10352 results about "Distance measurement" patented technology

A lighting system for areal illumination is disclosed which includes a remote driver and a plurality of fixtures including luminaires, control devices, and/or standalone sensors. The luminaires include a light source whose output light level can be adjusted, a light sensor co-located therewith adapted to measure light received from adjacent fixtures, and a microcontroller capable of transmitting the output of the light sensor over wires to the remote driver. The remote driver is capable of bidirectional communication with the luminaires and provides independently controllable power for the light sources of the luminaires. A method of commissioning a lighting system is also disclosed which includes installing a plurality of luminaires above the area to be illuminated, causing a light source co-located with each luminaire to emit a signal, detecting the signal at light sensors co-located with each luminaire, converting the signals obtained by the light sensors into distance measurements between luminaires, creating a map recording the relative location of luminaires, and assigning luminaires to groups based on their relative locations in the map. A movable orb region large enough to containing a plurality of luminaires can also be defined and the light levels of individual luminaires can be set according to a defined mathematical function of their location within the orb region, where the defined mathematical function sets light levels which vary from the center to the periphery of said orb region.

A method and apparatus for enhancing security in a wireless network using distance measurement techniques provides an additional layer of security and privacy in wireless communications. A distance measurement or location-finding is performed between two devices by transmitting and receiving one or more signals and computing a distance between the two devices or a location of a connecting device. The resulting computed distance or location is used to determine whether or not to permit pairing, secure connection or secure transactions between the two devices. The computed distance or location can be further used in combination with a signal strength measurement to link to locate and measure nearby devices first, reducing the time required to initialize network communications. Management software may be enhanced to facilitate connecting to desired devices by providing an indication of computed distance or location of each device, and a list may be generated in order of proximity, further facilitating connection to the desired devices. Set-up of wireless networks may automated by using a short distance to facilitate connection between nodes.

A method and system can locate an RF transponder based on phase differences between signals transmitted to the RF transponder. The method transmits from a first transponder to a second transponder first and second signals at first and second frequencies, respectively. The second signal is compared with the first signal and a distance between the first and second transponders is determined based on the phase difference between the first and second signals. In one embodiment, the first transponder is an interrogator, the second transponder is an RF tag, and the RF tag determines the phase difference between the two signals. In another embodiment, the first and second transponders are the interrogator and RF tag, respectively, but the interrogator determines the phase difference between the two signals after the two signal are reflected back to the interrogator. The method can also determine a position (distance and direction) of the RF tag by measuring the distances from two different locations of the interrogator to the RF tag. In one embodiment, the two distances are measured from two spaced-apart antennas of the interrogator. In another embodiment, the interrogator is moved from one known location to another known location. With distance measurements from both known locations, the location of the RF tag can be determined by simple geometry.

Disclosed is a network accessible tool that is capable of providing map and satellite image data, as well as other photographic image data to locate, identify, measure, view, and communicate information about land over the Internet-to-Internet users. The network accessible tool includes a location tool that allows the user to locate areas on a map using geographic names, township, range and section descriptions, county names, latitude and longitude coordinates or zip codes. Network accessible tool also includes a metes and bounds tool that draws boundaries on the map and image data in response to metes and bounds descriptions that have been entered by the Internet user. The network accessible tool also includes a lat/long drawing tool that draws boundaries on the map and image data based upon latitude and longitude coordinate pairs that have been entered by the Internet user. A cursor drawing tool allows the Internet user to draw and edit boundaries on the map and image data by simply clicking the cursor on the corner points of the boundary. An acreage calculation tool is also provided that calculates the acreage of an enclosed boundary. A distance measurement tool is also provided. The cursor information tool provides information relating to the name and creation date of the map and image data in accordance with the location of the cursor on the screen. The information can be communicated by printing, downloading, or e-mailing.

A method and an arrangement are provided for scalable confocal interferometry for distance measurement, for 3-D detection of an object, for OC tomography with an object imaging interferometer and at least one light source. The interferometer has an optical path difference not equal to zero at each optically detected object element. Thus, the maxima of a sinusoidal frequency wavelet, associated with each detected object element, each have a frequency difference Δf_Objekt. At least one spectrally integrally detecting, rastered detector is arranged to record the object. The light source preferably has a frequency comb, and the frequency comb differences Δf_Quelle are changed in a predefined manner over time in a scan during measuring. In the process, the frequency differences Δf_Quelle are made equal to the frequency difference Δf_Objekt or equal to an integer multiple of the frequency differences Δf_Objekt at least once for each object element.

A method for simultaneously carrying out positioning and map-making by mobile robot at unknown environment includes setting-up current local occupation lattice map and local section map according to data obtained by distance-measurement transducer on mobile robot, estimating current period pose of mobile robot based on certain data and some set-up map, setting-up obtained local section map and local occupation lattice map according to pose estimation of current period mobile robot and updating global occupation lattice map and global section map.

A wireless time-of-flight distance measurement device a motion detector is used at each of a plurality of stations in a wireless network in an enclosed facility to accurately locate a badge-wearing person near the station. The location, badge number and time of detection are transmitted through the network and stored in a computer memory. In a healthcare facility, hand washing detectors are located at some of the stations and caused to energize a hand wash status indicator light on the badge when the wearer has washed his or her hands. The light remains “on” for only a certain length of time, but will be extinguished sooner by a monitor device near each patient when the healthcare worker leaves the vicinity of the patient. These events also are transmitted and stored so that a timed record of each worker's hand washing and visits to patients is created.

Systems and methods for distance measurement in wireless networks are disclosed. A method for measuring distance between nodes or devices in a wireless network comprises estimating a distance between network devices based on a first distance measurement method, estimating the distance based on a second distance measurement method, and processing the first and second distance estimates to determine convergence and to generate an enhanced distance measurement. Additional distance estimates may be combined to further improve accuracy. Convergence information may be provided indicating whether two or more distance estimates converge. In some implementations, the first distance estimate may be generated by a transmission time estimation method, the second distance estimate may be generated by a received signal strength distance estimate, the two estimates may be combined by averaging to generate an enhanced distance estimate, and the difference between the estimates may be compared to a threshold to determine whether the estimates have sufficiently converged to within a desired convergence range.

An optically based location system and method of determining a location at a structure include a lighting infrastructure having lights at a structure. Each light is configured to illuminate and to transmit a respective relative or absolute terrestrial position through modulation of emitted light. An optical receiver is configured to detect the lights, to demodulate the position of detected lights, and to determine from the detection a position of the receiver. The receiver can have a conventional optical detector for determining a two-dimensional position of the receiver relative to a detected light, or can have a three-dimensional spot collimating lens and charged couple device optical detector for determining a three-dimensional position of the receiver relative to a detected light. The receiver and lights can be synchronized for converting a delay time into a distance measurement to calculate a distance between a light and the receiver.

Standard mobile cellular telephones use shortened burst signal transmissions to synchronize the transmission of a call over a cellular telephone network. These shortened bursts as well as other traffic channel bursts can be used to locate the position of the cell phone. In operation, a primary base station sends a traffic channel designation message to a selected mobile phone which then initiates selected traffic channel burst transmissions, such as shortened bursts, over an interval of five seconds or less. The primary station and at least two other neighboring base stations receive these burst transmissions and determine their respective distances from the cell phone based upon the time of arrival of the bursts or some other suitable distance related measurement. A command center determines the location of the cell phone by triangulating the distance measurements of the base stations.

A voice activated device for annunciating a message indicative of a distance of the device spaced from another location is disclosed. The device comprises a voice sensor for receiving a voice command requesting annunciation of a message indicative of the distance of the device spaced from the other location, converting circuitry coupled to the voice sensor for converting the received voice command to a corresponding electrical command, determining circuitry responsive to the electrical command for determining the distance of the device from the other location, and a speaker coupled to the determining circuitry for annunciating the message indicative of the determined distance of the device from the other location. The device may be used for informing a golfer of the golfer's distance from the pin.

An absolute distance measurement device is provided, including reference and measurement laser signal paths, comprising a laser source providing a laser signal and a chopper assembly, comprising a rotatable surface defining at least one aperture provided through a portion of the rotatable surface; wherein the laser signal is directed to different points on the rotatable surface of the chopper assembly such that as the rotatable surface is rotated, the aperture selectively permits transmission and selectively prevents transmission of each of said at least two laser signal paths.

A highly sensitive, high-speed dual tunnel diode detector is described for use in Ultra Wideband (UWB) object detection systems, such as a radar. The extended capability of the detector to both extremely short (sub-foot) and long distance (tens of thousands of feet) ranges is unique and permits the application of low power UWB radar to a wide variety of applications including high resolution radar altimetry at altitudes exceeding 10,000 feet and for autonomous on-deck landing operations (e.g., one-foot altitudes), the detection of extremely low radar cross section (RCS) targets for such applications as suspended wire detection for helicopters and other manned and unmanned craft, etc. High noise and interference immunity of the detector permits co-location of a UWB radar sensor with other active systems. The invention has immediate and significant application to all areas, both military and commercial, of precision distance measurement, intrusion detection, targeting, etc. over a wide range of distances.

The present invention computer method and apparatus determines music similarity by generating a K-means (instead of Gaussian) cluster signature and a beat signature for each piece of music. The beat of the music is included in the subsequent distance measurement.

The present invention relates to a concept for optical distance measurement, wherein a radiation pulse is emitted in the direction of an object of measurement. At least two different transfer gates which couple a photoactive region to at least two different evaluating capacities are driven during different drive intervals so that charge carriers generated during the drive intervals by a radiation pulse reflected from the object of measurement and/or by ambient radiation can be transported from the photoactive region to the evaluating capacities each coupled to the at least two transfer gates. Another transfer gate is driven during a time outside the drive intervals of the at least two transfer gates to connect the photoactive region to a reference potential terminal acting as a charge carrier sink during the time outside the drive intervals of the at least two transfer gates.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for supporting a body element. The apparatus includes at least one support device with at least one closed or controlled-release chamber, a filling device and an emptying means device for filling said chamber with a filling fluid and emptying the fluid from the chamber, and a distance-measurement device for measuring the distance between a top face and a bottom face of the chamber. The apparatus further includes a reaction-measurement device for measuring the reaction of the support device relative to the morphological data of the body element to be supported, and a control system including a combination device for combining the measurement of the penetration distance d provided by the distance-measurement device and the measurement of the reaction provided by the reaction-measurement device. This combination is advantageously constituted by summing the two obtained measurements. The invention makes it possible to support the element to be supported substantially in a position of equilibrium corresponding substantially to a predetermined float line.

The invention relates to the field of computer vision recognition and transfer learning, and provides a small sample and zero sample image classification method based on metric learning and meta-learning, which comprises the following steps of: constructing a training data set and a target task data set; selecting a support set and a test set from the training data set; respectively inputting samples of the test set and the support set into a feature extraction network to obtain feature vectors; sequentially inputting the feature vectors of the test set and the support set into a feature attention module and a distance measurement module, calculating the category similarity of the test set sample and the support set sample, and updating the parameters of each module by utilizing a loss function; repeating the above steps until the parameters of the networks of the modules converge, and completing the training of the modules; and enabling the to-be-tested picture and the training picture in the target task data set to sequentially pass through a feature extraction network, a feature attention module and a distance measurement module, and outputting a category label with the highestcategory similarity with the test set to obtain a classification result of the to-be-tested picture.