A method and device for controlling an electric motor, in particular a machine tool drive, wherein during a sensorless open-loop control mode of operation of the electric motor the speed and the torque are determined from the motor current and the motor voltage, and the moment of inertia of the electric motor torque are determined from the determined motor current and the determined motor voltage, wherefrom then a control torque is determined, which is then associated with an open-loop torque control value and supplied as the torque setpoint value to a control element for setting the motor current and/or the motor voltage in the open-loop mode of operation. As long as the speed is below a minimum speed, the control element receives as input variable a control or pilot control torque generated from a predefined moment of inertia for a sensorless closed-loop control mode of operation of the electric motor.

A power converting apparatus including a power converter that converts a DC voltage into an AC voltage and applies the AC voltage to an AC rotating machine and a control unit that controls the power converter based on an operation command from the outside is provided. The power converting apparatus includes: a first calculating unit that calculates and outputs, from a d-axis current detection value and a q-axis current detection value detected by the AC rotating machine and current command values based on the operation command, first voltage command values to the power converter, magnetic fluxes of the AC rotating machine, and an angular frequency; and a second calculating unit that sets, as an initial value, at least one of the magnetic fluxes and the angular frequency input from the first calculating unit and calculates and outputs second voltage command value to the power converter and an angular frequency.

A voltage regulator for a pair of electric motors has an input for a signal indicative of the desired speed for the motors and a pulse width modulation control circuit device. A control module provides a conditioning signal to the control circuit to output to the motors a square wave voltage having a duty-cycle which varies according to a predetermined function of the signal applied to the input of the regulator. The control circuit device has first and second electronic solid state switches associated with the motor and controlled by the control module.

Embodiments of the present method and system permit an effective method for determining the optimum selection of pulse width modulation polarity and type including determining machine parameters, inputting the machine parameters into a predicted duty cycle module, determining the optimum polarity of the pulse width modulation for a predicted duty cycle based on a pulse width modulation generation algorithm, and determining the optimum type of the pulse width modulation for a predicted duty cycle based on the pulse width modulation generation algorithm.

A lower limit value setting unit (52) variably sets a lower limit value (Vth) of a target voltage (Vh*) in a range of a voltage that is higher than the maximum value of voltages (Vb1, Vb2) of power storage devices and is not affected by a dead time provided for converters, based on temperatures (Tb1, Tb2) and required electric powers (Pb1*, Pb2*). A maximum value selection unit (53) sets the maximum value among the voltages (Vb1, Vb2) of the power storage devices and required voltages (Vm1*, Vm2*) of motor-generators, as the target voltage. A target voltage limiting unit (54) compares the target voltage with the lower limit value (Vth), and if the target voltage is lower than the lower limit value (Vth), the target voltage limiting unit (54) sets the lower limit value (Vth) as the target voltage (Vh*).

A switching element is switched off after having been switched on for only a short time interval called a first predetermined time interval, and a determination is made, based on a mode of a change in a contact point potential (a regeneration voltage) between an electric motor and the switching element when the switching element as switched off, as to whether or not one of the electric motor and the switching element has failed. Next, the switching element is switched on for a time interval called a second predetermined time interval, which is longer than the first predetermined time interval, and a determination is made, based on the magnitude of the contact point potential at that time, as to which one of the electric motor and the switching element has failed. It is thus possible for a failure of the switching element and electric motor to be detected.

A device and method to determine the stopping rotor position of a washing machine motor includes an inverter, a permanent magnet synchronous motor, and an electronic motor controller. The controller determines the stopped rotor position of the motor by measuring induced currents in the stator field coils of the motor. While the motor is de-energized and slowly rotating, the controller directs the inverter to connect all of the stator field coils of the motor together. The stator field coils may be connected to a common D.C. rail, output from an A.C.-D.C. converter of the washing machine. In an embodiment, the controller determines the rotor position based on the polarities of current induced in the stator field coils. In another embodiment, the controller determines the rotor position based on the phase angle and angular frequency of the three phase currents, transformed into a stationary reference frame.

The invention relates to an electric motor assembly, particularly for driving a fan for an engine cooling system and/or an air conditioner of a motor vehicle, comprising an electric motor and a motor control device for activating the electric motor. According to the invention, the motor control device can be adjusted according to a characteristic curve (1,2,3,4) of the electric motor and/or of the fan, and thereby the power and/or rotational speed of the electric motor can be adjusted.

A system to monitor the temperature of power electronic devices in a motor drive includes a base plate defining a planar surface on which the electronic devices and/or circuit boards within the motor drive may be mounted. The power electronic devices are mounted to the base plate through the direct bond copper (DBC). A circuit board is mounted to the base plate which includes a temperature sensor mounted on the circuit board proximate to the power electronic devices. The temperature sensor generates a digital signal corresponding to the temperature measured by the sensor. A copper pad is included between each layer of the circuit board and between the first layer of the circuit board and the sensor. The circuit board also includes vias extending through each layer of the board. The copper pads and vias establish a thermally conductive path between the temperature sensor and the base plate.

Assemblies for HVAC systems and methods of operating HVAC systems are disclosed, including a method of operating an HVAC system having a compressor assembly and a condenser assembly. The compressor assembly includes a compressor having a compressor motor that is susceptible to backspinning and capable of generating electric power when backspinning. The condenser assembly includes a condenser motor operatively coupled to a fan. The condenser assembly is electrically coupled to the compressor assembly. The method includes using the condenser motor as an electric load to dissipate electric power generated by the compressor motor when the compressor motor backspins.

A motor driving apparatus is applied to a fan and motor mechanism and a voltage supply unit. The motor driving apparatus includes a motor driving unit, a voltage division resistor, a first resistor, a first switch unit, a second resistor, a second switch unit, a third resistor, a third switch unit, a transistor switch, and a pulse width modulation unit. The first switch unit, the second switch unit, and the third switch unit are configured to select the rotational speed upper limitation of the fan and motor mechanism for suppressing noise.

The invention relates to a method for detecting blocking or sluggishness (M1, M3) of a DC motor (2). The method comprises the following steps: applying a voltage pulse (Uv,t=Os) to the DC motor (2); monitoring a motor current (IMotor) flowing through the DC motor (2); detecting a maximum value of the motor current (IMotor) following the application of the voltage pulse; checking whether a change in the motor current (IMotor) after reaching the maximum value exceeds a specific amount; signalling the blocking or the sluggishness (M1, M3) of the DC motor (2) if the change in the motor current (IMotor) after reaching the maximum value exceeds the specific amount.

An apparatus or method which accepts a burst of pulses at a frequency which may not be tightly controlled and converts this into a trajectory command that is a suitable motion profile for an incremental motor control application. The output of the invention can be a pulse stream that can be fed to an existing incremental pulse input motor drive or the invention can be embedded into a motor drive where its output is a numerical sequence that defines a physically realizable trajectory to be fed to the control circuits and software within the motor drive.

The present invention discloses a controller and a method for improving motor driving efficiency. According to the present invention, multiple control parameters are inputted to the controller so that the controller can adjust timings of PWM driving signals for driving the motor to advance or delay the turned-ON or turned-OFF points, whereby the motor is driven efficiently.

A motor driven power steering (MDPS) may include: a vehicle speed sensor configured to sense vehicle speed; a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature of a power pack; a current sensor configured to sense an amount of current applied to the MDPS; a storage unit configured to store a thermal resistance value based on the vehicle speed with respect to the temperature of the power pack; and a control unit configured to calculate an estimated temperature by reflecting the thermal resistance value based on the vehicle speed with respect to the temperature of the power pack and the current amount applied to the MDPS into a temperature estimation function, and drive a motor according to the calculated estimated temperature.

A circuit configuration for driving an electric motor includes a signal evaluation module, which stores a number of output patterns. An input pattern is specified, and as a function of the input pattern, one of the output patterns is output, by which the electric motor is driven.

A wiper device that includes: a wiper motor that swings a wiper blade that is coupled to the wiper motor through a wiper arm to-and-fro over a window pane between an upper return position and a lower return position; and a drive component that gradually increases power supplied to the wiper motor until the rotation speed of the wiper motor reaches a specific speed when the wiper motor has been restarted from a stationary state of the wiper blade between the upper return position and the lower return position.

An improved rearward-hinged and forward-hinged, rotatable and tiltable receiving table for a agricultural bale transport vehicle that selectively tilts and rotates a layer of bales resting thereupon 90 degrees relative to a preceding bale layer on the transport vehicle to criss-cross tie a load of bales (a plurality of layers of bales) together in a load stack offloaded from the transport vehicle to the field for later pickup and movement or deposit in a bale storage area. Preferably, the bale transport vehicle is a mid-size or big bale stack wagon having a Mil-Stak® bale loader previously installed or concurrently being installed. The invention enables the lifting, tilting, rotating, and depositing of one mid-size or big bale or a plurality of mid-size or big bales from a rearward-hinged and forward-hinged bale receiving table of the bale transport vehicle onto a rear-hinged stack load table for consolation into a load with other layers of bales for transport from the field. The invention allows selective 90 degree rotation of a layer of bales relative to a preceding layer of bales of the bale stack on the rear-hinged stack load table.

A work conveying system sequentially conveys a workpiece to multiple working apparatuses and includes a rail track disposed along the multiple working apparatuses and multiple conveyor robots disposed on the rail track and movable on the rail track independently. In addition, a delivery control unit controls the multiple conveyor robots for delivering the workpiece between adjacent conveyor robots. Any one of the multiple conveyor robots can be controlled for isolated individual movement on the rail track between adjacent working apparatuses to sequentially deliver the workpiece.

A conveyer magazine-type empty bag supplying apparatus including an empty bag separator for separating the topmost empty bag from a set of empty bags and feeding it forward, a positioning stopper for the front end of the fed-out empty bag coming into touch therewith, ratchet wheels coming into contact with the empty bag fed by the empty bag separator and feeding the bag forward, causing the bag to come into touch with the positioning stopper, and an empty bag suction members for adhering to and picking up the bag positioned by the positioning stopper. The ratchet wheels are provided on pivoting arms so as to be oscillatingly moved between its delivery position and its retracted position. The delivery position is between the positioning stopper and the empty bag suction members and the retracted position is on the front side which is beyond the stop surface of the positioning stopper.

A drive section for a substrate transport arm including a frame, at least one stator mounted within the frame, the stator including a first motor section and at least one stator bearing section and a coaxial spindle magnetically supported substantially without contact by the at least one stator bearing section, where each drive shaft of the coaxial spindle includes a rotor, the rotor including a second motor section and at least one rotor bearing section configured to interface with the at least one stator bearing section, wherein the first motor section is configured to interface with the second motor section to effect rotation of the spindle about a predetermined axis and the at least one stator bearing section is configured to effect at least leveling of a substrate transport arm end effector connected to the coaxial spindle through an interaction with the at least one rotor bearing section.

Reduction in cooling rate of a substrate having a lower temperature is suppressed because the substrate having a lower temperature is not affected by radiant heat of a substrate having a higher temperature while cooling a plurality of substrates in a cooling chamber. The substrate processing apparatus includes a load lock chamber configured to accommodate stacked substrates; a first transfer mechanism having a first transfer arm provided with a first end effector, and configured to transfer the substrates into/from the load lock chamber at a first side of the load lock chamber; a second transfer mechanism having a second transfer arm provided with a second end effector, and configured to transfer the substrates into/from the load lock chamber at a second side of the load lock chamber; a barrier installed between the substrates to be spaced apart from the substrates supported by a substrate support provided in the load lock chamber; and an auxiliary barrier unit installed between the substrate support and the barrier, wherein the auxiliary barrier unit is installed at places other than standby spaces of the end effectors.

A recovery vehicle for recovering other, disabled vehicles, and a method for doing so. A vehicle frame extends along a longitudinal axis, and supports a travel base assembly carrying a boom. The travel base assembly can move along the longitudinal axis of the frame. Two or more traveler rollers may be located between the vehicle frame and the travel base assembly, for supporting the travel base assembly and facilitating longitudinal movement of the travel base assembly relative to the vehicle frame. The traveler rollers may include a plurality of rollers movable about a load-bearing member. Using the invention, a load may be lifted by the boom and moved between positions located at the rear and to the side of the recovery vehicle, without the need to first reposition the boom using boom lift or telescoping cylinders.

In some aspects, an unloading device for a pipe processing system includes a depositing carriage having a depositing surface for depositing a pipe during and/or after a pipe processing operation, the depositing carriage being configured to move in a longitudinal direction of the pipe, and a supporting carriage having a supporting member for the pipe, the supporting member having a wall for radially supporting the pipe, and the supporting carriage being configured to move in a longitudinal direction of the pipe, where the depositing surface of the depositing carriage and/or the supporting member of the supporting carriage is configured to move in at least one other direction in addition to the longitudinal direction of the pipe so that the depositing carriage and the supporting carriage can be at least partially moved past each other along the longitudinal direction of the pipe.

The present teachings provide a method of controlling a remote vehicle having an end effector and an image sensing device. The method includes obtaining an image of an object with the image sensing device, determining a ray from a focal point of the image to the object based on the obtained image, positioning the end effector of the remote vehicle to align with the determined ray, and moving the end effector along the determined ray to approach the object.

Method for laterally replacing a heavy component of a plant assembly, the method including disconnecting the heavy component from other components of the plant assembly and from a base plate to which the heavy component is fixed; lifting the heavy component above the base plate with a lifting system provided within the base plate; connecting at least a pair of rails to the base plate, under the lifted heavy component, such that the at least a pair of rails extends at substantially a right angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the heavy component; lowering the heavy component on crawling mechanisms disposed on the at least a pair of rails; and laterally replacing the heavy component from the base plate and the other components of the plant assembly by actuating the crawling mechanisms.

A combine harvester grain bulk tank and grain unloading system includes opposed bulk tank augers and an unloading auger formed in a grain bulk tank of a combine harvester. The bulk tank augers are for receiving and conveying grain through the bulk tank to the unloading auger, and the unloading auger is for receiving grain from the bulk tank augers and conveying grain to a grain unloading spout for grain unloading. A primary drive gear is coupled to the unloading auger and to an input, a secondary drive gear is drivingly coupled to the bulk tank augers, and a clutch is coupled between the primary drive gear and the secondary drive gear, which is movable between an engaged position for transferring power from the input to the unloading auger and to the bulk tank augers, and a disengaged position for isolating the bulk tank augers from the primary drive gear.

Boom drive apparatus for substrate transport systems and methods are described. The boom drive apparatus is adapted to drive one or more multi-arm robots rotationally mounted to the boom to efficiently put or pick substrates. The boom drive apparatus has a boom including a hub, a web, a first pilot above the web, and a second pilot below the web, a first driving member rotationally mounted to the first pilot, a second driving member rotationally mounted to the second pilot, a first driven member rotationally mounted to the boom above the a web, a second driven member rotationally mounted to the boom below the a web, and a first and second transmission members coupling the driving members to driven members located outboard on the boom. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Source support arm of a liquid crystal panel transportation device is provided, which includes a primary arm section. The primary arm section includes a plurality of ancillary arm sections that are rotatable to open mounted thereon. A liquid crystal panel transportation device is also disclosed, which includes a support arm having a primary arm section and ancillary arm sections that are mounted to the primary arm section and are rotatable to open.

The present invention is a cardboard sheet batch division device for dividing batches, disposed on the downstream side of a batch-forming device for separating loaded cardboard sheets and forming batches of a predetermined sheet count. The cardboard sheet batch division device for dividing batches comprises: a transfer conveyor for transferring batches formed by the batch-forming device in a predetermined transfer direction; and batch division means furnished with two separating members respectively contacting the leading edge portion and the trailing edge portion of a batch on the transfer conveyor, for dividing the batch into two sub-batches, upper and lower, by moving the two separating members relative to one another in a direction parallel to the predetermined transfer direction.

A wheelchair lift mounted on the rear of an automobile for transporting a wheelchair, scooter or other mobility device includes two or more sets of sensors. A first set of sensors is located at the distal ends of the wheelchair lift platform for use when the platform is horizontal. A 2nd set of sensors is located on the base of the wheelchair lift for use when the platform is folded vertically. The sensors alert a driver to the presence of objects in close proximity to the rear of the vehicle when driven in reverse. They switch automatically activates the base sensors when the platform is folded and the platform sensors when the platform is horizontal.

A connector device enables universal compatibility and interchangeability between any work tool accessory having a boom feature and any skid steer loader as well as controlled support of the work tool accessory. The connector device also prevents machine instability issues.

An improved traffic sign is discussed. The traffic sign includes road reflectors, which reflect available light towards a driver indicating road lane divisions. A sensor module coupled with a vehicle can convert the reflected light to a binary word. The sensor module can further convert the binary word into traffic information, wherein a vehicle-mounted display displays information selected from received traffic information based on priority, time of receipt, and relevance. The improved traffic sign can also include an RFID tag configured to transmit traffic information to a vehicle-mounted receiver.

Reinforcement devices and systems for holding a traffic control assembly in compression are provided. The traffic control assembly includes a traffic signal disconnect hanger and/or a traffic signal and a first span wire positioned above the traffic control assembly. In some embodiments, the reinforcement device includes an upper support device connected to the first span wire where the upper support device has a length that is greater than a width of the traffic control assembly and the upper support device is configured to spread the load of the traffic signal assembly to the first span wire. The reinforcement device includes a lower support device operably connected to the traffic signal, a first vertical support member, and a second vertical support member where the first and second vertical members are tensioned when the upper support device, the lower support device and the first and second vertical support members are connected together.

A portable computing device can be used to locate a vehicle in a parking structure. In particular, the portable computing device can communicate with a parking system that manages the parking structure and/or with a vehicle in order to locate the vehicle. Communications between the portable computing device, parking system and vehicle can be based on one or more wireless connections, such as Bluetooth and/or Bluetooth LE connections.

Parking arrangement and method for making a parking arrangement equipped with an automatic vehicle detection system ready for operation, which parking arrangement comprises a central computer with a database and at least a number of parking places identifiable by a location code, which parking places are each provided with at least one wirelessly operating parking sensor module, which is connected with the central computer via a UHF radio link and which is provided with an identification code, which parking sensor module comprises at least one vehicle sensor which in operation provides measuring values representative of the presence or absence of a vehicle in the respective parking place, wherein use is made of parking sensor modules which have an RFID identification circuit in which the identification code is stored, which identification code is wirelessly readable.

Disclosed is a method for the monitoring of a cabin region of a transport system located outside a field of view, wherein at least one light beam is emitted, passing through the cabin region in the longitudinal direction, and in the event of a disturbance of the at least one light beam path a message is generated. A monitoring device is also provided, with at least one emitter unit for purposes of emitting at least one light beam, with at least one receiver unit for purposes of receiving the emitted light beam, and with at least one messaging unit for purposes of generating a message in the event of a disturbance of the at least one light beam path; also disclosed is an aircraft cabin with at least one such monitoring system.

A system and method for controlling power usage of a reporting device associated with an asset is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method determines whether the reporting device is in a sleep mode or an active mode and in response to determining the reporting device is in the sleep mode, the method maintains the sleep mode and in response to determining a state change associated with the reporting device, the method powers up the reporting device to the active mode.

An interface (303) between adjacent ones of light guide sections (310) is inclined with respect to an incident surface (301) and an emission surface (302) of the light guide element (300A) so that an incident surface (311) of at least a part of the light guide sections (310) overlaps a part of a display region (202) in a liquid crystal panel (200A) and an emission surface (312) of said at least a part of the light guide sections (310) overlaps at least a part of a frame region (203) above which an image on the display region (202) is to be displayed. Furthermore, a relation 5°

A device for displaying a text message, comprising a display (10) having a plurality of characters, each of said characters being arranged at a fixed position, not overlapping with any other of said characters, and being adapted to be switched on and off, and a controller being connected to said plurality of characters and being adapted to switch on and off selected characters so that at a given time, a selected sub-group of said characters is switched on, the selected sub-group displaying a text message.

An automated method for cueing a high resolution video camera to a mobile object involves first detecting the presence of an object by a wide-area surveillance asset such as a radar and using the radar's positional information to cue the video camera iteratively, while updating the positional information each time. Then, a video analytics algorithm detects the object and generates more accurate positional and rate information on the object, which is then used to cue the video camera into a higher resolution setting for classifying/identifying the object. Once the object is identified, the positional and rate information is updated and the updated information is used to further cue the video camera into a higher resolution setting for recording a video clip of the moving object while the video camera is dynamically steered.

An image processing device configured to be installed in a vehicle includes an image acquirer, an image selector, a first luminance adjuster, a synthetic image generator, and an image provider. The image acquirer acquires camera images captured by cameras provided on the vehicle. The image selector selects one of the camera images as a representative image based on luminances of the camera images. The first luminance adjuster adjusts a luminance of at least one of the other camera images based on a luminance of the representative image. The synthetic image generator generates a synthetic image showing a periphery of the vehicle, based on the representative image and the other camera images the luminance of at least one of which has been adjusted by the first adjuster. The image provider outputs, to a display device installed in the vehicle, information corresponding to the synthetic image.

An input device includes a display section, an input section, and an authentication section. The display section has a display area and displays a plurality of symbols in respective first regions of the display area. The input section receives an input indicating which of the plurality of symbols displayed on the display section is selected by a user by specifying a position in the display area. The authentication section authenticates the user based a result received by the input section. The input section receives an input indicating which of the plurality of symbols is selected, by receiving an input indicating which of a plurality of second regions allocated to each first region is selected. The authentication section authenticates the user based on the first region corresponding to the selected symbol from among the plurality of first regions and the second region selected from among the plurality of second regions.

A method and apparatus for initializing a radio frequency identification tag are disclosed. For example, the method receives an optical signal having a unique identifier and an encryption key from a display by a radio frequency identification repeater associated with the radio frequency identification tag, wherein the radio frequency identification repeater comprises an optical reader. The method then transmits a communication comprising radio frequency identification information associated with the radio frequency identification tag and the unique identifier via the radio frequency identification repeater to a wireless access point, wherein the communication is encrypted using the encryption key.

A vehicle detection apparatus comprises an other-vehicle detection module configured to detect points of light in an image captured by a vehicle to which the vehicle detection module is mounted and to detect other vehicles based on the points of light, a vehicle lane-line detection module configured to detect an vehicle lane-line in the captured image, and a region sectioning module configured to section the captured image based on the detected vehicle lane-line into an own vehicle lane region, an oncoming vehicle lane region, and a vehicle lane exterior region. Other vehicles are detected by the other-vehicle detection module by detecting points of light based on respective detection conditions set for each of the sectioned regions.

Presented is a near field communication system and method to automatically establish an interconnection between two electronic devices. The system includes a first electronic device including an NFC chip communicatively coupled to a passive NFC tag, where the NFC tag having an integrated circuit with a predefined information content, a second device including an active NFC reader configured to read the predefined information content from the NFC tag based on an identification of a proximate distance therebetween, and where the NFC tag is capable of transmitting an activation signal to the NFC chip to enable transition of the NFC chip from a first state to a second state such as to establish a near field wireless communication link between the two devices to enable exchange of digital content therebetween.

A wireless media player and a related system and methodology are disclosed. One aspect of the wireless media player system pertains to a virtual connector system, apparatus, and method for the automatic establishment of wireless connectivity with other electronic devices. In one embodiment, the media player device employs the use of integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to exchange communication settings, media capability, and other parameters with an external device that also has integrated RFID technology. The automatic exchange of settings and other information via a proximity-based RFID data exchange allows a media player to quickly establish a secure communication link with another device via a commonly supported wireless protocol such as Ultra Wideband (UWB) or Bluetooth. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a method of using the captured media capability of the connecting device to customize certain menu options and software parameters in the media player.

A vehicle computer system comprising a transceiver in a vehicle configured to wirelessly connect with a nomadic device, wherein the nomadic device is capable of running a contextual application which operates at least in part based on vehicle environment data. The vehicle computer system further comprises one or more vehicle modules configured to receive environment data and capable of causing the transceiver to provide the vehicle environment data to the nomadic device for processing by the contextual application.

In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for identifying proximity of a mobile computing device to another mobile computing device. A computing system determines that a set of mobile computing devices are geographically proximate to a first mobile computing device based on identifying that each of the mobile computing devices received a first type of signal from an emitting device for which the first mobile computing device also received the first type of signal. The computing system determines a subset of the mobile computing devices that share a physical space with the first mobile computing device based on identifying that each of the mobile computing devices emitted a second type of signal that was detected by the first mobile computing device, or detected the second type of signal that was emitted by the first mobile computing device.

A wireless access device in a wireless network, whether a known or unknown entity, can be located using a geolocation system according to the present invention. A signal strength is determined by a wireless intrusion detection system (WIDS) node in a wireless network for each wireless access device that it detects. Based on the signal strength, an approximate distance from the node is determined, which, in one embodiment corresponds to a radius of a circle around the node. To account for error, an approximation band of the circle is calculated that will allow a user to determine the approximate location of the device within the wireless network.