The invention relates to a conductive elastomer provided and formed from a base elastomer and conductive solid particles that are distributed therein. The conductive particles used are: a) platelet-shaped conductive particles and/or b) dendritic conductive particles and/or c) other elongated conductive particles with a length:width ratio of greater than or equal to two. It has been seen that a combination of ball-shaped and platelet-shaped conductive particles is particularly advantageous. The particles can additionally be aligned by the pouring, application using a doctor blade, or drawing of the dissolved or not-yet cured mixture. The polymer is particularly suitable for medical electrodes for capturing and emitting signals. The material rennulus elastic, and conductive when stretched or bent.

A snow removal apparatus may include a main body, an engaging base, a shaft and two brackets and be applied to different situations to achieve the effect of removing snow by pulling or pushing the shaft thereof such that a user has no need to repetitively shovel and lift snow to a trolley thus saving time and labors. Also, the snow removal apparatus can remove larger amounts of snow to a great distance without the trolley thus improving applicability. Moreover, since the snow removal apparatus has multi-function, the user can only buy one tool to achieve the effect of removing snow which lowers the cost and is easier for storage.

An embodiment relates to a tool, including: a handle having an interior cavity therein; a grip on the handle; a rod that is movable with respect to the interior cavity of the handle such that movements of grip are translated into movements of the rod to deploy and retract an end of the rod with respect to an end of the handle; and a tool element attached to the handle. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

An instrument for conducting nucleic acid amplification reactions in a disposable test device. The test device includes a first reaction chamber containing a first nucleic acid amplification reagent (e.g., primers and nucleotides) and a second reaction chamber either containing, or in fluid communication, with a second nucleic acid amplification reagent (e.g., an amplification enzyme such as RT). The instrument includes a support structure receiving the test device. A temperature control system maintains the first reaction chamber at a first elevated temperature but simultaneously maintains the second nucleic acid amplification reagent at a second temperature lower than the first temperature so as to preserve the second nucleic acid amplification reagent. An actuator operates on a fluid conduit in the test device to place the first and second reaction chambers in fluid communication with each other after a reaction has occurred in the first reaction chamber at the first temperature. A pneumatic system is also provided that assists in fluid transfer of a reaction solution from the first chamber to the second chamber.

An agricultural work machine, an agricultural work machine control system, and method for an agricultural work machine having Bluetooth enabled RFID tags to determine a fault condition of machine components, devices, parts or systems. The Bluetooth enabled RFID tags are located on, at, or near machine components or systems to sense a temperature of those components or systems. The Bluetooth enabled RFID tags are interrogated to determine sensed temperatures and component identifiers. A controller receives the temperatures and component identifiers and compares the received temperatures to a threshold to determine whether a fault condition exists. If so, the controller transmits an alert signal to a user interface to indicate that a fault condition exists with an identified component, part, device, or system.

A row steering system of an agricultural machine is provided. The row steering system includes a first sensor assembly configured to detect a first orientation of the agricultural machine relative to a path reference in a field using a first sensor configured to measure a first characteristic. The system also includes a second sensor assembly configured to detect a second orientation of the agricultural machine using a second sensor configured to measure a second characteristic. The system further includes a control module including a first evaluation module to obtain a first confidence in the detected first orientation, a second evaluation module to obtain a second confidence in the detected second orientation, and a selector module to selectively provide one or more of the detected first orientation or the detected second orientation to a machine controller of the agricultural machine based on the first and second confidences.

A row steering system of an agricultural machine is provided. The row steering system includes a first sensor assembly configured to detect a first orientation of the agricultural machine relative to a path reference in a field using a first sensor configured to measure a first characteristic. The system also includes a second sensor assembly configured to detect a second orientation of the agricultural machine using a second sensor configured to measure a second characteristic. The system further includes a control module including a first evaluation module to obtain a first confidence in the detected first orientation, a second evaluation module to obtain a second confidence in the detected second orientation, and a selector module to selectively provide one or more of the detected first orientation or the detected second orientation to a machine controller of the agricultural machine based on the first and second confidences.

A method may include obtaining localization information and control signal information relating to an autonomous vehicle (AV). The method may include computing first kinematic characteristics of the AV based on the localization information and the control signal information and generating a first vehicle model based on the first kinematic characteristics. The method may include determining one or more first control commands that provide instructions for actuating a driving operation of the AV. The first control commands may be determined based on the first vehicle model. The method may include simulating first movement of the AV according to the first control commands and the first vehicle model.

A central management server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a selection module for selecting an unmanned aircraft and an unmanned robot to monitor a management target area; and a control module for transmitting a monitoring execution command to the selected unmanned aircraft and the unmanned robot, wherein, according to the monitoring execution command, the unmanned robot moves along a preset ground guard route and monitors the management target area on the ground, and the unmanned aircraft flies along a preset air guard route and monitors the management target area from above. When it may be determined that an event has occurred during monitoring, at least one of the unmanned aircraft and the unmanned robot may be configured to transmit event information including location information of a point at which the event has occurred to the control module.

A power equipment machine with operator selectable autonomous mode and manual mode is provided. By way of example, the power equipment device can provide user-assisted semi-autonomous steering along user-defined paths of a geographic area. Manual steering controls and autonomous guidance controls can be positioned on one or more movable armrests to enhance comfort and minimize operator fatigue. The manual steering controls can include a jog wheel and encoder mechanism located on a first armrest, eliminating conventional mechanical shaft and wheel steering devices and dual lap bar steering devices. Guidance and computer settings can be accessed through a touchscreen display mounted in front of an operator position on the power equipment device.