Ball Corporation

Ascent Technology, Inc.

Sated Space LLC

James T Sears

Stephen Andrew Hibbs

David A Goldberg

Harrison B Albert

A workstation for microgravity environments is provided that prevents objects from floating around inside a spacecraft. The workstation includes a downdraft table that has a plenum chamber with an inlet and an outlet. A fan is disposed in the plenum chamber for drawing air into the plenum via the inlet, and exhausting air from the plenum via the outlet. A metal grate is disposed across the inlet, and an air resistive stack is disposed on an outer side of the metal grate. The air resistive stack includes an inner resistive layer disposed on the metal grate and an outer resistive layer disposed on the inner layer. The workstation improves a user's ability to perform many activities in a microgravity environment.

Workstation for microgravity environments

An artificial gravity heating system includes a cylindrical compartment formed of a hollow cylinder having a bottom base and an open top end. An electric motor rotates the cylindrical compartment to provide centripetal motion of materials inside the cylindrical compartment. While rotating, the materials move towards an inner wall of the cylindrical compartment. A heating element is conductively coupled along an outer wall of the cylindrical compartment for heating the materials against the inner wall via conduction. A temperature sensor is operatively coupled to the cylindrical compartment for monitoring a temperature of the cylindrical compartment. A controller is configured to control operation of the heating element based on the temperature monitored via the temperature sensor. An artificial gravity heating method is used to process materials including heating ingredients to cook food. The artificial gravity heating system may also be configured as a vapor generator dehydrator or a thermal gas generator.

Artificial gravity heating device

Systems and methods are described for the production and application of a cyanobacteria based biological soil crust inoculant for soil fertilization, soil stabilization and the drawing down and sequestering of atmospheric carbon. Inoculant is generated as a dry granulate that can be stockpiled and spread onto soils using standard agricultural spreading practices employing aircraft, ground equipment and irrigation systems. This inoculant will have particular application in stabilizing agricultural and arid land soils to limit their erosion, increasing soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen and providing nutrients, and drawing down atmospheric carbon dioxide by stimulating the growth and propagation of these biological soil crusts and their associated microorganisms and vascular plants. The effect of this carbon dioxide draw down will further the broad scale application of the soil crust inoculant by industries and nations interested in offsetting their anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions while increasing the fertility of their soils.

Production and application of an aircraft spreadable, cyanobacterial based biological soil crust inoculant for soil fertilization, soil stablization and atmospheric CO2 drawdown and sequestration

An optical-input print reading device with voice output for people with impaired or no vision in which the user provides input to the system from hand gestures. Images of the text to be read, on which the user performs finger- and hand-based gestural commands, are input to a computer, which decodes the text images into their symbolic meanings through optical character recognition, and further tracks the location and movement of the hand and fingers in order to interpret the gestural movements into their command meaning. In order to allow the user to select text and align printed material, feedback is provided to the user through audible and tactile means. Through a speech synthesizer, the text is spoken audibly. For users with residual vision, visual feedback of magnified and image enhanced text is provided. Multiple cameras of the same or different field of view can improve performance. In addition, alternative device configurations allow portable operation, including the use of cameras located on worn platforms, such as eyeglasses, or on a fingertip system. The use of gestural commands is natural, allowing for rapid training and ease of use. The device also has application as an aid in learning to read, and for data input and image capture for home and business uses.

Voice-output reading system with gesture-based navigation

A biax gimballing arrangement permitting both axes of rotation to intersect at a point within a load being gimbaled, thereby permitting the rotational inertia of the load and the gimbal mechanism itself to be minimized. Gimbal rotation about a first axis is achieved by a first drive motor. Rotation in a second axis orthogonal to the first axis is achieved by a steel cable drive assembly having two drive cable ends that are passed through the first rotational axis on their way to respective anchor points within a portion of the gimbal apparatus that is rotated about the first axis. This rotatable portion of the gimbal apparatus includes milled guideways which permit rotation of the gimbal load mount. The central portion of the cable is driven by engagement with a pulley attached to the shaft of a second drive motor.

Biax gimbal arrangement

A system is disclosed for moving a load from an equilibrium position to which it is urged by extraneous forces, with reduced power required of the motive system. In the system, a load is engaged by means storing potential energy when the load is in its equilibrium position and returning the potential energy to the load as it is moved from the equilibrium position. Such a nozzle-actuating system includes generally a frame, an electric motor drive, and a member, driven by the electric motor drive, that is movably carried by the frame and connected with the rocket nozzle. The frame and driven member can include a cam and spring arrangement to provide a force counteracting the force imposed on the driven member by the rocket nozzle when it is displaced from its normal position by the electric motor drive.

Growing community of inventors

Boulder, CO, United States of America

James T Sears