3331results about "Force/torque/work measurement apparatus calibration/testing" patented technology

A wireless sensor system is installed inside pipelines using sensors and wireless transceivers that are small, low-cost, and rugged. The objective is monitoring the pipeline and recommending maintenance and repair at specific locations in the pipeline. Maintenance includes detection of leaks and prevention of catastrophic failures as a result of internal corrosion or other damage, such as third party mechanical damage, using multitude of sensors. After establishing the wireless sensor network the network is activated so the sensor can make measurements periodically or continuously using instructions transmitted via the base station. The sensor data from the various sensors are transmitted inside the pipe and extracted to access points in the pipeline to a remote computer that stores the data within the computer memory. The sensed information can be used for monitoring as well as analysis using a recommendation engine to provide maintenance and repair alerts.

This disclosure describes systems and methods for testing a medical device. The disclosure describes a novel approach determining if the ventilator system is functioning properly without having to connect the medical device to a patient.

This disclosure describes systems and methods for testing a medical device. The disclosure describes a novel approach determining if the ventilator system is functioning properly without having to connect the medical device to a patient.

A method for the in vivo re-calibration of a force sensing probe such as an electrophysiology catheter provides for the generation of an auto zero zone. The distal tip of the catheter or other probe is placed in a body cavity within the patient. Verification that there is no tissue contact is made using electrocardiogram (ECG) or impedance data, fluoroscopy or other real-time imaging data and/or an electro-anatomical mapping system. Once verification that there is no tissue contact is made, the system recalibrates the signal emanating from the force sensor setting it to correspond to a force reading of zero grams and this recalibrated baseline reading is used to generate and display force readings based on force sensor data.

The present invention models dynamic behavior of flight vehicles for simulation, analysis, and design. The present invention allows a user to define the complexity of a flight vehicle model, and such models may be simple rigid body models, models of medium complexity, or very complex models including high order dynamics comprising hundreds of structural flexibility modes and variables related to aero-elasticity, fuel sloshing, various types of effectors, tail-wags-dog dynamics, complex actuator models, load-torque feedback, wind gusts, and other parameters impacting flight vehicles. The present invention accommodates and analyzes multiple vehicle and actuator concepts and configurations as defined in flight vehicle input data, which specifies flight vehicle parameters at a steady-state condition for modeling flight vehicle response to dynamic forces and flight control commands with respect to steady state operation.

A method of constructing a sensor includes depositing a first material in a predetermined arrangement to form a structure. The depositing results in at least one void occurring within the structure. The method further includes depositing a second material within the voids. The second material may have electrical properties that vary according to deformation of the second material. The method also includes providing electrical access to the second material to enable observation of the one or more electrical properties. A sensor includes a structure that has one or more voids distributed within the structure. The sensor also includes a material deposited within the one or more voids. The material may be characterized by one or more electrical properties such as piezoresistivity. The sensor includes a first contact electrically coupled to a first location on the material, and a second contact electrically coupled to a second location on the material.

An apparatus, system, method and kit for testing fluid flow and pressure is provided. The apparatus, system, method and kit include or include the use of a flow unit which is configured to measure flow rate and/or flow velocity when interfaced with a flow valve or hydrant and a pressure unit configured to measure at least residual pressure when interfaced with a test valve or hydrant. At least one of the units is configured to wirelessly send data transmissions to the other unit which is configured to receive such transmissions.

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for using black box data to analyze vehicular accidents. The methods include obtaining information from an event data recorder associated with a vehicle and using the data obtained therefrom in determining and analyzing the vehicular accident. Attributes to be analyzed include impact severity, change in velocity, and other desired parameters. Further disclosed are methods to securely communicate the downloaded black box information to a secure location for later analysis and processing.

A device testing apparatus, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) testing apparatus, using one host computer to test a plurality of the devices, such as to burn-in test HDDs. A host computer having at least two serial communication ports is communicably connected to power cards which supply operating power to each HDD to be tested. A serial communication exchanger is communicably connected to the serial communication ports of the host computer and to the HDDs, and responds to channel selection instructions issued by the host computer to selectively establish a serial communication channel among HDDs, the power card, and the host computer. The single host computer conducts the testing of the HDDs by communicating with the HDDs via the established serial communication channel.

A micromanipulation system includes a micromanipulator that includes a handpiece, and a micromanipulation tool that includes a tool shaft and is operatively connected to the handpiece. The micromanipulator further includes an actuator assembly connected to the micromanipulation tool to provide manual control of the micromanipulation tool, and a force sensing system comprising a force sensor attached to the tool shaft. The force sensing system is configured to provide an output signal that indicates a force imposed on the tool shaft. The micromanipulation system also includes a processor that is in communication with the force sensing system, and is configured to receive the output signal and compensate for forces due to actuation of the micromanipulation tool to determine a force due to interaction of the micromanipulation tool with a region of interest. The processor outputs an indication of at least one of a magnitude and a direction of the determined force.

An interferometric measurement system includes a spun optical fiber including multiple optical waveguides configured in the fiber. Interferometric detection circuitry detects measurement interferometric pattern data associated with each of the multiple optical waveguides when the optical fiber is placed into a bend. Data processing circuitry determines compensation parameters that compensate for variations between an optimal configuration of the multiple optical waveguides in the fiber and an actual configuration of multiple optical waveguides in the fiber. The compensation parameters are stored in memory for compensating subsequently-obtained measurement interferometric pattern data for the fiber. The compensation parameters are applied to the subsequently-obtained measurement interferometric pattern data in order to distinguish between axial strain, bend strain, and twist strain on the fiber and to accurately determine one or more strain values for the fiber corresponding to one or more of the axial strain, bend strain, or twist strain on the fiber.

A fault detection system and method is provided that facilitates detection of faults that are manifest over a plurality of different operational phases. The fault detection system and method use multiway principal component analysis (MPCA) to detect fault from turbine engine sensor data. Specifically, the fault detection system uses a plurality of load vectors, each of the plurality of load vectors representing a principal component in the turbine engine sensor data from the multiple operational phases. The load vectors are preferably developed using sets of historical sensor data. When developed using historical data covering multiple operational phases, the load vectors can be used to detect likely faults in turbine engines. Specifically, new sensor data from the multiple operational phases is projected on to the load vectors, generating a plurality of statistical measures that can be classified to determine if a fault is manifest in the new sensor data.

The instant invention is directed toward a method and an apparatus for mapping the magnetic field strength or flux density of a magnetic source. The invention provides a robotically controlled sensor which is moved in a controlled manner throughout an area of flux density and the variations in the flux density are recorded. The position and recorded magnetic field strength at numerous points throughout the test area are recorded and the data is assembled into a graphical representation the end result of which is a multi-dimensional mapping of the magnetic field strength as a function of distance from the source. The testing method and apparatus provide a convenient methodology for accurately determining dosimetry and tissue penetration of therapeutic magnetic devices.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for processing a position signal. The method includes receiving a first position signal from a capacitive sensor and determining a proximity of the capacitive sensor to a connection of an array of capacitive sensors. The sensitivity of the capacitive sensor is then adjusted and a second position signal is received from the capacitive sensor. The second position signal may then be reported. The present invention facilitates more accurate readings from an array of capacitive sensors.