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Friday 9 January 2015

I Know Why My Robot Turns - A Programming Insight

I have this toy Moon Walking Robot which keeps walking around in my home. When it hits an object, it turns and moves on a different direction. If you want to buy this Moon Walking Robot, you can buy it here.

I know why my Moon Walking Robot changes directions when it hits something. It might be because it has an instruction or a command like 'If on edge, bounce'. I got this insight because I suddenly remembered a motion block in Scratch Computer Programming that is called as 'If on edge, bounce'. In the Scratch Programming, I think that all the blocks belong to one sensing category. The reason why the Moon Walking Robot changes direction when it hits something could be because the robot is made to rotate and turn, meaning bounce because it is on the edge or it has hit an object. So, I am very sure there must be a programming motion command written in the chip inside the Moon Walking Robot that makes the robot turn the direction when it hits the edge. And, the start button of the Robot is similar to the command 'When green flag clicked' on the Scratch programming control category. 

The reason why the robot keeps on moving when it is switched on is because the chip inside the robot probably has a control command called as 'Forever'. And the reason why the robot is walking is because it could have a motion command called as 'Move 10 steps'. May be, the robot also has a motion command that makes it keep turning its head from left to right and right to left and may be another motion command that makes it wave its hands back and forth. And another motion command for moving its legs back and forth. Programming is amazing, isn't it. 

Monday 5 January 2015

The Fish Incarnation Of Vishnu And Comparative Studies

Matsya Avatara Sculptor, SriRangam
I will share with you the story of Matsya Avatara. This is how it all began. Once upon a time, there was a sage named Satyavrata. One day, when he was taking bath in a river, he found a fish in his hand. That fish told the sage to not let the fish get into the water again, otherwise the fish would be eaten by its predators. So, Satyavrata decided to take the fish along with him. He put the fish in his kamandala (holy vessel) and went back home. After Satyavrata reached home, he got a surprise. The fish became bigger that it could not fit into the kamandala. Then, Satyavrata took the fish and put it in a larger pot. But, the fish became more bigger than the pot. Satyavrata put the fish into a pond. The fish grew more larger than the pond. Satyavrata was puzzled. He decided to put the fish into the ocean. As soon as he put the fish into the ocean, the fish hooted and said, "Oh Sage, why are you doing this injustice to me by putting me back in the ocean. There are more dangerous predators in the ocean that can easily eat me up". Satyavrata said, "Oh great fish, you must be Sriman Narayana incarnate, are you here to teach me a lesson?"