Patents Examined by Hunter B. Lonsberry
  • Patent number: 11951984
    Abstract: An open vehicle includes a vehicle upper portion, a traveling device, an external sensor, and an ECU. The vehicle upper portion has a riding surface that forms a bottom surface of the riding space and is configured for a plurality of users to ride on. The ECU is configured to control the traveling device to cause the open vehicle to automatically travel. The ECU is configured to execute: a specific person recognition process to use the external sensor to recognize a specific person existing in an outside space; and an automatic travel control process to control the traveling device such that, when the specific person exists within a predetermined distance range, the traveling device executes at least one of moving the open vehicle away from the specific person and increasing a vehicle speed as compared to when the specific person does not exist within the range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takuya Watabe, Tetsuya Kanata, Yozo Iwami, Daisaku Honda, Yuhei Katsumata, Hideki Fukudome, Yuta Maniwa, Naoko Ichikawa, Saki Narita, Yuki Nishikawa
  • Patent number: 11952048
    Abstract: An information processing device includes a communication unit and a control unit. The control unit is configured to determine a sprinkling mode based on information indicating the environment of a sprinkling place. The control unit is configured to send, through the communication unit, a notification indicating the sprinkling mode to at least one vehicle scheduled to travel in the sprinkling place.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoki Uenoyama, Koichi Suzuki, Ryo Kamimura, Daisuke Nakata, Yuki Tatsumoto, Yusuke Futakuchi
  • Patent number: 11955093
    Abstract: An agricultural work vehicle for operating in a field includes a chassis, a cab mounted to the chassis for an operator to control the work vehicle, a controller for controlling operation of the work vehicle, a lighting system of the work vehicle comprising at least one array field light, and a light control module disposed in electrical communication with the controller. The light control module operably controls the at least one array field light. The controller transmits a signal to the light control module indicative of information about the work vehicle. The at least one array field light projects the information onto the field at a location visible to the operator while operating the work vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventors: Nathan R. Demski, Brian M. Huenink, Eric A. Keen
  • Patent number: 11945589
    Abstract: A canopy is configured to be mounted to a passenger seat of a passenger transport vehicle, in particular an aircraft. The canopy is foldable between a retracted storage configuration and an extended operational configuration. In the operational configuration, the canopy forms a hood establishing a passenger's personal space below the canopy. The canopy comprises at least one functional device which is configured for modifying a physical characteristics of the personal space. The at least one functional device in particular includes at least one of a lighting device configured for lighting the personal space and a venting device configured for venting the personal space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: GOODRICH LIGHTING SYSTEMS GMBH
    Inventors: Martin Klaus, Andre Hessling-Von Heimendahl, Robert Schulten
  • Patent number: 11947365
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods, systems, and computer-readable medium to perform operations including: registering one or more aerial vehicles and one or more land-based vehicles with a last mile delivery system, where the one or more aerial vehicles and the one or more land-based vehicles are associated with aerial vehicle information and land-based vehicle information, respectively; determining to generate a land-based vehicle transportation request for a first aerial vehicle that is performing a delivery; matching, based on the land-based vehicle transportation request and the land-based vehicle information, the first aerial vehicle with a first land-based vehicle; and generating and sending transportation instructions to the first aerial vehicle and the first land-based vehicle, where the transportation instructions include: (i) a starting location where the first aerial vehicle docks to the first land-based vehicle, and (ii) a destination to which the first land-based vehicle transports the first aerial vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventor: Timothy Polega
  • Patent number: 11940813
    Abstract: The mower fleet management device is configured to control a plurality of mowers to work in collaboration. Each of the mowers includes an on-board communication module and an on-board positioning and navigation module. The mower fleet management device includes: a map loading module configured to acquire a map of a working land parcel; a control terminal communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with the on-board communication modules to acquire status information of the mowers; and a working region assigning module configured to assign a working region to each of the mowers according to the status information and the map. The on-board positioning and navigation module of each of the mowers guides the mower to work in the corresponding working region according to the assigned working region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Globe (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jiafu Xue, Shiyuan Ding, Jing Wang, Qunli Wei, Hui Chen, Dongdong Shi
  • Patent number: 11938961
    Abstract: A vehicle system includes: a map processing unit that creates local map data based on high accuracy map data and a position of an own vehicle; and an autonomous driving control unit that creates a travel plan for autonomous traveling of the own vehicle based on the local map data and controls traveling of the own vehicle according to the travel plan. The map processing unit creates multiple pieces of transmission data by dividing the local map data so as to correspond to regions on a map and transmits the multiple pieces of transmission data to the autonomous driving control unit. The map processing unit changes a shape and a size of the region on the map corresponding to each piece of transmission data based on selection information which decides a travel mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Chikamori, Kazumasa Nakamura, Hitoshi Konishi, Takuji Harayama, Tomoaki Masakawa, Naofumi Aso, Ryo Matsuzawa, Zhaoqi Wang
  • Patent number: 11940291
    Abstract: A method for updating a map of the surrounding area wherein the map is used when controlling a transportation vehicle. The transportation vehicle attempts, when travelling along a carriageway, to detect a landmark recorded in the map of the surrounding area using sensors. In response to the transportation vehicle being unable to detect the landmark using its sensors, the transportation vehicle prepares a proposal for deletion which is sent to an external central computer. The proposal for deletion is examined in the external central computer and deletes the landmark from the map of the surrounding area in response to the proposal for deletion being verified. In the method, information regarding a visibility range for the landmark is entered in the map of the surrounding area specifying at what range the landmark is visible from a road permitting a more effective detection of landmarks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Daniel Wilbers, Christian Merfels, Bernd Rech, Thilo Schaper, Niklas Koch, Stefan Jürgens, David Perdomo Lopez, Constanze Hungar
  • Patent number: 11932325
    Abstract: The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a steering control device and method of a vehicle, specifically, may provide a steering control device and method of a vehicle capable of securing the driving stability by controlling the alignment of the vehicle wheels by rapidly detecting a misalignment between the steering angle of the steering wheel and the steering angle of the vehicle wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: HL MANDO CORPORATION
    Inventors: TaeHyung Sun, Tae Sik Kim
  • Patent number: 11927956
    Abstract: The technology relates to assisting large self-driving vehicles, such as cargo vehicles, as they maneuver towards and/or park at a destination facility. This may include a given vehicle transitioning between different autonomous driving modes. Such a vehicles may be permitted to drive in a fully autonomous mode on certain roadways for the majority of a trip, but may need to change to a partially autonomous mode on other roadways or when entering or leaving a destination facility such as a warehouse, depot or service center. Large vehicles such as cargo truck may have limited room to maneuver in and park at the destination, which may also prevent operation in a fully autonomous mode. Here, information from the destination facility and/or a remote assistance service can be employed to aid in real-time semi-autonomous maneuvering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Vijaysai Patnaik, William Grossman
  • Patent number: 11927955
    Abstract: The technology relates to assisting large self-driving vehicles, such as cargo vehicles, as they maneuver towards and/or park at a destination facility. This may include a given vehicle transitioning between different autonomous driving modes. Such a vehicles may be permitted to drive in a fully autonomous mode on certain roadways for the majority of a trip, but may need to change to a partially autonomous mode on other roadways or when entering or leaving a destination facility such as a warehouse, depot or service center. Large vehicles such as cargo truck may have limited room to maneuver in and park at the destination, which may also prevent operation in a fully autonomous mode. Here, information from the destination facility and/or a remote assistance service can be employed to aid in real-time semi-autonomous maneuvering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Vijaysai Patnaik, William Grossman
  • Patent number: 11921505
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a collaborative design method using an event-triggered scheme (ETS) and a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy H? controller in a network environment. For the problem about the unmanned surface vehicle control based on a switching T-S fuzzy system under an aperiodic DoS attack, the present invention provides an H? controller design method based on the event-triggered scheme. The characteristics of the unmanned surface vehicle system under the DoS attack are analyzed, and external disturbance in the navigation process is added into an unmanned surface vehicle motion model to establish an unmanned surface vehicle switching system model. The stability of the system is analyzed by piecewise Lyapunov functionals, such that controller gain and event-triggered scheme weight matrix parameters are obtained, thus ensuring that a networked unmanned surface vehicle navigation system has the ability to resist the DoS attack and the external disturbance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: WUHAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Yong Ma, Hao Li, Zongqiang Nie
  • Patent number: 11912334
    Abstract: A method for releasing a tilt mechanism for a steering element of a vehicle, wherein the steering element is mounted pivotably around a tilt axis between a steering position and at least one non-steering position, wherein the steering element has at least one releasable locking arrangement, which fixes the steering element in the steering position and the at least one non-steering position. The locking arrangement can adopt at least one locking state in which the release of the locking arrangement is prevented and can adopt at least one release state in which the release of the locking arrangement is enabled. A corresponding steering arrangement and a corresponding vehicle are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Philipp Kuepper, Martin Faßbender, Bruno Alves, Klemens Degle, Lukas Loehmann
  • Patent number: 11913198
    Abstract: A controller mounted in a hydraulic excavator includes: a state transition section that performs switchover between two types of control that are manual control and semiautomatic control, on the basis of input of a state switching signal; and a velocity transition section that changes a rate of change with time in a velocity of a boom cylinder from a first rate of change I1 to a second rate of change I2 greater than the first rate of change I1 in a case in which input to an operation lever changes since the state transition section switches over between the two types of control until the velocity of the boom cylinder changes to a velocity Vo(t) specified by the control after the switchover between the two types of control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Yamada, Katsumasa Uji
  • Patent number: 11904684
    Abstract: A system and method for controlling switching of an electric vehicle to four-wheel drive are provided. The system includes a first motor connected to main drive wheels and configured to output a first torque, a second motor connected to subsidiary drive wheels and configured to output a second torque, a disconnector mounted on an axle shaft for the subsidiary drive wheels, a driver requested torque detector configured to detect a driver requested torque, and a controller configured to release a set output limit of the first motor for a designated time and simultaneously release a set output limit of the second motor when the driver requested torque is greater than or equal to a reference requested torque, and control the first motor to output a maximum torque exceeding the set output limit to the main drive wheels until the disconnector is engaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventor: Se Hoon Park
  • Patent number: 11898860
    Abstract: The disclosed computer-implemented method may include identifying a transportation task within a dynamic transportation network, accessing a database of door closing event locations, wherein the database is populated from observed door closing events within the dynamic transportation network, determining location information specifying at least one of a pickup location and a drop-off location for the transportation task based at least in part on the database of door closing event locations, and providing the location information to a transportation provider computing device, wherein a transportation provider performs the transportation task that comprises at least one of picking up a transportation requestor at the pickup location and dropping off the transportation requestor at the drop-off location. Other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Lyft, Inc.
    Inventor: Michael Jonathan DiCarlo
  • Patent number: 11899697
    Abstract: An information processing server is configured to acquire target vehicle data having traveling conditions of target vehicles and position information of the target vehicles on a map, recognize, based on the target vehicle data, an unstable behavior position on the map where at least one of the target vehicles exhibits unstable behavior, measure an occurrence count of the unstable behavior positions within a predetermined period in a mesh preset on the map, enlarge the mesh to include the unstable behavior positions within the predetermined period such that the occurrence count of the unstable behavior positions is equal to or larger than a first threshold, and store the mesh and the unstable behavior positions of the mesh in a storage database related to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Satoshi Uno
  • Patent number: 11897596
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for automatically extending aircraft wing flaps in response to detecting an excess energy steep descent condition are described. An example control system of an aircraft includes one or more processors. The one or more processors determine whether the aircraft is experiencing an excess energy steep descent (EESD) condition. In response to determining that the aircraft is experiencing the EESD condition, the one or more processors command an actuator of the aircraft coupled to a flap of the aircraft to extend the flap from a current flap position to a subsequent flap position defined by a flap extension sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventor: Sherwin C. Li
  • Patent number: 11884406
    Abstract: The present application provides a system for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) parachute landing. An exemplary system includes a detector configured to detect at least one of a flight speed, a wind speed, a wind direction, a position, a height, and a voltage of a UAV. The system also includes a memory storing instructions and a processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the system to: determine whether to open a parachute of the UAV in accordance with a criterion, responsive to the determination to open the parachute of the UAV, stop a motor of the UAV that spins a propeller of the UAV, and open the parachute of the UAV after stopping the motor of the UAV for a first period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: GEOSAT Aerospace & Technology
    Inventors: Lung-Shun Shih, Fu-Kai Yang, Yi-Feng Cheng, Di-Yang Wang, Chien-Hsun Liao
  • Patent number: 11885636
    Abstract: An approach is provided for automatically coding cartographic feature(s), e.g., human settlement(s). The approach involves receiving data point(s) associated with point location(s) and indicative of a cartographic feature. The approach also involves retrieving or generating a cartographic feature polygon corresponding to the cartographic feature based on the data point(s). The approach further involves generating a plurality of polygon data points that replicate the cartographic feature polygon, and/or a spider web model that represents the point location(s). The approach further involves retrieving imagery data depicting the cartographic feature based on the plurality of polygon data points and/or the spider web model. The approach further involves merging the data point(s), the plurality of polygon data points, and/or the imagery data to generate new or updated polygon structure data point(s) to represent the cartographic feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: HERE GLOBAL B.V.
    Inventor: Ashish Deepchand Yadav