Patents Examined by Cuong H. Nguyen
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Patent number: 10850731Abstract: Proposed are a measuring apparatus (1) and a measuring method for automated traffic and driving pattern recognition and location-dependent measurement and forecast of absolute and relative risks for car accidents based on exclusively non-insurance related measuring data and based on automated traffic pattern recognition and associated with the traffic and driving pattern providing a high degree of temporal and spatial resolution. The proposed apparatus (1) provides a grid-based (2121, 2122, 2123, 2124), technically new way of automation of automated traffic and driving pattern recognition and risk-prediction related to motor accidents using environment based factors (elevation, road network, traffic data, weather conditions including socio-economic factors) that are impacting motor traffic and are location dependent received from appropriate measuring devices (41, . . . , 45). In this way, predictions of the accident risk for arbitrary areas can be provided.Type: GrantFiled: November 7, 2017Date of Patent: December 1, 2020Assignee: SWISS REINSURANCE COMPANY LTD.Inventors: Uwe Nagel, Ramya Venkateswaran, Peter Larkin, Christian Elsasser, Iordanis Chatziprodromou
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Patent number: 10843695Abstract: In an apparatus, a first obtainer obtains a first travelling-condition parameter of a target vehicle. The first travelling-condition parameter shows one or more conditions under which the target vehicle is travelling on the road. A second obtainer obtains a second travelling-condition parameter of a preceding vehicle travelling on the road immediately ahead of the target vehicle. The second travelling-condition parameter shows one or more conditions under which the preceding vehicle is travelling on the road. A deviation calculator calculates a deviation between the first and second travelling-condition parameters. A behavior deter miner deter mines a recommended behavior of the target vehicle in response to the calculated deviation. A controller controls a device, which is associated with a behavior of the target vehicle, according to the recommended behavior.Type: GrantFiled: September 20, 2018Date of Patent: November 24, 2020Assignee: DENSO CORPORATIONInventors: Hiroaki Niino, Masao Oooka, Shotaro Fukuda, Takahiro Narita
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Patent number: 10836372Abstract: A hybrid vehicle control system and method include a controller programmed to, while a transmission is in PARK or NEUTRAL, start an engine, close a disconnect clutch selectively coupling the engine to an electric machine, and control the electric machine to charge a traction battery in response to the accelerator pedal position exceeding an idle position and being less than a threshold. The controller controls transmission impeller speed in response to accelerator pedal position exceeding the threshold to allow revving the engine in response to accelerator pedal. A method for controlling a hybrid vehicle includes starting an engine, closing a clutch between the engine and an electric machine, and controlling the engine and the electric machine to either: i) charge a traction battery or ii) rev the engine based on accelerator pedal position relative to a threshold above an idle position while the transmission is in PARK or NEUTRAL.Type: GrantFiled: August 24, 2016Date of Patent: November 17, 2020Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLCInventors: Jason Meyer, Rajit Johri, Mark Steven Yamazaki, Mathew Alan Boesch, Chen Zhang
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Patent number: 10836333Abstract: A computer-implemented remote starting method includes instructing the remote start of a vehicle using a wireless device. The method also includes inputting, to the wireless device, a desired vehicle interior temperature. The method further includes sending a remote start instruction to a vehicle from the wireless device, including at least the desired temperature and monitoring a current temperature of the vehicle. The method additionally includes outputting, on the wireless device, the current vehicle temperature.Type: GrantFiled: July 5, 2017Date of Patent: November 17, 2020Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLCInventors: David Anthony Hatton, Anthony Gerald King
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Patent number: 10831201Abstract: The present invention relates to a control system for a refuse vehicle and a method for controlling a refuse vehicle provided with at least one refuse container location sensor, at least one vehicle speed control, and one or more electronics. The one or more electronics receive and process signals from the at least one refuse container location sensor and outputs a control signal to the at least one vehicle speed control to stop the refuse vehicle at a predetermined location with respect to a refuse container.Type: GrantFiled: October 10, 2011Date of Patent: November 10, 2020Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATIONInventor: William Jason Spence
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Patent number: 10822996Abstract: A method for determining an engine heath of an aircraft engine includes determining, by one or more control devices, the aircraft engine is operating in a bleed off condition; determining, by the one or more control devices, a first engine health modifier value while the aircraft engine is operating in the bleed off condition, the first of engine health modifier value including a compressor leakage flow value; determining, by the one or more control devices, a second plurality of engine health modifier values while the aircraft engine is operating in a bleed on condition; and determining, by the one or more control devices, an engine health parameter using at least one of the second plurality of engine health modifier values determined while the aircraft engine is operating in the bleed on condition and the compressor leakage flow value determined while the aircraft engine was operating in the bleed off condition.Type: GrantFiled: March 12, 2018Date of Patent: November 3, 2020Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Charles William Dowdell, Jacques Paul, Paul J. Morrison
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Patent number: 10821969Abstract: Systems and methods to improve ride comfort for users within a vehicle during operation of the vehicle are disclosed. Exemplary implementations may: generate output signals; determine the current operational information regarding the vehicle; determine a current set of forces operating on one or more of the vehicle and one or more of the users within the vehicle; compare a characteristic of the current set of forces to a comfort threshold level; and responsive to the characteristic breaching the comfort threshold level, effectuate a modification in the operation of the vehicle such that a subsequent change in the characteristic that corresponds to the modification reduces and/or remedies the breach of the comfort threshold level.Type: GrantFiled: December 18, 2018Date of Patent: November 3, 2020Assignee: TOYOTA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.Inventors: Selina Pan, Carrie Bobier-Tiu, Avinash Balachandran
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Patent number: 10816671Abstract: In at least one embodiment, a method for presenting route traversal information includes displaying a route map comprising a route path representing a route previously traversed by an athlete, receiving a plurality of parameter data points based on the athlete's previous traversal of the route, generating a visual cue based on at least one of the plurality of parameter data points, and displaying the visual cue on the route path.Type: GrantFiled: November 25, 2013Date of Patent: October 27, 2020Assignee: adidas AGInventors: Andrew J. Graham, Alan R. Lee, Jon H. Werner
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Patent number: 10814952Abstract: A boat basically includes a hull, at least one propulsion unit, a heading sensor, a position sensor and a controller. The at least one propulsion unit is movably mounted to the hull, and has a propulsion axis. The heading sensor is configured to detect a heading of the boat. The position sensor is configured to detect a position of the boat. The controller is programmed to turn the at least one propulsion unit relative to the hull such that the propulsion axis moves away from a center point of the boat to correct the heading of the boat upon determining that the boat is drifting in a drift direction based on detection results of the heading sensor and the position sensor.Type: GrantFiled: February 15, 2017Date of Patent: October 27, 2020Assignees: YAMAHA HATSUDOKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA, CPAC SYSTEMS ABInventors: Hiroshi Inoue, Katsutoshi Naito, Sebastian Nilsson, Mathias Lindeborg
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Patent number: 10818189Abstract: A vehicle computer includes a memory and a processor programmed to execute instructions stored in the memory. The instructions include determining whether to operate a host vehicle in a mini-platoon based at least in part on at least one of a powertrain type and emissions of at least one of a plurality of nearby vehicles.Type: GrantFiled: July 31, 2017Date of Patent: October 27, 2020Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLCInventor: Aed M. Dudar
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Patent number: 10807484Abstract: A hybrid vehicle includes a power storage device that stores electric power for traveling, an inlet that receives electric power for use in external charging, and a electronic control unit that performs restricting operation to restrict a practical state of charge region of the power storage device used for control. When the frequency of execution of external charging is smaller than a threshold value, the electronic control unit sets the practical state of charge region to a normal region. When the frequency of execution of external charging is larger than the threshold value, the electronic control unit performs an expanding operation to expand the practical state of charge region from the normal region to an expanded region, by easing restrictions placed by the restricting operation.Type: GrantFiled: January 2, 2018Date of Patent: October 20, 2020Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Shigeki Kinomura
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Patent number: 10809736Abstract: In one embodiment, a data processing system for an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) includes a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include generating a station-time (ST) graph based on perception data obtained from one or more sensors of the ADV, the ST graph including representing a location of an obstacle at different points in time, obtaining a tensor based on the ST graph, the tensor including a plurality of layers, the plurality of layers including a first layer having data representing one or more obstacles on a path in which the ADV is moving, applying a machine-learning model to the plurality of layers of the tensor to generate a plurality of numerical values, the plurality of numerical values defining a potential path trajectory of the ADV, and determining a path trajectory of the ADV based on the plurality of numerical values.Type: GrantFiled: December 27, 2018Date of Patent: October 20, 2020Assignee: BAIDU USA LLCInventors: Kecheng Xu, Haoyang Fan, Yajia Zhang, Qi Luo, Jiacheng Pan, Jinghao Miao
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Patent number: 10800550Abstract: Apparatus and methods for displaying a three-dimensional model image of a portion of a target object. An imaging device is equipped with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a processor configured to execute a three-dimensional (3-D) visualization application. The IMU is used to track movement of the imaging device relative to a known initial location in a frame of reference of the target object. Imaging device position offsets are computed using relative position and orientation information acquired by a dead-reckoning process. The processor is configured to execute an algorithm that combines orientation data from the IMU with walking step information to produce a piecewise linear approximation for relative motion measurement. The resulting relative location data can then be used by the 3-D visualization application to provide an estimated 3-D viewpoint to display a 3-D model of a feature in the imaged area of interest.Type: GrantFiled: June 21, 2018Date of Patent: October 13, 2020Assignee: The Boeing CompanyInventors: James J. Troy, Christopher D. Esposito, Vladimir Karakusevic
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Patent number: 10798154Abstract: A vehicle may include a control module and a plurality of vehicle control modules in networked communication with the control module. The control module may be configured to receive an indication from a user interface to transition the vehicle into an extended park mode, and responsive to the indication, instruct the plurality of vehicle control modules to perform operations to reduce their respective key-off loads on the vehicle. A cloud service may be configured to receive, over a wide-area network responsive to user input to a mobile device, an indication to transition a vehicle associated with the mobile device into an extended park mode, and responsive to the indication, provide a message over the network to the vehicle to instruct the vehicle to perform operations to reduce key-off loads of a plurality of vehicle control modules of the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: July 16, 2018Date of Patent: October 6, 2020Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLCInventors: Karin Lovett, Andrew Eugene Burt, James Michael Weinfurther, Zeljko Deljevic
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Patent number: 10768629Abstract: A computer-implemented method and a system for training a computer-based autonomous driving model used for an autonomous driving operation by an autonomous vehicle are described. The method includes: creating time-dependent three-dimensional (3D) traffic environment data using at least one of real traffic element data and simulated traffic element data; creating simulated time-dependent 3D traffic environmental data by applying a time-dependent 3D generic adversarial network (GAN) model to the created time-dependent 3D traffic environment data; and training a computer-based autonomous driving model using the simulated time-dependent 3D traffic environmental data.Type: GrantFiled: July 24, 2018Date of Patent: September 8, 2020Assignee: Pony AI Inc.Inventors: Hao Song, Jun Peng, Nengxiu Deng, Sinan Xiao, Tao Qin, Tiancheng Lou, Tianyi Li, Xiang Yu, Yubo Zhang
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Patent number: 10762794Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for operating a vehicle that supports an automated action, such as an aircraft supporting autopilot, autothrottle, and various other autonomous operations and operating modes. One exemplary method of operating a vehicle involves obtaining one or more user inputs pertaining to an automated action to be performed by an onboard system, obtaining current vehicle status information, determining an operational objective for the automated action based at least in part on the current status information and the one or more user inputs, and providing guidance information pertaining to the automated action in a manner that is influenced by the operational objective and the current status information. For example, the guidance information may include indication of a remedial action to resolve a discrepancy between the operational objective and a projected aircraft behavior in the context of the operational objective or the current vehicle status.Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 2016Date of Patent: September 1, 2020Assignee: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.Inventor: Stephen Whitlow
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Patent number: 10759470Abstract: A sensor device includes a sensor section having a plurality of sensor elements sensing a physical quantity regarding a magnetic flux collecting module, an output circuit generating and outputting an output signal including data signals respectively corresponding to sensing values from the sensor elements, and an ECU obtaining the output signal. The ECU includes an abnormality determiner identifying an abnormal sensor element. When at least two of the plurality of sensor sections respectively have at least one normal sensor element, a sub-sensor section transmits the output signal therefrom to the ECU at a shifted output timing from an output timing of the output signal from a main sensor section. The amount of such a shift of the output timing is shorter than one signal cycle of the output signal.Type: GrantFiled: May 18, 2016Date of Patent: September 1, 2020Assignee: DENSO CORPORATIONInventors: Shuji Kuramitsu, Katsuhiko Hayashi, Takaharu Kozawa, Koichi Nakamura, Masaya Taki, Toshimitsu Sakai
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Patent number: 10746561Abstract: The claimed subject matter provides systems and/or methods that facilitate inferring probability distributions over the destinations and/or routes of a user, from observations about context and partial trajectories of a trip. Destinations of a trip are based on at least one of a prior and a likelihood based at least in part on the received input data. The destination estimator component can use one or more of a personal destinations prior, time of day and day of week, a ground cover prior, driving efficiency associated with candidate locations, and a trip time likelihood to probabilistically predict the destination. In addition, data gathered from a population about the likelihood of visiting previously unvisited locations and the spatial configuration of such locations may be used to enhance the predictions of destinations and routes.Type: GrantFiled: July 25, 2011Date of Patent: August 18, 2020Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLCInventors: John C. Krumm, Eric J. Horvitz
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Patent number: 10737544Abstract: Systems and methods to control suspension of a vehicle are disclosed. An example apparatus includes one or more processors coupled to a vehicle. The one or more processors are to generate road profile data while the vehicle is moving and generate suspension control data based on the road profile data. A suspension of the vehicle is to be adjusted based on the suspension control data. The one or more processors also determine a distance traveled by the vehicle during a time interval. The time interval is associated with generating the road profile data or adjusting the suspension. The one or more processors also adjust the suspension based on the suspension control data, the distance, and a preview distance associated with the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: July 24, 2017Date of Patent: August 11, 2020Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLCInventors: Timothy Panagis, Phil Lenius, Uwe Hoffmann
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Patent number: 10712163Abstract: Data indicating current driving characteristics of a driver driving a vehicle can be received in real time. A driving profile for the driver can be determined based on the data. The driving profile can be categorized into a driving pattern category. A plurality of candidate travel routes for the driver to reach an intended destination can be identified and, for each of the candidate travel routes, a plurality of route segments can be identified. Based on the driving pattern category, a probability that the current driving characteristics of the driver will cause a traffic accident can be determined for each of the plurality of route segments. Route segments for which the probability that the current driving characteristics of the driver will cause the traffic accident exceeds a threshold value can be determined. A notification can be communicated to the driver or vehicle indicating such probability.Type: GrantFiled: February 23, 2017Date of Patent: July 14, 2020Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATIONInventors: Franz Friedrich Liebinger Portela, Roxana Monge Nunez, Juan Gabriel Rodriguez Arguedas, Edgar Adolfo Zamora Duran