A sensor apparatus for footwear includes at least one pair of light sources and at least one pair of light receivers, each light receiver being positioned and configured to receive light emitted from a respective one of the light sources. A pair of movable curtains functions to adjust the amount of light received by the pair of light receivers. The curtains are movable conjointly such that the amount of light received by one of the light receivers is inversely proportional to the amount of light received by the other light receiver. (FIG. 1B).

Key switches of the inventive subject matter are designed to give users the tactile feel of key switches from expensive mechanical keyboards without drawback typically associated with alternative key switches. In some embodiments, key switches described in this application are designed to function with a sheet of membrane switches, while in other embodiments, key switches of the inventive subject matter incorporate optical switching in place of membrane switching. Embodiments for use with membrane switching feature a plunger and rocker combination that prevents the pressure from a user's key press from being directly transferred to a membrane switch, thereby reducing wear and tear. In optical switching embodiments, pressing the key switch causes an actuator, e.g., come between an optical emitter/receiver pair to register a key press.

A sealed encoder module for mounting onto a machine so as to measure relative displacement of first and second parts of the machine. The sealed encoder module can comprise, a scale, a readhead comprising a scale signal receiver, and an integral protective housing which encapsulates at least the scale and said scale signal receiver. The sealed encoder module can be configured to determine and output diagnostic information regarding a scale signal detected by the readhead.

Gyroscopes are sensors that measure angular rate and angular orientation. A three-dimensional fused silica micro shell rate-integrating gyroscope is presented. One aspect of the gyroscope includes the use of optical sensors to detect motion of the resonator. The proposed gyroscope is attractive because it achieves several magnitudes higher accuracy as well as high vibration and shock insensitivity from a novel resonator design as well as other unique manufacturing processes.

Gyroscopes are sensors that measure angular rate and angular orientation. A three-dimensional fused silica micro shell rate-integrating gyroscope is presented. One aspect of the gyroscope includes the use of optical sensors to detect motion of the resonator. The proposed gyroscope is attractive because it achieves several magnitudes higher accuracy as well as high vibration and shock insensitivity from a novel resonator design as well as other unique manufacturing processes.

A surgical instrument system for treatment of an anatomical structure comprises an instrument and/or a patient specific instrument. The instrument and/or the patient specific instrument comprises an integrated measurement system for tracking the instrument and/or the patient specific instrument relative to the anatomical structure. The integrated measurement system comprises a tracking system, which comprises a shadow imaging tracking system comprising an optical source, a shadow-generating device and a patient specific instrument sensor. An initial position of the instrument or the patient specific instrument is registerable by the patient specific instrument sensor. The shadow-generating device is arranged between the optical source and the imaging device for generating a shadow. The shadow imaging tracking system is configured to compute the elevation of the source from the pattern the shadow casts on the surface of the imaging device. The integrated measurement system comprises an inertial measurement unit to determine the patient's position.

A circuit for a smart lock includes a state detection unit, a main control chip and a motor driving unit, the state detection unit includes optocoupler sensors U21, U31 and a Hall sensor; the optocoupler sensor U21 is configured to form a first in-position signal, the optocoupler sensor U31 is configured to form a second in-position signal, the Hall sensor is configured to detect whether the state of the lock body is unlocked in position so as to form an auxiliary signal; the main control chip is configured to output a control signal according to the first and second in-position signals and the auxiliary signal; and the motor driving unit is configured to drive the motor to rotate forward or reverse or stop rotating according to the control signal.

A displacement detection device is capable of stably and accurately detecting an amount of displacement. A polarization maintaining fiber has a length not to be equal to a length obtained by dividing, a product of an integral multiple of twice a length of a resonator times a refractive index of the resonator and a beat length obtained from a difference between propagation constants of two polarization modes, by a wavelength of the light source, is selected from a range including a length equal to the above length. The polarization maintaining fiber includes multiple polarization maintaining fibers fitted to each other by removable connectors.

A timing apparatus, system, and method are provided to determine a position of a rotating object in a device, such as an engine, and control the device according to the determined position of the rotating object. Light is emitted from a light source onto a reflecting region on a portion of the rotating object. Light is reflected off the reflecting region of the rotating object and detected as the rotating object rotates. Intensity of the reflected light is measured, via a microcontroller, and the position of the rotating object is determined according to the intensity of the detected light. A signal is generated that corresponds to the intensity of the detected light associated with the determined position of the rotating shaft. The reflecting region has a feature configured to effect a change in the intensity of the reflected light as the rotating object rotates. The microcontroller is configured to determine the determined position and to utilize the determined position and the change in the signal to control operating characteristics of the device.

A method for detecting the position of a movable part, in particular for detecting the angular position of a rotatably mounted part or for detecting the linear position of a part arranged to be linearly movable, by means of a sensor which, as sensor signals coding the position, has a first signal, in particular a sine signal, and a second signal, in particular a cosine signal, in particular wherein the position detected by the sensor is coded by means of the first and second signal, wherein an actual variable is determined from the sensor signals in a chronologically recurring manner, wherein the determination of a control value, in particular a respective updated control value, is triggered by a trigger signal, in particular a respective trigger signal, in particular by a trigger pulse, wherein the determination of the control value is executed in such a way that the actual variable is regulated toward a target variable, in particular wherein the control value first changes with the respective next determination triggered by a respective further trigger signal, in particular wherein the control value determined by the determination triggered by the trigger signal remains unchanged until the chronologically successive and/or respective further trigger signal.

In a method for detecting the position of a movable part by a sensor which, as sensor signals coding the position, has a first signal and a second signal, the position detected by the sensor is coded by the first and second signal, an actual variable is determined from the sensor signals in a chronologically recurring manner, the determination of a control value is triggered by a trigger signal, the determination of the control value is executed such that the actual variable is regulated toward a target variable.