DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDUSTRIAL ROBOTIC ARM EDUCATION KIT BASED ON OBJECT RECOGNITION AND ROBOT KINEMATICS FOR ENGINEERS

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDUSTRIAL ROBOTIC ARM EDUCATION KIT BASED ON OBJECT RECOGNITION AND ROBOT KINEMATICS FOR ENGINEERSAbstractRobotic vision makes systems in the industry more advantageous regarding practicality and flexibility. For this reason, it is essential to provide the necessary training for the standard use of vision based robotic systems on production lines. In this article, it is aimed to design a low cost computer vision based industrial robotic arm education kit with eye-to-hand configuration. This kit is based on classifying and stacking products in random locations in a short time, making them ready for industrial operations or logistics. In the development phase of the system, firstly, motion simulation of the robotic arm was performed and then, experimental setup was established, and the performance of the system was tested by experimental studies. This system, which operates with a great success rate, has been made available for use within the scope of education. Regarding the use of the system for educational purposes, this kit supports theoretical lessons by reviewing object recognition (vision systems), forward - inverse kinematics, and trajectory planning (robot kinematics) and running the system several times. Thus, engineering students are expected to approach the industry more consciously and to develop the industry. It can also be used for training of relevant engineers in the institution where vision based robotic systems are available.Keywords: Education Kit, Stereo Vision, Robotic Arm, Object Recognition and Classification, Pick-and-Place Tas

Relationship between Yarn Properties and Process Parameters in False-Twist Textured Yarn

The properties of false-twist textured yarns in the aspects of crimp characteristic and tensile behavior depend mainly on the draw ratio and the D/Y ratio. This study comprises investigations of the effect of D/Y ratio and draw ratio on the crimp and tensile properties and percent crystallinity. While there was no noticeable change on the percent crystallinity by altering these parameters, tenacity increased and crimp contraction decreased with increasing draw ratio, and crimp stability decreased when the D/Y ratio increased. K/S value also decreased with increasing draw ratio

Financial Stress and Effect on Real Economy: The Turkish Experience

In this paper, we aim to analyze empirically how economic activity reacts to the financial stress shocks depending on the stress regime in Turkey. Using quarterly data, the effect of financial stress is examined using two threshold vector autoregression model (TVAR) for consumption, investment and real GDP by using financial stress index, credit growth and inflation rate as endogenous variables. The paper proposes local projection approach for estimating threshold VAR model as robustness check to overcome the data limitations. The main result of this paper is that the effect of financial stress on consumption, investment, and real GDP, such as magnitude and significance, vary greatly depending on the financial stress regime. The paper finds that financial stress is found to affect economic growth when the stress level is already high. This corroborates with the effectiveness of credit channel in the financial friction mechanism. On the contrary, the financial stress does not affect real economic activities to significantly during low stress regime. The effect of financial stress impairs consumption and investment growth during high stress regime which leads to slow down of economic activities

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Early Warning Indicators: An Application of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Approach to Panel Data

Early warning indicators (EWIs) of banking crises should ideally be judged on how well they function in relation to the choice issue faced by macroprudential policymakers. Several practical features of this challenge are translated into statistical evaluation criteria, including difficulties measuring the costs and advantages of various policy interventions, as well as requirements for the timeliness and stability of EWIs. We analyze the balance panel of possible EWIs for six countries that have experienced currency crisis and banking crisis in recent times. Using possible early warning indicators, we evaluate the suitability of these EWIs in view of their predictive power and stability of signals. The paper observes that credit disbursements to non-financial sectors and central government provides stable signal about systemic risks. Further debt service ratio, inter bank rates and total reserves are also found to be useful in predicting these crisis. Lastly, the paper observes that linear combination of these indicators improves the predictive power of EWIs further

Views of School Administrators Related to In-service Training Activities i

Abstract The aim of this research is to specify the views of school administrators views related to in-service training activities. In this research, semi-structured interview method, one of the qualitative research methods, has been used. Content analysis has been used in order to analyze the interview data and themes and sub-themes have been constituted. The target population of the research is consisted of 20 school administrators working in the city centre of Eskişehir having joined in-service training activities in 2012-2013 academic years. It has been seen at the end of the research that the school administrators, within the scope of developing their skills, occupational development and performance and developing motivation, increasing their awareness and knowledge level with regard to the current legislation and changes in the regulations. It is concluded that school administrators have different views with regard to in-service training in the themes such as type of participation, aims of participation, durations of in-service training programs, time of in-service training program, evaluation of training program

Examination of the Responsibility and Tolerance of Students Raised in Families with Different Cultural Structures

As a result, it was determined that the responsibility value of the students predict the tolerance value at a rate of 29%. In addition, statistically significant differences were determined between the responsibility and tolerance levels of students according to the cultural environment and gender of the students while no difference was determined according to class level

Urodynamic assessment of short-term effects of pelvic radiotherapy on bladder function in patients with gynecologic cancers

Objectives: To determine the short-term effects of adjuvant or primary curative radiotherapy (RT) on the urinary system in women with gynecologic cancer. Material and methods: This is a prospective, concurrent cohort study including 55 patients with gynecologic cancer who were divided into three groups. Group 1 included 10 patients who were administered adjuvant RT following a radical hysterectomy (RH); Group 2 included 36 patients who were administered adjuvant RT following a type 1 hysterectomy and Group 3 included 9 patients who were administered primary curative RT. Urogynecologic assessments were carried out on patients before and six months after the treatment. Results: Compared to pretreatment, no significant differences were observed in any of the three groups after treatment in terms of incontinence, first urge to urinate, normal urge to urinate, severe urge to urinate and changes in residual urine volumes. There was a significant decrease in maximal vesical pressure after treatment in Group 1 and Group 3. The maxi­mum detrusor pressure decreased significantly in Group 1. The post-treatment decline in bladder capacity in Group 1 and Group 2 was also significant. Conclusions: RH and pelvic RT cause lower urinary system dysfunction. Especially patients who receive primary curative RT and patients who are administered RT after RH, where more pelvic denervation occurs, are at higher risk due to high doses of RT

Assessment of clinicopathological features, evaluation of treatment, and prognosis of clear cell and serous papillary endometrial carcinoma

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate and compare the clinical and pathological features, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) and clear-cell carcinoma (CC). Material and methods: Thirty-four patients who were operated on for UPSC and CC carcinoma at the İzmir Tepecik Research and Teaching Hospital, between January 1983 and December 2014, were included. Patients were evaluated for the following factors: age, gravidity, parity, preoperative CA-125, tumor size, myometrial and lymphovascular invasion, lymph node tumor metastasis, presence of atypical cells in peritoneal cytology, pathology results, operation types, whether or not they received postoperative adjuvant therapy, prognosis, and death rate. Results: The stage of the disease was the main factor affecting disease-free and the overall survival. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy was partially effective in patients with postoperative recurrence, while postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy proved to be more effective in preventing relapse. Conclusion: The studied parameters generally were concordant with the literature but, due to the relatively small sample size, more comprehensive and multicenter studies are needed to generate valid results

Retrospective evaluation of clinical and pathological features, as well as diagnostic and treatment protocols of primary vaginal malignancy

Objectives: Our study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics and diagnostic and treatment protocols of primary vaginal carcinoma. Also, we compared the clinical and pathological features of primary vaginal carcinoma which intersect with cervical and vulvar carcinomas. Material and methods: Sixteen patients with primary vaginal carcinoma, admitted to the Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital between January 1983 and December 2012, were evaluated retrospectively. FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) Surgical staging was performed. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program was used for statistical analyses. Results: The histological distribution of the 16 patients with primary vaginal carcinoma was as follows: 9 patients (56.3%) with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 5 (31.3%) with rhabdomyosarcoma, and 2 (12.5%) with adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: The stage of the disease was found the be the main factor affecting the survival