Abstract: A method of controlling autonomous or driverless vehicles in a specific control zone is disclosed. The vehicles enter the zone and come under the control of a zone authority that coordinates the movements of the vehicles until they leave the zone. The behavior of the vehicles is modified to insure that it matches a set of rules established by the zone authority. The zone may be an area such as a bridge, tunnel or construction zone where efficient, possibly single lane, travel requires tight coordination. Other possible zones include parking areas, indoor passages and areas with security concerns. The zone authority simultaneously controls multiple autonomous vehicles and possible additional driver operated vehicles. The messages establishing control or providing continuing administration of rules may be delivered by any type of communications link or may be associated with a device issued to vehicles entering the zone which is collected on exit.

Abstract: A method of controlling autonomous or driverless vehicles in a specific control zone or in a convoy is disclosed. The vehicles enter the zone or form a convoy and come under the control of a zone authority or escort vehicle that coordinates the movements of the vehicles until they leave the zone or convoy. Escort vehicle communicate with central control facilities, each other or escorted vehicles. The behavior of the escorted or controlled vehicles is modified to insure that it matches a set of rules established by the zone authority. Possible zones include parking areas, indoor passages and areas with security concerns. The zone authority or escort vehicle may simultaneously control multiple autonomous vehicles and possible additional driver operated vehicles. Messages establishing control or providing continuing administration of rules or movements of escorted or controlled vehicles may be delivered by any type of communications link.

Abstract: A method of controlling autonomous or driverless vehicles in a specific control zone or in a convoy is disclosed. The vehicles enter the zone or form a convoy and come under the control of a zone authority or escort vehicle that coordinates the movements of the vehicles until they leave the zone or convoy. Escort vehicle communicate with central control facilities, each other or escorted vehicles. The behavior of the escorted or controlled vehicles is modified to insure that it matches a set of rules established by the zone authority. Possible zones include parking areas, indoor passages and areas with security concerns. The zone authority or escort vehicle may simultaneously control multiple autonomous vehicles and possible additional driver operated vehicles. Messages establishing control or providing continuing administration of rules or movements of escorted or controlled vehicles may be delivered by any type of communications link.

Abstract: A miniature autonomous vehicle for operation on the public roads is disclosed. The small size allows efficiency for small payloads, but produces a danger of being overlooked by other vehicles. The size of the vehicle is less than driver operated vehicles and may be restricted to less than 200 pounds. Sensors determine the vehicles speed and the presence of environmental vehicles and use a processor to calculate the need for additional visibility. A visibility structure and support structure with lights or markers is controlled by the processor. The markers are controlled in their operation or position by the processor on the basis of the sensor data. Extending or raising and retracting or lowering the structure affects the air resistance and stability of the vehicle. The structure can be raised when the vehicle stops or is in traffic and lowered at road speeds in light or absent traffic.

Abstract: A method of controlling autonomous or driverless vehicles in a specific control zone is disclosed. The vehicles enter the zone and come under the control of a zone authority that coordinates the movements of the vehicles until they leave the zone. The behavior of the vehicles is modified to insure that it matches a set of rules established by the zone authority. The zone may be an area such as a bridge, tunnel or construction zone where efficient, possibly single lane, travel requires tight coordination. Other possible zones include parking areas, indoor passages and areas with security concerns. The zone authority simultaneously controls multiple autonomous vehicles and possible additional driver operated vehicles. The messages establishing control or providing continuing administration of rules may be delivered by any type of communications link or may be associated with a device issued to vehicles entering the zone which is collected on exit.

Abstract: A method of supervising the safe carrying of firearms establishing rules for the situations where live ammunition is allowed to be in the chamber of the firearm. A supervisor checks that a dummy round is in the chamber of the firearm before the supervised person goes on duty outside of direct supervision. The dummy round is designed so that it records occasions when it is removed from the chamber. The recording is designed to last until checked by the supervisor. In some cases the dummy round undergoes changes that make the recording. In other cases the dummy round keeps count of the number of times it is removed from the chamber. In still other cases the dummy round communicates with a device which makes the recording. In each of these cases the system of supervision insures that live ammunition is only chambered when appropriate.

Abstract: A method of delivering parcels in two stages. A vehicle transports the parcel to a transfer point using address information from a shipping party. The first vehicle is designed for operation on the pubic road system. The parcel is transferred to a secondary vehicle for delivery to the final delivery point. The second vehicle which may one vehicle or multiple vehicles with multiple parcels finishes the delivery. The second vehicle is autonomous and adapted to use off of public roads or in smaller spaces. It relies on information provided by the recipient or the location controller of the area for the second delivery segment. The information may define a geometric path for the vehicle to traverse or may be information to pass restrictions such as locked doors in the final delivery path. The method provides advantages of efficiency, security and late provision of final delivery information.

Abstract: A method of controlling autonomous or driverless vehicles in a specific control zone is disclosed. The vehicles enter the zone and come under the control of a zone authority that coordinates the movements of the vehicles until they leave the zone. The behavior of the vehicles is modified to insure that it matches a set of rules established by the zone authority. The zone may be an area such as a bridge, tunnel or construction zone where efficient, possibly single lane, travel requires tight coordination. Other possible zones include parking areas, indoor passages and areas with security concerns. The zone authority simultaneously controls multiple autonomous vehicles and possible additional driver operated vehicles. The messages establishing control or providing continuing administration of rules may be delivered by any type of communications link or may be associated with a device issued to vehicles entering the zone which is collected on exit.

Abstract: A lock for a firearm or weapon is disclosed that enables the weapon when control is established by a user while the weapon is in a storage location or holding device. The weapon remains operable as long as the user continuously remains in control but is disabled until returned to the storage location or device if the user relinquishes control. Storage and user zones are defined by weapon location or input devices such as a grip safety. Mechanical devices or signals transfer the zone determinations to a logic device. When the logic device, which may be mechanical, electronic or implemented in other way, determines that the weapon is considered to be both in the storage zone and the user zone and it causes transition to an operable state. The logic device causes transition to an inoperable state if the weapon is determined not to be in either zone.

Abstract: A method of moving autonomous or driverless vehicles being parked or accessed in a parking area is disclosed. The vehicles are parked in columns spaced too closely to allow drivers to enter or exit. The movements of the vehicles are coordinated by a central computer which computes a set of movements, transmits them to the vehicles, and commands and controls the execution. Multiple vehicles are moved sequentially or simultaneously to the computed locations for access, storage or exit. Sensors in the vehicles can transmit relative location information to the central computer to be used in the computations. Vehicles can be shuffled from column to column or from the front to the rear of a column to allow access. Temporary aisles can be formed for exit by vehicles or for access for loading or unloading.

Abstract: The current invention is directed to a cost effective method of manufacturing bullets or projectiles for use in firearms which are identifiable after firing and undergoing damage from striking targets. The mass production of large quantities of low cost ammunition makes adoption of a requirement that projectiles be so identifiable unlikely unless manufacturing methods and costs are not substantially disrupted. The method envisioned produces projectile bodies from rod or wire stock by parting slugs, piercing recesses, inserting tags and swaging a projectile body with a wholly or partially encased identification with indicia. The stock may be extruded around premade identification tags. The tags may have repeated indicia in each projectile and some indicia may be accessible from the outside of a completed round of ammunition. The swaging process retains the identification tags which are protected by the body of the projectile for recovery after the projectile is used.

Abstract: A lock for a firearm or weapon is disclosed that enables the weapon when control is established by a user while the weapon is in a storage location or holding device. The weapon remains operable as long as the user continuously remains in control but is disabled until returned to the storage location or device if the user relinquishes control. Storage and user zones are defined by weapon location or input devices such as a grip safety. Mechanical devices or signals transfer the zone determinations to a logic device. When the logic device, which may be mechanical, electronic or implemented in other way, determines that the weapon is considered to be both in the storage zone and the user zone and it causes transition to an operable state. The logic device causes transition to an inoperable state if the weapon is determined not to be in either zone.

Abstract: The current invention is directed to a cost effective method of manufacturing bullets or projectiles for firearms which are identifiable after firing and undergoing damage. The mass production of low cost ammunition makes adoption of a requirement that projectiles be so identifiable unlikely unless manufacturing methods and costs are not substantially disrupted. The method envisioned produces projectile bodies from rod or wire stock by encasing identification tag material, and swaging a projectile body with a wholly or partially encased tag with indicia. The stock may be extruded around premade identification tags or a recess may be reverse extruded in each slug. The tags may have repeated indicia in each projectile and some indicia may be accessible from the outside of a completed round of ammunition. The swaging process retains the identification tags which are protected by the body of the projectile for recovery after the projectile is used.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of settling insurance claims of injured victims of dangerous objects such as firearms, ballistic weapons or other similar objects, using a system that stores and maintains dangerous object and insurer related information, such as serial number, ballistics/cartridge data, name of the insurer and maintaining confidentiality of ownership details.

Abstract: A method of moving autonomous or driverless vehicles being parked or accessed in a parking area is disclosed. The vehicles are parked in columns spaced too closely to allow drivers to enter or exit. The movements of the vehicles are coordinated by a central computer which computes a set of movements, transmits them to the vehicles, and commands and controls the execution. Multiple vehicles are moved sequentially or simultaneously to the computed locations for access, storage or exit. Sensors in the vehicles can transmit relative location information to the central computer to be used in the computations. Vehicles can be shuffled from column to column or from the front to the rear of a column to allow access. Temporary aisles can be formed for exit by vehicles or for access for loading or unloading.

Abstract: Devices and methods for aiding a large area search for submerged objects such as aircraft. A searcher transmits interrogation signals to be received by a device at the target object. The interrogation signals have a long range relative to that of returned signals. The target device responds with a ping signal modified to be more easily found by means of information contained in the interrogation signal. The information may be inherent in the nature of the received signal or data encoded and embedded by the searching device. The target device may use a microprocessor to do complex operations using the information from the interrogation signal and other information. Detection of a weak ping is facilitated by such means as being beamed in the direction of the interrogation, arriving at a predictable time, or having parameters adapted to values requested by the searcher.

Abstract: The current invention is directed to a cost effective method of manufacturing bullets or projectiles for firearms which are identifiable after firing and undergoing damage. The mass production of low cost ammunition makes adoption of a requirement that projectiles be so identifiable unlikely unless manufacturing methods and costs are not substantially disrupted. The method envisioned produces projectile bodies from rod or wire stock by encasing identification tag material, and swaging a projectile body with a wholly or partially encased tag with indicia. The stock may be extruded around premade identification tags or a recess may be reverse extruded in each slug. The tags may have repeated indicia in each projectile and some indicia may be accessible from the outside of a completed round of ammunition. The swaging process retains the identification tags which are protected by the body of the projectile for recovery after the projectile is used.