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GB2222047A - Optical mapping of field of view and information storage - Google Patents
Optical mapping of field of view and information storage Download PDF
GB2222047A
GB2222047A GB8916695A GB8916695A GB2222047A GB 2222047 A GB2222047 A GB 2222047A GB 8916695 A GB8916695 A GB 8916695A GB 8916695 A GB8916695 A GB 8916695A GB 2222047 A GB2222047 A GB 2222047A
GB8916695D0 (en
Robert Louis Dalglish
NewSouth Innovations Pty Ltd
Unisearch Ltd
1988-07-25 Priority to AUPI945988 priority Critical
1989-07-21 Application filed by NewSouth Innovations Pty Ltd, Unisearch Ltd filed Critical NewSouth Innovations Pty Ltd
1989-09-06 Publication of GB8916695D0 publication Critical patent/GB8916695D0/en
1990-02-21 Publication of GB2222047A publication Critical patent/GB2222047A/en
2019-07-16 Application status is Withdrawn legal-status Critical
G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
G01S17/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. lidar systems
G01S17/02—Systems using the reflection of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
G01S17/06—Systems determining position data of a target
G01S17/88—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications
G01S17/89—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications for mapping or imaging
An optical mapping system having a beam projection device 13, 12 to illuminate the field of view, and a detector array 29 to detect reflected light from the field of view. In a version for scanning in one plane the projected beam is incrementably progressed across the field of view and for each increment the reflected points of light detected by the detector are recorded to build a map of the field of view, which is stored as a linear array having as its coordinate the angle A of projection of the illuminating beam. The value stored in each element of the array is the angle C of incidence of the detected ray. Three dimensional systems are also described which use a two dimensional array. <IMAGE>
"Improvements in Optical Location Systcms The present invention relates to an improved object location means for robot vision and optical systems.
Applications for industrial robots are presently restricted to simple repetitive tasks on production and assembly lines where components are delivered to the robot station under tightly controlled conditions. The principle reason for their limitation to such toles is the lack of an efficient and economical general technique to provide them with vision. Considerable effort is new being made in all technolvyically advanced countries, to provide a suitable robot vision system. The commercial implications of a satlstactcry system are very considerable and could initiate a new major industry, Until recently the only successful attempts at industrial or robot vision systems have been restricted to very simple application systems to locate and orient components on some form of conveyor belt.This type of situation is comparatively easy to handle since the system is tightly constrained to a well regulated two dimensional object field. Nonetheless, the logic systems required by contemporary designs, even for this simple case, usually need at least a powerful minicomputer.
The present applicants have described, in their co-pending Australian Patent Application No. 62020/86, a system directed to the more general problem of locating and recognising objects in full three-dimensional space, which had not previously been solved. All other systems known to the present inventor are highly experimental and invariably use main frame or very high powered computers; even with this power, the problem of location cannot be properly solved. Many techniques using outlines, edge detection, shading assessment, colour, visual flow fields and the like, have been tried individually and in combination, to reconstrct the three dimensional aspects of an object field seen by a television camera.The inevitable complexity of these techniques defies a good real-time solution even ere the most powerful computers now available are used for the analysis.
The central problem in the general three dimension case is in the recovery of the "depth" information from the two dimensional image collected by a conventional camera or image system. The prior art provides no general technique for unambiguous recovery of the information lost irretrievably in the 3D to 2D transformation.
According to a first aspect, the present invention consists in an optical imaging and location system comprising: projection means situated at a first known location and arranged to project a beam of light or other suitable radiation into a field of view in a direction subtending a variable angle A with a reference base line;; detection means spaced 4 predetermined distance from the projection means along said base line and including a lens and a detector array arranged so that a reflected ray of radiation from an object in the field of view i directed by said lens subutantíally onto one element of said array and the array having a first dimension the co ordinate of which represents a value of an angle of incidence C between the projection of said ray in a horizontal reference plane and said base line, the value of C being determined by detecting the respective element in said first dimension of the array onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens; and storage means for storing a spatial map of the field of view comprising a sparse array having one fewer dimensions than the field of view, one dimension of the array being addressed by a value representing the angle A and each cell of the array being arranged to store the value C.
In a preferred embodiment the field of view is a three dimensional space and the sparse array is a two dimensional array one dimension of which is addressed by a value repreSenting the angle A and the other dimension of which is addressed by a line number B corresponding to a line of elements in said first direction of the detector array, said line number being representative of an elevation angle of the reflected ray subtended with the horiontal reference plane.
Tn the preferred embodiment, each cell of the sparse array holds a value representative of the angle C, corresponding to the position along the line of elements defined by B and determined by locating the element onto which the peak untellsity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens in the plane defined by B, and an intensity value, being the intensity of the reflected ray for which the angle C was recorded.
According to a second aspect, the present invention consists in an optical imaging and location system comprising: projection means situated at a first known location and arranged to project a beam of light or other suitable radiation into a field of view in a direction subtending a variable angle A with a reference base line;; detection means spiced a predetermined distance from the projection nears along said base line and including a lens and a detector array arranged so that a reflected ray of radiation from an object in the field of view is directed by said lens substantially onto one element of said array and the array having a first dimension the coFordinate of which represents d value of an angle of incidence C between the projection of said ray in a horizontal reference plane and said base line, the value of C being determined by detecting the respective element in said first dimension of the array onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens; and wherein compensation means are provided to adjust the intensity value recorded by each element in the detector array to compensate for the variation expected in the intensity of the reflected ray for different values of the angle A and different path lengths from the projection means to the point of reflection represented by the value C.
In particular embodiments of the invention the cross-sectional profile of the projected beam might be provided with a characteristic signature which is either fixed, such as a characteristic frequency or variable such as a code corresponding to the angle of projection of the beam.
According to a third aspect the present invention consists in an optical imaging and location system comprising: projection means situated at a first known location and arranged to project a beam of light or other suitable radiation into a field of view in a direction subtending a variable angle A with a reference base line and said beam having a predetermined cross-sectional intensity profile; ; detection means spaced a predetermined distance from the projection means along said base line and including a lens and a detector array arranged so that a reflected ray of radiation from an objection in the field of view is directed by said lens subst ially onto one element of said array and the array having a first dimension the co-ordinate of which represents a value of an of angle of incidence between the projection of said ray in a horizontal reference plane and said base line, the value of C being determined by detecting the respective element in said first dimension of the array onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens; filter means arranged to attenuate intensity profiles detected by said detector array which do not correlate with said intensity profile of the projected beam.
In a preferred embodiment the detector array is a two dimensional array of a raster scan video camera and the filter means are arranged to process the camera output, the filter having a transfer function which is the fourier transform of the average intensity profile expected for a camera scan line when the camera scans an object in said field of view which is illuminated by the projected beam.
According to a fourth aspect, the present invention consists in an optical imaging and location system comprising; projection means situated at a first known location and arranged to project a beam of light or other suitable radiation into a field of view in a direction subtending a variable angle A with a reference base line said radiation being limited to a predeLermined band of wavelengths;; detection means spaced a predetermined distance from the projection means along said base line and including a lens and a linear detector array arranged so that a reflected ray of radiation from an object in the field of view is directed by said lens substantially onto onc element of said array and the array having a first dimension the co-ordinate C o which represents a value of an of angle of incidence between the projection of said ray in a horizontal reference plane and said base line, the value of C being determined by detecting the respective element in said first dimension of the array onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens; and filter means being arranged to limit the wavelength of radiation falling on the detector array to said predetermined band of the projected beam whereby light originating from other sources will be attenuated.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 schematically illustrates the basic concept relied upon by the present applicant.
Fig. 2 schematically represents a method of resolving ambiguities by illuminating the object space from more than one direction; Fig. 3 schematically illustrates the physical arrangement oe projection and detection elements of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 4 schematically illustrates the control unit used to control the embodiment of Pig. 3; Fig. 5 schematically illustrates the analog processing section of the control unit of Fig. 4 in greater detail; and Fig. 6 graphically illustrates typical signals from the analog processing section of Fig. 5 after various stages of processing, Referring to Fig. 1 the arrangement illustrated uses for coiivenience, a simple low-power laser as a light source 11.The laser beam 13 is directed to a small rotatable mirror 12 whose orientation can be eontrollcd.
This allows the laser beam to be scanned across the object field 17. In the simplified two dimensional case illustrated, the belt 13 will simply scan a point of light across the field of view, however in a three dimensional case the beam 13 would be a vertical ribbon beam and the view of Fig. I could be considered to be a plan view of the system.
The light detection means 15 comprises a lens system 16 to collect the laser light scattered by objects 22 in the object space and to image this light onto an array of photosensor elements 29. The detector used for this embodiment is a linear CC (charge coupled device) comprising integrating photodetectors which can be unloaded on command. In a three dimensional system the lens 16 and sensor might be the lens and imaging element respectively of a video camera in which case the array 29 would be a two dimensional array.
The elements of the system are controlled by a control unit 14 which operates the scan mirror 12 and unloads the data stream from the light detection means 15. The control unit 14 also processes the data into a matrix defining the position of all objects 22 in the field of view 17 which reflect light 21 originating from the laser beam 13. Illumination of objects 22 is achieved by moving the mirror 12 into a known position where the beam is cast at a known angle into the field of view 17. If this beam illuminates a small fraction 18 of an object in the field of view, some of the light 21 will be scattered into the lens and will be focussed onto a small region of the detector array cells 29.The angle of the object relative to the light detection means 15 can be easily determined from the image formed on the array 29, and this angle along with the known projection angle of the light beam, allows the object's position to be fully defined in the object space, Thus, at each mirror position, the co-ordinates of any object illuminated can be directly determined and entered into a data array in the computer's memory. After several scans at different laser beam angles, a complete matrix of object co-ordinates can be assembled to any required precision.
If highly relective objects are present, there is a chance that multiple reflections will occur. This con be handled quite easily by higher level analysis of the data matrix generated by the control unit 14.
Many potential applications of the invention require the system to operate under high levels of ambient light.
This can lead to some difficulty in differentiating between the laser illumination and the background light.
These situations can be handled directly either by using a laser source and a sharp bandpass filter to block all but the laser light from the detector, by the provision of a mechanical or electronic shutter to the illumination source or by using a pulsed laser, or by processing the output of the detector array in accordance with the expected spatial characteristics of the source illumination. If beam modulation is in the form of a v.L pulsed beam, the beam is allowed to illuminate the object space for a short time at each mirror and scan beam position and the detector array output is then read and stored in the computer. The beam is then turned off and, after the same amount of time, the detector array output is again read and compared to the previous readings.The difference between these two readings will be due to the intentional illumination while the effects of ambient illumination will be cancelled. When signal processing of the detector output is used to eliminate the effects of ambient light, first the spatial distribution of the source beam is determined and then a filter is designed which will select output components which match the expected output for such a distribution and this filter is used to process the output of the detector array. rn the case where the detector output is a raster scan video camera, the filter will have a transfer function which is related to the fourier transform of the intensity distribution profile through the width of the projected beam.
Referring back to to Fig. 1, it can be seen that if the location of the light projection means and light detection means are known, a base line 28 of known orientation between the units can be established. A beam projected .n a known direction forms an angle A relative to this base line and, in the illustrated two dimensional case, scattered light collected by said light detection means indicates the direction of the illuminated fraction 15 of said object space from the light detection means relative to the base line as being an angle C.
It is clear that the data provided will allow the location of the illuminated fraction of the object space 18 to be determined umambiguously using simple triangulation. Location systems according to the present invention record the co-ordinates of a point 18 using the native co-ordinates of the location system and in the case of point 18 the co-ordinates will be (A, C) where A and C are the two angles referred to above which are subtended at the ends of the base line 28, It should also be realised that if cartesian co-ordinates are required by a particular applivation, these can be readily calculated from the data provided by the location system.
FrOm the embodiment illustrated Fig. 1, it will be clear that by systematically scanning beam 13 across viewing field 17 and comparing and analysing data at small time increments to determine the locations of parts of the viewing field thus illuminated, it is possible to quickly build up an image of objects 22 located within said field.
The information added to the field by controlling its illumination allows an extra dimension of information to be collected to that provided by the detector array used.
This is to say a simple two dimensional plan or map can be provided using a one dimensional detector array and a complex three dimensional model can be developed using a two dimensional array.
The shape of objects can be reconstructed in this manner, and their identity and orientation can therefore be established. For many objects, the albedo of the surface and its change with orientation, can be used to discriminate between similar shaped objects. Since the range and orientation of the objects can be discerned unambiguously by the system, the apparent brightness of the object can be assessed and used for identification of objects or for resolution of apparent ambiguities.
Furthermore, suitable software in the control system can detect if some areas of the object space cannot bc properly resolved. If the computer can control the beam's position as well as its angle, the scanning illumination beam can be limited to suitable portions of the object field to resolve any ambiguities.
Two variations on the embodiment of Fig. 1 exist.
Light may be projected as a thin vertical ribbon of light, or in the two dimensional case as a thin ray, and periodically swept across the object space.
AS only the angles A and C relative to a known base line are required to replace depth of field information and data regarding horizontal and vertical co-ordinates can be obtained from the detector output in the three dimensional case, the location of a fraction of the object space illuminated by the ribbon source, which may comprise a series of co-ordinates, can also be unambiguously determined.
Reference to Fig. 2 shows how the system depicted in Fig. 1 can be modified by projecting the illuminating light beam from more than one position. In the schematic illustration of Fig. 2 the light beam 13 is projected to a secondary steerable mirror 40 at a second known location and then scanned across said object space in the previously described manner. By combining data gained from scanning the viewing field from the second position with that gained from scanning the viewing field from the first position the unilluminated shadow region 42 is greatly reduced, giving potential for increased information about the objects in the field.
Furthermore, it should be realised that scope exists to employ a plurality ef field projection means and a plurality of light detection means simultaneously.
Such combinations would allow a remote light beam source to illuminate a large area for multiple detector systems with a single swept beam. For example, a plurality of single, very sensitive high gain scanning detectors located at individual receiver locations would allow very faint signals scattered from distant objects to be detected. Such a system, with double scanning, would be fairly slow but would provide a very economical solution for long range object sensing. The provision of several illumination beams with different modulation patterns would allow a detector station to select that beam which gave the best information of the object field.
In other implementations oE the imaging system of the present invention the projected beam which is scanned across the field of view in the previously described embodiment is replaced with a composite beam comprising a plurality of beam components which are simultaneously projected on each of the incremental projection directions represented by the angle A. Each of these beam components will be encoded with a temporal code signal indicative of its angle of projection A.
Referring to Fig. 3, the physical arrangement of the optical components of a preferred embodiment is illustrated, comprising a video camera 15 and a scanning beam projection device 12 located at opposite ends of a reference base line 28, with a laser source 11, projecting a beam of light through a lens 51 and onto the scanning device 12 to produce a ribbon beam 13 which is scanned across the field of view 17 by rotating the mirror 53 of the scanning device 12 with the scanning motor S2. The lens 51, placed in the path of the beam 54 from the laser source 11 has the effect of converting the circular ray created by the laser source into the ribbon beam 13 required by the apparatus of the present invention.In the system of Fig. 3, the first co-ordinate of any point in the field of view 17 is the angle of projection A which is required to illuminate the particular point with the projected beam 13 and this angle A is referred to as the illumination angle.
At the other end of the base line 28, the camera 15 comprises a lens system 16 which projects detected light onto a detector array 29, which will preferably be a charge coupled device (CCD) detector array but may equally be replaced by any other suitable video imaging device.
At the end of each frame period of the camera, the image signal held in the detector artay 29 is shifted into an output register 62 line by line and then shifted out of the output register via an output amplifier 63 to produce an analog video output signal 64.
The beam of light projected by the laser 11 is directed by the mirror 53 into the field of view, to illuminate a vertical plane within the field of view subtending an angle A with the base line at the rotational axis of the mirror 53. By incrementally rotating the mirror 53, uver a period of time, the vertical ribbon beam 13 is swept across the field of view 17 and for each incremental position of the beam, an image of the ficld of view is recorded by the camera 15. Referring to Fig. 3, the beam 13 is illustrated for one direction A1 wherein a line of light 55 is projected onto an object 22 within the field of view and a corresponding line image will be recorded by the detector array 29 while the beam 13 is projected in the direction A1. once the frame has been recorded by the detector array 29 and shifted out of the camera, the beam 13 will be moved to its next incremental position and a new image recorded for the next value of A.For each value of A, a series of points within the field of view will be located, having a first co-ordinate A and a series of second co-ordinates Bn representing an elevational angle corresponding to a particular one of the plurality of scan lines provided in the detector array 2O, while the third co-ordinate C for each point is determined by the position of the respective illuminated point along its particular scan line, this position representing the azimuth angle C subtended with the base line 28 by the reflected ray 21.It will be recognised that because of the physical arrangement of the equipment, for any projection angle A and elevation angle B, there will only be one illuminated point 18 and accordingly the co-ordinates A, a, C may be conveniently stored as a sparse array comprising a two dimensional array of storage elements indexed by the A and B co-ordinates respectively with each storage element comprising two cells one of which is used to store the C co.ordinate of a point located within the field of view and the other cell being used to store the intensity (I) of the image at that point.
It will be recognised that the intensity of the reflected ray 21 will be inversely proportional to the distance of the point of reflection 18 from the point from which the ribbon beam 13 diverges (i.e. the lens 51) and reference to Figs. 6a and 6b will indicate the typical form of b line signal from the camera 51, showing that the background level of reflected light diminishes with distance from the source and that peaks representing reflection from objects within the field of view must be compared with the background level expected for the particular value of the C co-ordinate.
Referring now to Fig. 4, a control unit for controlling the apparatus of Fig. 3 is schematically illustrated. In this control unit, line select and line scan circuits 74 and 75 produce synchronizing signals 93 and 94 for the camera drive electronics 73 which in turn drive the camera 15 via control signals 95.Out of the camera 15 is produced an analog raster data signal 64 which is processed by an analog processing circuit 71 to produce a digital C co-ordinate 82 and intensity (or I value 81 which are then stored in the voxel memory matrix 72 at locations addressed by the A and B co-ordinates derived from the projection angle and the respective raster line number, the B line address 85 being provided by the line select circuit 74 and the A address 86 being provided by the beam scanner drive circuit 76 which drives the Inilcor 53 of Fig. 3.
The line scan circuit 75 also generates a C co-ordinate characterising signal 83 which is supplied to the analog stream processor 71 to compensate the analog signal for reduction in intensity with illumination path length. The line scan circuit 75 also provides an end of line signal 84 which is used to load the C co-ordinate and intensity data into the voxel memory matrix Synchronization and control of access to the voxel memory matrix 72 is provided by a control/status interface 77 which also enables access to data in the voxel memory matrix by a host computer 78 via address lines 91, C and I data lines 92 and control lines 90.
Turning now to Fig, 5, the analog stream processor 71 of Fig. 4 is schematically illustrated in greater detail.
In Fig. 5 the video raster scan analog signal 64 from the camera is first passed through a bandpass filter 101 having a frequency characteristic matched to the expected frequency characteristic of the raster scan signal for a point in the field of view illuminated by the ribbon beam 13. The effect of the bandpass filter 101 is to provide spatial filtering of the reflected light 21 from the field of view. The frequency characteristic of the filter 101 is derived by determining the intensity profile through the width of the projected beam 13, or alternatively by designing the projection Optics to give a predetermined profile, and then calculating the fourier transform of a raster line signal generated when a projected line having this intensity profile is scanned across its width by a raster scan camera.The filter 101 is then designed to have a transfer function approximating the frequency domain function produced by the fourier transform.
The filtered video signal 111 from the bandpass filter 101 is then fed to a flash analog to digital converter (ADC) 102 to produce a digitally sampled video signal 112 which is fed to the X input of a digital comparator 103. While the flash ADC 102 is converting the video signal into a stream of digital samples, a compensation signal 114 is produced by a digital to analog converter (DAC) 107 from a memory array 106 holding a set of previously sampled reference intensity values which are fed to the DAC 107 in synchronism with the video signal supplied by the camera, the synchronization being provided by the C co-ordinate signal 83 produced by the line scan circuit 7 of Fig. 4 and the A co-ordinate value 86 produced by the beam scanner drive 76.The elevation angle B could also be fed as an additional address element to the intensity compensation array 106 (which would have to be larger) in which case the compensation function could be further refined.
The Y input of the digital comparator 103 is fed with the current I data signal 81 representing the current peak intensity signal for the present line of the image and this peak value is compared with the current intensity value 112. The comparator output 113 represents the greater of the two inputs and is fed to a latch 104, but is only latched into the latch 104 in those cases where the X input is greater than the Y input as indicated by the output signal 110. When the X input is the greater of the two then this value is latched into the latch 104 and becomes the new peak intensity (I) data signal 81 for the present line and at the same time the C co-ordinate value corresponding to the I sample latched into latch 104 is latched into the C co-ordinate latch 105.
At the end of each raster scan line, an end of line signal 84 causes the latched I and C values to be loaded into the voxel memory matrix 72 (refer to Fig. 4) at the appropriate locations selected by the A and B co-ordinates for the current beam projection angle A and raster scan line number B. At the sate time the end of line signal 84 clears latches 1C4 and 105 in preparation for the commencement of scanning of a new line.
Referring to Fig. 6, the signal graphically representcd in Fig. 6a is the analog output of the video camera for a given scan line and it will be noted that the intensity signal decreases as the camera d scans points in the field of view which are further away from the source of illumination. It will also be noted that the peak value representing the point of illumination on this line may not have the highcst intensity value On the line, and while not shown in this illustration it would also be possible for noise peaks to be greater than the wanted signal peak. Referring to Fig. 6b, the output 111 Of the bandpass filter (solid line) illustrates the effect of the bandpass filter 101 on the video signal of Fig. 6a. in particular, it will be noted that the essential shape of the wanted peak has been retained, due to the matching of the frequency characteristics of the bandpass filter 101 to the intensity profile of the illuminating beam 13 with the effect that stray noise, caused for example by ambient light sources or dust particles in the field of view can be substantially attenuated.
In Fig. 6b, the dashed line represents the inverse of the reference signal 114 generated by the compensation memory array 106 and the DAC 107. The filtered video signal 111 is multiplied by the reference signal 114 in the ADC 102 to produce the compensated video signal illustrated in 64c, and it is this signal which is sampled by the ADC 102 to produce the digitised video signal 112.
It should be emphasized that the dashed line in Fig. 6b represents the inverse of the reference signal 114 and accordingly the compensation performed in the ADC 102 will have the effect of dividing the solid line signal of Fig. 6b by the dashed line signal.
THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:.
1. An optical imaging and location system comprising: projection means situated at a first known location and arranged to project a beam of light or other suitable radiation into a field of view in a direction subtending a variable angle A with a reference base line; detection means spaced a predetermined distance from the projection means along said base line and including a lens and a detector array arranged so that a reflected ray of radiation from an object in the field of view is directed by said lens substantially onto one element of said array and the array having a first dimension the co-ordinate of which represents a value of an angle of incidence C between the projection of said ray in a horizontal reference plane and said base line, the value of C being determined by detecting the respective element in said first dimension of the array onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens; and storage means for storing a spatial map of the field of view comprising a sparse array having one fewer dimensions than the field of view, one dimension of the array being addressed by a value representing the angle A and each cell of the array being arranged to store the value C.
2. The optical imaging and location system of claim 1, wherein the field of view is a three dimensional space and the sparse array is a two dimensional array one dimension of which is addressed by a value representing the angle A and the other dimension of which is addressed by a line number B co: responding to a line of elements in said first direction of the detector array, said line number being representative of an elevation angle of the reflected ray subtended with the horizontal reference plane.
3. The optical imaging and location system of claim 2, wherein each cell of the sparse array holds a value representative of the angle C, corresponding to the position along the line of elements defined by B and determined by locating the element onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens in the plane defined by B, and an intensity value, being the intensity of the reflected ray for which the angle C was recorded.
4. An optical imaging and location system comprising; projection means situated at a first known location and arranged to project a beam of light or other suitable radiation into a field of view in a direction subtending a variable angle A with a reference base line; detection means spaced a predetermined distance from the projection means along said base line and including a lens and a detector array arranged so that a reflected ray of radiation from an object in the field of view is directed by said lens substantially onto one element of said array and the array having a first dimension the co-ordinate of which represents a value of an angle of incidence C between the projection of said ray in a horizontal reference plane and said base line, the value of C being determined by detecting the respective element in said first dimension of the array onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens; and wherein compensation means are provided to adjust the intensity value recorded by each element in the detector array to compensate for the variation expected in the intensity of the reflected ray for different values of the angle A and different path lengths from the projection means to the point of reflection represented by the value C.
5. The optical imaging and location system of claim S, wherein the compensation means comprises storage means arranged to store a plurality of compensation values corresponding to particular co-ordinate values of points in the field of view and signal multiplying means for repeatedly multiplying the instantaneous value of the signal from the detection means with the one of said stored compensation values corresponding to the co-ordinate values of that point in the field of view represented by the instantaneous signal from the detection means.
6. An optical imaging and location system comprising: projection means situated at a first known location and arranged to project a beam of light or other suitable radiation into a field of view in a direction subtending a variable angle A with a reference base line and said beam having a predetermined cross sectional intensity profile;; detection means spaced a predetermined distance from the projection means along said base line and including a lens and a detector array arranged so that a reflected ray of radiation from an objection in the field of view is directed by said lens substantially onto one element of said array and the array having a first dimension the co-ordinate C of which represents a value of an of angle of incidence between the projection of said ray in a horizontal reference plane and said base line, the value of C being determined by detecting the respective element in said first dimension of the array onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by the lens; filter means arranged to attenuate intensity profiles detected by said detector array which do not correlate with said intensity profile of the projected beam.
7 The optical imaging and location system of claim 6, wherein the detector array is a two dimensional array of a raster scan video camera and the filter means are arranged to process the camera output, the filter having a transfer function which is the fourier transform to the frequency domain of the average intensity profile expected for a camera scan line when the camera scans an object in said field of view which is illuminated by the projected beam.
8. The optical imaging and location system of claim 7, wherein the cross sectional intensity profile of the projected beam is tailored to be readily distinguishable from other incidental sources of illumination.
9. The optical imaging and location system of claim 8, wherein the cross-sectional intensity profile of the projected beam is characterized by being modulated with a characteristic signature.
10. The optical imaging and location system of claim 9, wherein the characteristic signature is a specific frequency.
11. The optical imaging and location system of claim 9, wherein the characteristic signature is variable and indicates the angle of projection of the beam.
12. An optical imaging and location system comprising; projection means situated at a first known location and arranged to project a beam of light or other suitable radiation into a field of view in a direction subtending a variable angle A with a reference base line said radiation being limited to a predetermined band of wavelengths; ; detection means spaced a predetermined distance from the projection means along said base line and including a lens and a linear detector array arranged so that a reflected ray of radiation from an object in the field of view is directed by said lens substantially onto one element'of said array and the array having a first dimension the co-ordinate C of which represents a value of an of angle of incidence between the projection of said ray in a horizontal reference planc and said base line, the value of C being determined by detecting the respective element in said first dimension of the array onto which the peak intensity point of the reflected beam is directed by te lens; and filter means being arranged to limit the wavelength of radiation falling on the detector array to said predetermined band of the projected beam whereby light originating from other sources will be attenuated.
GB8916695A 1988-07-25 1989-07-21 Optical mapping of field of view and information storage Withdrawn GB2222047A (en)
AUPI945988 1988-07-25
GB8916695D0 GB8916695D0 (en) 1989-09-06
GB2222047A true GB2222047A (en) 1990-02-21
GB8916695A Withdrawn GB2222047A (en) 1988-07-25 1989-07-21 Optical mapping of field of view and information storage
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text:
Life & Culture | Movies
Gal Gadot to Star in New Netflix Film 'Red Notice'
Israeli actress will act alongside Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds in an art heist thriller
Itay Stern
Get email notification for articles from Itay Stern Follow
Gal Gadot arrives at the 90th Academy Awards in March 2018. Credit: \ Carlo Allegri/ REUTERS
Gal Gadot is set to earn a reported $20 million for starring with Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds in the new Netflix film "Red Notice."
She will be reuniting with Johnson, who appeared with her in the "Fast and Furious" film franchise. Rawson Marshall Thurber (best known for the Ben Stiller comedy "Dodgeball") will direct.
The plot will take place on several continents and follow the most wanted art thief in the world. As yet, there is no release date.
According to the Deadline website, the film was originally supposed to be produced by Universal Studios, and there was even a release date. The studio eventually decided to withdraw from the project, which ended up at Netflix.
This is one of the most ambitious and expensive projects in the streaming giant's history, due to the three stars' salaries. According to estimates, Gadot and Reynolds will both receive $20 million, while Johnson's pay day could be even higher since he is also a producer on the project.
>> Read more: Is there life for Gal Gadot beyond Wonder Woman? ■ Wonder Woman vs. Bibi: Gal Gadot takes stand in row over Jewish-Arab equality
This is the first time that Gadot will be acting in a Netflix film. In the past, the Israeli actress rejected an offer to participate in a Netflix science fiction film due to problems with the production schedule of "Red Notice" when the project was still at Universal.
Why we loved the Miley Cyrus episode on Netflix's 'Black Mirror'
In Netflix's 'Rolling Thunder Revue,' Dylan and Scorsese blur fact and fiction
New Netflix show 'Family Business' is a French-Jewish version of 'Breaking Bad'
The new movie is another step in Netflix's cinematic expansion. It was recently reported that Ryan Murphy, one of the outstanding TV creators, ("American Horror Story," "Pose," "Glee") will direct "The Prom," starring Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman (who are already starring together in "Big Little Lies"), Ariana Grande and James Corden.
Other important films that are expected to be aired on Netflix are "Good Morning, Midnight," directed by George Clooney, and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," to be produced by Denzel Washington, and which will star Viola David and Chadwick Boseman.
Ironically, though, the "Red Notice" announcement came days after Netflix reportedly said it was cutting back on lavish movie budgets. This followed the failure of its Ben Affleck and war thriller "Triple Frontier," which cost a reported $115 million yet failed to generate much buzz when it was released on the platform in March.
Israel culture

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Child Labor Booming in Iraq
by Rachelle Kliger
Iraqi Solidarity News
Iraqi Children Left Homeless After U.S. Invasions
-Isn't it wonderful that the U.S. helped the people of Iraq?
Child labor is becoming a growing problem among impoverished Iraqi refugees in Syria.
A growing number of Iraqi refugee children in Syria have joined the illegal child labor market to help their families make ends meet, United Nations officials have warned.
Syria has taken in a huge number of Iraqi refugees since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Barred from legal employment in the country, aid workers say the refugees are running out of options to make money.
"There are more and more Iraqi families sliding into poverty," Farah Dakhlallah, a public information officer for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Syria told The Media Line. "They are barred from legal employment in Syria so a lot more children are being sent to work."
Dakhlallah said the statistics were sorely lacking but anecdotal evidence and indirect data suggests the number of child workers is rising.
"One of the indicators that child labor is on the rise is if you look at the school dropout rate," she explained. "There were fewer Iraqi children enrolled in 2008-2009 than in previous years. This could be attributed to a number of factors, such as resettlements or returns, but we also think that child labor, as a result of economic hardship, is a primary factor for these dropout rates."
Most children in the child labor market are engaged in low-wage jobs such as working in eateries or cleaning toilets.
Dakhlallah said that while child labor is not restricted to the refugee population, and Syrian children are also sent to work, the refugee population tends to be the most vulnerable and susceptible to economic difficulties.
"We try to assist vulnerable families, we help rehabilitate schools, provide support to the Ministry of Education and we recently funded the opening of two schools," she said. "At the beginning of each academic year we have a school-kit distribution and we provide Iraqi children with backpacks, school supplies and new school uniforms. We also try to assist children in coping with changes in the curriculum by providing remedial classes."
Iraqi refugees in Syria constitute one of the largest urban refugee populations in the world. While Syria hosts some 1.1 million refugees, the vast majority of whom are from Iraq, less than a quarter of them are registered with the U.N.
"A lot of Iraqis work on the illegal market which helps them to subsist, but it also exposes then to a lot of exploitation," Dakhlallah said.
According to UNICEF, the U.N. child organization, an estimated 158 million children aged 5 to 14 - one in six children in the world - are engaged in child labor.
The organization says that children living in poor households and in rural areas are most likely to be engaged in child labor and that those burdened with household chores are overwhelmingly girls, who are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
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Foundations – Depressingly traditional. Strip footings with NEW: 150mm concrete slab over 100mm EPS and 100mm PIR, OLD: suspended timber floor.
Glazing	-	generic 2G uPVC, 2g Alu bifold and 2 composite doors.
Heating	-	Gas central heating from Baxi 33kW combi boiler with uncommissioned ground floor UFH in extension.
Finishes	-	Floor tiles and engineered wood.
Other	-	Extensive landscaping required on 250sq. m garden and future DIY timber frame man cave.
Can't help on the insulation front but watching with interest. What's the size and spacing of members? They look like 2x4s?
You can't deny they make light work of washing cars, that's why I didn't wash my car by hand, choosing to take it to the petrol station every 3 or 4 months to use their jet washer - which is more in keeping with my beliefs. That's still a lot more water than nothing. The K2 comes with a "fisher price" patio cleaner head. I used detergent spray as well so it took more than a couple of hours to clear 70+ sq m.
Much to my dismay, I've had to buy a pressure washer due to unyielding domestic pressure. Only a Karcher K2, it's a bit feeble but more than enough for how infrequently I intend to use it. Not withstanding the money it's also a colossal waste of (metered) water. What did we do before we became rich enough to do these things? The pressure washer will also get lonely and need a complimentary leaf blower to keep it company in the shed. Do we own our possessions or do they possess us?
Not trusting anyone to even set mine up. Holding out for a hero (or a bonny tiler, I'm not fussed).
I would like a jet washer but I'm not going to pay that much for a novelty item. I'll wait for the next German supermarket jumble sale.
Anyone used Agnews diy timber packs? Wood skt and arc I need is better priced than most mdf options I've found. Lambs tongue 🤦♂ 119mm and 68mm respectively. Found some really, really cheap mdf but don't think they deliver this way.
A line barrier to stop the water tracking along the ceiling and making it drip off (if there are significant enough amounts). Unless you're now 100% sure the source of entry.


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MAGGIE FIVE YEAR OLD BOXER MIX SKYE 2 YEAR OLD RETRIEVER MIX BONDED PAIR NEEDS GREAT HOME TOGETHER! Maggie and Skye were rescued, along with their puppies from a vacant lot in Tijuana Mexico where they were literally starving to death. We rushed to save them all, and after months of rehabilitation, especially Maggie, the pups were placed in great homes and Skye and Maggie have remained happily together at our trainer Patrick's house. These two lovebirds are MORE than ready for a wonderful home together!! Both are good with people and other dogs and are Spayed/neutered microchipped and current on vaccines. As you can see from their video, they really do love each other!


text:
Rec & Sports » Rec Features
Altitude at Elevation
Flying at Sun Valley paragliding nationals
by Matt Furber
Matt Furber The best views of Sun Valley come from high above the valley floor for paragliders competing at the U.S. Paragliding Nationals last week. The view for those on the ground wasn't bad either.
Race results are available usparaglidingnats.com.
Lawn dart, grassy skid, ballet hop, pancake flip and Fosbury Flop were signature landings in the park at the south end of Wall Street in Stanley, the first goal for the final part of the 2010 U.S. Paragliding Nationals hosted in Ketchum last week.
The competition with a "race to goal" format began in Chelan, Wash., earlier this summer and is a set of daily cross-country flight tasks, in which pilots ride thermals and course through the air, much like sailors, tagging aerial checkpoints, columns of air reaching up to 18,000 feet en route to speedy approaches at each day's final goal.
At 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 2, after three hours of catching thermal lifts from the tops of infinite peaks between Bald Mountain and Stanley, former Ketchum resident, paragliding world champion and Czech citizen Martin Orlik ("Orlik" is Czech for "eagle") finessed his last bubble of air before plopping in a patch of sagebrush a mere step from the park's grassy center. He was close, but he did not win the day's task despite a soaring effort
After launching to a brilliant dog-fight above Baldy, one competitor yelled, "I love you man," as the fliers started the first of two aerial races made up of a gaggle of other international pilots last week. The three-hour race began at 12:45 p.m., when a cloud of colorful wings simultaneously turned north. The seemingly clumsy landings of professional pilots who arrived in Stanley after crossing Galena Summit, revealed the wear and tear of flying at high altitude above four mountain ranges on a day of high pressure--which creates greater turbulence--said veteran paraglider Walter Neser of South Africa.
Earlier in the week, when weather shut down the first three days of competition, Neser launched base-jumper Brad Geary for a stunt above paragliding headquarters in Atkinson's Park. During free time, pilots also enjoyed Wagon Days, mountain biking, trail running, fly-fishing--all extra-curricular activities that add to a week-long event where action depends on mother nature's mood.
"I travel the world--South America, Asia, Europe and North America--to fly," said Vancouver, B.C.-based Polish pilot Pavel Boryniec as he and other pilots waited for the task of the first day's race to be announced. Boryniec came to Sun Valley not only to compete, but also in the capacity of reviewer to check that Sun Valley has the necessary amenities to host a segment of the 2011 World Cup.
"It is a lifelong process becoming a paragliding pilot ... meteorology, air-loss, learning how the equipment works, topography, radio communications, safety, CPR and rescue, climbing trees to free lines ... there are so many aspects to flying. It makes you an overall better-rounded human being," Boryniec said.
Pilots from around the globe traveled to Sun Valley to compete, and the competition is making U.S. pilots better, raising skills to the level of the best international pilots, said Anchorage-based flier Jack Brown.
"Now he is in sink," Neser said at the finish in Stanley, pointing out a rapidly descending pilot as he described the intricacies of relying on the Earth's reflection of solar radiation to pump the sails. "There is nothing more he can do to stay in the air."
At least half the field of each day's race bails out before landing at the final goal, which is measured by a kilometer diameter safety buffer, after which pilots are obliged to lay off the speed and circle for a landing somewhere within the 400 meter diameter finish area.
"I think I got fifth today, but I was real close," said Brad Gunnuscio of Salt Lake City as he stripped off the layers of insulation that protect pilots from cold temperatures at high elevations. Gunnuscio is the reigning 2009 national champ and showed perhaps the finest landing of the day.
"I was cruising along and got in a place where I had to be patient. When you compete your focus is on [finding thermal lift], but every once in a while I have to look around. [Redfish Lake] over here is beautiful."
"The thermals were just gone. But, then I saw what I think was a golden eagle rising up ... that bird totally saved me," Gunnuscio said.
The day's victor was Nick Greece of Jackson, Wyo., the U.S. Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association's magazine editor.
"On good days we'll crack off 100 miles," Greece said, adding that he is looking forward to traveling to Turkey for the final races of international competition for 2010.
Part of the excitement at the finish is seeing just who makes it to the final goal, said Jug Deep Aggarwal, who organizes 17 tasks a year in the San Francisco Bay Area--home to likely the largest population of paragliding pilots.
"Our aim is to get junior pilots in the air," Aggarwal said, adding that part of the fun in paragliding is that everyone is an international competitor. Many American pilots originally came from other countries and vice-versa. "In the air there is only one language ... finding the thermal and getting away."
On the race to Challis, tourists reported seeing dozens of fliers sinking out of the sky around 6 p.m., just shy of the day's goal when the Earth's heat could no longer keep them aloft. Among them was Venezuelan pilot Jorge Atramiz , exhausted after running out of supplemental oxygen and coming from his home base at sea level on Oahu.
"I fly with feeling. This is a unique flight. It's just so huge all around. Being able to conquer the peaks, really go slow and enjoy the view," he said.
Not only pilots enjoyed the views provided by the sport pilots call "vacation competition," which means they are largely self-funded.
"I was working in Hulen Meadows on Friday and I looked up to see a rainbow of color," said Hailey resident Michelle Meixner. "It was so magical to see them all flying north above Griffin Butte. I thought, 'When will I ever see something so beautiful in the sky again?'"
It might be soon.
"I look forward to coming back here for the Paragliding World Cup next year," Boryniec said, giving his final estimate for the possibility of international competition in Sun Valley in 2011.
Rec Features U.S. Paragliding Nationals
Weather Delays Start of Sun Valley Paragliding Nationals
by Matt Furber | Sep 1, 2010


text:
Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell Film History: An Introduction https://www.mheducation.com/cover-images/Jpeg_400-high/0073514241.jpeg 4 June 15, 2018 9780073514246 Written by two of the leading scholars in film studies, Film History: An Introduction 4e is a comprehensive, global survey of the medium that covers the development of every genre in film, from drama and comedy to documentary and experimental. Concepts and events are illustrated with frame enlargements taken from the original sources, giving students more realistic points of reference.
View Latest Edition
By Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell
Written by two of the leading scholars in film studies, Film History: An Introduction is a comprehensive, global survey of the medium that covers the development of every genre in film, from drama and comedy to documentary and experimental. Concepts and events are illustrated with frame enlargements taken from the original sources, giving students more realistic points of reference.
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Film History, 4e
CHAPTER 1: The Invention and Early Years of the Cinema, 1880s - 1904
CHAPTER 2: The International Expansion of the Cinema, 1905 - 1912
CHAPTER 3: National Cinemas, Hollywood Classicism and World War I, 1913 - 1919
CHAPTER 4: France in the 1920s
CHAPTER 5: Germany in the 1920s
CHAPTER 6: Soviet Cinema in the 1920s
CHAPTER 7: The Late Silent Era in Hollywood, 1920 - 1928
CHAPTER 8: International Trends of the 1920s
CHAPTER 9: The Introduction of Sound
CHAPTER 10: The Hollywood Studio System, 1930 - 1945
CHAPTER 11: Other Studio Systems
CHAPTER 12: Cinema and the State: The USSR, Germany, and Italy, 1930 - 1945
CHAPTER 13: France: Poetic Realism, the Popular Front and the Occupation, 1930 - 1945
CHAPTER 14: Leftist, Documentary, and Experimental Cinema, 1930 - 1945
CHAPTER 15: American Cinema in the Postwar Era, 1945 - 1960
CHAPTER 16: Postwar European Cinema: Neorealism and its Context, 1945 - 1959
CHAPTER 17: Postwar European Cinema: France, Scandinavia, and Britain, 1945 - 1959
CHAPTER 18: Postwar Cinema Beyond the West, 1945 - 1959
CHAPTER 19: Art Cinema and the Idea of Authorship
CHAPTER 20: New Waves and Young Cinema, 1958 - 1967
CHAPTER 21: Documentary and Experimental Cinema in the Postwar Era, 1945 - Mid 1960s
CHAPTER 22: Hollywood's Fall and Rise, 1960 - 1980
CHAPTER 23: Politically Critical Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s
CHAPTER 24: Documentary and Experimental Film Since the Late 1960s
CHAPTER 25: New Cinemas and New Developments: Europe and the USSR Since the 1970s
CHAPTER 26: A Developing World: Continental and Subcontinental Cinemas since 1970
CHAPTER 27: Cinema Rising: Pacific Asia and Oceania since 1970
CHAPTER 28: American Cinema and the Entertainment Economy: The 1980s and After
CHAPTER 29: Toward a Global Film Culture
CHAPTER 30: Digital Technology and the Cinema
Kristin Thompson
Kristin Thompson is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds a master's degree in film from the University of Iowa and a doctorate in film from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has published Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible: A Neoformalist Analysis (Princeton University Press, 1981), Exporting Entertainment: America in the World Film Market 1907-1934 (British Film Institute, 1985), Breaking the Glass Armor: Neoformalist Film Analysis (Princeton University Press, 1988), Wooster Proposes, Jeeves Disposes, or, Le Mot Juste(James H. Heineman, 1992), Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique (Harvard University Press, 1999), Storytelling in Film and Television (Harvard University Press, 2003), Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood: German and American Film after World War I (Amsterdam University Press, 2005), and The Frodo Franchise: The Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood (University of California Press, 2007). She blogs with David at www.davidbordwell.net/blog. She maintains her own blog, "The Frodo Franchise," at www.kristinthompson.net/blog. In her spare time she studies Egyptology.
David Bordwell is Jacques Ledoux Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds a master's degree and a doctorate in film from the University of Iowa. His books include The Films of Carl Theodor Dreyer (University of California Press, 1981), Narration in the Fiction Film (University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema (Princeton University Press, 1988), Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema (Harvard University Press, 1989), The Cinema of Eisenstein (Harvard University Press, 1993), On the History of Film Style (Harvard University Press, 1997), Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment (Harvard University Press, 2000), Figures Traced in Light: On Cinematic Staging (University of California Press, 2005), The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies (University of California Press, 2006), and The Poetics of Cinema (Routledge, 2008). He has won a University Distinguished Teaching Award and was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Copenhagen. His we site is www.davidbordwell.net.
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Cyprus Tour 6 Days/5 Nights
Aphrodite Tour
Sunday - Friday
SUN - Arrival and transfer to the hotel in Limassol.
Check in at your hotel. Dinner and overnight.
MON - PAPHOS -
Breakfast at the hotel.
Spend a day sightseeing the wonders of Paphos: the whole town is included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list. Proceeding Westbound along the beautiful coast, we stop at Petra tou Romiou, where, according to Greek mythology, Aphrodite emerged from the foam of the water.
We will begin our day by visiting the Ayios Neofytos monastery founded at the end of the 12th century by the Cypriot writer and hermit Neofytos. The Engleistra contains some of the most beautiful Byzantine frescoes (12th and 15th centuries). We will continue to visit the Tombs of the Kings which date back to the 4th century BC, carved into the rock and decorated with Doric columns.
Then we will be able to admire the famous mosaics of the house of Dionysus. The floors of these patrician villas date back to a period between the third and fifth centuries AD and are considered among the most beautiful mosaics in the eastern Mediterranean. We will visit later. The last stop will be at the church of Panagia Chrysopolitissa, built in the thirteenth century, within whose complex you can see the column of St. Paul, where according to tradition the saint was scourged. Dinner in the hoteL.
TUE - NICOSIA NORTH AND SOUTH - LEFKARA
Meeting with the guide and departure for Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, whose city centre is hedged by majestic Venetian walls.
It is renowned for the archaeological and artistic treasures collected in its museums and, especially, to be the last city in the world divided by a wall.
First visit at Archbishopric complex, and the Cathedral of St. John the inside contains a fresco cycle dating 1731.
Through the Venetian Walls, via Famagusta Gate, we get to the Archaeological Museum where you can admire the fascinating collection of Cypriot artefacts and treasures of inestimable value.
We continue to the old town of Nicosia (Laiki Yitonia), across the check-point, we will be guided to the Caravanserai, Buyuk Han, one of the best-preserved Ottoman architectures. The Buyuk Han stands in the centre of the traditional market, within the walls, nearby the Selimiye Mosque, known formerly as the St.Sophia Cathedral. On our return we will visit the characteristic village of Lefkara, famous for the local lace known as Lefkaritica, ( according the tradition Leonardo da Vinci visited the village and bought an altar cloth that he donated to the Milan Cathedral), and for the processing of silver. Return to the hotel in the afternoon.
WED - TROODOS – BYZANTINE CHURCHES (SAINT NICOLAS – KAKOPETRIA - PODITHOU – ASINOU)
Departure to the Troodos mountains and guided tour of some of the famous Byzantine churches, included in the 'UNESCO "World Heritage list: the Church of Ayios Nicolaos, completely painted with frescoes ranging from the eleventh to the seventeenth century, and the Byzantine church of Panagia of Pothithou.
Free time for lunch and we continue to visit the 12th century church of Asinou. whose frescoes are among the best Byzantine examples. Return to the hotel in the afternoon.
Entrance fees included - Ayios Nicolaos - Panagia di Pothithou - Asinou (collective entrance fee is € 10.00 per group)
THU - CURIUM AND THE WINE ROUTES
THE SCENTS AND COLORS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN IN THE TRADITION OF WINE. Kolossi - Curium - WINE MUSEUM - OMODOS –LIMASSOL) ►Distances
A mixed route that will take you back in time, to discover the secrets of the oldest and most famous wine on the island, the world-famous Koumandaria, the archaeological site of Curium and the traditional village of Omodos.
Departure after breakfast. First stop at Kolossi Castle located in the village of the same name, 11 kilometres west of Lemesos (Limassol). It was built in the fifteenth century, on the ruins of a previous fortress, dating back to the early thirteenth century. The latter belonged to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem and was the seat of the most important Central Command among those headed by them. For a few years, in the 14th century, it was under the control of the Knights Templar. The area also produced and exported the traditional sweet wine of Cyprus, which became known as "Vin de Commanderie", or Commandaria. This is one of the oldest "appellation" wines in the world, having carried the same name for eight centuries. Continue to the village of Erimi and visit the wine museum located in the heart of the island's wine production area, the Cyprus Wine Museum will take you on a fascinating journey through the history of Cypriot winemaking. Photographs and audio-visual presentations, ancient jars and vessels, medieval goblets and old documents touch every aspect of wine production. We will then reach Curium, an important city-state, today one of the most important archaeological sites on the island. Here we will visit the magnificent Greek theatre- Roman from the 2nd century BC, the house of Eustolius, originally a Roman villa, which in the early Christian period became a public center for recreational activities.
We continue to the village of Omodos. Free time for lunch and visit of this important wine center and the famous monastery of Stravos (Santa Croce), founded by St. Helen in 327 AD located in the center of the homonymous square. We also visit the Linos cellar and taste the local wine. We return to the hotel in the afternoon.
FRI - Departure
Breakfast at the hotel, check-out and transfer to the airport
** The order of the visits may vary according to the date of arrival
(*)TOURS are guaranteed for minimum of 2 persons.If the number of participants will be 6 or less, the tours will be made with a private car and driver / guide bilingual .
Weekly basis as from
Every Sunday - Friday
Rates 01/10/22-31/10/23
rates aphrodite
Send your request and pay a deposit of 20% after 21 days of your confirmation without penalty. 80% full payment 21 days before arrival .
Payments can be done with credit Card or Bank swift
Book a 4* Stars Hotel
Book a 3* Stars Superior Hotel
8 Days before arrival - No penalty
7 Days before arrival - 2 100% non refundable
** rates are per person
- Accommodation in a 3 , 3* sup or 4 star hotel in Limassol
- Half board in hotel
- Tours and transfers by bus or minibus. (*)
- Bilingual local guide
- Handling fees
- Entrance fees to museums and archaeological sites in the
- Everything mentioned in the program
- Collective transfer
Collective Return Transfer from Paphos airport to the hotel in Paphos maximum waiting time at the airport 60 minutes) - -
Christmas Gala Dinner 24/12 & New Year's Eve Gala Dinner 31/12
- Meals during the excursion
- Air ticket
DON'T FOREGET: (*)
TOURS are guaranteed for minimum of 4 persons.If the number of participants will be 6 or less, the tours will be made with a private car and driver / guide bilingual .


text:
To savour and swirl
50 Great Short Stories, edited by Milton Crane is a remarkable collection with a huge variety of settings, subjects and styles but consistently high quality of writing.
I am beginning to discern a pattern: when the year is young, it is easy to be adventurous and pick up new writers, large sweeping novels and enigmatic themes but as it draws to an end, one would rather roll up with the familiar stuff and the shorter the better. Perhaps it is the short days and early evenings or perhaps it is the sense of things ending that pushes one towards, for instance, anthologies of short stories. Dip in and out, skip what doesn't hold you after the first paragraph, select and prioritise much like tabulating even sub-consciously the plus and minus of the year that has gone, resting the mind and soul for the foothills of January.
In this mood, 50 Great Short Stories, edited by Milton Crane and, from its sticker on the back cover, obviously bought by me long ago at some airport in the Far East, seems the ideal choice. Every anthology by a good editor has its internal logic but I instantly liked Crane's definition of the short story: the sudden unforgettable revelation of character; the vision of a world through another's eyes; the glimpse of truth; the capture of a moment in time. And his method: he took a 100 short stories and sent the list to professors of English at colleges and universities throughout the U.S., asking them to check the 50 they preferred or to suggest others. About 500 professors took the time to respond and were often in sharp disagreement. Crane ultimately made the final choices, balancing earlier and more recent writers and avoiding stories that have been over anthologised. The result is a remarkable collection that puts together a huge variety of settings, subjects and styles but is consistent in the high quality of the writing. That is hardly surprising when you have the luxury to pick from the masters of the last 100 years and more — Henry James and Conrad, Chekhov and Pushkin, Maugham and Steinbeck and so on.
It's difficult to rate the stories in this anthologies but I decided to give it a go, marking the best gently in pencil with an A++. Henry James tells in "Brooksmith" of the butler and friend of a retired English "diplomatist", as those of my profession were referred to in those elegant days. Savour the Jamesian sentence in all its glory: "Mr Offord, the most agreeable, the most attaching of bachelors, was a retired diplomatist, living on his pension and something over of his own over and above; a good deal confined, by his infirmities, to his fireside and delighted to be found there any afternoon in the year, from five o'clock on, by such visitors as Brooksmith allowed to come up." The story tells of what happens when Offord dies and Brooksmith loses not just a job but what he revelled in; the society provided by the visitors, the conversations and arguments to which he was a silent but avid listener as he went about his duties.
In sharply contrasting style is a frothy story by Anatole France about Putois, a gardener who does not exist. The name is created in a wildly desperate moment and soon develops into a character, acquiring traits and habits, a reputation and even a criminal record, opening up the question as to what is really real. Honour, bravery and romance in the hands of an enigmatic Russian character are laid out in an elaborate story "The Shot" told in 19th century Russian style by Alexander Pushkin, more known for his poetry than his prose.
In "The Upheaval", the only other Russian story, Chekhov tells of the pain of an honest governess suspected of theft by a rich but uncouth lady of the house who has actually been robbed by none other than her cuckolded husband. The casual attitude of the rich towards the pain of the poor who live at their footsteps is explored also in Katherine Mansfield's "The Garden Party," a party that is gone through even when there is a death in a poor neighbour's cottage because "people like that don't expect sacrifices from us." Flannery O'Connor in the taut and tense story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in which everything seems to be happening under the surface tells of a family that is gunned down on the road to Florida by an escaped convict, the grandmother being the last the last to go, even as she tries to make the convict pray.
In typical Maugham style, "A String of Beads" shows how one small incident can change a life forever, taking a mere governess and changing her into a Parisian millionairess. There is the deft, tight Hemingway classic; "The Three Day Blow" in which his young protagonist Nick Adams drinks to get drunk while the foul wind blows, all the time haunted by the fact that he has just ended a relationship: "All he knew was that he had once had Marjorie and that he had lost her. She was gone and he had sent her away. That was all that mattered. He might never see her again. Probably he never would. It was all gone, finished."
And if the bare, tell-it-like-it-is style gets too much turn to the opening sentence of "The Tale" by Joseph Conrad, a man, if you will believe it, learnt English at age 25: "Outside the large window the crepuscular light was dying out slowly in a great square gleam without colour, framed rigidly in the gathering shades of the room." But the one that gets more than A++, and I will let the reader look for it and read it rather than give it away, is "A.V. Laider" by Max Beerbohm
So enough to pick and choose from, to savour and swirl, as one more year winds down.


Question: What do we do if our children don't choose to come to sadhana, or if they're in sadhana and they talk and don't relate to it?
Yogi Bhajan: Always tell them that this is the time to grow and become great. And they love to sleep, so take them in your lap and put them to sleep, right in sadhana. Put him in your lap and put a blanket over and there they go out. Three hours of soothing sleep for them is the best. But they are in good vibrations and subconsciously they have heard that sadhana.
Question: What about getting infants up for sadhana at 4?
Yogi Bhajan: Don't wake the children up. They do their own sadhana.
Question: What if they naturally wake up at 4?
Yogi Bhajan: Normally, they wake up to sleep again. Children and cats normally sleep, and their cries should not be ignored unless they're creating a cry just to upset you. Just bring them along to sadhana and put them in your lap to sleep. The idea is to keep them in sadhana to live in those vibrations. The idea is not that they should lead the sadhana.


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text:
What's Wrong with the American Dream
By Mel Harkrader Pine At the age of 30, I got my first ride on a corporate jet. My companions were the Vice Chairman of the Mobil Corporation Board and our wives. Since we were four passengers on a short flight — New York to Washington —…
Is That a Shame?
By Mel Harkrader Pine "A lot of people seem to think I started this business," (Elvis) Presley told Jet magazine in 1957. "But rock 'n' roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that music like colored people. Let's face it: I…
Me, Too
Let's recognize that no one has a monopoly on pain.
How Vietnam Scarred Us
My generation came head-to-head with the draft and the Vietnam war just as we reached the age of questioning and rebellion.
…history seems to be repeating itself with a President even weirder than Nixon and probably less principled, in a climate that seems more polarized.
TrUUmpism – Sermon – March 19, 2017
TrUUmpism. Yes, that's a controversial sermon title, but, no, this is not a political sermon. It's a fresh way of looking at the divisions in the country and what those divisions may teach us as Americans and as Unitarian Universalists.
Trump as Zen Koan
Is Donald Trump a fully enlightened Buddha sent to awaken all of us?


text:
 Responsible travel
 Help Center
Community > World > Asia > Sri Lanka
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Am bringing an unlocked iPhone and an iPad to Sri Lanka for a 14-day trip. Any advice on buying a local sim card, using wifi, etc?
about 7 years ago about Sri Lanka
wifi sim card advice
Asked by carolm via Ask a Nomad iPad app
We were in Sri Lanka for 6 days in February. We had purchased a sim card in other locations, but for 6 days we felt it wasn't worth it. We also stayed in several guest houses that did not have wifi, so we ended up relying on internet cafes for staying connected. If you are only traveling 14 days and primarily using your devices for connecting with friends and checking email and websites, you might consider not having both devices, unless you have books/movies on the iPad.
We didn't look into sim cards in Sri Lanka so I can't answer that question for you but my thinking is that if you want to stay connected while you're there, a sim card would be better than depending on wifi, unless you're staying at nicer hotels.
Enjoy your trip...it's a beautiful country! about 7 years ago
Answered by iPadNomads via WorldNomads.com
Sim card prices are very low in srilanka.u can buy a sim for 1$.it cost 100 rupees almost 7 years ago
Answered by Ud via WorldNomads.com
Buy a Mobitel sim on arrival at the airport. For US 12 you get half a gig of data plus minutes and texts. Wifi, even in good hotels can be patchy but 3G coverage is good so I'd recommend Mobitel almost 7 years ago
Answered by Mike Stead via Ask a Nomad iPad app
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Can anyone help? I am looking for prepaid SIM Card for a mobile phone in Sri Lanka
over 10 years ago about Sri Lanka
Any advice from solo female travelers that have been to Sri Lanka? Any advice in general is welcome.
Are there any places in Sri Lanka that are still unsafe to go to?
over 8 years ago about Sri Lanka
Is anyone traveling to Sri Lanka? Is it considered calm now from civil disturbance?
What vaccines are needed to visit Sri Lanka? I know travel clinics offer this information but they also want a lot for shot not needed
almost 8 years ago about Sri Lanka
Map of Sri Lanka
Simple and Flexible
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