Development of a Perception System for Indoor Environments

Development of a Perception System for Indoor Environments Autonomous navigation is a well-known task in robotic research. It is associated to get the environmental information such as visual images or distance or proximity measurements from external sensors and to detect obstacles and measure the distance to objects close to the robot path[10, 35]. Most robots are equipped to distance sensors like ultrasonic, laser or infrared to be able to move through corridors and to follow walls in indoor environments. A[A1] control algorithm based on odometric sensorial information and distance measurements supplied by sonar sensors was developed to guide a mobile robot moving along a corridor or following a wall in [3]. The[A2] Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) structure was evaluated for wall following task using ultrasound sensors in [17]. a mobile robot control law for corridor navigation and wall-following, based on sonar and odometric sensorial information is proposed. The control law allows for stable navigation avoiding actuator saturation. The posture information of the robot travelling through the corridor is estimated by using odometric and sonar sensing. The[A3] ultrasonic sensors were also used to measure and obtain the distance and orientation of a robot utilizing a Fuzzy Incremental Controller (FIC) for controlling a wall follower robot [10]. Trajectory tracking task is an especial task of wall following which is no obstacle like walls to detect. So, distance sensors like sonar or infrared could not help the robot to follow the trajectory. Control[A4] algorithms based on vision sensors have also been introduced for indoor navigation. For example, a robot utilized a vanishing point of lines extracted from the corridor structure in order to identify the heading direction. But, a complex mathematical calculation is needed to capture the vanishing point [37]. A[A5] CCD color camera was used to control the position of a robot while it navigated towards a target position [15]. The images of this camera were processed and the visual features of environment were fed through a neural network to enable a mobile robot to identify its own position. The task of orientation recognition was applied in order to follow a path in environment, too. The[A6] 3D trajectory estimation for unknown outdoor environments was investigated in [31]. This estimation was based on vision information captured by a trinocular stereo camera that is mounted on the robot. No prior map was used and the trajectory is found by tracking and detecting relative changes in the position of features extracted from images. Most techniques used complex mathematical equations and models of the operating environment to achieve the ability to move through corridors, to follow walls, to turn corners and to enter open areas of the rooms for an indoor navigation task [7]. Researchers[A7] used vision sensors to detect trajectory and to design their steering control law using the kinematic equations of motion[13, 34]. In these works which were considered in an off-road environment, the robot used both laser range finder and stereo vision. The laser was used to scan the close front ground for analyzing its roughness, and stereo vision apperceived drivable situation of far front ground. The path planning was performed using the data acquired from these sensors. Among three processes applied in outdoor navigation, including perception, planner, and motion control module, these works were focused on the decision of control laws of the robot, i.e. the longitudinal velocity, the lateral velocity, and the angles of sensor pan-tilts. The controller uses the information prepared by the planner. The characteristics of terrain like coefficient of longitudinal rolling resistance and the coefficient of lateral friction are known, and a description of trajectory space is presented according to the robots dynamic analysis. The[A8] Reinforcement Learning (RL) was applied to control a wall follower robot for learning reactive behaviors[30]. The environment is perceived in 3D using a stereo and mono vision. In this work, the images are processed to reduce the amount of relevant information and a small occupancy grid with 9 cells is created to discretize the state space. The controller utilized Q-learning technique and the action space was discrete, too. The most considerable works which have yet been done in outdoor robot navigation have constructed a grid map to determine the traversability of the terrains. The classical methods focus on a binary representation of the terrain from an obstacle occupancy point of view. Another approach is to characterize the presence of an obstacle in a grid cell by giving a continuous value. This value represents the probability distribution for occupancy of the grid cell by an obstacle. The more comprehensive methods evaluate terrain characteristics, too[9, 33]. For example, traversability is defined as a non-binary mathematical function of the slope and roughness of the terrain for each cell [18]. This traversability degree has not been interfered to robot local control directly and it has just been used in the path planner. They use some systems like GPS to find their locations and measure the distance they moved through. Kinect[A9] sensor was used to capture 3D point cloud data of outdoor environment in [28]. This data were fed to a 3D Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm to localize the robot in the environment. This point cloud was projected into a 2D plane to make a 2D SLAM algorithm applicable, too. According to this research, the advantages of Kinect sensor are a considerably lower price, and the inclusion of color into the maps in compared to conventional laser scanners. A[A10] system with two main parts was applied on surveillance mobile robot and enable it to have an autonomous navigation [4]. One part is a reactive navigation system. It used Kinect data to avoid obstacles. In this part, the depth map with one row and 5 columns was created using each depth image and pixel intensity of three cells (left, front and right) are analyzed to compute the absolute minimum and maximum distances between sensor and obstacles. Eight different situations and their relevant action commands are determined. A classifying system trained possible situations of an indoor environment using Kinect data in second part of the system. [A1]a mobile robot control law for corridor navigation and wall-following, based on sonar and odometric sensorial information is proposed. The control law allows for stable navigation avoiding actuator saturation. The posture information of the robot travelling through the corridor is estimated by using odometric and sonar sensing. [A2]In particular we deal with the well-known strategy of navigating by wall-following. In this study, probabilistic neural network (PNN) structure was used for robot navigation tasks. The provided files comprise three different data sets. The first one contains the raw values of the measurements of all 24 ultrasound sensors and the corresponding class label Sensor readings are sampled at a rate of 9 samples per second. [A3]The robot navigation is based on wall following algorithm. The robot is controlled using fuzzy incremental controller (FIC) and embedded in PIC18F4550 microcontroller. FIC guides the robot to move along a wall in a desired direction by maintaining a constant distance to the wall. Two ultrasonic sensors are installed in the left side of the robot to sense the wall distance. The wall following control of the autonomous robot has been presented using ultrasonic sensors. The sensor data are used to measure and obtain the distance and orienta- tion of the robot [A4]Some control algorithms based on artificial vision have been introduced, where the robot is allowed to move by following the wall in the corridor like the one introduced by Durrant-Whyte et al. In other research work, Zhou et al. [20] let the robot in their work to identify the heading direction through a vanishing point of lines extracted from the corridor structure. The lines look like they are scattering from one point in the image of the corridor. This one point is the vanishing point. Although it looks easy to extract the lines, but capturing the vanishing point require a complex mathematical calculation. [A5]The problem of controlling the pose of a mobile robot with respect to a target position by means of visual feedback is investigated mainly. The proposed method enables a mobile robot to identify its own position using visual features of environment. At the same time, the robot performs an orientation recognition using the same recognition method of position identification in order to follow a path in environment We developed a visual perception navigation algorithm where the robot is able to recognize its own position and orientation through robust distinguishing operation using a single vision sensor. [A6]This paper describes ongoing research at the University of British Columbia on the problem of real-time purely vision based 3D trajectory estimation for outdoor and unknown environments. The system includes an inexpensive trinocular stereo camera that can be mounted anywhere on the robot. It employs existing scene information and requires no prior map, nor any modifi cation to be made in the scene. [A7] Autonomous mobile robot achieves outdoor navigation by three processes, including the environment information acquired by the perception module, the control decision made by the planner module, and the motion plan performed by the motion control module[8]. Consequently, for safe and accurate outdoor navigation it is vital to harmonize the three modules performance. In this paper, the emphasis is focused on the decision of control laws of the robot, and objects include the longitudinal velocity, the lateral velocity, and the angles of sensor pan-tilts. In an off-road environment, the robot uses laser range finder (LRF) with one degree of freedom (DOF) pan-tilt (only tilt) to scan bumpy situation of the close front ground, on which the robot is moving, and employs stereo vision with two DOF pan-tilt to perceive drivable situation of far front ground. With the data accessed from laser and vision sensors, the passable path can be planned, and the velocities of left side and right side of the robot can be controlled to track the path, consequently, the robot off-road running is completed In this paper, a description of trajectory space[7] is presented according to the robots dynamic analysis, which is defined as the two-dimensional space of the robots turning angular speed and longitude velocity. [A8]This article describes the development of a wall following behaviour using a methodology for the learning of visual and reactive behaviours with reinforcement learning. With the use of artifi cial vision the environment is perceived in 3D, and it is possible to avoid obstacles that are invisible to other sensors that are more common in mobile robotics. the image is divided into a grid made up of 3 rows and 3 columns (Fig. 2(c)) for codifi cation. Each cell will have either free or ocuppied label, depending on the number of edge pixels it contains. Thus defi ned, the state space is 29, and in order to reduce it, it is supposed that if a cell in one of the columns is occupied, all those cells above it are also occupied. [A9]In this paper we investigate the suitability of the Xbox Kinect optical sensor for navigation and simultaneous localisation and mapping. We present a prototype which uses the Kinect to capture 3D point cloud data of the external environment. The data is used in a 3D SLAM to create 3D models of the environment and localise the robot in the environment. By projecting the 3D point cloud into a 2D plane, we then use the Kinect sensor data for a 2D SLAM algorithm. We compare the performance of Kinectbased 2D and 3D SLAM algorithm with traditional solutions and show that the use of the Kinect sensor is viable. Our research indicates that the Kinect is a viable option for use as a sensor for mobile robotic navigation and SLAM. It ofiâ‚ ¬ers signifi cant advantages over conventional laser scanners, such as 3D model building, pure visual SLAM, a considerably lower price, and the inclusion of colour into the maps. [A10]This paper presents the development of a perception system for indoor environments to allow autonomous navigation for surveillance mobile robots. The system is composed by two parts. The first part is a reactive navigation system in which a mobile robot moves avoiding obstacles in environment, using the distance sensor Kinect. The second part of this system uses a artificial neural network (ANN) to recognize different configurations of the environment, for example, path ahead, left path, right path and intersections. The ANN is trained using data captured by the Kinect sensor in indoor environments. This way, the robot becomes able to perform a topological navigation combining internal reactive behavior to avoid obstacles and the ANN to locate the robot in the environment, in a deliberative behavior

A Comparative Study of Evolution and Religion in Education in the United States and China :: Compare Contrast Religious Essays

A Comparative Study of Evolution and Religion in Education in the United States and China Buddhism does not believe in a creator god. It accepts modern ideas about the universe. Hinduism believes that the universe existed first, and then the divine spirit awoke within it and seeded itself and formed Brahma, who is the God. Hinduism, similar to Buddhism, has an evolutionary perspective of life. Both religions accept Darwin’s evolution theory. Islam, Christianity and Judaism all share the same Mesopotamian mythologies (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/sosteacher/re/37690.shtml). Over half of the world’s population believes in these religions. They believe the world was created by God in six days, which was recorded in the first chapter of Genesis of the Bible. God created the heaven and earth in the beginning and He created day and night on the first day. Then He separated water from the sky on the second day. On the third day God created vegetation, and on the fourth day He created the Sun, the moon and stars to govern day and night. On the fifth day, God created living creatures that live in the water and fly in the sky. One the sixth day, God made the land to produce living creatures on land, and He said â€Å"let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and overall the creatures that move along the ground.† God created man in his own image, and He told man to be fruitful and multiply. On the seventh day, God rested from all the creation he had done. What is evolution? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has many definition of the term â€Å"evolution† (http://www.m-w.com/). The one definition that this paper is mainly referring to is as follows: â€Å"a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations.† Evolution is tightly associated with Charles Darwin. The British naturalist was under the influence of Charles Lyell, who argued in his book Principles of Geology that the Earth was shaped by accumulative, gradual changes instead of great catastrophes. Darwin traveled with the Beagle around the world and collected specimen. He published his book Origin of species in 1859. The two major themes or Darwin’s theory are â€Å"Descent with Modification† and â€Å"Natural selection and adaptation. A Comparative Study of Evolution and Religion in Education in the United States and China :: Compare Contrast Religious Essays A Comparative Study of Evolution and Religion in Education in the United States and China Buddhism does not believe in a creator god. It accepts modern ideas about the universe. Hinduism believes that the universe existed first, and then the divine spirit awoke within it and seeded itself and formed Brahma, who is the God. Hinduism, similar to Buddhism, has an evolutionary perspective of life. Both religions accept Darwin’s evolution theory. Islam, Christianity and Judaism all share the same Mesopotamian mythologies (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/sosteacher/re/37690.shtml). Over half of the world’s population believes in these religions. They believe the world was created by God in six days, which was recorded in the first chapter of Genesis of the Bible. God created the heaven and earth in the beginning and He created day and night on the first day. Then He separated water from the sky on the second day. On the third day God created vegetation, and on the fourth day He created the Sun, the moon and stars to govern day and night. On the fifth day, God created living creatures that live in the water and fly in the sky. One the sixth day, God made the land to produce living creatures on land, and He said â€Å"let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and overall the creatures that move along the ground.† God created man in his own image, and He told man to be fruitful and multiply. On the seventh day, God rested from all the creation he had done. What is evolution? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has many definition of the term â€Å"evolution† (http://www.m-w.com/). The one definition that this paper is mainly referring to is as follows: â€Å"a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations.† Evolution is tightly associated with Charles Darwin. The British naturalist was under the influence of Charles Lyell, who argued in his book Principles of Geology that the Earth was shaped by accumulative, gradual changes instead of great catastrophes. Darwin traveled with the Beagle around the world and collected specimen. He published his book Origin of species in 1859. The two major themes or Darwin’s theory are â€Å"Descent with Modification† and â€Å"Natural selection and adaptation.

Human Rights Violations :: Human Rights Essays

Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan Since the departure of the Soviets from Afghanistan basic human rights of the Afghanistanis have not just been trampled on but summarily done away with. After the widespread destruction of the power struggle, the ruling party, the Taliban, have committed atrocities against the people of Afghanistan that few would believe still exist in the world today. Especially targeted are the Shiite minority and the women of Afghanistan. Despite every effort of the Taliban to limit reporters and documentation of the crimes being committed, there is tremendous information being made public worldwide. The violations present a unique situation in the world and command reaction from the world at large. http://www.tabloid.net/1999/01/21/taliban_990121.html : Tabloid news services - Kabul, Afghanistan What has become norm these to Afghanis are straight out of a horror movie for most of the civilized world. The Taliban regime has enacted their own form of justice under the banner of Islam. This news piece from the capital tells of a typical day of sentencing, severed hands and feet of thieves hanging in the busiest part of the town to serve as a warning to others. One of the most unique punishments is for the sodomists. The presumed guilty stands in front of a wall, which is bulldozed on him while a crowd watches. **http://my.rawa.org/rawa.html Rawa, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, was started under the Soviet rule. These women campaigned against the atrocities of the Soviets and brought to public view their heinous crimes. Since their departure this group has enlarged its scope to include resistance to the fundamentalists as well as the mistreatment of the women and girls of Afghanistan. The Taliban have been especially cruel towards women since they believe women should not be allowed to work or go to school. Women and girl who still pursue these goals are frequently stopped by the morality police and beaten or worse. The Rawa org. is doing an incredible job exposing these violation under their harsh circumstances. http://www.rawa.org/herat-p.htm In May of 1999, the Taliban suppressed a coup by the Iran backed Hezb-e-Wahdat(shiite group). After the confrontation, they thought it would be prudent to seek out all of the Hazaras Shiite minority living in Herat. The Taliban went on an armed house-to-house search of the entire town.

Love, Betrayal, Hubris, and Relationships in Cyrano de Bergerac Essays

Love, Betrayal, Hubris, and Relationships in Cyrano de Bergerac  Ã‚     Ã‚     French authors and playwrights have been acclaimed worldwide for their dynamic prose, complex situations, and unpredictable endings. The same praises hold true for Edmond Eugene Alexis Rostand. Born of Provencal ancestry on April 1, 1868, Rostand was well-learned, as evidenced by his extensive childhood education as a student of the lycee of Marseille. His father was a prominent member of the Marseille Academy. As a direct result of this high influence, Rostand concluded his studies at the College Stanislas in Paris. He studied, under the direction of the then-renowned Professor Rene Doumic, the works of those creme de la creme authors held in high esteem -- Victor Hugo, Alfred de Musset, and William Shakespeare. His interactions with both Spanish and French cultures helped augment his success as a dramatic poet. Furthermore, Rostand assisted Emile Zola in supporting Captain Dreyfus, who was unjustly convicted of treason (Kahr 186). As a Meridional, Rostand was heavily inspired by Victor Hugo. In college, Rostand found "a literary world . . . where naturalism and exoticism flourished" (vii). This attitude was formed as a result of the catastrophic Franco-Prussian War of 1870. As a member of the 1880s generation, Rostand was also influenced to become the ideal Romanticist of his time. Rostand's fourth play, Cyrano de Bergerac, afforded him the most fame. Rostand generally modeled his plays after traditional, romantic subjects and settings. A vast majority of the success of Rostand's play can be accredited to an interesting plot, a rich and sophisticated vocabulary, and real-life dialogue (to those of his lifetime). Cyrano de Bergerac, the play, debuted ... .... "Rostand, Edmond." The New Book of Knowledge. 1994 ed. "Rostand, Edmond." The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 22nd ed. 1994.       Outline I. Introduction A. Background B. Inspiration II. Leading to Cyrano A. Reasons B. Rostand's style C. Debut III. Precis of Cyrano IV. Commenting on Cyrano A. Length of Play B. Mentality of Cyrano characters C. Examples V. Rhetoric devices A. Tone 1. Commentary-example 1 2. Commentary-example 2 B. Diction 1. Commentary-example 1 2. Commentary-example 2 C. Point of view 1. Commentary-example 1 2. Commentary-example 2 VI. Overall Theme A. Major Theme B. Subsequent major themes VII. Conclusion A. Issues emphasized B. Rhetoric devices C. Overall conclusion of Rosatnd's work D. Clincher         

Essay --

Famine is one of the major sources of China's problem. The problem with the constant famines that China is always facing is that they are always facing the deprivation of food production and the lasting effects of this. The Chinese has always had a rapidly expanding population that food production had never been able to keep up with. It has stemmed multiple problems within the country. It has caused the major distrust of the government, as the government did nothing to help the populace. The famine was a major factor in the reason why the Chinese people did not start to fully modernize and industrialize till now. People have judged the former dynasties of China by their ability to meet and conquer great tragedies, China's current one being that of the ongoing famines that have continued to plague the country for centuries ever since early 19th Century. The role of Mao and the communist government, the ethics that effected the people and the last effects it has had on the country o f China. The first major famines that occurred in China were the known as the "four famines" that occurred in the early 19th century1 . These four famines had a death toll estimated at 45 million dead. The Qing Dynasty was a dynasty of much chaos, the multiple opium wars and the Taping Rebellion. The insuring famine that occurred during the conflict caused over 60 million dead. The Great North China Famine led to the death of 13 million people due to an ongoing drought that the Chinese people were not prepared to handle2. The constant failure of the current government has led to the deaths of millions, which has led the lower class peasant class of China to always have this sense of distrust with the current government, as they are never able to react... ...how the Soviets they were successful. Motivated by this reasoning, Mao choose to do nothing about the famine, claiming that his plan could never go wrong, that the Chinese Communist way was the only correct way. The inflexible Mao and his policies caused a decline in Chinas morality, that is apart of the continued cycle for each generation of the Chinese people. Each time the Chinese go into a major famine, we can see the change in government, this decline in a dynasty, that we have seen repeat itself throughout Chinas history. With Mao's death and the rise of western ideals in China, we can see that China has moved away from its Maoist ideals and moved towards a western model of government. No matter how long it takes the Chinese, I don't think they will ever forget these events in this history, always encouraging the new generation for change of a corrupt system. Essay -- Famine is one of the major sources of China's problem. The problem with the constant famines that China is always facing is that they are always facing the deprivation of food production and the lasting effects of this. The Chinese has always had a rapidly expanding population that food production had never been able to keep up with. It has stemmed multiple problems within the country. It has caused the major distrust of the government, as the government did nothing to help the populace. The famine was a major factor in the reason why the Chinese people did not start to fully modernize and industrialize till now. People have judged the former dynasties of China by their ability to meet and conquer great tragedies, China's current one being that of the ongoing famines that have continued to plague the country for centuries ever since early 19th Century. The role of Mao and the communist government, the ethics that effected the people and the last effects it has had on the country o f China. The first major famines that occurred in China were the known as the "four famines" that occurred in the early 19th century1 . These four famines had a death toll estimated at 45 million dead. The Qing Dynasty was a dynasty of much chaos, the multiple opium wars and the Taping Rebellion. The insuring famine that occurred during the conflict caused over 60 million dead. The Great North China Famine led to the death of 13 million people due to an ongoing drought that the Chinese people were not prepared to handle2. The constant failure of the current government has led to the deaths of millions, which has led the lower class peasant class of China to always have this sense of distrust with the current government, as they are never able to react... ...how the Soviets they were successful. Motivated by this reasoning, Mao choose to do nothing about the famine, claiming that his plan could never go wrong, that the Chinese Communist way was the only correct way. The inflexible Mao and his policies caused a decline in Chinas morality, that is apart of the continued cycle for each generation of the Chinese people. Each time the Chinese go into a major famine, we can see the change in government, this decline in a dynasty, that we have seen repeat itself throughout Chinas history. With Mao's death and the rise of western ideals in China, we can see that China has moved away from its Maoist ideals and moved towards a western model of government. No matter how long it takes the Chinese, I don't think they will ever forget these events in this history, always encouraging the new generation for change of a corrupt system.

To What Extent Were Hitler and Stalin Similar?

To what extent were Hitler and Stalin similar? Hitler and Stalin were both cruel dictators around the time of WW2, but to what extent were these two men similar? Firstly they were both dictators throughout WW2; however they were both of different beliefs. Hitler was a fascist and Stalin was a communist, however they were both such extreme versions of these beliefs that they were, in many ways alike. Starting with childhood, Adolf Hitler was born on April 20th 1889 in a small Austrian town called Braunau, near to the German border.His father, Alois Hitler was an abusive drunk similar to Stalin’s father, Besarion Vanovis Jughashvili. This evidence suggests that perhaps the bad relationships these men had with their fathers, who made very poor role models, may have had some contribution to the turnout of these dictators. Stalin did not graduate, unlike Hitler; instead he devoted his time to the revolutionary crusade against the Russian monarchy. He spent 15 years as an activist, who was arrested on a number of occasions and exiled six times in total.In 1913 Stalin was captured for the sixth time, and was exiled to a region in Siberia near to the Arctic Circle called Turukhansk. He was then released for a final time in March, 1917, by Alexander Kerensky’s revolution. When you compare Hitler’s life before dictatorship it is obvious that this portion of the men’s life was extensively different. Stalin rose to power as general secretary covertly, into one of the most dominant communist parties at the time. And when revolution leader Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, control was thought by the Russian public, to belong to Leon Trotsky who was the head of the red army.However Stalin rose to power instead and, although he incorporated fear into his tactics of leadership, like Hitler did, his actual claim of control over Russia was visibly dissimilar. Hitler’s early adulthood was difficult, after leaving his school in Vienna he was devastated by the loss of his mother to cancer. Shortly after which he was struck by another heavy blow, as he was rejected from art school and forced to give up his dream of becoming an artist.He was now very poor and living in a doss house with the homeless, it was at this time many historians believe he developed his hatred of Jews as they were generally well-off people thriving in a time when he had nothing, this hatred would later play a major part in the mass genocide he lead during his dictatorship. When Hitler rose to power in 1933 Germany was facing a crisis, the great depression had struck, and America had stopped funding them or buying their goods, causing 6 million people to lose their jobs, on top of that the restrictions Germany had already suffered due to the treaty of Versailles were catastrophic.So, the public began to question their current democratic leadership. For Hitler turning the public against democracy and communism was easy, they already doubted the democratic leade rship and since the communist uprisings between 1919 and 1920 that had caused a major panic and the horror stories from Russia and Stalin, people already disliked the communists greatly. He used the similar beliefs between himself and the people to strengthen their relationship and allow them to worship him. Similarly, when Stalin came into power he influenced the people to turn them against his opposition by pointing out their similarities.Stalin was a man of the people, a peasant who had fought in the revolution, and was in the public eye having attended and given the main speech at Vladimir Lenin’s funeral. However, his opposition Leon Trotsky was a Jewish Army leader who did not attend Lenin’s funeral (however sources tell that Stalin tricked Trotsky into not going). This was similar to Hitler because they both focused on what they had in common with the public , and ensured they kept themselves in the public eye as the hero when in actual fact they turned out to b e the villains.Another likeness between the two leaders was their use of terror to control their country. Both of the dictators enforced the secret police, who were one of the biggest fears of both countries public, in Russia the secret police were called ‘Cheka’ and in Germany they were known as Gestapo. The secret police were the secret force put together by the government to spy on and capture those who spoke out against them, in Hitler’s case for example the Jews. Once captured by the secret police the prisoners would either be executed or taken away to concentration camps, gulags or ghettos to be tortured and forced to work manual labour.Both men additionally, believed in using children to spy on their parents, in many schools across Germany and Russia the dictator’s beliefs were broadcasted to young children, they were taught to snitch on their parents if they spoke out against the government. When using propaganda Hitler was linked to Stalin through their use of twisting the public’s mind. Many historical sources depict images of Hitler or images of Stalin hugging women and children and leading the army, in addition to this almost all of their osters depicted their political parties symbol, which with Nazis symbol (swastika)ironically meant good fortune and peace. A major difference was that Stalin’s posters were much more general, much more of Stalin loving the public whereas Hitler’s posters clearly defined his policies. For instance Nazi propaganda was widely images of the Hitler youth army, the Aryan race (the race Hitler believed to be superior to all others- blonde hair/blue eyes) and many images of ugly Jewish people perhaps eating German babies.Often when observing Hitler and Stalin people overlook the changes they made for the good. In Hitler’s case he promised policies such as Lebensraum (the need for living space) -the reclaiming of land lost in the treaty of Versailles and, he promised t o increase the army size from 100,000 to 1,400,000. He also came up with the Hitler youth army providing leisure events such as holidays, trips and sports events, moreover he gave the Germans cheaper cinema and theatre tickets and provided them with better meals.He greatly improved the quality of German working facilities, as well as providing loans to married couples, and encouraging the birth of children by saying that the more children you had the less you had to pay back form the loans. Overall the main thing he provided to the poor Germans who had lost so much since WW1. Stalin gave the public hope for triumph for over the cruel grip of fascism taking the current revolution a step further. He made his country a world power alongside the USA, not like Hitler who made Germany suffer a colossal loss after WW2.He greatly improved Russian industries and economy, the farming in Russia increased by 200 %. Additionally Stalin increased by decades the life expectancy of many Russians, h e also enriched the lives of many Russians who lost faith especially throughout WW2. Furthermore, during Stalin’s rule he significantly enhanced the standard of women’s rights by allowing them to receive education and employment and permitting them to give birth in hospitals with prenatal care. Opposing Hitler immensely, who sacked hundreds of women believing their purpose was to stay at home with the children, and cook and clean.On June 22nd, 1941 Hitler, feeling himself losing the war and growing paranoid of Stalin’s communist power invaded Russia calling it Operation Barbarossa. It was a foolish decision which lost him a large portion of his army, and the war essentially. Stalin triumphed and by mid-April of 1945, Soviet forces had pushed their way into Berlin, and Hitler and his wife Eva killed themselves in order to escape the terrible punishments of losing the war. Stalin died later on in 1953 on March 5th, 1953 a stroke.In conclusion although they were bo th at the furthest ends of right wing communism (Stalin) and fascism (Hitler), they were indeed so extreme, that in a way, they were a like. There methods of control, torture and advertisement were so remarkably alike and, their mass genocides will go down as two of the most dreadful, but painfully similar events in history. So to a certain extent I do agree that these dictators were very similar from a particularly young age, though at many significant points in their lives they did show great dissimilarities.

Early Childhood Education Past and Present Essay

In order to decide how past philosophies, theories and educational models have influenced present ideas and practices related to early childhood education, we must first decide where we would like to begin. I will start with the ideas of Aristotle, because I believe his ideas on â€Å"mimesis† or imitations are evident in the evolution of early education, and will always be an integral part of effective learning. Once we understand that children learn and practice what they see in others, we begin to realize the need for dedication and devotion from parents and teachers. Aristotle was a student of Plato who argued for the early removal of children from their parents so that they could be cared for in a school like setting. (Schwartz 1997) As we look back at history itself, we can see that the role of childhood education has been dependent upon the immediate needs and beliefs of a particular society. There have also been many individuals in the past 200 years who are responsible for creating theories and philosophies based on their observations of children and what is vital to them as they develop into adults. However, it is important that we recognize how new ideas are not formed independently, but built upon old ones. As educators, we must utilize what we notice to be effective, as well as the things that impacted us most as children in an educational setting. The strategies and philosophies that I’ve implemented in particular are borrowed from several individuals including Erikson, Vygotsky and Gardiner. Erikson’s psychosocial theory covers eight stages, each one built upon, and reliant on its predecessor. The first four are of greatest relevance, but the remaining four are worthy of a close look because it is important to know where you’re going when deciding upon the best way to get there. These stages also remind me of the importance of satisfying basic need, and of considering children as little people who need to believe in success before they can achieve it. It’s one of the reasons why I would occasionally go to recess with my students. I was able to observe how they treated and responded to others in a seemingly more relaxed, social setting. For some children, recess is by far the most stressful twenty minutes of the day. The incredibly minimal amount of time given to my students was another reason I felt it was necessary to attend. I could get a kick ball game set up so they could make the best of what little time they had. However, I must be honest, I still love to play, and demonstrating good sportsmanship and a competitive spirit to my kids was as important as the preparation for any test we had to look forward to. Lastly, I had a sixth grade teacher who used to do the same thing and I remember it vividly and extremely fondly. I find Gardiners’ theory of multiple intelligence extremely helpful while building confidence in kids whose gifts were not overly apparent on the field at recess. I have and will always encourage students to recognize and display these gifts while still maintaining a certain degree of humility. (Hyson 2004) I’ve always kept examples of completed activities inside and outside my classroom and anywhere else I could find space in order to, among other things, initiate discussions about pride as well as humility. Our classroom clearly demonstrated the fact that comfort and familiarity were held in high regard. An equal emphasis was placed on respect, and this is the word that was constantly spelled out on the board. As my class or one of my students showed an obvious lack of respect, one of the letters would be erased. They would be put back as we were respectful of one another, and if the word was entirely spelled out on Friday afternoon, we would have a â€Å"social gathering† for the last half hour of the day. If we were to walk into most, if not all early childhood educational settings, we would find many things that were initiated or influenced by past theorists or philosophers. We would notice blocks or other creative building materials. There would be areas to encourage cooperative learning, and most would reflect what is thought to be developmentally appropriate for the range of members in the class. When determining what types of play are developmentally appropriate, we need to consider all individuals, and the fact that differences will exist. Members of a class who are either gifted or struggling should not have to suffer because of what is thought to be developmentally appropriate. These differences should be expected, utilized and appreciated. Computers, for example, will run programs with varying degrees of difficulty depending upon what is developmentally appropriate for an individual. As concerns continue to grow over bridging the gap between early education students, government intervention has and will continue to grow. An increase in assessments is inevitable, and even smaller amounts of time will be devoted to active learning, exploration and play. The changes that in fact need to be made are those that reflect the ideas of the great minds of theorists who dedicated their lives in order to determine the most effective methods of early childhood education.