title: Overview of sensor technologies used for 3D localization of asparagus spears for robotic harvesting

authors: Peebles, Matthew Christopher Scott

abstract: Advances in agricultural automation, coupled with a general decline of available labour hasgenerated interest in automated harvesting of various crops. Paramount to the success of such systemsis the development of accurate, robust detection technologies and localization strategies. This paperpresents an overview of sensor technologies used in the detection and localization of green aspara-gus spears for robotic harvesting. Tactile, photoelectric, machine vision and time-of-flight sensors areinvestigated and their applicability for use in robotic asparagus harvesting is evaluated. Investigationof previous asparagus harvesting devices has revealed that no such device has yet achieved commer-cial viability. It was identified that this is likely due to weaknesses in currently employed detectiontechnologies, namely slow response times, high sensitivity to changes in ambient lighting conditionsand requirement for frequent manual calibration. Of the sensor technologies investigated it was foundthat time-of-flight cameras, such as the Microsoft Kinect V2 are the most feasible for the detectionof asparagus spears for robotic harvesting. It was concluded that further research would be conductedinto the application of such sensors into a commercially viable harvester.

text: Overview of sensor technologies used for 3D localization of asparagus spears for robotic harvesting Advances in agricultural automation, coupled with a general decline of available labour hasgenerated interest in automated harvesting of various crops. Paramount to the success of such systemsis the development of accurate, robust detection technologies and localization strategies. This paperpresents an overview of sensor technologies used in the detection and localization of green aspara-gus spears for robotic harvesting. Tactile, photoelectric, machine vision and time-of-flight sensors areinvestigated and their applicability for use in robotic asparagus harvesting is evaluated. Investigationof previous asparagus harvesting devices has revealed that no such device has yet achieved commer-cial viability. It was identified that this is likely due to weaknesses in currently employed detectiontechnologies, namely slow response times, high sensitivity to changes in ambient lighting conditionsand requirement for frequent manual calibration. Of the sensor technologies investigated it was foundthat time-of-flight cameras, such as the Microsoft Kinect V2 are the most feasible for the detectionof asparagus spears for robotic harvesting. It was concluded that further research would be conductedinto the application of such sensors into a commercially viable harvester.

year: 2018-08

title: Let the Real Scheherazade Stand: Literary Representations of Middle Eastern Women

authors: Al-Hadban, Leen Mustafa Naji

subjects: Orientalism

abstract: This thesis considers the multiple and complex ways in which Arab and Middle Eastern women have been conceived in literature written by both Western and Arab male and female authors. It covers almost a millennium of literature, beginning with the eleventh century Crusades which represent the earliest encounters between the West and the East. From there, the discussion moves to examine representations of Middle Eastern women in Western literature and the influences that helped forge that image, such as the biblical stories of Salomé, The Arabian Nights, the Mu’allaquat or the Seven Arabian Poems, Al-Firdausi’s poetic epic, The Shahname, and the travelogues of British explorers who travelled the Middle East. Finally, the thesis turns to the work of Arab authors writing about their own culture and identity.
The analysis of this material is structured chronologically and undertaken in three parts. The first part examines historical and contextual material to establish the ways in which Oriental images, narratives and landscape became imbedded in the Western psyche and influenced Western literature and how Near Eastern men and women were imagined. The second stage analyses late nineteenth and early twentieth century British texts which engage directly with or are influenced by Oriental themes and ideas. The third stage considers English translations of Arabic texts written by men and women and their depiction of Arab women, in addition to a comparison between Western views of the East and Arabic perceptions of the West. The discussion concludes with a discussion of diasporic literature written by Arab women which forms a dialogue and a bridge between the two cultures.
The diverse range of literary forms discussed in the thesis include: travelogues; epistolary writing; poetry; drama; novel; memoirs; biographies; social criticism; and art. All the material discussed here is available in English with the exception of two or three poems and some critical works.

text: Let the Real Scheherazade Stand: Literary Representations of Middle Eastern Women This thesis considers the multiple and complex ways in which Arab and Middle Eastern women have been conceived in literature written by both Western and Arab male and female authors. It covers almost a millennium of literature, beginning with the eleventh century Crusades which represent the earliest encounters between the West and the East. From there, the discussion moves to examine representations of Middle Eastern women in Western literature and the influences that helped forge that image, such as the biblical stories of Salomé, The Arabian Nights, the Mu’allaquat or the Seven Arabian Poems, Al-Firdausi’s poetic epic, The Shahname, and the travelogues of British explorers who travelled the Middle East. Finally, the thesis turns to the work of Arab authors writing about their own culture and identity.
The analysis of this material is structured chronologically and undertaken in three parts. The first part examines historical and contextual material to establish the ways in which Oriental images, narratives and landscape became imbedded in the Western psyche and influenced Western literature and how Near Eastern men and women were imagined. The second stage analyses late nineteenth and early twentieth century British texts which engage directly with or are influenced by Oriental themes and ideas. The third stage considers English translations of Arabic texts written by men and women and their depiction of Arab women, in addition to a comparison between Western views of the East and Arabic perceptions of the West. The discussion concludes with a discussion of diasporic literature written by Arab women which forms a dialogue and a bridge between the two cultures.
The diverse range of literary forms discussed in the thesis include: travelogues; epistolary writing; poetry; drama; novel; memoirs; biographies; social criticism; and art. All the material discussed here is available in English with the exception of two or three poems and some critical works.

year: 2016

title: The timing of the human discovery and colonization of New Zealand

authors: Sutton, Douglas G.

abstract: In discriminating between the proposed Long, Short and Intermediate Chronologies for New Zealand prehistory, archaeologists have recently voted by a narrow majority that the human commensal, Rattus exulans, was present in New Zealand up to 2000 years BP, although the preferred date of ‘first settlement’ by people was ca 800 years BP. A recalibration of New Zealand chronometric data has resulted in reinterpretations of the date and duration of occupation on critical archaeological sites. A remodelling of the ages of the putatively earliest sites in New Zealand has shown these to indicate only a broadly defined period when settlement occurred rather than the date when New Zealand was discovered (as the Short Chronology advocates have insisted). Finally, comparisons with archaeological research on islands elsewhere in the world have brought with them recognition that the discovery, exploration, initial settlement and colonization of New Zealand by Polynesian voyagers were broadly consecutive processes. This paper reviews a range of current evidence in the context of its current theorization and affirms the Long Chronology, recognizing it as the most plausible hypothesis.

text: The timing of the human discovery and colonization of New Zealand In discriminating between the proposed Long, Short and Intermediate Chronologies for New Zealand prehistory, archaeologists have recently voted by a narrow majority that the human commensal, Rattus exulans, was present in New Zealand up to 2000 years BP, although the preferred date of ‘first settlement’ by people was ca 800 years BP. A recalibration of New Zealand chronometric data has resulted in reinterpretations of the date and duration of occupation on critical archaeological sites. A remodelling of the ages of the putatively earliest sites in New Zealand has shown these to indicate only a broadly defined period when settlement occurred rather than the date when New Zealand was discovered (as the Short Chronology advocates have insisted). Finally, comparisons with archaeological research on islands elsewhere in the world have brought with them recognition that the discovery, exploration, initial settlement and colonization of New Zealand by Polynesian voyagers were broadly consecutive processes. This paper reviews a range of current evidence in the context of its current theorization and affirms the Long Chronology, recognizing it as the most plausible hypothesis.

year: 2008