Patents Examined by Donald J. Wallace
  • Patent number: 11572061
    Abstract: A system for controlling a remote smart parking assist (RSPA) system is provided. The system includes an engine control unit (ECU) that is configured to operate an engine and an RSPA controller that is configured to receive vehicle state information from the ECU regarding whether or not a vehicle system error occurs and, if an error occurs, whether or not the error is an error in which a vehicle is possible to be driven. The RSPA controller is further configured to transmit torque request information to the ECU when the vehicle system error is an error in which the vehicle is possible to be driven.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Sun-Young Park, Oh-Eun Kwon
  • Patent number: 11572049
    Abstract: A brake control device controls a hydraulic brake that generates hydraulic braking force and an electric parking brake that generates parking braking force different from the hydraulic braking force. The brake control device comprises: a detection unit that detects a parking brake operation for causing the electric parking brake to generate the parking braking force; and a control unit that causes the electric parking brake to generate the parking braking force when the hydraulic braking force per wheel generated by the hydraulic brake, after decreasing below the minimum first braking force per wheel required for maintaining the vehicle stop state only by the electric parking brake, is less than the first braking force, in association with the parking brake operation having been performed in a state where the stop state is maintained only by a hydraulic brake operation for causing the hydraulic brake to generate the hydraulic braking force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: ADVICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Urano, Keita Nakano, Terushige Uraoka
  • Patent number: 11565836
    Abstract: An item to write on a surface of a celestial body that has less atmosphere than Earth is received at a communications station and from a user device. An instruction that triggers the robot to write the item on the surface of the celestial body is provided by the communications station and to a robot on the surface of the celestial body. An image of the item written on the surface of the celestial body is received by the communications station and from the robot. The image of the item written on the surface of the celestial body is provided by the communications station and to the user device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: RKF Engineering Solutions LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey Freedman, Ted Kaplan, Phil Rubin, David Marshack, David Milliner
  • Patent number: 11561540
    Abstract: Autonomous vehicles are an exciting prospect to the future of driving. However, concerns about the decision-making made by the AI controlling a vehicle has been of concern, particularly in light of high-profile accidents. We can alleviate some concern, introduce better decisions, and also train an AI to make better decisions by introducing a remote viewer's, e.g., a human's, reaction to a possibly complex environment surrounding a vehicle that includes a potential threat to the vehicle. One or more remote viewer may provide a recommended response to the threat that may be incorporated in whole or in part in how the vehicle reacts. Various ways to engage and utilize remote viewers are proposed to improve the likelihood of receiving useful recommendations, including modifying how the environment is presented to a remote viewer to best suit the remote viewer, e.g., perhaps present the threat in a game.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Inventors: Robert Vaughn, Casey Baron
  • Patent number: 11548510
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus controls movement of a vehicle in a lateral direction intersecting a direction in which the vehicle travels based on a movement trajectory of a preceding vehicle. The vehicle control apparatus includes a detection unit configured to detect a surrounding environment of the vehicle, and a preceding vehicle which travels ahead in the same lane in which the vehicle travels, a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the preceding vehicle straddles lanes or approaches within a set distance predetermined for the lanes based on lateral movement information of the preceding vehicle detected by the detection unit, and a control unit configured to control lateral movement of the vehicle based on a determination result of the determination unit and detection information of the detection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shigehiro Honda, Tadahiko Kanoh, Yuta Takada
  • Patent number: 11541962
    Abstract: A bicycle seatpost system comprises an electric actuator, a remote controller, and a seatpost controller. The seatpost controller is configured to control the electric actuator to change a state of the bicycle seatpost assembly to an adjustable state based on one of a first control signal and a second control signal. The remote controller includes a first operating part configured to receive a first user input and a second operating part configured to receive a second user input. The remote controller is configured to generate the first control signal having a constant signal length regardless of an operation period of the first user input. The remote controller is configured to generate the second control signal having a signal length corresponding to the operation period of the second user input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: SHIMANO INC.
    Inventors: Nobukatsu Hara, Hiroshi Matsuda
  • Patent number: 11524694
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus that comprises a first control unit and a second control unit each configured to perform travel control of a vehicle, a first communication line configured to connect the first control unit and the second control unit, a second communication line configured to connect the first control unit and an operation unit configured to operate based on a control signal transmitted from one of the first control unit and the second control unit, and a third communication line configured to connect the operation unit and the second control unit. The vehicle control apparatus further comprises a fourth communication line configured to connect the first control unit and the operation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jun Ibuka, Akira Shiogai, Jun Ochida, Kouhei Miyamoto
  • Patent number: 11507098
    Abstract: Methods and systems for identifying whether a vehicle is capable of safely traversing a road segment. The system includes a transceiver of the vehicle configured to receive vehicle capability data indicating vehicle specifications associated with the road segment, the vehicle specifications associated with a vehicle capable of traversing the road segment. The system includes an electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle configured to compare vehicle data including features of the vehicle with the vehicle capability data to determine whether the vehicle data meets or exceeds the vehicle specifications. The system includes an input/output device configured to provide a notification that the vehicle is not capable of traversing the road segment when the vehicle data does not meet or exceed the vehicle specifications associated with the road segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Chris Risberg, Katsumi Nagata, Ryan Wiesenberg, Sachin Ahire
  • Patent number: 11505199
    Abstract: A method for cleaning up vehicle driving data includes receiving vehicle driving data of a vehicle within a predetermined time period, the vehicle driving data comprising vehicle mileage data and vehicle status data; determining a first mileage of the vehicle within the predetermined time period based on the vehicle mileage data; determining a second mileage of the vehicle within the predetermined time period based on the vehicle status data; and judging whether the first mileage is abnormal data based on the second mileage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Zhiji Automotive Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shiyi Fan, Wei Zhang, Gang Qian, Ruixue Wang, Fei Chen, Xinyu Zheng
  • Patent number: 11498577
    Abstract: A behavior prediction device comprising: a moving object behavior detection unit configured to detect moving object behavior, a behavior prediction model database that stores a behavior prediction model, a behavior prediction calculation unit configured to calculate a behavior prediction of the moving object using the behavior prediction model, a prediction deviation determination unit configured to determine whether a prediction deviation occurs based on the behavior prediction and a detection result of the moving object behavior corresponding to the behavior prediction, a deviation occurrence reason estimation unit configured to estimate a deviation occurrence reason when determination is made that the prediction deviation occurs, and an update necessity determination unit configured to determine a necessity of an update of the behavior prediction model database based on the deviation occurrence reason when the determination is made that the prediction deviation occurs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuhide Kamata, Masahiro Harada, Tsukasa Shimizu, Bunyo Okumura, Naoki Nagasaka
  • Patent number: 11500394
    Abstract: An example method includes: receiving information indicative of a desired aircraft cruise insertion point comprising achieving a desired cruise altitude for an aircraft within a predetermined period of time from departure, or within a predetermined distance from departure; determining a desired airspeed for the aircraft; prior to a flight of the aircraft, determining, based on the desired airspeed and the desired aircraft cruise insertion point, a climb trajectory for the aircraft; and during a climb flight phase of the aircraft, varying climb thrust of an engine of the aircraft to follow the climb trajectory and achieve the desired aircraft cruise insertion point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Joseph M. DiRusso, Keith D. Parsons
  • Patent number: 11488422
    Abstract: An analytics reporting system to perform operations that include: aggregating sensor data collected from a plurality of sensor devices within a database, the sensor data comprising a set of values that correspond with a metric; generating a threshold value based on the set of values that correspond with the metric; accessing a portion of the sensor data based on an identifier associated with the portion of the sensor data; determining the portion of the sensor data transgresses the threshold value; and generating a report that comprises a display of the portion of the sensor data based on the determining that the portion of the sensor data transgresses the threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Samsara Inc.
    Inventors: Alvin Wu, Muhammad Ali Akhtar, Nishant Raman, Jevon Yeoh, Saranyu Phusit, Joanne Wang, Benjamin Chang, Katherine Lee, Jennifer Julia Zhang
  • Patent number: 11487300
    Abstract: An autonomous workhorse vehicle includes a main body including a platform to support a plurality of objects, a tracking sensor to detect a location of the main body relative to a leading vehicle, and an input/output port to receive an identifier of the leading vehicle. The autonomous workhorse vehicle further includes a power source to provide power to propel the main body, a steering actuator designed to adjust an orientation of the main body, and an ECU. The ECU is designed to receive the identifier of the leading vehicle. The ECU is further designed to determine a following time to begin following the leading vehicle. The ECU is further designed to control the power source and the steering actuator to move the main body to follow the leading vehicle at the following time based on the detected location of the main body relative to the leading vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Geoffrey D. Gaither, Joshua D. Payne, Nathan C. Westover
  • Patent number: 11481126
    Abstract: One embodiment describes an automation system including a sensor that determines operational parameters of the automation system; one or more actuators that perform control actions during operation of the automation system; and a control system communicatively coupled to the sensor and the one or more actuators. The control system includes memory that stores the operational parameters; determines occurrence of memory errors in data stored in the memory; determines error parameters that indicate characteristics of the memory errors; determines error-corrected data by correcting the memory errors based at least in part on the error parameters; adaptively adjusts a refresh rate used to refresh stored data in the memory based at least in part on the error parameters; and determines control commands instructing the one or more actuators to perform the control actions by processing the error-corrected data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Ivan Iliev Ivanov
  • Patent number: 11479249
    Abstract: The invention involves a low speed control system and method for automatically regulating the speed of work vehicles or equipment and, more particularly, vehicles that apply, remove or modify roadways or road markings. The system includes a controller, a speed display, at least one rotary encoder or the like, and one or more Eddy current or mechanical brakes for inhibiting motion of the vehicle at the operator's control. The brakes may be pneumatic, spring operated, Eddy current, or hydraulic that are controlled in response to feedback from the at least one rotary encoder for compliance with the preset speed on the speed display. In another embodiment, a throttle control is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Waterblasting, LLC
    Inventor: James P. Crocker
  • Patent number: 11474519
    Abstract: A system and method for an on-demand shuttle, bus, or taxi service able to operate on private and public roads provides situational awareness and confidence displays. The shuttle may include ISO 26262 Level 4 or Level 5 functionality and can vary the route dynamically on-demand, and/or follow a predefined route or virtual rail. The shuttle is able to stop at any predetermined station along the route. The system allows passengers to request rides and interact with the system via a variety of interfaces, including without limitation a mobile device, desktop computer, or kiosks. Each shuttle preferably includes an in-vehicle controller, which preferably is an AI Supercomputer designed and optimized for autonomous vehicle functionality, with computer vision, deep learning, and real time ray tracing accelerators. An AI Dispatcher performs AI simulations to optimize system performance according to operator-specified system parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Gary Hicok, Michael Cox, Miguel Sainz, Martin Hempel, Ratin Kumar, Timo Roman, Gordon Grigor, David Nister, Justin Ebert, Chin Shih, Tony Tam, Ruchi Bhargava
  • Patent number: 11460861
    Abstract: A method of controlling an operation of a robot (102) is provided using a cluster of nodes (104) in a network (106). The method includes receiving, using a gateway cloud driver (108), robot state information from the robot (102) via the network (106), and converting, using the gateway cloud driver (108), the robot state information into at least one message. The method further includes transmitting, using a message broker (110), the at least one message to the cluster of nodes (104) via the network (106). The method further includes processing, using the cluster of nodes (104) in the network (106), the at least one message by parallel computing, and generating, using the cluster of nodes (104) in the network (106), a robot command to control the operation of the robot (102).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: INDIANA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Geoffrey C. Fox, Supun M. Kamburugamuve Loku Acharige
  • Patent number: 11460865
    Abstract: Methods and systems for longitudinal control of aircraft during flight are disclosed. One method comprises receiving a commanded normal acceleration of the aircraft and computing a target pitch rate for the aircraft based on the commanded normal acceleration. The target pitch rate is used in a control technique for controlling one or more flight control surfaces of the aircraft to achieve the target pitch rate for the aircraft. The control technique can include (e.g., incremental) nonlinear dynamics inversion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: BOMBARDIER INC.
    Inventors: Aymeric Kron, Matthew Olsthoorn
  • Patent number: 11442466
    Abstract: A self-moving device, including: a moving module, a task execution module, a control module. The control module is electrically connected to the moving module and the task execution module, controls the moving module to actuate the self-moving device to move, controls the task execution module to execute a working task. The self-moving device further includes a satellite navigation apparatus, electrically connected to the control module and configured to receive a satellite signal and output current location information of the self-moving device. The control module determines whether quality of location information output by the satellite navigation apparatus at a current location satisfies a preset condition, controls, if the quality does not satisfy the preset condition, the moving module to actuate the self-moving device to change a moving manner, to enable quality of location information output by the satellite navigation apparatus at a location after the movement to satisfy the preset condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: POSITEC POWER TOOLS (SUZHOU) CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yong Shao, Mingming He, Chang Zhou, Zhou Yang, Gen Sun, Yue Rao
  • Patent number: 11433929
    Abstract: A method for locating railroad components along a railroad track including obtaining a guidance plan and obtaining inspection data. The guidance plan includes an identity of each of a plurality of assets, the identity including previous features of the assets. The assets may be railroad components. The inspection data includes current features of a plurality of railroad components along the railroad track. The method includes using one or more processors, comparing and correlating the current features of the plurality of railroad components with the previous features of the assets to determine which of the plurality of railroad components corresponds with the plurality of assets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: Loram Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd L. Euston, Gregory T. Grissom, Jeb E. Belcher, Antonio R. Mauricio, John J. Kainer, Ryan S. Richard, Carlos A. Repelli, Charles W. Aaron