Abstract: A thermoelectric heat exchanger and a thermoelectric heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) configured to provide a cooled fluid or air stream and a heated fluid or air stream. The thermoelectric heat exchanger may include a plurality thermoelectric devices (TEDs), also known as thermoelectric coolers (TECs) or Peltier coolers, in thermal communication. The thermoelectric devices may be arranged in a three dimensional array to provide compact packaging for the thermoelectric heat exchanger assembly. The thermoelectric heat exchanger may be configured to transfer thermal energy between a first thermoelectric device and a second thermoelectric device via evaporation and condensation of a working fluid or refrigerant contained within the thermoelectric heat exchanger.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for docking an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a vehicle. The UAV may be able to distinguish a companion vehicle from other vehicles in the area and vice versa. The UAV may take off and/or land on the vehicle. The UAV may be used to capture images and stream the images live to a display within the vehicle. The vehicle may control the UAV. The UAV may be in communication with the companion vehicle while in flight.

Abstract: The present application discloses a remote control method and apparatus for controlling the state of a movable object and/or a load carried thereon. The remote control method comprising: receiving, via an apparatus, a state signal that corresponds to a user's position; remote-controlling the state of the a load being carried on a movable object based on the state signal; wherein the state of the load is the result of combining the movement of the load relative to the movable object and the movement of the object relative to its environment. For example, the control of the state can be achieved through the state of the apparatus itself, a user's state captured by an apparatus, a graphical interface on a screen of an apparatus, or a voice command.

Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus for stabilizing an imaging device and methods of using the same for a wide variety of applications including photography, video, and filming. Also provided are unmanned vehicles including aerial vehicles that contain the apparatus disclosed herein.

Abstract: An impact protection apparatus is provided, comprising a gas container configured to hold a compressed gas and an inflatable member configured to be inflated by the gas and function as an airbag of a movable object, such as an aerial vehicle. A valve controls flow of gas from the container to the inflatable member in response to a signal from a valve controller. The valve and valve controller are powered by an independent power source than one or more other systems of the movable object. A safety mechanism may also be provided that, unless deactivated, prevents inflation of the inflatable member.

Abstract: The present application discloses a remote control method and apparatus for controlling the state of a movable object and/or a load carried thereon. The remote control method comprising: receiving, via an apparatus, a state signal that corresponds to a user's position; remote-controlling the state of the a load being carried on a movable object based on the state signal; wherein the state of the load is the result of combining the movement of the load relative to the movable object and the movement of the object relative to its environment. For example, the control of the state can be achieved through the state of the apparatus itself, a user's state captured by an apparatus, a graphical interface on a screen of an apparatus, or a voice command.

Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system configured for use in a vehicle to provide a perceived comfortable thermal environment to an occupant seated in a rear portion of a vehicle cabin. A heat exchanger provides a first airstream characterized as having a first temperature to an air moving device configured to generate a second airstream characterized as having a second temperature. The second airstream comprises a mixture of the first airstream and cabin air drawn from the rear portion of the vehicle cabin. The air moving device may be disposed in the rear portion of the vehicle. The HVAC system further includes a nozzle that may be configured to direct the second airstream toward an occupant in the rear portion of the vehicle cabin to provide spot conditioning.

Abstract: A system and a method of controlling a ventilation or HVAC system that is configured to provide an air stream having a comfortable contact velocity to an occupant seated in a vehicle cabin. The system includes a sensor to determine the distance from a discharge nozzle to the vehicle occupant and a controller to control the exit velocity and/or an effective diameter of the nozzle. The sensor may use ultrasonic, infrared, LIDAR, or RADAR technology to determine distance. The system may determine the distance from the nozzle to the occupant based on a seat location determined by a seat location sensor. The seat location sensor may be common to an inflatable restraint (air bag) system.

Abstract: An air conditioning system having an improved internal heat exchanger (IHX) assembly. The IHX assembly includes an elongated cavity for low pressure refrigerant flow from an evaporator and an interior tube disposed within the cavity for high pressure refrigerant flow from a condenser, and a pressure equalization passage between the low and high pressure sides. The passage is large enough to allow pressures to equalize between the condenser and evaporator while the air conditioning system is inactive, so as to prevent the pressure differential that would otherwise enable the loss of refrigerant oil from the compressor, and small enough not to effect the operation of the air conditioning system. The pressure equalization passage may be a by-pass valve assembly having a reed portion that is normally open when the air conditioning system is inactive and closed when the air conditioning system is active for maximum cooling efficiency.

Abstract: A method of controlling an air conditioning compressor in a heating ventilation and air conditioning system having a evaporator including a phase change material is presented. The method includes the steps of measuring an evaporator output air temperature, determining a state of charge value by calculating a difference between an estimated refrigerant temperature based on the evaporator output air temperature and a phase change material freeze temperature and integrating this difference over time and operating the air conditioning compressor to maintain the state of charge value between an upper and lower limit. A method of recovering braking energy in a vehicle containing a heating ventilation and air conditioning system having the evaporator including the phase change material is also presented.

Abstract: An evaporator has a manifold and a plurality of refrigerant tubes extending downward in the direction of gravity from the manifold. The evaporator includes at least one PCM housing engaging the upper portion of the refrigerant tube for storing a phase change material. When operating in a first operating mode, heat is transferred from the phase change material to the refrigerant to freeze and cool the phase change material. When operating in a second operating mode, heat is transferred from the refrigerant to the frozen phase change material to condense the refrigerant. The condensed refrigerant falls downwardly through the tubes and receives heat from a flow of air to cool the air and evaporate the refrigerant. The evaporated refrigerant rises upwardly back to the low pressure of the cold manifold.

Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and a method of controlling a HVAC system that is configured to provide a perceived comfortable ambient environment to an occupant seated in a vehicle cabin. The system includes a nozzle configured to direct an air stream from the HVAC system to the location of a thermally sensitive portion of the body of the occupant. The system also includes a controller configured to determine an air stream temperature and an air stream flow rate necessary to establish the desired heat supply rate for the sensitive portion and provide a comfortable thermal environment by thermally isolating the occupant from the ambient vehicle cabin temperature. The system may include a sensor to determine the location of the sensitive portion. The nozzle may include a thermoelectric device to heat or cool the air stream.

Abstract: A thermoelectric heat exchanger and a thermoelectric heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) configured to provide a cooled fluid or air stream and a heated fluid or air stream. The thermoelectric heat exchanger may include a plurality thermoelectric devices (TEDs), also known as thermoelectric coolers (TECs) or Peltier coolers, in thermal communication. The thermoelectric devices may be arranged in a three dimensional array to provide compact packaging for the thermoelectric heat exchanger assembly. The thermoelectric heat exchanger may be configured to transfer thermal energy between a first thermoelectric device and a second thermoelectric device via evaporation and condensation of a working fluid or refrigerant contained within the thermoelectric heat exchanger.

Abstract: A keyword may be expanded into related words, such as for use in information retrieval. The terms comprising words and/or phrases of a large number of documents (e.g., web pages) are processed into a graph data structure, in which the terms are represented as nodes and edges represent the relationships between the nodes, with weights for each edge representing the relevance of the relationship. The graph may be built by selecting each term of a document and considering the terms within a certain number of words to be associated with the selected term; for each such association the weight indicative of the relevance is increased. When the graph is accessed with a keyword, the edges from that keyword's node and their respective weights indicate which other nodes are most relevant to the keyword, thereby providing the corresponding expanded terms.

Abstract: An improved meter and its operation is described. The meter can be a part of a larger automated meter reading process that allows for remote reading of the meter though power line communication. Using a microcomputer core, the meter processes incoming analog data and can calculate several relevant data values need by utility providers. The meter can also be used to monitor and detect tampering dry connect/voltage free devices, such as gas and water meters, connected to the meter.

Abstract: A group of keywords are received, wherein each keyword includes one or more words. A word list is formed from the group of keywords, where the word list includes a list of each word in the group of keywords. A misspelled keyword is corrected using analysis of the words in the word list. The corrected keyword is output.

Abstract: An air conditioning system having an improved internal heat exchanger (IHX) assembly. The IHX assembly includes an elongated cavity for low pressure refrigerant flow from an evaporator and an interior tube disposed within the cavity for high pressure refrigerant flow from a condenser, and a pressure equalization passage between the low and high pressure sides. The passage is large enough to allow pressures to equalize between the condenser and evaporator while the air conditioning system is inactive, so as to prevent the pressure differential that would otherwise enable the loss of refrigerant oil from the compressor, and small enough not to effect the operation of the air conditioning system. The pressure equalization passage may be a by-pass valve assembly having a reed portion that is normally open when the air conditioning system is inactive and closed when the air conditioning system is active for maximum cooling efficiency.

Abstract: Described is a paid search advertising technology in which advertisements associated with bidding keywords are ranked by relevance when returning one or more advertisements in a response to a query. A relevance score is computed for an advertisement based on the bidding keyword and page data (text and/or other page content) of the advertisement. The relevance score may be based on a similarity vector score computed from a keyword vector and page data vector relationship, combined with a proximity score computed from the keyword's bigram set and the page data bigram set. When a query is received, advertisements are selected based on the proximity of the query to each advertisement's bidding keyword, providing candidate scores. Each candidate score is modified (e.g., multiplied) into a final score based on its respective advertisement's relevance score. The final scores are then used to re-rank the advertisements relative to one another.

Abstract: A control methodology for dynamically adjusting the switching limits of a cycled refrigerant compressor in an air conditioning system with the objective of achieving an optimal or specified tradeoff between compressor cycling frequency and discharge air temperature variation under all operating conditions. In a first embodiment, the compressor cycling limits are controlled to maintain a virtually constant discharge air temperature variation for all operating conditions. In a second embodiment, the compressor cycling limits are controlled so that the discharge air temperature variation changes in relation to the discharge air temperature to provide a virtually constant human comfort level for the occupants. And in a third embodiment, the compressor cycling limits are controlled so that the discharge air temperature variation changes in relation to the ambient or outside air temperature to provide a virtually constant human comfort level for the occupants.

Abstract: Disclosed is a system providing practical power generation from heat energy input from a low grade source, such as solar energy. In a modified Rankine cycle, increased energy is extracted via the turbine by letting the working fluid drop to a lower pressure. Phase change of the low pressure working fluid is accomplished using enhanced condensation. Condensation is enhanced by use of an evaporative cooler. To enable continued operation when solar exposure is attenuated, a supplemental heater is included to heat the working fluid.