829 results about "Azimuth direction" patented technology

An apparatus and method using a backing block having a variable acoustic impedance as a function of elevation or azimuth, to achieve a desirable apodization of the aperture of an ultrasound transducer stacked with the backing block. The backing block has a gradient profile in acoustic impedance that changes from a minimum value to a maximum value along the elevation direction and / or azimuthal direction of the stacked ultrasound transducer. Typically, the backing block has an elevation gradient profile in acoustic impedance that increases from a minimum value of acoustic impedance near the center of the backing block to a maximum value of acoustic impedance at opposing lateral faces of the backing block. The backing block can be discretely segmented in acoustic impedance, with as many segments as are practically manufacturable. An individual segment can have a uniform or variable acoustic impedance. The backing block can be continuous in acoustic impedance, with a minimum acoustic impedance in the center and a maximum acoustic impedance at two or more planar lateral faces.

Various embodiments described herein comprise mixers comprising a light pipe having input and output ends and a central region therebetween. An optical path extends in a longitudinal direction from the input end through the central region to the output end. The central region of the light pipe comprises one or more rippled reflective sidewalls having a plurality of elongate ridges and valleys and sloping surfaces therebetween. Light from the input end propagating along the optical path reflects from the sloping surfaces and is redirected at a different azimuthal direction toward the output end thereby mixing the light at the output end. Illuminance and / or color mixing can therefore be provided.

A servo writer generates a linear servo track timing based servo pattern comprised of transitions that extend laterally of the track. At least three spaced apart write elements, two of parallel azimuthal orientation, and at least one of a different azimuthal orientation, write patterns corresponding to the write elements, fixing both the distance between transitions having different azimuthal orientation, the “A” distance, and the distance between transitions having parallel azimuthal orientation, the “B” distance. The fixed distances provide precise sensing of lateral position based on a measure of time over the “A” distance compared to time over the “B” distance.

The present invention relates to an adjustable tripod mechanism to support devices / transducers for scientific measurements such as weather station, radio transceiver, acoustic modem, and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to a novel, fully mechanical, and hand-operated tripod stand that incorporates (1) capability for rigidly mounting devices such as instruments, transducers, and so forth on a desired plane at a desired height for measurement of a multiplicity of parameters (e.g., meteorological parameters such as wind speed and direction, solar radiation, air temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, and the like); (2) rotation of any attached / mounted-device / transducer in the azimuthal direction at any angular intervals to facilitate orienting a mounted device in a given direction without the need for rotation of the legs of the tripod; (3) capability for partitioning of the tripod into a multiplicity of desirable smaller segments, thereby enabling its trouble-free transportation to remote areas; (4) trouble-free coupling of a plurality of separate members to achieve the desired height for the tripod stand to suit a given installation environment; (5) improvement in the efficiency of assembly, de-assembly, and packing of the tripod system by rendering its members compact and dismountable; (6) achieving elegance in appearance and ease in mounting; (7) improvement in mechanical stability as a result of an adjustably wider base area; and (8) facility for locking the tripod mechanism to the floor to prevent its translational / angular movement under drag force induced by the prevailing wind.

A method and system for determining orientation and positioning of a vehicle trailer. A digital camera is placed on a vehicle. The camera is pointed to a trailer attached to the vehicle. The camera acquires images of the trailer. These images are processed and spatial positioning and orientation of the trailer is determined based on image processing. A special marker visible by the camera is set on the trailer. Relative positions of devices attached to the vehicle—global positioning receiver, spatial orientation measuring device and the digital camera are measured. When each digital frame is formed, coordinates and orientation data of the camera are measured. Pixels corresponding to the marker in the image are determined. A simplified copy of the image, containing only the data related to the marker pixels, is generated. The marker pixels are used for calculating position and azimuth orientation of the marker. The azimuth orientation of the trailer is calculated based on calculated azimuth orientation of the marker.

A method is described for characterizing a subsurface formation with a logging instrument disposed in a borehole penetrating the formation. The logging instrument is equipped with at least a transmitter system and a receiver system. The method entails positioning the logging instrument within the borehole so that the transmitter system and receiver system are disposed in the vicinity of a formation boundary of interest and measuring the azimuthal orientation of the logging instrument. Electromagnetic energy is transmitted into the formation using the transmitter system and signals associated with the transmitted electromagnetic energy are measured using the receiver system. The method further entails determining the relative azimuth of the formation boundary, composing a symmetrized directional measurement using the measured signals and the determined relative boundary azimuth, and determining the relative dip of the formation boundary using the composed directional measurement.

A view angle control element capable of limiting a view angle without degrading image quality (front quality) when seen from a front side and a display device provided with the view angle control element are provided. A liquid crystal display device (1) includes a liquid crystal panel (10), and a view angle control film (20) that controls a view angle of the liquid crystal panel (10). The view angle control film (20) is a laminated film including at least a liquid crystal film (21) and a linearly polarizing plate (22). In the liquid crystal film (21), liquid crystal molecules are solidified while being aligned with major axes tilted in a predetermined azimuth angle direction from a normal direction of a film surface. The linearly polarizing plate (22) of the view angle control film (20) and the linearly polarizing plate (14) of the liquid crystal panel (10) are placed so that polarization transmission axes thereof cross a major axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules when seen from the normal direction.

A liquid crystal display device includes: a vertical alignment liquid crystal layer; first and second substrates facing each other with the liquid crystal layer interposed; first and second electrodes arranged on the first and second substrates to face the liquid crystal layer; and at least one alignment film in contact with the liquid crystal layer. A pixel region includes a first liquid crystal domain in which liquid crystal molecules are tilted in a first direction around the center of a plane, and approximately at the middle of the thickness, of the liquid crystal layer responsive to a voltage applied. The first liquid crystal domain is close to at least a part of an edge of the first electrode. The part includes a first edge portion in which an azimuthal direction, perpendicular to the part and pointing toward the inside of the first electrode, defines an angle greater than 90 degrees to the first direction. The first or second substrate has an opaque member including a first opaque portion for selectively shielding at least a part of the first edge portion from incoming light.

A vessel-mountable integrated sonar system is provided. The vessel-mountable integrated sonar system comprises at least one imaging sonar data acquisition device and at least one processing system electronically and removably connected to the at least one imaging sonar data acquisition device, wherein the sonar data acquisition device preferably provides acoustic data to the processing system, producing sonar imageries utilizing the acoustic data, and wherein the system provides digital tilt and azimuth direction feedback for accurate geo-referencing of data to localize targets of interest.

A polygonal cylindrically shaped phased array antenna forming a radar has an active aperture that focuses in any of one or more angular azimuth directions without inertia. It further includes adjacent multiple similar polygonal staves joined along their vertical edges to form a right regular polygonal cylinder. Each stave is further decomposed into flat panels, wherein each panel has a plurality of antenna elements positioned in a regular rectangular or triangular lattice. Each panel contains a beam forming network that electronically forms and steers an electromagnetic beam for purposes of transmission and subsequent reception. The panels optionally may operate as autonomous radars which when coherently combined form multiple larger antenna apertures, each capable of operating autonomously. A switching network allows transmit power and all requisite radar and control signals to be sent to and received from a selected set of panels anywhere on the polygonal cylinder.

A short range millimeter wave imaging radar system. The system includes electronics adapted to produce millimeter wave radiation scanned over a frequency range of a few gigahertz. The scanned millimeter wave radiation is broadcast through a frequency scanned transmit antenna to produce a narrow transmit beam in a first scanned direction (such as the vertical direction) corresponding to the scanned millimeter wave frequencies. The transmit antenna is scanned to transmit beam in a second direction perpendicular to the first scanned direction (such as the horizontal or the azimuthal direction) so as to define a two-dimensional field of view. Reflected millimeter wave radiation is collected in a receive frequency scanned antenna co-located (or approximately co-located) with the transmit antenna and adapted to produce a narrow receive beam approximately co-directed in the same directions as the transmitted beam in approximately the same field of view. Computer processor equipment compares the intensity of the receive millimeter radar signals for a pre-determined set of ranges and known directions of the transmit and receive beams as a function of time to produce a radar image of at least a desired portion of the field of view. In preferred embodiment the invention is mounted on a truck and adapted as a FOD finder system to detect and locate FOD on airport surfaces.

An automotive radar which can process signals at high speed to detect a target in a wide angle range is provided. The automotive radar comprises a transmitting antenna which emits an electromagnetic wave, two receiving antennas which receive the electromagnetic wave reflected by a target, an antenna plate on which the transmitting antenna and two receiving antennas are arranged. It also includes a drive which rotates the antenna plate in an azimuth direction, which corresponds to the direction of arrangement of the two receiving antennas, to scan a detection angle formed by the two receiving antennas. The drive has rest time between scans to stop rotation. The automotive radar also includes a signal processor which detects the azimuth angle of the target with respect to a reference direction during the rest time according to received signals from the two receiving antennas and the rotation angle of the antenna plate at rest.

An antenna having a central active element and a plurality of passive dipoles surrounding the active element is disclosed. The passive dipoles increase the antenna gain by increasing the radiated energy in the azimuth direction. In another embodiment a plurality of parasitic directing elements extend radially outward from the passive dipoles.

A probe for electronic volume data acquisition using ultrasound incorporates a plurality of transducer elements arranged in a two dimensional array having an azimuth direction and an elevation direction. The transducer elements have a first element size in the azimuth dimension and a second element size in the elevation dimension. At least one of the first and second element sizes is at least twice a characteristic wavelength of a waveform used to drive the array of transducer elements, where the characteristic wavelength is defined as the wavelength corresponding to a center frequency of the waveform. Image data is generated in a scanning process using a CAC-BF technique in an azimuth dimension and / or an elevation dimension, to form an ultrasound image line, image plane, or image data cube.

A sampled beat signal RD is split into a plurality of short-time data SD in the time direction, for each of antenna elements. Interference component frequency of an interference wave is detected from a frequency spectrum of the short-time data SD. A digital beam forming process is performed for the interference component frequency of the interference wave to extract a peak of the electrical power of an azimuth direction and estimate an absolute value of an incoming direction of interference components. Based on the absolute value of the incoming direction of the estimated interference components, a filter for suppressing the interference components is operated to suppress the interference components.

An imaging tomography apparatus, in particular an x-ray computed tomography apparatus, has two acquisition systems capable of rotating around a common rotation axis. Each of the acquisition systems has a radiator as well as a detector. The maximum measurement fields scanned by the two acquisition systems given rotation around the rotation axis are of different sizes, or can be adjusted to different sizes. In particular, the lengths of both detectors measured in the azimuthal direction—are of different sizes. The tomography apparatus can be fashioned to scan the entire body cross-section of an examination subject or of a patient with conventional temporal resolution, and to scan detail region, such as a heart region, with an increased temporal resolution or accelerated data acquisition rate in comparison to a device with only one acquisition system.

A high-contrast electro-optic liquid crystal camera iris (10) provides angle independent transmission for uniform gray shades. The liquid crystal iris comprises a combination of first and second liquid crystal devices (12, 14) arranged in optical series and positioned between optical polarizers (46, 48). The director field (18) of the second liquid crystal device is a mirror image of the director field (16) of the first liquid crystal device, and the first and second liquid crystal devices are placed together so that the azimuthal directions (42) of the surface-contacting directors (18c, 22c) are in parallel alignment at the adjoining or confronting surfaces of the substrates (242, 321) of the first and second liquid crystal devices. The liquid crystal iris provides, therefore, less angular variation of intermediate transmittances compared with that provided by prior art liquid crystal irises.

An LED having a predetermined direction of radiation is combined with a first and second reflector. The first reflector opposes the LED and has a predetermined direction of reflection. The direction of reflection of the first reflector opposes the direction of radiation of the LED. The second reflector has a predetermined azimuthal direction of reflection. The second reflector positioned relative to the first reflector to receive light from the first reflector and redirect the light into the azimuthal direction of reflection. The LED, first and second reflectors collectively comprise an illumination unit. A plurality of illumination units are axially stacked. In one embodiment of the stack, at least one illumination unit comprises an LED and second reflector of one illumination unit and a first reflector of an adjacent illumination unit in the stack of illumination units.

An automotive radar which can process signals at high speed to detect a target in a wide angle range is provided. The automotive radar comprises a transmitting antenna which emits an electromagnetic wave, two receiving antennas which receive the electromagnetic wave reflected by a target, an antenna plate on which the transmitting antenna and two receiving antennas are arranged. It also includes a drive which rotates the antenna plate in an azimuth direction, which corresponds to the direction of arrangement of the two receiving antennas, to scan a detection angle formed by the two receiving antennas. The drive has rest time between scans to stop rotation. The automotive radar also includes a signal processor which detects the azimuth angle of the target with respect to a reference direction during the rest time according to received signals from the two receiving antennas and the rotation angle of the antenna plate at rest.

A mobile radio antenna arrangement for a base station includes a pivoting device which runs in the longitudinal direction and / or in the vertical direction is provided within the radome. A reflector is at least indirectly held and mounted on the pivoting device. The interior of the radome has dimensions such that the reflector which is located within the radome, and the antenna elements which are provided can be pivoted in the azimuth direction relative to the radome via the pivoting device which is located within the radome.

A catheter device for an optical coherence tomography apparatus is configured to enhance the resolution of the cross-sectional image in the azimuthal direction. The catheter device includes a drive shaft driven to rotate in a catheter sheath, an optical fiber in the drive shaft and driven to rotate with the drive shaft, and an optical component attached to a distal portion of the optical fiber. The catheter device emits light, transmitted in the optical fiber, into a body cavity through the optical component. A surface on the optical path of the optical component is a curved surface facing the drive shaft direction or the azimuthal direction to ensure that, when light emitted from the optical component is radiated into the body cavity via the catheter sheath, the difference between the diameter of the radiated light in the drive axis direction and the azimuthal direction is reduced.

An image processing device capable of obtaining a high precision image while aberration asymmetry is corrected.An image processing device includes image obtaining means configured to obtain an input image, image restoration means configured to restore the input image using a generated or selected image restoration filter in accordance with a transfer function of an image pickup system used for forming the input image from an object image. The image restoration filter makes a difference between absolute values of transfer functions of two azimuthal directions at a time when the restoration image is obtained from an object smaller than a difference between absolute values of transfer functions of the two azimuthal directions of the image pickup system.

A portable unit with an endfire antenna and operating at 60 GHz makes an optimum communication channel with an endfire antenna in an array of antennas distributed over the area of a ceiling. The portable unit is pointed towards the ceiling and the system controlling the ceiling units selects and adjusts the positioning of an endfire antenna mounted on a 3-D adjustable rotatable unit. Several transceivers can be mounted together, offset from one another, to provide a wide coverage in both azimuth direction and elevation direction. These units can be rigidly mounted as an array in a ceiling apparatus. The system controlling the ceiling array selects one of the transceivers in one of the units to make the optimum communication channel to the portable unit. The system includes the integration of power management features by switching between Wi-Fi in favor of the 60 GHz channel.

The invention belongs to the radar technology field, discloses a high resolution spotlight SAR self-focusing imaging method based on two-dimensional self-focusing and mainly solves a problem that excellent focusing of a uniform imaging area can not be realized through a self-focusing algorithm in the prior art. The method comprises steps that an original echo signal of a target is received, after distance pulse pressure of the echo signal is carried out, crude envelope error and phase error compensation for the signal is carried out; distance direction FFT and azimuth solution linearity frequency modulation operation and two-dimensional interpolation operation are carried out; after distance direction IFFT of a result after two-dimensional interpolation is carried out, distance migration of a distance skipping unit is evaluated, and envelope error correction is accomplished; V non-superposed distance sub blocks are formed through uniform division along the distance direction, and a phase error of each sub block is evaluated; corresponding weights of distance units are respectively calculated, distance errors of the distance sub blocks are evaluated respectively, space-variant error evaluation is accomplished, azimuth direction IFFT of the data after correction is carried out, and thereby SAR images having the excellent focusing effect are acquired.

An imaging tomography apparatus, in particular an x-ray computed tomography apparatus, has two acquisition systems capable of rotating around a common rotation axis. Each of the acquisition systems has a radiator as well as a detector. The maximum measurement fields scanned by the two acquisition systems given rotation around the rotation axis are of different sizes, or can be adjusted to different sizes. In particular, the lengths of both detectors measured in the azimuthal direction—are of different sizes. The tomography apparatus can be fashioned to scan the entire body cross-section of an examination subject or of a patient with conventional temporal resolution, and to scan detail region, such as a heart region, with an increased temporal resolution or accelerated data acquisition rate in comparison to a device with only one acquisition system.

A control apparatus and method for an autonomous traveling vehicle having a teaching mode in which a vehicle position and a vehicle azimuth in respective points on a running path are memorized and a play-back mode in which the vehicle is operated autonomously based on the vehicle position and vehicle azimuth memorized in the teaching mode comprises a virtual traction point establishing means for establishing a virtual traction point located away from a vehicle position by a specified distance in a direction of a vehicle azimuth, a current vehicle position determining means for determining a current vehicle position corresponding to the vehicle position in a play-back mode, a target azimuth calculating means for calculating a target azimuth based on a positional relationship between the current vehicle position and the virtual traction point, a vehicle steering means for steering the vehicle in a direction of the target azimuth in the play-back mode and a vehicle speed control means for controlling a vehicle speed such that a distance between the virtual traction point and the vehicle comes within a specified range in the play-back mode.

A retro-directive antenna for communicating with a geostationary satellite autonomously detects the direction from which a signal is received, and transmits a beam that points back along the same direction. An array feed is used to illuminate a parabolic reflector. Each feed element of the retro-directive antenna is associated with a unique pointing direction of the beam in the far field. As the transmit energy is switched to different feed elements, the far-field beam is scanned, making it possible to track a geostationary satellite in a slightly inclined orbit. This eliminates the need for mechanical tracking and maintains high antenna gain in the direction of the geostationary satellite. The use of a toroidal reflector with multiple linear array feeds spaced in the azimuth direction enables multi-beam operation, allowing multiple geostationary satellites, spaced by up to fifteen beam widths in azimuth, to be tracked simultaneously and independently.

A method for formation logging includes acquiring measurements of neutron-induced signals having azimuthal information using a neutron tool; processing the measurements into a plurality of azimuthal sector data for each acquisition interval; and deriving a selected parameter from the plurality of azimuthal sector data. A logging tool includes a housing adapted to move in a borehole; a circuitry having memories for storing neutron-induced measurements; a neutron source disposed in the housing; and at least one detector bank disposed in the housing spaced apart from the neutron source, wherein each of the at least one detector bank comprises at least one detector disposed around a periphery of the housing such that the at least one detector is more sensitive to signals from an azimuthal direction, and wherein count rates detected by each of the at least one detector are separately stored in the memories.

Processes are described for providing a data set useful for performing analysis of reflection attribute variation among traces in a window of three-dimensional seismic data, wherein the traces have a reflection point assigned thereto and wherein the traces represent recordings from shot-receiver pairs having various azimuth angles. According to one embodiment, the process comprises: assigning an offset value to a plurality of traces; fitting a substantially conical surface having a major and a minor axis to the data of the traces within the window, wherein: the major axis of the cone represents the azimuth direction having the lowest variation in the reflection attribute, and the minor axis of the cone represents the azimuth direction having the highest variation in the reflection attribute; assigning a coordinate set to the surface, wherein the coordinate set is related to a survey geometry of the data; and comparing the reflection attribute variation as a function of offset and azimuth.