Patents Examined by Jaime Figueroa
  • Patent number: 11541551
    Abstract: A robotic arm comprising an operation end, a base, a sensor unit and a control unit is provided. The operation end is connected to the base, and the operation end is configured to reach an operational area. The sensor unit provides a sensor signal according to the force applied by or the motion of an operator. When the operation end reaches the operational area, the control unit sets a fixed position on the robotic arm between the base and the operation end. When the sensor signal from the operator fulfills a default condition, the control unit moves the robotic arm away from the operator, without moving the fixed position on the robotic arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Jia-Yush Yen, You-Ting Liao, Ching-Yuan Chen, Yen-Han Wang, Yung-Yaw Chen, Ming-Chih Ho
  • Patent number: 11541845
    Abstract: A vehicle theft-prevention apparatus can include a slip clutch mechanism, a locking mechanism, and a cylindrical body including a first portion and a second portion. The first portion can be configured to rotate about the second portion. The locking mechanism can be configured to engage based on rotation of the first portion relative to the second portion in a first direction, and disengage based on a rotation of the first portion relative to the second portion in a second direction. The slip clutch mechanism can be configured to prevent the locking mechanism from further engaging from rotation in the first direction relative to the second portion based on a magnitude of force applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Keep Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: David E. Moeller, Rahul Maran, Aditya Chavan
  • Patent number: 11540890
    Abstract: A powered user interface for a robotic surgical system having a manipulator and a surgical instrument mounted to the manipulator includes a base and a linkage assembly that includes two two-bar linkage mechanisms. The linkage assembly is rotatably mounted to the base at a base joint, and a handle mounted to each of the two-bar linkage mechanisms. Sensors and actuators are arranged to measure and actuate the position and orientation of the user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Asensus Surgical US, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul Wilhelm Schnur, Stefan Atay, Kevin Andrew Hufford, Matthew R Penny
  • Patent number: 11534920
    Abstract: A transfer system in the form of a robot line used in one embodiment to transfer products, such as slices of meat or other fresh food, while complying with the hygienic requirements. The robot line may transfer the products, simply and with little constructive and financial effort. The robots used for this purpose may be very simply constructed with only one swivel arm and the robot base may be guided below the working plane, and only the swivel arm and the gripper may be disposed above the working plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: TVI ENTWICKLUNG & PRODUKTION GMBH
    Inventors: Maximilian Appel, Thomas Völkl
  • Patent number: 11535197
    Abstract: A vehicle theft-prevention apparatus can include a body, a computing device, sensors, and a speaker. The body can include a first and second portion and a light emitting portion. The first portion can move relative to the second portion. The second portion can include perforations to facilitate sound transmission from the speaker. The light emitting portion can be positioned between the first portion and the second portion. The light emitting portion can be configured to emit light based on a signal from the computing device. A lens can include a concentric structure protruding from the body. The lens can cover the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: Keep Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: David E. Moeller, Rahul Maran, Aditya Chavan
  • Patent number: 11529733
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for robot action imitation learning in a three-dimensional space and a system thereof, relates to the technical fields of artificial intelligence and robots. A method based on a series-parallel multi-layer backpropagation (BP) neural network is designed for robot action imitation learning in a three-dimensional space, which applies an imitation learning mechanism to a robot learning system, under the framework of the imitation learning mechanism, to train and learn by transmitting demonstrative information generated from a mechanical arm to the series-parallel multi-layer BP neural network representing a motion strategy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Hefei University of Technology
    Inventors: Minglun Ren, Yuanyuan Ma
  • Patent number: 11524681
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a vehicle includes a skill level acquiring unit and an inter-vehicle distance controller. The skill level acquiring unit is configured to acquire a driving skill level of a driver of a first vehicle other than a second vehicle. The second vehicle is an own vehicle. The inter-vehicle distance controller is configured to control an inter-vehicle distance from the first vehicle to the second vehicle on the basis of the driving skill level acquired by the skill level acquiring unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akiko Sugiyama, Takeshi Torii, Ryuichi Sumikawa, Noeru Sato
  • Patent number: 11523839
    Abstract: Systems and methods for grasp adjustment based on grasp properties include a computer-assisted device. The device includes a two-jawed end effector located at a distal end of the device, a drive unit for operating the two-jawed end effector, and an image processing unit. The image processing unit is configured to receive imaging data of the end effector and recognize the end effector and a material grasped by the end effector in the received imaging data. The device is configured to adjust a force magnitude limit or a torque magnitude limit of the drive unit based on the received imaging data. In some embodiments, the image processing unit is further configured to determine one or more of a position, an orientation, a size, or a shape of the material based on the received imaging data. In some embodiments, at least one jaw of the end effector includes fiducial indicia.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Ashley Lynne Wellman, David W. Weir, Matthew A. Wixey
  • Patent number: 11524734
    Abstract: A personal modular trunk and a modular trunk system employing the personal modular trunk for reducing privacy issues and inconveniences that may arise when a vehicle is shared. The personal modular trunk includes: a trunk body; a first communication unit installed in the trunk body and configured to communicate with a vehicle; a first driving unit installed in the trunk body and configured to transport the trunk body; a first engagement unit installed in the trunk body and configured to engage or disengage with a loading space of the vehicle; and a first control unit configured to control the first communication unit to communicate with the vehicle, control the first driving unit to transport the trunk body toward the vehicle, and control the first engagement unit to engage or disengage with the loading space of the vehicle so that the trunk body is coupled to or separated from the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Chansoo Kim, Haneol Cho, Kyung O Baek
  • Patent number: 11518026
    Abstract: A control method includes an input step for inputting information concerning a setting angle for a robot arm of a robot, the robot including the robot arm and a force detecting section that detects force applied to the robot arm, and a calculating step for calculating, based on a first force detection parameter of the force detecting section corresponding to setting at a first setting angle for the robot arm and a second force detection parameter of the force detecting section corresponding to setting at a second setting angle different from the first setting angle for the robot arm, a third force detection parameter of the force detecting section at the setting angle for the robot arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Inventor: Yuki Kiyosawa
  • Patent number: 11518648
    Abstract: Disclosed are a robot system and an operation method thereof. The robot system includes a central controller, a robot configured to communication with the central controller and capable of autonomous driving, and a first sensing module configured to communicate with the central controller, to be mounted inside an elevator, and configured to measure an electric power of a communication radio wave emitted by a mobile communication device inside the elevator. The robot may transmit or receive a wireless signal on a mobile communication network established according to 5G communication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventor: Chang Eui Shin
  • Patent number: 11511320
    Abstract: A surface finishing apparatus includes: an arm to which a tool is attached; a force sensor that detects force applied to the tool; a visual sensor acquiring an image of a plane surface; a storage device storing data indicating a target state of the plane surface; and a controller that performs removing position determination process for determining, by using at least unfinished-surface image data and the data indicating the target state, a plurality of removing positions on the plane surface of the member, and arm control process for controlling the arm to sequentially perform surface removal at the plurality of determined removing positions, wherein a surface inspection agent is applied to the plane surface whose image is to be acquired by the visual sensor, and thereby the surface inspection agent is distributed over the plane surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tamotsu Sakai
  • Patent number: 11498222
    Abstract: A robot includes an operation control unit that selects a motion of the robot, a drive mechanism that executes a motion selected by the operation control unit, an eye control unit that causes an eye image to be displayed on a monitor installed in the robot, and a recognizing unit that detects a user. The eye control unit causes a pupil region included in the eye image to change in accordance with a relative position of the user and the robot. A configuration may be such that the eye control unit causes the pupil region to change when detecting a sight line direction of the user, or when the user is in a predetermined range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: GROOVE X, INC.
    Inventors: Yuuki Takada, Takuma Miyamoto, Kaname Hayashi, Shunsuke Otsubo, Hiroki Nakazato, Naoto Yoshioka, Masahiro Emoto
  • Patent number: 11491653
    Abstract: A method for robotic machining is disclosed. The method includes determining a first designed machining path based on a modelled surface for a target surface to be machined. The method also includes causing a robot to machine the target surface based on the first designed machining path in an adaptive manner to obtain an actual machining path, wherein where the modelled surface is different from the target surface, the robot is caused to follow the target surface. The method further includes determining a second designed machining path for the target surface based on the actual machining path and the first designed machining path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Haifei He, Lei Mao, Liyu Wang
  • Patent number: 11485012
    Abstract: A control method executes a first step of actuating a brake to decelerate a robot arm, a second step of releasing or relaxing the actuation of the brake when one of Conditions A1, A2, and A3 is satisfied after deceleration of the robot arm, and a third step of actuating the brake again to restrict driving of the robot arm when one of Conditions B1, B2, and B3 is satisfied after release or relaxation of the brake, Condition A1: a velocity of the robot arm becomes a predetermined value or less; Condition A2: a contact state between the robot arm and the object becomes stable; Condition A3: time TA elapses; Condition B1: time TB elapses; Condition B2: a movement amount of the robot arm becomes a predetermined value or more; and Condition B3: the contact state between the object and the robot arm is released or relaxed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Inventor: Masaki Motoyoshi
  • Patent number: 11487280
    Abstract: A determination device includes: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to: obtain sensor data on motion of a device from a plurality of sensors, extract, from the sensor data, data related to an anomaly based on a threshold value used in detecting the anomaly with use of the sensor data, convert the data related to the anomaly into structural data having a graph structure focusing on an analogous relationship between or among the plurality of sensors, and generate a classifier that identifies a cause of the anomaly with use of the structural data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Satoshi Amemiya
  • Patent number: 11485020
    Abstract: A robotic system having movable mechanism of a non-planar inner projection is provided. It comprises a non-planar projection surface, a servo motor, an inner projection element, and a support frame. The servo motor is connected to the non-planar projection surface, and the non-planar projection surface can be rotated synchronously by the servo motor drive. The inner projection element is disposed relative to the non-planar projection surface, the inner projection element generates a target image, and the target image is projected onto the non-planar projection surface to form a display area, and the display area has a fixed boundary. The servo motor and the inner projection element are disposed on the support frame, and when the non-planar projection surface is synchronously rotated by the servo motor, the inner projection element also rotates synchronously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: NUWA ROBOTICS (HK) LIMITED
    Inventors: Ming-Sheng Chang, Chi-Hao Pai
  • Patent number: 11485358
    Abstract: A vehicular collision avoidance system includes a forward-viewing camera, a rearward-viewing camera, a rearward-sensing non-vision sensor and an electronic control unit. The vehicular collision avoidance system detects vehicles present forward and/or rearward of the equipped vehicle. Responsive to at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) data processing of image data captured by the rearward-viewing camera and (ii) data processing of sensor data captured by the rearward-sensing non-vision sensor, the vehicular collision avoidance system detects another vehicle approaching the equipped vehicle from the rear, determines that the other vehicle is traveling in the same traffic lane as the equipped vehicle, determines speed difference between the vehicles, and determines distance from the equipped vehicle to the other vehicle. Based on such determinations, the system determines that impact with the equipped vehicle by the other vehicle is imminent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventor: Johannes Wolf
  • Patent number: 11478927
    Abstract: Provided is a robot that includes: a first sensor having a first output and configured to sense state of a robot or an environment of the robot; a first hardware machine-learning accelerator coupled to the first output of the first sensor and configured to transform information sensed by the first sensor into a first latent-space representation; a second sensor having a second output and configured to sense state of the robot or the environment of the robot; a second hardware machine-learning accelerator configured to transform information sensed by the second sensor into a second latent-space representation; and a processor configured to control the robot based on both the first latent-space representation and the second latent-space representation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Giant.AI, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeff Kranski, Chris Cianci, Carolyn Wales, Adrian Kaehler
  • Patent number: 11478936
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus capable of simplifying operations for determining an image pickup posture of an image pickup apparatus attached to a robot. The image processing apparatus processes an image that an image pickup apparatus attached to a robot picks up. The image processing apparatus includes a memory device that stores a set of instructions, and at least one processor that executes the set of instructions to specify a working area of the robot based on teaching point information showing a plurality of designated teaching points, specify an image pickup area of the image pickup apparatus so as to include the specified working area; and determine an image pickup posture of the robot based on the specified image pickup area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoki Tsukabe, Hiroto Oka, Daisuke Gunji