Serial Experiments LainSerial Experiments Lain (stylized all lowercase) is a Japanese anime television series created and co-produced by Yasuyuki Ueda, written by Chiaki J. Konaka and directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura. Animated by Triangle Staff and featuring original character designs by Yoshitoshi Abe, the series was broadcast for 13 episodes on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from July to September 1998. The series follows Lain Iwakura, an adolescent girl in suburban Japan, and her relation to the Wired, a global communications network similar to the internet.
Fish locomotionFish locomotion is the various types of animal locomotion used by fish, principally by swimming. This is achieved in different groups of fish by a variety of mechanisms of propulsion, most often by wave-like lateral flexions of the fish's body and tail in the water, and in various specialised fish by motions of the fins.
Digital videoDigital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises a series of s displayed in rapid succession, usually at 24, 30, or 60 frames per second. Digital video has many advantages such as easy copying, multicasting, sharing and storage. Digital video was first introduced commercially in 1986 with the Sony D1 format, which recorded an uncompressed standard-definition component video signal in digital form.
High-level programming languageIn computer science, a high-level programming language is a programming language with strong abstraction from the details of the computer. In contrast to low-level programming languages, it may use natural language elements, be easier to use, or may automate (or even hide entirely) significant areas of computing systems (e.g. memory management), making the process of developing a program simpler and more understandable than when using a lower-level language. The amount of abstraction provided defines how "high-level" a programming language is.
Obstacle avoidanceIn robotics, obstacle avoidance is the task of satisfying some control objective subject to non-intersection or non-collision position constraints. What is critical about obstacle avoidance concept in this area is the growing need of usage of unmanned aerial vehicles in urban areas for especially military applications where it can be very useful in city wars. Normally obstacle avoidance is considered to be distinct from path planning in that one is usually implemented as a reactive control law while the other involves the pre-computation of an obstacle-free path which a controller will then guide a robot along.
Visual systemThe visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight (the ability to detect and process visible light) as well as enabling the formation of several non-image photo response functions. It detects and interprets information from the optical spectrum perceptible to that species to "build a representation" of the surrounding environment.
Robotic petRobotic pets are artificially intelligent machines that are made to resemble actual pets. While the first robotic pets produced in the late 1990s, were not too advanced, they have since grown technologically. Many now use machine learning (algorithms that allow machines to adapt to experiences independent of humans), making them much more realistic. Most consumers buy robotic pets with the aim of getting similar companionship that real pets offer, without some of the drawbacks that come with caring for live animals.
SimCity SocietiesSimCity Societies is a city-building simulation video game developed by Tilted Mill Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, and is part of the SimCity series. The gameplay is significantly different from previous SimCity titles, with a greater focus on social development. SimCity Societies was released in 2007, and received mixed reviews, with praise for the game's improved accessibility and visuals, but criticism for being oversimplified and having poor performance.
Magnetic switchable deviceA magnetic switchable device (often called a magnetic base) is a magnetic fixture that uses one or more permanent magnets in a configuration that allows the external field to be turned on or off. They are used in many applications including optics, metalworking, lifting, and robotics, to attach items to metal surfaces in a secure but temporary way. The magnetic base may have a V cut into the bottom of the base or the back. This V allows the base to be attached to a round bar such as the column of a drill press or a pipe.
Swarm behaviourSwarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving en masse or migrating in some direction. It is a highly interdisciplinary topic. As a term, swarming is applied particularly to insects, but can also be applied to any other entity or animal that exhibits swarm behaviour.
