Abstract: A method of tremor reduction in a handheld device includes measuring a tremor motion and a tilt motion with a motion tracking module (“MTM”) disposed in a housing of the handheld device. In response to measuring the tremor motion, an attachment arm is moved with at least one motion generating mechanism to reduce the tremor motion in the attachment arm. Additionally, in response to measuring the tilt motion, the attachment arm is moved with the at least one motion generating mechanism to resist the attachment arm hitting a hard stop in the handheld device.

Abstract: Systems and methods for tracking unintentional muscle movements of a user and stabilizing a handheld tool while it is being used are described. The method may include measuring, with a first inertial measuring unit (“IMU”), at least an orientation of a housing of the handheld tool, and measuring, with a second IMU, at least an orientation or an attachment arm extending from the housing of the handheld tool. The method may also include storing the orientation of the housing and the orientation of the attachment arm in a memory. Furthermore, the method may include controlling, with a processing logic, a first motion generating mechanism and a second motion generating mechanism to move the attachment arm relative to the housing based on the measured orientation of the housing and the measured orientation of the attachment arm to stabilize motion of a user-assistive device attached to a distal end of the attachment arm.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described for adjusting a number of concurrent code executions allowed to be performed for a given user on an on-demand code execution environment or other distributed code execution environments. Such environments utilize pre-initialized virtual machine instances to enable execution of user-specified code in a rapid manner, without delays typically caused by initialization of the virtual machine instances. However, to improve utilization of computing resources, such environments may temporarily restrict the number of concurrent code executions performed on behalf of the given user to a number less than the maximum number of concurrent code executions allowed for the given user. Such environments may adjust the temporary restriction on the number of concurrent code executions based on the number of incoming code execution requests associated with the given user and based on communication among the frontends processing the incoming code execution requests.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described for adjusting a number of concurrent code executions allowed to be performed for a given user on an on-demand code execution environment or other distributed code execution environments. Such environments utilize pre-initialized virtual machine instances to enable execution of user-specified code in a rapid manner, without delays typically caused by initialization of the virtual machine instances. However, to improve utilization of computing resources, such environments may temporarily restrict the number of concurrent code executions performed on behalf of the given user to a number less than the maximum number of concurrent code executions allowed for the given user. Such environments may adjust the temporary restriction on the number of concurrent code executions based on the number of incoming code execution requests associated with the given user.

Abstract: Systems and methods for tracking unintentional muscle movements of a user and stabilizing a handheld tool while it is being used by the user are described. The method may include detecting motion of a handle of the handheld tool manipulated by a user while the user is performing a task with a user-assistive device attached to an attachment arm of the handheld tool. Furthermore, the method may include storing the detected motion in a memory of the handheld tool as motion data. The method may also include controlling, based on the motion data, a motion-generating mechanism of the handheld tool that moves the attachment arm relative to the handle in a single degree of freedom in a direction of the detected motion of the handle.

Abstract: An unmanned, autonomous, ocean-going vessel including a primary hull and a rigid wing rotationally coupled with the primary hull that freely rotates about a rotational axis. At least one of the primary hull and the rigid wing includes at least one selectively floodable compartment configured to selectively flood to submerge the primary hull and at least a portion of the rigid wing. The vessel further includes at least one controller configured to maintain a desired heading. The vessel further includes a control surface element configured to aerodynamically control a wing angle of the rigid wing based on a force exerted by wind on the control surface element. The vessel further includes a rudder. The at least one controller is further configured to determine a rudder position and generate a signal to position the rudder. The vessel further includes a keel coupled with the primary hull.

Abstract: Systems and methods for adding buoyancy to an object are described herein. A buoyant material may be enclosed inside a flexible container, heated, and inserted into a free flooded cavity inside the object. The flexible container may then be formed to the shape of the cavity. After the flexible container is formed to the shape of the cavity, the flexible container may be cooled. The flexible container may hold a pre-determined amount of the syntactic material that provides a fixed amount of buoyancy. According to another aspect, systems and methods for packing a vehicle are described herein. In some embodiments, a buoyant material may be molded into the shape of a hull of a vehicle, and a plurality of cutouts may be extracted from the buoyant material which are specifically designed to incorporate one or more instruments.

Abstract: Stowable and deployable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and associated systems and methods are disclosed. A UAV in accordance with a particular embodiment includes a main body, frames carried by the main body, and motors carried by the frames. At least two frames are positioned to move relative to each other between a stowed configuration in which the frames are generally aligned proximate to each other and a deployed configuration different from the stowed configuration. The main body can include a first body portion pivotably connected to a second body portion. In a stowed configuration, the body portions can generally overlap each other. A UAV in accordance with particular embodiments includes a modular electronics unit carried by the UAV and including a camera, a battery, and a vehicle controller. Modular electronics units can be configured to be removably connected to and disconnected from the UAV and other vehicles.

Abstract: An unmanned, autonomous, ocean-going vessel including a primary hull and a rigid wing rotationally coupled with the primary hull that freely rotates about a rotational axis. At least one of the primary hull and the rigid wing includes at least one selectively floodable compartment configured to selectively flood to submerge the primary hull and at least a portion of the rigid wing. The vessel further includes at least one controller configured to maintain a desired heading. The vessel further includes a control surface element configured to aerodynamically control a wing angle of the rigid wing based on a force exerted by wind on the control surface element. The vessel further includes a rudder. The at least one controller is further configured to determine a rudder position and generate a signal to position the rudder. The vessel further includes a keel coupled with the primary hull.

Abstract: An unmanned, autonomous, ocean-going vessel including a primary hull and a rigid wing rotationally coupled with the primary hull that freely rotates about a rotational axis. At least one of the primary hull and the rigid wing includes at least one selectively floodable compartment configured to selectively flood to submerge the primary hull and at least a portion of the rigid wing. The vessel further includes at least one controller configured to maintain a desired heading. The vessel further includes a control surface element configured to aerodynamically control a wing angle of the rigid wing based on a force exerted by wind on the control surface element. The vessel further includes a rudder. The at least one controller is further configured to determine a rudder position and generate a signal to position the rudder. The vessel further includes a keel coupled with the primary hull.

Abstract: Systems and methods for a robust underwater vehicle are described herein. A robust underwater vehicle may include a force-limiting coupler connecting an actuation system to an actuation fin. The force-limiting coupler may be configured to break away from the actuation system upon receiving a threshold force. The robust underwater vehicle may also comprise hull sections connected by a threaded turnbuckle. Carbon-fiber axial strength members may mate with the threaded turnbuckle to pull the hull sections together to a specified preload tension. The robust underwater vehicle may also include a blazed sonar array protected by a carbon fiber bow including a plurality of slits. The plurality of slits may provide significant protection to the sonar array while simultaneously allowing one or more transducers to transmit sonar signals in a two-dimensional plane.

Abstract: An unmanned, autonomous, ocean-going vessel including a primary hull and a rigid wing rotationally coupled with the primary hull that freely rotates about a rotational axis. At least one of the primary hull and the rigid wing includes at least one selectively floodable compartment configured to selectively flood to submerge the primary hull and at least a portion of the rigid wing. The vessel further includes at least one controller configured to maintain a desired heading. The vessel further includes a control surface element configured to aerodynamically control a wing angle of the rigid wing based on a force exerted by wind on the control surface element. The vessel further includes a rudder. The at least one controller is further configured to determine a rudder position and generate a signal to position the rudder. The vessel further includes a keel coupled with the primary hull.

Abstract: An unmanned ocean-going vessel including a primary hull, a rigid wing rotationally coupled with the primary hull where the rigid wing freely rotates about a rotational axis of the rigid wing, a controller configured to maintain a desired heading, a control surface element configured to aerodynamically control a wing angle of the rigid wing based on a position of the control surface element, where the controller is configured to determine a control surface angle and generate a signal to position the control surface element based on the control surface angle, a rudder, where the controller is further configured to determine a rudder position and generate a signal to position the rudder to the rudder position, and a keel including ballast sufficient to provide a positive righting moment sufficient to cause the primary hull to passively right from any position.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described herein for manufacturing a pressure vessel component. The pressure vessel component may be made from a metal that is cast to produce a gross pressure vessel component. Casting the metal may comprise sintering the metal followed by a hot isostatic press (HIP) process. In other embodiments, casting the metal may comprise pouring molten metal into a mold. Portions of the gross pressure vessel component may have an increased thickness located at predetermined positions on the gross pressure vessel component. These portions may include bosses or other designed features intended for the finalized pressure vessel component. The gross pressure vessel may be indexed to select the portions, and these selected portions may then be machined to produce the final pressure vessel component.

Abstract: Systems and methods for a robust underwater vehicle are described herein. A robust underwater vehicle may include a force-limiting coupler connecting an actuation system to an actuation fin. The force-limiting coupler may be configured to break away from the actuation system upon receiving a threshold force. The robust underwater vehicle may also comprise hull sections connected by a threaded turnbuckle. Carbon-fiber axial strength members may mate with the threaded turnbuckle to pull the hull sections together to a specified preload tension. The robust underwater vehicle may also include a blazed sonar array protected by a carbon fiber bow including a plurality of slits. The plurality of slits may provide significant protection to the sonar array while simultaneously allowing one or more transducers to transmit sonar signals in a two-dimensional plane.

Abstract: Systems and methods for adding buoyancy to an object are described herein. A buoyant material may be enclosed inside a flexible container, heated, and inserted into a free flooded cavity inside the object. The flexible container may then be formed to the shape of the cavity. After the flexible container is formed to the shape of the cavity, the flexible container may be cooled. The flexible container may hold a pre-determined amount of the syntactic material that provides a fixed amount of buoyancy. According to another aspect, systems and methods for packing a vehicle are described herein. In some embodiments, a buoyant material may be molded into the shape of a hull of a vehicle, and a plurality of cutouts may be extracted from the buoyant material which are specifically designed to incorporate one or more instruments.

Abstract: The invention in the preferred embodiment features a solar concentrator that can align and/or track based on images from a video camera, for example. The concentrator preferably includes one or more optical elements for directing light to a receiver, a camera for capturing an image of the optical elements, and a controller configured to: detect the orientation of the one or more optical elements from the one or more images, determine an orientation error based on the detected orientation, and automatically orient the one or more optical elements to minimize the orientation error. The optical elements generally comprise a plurality of mirrors or lenses arranged in a one or two dimensional array.