omniomni/omni-engineering huggingface dataset:
TekBots. TekBots are programmable robots used by several universities to help students learn some of the fundamental concepts that are found in the fields of computer and electrical engineering.

TekBots are centered on the Atmel microcontroller platform. This is the "brain" of the robot as it controls the robot's two motorized wheels allowing it to move. The robot's controller boards, wheels and all other peripherals are housed in an aluminum base.

History

The original TekBots program was developed by the Oregon State University College of Engineering. Professors there wanted to provide a fun and interesting way for students to get excited about engineering. In 2000, the TekBots program was able to get off the ground with a $500,000 grant from the Oregon-based company, Tektronix inc.

Freshman students entering Oregon State University's engineering program start out with $80 worth of electronics to build their initial TekBot. As the students take more and more classes while in the electrical and computer engineering program, more and more functionality is added to the robots; such as bump sensors to sense when the robot has struck a wall or LCD screens to display a message or even infrared (IR) transmitters and receivers to communicate with the robot.

Students program the robot using such software as AVR Studio 4 in order to write and compile a C program. The program is then transferred to the robot via a USB or parallel port dongle.

The TekBots program at Oregon State University is still seed-funded by Tektronix today.

TekBots is currently offered by 5 universities worldwide:

Oregon State University
Iowa State University
Rochester Institute of Technology
University of Nebraska
Fukuoka Institute of Technology

Several community colleges and other universities have also purchased TekBots over the years.

Current classes
At most of the colleges the TekBot is used in an introduction to the electrical engineering course. At Oregon State they are used as a platform for learning in 10 classes. At Nebraska they are used in three classes in combination with the Mega 128 microcontroller. Also at Rochester they are used in digital logic courses as well as the microprocessor and introduction classes.

Both Nebraska and Oregon State combine the TekBot in integrating a freshman mentoring program.

Many senior design projects at Oregon State are completed with the TekBot. An example was the Tekway, a Segway built using TekBots brains.

See also
 Vex Robotics Design System
 Qfix
 Robot kit

References

 Engineering Department at Oregon State University.
 More Than Machines
 TekBots Article  <- This link is no longer valid
 TekBots: Creating Excitement For Engineering Through Community, Innovation and Troubleshooting

External links
 Official TekBots website
 Tektronix Website
 TekBots Mega128 User Guide
 TekBots AVR Studio 4 and Atmega128 Beginner's Guide
  Senior Design
  Senior Project
  Tekway

Educational robots
Math and Physics Club (album). Math and Physics Club is the self-titled debut album by Seattle indie rock band Math and Physics Club. The album was recorded over two days in early June 2006 at Seattle's Avast! Recording. Kevin Suggs, known for his work with Cat Power and The Walkabouts, as well as for engineering live sessions for KEXP, engineered and co-produced the sessions.

The album was released to favorable reviews in October 2006.  Marc Hogan, writing for Pitchfork, declared that the album's "brazenly sweet songs of quiet heartbreak" ... "should get some warm looks from a new generation of tender-hearted, bookish music listeners." PopMatters declared Math and Physics Club the best indie pop album of 2006, with Dave Heaton writing that "the melodies are catchy but in a lasting, not disposable way; the lyrics are articulate, smart expressions of feelings (hope, heartbreak, sadness, wonder); the songs are played and arranged with such bare-bones grace that they begin to resemble Zen expressions of pop music's essence."

The band would continue working with Kevin Suggs at Avast! for their next EP, Baby I'm Yours, released the following year.

Track listing 
"Darling, Please Come Home" – 3:13
"I Know What I Want" – 2:21
"April Showers" – 2:32
"Holidays and Saturdays" – 2:58
"La La La Lisa" – 2:50
"Look at Us Now" – 2:53
"You'll Miss Me" – 3:15
"Cold as Minnesota" – 3:09
"Such a Simple Plan" – 2:46
"Last Dance" – 2:37

External links 
Official Math and Physics Club website
Kevin Suggs, engineer and producer
PopMatters.com Best Indie Pop of 2006
Pitchfork Media album review

2006 debut albums
Math and Physics Club albums
Electroneurogram. An electroneurogram is a method used to visualize directly recorded electrical activity of neurons in the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord) or the peripheral nervous system (nerves, ganglions). The acronym ENG is often used. An electroneurogram is similar to an electromyogram (EMG), but the latter is used to visualize muscular activity. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a particular type of electroneurogram in which several electrodes are placed around the head and the general activity of the brain is recorded, without having very high resolution to distinguish between the activity of different groups of neurons.

An electroneurogram is usually obtained by placing an electrode in the neural tissue. The electrical activity generated by neurons is recorded by the electrode and transmitted to an acquisition system, which usually allows to visualize the activity of the neuron. Each vertical line in an electroneurogram represents one neuronal action potential. Depending on the precision of the electrode used to record neural activity, an electroneurogram can contain the activity of a single neuron to thousands of neurons. Researchers adapt the precision of their electrode to either focus on the activity of a single neuron or the general activity of a group of neurons, both strategies having their advantages.

External links

An example of a neural recording

Electrophysiology
Cobalt(II) thiocyanate. Cobalt(II) thiocyanate is an inorganic compound with the formula Co(SCN)2. The anhydrous compound is a coordination polymer with a layered structure. The trihydrate, Co(SCN)2(H2O)3, is a isothiocyanate complex used in the cobalt thiocyanate test (or Scott test) for detecting cocaine. The test has been responsible for widespread false positives and false convictions.

Structure and preparation

The structures of Co(SCN)2 and its hydrate Co(SCN)2(H2O)3 have been determined using X-ray crystallography. Co(SCN)2 forms infinite 2D sheets as in the mercury(II) thiocyanate structure type, where as Co(SCN)2(H2O)3 consists of isolated tetrahedral Co(SCN)2(H2O)2 centers and one equivalent of water of crystallization.

The hydrate may be prepared by the salt metathesis reactions, such as the reaction of aqueous cobalt(II) sulfate and barium thiocyanate to produce a barium sulfate precipitate, leaving the hydrate of Co(SCN)2 in solution:

CoSO4  +  Ba(SCN)2  →  BaSO4  +  Co(SCN)2
or the reaction of the hexakisacetonitrile cobalt(II) tetrafluoroborate and potassium thiocyanate, precipitating KBF4

[Co(NCMe)6](BF4)2 + 2KSCN  →  2KBF4  +  Co(SCN)2.

The anhydrate can then be prepared via addition of diethylether as an antisolvent.

Cobalt thiocyanate test
Detailed procedures for the cobalt thiocyanate test, often sold as the "morris reagent" are available. The reagent consists of 2% cobalt thiocyanate dissolved in dilute acid. Glycerol is often added to stabilise the cobalt complex, ensuring it only goes blue when in contact with an analyte and not due to drying.

Addition of the cobalt thiocyanate reagent to cocaine hydrochloride results in the surface of the particles turning a bright blue (faint blue for cocaine base). The solution changes back to pink upon adding some hydrochloric acid. Addition of chloroform, results in a blue organic layer for both cocaine hydrochloride and cocaine base. Diphenhydramine and lidocaine also give blue organic layers. These compounds are known false positives for cocaine. Lidocaine is commonly used to adulterate or mimic cocaine due to its local anaesthetic effect.

If the procedure is adjusted to basify the sample rather than acidifying it, the test can be used to test for ketamine hydrochloride.

References

Thiocyanates
Cobalt(II) compounds
Chemical tests
Drug testing reagents
Cocaine
Estimation (project management). In project management (e.g., for engineering), accurate estimates are the basis of sound project planning.  Many processes have been developed to aid engineers in making accurate estimates, such as
Analogy based estimation
Compartmentalization (i.e., breakdown of tasks)
Cost estimate
Delphi method
Documenting estimation results
Educated assumptions
Estimating each task
Examining historical data
Identifying dependencies
Parametric estimating
Risk assessment
Structured planning

Popular estimation processes for software projects include:
 Cocomo
 Cosysmo
 Event chain methodology
 Function points
 Planning poker
 Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
 Proxy-based estimating (PROBE) (from the Personal Software Process)
 The Planning Game (from Extreme Programming)
 Weighted Micro Function Points (WMFP)
 Wideband Delphi

See also
 Estimation in software engineering
 Software development effort estimation
 Comparison of development estimation software
 Cognitive bias
 Decision making
 Decision making software
 Work Breakdown Structure
 Project management
 List of project management software
 Software metric
 Wideband Delphi
 Guesstimate
 Ballpark estimate
 Construction Estimating Software

External links

Project Estimation Methods
 Estimation chapter from "Applied Software Project Management" (PDF)
 The Dynamics of Software Projects Estimation
 Estimations in project management
 Three types of B2C estimates

Project management

de:Schätzung
hu:Becslés
nl:Schatten
pl:Szacowanie
sr:Процена
Sawdust (disambiguation). Sawdust is the material composed of fine particles of wood.

Sawdust may also refer to:
Sawdust (album), a 2007 album by the Killers
Sawdust Hughes or Hugh "Sawdust" Hughes, Welsh rugby player

Places
In the United States
 Sawdust, Georgia, unincorporated community
 Sawdust, Tennessee, unincorporated community

See also 
 Sawdust brandy, a type of alcohol made from wood products
 Serradura ("sawdust"), a Portuguese dessert
 Dust (disambiguation)
 
 
 Sawdust Art Festival
Overlord (1994 video game). Overlord is a combat flight simulator by Rowan Software. It was released in 1994 for Amiga and PC MS-DOS platforms.

Gameplay
It is based on Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of continental Europe during World War II. The player is tasked with flying a series of historically accurate missions for the Royal Air Force, flying Spitfire IX, Hawker Typhoon, and Mustang III aircraft.

Reception
Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "D-Day: Operation Overlord doesn't play any better than other flight sims that are already available [...] This title is strictly for WW II buffs or flight-sim fanatics."

Reviews
PC Format (Dec, 1995)
Amiga Power (Nov, 1994)
Amiga Format (Dec, 1994)
The One Amiga (Jan, 1995)
CU Amiga (Feb, 1995)
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) (Sep, 1994)
Power Play (Aug, 1994)
MikroBitti (Sep, 1994)
Amiga Joker (Jan, 1995)
Australian Commodore and Amiga Review (Oct, 1995)

References

External links

1994 video games
Amiga games
DOS games
Operation Overlord video games
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
World War II flight simulation video games
Rowan Software games
Single-player video games
Microelectrophoresis. Microelectrophoresis is a method of studying electrophoresis of various dispersed particles using optical microscopy. This method provides image of moving particles, which is its unique advantage. e.g. observation of RBCs, neutrophiles and bacteria. This type of electrophoresis is carried out in a closed medium with critical observations made by focusing and adjusting the lens of the microscope. 

Complexity of this method is associated with electro-osmosis generated by electric field influence on the double layers of the sample cell walls. In the usually used closed cells, this creates Poiseuille type back flow, leading to parabolic velocity profile. There are two stationary layers, where fluid does not move. The position of these stationary layers regarding cell walls depends on the cell geometry. It is possible to focus microscope on these stationary layers and observe particle motion that is not affected by electro-osmosis. 

The second complexity comes from necessity of diluting sample, if it was initially concentrated. Concentration must be sufficiently low for observing individual particles. 

Measurement in the low polar fluids presents additional problems. These systems have low electrical conductivity and low dielectric permittivity. Electrophoretic mobility is low and this requires high electric field, by factor 10 or higher.  

Details of this method are presented in IUPAC Technical Report  prepared by a group of most known world experts on the electrokinetic phenomena.

References

Colloidal chemistry
CoreConnect. CoreConnect is a microprocessor bus-architecture from IBM for system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs. It was designed to ease the integration and reuse of processor, system, and peripheral cores within standard and custom SoC designs. As a standard SoC design point, it serves as the foundation of IBM or non-IBM devices. Elements of this architecture include the processor local bus (PLB), the on-chip peripheral bus (OPB), a bus bridge, and a device control register (DCR) bus. High-performance peripherals connect to the high-bandwidth, low-latency PLB. Slower peripheral cores connect to the OPB, which reduces traffic on the PLB. CoreConnect has bridging capabilities to the competing AMBA bus architecture, allowing reuse of existing SoC-components.

IBM makes the CoreConnect bus available as a no-fee, no-royalty architecture to tool-vendors, core IP-companies, and chip-development companies. As such it is licensed by over 1500 electronics companies such as Cadence, Ericsson, Lucent, Nokia, Siemens and Synopsys.

The CoreConnect is an integral part of IBM's embedded offerings and is used extensively in their PowerPC 4x0 based designs. In the past, Xilinx was using CoreConnect as the infrastructure for all of their embedded processor designs.

Processor Local Bus (PLB) 
General processor local bus
Synchronous, nonmultiplexed bus
Separate Read, Write data buses
Supports concurrent Read, Writes
Multimaster, programmable-priority, arbitrated bus
32-bit up to 64-bit address
32-/64-/128-bit implementations (to 256-bit)
66/133/183 MHz (32-/64-/128-bit)
Pipelined, supports early split transactions
Overlapped arbitration (last cycle)
Supports fixed, variable-length bursts
Bus locking
High bandwidth capabilities, up to 2.9 GB/s.

On-chip Peripheral Bus (OPB) 
Peripheral bus for slower devices
Synchronous, nonmultiplexed bus
Multimaster, arbitrated bus
Up to a 64-bit address bus
Separate 32-bit Read, Write buses
Pipelined transactions
Overlapped arbitration (last cycle)
Supports bursts
Dynamic bus sizing, 8-, 16-, 32-bit devices
Single-cycle data transfers
Bus locking (parking)

Device Control Register (DCR) bus 

This bus:

 provides fully synchronous movement of GPR data between CPU and slave logic
 functions as a synchronous, nonmultiplexed bus
 has separate buses to read and to write data
 consists of a single-master, multiple-slave bus
 includes a 10-bit address bus
 features 32-bit data buses
 uses two-cycle minimum Read/Write cycles
 utilizes distributed multiplexer architecture
 supports 8-, 16-, and 32-bit devices
 performs single-cycle data transfers

External links 
 CoreConnect bus architecture, IBM.com
 CoreConnect Technology , Xilinx.com
 CoreConnect licensing, IBM.com
 CoreConnect: The On-Chip Bus System, ElectronicDesign.com
 Device Control Register Bus 3.5 Architecture Specifications

Computer buses
IBM computer hardware
Wheel and spoke model. The Wheel And Spoke Model is a sequentially parallel software development model. It is essentially a modification of the spiral model that is designed to work with smaller initial teams, which then scale upwards and build value faster. It is best used during the design and prototyping stages of development. It is a bottom-up methodology.

The Wheel And Spoke Model
The wheel and spoke model retains most of the elements of the spiral model, on which it is based. As in the spiral model, it consists of multiple iterations of repeating activities:
 New system requirements are defined in as much detail as possible from several different programs.
 A preliminary common API is generated that is the greatest common denominator across all the projects.
 Implementation stage of a first prototype.
 The prototype is given to the first program where it is integrated into their needs. This forms the first spoke  of the wheel and spoke model
 Feedback is gathered from the first program and changes propagated back to the prototype.
 The next program can now use the common prototype, with the additional changes and added value from the first integration effort. Another spoke is formed.
 The final system is the amalgamation of common features used by the different programs – forming the wheel, and testing/bug-fixes that were fed back into the code-base - forming the spokes.

Routine changes and additions are eventually seen by every program that uses the common code, and the experience gained by developing the prototype for the first program is shared by each successive program using the prototype.

Applications
The wheel and spoke is best used in an environment where several projects have common architecture or feature-set that can be abstracted by an API.

Advantages
 Low initial risk. Since one is developing a small-scale prototype instead of a full-blown development effort, much fewer programmers are needed initially. If the effort is deemed successful, the model scale very well by adding new people as the scope of the prototype is expanded
 Gained expertise applicable across different programs. The core team developing the prototype gains experience from each successful program that adapts the prototype and sees an increasing number of bug fixes and a general rise in code quality. This knowledge is directly transferable to the next program since the core code remains mostly similar.

See also
Iterative
Incremental
Software engineering
List of software engineering topics
Waterfall model

References

External links
Agile Alliance

Software development process
Brian Wilson (systems scientist). Brian Wilson (born 1933 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire) is a British systems scientist and honorary professor at Cardiff University, known for his development of soft systems methodology (SSM) and enterprise modelling.

Biography 
After graduating from University of Nottingham with a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering, nuclear power engineering and control system design, Wilson joined the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority where he studied the control and spatial stability of gas-cooled reactors and power plants. In 1966, he left the world of nuclear power engineering and control system design, and became a founder member of the Department of Systems Engineering at the University of Lancaster. 

Wilson has had an association with Cardiff University for a number of years, in a variety of roles, and has recently been conferred as an honorary professor in the Department of Computer Science.

He left the University of Lancaster in 1992 and built his own consultancy company, Brian Wilson & Associates, where he continued to develop and apply his particular brand of SSM, leading to the uses of SSM in enterprise model building.

Work 
During his time at the University of Lancaster, Wilson was involved in the development of a particular form of business analysis known as soft systems methodology (SSM). This development was driven by the action research programme carried out in that department, in which his particular interest was the application of SSM to information and organisation-based analysis. The work appeared in the book, Systems: Concepts, methodologies and Applications, (editions 1 & 2), published by John Wiley.

He has 40 years of experience of tackling organisation-based problems of various kinds and he has undertaken projects in the pharmaceutical industry, the Met Office, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Police, the National Health Service and a variety of other organisations in both private and public sectors.

His most recent work has been focused with the development of SSM-based models to bring about the integration of children's services within Tameside; to contribute to the MOD's "Carrier Strike" programme and to explore the organisation of the detection and containment of illegal importation and use of nuclear and radiological materials as part of the anti-terrorist programme, "Cyclamen". Also, a contribution was made to the development of an "enterprise" architecture for information assurance in the public sector and to the development of new information support across a number of publishing companies within Hachette Livre.

Publications 
Books:
 1980, Systems: Concepts, methodologies and Applications, John Wiley.
 2001, Soft Systems Methodology—Conceptual model building and its contribution, J.H.Wiley.

Papers:
 2006, Deriving Information Requirements

References

External links 
 Brian Wilson at koiosgroup.com.

1933 births
Academics of Lancaster University
British systems scientists
Living people
People from Newton-le-Willows
Alumni of the University of Nottingham
British consultants
Patent Shaft. Patent Shaft, formerly The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company, established in 1840, was a steel=making company that operated large steelworks situated in Wednesbury, then in Staffordshire (now West Midlands), England, in a region known as the Black Country due to its industrialisation. It was in operation for 140 years, and employed hundreds of local people.

History 

The metalwork for Blackfriars Bridge in London was built by The Patent Shaft, following their takeover of Lloyds, Foster and Company.

They provided metalwork for the 1870 rebuild of the road bridge over the River Severn at Stourport.

They made the steel girders for the Ibigawa Bridge, Gifu prefecture, Japan; and for Malviya Bridge, then known as Dufferin Bridge, the first metal bridge over the Ganges, opened in 1887. 

In 1900 they built prefabricated sections for two bridges, one of five spans and one of two, over the Tugela River in South Africa, at Colenso and Frere respectively. These replaced earlier bridges, of different design, which they had made in 1877 and which were destroyed by the Boers during the Second Boer War.

A decline in the manufacturing industry during the 1970s meant that even the largest factories were faced with threat of closure. Patent Shaft closed in 1980 after 140 years, resulting in hundreds of job losses. The factory buildings were demolished in 1983.

Legacy 

In the decade following its closure, the Patent Shaft site was substantially transformed. The construction of the Black Country Spine Road between Bilston and West Bromwich opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land in 1995. The Spine Road actually passed through the Patent Shaft site, and an Automotive Component Park was opened on another part of the site on 2 March 1993. This development - exclusively occupied by car component manufacturers - was the first of its kind in Europe.

The Patent Shaft factory gates still exist, situated on a traffic island in Wednesbury at the junction of Holyhead Road and Dudley Street, having been moved from their original location around 30 years after the factory’s closure.

The archives of Patent Shaft are held at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service.

Notes

References

External links

History of Wednesbury, Bev Parker

Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom
Wednesbury
Defunct companies based in the West Midlands (county)
Buildings and structures demolished in 1983
Demolished buildings and structures in the West Midlands (county)