Abstract: A vehicle navigation apparatus includes a vehicle navigation unit and a route guidance control unit. The vehicle navigation unit includes a route setting unit and a navigation control unit. The route setting unit sets a route to a destination point on the basis of information on a position of a vehicle, information on a destination point, and first map information stored in a storage. The navigation control unit performs guidance on the route and controls the form of displaying the route on a display. The route guidance control unit includes at least one processor determining the driving entity of a vehicle. In a case where the at least one processor determines that the driving entity of the vehicle is the vehicle itself and the vehicle deviates from the route, the at least one processor stops the guidance until the vehicle reaches a next waypoint of the route.

Abstract: A display control system includes a vehicle navigation apparatus and a display control apparatus. The display control apparatus includes at least one processor. The at least one processor determines a driving entity of a vehicle. If the driving entity of the vehicle is determined as being the vehicle itself, the at least one processor calculates or evaluates at least reliability of the route information included in the first map information, and sends a display control unit display control information to change a form of displaying route information on a display in accordance with the reliability.

Abstract: A vehicle navigation apparatus includes a storage, a second map information acquisition unit, a display, and a display control unit. The storage stores first map information. The second map information acquisition unit acquires second map information. The display displays map data on the basis of at least one of the first map information or the second map information. The display control unit controls the form of displaying the map data on the display in accordance with a predetermined condition. The display control unit causes the map data to be displayed at a greater scale in a case where the map data is displayed on the basis of the second map information than in a case where the map data is displayed on the basis of only the first map information.

Abstract: An authority transfer device is used for a vehicle having an autonomous driving mode in which driving operation is autonomously performed for a driver and a manual driving mode in which driving operation is manually performed by the driver using at least a steering wheel. The authority transfer device includes a controller configured, when switching from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode, to transfer a driving authority of the vehicle to the driver on condition that at least a grip of the driver on the steering wheel is detected. The controller notifies the driver that the driving authority will be transferred before the driving authority is transferred.

Abstract: A purpose of the invention is to provide a noise gate that can output an audio signal in which only a stationary noise is removed, without degrading an utterance voice of a speaking person. A sound collection device 1 includes an FFT processing unit 11, the noise gate 12, and an IFFT processing unit 13. The sound collection device 1 transforms a collected audio signal NET into a frequency spectrum NE?N by using the FFT processing unit 11. The noise gate 12 estimates a noise spectrum N?N of a stationary noise based on the frequency spectrum NE?N of the audio signal. The noise gate 12 decreases a signal level (a gain) of the audio signal in a case where a signal level ratio of the frequency spectrum NE?N of the audio signal to the noise spectrum N?N is less than a threshold value, and outputs the audio signal.

Abstract: Provided is a sound emission and collection device capable of estimating the azimuth of a sound source (such as a main utterer) precisely without any processing load. The sound emission and collection device (1) is connected with another sound emission and collection device via a network or the like. The sound emission and collection device (1) receives a sound signal from another sound emission and collection device, as a sound emission signal (FE), and emits the same from a speaker (SP). The sound emission and collection device (1) collects the sound at microphones (MIC1 to MIC3), and produces sound collection beam signals (NE1 to NE3) of different azimuths. The sound emission and collection device down-samples the individual sound collection beam signals (NE1 to NE3), and filters out the echoes of the down-sampled sound collection beam signals (DNE1 to DNE3).

Abstract: An actuator includes a sheet having dielectric elastomer layers and conductive rubber layers provided on the front and back faces of each dielectric elastomer layer. The sheet is wrapped and rolled about a coil spring. The actuator expands the rolled sheet along an expansion direction of the coil spring by applying a voltage to the conductive rubber layers on the front and back faces of the dielectric elastomer layer, and contracts the rolled sheet along a contraction direction of the coil spring by stopping the application of the voltage. The actuator further includes a fiber layer located between the coil spring and the rolled sheet wrapped about the coil spring.

Abstract: An actuator manufacturing method includes alternately stacking a plurality of dielectric elastomer layers and a plurality of conductive rubber layers along the direction of thickness to form a sheet, and wrapping the sheet formed about a core to form a rolled sheet. When the sheet formed in the step of alternately stacking is wrapped about the core, the sheet is formed by the dielectric elastomer layers and the conductive rubber layers. Therefore, even if the dielectric elastomer layers in the sheet are made to be thin, the thickness of the entire sheet is prevented from being excessively thin.

Abstract: A dielectric actuator 1 of the present invention has a structure in which an elastic, high-dielectric material portion 2 is held by elastic insulating material portions 3a and 3b and the elastic insulating material portions are held by electrodes 4a and 4b from the outside. A base material for the elastic, high-dielectric material portion 2 is formed of a silicon rubber and a graphite powder is mixed therein to apply a conductive property.

Abstract: An actuator includes a sheet having dielectric elastomer layers and conductive rubber layers provided on the front and back faces of each dielectric elastomer layer. The sheet is wrapped and rolled about a coil spring. The actuator expands the rolled sheet along an expansion direction of the coil spring by applying a voltage to the conductive rubber layers on the front and back faces of the dielectric elastomer layer, and contracts the rolled sheet along a contraction direction of the coil spring by stopping the application of the voltage. The actuator further includes a fiber layer located between the coil spring and the rolled sheet wrapped about the coil spring.

Abstract: An actuator manufacturing method includes alternately stacking a plurality of dielectric elastomer layers and a plurality of conductive rubber layers along the direction of thickness to form a sheet, and wrapping the sheet formed about a core to form a rolled sheet. When the sheet formed in the step of alternately stacking is wrapped about the core, the sheet is formed by the dielectric elastomer layers and the conductive rubber layers. Therefore, even if the dielectric elastomer layers in the sheet are made to be thin, the thickness of the entire sheet is prevented from being excessively thin.

Abstract: A purpose of the invention is to provide a noise gate that can output an audio signal in which only a stationary noise is removed, without degrading an utterance voice of a speaking person. A sound collection device 1 includes an FFT processing unit 11, the noise gate 12, and an IFFT processing unit 13. The sound collection device 1 transforms a collected audio signal NET into a frequency spectrum NE?N by using the FFT processing unit 11. The noise gate 12 estimates a noise spectrum N?N of a stationary noise based on the frequency spectrum NE?N of the audio signal. The noise gate 12 decreases a signal level (a gain) of the audio signal in a case where a signal level ratio of the frequency spectrum NE?N of the audio signal to the noise spectrum N?N is less than a threshold value, and outputs the audio signal.

Abstract: Provided is a sound emission and collection device capable of estimating the azimuth of a sound source (such as a main utterer) precisely without any processing load. The sound emission and collection device (1) is connected with another sound emission and collection device via a network or the like. The sound emission and collection device (1) receives a sound signal from another sound emission and collection device, as a sound emission signal (FE), and emits the same from a speaker (SP). The sound emission and collection device (1) collects the sound at microphones (MIC1 to MIC3), and produces sound collection beam signals (NE1 to NE3) of different azimuths. The sound emission and collection device down-samples the individual sound collection beam signals (NE1 to NE3), and filters out the echoes of the down-sampled sound collection beam signals (DNE1 to DNE3).

Abstract: A dielectric actuator 1 of the present invention has a structure in which an elastic, high-dielectric material portion 2 is held by elastic insulating material portions 3a and 3b and the elastic insulating material portions are held by electrodes 4a and 4b from the outside. A base material for the elastic, high-dielectric material portion 2 is formed of a silicon rubber and a graphite powder is mixed therein to apply a conductive property.

Abstract: A bio-liquid crystal polymer is made from a tissue-derived compound or the derivatives. The bio-liquid crystal polymer has a characteristic of liquid crystal under predetermined conditions and is biocompatible.

Abstract: A rigid polymer has: a homopolymer of one of a polymerizable bio-derived rigid compound having two or more reactive functional groups, a derivative of the bio-derived rigid compound, a hydrolyzed substance of the bio-derived rigid compound, a derivative of the hydrolyzed substance of the bio-derived rigid compound and the substances extracted from the bio resources, or copolymers of two or more of these compound, derivatives, and substances.

Abstract: A bio-liquid crystal polymer is made from a tissue-derived compound or the derivatives. The bio-liquid crystal polymer has a characteristic of liquid crystal under predetermined conditions and is biocompatible.

Abstract: A lactic acid-based resin composition containing a mixture of (A) a mixture of (a1) polylactic acid and (a2) an aliphatic polyester, and (B) an aliphatic block co-polyester having a polylactic acid segment and an aliphatic polyester segment, wherein the aliphatic block co-polyester (B): (1) contains a lactic acid component in an amount of from 20 to 80 wt % in terms of monomer, (2) has a weight average molecular weight of 1,000 or more and less than 60,000, and (3) has a weight average molecular weight of the polylactic acid segment of from 500 to 55,000 and a weight average molecular weight of the aliphatic polyester segment of from 500 to 55,000. A molded article formed from the composition can be a film, a sheet, a filament.

Abstract: The present invention provides a lactic acid-based resin composition comprising a mixture of (A) a mixture of (a1) polylactic acid and (a2) an aliphatic polyester, and (B) an aliphatic block co-polyester having a polylactic acid segment and an aliphatic polyester segment, wherein the aliphatic block co-polyester (B): (1) contains a lactic acid component in an amount of from 20 to 80 wt % in terms of monomer, (2) has a weight average molecular weight of 1,000 or more and less than 60,000, and (3) has a weight average molecular weight of the polylactic acid segment of from 500 to 55,000 and a weight average molecular weight of the aliphatic polyester segment of from 500 to 55,000. The lactic acid-based resin composition of the invention has transparency and flexibility because the respective compositional resins are effectively dispersed.