Patents Examined by Jeffrey C Boomer
  • Patent number: 11493918
    Abstract: A driving assist system for a vehicle includes a driver monitoring system that includes a plurality of sensors disposed in a vehicle and sensing driver hand positions of a driver driving the vehicle. A control includes a processor operable to process data sensed by the sensors to determine the driver hand positions of the driver driving the vehicle. The control, responsive to processing of data sensed by the sensors and at least in part responsive to the determined sensed driver hand positions, is operable to determine a level of attentiveness of the driver. The driving assistance system of the vehicle operates to provide driving assistance of the vehicle responsive at least in part to the determined level of attentiveness of the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventor: Harjeet Singh
  • Patent number: 11491893
    Abstract: Provided is a method for controlling a fuel cell vehicle capable of informing a user outside of the vehicle of the possibility that the fuel stops power generation and external power-feeding stops, whereby problems due to unexpected stopping of power feeding can be avoided. In a method for controlling a fuel cell vehicle 100 including an external power-feeding device 50, when it is determined that a state of a fuel cell exceeds a limiting point where deterioration of the fuel cell 20 or a failure of a driving device to supply fuel to the fuel cell 20 occurs during external power feeding, warning is issued to outside of the vehicle 10 before the fuel cell 20 stops power generation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yohei Okamoto, Hiroyuki Imanishi, Mitsuhiro Nada, Takashi Yamada
  • Patent number: 11453307
    Abstract: A control method for a vehicle which is executable by at least one information processing device including a communication unit, includes: collecting vehicle information from the vehicle in a range of a communication data amount or a communication frequency that is allowed in communication with the vehicle, based on information about the communication data amount or the communication frequency; and calculating an accuracy of control of the vehicle based on an information amount of the collected vehicle information; and producing a control command based on the calculated accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kan Saito
  • Patent number: 11450211
    Abstract: A platooning control apparatus is based on active collision avoidance control, a system including the same, and a method thereof. The platooning control apparatus includes a collision avoidance determining unit configured to, when a host vehicle is one of one or more following vehicles while a leading vehicle and the following vehicles platoon, determine whether it is possible to avoid collision of the host vehicle according to whether the host vehicle collides with a front vehicle. The front vehicle may be the leading vehicle or another following vehicle. The collision avoidance determining unit is also configured to determine whether longitudinal collision of the host vehicle is avoided when the leading vehicle is fully longitudinally braked.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Dong Hyuk Kim
  • Patent number: 11422558
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure relate to context aware stopping of a vehicle without a driver. As an example, after a passenger has entered the vehicle, the vehicle is maneuvered by one or more processors in an autonomous driving mode towards a destination location along a route. The route is divided into two or more stages. A signal is received by the one or more processors. The signal indicates that the passenger is requesting that the vehicle stop or pull over. In response to the signal, the one or more processors determine a current stage of the route based on a current distance of the vehicle from a pickup location where the passenger entered the vehicle or a current distance of the vehicle from the destination location. The one or more processors then stop the vehicle in accordance with the determined current stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: John Wesley Dyer, Luis Torres, Michael Epstein, Guillaume Dupre, Joshua Seth Herbach
  • Patent number: 11408749
    Abstract: A method and system for providing navigation commands allows users to navigate to a destination by way of haptic feedback. The method and system employ: (1) a processor executed software application, and (2) one or more vibrating nodes worn by a user. Upon providing a destination via an application, the application sends commands to the nodes to vibrate along a specific signature to indicate, through the sense of touch, navigation commands to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Inventor: Stephen Wesley Schad, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11393238
    Abstract: A system for controlling an operation of a vehicle when a passenger is secure in a child car seat can receive data from one or more sensors within a passenger compartment of the vehicle, analyze the data to determine that a passenger is secure in a child car seat within the vehicle, and cause the vehicle to switch from operating in a first mode of operation, such as a bidirectional mode, to a second mode of operation, such as a unidirectional mode. The system may determine a direction of travel for the vehicle based on a pose of the passenger within the vehicle. The system can cause the vehicle to improve the riding experience of the passenger, such as by outputting media content to the passenger or modifying the operational characteristics of the vehicle, for example, by rocking the vehicle from front to back and/or side to side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy David Kentley-Klay
  • Patent number: 11391593
    Abstract: A vehicle-mounted device that includes: a memory; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to: detect an own vehicle position; transmit position information that indicates the detected own vehicle position to a location outside the own vehicle, together with car model information that indicates a car model of the own vehicle; receive position information of another vehicle of a predetermined specific car model or map information that indicates a position of the other vehicle, from the location outside the own vehicle; and display the position of the other vehicle on a monitor as a map, based on a reception result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshinori Yamada, Takahiro Suzuki, Yosuke Tokuda, Taiki Nakamura, Miyu Tanaka, Kentaro Otokubo
  • Patent number: 11391590
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for selecting a map from a plurality of maps having different resolutions for a moving object includes dynamically selecting an appropriate map from maps having different levels of details according to environment information, such that a minimum amount of required map is loaded, thereby effectively improving the data processing efficiency of vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Maximilian Doemling, Sebastian Granzow, Wanli Jiang, Qianshan Li, Jianpeng Li, Shuhan Lv, Hongshan Xu, Tao Xu
  • Patent number: 11383727
    Abstract: Methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media are described. In one example, a method of controlling a vehicle comprises: receiving, using one or more sensors, a first set of measurements of a set of physical attributes of the vehicle in a motion; determining, based on a motion data model that defines a set of relationships among the set of physical attributes of the vehicle in the motion and based on the first set of measurements, a set of expected measurements of the set of physical attributes; determining whether to use an entirety of the first set of measurements to control an operation of the vehicle based on comparing the first set of measurements and the set of expected measurements; and responsive to determining not to use the entirety of the first set of measurements, controlling the operation of the vehicle based on a second set of measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Urs Niesen, Jubin Jose, Xinzhou Wu
  • Patent number: 11359925
    Abstract: A method involves accelerating the electronic determination of high quality solutions to routing problems by leveraging simplified travel time approximations. The use of first approximation travel time estimates allows for more rapid beginning of a process for electronically determining one or more high quality solutions to a routing problem as compared to having to wait for computation of second travel time estimates for every ordered pair of locations involved in the routing problem, thus allowing for more rapid determination of one or more high quality solutions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: salesforce.com, Inc.
    Inventors: John Brian Stewart, Dinesh Premalal Weerapurage, Timothy Alan Carnes, Christopher Sebastian Groer, Lahiru Sandakith Pileththuwasan Gallege, Chenlu Lou
  • Patent number: 11360482
    Abstract: Via a first processing thread, an ADV is controlled according to a first trajectory that was generated based on a first reference line starting at a first location. Concurrently via a second processing thread, a second reference line is generated based on a second location of the first trajectory that the ADV will likely reach within a predetermined period of time in future. The predetermined period of time is greater than or equals to an amount of time to generate a reference line for the ADV. The second reference line is generated while the ADV is moving according to the first trajectory and before reaching the second location. Subsequently, in response to determining that the ADV is within a predetermined proximity of the second location, a second trajectory is generated based on the second reference line without having to calculate the second reference line at the second location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: BAIDU USA LLC
    Inventors: Dong Li, Liangliang Zhang, Yajia Zhang, Yifei Jiang, Haoyang Fan, Jiangtao Hu
  • Patent number: 11352000
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus comprising a navigation system and a control unit, wherein the navigation system includes a map database, a position acquisition unit, a route determination unit, and an output unit configured to output road information on a plurality of locations from a position of the vehicle to a location at a predetermined distance ahead on the target route, wherein the control unit includes a buffer unit configured to store the road information as the road information on a first distance interval, and a controller unit configured to control the speed of the vehicle, wherein the output unit is configured to, in response to changing the target route, thin out the road information such that the number of data becomes less than that of the road information on the first distance interval, and wherein the buffer unit is configured to store the thinned-out road information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JTDOSHA KABUSHIKI KATSHA
    Inventor: Kazuaki Aso
  • Patent number: 11341780
    Abstract: An apparatus for maintenance of an aircraft is provided. The apparatus accesses flight data for a flight of the aircraft and predicts and thereby produces a predicted state of the aircraft for a next flight of the aircraft based on the flight data. The apparatus deploys a similarity detection model to determine similarities between the flight data for the flight and a training set of flight data for previous flights of the aircraft. The similarities determined by the similarity detection model are values of independent variables of a classification model. The apparatus deploys the classification model to predict and thereby produce a predicted state of the aircraft for the next flight of the aircraft based on the values of the independent variables, and generates an alert when the predicted state of the aircraft is a fault state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: John M. Boggio, Eric Nicks
  • Patent number: 11315190
    Abstract: One or more driving analysis computing devices in a driving analysis system may be configured to collect vehicle driving data and infrastructure data in response to a collision. Vehicle driving data may be received from a first vehicle involved in the collision and a second vehicle involved in the collision. Vehicle driving data may be received for vehicles within a defined radius of the first vehicle and/or the second vehicle. Infrastructure data from infrastructure elements within a defined vicinity of the first vehicle and/or the second vehicle may be received. The received data may be used to initiate an insurance claim, assess fault for the collision, and detect fraudulent claims.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company
    Inventors: Jennifer A. Brandmaier, Martin Higgins, William Loo, Christopher G. Plachta, Philip Peter Ramirez
  • Patent number: 11299269
    Abstract: Embodiments include one or more high altitude, long endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft capable of persistent station-keeping having one or more electromagnetic (IR/Visual/RF) sensor elements or suites for purposes of survey and/or signal gathering. Embodiments include one or more high altitude, long endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft capable of persistent station-keeping having a directable laser. Embodiments include a group of four or more high altitude, long endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft configured as GPS repeaters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventor: Edward Oscar Rios
  • Patent number: 11294393
    Abstract: A materials handling vehicle comprising a path validation tool and a drive unit, steering unit, localization module, and navigation module that cooperate to navigate the vehicle along a warehouse travel path. The tool comprises warehouse layout data, a proposed travel path, vehicle kinematics, and a dynamic vehicle boundary that approximates the vehicle physical periphery. The tool executes path validation logic to determine vehicle pose along the proposed travel path, update the dynamic vehicle boundary to account for changes in vehicle speed and steering angle, determine whether the dynamic vehicle boundary is likely to intersect obstacles represented in the layout data based on the determined vehicle pose at candidate positions along the proposed travel path, determine a degree of potential impingement at the candidate positions by referring to the dynamic vehicle boundary and obstacle data, and modify the proposed travel path to mitigate the degree of potential impingement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Crown Equipment Corporation
    Inventor: Justin F. Thode
  • Patent number: 11286642
    Abstract: An energy conserving hydraulic system for a mobile work machine includes a prime mover, a drivetrain, a baseline hydraulic system, a power-take-off, a transformer, a work implement, and an accumulator. The drivetrain may include an automated manual transmission (AMT) that is rotationally coupled to the prime mover and the power-take-off. The baseline hydraulic system is powered by the prime mover and includes a first hydraulic circuit. The transformer is hydraulically coupled to second and third hydraulic circuits. The work implement is actuated by an actuator that is adapted to be simultaneously hydraulically coupled to the first and the second hydraulic circuits. The power-take-off is adapted to exchange shaft power with the transmission. A clutch selectively rotationally couples the transmission and the power-take-off. The accumulator is hydraulically coupled to the second hydraulic circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Danfoss Power Solutions II Technology A/S
    Inventors: Per William Danzl, Michael Berne Rannow, Meng Wang, Chad Anthony Larish
  • Patent number: 11262760
    Abstract: An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a central body, one or more propulsion units configured to propel the UAV through the air, and a carrier supported by the central body. The carrier is configured to support and permit a payload to move relative to the central body. The carrier includes a guide coupled to the central body and a gimbal configured to couple a payload to the guide. The gimbal is further configured to flip the payload above the carrier when the payload is at a top end of the guide relative to the central body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: SZ DJI OSMO TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hao Liu
  • Patent number: 11255686
    Abstract: A device can communicate with a set of devices to obtain input data from a set of data sources. The device can process the input data to determine a state of a first job, of a plurality of jobs, based on the state of the vehicle and the state of the operator of the vehicle. The device can determine, based on the state of the first job, a plurality of estimated times of arrival of the vehicle at two or more downstream jobs, of the plurality of jobs, occurring after the first job. The device can determine, based on the plurality of estimated times of arrival, a set of alerts or a set of response actions relating to the plurality of estimated times of arrival of the vehicle. The device can communicate with at least one customer device to provide the alert or implement the response action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
    Inventors: Shazib Shaukat, John Zvonar, James Stewart, Jared Klopper, Michael J. Cocks, William Benjamin Joseph Kolodner