Operator actions and/or other commands or requests are secured via an authentication path from an action originator to a communications/control module or any other industrial element/controller. In implementations, an industrial control system includes an action authenticator configured to sign an action request generated by the action originator. The destination communications/control module or any other industrial element/controller is configured to receive the signed action request, verify the authenticity of the signed action request, and perform a requested action when the authenticity of the signed action request is verified.

This disclosure describes a distributed reader architecture for a mobile computing device such as cellular telephone handset. One claim recites a portable computing device including: memory for storing a library of processing components, the library including a signal detector component and an audio fingerprinting component; a microphone for capturing ambient audio; one or more processors configured for: invoking the audio fingerprinting component for processing captured audio to produce an audio fingerprint, wherein the audio fingerprinting component comprises a filtering process, in which the filtering process produces components of the captured audio that are used to produce the audio fingerprint; and invoking the signal detector component, in which the signal detector component comprises a fast detect process for analyzing the captured audio to determine the presence of an auxiliary signal within the captured audio, and when the presence of the auxiliary signal is detected, controlling the signal detector component for detecting the auxiliary signal to yield a detected auxiliary signal. The device further includes a communications output for communicating the audio fingerprint and the detected auxiliary signal to a remotely located server. Of course, other claims and combinations are provided as well.

Systems and methods are disclosed for moving a tabletop of a workstation based on biometric input associated with a user, the method being performed by a controller that is configured to send control signals to actuators to move the tabletop. One method includes: accessing a user profile associated with a user device; determining parameters for moving the tabletop, based on the user profile, for eliciting desired biometric inputs from the workstation user at one or more times during the movement of the tabletop; and repeating one or more iterations of: moving the tabletop based on the parameters, by sending control signals to the actuators of the tabletop; receiving, into a data storage device, actual biometric inputs from the workstation user; comparing the received actual biometric inputs with the desired biometric inputs; and if the parameters do not elicit the desired biometric inputs, adjusting the parameters.

This disclosure describes a distributed reader architecture for a mobile computing device such as cellular telephone handset. One claim recites a portable computing device including: memory for storing a library of processing components, the library including a signal detector component and an audio fingerprinting component; a microphone for capturing ambient audio; one or more processors configured for: invoking the audio fingerprinting component for processing captured audio to produce an audio fingerprint, wherein the audio fingerprinting component comprises a filtering process, in which the filtering process produces components of the captured audio that are used to produce the audio fingerprint; and invoking the signal detector component, in which the signal detector component comprises a fast detect process for analyzing the captured audio to determine the presence of an auxiliary signal within the captured audio, and when the presence of the auxiliary signal is detected, controlling the signal detector component for detecting the auxiliary signal to yield a detected auxiliary signal. The device further includes a communications output for communicating the audio fingerprint and the detected auxiliary signal to a remotely located server. Of course, other claims and combinations are provided as well.

A facial recognition framework may be configured for robotic process automation (RPA) to automate a workflow for an application interface. A set of images of a user may be captured after the robot is initiated for the automated workflow. The set of images may be utilized by a deep learning neural network model to identify facial characteristics. The automated workflow may be performed by an attended robot based on successful validation of the user with the facial characteristics and credentials of the user for the attended robot.