Onshape is a computer-aided design (CAD) software system, delivered over the Internet via a software as a service (SaaS) model. It makes extensive use of cloud computing, with compute-intensive processing and rendering performed on Internet-based servers, and users are able to interact with the system via a web browser or the iOS and Android apps. As a SaaS system, Onshape upgrades are released directly to the web interface, and the software does not require maintenance by the user. Onshape allows teams to collaborate on a single shared design, the same way multiple writers can work together editing a shared document via cloud services. It is primarily focused on mechanical CAD (MCAD) and is used for product and machinery design across many industries, including consumer electronics, mechanical machinery, medical devices, 3D printing, machine parts, and industrial equipment. As of 2025, Onshape is popularly used as a CAD suite for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) alongside the MKCad application available in the Onshape App Store. == Company history == Onshape was developed by a company with the same name. Founded in 2012, Onshape was based in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), with offices in Singapore and Pune, India. Its leadership team includes several engineers and executives who originated from SolidWorks, a popular 3D CAD program that runs on Microsoft Windows. Onshape’s co-founders include two former SolidWorks CEOs, Jon Hirschtick and John McEleney. In November 2012, former SolidWorks CEOs Jon Hirschtick and John McEleney led six co-founders launching Belmont Technology, a placeholder name that was later changed to Onshape. The company’s first round of funding was $9 million from North Bridge Venture Partners and Commonwealth Capital. In March 2015, Onshape released the public beta version of its cloud CAD software, after pre-production testing with more than a thousand CAD professionals in 52 countries. Included in the beta launch was Onshape for iPhone. In August 2015, the company released its Onshape for Android app. In December 2015, Onshape launched its full commercial release. The company also launched the Onshape App Store, offering CAM, simulation, rendering and other cloud-based engineering tools. The Onshape App Store was launched with 24 developer partners. In April 2016, Onshape introduced its Education Plan, with a free version of Onshape Professional geared for college students and educators. In May 2016, Onshape released FeatureScript, a new open source (MIT licensed) programming language for creating and customizing CAD features. In October 2019, Onshape agreed to be acquired by PTC. The acquisition closed in November 2019 for $470 million. In February 2024, Onshape released iOS support for the Apple Vision Pro, allowing for real world applications of CAD models and prototypes. In January 2025, Onshape released the CAM studio, allowing users to generate G-code for up to 5-axis Simultaneous milling. == Funding == Onshape was a venture-backed company with investments from firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Commonwealth Capital Ventures, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and North Bridge Venture Partners. Total venture funding amounted to $169 million. == Supported file formats == === Modelling === ==== Importing ==== As of May 2025, Onshape supported importing (opening) the following common CAD file formats: Parasolid X_T (Preferred) STEP (ISO 10303) ISO JT (ISO 14306) ACIS IGES CATIA v4, v5, v6 Autodesk Inventor Part (.IPT) Assembly (.IAM) Presentation (.IPN) Drawing (.IDW) Pro/ENGINEER, Creo Rhinoceros 3D: .3dm .STL .OBJ SolidWorks file formats Siemens NX file formats Drawings (.DXF/.DWG) ==== Exporting ==== Onshape supports exporting to the following formats: STEP (ISO 10303) Parasolid XT ACIS IGES SolidWorks file formats .STL Rhinoceros 3D: .3dm Collada XML-spec based textual file === Drawing === Ordinary engineering or technical drawing can be exported as .PDF file. === Other Formats === In addition to CAD file formats, Onshape supports importing some Non-CAD file formats for viewing and referencing. === Assembly === Assemblies can be imported and exported to: STEP (ISO 10303) Parasolid XT ACIS Pro/ENGINEER, Creo ISO JT Rhinoceros 3D: .3dm Siemens NX file formats SolidWorks Pack and Go zip file File formats that assemblies can be only-exported to, are: IGES .STL Collada XML-spec based textual file
BigDog
BigDog is a dynamically stable quadruped military robot platform that was created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics with the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It was funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), but the project was shelved after the BigDog's gas engine was deemed too loud for combat. == History == BigDog was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the hopes that it would be able to serve as a mechanic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for conventional vehicles. Instead of wheels or treads, BigDog uses four legs for movement, allowing it to move across surfaces that would be difficult for wheels. The legs contain a variety of sensors, including joint position and ground contact. BigDog also features a laser gyroscope and a stereo vision system. BigDog is 3 feet (0.91 m) long, stands 2.5 feet (0.76 m) tall, and weighs 240 pounds (110 kg), making it about the size of a small mule. It is capable of traversing difficult terrain, running at four miles per hour (6.4 km/h), carrying 340 pounds (150 kg), and climbing a 35 degree incline. Locomotion is controlled by an onboard computer that receives input from the robot's various sensors. Navigation and balance are also managed by the control system. BigDog's walking pattern is controlled through four legs, each equipped with four low-friction hydraulic cylinder actuators that power the joints. BigDog's locomotion behaviors can vary greatly. It can stand up, sit down, walk with a crawling gait that lifts one leg at a time, walk with a trotting gait lifting diagonal legs, or trot with a running gait. The travel speed of BigDog varies from a 0.62 mph (1 km/h) crawl to a 3.3 mph (5.3 km/h) trot. The BigDog project was headed by Dr. Martin Buehler, who received the Joseph Engelberger Award from the Robotics Industries Association in 2012 for the work. Dr. Buehler while previously a professor at McGill University, headed the robotics lab there, developing four-legged walking and running robots. Built onto the actuators are sensors for joint position and force, and movement is ultimately controlled through an onboard computer which manages the sensors. Approximately 50 sensors are located on BigDog. These measure the attitude and acceleration of the body, motion, and force of joint actuators as well as engine speed, temperature and hydraulic pressure inside the robot's internal engine. Low-level control, such as position and force of the joints, and high-level control such as velocity and altitude during locomotion, are both controlled through the onboard computer. BigDog was featured in episodes of Web Junk 20 and Hungry Beast, and in articles in New Scientist, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and The Wall Street Journal. In September 2011 Boston Dynamics released video footage of a new generation of BigDog known as AlphaDog. The footage shows AlphaDog's ability to walk on rough terrain and recover its balance when kicked from the side. The refined equivalent has been designed by Boston Dynamics to exceed the BigDog in terms of capabilities and use to dismounted soldiers. In February 2012, with further DARPA support, the militarized Legged Squad Support System (LS3) variant of BigDog demonstrated its capabilities during a hike over a rough terrain. Starting in the summer of 2012, DARPA planned to complete the overall development of the system and refine its key capabilities in 18 months, ensuring its worth to dismounted warfighters before it is rolled out to squads operating in-theatre. BigDog must be able to demonstrate its ability to complete a 20-mile (32 km) trail in 24 hours, without refuelling, while carrying a 325-pound (150 kg) load. A refinement of its vision sensors will also be conducted. At the end of February 2013, Boston Dynamics released video footage of a modified BigDog with an arm. The arm could pick up objects and throw them. The robot is relying on its legs and torso to help power the motions of the arm. It is believed that it can lift weights around 55 pounds (25 kg). This work was funded by the United States Army Research Laboratory and paved the way for integrating manipulators with quadrupeds as found on Spot, the spiritual successor of BigDog. === Discontinuation === At the end of December 2013, the BigDog project was discontinued. Despite hopes that it would one day work like a pack mule for US soldiers in the field, the gasoline-powered engine was deemed too noisy for use in combat, and it could be heard from hundreds of meters away. A similar project for an all-electric robot named Spot in 2016 was much quieter, but could only carry 45 pounds (20 kg). Both projects are no longer in progress, but the Spot was only released in 2020. == Hardware == BigDog is powered by a small two-stroke, one-cylinder, 15-brake-horsepower (11 kW) engine operating at 9,000 RPM. The engine drives a hydraulic pump, which in turn drives the hydraulic leg actuators. Each leg has four actuators (two for the hip joint, and two each for the knee and ankle joints), for a total of 16. Each actuator unit consists of a hydraulic cylinder, servo valve, position sensor, and force sensor. Onboard computing power is a ruggedized PC/104 board stack with two computers, one running a Pentium M processor running QNX (used for sensor data processing) and another running a Core Duo processor (used for visual data processing). == Gallery ==
Algorithmic Puzzles
Algorithmic Puzzles is a book of puzzles based on computational thinking. It was written by computer scientists Anany and Maria Levitin, and published in 2011 by Oxford University Press. == Topics == The book begins with a "tutorial" introducing classical algorithm design techniques including backtracking, divide-and-conquer algorithms, and dynamic programming, methods for the analysis of algorithms, and their application in example puzzles. The puzzles themselves are grouped into three sets of 50 puzzles, in increasing order of difficulty. A final two chapters provide brief hints and more detailed solutions to the puzzles, with the solutions forming the majority of pages of the book. Some of the puzzles are well known classics, some are variations of known puzzles making them more algorithmic, and some are new. They include: Puzzles involving chessboards, including the eight queens puzzle, knight's tours, and the mutilated chessboard problem Balance puzzles River crossing puzzles The Tower of Hanoi Finding the missing element in a data stream The geometric median problem for Manhattan distance == Audience and reception == The puzzles in the book cover a wide range of difficulty, and in general do not require more than a high school level of mathematical background. William Gasarch notes that grouping the puzzles only by their difficulty and not by their themes is actually an advantage, as it provides readers with fewer clues about their solutions. Reviewer Narayanan Narayanan recommends the book to any puzzle aficionado, or to anyone who wants to develop their powers of algorithmic thinking. Reviewer Martin Griffiths suggests another group of readers, schoolteachers and university instructors in search of examples to illustrate the power of algorithmic thinking. Gasarch recommends the book to any computer scientist, evaluating it as "a delight".
Physical schema
A physical data model (or database design) is a representation of a data design as implemented, or intended to be implemented, in a database management system. In the lifecycle of a project it typically derives from a logical data model, though it may be reverse-engineered from a given database implementation. A complete physical data model will include all the database artifacts required to create relationships between tables or to achieve performance goals, such as indexes, constraint definitions, linking tables, partitioned tables or clusters. Analysts can usually use a physical data model to calculate storage estimates; it may include specific storage allocation details for a given database system. As of 2012 seven main databases dominate the commercial marketplace: Informix, Oracle, Postgres, SQL Server, Sybase, IBM Db2 and MySQL. Other RDBMS systems tend either to be legacy databases or used within academia such as universities or further education colleges. Physical data models for each implementation would differ significantly, not least due to underlying operating-system requirements that may sit underneath them. For example: SQL Server runs only on Microsoft Windows operating-systems (Starting with SQL Server 2017, SQL Server runs on Linux. It's the same SQL Server database engine, with many similar features and services regardless of your operating system), while Oracle and MySQL can run on Solaris, Linux and other UNIX-based operating-systems as well as on Windows. This means that the disk requirements, security requirements and many other aspects of a physical data model will be influenced by the RDBMS that a database administrator (or an organization) chooses to use. == Physical schema == Physical schema is a term used in data management to describe how data is to be represented and stored (files, indices, etc.) in secondary storage using a particular database management system (DBMS) (e.g., Oracle RDBMS, Sybase SQL Server, etc.). In the ANSI/SPARC Architecture three schema approach, the internal schema is the view of data that involved data management technology. This is as opposed to an external schema that reflects an individual's view of the data, or the conceptual schema that is the integration of a set of external schemas. The logical schema was the way data were represented to conform to the constraints of a particular approach to database management. At that time the choices were hierarchical and network. Describing the logical schema, however, still did not describe how physically data would be stored on disk drives. That is the domain of the physical schema. Now logical schemas describe data in terms of relational tables and columns, object-oriented classes, and XML tags. A single set of tables, for example, can be implemented in numerous ways, up to and including an architecture where table rows are maintained on computers in different countries.
System of record
A system of record (SOR) or source system of record (SSoR) is a data management term for an information storage system (commonly implemented on a computer system running a database management system) that is the authoritative data source for a given data element or piece of information, like for example a row (or record) in a table. In data vault it is referred to as the record source. == Background == The need to identify systems of record can become acute in organizations where management information systems have been built by taking output data from multiple source systems, re-processing this data, and then re-presenting the result for a new business use. In these cases, multiple information systems may disagree about the same piece of information. These disagreements may stem from semantic differences, differences in opinion, use of different sources, differences in the timing of the extract, transform, load processes that create the data they report against, or may simply be the result of bugs. == Use == The integrity and validity of any data set is open to question when there is no traceable connection to a good source, and listing a source system of record is a solution to this. Where the integrity of the data is vital, if there is an agreed system of record, the data element must either be linked to, or extracted directly from it. In other cases, the provenance and estimated data quality should be documented. The "system of record" approach is a good fit for environments where both: there is a single authority over all data consumers, and all consumers have similar needs == Trade-offs == In diverse environments, one instead needs to support the presence of multiple opinions. Consumers may accept different authorities or may differ on what constitutes an authoritative source—researchers may prefer carefully vetted data, while tactical military systems may require the most recent credible report.
Taimi
Taimi ( TAY-mee) is a dating app that caters to the LGBTQI+ community. The network matches its registered users based on their selected preferences and location. Originally an online dating service for gay men, by 2022 Taimi had become an app for all members of the LGBTQI+ community. It operates in more than 138 countries, including the US, UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Central and South America, Ukraine, and other European and Asian countries. Taimi runs on iOS and Android. The mobile app has a free and subscription-based premium version and offers a number of services for communication, including live streaming, chatting, and video calling. There is also an active blog that regularly posts articles and news about events of interest to the LGBTQ+ community. The application does not provide for non-Google e-mail log option, either phone number or Facebook account, during the registration process. The data controller for the non EU/UK users is based in a company, called Social Impact Inc., with its registered address at 1180 North Town Center Drive Suite 100, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89144, United States of America. == History == Taimi was launched in 2017 by Social Impact, Inc. in Las Vegas. Its founder, Alex Pasykov, originally called the app "Tame Me," a name that gradually morphed into Taimi. Over time, Taimi expanded into other countries, and expanding its reach to the LGBTQ+ community, so that, by 2022, it was fully inclusive of the entire queer community. In November 2020 the app was redesigned, with a new interface, branding, and logo. As of 2024, there are over 25 million registered users of Taimi worldwide. Pasykov states that he is an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and that he is focused on, among other things, partnering with NGOs to fight Homophobia and "regressive policies and laws" that negatively impact the community. == Features == Users register on the app and complete a profile, including personal information and preferences for compatibility, dating style, and relationship goals. An algorithm then finds and presents recommendations that a user accepts or rejects. Users are then free to chat via text or video with people they have connected with. Safety and security features include a two-step authentication process and an automated account verification along with a clear reporting system when breaches or policy violations occur. User responses to new features and policies drive changes and modifications that are made to all aspects of the site. == Partnerships and Collaborations == Taimi has a long history of collaborations and partnerships in Pride events, both in the US and abroad, including fund-raising efforts. Taimi has partnered with Rakuten Viber to create a bot focused on educating its members on key LGBTQ+ topics and to allow queer Viber users to connect. In 2023, Taimi collaborated with the Known Agency in an "America the Beautiful" campaign to shine a spotlight on current anti-LGBTQ+ policies and laws in a number of US states, and to counter these by highlighting the values and freedoms upon which America was founded. The campaign was nominated for The Drum Awards in the category "OOH For Good" and honored with the ANA Multicultural Excellence Award. Taimi also partnered with Goodparts, a queer-owned and operated retailer, in a "Body Beautiful" campaign focused on love and acceptance of all body types. In this campaign, well-known LGBTQ+ artists are providing artwork for Goodpart's product packaging. From October 31 to December 13, 2023, Taimi showed the "Taimi Moments" video, created in collaboration with Raygun Agency, on large screens between performances of LGBTQ+ artists Doja Cat, Ice Spice, and Doechii on their Scarlet Tour. In spring 2024, Taimi launched Queer Paradise, a series of live events in Southern California to celebrate diversity, sexual exploration, and dating fluidity. Each event in the series was curated to give the full spectrum of groups within the LGBTQ+ community a space to express their authentic selves. Taimi's partners for Queer Paradise include Hawtmess Productions, Eden Entertainment Group, Hump Events, Girls Gays & Theys, Damn Good Dyke Nights, and Gaybors Agency. In summer 2024, with support from GLAAD, Taimi has updated features and self-expression tools to better serve the LGBTQ+ people seeking connection in the app. Taimi allowed members to select multiple sexualities, unified the list of sexualities across all genders, added more pronoun options, and created a more inclusive and improved list of subcategories for non-binary users. Also, in summer 2024, Taimi has partnered with gender-affirming underwear brand Urbody to release a capsule collection. Focused on gender inclusivity and sexual fluidity, the capsule collection includes a range of underwear and compression tops intended to promote "joy, self-love and empowerment."
Outline of artificial intelligence
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence exhibited by machines or software. It is also the name of the scientific field which studies how to create computers and computer software that are capable of intelligent behavior. == AI terminology == Glossary of artificial intelligence == Goals and applications == === General intelligence === Artificial general intelligence AI-complete === Reasoning and problem solving === Automated reasoning Mathematics Automated theorem prover Computer-assisted proof – Computer algebra General Problem Solver Expert system – Decision support system – Clinical decision support system – === Knowledge representation === Knowledge representation Knowledge management Cyc === Planning === Automated planning and scheduling Strategic planning Sussman anomaly – === Learning === Machine learning – Constrained Conditional Models – Deep learning – Neural modeling fields – Supervised learning – Weak supervision (semi-supervised learning) – Unsupervised learning – === Natural language processing === Natural language processing (outline) – Chatterbots – Language identification – Large language model – Retrieval-augmented generation – Natural language user interface – Natural language understanding – Machine translation – Statistical semantics – Question answering – Semantic translation – Concept mining – Data mining – Text mining – Process mining – E-mail spam filtering – Information extraction – Named-entity extraction – Coreference resolution – Named-entity recognition – Relationship extraction – Terminology extraction – === Perception === Machine perception Pattern recognition – Computer Audition – Speech recognition – Speaker recognition – Computer vision (outline) – Image processing Intelligent word recognition – Object recognition – Optical mark recognition – Handwriting recognition – Optical character recognition – Automatic number plate recognition – Information extraction – Image retrieval – Automatic image annotation – Facial recognition systems – Silent speech interface – Activity recognition – Percept (artificial intelligence) === Robotics === Robotics – Behavior-based robotics – Cognitive – Cybernetics – Developmental robotics – Evolutionary robotics – === Control === Intelligent control Self-management (computer science) – Autonomic Computing – Autonomic Networking – === Social intelligence === Affective computing Kismet === Game playing === Game artificial intelligence – Computer game bot – computer replacement for human players. Video game AI – Computer chess – Computer Go – General game playing – General video game playing – === Creativity, art and entertainment === Artificial creativity Artificial life Artificial intelligence art AI anthropomorphism AI agent AI web browser AI boom AI slop Creative computing Generative artificial intelligence Generative pre trained transformer Uncanny valley Music and artificial intelligence Computational humor Chatbot === Integrated AI systems === AIBO – Sony's robot dog. It integrates vision, hearing and motorskills. Asimo (2000 to present) – humanoid robot developed by Honda, capable of walking, running, negotiating through pedestrian traffic, climbing and descending stairs, recognizing speech commands and the faces of specific individuals, among a growing set of capabilities. MIRAGE – A.I. embodied humanoid in an augmented reality environment. Cog – M.I.T. humanoid robot project under the direction of Rodney Brooks. QRIO – Sony's version of a humanoid robot. TOPIO, TOSY's humanoid robot that can play ping-pong with humans. Watson (2011) – computer developed by IBM that played and won the game show Jeopardy! It is now being used to guide nurses in medical procedures. Purpose: Open domain question answering Technologies employed: Natural language processing Information retrieval Knowledge representation Automated reasoning Machine learning Project Debater (2018) – artificially intelligent computer system, designed to make coherent arguments, developed at IBM's lab in Haifa, Israel. === Intelligent personal assistants === Intelligent personal assistant – Amazon Alexa – Assistant – Braina – Cortana – Google Assistant – Google Now – Mycroft – Siri – Viv – === Other applications === Artificial life – simulation of natural life through the means of computers, robotics, or biochemistry. Automatic target recognition – Diagnosis (artificial intelligence) – Speech generating device – Vehicle infrastructure integration – Virtual Intelligence – == History == History of artificial intelligence Progress in artificial intelligence Timeline of artificial intelligence AI effect – as soon as AI successfully solves a problem, the problem is no longer considered by the public to be a part of AI. This phenomenon has occurred in relation to every AI application produced, so far, throughout the history of development of AI. AI winter – a period of disappointment and funding reductions occurring after a wave of high expectations and funding in AI. Such funding cuts occurred in the 1970s, for instance. Moore's law === History by period === 2017 in artificial intelligence 2018 in artificial intelligence 2019 in artificial intelligence 2020 in artificial intelligence 2021 in artificial intelligence 2022 in artificial intelligence 2023 in artificial intelligence 2024 in artificial intelligence 2025 in artificial intelligence 2026 in artificial intelligence 2027 in artificial intelligence 2028 in artificial intelligence 2029 in artificial intelligence === History by subject === History of logic (formal reasoning is an important precursor of AI) History of machine learning (timeline) History of machine translation (timeline) History of natural language processing History of optical character recognition (timeline) == AI algorithms and techniques == === Search === Discrete search algorithms Uninformed search Brute force search – Problem-solving technique and algorithmic paradigmPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Search tree – Data structure in tree form sorted for fast lookup Breadth-first search – Algorithm to search the nodes of a graph Depth-first search – Algorithm to search the nodes of a graph State space search – Class of search algorithmsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Informed search Best-first search – Graph exploring search algorithm A search algorithm – Algorithm used for pathfinding and graph traversal Heuristics – Problem-solving methodPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Pruning (algorithm) – Data compression techniquePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Adversarial search Minmax algorithm – Decision rule used for minimizing the possible loss for a worst-case scenarioPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Logic as search Production system (computer science) – Computer program used to provide artificial intelligence Rule based system – Type of computer systemPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Production rule – Computer program used to provide artificial intelligence Inference rule – Method of deriving conclusionsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Horn clause – Type of logical formula Forward chaining – Inference engine in an expert system Backward chaining – Method of forming inferences Planning as search State space search – Class of search algorithmsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Means–ends analysis – Problem solving technique === Optimization search === Optimization (mathematics) algorithms Hill climbing – Optimization algorithm Simulated annealing – Probabilistic optimization technique and metaheuristic Beam search – Heuristic search algorithm Random optimization – Optimization technique in mathematics Evolutionary computation Genetic algorithms – Competitive algorithm for searching a problem spacePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Gene expression programming – Evolutionary algorithm Genetic programming – Evolving computer programs with techniques analogous to natural genetic processes Differential evolution – Method of mathematical optimization Society based learning algorithms. Swarm intelligence – Collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems Particle swarm optimization – Iterative simulation method Ant colony optimization – Optimization algorithmPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Metaheuristic – Optimization technique === Logic === Logic and automated reasoning Programming using logic Logic programming – Programming paradigm based on formal logic See "Logic as search" above. Forms of Logic Propositional logic First-order logic First-order logic with equality Constraint satisfaction – Process in artificial intelligence and operations research Fuzzy logic Fuzzy set theory – Sets whose elements have degrees of membershipPages displaying short descriptions