Patents by Inventor Gerard D. Smits

Gerard D. Smits has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20190196499
    Abstract: Provided is a system for providing precision localization for intelligent vehicles, the system including a sensor facing downward to capture information corresponding to an intelligent vehicle below, and in a field of view of, the sensor, and a transmitter for transmitting the information captured by the sensor to the intelligent vehicle to enable the vehicle to take an action based on the information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 24, 2018
    Publication date: June 27, 2019
    Inventors: Brian Paden, Gerard D. Smits, John B. Ricks
  • Patent number: 7706638
    Abstract: A color machine vision system with two or more differently colored light sources and one black and white photoelectric sensor (BW sensor). The light sources are employed to separately illuminate a target object with a different color, e.g., red, green, blue, magenta, yellow, and cyan. The BW sensor senses the reflection of colored light off the target object from each light source. A separate measurement is generated by the BW sensor for the reflected colored light from each light source and stored for further processing to render a color image of the target object. A calibration is performed to enable the BW sensor to sense reflected colored light from the target object in a linear mode, not the non-linear (saturated) mode. Since calibration enables the BW sensor's electronic components to operate (sense reflected primary colored light) in a relatively linear mode, the sensor is relatively accurate and fast in alternatively sensing/measuring reflected primary colored light from each of the light sources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Gerard D. Smits
  • Patent number: 5432913
    Abstract: A computer system module includes a central processing unit (CPU), a floating-point accelerator (FPA), a read/write buffer (RWB), cache memory, a clock generator, buffers, and reset logic. The signal composition of the module includes: Configuration Buffer Enable (CfgEn); Page Write (PgWrt); Block Match (BlkMtch); Byte Write Mask (WrMsk); and Test Enable (TestEn). The layout of the various components on a printed circuit board (PCB) minimizes transmission line effects, such as transmission line delay (t.sub.D) and signal reflections, by keeping trace lengths as short as possible, and no line terminations are required. A heat sink (heat spreader) is provided for critical semiconductor devices, such as the CPU and the FPA. The heat sink includes a broad flat section and a button protruding from a surface thereof. An unpackaged device is mounted to the button, with a thermally and electrically conductive adhesive, and is inserted through a hole in the PCB.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 11, 1995
    Inventors: Gerard D. Smits, Leonardo Vainsencher