Abstract: There is described a system for predicting growth of a population of organisms. The system has: a container; a structure facing the container and having a camera with a field of view orientable towards a sample of said population of organisms, and being configured for acquiring an image of said sample at a moment in time; and a controller configured for: accessing said image; using a growth indication quantity determination engine and said accessed image, determining at least a value of the growth indication quantity being associated to the sample of said population; and using a growth prediction engine, and based on a previously determined value of the growth indication quantity at a prior moment in time and on the determined value of the growth indication quantity, determining at least a predicted value of said growth indication quantity for said population at least at a subsequent moment in time.

Abstract: In at least one illustrative embodiment, a guided wave radar (GWR) level transmitter may comprise a waveguide probe to be positioned in a tank containing media, a measurement circuit, and a compute device. The measurement circuit may transmit a series of pulses along the waveguide probe and measure a series of reflected waveforms, where each of the series of reflected waveforms resulting from transmission of one of the series of pulses along the waveguide probe. The compute device may implement an expert control system to determine a level of the media in the tank, where the expert control system comprises (i) a knowledge base incorporating prior knowledge and (ii) an inference engine to apply logical rules from the knowledge base to evaluate information contained in the series of reflected waveforms to determine the level of media in the tank.

Abstract: In at least one illustrative embodiment, a guided wave radar (GWR) level transmitter may comprise a waveguide probe to be positioned in a tank containing media, a measurement circuit, and a compute device. The measurement circuit may transmit a series of pulses along the waveguide probe and measure a series of reflected waveforms, where each of the series of reflected waveforms resulting from transmission of one of the series of pulses along the waveguide probe. The compute device may implement an expert control system to determine a level of the media in the tank, where the expert control system comprises (i) a knowledge base incorporating prior knowledge and (ii) an inference engine to apply logical rules from the knowledge base to evaluate information contained in the series of reflected waveforms to determine the level of media in the tank.

Abstract: A distance transmitter for industrial process control systems is provided. The distance transmitter has a laser emitter that outputs laser pulses that strike a target. The laser pulses are reflected back by the target and are received by a light detector. The distance of the target from the sensor is determined by the time it takes for the laser pulses to return to the light detector. The distance transmitter may be mounted to an industrial structure with a flange. The laser emitter and light detector may output and receive laser light through an opening in the flange.