Patents Examined by Jess Whittington
  • Patent number: 11774571
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method and a system for navigating an Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV) using a radio signal and a vision sensor. The method comprising generating a trajectory plan for a short distance from a path plan, wherein the path plan is determined using destination location and AVG location, identifying an approximate AGV location using a radio signal-based trilateration mechanism, estimating AGV location error with respect to a road lane center by determining distance from the approximate AGV location to road boundary and road lane marking line and orientation difference between AGV orientation and road orientation, and correcting the trajectory plan by using the estimated AGV location error for navigating an AGV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Wipro Limited
    Inventors: Manas Sarkar, Balaji Sunil Kumar
  • Patent number: 11753006
    Abstract: A system for representing objects in a surrounding environment of a vehicle using a Frenet coordinate system. The system includes a memory and an electronic processor. The electronic processor is in communication with the memory and configured to, receive, from one or more sensors, input regarding one or more objects in the surrounding environment. The input includes, for each of the one or more objects, a representation of a location of the object in Cartesian coordinates. The electronic processor is further configured to convert the location of each object from Cartesian coordinates to Frenet coordinates and store the location of each object in Frenet coordinates in the memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Krishna Mohan Chinni
  • Patent number: 11754413
    Abstract: A path setting apparatus that sets a path of a mobile body having a plurality of operation modes is provided. The apparatus includes a quality acquisition unit configured to acquire communication qualities at a plurality of geographical locations, and a setting unit configured to set a path of the mobile body so as to pass through an area that satisfies a requirement of communication quality that is determined according to an operation mode of the mobile body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Satoshi Onodera, Masamitsu Tsuchiya, Hideki Matsunaga
  • Patent number: 11745327
    Abstract: A tool guide has a mounting, a lifting mechanism, and a chassis. The mounting is for fixing a hand-held machine tool. The mounting is mounted on the lifting mechanism. The lifting mechanism has a propulsion unit for vertically lifting the mounting. The chassis has two wheels on a wheel axle, a drive coupled with the wheels, and a steering system. The lifting mechanism is rigidly mounted on the chassis. A center of gravity sensor is arranged to detect a lateral deflection of the center of gravity of the lifting mechanism relative to the wheel axle. The steering system is configured to control the drive to deliver a torque counteracting the lateral deflection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: Hilti Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Peer Schmidt, Dario Bralla, Serhey Khandozhko
  • Patent number: 11738770
    Abstract: According to an aspect of an embodiment, operations may comprise accessing an HD map of a region comprising information describing an intersection of two or more roads and describing lanes of the two or more roads that intersect the intersection, automatically identifying constraints on the lanes at the intersection, automatically calculating, based on the constraints on the lanes at the intersection, lane connectivity for the intersection, displaying, on a user interface, the automatically calculated lane connectivity for the intersection, receiving, from a user through the user interface, confirmation that the automatically calculated lane connectivity for the intersection is an actual lane connectivity for the intersection, and adding the actual lane connectivity for the intersection to the information describing the intersection in the HD map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: NVIDIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Xianglong Han, Ming Cui
  • Patent number: 11731692
    Abstract: A driving support device performs steering control and deceleration control for avoiding an object which is detected in front of a host vehicle. The driving support device performs: calculating a target lateral distance which is a target of the steering control and which is a lateral distance between the host vehicle and the object when the host vehicle passes by the object; and increasing target deceleration which is a target of the deceleration control and which is deceleration of the host vehicle when the host vehicle passes by the object as a lateral distance restraint value which is obtained by subtracting the target lateral distance from a threshold value increases when the target lateral distance is less than the threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiki Kinoshita, Shintaro Inoue
  • Patent number: 11733690
    Abstract: The disclosure describes systems and methods including a mobile device for remotely controlling the movement of a vehicle and trailer. The mobile device provides an intuitive interface for controlling the movement of the vehicle and trailer by changing the orientation of a vehicle graphic (e.g., of the vehicle and trailer) according to a position of the mobile device around a periphery of the vehicle and trailer. This allows the user to walk around the vehicle and trailer to determine a best position from which to control the vehicle and trailer depending on a given situation without losing the intuitiveness of the user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Seyed Armin Raeis Hosseiny, Bo Bao, Siyuan Ma, Erick Michael Lavoie, Hamid M. Golgiri
  • Patent number: 11726473
    Abstract: A vehicle may include an authority tracker to grant and/or limit authority to provide guidance to the vehicle. The authority tracker may store a state in a memory identifying an actor that currently has the authority. An actor requesting to have authority to provide guidance to the vehicle may transmit a control message to the authority tracker which may, in turn, authorize or deny the request based on a policy. The authority tracker may periodically, and/or in response to a request, broadcast a state message identifying the actor that currently has authority, as recorded in the memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Meredith James Goldman, Frank Reinaldo Ramirez
  • Patent number: 11725954
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to pre-computing routes for autonomous vehicles using map shards. For example, a shard from a plurality of shards of a map may be selected. Each shard including a plurality of nodes and edges connecting pairs of nodes of the plurality of nodes, and each node of the plurality represents a location. A plurality of port nodes for the shard are identified. Each port node has an edge that enters into the selected shard or exists the selected shard. For each port node of the plurality having an edge that enters into the selected shard, optimal routes to each other port node of the plurality having an edge that exits the selected shard may be determined. The optimal routes for the selected shard may be sent to the autonomous vehicles in order to enable the autonomous vehicles to use the optimal routes to determine routes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Andrew Chan, Austin Abrams, Joshua Herbach
  • Patent number: 11713048
    Abstract: The disclosed method is stored as computer readable instructions and carried out by a processor that is part of a disclosed occupant monitoring system (OMS). The method starts with the receipt of an external signal by the processor. The external signal can be the starting of the vehicle engine, an indication of semi-autonomous or autonomous driving mode, or an indication that the occupant is seated, is in contact with a steering wheel, and/or is in contact with at least one dashboard control. The receipt of the external signal causes the processor to capture an image, analyze the image to determine if at least one monitoring condition is met, generate an adjustment signal if the monitoring condition is not met, and communicate the adjustment signal to at least one VCS, and repeating the monitoring loop. In some implementations, multiple images are captured and analyzed during the cycling of a monitoring loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: Joyson Safety Systems Acquisition LLC
    Inventors: Jason Carl Lisseman, Len Cech, Blaine Dolcetti
  • Patent number: 11709495
    Abstract: Systems and methods enable an autonomous vehicle to perform an iterative task of transferring material from a source location to a destination location, such as moving dirt from a pile, in a more efficient manner, using a combination of reinforcement learning techniques to select a motion path for a particular iteration and visual servo control to guide the motion of the vehicle along the selected path. Lifting, carrying, and depositing of material by the autonomous vehicle can also be managed using similar techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: SafeAI, Inc.
    Inventors: Bibhrajit Halder, Koushik Balasubramanian, Lalin Theverapperuma
  • Patent number: 11703349
    Abstract: A navigation apparatus and a method for providing an individualization map service of the navigation apparatus are provided. The navigation apparatus includes a detector configured to sense a vehicle state and a travelling environment during travelling, and a processor configured to recognize a drive context based on the vehicle state and the travelling environment, and to make an individualization map to be serviced based on the recognized drive context.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Geun Ok Sin
  • Patent number: 11702072
    Abstract: A device for assisting in the driving of a motor vehicle includes a line detector for detecting the boundary line of a traffic lane, a setup module capable of establishing a virtual lane from the line detected, a monitoring module capable of monitoring the risk of the motor vehicle leaving the virtual lane established. The device also includes a module for acquiring an image representing a relevant object. The setup module includes a first map containing values of a position of a virtual-lane boundary according to a lateral shift of the relevant object in the acquired image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: RENAULT s.a.s.
    Inventors: Ghayath El Haj Shhade, Alain Haddad, Nicole El Zoghby
  • Patent number: 11702107
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for navigating a mobile platform in an environment. A processor obtains information about an object in the environment, obtains information about a first satellite, and estimates a probability indicator for a non-line of sight signal transmission between a current satellite location of the first satellite and a current location of the mobile platform using the information about the first satellite and the information about the object. The processor further determines a discrepancy indicator using a movement information of the mobile platform and a movement information of the first satellite such that a weighting indicator can be determined using the estimated probability indicator and the determined discrepancy indicator. The processor then assigns a weighting indicator to a satellite signal transmitted from the first satellite in order to provide a first weighted signal for navigating the mobile platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Brent N. Bacchus, Rakesh Kumar
  • Patent number: 11698269
    Abstract: The present technology improves points-of-interest (POIs) in applications by the gathering and use of data available from various sources to improve metadata of POIs in applications (e.g., map applications) or any other metadata or information that may be of interest to a user regarding any given POI. The present technology resolves transactions to POIs or Brands (in a map application, for example) and improves, updates, creates, and removes POIs/Brands. The present technology can also gain a clear name, granular and correct categorization, a URL, phone/chat contact info, etc. of the transactions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shanni A. Weilert, Ryan Studelska, Ren Wang, Ievgeniia Gutenko, Fang Ji, Andrei Makhanov, Aditya Rane, Jarad M. Fisher, Akila Suresh, Ashish C. Nagre, Andrew Williams, Victor Shugaev
  • Patent number: 11697418
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to assessing and responding to wheel slippage and estimating road friction for a road surface. For instance, a vehicle may be controlled in an autonomous driving mode in order to follow a trajectory. A wheel of the vehicle may be determined to be slipping such that the vehicle has limited steering control. In response to determining that the wheel is slipping, steering of one or more wheels may be controlled in order to orient the one or more wheels towards the trajectory in order to allow the vehicle to proceed towards the trajectory when the wheel is no longer slipping. In addition, the road friction may be estimated based on the determination that the wheel is slipping. The vehicle may be controlled in the autonomous driving mode based on the estimated road friction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Peter Craig Lombrozo, Courtney McCool, Daniel Lynn Larner
  • Patent number: 11691537
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an electric forklift and a method of driving the same which are capable of increasing a lifespan of a battery, and the electric forklift includes: a traveling motor which operates a wheel; a working machine motor which operates a working machine; a control unit which controls the operations of the traveling motor and the working machine motor based on an output control signal inputted from the outside; a battery which supplies electric power to the traveling motor, the working machine motor, and the control unit; and a temperature detecting unit which detects a temperature of the battery, in which the control unit controls an operation of at least one of the traveling motor and the working machine motor based on a detected temperature from the temperature detecting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: DOOSAN INDUSTRIAL VEHICLE CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Jin Yong Lee
  • Patent number: 11688286
    Abstract: A terminal area noise management method includes receiving, at a processor, aircraft information for an aircraft operating in a region in proximity to an airport; accessing a plurality of terminal area flight paths available to the aircraft; estimating a plurality of noise profiles for the aircraft, one estimated noise profile for the aircraft for each of the plurality of flight paths; calculating a plurality of cumulative noise fairness measures using each estimated noise profile; calculating a plurality of operational efficiency values for the aircraft, one or more of the calculated operational efficiency values for the aircraft for each of the flight paths; calculating a plurality of cumulative operational fairness measures using each of the calculated operational efficiency values; and selecting a flight path for the aircraft based on maximizing a cumulative noise fairness measure and a cumulative operational fairness measure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Architecture Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Sebastian Timar, Douglas Sweet, Gregory Carr
  • Patent number: 11679792
    Abstract: A method of monitoring a track using train cars includes collecting first sensor data corresponding to a track location by a first sensor network on a first train car. Based on the first sensor data, a potential track anomaly at the track location is identified by a diagnostics system on the first train car. A message describing the anomaly is transmitted to diagnostics systems located on other train cars. The message is received by a second diagnostics system on a second train car located behind the first train car. The second diagnostics system determines a time at which the second train car will be passing over track location and, at the determined time, collects second sensor data. If the track anomaly is present in both the first sensor data and the second sensor data at the track location, a train control system is notified of the track anomaly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Florian Ersch, Hartmut Ludwig, Thomas Gruenewald
  • Patent number: 11682296
    Abstract: Techniques for determining that a first vehicle is associated with a reverse state, and controlling a second vehicle based on the reverse state, are described herein. In some examples, the first vehicle may provide an indication that the first vehicle will be executing a reverse maneuver, such as with reverse lights on the vehicle or by positioning at an angle relative to a road or parking space to allow for the reverse maneuver into a desired location. A planning system of the second vehicle (such as an autonomous vehicle) may receive sensor data and determine a variety of these indications to determine a probability that the vehicle is going to execute a reverse maneuver. The second vehicle can further determine a likely trajectory of the reverse maneuver and can provide appropriate accommodations (e.g., time and/or space) to allow the second vehicle to execute the maneuver safely and efficiently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Abishek Krishna Akella, Mahsa Ghafarianzadeh, Kenneth Michael Siebert