Patents Examined by Ana D Thomas
  • Patent number: 11279481
    Abstract: Various embodiments of systems, apparatus, and/or methods are described for enhanced responsiveness in responding to an emergency situation using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). Drones are fully autonomous in that they are operated without human intervention from a pilot, an operator, or other personnel. The disclosed drone utilizes movable access doors to provide the capability of vertically takeoff and landing. The drone also includes an emergency recovery system including a mechanism to deploy a parachute in an event of a failure of the on-board autopilot. Also disclosed herein is a drone port that provides an IR-based docking mechanism for precision landing of the drone, with a very low margin of error. Additionally, the drone port includes pads that provide automatic charge to the drone's batteries by contact-based charging via the drone's landing gear legs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: PHIRST TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Philip E. Burks, James Nipp, Jerry Daniel Claridge, Paul Miller
  • Patent number: 11262764
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method and a system for generating a path for a vehicle from a source to a target within a two-dimensional (2D) environment with one or more obstacles is disclosed. The obstacles may be dynamic, static or both. The method comprises generating, in a two dimensions-plus-time space, a velocity cone that represents a set of potential waypoints reachable from a first source for the vehicle moving at a speed, providing a polytope, obtaining at least one interception polygon by intersecting and projecting the velocity cone with the polytope on the 2D region; generating a 2D scene comprising interception polygons to avoid, computing a visibility graph algorithm for the 2D scene and obtaining a plurality of conflict-free sub-paths, and composing a valid path connecting the source to the target based on the plurality of conflict-free sub-paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Francisco A. Navarro, Lucas Rodriguez Diaz, Ernesto Valls Hernandez
  • Patent number: 11257381
    Abstract: A system, a method, and a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the program configured to cause at least one processor to perform steps including gathering observations and forecasts of a plurality of aviation environmental and operational data of a terminal airspace, independently transforming the observations and forecasts into respective terminal airspace risk factors; integrating the terminal airspace risk factors into operational time periods; weighting the integrated terminal airspace risk factors into an overall airspace risk score for each operational time period; categorizing the overall airspace risk score into a terminal airspace risk category based upon at least one predetermined risk score threshold; and displaying the risk categories and selected underlying risk factors data on a map with a plurality of display panes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: ROBUST ANALYTICS, INC.
    Inventors: Peter F Kostiuk, Hugo Kang, Michael Mohen, Varun Sudarsanan
  • Patent number: 11255691
    Abstract: Disclosed is a location-based service based on a user point of interest (POI). An electronic device comprises: a processor for generating a database related to a user POI; detecting the user request for information; and an output unit for outputting information based on the user POI database. The user POI can indicate at least one place extracted from the information inputted to the electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Piotr Czarnecki
  • Patent number: 11248929
    Abstract: A method, a system, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are provided for generating history information associated with a point of interest (POI). The method includes obtaining POI information associated with the POI, extracting relevant POI information from the obtained POI information based on relevance of the POI information with history of the POI, and generating history information associated with the POI in real-time on a user interface from the extracted relevant POI information. The method further includes generating a comparison view of the obtained POI information associated with the POI and comparing the obtained POI information associated with the POI for extracting relevant POI information. The method further includes indexing the extracted POI information using a unique address identifier and storing the indexed POI information in a map database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: HERE Global B.V.
    Inventor: Abhay Bipin Pandey
  • Patent number: 11249493
    Abstract: According to one implementation, a flight support system of an aircraft includes storage and an information processing device. The storage stores position information on at least one river above which a space is an option for a flight path of the at least one aircraft. The information processing device automatically determines at least whether the flight path of the at least one aircraft should be over a specific river included in the at least one river in order to fly the at least one aircraft to a destination, based on the position information stored in the storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Iwao Murata, Kumiko Kindaichi
  • Patent number: 11247671
    Abstract: An object recognition device includes: a sensor; a storage device; and a processor configured to detect a first object and a second object around the vehicle, initially set, based on a detection position of the first object, an integration determination distance used to determine that the first object and the second object belong to the same object, estimate a traveling direction of the first object based on the sensor detection information, increase the integration determination distance along the traveling direction, after increasing the integration determination distance along the traveling direction, determine, based on the integration determination distance, whether the first object and the second object belong to the same object, and output the first object and the second object as the same object when it is determined that the first object and the second object belong to the same object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Terumoto Komori
  • Patent number: 11242049
    Abstract: A vehicle control system includes an automated driving control unit for controlling, based on surrounding environment information of a vehicle, driving, braking, and/or steering of the vehicle without depending on a driving operation of a driver; and a driving support control unit for supporting driving of the vehicle by the driver by controlling driving, braking, and/or steering of the vehicle. The control units are communicably connected. The driving support control unit can control, depending on a reception result of a signal received from the automated driving control unit, steering, and driving and/or braking of the vehicle based on the surrounding environment information without depending on the driving operation of the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD
    Inventors: Jun Ochida, Mahito Shikama, Takuji Hiroma, Tadahiko Kanoh, Kanta Tsuji, Takuyuki Mukai
  • Patent number: 11238067
    Abstract: The disclosure generally relates to autonomous or semi-autonomous driving vehicles. Specifically, an embodiment of the disclosure relates to occupancy detection algorithm to classify groups of individuals having a relationship to each other in certain environments, for example, inside a vehicle. In an exemplary embodiment, the disclosure provides an apparatus to associate one or more vehicles with one or more occupants, the apparatus including: a processing system to categorize data received from a plurality of external communication devices; a detector module configured to identify a first vehicle data and a first device data from categorized data; a proximity detector configured to communicate with the vehicle detector and the device detector; and a correlation engine to receive proximity estimate and to correlate the first device with a first occupant of the first vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: INTEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Madhuri Tullimalli, Handeep Kaur, Prashant Lalwani
  • Patent number: 11225143
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for an infotainment system. The infotainment system has a computing unit, on which a first operating system is installed and can be executed. The device has a computing unit, on which a second operating system is installed and can be executed. Radio-supported communication with the Internet can be carried out using the second operating system. The device has at least one generic interface to the infotainment system, whereby applications designed for the second operating system can be provided using the infotainment system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Audi AG
    Inventors: Björn Mittag, Christoph Dalke, Matthijs Paffen, Hans Georg Gruber
  • Patent number: 11192564
    Abstract: A power control system for a vehicle system identifies coupler nodes in the vehicle system for travel of the vehicle system along a route. The coupler nodes represent slack states of couplers between vehicles in the vehicle system. The system also determines combined driving parameters at locations along the route where a state of the coupler nodes in the vehicle system will change within the vehicle system during the upcoming movement of the vehicle system. The system determines a restriction on operations of the vehicle system to control the coupler nodes during the upcoming movement of the vehicle system and to distribute the combined driving parameters among two or more of the vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Transportation IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Lucas Vares Vargas, Harry Kirk Mathews, Jr., Brian Nedward Meyer, Gabriel de Albuquerque Gleizer, Carlos Gonzaga
  • Patent number: 11189179
    Abstract: A method for revising a target take off time in the environment of an airport, associated system and aircraft having such a system. The method includes steps implemented by a computer of an aircraft, including acquisition from an information source of a current position of the aircraft in the environment of the airport and determination of a revised take off time from the current position of the aircraft, from airport data and from performance data of the aircraft, comparison of the target take off time, previously stored in a data memory of the aircraft, to the revised take off time, and if the difference between the target take off time and the revised take off time is greater than a tolerance value, sending by a communication unit of the aircraft of the revised take off time to a system external to the aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Airbus (S.A.S.)
    Inventor: Olivier Chauvet
  • Patent number: 11169535
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a vehicle and a method of controlling the same, for keeping safe autonomous travel by calculating and using an estimated location on the basis of another vehicle information in case of occurrence of an error in estimating the location of a vehicle due to a sensor fault during autonomous driving. The method includes steps of: obtaining internal location data from an inside source of the vehicle and calculating an internal absolute location of the vehicle based on the internal location data for determining a location of the vehicle; obtaining external location data from an outside source of the vehicle and calculating an external absolute location of the vehicle based on the external location data for determining a location of the vehicle; and selecting at least one of the internal absolute location and the external absolute location as a current location of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Hyundai Autoever Corp.
    Inventors: Hyun-Woo Kim, Bong Ju Kim, Jong-Yoon Yee, SungYun Kim
  • Patent number: 11164405
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a method in a vehicle, comprising detecting an engine stop opportunity and recording, in a memory, data corresponding to a first engine stop that occurred in response to detection of the engine stop opportunity. The method further includes detecting an engine stop inhibit, and recording, in a memory, data corresponding to a first missed engine stop wherein the first missed engine stop indicates detection of the engine stop opportunity without an engine stop in response to the detection of the engine stop opportunity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Cummins Inc.
    Inventors: Martin T. Books, Praveen Chitradurga Muralidhar, Jeffrey S. Rauch, Jon S. Wardlow
  • Patent number: 11155299
    Abstract: An automatic parking system includes a sensor system measuring whether there is a parking section line and positions of surrounding vehicles, and a controller configured to analyze data sensed by the sensor system to calculate parking areas around a subject vehicle, calculate a range allowing generation of a moving path based on the parking areas, provide a moving path range for a parking type that is selected among the moving path ranges provided for the at least two parking types, and an optimal parking area for the selected moving path range, and automatically park the subject vehicle in the optimal parking area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoon Soo Kim, Joo Woong Yang, Dae Joong Yoon, Eu Gene Chang, Jae Seob Choi, Kyung Soo Ha, Min Byeong Lee, Seung Wook Park, Jin Ho Park, In Yong Jung
  • Patent number: 11154442
    Abstract: A motorized mobile system includes a human machine interface (HMI) to provide control instructions to the system. A controller in the system receives the control instructions and generates a control signal, wherein the generated control signal causes one or more components of the motorized mobile system to respond. One or more sensors generate health data related to a user, wherein the health data is stored in a secure memory connected to the controller, and wherein the stored user health data is used to bias the control signal for the motorized mobile system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Patroness, LLC
    Inventors: Jered Harvey Dean, Charles C G Cooper, Barry George Dean, Dan Alan Preston
  • Patent number: 11157867
    Abstract: Routes for performing missions such as deliveries by air within a region may be selected based on historic exposures to noise within the region. Where a plurality of missions are performed by aerial vehicles at or near locations within a region, noises radiated by such aerial vehicles during such missions may be tracked or determined, and the extent to which ground-based locations are exposed to such noises may be modeled accordingly. Subsequently, when another mission is to be performed by air within the region, aspects of an optimal route to be traveled by an aerial vehicle while performing the mission, including but not limited to courses, speeds, altitudes, orientations or operational characteristics of the aerial vehicle, as well as paths to be traveled by the aerial vehicle or waypoints to be reached, may be selected in a manner that takes into account historical exposures to noises within the region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Ian Beck Jordan, Aaron John Kapaldo, Brian Paul Whiteside
  • Patent number: 11150103
    Abstract: A parking cruise request is received. A network version starting segment is identified and a route determination algorithm is expended starting at the network version starting segment. When the route determination algorithm is expanded to a new segment, a cost value is determined for the new segment based at least on the likelihood of finding parking on the new segment. Responsive to determining that the likelihood of finding parking along the cruise route does satisfy the threshold probability requirement, map version agnostic identifiers for each segment of the cruise route are generated. Each of the map version agnostic identifiers are coded using at least one coding function to generate coded map version agnostic identifiers. A bloom filter having the coded map version agnostic identifiers as members is generated. A parking cruise route response comprising the bloom filter is provided such that a mobile apparatus receives the parking cruise route response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Here Global B.V.
    Inventors: Raul Cajias, Daniel Rolf
  • Patent number: 11148662
    Abstract: A method for controlling a hydraulic servo steering system in a vehicle includes reading out a collision warning signal to establish that a collision assistance case exists, and in response to determining that the collision assistance case exists, providing a hydraulic fluid by a hydraulic pump of the servo steering system. Serving for steering assistance has an actual volumetric flow-rate that is greater than or equal to a minimum volumetric flow-rate. The method additionally includes increasing a pump speed if the actual volumetric flow-rate is less than the minimum volumetric flow-rate, the pump speed being dependent on an engine/motor speed of a drive engine/motor interacting with the hydraulic pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: ZF CV SYSTEMS EUROPE BV
    Inventors: Daniel Hanslik, Stephan Kallenbach
  • Patent number: 11143511
    Abstract: Provided is an on-vehicle processing device that can estimate the position of a vehicle with higher accuracy. A storage unit stores a parking lot point group including a plurality of coordinates of points of a part of an object in a parking lot coordinate system. A sensor input unit acquires peripheral information from a camera. A movement information acquisition unit acquires movement information. A local peripheral information creation unit generates local peripheral information expressing second point group data including a position of the vehicle in a local coordinate system and a plurality of coordinates of points of a part of the object in the local coordinate system on the basis of the peripheral information and the movement information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Morihiko Sakano, Takehito Ogata, Shinya Tagawa, Masahiro Kiyohara, Yoshitaka Uchida