According to one embodiment, a picking system includes a picking robot and a control device. The picking robot transfers an object from a first space to a second space by using a robot hand. The control device controls the picking robot. When a first measurement result related to a shape of the object in the first space when viewed along a first direction is acquired, the control device performs a first calculation of calculating a position candidate for placing the object in the second space based on the first measurement result. When a second measurement result related to a shape of the object when viewed along a second direction is acquired, the control device performs a second calculation of calculating a position of the robot hand when placing the object in the second space based on the second measurement result and the position candidate.

In embodiments of a thermal and environmental control system an off-grid cold-storage facility has solar photovoltaic panels for producing electricity. A battery is in operable connection with the solar photovoltaic panels and configured to store the electricity produced by the solar photovoltaic panels. Cooling equipment is in operable connection to the battery and configured to regulate the temperature of the off-grid storage facility. Ventilation equipment is in operable connection to the battery to regulate air humidity and gas concentrations. A computer processor is provided at the off-grid storage facility and is in operable connection with the cooling equipment. The computer processor is configured to provide a regulating signal to the cooling equipment for optimizing battery usage, thermal setpoint, and environmental conditions. A cloud-based computing system is in operable communication to weather data and in operable communication to the computer processor. The cloud-based computing system is configured to compute optimized battery usage, thermal setpoint, and environmental conditions of the off-grid storage facility based on the weather data.

An apparatus and method for calibrating or teaching a robot, the apparatus includes a reflective photoelectric sensor arranged on a gripper of the robot and a controller. The controller is configured to: cause the reflective photoelectric sensor to scan over a target object; monitor changes in an output signal from the reflective photoelectric sensor; for each detected change exceeding a threshold, determine a coordinate of a gripping component on the gripper in a robot coordinate system, to obtain a set of coordinates; determine a position of the target object in the robot coordinate system based on the set of coordinates and a predefined offset value (PO) between the reflective photoelectric sensor and the gripping component; and store the position of target object for future use in assembling objects.

A method includes, responsive to first input, actuating a first plurality of valves of a solar board to be in an open position to provide cold water via a first manifold mounted to the solar board to first equipment and to receive hot water from the first equipment. The method further includes, responsive to second input, actuating a second plurality of valves of the solar board to be in the open position to provide the cold water via the first manifold and a second manifold mounted to the solar board to second equipment and to receive the hot water from the second equipment.

Described herein are systems, methods, devices, and other techniques for implementing smart windows, smart home systems that include smart windows, and user devices and applications for control thereof. A smart window, or photovoltaic window, may include a photovoltaic configured to generate electrical power from incident light onto the photovoltaic window, store the electrical power, and send the electrical power to an electronics package or various electrical loads including a wireless communication system, sensors, or window functions. The photovoltaic window may communicate with various smart home system devices such as hub devices and user devices, which may include the reception of control data at the photovoltaic window and the transmission of sensor data captured by the window sensors.

Described herein are systems, methods, devices, and other techniques for implementing smart windows, smart home systems that include smart windows, and user devices and applications for control thereof. A smart window, or photovoltaic window, may include a photovoltaic configured to generate electrical power from incident light onto the photovoltaic window, store the electrical power, and send the electrical power to an electronics package or various electrical loads including a wireless communication system, sensors, or window functions. The photovoltaic window may communicate with various smart home system devices such as hub devices and user devices, which may include the reception of control data at the photovoltaic window and the transmission of sensor data captured by the window sensors.

Described herein are systems, methods, devices, and other techniques for implementing smart windows, smart home systems that include smart windows, and user devices and applications for control thereof. A smart window, or photovoltaic window, may include a photovoltaic configured to generate electrical power from incident light onto the photovoltaic window, store the electrical power, and send the electrical power to an electronics package or various electrical loads including a wireless communication system, sensors, or window functions. The photovoltaic window may communicate with various smart home system devices such as hub devices and user devices, which may include the reception of control data at the photovoltaic window and the transmission of sensor data captured by the window sensors.

Described herein are systems, methods, devices, and other techniques for implementing smart windows, smart home systems that include smart windows, and user devices and applications for control thereof. A smart window, or photovoltaic window, may include a photovoltaic configured to generate electrical power from incident light onto the photovoltaic window, store the electrical power, and send the electrical power to an electronics package or various electrical loads including a wireless communication system, sensors, or window functions. The photovoltaic window may communicate with various smart home system devices such as hub devices and user devices, which may include the reception of control data at the photovoltaic window and the transmission of sensor data captured by the window sensors.

A solar concentrating system and installation has a plurality of solar collectors configured for receiving, reflecting, and concentrating radiation in a focal point. The solar concentrating system and installation increases the efficiency of current solar concentrating systems, such as those based on linear Fresnel collectors, by reducing focal distances and increasing the effective surface of the system.

Operation methods and systems for distributed generation from a plurality of generators, and computer readable media. One method comprises the step of applying a forward looking matching algorithm to determine a matching matrix with elements m.sub.i,j denoting the fraction of generator i's predicted supply assigned to respective load j of a plurality of loads such that a probability of meeting each load's associated power demand characteristic in a next supply cycle satisfies a threshold criterion.