Patents Assigned to GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
  • Patent number: 10859159
    Abstract: A control system to control slip of a torque converter clutch includes a clutch plant model configured to predict a value of a parameter that relates to torque converter clutch slip as a function of clutch plant model inputs comprising commanded clutch pressure and of torque from the torque generative device. The control system also includes a model predictive controller configured to receive signals that allow determination of a desired value of the parameter that relates to torque converter clutch slip and a predicted value of the parameter that relates to torque converter clutch slip, receive a signal representing reported torque of the torque generative device, identify an optimal commanded clutch pressure value that will result in an optimal value of an objective function based on the clutch plant model, and provide a command signal to an actuator effective to control commanded clutch pressure to the torque converter clutch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jose C. Zavala Jurado, Gionata Cimini, Bryan P. Jagielo, Zhen Zhang, Yue-Yun Wang, Harinath Atmaram
  • Patent number: 10861176
    Abstract: Systems and methods for depth estimation of images from a mono-camera by use of radar data by: receiving, a plurality of input 2-D images from the mono-camera; generating, by the processing unit, an estimated depth image by supervised training of an image estimation model; generating, by the processing unit, a synthetic image from a first input image and a second input image from the mono-camera by applying an estimated transform pose; comparing, by the processing unit, an estimated three-dimensional (3-D) point cloud to radar data by applying another estimated transform pose to a 3-D point cloud wherein the 3-D point cloud is estimated from a depth image by supervised training of the image estimation model to radar distance and radar doppler measurement; correcting a depth estimation of the estimated depth image by losses derived from differences: of the synthetic image and original images; of an estimated depth image and a measured radar distance; and of an estimated doppler information and measured radar d
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Wei Tong, Shuqing Zeng, Mohannad Murad, Alaa M. Khamis
  • Patent number: 10862893
    Abstract: A system and method for managing a network policy of an application on a client includes discovering, by the client, a first network, determining if the first network is a restricted network, applying a restricted network rule to the client when the first network is a restricted network, lowering a network score of the first network when the first network is a restricted network, and associating with the first network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventor: Steven Hartley
  • Patent number: 10857618
    Abstract: A method of resistance spot welding a workpiece stack-up that includes a steel workpiece and one or more aluminum workpieces involves locally stiffening the steel workpiece to resist steel workpiece deformation. The local stiffening of the steel workpiece is achieved by incorporating an electrode receiving wall into the steel workpiece along with one or more integral elevated portions of the steel workpiece that are disposed at least partially around the electrode receiving wall. The electrode receiving wall includes an electrode-contact surface and an opposed interface contact surface. During welding, a weld face of one welding electrode is pressed against the electrode-contact surface of the electrode receiving wall of the steel workpiece, and electric current is momentarily passed between that welding electrode and another welding electrode on the opposite side of the workpiece stack-up to form a weld joint that bonds to the interface contact surface of the electrode receiving wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: David R. Sigler, Amberlee S. Haselhuhn, Blair E. Carlson
  • Patent number: 10859045
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for avoiding intake air condensation. A thermal management system includes a propulsion system with an internal combustion engine and an electric machine. A power electronics system delivers power to the electric machine. A fluid circuit is configured to cool the power electronics system. Intake air of the internal combustion engine is circulated through an intake air heat exchanger. A controller operates the fluid circuit to collect heat from the power electronics system and to selectively deliver the heat to the intake air heat exchanger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Michael A. Smith, Robert Gallon, Richard J. Lopez, Daniel R. Tylutki
  • Patent number: 10860022
    Abstract: The present application generally relates to a method and apparatus for generating an action policy for controlling an autonomous vehicle. In particular, the method is operative to receive an input indicative of a training event, segmenting the driving episode into a plurality of time steps, generate a parse tree in response to each time step, and generate a most probable parse tree from a combination of the generated parse trees.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Dmitriy V. Korchev, Rajan Bhattacharyya, Aruna Jammalamadaka
  • Patent number: 10860093
    Abstract: In various embodiments, methods, systems, and vehicles are provided that include a head-up display and a locator system. In an exemplary embodiment, the head-up display system includes a housing; a light source disposed within the housing; and one or more mirrors disposed within the housing. Also in certain embodiments, the locator system includes: a galvanic mirror disposed outside, and in proximity to, the housing; a laser formed on the galvanic mirror; and a receiver formed on the galvanic mirror.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Kai-Han Chang, Thomas A. Seder
  • Patent number: 10863106
    Abstract: Vision sensor systems and methods detect banding and flicker. The method includes receiving camera data and identifying a light source location in a frame of camera data and assigning a luminance measure at the light source as a signal reference. A region of interest (ROI) is then associated with the light source. The frame is incremented, and then a signal to noise ratio (SNR) at the light source is calculated. A number, N of frames may be processed to identify banding when it is present, and to identify flicker when it is present. Responsive to identifying banding or identifying flicker, a response for a display system or for a machine vision system is generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Mohannad Murad, Sai Vishnu Aluru, Joseph G. Machak
  • Patent number: 10857619
    Abstract: A method of resistance spot welding a workpiece stack-up that includes an aluminum workpiece and an overlapping adjacent steel workpiece so as to minimize the thickness of an intermetallic layer comprising Fe—Al intermetallic compounds involves providing reaction-slowing elements at the faying interface of the aluminum and steel workpieces. The reaction-slowing elements may include at least one of carbon, copper, silicon, nickel, manganese, cobalt, or chromium. Various ways are available for making the one or more reaction-slowing elements available at the faying interface of the aluminum and steel workpieces including being dissolved in a high strength steel or being present in an interlayer that may take on a variety of forms including a rigid shim, a flexible foil, a deposited layer adhered to and metallurgically bonded with a faying surface of the steel workpiece, or an interadjacent organic material layer that includes particles containing the reaction-slowing elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Tyson W. Brown, David R. Sigler, Blair E. Carlson, Amberlee S. Haselhuhn
  • Publication number: 20200378777
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for generating a towing preferred navigational route including an input to receive a request for a navigational route wherein the request is indicative of a destination and a tow mode engagement, a memory to store an aggregated segment data wherein the aggregated segment data is generated in response to a plurality of tow enabled vehicles traveling the segment, a processor to generate the navigational route in response to the request for the navigational route and the aggregated segment data, and an output to couple the navigational route for display to a driver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: David A. Canella, Ralph D. Schlottke, Norman J. Weigert, Sean S. Monteiro
  • Publication number: 20200377082
    Abstract: The present application relates to a method and apparatus including a sensor for detecting a first vehicle speed, a camera operative to capture an image, a processor operative to determine a road curvature in response to the image, the processor further operative to determine a first predicted lateral acceleration in response to the road curvature and the first vehicle speed, the processor further operative to determine a second vehicle speed in response to the first predicted lateral acceleration exceeding a threshold value wherein the second vehicle speed results in a second predicted lateral acceleration being less than the threshold value, and to generate a control signal indicative of the second vehicle speed, and a vehicle controller operative to reduce a vehicle velocity to the second vehicle speed in response to the control signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Crystal Nassouri, Tyler J. Jamieson
  • Publication number: 20200378171
    Abstract: A closure system includes a closure panel assembly and a hinge assembly configured to connect the closure panel assembly to a body. The hinge assembly includes a first hinge and a second hinge configured to be pivotably secured to the body and to the closure panel assembly in parallel, the hinge assembly establishing a four-bar linkage. The closure system includes a hinge cover configured to be fixed to the first hinge and pivotably connected to the closure panel assembly. The closure panel assembly is movable between a closed position and an open position via pivoting of the first hinge and the second hinge, the closure panel assembly at least partially covering the opening in the closed position and at least partially uncovering the opening in the open position. The hinge cover articulated alongside the first hinge and at least partially covers the first hinge in the closed position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Paige L. Reiter, Thomas M. Lobkovich, Timothy H. Waite
  • Publication number: 20200376972
    Abstract: A system for matching a plurality of electrically powered vehicles to a plurality of available mobile chargers includes a computerized server device programmed to monitor optimization inputs related to the plurality of available mobile chargers, monitor optimization inputs related to the plurality of electrically powered vehicles operated by a plurality of customers, determine a lowest-cost-based ranked listing of matched charger and vehicle pairings for each of the plurality of customers based upon the optimization inputs related to the plurality of available chargers and the optimization inputs related to the plurality of the electrically powered vehicles, present the ranked listing of matched charger and vehicle pairings to each of the customers, monitor selection by each of the plurality of customers of a desired charger for the customer from the ranked listing, and direct each of the plurality of customers to the desired charger for the customer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Alan B. Martin, Matthew C. Kirklin, Charles E. Freese, V, Margarita M. Mann, William H. Pettit
  • Publication number: 20200378432
    Abstract: A cable release system configured to actuate a latch mechanism includes a cable arrangement configured to shift in response to an actuation force. The shifting of the cable arrangement is thereby configured to actuate the latch mechanism. The cable release system also includes a lockout mechanism configured to selectively impede shifting of the cable arrangement in response to the actuation force. Such selective impeding of the shifting of the cable arrangement is thereby configured to prevent actuation of the latch mechanism. A vehicle employing the cable release system and configured to actuate a latch mechanism to thereby unlatch a panel from the vehicle body is also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Dresdan T.O. Gordon, James N. Nelsen
  • Publication number: 20200380803
    Abstract: A method of performing a diagnostic test on a vehicle having at least one tire includes providing the vehicle with at least one sensor configured to detect a vehicle operating characteristic, a receiver configured to receive AM signals, a notification system, and a controller in electronic communication with the at least one sensor, the receiver, and the notification system, receiving sensor data from the at least one sensor and AM signal data from the receiver, analyzing the sensor data and the AM signal data, determining whether a first condition is satisfied, and in response to the first condition being satisfied, generating a first control signal to control the notification system to generate a notification.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventor: Scott D. Lawrence
  • Publication number: 20200377158
    Abstract: Presented are flutter countermeasure devices and control logic for active aerodynamic systems, methods for making/using such active aero systems, and vehicles equipped with spoiler flutter countermeasure devices for increasing downforce and decreasing drag. A method of operating an active aerodynamic system of a motor vehicle includes detecting, via a system controller based on sensor data received from one or more sensing devices, a flutter excitation experienced by a spoiler of the active aero system during operation of the motor vehicle. The controller determines a harmonic oscillation amplitude of the flutter excitation experienced by the spoiler, and then determines if this harmonic oscillation amplitude exceeds a vehicle-calibrated threshold amplitude. If so, the system controller determines a damping force sufficient to mitigate or eliminate the harmonic oscillation amplitude.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Andrew Thomas Cunningham, James C. O'Kane, Robert G. Izak
  • Publication number: 20200376968
    Abstract: Powerflow of a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) is managed according to a method. The RESS has series-connected first and second battery elements with different characteristics. Each element, e.g., a pack, has a corresponding maximum or minimum voltage or current limit. Currents are predicted for each of the first and second battery elements via a controller using a corresponding voltage limit. A requested operating mode of the RESS is used to select a current for the elements. A voltage across the elements is predicted using the selected current and a corresponding battery state space model. The method predicts a total power capability of the RESS over a prediction horizon using the selected current to generate predicted power capability values. The requested operating mode is controlled over the horizon using the power capability values. A powertrain system includes the RESS, an inverter, an electric machine, and the controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Yue-Yun Wang, Garrett M. Seeman, Jeffrey S. Piasecki
  • Publication number: 20200377370
    Abstract: Systems, methods and compositions to produce fine powders are described. These include forming a hypereutectic melt including a target material, a sacrificial-matrix material, and an impurity, rapidly cooling the hypereutectic melt to form a hypereutectic alloy having a first phase and a second phase, annealing the hypereutectic alloy to alter a morphology of the target material to thereby produce target particles, and removing the sacrificial matrix to thereby produce a fine powder of the target particles. The first phase is defined by the target material and the second phase is defined by the sacrificial-matrix material. The sacrificial-matrix material forms a sacrificial matrix having the target material dispersed therethrough.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Mahmoud Abd Elhamid, Andrew C. Bobel, Anil K. Sachdev, Mark W. Verbrugge, Nicholas P. Pieczonka, James R. Salvador
  • Publication number: 20200380725
    Abstract: In various embodiments, methods and systems are provided for calibrating vehicle cameras. In certain embodiments, a method includes obtaining a plurality of camera images from the camera based on a target positioned at a plurality of locations relative to the vehicle, wherein the target includes a plurality of dots arranged in rows and columns according to a random spacing, wherein the target further includes a plurality of enlarged dots arranged in an L shaped pattern in relation to a center of the target; estimating, by a processor, at least one of intrinsic parameters and extrinsic parameters based on the plurality of camera images; and storing, by a processor and in a data storage device, the at least one of intrinsic parameters and extrinsic parameters as calibration parameters associated with the camera.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Brian J. Hufnagel, Hao Yu, Wende Zhang
  • Publication number: 20200377072
    Abstract: A powertrain system is described and includes an internal combustion engine that is coupled to an electric machine that is electrically connected to a DC power source, and a controller. The controller is operatively connected to the internal combustion engine and the electric machine, and is in communication with the vehicle and the DC power source. Control includes dynamically monitoring vehicle speed and a state of charge (SOC) of the DC power source, and transitioning to operating the electric machine in an alternator emulating mode when the SOC is less than a first SOC threshold. The first SOC threshold is determined based upon the vehicle speed. The DC power source is electrically connected to an on-vehicle auxiliary power system, which includes operating the electric machine in an electric power generating state to generate sufficient electric power to service the auxiliary power system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Kee Y. Kim, Anthony H. Heap, Michael A. Miller, Birendra P. Bhattarai, Joshua F. Pacheco