Patents by Inventor Michael A. Stearns

Michael A. Stearns 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: 20230413446
    Abstract: A method includes causing, by a computing system comprising at least one processing device, a diagnostic disc placed within a processing chamber to generate sensor data of at least one component of the processing chamber using a set of non-contact sensors of the diagnostic disc, receiving, by the computing system, the sensor data from the diagnostic disc via a wireless connection established between the computing system and the diagnostic disc, determining, by the computing system based on the sensor data, whether at least one of alignment concentricity is skewed with respect to the at least one component, and in response to determining that at least one of alignment or concentricity is skewed with respect to the at least one component, initiating, by the computing system, correction of at least one of alignment or concentricity of the at least one component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2023
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Phillip A. Criminale, Zhiqiang Guo, Andrew Myles, Martin Perez-Guzman, Nelson Joseph Gaspard, Timothy Joseph Franklin, Michael A. Stearns
  • Publication number: 20220299995
    Abstract: Autonomous vehicle inventory inspection and management is provided for a GPS-denied indoor warehouse with the objective of achieving fast, yet accurate warehouse inventory assessment. The warehouse stores inventory organized in a distributed and substantially parallel fashion. Passive identification markers are located on the racks for aiding navigation of the autonomous vehicle. Travel paths for the autonomous vehicle are predefined. They are relatively straight paths in between the racks, substantially constant and lateral first distance relative to at least one of two racks along its row, a substantially constant first height relative to a warehouse floor and a substantially constant speed for the autonomous vehicle. These requirements are important to attain the objective of faster, yet accurate inventory inspection and management. During travel, acquisition systems capture information of the inventory, which is synchronized with a digital management system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2020
    Publication date: September 22, 2022
    Inventors: Srinivasan K. Ganapathi, Sumil Majithia, Javier Cisneros, Michael A, Stearns, Kunal Manoj Agrawal, Shubham Chechani, Nikolay Skarbnik, Marc Mignard, Dheepak Nand Kishore Khatri
  • Publication number: 20210374659
    Abstract: Tracking and digitization method and system for warehouse inventory management is provided to greatly increase the visibility of the events at a warehouse, provide a comprehensive cataloging of every single event, compare that event against the expected event, and report any discrepancies immediately so that they can be fixed prior to causing costly mistakes. Further, it reduces the need for costly quality control personnel in the warehouse. Embodiments of this invention greatly enhance the accuracy of inventory, at a vastly reduced cost. In an indoor environment, GPS cannot be used to track the location of the forklifts or vehicles in the warehouse because most warehouses have metal constructions and present a “GPS denied” environment. Hence one must resort to vision, lidar, or inertial, or a combination of such sensors to accurately track location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Inventors: Srinivasan K. Ganapathi, Shubham Chechani, Michael A. Stearns, Dheepak Khatri
  • Publication number: 20210147076
    Abstract: A vehicle is provided having at least one control motor that includes a drive motor having a stationary portion and a rotatable portion, where the drive motor rotatable portion is coupled to a rotor shaft, where the drive motor is configured to rotate the rotor shaft, where the rotor shaft is coupled to a rotor, at least one pitch motor having a stationary portion and a rotatable portion, where the stationary portion of the pitch motor is a stator, where each pitch motor rotatable portion includes a pitch control linkage, where the pitch motor rotatable portion is connected to the rotor through the pitch control linkage, and at least one variable pitch blade holder connected to the pitch control linkage, where a pitch angle of the blade holder is capable of being adjusted by the pitch motor within each revolution of the rotor through the use of control signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Publication date: May 20, 2021
    Inventors: Michael A. Stearns, Marc Mignard, Strinivasan K. Ganapathi, W. James MacKeefery