Abstract: A selectively pivotable mid-gate for a vehicle includes a first mid-gate member pivotally mounted to the vehicle through a hinge member and a second mid-gate member is pivotally mounted to the vehicle and the first mid-gate member through the hinge member. A latch system is operatively connected to the first mid-gate member and the second mid-gate member. The latch system is selectively operable to release the first mid-gate member to rotate in a first direction and to release the first mid-gate member and the second mid-gate member to rotate in a second direction that is opposite the first direction.

Abstract: A system for transmitting power and data between two circuit boards may include a fixed circuit board having a primary coil and a rotatable circuit board having a secondary coil. The system may further include a sensor in communication with the secondary coil of the rotatable circuit board. The fixed circuit board's primary coil may be inductively coupled to the secondary coil and may provide power and receive data from the sensor when inductively coupled to the secondary coil.

Abstract: An energy harvester for producing useable energy from fluid motion of a fluid medium, the energy harvester comprising a support structure affixed directly or indirectly to a foundation or mounting; wherein the support structure comprises one or more legs; a morphable moving element movably supported by the support structure for oscillating movement along an axis of the support structure, wherein the axis is substantially perpendicular to a direction of the fluid motion; a biasing element or spring for biasing the morphable moving element in a first direction along the axis; and a converter for converting mechanical energy of the morphable moving element to useable energy.

Abstract: An acoustic energy dissipating device (100) comprises an acoustic driver (112) coupled to an acoustic medium and an acoustic sensor (110) for detecting a pressure of the acoustic medium near the acoustic driver. An inverting amplifier (115) and a compensator (114) are placed in a feedback system including the acoustic driver and the acoustic sensor. The compensator modifies the open loop phase response of the feedback system. Specifically, the compensator compensates for transduction device dynamics associated with the acoustic driver and the acoustic sensor to increase a gain margin of the feedback system. More specifically, the phase response of the open-loop system is constrained to alternate between +90 degrees and -90 degrees for each alternating complex conjugate pair of poles and zeros for an operational bandwidth of the device.

Abstract: An adaptive algorithm implemented in digital or analog form is used in conjunction with a voltage controlled amplifier to compensate for the feedthrough capacitance of piezoelectric sensoriactuator. The mechanical response of the piezoelectric sensoriactuator is resolved from the electrical response by adaptively altering the gain imposed on the electrical circuit used for compensation. For wideband, stochastic input disturbances, the feedthrough capacitance of the sensoriactuator can be identified on-line, providing a means of implementing direct-rate-feedback control in analog hardware. The device is capable of on-line system health monitoring since a quasi-stable dynamic capacitance is indicative of sustained health of the piezoelectric element.