Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling use of an autonomous vehicle includes an interior occupant sensing system to obtain data of occupants from a video camera. An occupant sensing controller is configured to receive the video and detect a number of faces of occupants disposed in the vehicle. Further, the occupant sensing controller determines demographic information from the video data of each of the detected faces and then stores the vehicle location, the number of faces, and the demographic information for occupants as data in the vehicle. The occupant sensing controller determines from the demographic information an age of occupants in the autonomous vehicle, and when the demographic information indicates that all occupants in the autonomous vehicle are less than a certain age, limits travel to a destination or operation of the autonomous vehicle in response to age.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method of making a crosslinked membrane such as a crosslinked hollow fiber membrane. The method comprises (a) preparing a polyimide polymer comprising carboxylic acid functional groups from a reaction solution comprising monomers and at least one solvent; (b) treating the polyimide polymer with a diol at esterification conditions to form a monoesterified polyimide polymer; (c) forming a monoesterified polyimide membrane or dense film from the monoesterified polyimide polymer; and (d) subjecting the monoesterified polyimide membrane or dense film to transesterification conditions under a CO2 atmosphere to form a crosslinked polyimide membrane or dense film.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a top conductive layer of on an integrated circuit waveguide filter and a bottom conductive layer. The top and bottom conductive layers are coupled via a plurality of couplers that form an outline of the waveguide filter. A dielectric substrate layer is disposed between the top conductive layer and the bottom conductive layer of the integrated circuit waveguide filter. The dielectric substrate layer has a relative permittivity, ?r that affects the tuning of the integrated circuit waveguide filter. At least one tunable via includes a tunable material disposed within the dielectric substrate layer and is coupled to a set of electrodes. The set of electrodes enable a voltage to be applied to the tunable material within the tunable via to change the relative permittivity of the dielectric substrate layer and to enable tuning the frequency characteristics of the integrated circuit waveguide filter.

Abstract: Highway vehicle platoon management is provided. Driver quality parameters are used together with vehicle physical characteristic and performance information to select an ordering of the vehicles within the platoon. The vehicles within the platoon mutually self-order to select the ordering of the vehicles within the platoon for enhanced safety and efficiency. The driver quality parameters together with the vehicle physical characteristic and performance information is also used to reward best drivers with preferred locations within the platoon. The vehicles within the platoon mutually self-order to reward best drivers with preferred locations within the platoon. An existing vehicle platoon is selectively split into two or more smaller platoons for improving overall safety and efficiency. Two or more smaller vehicle platoons are selectively aggregated into a larger single platoon for improving overall safety and efficiency.

Abstract: A platoon management control system and method for local detection and determination of a non-platooning vehicle inserted or otherwise disposed between and/or adjacent to one or more platooning vehicle(s). A platooning vehicle determines a forward physical distance between itself and a vehicle physically ahead, and compares the determined physical distance with a value of a rearward distance to the platooning vehicle received from a next ahead platooning vehicle. The vehicle physically ahead is determined to be the next ahead platooning vehicle in accordance with a correspondence between the determined physical distance and the received value of the rearward distance. Conversely, the vehicle physically ahead is determined to be a non-platooning vehicle in accordance with a mis-correspondence between the determined physical distance and the received value of the rearward distance.

Abstract: The disclosure provides fracturing methods having advantage over current fracturing methods. The disclosed fracturing methods can change the fracture gradient of the downhole subterranean formation. For example, one or more of the fracture gradients of the low and high stress zones of the downhole subterranean formation can be changed. Furthermore, in relation to current practices, the methods can decrease the extent and/or degree of fracturing within low stress downhole formations and increase the degree of fracturing within high stress formations.

Abstract: An automated frothing assembly. The automated frothing assembly has a wand module that includes an elongate member having an inlet, one or more outlets, and a fluid passageway extending between and in fluid communication with the inlet and the plurality of outlets. At least one of the one or more outlets extends parallel to a vertical plane that includes the centerline of the elongate member and at an acute angle relative to a horizontal plane that is perpendicular to both the vertical plane and the centerline of the elongate member. The assembly further includes an actuator configured to be operatively coupled to the wand module and to drive the movement of at least a portion of the wand module along an axis, and an electronic controller configured to be electrically coupled to the actuator and to control the operation of the actuator to control the movement of the wand module.

Abstract: The disclosure provides fracturing methods having advantage over current fracturing methods. The disclosed fracturing methods can change the fracture gradient of the downhole subterranean formation. For example, one or more of the fracture gradients of the low and high stress zones of the downhole subterranean formation can be changed. Furthermore, in relation to current practices, the methods can decrease the extent and/or degree of fracturing within low stress downhole formations and increase the degree of fracturing within high stress formations.

Abstract: One example includes a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device include a carbon nanotube substrate, a self-assembled monolayer, and a gate oxide. The self-assembled monolayer overlies the carbon nanotube substrate and is comprised of molecules each including a tail group, a carbon backbone, and a head group. The gate oxide overlies the self-assembled monolayer, wherein the self-assembled monolayer forms an interface between the carbon nanotube substrate and the gate oxide.

Abstract: The present application draws attention to particulate materials derived from carbonaceous materials, such as carbon foam, as a platform technology for multiple medical procedures performed to address diverse tissue deficits and/or pathologies. The particulates are biocompatible, permissive of cell attachment and differentiation, and provide a 3-dimensional substrate that is permissive of neo-vascularization. Methods are disclosed herein whereby the application and subsequent bodily interactions with the particulate materials with or without composite materials are optimized to provide a technological platform useful for multiple regenerative procedures.

Abstract: A method and system for determining a position of a hitch ball on a vehicle. The system performs a method that includes generating an image that includes the hitch ball with a video camera. An electronic processor that includes an electronic processor and a memory receives the image and analyzes the image to determine a distance between the hitch ball and the video camera. The electronic processor analyzes the image to determine a height of the hitch ball based on the distance between the hitch ball and the video camera.

Abstract: A method and system for determining a size and pose of an occupant (305, 310, 315) within a vehicle interior. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving one or more images (FIG. 3) of a vehicle interior from a camera (114). The method also includes classifying interior regions (130, 132, 134, 136, 138) of the vehicle interior (100) in the one or more images. The method also includes identifying an occupant (305, 310, 315) in the one or more images based on the classification of the interior regions (130, 132, 134, 136, 138) of the vehicle interior (100). The method also includes determining a size range of the occupant (305, 310, 315) based on the classification (404) of the interior regions of the vehicle interior (100). The method also includes determining a pose of the occupant (305, 310, 315) based on the classification (404) of the interior regions of the vehicle interior (100).

Abstract: A method of operating a remote view system with privacy protection and a remote view system with privacy protection. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a request from a remote device for one or more images of a vehicle interior, receiving one or more images of the vehicle interior, determining whether a privacy key is located within the vehicle interior, determining whether one or more occupants are located within the vehicle interior, retrieving the privacy settings of the vehicle interior stored in memory, responsive to determining that the privacy key and the one or more occupants are located within the vehicle interior, generating one or more privacy images based on the one or more images and the privacy settings of the vehicle interior, controlling a transceiver to transmit the one or more privacy images to the remote device via an antenna.

Abstract: A system includes a server and a source client executable on a first electronic device in communication with the server. The server is configured to provide to a second electronic device in communication with the server access to location data implementable by a user interface associated with the second electronic device. The location data enables the user interface to display the geographical location of the first electronic device. The access to the location data is accessible to the second electronic device only during a time interval designated by a user of the first electronic device.

Abstract: An adhesive applicator (1) comprises a receiver (3) having a tubular body with a closed first end (13) and an opposed second end (15), the tubular body having a deformable wall (11), an adhesive composition contained within the tubular body, and an applicator tip (5) mounted on the tubular body and comprising a foam material (7) having an applicator (7a-7c) external of the applicator (1) for applying said adhesive, the applicator being such that deformation of the tubular body causes the adhesive to be expressed through the applicator tip (5), The foam material is a reticulated foam felt (7) and allows for relatively constant flow of the adhesive through the foam felt and to the applicator surface thereof over a wide range of viscosity conditions of the adhesive and pressure applied to the deformable body of the applicator (1).

Abstract: This present disclosure relates to fluorinated polysiloxane resin compositions, and method for making the same, without the need for using halogen acids, and that display excellent properties of impact resistance, flexibility, chemical resistance, corrosion resistance, weather resistance, heat and fire resistance, abrasion resistance, ultraviolet resistance, hydrophobicity, and substrate adhesion.

Abstract: Technologies for a distributed hardware queue manager include a compute device having a procesor. The processor includes two or more hardware queue managers as well as two or more processor cores. Each processor core can enqueue or dequeue data from the hardware queue manager. Each hardware queue manager can be configured to contain several queue data structures. In some embodiments, the queues are addressed by the processor cores using virtual queue addresses, which are translated into physical queue addresses for accessing the corresponding hardware queue manager. The virtual queues can be moved from one physical queue in one hardware queue manager to a different physical queue in a different physical queue manager without changing the virtual address of the virtual queue.

Abstract: The fracturing methods described in the present disclosure provide advantage over the current fracturing methods. The disclosed fracturing methods can change the fracture gradient of the downhole subterranean formation. For example, one or more of the fracture gradients of the low and high stress zones of the downhole subterranean formation can be changed. Furthermore, the methods of present disclosure, in relation to current practices, can decrease the extent and/or degree of fracturing within low stress downhole formations and increase the degree of fracturing within high stress formations.

Abstract: One example includes a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device include a carbon nanotube substrate, a self-assembled monolayer, and a gate oxide. The self-assembled monolayer overlies the carbon nanotube substrate and is comprised of molecules each including a tail group, a carbon backbone, and a head group. The gate oxide overlies the self-assembled monolayer, wherein the self-assembled monolayer forms an interface between the carbon nanotube substrate and the gate oxide.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a top conductive layer of on an integrated circuit waveguide filter and a bottom conductive layer. The top and bottom conductive layers are coupled via a plurality of couplers that form an outline of the waveguide filter. A dielectric substrate layer is disposed between the top conductive layer and the bottom conductive layer of the integrated circuit waveguide filter. The dielectric substrate layer has a relative permittivity, ?r that affects the tuning of the integrated circuit waveguide filter. At least one tunable via includes a tunable material disposed within the dielectric substrate layer and is coupled to a set of electrodes. The set of electrodes enable a voltage to be applied to the tunable material within the tunable via to change the relative permittivity of the dielectric substrate layer and to enable tuning the frequency characteristics of the integrated circuit waveguide filter.