Abstract: An aircraft which is attachable to, for example, a cellular phone. The aircraft is provided with at least four rotors actuated with compressed fluid or by ring-shaped electric motors.

Abstract: An optical system for image projection, particularly for projection devices of the “head-mounted” type, includes a display, an optical system for focusing an image formed by the display, and a light guide having an extended body, with two opposite, longitudinal, plane and parallel faces, and opposite ends which define first reflecting surface for coupling into the light guide and second reflecting surface for extracting the image from the light guide. Each light ray which propagates through the light guide undergoes at least three internal total reflections on the parallel plane faces of the light guide. At least a surface of the focusing optical system is a portion of a surface free of rotational symmetry axes. Moreover, the two reflecting surfaces of the light guide are portions of surfaces free of rotational symmetry axes. Finally, the inlet pupil of the light guide coincides with the outlet pupil of the focusing system.

Abstract: Multifunctional optical sensor, comprising a matrix of photodetectors of the CCD or CMOS type, having a sensitive area divided into sub-areas, each of which, individually or combined with others, is dedicated to a specific function of monitoring the scene or measuring environmental parameters. The optical sensor comprises a matrix of microlenses, each of which is set to focus the radiation coming from a portion of solid angle on the associated photodetector or cluster of mutually contiguous photodetectors. Each function is associated to a single microlens or to a single subgroup of mutually contiguous microlenses or to multiple, not mutually contiguous microlenses or to multiple, not mutually contiguous subgroups of microlenses. The angular separation between the central directions of the portions of solid angle subtended by adjacent photodetectors or adjacent clusters of photodetectors is not constant within the matrix.

Abstract: An optical module for projecting a light beam comprises a solid body of transparent material into which a light source is sunk and which is delimited by an annular surface and by a central surface, and a substantially annular reflecting surface arranged around the solid body. The central and annular surfaces are suitable for receiving respective distinct portions of the luminous flux produced by the source. The reflecting surface may have a reflecting coating or may form part of a transparent body, in which case it works by total internal reflection. The reflecting surface reflects a portion of luminous flux refracted by the annular surface and shapes the flux into a predetermined distribution of luminous intensity about the principal axis. The annular surface is designed in a manner such as to reduce the overall thickness of the module by moving the refracted ray away from the principal axis.

Abstract: The lighting device comprises a light source and an associated hollow reflector of transparent material having an internal surface and an external surface which are close to and far away from the source respectively. The inner surface of the reflector has in cross section at least one transverse plane passing through the source a discontinuous profile forming a plurality of adjacent steps each of which has a first face through which rays originating from the source can pass and a second face essentially parallel to the rays originating from the source. The outer surface of the reflector has a profile comprising one or more arcs of curves.

Abstract: An illumination arrangement for a vehicle headlight is formed of a plurality of contiguous elementary cells, each including a light source, defined by an emission surface having a horizontal dimension and a vertical dimension and capable of emitting a luminous flux, and an optical system capable of conveying the luminous flux at a predetermined solid angle about a predetermined direction. The elementary cells are disposed so as to generate overall a predetermined distribution of light emission. The horizontal dimension and the vertical dimension of the emission surface of the light sources are different. The vertical dimension is less than 1 mm and the ratio between the horizontal dimension and the vertical dimension is greater than 2.

Abstract: A reflector for a vehicle headlight is described, capable of illuminating the surrounding space according to a predetermined light distribution. The reflector is formed of a plurality of sectors capable of reflecting the light beam emitted by a light source of the headlight and directing it into predetermined regions of said light distribution. The major part of the sectors of the reflector is delimited at least in part by an edge in which the divergence value of the light beam reflected at said edge portions is constant. The sectors delimited by edge portions having lower values of the angle of spread are arranged to direct the light beam reflected thereby into the regions of the light distribution having a higher spatial gradient of illuminance.

Abstract: Described herein is a transparent device for display of information superimposed on a background, said device comprising a plurality of LED sources, addressable individually or in groups through a series of conductive paths deposited on a transparent underlayer and connected to a control electronics, in which: i) said LED sources are integrated in the form of dice, i.e., of elements obtained by dividing up a semiconductor wafer and without package; and ii) at least one of said conductive paths is with interrupted stretches and replaced by stretches of metal wire, bonded to said paths through a wire-bonding operation.

Abstract: Described herein is a transparent-display device for motor vehicles, to be used for presentation of information to the driver and/or to the passengers, said device comprising a plurality of LED sources, addressable individually or in groups through a series of conductive paths, deposited on a transparent underlayer and connected to a control electronics, in which: i) said LED sources are integrated in the form of dice, i.e., of elements obtained by dividing up a semiconductor wafer and without package; ii) said dice are integrated on, and electrically connected to, said underlayer via technologies of the chip-on-board type; and iii) said transparent underlayer 1 is pre-arranged for being at least in part superimposed on the windscreen of the vehicle, in such a way that at least part of the information presented to the user is superimposed on the background, said background being visible to the user through said windscreen.

Abstract: A method of fabrication of transparent LED devices, of the type comprising the operations of: i) providing a series of conductive paths on a transparent underlayer; ii) connecting said conductive paths to electronic control means; iii) associating to said underlayer an array of LED sources addressable individually or in groups through said conductive paths, in which i) said LED sources are integrated in the form of chips, i.e., of elements obtained by dividing up a semiconductor wafer and without package, via technologies of the chip-on-board type; ii) said method envisages the use of the flip-chip technique for die bonding, i.e., the electrical connection of the chip to the underlayer.

Abstract: An emitter (F) for incandescent light sources, in particular a filament, capable of being brought to incandescence by the passage of electric current is obtained in such a way as to have a value of spectral absorption ? that is high in the visible region of the spectrum and low in the infrared region of the spectrum, said absorption ? being defined as ?=1???T, where ? is the spectral reflectance and T is the spectral transmittance of the emitter.

Abstract: The invention describes a microaircraft, which can be associated for instance to a cellular phone, provided with at least four microrotors actuated with compressed fluid or by ring-shaped electric motors.

Abstract: A system for the production of electrical energy, comprising: a combustion chamber (14) made of material that is able to withstand high temperatures, an injection device (16) connected to said combustion chamber (14) by means of an injection conduit (15), means (17) for supplying combustion support substance into the combustion chamber (14) and means (18) for the removal of gaseous combustion products, means (26) for the selective emission of radiation onto the outer surface of the combustion chamber (14). The combustion chamber (14) is enclosed in a conversion chamber (20) within which are maintained sub-atmospheric pressure conditions, so that a substantial part of the heat developed by the combustion reaction is converted into electromagnetic radiation.

Abstract: A module for projecting a light beam comprises a light source and a substantially flat support surface on which the source is arranged in a manner such as to emit light from only one side of the surface, and a reflector for reflecting the light emitted by the source. The reflector comprises a curved reflecting surface which extends on one side of the support surface, has a concavity facing towards the support surface, and can reflect the light coming from the source in a principal direction substantially parallel to the support surface of the source. An optical device for a module according to the invention and a vehicle front light assembly comprising a plurality of modules according to the invention form further subjects of the invention.

Abstract: A system for projecting a virtual image within an observer's field of view comprises a support element, a transparent element mounted on the support element and suitable for being placed in front of the observer's eyes, the transparent element comprising a first face and a second face, an image display device suitable for forming an additional image, and a projection and focusing device for projecting the additional image in a manner such as to present it superimposed on the image of the outside world. The display device comprise light-emitting devices disposed on one of the faces of the transparent element, and the projection and focusing device comprise optical elements associated with respective emitting devices and arranged on the other face. Each of the optical elements creates a virtual image of the emitting device associated therewith. The virtual images of the emitting devices together form the additional image.

Abstract: A lighting device has a light source, comprising a volume (11) inside which combustion of a fuel-comburent mixture is confined. A photonic crystal structure (16) is positioned inside the volume (11). The photonic crystal structure (16) operates to inhibit or limit emission from said passage of at least a part of infrared radiation and simultaneously allow emission of visible light radiation. (FIG.

Abstract: A light-emitting device comprises a light source in the form of an incandescent filament, a substantial part of which is integrated in a host element having at least one portion structured according to nanometric dimensions. The nano-structured portion is in the form of a photonic crystal or of a Bragg grating, for the purpose of obtaining an amplified or increased emission of radiation in the region of the visible.

Abstract: A light concentrator is described, for a device for the conversion of solar radiation into electrical, thermal or chemical energy, capable of conveying the radiation towards a surface of the conversion device. The concentrator comprises at least one portion of Fresnel lens of rotational symmetry, one face of which has a plurality of crests disposed concentrically about a centre so as to form a segmented transverse profile of the portion of Fresnel lens. The profile is formed in such a manner that the focal distance of the Fresnel lens is variable in dependence on the radial distance from the centre of the lens. The variation of the focal distance is determined such that, when the Fresnel lens is illuminated by polychromatic radiation, the superposition of the distributions of irradiance, produced by the lens at the individual wavelengths constituting the spectrum of the incident radiation, generates a substantially uniform distribution of polychromatic irradiance on the conversion device.

Abstract: The lighting device comprises a light source and an associated hollow reflector of transparent material having an internal surface and an external surface which are close to and far away from the source respectively. The inner surface of the reflector has in cross section at least one transverse plane passing through the source a discontinuous profile forming a plurality of adjacent steps each of which has a first face through which rays originating from the source can pass and a second face essentially parallel to the rays originating from the source. The outer surface of the reflector has a profile comprising one or more arcs of curves.

Abstract: A reflector for a vehicle headlight is described, capable of illuminating the surrounding space according to a predetermined light distribution. The reflector is formed of a plurality of sectors capable of reflecting the light beam emitted by a light source of the headlight and directing it into predetermined regions of said light distribution. The major part of the sectors of the reflector is delimited at least in part by an edge in which the divergence value of the light beam reflected at said edge portions is constant. The sectors delimited by edge portions having lower values of the angle of spread are arranged to direct the light beam reflected thereby into the regions of the light distribution having a higher spatial gradient of illuminance.