Abstract: A system and method for using a portable device to communicate with a vehicle to authorize one or more vehicle operations. The portable device may authorize the vehicle to unlock/lock doors, start the vehicle engine, or mobilize the vehicle, or a combination thereof. The vehicle may include a vehicle transmitter system with one or more transmitters disposed at various locations on the vehicle, and the portable device may be configured to monitor a communication strength between the portable device and the one or more transmitters of the transmitter system. Based on the monitored signal strength, the portable device may determine location information about itself.

Abstract: A combined ultrasonic and eddy-current method and apparatus for non-destructively determining the liner thickness of a zirconium liner provided at the inner surface of a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel rod tube utilizes dimensional data acquired via conventional ultrasonic measurement techniques and impedance data acquired through electromagnetic techniques to calculate liner thickness in accordance with a specific formula. The apparatus utilizes a computer or programmable arithmetic unit with associated memory and I/O devices connected to electromagnetic and ultrasonic measurement subsystems. A particular eddy-current probe arrangement consisting of a differential coil pair is employed to obtain impedance measurements from the outside of the cladding tube. Calibrated reference impedance values for various different inner and outer tube diameters having a constant liner thickness are measured and retained in a memory.

Abstract: A method and apparatus measure squareness of an end of a rod relative to a longitudinal centerline axis thereof without requiring rotation of the rod. The apparatus includes a flat plate mounted substantially perpendicularly to the rod centerline axis. The method positions the plate in abutting contact with the rod end, and a tilt angle of the plate in abutting contact with the rod end is measured for determining squareness of the rod end.

Abstract: A method for operating a computer to control the manufacture process of zirconium tubes in a pilger mill operation, the computer including an electronic memory and being coupled to the pilger mill to receive, as input, data related to the operation of the mill. The method comprising, in one embodiment, the steps of storing in the computer memory respective test signals, each test signal corresponding to a signal obtained by inspecting a tube manufactured by the mill with a respective, known defective operation condition, inspecting a zirconium tube finished by the manufacture process and generating a signal representative of the physical dimensions and material configuration of the tube, comparing the generated representative signal of the zirconium tube with the stored test signals, alerting an operator if the generated representative signal of the zirconium tube correlates to a stored test signal, and identifying the defective operation condition which corresponds to the correlated stored test signal.