Patents Assigned to Parrot
  • Patent number: 8370140
    Abstract: A multi-microphone hands-free device operating in noisy surroundings implements a method of de-noising a noisy sound signal. The noisy sound signal comprises a useful speech component coming from a directional speech source and an unwanted noise component, the noise component itself including a lateral noise component that is non-steady and directional. The method operates in the frequency domain and comprises combining signals into a noisy combined signal, estimating a pseudo-steady noise component, calculating a probability of transients being present in the noisy combined signal, estimating a main arrival direction of transients, calculating a probability of speech being present on the basis of a three-dimensional spatial criterion suitable for discriminating amongst the transients between useful speech and lateral noise, and selectively reducing noise by applying a variable gain specific to each frequency band and to each time frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Parrot
    Inventors: Guillaume Vitte, Julie Seris, Guillaume Pinto
  • Publication number: 20130006448
    Abstract: This method controls the drone in order to flip through a complete turn about its roll axis or its pitching axis. It comprises the steps of: a) controlling its motors simultaneously so as to impart a prior upward vertical thrust impulse to the drone; b) applying different and non-servo-controlled commands to the motors so as to produce rotation of the drone about the axis of rotation of the flip, from an initial angular position to a predetermined intermediate angular position; and then c) applying individual control to the motors, servo-controlled to a reference target trajectory, so as to finish off the rotation of the drone through one complete turn about the axis of rotation, progressively from the intermediate angular position with a non-zero angular velocity to a final angular position with a zero angular velocity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2012
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Francois Callou, Michael Rischmuller
  • Publication number: 20120322511
    Abstract: This method comprises the following steps in the frequency domain: a) estimating a probability that speech is present; b) estimating a spectral covariance matrix of the noise picked up by the sensors, this estimation being modulated by the probability that speech is present; c) estimating the transfer functions of the acoustic channels between the source of speech and at least some of the sensors relative to a reference constituted by the signal picked up by one of the sensors, this estimation being modulated by the probability that speech is present; d) calculating an optimal linear projector giving a single combined signal from the signals picked up by at least some of the sensors, from the spectral covariance matrix, and from the estimated transfer functions; and e) on the basis of the probability that speech is present and of the combined signal output from the projector, selectively reducing the noise by applying variable gain.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2012
    Publication date: December 20, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventor: Charles Fox
  • Publication number: 20120310339
    Abstract: According to a first aspect, the invention relates to an electrically controlled focusing ophthalmic device (43) to be worn by a user, comprising:—at least one active liquid lens comprising a liquid/liquid interface movable by electrowetting under the application of a voltage,—a driver for applying a DC voltage to said active liquid lens, the amplitude of the voltage to be applied being a function of the desired focusing;—a sensor (41) for detecting eyelid closing events and/or microsaccades of the user;—a controller for synchronizing said sensor and the driver, such that the driver may reverse the polarization of the DC voltage during a microsaccade and/or an eyelid closing event of the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2010
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventor: Bruno Berge
  • Publication number: 20120310637
    Abstract: The equipment comprises two microphones, sampling means, and de-noising means. The de-noising means are non-frequency noise reduction means comprising a combiner having an adaptive filter performing an iterative search seeking to cancel the noise picked up by one of the microphones on the basis of a noise reference given by the other microphone sensor. The adaptive filter is a fractional delay filter modeling a delay that is shorter than the sampling period. The equipment also has voice activity detector means delivering a signal representative of the presence or the absence of speech from the user of the equipment. The adaptive filter receives this signal as input so as to enable it to act selectively: i) either to perform an adaptive search for the parameters of the filter in the absence of speech; ii) or else to “freeze” those parameters of the filter in the presence of speech.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2012
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Guillaume Vitte, Michael Herve
  • Publication number: 20120284023
    Abstract: The method comprises the steps of: digitizing sound signals picked up simultaneously by two microphones (N, M); executing a short-term Fourier transform on the signals (xn(t), xm(t)) picked up on the two channels so as to produce a succession of frames in a series of frequency bands; applying an algorithm for calculating a speech-presence confidence index on each channel, in particular a probability a speech that is present; selecting one of the two microphones by applying a decision rule to the successive frames of each of the channels, which rule is a function both of a channel selection criterion and of a speech-presence confidence index; and implementing speech processing on the sound signal picked up by the one microphone that is selected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2010
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Guillaume Vitte, Alexandre Briot, Guillaume Pinto
  • Publication number: 20120278070
    Abstract: The headset comprises: a physiological sensor suitable for being coupled to the cheek or the temple of the wearer of the headset and for picking up non-acoustic voice vibration transmitted by internal bone conduction; lowpass filter means for filtering the signal as picked up; a set of microphones picking up acoustic voice vibration transmitted by air from the mouth of the wearer of the headset; highpass filter means and noise-reduction means for acting on the signals picked up by the microphones; and mixer means for combining the filtered signals to output a signal representative of the speech uttered by the wearer of the headset. The signal of the physiological sensor is also used by means for calculating the cutoff frequency of the lowpass and highpass filters and by means for calculating the probability that speech is absent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2012
    Publication date: November 1, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Michael Herve, Guillaume Vitte
  • Patent number: 8292628
    Abstract: The appliance comprises a casing, a removable front plate, an electrical connector, and mechanical means for assembling the front plate on the casing and for fastening it thereto. The mechanical means comprise, at a first end, means that form a separable hinge comprising at least one pair of respective magnetic elements such as permanent magnets disposed in the region of the connector and facing one another on the casing and the front plate, and the opposite end, means for locking the front plate to the casing. Mechanical coupling of the front plate on the casing at the location of the separable magnetic hinge results solely from the mutual attraction of the facing magnetic elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Parrot
    Inventors: Karim Fargeau, David Tea, Bertrand Vignau-Lous
  • Publication number: 20120241555
    Abstract: The support block (130) of each motor of the drone comprises: a support part (131) onto which are fastened an electric motor (120) for driving a propulsion group (100) of the drone, and at least one component (111) of the propulsion group intended to be coupled to the motor; a stand foot (132) for supporting the drone on the ground; and a connection element (133) extending between the support part and the stand foot. The stand foot and the connection element providing together a clearance space (134) for the electric motor during the placement of the motor in its fastening position on the support part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2010
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Guillaume Savoye, Yoni Benatar, Francois Callou
  • Publication number: 20120234969
    Abstract: The support (300) is intended to be fixed in a housing provided in the drone, through a mechanical interface (310) made of a material absorbing the mechanical vibrations. The mechanical interface, annular in shape, is intended to be attached to a corresponding annular shoulder provided in the housing. A fastening part (301) for fixing the support in the housing carries the mechanical interface (310), with at least one connection leg (302) supporting the navigation electronic card (320) and mounted free at one end on the fastening part. A battery (400) for the power supply of the drone is further accommodated in the support. The navigation electronic card may notably include a navigation sensor (321) such as an accelerometer, placed on the card in such a manner to be positioned at the barycenter of the drone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2010
    Publication date: September 20, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Guillaume Savoye, Flavien Morra, Jean-Francois Vuillet
  • Publication number: 20120232718
    Abstract: The respective motors of the drone (10) can be controlled to rotate at different speeds in order to pilot the drone both in attitude and speed. A remote control appliance produces a command to turn along a curvilinear path, this command comprising a left or right turning direction parameter and a parameter that defines the radius of curvature of the turn. The drone receives said command and acquires instantaneous measurements of linear velocity components, of angles of inclination, and of angular speeds of the drone. On the basis of the received command and the acquired measurements, setpoint values are generated for a control loop for controlling motors of the drone, these setpoint values controlling horizontal linear speed and inclination of the drone relative to a frame of reference associated with the ground so as to cause the drone to follow curvilinear path (C) at predetermined tangential speed (u).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2012
    Publication date: September 13, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Michael Rischmuller, Frederic D'haeyer
  • Patent number: 8259877
    Abstract: The invention concerns controlling automatic gain control for a digital signal receiver. The method includes receiving a digital feedback signal for controlling an amplifier and processing the digital feedback signal to deliver a driving signal to an analog amplifier. Processing the digital feedback signal comprises regulating the evolution of the driving signal so that it is maintained constant during a predetermined period of time after every change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Parrot
    Inventors: Amaury Demol, Khaled Maalej, Jonas Jönsson
  • Publication number: 20120208604
    Abstract: The remote control includes a central button and side buttons. Touch sensors are associated with each of the buttons, with the central button being associated with a multizone touch pad that is activatable in different manners as a function of the movement of the finger over said pad. A set of pushbutton electromechanical switches is provided, comprising a central switch and one side switch in common for the buttons of each pair of side buttons. Selector means serve, on detecting a state transition of a side switch, to select a control signal as a function of that one of the touch sensors that is activated by contact with one of the side buttons associated with the switch. The movement of the finger over the central button is analyzed in order to distinguish between rectilinear movement and circular movement of the finger, and in order to determine the direction of said movement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2012
    Publication date: August 16, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Jean-Francois Vuillet, Fabrice Barriez, Marc Flambard
  • Publication number: 20120168477
    Abstract: The remote control (10) comprises: a cylindrical pad (11) for contact with the steering wheel (1); a first insert (12) extending parallel to the generatrices of the cylindrical pad at a first end of the pad; and a second insert (13) extending parallel to the generatrices of the cylindrical pad at a second end of the pad, opposite to the first end. A removable strap (20) makes it possible to attach the cylindrical contact pad to the steering wheel, and comprises a means (23) for fastening to the second insert, and a self-gripping face (201) adapted to be folded over itself around the first insert. A removable intermediate plate further makes it possible to attach the remote control to the dashboard instead of the steering wheel, and comprises for that purpose means for holding on the first insert and means for locking to the second insert.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2012
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventor: Jean-Francois Vuillet
  • Publication number: 20120172087
    Abstract: The equipment comprises a pilot box (10) mounted on the dashboard, an offset box (12) and a link (14) for coupling these boxes. The pilot box comprises a signal processing and equipment control digital processor (18) and, coupled to this processor, an information display screen (20), means for applying user commands, and means (26) of wireless coupling with a remote phone (28). The offset box (12) comprises an audio amplifier (52) and a power supply (46) linked to the vehicle electrical network (48). The coupling link is consisted of a bidirectional digital bus adapted to convey concurrently digital signals and power supply currents. The offset box comprises an audio codec (56) coupling the digital bus to the audio amplifier, and an interconnection arrangement (38, 50, 58, 60, 64) for the wire connection to a plurality of peripheral devices (40, 42, 44, 62, 68, 72) of the equipment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2012
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventors: Simao Borges Varela, Antoine Loizeau
  • Patent number: 8214088
    Abstract: The device (10) for piloting a drone (8) comprises a housing having a tilt detector (12) for detecting tilts of the housing, and a touchpad (16) displaying a plurality of touch zones (30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42). A self-contained stabilizer system to stabilizes the drone in hovering flight in the absence of any user commands. The device comprises a controller controlled by a touch zone (30) forming an activation/deactivation button to cause the drone piloting mode to switch in alternation between an activation mode in which the self-contained stabilizer system of the drone is activated, in which mode said piloting commands transmitted to the drone result from transforming signals delivered by the touch zones and a deactivation mode in which the self-contained stabilizer system of the drone is deactivated, in which mode the piloting commands transmitted to the drone result from transforming signals emitted by the tilt detector of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Parrot
    Inventor: Martin Lefebure
  • Patent number: 8213636
    Abstract: The method comprises the steps of: filtering the audio signal by means of a lowpass filter (101) with a cutoff frequency substantially equal to said cutoff frequency (F0) of the sound playback device; determining a fundamental frequency for reconstituting from the lowpass filtered audio signal; and generating a harmonic signal (Sharm) associated with said fundamental frequency to be reconstituted. It also comprises the steps of: detecting a time envelope (env(t)) of the lowpass filtered audio signal; adapting the dynamic range of said time envelope (env(t)) as a function of the frequency band under consideration; and reinjecting said harmonic signal in phase into said audio signal by addition after multiplying said harmonic signal (Sharm) with the adapted time envelope (envadapt(t)).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Parrot
    Inventors: Julien De Muynke, Benoit Pochon, Guillaume Pinto
  • Publication number: 20120163125
    Abstract: The method comprises: a) the emission of an ultrasound burst repeated at a predetermined recurrence frequency; and b) after each emission and for the duration of a time frame (n?1, n, n+1, . . . ) separating two consecutive emissions, the reception of a plurality of successive signal spikes appearing in the course of the same frame. These spikes include spurious spikes (E?n?1, E?n, E?n+1, . . . ) originating from the emitter of another drone, and a useful spike (En?1, En, En+1, . . . ) corresponding to the distance to be estimated. To discriminate these spikes, the following steps are executed: c) for two consecutive frames, comparison of the instants of arrival of the p spikes of the current frame with the instants of arrival of the q spikes of the previous frame and determination, for each of the p.q pairs of spikes, of a corresponding relative time gap; d) application to the p.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2010
    Publication date: June 28, 2012
    Applicant: PARROT
    Inventor: Benoit Pochon
  • Patent number: D672755
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: Parrot
    Inventor: Jean-Francois Vuillet
  • Patent number: D673555
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2013
    Assignee: Parrot
    Inventor: Thierry Sanlaville