Abstract: A gripper grasps irregular and deformable work pieces so as to lift and hold packaged, processed, or raw, and manipulate the work pieces for the purpose of material handling, assembly, packaging, and other robotic and automated manipulative functions. A vacuum is induced at multiple points through a flexible gripping hood to provide lifting force to, and facilitate rapid movement of, work pieces. An array of lighting devices and a double ring array of segmented mirrors provide uniform illumination to ensure accurate positioning of the gripping hood with respect to the work piece to be manipulated.

Abstract: An external adaptive control system and method control a traffic signal controller assembly. The external adaptive control system determines a non-linear schedule with one or more states corresponding to one or more individual phases with each state having a start time and a duration. The external adaptive control system generates presence data for reception by the controller assembly for each state and its associated duration.

Abstract: An apparatus for mobile autonomous updating of GIS maps is provided, comprising an autonomous mobile data collecting platform with a map identifying one or more GIS features. The platform has at least one data collecting sensor for collecting data for at least one of the GIS features and patrols at least a portion of a region included in the map while updating its GIS position as it patrols. The autonomous mobile data collecting platform applies the at least one data collecting sensor during patrolling to collect data for at least one of the GIS features and updates the GIS map to reflect differential data collected for at least one GIS feature.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for trading financial assets, such as foreign exchange and money market instruments, commodities and securities. The invention, which may be accessed over an interconnected data communications network, such as the Internet, using a standard Web browser, as well as via a proprietary user interface, receives customer requirements, automatically combines and organizes those requirements into a batch of orders according to a set of customer preferences, and displays the batch of orders to the customer, along with indicative or actual price quotes, such that the customer may select and process multiple orders and multiple requirements simultaneously. Orders are priced and booked automatically.

Abstract: An external adaptive control system controls a traffic signal at a critical intersection that has a most conflicting volume of traffic among volumes of traffic at intersections in a traffic network. The external adaptive control system determines a plan identifying a guaranteed green light time and a minimum green duration and a period for the plan. The external adaptive control system determines, based on the plan, a non-linear schedule with one or more states corresponding to one or more individual phases with each state having a state start time and a state duration. Queues for individual traffic movements at the critical intersection also may be used to determine the non-linear schedule. The adaptive external control system controls the traffic signal according to the non-linear schedule. The external adaptive control system transmits its plan to one or more other external adaptive control systems for other intersections.

Abstract: The present invention provides an implantable modular AV shunt device, which is capable of monitoring and reporting its own patency, and which comprises a plurality of modular components that may be assembled and adjusted by the vascular surgeon during the implantation procedure, using well-known surgical techniques, in order to provide a custom fit and arrangement for the particular patient involved. The device comprises an arterial anastomotic valve that permits blood flowing through an artery to pass into the shunt device, a venous anastomotic valve that permits blood flowing through the shunt device to pass into a vein, a medial flow control unit, a first flexible shunt that carries blood from the arterial anastomotic valve to the medial flow control unit, a second flexible shunt that carries blood from the medial flow control unit to the venous anastomotic valve, and a valve control system.

Abstract: An adaptive control system controls a traffic signal at a critical intersection that has a most conflicting volume of traffic among volumes of traffic at intersections in a traffic network. The adaptive control system determines a plan identifying a guaranteed green light time and a minimum green duration and a period for the plan. The adaptive control system determines, based on the plan, a non-linear schedule with one or more states corresponding to one or more individual phases with each state having a state start time and a state duration. Queues for individual traffic movements at the critical intersection also may be used to determine the non-linear schedule. The adaptive control system controls the traffic signal according to the non-linear schedule. The adaptive control system transmits its plan to one or more other adaptive control systems for other intersections.

Abstract: A credit data processing system for controlling trades in an electronic trading system according to credit arrangements, comprising a computer-readable storage medium, an interface to an electronic trading system and a credit data processor. The computer-readable storage medium stores information representing the credit relationship network, including a plurality of credit entities in the network and a plurality of credit relationships existing between at least some of those credit entities. The system uses preferred counterparty rankings provided by the participating credit entities to determine and select the optimal credit paths to use for booking multiple-legged trades between credit entities even though the credit entities may not have a direct credit relationship.

Abstract: The invention is directed to methods and systems for commodities procurement with concomitant hedging. The invention enables automatic commodity purchase at a desired basis level when a seller's price matches a buyer's basis bid and concomitantly automatically placing an electronic commodities order to hedge the buyer's purchase.

Abstract: The invention is directed to methods and systems for commodities procurement with concomitant hedging. The invention enables automatic commodity purchase at a desired basis level when a seller's price matches a buyer's basis bid and concomitantly automatically placing an electronic commodities order to hedge the buyer's purchase.

Abstract: Intelligent refrigerator system for storing pharmaceutical product containers, such as vials, ampules, syringes, bottles, medication tubes, blister packs and cartons, at the point of dispensing. Embodiments of the invention use product identification technology, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers, to uniquely identify containers as they are added to or removed from the cold storage compartment of the refrigerator, and automatically retrieve from a local or remote database a variety of details associated with the containers and their contents, such as manufacturing data, expiration dates, time out of refrigeration, inventory levels, safety information, usage statistics, known contraindications and warnings, etc. If the details indicate that there is a problem with a particular pharmaceutical (e.g.

Abstract: The present invention provides an order management and execution system and computer-implemented method for managing orders in an environment where the customer may utilize internal accounting and trading procedures that require filling a number of internal and external trading requirements for a number of internal and external trading accounts. The invention, which may be used in a variety of different trading contexts and for a variety of asset classes, automatically converts the internal trading requirements to external trading requirements and builds external orders, which are optionally netted and executed in the market using an asset trading execution system. Then the invention automatically converts the executed external requirements back to the appropriate internal requirements, records the internal requirements as filled, and optionally downloads the appropriate execution completion records to the customer's trading system.

Abstract: An integrated virtual market is provided that facilitates communication between the producers of a given commodity and the parties wishing to purchase such commodities. This system provides real-time updated information about local pricing being offered by those purchasers. In addition, those producers can post offers that can automatically be accepted by purchasers and have contracts automatically generated. An important consideration from a purchaser's prospective is minimizing the risk associated with making such transactions. Due to this, futures contracts are often obtained. The virtual market system of the present inventions automatically requests and obtains futures contracts to hedge the contracts being generated.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for processing orders in a computerized asset trading system when the order contains trading requirements for trading accounts that do not map to trading accounts recognized by the provider trading system. The invention books trading requirements associated with the unrecognized trading accounts against a default trading account set up for the customer by the provider, thereby allowing the order to be processed instead of rejected merely because one or more of the customer-specified trading accounts has not yet been approved by the provider. The invention also allows providers to specifically block customer trading accounts, and to dynamically create approved trading accounts as they are needed so that subsequent transactions involving the previously unapproved trading accounts will be executed without using the default trading account. The invention also rejects orders for customer trading accounts that have been specifically blocked by the provider.

Abstract: Systems and methods for executing trades on an interconnected computer network, such as the Internet, using a catalog of protocol-independent fundamental asset trading messages, called “gestures,” that support multiple higher-level trading protocols which characterize most asset trading transactions. Trading transactions requiring protocol-dependent workflows are composed from protocol-independent gestures selected from the catalogue of gestures and then passed one at a time to an online asset trading server. The online asset trading server transitions pending quotes and trades through a series of distinct states, based on the current state, the selected protocol-independent gestures it receives and a set of state transition rules, thereby implementing the higher-level protocol-dependent workflows.

Abstract: An integrated virtual market is provided that facilitates communication between the producers of a given commodity and the parties wishing to purchase such commodities. This system provides real-time updated information about local pricing being offered by those purchasers. In addition, those producers can post offers that can automatically be accepted by purchasers and have contracts automatically generated. An important consideration from a purchaser's prospective is minimizing the risk associated with making such transactions. Due to this, futures contracts are often obtained. The virtual market system of the present inventions automatically requests and obtains futures contracts to hedge the contracts being generated.

Abstract: An electronic market calendar that identifies settlement dates, holidays, market-related events, and provides links to news, information and research materials, pertaining to certain transaction terms, currencies or territories. The invention displays or provides a market calendar in which each one of a plurality of calendar dates that corresponds to a settlement date, a market-related event date or a holiday is displayed in a visibly distinct manner from the rest of the calendar dates. The set of market-related events may include, for example, events such as national elections, publications of economic forecasts, releases of economic reports, monetary policy announcements, trade announcements, interest rate announcements, press releases, governmental hearings, federal open market committee meetings, financial summit meetings, or any other events related to the market in which the electronic market calendar is applied.