Patents by Inventor Regis Hoffman

Regis Hoffman 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: 5911669
    Abstract: A self-propelled harvester is provided with apparatus for tracking a crop line and steering the harvester along the crop line without operator assistance. The apparatus includes a video camera for viewing the landscape in front of the harvester and forming an image which may be electronically scanned pixel-by-pixel and line by line to produce a video signal containing information regarding the spectral characteristics of the image at each pixel. A microprocessor is programmed to act as a discriminator and a segmentor. The discriminator produces discriminant signals D(i,j) where i is the magnitude of a discriminant function and j is the relative position of a pixel on a scan line. The segmentor determines a step function which best fits the magnitudes of the discriminant signals for one scan line. The pixel position j.sub.n corresponding to the step of this step function is taken as a vote on the location of the crop line and thus a vote on the direction the harvester should be steered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 15, 1999
    Assignee: Carnegie Mellon University
    Inventors: Anthony Stentz, Mark Ollis, Kerien Fitzpatrick, Regis Hoffman, William Whittaker