Quotables
"What, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I pray you, excuse me, I have not the time to listen to such nonsense."
Napoleon Bonaparte ; When told of the Robert Fulton steamboat
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7973913 | Distance measurement apparatus and method Emitting stripe pattern light, whose intensity changes periodically, onto a subject while shifting the phase of the pattern by π/2 from a reference phase of 0 until the phase is shifted one cycle to receive reflected light by an image sensor at each of phases 0, π... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7973912 | Binary modulation rangefinder A method for evaluating distance from a first point to a second point. The method includes the steps of generating a periodic binary sequence, generating a harmonic modulation signal, generating a modulated light signal at a range finding device, wherein the modulat... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7969559 | Laser distance measuring apparatus and control method thereof A laser distance measuring apparatus and control method thereof includes an emitter, a first and second liquid crystal display module, a receiver, a condensing lens, and a control unit. The emitter emits measuring light. The control unit sets the first liquid crysta... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7965384 | Clutter rejection in active object detection systems According to a method and apparatus taught herein an active object detection system performs reliable object detection based on light pulse emissions and corresponding and time-of-flight based distance determination, while advantageously rejecting clutter. While not... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7952690 | Method and system for acquiring a 3-D image of a scene For acquiring a 3-D image of a scene, the scene is illuminated with modulated light emitted by an illumination unit and imaged onto an array of lock-in pixel sensor cells, which detect the previously emitted light after it has been scattered or reflected by an objec... | 05/31/2011 |
| 7936449 | Method and system for fast calibration of three-dimensional (3D) sensors Rapid calibration of a TOF system uses a stationary target object and electrically introduces phase shift into the TOF system to emulate target object relocation. Relatively few parameters suffice to model a parameterized mathematical representation of the transfer ... | 05/03/2011 |
| 7869007 | Ranging apparatus and ranging method A first ranging apparatus includes a synchronizing signal generator for generating a synchronizing signal at a constant interval, a light-emitting unit for emitting an intensity-modulated light in response to the synchronizing signal input thereto, a light-detecting... | 01/11/2011 |
| 7796239 | Ranging apparatus and ranging method A first ranging apparatus includes a light emitter for emitting a modulated light which is intensity-modulated, a light detector for detecting a reflected light from an object that is irradiated with the modulated light, a distance calculator for calculating the dis... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7791715 | Method and system for lossless dealiasing in time-of-flight (TOF) systems Time-of-flight (TOF) phase-derived data is dealiased by operating the TOF system using at least two close-together modulation frequencies f1 and f2 that are close to the TOF system maximum modulation frequency fm. On one hand, phase ... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7777865 | Time difference measuring device, measuring method, distance measuring device, and distance measuring method A time difference measuring device can accurately measure a time difference between two pulse signals generated with a predetermined time difference by measuring the two pulse signals by one measurement. The time difference measuring device measures a time differenc... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7755744 | Environment sensor that conveys information about objects in the vicinity of the visually impaired user The present invention relates generally to the field of virtual tactile sensing, specifically to the field of virtual extension of the senses of the fingertips. Specifically, the present invention is the tactile transfer of environment information to the fingertips ... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7728957 | Device and method for optical distance measurement The invention relates to a device for optical distance measurement, in particular a device functioning in accordance with the phase measurement principle, having at least one transmission unit (12) equipped with at least one light source (22, 24) for t... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7719662 | Method and system for fast calibration of three-dimensional (3D) sensors Rapid calibration of a TOF system uses a stationary target object and electrically introduces phase shift into the TOF system to emulate target object relocation. Relatively few parameters suffice to model a parameterized mathematical representation of the transfer ... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7701559 | Absolute distance meter that measures a moving retroreflector A laser device and method capable of one or more dimensional absolute distance measurements and/or surface scanning and/or coordinate measurements of a moving external retroreflector or other moving target surfaces without using an incremental interferometer. ... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7667825 | Projector, method of measuring distance to the projector, and method and program for acquiring inclination angles of projection screen A light source 165 of a projection unit 16 AM modulates an electric current supplied to a built-in LED. The projection unit 16 projects the modulated light on a projection screen. A photoreceiver 171 receives, with a time lag, a reflected... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7639347 | High-speed laser ranging system including a fiber laser Apparatuses and methods for gathering data describing a surface are disclosed. The apparatuses transmit pulses of light at a high rate using one or more fiber lasers. Examples of such apparatuses include laser ranging systems, such as light detection and ranging (LI... | 12/29/2009 |
| 7609367 | Method and device for 3D imaging A method for 3D imaging of an actively illuminated target region includes emitting intensity-modulated light at a variable modulation frequency into the target region, the emitted light is scattered/reflected in the target region depending on the optical properties ... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7599046 | Method for determination of a distance and distance measuring device with improvement of the effective resolution of an A/D converter by phase modulation of the measured signal A distance measuring device and a method for determination of a distance uses an optical signal, with which an analog evaluation signal (36), with phase information, is digitized in an analog-to-digital converter (44), and the phase information is then... | 10/06/2009 |
| 7495748 | Scannerless loss modulated flash color range imaging Scannerless loss modulated flash color range imaging methods and apparatus are disclosed for producing three dimensional (3D) images of a target within a scene. Apparatus and methods according to the present invention comprise a light source providing at least three... | 02/24/2009 |
| 7474389 | Cargo dimensional and weight analyzing system A laser scanner apparatus is disclosed herein for measuring the geometry and physical dimensions of one or more objects in a specified location or platform. The specified location or platform is within a range less than a predetermined maximum object distance. The l... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7453554 | Phase measurement method and application thereof A phase measurement method is disclosed, which includes inputting a predetermined voltage to the photodiode; receiving an optical signal and transforming into an electrical signal; generating a sampled signal with a signal transforming process; determining whether t... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7453553 | System and method for determining range in 3D imaging systems A system and method of imaging an object. An array of detectors is mounted in an image plane. Each detector in the array of detectors is connected to a timing circuit having an interpolator, wherein the interpolator includes a first circuit which charges a first cap... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7450220 | Method and system to correct motion blur and reduce signal transients in time-of-flight sensor systems TOF system shutter time needed to acquire image data in a time-of-flight (TOF) system that acquires consecutive images is reduced, thus decreasing the time in which relative motion can occur. In one embodiment, pixel detectors are clocked with multi-phase signals an... | 11/11/2008 |
| 7436492 | Electronic distance meter featuring spectral and spatial selectivity Disclosed is a distance meter, particularly for telescope arrays in ground-based or space-based applications for detecting surfaces. Said distance meter comprises at least one radiation source for emitting electromagnetic radiation on to a target that is to be measu... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7414705 | Method and system for range measurement A method (200) and system (220) for range detection is provided. The system can include a sensing unit (110) for detecting a location and movement of a first object (401), and a processor (107) for providing a measure of the moveme... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7408627 | Methods and system to quantify depth data accuracy in three-dimensional sensors using single frame capture A method and system dynamically calculates confidence levels associated with accuracy of Z depth information obtained by a phase-shift time-of-flight (TOF) system that acquires consecutive images during an image frame. Knowledge of photodetector response to maximum ... | 08/05/2008 |
| 7405812 | Method and system to avoid inter-system interference for phase-based time-of-flight systems Inter-system interference cross-produce P12 is reduced in a phase-based TOF system by randomizing instantaneous phase and/or frequency within a capture interval (or detection integration period). In one aspect, the TOF clock system frequency preserves lon... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7391505 | Range sensing system The invention relates to a solid-state range sensing system. As with previous solid-state range sensing systems, an energy source is activated and deactivated in a cyclic pattern with a selected source frequency. A receiver is adapted to sense the reflection of emit... | 06/24/2008 |
| 7388655 | High-precision laser rangefinder using burst emission The present invention provides a rangefinder that has a light source for outputting a measuring beam, an AM modulation unit that modulates the measuring beam with a modulation signal, a light receiving unit that detects a reflected beam that is part of the modulated... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7368745 | Pattern recognition system A star pattern recognition system (1) comprises an optical filter arrangement (10) in the form of an array (12) of independently tiltable mirrors (M1), (M2). Light from a distant starfield (2) is incident upon the mirror arr... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7358516 | System and method for determining a position or/and orientation of two objects relative to each other as well as beam guiding arrangement, interferometer arrangement and device for changing an optical path length for use in such a system and method A system and a method for determining a position of two objects relative to each other is suggested, comprising: a source 43 of coherent radiation, a beam guidance for providing a measuring branch 49 for a measuring beam, which has an optical path leng... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7352446 | Absolute distance meter that measures a moving retroreflector A laser device and method capable of one or more dimensional absolute distance measurements and/or surface scanning and/or coordinate measurements of a moving external retroreflector or other moving target surfaces without using an incremental interferometer. ... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7345744 | Optical delay line to correct phase errors in coherent ladar A ladar system with phase correction. The novel ladar system includes optics for receiving a first signal that is a reflected version of a transmitted laser signal, an optical delay line for providing a second signal that is a delayed version of the transmitted lase... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7342681 | High-speed calibration method and system for an image-capture apparatus The present invention provides a calibration method and circuit for outputting an average calibration value used in an image-capture apparatus. The calibration circuit comprises difference means accepting a plurality of digital signals from capturing a pixel of a ca... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7339655 | Electric optical distance wavelength meter It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric optical distance wavelength meter detecting the time when the switching is completed and shortening the time required for distance measurement by immediately starting the distance measurement when measu... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7336346 | Distance measuring device and method thereof A distance measuring device is provided that reduces the time required for a distance measurement without degrading accuracy of the measured value. The distance measuring device includes a reference signal oscillator (26) that generates a reference signal (K)... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7321111 | Method and system to enhance differential dynamic range and signal/noise in CMOS range finding systems using differential sensors Dynamic range of a differential pixel is enhanced by injecting, synchronously or asynchronously, a compensating offset (ΔCOMP) into a differential signal capacitor whenever magnitude of the differential signal across the capacitor exceeds a predetermined... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7312452 | Mobile remote detection device and remote detection method for methane gas accumulations The invention relates to a mobile remote detection device for accumulations of methane, comprising an emitter device having a light source in order to generate light, the wavelength of said light source being tuned with the spectral signature of methane, whereby the... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7307700 | Ultra-linear signal processing for radar and laser radar Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for accurately measuring frequency-and/or-phase-related parameters of a sinusoidal signal that varies non-linearly in frequency or phase. A sinusoidal signal is sampled over a finite period of time at a pl... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7292175 | Method of testing A/D converter circuit and A/D converter circuit For testing an A/D converter circuit including a pulse delay circuit constituted by a plurality of cascade-connected delay units, and an encoding circuit configured to count the number of the delay units through which the input pulse signal passes within a predeterm... | 11/06/2007 |
