Sony Corporation

Nippon Kokan Kabushiki Kaisha

Nissan Motor Company Limited

Yokohama National University

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Act · Lsi Inc.

Hiroshi Abe

Sanseki Moriguchi

Toshihiko Baba

Makoto Miyazawa

Masaaki Uchida

Yasufumi Suzuki

Takahiro Miura

Nobusuke Toukura

Taiichi Onoyama

Hideyuki Yoshikoshi

Naoki Osada

Hideo Seki

Taisuke Nishida

Tomoji Iwata

Keisuke Kondo

Kiyoshi Saito

Sadayoshi Iwabuchi

Jyoichi Takenaka

Joichi Takenaka

Osamu Komatsu

Toshio Honda

Daichi Akiyama

A prism lens includes a prism lens body and at least one cylindrical lens. The prism lens body has a set of facing planes a mutual distance of which decreases or increases from one end to another end. The cylindrical lens is integral to at least one plane of the set of planes. The cylindrical lens is formed such that a cross section shape thereof at a plane perpendicular to a direction of a slope of a plane of the prism lens body having the cylindrical lens thereon with respect to the other plane of the set of planes has a certain curved shape to be convex against the plane having the cylindrical lens thereon.

Prism lens, light deflection device, and LiDAR apparatus

A light receiver array according to the present invention is constituted by array-aligning plural receivers having slow light waveguides of photonic crystals, and a LiDAR device according to the present invention is constituted by linearly arranging a light receiver array and a transmitter. An arranging relationship of plural receivers of the light receiver array is an array-like element formed by array-aligning plural receivers having the slow light waveguides of photonic crystals, and the array alignment is defined by alignment for defining a position relationship between the plural receivers constituting the light receiver array, and orientation for defining a direction of each receiver. A relationship p=&#x3bb;/sin &#x394;&#x3b8;r is satisfied between the alignment pitch p, wavelength &#x3bb; of the reception light, and an arrival angle &#x394;&#x3b8;r when a phase difference between reception lights received by waveguide ends of adjacent receivers is one wavelength. Such a constitution that the arrival angle &#x394;&#x3b8;r is equal to a widening angle &#x394;&#x3b8;t of radiation light is suitable.

Light receiving array and LiDAR device

An image pickup apparatus includes an image pickup unit configured to pick up a subject image and a control unit configured to perform control in a manner such that, in a case in which a predetermined mode is set, smile detection of a subject is started when an operation input is performed, the subject image is picked up if a smile is detected, and smile detection and image pickup are repeatedly performed until a completion condition is satisfied.

Image pickup apparatus, image pickup method, and program thereof

With a digital still camera, a user freely detects a smiling face on a touchpanel displaying a through image and selects a subject having that smiling face. The digital still camera displays the smiling face as a smiling face detection target and a non-target detected face on the through image in a distinctly different manner to discriminate the smiling face detection target from the non-target detected face. For example, when persons in an event such as a party are photographed in a relatively large viewing angle, an auto photographing operation may be performed in response to smiling face detections on condition that at least two members in the party are smiling.

Imaging device, imaging method and computer program

An imaging device includes an image input unit for inputting an image of a subject, an image signal processing unit for processing the input image, an image recording unit for recording the input image on a recording medium, a smiling degree detection unit for detecting a smile level of the subject contained in the input image processed by the image signal processing unit, a detection threshold level setting unit for setting a smiling face detection threshold level at which a determination of whether the subject is smiling is performed based on the smile level detected by the smiling degree detection unit, and a photographing control unit for controlling a photographing operation in response to the smiling face detection threshold level being reached by the smile level of the subject detected by the smiling degree detection unit.

An image photographing apparatus for capturing a subject image in accordance with smile detection of a subject includes an optical unit; an image capturing unit configured to capture the subject image; an optical mechanism driving control unit configured to control driving of mechanisms of the optical unit; an image signal processing unit configured to perform signal processing on the captured image; an image recording unit configured to record the captured image onto a predetermined recording medium; a face detection unit configured to detect a face of the subject; a smile detection unit configured to detect a smile on the detected face; and a smile-detection photography control unit configured to perform photographing processing for the subject image in response to detection of the smile of the subject from the captured image, while the driving of the mechanisms by the optical mechanism driving control unit is maintained fixed.

Image photographing apparatus, image photographing method, and computer program

A capacitance detecting proximity sensor forms a proximity detection range in a spatially open region, avoids the effects resulting from peripheral objects outside the detection target, and enables proximity detection with few malfunctions. The proximity sensor includes: a first detection electrode and a second detection electrode that are disposed to have a predetermined range difference h with respect to a detection direction Y in which a detection subject comes into proximity to the proximity sensor and are independent from a ground potential; and a proximity detection circuit that outputs, as a proximity detection output, the difference between a capacitance to ground Ca formed by the first detection electrode and a capacitance to ground Cb formed by the second detection electrode.

Capacitance detecting proximity sensor

A vehicle control apparatus and methodology relate to an exhaust gas sensor and sensor heater associated with an exhaust passage of a vehicle engine. The exhaust gas sensor is selectively heated to an applicable activation temperature by the heater so that the sensor may output a normal and accurate sensing signal. The heating must take place, however, without causing damage to the sensor such as that resulting from condensation that may occur within the exhaust passage as a result of engine operation and environmental conditions.

Vehicle control method and vehicle control apparatus

A vehicle with an automatic engine stop/restart function comprises an engine, an automatic transmission having an oil pump driven in synchronism with the engine to supply an oil pressure to the automatic transmission, an oil pressure controller to hold the oil pressure in the automatic transmission during an automatic stop of the engine, and a control system. The control system is configured to: determine whether the oil pressure in the automatic transmission becomes lower than a predetermined value during the engine automatic stop; shift the automatic transmission into a neutral state when the oil pressure in the automatic transmission becomes lower than a predetermined value during the engine automatic stop; restarts the engine; and then, shift the automatic transmission into a drive state after the oil pressure in the automatic transmission is increased to the predetermined value by the oil pump driven in synchronism with the engine.

Vehicle with automatic engine stop/restart function and automatic engine stop/restart system and method for vehicle

A vehicle driving force control apparatus includes an element for calculating a normal target driving force representing a desired vehicle driving force on a level road in accordance with sensed accelerator input quantity and vehicle speed, an element for calculating a modification quantity in accordance with a vehicle grade resistance, an element for determining a grade-adapted target driving force in accordance with the normal driving force and the modification quantity. The grade-adapted target driving force is achieved in a vehicle to provide adequate feeling of acceleration even on an ascending slope.

Control of vehicle driving force

In a signal processing apparatus, an analog signal inputted from, for example, a sensor is amplified by a amplifying circuit and is supplied to N comparing circuits (N is an integer equal to or more than 2). Each of the N comparing circuits is associated with a reference voltage and generates a comparison resultant signal based on the reference voltage in response to the amplified analog signal. N pulse generating circuits are provided for the N comparing circuits, respectively, and each of the N pulse generating circuits generates first and second pulse signals which indicate level transitions of the comparison resultant signal with respect to the corresponding reference voltage. A digital signal generating circuit composed of a flip-flop circuit generates a digital signal in response to the first and second pulse signals from each of the N pulse generating circuits.

Method and signal processing apparatus for generating digital signal

A method for reducing NO.sub.x gas contained in an exhaust gas to harmless N.sub.2 gas with NH.sub.3 gas using an iron oxide catalyst, characterized in that said iron oxide catalyst comprises a substance consisting essentially of hematite crystals (.alpha.-Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3), and the peak intensity of X-rays diffracted on the (110) plane of the lattice of said crystal has a ratio of 0.6 to about 1.0 to that of X-rays diffracted on the (104) plane of said crystal lattice.

Method of reducing NO.sub.x present in an exhaust to harmless N.sub.2

A method of removing nitrogen oxides from an exhaust which comprises the steps of contacting an exhaust containing nitrogen oxides and ammonia with a reducing catalyst received in a reactor to reduce the nitrogen oxides to nitrogen gas, wherein iron ore catalyst lumps having a particle size of 25 mm or less and forming a catalyst bed in the reactor are used as a reducing catalyst; the iron ore lumps of the catalyst bed are let to fall gravitationally through the reactor continuously or intermittently; and the iron ore catalyst lumps discharged from the reactor are either used as raw material for iron manufacture or fed back to the reactor to be reused as a reducing catalyst after being sieved.

Method of removing nitrogen oxides from an exhaust

Powder and/or fine particles containing mainly oxides of iron or ferroalloys, which are used or generated in ironworks, steelworks, etc. are sieved to a grain size range between about 32 mesh and about 10mm and used as reduction catalyzer. A reactor is filled with said reduction catalyzer. Exhaust gas containing nitrogen oxides and with added ammonia is passed in contact with said reduction catalyzer through said reactor, while heating said reduction catalyzer to a temperature between about 300.degree. C and about 370.degree. C, whereby nitrogen oxides are removed from said exhaust gas by reduction. Said reduction catalyzer can be used as material for ironmaking, without requiring any further treatment, after use as catalyzer.

Method of removing nitrogen oxides from exhaust gas by reduction

A method of removing a nitrogen oxide from an exhaust containing the same which comprises preparing an absorbent solution by adding divalent copper ions alone or a mixture of the divalent copper ions and divalent manganese ions to an acid aqueous solution containing sulfites or acid sulfites of ammonium, alkaline metals, or alkaline earth metals or a mixture of two or more of these compounds; and introducing the plant exhaust into the absorbent solution to carry out reaction between the sulfite radical of the absorbent solution and the nitrogen oxides contained in the exhaust to reduce the nitrogen oxides to nitrogen gas.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Hiroshi Abe