ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 31 -- United States Patent no. 12,509,028, issued on Dec. 30, was assigned to MW POS Inc. (Arlington, Va.).

"Systems and methods for automated control of actuation components in car wash facilities" was invented by Nathan Alan Harris (Washington), Joshua Richard Dotson (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio), James Hodges McAliley (Charleston, S.C.), Aaron Mykal Clint (Stewartsville, Mont.) and Jonathan David Hester (Charlotte, N.C.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A system can include one or more processors, coupled with memory. The one or more processors can receive first images of a vehicle and a license plate of the vehicle and identify, from the first images, license plate information...