Control Of Vehicle Safety Devices (e.g., Airbag, Seat-belt, Etc.) Patents (Class 701/45)
  • Patent number: 11966855
    Abstract: Embodiments of an adaptive virtual intelligent agent (“AVIA”) service are disclosed. It may include the functions of a human administrative assistant for an enterprise including customer support, customer relationship management, and fielding incoming caller inquiries. It also has multi-modal applications for the home through interaction with AVIA implemented in the home. It may engage in free-form natural language dialogs. During a dialog, embodiments maintain the context and meaning of the ongoing dialog and provides information and services as needed by the domain of the application. Over time, the service automatically extends its knowledge of the domain (as represented in the Knowledge Tree Graphs) through interaction with external resources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Inventor: Justin London
  • Patent number: 11961312
    Abstract: A profile is automatically generated for an occupant of a vehicle. In one approach, data is collected from an interior of a vehicle to determine whether an occupant is present. If an occupant is present, a local profile is automatically generated. The local profile is sent to a remote computing device. The remote computing device links the local profile to a remote profile stored by the remote computing device. Configuration data is generated by the remote computing device based on linking the local and remote profiles. The configuration data is sent to the vehicle and used by the vehicle to control the operation of one or more components of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert Richard Noel Bielby
  • Patent number: 11958385
    Abstract: A seat includes a seat body and a sensor configured to acquired information on an occupant seated on the seat body. The seat includes a coating as a location marker that marks a location of the sensor to render the location visually recognizable from outside the seat body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: TS TECH CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kaku, Ryuichiro Hirose, Hiroyuki Numajiri, Satoshi Fujita, Takako Miyoshi, Munetaka Kowa, Atsushi Kusano, Yoshikazu Ito, Yousuke Higashi, Satoshi Suzuki, Ryosuke Sato, Kento Uetake, Yasuharu Otsuka, Satoru Kaneda
  • Patent number: 11958327
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a collision determination ECU determining whether a possibility of collision is present, based on a detection result of a detection sensor detecting outside of the vehicle, a motor, a boosting circuit and a battery supplying a high voltage to the motor, and an electric suspension control ECU controlling the boosting circuit and the motor, and in a case where the collision determination ECU determines that the possibility of collision is present, the electric suspension control ECU limits the supply of the high voltage to the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuya Konada, Satoshi Ohno
  • Patent number: 11951926
    Abstract: A seating state detection device includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire a detection signal group in a predetermined period that is output as a result of transmission and reception of waves by a radio wave sensor mounted on a vehicle, a signal extraction unit configured to extract specific-intensity signals in a predetermined reflection intensity range from the detection signal group, and a determination unit configured to determine whether an occupant in the vehicle is in a first riding state in which the occupant is directly seated on a seat or in a second riding state in which the occupant is seated in an infant auxiliary device, based on a distribution mode of the specific-intensity signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: AISIN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Toru Uematsu, Jun Amano, Takayuki Nakagome, Asami Yamazaki, Masafumi Yaegashi, Ryohei Fuwa
  • Patent number: 11951924
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a crash monitoring system for a vehicle, a vehicle comprising such a crash monitoring system, a method for monitoring a vehicle crash and a computer program element for such a crash monitoring system. The crash monitoring system comprises an environment sensor unit, a vehicle information supplying unit, a crash sensor unit and a control unit. The environment sensor unit is configured to generate field data of an impending crash event between at least a first vehicle and an obstacle. The vehicle information supplying unit is configured to provide operational information of at least the first vehicle to the control unit. The crash sensor unit is configured to generate crash data during the crash event of at least the first vehicle. The control unit is configured to execute a crash simulation based on the field data and the operational information and generate predictive attribute data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: VOLVO CAR CORPORATION
    Inventor: Björn Johansson
  • Patent number: 11938855
    Abstract: A seat for a vehicle may include a seatback including a variable resistance support disposed within a volume of the seatback. The variable resistance support may further include one or more configurable arrays of resistive elements including collapsible structures and/or inflatable bladders that may be configured to provide energy dissipation and/or absorption during a collision event. One or more array subsets may be configured to be independently controllable and configured to provide adjustable support at a region of the seatback, the adjustable support corresponding to a mass of the occupant. Moreover, when at least a portion of the back of an occupant pushes against a front surface of the seatback due to the collision event, the arrays of resistive elements may be configured to compress and/or collapse, at least partially, to absorb an energy applied from an occupant's back associated with the collision event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventor: Nirmal Muralidharan
  • Patent number: 11938933
    Abstract: There is provided a travel control apparatus. A control unit performs, based on a recognition result of a recognition unit and map information of a periphery of the moving body, travel control of the moving body. A first determination unit determines whether a first state is set. A second determination unit determines whether a second state is set. In at least one of a case in which the first determination unit determines that the first state is set and a case in which the second determination unit has determined that the second state is set, the control unit performs travel control prioritizing the recognition result of the recognition unit over the map information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Sho Tamura
  • Patent number: 11938879
    Abstract: A vehicle control device that controls a vehicle, the vehicle control device comprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire surrounding information of the vehicle; a recognition unit configured to recognize another vehicle traveling in surroundings of the vehicle, based on the surrounding information; a calculation unit configured to calculate a visual recognition ratio of a steering wheel of the other vehicle to a perfect circle; and a control unit configured to control the vehicle, based on the visual recognition ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kenji Komori
  • Patent number: 11933921
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a method and system for processing an obstacle detection result of an ultrasonic sensor array. The method comprises: obtaining obstacle coordinates collected by ultrasonic sensors in an ultrasonic sensor array; inputting the obstacle coordinates collected by ultrasonic sensors in the ultrasonic sensor array into a pre-trained neural network model, to obtain true or false labels for the obstacle coordinates collected by the ultrasonic sensors output by the pre-trained neural network model; process the obstacle coordinates collected by the ultrasonic sensors in the ultrasonic sensor array according to the true or false labels. The present disclosure improves the accuracy in the obstacle detection of the ultrasonic sensor array, avoids detection error and omission and improves the driving safety.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Xiaoxing Zhu, Xiang Liu, Fan Yang
  • Patent number: 11937058
    Abstract: A driver's vehicle sound perception method during the autonomous traveling of a driver sound control system applied to an autonomous vehicle is provided. The method includes determining a mobile device and Bluetooth earphones held by a driver within a cabin, and setting the driver position and face direction for the driver, a driver relative distance for the individual controller, and the sound pressure and cycle of an alert for a failure situation of the individual controller by a DSM controller of the DSM system. The method confirms the utterance position of the alert for the driver by an AVNT controller of the AVNT system, and reproduces the failure situation of the individual controller by a vehicle speaker or the Bluetooth earphones to reproduce the vehicle alert through the left/right Bluetooth earphones in the driver's ears at autonomous Lv.4, freeing the driver from driving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventor: Chong-Bae Park
  • Patent number: 11932268
    Abstract: A system includes an electronic control unit (ECU) having a housing and configured to be disposed within an interior of an autonomous vehicle. The system also includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) rigidly disposed with the housing of the ECU. The system also includes a processor configured to receive measurement data from the IMU. The IMU and the processor is powered by a battery separate from a power source of the ECU. The processor is configured to identify a tamper event of the ECU based on the measurement data from the IMU. The processor is also configured to send a signal to cause a tamper response of the tamper event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: PlusAI, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Joseph Dingli, Timothy P. Daly, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11926319
    Abstract: A driving monitoring device (100) decides an applicable collision pattern that applies to a collision pattern of a case where a vehicle (200) collides with a mobile object, based on a velocity vector of the vehicle, a velocity vector of the mobile object, and so on. Subsequently, the driving monitoring device calculates a time until collision, which is a time taken until the vehicle collides with the mobile object, in the applicable collision pattern. Then, the driving monitoring device calculates a danger level of an accident in which the vehicle collides with the mobile object, based on the applicable collision pattern and the time until collision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Haruo Nakata, Masahiko Tanimoto, Yosuke Ishiwatari, Masahiro Abukawa
  • Patent number: 11904807
    Abstract: Techniques are described for determining an occurrence of theft in a vehicle. An example processor implemented method comprises receiving, by a computer located in an autonomous vehicle and at a first time, a first torque value that indicates a first amount of torque applied by an engine of the autonomous vehicle to drive the autonomous vehicle, receiving, at a second time that is later in time than the first time, a second torque value that indicates a second amount of torque applied by the engine of the autonomous vehicle, determining that a difference between a first value and a second value is greater than a pre-determined value, where the first value and the second value are functions of at least the first torque value and at least the second value respectively, and displaying, in response to the determining, a message that indicates a theft detection in the autonomous vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: TUSIMPLE, INC.
    Inventors: Charles Seunghwan Han, Arda Kurt, Xiaoling Han
  • Patent number: 11900698
    Abstract: An information processing device and an information processing method that prevent unnecessary warning are provided. An information processing device includes a host vehicle information acquisition part configured to acquire host vehicle information on a host vehicle, a setting part configured to set an allowable range for a driver's sight of the host vehicle based on the host vehicle information, a driver information acquisition part configured to acquire driver information on the driver, a determination part (inattentive driving determination part) configured to determine whether or not the driver is looking at the allowable range based on the allowable range and the driver information, and an output part (sound output part, vibration part, display part) configured to output a predetermined notification based on the determination of the determination part (inattentive driving determination part).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: CLARION CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masashi Akachi, Masashi Koga, Hiroshige Furugori, Hiroki Abe
  • Patent number: 11891848
    Abstract: An apparatus of controlling a safety power window of a vehicle and a method thereof to not injure the body caught in a window frame, as well as to prevent a malfunction of the safety power window, by adaptively setting an operation reference value of the safety power window, may include a learning device that deep-learns a model which predicts an operation reference value of the safety power window provided in the vehicle, based on driving information of the vehicle, a sensor that collects the driving information of the vehicle, and a controller that obtains the operation reference value of the safety power window corresponding to current driving information of the vehicle by use of the model on which the deep learning is completed, and controls the safety power window according to the operation reference value of the safety power window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Sung Tae Choi
  • Patent number: 11890933
    Abstract: The techniques of this disclosure relate to a vehicle occupancy-monitoring system. The system includes a controller circuit that receives occupant data from an occupancy-monitoring sensor of a vehicle. The controller circuit determines an occupancy status of respective seats in a cabin of the vehicle based on the occupancy-monitoring sensor. The controller circuit indicates the occupancy status of the respective seats on a display located in a field of view of occupants of the vehicle. The display is integral to one of a roof light module, a door panel, or a headliner of the cabin. The system can improve passenger safety by alerting the operator and other occupants about the occupancy status of the passengers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Douglas L Welk, Timothy A. Suda
  • Patent number: 11891013
    Abstract: A system includes a seatbelt buckle. The system includes a latch plate releasably engageable with the seatbelt buckle. The system includes an actuator operatively coupled to buckle to trigger disengagement of the latch plate from the seatbelt buckle. The system includes a computer having a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to detect an impact to a vehicle. The instructions include instructions to, in response to detecting the impact, command the actuator to trigger disengagement of the latch plate from the seatbelt buckle. The instructions include instructions to, after triggering disengagement of the latch plate, detect disengagement of the latch plate from the seatbelt buckle. The instructions include instructions to, in response to detecting disengagement of the latch plate from the seatbelt buckle, actuate an audio device to produce a sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Dean M. Jaradi, Mohammad Omar Faruque, S. M. Iskander Farooq
  • Patent number: 11884303
    Abstract: A method for determining a lane change, performed by an apparatus for determining a lane change of an object located around a driving vehicle with which is equipped a sensor, the method including, detecting a plurality of objects located around the driving vehicle using scanning information obtained repeatedly at every predetermined period of time by the sensor scanning surroundings of the driving vehicle, selecting at least one candidate object estimated to change lanes among the plurality of objects based on previously detected lane edge information and determining whether the candidate object changes lanes based on information on movement of the candidate object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Vueron Technology Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Jaekwang Kim, Seungyong Lee
  • Patent number: 11869103
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and methods for planning a multimodal itinerary. The systems and methods may include receiving a transportation request. The transportation request may include a starting location, a final destination, and an estimated payload data. During a first leg of the multimodal itinerary, an updated payload data may be received. An aerial vehicle may be assigned to a subsequent leg of the multimodal itinerary based on the updated payload data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: JOBY AERO, INC.
    Inventors: Ian Andreas Villa, Philipp Haban
  • Patent number: 11862422
    Abstract: An electrical fuse that includes an electro-pyrotechnic igniter, a separating element, which can be moved by the electro-pyrotechnic igniter, and a busbar with a separating section. A separating element is arranged so that it can move after the electro-pyrotechnic igniter is triggered to separate the busbar. At least one inductive coupler is arranged on the busbar or a high-voltage line. The electrical fuse further includes a control circuit for controlling an ignition current for triggering the electro-pyrotechnic igniter. The control circuit includes at least one semiconductor switch for switching the ignition current provided, at least one capacitor, connected to a control input of the semiconductor switch, and a diode coupled on one side to the at least one inductive coupler and on the other side to the capacitor and a control input of the semiconductor switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Roland Kube
  • Patent number: 11856399
    Abstract: The systems and methods described herein can include a digital assistant application that receives sensor signals from sensors installed in a vehicle and determines an entry event into the vehicle. The digital assistant application can receive, responsive to the entry event into the vehicle, a plurality authentication input signals from a plurality of sensors associated with the vehicle. The digital assistant application can determine a plurality of authentication states based on the plurality of authentication input signals and a plurality of authentication credentials. The digital assistant application can identify an access permission level of a plurality of access permission levels based at least in part on the plurality of identifies authentication states. The digital assistant application can identify, responsive to the access permission level, a subset of a set of functionalities available via the vehicle, and provide vehicular access to the subset of functionalities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
    Inventors: Haris Ramic, Victor Chan, Vikas Gupta, Lingjun Li
  • Patent number: 11845390
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus for monitoring a vehicle. The system includes a sensor of the vehicle configured to detect sensor data indicating a presence of an object, occupant, or pet within the vehicle. The system also includes an electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle communicatively coupled to the sensor. The ECU is configured to determine whether the object, occupant, or pet is within the vehicle. The ECU is also configured to provide a notification to a user of the vehicle regarding the presence of the object, occupant, or pet within the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Katsumi Nagata, Masashi Nakagawa, Divya Sai Toopran, Makoto Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11847548
    Abstract: A universal passenger seat system includes a system controller and a physical connection interface with a standardized communication protocol for coupling the system controller with seating hardware, at least one peripheral device, and at least one network connection. The system controller can also be in communication with a biometric sensor, a physiological sensor, and/or a situational data sensor. An artificial intelligence engine is communicatively coupled to or embedded within the system controller. The artificial intelligence engine is configured to determine a passenger status based on data received from the biometric sensor, the physiological sensor, and/or the situational data sensor and is further configured to generate one or more communication signals based on the data. For example, the communication signals can include control signals for the seating hardware, information signals for peripheral devices, or status signals for transmission via the network connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Glenn A. Johnson
  • Patent number: 11833959
    Abstract: A lighting module comprising lighting elements and a controller configured to receive a control signal that identifies a user as present. In response to the control signal associated with user presence, the lighting module is configured to send a command to one or more of the lighting elements to illuminate a first zone where the user is present. The lighting module is configured to receive a control signal that identifies that illumination of a second zone was previously requested by the user at a current location, and in response to the control signal associated with the current location, send a command to one or more of the lighting elements to illuminate the second zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Clarisse Mazuir, Arthur Y. Zhang, Matthew E. Last, Budhadipta Dan, Christy F. Cull, Ryan J. Garrone
  • Patent number: 11828881
    Abstract: A light detection and ranging system includes synchronously scanning transmit and receive mirrors that scan a pulsed fanned laser beam in two dimensions. Imaging optics image a receive aperture onto an arrayed receiver that includes a plurality of light sensitive devices. Adaptive methods dynamically modify the size and location of the field of view as well as laser pulse properties in response to internal and external sensors data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Microvision, Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathan A. Morarity, Alga Lloyd Nothern, III
  • Patent number: 11820378
    Abstract: An apparatus for assisting a lane change includes: a storage configured to store information for the lane change; and a processor that classifies a plurality of lane change steps for the lane change from a position of a host vehicle in an original lane to a target lane, and determines whether to output a warning of a dangerous situation in each lane change step of the plurality of lane change steps when the dangerous situation occurs. When the host vehicle is positioned on a boundary line of the target lane or goes over the boundary line of the target lane, the processor assists the lane change without outputting the warning based on a driving situation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Dong Eon Oh, Hoi Won Kim, Doo Jin Um
  • Patent number: 11818573
    Abstract: The systems and methods described herein can include a digital assistant application that receives sensor signals from sensors installed in a vehicle and determines an entry event into the vehicle. The digital assistant application can receive, responsive to the entry event into the vehicle, a plurality authentication input signals from a plurality of sensors associated with the vehicle. The digital assistant application can determine a plurality of authentication states based on the plurality of authentication input signals and a plurality of authentication credentials. The digital assistant application can identify an access permission level of a plurality of access permission levels based at least in part on the plurality of identifies authentication states. The digital assistant application can identify, responsive to the access permission level, a subset of a set of functionalities available via the vehicle, and provide vehicular access to the subset of functionalities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
    Inventors: Haris Ramic, Victor Chan, Vikas Gupta, Lingjun Li
  • Patent number: 11816902
    Abstract: A vehicle external environment recognition apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes one or more processors and one or more memories configured to be coupled to the one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to: calculate three-dimensional positions of respective blocks in a captured image; group the blocks to put any two or more of the blocks that have the three-dimensional positions differing from each other within a predetermined range in a group and thereby determine three-dimensional objects; identify each of a preceding vehicle of the vehicle and a sidewall on the basis of the determined three-dimensional objects; and track the preceding vehicle. The one or more processors are configured to determine, upon tracking the preceding vehicle, whether the preceding vehicle to track is to be hidden by the sidewall on the basis of a border line between a blind region and a viewable region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Toshimi Okubo
  • Patent number: 11807290
    Abstract: A method for controlling an electric machine includes, in response to receiving a command signal, determining a position of a steering column. The method also includes determining a desired direction of the steering column based on the command signal. The method also includes determining a voltage corresponding to motion of the steering column from the position and desired direction. The method also includes applying a pulse width modulated signal to the electric machine based on the position of the steering column, the desired direction of the steering column, and the voltage. The method also includes selectively adjusting the pulse width modulated signal based on a change in the voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation
    Inventors: James E. Rouleau, Edward A. Cana
  • Patent number: 11802959
    Abstract: A vehicle safety system performs close-in incipient collision detection that combines high sample rate near-field sensors with advanced real-time processing to accurately determine and report risky driver behavior.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: PreAct Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul Drysch, Keith Brendley, Kurt Brendley
  • Patent number: 11798419
    Abstract: A vehicular collision mitigation method includes disposing at a vehicle a plurality of cameras, at least two non-camera sensors, and a control that processes data captured by the cameras and non-camera sensors. When the equipped vehicle is traveling forward, and via processing at the control of provided data captured by the forward viewing camera and the at least two non-camera sensors, it is determined if the vehicle is approaching a pedestrian or other vehicle forward of the vehicle. Responsive to such determination, braking by an automatic emergency braking system is controlled to mitigate collision with the pedestrian or other vehicle. Responsive to determination that a following vehicle is following the vehicle within a threshold distance from the vehicle and is approaching the vehicle above a threshold rate of approach, braking by the automatic emergency braking system is adjusted to mitigate collision at the rear of the vehicle by the following vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Ove J. Salomonsson, Christopher L Van Dan Elzen
  • Patent number: 11794676
    Abstract: Methods, computing systems, and technology for automated vehicle action generation are presented. For example, a computing system may be configured to receive context data associated with a plurality of user interactions with a vehicle function of a vehicle. The context data may include data indicative of a plurality of user-selected settings for the vehicle function and data indicative of observed conditions associated with the respective user-selected settings. The computing system may be configured to generate, using a machine-learned clustering model, a user-activity cluster for the vehicle function based on the context data. The computing system may be configured to determine an automated vehicle action based on the user-activity cluster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: MERCEDES-BENZ GROUP AG
    Inventors: Hassan Benqassmi, Maja Buhr, Chris Busenbark, Anusha Joshi, Jason Kamin, Mahmoud Khalil, Isabel Litton, Samina Reddy
  • Patent number: 11787396
    Abstract: An automatic parking assistance system, an in-vehicle device and an automatic parking assistance method. The in-vehicle device comprises a communication interface for receiving a parking navigation path and traffic information; and a parking controller coupled with the communication interface, the parking controller being configured to: acquire the traffic information and the parking navigation path; control vehicle parking maneuvers based on the parking navigation path; judge whether there is a potential collision object with respect to the vehicle based on the traffic information; in the case that the judgment indicates there is no potential collision object, control the vehicle to travel along the parking navigation path; in the case that the judgment indicates there is a potential collision object, determine a danger level of the potential collision object based on the traffic information and determine safety measures corresponding to the danger level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventor: Wei Wang
  • Patent number: 11780586
    Abstract: An adaptive force vehicle airbag (AFVA) system includes airbag(s) stowed in a compressed state within an interior of a vehicle. An impact sensor detects a change in motion of the vehicle indicative of a collision. Selectable force gas generator(s) (SFGGs) gas-generating propellant cells that are individually fired. The SFGGs have conduit(s) that receive gas from fired gas-generating propellant cells and direct the gas to inflate at least one of the airbag(s). A controller is communicatively coupled to the inflation initiating component and the gas-generating propellant cells of the SFGGs. The controller enables the AFVA system to: (i) receive an inflation signal from the impact sensor; and (ii) fire a selected number of the gas-generating propellant cells to at least partially inflate the at least one airbag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
    Inventor: Jerry Provenza
  • Patent number: 11785029
    Abstract: A computer implemented security method operable with a communications network in a vehicle, the network communicatively connecting devices including sensors and actuators in the vehicle such that information provided by sensors and states of actuators are determinable by data communicated via the network, the method including defining a Markov decision process model for the vehicle, the model specifying states of the vehicle and actions constituting transitions between states, wherein a state of the vehicle is indicated by information provided by one or more sensors and a state of one or more actuators, and an action corresponds to a change in the information provided by one or more sensors and/or a change to a state of one or more actuators, each action having associated a probability of occurrence; determining, by accessing data communicated via the network, a current state of the vehicle in the model; accessing data communicated via the network; responsive to the accessed data indicating an action to chang
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: British Telecommunications Public Limited Company
    Inventors: Fadi El-Moussa, Karl Smith
  • Patent number: 11785461
    Abstract: The systems and methods described herein can include a digital assistant application that receives sensor signals from sensors installed in a vehicle and determines an entry event into the vehicle. The digital assistant application can receive, responsive to the entry event into the vehicle, a plurality authentication input signals from a plurality of sensors associated with the vehicle. The digital assistant application can determine a plurality of authentication states based on the plurality of authentication input signals and a plurality of authentication credentials. The digital assistant application can identify an access permission level of a plurality of access permission levels based at least in part on the plurality of identifies authentication states. The digital assistant application can identify, responsive to the access permission level, a subset of a set of functionalities available via the vehicle, and provide vehicular access to the subset of functionalities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
    Inventors: Haris Ramic, Victor Chan, Vikas Gupta, Lingjun Li
  • Patent number: 11772660
    Abstract: A vehicle state estimation device for a vehicle provided with an inertial measurement sensor and a wheel speed sensor includes: a vehicle state estimation unit that estimates a vehicle state including a vehicle velocity based on an acceleration and an angular velocity acquired by the inertial measurement sensor and a wheel speed acquired by the wheel speed sensor; and a determination unit that determines whether a wheel is slipping. The estimation unit estimates a steady-state vehicle velocity based on the wheel speed and calculates a transient vehicle velocity by time integration based on the acceleration and the angular velocity. When the wheel is slipping, the estimation unit decides an estimated value of the vehicle velocity to be close to the transient vehicle velocity, and when the wheel is not slipping, the estimation unit decides the estimated value of the vehicle velocity to be close to the steady-state vehicle velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tomoyuki Hosoya
  • Patent number: 11769313
    Abstract: A computer, including a processor and a memory, the memory including instructions to be executed by the processor to acquire a first image from a first camera by illuminating a first object with a first light and determine an object status as one of a real object or a counterfeit object by comparing a first measure of pixel values corresponding to the first object to a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Ali Hassani, Jonathan Diedrich, Hafiz Malik, Robert Parenti, Ryan Edwin Hanson
  • Patent number: 11768557
    Abstract: A vehicle seat comprises a seat component having a contour; wherein the contour changes when at least a portion of a user's body is in contact with the seat component and at least one multibend sensor operatively connected to the seat component and adapted to at least partially conform to the contour of the seat component; the at least one multibend sensor comprising a signal generation source adapted to transmit signals and a signal receiver adapted to receive at least some of the transmitted signals. The seat further comprises a signal processor operatively connected to the signal receiver, the signal processor adapted to make at least one measurement associated with the received signals; and, a sensing module operatively connected to the signal processor and configured to use the at least one measurement to determine information regarding the contour of the seat component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: Tactual Labs Co.
    Inventor: Paul Henry Dietz
  • Patent number: 11763577
    Abstract: Determining head orientation and/or position of a vehicle occupant includes determining a first detection range for head orientations and/or positions of a first imagining sensor located in the vehicle interior based on various head orientations and/or positions in relation to the location of the first sensor, determining the second detection range of the second imaging sensor for head orientations and/or positions based on various head orientations and/or positions in relation to the position of the second sensor, and, based on the head orientation and/or position of the vehicle occupant, determining the head orientation and/or position with that sensor that has a detection range in which the head orientation and/or position can be better determined than in the detection range of another sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventor: Jörg Angermayer
  • Patent number: 11752963
    Abstract: An apparatus for operating an airbag of an autonomous vehicle may include: an interior image sensor configured to capture an interior image of a vehicle; an input unit configured to receive collision prediction information from an autonomous driving system and the interior image from the interior image sensor; an airbag module installed at the front and side of the interior of the vehicle, and configured to deploy an airbag; and an airbag control unit configured to estimate the sitting position and dynamic behavior of the passenger from the interior image inputted from the input unit, estimate a collision status from the collision prediction information, determine an airbag to be deployed and a time to deploy the airbag according to the sitting position, and then output a deployment signal to the airbag module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Min Kyu Ha
  • Patent number: 11756349
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for implementing electronic control unit (ECU) testing optimization includes capturing, within a neural network model, input-output relationships of a plurality of ECUs operatively coupled to a controller area network (CAN) bus within a CAN bus framework, including generating the neural network model by pruning a fully-connected neural network model based on comparisons of maximum values of neuron weights to a threshold, reducing signal connections of a plurality of collected input signals and a plurality of collected output signals based on connection weight importance, ranking importance of the plurality of collected input signals based on the neural network model, generating, based on the ranking, a test case execution sequence for testing a system including the plurality of ECUs to identify flaws in the system, and initiating the test case execution sequence for testing the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Inventors: Jianwu Xu, Haifeng Chen
  • Patent number: 11753004
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling autonomous driving includes: a processor to determine a travelling situation and a lane position, and determine an autonomous driving control maneuver of a vehicle depending on the determination result, and a non-transitory storage medium to store a result calculated by the processor and a set of instructions executed by the processor. The processor determines a safety of each lane of a road on which the vehicle is travelling to control the vehicle to stop on a lane representing a highest safety, after starting a minimum risk maneuver of the autonomous driving control maneuver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun Soo Kim, Jin Su Jeong, Jae Yong Jeon
  • Patent number: 11738743
    Abstract: A collision avoidance method for a vehicle includes monitoring a lateral distance between the vehicle and a target vehicle while the vehicle is travelling within a first lane and the target vehicle is travelling within an adjacent second lane, activating a warning on the vehicle and automatically adjusting operation of the vehicle to increase the distance between the vehicle and the target vehicle when the lateral distance between the vehicle and the target vehicle is less than the threshold distance while the vehicle is travelling within the first lane. Automatically adjusting operation of the vehicle may include one or both of steering the vehicle laterally away from the target vehicle and adjusting a longitudinal velocity of the vehicle. A related collision avoidance system is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG
    Inventors: Ananda Pandy, Christopher L. Tharp
  • Patent number: 11738763
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to models for estimating the likelihood of fatigue in test drivers. In some instances, training data including videos of the test drivers while such test drivers are tasked with monitoring driving of a vehicle operating in an autonomous driving mode may be identified. The training data also includes driver drowsiness values generated from one or more human operators observing the videos. The training inputs and outputs may be used to train the model such that when a new video of a first test driver is input into the model, the model will output an estimate of a likelihood of fatigue for that test driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Keith Hutchings, Ilmo van der Lowe, Vasily Starostenko, Ganesh Balachandran, Andrew Warren
  • Patent number: 11736916
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for integratedly managing a vehicle operation state. A vehicle integration management method performed by a server implemented by using a computer may include receiving vehicle operation data related to an operation state of the vehicle from a vehicle terminal mounted or embedded in the vehicle; and providing a service related to the vehicle operation data through a dedicated application on a user terminal used by a user of the vehicle. The providing may provide at least one of an operation report, a parking impact notification, and an accident situation notification based on the vehicle operation data in association with the application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: THINKWARE CORPORATION
    Inventor: DaeWon Kim
  • Patent number: 11731595
    Abstract: An emergency braking system of a single-track vehicle configured to intervene in a braking process of the single-track vehicle includes a plurality of sensors that determine various physical variables. From the physical variables an accident risk actual value is determined, compared with an accident risk target value using an emergency braking system control unit, and if the accident risk actual value exceeds the accident risk target value, the single-track vehicle's brake is actuated by the emergency braking system control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Markus Hamm, Arne Purschwitz, Josef Seidl, Hans-Albert Wagner
  • Patent number: 11724703
    Abstract: Various systems and methods are provided for determining a posture of an occupant of a vehicle. In one embodiment, a method comprises capturing images of an occupant in a vehicle via a vehicle camera, determining a current posture of the occupant and a recommended posture for the occupant based on the captured images and body measurements of the occupant, and outputting a guidance based on a difference between the current posture and the recommended posture. In this way, a comfort of the occupant may be increased by guiding the occupant toward a more ergonomic posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Harman International Industries, Incorporated
    Inventor: Jabir Kannathvalappil Moidunny
  • Patent number: 11727690
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for predicting occupancies of agents. One of the methods includes obtaining scene data characterizing a current scene in an environment; and processing a neural network input comprising the scene data using a neural network to generate a neural network output, wherein: the neural network output comprises respective occupancy outputs corresponding to a plurality of agent types at one or more future time points; the occupancy output for each agent type at a first future time point comprises respective occupancy probabilities for a plurality of locations in the environment; and in the occupancy output for each agent type at the first future time point, the respective occupancy probability for each location characterizes a likelihood that an agent of the agent type will occupy the location at the first future time point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Mayank Bansal, Dragomir Anguelov