requests for help with assignments or homework, no matter how urgent or important they might be to you. That's what your teachers, tutors, lecturers and professors are paid to do.

You might instead like to communicate with other users via the Google Group called which is a forum for discussion. You need to signup in order to post, and the signup process is moderated by me so allow a few days for this to happen. I need you to write a few words about why you want to join the list so I can distinguish you from a spammer or a web-bot.

There is also a frequently asked questions (FAQ) wiki page.

Whos using it

Introduction to Robotics (3rd edition), John Craig, Wiley, 2004. The exercises in this book are based on an earlier version of the Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB.

Robot Kinematics and Dynamics, Wikibooks.

Toolbox ported to other languages

Robotics Toolbox for SciLab, Matteo Morelli

Robotics Toolbox for LabView, National Instruments ported the MATLAB Toolbox to Labview under licence.

Robotics Toolbox for Python, still quite immature (Corke)

Octave. A large part of release 9 now works with Octave. There is a folder called octave and follow the instructions in the README to install it. The classical Robotics Toolbox functions are supported: Link, SerialLink, Quaternion and all the trajectory, angle conversion functions. None of the mobile robotics functions are covered. In terms of the RVC book the functions for Chaps 7, 8 and 9 are covered.

Other robotics related software on the web

ARTE: Robotics Toolbox for Education, a Matlab toolbox focussed on industrial robotic manipulators, with rich 3D graphics, teach pendants and the ABB RAPID language.

V-REP, a virtual robot experimentation platform, the Swiss army knife of robot simulators.

OpenRAVE, an environment for testing, developing, and deploying motion planning algorithms in real-world robotics applications.

RoKiSim, a Windows-based simulator with 3D models of common robots which can be driven using a virtual teach pendent.

SPACELIB: 3D kinematics and dynamics, C-language and MATLAB. (Legnani, U. di Brescia)

Dynamechs a C++ library for simulating the dynamics of multibody systems

ROBOOP, C++ classes for robot kinematics and dynamics (Richard Gourdeau of cole Polytechnique de Montreal)

JRoboOp Java wrapper for ROBOOP from the PRISMA Lab at U. Naples.

Open Dynamics Engine A free, industrial quality library for simulating articulated rigid body dynamics for example ground vehicles, legged creatures, and moving objects in VR environments.

RoboAnalyzer (IIT Delhi)

Orocos (Open Robot Control Software) project(EURON)

Retired or gone missing:

Robotica for Mathematica (Spong, U. Ilinois)

Robot Symbolic Dynamics package for MAPLE (Corke)

MATROBCOM a toolbox for interfacing Matlab to real robots (Pires, U.Coimbra).

ROBOMOSP: Robotics Modelling and Simulation Platform

Toolbox release history

v4 August 1996

v5 April 1999, first with objects

v6 April 2001

v7 April 2002, MEX files, Simulink models and modified Denavit-Hartenberg support.

v8 December 2008, first with classdef object syntax

v9 September 2011

The text of this website [or page, if you are specifically releasing one section] is available for modification and reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License and the GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts).

See the original post here:

Robotics Toolbox - PeterCorke.com

Posted in Robotics | Comments Off

Rich Hooper, PhD, PE: Robotics Engineer

Posted: at 7:41 am

76. Dear Rich Hooper, I am an electrical engineering student at Bucknell University working with a design team to improve the control interface for a professor's micromanipulator. Do you have any suggestions for us? We are currently using an "RC style" joystick with the twist controlling z-axis motion and up-down/back-forth controlling x and y. It springs back to neutral when no force is applied.

Dear Student: I would call what you are working on a Human Machine Interface (HMI). I bet there's a visual component (computer screen, VR goggles, etc.) along with the hand controller part. The hand controller part is also often called the manual controller. Frankly, if you only need to control X, Y and Z it's going to be tough to beat a traditional joystick like you already have. My experience is that humans are most precise using the small muscles of their hands and fingers, and that's the scale of a traditional joystick. Some force feedback might be helpful. You could experiment with that, but I don't recommend a manual controller that is at the scale of whole arm or body motion to control a micro manipulator.

If you are going to try to design a force feedback manual controller, it needs to be very high bandwidth. The structure needs to be very light, there needs to be no backlash and the actuators need to be backdrivable. The Phantom haptic device http://www.dentsable.com/haptic-phantom-omni.htm is a good example of a design that follows these principles and is at the scale of small movements of the hands and fingers. You could look at this design and learn from it.

Good luck with the project,

Rich

1. What are some of the advancements in robotics?

The biggest advancements have been in the precision, speed and strength of robots. Learning and artificial intelligence algorithms have probably been the biggest disappointments. I dont think we will see robots even remotely approaching human intelligence by 2050.

2. What defines artificial intelligence?

Artificial means not occurring in nature. Intelligence is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.

3. What is the closest to artificial intelligence that mankind has created thus far?

Probably some computer algorithm.

4. Is it possible robots will surpass human intelligence?

It is possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.

5. Besides creating a neural network, are there any other ways of creating artificial intelligence?

Learning algorithms and expert systems are two examples.

6. About how much does it cost to build a humanoid robot?

Im sure Honda has spent tens of millions of dollars on their Asimo.

7. If a completely self sustaining robot is created is it possible that Hollywood movies like The Terminator and I Robot could become reality?

It is possible, but more likely the people that made the robots would just turn them off before it got that out-of-control.

8. With spying becoming a greater problem, will creating surveillance robots add to an already growing threat?

Surveillance robots do make excellent spies.

9. Do you think that the field of robotics engineers will grow in the future or shrink?

I think the field will grow. Do some research on the number of robots deployed world-wide today and compare it with the numbers from ten years ago and then see what you think. You might also like to read Marshall Brains Robotic Nation and see what he thinks.

10. Robots like the Mini Andros III are used to dispose of explosive ordinance devices. Are there any other robots that help in a similar manner like firefighting?

I'm sure there are. Do some research and please let me know what you find. I think the BEAR robot could make an excellent fire fighter.

11. AIBO is able to learn and is capable of simulating emotions. Is there a possibility of AIBO turning on its owners?

Nope. I just read that Sony is discontinuing Aibo.

12. Im about to graduate high school. How do I find a job in robotics?

You really have two choices. The first is to go to traditional college and the second is to go to a technical college. If you decide to go the traditional college route, then you should probably study science or engineering, though there may be opportunities for folks with humanities degrees to work in the robotics field one of these days. Dr. Susan Calvin was a robot psychologist. If you go to a technical college, then you will have a chance to learn about robot programming and robot applications. A job doing those things would be very interesting.

13. Im about to graduate college with an engineering degree. How do I find a job in robotics?

When you first graduate college, you will be a very junior engineer. Robots are often the most complex systems a company will make. You will need to first focus on a subsystem, such as the mechanical, electrical, computing or software systems. Once you have become an accomplished engineer in one of those fields, you can consider moving to a systems engineering roles.

14. What sort of classes did you take to prepare for your college career, or what classes did you participate in your freshman year of college?

I didn't take calculus or any AP classes in high school. I did participate in student government, spent several semesters in metal shop and was on a sports team every year. Hopefully some Universities still appreciate varied experience. College had the typical freshman-engineering curriculum - calculus, physics and chemistry.

15. Did you always wish to be involved with robotics, if so what started your interests in robotics? If not, how did you come into being involved?

I've been interested in robotics for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure what started it. I do remember making a robotic hand in my garage when I was about 16.

16. What sort of company or group do you work for, and what is required of you by your employer (in terms of hours, job expectations, etc)?

I work for a company that does custom engineering of computer-controlled machines. We bid on projects in the 1 to 10 million-dollar range primarily. The projects usually last a year or less. We have about 70 engineers and about 15 work in my group. I work about 53 hours a week and try not to make too many big $$$ mistakes.

17. Within your job, what do you enjoy the most and what do you enjoy the least? Why?

I like most aspects of my job. The hardest part is dealing with employees that don't try hard enough or make a lot of mistakes.

18. I was wondering what colleges or universities are good for majoring in robotics.

Any college or university with an engineering program can put you on the path towards a career in robotics. Talk to (or email) someone on the faculty and tell them you are interested in robotics. See what they think.

19. Does your employer offer you benefits?

My employer offers benefits that are typical for a company that employs engineers health, life & disability insurance, 401k, standard holidays, a cube : )

20. Did you like the college you chose? if not why?

I went to Rice University for my undergraduate degree. The choice was good for me. I recommend looking for a University committed to nurturing its undergraduate students. I know its hard to believe, but an 18-year-old living away from home for the first time can use some guidance from time to time.

21. What are the educational requirements for becoming a robotics engineer?

The educational requirements are pretty much the same as the educational requirements for becoming any kind of engineer. That would be an engineering degree from a four-year college. Ive also seen folks with physics degrees and other science degrees working as engineers. There is also plenty of room for technical college degrees in the robotics field. These would be for the folks that would like to work on the "ground floor" with robots. They are deploying robots and teaching them to do their tasks.

22. What is the typical job function?

See below for a description of what I do on a typical day.

23. What do you do on a typical workday?

I generally get to work at 8:00 AM. Then Ill:

Spend two or three hours designing electrical circuits or mechanical systems and helping younger engineers learn about these circuits and systems. These engineers also help me by creating drawings and schematics.

An hour or two working on Bills Of Materials (BOMs) The BOM is very important to engineers. This is a list of all the materials in the system. It includes wires, resistors, integrated circuits, nuts, bolts and processors, etc. The manufacturing department uses the BOMs and the drawings to build the systems.

An hour or two in meetings or conference calls

An hour or two writing emails

An hour or two in the lab conducting experiments or trying to understand why the systems I designed are not working the way I thought the would.

Ill take a 30-minute lunch at noon and go home around 6:30. I usually sneak in a few hours working early in the morning on weekends (I'm writing the answer to this question at 2:40 AM). I typically work 53-hour weeks.

24. My son is 13 and is very interested in robotics, he attends West Hill School in Stalybridge Cheshire. He is to take his options for next year, can you suggest which would be the right direction for him to choose. Will he need A levels? and which University would you recommend he attend. He has been asked for Homework, what he would need in terms of qualifications to do this job. I hope you can help. Your website is very interesting, Brilliant and very informative. Thanks in advance.:

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed looking at the learnaboutrobots site. Robotics is such a broad field that your son could study almost any discipline and end up working with robots. There are robots in art, music and entertainment. The "star" of Isaac Asimov's "I Robot" books is a robot psychologist. I don't know how it is in Stalybridge Cheshire, but here in Austin public school is crammed with reading, writing and arithmetic - at the expense of music, arts and physical education. I have a 13 year old son too. I encourage him to study what he enjoys. I also insist that he participates in at least one cultural extracurricular activity (like playing piano) and one physical (he's on swim team right now) every semester. Tell your son I said hello.

25. Give a brief description of your field of engineering.

Systems engineering - The design of systems with mechanical components, electrical components, computing machinery and software.

26. Do you design you own work, or produce someone else's designs?

Engineers design their own work. Junior engineers get more supervision and senior engineers can make bigger mistakes.

27. What advice would you give a high school student (myself) who is thinking of going into robotics engineering?

The same advice I'd give a middle school student and an undergraduate student. Take the classes that seem interesting to you. See 24 above.

28. If you had to do it all over again, what (if anything) would you do differently?

Take more vacation time...

29. I'm not really good in mathematics, but I'm pretty average. Do you think I have what it takes to become a robotic engineer?

You can definitely work in robotics without being strong in mathematics. You might find getting an undergraduate degree in engineering pretty tough. Most engineering curricula have a lot of math. I'm sure you can do it, though you might need to spend a little more time on your homework.

30. I understand that you are a very busy man, but I need just a moment of your time. I am sure you get this question a lot. Do you know of any specific colleges I could attend in Indiana to get a degree in mechanical engineering? I believe a degree in mechanical engineering could help me become a robotics engineer. Please write back to me as soon as you can. Thank you in advance for your time.

Not a day goes by when someone doesn't ask me about mechanical engineering programs in Indiana : ) I'm not familiar with colleges in Indiana, but I bet there are plenty that have good programs in mechanical engineering. An undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering would be a great way to get on the path to becoming a robotics professional..

31. My friend and I were brain storming last night till about 4am about a simple robot that could play simple games. The games would involve timing so it would only involve one or two robotic fingers to fire corresponding with the timing.

You might consider servo center by Yost engineering and a couple of RC servos from the hobby shop. That would get you going for about $100. You could also buy a Robot magazine http://www.botmag.com/. There are lots of ads in that magazine for different robot building kits. Good luck!

32. I know that there are different disciplines in engineering such as robotics. But are there disciplines in Robotics Engineering? What is the correct term? What I am trying to say is that, Are their different fields such as Android engineering, Robotic Toys, Robotic Vehicles, Robotic Tools etc.? How many and what are the names of those different robotics fields?

I would call them branches of robotics. The branches I can think of along the lines you suggest would be mobile robotics, robotics tooling, robot vision, toys and entertainment. The disciplines that shape robotics include controls, mechanisms, dynamics, kinematics, computing hardware and software.

33. I am an academic coach assisting a high school student with the task of selecting the right college to fit his needs, wants, grades and temperament, that is a smaller school versus a huge 30,000 student factory. He is very interested in mechanical engineering and robotics.

You hit the nail on the head with the needs, wants, grades and temperament part. Take care of those and the rest will take care of themselves. I went to a very small 3,000-student school for undergrad and a huge 50,000-student school for grad. I learned a lot at both places. There are many schools of all sizes around the country where you can study robotics. Find some you are interested in and talk to (or email) someone on the faculty. Tell them you are interested in mechanical engineering and robotics. See what they think. Good luck to you and your student.

34. I am currently a junior in high school. I am really interested in the field of robotics and I would like to know how to get involved in this field. On your site, you talked about making a robot hand in your garage. how?? Did your house have these materials just lying around? Does experimenting with different things at home require any special equipment? I would love to try and make different things at home and I need to also...my mom is starting to get mad about all of the electronic stuff I take apart all throughout the house.

All of my early work was made from electronic stuff I took apart around the house. Our garage had a drill press and a vice, but no precision tools. Tell your Mom not to be mad, you're learning to be an engineer.

There are kits for making robots that you can buy so you don't have to scrounge as many parts. Take a look at the ads in Robot magazine (botmag.com). You can buy decent servos at the hobby store for about $10 each and hook them to your computer with something like Servocenter from Yost engineering.

35. I am 42 and in the accounting field. I don't have a degree currently. I am very interested in consumer robotics, but am unsure if it is feasible for me to consider this. Any info you could provide would be appreciated.

I'm sure it's feasible, but I think the monetary penalty would be pretty high. You would lose at least a few years of salary while getting a degree and then you would be starting as a very junior engineer and would have a pretty low salary. Then you would be looking at 10 - 20 more years before you would have enough engineering experience to be a lead engineer on a robotics project. If you really wanted to do it, you could; but you would have to really want to.

36. I am a interested in robotics but am cautious about getting into the field and it being to crowded. I am a mechanical engineering major that plans to graduate in 2009. Do you think the robotics field will get to the point where there is more qualified workers than there is work?

There will be more demand than supply of good engineers that understand computer-controlled electro-mechanical systems for as far into the future as I can see.

37. My idols are Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein (I know the theory of relativity) and The Wright Brothers. I want to either become an engineer or a physicist. I'm only 12 years old, turning thirteen next year. So, let's get to the point. What kind of engineering do you think I should do? What kind of job do you think would suit me?

You asked me questions that only you can answer. Study and work on what you find most interesting.

38. I see you have P.E. after your name. What is a P.E.?

A Professional Engineer (P.E.) is a person who by reason of their knowledge of mathematics, the physical sciences and the principles of engineering, acquired by professional education and practical experience, is qualified to engage in the practice of professional engineering. To lawfully use that title a person must pass a series of exams, have multiple years of engineering experience, at least five positive references from other professional engineers and maintain a license from the state in which they practice.

39. Do you feel your pay is comparable to the amount of years you spent in college?

The money I earn is fine, but the real pay is the value I place on education.

40. What are some tools that you use regularly in your job?

The tools I use most often are an oscilloscope a Digital Multi Meter (DMM) and a computer.

41. Do you get vacation time from your job? How much?

I get two or three weeks vacation a year. As long as I am getting my job done, no one pays much attention to how much vacation time I take.

42. Do you ever travel for your job?

I generally travel two or three days a month.

43. If you get sick, can you work from home?

I could do some work from home, but a lot of my job duties require me to be at the office.

44. My son is 8. He wants to be a robotics engineer, but my husband is freaking out because he wants him to be a doctor.

He's only 8. By the time he grows up half of all surgeries will probably be performed by doctors controlling robots. The Da Vinci robot is already being used for gall bladder, prostate and even heart surgery. Do a search on Da Vinci robot and you will find lots of information. Maybe you could use his interest in robotics to expose him to medicine?

Here is the original post:

Rich Hooper, PhD, PE: Robotics Engineer

Posted in Robotics | Comments Off

Robotics Technician & Automation Training – Online Course in …

Posted: at 7:41 am

This self-paced, interactive Robotics Technician Certificate training program allows you to work, when you want, where you want, at your own pace. Earn college credits from a fully accredited, world-leader in Distance Education.

Welcome to OnlineRobotics.com. Our Robotics Technician program provides students the opportunity to complete Robotics training and receive a Robotics Technician certificate, while taking our home training courses using an interactive learning package.

Our unique pay-as-you-learn registration option allows for easy installment-type payments. Instead of paying for the entire program when you register, you can pay for just one module at a time! You decide how quickly, or slowly, you would like to progress through the course material on a pay-as-you-learn basis.

Our distance education program provides easy-to-use home study courses since all you need is the USB or CD-ROM and an internet connection. No expensive books or lab equipment are required. The robotics simulation software, RoboLogix, is provided with the program and converts your computer into a simulated industrial robot, complete with 3D learning environments such as manufacturing plants and control systems.

Because of the flexible delivery format, students can complete the home study training in less time or more time. The Robotics Technician training program is designed to meet your schedule not ours, so you decide how much time you will take to complete the training. We provide you with the training support but leave the scheduling of studying and completion time up to you. Average completion time for the entire Robotics Technician Certificate Training program is 28 weeks. Previous electronics and/or robotics/automation experience and education may reduce that time significantly.

George Brown College is one of the largest Colleges in North America with over 75,000 students studying in full-time and part-time programs. Our award-winning distance education programs include Robotics, Electronics, Electromechanical and Programmable Logic Controllers.

Link:

Robotics Technician & Automation Training - Online Course in ...

Posted in Robotics | Comments Off

Daily Archives: October 25, 2016

Gambling Addiction Treatment Center, Rehab – Non Gambler

Objetivismo, la filosofa de Ayn Rand | La Rebelin de Atlas …

What does Liberal mean? – Definitions.net

Seychelles – Wikipedia

How have robots changed manufacturing? | HowStuffWorks

Professional Development | Robotics Academy

ROBOTC | Robotics Academy

Robotics Toolbox – PeterCorke.com

Rich Hooper, PhD, PE: Robotics Engineer

Robotics Technician & Automation Training – Online Course in …

The Prometheus League

Breaking News and Updates

Prometheism

Forbidden Fruit

The Evolutionary Perspective

Transtopia Menu

Library Updates

Library Books

Future Euvolution

Lucid Dreams from Childhood

Genetic Revolution

Speciation + Self-Directed Evolution