Patents Examined by Ana D Thomas
  • Patent number: 11945432
    Abstract: A driving support device for a vehicle includes a vehicle-exterior environment recognizer, an erroneous-start suppression controller, and an erroneous-start-suppression-control canceler. The vehicle-exterior environment recognizer is configured to recognize exterior environment of the vehicle. The erroneous-start suppression controller is configured to execute, when an obstacle is present within a set distance in an axial direction of the vehicle and an accelerator operation for starting of the vehicle to move toward the obstacle is performed, erroneous-start suppression control that prevents the start of the vehicle. The erroneous-start-suppression-control canceler is configured to cancel the erroneous-start suppression control when a steering operation that is to enable avoidance of the obstacle is input and the accelerator operation is continuously performed at a set degree of opening of an accelerator or greater for a set time period during the erroneous-start suppression control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tatsushi Naka
  • Patent number: 11928980
    Abstract: A heavy-duty interactive (HDi) system may include a heavy-duty vehicle; a work tool installed on the heavy-duty vehicle; a memory that stores a plurality of patterns representing operation events for the heavy-duty vehicle; a first sensor affixed to the heavy-duty vehicle that collects first sensor data as the heavy-duty vehicle is operated; a second sensor affixed to the work tool that collects second sensor data as the work tool is operated; and a controller operatively coupled to the first sensor, the second sensor, and the memory. The controller may be configured to identify a heavy-duty vehicle operation event by comparing at least one of the first sensor data and the second sensor data with the plurality of patterns in the memory, and associate the work tool with the heavy-duty vehicle based on a comparison of the first sensor data and the second sensor data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Brian B. Steketee, David W. Baarman, Mark Strayer, Thad Senti
  • Patent number: 11926316
    Abstract: A driving assist ECU determines that a current situation is a specific situation where it is predicted that there is no object that is about to enter an adjacent lane from an area outside of a host vehicle road on which a host vehicle is traveling, when a road-side object is detected at a part around an edge of the adjacent lane, and/or when a white line painted to define the adjacent lane is detected at the part around the edge of the adjacent lane and no object near the detected white line is detected. The driving assist ECU does not perform a steering control for avoiding a collision, the steering control for letting the vehicle enter the adjacent lane, when it is not determined that the current situation is the specific situation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuhei Miyamoto, Kohei Morotomi
  • Patent number: 11919510
    Abstract: The presently disclosed subject matter includes a computerized method and a control system mountable on a vehicle for autonomously controlling the vehicle and enabling to execute a point-turn while avoiding collision with nearby obstacles. More specifically, the proposed technique enables an autonomous vehicle, characterized by an asymmetric contour, to execute a collision free point-turn, in an area crowded with obstacles. The disclosed method enables execution of a point turn quickly, without requiring the vehicle to stop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: ELTA SYSTEMS LTD.
    Inventors: Ofir Cohen, Dina Appelman
  • Patent number: 11912268
    Abstract: Techniques for accurately predicting and avoiding collisions with objects detected in an environment of a vehicle are discussed herein. A vehicle safety system can implement a model to output data indicating an intersection probability between the object and a portion of the vehicle in the future. The model may employ a rear collision filter, a distance filter, and a time to stop filter to determine whether a predicted collision may be a false positive, in which case the techniques may include refraining from reporting such predicted collision to other another vehicle computing device to control the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: ZOOX, INC.
    Inventors: Noureldin Ehab Hendy, Cooper Stokes Sloan, Li Yon Tan, Feng Tian, Chuang Wang
  • Patent number: 11913794
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for calculating a trajectory of a mobile platform. An optimization problem whose total cost function depends on one or several boundary cost functions is solved. A first boundary cost function is, in at least one portion, a continuous and non-constant function of the position of the mobile platform. By way of continuous boundary cost functions, it is possible to achieve a continuous total cost function by which abrupt changes in the motion control of the mobile platform can be avoided. The boundary cost functions can be based on different elementary cost functions that make possible simple and flexible configuration of the motion control system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventor: Fabian Moik
  • Patent number: 11912216
    Abstract: A method for adjusting or controlling at least one actuator in a vehicle (1), for example an electrical servo motor (2) for a seat (3), a tripping mechanism of an airbag (4), or a display device (5) in the vehicle (1), comprising the following steps: capturing an image or a video of a preferably sitting person in the vehicle (1) through an image capturing unit (6) in 2D or 3D arranged in the vehicle (1), extracting the body data of the person through a data processing unit (7) and generation of a body data model (8) from the body data through a data processing unit (7), comparing the body data model (8) with a plurality of reference body poses (11) obtained from a database (10) through a comparator unit (9) and selecting a corresponding reference body pose (11), activating an actuator assigned to the selected reference body pose (11) with a setting of the actuator assigned to the selected reference body pose (11) through an activation unit (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: emotion3D GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Hödlmoser, Florian Seitner, Sebastian Beyer
  • Patent number: 11897441
    Abstract: A method for controlling an activation state of a braking-torque assistance system for reducing intake of braking energy in a service-brake system of a vehicle includes capturing and evaluating a plurality of demand indications for a startup of the braking-torque assistance system. If the evaluation of the captured plurality of demand indications reveals a demand for the startup of the braking-torque assistance system, a plurality of operating conditions of the service-brake system are captures and evaluated over a monitoring period. If, in turn, the evaluation of the captured plurality of operating conditions reveals that an overheating of the service-brake system is imminent, the braking-torque assistance system is actuated and one or more deactivation conditions of the braking-torque assistance system are checked. If the deactivation conditions are satisfied, the braking-torque assistance system is deactivated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Wilwers, Thomas Svensson, Eugen Weber, Lowell Kubik
  • Patent number: 11890901
    Abstract: A system for providing tire change information is provided. The system includes a processor, and a memory module storing one or more processor-readable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to: determine a number of vehicles within a first region that requested a tire change, determine whether the number of vehicles is greater than a first threshold number, and provide information about a first tire change group discount to the vehicles that requested the tire change in response to determining that the number of vehicles is greater than the first threshold number.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
    Inventor: Equan Tompkins
  • Patent number: 11892307
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure provide for identifying problematic areas within a service area for an autonomous vehicle transportation service. For instance, a starting location within the service area corresponding to a potential pickup location for passengers or cargo for the service may be identified. A destination within the service area may be identified. A simulation may be run in order to determine a route for a simulated vehicle to travel between the starting location and the destination. That the route includes a particular type of maneuver may be determined. A new simulation without allowing the simulated vehicle to complete the particular type of maneuver may be run. Whether the simulated vehicle reaches the destination in the new simulation may be determined. Based on the determination of whether the simulated vehicle reaches the destination in the new simulation, the starting location and destination location may be flagged as potentially problematic areas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventor: Austin Abrams
  • Patent number: 11874128
    Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for an application executing on a mobile device. The method renders an animated navigation presentation for output to an external display screen not part of the mobile device. The navigation presentation includes an animated map showing at least a portion of a route to a destination. The method simultaneously displays information regarding a maneuver along the route on a display screen of the mobile device without displaying a same animated map on the mobile device. In some embodiments, the displayed information regarding the maneuver comprises a graphical instruction and a text instruction for a next maneuver along the route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bradford A. Moore, Emanuele Vulcano, Jorge Fino, Marcel van Os
  • Patent number: 11872850
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method as disclosed enables predicting of vertical loads on a vehicle tire. Thermal characteristics for a particular vehicle-tire combination are retrievably stored, the thermal characteristics determined as corresponding to a range of temperature values further correlated with a plurality of operating conditions, and the plurality of operating conditions comprising at least a vertical load. A model for predicting transient temperature behavior is generated (e.g., empirically trained) based on one or more tire-specific time constants. During operation of the vehicle-tire combination and responsive to at least a first temperature value, a computing device residing on the vehicle or otherwise cloud-based in nature is configured to determine a predicted vertical load based on a predicted second temperature value from the model and further based on the retrievably stored one or more thermal characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC
    Inventor: Thomas A. Sams
  • Patent number: 11846939
    Abstract: A mobile vehicle and a method of controlling the mobile vehicle are provided. The method of controlling the mobile vehicle includes defining a first line between the mobile vehicle and the user, determining a position and a size of each of at least one obstacle having a predetermined relationship with the first line, defining a second line based on the first line, the position of the at least one obstacle, and the size of the at least one obstacle, and controlling the mobile vehicle according to a direction and a size of an external force on the second line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: HANWHA AEROSPACE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Min Hyeok Kwon, Kyong Seok Choi
  • Patent number: 11847924
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for reserving airspace for UAV operations. In some implementations, a flight planning system can reserve and allocate airspace for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations. For example, a UAV operator device can submit a flight plan to the flight planning system. The flight planning system can submit a flight authorization request to an airspace management system to reserve airspace necessary for the flight plan. The flight planning system can receive approval and/or a reservation of the airspace for the flight plan from the airspace management system, generate a flight data package, and send the flight data package to the operator's device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Skydio, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric David Johnson, Jesse Daniel Kallman, Bernard J. Michini
  • Patent number: 11840220
    Abstract: A driver assistance system according to an embodiment of present disclosure includes: a camera disposed on the vehicle to have an external field of view of a vehicle and configured to obtain image data; a radar disposed on the vehicle to have a field of sensing outside the vehicle and configured to obtain radar data; and a controller including a processor configured to process the image data and the radar data, and the controller is configured to determine whether a rear vehicle changes direction based on the image data obtained by the camera, determine whether there is a risk of collision with the rear vehicle based on the radar data when the rear vehicle does not change direction and control at least one of a steering system or a vehicle velocity control system of the vehicle to avoid the rear vehicle when it is determined that there is a risk of collision with the rear vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: HL Klemove Corp.
    Inventor: Wonsik Jung
  • Patent number: 11827216
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for matching portions of images are described as well as using depth information generated from the matching results. In various embodiments, lower portions of images of a scene area, which are more likely to include objects closer to a vehicle on which cameras are mounted, than are portions of images corresponding to an upper portion of the scene area, are processed and used for depth determination. In this way, depths to objects, which are likely to be closer to the vehicle than objects in the upper portion of the scene area, are determined first and used to control a vehicle reducing the risk of collision as compared to systems where the depth determination of an entire scene is completed before depth information is used for control purposes with the order of processing being such that nearer objects are likely to be detected prior to more distant objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventor: Sean Hart
  • Patent number: 11807271
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and products for resolving level ambiguity for radar systems of autonomous vehicles may include detecting a plurality of objects with a radar system. Each first detected object may be associated with an existing tracked object based on a first position thereof. First tracked object data based on a first height determined for each first detected object may be stored. The first height may be based on the position of the detected object, the existing tracked object, and a tile map. Second tracked object data based on a second height determined for each second detected object not associated with the existing tracked object(s) may be stored. The second height may be based on a position of each second detected object, a vector map, and the tile map. A command to cause the autonomous vehicle to perform at least one autonomous driving operation may be issued.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Yinguang Li, Xiufeng Song
  • Patent number: 11794731
    Abstract: Systems and methods of determining trajectories of an actor in an environment in which a vehicle is operating are provided. The method includes, by an object detection system of a vehicle in an environment, detecting an actor that may move within a scene in the environment. The method further includes using context of the scene to determine a reference polyline for the actor and determining a kinematic history of the actor. The method additionally includes using the kinematic history to predict a waypoint, which is a predicted position of the actor at a conclusion of a waypoint time period, and identifying a segment of the reference polyline, the segment extending from a current location to a point along the reference polyline that is closest to the waypoint and determining a trajectory for the actor conditioned by the segment of the reference polyline.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Siddhesh Shyam Khandelwal, William Junbo Qi, Jagjeet Singh, Andrew T. Hartnett, Deva Ramanan
  • Patent number: 11786419
    Abstract: A system for a motorized mobile chair includes a human machine interface (HMI) to receive one or more user inputs, transmit one or more first control instructions in response to the one or more user inputs, receive one or more second control instructions, and provide haptic feedback through the human machine interface to assist user navigation of the motorized mobile chair in response to the one or more second control instructions. One or more sensors generate sensor data about an area proximate to the motorized mobile chair.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Patroness, LLC
    Inventors: Jered Harvey Dean, Charles C G Cooper, Barry George Dean, Dan Alan Preston
  • Patent number: 11772757
    Abstract: A boat anchor monitoring system is disclosed and includes a status indicator and an anchor module that are operable to communicate with a base module. The anchor module includes a transmitter operable to transmit a signal containing a data payload on a set schedule. The base module on the boat is operable to determine if the signal strength exceeds, or is equal to a predetermined threshold value, in order to direct the status indicator to either display the anchor in a “Deployed” or “Not Deployed” position. The system may further include a time measurement component or water contact sensor that will direct the indicator to display the anchor in a deployed position if sufficient time has elapsed with no signal or the anchor module has contacted water. The system is also configured to prevent ignition if the anchor is determined to be deployed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Inventors: Richard A. Seltzer, Granvil Radcliffe