Hewlett-packard Company

Other

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.P.

3d Systems, Inc.

Kirt Alan Winter

Jose Julio Doval

Thomas G Smith

Francis E Bockman

William C Hilliard

John Mark Hatcher

Yoav Epstein

Frank Anthony Kurucz

Paul M Hubel

Cindy Y Sansom-Wai

Dan Kuehler

Steven T Breidenbach

Melissa Lee Monty

Sachin S Naik

Robert B Taylor, Iii

Robert Chou

An automated system for identifying a watering zone malfunction includes a sensor and a controller. The watering zone includes a valve that couples an input conduit to an output conduit. The output conduit terminates at one or more water distributors. The sensor is for capturing mechanical perturbations of the watering zone. The controller is configured to: store a profile defining at least one profile parameter based upon a transient operation of the zone in an intact state, receive the signal from the sensor during a watering operation when the zone is in an unknown state, compute a operation parameter based upon the signal for at least one time window of receiving the signal, determining a malfunction exists, and determine whether to take further action based upon the comparison.

Automated irrigation malfunction diagnostic system

A three-dimensional printing system is for fabricating or manufacturing a three-dimensional article. The three-dimensional printing system includes a substrate, a light engine, a radiation sensor, and a controller. The substrate has a surface positioned proximate to a build field. The surface supports a calibration target which includes or defines elongate light modulating bars disposed at two different orientations and including a Y-bar aligned with a Y-axis and an X-bar aligned with an X-axis. The light engine includes a plurality of projection modules including at least a first projection module and a second projection module. The first projection module configured to project an array of pixels onto a first image field. The second projection module configured to project an array of pixels onto a second image field.

Method of aligning pixelated light engines

A device and methods of using the device to provide timing and detection of the finish line for a sporting event are described. The device makes use of a Doppler radar transducer to detect the user as they approach and pass the finish line. In some embodiment the device further includes sensors that detect false starts and measure physiological parameters of the user during the event.

Finish line sensor device

A sensor system and method of using the system synergistically to improve the accuracy and usefulness of measured results is described. The system is comprised of electronically linked components that act as markers to trigger events, producers that gather data from sensors and aggregators that combine the data from a plurality of producers using triggers from marker devices to select the data of interest. The system is shown to be applicable to selection of data regions of interest and to analysis of the data to improve accuracy. The analysis of the data of any particular sensor within the system makes use of extrinsic data, being data generated by other sensors and intrinsic data, that is data or data limits that are known to be true from nature, laws of physics or just the particular information the user wants to acquire. The system is demonstrated on the analysis of Doppler radar measurements of a thrown object.

Intelligent sensor system

A digital still camera is used for taking and storing digital representations of a plurality of images. A printer, such as an ink jet printer or a laser printer, is used for generating graphical representations of selected ones of the plurality of images on a preselected print media such as a paper. A flash memory card, floppy diskette, direct data link or some other data transfer scheme is used to transfer the digital representations of the plurality of images from the digital still camera to the printer. The printer includes programming for generating a combination proof sheet and order form. The combination proof sheet and order form can include an array of thumbnail images and a plurality of image selection and/or image enhancement user designation areas such as bubbles to be filled in by the user with a pencil. The printer includes a scanner and related circuitry and software for scanning the combination proof sheet and order form to detect the user designation areas completed by the user. The programming in the printer thereafter causes it to generate at least one final print sheet with the images and enhancements designated by the user on the combination proof sheet and order form. The proof sheet and order form can be used to designate the number of final prints of a selected image, the size and/or cropping of the prints, the brightness, color balance, background, borders and so forth.

System and method for printing and scanning a user-completed digital still camera image proof sheet and order form

A multifunction printing system, and a method for processing image files, which allows a sequence of multiple image processing operations on digital image files, such as photographs taken by a digital camera, to be specified and initiated at a single point in time. The system includes a command interface through which default values for image processing parameters can be set and an initial image processing operation initiated. The system also includes a scanner for receiving a combination proof sheet and order form. Prior to scanning, the proof sheet is marked by the user to identify the image files to be processed, any overriding image processing parameter values for some or all of the images, and any additional image processing operations to be performed. Image processing operations include printing image files, storing image files on a mass storage device, and sending image files via fax or e-mail.

Specifying image file processing operations via device controls and a user-completed proof sheet

Methods for storing and retrieving digital image files, such as photographs taken by a digital camera, to and from an archival image storage system such as a file server or a mass storage medium. A combination proof sheet and order form is printed containing an array of thumbnail images, corresponding image selection user designation areas, and a storage selection user designation area markable by the user to specify selected images to be stored on or retrieved from the image storage system. The form is scanned to detect the user designation areas completed by the user, and then perform the indicated operation. A printing system includes programming for generating, scanning, and processing the form, and for storing and retrieving the selected images.

Storing and retrieving digital camera images via a user-completed proof sheet

A digital camera includes a lens and a plurality of color filters adjacent the lens. An array of detectors such as CCDs each receive, through the lens and a corresponding one of the color filters, light reflected from a scene. Each detector outputs a signal representative of an amount of light it receives. Circuitry is connected to the array for processing the signals from the detectors and generating a set of digital image data including a chromaticity value and a luminance value of a plurality of pixels representing an uncorrected image of the scene. A control circuit maps a two-dimensional representation of the digital image data into a two-dimensional representation of a set of reference image data and adjusts selected ones of the values of the set of digital image data in accordance with a predetermined transform to white balance the uncorrected image of the scene and produce a modified set of digital image data representing a corrected image of the scene.

Automatic white balance detection and correction of an image captured in a digital camera

Different print quality modes in a printer such as a color inkjet printer invoke different print rendering options for a particular object to be printed. In an exemplary embodiment, a printer control automatically invokes an error diffusion haltoning technique for photo images whenever high quality mode is designated, and automatically invokes a dither haltoning technique for photo images whenever a normal or fast print mode is designated.

Color halftoning options influenced by print-mode setting

The present invention relates to a method and system for efficient image handling. The invention includes an image server with which image files are registered. The image processing requests are sent to the image server to produce image data representing the processed image file. In one embodiment of the invention, a document processing application obtains an image file for printing. The application registers the image with the image server. The image server returns an identifier identifying the image file which is used for subsequent image processing requests. The application initiates a print job, sending the image identifier and selected print parameters to a printer driver. In response, the printer driver negotiates image processing requests with the image server to modify the image file in accordance with the selected print parameters. Finally, the processed image data is retrieved from the image server and sent to the printer. The image server and printer driver may be separate and independently executing processes. In an alternate embodiment, the application, image server and printer driver are loaded on two or more networked computers.

Method and apparatus for processing and printing documents

Method and apparatus prepare an image for printing--and in some cases include an output stage, performing the actual printing--when the overall number of pixels is being scaled up or down from an original image or portion. Image-sharpening procedures are controlled automatically by a function of the number of pixels in the original image and the number in the output device. Any of a great variety of such functions may be used, but we prefer a step-function of a ratio of the two pixel counts--particularly a two-valued step-function in which one value is zero and the other serves as a sharpening factor in a sharpening algorithm. When the function yields its zero value, for efficiency the sharpening computations are preferably turned off. The nonzero value is automatically selected when the number of output pixels is more than twice the number of input pixels. The sharpening-factor value, ideally two, is multiplied by the deviation of each image element, e. g. pixel, from the average of its adjacent neighbors; this product is added to the level of the subject image element to form an adjusted level. Weighting or selection of neighbor values along particular axes allows for anisotropic resolution or anamorphic scaling.

Resolution-triggered sharpening for scaling of a digital-matrix image

A method of using a printer system for identifying one or more different types of color objects in a document, selecting a preferred rendering option such as halftoning and/or color matching for each one of such different color object types, respectively, and then printing the document in accordance with the rendering options selected for each of such different color object types. In a printing system such as an inkjet color printer coupled through a printer driver to a host computer, a default halftoning technique and a default color-matching map are incorporated into the printer system for automatic invocation whenever a particular color object type is printed.

Adaptive color rendering by an inkjet printer based on object type

A color printer receives P, N-bit values indicating a computer generated color to be printed, there being 2.sup.NP possible combinations of bits in the P, N-bit color values. Each N-bit value has a least significant bit (LSB). Upon receiving P, N-bit color values, the color printer creates an address from P combined multiple-bit segments of each of the received N-bit values, each multiple bit segment excluding at least a LSB of each N-bit value. The color printer includes a cache memory having substantially less addresses than 2.sup.NP, each cache address including first and second entries, a first entry being P values indicative of a computer generated color and a second entry being P values usable by the color printer to reproduce the first entry. A processor determines if there is a match at an address created from a received computer color value between a first entry and the received computer color value, the match disregarding an LSB of each N-bit value comprising the first entry at the address. The processor is responsive to a determined match to access the second entry at the address and to employ the second entry to control the color printer. Exclusion of the LSB's in determination of the presence of a match enables a substantially greater probability of finding such a match in the cache memory.

Growing community of inventors

Escondido, CA, United States of America

Kirt Alan Winter