Abstract: A system and method for scanning for an object within a region using a Low Discrepancy Sequence scanning scheme. The system may comprise a computer which includes a CPU and a memory medium which is operable to store one or more programs executable by the CPU to perform the method. The method may: 1) calculate a Low Discrepancy Sequence of points in the region; 2) generate a motion control trajectory from the Low Discrepancy Sequence of points (e.g., by generating a Traveling Salesman Path (TSP) from the Low Discrepancy Sequence of points and then re-sampling the TSP to produce a sequence of motion control points comprising the motion control trajectory); 3) scan the region along the motion control trajectory to determine one or more characteristics of the object in response to the scan. The method may also generate output indicating the one or more characteristics of the object.

Abstract: Portions of an input measurement sequence are classified into a plurality of regimes by associating each of a plurality of dynamic models with one a switching state such that a model is selected when its associated switching state is true. In a Viterbi-based method, a state transition record is determined, based on the input sequence. A switching state sequence is determined by backtracking through the state transition record. Finally, portions of the input sequence are classified into different regimes, responsive to the switching state sequence. In a variational-based method, the switching state at a particular instance is also determined by a switching model. The dynamic model is then decoupled from the switching model. Parameters of the decoupled dynamic model are determined responsive to a switching state probability estimate. A state of the decoupled dynamic model corresponding to a measurement at the particular instance is estimated, responsive to the input sequence.

Abstract: For automatically detecting a moving object in an input image taken using a monitor camera or the like, an apparatus includes an input image extracting section, an input image retaining section, a background image retaining section, a background difference calculating section, a moving direction recognizing section, and a united judging section. A movement of an object is detected with precision even in an environment where illumination varies, irrespective of the relative position of a ridge line of the object and a border of unit blocks. And only the moving object can be detected stably even when the camera encounters swing, vibration, etc.

Abstract: This invention relates to metallocene compositions and their use in the preparation of catalyst systems for olefin polymerization, particularly propylene polymerization.

Abstract: The invention provides a method and system for adjusting vehicle speed, beginning with a modulated laser pulse being emitted. A reference portion of the emitted modulated laser pulse is extracted, a reflected portion of the emitted modulated laser pulse is received, and the reflected portion is combined with the reference portion on a portion of an imaging array. A determination of a relative velocity is based on the combined reflected portion and reference portion.

Abstract: An apparatus for optically detecting rotational position information of a rotating object, includes a light source, a detector which is located at a position to receive scattered light from the rotating object when the rotating object is irradiated with a light beam from the light source, and outputs a frequency signal based on the scattered light, a signal processing system for detecting rotational position information by performing signal processing for the frequency signal from the detector, and a rotation control system for controlling rotation of the rotating object. The rotation control system preliminarily rotates the rotating object in detecting the rotational position information.

Abstract: A water monitoring system for a nuclear reactor is provided. In an exemplary embodiment, the water monitoring system includes a fiber optic cable having a first end and a second end, with the first end configured to optically couple to the reactor cooling water distribution system, and at least one laser light source optically coupled to the second end of the fiber optic cable. The water monitoring system also includes a spectrophotometer optically coupled to the second end of the fiber optic cable.

Abstract: The density of a spray plume generated by an aerosol delivery system (“ADS”) may be characterised by illuminating a face of the plume with light and then imaging the plume. The shape of the plume may be characterised by operating the ADS in a controlled manner to form a first spray plume. A face of the plume is illuminated and the plume imaged from a first side parallel to the spray axis of the plume. The ADS is then again operated in the controlled manner to form a second spray plume. A face of the second plume is illuminated and the second plume imaged from a second side which is parallel to the spray axis of the plume and perpendicular to the first side.

Abstract: The present invention relates to mixtures prepared from (A) at least one linear, branched, or cyclic monomeric organosilane having at least two silicon atoms with hydrolyzable and/or condensation-crosslinking groups in which the silicon atoms are bonded to one another through at least one carbon atom in a linking unit, and (B) at least one boron- and/or aluminum-containing compound having the formula (I) RxM(OR′)3-x  (I)  wherein M is Al or B, x is 0, 1, or 2, R is C1-C6-alkyl, C6-C12-aryl, or (O)1/2, with the proviso that if R is (O)1/2, then the compound of the formula (I) is a chain when x is 1 and a cyclic or cage-form compound when x is 2, and each R′ is independently H, C1-C10-alkyl, or C6-C12-aryl. The invention further relates to hybrid materials prepared from such mixtures and to coatings produced therefrom.

Abstract: In an optical linear encoder, light from an LED 2 passes through a moving grating 31 formed in a semiconductor moving plate 3 and is reflected by a reflective grating 41 of a reflective grating plate 4. An image of the reflective grating is detected by photodiodes 32 that are formed in the shape of a grid on the semiconductor moving plate 3. The moving grating 31 and the photodiodes 32 are formed on the same semiconductor substrate with the photodiodes 32 in the form of a grid having a lens effect. Consequently, a lens optical system is not required, making it possible to produce a compact, small-scale encoder. A differential signal for an A-phase signal obtained from a group of photodiodes arranged on the semiconductor substrate and an inverse of this signal is produced as the A-phase signal, and a differential signal for a B-phase signal and an inverse of this signal is produced as the B-phase signal, so that an encoder output with little error can be obtained.

Abstract: Devices being controlled electronically via physical manipulation often display a resonance. In many circumstances, the frequency range of operation is not close to the resonance frequency. In these cases, the resonance can be removed through the use of simple compensation techniques such as filters. However, when the resonance frequency is close to the frequency range of operation and when the resonance frequency can change depending on temperature, time, and physical position of the device, simple compensation techniques cannot be used. The present invention presents a non-mechanical technique for providing compensation for devices with a shifting resonance. The non-mechanical technique allows for the compensation to be performed via computation.

Abstract: Systems and methods that add motion lines that indicate motion in a still image include selecting two or more video fields or frames, compensating for global motion in the selected fields or frames, determining the difference between positions of pixels in the selected fields or frames, identifying regions of motion with pixels having a difference that is greater than a threshold value, identifying points of interest in the regions of motion, selecting pixels from the points of interest, determining the motion of the selected points of interest, and adding lines to the still image that extend from the selected pixels.

Abstract: The density of a spray plume generated by an aerosol delivery system (“ADS”) may be characterised by illuminating a face of the plume with light and then imaging the plume. The shape of the plume may be characterised by operating the ADS in a controlled manner to form a first spray plume. A face of the plume is illuminated and the plume imaged from a first side parallel to the spray axis of the plume. The ADS is then again operated in the controlled manner to form a second spray plume. A face of the second plume is illuminated and the second plume imaged from a second side which is parallel to the spray axis of the plume and perpendicular to the first side.

Abstract: A homodyne interference system splits first and second light beams from a common light source and causes the first and second light beams to impinge upon an irradiating point of an organism at different directions. An optical heterodyne system splits a third beam from the common light source and imparts a frequency shift to the third beam. The outputs of the homodyne and heterodyne systems combine to permit extraction of a beat component of the homodyne system at a high SNR level. The output of the homodyne and heterodyne system are output as an image, which may be timed to a phase timing mechanism to provide an improved output.

Abstract: In this invention, the detection result indicating physical characteristics obtained from sensor sections and associated with a to-be-detected object for which it is determined that determination of detection thereof by a high-speed detecting process is difficult to make is stored in a data storage unit. Then, in a precise examination processing section, the detecting process is effected on the non-real time basis for a to-be-detected object for which it is determined that the precise examination is necessary by the high-speed detecting process by use of data stored in the data storage unit and the to-be-detected object is distributed into a storage box corresponding to a category of the to-be-detected object as the detection result from the precise examination processing section.

Abstract: A pre-crash sensing system is provided for sensing an impact of a target vehicle (46) with a host vehicle (12). The target vehicle (46) has side transponders that generate side identification signals. The host vehicle (12) has a remote object sensor (20) that generates an object distance signal in response to the target vehicle. A countermeasure system (42) resides in the host vehicle (12). A controller (14) in the host vehicle is coupled to the remote object sensor (20) and the countermeasure system (42). The controller (14) activates the countermeasure in response to the object distance signal and side identification signal.

Abstract: A technique for generating motion vectors in video and film signal processing uses constraint equation based motion estimation. Simplifications of the processing and hardware are made possible by generating motion vectors based on the normalized constraint equation. The temporal and spatial image gradients are calculated using temporal and spatial differentiators (16, 17, 18). An angle (&thgr;) corresponding to the orientation of the spatial image gradient vector and the motion speed (vn) in the direction of the vector are calculated using apparatus including a rectangular to polar coordinate converter (32). &thgr; and vn are the parameters of the normalized constraint equation.

Abstract: A velocity such as wind velocity is measured based on a Doppler shift of a backscattered or returned laser signal. The Doppler shift of the backscattered beam is determined from a change in the polarization state or intensity shift of the received or backscattered signal after it has passed through a polarization-dispersive element (PD) and through a polarization analyzer (PA). The electrical signals (I1 and I2) generated from two partial beams provided by the polarization analyzer (PA) represent an the intensity shift. The signals are processed in a computer and the resulting information is displayed, for example.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a rotation detecting device for a recording and reproducing apparatus and a method therefor which can easily precisely detect a reel rotation speed by a detecting sensor during a high or low speed rotation, by forming in a series equational division method a wing unit and a space unit of a sensor detecting member.

Abstract: In a method of detecting covered and uncovered parts in an image to be interpolated between neighboring previous (I) and next (III) input images, backward motion vectors from the next input image to the previous input image, and having corresponding backward estimation errors, and forward motion vectors from the previous input image to the next input image, and having corresponding forward estimation errors, are determined, uncovered and covered parts are detected in the neighboring previous and next input images, respectively, in the thus detected uncovered parts, uncovered parts in the image to be interpolated are detected by determining second backward estimation errors by comparing both neighboring previous and next input images when partially shifted over the backward motion vectors to a temporal location of said image to be interpolated, and by comparing the second backward estimation errors to a threshold, and in the thus detected covered parts, covered parts in the image to be interpolated are detecte

Abstract: An automotive obstacle detecting system is provided which includes a radar to measure the distance to a target present within a detectable zone. The system monitors a distance limit measurable by the radar and determines a reduction in ability to measure the distance to the target by comparing the distance limit with a given reference value.

Abstract: A radar device for detecting distances and relative speeds of obstructions such as preceding vehicles has a stationary object identifier for identifying stationary objects such as roadside guard rails and the like and a stationary object eliminator for eliminating data identified as pertaining to such stationary objects. The stationary object identifier detects peak densities in a beat spectrum detected as a difference between transmitted and received frequencies of a radar beam modulated to rise and fall in frequency periodically and identifies peak groups having peak densities above a predetermined value as stationary objects. Therefore, it is possible to detect a stationary roadside object on the basis of peak densities. The stationary object eliminator eliminates data of peak groups identified as stationary objects by the stationary object identifier and thereby removes them as objects of combination processing for pairing rise side beat frequencies with fall side beat frequencies.

Abstract: A method of magneto-optically modulating light comprises the steps of linearly polarizing the light on its transmission path, and placing a magneto-optic effect element on the transmission path of the polarized light with the spontaneous magnetization direction of the magneto-optic effect element being substantially parallel with the transmission path. The plane of polarization of the polarized light is rotated about the transmission path in the absence of the magnetic field applied to the magneto-optic effect element having the polarized light pass therethrough. The method further comprises the step of applying the magnetic field to the magneto-optic effect element with its internal magnetization being oriented in a direction perpendicular to the transmission path. The plane of polarization of the polarized light is maintained in its initial state in the presence of the magnetic field applied to the magneto-optic effect element having the polarized light pass therethrough.

Abstract: An angular division apparatus for circumferentially dividing a rotating object into a plurality of areas by using Doppler pulses includes an optical head for applying a beam emitted from a light source unit to a rotating object and detecting Doppler pulses based on a shift of the frequency of the light scattered from the rotating object, and a counting unit for counting the Doppler pulses output from the optical head to determine the number of pulses for one revolution of the rotating object. The number of Doppler pulses for one revolution is divided by a division number for dividing the rotating object into a plurality of areas in the angular direction. The rotating object is divided into a plurality of areas in the angular direction thereof by using the number of Doppler pulses per divided area.

Abstract: In a stage-drive controlling device used in a scanning projection exposure apparatus, a targeted speed Iwy is imparted to a speed control system for controlling the speed of a substrate stage, and a targeted speed Irc is concurrently imparted to a speed control system for controlling the speed of a mask stage such that the two stages assume a predetermined positional relationship. A deviation Xrc in the speed of the Speed control system is multiplied by 1/4 (multiplied by the magnification of projection) by a deviation feedback system, and the multiplied value is fed back as a targeted input to the speed control system. For this reason, the following formula holds: Ywy={Kwy/(s+Kwy)}.times.(Yrc/4). If the response of the speed control system side (substrate stage side) is good, even if the speed response of the speed control system side (mask stage side) is poor, the speed ratio between the two stages is kept at 4:1.

Abstract: A closed-form integration method is derived and analyzed for computing motion trajectories from velocity field data, in particular as measured by phase contrast cine (PC) MR imaging. By modeling periodic motion as composed of Fourier harmonics and integrating the material velocity of the tracked point in the frequency domain, this method gives an unbiased trajectory estimate in the presence of white measurement noise and eddy current effects. When applied to practical data, the method can incorporate compensation for the frequency response of the data acquisition method, offering a further improvement on the tracking accuracy. In simulation and phantom studies, the estimated trajectories were in excellent agreement with the true trajectories. Encouraging results have also been obtained on data from human beings.

Abstract: In a ranging sensor system for a vehicle for calculating a physical data between a subject vehicle and an object on the basis of the time between the transmission of a signal toward the object and the reception of a signal reflected from the object, a first obtained detection data is set as an offset value in an offset value setting circuit. The offset value is subtracted from the detection data in a subtractor, and an output from the subtractor is filtered in a filter circuit. The offset value is added to an output from the filter circuit in an adder to provide a physical data after the filtering. Thus, it is possible to eliminate an error included in detection data, while insuring a responsiveness and a stability.

Abstract: A laser capillary spectrophotometric technique measures real time or near real time bivariate drop size and concentration distribution for a reactive liquid-liquid dispersion system. The dispersion is drawn into a precision-bore glass capillary and an appropriate light source is used to distinguish the aqueous phase from slugs of the organic phase at two points along the capillary whose separation is precisely known. The suction velocity is measured, as is the length of each slug from which the drop free diameter is calculated. For each drop, the absorptivity at a given wavelength is related to the molar concentration of a solute of interest, and the concentration of given drops of the organic phase is derived from pulse heights of the detected light. This technique permits on-line monitoring and control of liquid-liquid dispersion processes.

Abstract: The occurrence and frequency of a periodic component embedded in a composite waveform including noise is detected by real time calculating the autocorrelation function of the waveform and deducing the frequency of the periodic component from the value of the autocorrelation function coefficients. An analog-to-digital converter periodically transforms the waveform into samples having q bits. The samples are delayed by a predetermined time interval .DELTA.t and multiples thereof, to derive 2n delayed samples, x.sub.i, x.sub.i-1 . . . x.sub.i-2n. The delayed samples are multipled to derive 2n products, such that the first n products are represented by x.sub.1 .multidot.x.sub.i-k and the second n products are represented by x.sub.1-n .multidot.x.sub.i-(n+k), where k is selectively 1 . . . n. Difference between the first and second products are obtained as (P.sub.1 -P.sub.n+1) . . . (P.sub.n-1 -P.sub.2n), where P.sub.1 =x.sub.i .multidot.x.sub.i-1, P.sub.n-1 =x.sub.i .multidot.x.sub.i-n, P.sub.+1 =x.sub.i-n .

Abstract: A method of measuring the moving velocity of a linear object which is moving while vibrating, the method comprising the steps of illuminating the linear object with a flat laser beam having a width larger than the amplitude of vibration, the linear object moving in the direction of its length and vibrating perpendicular to the longitudinal direction; receiving the scattered light from the linear object by a photoelectric conversion device through a finite-sized elliptic or slit aperture disposed with the direction of its minor axis matching the direction of movement of the linear object; and cutting off the d.c. component of a speckle signal from the photoelectric conversion device, counting the number of zero-crossings per second of the resulting signal and converting the count value to a signal representing the longitudinal moving velocity of the linear object.

Abstract: An image of a moving object with an optically differentiatable structure is projected onto a grid of opto-electric transducers through a lens. The output signals of at least one square group of four transducers A-D are processed to produce from output signals of the respective transducers a pair of signals I=A+B-C-D and II=B+C-A-D. The nature of the object is such as to cause periodically varying signals in the transducers, and there are thus concerned two signals shifted by a quarter period, from which the direction of movement can be determined by means of a logic circuit. From the frequency of the signals the velocity can be ascertained. By means of direction dependent counters the path of the object can be determined from the signals. With a two dimensional matrix of transducers measurements can be effected of movement of the object in different directions. The measurement is simple and offers versatile possibilities of exploitation.

Abstract: An optical apparatus for somato-measuring such as measuring of fluid velocity in a minute blood vessel by a laser Doppler microscope, comprises a laser supplying at least two laser beams through a transparent sheet provided on the surface of a living object to be measured, the transparent sheet having a refractive index approximated to that of the object in order to avoid reflected lights from the surface of the object and to measure necessary lights scattered by the internal part of the object.