A patient support apparatus comprises a base supported by caster assemblies with each caster assembly comprising a stem, a caster wheel, and a caster wheel axle. A patient support surface is coupled to the base and is configured to receive a load. One or more load sensors are integrated with at least one of the stem, the caster wheel, or the caster wheel axle for measuring the load. One or more of the caster assemblies can be coupled to a steering motor, which controls orientation of the caster assembly. A controller can control the steering motors based on analyzing the measurements of the load sensor. The load sensors can produce measurements indicative of both vertical load and non-vertical load applied to the caster assembly. The controller can also analyze the measurements of the load sensor to determine the load received by the patient support surface by negating the non-vertical load.

A patient support apparatus comprises a base supported by caster assemblies with each caster assembly comprising a stem, a caster wheel, and a caster wheel axle. A patient support surface is coupled to the base and is configured to receive a load. One or more load sensors are integrated with at least one of the stem, the caster wheel, or the caster wheel axle for measuring the load. One or more of the caster assemblies can be coupled to a steering motor, which controls orientation of the caster assembly. A controller can control the steering motors based on analyzing the measurements of the load sensor. The load sensors can produce measurements indicative of both vertical load and non-vertical load applied to the caster assembly. The controller can also analyze the measurements of the load sensor to determine the load received by the patient support surface by negating the non-vertical load.

A capacitive sensor assembly includes a capacitive transduction element and an electrical circuit disposed in the housing and electrically coupled to contacts on an external-device interface of the housing. The electrical circuit includes a sampling circuit having an operational sampling phase during which a voltage produced by the capacitive sensor is sampled by a sampling capacitor coupled to a comparator and an operational charging phase during which a second capacitor is charged by a charge and discharge circuit until the output of the comparator changes state, wherein the output of the sampling circuit is a pulse width modulated signal representative of the voltage on the input of the sampling circuit during each sample period. The output of the sampling circuit can be coupled to a delta-sigma analog-to-digital (A/D) converter.

A capacitive sensor assembly includes a capacitive transduction element and an electrical circuit disposed in the housing and electrically coupled to contacts on an external-device interface of the housing. The electrical circuit includes a sampling circuit having an operational sampling phase during which a voltage produced by the capacitive sensor is sampled by a sampling capacitor coupled to a comparator and an operational charging phase during which a second capacitor is charged by a charge and discharge circuit until the output of the comparator changes state, wherein the output of the sampling circuit is a pulse width modulated signal representative of the voltage on the input of the sampling circuit during each sample period. The output of the sampling circuit can be coupled to a delta-sigma analog-to-digital (A/D) converter.

A ship handling device may be provided with which a ship moves and turns in a target orientation toward target coordinates without monitoring the behavior of the ship against disturbance or the characteristics of the ship. The ship handling device moves the ship toward the target coordinates and in the target orientation from a GPS device and a signal from an orientation sensor, wherein the target coordinates and the target orientation are calculated from operation of a joystick lever, and a thrust is generated by a propulsion device so as to move the ship to the target coordinates and the target orientation after a signal finalizing the target coordinates and the target orientation has been acquired.

A displacement detection apparatus can reduce a measurement error even when a diffraction grating is displaced and/or tilted to a direction other than the measurement direction. A displacement detection apparatus includes a light source which emits light, a luminous flux-splitting section, a diffraction grating, a diffracted light-reflecting section, a correcting lens, a luminous flux-coupling section, and a light-receiving section. The diffracted light-reflecting section reflects a first luminous flux and a second luminous flux so as to be perpendicular to one of measuring planes of the diffraction grating and be parallel to each other. The correcting lens is arranged between the diffracted light-reflecting section and the diffraction grating.

Systems and methods for tracking the location of a non-destructive inspection (NDI) scanner using scan data converted into images of a target object. Scan images are formed by aggregating successive scan strips acquired using one or two one-dimensional sensor arrays. An image processor constructs and then compares successive partially overlapping scan images that include common features corresponding to respective structural features of the target object. The image processor is further configured to compute a change in location of the NDI scanner relative to a previous location based on the respective positions of those common features in the partially overlapping scan images. This relative physical distance is then added to the previous (old) absolute location estimate to obtain the current (new) absolute location of the NDI scanner.

Systems and methods for tracking the location of a non-destructive inspection (NDI) scanner using scan data converted into images of a target object. Scan images are formed by aggregating successive scan strips acquired using one or two one-dimensional sensor arrays. An image processor constructs and then compares successive partially overlapping scan images that include common features corresponding to respective structural features of the target object. The image processor is further configured to compute a change in location of the NDI scanner relative to a previous location based on the respective positions of those common features in the partially overlapping scan images. This relative physical distance is then added to the previous (old) absolute location estimate to obtain the current (new) absolute location of the NDI scanner.

Disclosed are a sensor module and a method for operating the same. The sensor module includes a module unit including a first body having a cavity and a module substrate received in the first body; and a sensor unit including a second body detachable from the cavity of the module unit and a sensor received in the second body, wherein the module unit reads an output signal from the sensor unit to generate sensing information and wirelessly outputs the sensing information.

Disclosed are a sensor module and a method for operating the same. The sensor module includes a module unit including a first body having a cavity and a module substrate received in the first body; and a sensor unit including a second body detachable from the cavity of the module unit and a sensor received in the second body, wherein the module unit reads an output signal from the sensor unit to generate sensing information and wirelessly outputs the sensing information.