Abstract: A marine air gun generates an acoustic signal in water, for example, during a marine seismic survey. The marine air gun includes digital electronic circuitry. The digital electronic circuitry may control an actuator of the marine air gun, digitize and store data from sensors located on or near the marine air gun, send and/or receive digital communications, store and/or output electrical energy, and/or perform other functions. A marine seismic source system that includes multiple air gun clusters may have a separate digital communication link between a command center and each air gun cluster. Each communication link may provide power and digital communication between the command center and one of the air gun clusters.

Abstract: A system and method for flight planning determines an optimal route by setting an initial departure weight or range of such weights for an aircraft traveling from a departure airport to a destination airport, defining a network of nodes for potentially legal routes, labeling each node with a graph of fuel needed to reach that node either as a function of flight duration or as a function of flight duration and departure weight, selecting or discarding routes when conditions at a node of that route are favorable or violated, selecting a preferred route, departure weight and duration for the desired payload and minimizing fuel for the desired route and payload.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for wireless communication of time and attendance information are disclosed. A time and attendance device may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit may be configured to receive identification information that identifies at least one user of the time and attendance device. The transmitting unit may be configured to transmit the received identification information to an external server over the wireless network. Related time information that indicates a time at which the receiving unit received the identification information may be captured and also transmitted to the external server.

Abstract: A marine air gun generates an acoustic signal in water, for example, during a marine seismic survey. The marine air gun includes digital electronic circuitry. The digital electronic circuitry may control an actuator of the marine air gun, digitize and store data from sensors located on or near the marine air gun, send and/or receive digital communications, store and/or output electrical energy, and/or perform other functions. A marine seismic source system that includes multiple air gun clusters may have a separate digital communication link between a command center and each air gun cluster. Each communication link may provide power and digital communication between the command center and one of the air gun clusters.

Abstract: An electronic map system obtains a vehicle's GPS fix from a GPS receiver and compares the fix with nearby map features such as road segments. Due to GPS inaccuracies, several such map features may correspond to a GPS fix. To determine which map feature should be shown as the location of the vehicle on the electronic map, the system infers a best fit among the map features that are close to the GPS fix by considering both distance and inferred characteristics of each map feature, such as prior GPS fixes and typical vehicle direction and speed on such feature. Some of these characteristics may be retrieved from a database and may be based on historical observations while others may be obtained in real time, for instance from on-board vehicle sensors.

Abstract: A marine air gun generates an acoustic signal in water, for example, during a marine seismic survey. The marine air gun includes digital electronic circuitry. The digital electronic circuitry may control an actuator of the marine air gun, digitize and store data from sensors located on or near the marine air gun, send and/or receive digital communications, store and/or output electrical energy, and/or perform other functions. A marine seismic source system that includes multiple air gun clusters may have a separate digital communication link between a command center and each air gun cluster. Each communication link may provide power and digital communication between the command center and one of the air gun clusters.

Abstract: A marine air gun generates an acoustic signal in water, for example, during a marine seismic survey. The marine air gun includes digital electronic circuitry. The digital electronic circuitry may control an actuator of the marine air gun, digitize and store data from sensors located on or near the marine air gun, send and/or receive digital communications, store and/or output electrical energy, and/or perform other functions. A marine seismic source system that includes multiple air gun clusters may have a separate digital communication link between a command center and each air gun cluster. Each communication link may provide power and digital communication between the command center and one of the air gun clusters.

Abstract: A system and method for flight planning determines an optimal route by first assuming that the gross payload of a plane is used for fuel, determining legal routes based on to-capacity fueling, determining available payload for possible flight segments by removing unneeded fuel, selecting an optimal route for a desired payload, and minimizing fueling for the selected route.

Abstract: Increased efficiency and lower cost job scheduling is provided by a system and method that optimizes for cost instead of makespan, and minimizes fluctuations in resource utilization. A schedule is constructed using a workflow scheduling system that includes a load leveler, a cost minimizer, and a manpower planner. The load leveler minimizes makespan, subject to resource limits, and then lowers the resource limits, repeating the process in order to create a flatter schedule. The cost minimizer generates an initial solution, and then incrementally improves it, using the manpower planner to evaluate the different possible solutions. The manpower planner calculates, for a given schedule, the optimal hire/fire decisions to minimize total cost.

Abstract: A marine air gun generates an acoustic signal in water, for example, during a marine seismic survey. The marine air gun includes digital electronic circuitry. The digital electronic circuitry may control an actuator of the marine air gun, digitize and store data from sensors located on or near the marine air gun, send and/or receive digital communications, store and/or output electrical energy, and/or perform other functions. A marine seismic source system that includes multiple air gun clusters may have a separate digital communication link between a command center and each air gun cluster. Each communication link may provide power and digital communication between the command center and one of the air gun clusters.

Abstract: A system and method for flight planning determines an optimal route by considering a region of operation for an aircraft in a flight segment, dividing the region into subregions; estimating a minimum cost to traverse each subregion, determining the optimal route based on the sum of the estimates.

Abstract: Traffic information readings corresponding to a vehicle are received, the readings including at least a location. The traffic information readings are compared to information already within a map database, and are used to derive additional map information augmenting or correcting that already within the database, the additional map information subsequently being stored in the database. Additional information that is derived includes the presence of stop signs and traffic lights at intersections, the legality of turns at certain times of day, and the connectedness or non-connectedness of road segments.

Abstract: A digital time clock that may be used in conjunction with a mechanical time clock. The digital time clock is placed on or adjacent to an existing mechanical time clock. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is associated with each time card that is distributed to employees. As an employee inserts a time card into the mechanical time clock, the digital time clock detects the proximity of the time card and reads the RFID tag. An RFID identifier is stored along with an indication of the time that the identifier was read. The digital time clock may be kept in a low-power standby state until the time card is detected, at which time the digital time clock enters an operational state. The digital time clock may be transported to a location where payroll is to be performed, and data downloaded to a processing device.

Abstract: A system and method for distribution of campaign resources generates proposed allocations of resources, predicts electoral results based on such proposals, and selects strategies based on predetermined metrics. Both the activities of a protagonist (e.g., candidate) and of one or more opponents are considered. A campaign model considers polling impacts from the proposed allocations as well as electoral projections based on polling. Results are presented to a user via maps and timelines, as well as by alphanumeric data.

Abstract: N or more dimensions of information are presented on a conventional M-dimensional graph, where N>M, using a visual attribute type such as color to depict the additional dimensions of information. Each data input value comprised by the graph has additional values beyond those representing the M-dimensional aspects, and the visual attributes with which the data input value is presented on the graph is a function of these additional values. In one embodiment, a two-dimensional bar graph employs color to provide a visualization of the quality of a work schedule by depicting not only time and resource utilization, but also criticality of component work tasks.

Abstract: A spout control system controls and aims a spout and a spout cap of a crop harvesting vehicle with respect to a separate crop hauling vehicle moving with the harvesting vehicle. The control system includes a video camera which is mounted on the cap and which views a field of view which includes a portion of the hauling vehicle. An image signal generated by the camera is received by an image processing unit. The image processing unit processes a digitized form of the image signal and automatically generates spout and cap control signals as a function thereof. Actuators automatically aim the spout and the cap in response to the control signal.

Abstract: One aspect of the invention is a system controlling individual access at an airport. The system comprising an access card having machine readable information of an encoded biometric characteristic. An access control terminal includes a reader for reading the encoded biometric characteristic from the access card. A biometric reader makes a contemporaneous biometric reading of the presenting individual. A processor grants or denies access by comparing the read encoded biometric reading with the presenting individual biometric reading. Another aspect of the invention is controlling entry to commercial vehicles. A biometric reading of a passenger is taken. A boarding pass having the passenger's biometric reading is generated. A contemporaneous biometric reading of each passenger presenting a boarding pass is taken. The presented boarding pass encoded information is compared to a contemporaneous input. Based on the comparison, access is granted or denied.

Abstract: A rotary input drive member (34) is connected by external splines (44) to internal splines (50) on an intermediate drive member (48). The intermediate drive member (48) is connected by external splines (52) to internal splines (46) on an output drive member (38). The output drive member (38) is connected by gear teeth (186) to a gear bracket (188) that is on a fuel pump shaft (192). The intermediate drive member (48) is connected to a drive plate (100) which is movable axially back and forth along guide pins (106) which are parallel to the axis of the fuel pump shaft (192). The intermediate drive member (48) is restrained against movement axially relative to the drive plate (100) but is free to rotate relative to the drive plate (100). The sides of the drive plate (100) include trunnions (130) which are received in diagonal slots (138, 140) provided in side members (134, 136) of a yoke that in addition to the side members (134, 136) includes a top member (132).

Abstract: A biometric time and attendance device for scanning an epidermal portion of a human body, generating an epidermal topographical pattern and transmitting the epidermal topographical pattern to a host computer for determining access privileges and for updating epidermal topographical database.