An observation device includes an illumination optical system and an observation optical system. The illumination optical system includes a light source and an aperture member. The observation optical system includes an objective lens, an optical structure, and a detector. The optical structure is disposed at a first position which is the position conjugate with the aperture member. The optical structure includes a blocking portion that blocks light and a transmitting portion that transmits light, the blocking portion having a shape including the shape of an image of an aperture of the aperture member which is formed on the optical structure. The detector detects dark-field light passing through the optical structure.

Methods, systems, and apparatus for generating a recipe for a concrete mixture, comprising: obtaining an optical characterization of a set of particles; determining, based on the optical characterization, physical characteristics of the set of particles; generating a multispherical approximation of the set of particles; selecting, based on the physical characteristics of the set of particles and from a database of performance rules, performance rules applicable to the set of particles; predicting performance of a proposed recipe for a concrete mixture formed from the set of particles by: determining a wet flowability rating of the proposed recipe based on the selected performance rules; and determining a dry packing rating of the proposed recipe based on the multispherical approximation; iteratively altering the proposed recipe and predicting performance of the altered proposed recipe until the predicted performance satisfies performance criteria to obtain a final recipe; and outputting the final recipe.

An infusion apparatus includes a housing and a chamber configured to be connected to the housing. The apparatus further includes a weight sensor coupled to a load connector connected to the housing and an optical sensor disposed in the housing. The weight sensor is configured to generate a first signal based on a measured weight of the fluid container attached to the housing in a weight-bearing configuration. The optical sensor is configured to generate a second signal based on detecting drops of the fluid traversing the chamber. The apparatus also includes a flow control mechanism to control a flow rate of the fluid into an outlet channel. The apparatus includes one or more processing devices configured to perform operations including transmitting a control signal to the flow control mechanism to adjust the flow rate.

An airborne biological particle monitoring device collects particles floating in air. The monitoring device includes a processor, a camera sensor, and a set of approximately monochromatic illumination sources that correspond to a set of spectral curves. The camera sensor captures images of the particles providing a spectral analysis of the particles. The processor analyzes the images to identify the collected particles.

A particle sorting apparatus for separating particles according to the sizes of the particles, and includes a microchannel device, a computation unit that determines a condition for controlling the microchannel device using a trained model obtained through machine learning of control condition data and separation result data that have been obtained by separating particles while controlling the microchannel device, and a control unit that controls the microchannel device based on the condition.

A system for measuring mechanical properties of rock cuttings includes a vibration platform with an upper surface configured to vibrate a plurality of rock cuttings thereon. A sensor system is operatively connected to the vibration platform to monitor the rock cuttings vibrating on the upper surface of the vibration platform. A calculation module is operatively connected to the vibration platform and the sensor system to calculate mechanical properties of the rock cuttings based on applied vibrational force frequency of the vibration platform and measurements of the rock cuttings from the sensor system.

Techniques in connection with the use of a multi-pixel polarization filter in the light-microscopic examination of a sample object are described. In this way e.g. a particle analysis can be carried out, e.g. in particular for determining the technical cleanness of a surface of the sample object.

The invention relates to a method for determining the absolute value of the flow velocity (v) of a particle-transporting medium. At least two measurement laser beams (L_i) with linearly independent, non-orthogonal measurement directions (b_i) are emitted. The measurement laser beams (L_i) scattered at particles are detected and one measurement signal (m_i) is generated in each case for each measurement laser beam (L_i). The measurement signals (m_i) are evaluated, wherein absolute values of velocity components (v_i) are ascertained as projections of the flow velocity (v) on the respective measurement directions (b_i), wherein a solid angle region is ascertained for the prevalent direction of the flow velocity (v) and signs assigned to this solid angle region are chosen for the individual velocity components (v_i), and wherein the absolute value of the flow velocity (v) is determined using the ascertained absolute values of the velocity components (v_i) and using the chosen signs for the velocity components (v_i).

A detection device for tiny particles in a liquid is provided. The detection device comprises includes a flow cell, a laser, a scattered light collection device, a photoelectric detector, a fiber Bragg grating and a first optical fiber coupler, wherein scattered light collected by the scattered light collection device is sent to the fiber Bragg grating through the first optical fiber coupler, and reflected light of the fiber Bragg grating after receiving the scattered light is sent to the photoelectric detector through the first optical fiber coupler. The device can eliminate most scattered light generated by the liquid, and reduce the interference of the scattered light of the liquid to scattered light signals generated by the particles, so that the scattered light signals captured by the photoelectric detector are mainly light signals generated by the particles.

In example implementations, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a channel, a camera, and a processor. The channel contains a fluid and an object. The fluid is to move the object through the channel. The camera system is to capture video images of the object in the channel. The processor is to track movement of the object in the channel via the video images based on known flow dynamics of the channel.