Quotables
"Rail travel at high speeds is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia."
Dionysius Lardner, Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at University College, London ; 1830
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8078350 | Autonomous flight method The method relates to autonomous flights performed by aircraft without the assistance of an aircrew and without said flights having been scheduled during mission preparation. It comprises negotiation with an air traffic control authority, of the modifications made t... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8055621 | Map updating systems, methods, and programs Map updating systems, methods, and programs that store map information, including one or more pieces of difference update information, obtain the one or more pieces of difference update information used for updating a part of the map information to a new piece of ma... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8055620 | Map updating systems, methods and programs Map updating systems, methods, and programs that store map information, including one or more pieces of difference update information, obtain the one or more pieces of difference update information used for updating a part of the map information, and update the map ... | 11/08/2011 |
| 7966107 | Guidance system for manually guided vehicles A guidance system for manually guided vehicles such as reach stackers or straddle carriers is disclosed. In accordance with the disclosure, the position of the vehicles is permanently automatically detected and supplied to a guiding system for carrying out. Starting... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7966306 | Method, system, and apparatus for location-aware search Performing location-aware search involves intercepting a network request targeted for an Internet-based search engine. The network request includes a location-dependent query containing a location term, and the location term cannot be used by the search engine to po... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7873448 | Robot navigation system avoiding obstacles and setting areas as movable according to circular distance from points on surface of obstacles The content of the voice designation of a designator is recognized by a voice recognition part 130 at the time of controlling a robot, and the content of the indication of gesture or the like is recognized by an image recognition part 120. A movement d... | 01/18/2011 |
| 7613553 | Unmanned vehicle control system A method for autonomously controlling a vehicle includes establishing decision variables for maneuvering the vehicle. Behavior functions are established for behaviors of the vehicle as a function of at least one of the established decision variables. These behavior ... | 11/03/2009 |
| 7574290 | Method and system for implementing automatic vehicle control with parameter-driven disengagement Embodiments of the present invention recite a method and system for implementing automatic vehicle control with parameter-driven disengagement. In one embodiment, a course for a vehicle is determined along which the vehicle is to be automatically guided. An indicati... | 08/11/2009 |
| 7546187 | Navigating a UAV having an on-board digital camera to capture desired geographic area Methods, systems, and products for navigating a UAV having an on-board digital camera are provided. Embodiments include identifying a geographic area not captured by the digital camera while the UAV is flying in a current flying pattern, and modifying the current fl... | 06/09/2009 |
| 7440831 | Assembly for performing an agricultural operation, in particular crop processing An assembly for performing an agricultural operation, in particular crop processing. The assembly is provided with an autonomous agricultural machine that is movable over a parcel for performing the agricultural operation, the agricultural machine includes a machine... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7418320 | Navigating a UAV having an on-board digital camera to capture desired geographic area Methods, systems, and products for navigating a UAV having an on-board digital camera are provided. Embodiments include identifying a geographic area not captured by the digital camera while the UAV is flying in a current flying pattern, and modifying the current fl... | 08/26/2008 |
| 7403134 | Vehicle driver guarding system using vehicle telematics service and control method thereof A vehicle driver guarding system using a vehicle telematics service and a control method thereof are provided. The vehicle driver guarding system includes: a vehicle telematics system for receiving a final destination, calculating a final destination arrival expecta... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7389156 | Autonomous surface cleaning robot for wet and dry cleaning An autonomous floor cleaning robot includes a transport drive and control system arranged for autonomous movement of the robot over a floor for performing cleaning operations. The robot chassis carries a first cleaning zone comprising cleaning elements arranged to s... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7389166 | Methods to prevent wheel slip in an autonomous floor cleaner Tread structures, wave motion navigational controls, and ramp up recovery controls are provided to an autonomous floor cleaner to reduce wheel slippage. The floor cleaner delivers liquid to the floor as part of the cleaning process. Wheels on the device are provided... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7383114 | Method and apparatus for steering a farm implement to a path An apparatus and method using GPS for dynamically adjusting side-to-side positioning of a farm implement along a geographical path. The apparatus includes a global positioning system (GPS) antenna disposed on the farm implement, a GPS receiver coupled to the GPS ant... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7373218 | Image distribution system An information distribution system capable of presenting an image photographed by a moving body, such as a robot or vehicle, selected by a user. The information distribution system includes moving bodies, local managers, and a global manager. When a user requests a ... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7363124 | Disperse, aggregate and disperse (DAD) control strategy for multiple autonomous systems to optimize random search A method for conducting a search of an area for targets by a number of vehicles. First each of the vehicles randomly disperses from the other vehicles. Then during an aggregate phase, each vehicle responds in a predesignated way to an encounter with one of the other... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7363154 | Method and system for determining the path of a mobile machine Embodiments of the present invention recite a method and system for determining the path of a mobile machine. In one embodiment, a control component accesses a first path which comprises at least one curved portion. The control component then determines a second pat... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7343230 | Method of operating an automated land maintenance vehicle A method of operating an automated land maintenance vehicle over a work area includes (a) determining a work regime by dividing the work area into regions; selecting at least one instruction for the vehicle to follow with respect to each region; providing data relat... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7330781 | Method to determine and guide aircraft approach trajectory A method to determine, and guide an aircraft on, an intermediate trajectory between a first trajectory, for low-altitude flight, and a second trajectory, from which a tactical landing is carried out, may include determining a point of transition which lies on the fi... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7302321 | Information providing device, information providing system, and information providing program product An information providing device installed in a leader vehicle that leads a follower vehicle, for providing the follower vehicle with guidance prepared by the leader vehicle, the information providing device that includes a state detector configured to detect a state... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7289018 | Method for distance alert and distance alerting unit A method for distance alert for a vehicle, the distance of the vehicle to obstacles in the vehicle's surroundings being detected. The output of an alert depends on whether or not an obstacle is located in the vehicle's travel path. If there is no obstacle located in... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7272474 | Method and system for estimating navigability of terrain A method and system for detecting an obstacle comprises a terrain estimator for estimating a local terrain surface map based on at least one of range data points, color data, and infrared data gathered by electromagnetic perception focused in front of a vehicle. The... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7272492 | Path planning for mine countermeasures An apparatus for mine avoidance that enables a battle group commander to rapidly detect, classify, and identify mines, and form a tactical picture of mined areas. The system is enabled by a graphical user interface which generates a display of the minefield and an a... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7272467 | Systems and methods for filtering potentially unreliable visual data for visual simultaneous localization and mapping Apparatus and methods that use a visual sensor and dead reckoning sensors to process Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). These techniques can be used in robot navigation. Advantageously, such visual techniques can be used to autonomously generate and updat... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7266438 | Method of assisting driver to negotiate a roadway A method of assisting a driver to negotiate a roadway by identifying a curve from a map database (12); calculating an estimated negotiable speed for the curve (14); advising the driver of the upcoming curve (16); warning the driver if he attempt... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7263422 | Method and system for controlling a mobile machine Embodiments of the present invention recite system for controlling an agricultural vehicle. In one embodiment the system comprises a vehicle guidance system for determining a course correction for the agricultural vehicle based upon position data received from a pos... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7254464 | System and methods for adaptive control of robotic devices Methods for operating robotic devices (i.e., “robots”) that employ adaptive behavior relative to neighboring robots and external (e.g., environmental) conditions. Each robot is capable of receiving, processing, and acting on one or more multi-device primitive co... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7251548 | Programming of an extended path for an autonomous mobile unit for the subsequent traversing of path sections that are temporarily blocked When a sub-section of a predefined path temporarily cannot be traversed by an autonomous mobile unit, an extended path is found for subsequently traversing the temporarily blocked sub-section. A first path point of the predefined path is determined using at least on... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7245760 | Robot for making an interface surface A robot for marking an interface surface is provided. The interface surface has coded data identifying a plurality of locations on the interface surface printed thereon. The robot comprises: an image sensor for sensing at least some of the coded data; a processor fo... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7228214 | Path planner and method for planning a path plan having a spiral component A method and path planner for planning a path of a vehicle comprising a perimeter training module for identifying a border of a region associated with a work area. A definer for defining a reference row having a reference path that tracks at least a majority of the ... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7216033 | Path planner and method for planning a contour path of a vehicle In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a path planner and method for planning a path of a vehicle defines a reference row having a reference contour in a work area. A representation of the defined reference row is established. The defined reference row ... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7208892 | Power management system for a floor care appliance A floor care appliance is provided with an improved power management system for controlling the total amount of current provided to at least a first and a second load device of an appliance. The power management system is comprised of a microprocessor, an alternatin... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7206677 | Efficient navigation of autonomous carriers According to the invention, autonomous carriers or vehicles are efficiently navigated over a field of operation. The carriers are equipped to execute a selected procedure at more than one desired location on the field, and the navigation system of the invention dire... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7191042 | System and method for steering a multi-wheel drive vehicle A system and method of controlling a multi-wheel drive vehicle is provided. The invention is preferably applicable to the steering of such a vehicle and determines the individual velocities for each wheel drive. In this regard, the invention includes two general ste... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7188015 | Method and system for controlling a mobile machine Embodiments of the present invention recite system for controlling a mobile machine. In one embodiment the system comprises a position determining component for determining the geographic position of the mobile machine. The system further comprises a steering compon... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7181370 | System and method for remotely obtaining and managing machine data Certain exemplary embodiments can comprise obtaining and analyzing data from at least one discrete machine, automatically determining relationships related to the data, taking corrective action to improve machine operation and/or maintenance, automatically and heuri... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7173391 | Method and system for multi-mode coverage for an autonomous robot A control system for a mobile robot (10) is provided to effectively cover a given area by operating in a plurality of modes, including an obstacle following mode (51) and a random bounce mode (49). In other embodiments, spot coverage, such as sp... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7164985 | Vehicle-direction estimating device, and driving control device including the vehicle-direction estimating device A vehicle serving as a moving station includes two GPS antennas disposed away from one another along the longitudinal direction within the vehicle. For automatic steering in the automatic-driving control mode, for a planning route with a small radius of curvature, t... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7162331 | Power supply control device and method for mobile robot A charging/discharging circuit electrically controls the charge of a battery using supplied current and discharge of it. A micro-controller drives a robot according to instructions from a personal computer, controls the charging/discharging circuit while monitoring ... | 01/09/2007 |
