Patents Examined by Elaine Gort
  • Patent number: 11993118
    Abstract: A motion control system that can detect a change in a an operating characteristic and send a stabilizing command to an actuator system based on the change is described. A motion control component in the system includes a first component with an electropermanent magnet having a coil, differing first and second permanent magnet materials, and differing first and second states. The motion control component includes a second component configured to magnetically interact with the first component to define a damping characteristic that affects motion between the first component and the second component and a controller configured to supply a current pulse to the electropermanent magnet to switch the electropermanent magnet between the first and second states. The electropermanent magnet retains the respective first or second state after cessation of the current pulse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Jack Erdozain, Jr., Jeffrey A. Sewell, Johnny L. Wall, Colin Szechy
  • Patent number: 11987225
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a driver assistance method, in which a vehicle performs a driving manoeuvre automatically, and a braking device, in particular a parking brake, is at least partially actuated during the performance of the driving manoeuvre so that a braking action is constantly exerted on the wheels of at least one axle so that a drive of the vehicle operates counter to the braking action of the braking device in order to move the vehicle. According to the disclosure, during the driving manoeuvre at least one operating parameter which is related to an undesired increase in the braking action exerted on at least one wheel is detected and evaluated, and a braking action on at least one wheel is reduced in accordance with the result of said evaluation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Frank Baerhle-Miller, Hubertus Wienken
  • Patent number: 11987099
    Abstract: A control method of an air conditioning system for compressor protection includes, when an air conditioner turn-on request is present, determining, by a controller, whether a compressor operating condition is satisfied from a refrigerant state of an air conditioner, when the compressor operating condition is determined as being satisfied, determining, by the controller, whether the vehicle is in a state of being unattended for a long period of time using information collected from a vehicle, when the vehicle is determined as being in a state of being unattended for a long period of time, performing, by the controller, pre-run control for operating the compressor in a predetermined minimum load condition; and when a pre-run operating time for which the compressor is operated in a minimum load condition reaches a predetermined pre-run holding time, interrupting, by the controller, the pre-run control with respect to the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seung Hyun Won, Man Hee Park, Chul Min Kim, Dong Seok Oh, Hyo Bin Kim
  • Patent number: 11987264
    Abstract: A method and activity recognition system for recognising activities in surrounding environment for controlling navigation of an autonomous vehicle is disclosed. The activity recognition system receives first data feed from neuromorphic event-based camera and second data feed from frame-based RGB video camera. The first data feed comprises high-speed temporal information encoding motion associated with change in surrounding environment at each spatial location, and second data feed comprises spatio-temporal data providing scene-level contextual information associated with surrounding environment. An adaptive sampling of second data feed is performed with respect to foreground activity rate based on amount of foreground motion encoded in first data feed. Further, the activity recognition system recognizes activities associated with at least one object in surrounding environment by identifying correlation between both data feed by using two-stream neural network model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignees: Wipro Limited, Indian Institute of Science
    Inventors: Chetan Singh Thakur, Anirban Chakraborty, Sathyaprakash Narayanan, Bibrat Ranjan Pradhan
  • Patent number: 11987230
    Abstract: Disclosed are a vehicle including an electric motor and a method of controlling the same for providing a notification function to an occupant of the vehicle by controlling a pitching motion of a vehicle body. The method includes calculating a first torque value for providing the pitching motion based on driving state information including a vehicle speed, a driving mode, and an environment of a driving road; calculating a second torque value based on a request of a driver; and calculating a final torque value for controlling the electric motor based on the first torque value and the second torque value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hui Un Son, Joo Young Kim, Sang Joon Kim, Jea Mun Lee, Sung Hoon Yu, Joon Young Park, Kyu Hwan Jo
  • Patent number: 11981433
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and a device for lifting a load, wherein at least one aerial drone carries at least a portion of the load. In order to lift a load, it is proposed to yoke together a plurality of aerial drones or at least one aerial drone and a lifting hook of a crane, and provide a common control system for the plurality of aerial drones or the at least one aerial drone and the lifting hook of the crane, in order not to have to control a plurality of aerial drones at the same time, or also an aerial drone in addition to the crane hook, using separate control means, in a “multi-handed” manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH
    Inventors: Gebhard Schütz, Robert Bramberger, Tobias Scholz
  • Patent number: 11981326
    Abstract: A plurality of thermal images forward of a vehicle are collected. Thermal data in the plurality of thermal images is normalized based on an ambient air temperature to generate a plurality of normalized thermal images. The plurality of normalized thermal images are input to a machine learning program trained to output an identification of an object based on the ambient air temperature and a risk of collision between the vehicle and the object. A vehicle component is actuated based on the identification of the object and the risk of collision with the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alireza Rahimpour, Devesh Upadhyay, Jonathan Diedrich, Mark Gehrke
  • Patent number: 11975716
    Abstract: A device for setting a target vehicle that sets a target vehicle to be subjected to driving assistance control of a host vehicle includes: a detection signal acquisition device capable of acquiring a first detection signal representing an object by an image, and a second detection signal representing the object by a reflection point; and setting control unit, which determines whether to set a forward object as a target vehicle, wherein if a movement history is not associated with the forward object, and a combination history is associated with the forward object, then as a selection threshold of a first determination parameter for determining whether to set the forward object as the target vehicle, a selection threshold is used such that the forward object is less likely to be selected as the target vehicle than with the selection threshold which would be used if a movement history is associated with the forward object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yohei Masui, Ryo Mizuno, Takashi Maeda, Naoki Kusumoto, Yuki Tezuka
  • Patent number: 11977165
    Abstract: The technology relates to handling of self-reflections of sensor signals off of a portion of a vehicle that is operating in an autonomous driving mode. Vehicle pose information and sensor pose information are determined at a given point in time while operating in the autonomous driving mode. Return signals from one or more scans of the environment are received from onboard sensors such as lidar sensors. The system evaluates, based on the vehicle and sensor pose information, whether a segment between a given one of the one or more sensors and a received point from a selected one of the return signals crosses any surface of a 3D model of the vehicle. The received point is identified as a self-return point. In response to identifying the received point as a self-return point, the vehicle is able to perform a driving operation in the autonomous driving mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Mingcheng Chen, Xiaoxiang Hu, Richard Chaussee
  • Patent number: 11975724
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to determine vehicle trailer weight. An example apparatus includes a first sensor disposed on a hitch coupled to a vehicle to measure a first rate of change of a weight of the vehicle. The example apparatus also includes a second sensor disposed on a chassis of the vehicle to measure a second rate of change of the weight of the vehicle. The example apparatus also includes a controller to monitor the first rate of change and the second rate of change to determine if the vehicle is improperly loaded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Anton Rogness, Joshua Rajasingh, Andrew Niedert, Elliott Pearson
  • Patent number: 11970187
    Abstract: Embodiments may relate to a vehicle comprising: a sensor to identify, based on an audio or visual condition, the occurrence of a condition related to a passenger of the vehicle. The vehicle may further include a processor coupled with the sensor. The processor may be configured to identify, in a user profile of the first passenger of the vehicle, a pre-identified action. The processor may further be configured to perform, or facilitate the performance of, the pre-identified action by the vehicle based on the occurrence of the audio or visual condition. Other embodiments may be described or claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: GM Cruise Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Katherine Mary Stumpf, Andrew David Acosta, Reed Townsend Jones, Omid Farivar
  • Patent number: 11965991
    Abstract: The technology relates to detecting water or fouling on the exterior surface of a sensor cover, for instance due to precipitation or debris (fouling). Such objects on the sensor cover surface may degrade operation of the sensor, which can be problematic for vehicles operating in an autonomous driving mode. According to an aspect of the technology, a waveguide layer is provided on the sensor cover. A laser emits light at a selected wavelength along one side of the waveguide layer. The light waveform propagating along the waveguide layer is affected (distorted) by precipitation and/or fouling on the surface of this layer. A detector receives the distorted waveform. The system determines whether water and/or fouling is present based on the received waveform. This allows the system to determine whether to activate a cleaning module or to factor in the information when processing received sensor data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventor: Ethan Stark
  • Patent number: 11959751
    Abstract: Systems, methods, devices and computer-readable storage mediums are disclosed for correcting a compass view using map data. In an implementation, a method comprises: receiving, by one or more sensors of a mobile device, sensor data; determining, by a processor of the mobile device, compass offset data for a compass view based on the sensor data and map data; determining, by the processor, a corrected compass view based on the compass offset data; and presenting, by the processor, the corrected compass view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Anil K. Kandangath, Adam S. Howell, Ronald K. Huang, Xiaoyuan Tu
  • Patent number: 11961407
    Abstract: Methods and associated systems and apparatus for generating a three-dimensional (3D) flight path for a moveable platform such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are disclosed herein. The method includes receiving a set of 3D information associated with a virtual reality environment and receiving a plurality of virtual locations in the virtual reality environment. For individual virtual locations, the system receives a corresponding action item. The system then generates a 3D path based on at least one of the set of 3D information, the plurality of virtual locations, and the plurality of action items. The system then generates a set of images associated with the 3D path and then visually presents the same to an operator via a virtual reality device. The system enables the operator to adjust the 3D path via the virtual reality device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuewen Ma, Kaiyong Zhao, Shizhen Zheng, Chihui Pan
  • Patent number: 11959235
    Abstract: A barrier transfer machine includes a moveable chassis, an entry snout, an exit snout, a conveyor system, and a tracking system that tracks and records the locations of road barriers as they are placed on a road surface so that the last locations of the barriers can be established for evidentiary purposes and/or for alerting operators or others of mis-positioned road barriers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Lindsay Transportation Solutions, LLC
    Inventor: Richard Edward Provaznik
  • Patent number: 11953901
    Abstract: An autonomous vehicle includes one or more sensors for detecting an object in an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle and a vehicle computing system comprising one or more processors receiving canonical route data associated with at least one canonical route, and controlling travel of the autonomous vehicle based on sensor data from the one or more sensors and the canonical route data associated with the at least one canonical route. The at least one canonical route comprises at least one roadway connected with another roadway in a plurality of roadways in a geographic location that satisfies at least one route optimization function derived based on trip data associated with one or more traversals of the plurality of roadways in a geographic location by one or more autonomous vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: UATC, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew Raymond Sturges, Alexander Edward Chao, Yifang Liu, Xiaodong Zhang, Richard Brian Donnelly, Bryan John Nagy, Jeff Schneider, Collin Christopher Otis
  • Patent number: 11945442
    Abstract: An autonomous driving system includes an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is configured to suggest to a driver that a host vehicle overtake a preceding vehicle during autonomous driving, recognize whether the driver accepts a suggestion for the overtaking, when the electronic control unit recognizes that the driver accepts the suggestion, cause the host vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle, and, when the electronic control unit recognizes that the driver rejects the suggestion, not cause the host vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle, set a first prohibition duration, and, when the electronic control unit suggests to the driver that the host vehicle overtake the preceding vehicle and recognizes that the driver rejects the suggestion, extend the first prohibition duration as compared to when the electronic control unit suggests to the driver that the host vehicle overtake the preceding vehicle and recognizes that the driver accepts the suggestion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoki Nishimura, Shingo Shibata
  • Patent number: 11945471
    Abstract: An autonomous driving delivery system that delivers luggage to a user by an autonomous driving vehicle includes: an early delivery request reception unit configured to receive a request for early delivery of the luggage from a user's mobile terminal; a position information acquisition unit configured to acquire position information of the user's mobile terminal when the early delivery request reception unit receives the request for early delivery; a candidate delivery location proposal unit configured to propose at least one candidate delivery location from a plurality of predetermined stop locations to the user's mobile terminal based on the position information when the position information is acquired by the position information acquisition unit; and a delivery location determination unit configured to designate the candidate delivery location selected by the user as a delivery location of the luggage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Sho Otaki, Takayuki Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 11938933
    Abstract: There is provided a travel control apparatus. A control unit performs, based on a recognition result of a recognition unit and map information of a periphery of the moving body, travel control of the moving body. A first determination unit determines whether a first state is set. A second determination unit determines whether a second state is set. In at least one of a case in which the first determination unit determines that the first state is set and a case in which the second determination unit has determined that the second state is set, the control unit performs travel control prioritizing the recognition result of the recognition unit over the map information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Sho Tamura
  • Patent number: 11932319
    Abstract: A system, method and a device for balancing a vehicle is provided. In one embodiment the system comprises of a control moment gyroscope. In another embodiment two or more control moment gyroscope may be provided. Further, in an embodiment a mechanism to provide stopping of a precession shaft that links the control moment gyroscope to the vehicle is provided. Furthermore, a user operable switch may be provided in an embodiment to stop precession shaft of the control moment gyroscope.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Inventors: Vikas Poddar, Ashutosh Upadhyay