Abstract: The driving method of the present invention is a driving method to drive a stepping motor driven by a predetermined driving pulse, by the servo driving method, and is characterized in that a predetermined sampling period is set, and the generation condition of the driving pulse to drive the stepping motor is set at the sampling periods. Thereby, the stepping motor can be driven while the most suitable driving condition is determined at the predetermined sampling periods. That is, since the driving condition of the stepping motor can be changed at the sampling periods, even when the stepping motor driven by the driving pulse is the driving source, appropriate servo control can be realized.

Abstract: Disclosed is a monitor device for a moving body such as a vehicle, aircraft or vessel, moving at a certain speed. The monitor device displays an image of a front scene of the moving body with the image of the central area being enlarged in accordance with the running speed of the moving body such that condition of a far away portion can be recognized accurately. A zoom ratio calculating section determines a zoom ratio in accordance with running speed of the moving body. The area of image to be displayed is selected in accordance with the zoom ratio and the image of the selected area is displayed on a display screen in an enlarged form. A specially designed distortion lens may be used to take the picture of the front scene to form an image of the scene with its central area being optically enlarged.

Abstract: In a truss-type driving apparatus, the amplitude of each displacement member and the phase difference therebetween are detected, and by adjusting the amplitudes or the phases of the impressed voltages to drive the displacement members based on the results of such detection, the elliptical locus drawn by the synthesizing member of the truss-type driving apparatus during driving is adjusted such that the desired driving characteristics are obtained.

Abstract: When an image capturing apparatus and an operation apparatus become connected to each other, function information is transmitted from the image capturing apparatus to the operation apparatus. The operation apparatus can recognize the functions effective in the image capturing apparatus by receiving the function information from the image capturing apparatus. The operation apparatus compares the received function information with the functions that can be processed by the operation apparatus, and sets the protocol. The protocol includes ones that is associated with a moving image attribute associated with moving image data and that is associated with the shooting function of the image capturing apparatus. Then, the operation apparatus transmits protocol information to the image capturing apparatus. Thereafter, the image capturing apparatus and the operation apparatus perform data communication based on the protocol.

Abstract: When image data is transmitted from an image shooting apparatus to an operation apparatus, the shooting time at which image shooting is performed (index information) is transmitted together with the image data. Receiving the image data, the operation apparatus performs image display based on the image data. While visually confirming the image displayed on the operation apparatus, the user inputs an operation command such as image recording when a desired image is displayed. Consequently, the operation apparatus generates a command corresponding to the operation command. Then, the operation apparatus transmits the received shooting time together with the image data to be displayed and the command to the image shooting apparatus. Receiving the command, the image shooting apparatus identifies the image data which the command is issued for, and appropriately executes the command.

Abstract: The present invention provides a truss actuator offering reduced noise, vibration and wear, which is capable of speed control of the driven member and can control the output to the driven member at a constant level regardless of fluctuations in the load on the actuator or in the environment in which the actuator is used. In the truss actuator, one displacement unit 2 or 3 is driven and this oscillation is transmitted to the other displacement unit 3 or 2, and the truss actuator includes two displacement sensors 11 and 12 that respectively detect the displacement of the displacement units, a phase difference detecting unit 13 that detects via the displacement sensors the phase difference between the detected displacement values, a target phase difference setting unit (a CPU 20, etc.

Abstract: An actuator includes at least two piezoelectric devices arranged for crossing displacing directions thereof at a predetermined angle, a chip member provided at a coupling point of the piezoelectric devices, and a spring for contacting the chip member to a rotor driven by the actuator. The piezoelectric device is driven for moving the chip member trailing an elliptical trail. The rotation velocity or the driving torque of the rotor is controlled by varying at least one of a length of a major axis or a minor axis of the elliptical trail and an inclination angle of the major axis or the minor axis with respect to a normal at a contacting point of the chip member and the rotor.

Abstract: In a truss-type actuator, drive signals that have been subjected to frequency modulation are impressed to the electromechanical conversion elements in order to improve the driving of the actuator. By doing so, stable driving that is not affected by fluctuations in the resonance frequency is enabled without feedback.

Abstract: In a truss-type driving apparatus, the amplitude of each displacement member and the phase difference therebetween are detected, and by adjusting the amplitudes or the phases of the impressed voltages to drive the displacement members based on the results of such detection, the elliptical locus drawn by the synthesizing member of the truss-type driving apparatus during driving is adjusted such that the desired driving characteristics are obtained.

Abstract: In a truss-type actuator, drive signals that have been subjected to frequency modulation are impressed to the electromechanical conversion elements in order to improve the driving of the actuator. By doing so, stable driving that is not affected by fluctuations in the resonance frequency is enabled without feedback.

Abstract: The present invention provides an image shooting apparatus capable of accurately connecting split images while avoiding increase in the size of the apparatus. The stop positions of an image forming portion 10 is detected on the order equal to the pixel pitch, the shift amounts of the shot split images are obtained from the shift amounts of the stop positions of the image forming portion 10, and for each split image, the address is converted to a normal address based on the shift amount.

Abstract: An image processing system has an image acquisition unit, a document inclination acquisition unit and a correction unit. The image acquisition unit acquires a plurality of segment images by segment image sensing on a plurality of image sensing directions of a surface of an image sensing target while an image sensing device is stationary in a fixed standard direction. The document inclination acquisition unit acquires the inclination of the surface of the image sensing target relative to the standard direction. The correction unit corrects the plurality of obtained segment images in accordance with the inclination of the surface of the image sensing target and the inclination in the image sensing direction relative to the standard direction.

Abstract: The present invention provides a truss actuator offering reduced noise, vibration and wear, which is capable of speed control of the driven member and can control the output to the driven member at a constant level regardless of fluctuations in the load on the actuator or in the environment in which the actuator is used.

Abstract: An actuator includes at least two piezoelectric devices arranged for crossing displacing directions thereof at a predetermined angle, a chip member provided at a coupling point of the piezoelectric devices, and a spring for contacting the chip member to a rotor driven by the actuator. The piezoelectric device is driven for moving the chip member trailing an elliptical trail. The rotation velocity or the driving torque of the rotor is controlled by varying at least one of a length of a major axis or a minor axis of the elliptical trail and an inclination angle of the major axis or the minor axis with respect to a normal at a contacting point of the chip member and the rotor.

Abstract: A routeless guiding method for guiding a moving body, in which the driving speeds of the body's right and left driving wheels are independently controlled according to an operational expression including parameters based on a positional relation between the body's present position and a target position to guide the body to a target position without designating a route. To guide the body, the gain of an azimuth deviation parameter related to a traveling direction of the moving body to the target position is changed in response to the distance between the moving body and the target position, and further the gain is made to be of two kinds so that the traveling route of the moving body is not unstable in shifting from one gain to another.