Abstract: A brake system including a brake pad shaped and located to frictionally engage a brake rotor and an actuator shaped and located to act upon the brake pad to cause the brake pad to frictionally engage the rotor. The system further includes a sensor material which varies in resistance when the actuator acts upon the brake pad, wherein the sensor material includes an electrically insulating material with electrically conductive particles distributed therein. The system further includes a controller operatively coupled to the sensor material to detect a change in resistance of the sensor material.

Abstract: A chemical vapor sensor is provided that passively measures a chemical species of interest with high sensitivity and chemical specificity. In an aspect, ethanol vapor in a vehicle cabin is measured, and sufficient sensitivity is provided to passively detect a motor vehicle driver that exceeds a legal limit of blood alcohol concentration (BAC), for use with vehicle safety systems. The sensor can be situated in an inconspicuous vehicle cabin location and operate independently without requiring active involvement by a driver. A vapor concentrator is utilized to amplify a sampled vapor concentration to a detectible level for use with an infrared (IR) detector. In an aspect, in comparison to conventional chemical sensors, the sensitivity of detection of ethanol vapor is increased by a factor of about 1,000. Further, a single channel of infrared detection is utilized avoiding spurious infrared absorption and making the chemical vapor sensor less costly to implement.

Abstract: A thermoelectric material having enhanced Seebeck coefficient is characterized by a microstructure comprising nanoscale Pb inclusions dispersed in matrix substantially composed of PbTe. The excess Pb is obtained either by adding Pb in an amount greater than the stoichiometric amount needed to form PbTe, or by adding an additive effective to getter Te so as to produce the desired excess. The method is generally applicable to enhance thermoelectric properties of compounds of Pb, Sn or Ge, and Te, Se, or S.

Abstract: A brake system including a brake pad shaped and located to apply pressure to a brake rotor and an actuator shaped and located to apply pressure to the brake pad to cause the brake pad to apply pressure to the rotor. The system further includes a sensor material which varies in resistance when the actuator applies pressure to the brake pad, wherein the sensor material include an electrically insulating material with electrically conductive particles distributed therein. The system further includes a controller operatively coupled to the sensor material to detect a change in resistance of the sensor material.

Abstract: Respiration and heart rate are monitored using a fluid-filled bladder, where the bladder pressure is measured and processed to identify minute pressure variations corresponding to the respiration and heart rate of a subject that is directly or indirectly exerting a load on the bladder. The respiration rate is identified by band-pass filtering the measured pressure to isolate or extract a pressure component in range of 0.15-0.5 Hz, and the heart rate is identified by band-pass filtering the measured pressure to isolate or extract a pressure component in the range of 2-7 Hz. The extracted pressure components are preferably converted to a digital format and tabulated for comparison with specified thresholds to identify abnormalities and/or anomalies.