Patents Examined by Atul Trivedi
  • Patent number: 10565893
    Abstract: A method of providing visual feedback to a driver based on data collected during vehicle operation. A processor at the vehicle analyzes vehicle data, and determines when predetermined threshold values have been reached for particular parameters. Whenever such a threshold is reached, an audible indication is provided to the driver, indicating that the baseline has been exceeded. Certain parameters have at least two threshold values. When a first threshold value is reached, an alert is presented to the driver, but no data is recorded or reported. When a second threshold value is reached, another alert is presented to the driver, and data is recorded for reporting to a driver manager or supervisor. This approach provides a driver warning, that if they correct the triggering behavior, their supervisor is never notified of that behavior. However, if the behavior escalates, and the second threshold is breached, the behavior is recorded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: ZONAR SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Charles Michael McQuade, Michael Charles King
  • Patent number: 10559206
    Abstract: A mobile body spatial information calculation apparatus according to an embodiment includes an input section configured to receive sensor information including information on one or more target objects based on a position of an own mobile body from a sensor apparatus, an object recognition section configured to recognize the target object based on the sensor information, a calculation section configured to calculate a collision prediction time and a target portion angle based on the sensor information on the target object recognized by the object recognition section, and a spatial information generation section configured to generate spatial information according to the collision prediction time and the target portion angle using the collision prediction time and the target portion angle calculated by the calculation section and store the generated spatial information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Ohsawa, Akihiro Imamura, Kazuyasu Ohwaki, Yutaka Oki
  • Patent number: 10551849
    Abstract: A simulated-attribute guidance system for an automated vehicle includes a location-device, a digital-map, and a controller. The location-device indicates a location of a host-vehicle. The digital-map indicates a position of a simulated-attribute proximate to the location of the host-vehicle. The controller is in communication with the location-device and the digital-map. The controller is configured to operate the host-vehicle in accordance with the simulated-attribute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Divya Agarwal, Michael H. Laur, Brian R. Hilnbrand
  • Patent number: 10545025
    Abstract: A method of operation of a navigation system includes: detecting a trigger event based on a context information being free of an operation input satisfying a cue condition; selecting an operation mode representing a listen mode based on detecting the trigger event; identifying a message template linked to the cue condition; and generating a system initiated inquiry with a control unit based on the message template and the selection of the listen mode for presenting on a device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Telenav, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory Stewart Aist, Aliasgar Mumtaz Husain, Casey Carter, Shalu Grover, Naveen Kumar Vandanapu
  • Patent number: 10543851
    Abstract: A parking assistance system executes a process to measure the parking space by a sensor prior to carrying out an automated parking maneuver and to detect the parking space type from a plurality of detectable parking space types using specific criteria on the basis of the measurement of the parking space. The plurality of parking space types includes a longitudinal parking space type, in which a vehicle can park longitudinally, a transverse parking space type, in which a vehicle can park transversely, and a universal parking space type in which the vehicle can park both longitudinally as well as transversely. In the event that the parking space has been detected as a universal parking space type, the parking assistance system provides the driver with the choice to select a parking direction, namely whether the parking assistance system is to park longitudinally or transversely into the parking space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Alois Freistadt, Dirk Ahrens, Joachim Schmidt
  • Patent number: 10533861
    Abstract: In a map matching apparatus, a processor executes, by the program stored in a storage unit, position measurement processing of measuring a current position, matching processing of performing, based on the current position measured in the position measurement processing, matching with a corresponding road position in the road map data stored in the map storage unit, determination processing of determining whether a candidate of a road position to be matched in the matching processing is correct or not, and matching control processing of setting, based on a determination result of the determination processing, the candidate of the road position to be matched in the matching processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2020
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masao Sambongi
  • Patent number: 10532764
    Abstract: A motor driving device is operable with low current consumption at low cost and can be started up without delay. The motor driving device includes inverter circuits, relay circuits, power supply stabilizing capacitors, pre-charge circuits, and a control unit. The inverter circuits individually drive coil sets of a motor. Each relay circuit is provided between a power supply and a corresponding one of the inverter circuits. Each capacitor is provided between a corresponding one of the relay circuits and a corresponding one of the inverter circuits. The pre-charge circuits, which are provided corresponding individually to the capacitors, each charge a corresponding one of the capacitors before the relay circuits are driven. The control unit controls the pre-charge circuits so that the pre-charge circuits charge the capacitors at mutually different timings or alternately when failure diagnosis is performed on the relay circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2020
    Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventor: Tomio Sakashita
  • Patent number: 10525837
    Abstract: A method for controlling an electric machine for driving a motor vehicle. A flux density of at least one magnetic field generated in the electric machine is increased when an announcement signal is present that announces an upcoming acceleration command by the driver, and when a confirmation signal is present that confirms the announced acceleration command, the electric machine is controlled in such a way that the speed and/or torque thereof increases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventor: Roman Straßer
  • Patent number: 10522040
    Abstract: A video analytics algorithm, system, and method for use in real time allowing accurate, reliable, and timely warnings that facilitate traffic safety and efficiency. The system and method are readily implemented with minimal computational resources, providing broad applicability. In an embodiment, a video analytics method may include (a) obtaining a sequence of real-time images as input from a traffic monitoring system; (b) identifying a plurality of vehicles within a pre-defined region of interest; (c) tracking vehicles within the predefined region of interest; and (d) detecting a conflict event when the vehicles are located within a pre-determined maximum separation threshold based on each vehicles coordinates in a spatial-temporal domain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: Kennesaw State University Research and Service Foundation, Inc.
    Inventor: Jidong J. Yang
  • Patent number: 10496094
    Abstract: A method for estimating a ground plane includes receiving a pose of a robotic device with respect to a gravity aligned reference frame, receiving one or more locations of one or more corresponding contact points between the robotic device and a ground surface, and determining a ground plane estimation of the ground surface based on the orientation of the robotic device with respect to the gravity aligned reference frame and the one or more locations of one or more corresponding contact points between the robotic device and the ground surface. The ground plane estimation includes a ground surface contour approximation. The method further includes determining a distance between a body of the robotic device and the determined ground plane estimation and causing adjustment of the pose of the robotic device with respect to the ground surface based on the determined distance and the determined ground plane estimation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: Boston Dynamics, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin Blankespoor, Gabriel Nelson, Neil Neville
  • Patent number: 10474164
    Abstract: A system generates a high definition map for an autonomous vehicle to travel from a source location to a destination location. The system determines a low resolution route and receives high definition map data for a set of geographical regions overlaying the low resolution route. The system uses lane elements within the geographical regions to form a set of potential partial routes. The system calculates the error between the potential partial route and the low resolution route and removes potential partial routes with errors above the threshold. Once completed, the system selects a final route and sends signals to the controls of the autonomous vehicle to follow the final route. The system determines whether surface areas adjacent to a lane that are not part of the road are safe for the vehicle to drive in case of emergency. The system stores information describing navigable surface areas with representations of lanes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: DeepMap Inc.
    Inventor: Mark Damon Wheeler
  • Patent number: 10466059
    Abstract: A transportation management system coordinates the transportation of riders by drivers integrated with the system. To provide control to the rider of the route used during a trip provided by a given driver, the transportation management system computes several alternative routing options between the trip's origin location and destination location. These alternative routing options may be computed according to the rider's preferences and/or based on different optimization functions that optimize various trip parameters, for example, cost, time, traffic, and distance. The rider selects one of the alternative routing options as the preferred route between the origin location and the destination location. The transportation management system automatically communicates the routing option selected by the rider to the driver without requiring the rider to personally tell the driver of her preference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: John Christopher O'Hare, Maya Paritosh Choksi, Evelyn Kim
  • Patent number: 10468919
    Abstract: Embodiments discussed herein refer to electric vehicle charging ports having integrated contactless communication units (CCUs). The electric vehicle charging ports include male and female connector assemblies that can be coupled together in a manner that enables consistent and reliable operation of contactless communications and power transfer. The connector integrates power and alignment such that when two connector assemblies are coupled together, power connections are made in combination with establishing contactless communications links between counterpart CCUs in both connector assemblies. The fixed alignment of the connector assemblies ensures that contactless communication channels, spanning between the connector assemblies, are aligned to enable consistent and reliable operation of contactless communications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: KEYSSA SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Roger D. Isaac, Alan Besel
  • Patent number: 10466715
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling narrow road driving of a vehicle includes: an image transform unit generating a depth map using depth information of an object in a front image of a road on which the vehicle travels and generating a height map of the front image by transforming the generated depth map; a map analysis unit recognizing the object and calculating a driving allowable area of the road based on the generated height map; a determination unit determining whether the road is a narrow road based on the calculated driving allowable area and, when the road is determined to be the narrow road, determining whether the vehicle is able to pass through the narrow road; and a signal processing unit controlling driving of the vehicle on the narrow road based on the determination of whether the vehicle is able to pass through the narrow road.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University
    Inventors: Byung Yong You, Jong Woo Lim, Keon Chang Lee
  • Patent number: 10462225
    Abstract: A vehicle communication device that is engageable to a vehicle, e.g., by a vehicle license plate fastener and/or within an OBD communication device, for interfacing a vehicle electrical system to a V2X data stream. A micro computing unit (MCU) is disposed within the device, defining a processor and a memory. The MCU is configured to derive information from the V2X data stream. An antenna circuit is disposed within the housing, in communication with the MCU, and configured to receive and communicate the V2X data stream to the MCU. A vehicle electrical system connecting circuit is also provided for communicating the information derived from the V2X data stream to the vehicle electrical system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: INNOVA ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ieon C. Chen, David Rich
  • Patent number: 10451425
    Abstract: Some embodiments provide an autonomous navigation system which enables autonomous navigation of a vehicle along one or more portions of a driving route based on monitoring, at the vehicle, various features of the route as the vehicle is manually navigated along the route to develop a characterization of the route. The characterization is progressively updated with repeated manual navigations along the route, and autonomous navigation of the route is enabled when a confidence indicator of the characterization meets a threshold indication. Characterizations can be updated in response to the vehicle encountering changes in the route and can include a set of driving rules associated with the route, where the driving rules are developed based on monitoring the navigation of one or more vehicles of the route. Characterizations can be uploaded to a remote system which processes data to develop and refine route characterizations and provide characterizations to one or more vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
  • Patent number: 10449916
    Abstract: A vehicle computer system (e.g., on-board vehicle computer system) obtains a fuel economy performance goal for a vehicle (e.g., an engine speed goal or a vehicle speed goal) that is based on a configuration of the vehicle; calculates a count of events in which a current value exceeds the goal; compares the count of events with a threshold count; and generates one or more notifications based at least in part on the comparison (e.g., for display on an operator interface). The vehicle computer system also calculates an engine speed and a vehicle speed score for a driver of the vehicle based at least in part on comparisons of current speeds with the speed goals. Scoring and other data may be displayed or stored for further processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: PACCAR INC.
    Inventors: Matthew Seger, Zachary Slaton
  • Patent number: 10449929
    Abstract: A system for automatic control of entry and/or motor starting authorization of a user for a vehicle. A control device or a computation device associated with the control device uses at least one statistical computation method to compute a probability of misuse for obtaining an entry and/or motor starting authorization for the vehicle. If the computed probability of misuse reaches or exceeds a prescribable threshold value, a control signal at least for unlocking the vehicle doors and/or for enabling of the motor control device is/are stopped or produced by the control device only if at least one additional authentication criterion has been satisfied; and/or the system for control of entry and/or motor starting authorization is deactivated if it is established that the vehicle is parking in an environment where the probability of future misuse of the electronic key reaches or exceeds a prescribable threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: Volkswagen AG
    Inventors: Florian Pflug, Hendrik Decke
  • Patent number: 10444755
    Abstract: There is provided an autonomous travel vehicle control device that sets a travel path of an autonomous travel vehicle performing autonomous travel based on surroundings information. The device includes; a moving path determination unit that sets the travel path, a travelling influence information acquisition unit that acquires travelling influence information influencing a travel state of the autonomous travel vehicle, a travel path prediction unit that predicts the travel path based on the travelling influence information, and a travel path display unit that displays the travel path predicted by the travel path prediction unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tatsuro Kuroda
  • Patent number: 10442440
    Abstract: In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a cutoff duration estimation system for a vehicle includes a vehicle model module having a vehicle profile model of the vehicle, a front vehicle detection module having a front vehicle deceleration model operable to determine a rate of close between the vehicle and a front vehicle, and a cutoff duration estimation system operable to determine an amount of time an engine of the vehicle will be operating in an overrun condition based on the vehicle profile model and the front vehicle deceleration model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventor: Davide Tricarico