Variable geometry manned orbital vehicle Patent

Variable geometry manned orbital vehicle having high aerodynamic efficiency over wide speed range and incorporating auxiliary pivotal wing

Face tracking using a hyperbolic catadioptric omnidirectional system

In the first part of this paper, we present a brief review on catadioptric omnidirectional systems. The special case of the hyperbolic omnidirectional system is analysed in depth. The literature shows that a hyperboloidal mirror has two clear advantages over alternative geometries. Firstly, a hyperboloidal mirror has a single projection centre [1]. Secondly, the image resolution is uniformly distributed along the mirror’s radius [2]. In the second part of this paper we show empirical results for the detection and tracking of faces from the omnidirectional images using Viola-Jones method. Both panoramic and perspective projections, extracted from the omnidirectional image, were used for that purpose. The omnidirectional image size was 480x480 pixels, in greyscale. The tracking method used regions of interest (ROIs) set as the result of the detections of faces from a panoramic projection of the image. In order to avoid losing or duplicating detections, the panoramic projection was extended horizontally. Duplications were eliminated based on the ROIs established by previous detections. After a confirmed detection, faces were tracked from perspective projections (which are called virtual cameras), each one associated with a particular face. The zoom, pan and tilt of each virtual camera was determined by the ROIs previously computed on the panoramic image. The results show that, when using a careful combination of the two projections, good frame rates can be achieved in the task of tracking faces reliably

Instrument for use in performing a controlled Valsalva maneuver Patent

Piston device for producing known constant positive pressure within lungs by using thoracic muscle

Snap-in compressible biomedical electrode

A replaceable, prefilled electrode enclosed in a plastic seal and suitably adapted for attachment to a reusable, washable cap having snaps thereon is disclosed. The apparatus is particularly adapted for quick positioning of electrodes to obtain an EEG. The individual electrodes are formed of a sponge body which is filled with a conductive electrolyte gel during manufacture. The sponge body is adjacent to a base formed of a conductive plastic material. The base has at its center a male gripper snap. The cap locates the female snap to enable the electrode to be positioned. The electrode can be stored and used quickly by attaching to the female gripper snap. The snap is correctly positioned and located by mounting it in a stretchable cap. The cap is reusable with new electrodes for each use. The electrolyte gel serves as the contact electrode to achieve a good ohmic contact with the scalp