Patents Examined by Jeff A. Burke
  • Patent number: 11830131
    Abstract: Systems and methods for identifying a workpiece in a processing environment may utilize one or more sensors for digitally recording visual information and providing that information to an industrial workflow. The sensor(s) may be positioned to record at least one image of the workpiece at a location where a specified position and orientation thereof is required. A processor may determine, from the recorded image(s) and a stored digital model, whether the workpiece conforms to the specified position and orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Veo Robotics, Inc.
    Inventors: Brad C. Mello, Paul Jakob Schroeder, Scott Denenberg, Clara Vu
  • Patent number: 11820375
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for controlling a vehicle (1) comprising an electric powertrain, an energy storage system (ESS), regenerative braking functionality and cruise control functionality, wherein the cruise control functionality is configured to maintain a set cruise control speed of the vehicle during downhill travel by applying the regenerative braking functionality, the method comprising: obtaining (S11) a tolerance limit for an allowed increase in energy consumption caused by non-use of regenerative braking during downhill travel; obtaining (S12) information relating to an upcoming downhill road segment (DRS); based on the information relating to the upcoming downhill road segment (DRS), setting (S13) an allowed overspeed, caused by non-use or reduced use of the regenerative braking functionality, wherein the allowed overspeed exceeds the set cruise control speed for the upcoming downhill road segment (DRS) and is set based on the tolerance limit; and in the upcoming downhill road segment (
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Martin Petisme, Gustav Carlsson, Erik Ströby
  • Patent number: 11820426
    Abstract: A method of controlling a vehicle includes determining a first projected path of the vehicle, receiving sensor data corresponding to a steering input, determining a first blended vehicle path resulting from a first blended steering command based on the first projected path and the sensor data, and determining when the first blended vehicle path satisfies a first criteria. When the controller determines that the first blended vehicle path satisfies the first criteria, the controller relinquishes control of the vehicle to an operator and when the controller determines that the first blended vehicle path does not satisfy the first criteria, the controller generates a second blended vehicle path resulting from a second blended steering command based on the first projected path and the sensor data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Alexander J. Dan, Brian N. Siskoy, Adam J. Kloess
  • Patent number: 11821742
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for performing operations comprising: establishing a plurality of geofences each associated with a respective point of interest; determining a current location of a user and a current time; applying a trained machine learning model to the current location and the current time to predict a given geofence of the plurality of geofences that will be traversed by the user at a future time, the machine learning model being trained to establish a relationship between travel times and paths of the user and a set of geofences of the plurality of geofences that is traversed by the paths during the travel times; retrieving the point of interest associated with the predicted given geofence; and automatically generating a notification relating to the retrieved point of interest for presentation to the user before the user traverses the given geofence associated with the retrieved point of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: Snap Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas Kay Brown
  • Patent number: 11814098
    Abstract: In various embodiments, methods, systems, and vehicle apparatuses are provided. A method for adaptive control of electronic power steering (EPS) including sending, a torque control to an EPS that is based on input control signals from a vehicle trajectory control unit and a steering assistive control unit when the vehicle is coupled to a trailer engaging in a trailering action; configuring the steering assistive control unit, to generate a control signal based on an algorithm using an adaptive factor that models steering dynamics impacted by the trailer while engaging in the trailering action and modeling by the steering assistive control unit, an adaptive damping factor modeled on a tongue weight of a trailer coupled to a hitch of the vehicle wherein the hitch reduces a force applied to a vehicle front axle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Mohammadali Shahriari, Amir Takhmar, Reza Zarringhalam, Klaus Trangbaek
  • Patent number: 11814046
    Abstract: Among other things, we describe techniques for estimating a speed profile for a proposed trajectory for a vehicle and operating the vehicle along the proposed trajectory according to the speed profile, including a method for: obtaining, by a planning circuit on a vehicle, a proposed trajectory for the vehicle in response to a driving scenario; obtaining, by the planning circuit, an estimated speed profile, and a confidence score, wherein the confidence score represents a similarity of the estimated speed profile to an actual speed profile that would be generated by a control circuit for the proposed trajectory; determining whether the confidence score meets a confidence threshold; and in accordance with a determination that the confidence score exceeds the confidence threshold, operating, by a control circuit on the vehicle, the vehicle along the proposed trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Motional AD LLC
    Inventors: Francesco Seccamonte, Kostyantyn Slutskyy
  • Patent number: 11813748
    Abstract: Implementations are provided for operably coupling multiple robot controllers to a single virtual environment, e.g., to generate training examples for training machine learning model(s). In various implementations, a virtual environment may be simulated that includes an interactive object and a plurality of robot avatars that are controlled independently and contemporaneously by a corresponding plurality of robot controllers that are external from the virtual environment. Sensor data generated from a perspective of each robot avatar of the plurality of robot avatars may be provided to a corresponding robot controller. Joint commands that cause actuation of one or more joints of each robot avatar may be received from the corresponding robot controller. Joint(s) of each robot avatar may be actuated pursuant to corresponding joint commands. The actuating may cause two or more of the robot avatars to act upon the interactive object in the virtual environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
    Inventors: Matthew Bennice, Paul Bechard
  • Patent number: 11814037
    Abstract: A rough terrain vehicle includes: a vehicle body; a state detector mounted on the vehicle body and configured to detect a state of the vehicle; a control target mounted on the vehicle body and operable during driving of the vehicle; an estimator mounted on the vehicle body and configured to estimate a margin for overturning of the vehicle or for load on the vehicle based on a result of detection by the state detector; and a controller mounted on the vehicle body and configured to, when the vehicle is traveling, control the control target to allow the margin estimated by the estimator to exceed a predetermined level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: KAWASAKI MOTORS, LTD.
    Inventor: Yoshimoto Matsuda
  • Patent number: 11818302
    Abstract: In accordance with a method for presenting home screen shortcuts, a computer system is coupled to a plurality of media content providers and obtains a respective media application for each of the media content providers. Content is provided for display on the television screen from a first media content provider via a first media application. The computer system obtains a plurality of shortcuts corresponding to a home screen user interface, and the plurality of shortcuts includes one or more media shortcuts and a search shortcut. The home screen user interface is displayed concurrently with the provided content on the television screen, and the one or more media shortcuts and the search shortcut are concurrently displayed on the home screen user interface. In response to selection of the search shortcut, the computer system initiates a shortcut search for one or more additional shortcuts for display on the home screen user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Dennis Miloseski, Justin Koh
  • Patent number: 11818404
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to systems and methods for displaying of thumbnails of content to be played after viewing of a video advertisement. A method includes generating a thumbnail associated with video content, the video content to be provided for playback after playback of a video advertisement, and presenting the thumbnail during the playback of the video advertisement to inform a user of the video content, wherein a skip counter indicative of time left until skipping of the video advertisement is enabled is provided, and wherein the time left is less than a remaining playing time of the video advertisement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
    Inventors: Nicola Ann Crane, Jamieson Kerns, Shiva Jaini, Thomas James Broxton, Ramesh Sarukkai
  • Patent number: 11813753
    Abstract: A robot collision avoidance motion planning technique using a worst state search and optimization. The motion planning technique begins with a geometric definition of obstacles, start and goal points, and an initial set of waypoints which may be sparsely spaced. Given an inter-point interpolation method such as linear or spline, a continuous trajectory can be described as a function of the waypoints and an arc length parameter. A worst state search is then performed which finds a location between each adjacent pair of waypoints having a worst state of distance to obstacle, considering all parts of the robot and tool. A collision avoidance constraint is defined using the worst state locations, and an optimization of the waypoint locations is then performed to improve the worst states until all collisions are eliminated and an obstacle avoidance minimum distance criteria is met.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Changhao Wang, Hsien-Chung Lin, Tetsuaki Kato
  • Patent number: 11807268
    Abstract: Systems and methods for controlling an autonomous vehicle are described. A trajectory planner module provides a first trajectory to a trajectory control module. The trajectory control module determines parameters of the first trajectory. The trajectory control module compares the parameters to a respective threshold value. The trajectory control module obtains one or more alternative trajectories, determines parameters of each alternative trajectory, and compares the parameters of the alternative trajectory to a respective threshold value. The trajectory control module selects a trajectory for controlling the autonomous vehicle that has parameters which are within a range defined by the threshold values and controls the autonomous vehicle based on the selected trajectory. Thus, before handing back control to a driver, the trajectory control module selects from alternate trajectories for controlling the autonomous vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Sami Ahmed, Kevin A. O'Dea, Audrey D. Porter, Bakhtiar B. Litkouhi, Nikolai K. Moshchuk, Kausalya Singuru
  • Patent number: 11807295
    Abstract: A steering apparatus for an agricultural vehicle includes a vehicle axle suspended in an oscillating or resilient manner, steerable wheels located on the vehicle axle, and an actuating apparatus for influencing a steering angle which is adjustable on the steerable wheels. A device actively limits an oscillating angle or deflection path arising on the vehicle axle. Moreover, the device operably activates a control unit according to a full steering angle to be anticipated on the steerable wheels as a result of travel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventor: Matthias Zwanzger
  • Patent number: 11807211
    Abstract: According to one aspect of the present invention, a control apparatus for an in-vehicle apparatus includes a first sensor and a second sensor configured to output sensor data, and a first microprocessor and a second microprocessor. A second sensor data request signal generation portion of the second microprocessor is configured to generate a second sensor data request signal. The first microprocessor includes a first sensor data request signal generation portion, a first data comparison portion, a first abnormality determination portion, and a first instruction signal generation portion. The first sensor data request signal generation portion is configured to generate a first sensor data request signal. The first data comparison portion is configured to compare first comparison data selected from a plurality of an first sensor data and second comparison data selected from a plurality of an second sensor data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventors: Shota Fujiwara, Kazuya Yamano, Masaki Itabashi, Toshiaki Meguro
  • Patent number: 11807322
    Abstract: A present steering position of a manually actuatable steering unit of the motor vehicle is determined based on sensor data. A steering command is generated based on the present steering position of the steering unit. Then, based on sensor-detected present vehicle dynamics data, it is determined whether the motor vehicle is in a straight-ahead running situation during driving operation. It is determined whether, during the straight-ahead running situation of the motor vehicle, the present steering position of the steering unit deviates from a straight-ahead running position of the steering unit for at least one of a specified time period and a specified traveling distance of the motor vehicle. A compensation steering command is generated based on the determined deviation of the present steering position of the steering unit from the straight-ahead running position. A corrected steering command is generated based on combining the compensation steering command with the steering command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jan Bremkens, Daniel F. Slavin, Simon Nolden, Tomas Mawyin, Alex Gidley
  • Patent number: 11807231
    Abstract: An electronic device and method are disclosed herein. The electronic device includes communication circuitry, an output interface, memory and a processor. The processor implements the method, including: storing, in the memory, accident modeling information including at least one of a history of accidents at a present location, and a first driver profile of a driver associated with the history of accidents at the present location, receiving at least a portion of a second driver profile from at least one external vehicle proximate to the vehicle via the communication circuitry, the second driver profile indicating driving characteristics of a driver of the at least one external vehicle, generating accident risk information based at least on the accident modeling information and the second driver profile, and outputting the generated accident risk information through the output interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Minwoo Song, Kyungjin Yoon, Chulmin Lee, Jaeseung Cho
  • Patent number: 11807259
    Abstract: According to one aspect, a vehicle includes hardware systems configured to support the autonomous or semi-autonomous operation of the vehicle. Hardware systems may include a main compute, a brain stem computer (BSC), and an aggregator/compute arrangement or redundant autonomy compute. Such hardware systems may cooperate to allow the vehicle to operate autonomously, and typically provide capabilities, e.g., redundant and/or backup capabilities, configured to enable the vehicle to continue to operate in the event that a primary system is not functioning as expected. The aggregator/compute arrangement may further be comprised of two substantially identical modules or computing assemblies, each configured to process sensor data and perform backup autonomy functionalities and/or teleoperations functionalities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Nuro, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric Jeffrey Wei, Niels Frommann, James Nicholas Vines, Jonathan Beck, An An (Tom) Chu
  • Patent number: 11801839
    Abstract: A vehicle travel control device includes a travel information collector and a travel control unit. The travel information collector is configured to collect travel environment information of a first vehicle. The travel environment information at least includes travel information of the first vehicle, ambient environment information of the first vehicle including external appearance information of a second vehicle, and first-vehicle lane information for recognizing a traveling lane of the first vehicle. The travel control unit is configured to perform travel control of the first vehicle based on the travel environment information. When the traveling lane of the first vehicle is a nonpriority lane and the first vehicle traveling on a nonpriority lane is to merge into a priority lane, the travel control unit is configured to perform control for causing the first vehicle to travel along a lane boundary line of the traveling lane, based on the travel environment information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masato Mizoguchi
  • Patent number: 11801889
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling an MDPS may include: a filtering unit configured to filter a specific frequency from a first current steering angle provided from a steering angle sensor; a command steering angle control unit configured to remove noise of a first command steering angle inputted from an autonomous driving system, and output a second command steering angle; a steering angle position control unit configured to compensate for a first steering angle error corresponding to the difference between the second command steering angle and the first current steering angle filtered by the filtering unit, and output a first command current; and a responsiveness improvement unit configured to compensate for a second steering angle error corresponding to the difference between the second command steering angle and a second current steering angle provided from a motor, and apply the compensation result value to the steering angle position control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tae Hong Kim
  • Patent number: 11801842
    Abstract: Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for determining an estimated ambient air temperature in an environment in which a vehicle is operating. The estimated ambient air temperature may be compared to an ambient temperature sensor value. The comparison may be used to determine whether an ambient air temperature sensor of the vehicle is functioning properly or if an error notification or fault code should be triggered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: PACCAR Inc.
    Inventors: John Echlin, Mark Lamont Lott, Christopher William John Mabson