Patents Examined by Atul Trivedi
  • Patent number: 11433861
    Abstract: A drive assistance device includes an automatic brake unit configured to perform automatic brake control, a brake hold unit configured to perform a brake hold control keeping the vehicle stopped, a brake hold cancel unit configured to cancel the brake hold control when it is determined that a predetermined cancel condition is satisfied, a surroundings information obtaining unit configured to obtain surroundings information indicating a situation around the vehicle, a maneuver information obtaining unit configured to obtain maneuver information about a driving maneuver performed by a driver of the vehicle, a maneuver determination unit configured to determine, based on the surroundings information and the maneuver information whether the driving maneuver performed during the brake hold control is appropriate for the situation around the vehicle, and a prohibition unit configured to prohibit cancelling the brake hold control as long as it is determined that the driving maneuver is inappropriate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mafune Kakeshita, Toshifumi Kawasaki, Kohei Morotomi
  • Patent number: 11427097
    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: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Molex, LLC
    Inventors: Roger D. Isaac, Alan Besel
  • Patent number: 11420627
    Abstract: A driving assistance device is configured to perform deceleration control in such a way that a vehicle stops at a target position determined by a deceleration target ahead of the vehicle. The driving assistance device is configured to calculate a predicted vehicle speed of the vehicle at the target position when the deceleration control is performed, based on the current vehicle speed of the vehicle, the distance to the target position, and the deceleration that varies depending on the type of the deceleration target. When the predicted vehicle speed is higher than a predetermined value, the driving assistance device is configured not to perform the deceleration control or to reduce the deceleration in the deceleration control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirotada Otake
  • Patent number: 11407370
    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: October 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: PACCAR INC.
    Inventors: Matthew Seger, Zachary Slaton
  • Patent number: 11410557
    Abstract: A parking support device is provided which, when calculating a parking route followed by a host vehicle, calculates the parking route based on the reliability of obstacle information acquired by a sensor mounted on the host vehicle, thereby improving the convenience of a driver of the host vehicle. A parking support device 10 includes an obstacle information analysis unit 303 that recognizes an external world from external world information detected by a camera 2 and a sonar 3 that acquire the external world information, and a parking route calculation unit 304 that calculates a parking route of a host vehicle 1 based on information on an obstacle in the external world recognized by the obstacle information analysis unit 303, and the parking route calculation unit 304 sets a distance between the obstacle and the host vehicle 1 in the parking route according to a degree of reliability of information on the obstacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventors: Satoshi Matsuda, Yoshiyuki Yoshida
  • Patent number: 11400934
    Abstract: Systems and methods for cooperative ramp merger are described herein. In one embodiment, a system for assisting with a merge based on a ramp location of a ramp is provided. A swarm module causes a host vehicle to join a swarm created to assist the merging vehicle in the merge maneuver. A position module identifies relative positions of the host vehicle and other members of the swarm. An identification module selects a role for the host vehicle based on the relative positions of the host vehicle and the other members of the plurality of members. A constraint module calculates a merge location area based on the relative positions of the host vehicle and the other members of the plurality of members and the ramp location. A cooperative module determines a cooperative action for the host vehicle based on the role of the host vehicle and the merge location area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Soroush Jalali, Hossein Nourkhiz Mahjoub, Yasir Khudhair Al-Nadawi
  • Patent number: 11402848
    Abstract: A collision-avoidance system for use with an autonomous-capable vehicle can continuously receive image frames captured of the roadway to determine drivable space in a forward direction of the vehicle. The system can determine, for each image frame, whether individual regions of the image frame depict drivable space. The system can do so using machine-learned image recognition algorithms such as convolutional neural networks generated using extensive training data. Using such techniques, the system can label regions of the image frames as corresponding to drivable space or non-drivable space. By analyzing the labeled image frames, the system can determine whether the vehicle is likely to impact a region of non-drivable space. And, in response to such a determination, the system can generate control signals that override other control systems or human operator input to control the brakes, the steering, or other sub-systems of the vehicle to avoid the collision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: UATC, LLC
    Inventor: Andrew Gray
  • Patent number: 11402221
    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: October 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ahmad Al-Dahle, Matthew E. Last, Philip J. Sieh, Benjamin Lyon
  • Patent number: 11396284
    Abstract: A system for diagnosing engine braking performance of an engine comprising a plurality of cylinders comprises an exhaust manifold pressure sensor configured to detect an exhaust manifold pressure corresponding to exhaust gas emitted from a plurality of cylinders. A controller is configured to determine an exhaust manifold pressure value corresponding to at least one cylinder of the plurality of cylinders that is being used for engine braking, from an exhaust manifold pressure sensor signal received from the exhaust manifold pressure sensor. The controller is also configured to determine an engine braking value based on the exhaust manifold pressure value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: Cummins Inc.
    Inventors: Adam C. Cecil, Adrian P. Dale, Anshul Shambav, Anthony K. Perfetto, David J. Stroh, J. Steven Kolhouse, Ryan E. Schultz, Samuel C. Geckler, Thomas M. Yonushonis
  • Patent number: 11390287
    Abstract: A device for identifying a road surface includes: storage for storing a deep learning-based road surface model; and a controller configured to identify a type of a road surface on which a vehicle is currently traveling, using the road surface model. The device for identifying a road surface can identify a type of a road surface on which the vehicle is traveling based on deep learning and control the terrain mode of the vehicle based on the identified type of the road surface. The type of the road surface on which the vehicle is traveling may be identified with a high accuracy and an optimal terrain mode may be set, thereby improving not only travel stability but also riding comfort of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION, AJOU UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Jung Mo Koo, Sang Pil Hwang, Hyung Il Koo, Yong Gyun Kim, Beom Geum Cho, So Yeon Kim, Min Sang Kim
  • Patent number: 11383679
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for maintenance of a vehicle, comprising—determining (S2, S8) the position, in a fixed coordinate system, of at least one first part (2011, 4, 3011) of a vehicle, —characterized by determining (S3) the identity of the vehicle, —retrieving (S4, S10), by means of the vehicle identity, spatial data indicating how a second part (202, 2011, 4) of the vehicle is spatially related to the first part (201), and—determining (S8, S11) the position, in the fixed coordinate system, of the second part (202, 2011, 4) based at least partly on the first part position and the spatial data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: Volvo Truck Corporation
    Inventor: Magnus Svensson
  • Patent number: 11376916
    Abstract: A damping force of a suspension is controlled appropriately in accordance with a road surface condition. An ECU (600) includes: a road surface determining section (84) configured to determine a road surface condition; and a rolling attitude control section (682) configured to calculate a steering-based desired control variable, which is a candidate for a control variable for controlling a damping force of a suspension, in accordance with a result of the determination by the road surface determining section (84).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventors: Ken Isshiki, Eishi Ishimaru, Kyouichi Tagami, Katsutoshi Yokoi
  • Patent number: 11380203
    Abstract: Recent location and control information received from “lead” vehicles that traveled over a segment of land, sea, or air is captured to inform, via aggregated data, subsequent “trailing” vehicles that travel over that same segment of land, sea, or air. The aggregated data may provide the trailing vehicles with annotated road information that identifies obstacles. In some embodiments, at least some sensor control data may be provided to the subsequent vehicles to assist those vehicles in identifying the obstacles and/or performing other tasks. Besides, obstacles, the location and control information may enable determining areas traveled by vehicles that are not included in conventional maps, as well as vehicle actions associated with particular locations, such as places where vehicles park or make other maneuvers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Darren Ernest Canavor, Charles Edward Cartwright, Gur Kimchi, Brandon William Porter
  • Patent number: 11370453
    Abstract: A controller performs: trajectory generation processing of generating a target travel trajectory in such a way that, when a distance between a turning position of an own vehicle and a parked vehicle satisfies a predetermined condition, the own vehicle passes beside the parked vehicle at a predetermined side position with a predetermined interval interposed between the parked vehicle and the own vehicle on one side of the parked vehicle and a turning end position in a case of turning at a position before a position of the parked vehicle or a turning start position in a case of turning after having passed beside the parked vehicle on the route coincides with the predetermined side position in a width direction of a road on which the parked vehicle is parked; and processing of performing travel control, based on the target travel trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignees: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Renault S.A.S.
    Inventors: Machiko Hiramatsu, Motonobu Aoki
  • Patent number: 11375351
    Abstract: An aftermarket vehicle communication device engageable to a vehicle for providing location information associated with the vehicle to a V2X data stream. The device includes a housing configured to be detachably engageable to the vehicle. A GPS circuit is coupled to the housing and is disposable in communication with a GPS system to receive a GPS signal therefrom, with the received GPS signal being representative of a location of the vehicle when the housing is engaged to the vehicle. An antenna circuit is also coupled to the housing and is in communication with the GPS circuit. The antenna circuit is configured to receive the GPS signal from the GPS circuit and communicate the GPS signal to the V2X data stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: Innova Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Ieon C. Chen, David Rich
  • Patent number: 11364883
    Abstract: In various examples, activation criteria and/or braking profiles corresponding to automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems and/or collision mitigation warning (CMW) systems may be determined using sensor data representative of an environment to a front, side, and/or rear of a vehicle. For example, activation criteria for triggering an AEB system and/or CMW system may be adjusted by leveraging the availability of additional information with regards to the surrounding environment of a vehicle—such as the presence of a trailing vehicle. In addition, the braking profile for the AEB activation may be adjusted based on information about the presence of and/or location of vehicles to the front, rear, and/or side of the vehicle. By adjusting the activation criteria and/or braking profiles of an AEB system, the potential for collisions with dynamic objects in the environment is reduced and the overall safety of the vehicle and its passengers is increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Mark Henry Costin, Jonathan Sweedler
  • Patent number: 11360181
    Abstract: Described herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for determining a direction of movement of an authority vehicle in relation to another vehicle such as an autonomous vehicle and initiating or ceasing a vehicle response measure that may have previously been initiated based on the determined direction of movement. A signal source associated with the authority vehicle emits a periodic acoustic signal that is received at one or more audio capture devices, which may be provided at various locations on an exterior of a vehicle. One or more signal characteristics of the acoustic signal can be determined such as frequency, sound intensity, and/or phase. Detected signal characteristic(s) of the acoustic signal can be analyzed, and in some cases, compared against known information such as an expected frequency of the acoustic signal to determine the direction of movement of the authority vehicle in relation to the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: Pony AI Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Dingli, Peter G. Diehl, Chen Yue Li
  • Patent number: 11358573
    Abstract: A method for controlling a parking brake of a vehicle, including: receiving an activation signal which represents a manual operating unit of a parking brake being activated by a driver; reading a speed decrease signal which represents a value of a speed decrease of the vehicle upon receiving the activation signal; and emitting a delay signal as a function of the value of the speed decrease, wherein the delay signal is configured for delaying a complete engagement of the parking brake. Also described are a related apparatus/device, and a computer readable medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: Knorr-Bremse Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH
    Inventors: Oliver Udvardy, Peter Kerner
  • Patent number: 11353331
    Abstract: A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product may be provided for requesting traffic data. The apparatus may determine at least one map area comprising road segments, said map area having at least one map area identifier, determine road segment identifiers for the road segments of the at least one map area, send to a data service, a request for traffic data, said request identifying the map area, and receive from the data service, a bloom filter set, the bloom filter set comprising a plurality of bloom filters, said bloom filters in the set corresponding to traffic ranges. The apparatus may associate a road segment in a corresponding traffic range based on the road segment identifier satisfying one bloom filter of the traffic range and provide the traffic range as traffic data for the road segment to a navigation application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: HERE Global B.V.
    Inventors: Raul Cajias, Daniel Rolf
  • Patent number: 11352004
    Abstract: A vehicle travel control system for a vehicle may include: a launch profile generator to generate a target torque profile or a target speed profile based on monitored driving information of a host vehicle and a target vehicle; and a controller to control a speed or an acceleration of the host vehicle based on the generated profile. In particular, the launch profile generator analyzes an intention of a driver of the host vehicle when the driver intervenes at least one of the speed, acceleration or deceleration of the host vehicle being controlled, and the launch profile generator further revises the target torque profile or the target speed profile when the analyzed intention represents preferences of the driver such that the controller controls the host vehicle based on the revised profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jason Lee, Jinho Ha, Byungho Lee