Abstract: A pre-assembled insulated weld backing ring for a tubular section of the pipeline. The weld backing ring includes a metal cylinder and an insulation layer. The metal cylinder has a ring-shaped anterior portion and a ring-shaped raised posterior portion with a step therebetween. The posterior portion has a larger diameter than the anterior portion to define an insulation pocket. The insulation layer is positioned on the external surface of the metal cylinder. The insulation layer is made of an insulated material positioned in the insulation pocket to define a protective barrier to protect the tubular section during welding. The weld backing ring may also include a second metal cylinder positioned on the insulation layer. The weld backing ring may be pre-assembled by applying a tubular metal section material to a sheet of metal and rolling the sheet of metal to form the metal cylinder.

Abstract: Autonomous carriers or totes that include vacuum units are provided. As the totes move or are moved through a warehouse carrying products, they collect debris. The debris can be analyzed at the tote, and actions can be performed based upon the analysis.

Abstract: At least one exemplary embodiment is directed to a method and device for voice operated control with learning. The method can include measuring a first sound received from a first microphone, measuring a second sound received from a second microphone, detecting a spoken voice based on an analysis of measurements taken at the first and second microphone, learning from the analysis when the user is speaking and a speaking level in noisy environments, training a decision unit from the learning to be robust to a detection of the spoken voice in the noisy environments, mixing the first sound and the second sound to produce a mixed signal, and controlling the production of the mixed signal based on the learning of one or more aspects of the spoken voice and ambient sounds in the noisy environments.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for generating a transmission wave. The apparatus includes a plurality of antennas and a plurality of signal generators. The plurality of antennas has polarization diversity. The plurality of signal generators are each coupled to one of the antennas and configured to generate a continuous twisted wave by driving each of the antennas using independent, coordinated, and distinct sinusoidal waves, and having a twist frequency and a carrier frequency, the twist frequency lower than the carrier frequency. A method is also provided.

Abstract: An orbital satellite has a pair of multi-axis booms including both thrusters for course/attitude adjustment and an end effector for grappling payloads and manipulating other tools and objects. The satellite may launch with a primary payload affixed to a bus and one or more secondary payloads affixed to an ESPA ring. Once in orbit, the end effector may be used to grapple the primary and/or secondary payloads and rearrange them on the bus. In further aspects, the end effector may be used to make bus repairs or take measurements, or hold tools that are used to make bus repairs or take measurements.

Abstract: The technology relates to autonomous vehicles for transporting cargo and/or people between locations. Distributed sensor arrangements may not be suitable for vehicles such as large trucks, busses or construction vehicles. Side view mirror assemblies are provided that include a sensor suite of different types of sensors, including LIDAR, radar, cameras, etc. Each side assembly is rigidly secured to the vehicle by a mounting element. The sensors within the assembly may be aligned or arranged relative to a common axis or physical point of the housing. This enables self-referenced calibration of all sensors in the housing. Vehicle-level calibration can also be performed between the sensors on the left and right sides of the vehicle. Each side view mirror assembly may include a conduit that provides one or more of power, data and cooling to the sensors in the housing.

Abstract: A method for managing cloud infrastructure includes receiving, from a user of a user device, a cloud infrastructure modification request requesting modification to cloud infrastructure. The cloud infrastructure modification request includes abstract configuration data derived from a user interaction with a graphical user interface (GUI) executing on the user device. The method includes translating the abstract configuration data into a configuration command. The configuration command describes a configuration of the cloud infrastructure. The method includes updating a configuration file with the configuration command. The configuration file includes one or more cloud infrastructure specifications for the cloud infrastructure and is controlled by a source control management system. The method includes provisioning, using the updated configuration file, the cloud infrastructure.

Abstract: One example method includes collecting information concerning respective data access patterns of one or more customers, using the information, and work window information, to calculate a respective data retrieval frequency for each of the customers, and enabling the customers to retrieve data according to their respective data retrieval frequency. The collected information may be weighted prior to calculation of the data retrieval frequency, and the data retrieval frequency may be updated automatically in response to changes in customer data.

Abstract: A system includes sensors for monitoring signals, and a processing system executes one or more methods for identification of system events, from the signals, corresponding to state changes and performance of the system and/or its subcomponents. Event identification is performed with classification and/or other machine learning algorithms, with generation of novel training data sets. The sensor(s) can also be used to determine power consumption information about the system and/or its subcomponents. The system processes event-associated outputs for execution of actions for improving system performance, along with other downstream applications.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a utility vehicle having a pivotable seat connected by a hinge to a fixed platform. The pivotable seat configured to pivot between a first position and a second position defining a standard seat location and a first wall of a cargo bay, respectively. A seatback is configured to form a second wall of a cargo bay when the pivotable seat is in the second position. First and second opposing side walls are positioned on either side of the pivotable seat. The side walls are configured to form barriers at either side of the cargo bay when the pivotable seat is in the second position.

Abstract: A request to authenticate is received. For example, the request to authenticate may be to authenticate to a software application or a device. The request to authenticate is for a first authentication level for a user. The first authentication level is one of a plurality of authentication levels for the user. The request to authenticate is authorized based on a provided one or more authentication factors (e.g., a valid username/password). A plurality of authentication tokens are retrieved. The plurality of authentication tokens are associated with the first authentication level. In addition, each authentication token of the plurality of authentication tokens is associated with an individual application of a plurality of applications. Access to information in the plurality of applications is granted based on the plurality of authentication tokens.

Abstract: According to some embodiments, a system may treat blood outside the body of a patient. The system may include one or more pumps configured to pump blood in a fluid flow path at a collective rate over 4 liters per minute. The system may include one or more heat exchangers operable to heat at least a portion of the blood to a temperature of at least 42 degrees Celsius and to allow the blood to cool one or more degrees following heating. The system may include one or more albumin dialysis modules configured to perform albumin dialysis on at least a portion of the blood at least after the one or more heat exchangers allow the blood to cool one or more degrees.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides for using multiple inertial measurement units (IMUs) to recognize particular user activity, such as particular types of exercises and repetitions of such exercises. The IMUs may be located in consumer products, such as smartwatches and earbuds. Each IMU may include an accelerometer and a gyroscope, each with three axes of measurement, for a total of 12 raw measurement streams. A training image includes a plurality of subplots or tiles, each depicting a separate data stream. The training image is then used to train a machine learning model to recognize IMU data as corresponding to a particular type of exercise.

Abstract: A system for opening and closing a door within a cabinet is provided. The system includes a motor in communication with a controller to automatically open and close a door. A first plate fixed to the motor shaft to rotate with rotation of the motor shaft, the plate comprises a slot disposed therein. A first leg extends from a door that extends through the slot. A second leg extends from the door. A first sensor moves based upon rotation of the motor shaft, wherein the first sensor can detect relative motion between the motor shaft and the door, wherein when the motor shaft is rotated in the second direction and the first sensor detects relative motion between the motor shaft and the door, the first sensor sends a signal to the controller, wherein upon receipt of the signal the first sensor discontinues sending the second signal to the motor.

Abstract: An inflow control device, including a housing, a flow restrictor defined within the housing, an outflow area defined within the housing fluidly connected to the flow restrictor; and a disperser disposed within the outflow area. A method for reducing erosion in an inflow control device, including flowing a fluid through a flow restrictor, creating a jet of fluid leaving the flow restrictor, impinging the jet on a disperser in an outflow area for the flow restrictor, and dispersing the jetting fluid. A borehole system including a borehole in a subsurface formation, an inflow control device disposed within the borehole.

Abstract: Systems/techniques that facilitate interpretable task-specific dimensionality-reduction are provided. In various embodiments, a system can access a three-dimensional medical image. In various aspects, the system can generate, via execution of a first deep learning neural network, a voxel-wise weight map corresponding to the three-dimensional medical image and a set of projection vectors corresponding to the three-dimensional medical image. In various instances, the system can generate a set of two-dimensional projection images of the three-dimensional medical image, based on the voxel-wise weight map and the set of projection vectors. In various cases, the first deep learning neural network can be trained in a serial pipeline with a second deep learning neural network that is configured to perform an inferencing task on two-dimensional inputs. This can cause the set of two-dimensional projection images to be tailored to the inferencing task.

Abstract: Techniques are described that facilitate dynamic multimodal segmentation selection and fusion in medical imaging. In one example embodiment, a computer processing system receives a segmentation dataset comprising a combination of different image segmentations of an anatomical object of interest respectively segmented via different segmentation models from different medical images captured of the (same) anatomical object, wherein the different medical images and the different image segmentations vary with respect to at least one of, capture modality, acquisition protocol, or acquisition parameters. The system employs a dynamic ranking protocol as opposed to a static ranking protocol to determine ranking scores for the different image segmentations that control relative contributions of the different image segmentations in association with combining the different image segmentations into a fused segmentation for the anatomical object.

Abstract: In the disclosed transaction processing system, a system and method are described that increase the ease of access and use of different currency networks by consumers using customizable transaction devices. The customizable transaction devices may be re-programmed prior to or during a currency transaction in accordance with the consensus protocol of the currency network associated with the currency transaction. The currency network further includes one or more host devices, each of which include an interface configured to communicate with a transaction device for the purposes of re-programming a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) of the transaction device according to one or more currency network consensus protocols. Optimizing the performance of transaction devices for proof-of-work or other consensus protocol processing decreases the latency associated with validating currency network transactions, thereby increasing the suitability of cryptocurrency for retail transactions.

Abstract: The disclosed technology includes a tank system including a gravity tank configured to contain water at atmospheric pressure, a rigid pressurized tank positioned within the gravity tank and configured to contain water at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, and a piston assembly positioned below the rigid pressurized tank and configured to open and close the rigid pressurized tank. The gravity tank is configured to channel water at atmospheric pressure into a toilet bowl at a first velocity and the rigid pressurized tank is configured to channel water at the pressure greater than atmospheric pressure into the toilet bowl at a second velocity. The second velocity is greater than the first velocity.

Abstract: A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system can emit light toward an environment and detect responsively reflected light to determine a distance to one or more points in the environment. The reflected light can be detected by a plurality of plurality of photodiodes that are reverse-biased using a high voltage. Signals from the plurality of reverse-biased photodiodes can be amplified by respective transistors and applied to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The signal from a particular photodiode can be applied to the ADC by biasing a respective transistor corresponding to the particular photodiode while not biasing transistors corresponding to other photodiodes. The gain of each photodiode/transistor pair can be controlled by adjusting the bias voltage applied to each photodiode using a digital-to-analog converter. The gain of each photodiode/transistor pair can be controlled based on the detected temperature of each photodiode.