Generic Control System, Apparatus Or Process Patents (Class 700/1)
  • Patent number: 9990363
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus of using customizable templates in process control systems are disclosed. An example method includes initializing a first process control device associated with a first protocol based on a template file and a first parameter definition file. The template file includes global variables and associated values. The first parameter definition file defines a relationship between the global variables and first local variables of at least one of the first process control device or the first protocol. The example method also includes initializing a second process control device associated with a second protocol based on the template file and a second parameter definition file. The second parameter definition file defines a relationship between the global variables and second local variables of at least one of the second process control device or the second protocol. The first protocol is different from the second protocol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Emerson Process Management, Valve Automation, Inc.
    Inventor: Mahesh Gade
  • Patent number: 9983897
    Abstract: A streams manager monitors performance of a streaming application, and when the performance needs to be improved, the streams manager automatically requests virtual machines from a cloud manager. The cloud manager provisions one or more virtual machines in a cloud with the specified streams infrastructure and streams application components. The streams manager then modifies the flow graph so one or more portions of the streaming application are hosted by the virtual machines in the cloud. When performance of the streaming application indicates a virtual machine is no longer needed, the virtual machine is maintained and placed in a ready state so it can be quickly used as needed in the future without the overhead of deploying a new virtual machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lance Bragstad, Michael J. Branson, Bin Cao, James E. Carey, Mathew R. Odden
  • Patent number: 9971331
    Abstract: A monitoring device for a programmable controller can resume continuous operation from an appropriate step, when the equipment is restarted after abnormality handling process. The monitoring device includes: a read device that reads operating state information of equipment from the programmable controller during individual operation; a relationship information storage device that stores relationship information showing relationship between the first step to be executed out of the steps when the equipment is restarted after the individual operation and the operating state information; a selection device that refers to the operating state information and selects the first step to be executed when the equipment is restarted, based on the relationship information; and a command transmission device that transmits a command to change an in-execution flag of the programmable controller which shows the first step to be executed when the equipment is restarted, based on the selection result of the selection device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro Shimizu, Terukazu Senda
  • Patent number: 9939822
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a remote monitoring system for a fluid applicator system is disclosed. The fluid applicator system is disposed to heat and pump spray fluid, and to transmit reports including sensed temperatures, pressures, and other operational parameters of the fluid applicator system via a wireless network. The remote monitoring system comprises a data storage server, and an end user interface. The data storage server is configured to receive and archive the reports. The end user interface is configured to provide a graphical user interface based on the reports. The graphical user interface illustrates a status of the fluid handling system, sensed and commanded temperatures of the fluid handling system, sensed and commanded pressures of the fluid handling system, and usage statistics of the fluid handling system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Graco Minnesota Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher M. Lange, Nicholas A. Pagano
  • Patent number: 9934526
    Abstract: Various embodiments enable a process to automatically attempt to select the most relevant words associated with products available for purchase from an electronic marketplace from an image frame. For example, an image frame containing text can be obtained and analyzed with an optical character recognition. The recognized words can then be preprocessed using various filtering and scoring techniques to narrow down a volume of text to a few relevant query terms. These query terms can then be sent to a search engine associated with the electronic marketplace to return relevant products to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: A9.com, INC.
    Inventors: Arnab Sunat Kumar Dhua, Douglas Ryan Gray, Xiaofan Lin, Yu Lou, Adam Wiggen Kraft, Sunil Ramesh
  • Patent number: 9936050
    Abstract: A communication arrangement, a gate device and method for data communication between a mobile operating unit and a field device provides a certain ease in handling. The method involves a user program being loaded onto or activated on the mobile operating unit. Furthermore, data from the mobile operating unit is transmitted to a data communication device and from the data communication device to a gate device and from the gate device to a transmitting device of the field device and/or is transmitted in the opposite direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: KROHNE Messtechnik GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Gerding, Markus Dabrowski, Rene Keimling, Christian Hansen, Christoph Spiegel
  • Patent number: 9926596
    Abstract: The invention relate to systems and methods for sequencing polynucleotides, as well as detecting reactions and binding events involving other biological molecules. The systems and methods may employ chamber-free devices and nanosensors to detect or characterize such reactions in high-throughput. Because the system in many embodiments is reusable, the system can be subject to more sophisticated and improved engineering, as compared to single use devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: GENAPSYS, INC.
    Inventors: Hesaam Esfandyarpour, Kosar Baghbani Parizi, Mark F. Oldham, Eric S. Nordman, Richard T. Reel, Susanne Baumhueter, Cheryl Heiner, Frank Lee
  • Patent number: 9922581
    Abstract: The invention relates to a luminous element arrangement (A), in particular a luminous element field, comprising a plurality of luminous elements, at least one communication interface (5), in particular a bus and/or radio interface, and a converter unit (2), said converter unit (2) activating and/or deactivating the plurality of luminous elements of the luminous element arrangement (A) in response to a signal received via the communication interface (5) such that in top view onto the luminous element arrangement (A) a machine-readable code, in particular a one-dimensional or two-dimensional, machine-readable code is represented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: TRIDONIC GMBH & CO KG
    Inventor: Jens Herter
  • Patent number: 9904785
    Abstract: An industrial controller resistant to malicious attacks may provide a graduated response employing the elements of the control system to reduce access to the control system, log data, and announce intrusion based on a dynamically evolving assessment of the severity of any detected security issues.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Sujeet Chand, David A. Vasko, Timothy Patrick Boppre, David A. Snyder, Alex Laurence Nicoll, Brian J. McMullen, Daniel B. Seger, John B. Dart
  • Patent number: 9895802
    Abstract: Methods and systems for robot cloud computing are described. Within examples, cloud-based computing generally refers to networked computer architectures in which application execution and storage may be divided, to some extent, between client and server devices. A robot may be any device that has a computing ability and interacts with its surroundings with an actuation capability (e.g., electromechanical capabilities). A client device may be configured as a robot including various sensors and devices in the forms of modules, and different modules may be added or removed from robot depending on requirements. In some example, a robot may be configured to receive a second device, such as mobile phone, that may be configured to function as an accessory or a “brain” of the robot. A robot may interact with the cloud to perform any number of actions, such as to share information with other cloud computing devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: X Development LLC
    Inventors: Ryan Hickman, Anthony G. Francis, Thor Lewis
  • Patent number: 9898324
    Abstract: A streams manager monitors performance of a streaming application, and when the performance needs to be improved, the streams manager automatically requests virtual machines from a cloud manager. The cloud manager provisions one or more virtual machines in a cloud with the specified streams infrastructure and streams application components. The streams manager then modifies the flow graph so one or more portions of the streaming application are hosted by the virtual machines in the cloud. When performance of the streaming application indicates a virtual machine is no longer needed, the virtual machine is maintained and placed in a ready state so it can be quickly used as needed in the future without the overhead of deploying a new virtual machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lance Bragstad, Michael J. Branson, Bin Cao, James E. Carey, Mathew R. Odden
  • Patent number: 9899037
    Abstract: A method of determining an emotion of an utterance. The method can include receiving the utterance at a processor-based device comprising an audio engine. The method also can include extracting emotion-related acoustic features from the utterance. The method additionally can include comparing the emotion-related acoustic features to a plurality of emotion models that are representative of emotions. The method further can include selecting a model from the plurality of emotion models based on the comparing the emotion-related acoustic features to the plurality of emotion models. The method additionally can include outputting the emotion of the utterance, wherein the emotion corresponds to the selected model. Other embodiments are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: LENA FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Terrance D. Paul, Dongxin D. Xu, Sharmistha Sarkar Gray, Umit Yapanel, Jill S. Gilkerson, Jeffrey A. Richards
  • Patent number: 9891636
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a controlling device and method for a Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning system. The controlling device includes a building heat load module, a data collecting module, an optimization module, and a controller. A building heat load model is established according to building envelope data. Field information data and setup data are collected. The building heat load model, the field information data, and the setup data are integrated to produce optimal setup data by optimal computation. According to the optimal setup data, the HVAC system proceeds to modulate room temperature, room humidity, or gas concentration to achieve functions of maintaining indoor thermal comfort and energy conservation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    Inventors: Min-Der Wu, Yau-Bin Yang, Yang-Guang Liu, Meng-Yen Tsai, Min-Ju Lin, Wei-Da Tu
  • Patent number: 9892011
    Abstract: A master device is configured to perform a method that includes receiving highway addressable remote transducer (HART) device data of a HART slave device connected to PROFIBUS RIO Slave. The method also includes identifying a device description (DD) file associated with the HART slave device using the HART device data that is collected automatically based on the PROFIBUS slave Profile index before even configuring the HART device in the system. The method further includes performing one or more device communication functions with the HART slave device to collect the data automatically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Sethupathy Viswanathan, Kranthi Kumar Paluvadi, Ananda Huchappa Shastry
  • Patent number: 9891942
    Abstract: A streams manager monitors performance of a streaming application, and when the performance needs to be improved, the streams manager automatically requests virtual machines from a cloud manager. The cloud manager provisions one or more virtual machines in a cloud with the specified streams infrastructure and streams application components. The streams manager then modifies the flow graph so one or more portions of the streaming application are hosted by the virtual machines in the cloud. When performance of the streaming application indicates a virtual machine is no longer needed, the virtual machine is maintained and placed in a ready state so it can be quickly used as needed in the future without the overhead of deploying a new virtual machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lance Bragstad, Michael J. Branson, Bin Cao, James E. Carey, Mathew R. Odden
  • Patent number: 9882520
    Abstract: To be able to activate a smoothing filter for a setpoint, with which the movement of a drive axis (A, Ai) of a drive unit (AE) can also be controlled during the movement without a negative effect on the movement, it is provided that the smoothing filter (10) is initialized with a setpoint profile (Sinit) so that a current movement phase ((S0, {dot over (S)}0, . . . , S0(x))) is continued continuously and the repeated time derivative (S(x+1)) of the highest time derivative (S(x)) of the setpoint (S(t), S(k)) is limited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: B&R INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION GMBH
    Inventors: Stefan Huber, Helmut Herzog
  • Patent number: 9871867
    Abstract: Disclosed is a message processing unit provided in a PLC system including a master and a plurality of slaves. The message processing unit is provided to each of the slaves and includes a first filter configured to receive a message transmitted from the master and to determine whether the message is a broadcast message, a second filter configured to receive the message delivered from the first filter and to determine whether the message is a message-to-be-processed, and a processor configured to process the message he delivered from the first filter or the second filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: LSIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hwa-Soo Ryu
  • Patent number: 9864834
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and system for classifying high-resolution melt (“HRM”) curves, and, more specifically, to a method and system for classifying HRM curves by genotype where the curves are represented by a mathematical function with varying coefficient values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Syracuse University
    Inventors: Jonathan David Adelman, William Ryon McKay, Jacquelyn Lillis, Katherine Lawson
  • Patent number: 9851712
    Abstract: A configuration system, for a process control system configured to perform process control, the configuration system includes, not limited to, a) an editor configured to perform one of generate and update one of a definition module and an application module, wherein a set of the definition module and the application module comprises control logic and design data for a part of an industrial plant. The editor includes, not limited to, a-1) a definition module generator configured to generate or update one of a definition module control logic and an application module control logic based on the definition module design data. The editor is implemented by one or more processors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: YOKOGAWA ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takahiro Kambe, Alexander Yap, Wilfred Woon Yew Teo, Hideki Murata, Prakash Mariappan, Acelython Ordillo Navarro, Hiroshi Iriguchi
  • Patent number: 9851707
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for configuring a plurality of field devices is provided. The method includes defining a configuration template and mapping the configuration template to a plurality of field devices. The defined configuration template is automatically applied to the plurality of field devices. A method of verifying field device configuration information is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Scott N. Hokeness, Marcos A. Peluso, Charles H. Pille, Paul J. Hurt, Nghy A. Hong, Qian (Jane) Xiao
  • Patent number: 9846889
    Abstract: In one example of smart appliance registration, a system comprises an electric device that is configured to transmit a unique identifier upon activation, a smart meter that is configured to receive the unique identifier and to further transmit the unique identifier, and a monitoring entity configured to receive the unique identifier from the smart meter for device-specific profiling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: EMPIRE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT LLC
    Inventor: Shmuel Ur
  • Patent number: 9846787
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are described for implementing a trusted dynamic launch and trusted platform module (TPM) using a secure enclave. For example, a computer-implemented method according to one embodiment of the invention comprises: initializing a secure enclave in response to a first command, the secure enclave comprising a trusted software execution environment which prevents software executing outside the enclave from having access to software and data inside the enclave; and executing a trusted platform module (TPM) from within the secure enclave, the trusted platform module securely reading data from a set of platform control registers (PCR) in a processor or chipset component into a memory region allocated to the secure enclave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Simon P. Johnson, Vincent R. Scarlata, Willard M. Wiseman
  • Patent number: 9825818
    Abstract: A system constructs a hierarchy for field devices communicatively coupled to a remote terminal unit (RTU) by retrieving device information from field devices, caching the device information in the memory of the RTU, storing device identities in the memory of a host machine, and obtaining the device information at the host from the RTU in response to subsequent user requests to build the hierarchy, without re-sending commands to retrieve the device information directly to the field devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: BRISTOL, INC.
    Inventors: Neeraj D. Tiwari, Richard J. Vanderah
  • Patent number: 9817384
    Abstract: A method of inspecting a RAM of a programmable logic controller is provided that enables all unit storage regions in a RAM inspection region to be inspected in about several minutes and that meets a predetermined safety standard. The inspection method includes the steps of: (a) dividing a RAM inspection region, which is a region of the RAM to be inspected, into a plurality of blocks; and (b) by a control device, writing a predetermined value into unit storage regions in a combination of blocks obtained by combining two blocks extracted from the divided blocks and thereafter sequentially inspecting whether or not values read from the unit storage regions each coincide with the written value. Step (b) is executed for all combinations of two blocks extracted from the divided blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kenichi Ikegami
  • Patent number: 9819347
    Abstract: Quantum circuits for chemistry simulation are based on second quantization Hamiltonian coefficients for one-body and two-body interactions. Jordan-Wigner series that conserve parity can be defined so that selected CNOT gates are removed from the associated circuits. Basis change gates such as Hadamard or Y-gates can be coupled to some or all qubits of a quantum circuit or cancelled in view of corresponding gates in adjacent circuits. In some examples, CNOT gates can be moved to different circuit locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Matthew Hastings, David Wecker
  • Patent number: 9808156
    Abstract: Provided are embodiments of systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for monitoring the health of an employee while the employee is located in an employee workstation. A method including collecting, from a plurality of biomechanical sensors disposed throughout the employee workstation, biomechanical health data indicative of biomechanical characteristics of the employee, determining an employee biomechanical health profile based at least in part on the collected biomechanical health data. The employee biomechanical health profile including biomechanical health characteristics, biomechanical health conditions and/or biomechanical health risks for the employee. The method including generating a health plan for the employee based at least in part on the biomechanical health profile, and displaying the employee biomechanical health profile and the health plan to the employee.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventor: Samantha J. Horseman
  • Patent number: 9811607
    Abstract: A device includes an input array register, a determining component and a computing component. The input array register stores a sorted list of n elements as an input array having size n, n being an integer greater than or equal to two. The determining component creates a list of m elements as a mask array having a size m, m being an integer greater than or equal to one, one of the m elements being based on two adjacent of the n elements of the input array. The computing component performs a mathematical operation between the input array and the mask array to generate a list of p elements as an output array having a size p, p being an integer greater than or equal to 0, the p elements identifying unique elements within the n elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Victor Cheng, Pramod Swami, Prashanth Viswanath
  • Patent number: 9807717
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, and a system for synchronization. The method includes the following steps executed by a first device: sending clock information acquiring request to a second device through an Antenna Interface Standards Group AISG interface; receiving a clock signal from the second device through the AISG interface; and performing synchronization according to clock information of the clock signal. The first device is a base station and the second device is an antenna line device, or the first device is an antenna line device and the second device is a base station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Lichang Wu, Hu Zhao
  • Patent number: 9737968
    Abstract: A method of detecting machine tool vibration is provided. The method includes receiving, from a sensor arranged in a machine tool, motion data measured along an axis. The method also includes comparing the motion data against a first threshold. The method also includes adjusting a counter if the motion data has a magnitude greater than the first threshold. The method also includes generating an alarm if the counter is greater than a second threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Haas Automation, Inc.
    Inventors: Razmik G. Petrossians, Joseph V. Soliman, Puneet Gupta, German M. Chistokhodov, Barry D. Johnson
  • Patent number: 9734470
    Abstract: A method includes generating a graphical display associated with an industrial process control system having multiple field devices. The graphical display includes a custom group of field devices, where the custom group includes a user-defined subset of the field devices. The method also includes presenting the graphical display. The method further includes receiving a request to perform an action associated with the custom group. In addition, the method includes initiating performance of the action for each field device in the custom group. The action could include a user-defined custom action, and the method could further include defining the custom action based on user input. The graphical display could include multiple custom groups of field devices and, for each custom group, identify a status of each field device in the custom group. Each custom group could identify critical field devices associated with a different functional unit in an industrial facility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Shankar Rajappa, Subha Lalitha Bhattiprolu, Suresh Kumar Palle
  • Patent number: 9736910
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed that allow a lighting system to self-determine the relative positions of its different light sources. Direct light source to light source distances are measured and trilateration is used to locate each light source in three dimensional space. The relative position of each light source is provided with regard to the lighting system itself and does not need to refer to a GPS system or to the position or orientation of the installation. The self-determining system allows lighting systems to be quickly installed and later commissioned using the positioning information provided by the lighting system itself.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: OSRAM SYLVANIA Inc.
    Inventor: Nancy H. Chen
  • Patent number: 9729161
    Abstract: An analog converter includes an offset/gain value storage unit that is composed of a nonvolatile memory and stores therein offset/gain values, an operation unit that performs analog-digital conversion by using the offset/gain values in the offset/gain value storage unit as values for an interpolation operation, a previous offset/gain value storage unit that is composed of a nonvolatile memory and stores therein, as previous offset/gain values, the offset/gain values in the offset/gain value storage unit used in the past, wherein the operation unit includes an offset/gain value setting unit that controls setting of the offset/gain values in the offset/gain value storage unit and storage of the previous offset/gain values in the previous offset/gain value storage unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshiyuki Kubota
  • Patent number: 9727041
    Abstract: An air-conditioning system includes an air-conditioning apparatus, a user information input terminal, and a central management apparatus. The user information input terminal detects entrance of a user into a room and transmits an entrance-interlocking signal including user identification information for identifying the user to the central management apparatus. Upon receipt of the entrance-interlocking signal, the central management apparatus determines a control objective of the air-conditioning apparatus according to priority of user attribute of one or more users in the room and an energy saving level currently set, and cause the air-conditioning apparatus to perform an interlocking control in accordance with the determined control objective.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Hirohisa Yamada
  • Patent number: 9712413
    Abstract: Various embodiments for managing computing systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method comprises comparing an identified target device in a captured environmental input to a model of the target device; recognizing, in real-time, a status condition of the target device based on the comparison; and determining if the target device is functioning properly if the target device and the model of the target device match, wherein if the target device is not functioning properly: a cause of error and troubleshooting instructions are displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventor: David T. Windell
  • Patent number: 9690673
    Abstract: Techniques are provided for overcoming failures in a memory. One portion of the memory may operate in a single chip spare mode. Upon detection of an error in a single chip in the portion of the memory, a region of the portion of the memory may be converted to operate in a double chip spare mode. The memory may be accessed in both single and double chip spare modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Inventors: Gary Gostin, Erin A. Handgen
  • Patent number: 9665075
    Abstract: Guidance System for controlling output variables of single-input single-output or multi-input multi-output processes, where the process parameters are known or unknown and time-varying. The guidance system of the present invention generates a desired trajectory for a process output variable, and based on said desired trajectory, computes a set point for the derivative variable of said process output variable. This set point is then applied to a model based advanced controller for said derivative variable and the control action generated by said model based advanced controller is applied to the process and guides the process evolution in such a way that said process output variable converges towards said desired trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACION A DISTANCIA
    Inventors: Daniel Viudez Moreiras, Antonio Nevado Reviriego, Juan Manuel Martin Sanchez
  • Patent number: 9651942
    Abstract: A process control arrangement (PKA), having a number of fieldbus systems (DP1, PA1, FH), especially different fieldbus systems (DP1, PA1, FH), and having a number of fieldbus interfaces (PAP1, PAP2, PAP3), wherein each of the fieldbus systems (DP1, PA1, FH) is connected to at least one of the fieldbus interfaces (PAP1, PAP2, PAP3), wherein the fieldbus interfaces (PAP1, PAP2, PAP3) serve for communication between the fieldbus systems (DP1, PA1, FH) and a communication plane (ET2) superordinated to the fieldbus systems, only a first of the fieldbus interfaces (PAP1) is directly connected to the superordinated communication plane (ET2), and wherein the fieldbus interfaces (PAP1, PAP2, PAP3) are connected in series with one another beginning with the first of the fieldbus interfaces (PAP1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: ENDRESS + HAUSER PROCESS SOLUTIONS AG
    Inventors: Robert Kolblin, Eugenio Ferreira Da Silva Neto, Michael Maneval, Jorg Reinkensmeier, Axel Poschmann
  • Patent number: 9646248
    Abstract: Described is system for extracting conceptual knowledge representation from neural system. The system extracts a first set of attributes to define a set of objects in a first domain. A first formal concept lattice is constructed comprising the set of objects and the first set of attributes from the first domain. A second set of attributes is extracted to define the set of objects in a second domain. A second formal concept lattice is constructed comprising the set of objects and the second set of attributes from the second domain. The first formal concept lattice is aligned with the second formal concept lattice to link the first set of attributes with the second set of attributes, wherein a combined lattice is generated. The combined lattice is used to relate the first domain to the second domain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: HRL Laboratories, LLC
    Inventors: James Benvenuto, Rajan Bhattacharyya
  • Patent number: 9647906
    Abstract: A cloud-based remote monitoring system and method monitor an industrial facility. The industrial facility includes one or more industrial devices. A cloud agent located at the industrial facility is configured to, by at least one processor, collect data indicative of a past and/or a present state of the industrial devices according a manifest specific to the industrial facility. The cloud agent is further configured to send the collected data to a remote cloud platform according to the manifest dynamically reconfigure the cloud agent without interrupting the collecting and the sending. The cloud platform processes the sent data to facilitate remote monitoring of the industrial devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Juan L. Asenjo, Francisco Maturana
  • Patent number: 9569471
    Abstract: An asset model import connector includes an interface to receive asset data from a data source and a normalize module. The normalize module determines an operation to be performed at a system based on the received asset data and determines code to perform the determined operation. The schema may be populated with attributes from the asset data, and sent to the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT LP
    Inventors: Dhiraj Sharan, Qiang Zeng, Sez Ming Yee
  • Patent number: 9563188
    Abstract: The embodiments described herein include a system, non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium including executable code, and a method. In one embodiment, a non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium including executable code is provided. The executable code includes instructions for providing a batch commissioning system configured to operatively couple at least two field devices to a control system, and for providing a batch decommissioning system configured to operatively uncouple the at least two field devices from the control system. The executable code further includes instructions for providing a graphical user interface (GUI) configured to use the batch commissioning system, the batch decommissioning system, or a combination thereof, to select, on a display, the at least two field devices, and to communicatively interface with the control system to operatively couple, uncouple, or a combination thereof, the at least two field device from the control system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Abhik Banerjee, John Alexander Petzen, III
  • Patent number: 9473594
    Abstract: Methods and systems for robot cloud computing are described. Within examples, cloud-based computing generally refers to networked computer architectures in which application execution and storage may be divided, to some extent, between client and server devices. A robot may be any device that has a computing ability and interacts with its surroundings with an actuation capability (e.g., electromechanical capabilities). A client device may be configured as a robot including various sensors and devices in the forms of modules, and different modules may be added or removed from robot depending on requirements. In some example, a robot may be configured to receive a second device, such as mobile phone, that may be configured to function as an accessory or a “brain” of the robot. A robot may interact with the cloud to perform any number of actions, such as to share information with other cloud computing devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: X Development LLC
    Inventors: Ryan Hickman, Anthony G. Francis, Jr., Thor Lewis
  • Patent number: 9448688
    Abstract: A device is provided for visually indicating a replay status of media items on a media device. Aspects of the device include displaying in a graphical user interface (GUI) of the media device a representation of a first media item; displaying a profile score of the first media item that is based on user preferences; and displaying a replay score for the first media item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: NAPO Enterprises, LLC
    Inventors: Waymen J. Askey, Hugh Svendsen
  • Patent number: 9429926
    Abstract: An automation and motion control system for the entertainment industry is used to dynamically respond to random or unknown inputs as well as known inputs and to coordinate the movement and operation of the objects, such as theatrical props, cameras, stunt persons, lighting, scenery, drapery, kinetic art sculptures, moving displays or other similar types of devices or items, on a large scale.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: TAIT TOWERS MANUFACTURING, LLC
    Inventor: James D. Love
  • Patent number: 9424449
    Abstract: A method, comprising: sending, by a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, an identification request to an RFID tag; wherein the RFID tag is positioned within a coverage area of the RFID tag; searching, by the RFID reader, a lack of response from the RFID tag to the identification request during a silent period that ranges between a fraction of a second and a minute; and controlling, by the RFID reader and in response to a detection of the lack of response, a circuit that differs from the RFID reader and the RFID tag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Inventors: Uri Erez, Elad Domanovitz
  • Patent number: 9423779
    Abstract: A facility employing systems, methods, and/or techniques for dynamically and adaptively configuring configurable energy consuming and producing devices (e.g., smart energy devices) based on user profiles and user presence information is disclosed. In some embodiments, the facility periodically detects the presence of users, and retrieves preference information for those users. For each of one or more configurable energy devices in the area, the facility generates a combined setting based on the preferences of each user present and adjusts the devices based on the combined settings. For example, if User A, User B, and User C are present in a room and User A's preferred temperature setting is 75° F., User B's preferred temperature setting is 68° F., and User C's preferred temperature setting is 70° F., the facility may generate a combined setting for a thermostat by taking the average value of the users in the room.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: Tendril Networks, Inc.
    Inventor: Ashish Agarwal
  • Patent number: 9420011
    Abstract: A communication system capable of enabling one or more communication devices to remotely execute one or more applications includes one or more communication devices that are coupled to a data connection. At least one of the one or more communication devices is operable to communicate a request to establish a communication session over the data connection. The system also includes one or more application servers that are coupled to the data connection. At least one of the one or more application servers is adapted to execute an application to establish the requested communication session with the at least one communication device. The at least one application server resides at a location remote from the at least one communication device. The at least one application server communicates a request for processing service to the at least one communication device. The request for processing service is communicated to the at least one communication device over the data connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Hammond Development International, Inc.
    Inventor: Daniel D. Hammond
  • Patent number: 9399290
    Abstract: A method includes receiving first sensor data acquired by a first sensor in communication with a cloud computing system. The first sensor data has a first set of associated attributes including a time and a location at which the first sensor data was acquired. The method also includes receiving second sensor data acquired by a second sensor in communication with the cloud computing system. The second data has a second set of associated attributes including a time and a location at which the second sensor data was acquire. Further, the method includes generating a data processing result based at least in part on the first sensor data, the first set of associated attributes, the second sensor data, and the second set of associated attributes and instructing a robot in communication with the cloud computing system to perform a task based at least in part on the data processing result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Anthony G. Francis, Jr., Ryan Hickman, Arshan Poursohi
  • Patent number: 9398247
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes a processor that receives captured image data and captured sound data corresponding to an environment in which content is reproduced and detects a user based on the captured image data and analyzes a situation of the environment based on a result of the detection and the captured sound data and controls an audio volume corresponding to reproduced content based on a result of the analyzing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazuya Tateishi
  • Patent number: 9372480
    Abstract: A method and system for configuring at least one communication interface module in a control or automation system includes a communication interface module for coupling at least two field bus systems. At least one first functional unit integrated in the communication interface module implements a connection to a configured superordinate controller via a first communication link on the basis of a first field bus protocol. At least one second functional unit integrated in the communication interface module implements a connection for field devices via a second communication link on the basis of a second field bus protocol. At least one further, third functional unit integrated in the communication interface module is configured to connect further field devices via input and/or output functionalities integrated in the communication interface module, and at least one serial interface integrated in the communication interface module can be used to configure the communication interface module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: ABB AG
    Inventors: Stefan Gutermuth, Gernot Gaub, Brigette Blei