Patents by Inventor Darin William Brekke

Darin William Brekke has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10048686
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to autonomously navigate a vehicle by selecting sensors from which to obtain measurements for navigation are disclosed. An example method to navigate a vehicle includes determining environmental data associated with an area in which the vehicle is to navigate; based on the environmental data, automatically ranking a plurality of sensors that are available to the vehicle by respective costs of using the sensors to generate a navigation solution; automatically determining a subset of the sensors from which to obtain measurements based on the ranking and based on comparisons of a) first importance values of the sensors for navigating the vehicle with b) second importance values of the sensors for performing a non-navigation task; obtaining measurements from the subset of the sensors; calculating a navigation command to navigate the vehicle; and executing a first navigation action to implement the navigation command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Darin William Brekke, Robert Stewart McBride
  • Patent number: 9651666
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for identifying a position of a receiver. A number of first radio frequency signals including navigation information at the receiver is received. The number of first radio frequency signals is sent from a number of platforms configured to receive second radio frequency signals from a plurality of satellites in a global positioning system. The position of the receiver is identified using a number of distances and a number of angles identified from the number of first radio frequency signals and a number of positions for the number of platforms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventor: Darin William Brekke
  • Publication number: 20170131716
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to autonomously navigate a vehicle by selecting sensors from which to obtain measurements for navigation are disclosed. An example method to navigate a vehicle includes determining environmental data associated with an area in which the vehicle is to navigate; based on the environmental data, automatically ranking a plurality of sensors that are available to the vehicle by respective costs of using the sensors to generate a navigation solution; automatically determining a subset of the sensors from which to obtain measurements based on the ranking and based on comparisons of a) first importance values of the sensors for navigating the vehicle with b) second importance values of the sensors for performing a non-navigation task; obtaining measurements from the subset of the sensors; calculating a navigation command to navigate the vehicle; and executing a first navigation action to implement the navigation command.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Publication date: May 11, 2017
    Inventors: Darin William Brekke, Robert Stewart McBride
  • Patent number: 9297326
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are provided for managing a state of a platform. The methods and apparatuses comprise receiving a desired state for the platform. The methods and apparatuses comprise receiving the state of the platform. The methods and apparatuses comprise selecting a combination of thrusters from a plurality of thrusters to operate. The combination of thrusters is selected to adjust the state of the platform to the desired state. The methods and apparatuses operate the combination of thrusters to adjust the state of the platform to the desired state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: Teresa Anne Claggett, Darin William Brekke, Richard Donovan Jones
  • Publication number: 20150239582
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are provided for managing a state of a platform. The methods and apparatuses comprise receiving a desired state for the platform. The methods and apparatuses comprise receiving the state of the platform. The methods and apparatuses comprise selecting a combination of thrusters from a plurality of thrusters to operate. The combination of thrusters is selected to adjust the state of the platform to the desired state. The methods and apparatuses operate the combination of thrusters to adjust the state of the platform to the desired state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2015
    Publication date: August 27, 2015
    Inventors: Teresa Anne Claggett, Darin William Brekke, Richard Donovan Jones
  • Patent number: 9115662
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are provided for managing a plurality of thrusters in a platform. The method and apparatuses comprise operating the plurality of thrusters in the platform with a thruster control system. The methods and apparatuses comprise estimating a vehicle response resulting from the operation of the plurality of thrusters to form an estimated vehicle response. The methods and apparatuses also comprise comparing the estimated vehicle response to a desired vehicle response to develop objective function errors. Also, the methods and apparatuses comprise developing a number of commands configured to correct the objective function errors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: Teresa Anne Claggett, Darin William Brekke, Richard Donovan Jones
  • Publication number: 20120268321
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for identifying a position of a receiver. A number of first radio frequency signals including navigation information at the receiver is received. The number of first radio frequency signals is sent from a number of platforms configured to receive second radio frequency signals from a plurality of satellites in a global positioning system. The position of the receiver is identified using a number of distances and a number of angles identified from the number of first radio frequency signals and a number of positions for the number of platforms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2011
    Publication date: October 25, 2012
    Applicant: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventor: Darin William Brekke