Patents Examined by Kyle T Johnson
  • Patent number: 11465623
    Abstract: Systems and methods for reversing a semi-autonomous follower vehicle involve obtaining a speed of a leader vehicle in front of and unattached to the follower vehicle that is reversing. A method includes estimating a path of the leader vehicle and determining a path for the follower vehicle based on the path of the leader vehicle. A longitudinal movement of the follower vehicle is controlled based on the speed of the leader vehicle and a lateral movement of the follower vehicle is controlled based on the path for the follower vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Carlos E. Arreaza, Hojjat Izadi
  • Patent number: 11465658
    Abstract: A method uses a track-side obstacle identification arrangement and a vehicle-side obstacle identification arrangement in order to identify obstacles in a danger zone in front of a rail vehicle. In order to allow improved autonomous driving of the rail vehicle, it is provided that, as it approaches a relevant one of the obstacles, at least one reaction or response of the rail vehicle is derived depending on an evaluation signal of the track-side obstacle identification arrangement and an actual value of at least one variable which characterizes the effectiveness or performance of the vehicle-side obstacle identification arrangement. A system for identifying obstacles is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Siemens Mobility GmbH
    Inventors: Jens Braband, Bernhard Evers
  • Patent number: 11459043
    Abstract: The invention relates to a vehicle combination having a towing vehicle and a trailer, wherein the trailer has a drive which is coupled to a wheel of the trailer, wherein a control unit is provided and is designed to receive a signal of a sensor, wherein the control unit controls the operation of the drive as a function of the signal. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for controlling a drive in a vehicle combination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: SAF-HOLLAND GmbH
    Inventors: Florian Hößle, Rainer Stegmann, Stefan Wallmeier
  • Patent number: 11446822
    Abstract: A simulation device simulates a robot device including two two-dimensional cameras. The simulation device includes a setting point arrangement unit which arranges a plurality of setting points on a surface of a workpiece model, and a distance calculation unit which calculates distances from a three-dimensional sensor model to each of the setting points. The simulation device includes a three-dimensional information generating unit which generates three-dimensional information including positions of the setting points and distances from the three-dimensional sensor model to the setting points. The simulation device includes an exclusion unit which excludes the setting point that is not visible from the camera models. The simulation device changes a position and orientation of a robot model on the basis of the three-dimensional information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Atohira
  • Patent number: 11447141
    Abstract: A method and a device for eliminating a steady-state lateral deviation and a storage medium are provided. The method includes: determining whether a vehicle travels on a straight road; collecting a lateral deviation value of the vehicle in a case that the vehicle travels on a straight road; determining whether the vehicle has the steady-state lateral deviation based on the collected lateral deviation value; and compensating the steady-state lateral deviation of the vehicle in real time based on the collected lateral deviation value in a case that the vehicle has the steady-state lateral deviation. The vehicle has the steady-state lateral deviation may run steadily, a direction of the vehicle is more accurate, self-driving safety and efficiency are improved, the sense of leftward and rightward swaying brought by a continuous deviation rectification method in the conventional art is effectively eliminated, and self-driving stability is improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: APOLLO INTELLIGENT DRIVING TECHNOLOGY (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Xiao Cui, Dingfeng Guo, Zhenguang Zhu
  • Patent number: 11427197
    Abstract: A lane departure preventing device includes at least one electronic control unit. The at least one electronic control unit is configured to: when there is a likelihood that a vehicle will depart from a traveling lane, calculate a prevention yaw moment, and control a brake actuator such that the prevention yaw moment is applied to the vehicle; acquire a lateral acceleration; determine whether the lateral acceleration is greater than an ideal value by a predetermined value; control the brake actuator such that the braking force matches a target braking force required to apply the prevention yaw moment to the vehicle, when the lateral acceleration is not greater than the ideal value by the predetermined value; and control the brake actuator such that the braking force is less than the target braking force, when the lateral acceleration is greater than the ideal value by the predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akira Nagae, Ryo Inomata, Hironori Ito, Masayuki Ikeda
  • Patent number: 11427186
    Abstract: A parking assist system moves a vehicle autonomously from a current position to a target position. The parking assist system includes: a driving device configured to drive the vehicle; a control device configured to execute a setting process to set the target position and a driving process to control the driving device; a setting reception switch configured to receive an operation for starting the setting process; a driving reception switch configured to receive an operation for starting the driving process; a brake input member sensor configured to detect an input operation of a brake input member. The control device starts the setting process after the setting reception switch is operated, and starts the driving process on condition that a prescribed operation is performed when the driving reception switch is operated. The prescribed operation includes the input operation on the brake input member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuki Hara, Yasushi Shoda, Masaaki Kawano, Takeshi Iijima, Hiroshi Yamanaka, Megumi Kageyama, Eiichi Hoshino, Chihiro Kajihara, Hikaru Horiuchi
  • Patent number: 11428608
    Abstract: An automatic robot control system and methods relating thereto are described. These systems include components such as a touch screen panel (“TSP”) robot controller for controlling a TSP robot, a camera robot controller for controlling a camera robot and an audio robot controller for controlling an audio robot. The TSP robot operates inside a TSP testing subsystem, the camera robot operates inside a camera testing subsystem, and the audio robot operates inside an audio testing subsystem. Inside the audio testing subsystem, an audio signals measurement system, using a bi-directional coupling, controls the operation of the audio robot controller. In this control scheme, a test application controller is designed to control the different types of subsystem robots. Methods relating to TSP, camera, and audio robots, and their controllers, taken individually or in combination, for automatic testing of device functionalities are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Inventor: Myung Ki Kim
  • Patent number: 11420645
    Abstract: Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method including receiving, by a processing system at an autonomous vehicle including a processor, a personalized driving style profile associated with a first driver according to first driving information, wherein the personalized driving style profile includes key driving style parameter values associated with the first driver, wherein the first driving information comprises monitoring vehicle context and control information captured during a vehicle driving session, and modifying, by the processing system at the autonomous vehicle, a default driving style algorithm according to the personalized driving style profile to mimic at an autonomous vehicle a driving style of the first driver during operation of the autonomous vehicle. Other embodiments are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
    Inventor: Satya B. Vardharajan
  • Patent number: 11423783
    Abstract: An apparatus for implementing a lane change decision aid system (LCDAS) includes: a sensing unit sensing whether there is a target vehicle in adjacent zones, a rear zone, or a forward zone of a subject vehicle; a determination unit determining an activation condition for determining whether an LCDAS function is active/inactive and a warning condition for determining whether a warning of the LCDAS function is issued/un-issued, based on the sensing of the sensing unit; a warning unit issuing the warning to a driver based on the determination of the determination unit; and a control unit controlling the sensing unit, the determination unit, and the warning unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Kyoung Jun Lee, Changho Kim, Yoon Soo Kim, Seung Wook Park, In Yong Jung, Min Byeong Lee
  • Patent number: 11407423
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus, methods, and techniques for an ego vehicle to respond to detecting misbehaving information from remote vehicles are provided. An ego vehicle, in addition to reporting misbehaving vehicles to a misbehavior authority via a vehicle-to-anything communication network, can, take additional actions based in part on how confident the ego vehicle is about the evidence of misbehavior. Where the confidence is high the ego vehicle can simply discard the misbehaving data and provide an alternative estimate for such data from alternative sources. Where the confidence is not high the ego vehicle can request assistance from neighboring vehicles and roadside units to provide independent estimates of the data to increase confidence in the evidence of misbehavior.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: INTEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Xiruo Liu, Liuyang Yang, Manoj Sastry, Marcio Juliato, Shabbir Ahmed, Christopher Gutierrez
  • Patent number: 11390265
    Abstract: Systems and methods for preventing roll-over of a motor vehicle in the event of a transverse load change. The motor vehicle has an individual-wheel drive designed to drive a wheel that is loaded by the transverse load change independently of the at least one other wheel of the motor vehicle. One methods includes identifying a critical state of the motor vehicle in the event of a transverse load change, applying a drive torque by the individual-wheel drive to the motor vehicle wheel that is loaded by the transverse load change such that the wheel that is loaded by the transverse load change is caused to slip, and steering the motor vehicle wheel that is loaded by the transverse load change in the direction of the direction of travel such that a roll-over of the motor vehicle can be prevented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignees: THYSSENKRUPP PRESTA AG, THYSSENKRUPP AG
    Inventor: Leonard Lapis
  • Patent number: 11383567
    Abstract: A vehicle having a retractable towing hitch includes a towing hitch assembly. The towing hitch assembly includes a coupler portion. The coupler portion is configured to be movable relative to a bumper of the vehicle such that the coupler portion is positioned farther from the bumper when the coupler portion is in an extended position than when the coupler portion is in a towing position and a retraction mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventor: Coh Yoshizaki
  • Patent number: 11383378
    Abstract: A grasping apparatus 1 includes: an image data acquisition unit 16; a robot arm 11; a control unit 12; and a grasping position determination unit 18 configured to determine, using the image data of photographed flexible objects in a folded and stacked state that is acquired by the image data acquisition unit 16, whether or not a part of the flexible objects in that image data is suitable for being grasped. The control unit 12 controls the robot arm 11 so as to deform ends of a top surface of the flexible object at the top of the stacked flexible objects. The grasping position determination unit 18 determines whether or not a part is suitable for being grasped using the image data of the photographed flexible object the ends of the top surface of which have been deformed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignees: SHINSHU UNIVERSITY, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kimitoshi Yamazaki, Kazuki Sano, Satonori Demura, Wataru Nakajima, Keisuke Takeshita
  • Patent number: 11346680
    Abstract: Providing routing based on driver experience is provided. Aspects include receiving a destination from a user, calculating a plurality of routes from an origin to the destination, and comparing characteristics of each of the plurality of routes with previous driving experience information of the user. Aspects also include calculating an associated risk level for each of the plurality of routes based on the comparison and providing, to the user, a listing of the plurality of routes having the associated risk level indicated. Aspects further include receiving a selected route from the user and providing the selected route and the associated risk level to an insurance provider of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jonathan Jackson, Darryl Adderly, Eric Libow, Ajit Jariwala
  • Patent number: 11340071
    Abstract: A calibration system is mounted in a vehicle and is provided with: an attitude sensor that acquires attitude information regarding a vehicle coordinate system of the vehicle; an image pickup unit that captures an image of the surroundings of the vehicle; an attitude-sensor reliability level calculation unit that calculates an attitude-sensor reliability level that is a reliability level of the attitude sensor; and an attitude use estimation unit that estimates, in the case where the calculated attitude-sensor reliability level is greater than a predetermined threshold, an external parameter of the image pickup unit using the attitude information output by the attitude sensor and a relationship of a coordinate system of the image pickup unit to the vehicle coordinate system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: CLARION CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Morihiko Sakano, Keiji Sato
  • Patent number: 11325262
    Abstract: A robot includes an operator and a processor. The operator is configured to cause a robot to operate. The processor acquires adornment information indicating an adornment that is applied to the robot, the adornment information being obtained based on a captured image of the robot. The processor controls the operator to perform an operation corresponding to the acquired adornment information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Maki Maeda, Toshihiko Otsuka
  • Patent number: 11313684
    Abstract: During GPS-denied/restricted navigation, images proximate a platform device are captured using a camera, and corresponding motion measurements of the platform device are captured using an IMU device. Features of a current frame of the images captured are extracted. Extracted features are matched and feature information between consecutive frames is tracked. The extracted features are compared to previously stored, geo-referenced visual features from a plurality of platform devices. If one of the extracted features does not match a geo-referenced visual feature, a pose is determined for the platform device using IMU measurements propagated from a previous pose and relative motion information between consecutive frames, which is determined using the tracked feature information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: SRI International
    Inventors: Han-Pang Chiu, Supun Samarasekera, Rakesh Kumar, Mikhail Sizintsev, Xun Zhou, Philip Miller, Glenn Murray
  • Patent number: 11312357
    Abstract: An ECMS-based PHEV four-drive torque distribution method is disclosed. The method comprises: step 1, calculating an equivalent fuel consumption factor; step 2, calculating instantaneous total equivalent fuel consumption rate; step 3, converting all operating torque combinations of an engine, a BSG motor and a rear axle motor into the operating torque of a driving wheel, and determining the operating torque range of each power source; step 4, solving the minimum value of the instantaneous total equivalent fuel consumption rate within the actual operating torque range of each power source; and step 5, taking the operating torque of each power source corresponding to the minimum instantaneous total equivalent fuel consumption rate as the PHEV optimal operating torque for distribution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: BEIJING INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Hui Liu, Yang Liu, Lijin Han, Huibin Xin
  • Patent number: 11314258
    Abstract: A safety system for a vehicle may include one or more processors configured to determine uncertainty data indicating uncertainty in one or more predictions from a driving model during operation of a vehicle; change or update one or more of the driving model parameters to one or more changed or updated driving model parameters based on the determined uncertainty data; and provide the one or more changed or updated driving model parameters to a control system of the vehicle for controlling the vehicle to operate in accordance with the driving model including the one or more changed or updated driving model parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: INTEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: David Gomez Gutierrez, Ranganath Krishnan, Javier Felip Leon, Nilesh Ahuja, Ibrahima Ndiour