Patents Examined by Maceeh Anwari
  • Patent number: 11823460
    Abstract: Devices, systems and methods for fusing scenes from real-time image feeds from on-vehicle cameras in autonomous vehicles to reduce redundancy of the information processed to enable real-time autonomous operation are described. One example of a method for improving perception in an autonomous vehicle includes receiving a plurality of cropped images, wherein each of the plurality of cropped images comprises one or more bounding boxes that correspond to one or more objects in a corresponding cropped image; identifying, based on the metadata in the plurality of cropped images, a first bounding box in a first cropped image and a second bounding box in a second cropped image, wherein the first and second bounding boxes correspond to a common object; and fusing the metadata corresponding to the common object from the first cropped image and the second cropped image to generate an output result for the common object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: TUSIMPLE, INC.
    Inventors: Yijie Wang, Siyuan Liu, Lingting Ge, Zehua Huang
  • Patent number: 11813981
    Abstract: A selectable vehicle profile for an electrified vehicle (EV) may be communicated to a vehicle controller to modify vehicle acceleration, generate simulated engine sounds, customize the look and feel of a vehicle instrument cluster/panel display and/or human-machine interface(s) (HMI) (including gages, menus, displays, colors etc.), control transmission simulated shift schedule and feel, control active suspension/ride control, and similar features so that the EV operates to provide a driving experience similar to a previously profiled vehicle, such as a non-electrified vehicle. Vehicle profiles may be generated by an OEM or after-market supplier based on actual measurements and/or specifications associated with operation of a particular non-electrified vehicle. The vehicle profile may be licensed for download to the EV, and/or made available through a subscription service, for example.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Inventors: John Naum Vangelov, Joseph Carl Beiser, James Wilhelm Heaton
  • Patent number: 11816992
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to managing a fleet of autonomous vehicles. For instance, a method may include receiving, from a plurality of the autonomous vehicles of the fleet, reports identifying locations of detected puddles. A miles per puddle rate may be determined based on the received reports. An operating policy for the fleet may be determined based on the miles per puddle rate. An instruction may be sent to one or more of the autonomous vehicles of the fleet in order to implement the operating policy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Vijaysai Patnaik, Robert Chen
  • Patent number: 11807316
    Abstract: A power steering apparatus has a first actuator provided as a multi-phase rotating electric machine and disposed on a steering column side of an intermediate shaft and a second actuator disposed on a rack gear side thereof. A first ECU controls a drive of the first actuator and detects an abnormality of the first actuator. The first ECU changes an output of the first actuator based on a notification from a communication bus. The first ECU performs an initial diagnosis of the first actuator at a vehicle startup time for detecting abnormality, by supplying an electric power to the first actuator for not providing a torque to a steering wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ryo Kano, Daisuke Kobayashi, Takashi Suzuki
  • Patent number: 11794786
    Abstract: In a vehicle control apparatus, a controller for controlling a travelling of a vehicle is configured to obtain attribute information about at least one occupant from reservation information, the reservation information including information about the at least one occupant who has made a reservation for the vehicle, and set a travelling characteristic of the vehicle based on the attribute information about at least one occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akira Akita
  • Patent number: 11796321
    Abstract: A system and method to transport one or more persons or objects. The system includes pods that each have an interior space to house the one or more persons or objects, and vehicles that are each configured to individually connect to one or more of the pods and to transport the pods from a first location to a second location. A server is located remotely from the pods and the vehicles. The server is configured to receive data from the pods and the vehicles through a wireless communication network to monitor a usage and location of the pods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: John William Glatfelter, Brian Dale Laughlin
  • Patent number: 11787431
    Abstract: A method for overriding a driving mode in an automatic longitudinal guidance mode of a motor vehicle includes setting a longitudinal guidance mode in the motor vehicle, providing a target speed for a journey event in the longitudinal guidance mode, manually overriding the target speed when the journey event is driven through by the motor vehicle, and aborting of the longitudinal guidance mode if the target speed of the journey event cannot be achieved within a settable delay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Andreas Lechner, Miguel Loenne, Sebastien Mathieu
  • Patent number: 11780429
    Abstract: This document describes target curvature estimation considering vehicle dynamics constraints. Some vehicle dynamics models use several kinematic states to predict the paths of targets identified by an object-tracking system. Rather than rely on predetermined industry measurements as the kinematic inputs to a model, an example system instead estimates some of these states using near real-time data output from a tracking filter. This can include estimating position and velocity states, as well as curvature and centripetal acceleration states. The example system is particularly suited at accurately predicting the curvature and centripetal acceleration states, which greatly improves the accuracy of the object-tracking system, and further improves safety in avoiding a target collision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Xiaohui Wang, Lingnan Hu
  • Patent number: 11774965
    Abstract: The invention relates to a self-propelled construction machine and to a method for controlling a self-propelled construction machine. The construction machine according to the invention has a position-determining device 13 for determining the position of a reference point R on the construction machine in a coordinate system (X, Y, Z) independent of the construction machine. The position-determining device has a navigation satellite system receiver 14 for receiving satellite signals from a global navigation satellite system 15 (GNSS) and a computing unit 16 which is configured so that the position of a reference point (R) on the construction machine and the orientation (?) of the construction machine can be determined based on the satellite signals in a coordinate system (X, Y, Z) that is independent of the construction machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Inventors: Matthias Fritz, Stefan Wagner, Cyrus Barimani
  • Patent number: 11761173
    Abstract: A method for building a pad at a construction site using a geography-altering machine, the method comprising: receiving a design for the pad at the geography-altering machine, receiving a terrain surface model of the construction site at the geography-altering machine, wherein the terrain surface model is generated using an imaging device located on the geography-altering machine, generating a cut-and-fill map at the geography-altering machine based on the design for the pad and the terrain surface model, generating guidance for building the pad at the geography-altering machine, wherein the guidance includes a starting location and moving directions for the geography-altering machine, monitoring process of building the pad using the imaging device on the geography-altering machine; and updating the cut-and-fill map and the guidance based on the monitored process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventor: Tony Metzger
  • Patent number: 11761767
    Abstract: A cloud-based trajectory map generation method, device, apparatus and application. The method includes: acquiring first trajectory map data and second trajectory map data; performing a map-initializing treatment to align the two trajectory map data to obtain an initial value of a transformation relationship therebetween; interpolating the two trajectory map data to obtain corresponding data at preset interpolation points thereto; determining a residual equation based on the corresponding data at the preset interpolation points and the initial value of the transformation relationship to obtain an optimal solution of the transformation relationship based thereon; and generating a trajectory map based on the optimal solution of the transformation relationship.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: CLOUDMINDS ROBOTICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yimin Lin, Shiguo Lian
  • Patent number: 11754415
    Abstract: A system includes a computer including a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to identify a location and an orientation of a vehicle on a map. The instructions include instructions to determine a location of an infrastructure sensor on the map based on the location and the orientation of the vehicle, data from a vehicle sensor, and data from the infrastructure sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Juan Enrique Castorena Martinez, Mostafa Parchami, Codrin Cionca, Siddharth Agarwal, Gintaras Vincent Puskorius
  • Patent number: 11747811
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a vehicle having one or more computing devices that may receive instructions to pick up a passenger at a pickup location and determine when the vehicle is within a first distance of the pickup location. When the vehicle is within the first distance, the computing devices may make a first attempt to find a spot to park the vehicle and wait for the passenger. When the vehicle is unable to find a spot to park the vehicle on the first attempt, the computing devices may maneuvering the vehicle in order to make a second attempt to find a spot to park the vehicle and wait for the passenger. When the vehicle is unable to find a spot to park the vehicle on the second attempt, the computing devices may stop the vehicle in a current lane to wait for the passenger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Brian Douglas Cullinane, David Tse-Zhou Lu, Anne Kristiina Aula, Jennifer Arden, Nathaniel Fairfield, Joshua Seth Herbach, Calvin Karl Johnson, Renaud-Roland Hubert
  • Patent number: 11747827
    Abstract: A vehicle platoon control system performs techniques for controlling a platoon of vehicles through an intersection. The platoon of vehicles is controlled through receiving location data for at least a first vehicle of the platoon of vehicles, map matching the location data for the first vehicle to a road network, identifying an intersection in the road network in response to the matched location data, determining a time period for the intersection, calculating a distance to the intersection for a second vehicle of the platoon of vehicles, calculating a travel time based on the distance to the intersection for the second vehicle of the platoon of vehicles, performing a comparison of the time period for the intersection to the travel time for the second vehicle, and generating a platoon command in response to the comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: HERE Global B.V.
    Inventors: Jingwei Xu, Bruce Bernhardt
  • Patent number: 11749107
    Abstract: An apparatus, a method, and a computer program for determining traffic situations and predicting connected services between road users and the communication quality of services between the road users. The method includes obtaining environmental perception models from road users and from road-side infrastructure entities; generating a combined environmental perception model for a pre-defined area based on environmental perception models, wherein the environmental perception models are fused within the combined environmental perception model; and predicting traffic situations within the pre-defined area over points in time in the future based on the combined environmental perception model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Inventor: Ahmad El Assaad
  • Patent number: 11745717
    Abstract: Provided herein is an actuation unit for a braking system. The actuation unit for a braking system includes a piston directly or indirectly connected to a brake pedal, an electronic control unit, a hydraulic pressure unit, an electronic memory unit mechanically connected to the hydraulic pressure unit, and a position sensor configured to detect movement of the piston connected to the brake pedal, wherein a signal of the position sensor is corrected, and data for correcting the signal is stored in the electronic memory unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: HL MANDO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hansjoerg Feigel
  • Patent number: 11741830
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for level of service assessment at signalized intersections is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, a method for estimating an average delay per vehicle at a signalized intersection with a traffic signal, including sampling vehicle arrival rates at the signalized intersection, sampling vehicle departure rates at the signalized intersection, analyzing generated shock waves at the traffic signal, wherein the traffic signal shock wave is a change in vehicle density due to changes in the traffic signal, and estimating the average delay per vehicle based on the vehicle arrival rates, the vehicle departure rates, and the traffic shock waves at the signalized intersection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University
    Inventor: Wael Mohamad ElSayed Eldessouki
  • Patent number: 11724713
    Abstract: A travel path data generation apparatus includes an intersection feature data generator that, by using data of travel paths outside intersections, generates intersection feature data representing features of the intersections and a sample data generator that associates the intersection feature data with motion trajectory data showing actual motion trajectories of vehicles inside intersections and generates sample data serving as samples of association between the feature of the intersection and the actual motion trajectories inside the intersection; and a travel path data generator that searches the sample data for the sample that to corresponds to specific intersection feature data representing a feature of a given intersection; specifies the motion trajectory data associated with the specific intersection feature data; and provides the specified motion trajectory data as data of travel paths inside intersections that corresponds to the given intersection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tomoo Nomura
  • Patent number: 11727168
    Abstract: The disclosure includes embodiments for proactive vehicle maintenance scheduling based on one or more digital twin simulations. A method includes generating a digital twin of a vehicle. The method includes receiving digital data recorded by a sensor and describing the vehicle as it exists in a real-world and one or more historical journeys of the vehicle in the real-world. The method includes updating the digital twin of the vehicle based on the digital data describing the vehicle so that the digital twin is consistent with a condition of the vehicle as it exists in the real-world. The method includes executing a simulation based on the digital twin and the one or more historical journeys. The method includes estimating a component of the vehicle that fails at a future time based on the simulation. The method includes scheduling a reservation to repair the component before the future time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Inventors: Takato Masuda, BaekGyu Kim, Shinichi Shiraishi
  • Patent number: 11727508
    Abstract: A transporter vehicle management system includes: a loading weight data acquisition unit that acquires loading weight data indicating a loading weight of a load on a transporter vehicle; a vehicle speed data acquisition unit that acquires vehicle speed data indicating a traveling speed of the transporter vehicle; a road surface data acquisition unit that acquires road surface data indicating a condition of a road surface on which the transporter vehicle travels; a current damage amount calculation unit that calculates a current damage amount of the transporter vehicle on the basis of the loading weight, the traveling speed, and the condition of the road surface; a target amount calculation unit that calculates a target loading weight or a target traveling speed in which the current damage amount is set to a predetermined value; and an output unit that outputs the target loading weight or the target traveling speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryota Ono, Tomoko Jinno