1. A floating screed device comprising:
a first section defining a leading edge for cutting through plastic concrete;
a second section for floating on the plastic concrete;
freely pivoting hinge means for movably coupling said first section to said second section to thereby allow said leading edge to be freely moved in pitch relative to said second section; and
adjusting means coupled to said first section at multiple locations along the length thereof for independently adjusting at least the pitch of said leading edge relative to a datum at each of said multiple locations as said floating screed device is moved through a volume of the plastic concrete that is unfinished with said leading edge defining an initial contact edge between said floating screed device and the volume of the plastic concrete that is unfinished.
2. A floating screed device as in claim 1 wherein said adjusting means moves said leading edge towards said datum that defines a target elevation of the plastic concrete.
3. A floating screed device as in claim 1 wherein said leading edge is blade-shaped.
4. A floating screed device as in claim 1 further comprising visual indicia applied on at least a portion of said first section.
5. A floating screed device as in claim 4 wherein said visual indicia comprises a color different from that of the plastic concrete.
6. A floating screed device as in claim 1 further comprising means coupled to said second section for determining elevation thereof relative to said datum wherein said elevation is indicative of the pitch of said first section that is required to position said leading edge on said datum.
7. A floating screed device as in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of rigid and spaced-apart fingers coupled to said first section and extending from said leading edge in a direction substantially parallel to said datum as said floating screed device is moved through a volume of plastic concrete with tops of said fingers defining a planar region aligned with said leading edge.
8. A floating screed device comprising:
an elongated float for floating on plastic concrete;
an elongated blade hingedly coupled to said elongated float wherein said elongated blade is freely movable in pitch relative to said elongated float as said elongated float floats on the plastic concrete;
means coupled to said elongated float for determining elevation thereof relative to a target elevation in the plastic concrete; and
adjusting means, coupled to (i) said means for determining elevation and (ii) to said elongated blade at multiple locations along the length thereof, for independently adjusting at least the pitch of said elongated blade relative to said target elevation at each of said multiple locations based on said elevation so-determined as said floating screed device is moved through a volume of the plastic concrete that is unfinished with said elongated blade defining a leading edge of said floating screed device.
9. A floating screed device as in claim 8 further comprising visual indicia on at least a portion of said elongated blade.
10. A floating screed device as in claim 9 wherein said visual indicia comprises a color different from that of the plastic concrete.
11. A floating screed device as in claim 8 further comprising a plurality of rigid and spaced-apart fingers coupled to said elongated blade and extending therefrom in a direction substantially parallel to said target elevation as said floating screed device is moved through a volume of plastic concrete with tops of said fingers defining a planar region aligned with said elongated blade.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a light source for providing coherent light;
a scattering waveguide for receiving the coherent light and providing scattered light, the relative position of the light source and the scattering waveguide being variable; and
a detector for forming at least one random number based on the scattered light.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source comprises a laser.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, comprising at least one of an end face coupling, a grating coupling, and a prism coupling deployed between the light source and the scattering wave guide.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scattering waveguide comprises a single-mode planar waveguide.
5. The apparatus of claim the 4, wherein the single-mode planar waveguide comprises:
a first cladding layer;
a first core layer formed above the first clad layer; and
a second cladding layer formed above the first core layer.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, comprising a plurality of scattering pillars formed within the first core layer.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the scattering pillars and the first and second cladding layers are composed of the same material.
8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first and second cladding layers have a selected index contrast with the core layer.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the index of refraction of the core and cladding layers may be adjusted by controlling the temperature of the waveguide.
10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the index of refraction of the core layer may be adjusted by changing an electric field across the waveguide.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein scattering waveguide comprises a flaring waveguide with textured sidewalls.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the angle of the light entering the scattering waveguide is variable.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the relative linear position of the light source and the scattering waveguide is variable.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a plurality of kinetic optical mounts having up to six degrees of freedom of motion.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises at least one of a CCD camera and a photodiode array.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the detector comprises an image processor for accessing information indicative of an image captured by the CCD camera or the photo diode array.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the image processor forms the random number based on the information indicative of the image captured by the CCD camera or the photo diode array.
18. A method, comprising:
selecting a relative position of a light source and a scattering waveguide;
providing coherent light to the scattering waveguide using the light source;
receiving light scattered by the scattering waveguide; and
forming a random number based on the scattered light.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein selecting the relative position comprises selecting a rotational position of the scattering waveguide.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein selecting the relative position comprises selecting a relative angular orientation of the light source and the scattering waveguide.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein selecting the relative position comprises selecting a relative angular orientation of the light source and an endface of the scattering wave guide.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein selecting the relative position comprises selecting a relative linear position of the light source and the scattering waveguide.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein providing the coherent light comprises providing the coherent light using a laser.
24. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving the coherent light comprises receiving the coherent light via at least one of an end-face coupling, a grating coupling, and a prism coupling.
25. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving the coherent light comprises receiving the coherent light using a scattering waveguide comprising a plurality of scattering pillars.
26. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving the coherent light comprises receiving the coherent light using a scattering waveguide comprising a flaring waveguide with textured sidewalls.
27. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving the coherent light comprises receiving the coherent light using at least one of a CCD camera and a photodiode array.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein forming the random number comprises accessing information indicative of an image captured by the CCD camera or the photo diode array.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein forming the random number comprises forming the random number based on the information indicative of the image captured by the CCD camera or the photo diode array.