This disclosure describes systems, methods, and apparatus for automating the verification of aerial vehicle sensors as part of a pre-flight, flight departure, in-transit flight, and/or delivery destination calibration verification process. At different stages, aerial vehicle sensors may obtain sensor measurements about objects within an environment, the obtained measurements may be processed to determine information about the object, as presented in the measurements, and the processed information may be compared with the actual information about the object to determine a variation or difference between the information. If the variation is within a tolerance range, the sensor may be auto adjusted and operation of the aerial vehicle may continue. If the variation exceeds a correction range, flight of the aerial vehicle may be aborted and the aerial vehicle routed for a full sensor calibration.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include a method including receiving first impact data. The method includes receiving second impact data. The method includes applying a first filter to both the first impact data and the second impact data. The method includes applying a second filter to both the first impact data and the second impact data. Filtering includes time and frequency based discriminating filter to isolate specific signatures that representatively indicate impact signatures generated by the sand on the interrogator. The method includes comparing the first impact data and the second impact data for corresponding signatures. The method includes identifying a corresponding signature in both the first impact data and the second impact data. The method includes determining the corresponding signature meets a threshold criterion. The method includes determining one or more particulate properties based at least in part on the corresponding peak.

A dual damascene article of manufacture comprises a trench containing a conductive metal column where the trench and the conductive metal column extend down into and are contiguous with a via. The trench and the conductive metal column and the via have a common axis. These articles comprise interconnect structures incorporating air-gap spacers containing metal/insulator structures for Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) and Ultra Large Scale Integrated (ULSI) devices and packaging. The trench in this regard comprises a sidewall air-gap immediately adjacent the side walls of the trench and the conductive metal column, the sidewall air-gap extending down to the via to a depth below a line fixed by the bottom of the trench, and continues downward in the via for a distance of from about 1 Angstrom below the line to the full depth of the via. In another aspect, the article of manufacture comprises a capped dual damascene structure.

A dual damascene article of manufacture comprises a trench containing a conductive metal column where the trench and the conductive metal column extend down into and are contiguous with a via. The trench and the conductive metal column and the via have a common axis. These articles comprise interconnect structures incorporating air-gap spacers containing metal/insulator structures for Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) and Ultra Large Scale Integrated (ULSI) devices and packaging. The trench in this regard comprises a sidewall air-gap immediately adjacent the side walls of the trench and the conductive metal column, the sidewall air-gap extending down to the via to a depth below a line fixed by the bottom of the trench, and continues downward in the via for a distance of from about 1 Angstrom below the line to the full depth of the via. In another aspect, the article of manufacture comprises a capped dual damascene structure.

A vibration sensor having a moveable mass being suspended in a suspension member and being adapted to move in response to vibrations or accelerations. The moveable mass and the suspension member are rigidly connected across one or more gaps formed by respective opposing surfaces of the moveable mass and the suspension member. The vibration sensor includes a damping arrangement having a damping substance. The moveable mass is arranged to interact directly or indirectly with the damping substance in order to reduce a mechanical resonance peak of the vibration sensor.

An ultrasound circuit comprising a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) with built-in time gain compensation functionality is described. The TIA is coupled to an ultrasonic transducer to amplify an electrical signal generated by the ultrasonic transducer in response to receiving an ultrasound signal. The TIA is, in some cases, followed by further analog and digital processing circuitry.

A vertical molten sulfur pump assembly includes a pump motor disposed in a top portion and an impeller disposed in a bottom portion, within an impeller casing. A pump inlet is disposed at the second end below the impeller casing. The vertical molten sulfur pump assembly is configured to pump molten sulfur into the inlet and upwards through a discharge passageway by rotation of the impeller. A vibration sensor and a temperature sensor are disposed on an external surface of the bottom portion, on or proximate to the impeller casing and the pump inlet. A temperature sensor is configured to measure a temperature of the molten sulfur proximate to the pump inlet. A vibration sensor includes a substrate comprising a polymer and a resonant layer, and resonant layer includes an electrically conductive nanomaterial and is configured to produce a resonant response in response to receiving a radio frequency signal.

A method for operating an ultrasonic sensor is disclosed. The ultrasonic sensor includes a membrane and an exciter element for exciting the membrane and for detecting a vibration of the membrane. The method includes obtaining calibration data from a storage unit storing the calibration data. The calibration data includes information about a first frequency response of the ultrasonic sensor in a sending direction depending on a membrane excitation frequency at different membrane temperatures and information about a second frequency response of the ultrasonic sensor in a receiving direction depending on a membrane vibration frequency at different temperatures. The method also includes determining a current membrane temperature, determining a sensitivity of the ultrasonic sensor, and controlling an electric current provided to the exciter element and a gain of the ultrasonic sensor based on a difference between the determined sensitivity and a prestored sensitivity.

A sensor arrangement for use in process automation, including a sensor with at least one sensor element for detecting a measurand of process automation, a first interface for transmitting a value that is a function of the measurand to a second interface, and a first coupling body having the first interface, the sensor further including a connection element for transmitting the value to a higher-level unit, the connection element including a first housing section with a second interface complementary to the first interface, wherein the first and second interfaces are designed for bi-directional communication between the sensor and the higher-level unit and to ensure the power supply to the sensor, a second housing section with a second coupling body complementary to the first coupling body and having an open and a locked condition, wherein the first housing section can be rotated in relation to the second housing section.

If input signal is transmitted to a main body unit, a sensor amplifier stores the input signal in itself as measurement data, and transmits the input signal with the added transfer order information to the main body unit. By checking the transfer order information added to the input signal, the main body unit can confirm if the input signal is deficient or not. Upon the end of the measurement of the physical quantity, the main body unit transmits the retransmission request that requests the retransmission of the deficient portion of the data to the sensor amplifier. According to the retransmission request from the main body unit, the sensor amplifier extracts the deficient portion of the input signal data stored in itself and retransmits the extracted input signal data to the main body unit.