Electrode deployment based on change in time

Abstract

An electrode may be automatically deployed based on a change associated with a conducted electrical weapon. The change may comprise a change in time. The electrode may be automatically deployed after a previous electrode is deployed from the conducted electrical weapon and the change in time is detected.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by a conducted electrical weapon configured to conduct an electrical stimulus signal via a plurality of electrodes, comprising:
 deploying a first electrode of the plurality of electrodes;   in accordance with deploying the first electrode, detecting a change in time via the conducted electrical weapon; and   in accordance with the change in time, automatically deploying a second electrode of the plurality of electrodes.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting the change in time comprises detecting, via a clock of a processing circuit of the conducted electrical weapon, a first time at which the first electrode is deployed. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting the change in time comprises detecting the change in time independent of whether an activation signal is received by the conducted electrical weapon after a first time at which the first electrode is deployed. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via a control interface of the conducted electrical weapon, an activation signal, wherein the first electrode is deployed in response to the activation signal; and   detecting the change in time comprises detecting the activation signal continues to be received after a first time at which the first electrode is deployed.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein detecting the change in time comprises detecting a current time after detecting the activation signal continues to be received, wherein the change in time comprises a difference in time between a reference time and the current time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising, after the activation signal is received, detecting the reference time, wherein the reference time comprises one of:
 a current time at which the activation signal is received; and   the first time at which the first electrode is deployed.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting the change in time comprises detecting the change in time independent of a change in position of the conducted electrical weapon. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the change in time comprises a time difference relative to a first time at which the first electrode is deployed and a current time after the first time; and   detecting the change in time comprises comparing the time difference to a threshold value, the time difference relative to a first time at which the first electrode is deployed and a current time after the first time.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein detecting the change in time comprises, in accordance with the comparing, determining the time difference is equal or greater than the threshold value. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein detecting the change in time comprises, in accordance with the comparing, determining the time difference is less than the threshold value; and
 responsive to determining the time difference is less than the threshold value, repeating detection of the current time prior to automatically deploying the second electrode of the plurality of electrodes.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the threshold value comprises a value of equal to or less than 2.0 seconds. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein deploying the first electrode comprises deploying a single first electrode and automatically deploying the second electrode comprises deploying a single second electrode, wherein the electrical stimulus signal is conducted through the single first electrode and the single second electrode. 
     
     
         13 . A conducted electrical weapon configured to conduct an electrical stimulus signal through a target, the weapon comprising:
 a plurality of electrodes including a first electrode and a second electrode; and   a processing circuit coupled to the plurality of electrodes, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform operations, comprising:
 deploying the first electrode at a first time; 
 in accordance with deploying the first electrode, detecting a change in time relative to the first time; and 
 in accordance with the change in time, automatically deploying the second electrode at a second time. 
   
     
     
         14 . The conducted electrical weapon of  claim 13 , wherein the change in time comprises an elapsed time after the first time at which the first electrode is deployed. 
     
     
         15 . The conducted electrical weapon of  claim 13 , further comprising a control interface, wherein:
 deploying the first electrode comprises deploying the first electrode in response to an activation signal received via the control interface; and   detecting the change in time comprises detecting the activation signal continues to be received after the first time and prior to the second time.   
     
     
         16 . The conducted electrical weapon of  claim 13 , wherein detecting the change in time comprises comparing a difference in time to a threshold value; and
 in accordance with the comparing, determining the difference in time is equal or greater than the threshold value.   
     
     
         17 . The conducted electrical weapon of  claim 16 , wherein the threshold value is less than 0.25 seconds. 
     
     
         18 . The conducted electrical weapon of  claim 16 , wherein the threshold value is less than 2.0 seconds. 
     
     
         19 . The conducted electrical weapon of  claim 13 , wherein the processing circuit comprises a clock and detecting the change in time comprises:
 after the first time, detecting, via the clock, a current time, wherein the change in time comprises a time difference relative to the first time and the current time;   comparing the time difference to a threshold value;   in accordance with the comparing, determining the time difference is less than the threshold value; and   responsive to determining the time difference is less than the threshold value, repeating detection of the current time prior to automatically deploying the second electrode of the plurality of electrodes.   
     
     
         20 . The conducted electrical weapon of  claim 13 , further comprising a control interface, wherein the operations further comprise:
 after automatically deploying the second electrode, detecting a second change in time; and   in accordance with the second change in time, automatically deploying a third electrode of the plurality of electrodes, wherein each of the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode is deployed responsive to a same activation signal received via the control interface of the conducted electrical weapon.