#Simplex Noise

[dustrial-inc]

💀 Electronic death music in cyberspace

[zzzwiw]

With this update you can use NoiseSpace as an effect with other apps or even with real instruments. The new filter allows the input source to be modulated by the noise generator signal. It is something like ring modulation, but more varied and experimental. Link in the comments.

[tanadrin]

We can now calculate a per-map-cell heightmap, insolation map, and moisture/rainfall map, which means calculating climate/terrain for each map cell should just be a matter of defining a list of terrains based on elevation, insolation, and rainfall, and looking those up.

Despite the large size of the map (32768 cells), all this stuff calculates reasonably quickly. The rainfall map is not particularly realistic, but I just want something that felt vaguely plausible. The insolation calculation accepts arbitrary axial tilt, but not arbitrary rotation speeds--I would really like to include tidally locked worlds as an option, but that would require a totally separate insolation and rainfall model. Doable, but perhaps something for in the future.

I think actually the next order of business is refining the elevation model. Right now it's just simplex noise. I do not want to run a full plate tectonics simulation (I wouldn't know where to begin anyway), but I would like the lumps to be arranged in slightly more plausible ways.

[uhuruku-blog]

Yo Tayomi Hi Xanadu w//Coach Matt, firedrill, and Uhuruku

Honored to contribute to Joragon's Et tape project 🙌

Tracklist for my part:

Kunsf – Everything – Zel Zele Dave Phillips – To Death – Misanthropic Agenda Luce Celestiale – Sette Raggi Radiosi – Artetetra Nunton Elektrikz – Mineral Medium – Woodford Halse Leyden Jars – Attenzione! – Outer Reaches Nigh/T\mare – The Path of the Moans – Thrènes DarkSonicTales – Spring Feelings – Hallow Ground I-VYE – Wrapped In The Skin Of A Green Rain Slicker Matteo Coffetti & P I T – Xenology – Biodiversità Papiro – Bodulator – Marionette Nyaramos Flora – Erscheinungen, Siebter Teil – Thorsten Soltau Niton – Asmant 3D – Pulver & Asche Constantine Skourlis – Lethe –  Bedouin O. E. Lewis – Fibre-Optic Glossolalia – Etched Anomalies Noémi Büchi - Le Souvenir d'une Ignorance Essentielle – self-released Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf – Sab Simplex/ Lycopodium D12 –  Empiric Axel Kolb  – The Nerve Pavel Milyakov – Black Sea – The Trilogy Tapes Thephonemenuk – Base Wah Stereo Mix 32 Racine – Quelque Chose Tombe II –  Danse Noire Dim Grimm – Rid – self-released Simon Grab – Neurodegeneration – sound-space MM+TT – GMFB – Noise Bombing Jan Vorisek – A History of Nothing – Czarnagora Fresco / Soult – Rec2 Pos2 – Innernoise Aether Mechanics – Static – self-released Simon Grab & Francesco Giudici – Sirens – -OUS Dan Hayhurst – How I Learned To Counter Psychic Attack – Plastic Infinite BU:N Y-A – BURiED STUPAS – 1000000 UHT – oneaao – unreleased

[nareshkumartech]

Procedural Generation: Creating Infinite Worlds in Games

In the world of game development, one of the most exciting and innovative techniques is procedural generation. This technology allows developers to create vast, ever-expanding game worlds without manually designing every detail. With procedural generation, the possibilities are virtually endless, and it’s revolutionizing how developers approach world-building in games.

What is Procedural Generation?

Procedural generation refers to the use of algorithms and mathematical formulas to generate content—such as landscapes, levels, or even entire game worlds—dynamically, rather than relying on hand-crafted designs. It’s a method that has been embraced by a wide variety of games, from roguelikes to open-world adventures.

Benefits of Procedural Generation

Endless Replayability Games like Minecraft, No Man’s Sky, and Terraria have used procedural generation to create endless, ever-changing worlds that provide players with a new experience every time they play. This sense of infinite exploration is a massive draw for players.

Efficiency in Development Procedural generation saves time and resources by automating the creation of vast amounts of content. Developers no longer need to create every terrain, structure, or level manually, freeing up time to focus on other aspects of the game, like story, mechanics, and optimization.

Dynamic Content Procedural content adapts to player choices and behaviors, creating an experience that feels organic and responsive. Whether it’s the randomization of items, enemies, or landscapes, the game can continuously evolve and surprise the player, enhancing immersion.

Scalability With procedural generation, developers can easily scale the size of their worlds without worrying about excessive resource consumption. This means more expansive games can be created with fewer limitations on memory or storage.

How Does It Work?

Procedural generation works through algorithms that define how content is created. These algorithms often start with a seed—a random value that determines the initial parameters. From there, the algorithm generates content based on those parameters, such as creating terrain, placing objects, or populating the world with AI-driven entities.

In many cases, developers use Perlin noise or simplex noise to generate terrains and landscapes. These noise functions are used to create the random yet coherent appearance of natural environments, such as mountains, rivers, and forests.

Examples of Procedural Generation in Games

Minecraft: The iconic game that popularized procedural generation, allowing players to explore infinite worlds made up of blocks.

No Man’s Sky: Features a universe filled with millions of procedurally generated planets, each with its own ecosystem, animals, and resources.

Spelunky: A roguelike platformer that uses procedural generation to create new cave layouts each time the player starts a game.

Challenges of Procedural Generation

While procedural generation offers many benefits, it’s not without challenges. For instance, creating truly engaging and meaningful content using procedural algorithms can be difficult. Randomly generated environments can sometimes feel repetitive, bland, or unnatural if not carefully designed. Balancing randomness with structure is key to making procedural worlds that feel alive.

Procedural generation is a game-changer in game development, offering developers the ability to create vast, varied, and dynamic game worlds at scale. While it comes with challenges, the technology has led to innovative gaming experiences that keep players engaged with endless possibilities for exploration and discovery.

[t0monline]

attempts to make minecraft alpha terrain

simplex noise my beloved

[controlanddynamicsinnovation]

Revolutionizing Servo Control: How Spectrum Engineering Leverages High-Order Controller Auto-Tuning

In today’s fast-paced industries, precise servo control is vital for robotics, automation, and precision machinery. Tuning controllers to balance stability, speed, and robustness—while addressing friction, backlash, or sensor noise—is complex. Spectrum Engineering, with over 25 years of expertise in control system design consulting, transforms these challenges into opportunities, delivering control and dynamics innovation using the high-order controller auto-tuning method.

A Breakthrough in High-Order Tuning

Traditional tuning, often limited to PID designs, struggles with complex systems needing higher-order controllers for superior performance. However, research by Yaron Zimmerman and Per-Olof Gutman pioneers control and dynamics innovation by auto-tuning high-order controller implementation using unconstrained optimization within the Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) framework. By minimizing a cost function that balances performance and stability—without requiring a detailed plant model—this method ensures robust control across uncertainties like mechanical constraints. The Nelder-Mead Simplex Method optimizes parameters efficiently, reducing design time while achieving precision.

Spectrum Engineering’s Practical Solutions

Spectrum Engineering applies these principles to deliver tailored servo control solutions. Their automatic tuning algorithms optimize high-order controllers for embedded systems, addressing issues like saturation or dead zones. For instance, a client in industrial automation achieved faster response times and enhanced stability after their control system design consulting tuned their system to handle backlash. Beyond tuning, they implement Kalman filters to reduce noise, design algorithms for unique challenges, and support mechanical and electronic integration.

Why Choose Spectrum Engineering?

Through control system design consulting, patent collaboration, or team training, Spectrum Engineering offers flexible services. Why build an in-house control team when their expertise in control and dynamics innovation delivers high-performance systems? Their research-inspired approach ensures precision without complexity.

Leading the Future of Control Systems

As control systems grow intricate, Spectrum Engineering leads with advanced auto-tuning and practical know-how. Contact them for control system design consulting or explore their training to elevate your servo systems. With Spectrum Engineering, precision and performance are within reach.

[howzitsa]

Canon Maxify MB2740 4 in 1 Colour Printer All-In-One colour inkjet for home offices. The Canon MAXIFY MB2740 provides mobile printing and cloud integration, while its 500-sheet paper capacity and fast 24ipm mono print speed maximise productivity. General Specifications Functions: Print, Copy, Scan, Fax, Wi-Fi, Ethernet + Cloud Link Printer Specifications: Print Margins (min.) Top: 3mm, Bottom: 5mm, Left & Right: 3.4mm Print Technology: Inkjet, FINE print head Mono Print Speed: 24.0 ipm mono A4¹ Colour Print Speed: 15.5 ipm colour A4¹ First-Print-Out Time Mono: 6 sec (ready) / 10 sec (sleep) Colour: 7 sec (ready) / 12 sec (sleep) Two Sided Printing Automatic (A4, LTR plain paper) Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) Up to 50-sheets Cartridges and Yields Standard Ink Cartridges: Dual Resistant High Density ink 4 ink tanks (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) Optional XL Ink Cartridges: PGI-1400XL BK (1200 pages)¹ PGI-1400XL C (1020 pages)¹ PGI-1400XL M (780 pages)¹ PGI-1400XL Y (935 pages)¹ Colour ink tanks (CMY) average yield: 900 pages¹ Paper Support Paper Types: Plain Paper Envelopes (DL, COM10, C5, Monarch) Canon High Resolution Paper (HR-101N) Canon Matte (MP-101) Canon Pro Luster (LU-101) Canon Plus Semi-gloss (SG-201) Canon Plus Glossy II (PP-201) Canon Glossy Everyday Use (GP-501) Maximum Paper Input: Upper cassette: 250 sheets of plain paper Lower cassette: 250 sheets of plain paper Paper Sizes: Plain paper: A4, A5, B5, LTR, LGL Photo paper: A4, LTR, 20x25cm, 13x18cm, 10x15cm Custom sizes: Width 89-215.9 mm, Length 127-355.6 mm Paper Weight: Plain paper: 64 - 105 g/m² Canon photo paper up to 275 g/m² Scanner Specifications: Scanner Type: Flatbed, ADF CIS colour scanner Scan Speed: Simplex. 15.5 ipm Col¹ Simplex. 18.5 ipm B/W¹ Scanner Resolution (Optical): Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi¹ Scanning Depth (Input / Output): Colour: 48 bit / 24 bit Greyscale: 16 bit / 8 bit Maximum Document Size: Flatbed: A4, LTR (216x297mm) ADF: A4, LTR, LGL Copier Specifications Copy Speed: ADF colour: 11.5 ipm¹ ADF mono: 22.0 ipm¹ Copy Quality: Standard, High Multiple Copy: Up to 99 pages Copy Functions: Frame Erase, Collate, 2-on-1, 4-on-1 Copy Zoom: 25-400%, Fit to Page Fax Specifications Fax Type: Super G3 / Colour Fax Resolution: Mono: up to 300 x 300dpi Colour: 200 x 200 dpi Fax Speed: Mono: approx. 3 sec. (33.6kbps)¹ Colour: approx. 1 min. (33.6kbps)¹ Fax Memory: Up to 250 pages Coded Speed Dialing: Max. 100 locations Group Dial: Max. 99 locations Interface Display Type & Size: 7.5cm colour touch screen Connectivity Wired LAN: Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Ethernet 10/100Mbps (auto switchable) USB flash memory port (A type) Wireless LAN: Wi-Fi IEEE802.11 b/g/n¹ Wireless LAN Frequency Band: 2.4GHz Access Point Mode Please refer to the user manual for instructions on how to activate/deactivate the wireless LAN. Software Supported Operating Systems: Chrome OS Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / 7 SP1 / Vista SP2 Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2 / 2012 / 2012 R2 Mac OS X v10.8.5 or later Supported Mobile Systems: iOS, Android, Windows RT, Windows 10 Mobile Minimum System Requirements: Windows: Internet Explorer 8, internet connection or CD-ROM Mac: Safari 5 and internet connection Display: 1024x768 or higher Software Included: Printer driver and fax driver Quick Utility Toolbox IJ Network Device Setup Utility Easy-WebPrint EX Physical Features Weight: 12.1kg Dimensions (W x D x H): 463 x 389 x 320 mm 463 x 459 x 320 mm (paper installed) Acoustic Noise Levels: Approx. 56 dB(A)¹ Recommended Operating Environment: Temperature: 15-30°C Humidity: 10-80%RH (no dew condensation) Power Source: AC 100-240V, 50/60Hz Duty Cycle: up to 20,000 pages¹ Power Consumption: Standby (scanning lamp is off) USB connection to PC : approx. 0.9 Ｗ Standby (all ports connected, scanning lamp is off) : approx. 1.7 W Time to enter Standby mode : approx. 7 mins OFF : approx. 0.2 W Copying (USB connection to PC): approx. 26 W¹ Typical Electricity Consumption: 0.15 kWh¹ Recommended Print Volume: 200-1000 pages / month

[nursingwriter]

Occupational Health and Safety There are hazards in most occupations. The importance lies in recognizing the hazard and how we ought to react and take care to minimize the hazard. Preventive measures ought to be inculcated in the workers and there must be care and rules to regulate the work that has health hazards. This is of paramount importance. We are concerned in this paper over the hazards of radiation and other related work hazards. (Brune; Edling, 1989, p. 167) In hospitals the health hazards to workers come in many forms. Though we consider the effects of radiation and the use of thermal and other ions, we have to bear in mind that there are other pollution that occur in hospitals that also could be harmful. Though there is no radiation, noise for example and lighting is two areas that relates to the lighting levels and noise which affect health. Although noise does not constitute a part of the radiation hazard, noise hazards are present in hospitals with the noise above 85 decibel level. They occur at the central processing, electrical installations and in the laundry and cleaning mechanism. (Stellman, 1998, p. 7) Boiler rooms, laundry and kitchens are the source of excessive noise. There can be permanent hearing loss on constant exposure to noise over 80 decibels. Hot liquids and hot surfaces also are hazardous. (Occupational Hazards for Hospital Workers, 1995) the hazards and the working environment and stress related to the work including shifts which interfere with the biological clock can have disastrous consequences on the health of the workers and their performance. The excessive workload demand combined with the stress and the hazards and risk at hospitals can take a physical and psychological toll among health workers. 1. All lighting, non-ionising radiation and ionising radiation hazards that may be present in the workplace environment of a large general Hospital The occupational hazards at the hospital are a broad spectrum that encompasses all activities at the hospital, health care, patient care, food, laboratory, and so on. Broadly we can classify these hazards into psycho social, biological, physical chemical and ergonomic hazards. Infections by bacteria and virus, contamination and risk that are inherent in handling body fluids of infected patients form the biological hazard. HIV, Hepatitis etc. can be spread to health workers from patients. Some other diseases that could be spread include Rubella, Pulmonary tuberculosis, Herpes simplex virus, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome --AIDS and many such communicable diseases. Health workers in hospitals are subject to hazards from chemicals like cleaning and sterilizing chemicals, disinfectants, detergents, solvents, anaesthetic chemicals, anti-cancer medicines, and reagents are around and cause illness. Added to those ergonomic disasters like slippery floors, sharp instruments, and explosive gases are ergonomic hazards. The most important and health affecting hazards emanate from the electric installations, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. (Occupational Hazards for Hospital Workers, 1995) X-Ray, LASER therapy, nuclear therapy Magnetic resonance and more and more methods of diagnosis and treatment are creating hazards. (Brune; Edling, 1989, p. 167) X-ray, angiography, Fluoroscopy and electric equipments for example are ionizing radiation sources. High exposure to these types of radiation will cause genetic damage and reproduction issues. Fluoroscopy and X-Ray equipments scatter radiation while being used. (Occupational Hazards for Hospital Workers, 1995) Lasers, microwaves, and magnetic fields are the source of non-ionizing radiation. The Laser beams cause harm to the eye and skin. The personnel must be trained thoroughly in using these equipments. There must be appropriate eye wear, and non-reflective tools used in the hospitals. (Occupational Hazards for Hospital Workers, 1995) Radiation - types and effects Radioactivity is the result of an unstable atom emitting a particle to stabilize its structure. Ionizing radiation occurs where "high-energy particles or electromagnetic waves that have the ability to deposit enough energy to break chemical bonds and produce an ion pair. Ionization occurs when the process of energy transfer liberates an orbital electron from an atom or molecule producing this ion pair." (Pae S; Dill; Mothershead, 2006) Non-ionizing radiation is mostly from the electromagnetic spectrum other than x-rays like microwaves, Ultraviolet and infra red light, Laser, light, and other similar forms. (Pae S; Dill; Mothershead, 2006) We may say that the effects of radiation will be in direct proportion to the quantity pertaining to the energy which is deposited and the destruction of the system as a consequence. A low level exposure may lead to a mild toxic state. On the other hand acute illness or even death may occur while handling high radioactive agents. Not only that the environment in the hospital is charged with danger from radiation, the modern days has brought with it the additional risk of terrorists diffusing such a chemical in the hospitals and the 'bomb' so released can cause additional risk to the already exposed staff and patients. (Pae S; Dill; Mothershead, 2006) patient who receives radiation that is directed in controlled doses like an X-Ray or CT scan gets irradiated on being exposed to the radiation. But in the case when the machine is switched off, the radiation also ceases. The patients are placed in the middle of a radiation path and therefore are not themselves carriers of radiation and are not at risk to themselves or others. Contamination occurs when a person's skin or clothes come into contact with the radioactive material and the radiation continues until the material is removed. Such persons may as well cause risk to themselves and others. The best policy is to prevent the entry of such materials into the human system. (Pae S; Dill; Mothershead, 2006) Electro magnetic radiation is the important type of radiation which transports energy by both the energizing and non-energizing methods. (Brune; Edling, 1989, p. 170) Ionizing of the body causes damage to cells and breaks the DNA and the cell is damaged for ever in extreme cases. The human cells if exposed to low level radiation can "exhibit activation of a signalling cascade that leads to DNA fragmentation and rapid cell death." (Pae S; Dill; Mothershead, 2006) Initial symptoms and impacts are noted in bones, skin, and the gut. Kidneys and the liver could also be affected. This may lead to cancer. It also may cause Hodgkin disease, leukaemia, and breast cancer among other complications. Exposure to high heat emitting radiation may also cause burns, blisters, ulcers, erythemia, and desquamation. Common sickness symptoms that occur with the exposure will be fatigue, vomiting, nausea, and these symptoms are exhibited within fifteen minutes of the exposure. In twelve hours this can further escalate to blood pressure, fever, and diarrhoea. In cases where the radiation is severe, it can further develop into complications related to the blood or the intestine and the brain and heart. (Pae S; Dill; Mothershead, 2006) Cardiology is a special area where the risk of radiation is high. There must be hierarchy of control established to see that proper handling of equipments is done. Monitoring of persons and systems for exposure to radiation is very essential for preventing hazards. The common problem that occurs with the interventional radiology and cardiology are in using the fluorography and fluoroscopy with the chance of the staff getting irradiated by the patients. The open couch X-ray systems used also poses a significant risk. Constant radiation over a same spot can lead to erythematic or dermal necrosis, which can occur when the level crosses 2 Gy to 20 Gy. (Hanson, 2004) An authoritative study concluded that even power lines have electromagnetic radiation. In 2001 the study found that electromagnetic fields created by current causes childhood leukaemia. The study was done by the 'International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection -- ICNIRP'. The report says that there is no "chronic disease for which a causal relation to EMF can be regarded as established, but there is evidence for an approximate doubled risk of leukaemia in children exposed to high levels of EMF." (International Study gives an authoritative view on Health Risks from Electricity Power Lines, 2001) 2.Describe how you would assess the risk associated with each of these hazards (including any necessary surveys and measurements) The effects of the radiation are hard to measure. One of the suggestions is to develop better radiation less technology. The development of a measuring and quantifying strategy revolves around creating a health chain and figuring out the appropriate points from where the analysis of the safety factors can begin. (Corvalan; Briggs; Zielhuis, 2000, p. 57) the science of environmental epidemiology has found the method called the HEADLAMP methodology. Routine monitoring of selected sources form the data with regard to this type of study. Data was also collected by survey. A health effect variable - like death associated with the use of the technology was identified and the method used the grouped data and established scientific knowledge to postulate a better safeguard or methods of use and prevention. It was also used to identify the risk and analyze the alternate options that exist to any given technology. (Corvalan; Briggs; Zielhuis, 2000, p. 103) This method was used to study radiation effects in six cities like across the developing nations. Combined with the human development index these studies showed that using parameters that affect the standards like education, longevity, and standard of living it is possible to predict the environmental health factors, and find the actual health indicators. (Corvalan; Briggs; Zielhuis, 2000, p. 159) The first problem is the distinguishing between health promotion and health education. Work place health actions tend to be concerned about disease prevention. So far it was up to the institutions to take care of workplace hazards. There were no proper evaluation methods. In Britain safety and health was not given any importance and this trend is changing with the claims filed by employees for damage. Today employers are more concerned with health issues, and health promotion has gone beyond occupational health promotion. (Wilkinson, 2001, p. 50) the management of risk begins with the evaluation of the risk qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative analysis of risks for environmental hazards has not yet been attempted in a larger context. There is a difficulty in assessing the acceptable levels of risk, and how to frame the risk reduction policy. Objective analysis when contrasted against the intuitive reasoning of people appears to be at tangents. The cost factor also enters the scene and technical risk analysis becomes subjective. (Smith, 2004, p. 35) The type of perceptions of risk varies from location, gender, individuals and the lifestyle and usage. Technological hazards are often man made in the sense that they occur by the action of human beings or their inaction. Today terrorism is also to be considered as a possible hazard using the technology for destruction. (Smith, 2004, p. 35) There are no developed methods or program especially for non-ionizing radiation safety. Firstly there are no state regulations, and secondly the standards are based on industry consensus and therefore the methods to measure 'actual or potential exposure' and the myriad of tasks like establishing controls, training and implementation and the norms of safety are all at the research stage. (Lewandowski; Hinz; Entwistle, 2004, p. 31) 3. State the relevant general Hospital UK legislative requirements Occupational health and safety radiation relating to the control of the risks relating to these hazards The regulation passed by the government is embodied in the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000 which became an act in 2001. The act seeks to bring about measures of safety in relation to the radioactive substances as well as ionizing radiation and the regulations of the act bind the persons who fall under the defined categories in the act. Along with the 'Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/3232)' which is implemented in Great Britain, the laws of health protection and avoiding the hazards pertaining to the ionising radiation in the field of medical practice also exist. The sections of the act namely section (2) with various sub-sections have clearly defined terms like 'adequate training', 'roles of the employer and employee etc. (Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1059: The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000) for example Section 3 of the act makes the act applicable to "(a) the exposure of patients as part of their own medical diagnosis or treatment; (b) the exposure of individuals as part of occupational health surveillance; - the exposure of individuals as part of health screening programs; (d) the exposure of patients or other persons voluntarily participating in medical or biomedical, diagnostic or therapeutic, research programs and (e) the exposure of individuals as part of medico-legal procedures." (Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1059: The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000) The law casts duties on the employers to the extent that they ought to make sure that there are written procedures and manuals that they shall ensure compliance by the staff, and written protocols are displayed for radiological practices. There are adequate rules for medical exposures. For example regulation 4 requires a sole medical practitioner to frame and follow his or her own guidelines. However there are requirements common to all enumerated in the schedule one of the act which all practitioners are bound to follow. The schedule requires that there must be standard procedures to identify the persons who are at risk of being exposed to radiation, and a clear documented list of the procedures that ought to be followed by the risk group in the operation of the hazardous equipment. There must be methods of ascertaining if female patients are pregnant and the effect of the radiation on the breast feeding issues are settled before procedures involving radiation are conducted. (Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1059: The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000) The schedule also requires that quality assurance and the diagnostic reference levels for radio diagnostic examinations are well within the definitions and scope of regulation (3) and sub-sections. There must be clearly set documentation of dose procedures and the limits of medical and paramedical research issues with no health benefit to the person exposed be also attended to. The employer is bound to take adequate steps to ensure that clinical records are available for each exposure that occurs during the course of practice. That there ought to be adequate experts for consultation and the hospital ought to keep proper inventory of the hazardous substances which ought to be at all times be limited to the minimum necessary amount. The practitioners and staff are enjoined to follow all regulations and guidelines and framework procedures set by the industry or the employer and the operators are made responsible for their own and the patient's safety. (Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1059: The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000) Regulation (5) covers this aspect and prohibits any person from exposing himself or a patient to radiation except by the authorized prescription of a medical practitioner and with adequate data. Regulation seven caters to the optimization procedure, "which involves ensuring that doses arising from exposures is kept as low as reasonably practicable. The practitioner and the operator are responsible for elements of the optimization of medical exposures as specified in regulation seven." (Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1059: The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000) "Regulations (6) and (7) provide that special attention be given to exposures in medico-legal procedures, health screening or voluntary participation in research, where no direct medical benefit is expected from the exposure or where exposure involves high doses, pregnant or potentially pregnant or breastfeeding females and children. Regulation seven also provides that certain information and instructions be given where radioactive medicinal products are administered." (Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1059: The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000) The important regulation which brings about compliance are regulation eight to ten which makes it mandatory for institution sand practitioners to have a clinical audit and also ensure that clinical audit to be carried out in consultation with 'medical physics experts' and maintaining of proper inventory of all equipments and that the equipments are limited to what is absolutely necessary. These mandatory provisions also bar the untrained personnel from handling equipments or prescribing or in anyway being involved with the radiation process. The act has also identified various radiation sources and prescribes specific rules for the same. This act overrides the "Ionising Radiation (Protection of Persons Undergoing Medical Examination or Treatment) Regulations 1988 (S.I. 1988/778)." (Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1059: The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000) 4.Outline a Suitable Control Strategy that will: a) adequately control the risks The most important aspect of controlling risk is informing and education all concerned staff and practitioners about the hazards. Radiation protection is a subject that is now current with people, at least with patients. Patients are becoming aware of radiating risks. Strict procedures ought to be adopted to avoid unnecessary radiation exposure. (Raza, 2006) Education on radiation hazard for doctors and hospital staff is woefully inadequate. Steps must be taken not only to educate the people on the hazard but also train then adequately in monitoring and controlling the use of radiation equipments. A b) clearly specify what actions need to be taken The importance of making medical practitioners and staff regarding the hazards cannot be overstressed. In a research conducted by surgeons and radiologists, like S. Shiralkar, consultant surgeon, a Rennie, and others, the startling fact was revealed that in the sample population of doctors taken for study of their knowledge regarding radiation and its effects, very few had any idea of the hazard. The doctors subject most patients to one X-ray investigation at least. They were woefully unaware of the ionizing risk of radiation from X-rays. The survey was conducted in two regions in the United Kingdom. The study revealed that most doctors do not have any idea of the risks of radiation on the patients, and the doctors had undergone a radiation protection course which would it is believed have apprised them of the issue. The research found that there was a great lack of awareness among doctors and the patients receive more than one prescription for X-Ray in the course of treatment. (Shiralkar; Rennie; Snow; Galland; Lewis; Gower-Thomas, 2003, p. 371) The most important thing to do is therefore to create a national campaign in the matter and re-educate the doctors, staff and layman about the hazards of radiation and make it mandatory that there be a consensus evolved in the use of X-Rays and other systems. The methods of reducing radiation exposure vary with different departments and equipments. The general guidelines for the use of these equipments and the prescribed precautions in using them ought to be made mandatory. Read the full article

[zzzwiw]

NoiseSpace is an experimental sound generator based on simplex noise, which is then used in a granular synthesis algorithm. This design allows for the creation of a vast array of diverse waveforms rich in harmonics with a rich low-frequency spectrum. 

[p0984756]

Mahalaxmi Pulley & Gears, established in 1974, is a prominent manufacturer of high-quality mechanical transmission components, including Chain Wheels, serving various industrial sectors in Ahmedabad and across India. MAHALAXMIPULLEY.IN

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Precision Engineering: Mahalaxmi Pulley & Gears employs advanced manufacturing techniques to ensure that each Chain Wheel meets stringent quality standards, resulting in precise tooth profiles that facilitate optimal chain engagement and reduced operational noise.

[cyanobotcodes]

Water Shader 1 - Interior

Here's a water shader I made. I think it's not bad for a first attempt.

Made possible by heavy reference to the following tutorials:

Looking Through Water - Catlike Coding  Yet Another Stylised Water Shader - Half Past Yellow Stylized Water Shader - Alexander Ameye Depth - Cyanilux

Plus some others that I'll link in part 2 when I get to the bits that I used them for.

I also used this beautiful example as a bit of a reference throughout for the sort of style I’d like to aim for.

Process under the cut.

My test scene looks like this.

We’ve got the generic Unity skybox, some generic sand-colored terrain (made of a simple noise function), a generic grey cube to demonstrate intersection with the water, and the water, which is currently a solid blue plane.

Step 1 - Transparency

Water is famously transparent. To make a transparent shader we essentially tell the renderer "instead of drawing this surface, draw the things behind it actually".

Here's if I just ask Unity to do that:

You can see that the underwater section comes out slightly darker than the rest of the scene. This happens (it turns out) because the scene color (everything behind the water) is passed to the water shader before Unity finishes processing all of the lighting.

I think in this case its the effect of the skybox that's missing from the underwater area. This actually suits me just fine, since the terrain underwater should be less influenced by the sky light anyway.

Here it is with a watery blue-green tint:

If you saw this you'd probably understand that it was meant to represent water, but that's about as much as you can say for it.

Real water is not perfectly transparent. The more water between us and the bottom of the lake, the less clearly we should be able to see through it. To implement this, we need to know the distance between the water surface and the bottom of the lake.

Depth shaders were a new topic to me and I am greatly indebted to this Cyanilux tutorial for explaining them very clearly.

Here’s the camera depth for my test scene, normalised to a decent range of values for the lake in question:

Here the water simply fades from transparent to opaque with depth:

And here's my final version of the transparency effect:

For that last image I've used: - a color gradient from greener shallows to deeper, bluer depths - a less aggressive fade (more transparent in the middle of the lake) - an exponential rather than linear depth function, and - a subtractive tinting function as described in this tutorial.

I think it looks pretty good so far.

Step 2 - Refraction

When we see objects through water we notice two main refraction effects.

Left (image by Bcrowell, en.wikipedia) we see the entire straw appear to bend at the surface of the water. Right (photo by Sam E Di) we see a rippled distortion of the sand caused by refraction through the rippled surface of the water.

In a natural body of water we tend to notice only the second effect (rippled distortion), because we don’t know the exact shape of the sticks/rocks/etc we’re looking at anyway. So, like many other water shaders, I’ll only be modelling the distortion for this quick and dirty simulation of refraction.

Since I’m working in Shader Graph, I primarily followed Ameye’s tutorial, although the section on refraction artifacts required me to dip into the more technical Catlike Coding tutorial to get it working.

To create ripple distortion we first need some ripples. Here’s the ripples I will be using. It’s two layers of ridged Simplex noise panning across each other.

I’ll be the first to admit it doesn’t look that much like water ripples. That’s a major area for improvement that I’d like to tackle as I learn more about creating procedural textures from noise. 

But it looks okay once it’s actually being used as ripples rather than viewed directly, so it’s good enough for a first attempt.

Applying the ripple noise to the scene color gets us this:

And with color:

In the close-up you can see the refraction artefacts mentioned above.

At the upper right edge of the cube the ripples take on the “deep water” color, and at the lower left, in the spaces that were inside the original outline of the cube but are not inside the new, distorted outline, you can just about see that the water looks shallower than it should.

The first fix is to feed the ripple noise into the depth calculator – but this introduces new problems.

The bottom left of the cube now looks right, but the top right has the cube itself “refracting” into the water even though it should be in front of the water. We also now have artifacts at the shoreline where similarly the shore is “refracted” into the water.

You may have seen either breed of artifacts in published games, I certainly have.

The fix involves making sure we don’t grab any pixels from above the waterline, and reverting back to the un-refracted image as a “default” if we were at risk of doing that.

Step 3 - Caustics

When light shines through rippled water, it produces distinctive patterns on objects under the water. These patterns are called caustics. (Photo by BrockenInaGlory)

There’s a fantastic tutorial on caustics by Allan Zucconi here, but I didn’t end up using most of it, since I’m still working (mostly) in Shader Graph.

Even more than the ripples, a good caustics texture would go a long way towards making my caustics look better. But for now I am once again using two layers of ridged simplex noise moving across each other (this time at a slightly lower spatial frequency).

Here they are, tinted slightly yellowish to represent sunlight:

(In a more complex model, like I will eventually need to handle multiple liquids and lighting conditions, the colour of the caustics should be determined by both water colour and light colour.)

And here they are projected down onto the underlying terrain:

Not very convincing. Two problems:

1 - We tend to only see caustics clearly in relatively shallow water. They fade out pretty quickly with depth as the light gets more thoroughly scattered by the water and stuff floating in the water. 

We can fix that pretty easily:

(This is using the same depth function I used for colour and transparency above. Technically it would be more accurate to use the vertical depth of the water or even the depth in the direction of the light source – but the visual difference is slight and this is the quicker, lazier solution.)

Second problem:

Caustics should only form where the light falls. They absolutely should not be visible in the shadows.

The Half Past Yellow tutorial mentions the need to access the shadow map, which pointed me in the right direction, but didn’t give me a lot to go on. 

Figuring out how to access the shadow map was a whole journey and unfortunately: 

I don’t seem to have written down all the sources I consulted (a lot of forum threads as well as articles, tutorials, and the official Unity documentation, iirc), and

I don’t fully understand what I did or how the shadow maps are represented under the hood.

In the end it involved dipping into HLSL to write a custom node that retrieves the shadow map. But I got it working.

Cutting the shadows out instantly makes the caustics effect more believable. It’s still not perfect, but this is where I called it good enough.

Combined with the other “water interior” effects (I wanted to show the animated version but the lower-contrast animation doesn't survive compression/conversion well) :

So far, so good!

Next up, the water surface.

[classicjalopy]

Gippsland Vehicle Collection - October 2024

As part of my big Classic Mercedes road trip, I visited the Gippsland Vehicle Collection.   This was a stop on our drive from Melbourne to Bombala via Gippsland and the Monaro Highway. The museum is located in Maffra and is housed in a great historic factory. One of the nice things about the museum is that the collection changes over time.   As of the time of our visit, the theme was 20th century sports cars.   They had a pretty good collection of them, and the most impressive was the wide range of different 50s MGs on display.

In addition, the museum has a large motorcycle collection, thousands of model cars, signs and even a restored train carriage.  They are also fixing up a model railway.  Plus there are engines on display. One of the highlights of our visit was one of the staff starting up the American LaFrance Fire truck for us.   It has a six cyilnder engine with three spark plugs driven by both a magneto and a distributor.   Given the age of the vehicle you could see a lot of things happening outside the engine such as the pushrods and distributor shaft.   It made quite the noise. It is no longer carrying a fire truck body and was most recently used to tour Tasmania, or at least drive from petrol station to petrol station.   The engine is a derivative of the Mercedes Simplex engine developed by Willhelm Maybach for Mercedes-Benz. I would certainly recommend a visit to the Museum if passing through Gippsland. Read the full article

[ultimatewalrus]

new bg effect for the BIGBOMB online high score chart. uses a GLSL shader with simplex noise

[proceduralcaves]

Source notes: Procedural Generation of 3D Caves for Games on the GPU

(Mark et al., 2015)

Type: Conference Paper

The researchers present a modular pipeline for procedurally generating believable (not physically-based) underground caves in real-time, intended to be used standalone or as part of larger computer game environments. Their approach runs mainly in the GPU and utilises the following techniques: an L-system to emulate cave passages found in nature; a noise-perturbed metaball for 3D carving; a Marching Cubes algorithm to extract an isosurface from voxel data; and shader programming to visually enhance the final mesh. Unlike other works in this area, the authors explicitly state their aim is to demonstrate their method's suitability for use in 3D computer game landscapes, and therefore prioritise immersion, visual plausibility and expressivity in their results.

The method works in a three-stage process, with the structure first being generated by an L-system, before, secondly, a metaball based technique forms tunnels, then lastly a mesh is extracted from the voxel data produced by the previous stages. In terms of implementation, the output L-system structural data is loaded into GPU memory where it is processed by compute shaders to ultimately create tunnels, stalagmites and stalactites.

An L-system or Lindenmayer system is a type of formal grammar (a description of which strings are syntactically valid within a formal language) where strings are formed based on a body of rules, starting from an initial string, which are then translated into geometric structures using a mechanism. The L-system used by (Mark et al., 2015) works by guiding a virtual drawing agent (a 'turtle') using the alphabet and constructed strings to generate structural points which can then be connected to form the basis of a cave system. By favouring longer production rules (producing longer expansions of strings) the self-similarity and orderliness of plant-like structures often generated by L-systems with shorter rules was able to be avoided, resulting in a more chaotic structure better suited to simulating a network of tunnels. Additionally, a stochastic element to choosing and generating production rules was introduced to enhance the expressivity of the system. To handle dead ends, a method of connecting a certain percentage of ends to each other by drawing a distorted line between them was developed, and is controllable via a user defined parameter. Further to this, the ability for users to adjust production rules, macro strings, the turtle's turning angle, the containing volume and direction of the system, was introduced.

To form the walls of the cave, a metaball — in this case, "a smooth energy field, represented by a gradient of values between "empty" at its centre and "full" at its outer horizon" perturbed by a warping function to be made less spherical (to achieve more natural results) — is moved through a voxel volume (data for which was generated by the L-system process) from one structural point to the next. If a voxel is found under the radius of the metaball, the distance between the voxel and the metaball's centre is distorted using a combination of Simplex noise and Voronoi noise, giving that voxel a value between -1 and 1. Curl noise is also used to vary the height of the tunnels created. By combining and layering Simplex and Voronoi noise, the researchers were able to produce results approximating scallops and jagged cave walls. The varying shape and size of the metaball and the intricate, branching structure of the L-system paths help to give rise to advanced shapes and to add visual interest.

Stalagmites and stalactites were created by generating noise values for each voxel and picking those within a certain range as spawn points (noise was also used to determine the density of speleothems within an area). Cellular automata were used to detect the floor and ceiling at spawn points and to grow the features (the specific details of that process, including how the cellular automata algorithm was implemented, are not covered).

The volume of voxel values created by the metaball approach are processed by a Marching Cubes algorithm to extract an isosurface, similar to the Masters project method. The authors note that Dual Contouring could have been used to better represent the voxel topology, an insight that informed the decision to investigate Dual Contouring for the Masters project method. Normals are calculated for the mesh and triplanar projection is used for texturing, as well as perturbation of fragments to create a stratified appearance. Lighting, bump mapping and refraction were also implemented. The shader parameters are able to be modified to produce different aesthetics (such as ice and crystal settings).

The method developed by (Mark et al., 2015) produced visually impressive results that are believable as real-world caves. It is capable of generating a variety of features and is structurally varied, with different patterns appearing in the resulting landscapes that resemble hills, sharp peaks, plateaus and small mesas (a flat top on a ridge or hill). The choice to use an L-system is effective in producing a complex, diverging cave system that contains walkways, arches, cracks, windows and polygon arrangements that look like hoodoos (spire rock formations formed by erosion). Furthermore, the creation of their own versions of speleothems (stalactites, stalagmites, columns and scallops) increases the believability and immersive nature of the results.

Parameterisation of aspects such as the L-system rules, its level of randomness, and the pixel shader enable control over the method and increase the variety of models that can be generated, making it more likely to be compatible with a range of art styles and world settings. One potential shortcoming is that a level of familiarity and understanding of the L-system component would be required for a designer to achieve usable results through alteration of its rules and other parameters, however such an investment could be seen as worthwhile given the level of control and expression that appears to be possible based on the content included in the paper.

[loadofoldjuk]

#10 - Well, how did I get here? - 2nd August

My Limit Break work has continued over the last month under the tutorage of John Kennedy, a vastly experienced programmer currently working as a producer at Auroch Digital. The opportunity to speak with him has been a pleasure and his guidance has uplifted my abilities.

I dipped my toes into learning the Unreal engine, looking at the sample game 'Lyra'.

The project acts as an engine of its own, allowing expansion of the base FPS game or reshaping it to entirely different genres. I followed a short tutorial that saw me implementing a new map and a new weapon to the FPS portion, this taught me a lot but I still feel the need to work on fundamental Unreal skills.

The bulk of this month has been spent continuing to traverse the world of Catlike Coding, this time following a tutorial on creating random noise. The first part involved creating a hash, using it to display a grid of varying colours and amplitude and allowing this to be wrapped around shapes.

Hash grid, with the same hash pattern transformed into a sphere

The rest of the tutorial saw the use of this hash to generate random noise which looks far more natural than the designs above, I'll do my best to explain how this was done, but to say it melted my brain is an understatement. The first task was creating value noise, which involves placing various points with various heights across a line, plane or cube (depending on how many dimensions you want) and then sloping between them. It creates a result that looks like a World of Warcraft mountain range.

See if you can tell which one of these images is a Value Noise plane and which is the Redridge Mountains!

This is better but still looks blocky, so the next step is to implement Perlin noise (also known as gradient noise). Instead of the same progression for each, each point uses the hash to create a unique function, making the slopes bumpy.

Extra settings were introduced allowing special types of noise to be generated. Tiled noise, creates a repeated pattern over a domain, fractal noise repeats the function at a smaller level and turbulent noise flips negative values so the whole pattern points up.

From left to right; tiled noise, fractal noise and turbulent noise

Then, an extra type of noise was added called Voronoi noise which looks angular and artificial. It's created by placing various points in a space and drawing to the nearest point. You can then combine this by misusing the closest point from the second closest to create a neat-looking pattern.

Voronoi noise using the second closet point minus the closest point

Finally, the tutorial saw the implementation of Simplex noise, which uses adding multiple, limited, values on a simple shape grid rather than a more complicated kind. The UK heatwave had started by this point so I apologise for this vague explanation, I had trouble understanding it myself.

Simplex noise, pretty but confusing

I just want to speak briefly about the fact that I am not a genius. A lot of my time with these tutorials has been reading something, not understanding it, reading it over and over, sorta understanding it, implementing it, not understanding it. Sometimes, however, you have to be dropped into the deep end and learn to swim to shore. My hope is trying my best against harder problems will make all problems easier in comparison. Will see, but until next time.

--Jacob

Mix of the Day: hasn't Balatro got a weirdly good soundtrack? It's all just one track, but it just sounds so funky, I'd highly recommend it.