Proposal: Naming scheme (was Re: Name for our program?)

[Tim Vanderhoek <vanderh@ecf.utoronto.ca>]

On Thu, Jan 27, 2000 at 01:30:04AM -0500, Tim Vanderhoek wrote:
>
> I need a name for the computer program being used to control the
> robot.

Having reviewed all the messages in this thread, I have the following
proposed naming scheme.  Please read the proposal and either suggest
modifications or vote for/against.

Robot name: Zeta (aka The Cow)

	Zeta is the sixth Greek letter, nestled between Epsilon and Eta.
	Moreover, Zeta is an acronym with the following expansion and
	meaning.  You will see how the meaning suits the robot based on
	the names for individual subsystems.

	Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly:  A British fusion device in
	which scientists observed fusion neutrons in 1958.  They were
	erroneously considered to be thermonuclear (coming from particles
	with a Maxwellian velocity distribution) and were a cause for
	the initial optimism that fusion energy would be easy.  They
	were actually due to electromagnetic acceleration during a plasma
	instability, an effect which cannot be scaled up to produce
	useful energy.

	reference: http://www.pppl.gov/~rfheeter/fusion-faq/glossary/z.html

	sample usage: "Is Zeta finished yet?"

	pronounciation: I can decide between Zeeta and Zayta.

Subsystem name - Interface: Gluon

	: a hypothetical neutral massless particle held to bind
	  together quarks to form hadrons

	reference: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

	sample usage: "I'll just read-in the appropriate signal from
	               the Gluon."

Subsubsystem name - Sensors: Neutrinos

	: an uncharged elementary particle that is believed to be
	  massless or to have a very small mass, that has any of three
	  forms, and that interacts only rarely with other particles

	reference: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

	sample usage: "The neutrinos have located the enemy!"

Subsubsystem name - emittor beacon: W+

	Responsible for weak (ie. non-nuclear), long-distance interactions.

	reference: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/particle_zoo.html

	sample usage: "The W+ doesn't appear to be functioning correctly."

	pronounciation: open to interpration?

Subsubsystem name - interference emittors: Boson

	: a particle (as a photon or meson) whose spin is zero or an
	  integral number -- compare [13]FERMION

	reference: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

	sample usage: "They never even saw us!  The Boson did it's job!"

Subsubsystem name - touch sensors: Theta-Ps

	Theta Pinch:  A fast-pulsed pinch device in which the external
	current imposed goes in the azimuthal/circumferential direction
	(generally in a solenoid) around a cylindrical plasma.  Use of
	a fast-rising solenoidal current causes a rapidly increasing
	axial magnetic field, which compresses and heats the plasma.
	MHD theory of the Theta Pinch is given in reference 6.

	reference: http://www.pppl.gov/~rfheeter/fusion-faq/glossary/t.html

	sample usage: "The Theta-Ps will notify us of collisions."

	pronounciation: Theta-Pee

Subsubsystem name - motor control circuit: Tachyon Controller

	tachyon: a hypothetical particle held to travel only faster than light

	reference: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

	sample usage: "Cap'n, I need more power for the tachyon controller."

Subsystem name - electro-mech: Baryon

	: any of a group of elementary particles (as nucleons)
	  that are subject to the strong force and are held to be a
	  combination of three quarks

	reference: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

	The baryon is what composes most of the matter that we see and
	feel.

	sample usage: "Don't worry, Joyce.  The baryon will hold
	               everything together."

	pronounciation: ???  Ask Prof. Trischuk, I suppose...

Subsubsystem name - the Lexan base floor: Hadron

	Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary hadr-
	           thick, heavy (from Greek hadros thick) + 2-on

	: any of the subatomic particles that are made up of quarks and are
	  subject to the strong force

	reference: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

	sample usage: "The motors are resting quietly on the Hadron."

	pronounciation: ???  Ask Prof. Trischuk, I suppose...

Subsubsystem name - all electrical wiring: Muon

	: an unstable lepton that is common in the cosmic radiation near
	  the earth's surface, has a mass about 207 times the mass of
	  the electron, and exists in negative and positive forms

	reference: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

	sample usage: "Shit, it was working a minute ago...There must
	               be another breach in the Muon somewhere."

Subsystem name - Intelligence: Fermion

	: a particle (as an electron, proton, or neutron) whose spin
	  quantum number is an odd multiple of  1/2  -- compare [13]BOSON

	reference: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

	sample usage:

Subsubsystem name - the control program: Qubit

	[...] the quantum information content of any quantum system can
	be meaningfully measured as the minimum number of two-state
	systems, now called quantum bits or qubits, which would be needed
	to store or transmit the system's state with high accuracy.

	reference: http://www.qubit.org/intros/compSteane/qcintro.html

	sample usage: "WTF was the Qubit thinking when it did that!?!"

I spent some amount of time researching this proposal, so I'd
appreciate it if you at least read it before voting against it...  ;-)

Comments welcome.


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