Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100176692 | AUTONOMOUS POWER GENERATION UNIT FOR AUXILIARY SYSTEM ON AN AIRBORNE PLATFORM - A stand-alone power generation device that provides power to an auxiliary system on an airborne platform, includes a piezoelectric energy harvesting device and an energy storage unit, including a battery and a power conditioner. The device extracts energy generated by turbulent airflow around the platform and stores the energy to meet future power requirements. The piezoelectric energy harvesting device is located on a portion of an inner surface of an outward shell of the platform. The stand-alone power generation device is electrically connected to the auxiliary system. The stand-alone power generation device also includes a router that connects the power generation unit to the platform electrical distribution system. Excess power generated by the device may be delivered to the platform electrical distribution system for use by other platform systems. | 07-15-2010 |
20120045165 | Magnetically Actuated Photonic Crystal Sensor - A magnetically actuated photonic crystal sensor is disclosed. An optical fiber comprises at least one photonic crystal means coupled to a first end thereof, and a magnetic material coupled to the at least one photonic crystal means. | 02-23-2012 |
20120080942 | SMART MICROGRID - Described herein are embodiments of microgrid systems which may be used as stand-alone systems or may be connected to a larger, integrate power supply system. In some embodiments, a system comprises smart microgrid system comprising at least one electrical power bus connectable to at least one input power source by one or more switchable connections, a communication network coupled to the smart microgrid system, and a controller coupled to the communication network. In some embodiments the controller comprises logic to monitor power outputs from the at least one input power source monitor one or more power loads coupled to the at least one and selectively connect one or more of the input power sources to the at least one electrical power bus. | 04-05-2012 |
20120101639 | Microgrid Control System - A method, apparatus, and computer program product is provided for configuring a microgrid. A first configuration of the microgrid having a set of microgrid elements is initialized. An address for each element in the set of microgrid elements of the microgrid is verified. In response to receiving status data from the set of microgrid elements connected in a peer-to-peer network indicating a reconfiguration of the microgrid, the set of microgrid elements is re-aligned to form a second grid configuration. The second grid configuration is executed. | 04-26-2012 |
20120119586 | Reconfigurable Microgrid Direct Current Interface - Technologies are described herein for synchronizing multiple direct current (“DC”) voltages provided by multiple power sources. Multiple input voltages are received from multiple power sources. A voltage control signal indicating a desired output voltage is issued to multiple DC-DC converter modules electrically coupled to the multiple power sources. A master DC-DC converter module from the multiple DC-DC converter modules converts a master input voltage to a master output voltage that is substantially equal to the desired output voltage. The master output voltage is then provided to the remaining multiple DC-DC converter modules. Each of the remaining multiple DC-DC converter modules then converts a slave input voltage to a slave output voltage that is substantially equal to the master output voltage. | 05-17-2012 |
20120175955 | SMART MICROGRID RECONFIGURABLE AC INTERFACE - Presented is a system and method for providing reconfigurable AC interfaces for AC power systems. The method comprises embedding a reconfigurable AC interface for transferring power between power sources and loads, monitoring the voltage and current of the interfaces of the reconfigurable AC interface, and switching between power sources based on the monitoring. The system comprises a reconfigurable AC interface further comprising an inverter for converting DC power to AC, transfer switches with interfaces for connecting to the inverter, other transfer switches, and AC busses, and a controller that dynamically configures the transfer switches to transfer power between the inverter, and AC busses. | 07-12-2012 |
20120299446 | AUTONOMOUS POWER GENERATION UNIT FOR AUXILIARY SYSTEM ON AN AIRBORNE PLATFORM - A power generation device that provides power to an auxiliary system on an airborne platform, includes a piezoelectric energy harvesting device and an energy storage unit, including a battery and a power conditioner. The device extracts energy generated by turbulent airflow around the platform and stores the energy to meet future power requirements. The piezoelectric energy harvesting device is located on a portion of an inner surface of an outward shell of the platform. The stand-alone power generation device is electrically connected to the auxiliary system. The stand-alone power generation device also includes a router that connects the power generation unit to the platform electrical distribution system. Excess power generated by the device may be delivered to the platform electrical distribution system for use by other platform systems. | 11-29-2012 |
20120314460 | HIGH YIELD AC-AC POWER CONVERTER AND METHOD THEREFOR - An AC to AC power converter has a rectifier configured to receive an AC signal. An H-Bridge is coupled to the rectifier and the DC Filter. A processor is coupled to the rectifier and to the H-Bridge, wherein the processor is configured to produce a pulse to modulate a rectified input or a constant DC input to the H-Bridge. A wave filter is coupled to the H-Bridge and configured to modulate an output of the H-Bridge to an AC voltage of a desired frequency, wherein an output of the wave filter is coupled to the processor. | 12-13-2012 |
20120325001 | OPTICAL SENSOR SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Optical sensors and sensing methods are provided. A particular method includes applying light to a first end of an optical fiber. Light reflected by at least one of a first photonic crystal sensor coupled to a second end of the optical fiber and a second photonic crystal sensor coupled to the second end of the optical fiber is detected. The first photonic crystal sensor exhibits a first reflection spectrum that changes responsive a first sensed parameter and the second photonic crystal sensor exhibits a second reflection spectrum that changes responsive a second sensed parameter. A parameter value of at least one of the first sensed parameter and the second sensed parameter is determined based on the detected light. | 12-27-2012 |
20130047701 | Combined Acoustic Excitation and Standoff Chemical Sensing for the Remote Detection of Buried Explosive Charges - In representative embodiments, a system includes an acoustic emitter, a controller, an optical sensor, and an indicator for indicating a detection of a predetermined trace chemical vapor by the optical sensor. The acoustic emitter is positioned at a predetermined distance above the ground surface and configured to project a beam of acoustic energy toward the ground surface with a variable angle of incidence α. The controller is configured to control the acoustic emitter to vary the angle of incidence of the acoustic beam within the variable angle of incidence α, while the optical sensor is configured for standoff sensing of a trace chemical vapor proximate the ground surface. Excitation of the ground surface, particularly at a critical angle of incidence β, causes the release of trace chemical vapors from a buried source and the soil into the air above the buried source. | 02-28-2013 |
20130169445 | MULTIMODE FIBER INTERROGATOR - An optical interrogator system including a broad spectrum light source capable of emitting light having a spectral width spanning at least approximately 20 nm, and at least one optical sensor coupled to the broad spectrum light source by at least one multimode optical fiber, wherein the at least one multimode optical fiber is configured to support a plurality of propagation modes, and a method of using the same are disclosed herein. | 07-04-2013 |
20130193767 | Method and Apparatus for Managing the Distribution of Electrical Energy in a Power Distribution Grid - A power distribution grid comprising a plurality of cells configured to be electrically connected to each other and a power management system. A cell in the plurality of cells is configured to distribute electrical energy to an area corresponding to the cell. The cell has a plurality of entry nodes configured to allow the electrical energy to flow into the cell. The power management system is configured to manage a distribution of the electrical energy to the area by the cell independently of the distribution of the electrical energy to other areas by other cells in the plurality of cells. | 08-01-2013 |
20130298392 | Ruggedized Photonic Crystal Sensor Packaging - A method, system, and apparatus are disclosed for a ruggedized photonic crystal (PC) sensor packaging. In particular, the present disclosure teaches a ruggedized packaging for a photonic crystal sensor that includes of a hermetic-seal high-temperature jacket and a ferrule that eliminate the exposure of the optical fiber as well as the critical part of the photonic crystal sensor to harsh environments. The disclosed packaging methods enable photonic crystal based sensors to operate in challenging environments where adverse environmental conditions, such as electromagnetic interference (EMI), corrosive fluids, large temperature variations, and strong mechanical vibrations, currently exclude the use of traditional sensor technologies. | 11-14-2013 |
20140111789 | Optical Fiber Coupled Photonic Crystal Slab Strain Sensor, System And Method Of Fabrication And Use - The present disclosure is generally directed to a strain sensor, system and method of fabrication and use that includes an optical fiber, an optical signal generator that transmits an optical signal through the optical fiber, at least two photonic crystal slabs within the optical fiber separated by a first segment of optical fiber, a photo-detector that detects a reflected optical signal from the at least two photonic crystal slabs, and a processor that computes a mechanical strain over the first segment of optical fiber based on the reflected optical signal detected by the photo-detector. | 04-24-2014 |