Police Corruption - 968 Words

There is much seriousness about the issue of white-collar crime. What is white-collar crime you may ask. White-collar is defined as, ‘a generic term for crimes involving commercial fraud, cheating consumers, swindles, insider trading on the stock market, embezzlement and other forms of dishonest business schemes. The term comes from the out of date assumption that business executives wear white shirts and ties. It also theoretically distinguishes these crimes and criminals from physical crimes, supposedly likely to be committed by blue collar workers.† Many people do not realize how serious white-collar crime is. There are many different forms of white-collar crime, our textbook states, â€Å"white-collar or economic crime includes (1)†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"It isn t hard to explain the growth of corruption. Relative to other opportunities, legitimate or illegitimate, the financial temptations are enormous. Many police officers are demoralized by the scop e of drug trafficking. No matter how diligent an officer may be eradication programs and millions of arrests have done little to stop drugs which are now cheaper, purer, and more available than ever. Given the dangers of their job, the indifference of many citizens and the frequent lack of appreciation are no doubt disheartening. Some police also recognize that their real function is not so much to protect victims from predators but to regulate an illicit market that can t be suppressed and that much of society prefers to keep underground.† Many individuals do not realize how serious and how often this happens in law enforcement departments and how many officers get away with corruption and how much it dishonors their departments. This is why I believe police corruption is the most dangerous form of white-collar crime. As I previously stated, I believe it is important for a community to feel safe and confident in their enforcement officers. So, the corruption of officers will and could cause very serious problems in a community. If the police, the authority of the community are involved in crime then why would the community is going to be involved also. Work Cited 1.Show MoreRelatedThe Corruption Of Police Corruption1484 Words   |  6 Pagesconcerning police officers, police corruption has become a major topic. Police officers seem to be making more questionable and unethical decisions according to the media. With these questionable actions, the idea that police officers are corrupt has been a steadily growing opinion. I will be focusing this literature review on the history of police corruption, mostly in major cities/countries; the nature of police corruption; the ethics involved in law enforcement; causes for police corruption and finallyRead MorePolice Corruption969 Words   |  4 PagesPolice Corruption Second Essay for AJ 101 Krystal Lamas Victor Valley Community College Author Note This paper was prepared for AJ 101 for Mr. Ronald M. Field .M.A. Abstract Police corruption is a complex issue. Police corruption or the abuse of authority by a police officer, acting officially to fulfill personal needs or wants, is a growing problem in the United States today. Things such as an Internal Affairs department, a strong leadership organization, and community support are justRead MorePolice corruption770 Words   |  4 Pagesdefinition of Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial gain, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest. One common form of police corruption is taking bribes in exchange for not reporting organized drug or prostitution rings or other illegal activities. Another example is police officers misusing the police code of conductRead MorePolice Corruption3338 Words   |  14 PagesAnalysis of Police Corruption Police corruption is a complex phenomenon, which does not readily submit to simple analysis. It is a problem that has and will continue to affect us all, whether we are civilians or law enforcement officers. Since its beginnings, may aspects of policing have changed; however, one aspect that has remained relatively unchanged is the existence of corruption. An examination of a local newspaper or any police-related publication on any given day will have an articleRead MorePolice Corruption9501 Words   |  39 PagesPolice Corruption: A Perspective View Into the Definition, Cause, Harm Randy Botelho BSLS Capstone, LS498-01 – Unit 9 Professor Odim December 17, 2011 Thesis Statement Corruption in law enforcement is not victimless and creates a negative perception of the United States legal system. Introduction There are few professions in the United States that are entrusted with protecting society’s safety and system of laws that have been established throughout the course of AmericanRead MorePolice Corruption2291 Words   |  10 Pagesand discretion in police work produces great potential for abuse. Police corruption has been a problem in American society since the early days of policing. An ancient natural tendency of human beings is to attempt to placate or win over those in positions of authority over them. This tendency is complicated in today’s materialistic society by greed and by the personal and financial benefit to be derived from evading law. The temptations toward illegality offered to police range from freeRead MorePolice Corruption in Russia1430 Words   |  6 PagesPolice corruption is defined as when police, in exercising or failing to exercise their authority act with primary intention of furthering private or departmental / division advantage. Police corruption is a big problem all around the world especially in Russia. The Russian citizens have always been on alert when it comes to the police because of the bad laws, failure of knowing there right as citizens, and sticking up for there themselves. Russia is 133rd country out of 176 in the corruption perceptionRead MorePolice Corruption2879 Words   |  12 PagesStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy corruption is defined as the abuse of power by a public official for private gain. Police corruption is the abuse of power by a police officer for their own personal gain. Police officers become corrupt mainly for monetary gain because most feel that police officers do not make enough money and they want to make more. Police corruption can be costly to society and it can even violate the rights of society. Police corruption can show favoritism to some and unfairnessRead More Police Corruption in America2871 Words   |  12 Pages Police Corruption in America The missions statement of police agencies usually highlight with pride the maintenance, promotion, and protection of peace, order, safety, and justified law enforcement in communities and the entire nation. Police officers are agents meant to bust crimes and get the bad guys. The police agency that the public use to lean on as the legitimate authority figure to come to the rescue however has created conflicting public perception. The misconduct of some policeRead MoreEssay on Police and Corruption1393 Words   |  6 PagesPolice and Corruption The police. Twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year, this division of our government has a mandate to enforce the criminal law and preserve public peace. Understood in this mandate is an obligation to police everyday life matters that originate in the daily lives and activities of citizens within their community. Police interact in some form with the average citizen more often than any other government official. In society today the police play

Malaysias Alternative Strategy Essay examples - 1946 Words

[MALAYSIA’S ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY] Introduction The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis drew attention to just how fragile our global economic system can become either when overexposed to foreign market intervention, or when underperformance remains unchecked. Prior to June 1997, The Republic of Korea encountered issues as 10 of its 30 top performing chaebol (Conglomerate) collapsed underneath debt which far exceeded their respective equities. Korean steel production giant Hanbo faced additional stress after amassing a $4.39 billion debt for one new steel mill. Kia Motors fell due to accruing almost $2.1 billion in loans that was awarded on the basis of â€Å"need,† as opposed to independent judgment of credit and cash flow determined by the†¦show more content†¦On 2 July 1997 Thailand had $2,850 billion remaining in international reserves and could no longer protect the baht. That day Marakanond decided to float the baht. Asian Financial Crisis – Neighboring Countries Neighbor South Korea dealt with economic uncertainty leading up to the 1997 currency crisis which plagued Thailand. South Korean chaebols or conglomerates were recording record debt levels between 1996 and 1997. Banking policies enacted by President, or Dictator, Park during the late 80’s constructed an economic environment whereby loans to chaebols were issued on the basis of company need, as opposed to individual judgment on part of the loan issuing authority. In more succinct terms, nationalized banks issues loans to chaebols without verifying whether the company could pay the loan bank, or whether the interest rates were reasonable, or even whether the company’s venture had enough collateral to back it up. In essence, chaebols were tasked with repaying loans that they might not have the appropriate level of capital for. Therefore, on the eve of the Asian Financial Crisis, chaebols such as Hanbo Steel, and others, were closing their doors due to debt burdens incurred without a proper foundation for capital generation. Neighbors to the South, Indonesia and others, suffered from currency, stock, and equity collapses, rather than tangible asset collapse. The currencies of Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and others, took massive hits fromShow MoreRelatedKfc Executive Summary Introduction701 Words   |  3 Pageslarge number of them have become more health conscious. This has opened the door for KFC’s main competitors, such as McDonald’s, to come out with a new range of healthier products, allowing them to mount a greater challenge on KFC Malaysia’s current position as Malaysia’s leading fast food operator. As a response to the advancement made by KFC’s competitors in providing healthier fast food, KFC are to introduce a new set of healthier products that would be mainly targeted at health conscious peopleRead MoreKfc Marketing Research3765 Words   |  16 Pageslarge number of them have become more health conscious. This has opened the door for KFC’s main competitors, such as McDonald’s, to come out with a new range of healthier products, allowing them to mount a greater challenge on KFC Malaysia’s current position as Malaysia’s leading fast food operator. As a response to the advancement made by KFC’s competitors in providing healthier fast food, KFC are to introduce a new set of healthier products that would be mainly targeted at health conscious peopleRead MoreThe Harvest Box Is An Australian Organic Foods Retailer1649 Words   |  7 Pagesreflected in a mere Current Account Balance of A$262M (CEIC, 2016). Whilst both economies seem very similar, Malaysia has less than one third the population of the Philippines (World Bank, 2016). This indicates, as illustrated by Graph 2.1, that Malaysia’s GDP per capita, GDP minus the effect of population, is significantly larger than the Philippines (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2017). Therefore, total economic efficiency and productivity in Malaysia is considerably higher than the Philippines;Read MoreComparative Analysis of the Businesses’ Competitive Traits Essay633 Words   |  3 PagesDelicacies (Malacca) had to face strict competition as there is up to 100 food businesses located on Jonker Street, Malacca. Nowadays, we know that there are many food businesses all over the country in every state. The business used a variety of strategies to compete with their competitors. Pricing, advertising, product variety, and promotions were employed by the business to compete with its competitors. For example, San Shu Gong House of Authentic Delicacies (Malacca) would make a promotion duringRead MoreAirpork Case Study769 Words   |  4 PagesA. Airpork case 1. Why was the Australian Pork industry able to become a major provider of pork to Singapore in spite of having been banned? (An alternative to this question is: give the wise marketing decisions that were made to enable Australian Pork to become a major supplier to Singapore) In 1997 the Singapore authorities banned imported Australian chilled pork, as it did not meet Singapore’s health requirements. However, a collaboration between Singapore government (AgrifoodRead MoreSwot Analysis : Derivatives Market Essay1429 Words   |  6 Pagesexample, we bought stock, we predict the price will go up but we want protect ourselves against the losses if the price plummets, we hedge the risk with a put option. If the price falls, we exercise our put and make back our money. Whatever the hedging strategy, the common denominator is that hedgers are willing to achieve protection against unfavourable price changes by give up the opportunity to benefit from favourable price changes. Speculators hypothesis on the future direction of the market and betRead MoreSWOT Analysis1465 Words   |  6 Pagesfactors (opportunities and threats) of the company. Strength The supports from the Malaysias government for tourism industry become one of the powerful strength for this industry. According to Hamzah (2008), tourism industry gives second highest contributor after Manufacturing industry. According to Asia-Web.com (2012), Langkawi island is one of the most popular holiday destinations. Again, the supports from Malaysias government will create a greater changes for tourism industry in Langkawi IslandRead MoreTakinga a Look at Pizza Hut Changloon859 Words   |  3 Pages Nowadays, pizza lover is everywhere. There are a lot’s of Pizza restaurant such as Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut pizza, Papa John’s pizza and so on. In this assignment we are focusing the marketing strategies of Pizza Hut which is located in Changloon. As we know, Pizza hut still come out with a variety of product such as salad soup, pasta, dessert and so on. In this case, pizza hut need to a lot of employee to complete their services provided for their customer especially in peak hour. But in ChanglonRead MoreProton Case Study2535 Words   |  11 PagesProton Case Writing About Proton Perusahan Otomobil Nasional Berhad (Proton) was established in May 1983 with the idea of creating Malaysia’s national car (Proton, 2011). In July two years later, in collaboration with their Japanese counterparts from Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Malaysia’s first car was produced. Mitsubishi provided Proton with technical assistance and supplied core components such as basic car designs, engines and transmissions (Proton, 2011). Many of the models (past and present)Read MorePest Analysis of Gucci in Malaysia2856 Words   |  12 Pagesthe impact of the unpredictable issues that will rise when Gucci operates in Malaysia by identifying the influential factors that have a strong effect on the business. Political * Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEANS) represents the Malaysia’s main free trade removing all barriers reassuring western companies, including Gucci to make way into starting business in Malaysia. Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) in July 2009 was signed by Secretary Clinton to enhance the

Accounting Theory with Reference to Synergiz’s Research Publication

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Theory with Reference to Synergizs Research Publication. Answer: Introduction The study is particularly based on a research publication of Synergiz, wherein the financial impacts of the responses of BP P.L.C regarding the oil spill is evaluated. BP is a global energy (gas and oil) company, which operations in the deserts, deep seas as well as retail stations. It provides power and fuel for the purpose of mobility, heat and light to the customers across the world (BP, 2017). The selected article incorporates approaches related to damage valuation and its comparison with the relevantaccounting and reporting needs for better reliability (Houdet Germaneau, 2011). Thus, the objective of this report is to evaluate the responses with respect to the interest theory along with analyzing the role of the regulators or politicians. Furthermore, the motivation of the politicians and regulators are also critically scrutinized, in addition to the consideration of related events of such oil spills in the recent scenario and their impacts. Discussion Interest Theory with Respect to the Article The interest theory under the umbrella of public consist rules and regulations, which were used for the benefits and protection of the public in general (Hantke-Domas, 2003). As per the theory of Government, public interest model integrated voting in the process of decision-making by the authorities. According to which there are three public sectors and public goods such as legal institutions, national defense, welfare, education and services (fire and water protection, sewage disposals). Another sector is economic regulation, which involves economic market regulations including environmental and social regulations on the issues such as child labor, animal cruelty, public decency and working conditions. Particularly, environmental regulations covered the rights of public property (Maloney, 2001). Furthermore, with respect to the Public Interest Theory of the article, the oil spill in the deep water horizon caused significant damage that affected the public directly and indirectly. . This is also termed as BP Oil Spill in the marine ecosystem, and is also is known as the largest oil spill in the entire history of US. This was a matter of great concern and has become one of the most popular topics for debates due to its high intensity and level of damage to the marine environment. BP was the key developer of the particular oil field in which the accident had occurred, for which it was held responsible along with Transocean Ltd and Halliburton, who were constructing and operating in the oil field. Subsequently, BP had to bear cleanup costs as per the regulations of the public interest theory (Houdet Germaneau, 2011). As per the regulations of interest theory of public, the political leaders played a significant role in regulating this theory. Not only in the financial crisis but also in this great concern of oil spill, the politicians encouraged these regulations. This helped in protecting the American values and norms relating to the human health, economic stability and environment safety. In addition, their contribution to make a better energy policy was also found to be prominent. Thus, for regulating the operations of precautionary principles, BP took unnecessary risks in their further activities (Flournoy, Andreen, Bratspies, Doremus, Flatt, Glicksman, Mintz, Rohlf, Sinden, Steinzor, Tomain, Zellmer Goodwin, 2010). The motivation of political regulators was also important because of the fact it was affecting the environment, polluting the ecosystem. The oil spill thereby had long lasting effects, even after of the occurrence of the event. Therefore, the political pressure ensured better env ironmental disclosures by the organizations to the public in order to address such problems in future. In addition, it also focused on creating plans for disasters, which would comply with the theory of disclosures regarding the environment. It was not only the political leaders, but also various agencies were regulating these activities of protection after this massive oil spill, which resulted in enhancing the environmental risks in the minds of the investors as well as general public (Heflin Wallace, 2017). Thus, it can be opined that they were specifically concerned about the health issues that were evident after the spill, which was affecting the public. This factor was thus considered as one of the most essential factors that led the politicians as well as the regulators to implements these regulations. Responding to the Article with Arguments As per the article, there are various arguments that will be highlighted in this section of the study. It was observed that there was a significant need for adequate environmental reporting andaccounting with more reliability post oil spill, which was viewed to be a positive aspect.. However, there are some criticisms that it had not disclosed any details relating to the social and ecosystem damage. In addition, it did not display the underlying calculations and methodologies for its pre-tax charges, which accounted for US$40.9 billion. On the other hand, adequate information could have been utilized to calculate the global costs of such incidents. Another drawback was that the temporary impairment of the ecosystem assets and values were also missing. Therefore, it can be stated that the limited disclosure of BP restricted the stakeholders to understand the actual scenario of the implications of the oil spill in the context of environmental, social and financial aspects (Houdet Germ aneau, 2011). In the contrary, BP made regular claims of its efforts for global warming and related issues before the occurrence of the incident. It further highlighted its achievement for winning Best Greenwash award for the efforts of investing in the renewable energy. These efforts enhanced its social as well as environmental performance (Lyon Maxwell, 2006). However, the damage that it had caused with oil spill incident created a negative impression. Hence, it can be opined that non-disclosure of certain facts and figures post incident was considered to be misleading the public along with its investors and shareholders. Corresponding to the financial disclosures, it can be argued that BP provided the information for green washing rather than accountability and reliability. With respect to all the damages it had resulted in loss of resources and imbalance of the ecosystem, accounted for US $40.9 billion relating to the recovery from the disaster. Thus, corporate reporting was observed to be inadequate in its annual report with respect to the disclosures of information, also failed to reveal the actual loss, which did not comply with anyaccounting standard and accounting systems. This created dissatisfaction among the public and misguided proper environmental accounting from the viewpoint of shareholders and investors (Azad, 2017). However, according to Ismail (2017), there were various companies that had implemented policies, which helped in balancing the economic and social responsibility performances. This was done as a response to the various incidents of oil spills such as the Deepwater Horizon i n 2010, which raised several criticisms regarding the methods of extractions. This was often considered to be risky for the business. As a result of which various companies enhanced their accounting, financial and environmental reporting methods and standards (Ismail, 2017; Babcock, 2012). Recent Events In the recent context, various oil spill events were evident apart from the largest oil spill in the history that is the BP oil spill. Few of them were oil spill in Nigeria in 2010 in which 95,500 tons of oils was spilled in Niger Delta, which is depicted in Figure 1 below. Similar event was also observed in China in the same year with 90,000 tons of wastage. In addition, Venezuela in 2012, also suffered the incident, wherein it resulted 41,000 tons of oil was spilled (Figure 1) (Ismail, 2017). Figure 1: Major Oil Spills since Last Four Decades (Source: Ismail, 2017) It can be interpreted that irrespective of the fact, the recent the volume of oil spill all over the world has been low. However, in the year 2010, oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico was considered as one of the largest oil spills (ABC, 2010). Subsequently, there were two other oil spills incidents in 2010, which was followed by the most recent oil spill in 2012... According to Roser (n.d.), the large and medium sized oil spills have decreased in the recent years. However, between the years 1970-2016, tanker oil spill incidents have resulted in the wastage of 5.73 million tons of oil (Roser, n.d.). Chemical and oil spills in the waters right from collisions to accidents while fuel transfer or explosions as in the BP oil spill have occurred almost every year (NOAA, 2017). Another incident similar to oil spill events were pipeline spills especially in US. It was estimated that nearly 700 barrels of crude oil was spilled from pipelines particularly in North Dakota (RT, 2016). Another exam ple of such incidents was Greek oil spills, which created threats to the marine ecosystem, which was a result of a sunken tanker spill (Euronews, 2017). Additionally, the adverse effects of the Gulf oil spill was evident in the follow up plan in which the workers, who were carrying out clean-up activities were facing health issues (NIH, 2017). Conclusion It can be concluded that irrespective of the facts, the amount of oil spills in the recent years have significantly decreased. However, the adverse effects of already occurred events have not been totally eradicated. In addition, not only human beings but the natural environment and ecosystem as a whole have been massively affected by these disasters, small or big. Thus, it is necessary to have better plans for avoiding such incidents and come up with solutions against the adverse effects. It is therefore the responsibility of the production companies such as BP to have a sense of corporate social responsibility. In addition, it is essential for these companies to provide detailed accounting and financial reports. This would not only make them prepared for such events, but also build trust among the public, so that they can attract more shareholders and investors. Therefore, all the disclosures should be made by the companies irrespective of the intensity of the disasters. So , it wo uld be easier for the government and administrative authorities to take necessary decisions in making and amending accounting and financing policies. References ABC, 2010, Timeline: 20 years of major oil spills, ABC News, viewed 21 September 2017, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-05-03/timeline-20-years-of-major-oil-spills/419898. Azad, M, 2017, BP's financial disclosure is greenwashing rather than accountability, Academia, viewed 21 September 2017, https://www.academia.edu/3498045/BPs_financial_disclosure_is_greenwashing_rather_than_accountability Babcock, H. M, 2012, A risky business: Generation of nuclear power and deepwater drilling for offshore oil and gas, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 63-149. BP, 2017, About BP, BP P.L.C., viewed 21 September 2017,https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp.html Euronews 2017, Greek oil spill spreads: fears grow for marine life, World, viewed 21 September 2017, https://www.euronews.com/2017/09/14/greek-oil-spill-spreads-fears-grow-for-marine-life Flournoy, A, Andreen, W.L, Bratspies, R.M, Doremus, H, Flatt, V.B, Glicksman, R.L, Mintz, J.A, Rohlf, D, Sinden, A, Steinzor, R.I , Tomain, J.P, Zellmer, S Goodwin, J, 2010, Regulatory blowout: How regulatory failures made the BP disaster possible, and how the system can be fixed to avoid a recurrence, Center for Progressive Reform,viewed 21 September 2017, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/06t9s399#page-2 Hantke-Domas, M, 2003, The public interest theory of regulation: Non-Existence or misinterpretation?, European Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 15, pp. 165-194. Heflin, F Wallace, D, 2017, The BP oil spill: Shareholder wealth effects and environmental disclosures, Journal of Business Finance Accounting, vol. 44, no. (3-4), pp. 337-374. Houdet, J Germaneau, C, 2011, The financial impacts of BPs response to the deepwater horizon oil spill, Synergiz Case study 2011-01, pp. 1-5. Ismail, A. H, 2017, Oil and gas companies adopting policies aimed at balancing economic performance with social responsibilities, Environmental Accounting and Reporting, viewed 21 September 2017, https://www.ogfj.com/articles/print/volume-14/issue-3/features/environmental-accounting-and-reporting.html Lyon, T. P Maxwell, J W, 2011, Greenwash: corporate environmental disclosure under threat of audit, Journal of Economics Management Strategy, vol. 20, no. 1, pp.3-41. Maloney, M. T, 2001, 19. The theory of government, A Study In Property Right, pp. 1-5. NIH, 2017, Gulf spill oil dispersants associated with health symptoms in cleanup workers, News Releases, viewed 21 September 2017, https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/gulf-spill-oil-dispersants-associated-health-symptoms-cleanup-workers NOAA 2017, Oil and chemical spills, National Ocean Service, viewed 21 September 2017, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/spills/ Roser, M, No Date, Oil spills, Our World in Data, viewed 21 September 2017, https://ourworldindata.org/oil-spills/ RT, 2016, Top 5 disasterous pipeline spills of 2016, Autonomous Nonprofit Organization, viewed 21 September 2017, https://www.rt.com/usa/371086-worst-pipeline-accidents-2016/

Meteorite or Puck Hunt Autonomous Mobile Robot

Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Meteorite or Puck Hunt: Autonomous Mobile Robot specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Introduction The creation of the autonomous mobile robot (AMB) project is the most important branch of the unit, HES 1305 ROBOTICS AND MECHATRONICS PROJECT 2. The plan, design, building, programming, testing, as well as debugging the different components of the project, would involve teams which consist of three members. The purpose of the autonomous mobile robot would be to travel through a maze while avoiding going over the wall of the maze. In addition, the AMB would also be required to look for certain types of â€Å"pucks or meteorites† that would be identified by their colours, in a mission, which is simulated, in Antarctica. As a result of the intricacies of the predicted settings, the AMB would be required to carry and place the meteorites or pucks in their respective base camps; they should not be thrown or rolled on the ground. In addition, the robots would not be allowed to get rid of unwanted pucks from the camps, or destroy other robots. The project is in fact a competition pitting different teams against one another. Each team would provide one robot in the competition area to collect as many meteorites and place them in the specified camps. The teachers and staff of Swinburne University provided all the sensors, LEGO parts, software, and actuators. The Method Of Design Design Philosophy One vital building block of artificial intelligence involves creation of a robot that has the ability to function under diverse and indeterminate environments, while under partial supervision. The Development of the Design Being the first time that we are taking part in this type of competition, we decide to work out a plan that would help us develop the autonomous mobile robot in the given surroundings.Advertising Looking for report on other technology? Let's see if w e can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The most important part of the design involved coming up with a solution that would help the robot grab and flip over the meteorite or puck. After that, we had to go backwards with the intention of building a structure that could support all the equipment, actuators, and sensors, in order to produce a practical robot in the contest atmosphere. Design Process Hardware Part – (Name of Team member who handled this part) Handy board Autonomous robot control is usually attained by means of a Handy Board [Martin 2001]. The Handy Board was found to be a battery-powered and hand-held microcontroller board. It was perfect for both educational and personal robotics projects. It was based on the structure and functions of the Motorola 68HC11 microprocessor. Figure I The Handy Board contained the following parts: Processor: Motorola 68HC11 8-bit microcontroller with 2MHz speed RAM: 32KB battery-backed fixed RAM Scree n: 16Ãâ€"2 character LCD display unit Four 1A motors support 6 Servo motor controllers 9 Analog and 7 Digital inputs 16 Analog and 8 Digital outputs Infrared I/O capabilities Serial interface capacities Sound output 11cm x 8.5cm x 5.25 cm (L x W x H – with LCD screen, expansion board, and battery) Figure IIAdvertising We will write a custom report sample on Meteorite or Puck Hunt: Autonomous Mobile Robot specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Handy Board manages Interactive C (IC). The Interactive C is a custom-made version of ANSI C programming language. Interactive C is the most widely held compiler software that is made use of with the Handy Board. In addition, the Interactive C software is a multi-tasking compiler; it has a user command line that is used for dynamic expression evaluation and compilation (Martin, 2001). The IC is sustained by the Kiss Institute for Practical Robotics (KIPR). The figure above (figure II ), demonstrates the running of the IC compiler on Windows XP. Procedure followed for programming the Handy Board using Interactive C Step 1: The Handy Board was connected to the computer using either the Serial Interface or the USB. Step 2: The wall adapter was then used to supply power to the Handy Board. Step 3: Afterwards, the Interactive C compiler software was launched on the computer. Step 4: The board was then initialized with firmware. This was achieved by holding Handy board in a unique bootstrap download mode and then clicking on the download firmware found on the tools menu of the IC compiler software.Advertising Looking for report on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Step 5: After completion of downloading the firmware, the Handy Board beeped, and the Interactive C welcome message appeared on the LCD screen of the Handy Board. This means that the Interactive C is now ready for use. After finishing configuring the system, we are now ready to write the necessary programs using Interactive C IDE software. Then later, we would compile it, and after that download it on to the Handy Board that will run that program. Sensors Each LEGO kit was supplied with the following sensors: Item Quantity Red LED 1 Blue LED 1 Phototransistor 4 Servo Motor 1 IR(Infra Red) Emitter/Detector 2 Micro switch 4 Combined Lego Motor Gearbox 4 Potentiometer 2 IR Range Finder (Sharp GP2D02) 1 Shaft Encoder 2 Table I Out of all these sensors, our interest and use will be limited to Combined Lego Motor Gearbox, Micro switch, Shaft Encoder, Phototransistor, LEDs, as well as IR Emitter/Detector. LED is the short form of a light-emitting diode. Just lik e the name suggests, an LED is basically a diode that gives off light. The difference between LEDs and other incandescent bulbs: LEDs are different from ordinary incandescent bulbs in the sense that they are short of a filament, which burns out. As a result, they do not get especially hot. They are solely lighted up by the motion of electrons in a semiconducting material. In addition, they could last as long as a typical transistor. Advantages: The use of LEDs endows the user with a number of advantages in comparison to the use of regular incandescent sources of light. Some of these advantages include enhanced robustness, lower consumption of energy, longer lifetime, greater durability, smaller size, improved reliability and faster switching (Jones, Flynn Seiger. 1999; Papert Harel, 1991). How LEDs work? Figure III When an LED is switched on, i.e. forward biased, electrons in the PN Junction are capable of recombining with the holes found within the device. As a result, energy is released in the form of photons. Consequently, the energy gap of the semiconductor has some bearing on the colour of the light, or the wavelength of the radiation. This is to mean that doping has some bearing on the wavelength of the Electromagnetic radiation which will be given off. In general, light-emitting diodes are usually made from substrates of Aluminium-gallium-arsenide (AlGaAs). From Electromagnetic spectrum, the wavelength for red is normally between 620 and 750 nm, while that for blue is between 450 and 475 nm. In other words, Red LED and Blue LED means that their doping components are such that the emitted wavelengths range between 620 and 750 nm, and between 450 and 475 nm in that order. Figure IV LEDs have two major uses; visual indicators and light emitters. As visual indicators, they detect the presence of things. When used as light emitters, they are usually detected by other detectors, such as phototransistors and photodiodes. Interestingly, they can be used as narrow band light sensors. Here, they operate in the reverse-bias mode. They act in response to incident light as opposed to emitting light. Phototransistor: Figure V A phototransistor can be described as a transistor that operates differently from common transistors. Unlike common transistors, whose operation modes are under the control of the applied input voltage, the operation mode of the phototransistor is can be directed by light, or the wavelength of the light. The structure of a phototransistor varies from that of a common transistor, at least in two distinct ways; While the phototransistor has a transparent window that allows light to shine on the junctions, ordinary transistors do not have such windows. An ordinary transistor has more surface area than a phototransistor, hence is able to maximize the area of light capture. When the junction is struck by light photons, there is formation of a base current. As a result, the received power is converted into a collector cur rent by the phototransistor. The phototransistor that comes with the LEGO kit has its peak response at 850 nm and its spectral sensitivity is higher than 30 per cent for light radiation that ranges between 6oo nm and 900 nm. The achievement of different gain and frequency of operation (bandwidth) is dependent on the amplifiers, or circuits, formed with these phototransistors. The positive thing that is exhibited is that the frequency and gain response is reliant on the light and its wavelength. Infra Red (IR) Emitter/Detector: The infrared emitter or detector is a circuit that is created using LEDs and phototransistors (Martin, 1994). The purpose of the IR emitter/detector is either to give off or to detect infrared radiation. An extremely fundamental infra red emitter/detector circuit is shown and described below. Figure VI This custom made circuit has one disadvantage; the use of this custom made circuit means that the ambient infra red light would constrain its detecting devices (Martin, 1994). The IR emitter/Detector that came with the LEGO kit had its peak response at 940 nm, with peak sensitivity for about 880 nm wavelengths. The IR Emitter/Detector has found many uses in robotics; it can be used for colour detection, transmitters, motion detection, obstacle detection, and encoders. Shaft Encoder: Shaft encoders can also be referred to as rotary encoders. In essence, it is an electro-mechanical piece of equipment that translates the total amount of mechanical rotation, or angle, into a corresponding amount of current (Sutton Barto, 1998). As a result, knowledge in relation to the amount of current offers information regarding the amount of rotation of the shaft, or the wheel connected to the shaft. In general, there exists, two kinds of shaft or rotary encoders; Absolute shaft encoders These types of encoders are the ones that provide us with information regarding the complete angle of rotation of the shaft. The digital type of absolute shaft encode rs generates distinctive digital code for each different angle of the shaft. There exist two fundamental kinds of absolute digital rotary encoders. These are optical encoders and mechanical encoders. Incremental shaft encoders These types of rotary encoders are the ones that provide us with information regarding the angles or rotations with regard to their previous states. The angles of rotation that are provided by the shaft encoders are in coded form. The two available and most popular methods used for encoding are Gray encoding and standard binary encoding. It is worth noting that for all advanced jobs, which involve the rotation of the wheel, there must be a feedback mechanism that comes from the wheels. As a result, it is vital that the control program is aware of the extent to which the wheel would rotate to with the intention of either altering the speed of rotation of the different wheels, or simply making sure that the vehicle is motionless and no unknown force is acti ng on it. This is basically the reason why shaft encoders are employed. Micro switch: Figure VII A micro switch can also be referred to by its technical name, miniature snap-action switch. As implied by its name, the micro switch is a switch that calls for a comparatively miniature movement of the actuator button, with the intention of producing a relatively large amount of high velocity motion of the electrical contacts in spite of the speed of actuation. Micro switches are popular and their use is widespread. This is attributed to their relatively low cost, as well as high durability. They undergo more than one million cycles; for heavy duty models, this may go up to ten million cycles. There are many places and gadgets that require micro switches for proper functioning. Some of these areas include machinery, vehicles, industrial controls, appliances, and numerous other areas for control of electrical circuits. Some common but particular areas where micro switches are employed in clude the door interlock systems on microwave ovens, safety and levelling switches in elevators, detection of faults in photocopiers, such as paper jams, and vending machines. Miniature snap-action switches are frequently made use of in tamper switches on gate valves of fire sprinkler systems, in addition to other water piping systems. In this application, it is vital to be conscious of whether valve has been shut, or it is open. Combined Lego Motor Gearbox: Figure VIII There are DC motors that were provided in Lego kit. These motors are great for building robots in view of the fact that they are powerful and compact. They normally rotate at thousands of rotations per minute. Nevertheless, most electric motors are in actual fact lacking in torque. In other words, this can be attributed to the fact that they cannot push incredibly hard. If hooked directly up to the motor’s shaft, we can note that it can hardly rotate the wheel, let alone nudge a whole robot. Despite the fact that they have inadequate torque, what they do have in plenty, is speed. In reality, if the shaft is running freely, it can rotate at a rate of numerous thousands revolutions per minute. As a result, this speed is much faster than what one wants for a robot to drive in any case. Therefore, we could do with gearboxes with the intention of trading some of this unnecessary speed for additional torque. Figure IX The LEGO system is composed of a wide range of gears with varying functions (Brooks, 1986). On the other hand, for universal purposes, 8, 24, and 40-tooth gears can be employed. These are the easiest and most efficient to utilize of the group for the reason that their diameters are selected, such that they can be interlocked with one another at standard LEGO distances. Through gear reductions, one is able to translate speed into torque (or the other way round by application of this technique in reverse). Suppose an 8-tooth gear is employed in turning a 24-tooth gear. Given tha t the smaller gear is required to rotate three times in order to turn the large gear once, the axle with the 8-tooth gear spins faster than the other. As a result of this exchange for this reduction in speed, the axle is now able to apply three times as much torque. Consequently, this generates a gear reduction ratio of 3:1. This implies that we are relinquishing a factor of three of speed and swapping it over for production of three times the torque. Lego parts Figure X Each component of the LEGO has its work cut out for it (Overmars. 2000). A number of those components are available and are simply used to join two parts that are not able to be stick together with one another. A number of other parts, for instance rollers, are supposed to hook up the wheels with a few other parts of the robot with the intention of making the wheels move with mush ease. What is more, a number of parts are large in size, which could be utilized as the base of the robot; therefore, we could place man y parts on. In addition, they could be used to connect parts that are relatively far away in distance from each other. A good number of the components that we employed in the creation of our robot were the thick red bars and long red bars that assisted us in connection between the wheels. Into the bargain, we used the big bars that have a large area to make use of it as the base of our robot. Furthermore, we could include on those big bars with the broad areas handy board, the battery, and a number of small components that could furnish a better look to our robot. In addition, we made use of the linking parts to a large extent that is on grey to join the parts which we experienced a few difficulties in connecting them together. Assembly Part – (Name of team member who did this part) Grabbing Mechanism The hardest part of the whole project was finding a solution to the problem of grabbing flip over the puck. So as to come across a superior and realistic arm, we stumbled upon a possible like way out on the internet (Williamson, 1998). The ultimate form of the grabbing piece of equipment has two motors; the work of one of the motors was to spin the arm, while the other motor had to push the meteorite aside. Chassis The chassis had to have enough strong in order to give support to handy board, batteries, and all the other sensors that the robot needed. Figure XI Sensors (Name of team member who did this part) It is worth noting that sensors are the most significant components of the robot (â€Å"How to Make a Robot – Lesson 7: Using Sensors†, 2011). When robots have them, they are able to feel, look at and make out the disparity in their surroundings. To enable the robot to verify whether there existed a puck or meteorite in the vicinity of the loading area, we employed one blue led as well as one phototransistor. The purpose of the blue LED was to give off a light beam that would be used by the phototransistor. There are cases when the beam light would be broken; this means that a puck or meteorite is in the loading region. After verifying this and finding a puck in the region, the function of the second phototransistor was to verify the colour of the puck. Readings ranged from 50 to 185 for the red puck. On the other hand, readings were larger than 200 for blue puck. The function of the third phototransistor was to rummage around for the base light with the intention of finding a way back to the base. In case the indicated value was less than 10, this showed the correct direction to the base. An infra red (IR) emitter/detector was made use of with the purpose of determining the exact location of the base. In case the indicated value was higher than 236, then the location of the black line and subsequently, the location of the goal area was illustrated. In addition, the Infra red (IR) range finder was employed in the verification of the ultimate position of the goal area. Lastly, the 4 micro switches were used to †Å"feel† the obstacles as the robot moved around. Motors and the Motor drive mechanism As a result of restriction on the available materials and constituent parts of LEGO, the drive mechanism was made to order for two motors. Figure XII The steering mechanism of the robot was very heavy. The robot used big wheels at the front, and small ones at the rear. The option of making use of rear small wheels was attributed to minimising friction, as well as having a good manoeuvrability. The robot created had major strength; it was very robust. The robustness of the robot ensured that it continued to manoeuvre in every environment it was subjected to. Conclusion This project report has covered all the things the team worked on in the hope of producing a successful robot. In addition, the report also looked at the constituent parts that were used to create the robot, and how the team employed them with the aim of building a physically powerful and innovative robot that could not be easi ly damaged or broken. In addition to that, the project report offers a number of concise ideas in relation to the Interactive C (IC) program and the Handy board. The IC program was used to program the robot so that it could be able to perform the mission as the team wanted it to do. I believe that this activity was an extremely interesting experience. The fact that were could be responsible for creation of a robot that could do a fine job by holding a verifying, collecting and putting a puck in its rightful place as the required by the task. The only initial challenge we faced was the manner in which we could thrust the arms of the robot into the exact place, and how the team could make them turn. This was soon overcome and the team successfully completed the task. References Brooks. R.A. (1986) A robust layered control system for a mobile robot. IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation, RA-2:14–23. â€Å"How to Make a Robot – Lesson 7: Using Sensors.† (2011) [WW W] Go Robotics. Availalble from  https://www.robotshop.com/community/blog?page=1 . Jones, J.L., Flynn, A. M. and Seiger, B.A., 1999. Mobile Robots: Inspiration to Implementation. Massachusetts: A K Peters, Ltd. Martin, F.G., 2001. Robotic Explorations: a Hands-on Introduction to Engineering. Massachusetts: Prentice Hall. Martin, F.G.,1994. Circuits to Control: Learning Engineering by Designing LEGO Robots, doctoral dissertation, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. McKerrow, P.J., 1993. Introduction to Robotics. Boston: Addison-Wesley. Overmars, M., 2000. Lego robots tips and tricks. [WWW] Web. Papert S. and Harel, I. eds.,1991. Constructionism. Westport, Conn.: Ablex. Sutton, R.S. and Barto, A.G.,1998. Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Williamson, B., 1998. The Lego: FetchBot. [WWW] Freelug. Available from  http://perso.freelug.org/benw/fetchbot/index.html . This report on Meteorite or Puck Hunt: Autonomous Mobile Robot was written and submitted by user 3-D Man to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.