12096results about "Structural/machines measurement" patented technology

The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for determining an end of life state for an electromechanical surgical system. The system includes an end effector configured to perform at least one function and a shaft assembly being arranged for selectively interconnecting the end effector and a hand-held surgical instrument. The hand-held surgical instrument includes an instrument housing defining a connecting portion for selectively connecting with the shaft assembly. The hand-held surgical instrument also includes a motor assembly, a sensor array configured to obtain an operational parameter of the hand-held surgical instrument, and a controller configured to control operation of the hand-held surgical instrument based on the operational parameter obtained by the sensor array.

A testing method and apparatus for determining whether surgical cartridges have excess drivers. A blade is disposed in the slots of the cartridge and displaced while it contacts the floor of the slot. If an excess driver is encountered, the blade is displaced away from the floor and this movement is detected, preferably by an electronic sensor. The apparatus includes a base plate to which a carriage is mounted, either directly or through other structural members. The carriage is configured to slide along a pair of parallel shafts, and is driven by a pneumatic ram or other linear prime mover. A tooling plate is moveably mounted to the carriage, and the blade is mounted to the tooling plate. Movement by the blade due to excess drivers results in movement by the tooling plate relative to the carriage, which is detected and recorded, such as by a computer.

The invention comprises systems and methods for evaluating changes in the operational efficiency of an HVAC system over time. The climate control system obtains temperature measurements from at least a first location conditioned by the climate system, and status of said HVAC system. One or more processors receives measurements of outside temperatures from at least one source other than said HVAC system and compares said temperature measurements from said first location with expected temperature measurements. The expected temperature measurements are based at least in part upon past temperature measurements.

The invention comprises systems and methods for evaluating changes in the operational efficiency of an HVAC system over time. The climate control system obtains temperature measurements from at least a first location conditioned by the climate system, and status of said HVAC system. One or more processors receives measurements of outside temperatures from at least one source other than said HVAC system and compares said temperature measurements from said first location with expected temperature measurements. The expected temperature measurements are based at least in part upon past temperature measurements.

A method for monitoring the health of a system comprises performing at each of a plurality of times the steps of:constructing a condition signature from a plurality of condition indicators including (a) a plurality of vibration measurements acquired from the system or (b) one or more vibration measurements and one or more performance parameter measurements acquired from the system;predicting a normal signature from a model defining one or more inter-dependencies between said condition indicators, the normal signature corresponding to the condition signature for a healthy system;comparing the condition signature with the normal signature; andregistering an event if the condition signature differs from the normal signature by more than a predetermined threshold.

A vibration data collection system performs an integration or differentiation process on incoming digitized vibration data in real time. The system uses a digital Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filter running at the input data rate to provide the integration or differentiation function. With this approach, the system reduces hardware complexity and data storage requirements. Also, the system provides the ability to directly integrate or differentiate stored time waveforms without resorting to FFT processing methods.

Apparatus is provided having a signal processor configured to: respond to stimuli caused by a vibrating machine or structure and capture a sampled data set containing information about the stimuli, including where the stimuli include at least vibration of the vibrating machine or structure; and determine wireless signaling containing a pre-selected subset of information from the sampled data set that can be provided as relevant data that includes a relevant data package / sample, the size of the relevant data package / sample, and computations upon the relevant data package / sample, based upon implementing a data interpretation algorithm that uses a wireless communication capacity or protocol for communication. The apparatus may include a data collector or sensor having the signal processor arranged therein and configured for coupling to the vibrating machine or structure to be monitored.

A method monitors a weld signature of a welding apparatus by processing the signature through a neural network to recognize a pattern, and by classifying the weld signature in response to the pattern. The method determines if the weld signature is sufficiently different from training weld signatures stored in a database, and records the weld signature in the database when sufficiently different. The method tests a weld joint to determine values of different weld joint properties, and then correlates the signature with the weld data to validate the database. An apparatus monitors a weld signature during a welding process to predict welding joint quality, and includes a welding gun, a power supply, and a sensor for detecting welding voltage, current, and wire feed speed (WFS). A neural network receives the welding process values and classifies the signature into different weld classifications each corresponding to a predicted welding joint quality.

A method controls a welding apparatus by using a neural network to recognize an acceptable weld signature. The neural network recognizes a pattern presented by the instantaneous weld signature, and modifies the instantaneous weld signature when the pattern is not acceptable. The method measures a welding voltage, current, and wire feed speed (WFS), and trains the neural network using the instantaneous weld signature when the instantaneous weld signature is different from each of the different training weld signatures. A welding apparatus for controlling a welding process includes a welding gun, a power supply for supplying a welding voltage and current, and a sensor for detecting values of a plurality of different welding process variables. A controller of the apparatus has a neural network for receiving the welding process variables and for recognizing a pattern in the weld signature. The controller modifies the weld signature when the pattern is not recognized.

The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for determining an end of life state for an electromechanical surgical system. The system includes an end effector configured to perform at least one function and a shaft assembly being arranged for selectively interconnecting the end effector and a hand-held surgical instrument. The hand-held surgical instrument includes an instrument housing defining a connecting portion for selectively connecting with the shaft assembly. The hand-held surgical instrument also includes a motor assembly, a sensor array configured to obtain an operational parameter of the hand-held surgical instrument, and a controller configured to control operation of the hand-held surgical instrument based on the operational parameter obtained by the sensor array.

A disk drive is disclosed for executing a drive operating program and a manufacturing program during a manufacturing process. An external test system executes a test program comprising platform independent executable code segments and host interface executable code segments. The external test system for executing the host interface executable code segments to send disk commands to a development drive. The manufacturing program comprises the platform independent executable code segments of the test program and disk access executable code segments. The drive operating program comprises a disk access procedure for processing disk commands and a disk access vector for calling the disk access procedure. The disk access executable code segments of the manufacturing program execute disk commands by calling the disk access procedure of the drive operating program through the disk access vector.

System and method for online configuration of a device for a measurement system. The user accesses a server with a client computer over a network and specifies a task. If the user lacks the hardware to perform the task, hardware specifications are sent to a manufacturer, who sends the hardware to the user. The hardware may be re-configurable hardware (a programmable hardware element or processor / memory based device). Software products (programs and / or data) for configuring measurement system hardware (and / or software) to perform the task may be sent to the user. The hardware may be configured automatically or by the user. The software products may include programs usable by the measurement system to perform the task, configuration information for configuring the client computer or other measurement device, and / or hardware configuration program(s) for configuring a programmable hardware element. Thus, hardware and / or software specific to the user's application are be provided to the user.

Building-integrated photovoltaic devices can be provided, which function as sensors, wherein the output parameters from the device are used to provide information about light intensity and ambient temperature, in addition to providing power, to an intelligent building energy management system.

Methods for monitoring a wellsite include transporting a mobile monitoring platform to a wellsite. The mobile monitoring platform includes a transportable chassis including two or more wheels; a mast supported by the platform and extendable vertically upward from the chassis; a transceiver including a wireless modem and an antenna; a controller adapted to communicate with the transceiver; and a power module electrically coupled to at least one of the transceiver and the processor. The methods include wirelessly receiving, at the transceiver, wellsite data from a plurality of sensors at or adjacent the wellsite; and wirelessly transmitting, in real-time, the wellsite data to a remote monitoring station

An analyte measurement system is provided having sensors with embossed test chamber channels. In one embodiment, the sensors are elongate test strips for in vitro testing, each test strip having a substrate, at least one electrode, an embossed channel in the electrode, and lidding tape covering at least a portion of the embossed channel. Methods of manufacture are also disclosed for filling the sensor channels with reagent, and for trimming the ends of the sensors to eliminate the need for a calibration code during use of the sensors with a meter.

The invention discloses a combined vibration damper of a screw drill complete machine test-bed and a manufacturing method thereof. The combined vibration damper comprises a vibration attenuation base which comprises a loading system base, a first clamping system base and a second clamping system base, wherein the loading system base is arranged on an equipment foundation in a rigidity way; the first clamping system base and the second clamping system base are connected into a whole through a bolt and are arranged on the equipment foundation through a rubber vibration attenuation block; an interval of 30-50 mm is reserved between the loading system base and each clamping system base; the first clamping system base and the second clamping system base are respectively internally provided with a plurality of cubic cavities with an equal size; the volume of each cubic cavity is 0.1-0.2 cubic meter; discrete type balance weight sand is respectively filled into the cubic cavities, and the filling efficiency is 80-90 %; and the weight of the balance weight sand is 25-35 % of the total weight of the whole device. The test-bed is capable of restraining resonance and testing precisely in the testing process by the combined vibration damper, and the usage precision of surrounding working devices is not affected.

The specification discloses a robot for inspection adapted to travel virtually unlimited distances through small-diameter enclosed spaces such as conduits or ducts, preferably using a fluid-driven screw-drive propulsion system. The robot preferably includes a drive module having a plurality of wheels inclined at an angle greater than zero degrees and less than ninety degrees to the longitudinal axis of the pipe, a driver module having a plurality of wheels aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipe, and a power module. The driver module is preferably connected to the drive module such that the drive and driver modules are capable of providing the locomotive motion of the robot. The power module preferably provides the power to the drive and driver modules.

An objective is to identify the health state of mechanical equipment and provide information usable for determining maintenance work timing or the like. A health management system includes a time-series data acquisition unit configured to acquire multi-dimensional sensor data and environmental data from mechanical equipment; a first discrimination unit configured to quantify the equipment state of the mechanical equipment by a statistical method using normal data as learning data; a second discrimination unit configured to quantify the health state indicating the performance or quality of the mechanical equipment by a statistical method using normal data; and an output unit configured to display and / or output to the outside the quantified equipment state and health state.

The specification discloses a robot for inspection adapted to travel virtually unlimited distances through small-diameter enclosed spaces such as conduits or ducts, preferably using a fluid-driven screw-drive propulsion system. The robot preferably includes a plurality of wheels inclined at an angle greater than zero degrees and less than ninety degrees to the longitudinal axis of the pipe, a plurality of wheels aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipe, and a power system for causing relative rotation of the sections bearing the pitched and non-pitched wheels. The robot may include internal fluid flow passages, notched wheels, multiple retractable wheels, and is configured so as to have an operating diameter less than six and preferably less than two inches.

Systems and methods compute dysfunctions via mapping of tri-axial accelerations of drill pipe into drill-string motions. The methods remove gravitational and centripetal accelerations to yield corrected acceleration data due to the vibration only, transform the corrected acceleration data, and maps resulting transformed acceleration data into continuous drill-string positions. The maps provide 2D / 3D visualization of drill-string motions to enable real-time optimization and control of well drilling operations and other scenarios where proactive detection of temporal events in automated systems may aid in avoiding failures.

The present invention is directed to a centrifugal pump wherein voltage and current data are detected from voltage and current sensors in the motor controller of a pump motor. A power signal is then generated from the voltage and current data and spectrally analyzed to determine the presence of unwanted harmonics which are indicative of mechanical disturbances in the pump. As such, anomalies resulting from mechanical interference may be detected and a warning flag provided without additional transducers and other instruments on the motor or pump.

An inline tool tracking system for tracking an inline tool traveling along a pipe includes a detection and communication device operable to detect an inline tool as it passes generally near the device. The detection and communication device is operable to generate a detection output, which includes data indicative of the detection of the tool and a geographical location of the device. A control is operable to wirelessly receive the detection output and to process the detection output. The control generates a control output responsive to the processing, and the control output is indicative of the detection of the tool and the geographical location of the detection and communication device. A display device receives an input indicative of the control output and displays the information indicative of the detection of the tool and the geographical location of the detection and communication device to a user of the display device.

A system and method for performing a measurement task. A node is displayed in a graphical program, and configured to receive a measurement task specification (MTS). The node may be coupled to an MTS node, or to a configuration node which constructs the MTS at run time. When the program executes, the node receives the MTS, invokes an expert system to analyze the MTS, optionally validate the MTS, generates a run-time specification for the task. The node them invokes a run-time builder to analyze the run-time specification and generate a run-time based on the run-time specification, where the run-time is executable to perform the measurement task. The node may be a read node, a write node, or a start node connected to a read or write node. Additional operations may be performed prior to or during the first iteration, and / or during or after the last iteration, of the task.

A fault is located in a power distribution system having a line frequency. The power distribution system includes a plurality of phases, at least one feeder, and each feeder includes at least one segment. The fault is located by detecting a faulted phase from the plurality of phases of the power distribution system. A measurement signal having a measurement frequency is injected into the detected faulted phase, the measurement frequency being a different frequency than the line frequency. The fault location is determined for a selected segment based on at least one measured residual current corresponding to the injected signal and a predetermined relative impedance of the power distribution system.

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.