Patents Examined by Andrew J Cromer
  • Patent number: 11970180
    Abstract: Vehicles may have autonomous capabilities that permit the vehicle to navigate according to varying levels of participation by a human operator. A human operator may be associated with a driving capability profile and the environment surrounding a vehicle may be associated with an environmental risk profile. A vehicle, or another party in communication with a vehicle, may determine whether, based on the human operator's driving capability profile and the environmental risk profile, it is likely that the vehicle will be navigated more safely if there is a change to the vehicle's autonomous capabilities and a corresponding change to the human operator's driving responsibilities. If it is determined that a change in autonomous vehicle capability is likely to increase safe navigation of the vehicle, an insurer may offer an insurance premium cost reduction if the human operator agrees to the proposed change in autonomous capabilities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Leo Nelson Chan, Kristopher Keith Gaudin, Aaron Williams
  • Patent number: 11970151
    Abstract: Systems and methods for antiskid brake control include a brake control unit (BCU) configured to generate a brake command signal adjusted for a wide range of brake coefficient of friction based upon a real-time aircraft kinetic energy value. A method for antiskid brake control includes receiving, by a BCU, an aircraft mass and a wheel speed signal. The BCU determines an aircraft speed based upon the wheel speed signal and calculates the aircraft kinetic energy using the aircraft speed and aircraft mass. One or more antiskid parameters (e.g., proportional gain, a derivative gain, and/or deceleration target value) are adjusted based upon the aircraft kinetic energy to generate, by the brake control unit, an optimal antiskid brake command signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: Goodrich Corporation
    Inventor: Marc Georgin
  • Patent number: 11932222
    Abstract: A brake control system of the present disclosure includes an accelerometer coupled to an axle. A brake control unit is configured to receive an axle acceleration signal indicative of an axle acceleration from the accelerometer, and decrease a braking command pressure in response to the axle acceleration being greater than a threshold acceleration value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: GOODRICH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Marc Georgin, Phillip E. Cooley, Michael Abbott
  • Patent number: 11933020
    Abstract: A storage part of a construction machine stores an operation target which is set as a target of an operation of the construction machine for moving a specific portion of the construction machine to a target position set as a destination to which the specific portion moves. A calculation part calculates an index value which serves as an index indicating a deviation between the operation target and an actual state of the construction machine. A control device is configured to cause a vibration applying device to perform a first vibration applying operation when the index value satisfies a predetermined first condition, and to cause the vibration applying device to perform a second vibration applying operation when the index value satisfies a predetermined second condition different from the first condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kiyokazu Tanaka, Reona Takamura
  • Patent number: 11932307
    Abstract: A steering control device includes a distance calculation unit which calculates a distance between a front gaze point, which is on a straight line extending forward of a vehicle from a center of the vehicle, and a center line indicating the center of a lane where a vehicle is traveling, a steering angle detection unit which detects a steering angle of the vehicle, and a steering control unit which causes a motor, which assists steering of the vehicle, to assist the steering based on an angle formed by the lane and the straight line extending forward of the vehicle when the distance is larger than a predetermined distance, and causes the motor to assist the steering so as to fix the steering angle when the distance is the predetermined distance or smaller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: ISUZU MOTORS LIMITED
    Inventors: Takahiro Satoh, Yuta Fujimaki, Ryota Okeya
  • Patent number: 11921516
    Abstract: Provided is a driving assistance system using a magnetic marker capable of providing more pieces of information. In the driving assistance system for assisting driving of a vehicle, a magnetic marker (1) including a magnet sheet (11) serving as a magnetism generating unit which generates a magnetic field and also an RFID tag (15) as an information providing unit which provides information to a vehicle side is laid on a travelling road of the vehicle, and the vehicle includes a magnetic sensor serving as a magnetism detecting unit which magnetically detects the magnetic marker (1) and also a tag reader as an information acquiring unit which acquires the information provided by the RFID tag (15) included in the magnetic marker (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: AICHI STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michiharu Yamamoto, Tomohiko Nagao, Hitoshi Aoyama
  • Patent number: 11912256
    Abstract: To suppress a sharp variation in the posture of a vehicle in a control apparatus that is configured to control the posture of the vehicle by adjusting a distribution ratio of a braking force between the front and rear during braking of the vehicle. The control apparatus includes a distribution setting unit that is configured to change the braking force distribution ratio from a basic braking force ratio during braking of the vehicle so that a posture of the vehicle follows a posture indicated by the target posture value. If the target posture value is varied when the braking force distribution ratio is different from the basic braking force ratio, the distribution setting unit sets the amount of change, by which the braking force distribution ratio is changed per unit time, equal to or smaller than a restriction amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: ADVICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sotaro Muramatsu, Yosuke Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 11898323
    Abstract: A control system to control a work machine and a traveling vehicle traveling with the work machine, includes a first communication device and a second communication device each of which controls operation of the traveling vehicle and at least one of which includes an authenticator to authenticate the work machine by communicating with a third communication device to control operation of the work machine, and a notifier to notify the other one of the first communication device and the second communication device that the authenticator succeeded in authentication, the first communication device and the second communication device each being prohibited, unless the authenticator succeeds in authentication, from at least controlling operation of the traveling vehicle in accordance with information sent from the third communication device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: KUBOTA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinnosuke Ishikawa, Susumu Umemoto, Ryo Kurata
  • Patent number: 11891035
    Abstract: A method of implementing autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), the method includes receiving one or more first inputs and identifying one or more targets external to a host vehicle based on the one or more first inputs. The method further includes receiving one or more second inputs related to a turning status of the host vehicle and detecting a U-turn state associated with the host vehicle based on the one or more second inputs. The AEB algorithm may be modified in response to the detected U-turn state, wherein the AEB algorithm initiates an AEB event as necessary to avoid collisions with the one or more identified targets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies AG
    Inventors: Zhuyong Yang, Vidya Chidanand Mansur, Wen-Yu Kuo, Mingda Yang
  • Patent number: 11891082
    Abstract: A blind spot warning system is provided for a motor vehicle having a longitudinal axis and a steering shaft. The system includes a steering angle sensor (SAS), which is coupled to the steering shaft and generates a steering signal associated with a wheel angle in response to the steering shaft rotating. The system further includes a computer having one or more processors and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions. The processor is programmed to determine a blind spot region extending from a sideview mirror of the motor vehicle and based on the wheel angle. The processor is further programmed to generate an actuation signal associated with the blind spot region. The system further includes one or more light projectors that project a light onto a roadway adjacent to the motor vehicle to indicate a current size and a current location of the blind spot region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventor: Zhiqiang Deng
  • Patent number: 11872970
    Abstract: Aircraft braking system architecture comprising: a brake comprising electromechanical actuators (1, 2); a principal control channel (6) and an alternative control channel (7) comprising electrical components that are at least partly different and adapted to provide respectively a principal braking control function and an alternative braking control function that are at least partly different; power modules (15, 16) comprising electrical components that are at least partly different and adapted to generate electrical power supply currents (I1, I2) on the basis of principal control signals or alternative control signals; a surveillance unit (8) adapted to ensure that in normal operation the principal control signals are used and that in the event of a fault the alternative control signals are used to generate the electrical power supply currents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: SAFRAN LANDING SYSTEMS
    Inventors: Dominique Onfroy, Olivier Frey, Brian Goyez
  • Patent number: 11858568
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling rear wheel steering is provided. The apparatus includes a turning state estimator that acquires steering angle information from a steering angle sensor and estimates a turning state by calculating a required steering speed from the steering angle information. A normal state lateral acceleration predictor predicts a normal state lateral acceleration to match the required steering speed in response to determining that the required steering speed is equal to or greater than a speed threshold value. A rear wheel steering angle calculator calculates a rear wheel steering angle based on the steering angle and the lateral acceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Seung-Ki Kim
  • Patent number: 11853068
    Abstract: Techniques for determining a safety margin by which to limit trajectory(ies) generated by a vehicle control system such that the vehicle will not exceed the safety margin more than a target occurrence rate. The techniques may include determining a first spectrum associated with trajectory data generated by one or more vehicles, generating a model of a vehicle, and determining a spectrum of an error signal based at least in part on the model and the first spectrum. Determining the safety margin may be based at least in part on the spectrum of the error signal and a target occurrence rate. Operation characteristics of components of the vehicle (e.g., controller, steering actuator) may be tuned based at least in part on the model, first spectrum, and/or second spectrum. The techniques enable determining safety margins for untested vehicles and/or for different operating states of a vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Kshitij Agarwal, Andrew Scott Crego, Gonzalo Javier Rey
  • Patent number: 11827201
    Abstract: A vehicle brake control device including a front wheel speed acquisition section, a rear wheel speed acquisition section, a front wheel acceleration calculation section, a rear wheel acceleration calculation section, a front wheel anti-lock brake control section capable of executing an anti-lock brake control for the front wheel, a vehicle acceleration acquisition section, and a bad road determination section configured to determine whether or not a running road surface is a bad road based on the front wheel acceleration or the rear wheel acceleration. The bad road determination section executes a bad road determination by selectively using one of the front wheel acceleration and the rear wheel acceleration at least based on information on whether or not the anti-lock brake control for the front wheel is executed and the vehicle acceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventor: Fumiya Tsuda
  • Patent number: 11820425
    Abstract: A steering angle calculation apparatus includes an electronic control unit configured to calculate a steering angle based on a torque caused by a driver and at least one of vehicle information, surrounding environment information, and driver information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoki Shoji, Mitsuko Yoshida
  • Patent number: 11815892
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for identifying high-priority agents in the vicinity of a vehicle and, for only those agents which are high priority agents, generating data characterizing the agents using a first prediction model. In a first aspect, a system identifies multiple agents in an environment in a vicinity of a vehicle. The system generates a respective importance score for each of the agents by processing a feature representation of each agent using an importance scoring model. The importance score for an agent characterizes an estimated impact of the agent on planning decisions generated by a planning system of the vehicle which plans a future trajectory of the vehicle. The system identifies, as high-priority agents, a proper subset of the plurality of agents with the highest importance scores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Kai Ding, Khaled Refaat, Stephane Ross
  • Patent number: 11794810
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method for estimating a steering angle of a vehicle, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and a method for estimating a steering angle of a vehicle capable of estimating an actual steering angle without using a steering angle sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seung Bum Cho, Woo Je Sung
  • Patent number: 11780413
    Abstract: According some aspects, an automated bicycle emergency braking system may be retrofitted to a commercial pedestrian bicycle to provide emergency braking functionality. Aspects described therein detail a light-weight and consumer affordable automated bicycle emergency braking system for improving pedestrian bicycle safety. Aspects described therein relate to sensing of a bicycle's surroundings for potentially hazardous objects, identifying a potentially hazardous road condition, determining whether to engage a bicycle's mechanical braking system, determining how long to engage a bicycle's mechanical braking system, and disengaging a bicycle's mechanical braking system until determining confirmation of resolution of the pedestrian bicyclist's safety regarding the identified potentially hazardous road condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Inventor: Vincent Emilian Nack
  • Patent number: 11772619
    Abstract: The techniques and systems herein enable estimated-acceleration determination for AEB. Specifically, for a potential collision, a determination is made as to whether the target of the potential collision is likely to be stopped prior to the potential collision (e.g., due to its own braking). One of a plurality of estimated-acceleration functions is then selected based on whether the target is likely to be stopped prior to the potential collision. Using the selected estimated-acceleration function, an estimated acceleration to avoid the potential collision is calculated. By selecting different estimated-acceleration functions based on whether targets are likely to be stopped prior to potential collisions, more-accurate estimated accelerations may be generated, thus enabling better collision avoidance and/or avoiding unnecessarily strong braking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventor: Mingda Yang
  • Patent number: 11772678
    Abstract: A method for outputting recommendations for energy efficient operation of a vehicle having at least two modes of operation, from which an operating mode is respectively selected by a drive controller, depending on the occurrence of specified triggers, for operating the vehicle. A change of operating mode caused by the trigger is determined. A frequency of the change of operating mode is incremented at every determination of the change of operating mode caused by the trigger. The frequency is analyzed by comparing the frequency of the change of operating mode a predetermined value. A message is generated on a case-by-case basis. The message is output via at least one output comprised by the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: MERCEDES-BENZ GROUP AG
    Inventors: Steven Peters, Reiner Paetzold, Teresa Botschen, Alexander Schmitt, Frank Nebel, Stefan Ultes, Wolfgang Maier, Ingo Kreuz