Patents Examined by Jeffrey C Boomer
  • Patent number: 11644320
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for receiving a start location and a destination location, determining a road segment corresponding to the destination location, and identifying a node nearest the road segment corresponding to the destination location, whereby the node corresponds to a nearest left-hand node for a right-hand driving country or a nearest right-hand node for a left-hand driving country. The systems and methods further provide for generating a first route from the start location to the node nearest the road segment corresponding to the destination location, generating a second route from the node nearest the road segment corresponding to the destination location, to the destination location, and combining the first route and the second route to generate a final route. Thus, the final route comprises a route from the start location, through the node nearest the road segment corresponding to the destination location, to the destination location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kanchanapalli Muralidhar Raju, Karapet Shaginyan, Jane Alam Jan
  • Patent number: 11643154
    Abstract: The technology relates to autonomous vehicles having hitched or towed trailers for transporting cargo and other items between locations. Aspects of the technology provide a smart hitch connection between the fifth-wheel of a tractor unit and the kingpin of a trailer. This avoids requiring a person to make physical pneumatic and electrical connections between the fifth-wheel and kingpin using external hoses and cables. Instead, the necessary connections are made internally, autonomously. For instance, the fifth-wheel may provide air pressure via one or more slots arranged on a connection surface, and the trailer is configured to receive the air pressure through one or more openings on a contact surface of the kingpin. An electrical connection section of the fifth-wheel may also provide electrical signals and/or power to an electrical contact interface of the kingpin. Rotational information about relative alignment of the trailer to the tractor unit may also be provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventor: William Grossman
  • Patent number: 11634220
    Abstract: Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle management service may provide a platform to manage groups of unmanned aerial vehicles to work together on a task simultaneously in an autonomous manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
    Inventors: Joseph Soryal, Lalita V. Rao, Cristina Serban, Naila Jaoude, Tony Hansen
  • Patent number: 11623527
    Abstract: Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technologies are being adopted to reduce peak demand and to take over as energy sources during grid instability. It is necessary to estimate attributes of electric vehicle trips and residual battery charge in order to correctly predict spatio-temporal availability of energy from EVs to form a micro grid. However, it may not be feasible to get the required attributes for all vehicles in a city-scale traffic scenario. Embodiments of the present disclosure and system address the problem of accurately estimating the local energy reserve that is available from parked EVs during a given time of the day. In addition, the system also determines which neighborhoods have the potential to form micro grids using the parked EVs during a given time period. This will help grid operator(s) to plan and design smart grids which can create EV-powered micro grids in neighborhoods during periods of peak demand or during disruptions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED
    Inventors: Arvind Ramanujam, Pandeeswari Indumathi Sankaranarayanan, Arunchandar Vasan, Rajesh Jayaprakash, Venkatesh Sarangan, Anand Sivasubramaniam
  • Patent number: 11614750
    Abstract: A self-propelled device includes a host device movement vector acquisition unit that is configured to acquire a host device movement vector including a movement speed of the self-propelled device and a distance information acquisition unit that is configured to acquire nearby device distance information including a distance and a direction to the self-propelled device for each of nearby devices located near the self-propelled device. The self-propelled device further includes a nearby device movement vector acquisition unit that is configured to acquire a nearby device movement vector including a movement speed and a movement direction of each of the nearby devices for each of the nearby devices and a determination unit that is configured to determine whether a group movement is possible or not for each of the nearby devices based on the nearby device distance information, the host device movement vector and the nearby device movement vector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hisaya Wakayama
  • Patent number: 11609571
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to optimized recharging of autonomous vehicle. A device may request permission to recharge a vehicle during a trip. The device may receive, for a geographical zone, a first location associated with a first recharging station and a second location associated with a second recharging station. The device may generate a first driving route from a pick-up location with a stop at the first recharging station, and a second driving route from the pick-up location with a stop at the second recharging station. The device may assign a first value to the first driving route and a second value to the second driving route by way of an objective cost function. The device may generate driving directions corresponding to the first driving route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Matthew McKenzie, Vidhya Iyer, Romil Shah, Anuja Shirsat
  • Patent number: 11610441
    Abstract: Systems and methods for identifying anomalous driving behavior for a vehicle based on past driving behavior are disclosed herein. The method may include receiving a set of time-series driving data for the vehicle, wherein the set of time-series driving data is indicative of a set of operating conditions for the vehicle. Performing machine learning operations on the set of time-series driving data. Identifying a set of anomalous conditions in the time-series driving data based on a result set produced by the machine learning operations, wherein the set of anomalous conditions are indicative of an anomalous vehicle behavior. Comparing the set of anomalous conditions to a set of historical time-series driving data for the vehicle. Generating a vehicle feedback based on the time-series driving data and the comparison of the set of anomalous conditions to the set of historical time-series driving data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventor: Michael Bernico
  • Patent number: 11597535
    Abstract: A maintenance notification for a UAV may be sent to a service provider. The service provider may identify the UAV, such as to access a profile associated with the UAV that includes at least hardware and software configurations for the UAV. The service provider may generate a customized maintenance decision tree to organize tasks to be performed for the specific UAV to determine a maintenance action to remedy a fault or problem associated with the maintenance notification. The decision tree may be formed using history of the UAV and information about other UAVs to construct the decision tree tailored to the specific UAV under analysis. At least some operations included in the decision tree may be automated. Traversal of the decision tree may lead to updates of the UAV of hardware, software, or both.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Jon T. Hanlon, Mark Daniel Sibon
  • Patent number: 11598639
    Abstract: A navigation service generates a route for navigating from a route origin to a route destination using a private roads repository. A ghost road is along the route, and a ghost origin and a ghost destination of the ghost road is identified. Using an application programming interface of a base roads engine, a request for a route is sent from the ghost origin to the ghost destination. From the base roads engine and in response to the request, a replacement section from the ghost origin to the ghost destination is received. The ghost road is replaced with the replacement section to create an updated route, which is presented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Andrey Konchenko, Torbjoern Vik, Vincent Dury, Dmitriy Monakhov, Ivan Alaniz
  • Patent number: 11598650
    Abstract: Systems, devices, methods, and techniques are described for automated air traffic management using multiple flight operation modes. In one example, a method includes receiving, by a computing device comprising one or more processors, data associated with one or more aircraft in flight in a controlled airspace. The method further includes selecting, by the computing device, based at least in part on the data associated with the one or more aircraft, a respective flight operation mode from among a plurality of flight operation modes for at least one respective aircraft among the one or more aircraft in flight. The method further includes outputting, by the computing device for transmission to the at least one respective aircraft, an indication of the respective flight operation mode selected for the at least one respective aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: ARCHITECTURE TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Douglas Sweet
  • Patent number: 11590974
    Abstract: Provided herein is a method for assisting a driver with driving a motor vehicle. The method includes ascertaining a permissible driving speed in a route section by evaluating environmental data describing the motor vehicle environment. The method further includes calculating a target maximum speed, which is lower than the permissible driving speed, by subtracting a predefined reduction amount from the permissible driving speed and/or by multiplying the permissible driving speed by a predefined scaling factor. The method further includes controlling at least one alert device for outputting an alert to the driver when a present driving speed of the motor vehicle exceeds the target maximum speed and/or controlling the driving speed of the motor vehicle by a longitudinally guiding driver assistance system, wherein the target maximum speed is used as a maximum speed or as a target speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventors: Reimund Limbacher, Daniel Lepczyk
  • Patent number: 11592826
    Abstract: A method for dynamic loop closure in a mobile automation apparatus includes: obtaining mapping trajectory data defining a plurality of trajectory segments traversing a facility to be mapped; controlling a locomotive mechanism of the apparatus to traverse a current segment; generating a sequence of keyframes for the current segment using sensor data captured via a navigational sensor of the apparatus; and, for each keyframe: determining an estimated apparatus pose based on the sensor data and a preceding estimated pose corresponding to a preceding keyframe; and, determining a noise metric defining a level of uncertainty associated with the estimated pose relative to the preceding estimated pose; determining, for a selected keyframe, an accumulated noise metric based on the noise metrics for the selected keyframe and each previous keyframe; and when the accumulated noise metric exceeds a threshold, updating the mapping trajectory data to insert a repetition of one of the segments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: Zebra Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Ziehen Huang, Harsoveet Singh, Jonathan Kelly, Mahyar Vajedi
  • Patent number: 11584398
    Abstract: A vehicle control device includes: a situation detection device that detects a situation around a periphery of a vehicle and outputs a situation detection signal based on detection results; and a processor (i) that is input with the situation detection signal when the vehicle travels in an autonomous automatic driving mode, that controls travel of the vehicle based on the situation detection signal, and (ii) that enters a prohibited state that prohibits control of the travel of the vehicle in the autonomous automatic driving mode in a prohibited area in which the travel of the vehicle in the autonomous automatic driving mode is prohibited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuki Ito, Tsukasa Nakanishi, Yuta Morikawa, Naoki Yamamuro, Yuki Tatsumoto
  • Patent number: 11572099
    Abstract: A merge behavior system assists a host vehicle positioned in a merge lane that is adjacent a mainline lane. The merge behavior system includes an identification module that identifies at least one proximate vehicle in the mainline lane, if present. The merge behavior system also includes a prediction module that selects one or more models based on the at least one proximate vehicle, calculates one or more merge factors corresponding to the one or more models, and predicts a merge location based on the one or more merge factors. The merge behavior system further includes a control module that adjusts a kinematic parameter of the host vehicle to bring the host vehicle within a merging distance of the predicted merge location. The merge behavior system includes a merge module that determines whether a gap at the predicted merge location is a sufficient size for the host vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jovin D'sa, Samer Rajab, Shigenobu Saigusa, Xue Bai, R. Michael Van Auken, Alex J. Chapman
  • Patent number: 11561099
    Abstract: A system for usage guidance using wireless communication includes a portable computing device, wherein the portable computing device is designed and configured to wirelessly receive a signal from a wireless signal generator located at an item, parse the first signal for at least a textual element, extract a signal generator class identifier from at least a textual element, identify a remote data structure as a function of the signal generator identifier, retrieve, from the remote data structure, at least an identifier-specific datum, and generate identifier-specific usage guidance as a function of the at least an identifier-specific datum. The system includes a user output component coupled to the portable computing device, wherein the user output component is configured to provide the identifier-specific usage guidance to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: Blind InSites, LLC
    Inventors: Darwin Wayne Belt, Jessica B. Hipp, Jeffrey Hilton, April Ryan Hilton, Zachary Nolan Belt
  • Patent number: 11561105
    Abstract: Technical solutions are described for determining a route for multiple users traveling to a common destination. An example method includes determining, by a multiuser route generator, a multiuser route for a plurality of users traveling to the common destination, the multiuser route comprising a waypoint, the waypoint being a location to which each of the plurality of users travel independently, and travel to the common destination jointly thereafter. Determining the multiuser route includes receiving departure locations of the users, determining the waypoint, and calculating a first total of travel parameters associated with the users traveling to the waypoint independently and jointly thereafter that is lesser than a second total of travel parameters associated with the users traveling to the common destination independently. The method further includes sending the multiuser route to navigation devices of the respective users, the navigation devices navigating the respective users along the multiuser route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Ali Y. Duale, Shailesh R. Gami, Arkadiy O. Tsfasman, John S. Werner
  • Patent number: 11555713
    Abstract: An input of a destination and an input of a desired number of power supply facilities via which a vehicle travels on a route from a present location to the destination until an amount of power available becomes 0 are received. The number of facilities are selected and the route to the destination via the number of facilities is specified, the number of facilities being selected such that an amount of power with which the vehicle is able to travel a distance obtained by adding a margin distance to a distance to a farthest facility is less than the amount of power available when the route is specified. An alert is reported when the amount of power available is less than an amount of power required to travel the distance obtained by adding the margin distance to the distance to the farthest facility of the selected facilities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yoshifumi Ota
  • Patent number: 11514783
    Abstract: A method of an interactive server system for providing location information to an in-vehicle terminal includes receiving the location information and indication information from an interactive client, the indication information indicating address information of the in-vehicle terminal, obtaining the address information of the in-vehicle terminal based on the received indication information, sending the location information to the in-vehicle terminal according to the address information of the in-vehicle terminal, and instructing the in-vehicle terminal to generate a navigation path according to the location information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Guanming Cai, Shuaiwen Yang
  • Patent number: 11498584
    Abstract: An intersection start judgment device judges whether to start an own vehicle at an intersection at which vehicles in all directions need to temporarily stop. The device includes an autonomous sensor, a driving environment recognizer, a locator, and a controller. The autonomous sensor is disposed on the own vehicle and configured to detect a driving environment in front of the own vehicle. The driving environment recognizer is configured to recognize, with the autonomous sensor, the driving environment of the own vehicle. The locator is configured to calculate a location of the own vehicle with map information and a global navigation satellite system; and a controller configured to give, in a case where the own vehicle stopped temporarily at the intersection, start permission to the own vehicle when the number, counted by the driving environment recognizer, of other vehicles that are already stopping at the intersection becomes zero by subtraction counting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hajime Oyama
  • Patent number: 11499827
    Abstract: A system and a method of determining an absolute position of a first vehicle can be used in restricted areas. The system performs operations of or the method includes receiving image data from a vision system mounted on a second vehicle, determining a first location of the second vehicle using at least positions of stars in the image data, providing the first location to the first vehicle, determining a first relative position between the first vehicle and the second vehicle using at least one signal communicated between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, and determining the absolute position using at least the relative location data and the first location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Vladislav Gavrilets