Solar trackers that may be advantageously employed on sloped and/or variable terrain to rotate solar panels to track motion of the sun across the sky include bearing assemblies and other mechanical features configured to address mechanical challenges posed by the sloped and/or variable terrain that might otherwise prevent or complicate use of solar trackers on such terrain.

A device has a microphone array that acquires sound data and a camera that acquires image data. A portion of the device may be moveable by one or more actuators. Responsive to the user, the portion of the device is moved toward an estimated direction of the user. The estimated direction is based on sensor data including the sound data and the image data. First variance values for individual sound direction values are calculated. Data derived from the image data or data from other sensors may be used to modify the first variance values and determine second data comprising second variances. The second data may be processed to determine the estimated direction of the user. For example, the second data may be processed by both a forward and a backward Kalman filter, and the output combined to determine an estimated direction toward the user.

A computer-implemented method for tracking multiple targets includes identifying a plurality of targets based on a plurality of images obtained from an imaging device carried by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) via a carrier, determining a target group comprising one or more targets from the plurality of targets, and controlling at least one of the UAV or the carrier to track the target group.

A system includes a tracker configured to collect solar irradiance and attached to a rotational mechanism for changing a plane of the tracker and a controller. The controller is programmed to store a plurality of positional and solar tracking information and detect a first amount of DHI and a first amount of DNI at a first specific point in time. If the first amount of SHI exceeds the first amount of DNI, the controller is programmed to calculate a first angle for the tracker to maximize an amount of irradiance received by the tracker. Otherwise, the controller is programmed to calculate the first angle for the tracker based on a position of the sun associated with the first specific point in time and the plurality of positional and solar tracking information.

A monitoring system that is configured to monitor a property is disclosed. The monitoring system includes a sensor that is configured to generate sensor data that reflects an attribute of the property; a solar panel that is configured to generate and output power; and a monitor control unit. The monitor control unit is configured to: monitor the power outputted by the solar panel; determine that the power outputted by the solar panel has deviated from an expected power range; based on determining that the power outputted by the solar panel has deviated from the expected power range, access the sensor data; based on the power outputted by the solar panel and the sensor data, determine a likely cause of the deviation from the expected power range; and determine an action to perform to remediate the likely cause of the deviation from the expected power range.

A distributed power system wherein a plurality of power converters are connected in parallel and share the power conversion load according to a prescribed function, but each power converter autonomously determines its share of power conversion. Each power converter operates according to its own power conversion formula/function, such that overall the parallel-connected converters share the power conversion load in a predetermined manner.

A system and method include generating environment data from skylight sensor data. The environment data includes a value of a geospatially dependent parameter associated with light received from a predetermined celestial light source. At least two of a compass direction of the predetermined celestial light source when the skylight sensor data was received, a time at which the skylight sensor data was received, or a geospatial coordinate at which the skylight sensor data was collected are received. At least one of the compass direction of the predetermined celestial light source when the skylight sensor data was received, the time at which the skylight sensor data was received, or the geospatial coordinate at which the skylight sensor data was collected is determined, at least in part, from the environment data.

The invention discloses a method for correcting the pointing errors of a biaxial rotation system based on the spherical cap function, comprising: error collection: selecting stars or radio sources distributed evenly in a star catalogue for tracking and observation to obtain the theoretical position and measurement position of the stars, and subtracting the measurement positions and the theoretical positions to obtain the error distribution; error model fitting: selecting a suitable orthogonal spherical cap function for the obtained error distribution and performing fitting to calculate an error fitting coefficient, the orthogonal spherical cap function model comprising a hemispheric harmonic function HSH, a Zernike spherical cap function ZSF, and a longitudinal spherical cap function LSF; and error control and compensation: putting the error model and the related fitting coefficient into a pointing control system for compensation. In the present method for correcting the pointing errors of a biaxial rotation system based on a spherical cap function, the model has strong stability and is not easily affected by measurement noise; there is no need to determine the form of the model on the bases of the frame form of the telescope, and the correction accuracy is high.

A bi-static optical system utilizing a separate transmit and receive optical train that are identically steerable in azimuth-over-elevation fashion while accommodating an autoboresight technique and function. Further provided may be a common elevation assembly with two opposite-facing elevation fold mirrors on either side that are controlled by the same motor assembly allowing for common elevation control without overlapping or combining the apertures.

A method of fully autonomous geometric calibration for linear-array remote sensing satellite (LARSS) based on the joint observation for stars and earth by satellite, with the support of satellite's high maneuverability is proposed. This invention realizes the full-link processing from data acquisition to internal and external calibration. Based on the ultra-high attitude stability and agile maneuverability, this invention designs a joint observation mode for the star and the earth, which is suitable for autonomous geometric calibration. With the joint observations, this invention achieves the external calibration through the star observations acquired in the solar shadow area, and achieves the internal calibration through the ground overlapping images acquired in the solar illumination area. Therefore, the high-precision geometric imaging model of the LARSS would be restored by the method, under the condition without using the ground calibration sites.