A method at a first computing device within an Intelligent Transportation System for vehicle length reporting, the method including receiving, at the computing device, a position from a second computing device; finding position information for the first computing device; calculating a difference between the position found for the first computing device and the position reported from the second computing device; and using the difference for vehicle length reporting.

Apparatus and methods for determining belt speed and pitch using correlation techniques. The apparatus includes a pair of rangefinders separated by a predetermined distance. The rangefinders each measure the distance to the belt at two positions separated from each other in the direction of belt travel. The apparatus creates at least one time-series profile record corresponding to the profile of a belt. The time delays between occurrences of a regularly spaced topographical feature in the belt's profile are used by a processor to compute belt pitch and speed. Correlation techniques are used for robust results.

A method and system to measure a parameter associated with a component, device, or system with a specified accuracy, including: providing one or more sensors operably disposed to detect the parameter; obtaining a coarse measurement of the parameter within a first range using the one or more sensors, wherein the first range includes minimum and maximum values for the parameter; obtaining a fine measurement of the parameter within a second range using the one or more sensors, wherein the second range is smaller than the first range and has a specified ratio to the first range that provides the specified accuracy; determining a current value of the parameter by combining the coarse and fine measurements; and providing the current value of the parameter to a communications interface, a storage device, a display, a control panel, a processor, a programmable logic controller, or an external device.

A method and system to measure a parameter associated with a component, device, or system with a specified accuracy, including: providing one or more sensors operably disposed to detect the parameter; obtaining a coarse measurement of the parameter within a first range using the one or more sensors, wherein the first range includes minimum and maximum values for the parameter; obtaining a fine measurement of the parameter within a second range using the one or more sensors, wherein the second range is smaller than the first range and has a specified ratio to the first range that provides the specified accuracy; determining a current value of the parameter by combining the coarse and fine measurements; and providing the current value of the parameter to a communications interface, a storage device, a display, a control panel, a processor, a programmable logic controller, or an external device.

An operator controlled wire rope maintenance apparatus for remotely discerning and locating wire rope wear problems.

A boom extension monitoring system is provided that uses a combination of sensors to determine an absolute location and a relative location of the boom. As the boom extends or retracts, the monitoring system can determine the absolute location of the boom as the sum of the absolute at relative distances. These distances can be obtained through a combination of a grid, low-resolution sensors, high-resolution sensors, counters, processors, and other components according to various embodiments described herein. A process to obtain the total boom extension of multiple telescoping beams by monitoring the extension of a single beam element is also described.

Apparatus and methods for determining belt speed and pitch using correlation techniques. The apparatus includes a pair of rangefinders separated by a predetermined distance. The rangefinders each measure the distance to the belt at two positions separated from each other in the direction of belt travel. The apparatus creates at least one time-series profile record corresponding to the profile of a belt. The time delays between occurrences of a regularly spaced topographical feature in the belt's profile are used by a processor to compute belt pitch and speed. Correlation techniques are used for robust results.

An operator controlled wire rope maintenance apparatus for remotely discerning and locating wire rope wear problems.

A method and system to measure a parameter associated with a component, device, or system with a specified accuracy, including: providing one or more sensors operably disposed to detect the parameter; obtaining a coarse measurement of the parameter within a first range using the one or more sensors, wherein the first range includes minimum and maximum values for the parameter; obtaining a fine measurement of the parameter within a second range using the one or more sensors, wherein the second range is smaller than the first range and has a specified ratio to the first range that provides the specified accuracy; determining a current value of the parameter by combining the coarse and fine measurements; and providing the current value of the parameter to a communications interface, a storage device, a display, a control panel, a processor, a programmable logic controller, or an external device.

The invention relates to a transport device (100), in particular for transporting product carriers in a plant for manufacturing food products. The transport device (100) comprises at least one chain (1) to which measuring marks (4) are attached, an electrical drive system (20) for driving the chain (1) with a servo motor (25) and an absolute encoder (21), a plant control unit (30) and a measuring sensor (11) for detecting the measuring marks (4) with a switching frequency of greater than 2000/s. The plant control unit (30) comprises a first input (34) for receiving measurement data from the measuring sensor (11) and a second input (35) for receiving position data from the position sensor (21) and is designed to receive data from the measuring sensor (11) and from the position sensor (21), to mutually correlate said data correctly with respect to time, to determine therefrom lengths between measurement marks (4), more particularly between two consecutive measurement marks, and to produce a signal which provides information about the quality of the chain. A servo position actual value is ascertained by means of oversampling. (FIG. 2)