Abstract: A seat occupancy determination apparatus includes a seat belt attachment detection portion, a first and a second load detection sensors, a front-rear load sum computing portion, a front-rear load difference computing portion, a memory portion, an adult possibility determination portion, and a child safety seat determination portion determining a vehicle seat determined as possibly occupied by an adult is occupied by a child safety seat in a case where a first predetermined amount increase condition satisfies by a front-rear load difference value within a time range between a time of engagement and a first time point increases by a first predetermined amount or more from the value at the first time point or earlier and a second predetermined amount decrease condition satisfies by the front-rear load difference value decreases by a second predetermined amount or more within a time range between the time of engagement and a second time point.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, a method for selecting drilling components is disclosed. The method may include determining properties of drilling components. The drilling components may include a bottom hole assembly (BHA) and drilling fluid. The properties of drilling components may include BHA properties and drilling fluid properties. The method may also include determining a total organic carbon content in a rock formation unit using a computer. The method may further include determining a pyrite content in the rock formation unit using the computer. The method may still further include determining whether the BHA and the drilling fluid are incompatible for use in the rock formation, based upon the BHA properties, drilling fluid properties, the total organic carbon content, and the pyrite content.

Abstract: A system and method in a combined cycle power plant includes a processor modeling plant level performance by considering the interrelation between outputs of the gas turbine and the steam turbine. The model can be computational, predictive, or both. The model may be used to control subsystems of the plant (including the gas turbine and the steam turbine) to achieve a target plant performance. The model may also be used to diagnose or maintain subsystems of the combined cycle power plant.

Abstract: A system and method for analyzing energy savings for a building is provided. The method includes receiving a schedule of occupied days, an occupancy behavior profile and historical energy usage data from which an hourly interval usage is determined. A set of occupancy thresholds is determined by season. Occupied days are determined from the set of occupancy thresholds and the hourly interval usage. The hourly interval usage is analyzed to determine occupied energy consumption in hourly intervals, occupied start and stop time savings, mechanical equipment savings and temperature setpoint savings during an occupied day. The hourly interval usage is also analyzed to determine unoccupied energy consumption in the hourly intervals and refrigeration savings, mechanical equipment savings, computer equipment savings, parking lot lighting savings, hallway lighting savings and temperature setpoint savings during an unoccupied day.

Abstract: Angular widths of respective magnetic poles of a detection rotor are stored and divisions are set for respective magnetic pole pairs. Based on output signals from first and second magnetic sensors, a rotation angle computation unit computes first and second rotation angles that are rotation angles within the corresponding division. Based on the angular widths, the rotation angle computation unit identifies the magnetic pole sensed by the first magnetic sensor and computes a first absolute rotation angle using the first rotation angle. Based on the identified magnetic pole and the second rotation angle, the rotation angle computation unit computes a second absolute rotation angle. The rotation angle of the detection rotor is computed based on the first and second absolute angles.

Abstract: A method determines power consumption of a load in a feeder section of an ungrounded power distribution system. Borders of the feeder section are defined by an importing device connecting the feeder section to an upstream feeder section, and by at least one exporting device connecting the feeder section with a downstream feeder section. A power consumption of each load is represented as a product of a scaling factor and a base power defined by a load profile of the load. A power flow of the feeder section is solved using the power consumptions of the loads to produce an active power for each phase of the importing device. A target active power for each phase of the importing device is determined using measurements at the importing device, and the scaling factors are updated based on a difference between the active power and the target active power.

Abstract: Reference phase variation values ?k1 to ?Kn, each of which is a variation among a plurality of phases that occur during non-machining and phase variation values ?1 to ?n, each of which is a variation among a plurality of phases that occur during machining are detected from measured vibration with the use of a chattering detector that is used to calculate phases of a desired number (n) of frequencies. If ?Ki??i is smaller than a determination value TK, it is determined that chattering having a frequency i is occurring.

Abstract: A fall detector includes an accelerometer for producing a time series of measurement samples representing the acceleration acting on the fall detector; a processor for estimating a vertical velocity and/or displacement of the fall detector from the measurement samples and using the estimated vertical velocity and/or displacement to determine whether the user has suffered a fall. The processor is configured to estimate a vertical velocity and/or displacement of the fall detector by estimating a corresponding time series of unit vectors representing acceleration due to gravity in the reference frame of the accelerometer from the time series of measurement samples; projecting each measurement sample onto the corresponding unit vector and subtracting acceleration due to gravity to give a series of estimates for the vertical acceleration of the fall detector; and integrating the series of estimates to give a time series of values for the vertical velocity and/or displacement of the fall detector.

Abstract: A method for detecting infrared radiation includes the steps of: providing a resistive bolometer retina including a plurality of resistive bolometers suspended above a substrate of a bolometric detector; acquiring the infrared radiation by the resistive bolometer retina to produce a plurality of raw read signals provided by the bolometers; correcting a response dispersion of the resistive bolometers in the raw read signals using a gain table, each gain of the gain table being associated with a bolometer of the resistive bolometer retina.

Abstract: A direct current arc fault detector includes a first current sensor sensing an alternating current component of current flowing in a DC power circuit; a second current sensor sensing a DC component of the current; and a bandpass filter filtering the sensed AC component. A demodulating logarithmic amplifier includes an input of the filtered AC component, and an output. An integrator or minimum detector includes an input connected to the amplifier output, and an output. A processor repetitively inputs and then resets the integrator or minimum detector output, and determines an arc when, for a predetermined time: the sensed DC component being greater than a first predetermined value, and a present value of the integrator or minimum detector output being greater than or different from a previous value of such output by more than a second predetermined value, or the present value being greater than a third predetermined value.

Abstract: In one aspect, a method of determining the presence of whirl for a rotating tool is disclosed that in one embodiment includes obtaining measurements (ax) of a parameter relating to the whirl of the tool along a first axis and measurements (ay) of the parameter along a second axis of the tool, determining a first whirl in a time domain for the tool using ax and ay measurements, determining a second whirl rate for the tool in a frequency domain from ax and ay measurements and determining the presence of the whirl from the first whirl rate and second whirl rate. The method further quantifies the whirl of the tool from the first and second whirl rates.

Abstract: A process for calibrating and correcting errors in laser measurement systems in situ, either remotely over the Internet or where the laser measurement system is physically located. In one embodiment, a number of targets are arrayed around the scanner and read by the software of a system. The laser scanner is rotated 180 degrees and the positions of the targets are read again. A correction factor is determined by calculation and displayed to show the expected improvement in accuracy of the laser measurement system. In a second embodiment, the laser scanner is positioned under a vehicle with targets at reference positions for which the measurements are known. The scanner readings are checked against the known values and a correction factor developed. This could be applied on a one-time basis or it can be programmed in the host computer where evaluation and compensation occur automatically.

Abstract: A method for automated detection of ingestion of at least one foreign body by a gas turbine engine, according to which: instantaneous speed of the rotor is measured; a speed signal of the rotor is filtered to separate a static component from a dynamic component thereof; the filtered dynamic component is compared to a standard resonance wave of the rotor to obtain an ingestion indicator, the standard resonance wave corresponding to the vibrational impulse response of a rotor; the obtained ingestion indicator is compared with a detection threshold; and a foreign body ingestion detection signal is emitted when the ingestion indicator is higher than the detection threshold.

Abstract: Low-complexity, application-independent fixation of a chromatogram is achieved by a) determining a limit frequency under the assumption that the shape of the peaks in the chromatogram corresponds approximately to a Gaussian function having a standard deviation and the Fourier transform of the Gaussian function describes the frequency spectrum of a peak, at which limit frequency the Fourier transform has decreased to a predetermined limit value, b) determining the height, width, and retention time of each individual peak from the chromatogram, or a chromatogram taken previously under the same conditions, c) determining a constant factor based on a first predetermined relationship, d) determining the functional dependency of the limit frequency on the retention time as a variable quantity based on a second predetermined relationship, and e) filtering the chromatogram with the limit frequency depending on the retention time as the variable quantity using a low-pass filter.

Abstract: Methods and electronic devices for determining orientation are described. In one aspect, a processor-implemented method of determining a corrected orientation of a gyroscope on an electronic device includes: generating a gyroscope reading using the gyroscope; determining, by the processor, a first orientation estimate based on the gyroscope reading and a past corrected orientation; determining, by the processor, whether the gyroscope was saturated when the gyroscope reading was generated; adjusting, by the processor, a saturation correction learning rate for the gyroscope based on the result of the determination of whether the gyroscope was saturated; and calculating, by the processor, the corrected orientation based on the first orientation estimate, a second orientation estimate and the saturation correction learning rate.

Abstract: A procedure for calibrating walking and/or running measurements in an exercise-related apparatus are provided. As a result of a user running and walking a given distance which may be the same or different for running and walking, respective running and walking motion metrics are obtained during a calibration phase. A relation between the obtained running and walking motion metrics are then used to compute a calibration value applied to calibrate one of running and walking measurements during an exercise.