Programming Robots

A better way of controlling the robot consists of implementing a rudimentary higher level language described next. At this stage of the game you need to review your BASIC programming manuals so that you have a better feel for all the commands that are available to you and how they are to be used. I will demonstrate the rudiments of a very simple parsing scheme and you can extend this to create as sophisticated a program as you like within the context of using the BASIC language. (To do really serious programming you would use "C" or some other language designed to do such work.) What you can accomplish will also depend on the language that you have designed and going through this exercise will give you some insights into how to design a language that is easier to parse. It all ties together in the end!

The data file that the robot executes can come from a disk file read a line at a time or it can come from DATA statements like we had in the examples above. I will use DATA statements as already shown above for the sake of simplicity and because this allows us to do all our work from within the BASIC environment. This includes the editing of the program as DATA statements. These will constitute our program.

We are working towards using the higher language that we designed for the robot as a part of what we learned on language design from previous experience. Putting it as simply as possible... each DATA statement in the program contains a keyword and the arguments associated with that particular keyword. The program first reads the keyword and then branches to an area of the program designed to process that particular keyword. If for example the keyword is STAND the program jumps to the section of code that executes the STAND command. Here the program expects that there will be no arguments and brings the robot to a STAND position from whatever position the robot was in - in an orderly manner so that it does not fall over. Once that is done the program returns to the main thread of the program to read the next DATA statement and to continue on from there.

If the program reads a word in a DATA statement and it does not match any of the words in its vocabulary or the keyword is misspelled, it knows that an error has taken place and the program jumps to an area where the program is terminated. An error message is usually enunciated on the screen as a part of the termination process so that the operator knows what happened and can take corrective action. Depending on how the program is designed, rather sophisticated messages and even automatic recovery routines can be implemented. As the programming gets more complicated, more sophisticated error messages and other diagnostic techniques are needed to allow faster debugging.

What is presented is a very simple parsing scheme. Parsing can become quite sophisticated and is one of the more intriguing part of a programmer's art. Designing fast parsing code can be very complicated. When really fast operations are needed we use compilers. A compiler processes the entire program into more rapidly executable code by eliminating all unnecessary and time consuming processes. Surprisingly a compiled program is usually much longer than an un-compiled program for the same reason that "GO TO LONDON" is shorter than all the instructions that tell you how to get to London. (These longer instructions are however ready to be executed immediately upon reception, i.e. you do not have to go to the book store to purchase a map and puzzle the way to London out etc.)

What If Your Aircraft Simulator Is Wrong?

Aircraft Simulators are just that, they are devices which can simulate aircraft in flight. It's very wise to use these tools, as long as they are calibrated and programmed correctly, but what happens when they aren't? A simulation is not a real life event, by definition. Thus, we have a problem don't we - painstaking testing and complex programming. In the future we will have some competition with self-programmable artificial intelligence (AI). Let's talk.

In the future AI Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will learn, record, correct, and pass on that information to all other UAVs of that type. This will provide very accurate simulation devices to test the performance of certain maneuvers, best of all, you may not need simulators at all at that point, as you can rely on the UAV to correct without crashing even operating at the very edge of the envelope.

There is an interesting paper worthy of note, I'd like to use as exhibit A of my discussion here today, the research paper is: "Handling Qualities and Pilot Evaluation - 1984 Wright Brothers Lectureship in Aeronautics," by Robert P. Harper Jr. and George E. Cooper. In conclusion the researchers note amongst other things:

1. The increasing use of flight simulation, both groundbased and airborne, has enabled great strides to be made in understanding the nature of the pilot-vehicle dynamic system, and substantial quantities of handling qualities data has been generated.
2. Flight simulation is bringing increased opportunities as well as challenges for the test pilot to affect the design of modern aircraft.
3. For simulation results to be accurate and informative, the experiments must be meticulously planned and executed through.

Right, and thus, we really need test pilots, and we really need to spend extra time documenting everything they do, as it all matters, especially with high-performance aircraft. Every single little movement of the controls, and all of the outside weather conditions are paramount. That's a lot of data, often not so easily recorded for software databases which run our aircraft simulators.

It is quite possible for a pilot in a simulator to try something during an extremely challenging incident to save or recover the aircraft that the simulator has never been programmed for, thus, we have no real concept of what the final outcome would be - well, we have an idea, but who says it's accurate at that point, no one has ever done that with an aircraft of that type in the real world, the place where real pilots, (future unmanned systems), and real aircraft will fly, or not? Please consider all this and think on it.

3 Ways to Ensure Successful Mobile Application Development

Considering the increasing technological advancement, businesses are pacing to address the demand for mobile apps. Employees and consumers use their smartphones and tablets almost all the time, so the companies are constantly working to release mobile apps to better serve their workers and customers. Some companies speed up mobile application development to make an app just too quickly, which eventually requires them to them perform updates as and when needed by the clients. Below is a list of things you can do to avoid pushing out a mobile application too soon:

1. Devise a plan for mobile application
The biggest dilemma faced by most companies is that they don't exactly know what they really want. Before releasing a mobile app, it is important to have concrete plans and a defined goal of the application. You must decide metrics to measure its success and how it will facilitate the users. Experts recommend that companies should prepare a comprehensive roadmap of a step of actions, their appropriate time of occurrence and the cost for each.

According to Forrester's study, on average, the design and development costs range from $200,000 to $350,000; so, the money needs to be carefully expended. Also, let there be extensions into the timeline of the plan. Do a detailed research about users and their dynamics because eventually they will be the direct users and expectantly benefitting from the application. Define what you want, collect feedback from customers and know what exactly you are aiming with mobile application development.

2. Choose between outsourcing or staying in-house
Companies should carefully evaluate whether app should be outsourced to a development company or freelance developers, or be done in-house. It is easier for large companies to manage resources for full-time in-house mobile app developers because of the large size of IT department, quite often complemented with a number of mobile apps and a very strong online presence.

According to a senior analyst at Forrester Research, appointing an internal IT person for mobile application development depends more on software development experience. Most often, it is quite hard to choose that one person with design and development skills, who is able to manage an entire project. Based on latest Forrester study, only 17% of IT decision makers realize the significance of hiring IT persons with mobile app development skills this year.

When considering contracting an agency, find companies that fit the size of your organization. Generally, big companies go with big agencies and mid-sized companies may go with smaller consultants Search thoroughly online for agencies in your area and know their achievements and experience. You could ask for evidence of the agency's past work, as a sample to have a fair idea if their work matches your requirements.

Finally, make sure to find out how the agency has integrated mobile applications with current software systems or lifecycle management systems for previous clients and how they plan to do it for you.

3. Perform testing and get user feedback
Testing and feedback are two of the most important aspects to mobile application development because developers and designers would not be the actual product users. At the end of producing each artifact, programmers should immerse themselves in the app, to identify what users will appreciate and disapprove about it.