Patents Assigned to Alcoa Technical Center
  • Patent number: 7768425
    Abstract: A sensing system for sensing conditions or characteristics associated with a process or thing. The sensing system includes one or more energy converters and a sensor, which are coupled to the process or thing. A node is coupled to the sensor and the energy-converter, and the node is powered by output from the energy converter. In a more specific embodiment, the node includes a controller that implements one or more routines for selectively powering a wireless transmitter of the node based on a predetermined condition. The predetermined condition may specify that sensor output values are within a predetermined range or are below or above a predetermined threshold. Alternatively, the predetermined condition may specify that electrical energy output from the energy converter is below a predetermined threshold. A remote computer may be wirelessly connected to node and may include software and/or hardware that is adapted to process information output by the sensor and relayed to the computer via the node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignees: The Regents of the University of California, Alcoa Technical Center
    Inventors: James William Evans, Michael Harris Schneider, Daniel Artemis Steingart, Paul K. Wright, Donald P. Ziegler
  • Publication number: 20090065041
    Abstract: A sensing system for sensing conditions or characteristics associated with a process or thing. The sensing system includes one or more energy converters and a sensor, which are coupled to the process or thing. A node is coupled to the sensor and the energy-converter, and the node is powered by output from the energy converter. In a more specific embodiment, the node includes a controller that implements one or more routines for selectively powering a wireless transmitter of the node based on a predetermined condition. The predetermined condition may specify that sensor output values are within a predetermined range or are below or above a predetermined threshold. Alternatively, the predetermined condition may specify that electrical energy output from the energy converter is below a predetermined threshold. A remote computer may be wirelessly connected to node and may include software and/or hardware that is adapted to process information output by the sensor and relayed to the computer via the node.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2008
    Publication date: March 12, 2009
    Applicants: The Regents of the University of California, Alcoa Technical Center
    Inventors: James William Evans, Michael Harris Schneider, Daniel Artemis Steingart, Paul K. Wright, Donald P. Ziegler
  • Patent number: 7466240
    Abstract: A sensing system for sensing conditions or characteristics associated with a process or thing. The sensing system includes one or more energy converters and a sensor, which are coupled to the process or thing. A node is coupled to the sensor and the energy-converter, and the node is powered by output from the energy converter. In a more specific embodiment, the node includes a controller that implements one or more routines for selectively powering a wireless transmitter of the node based on a predetermined condition. The predetermined condition may specify that sensor output values are within a predetermined range or are below or above a predetermined threshold. Alternatively, the predetermined condition may specify that electrical energy output from the energy converter is below a predetermined threshold. A remote computer may be wirelessly connected to node and may include software and/or hardware that is adapted to process information output by the sensor and relayed to the computer via the node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2008
    Assignees: The Retents of the University of California, Alcoa Technical Center
    Inventors: James William Evans, Michael Harris Schneider, Daniel Artemis Steingart, Paul K. Wright, Donald P. Ziegler
  • Publication number: 20060176175
    Abstract: A sensing system for sensing conditions or characteristics associated with a process or thing. The sensing system includes one or more energy converters and a sensor, which are coupled to the process or thing. A node is coupled to the sensor and the energy-converter, and the node is powered by output from the energy converter. In a more specific embodiment, the node includes a controller that implements one or more routines for selectively powering a wireless transmitter of the node based on a predetermined condition. The predetermined condition may specify that sensor output values are within a predetermined range or are below or above a predetermined threshold. Alternatively, the predetermined condition may specify that electrical energy output from the energy converter is below a predetermined threshold. A remote computer may be wirelessly connected to node and may include software and/or hardware that is adapted to process information output by the sensor and relayed to the computer via the node.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2006
    Publication date: August 10, 2006
    Applicants: The Regents of the University of California, Alcoa Technical Center
    Inventors: James Evans, Michael Schneider, Daniel Steingart, Paul Wright, Donald Ziegler