Patents Examined by Jess Whittington
  • Patent number: 11282306
    Abstract: Apparatus, device, methods and system relating to a vehicular telemetry environment for monitoring vehicle components and providing indications towards the condition of the vehicle components and providing optimal indications towards replacement or maintenance of vehicle components before vehicle component failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Geotab Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Jeffrey Davidson, John Robert Ford Kyes, Thomas Arthur Walli
  • Patent number: 11273728
    Abstract: An automobile includes a fan configured to send cooling air, a fan driving apparatus, a first electronic control unit, and a second electronic control unit. The first electronic control unit is configured to output a first driving control signal to the fan driving apparatus when an ignition switch is turned off and a predetermined condition is established. The second electronic control unit is configured to determine whether or not the first driving control signal has been output by monitoring the signal line when the ignition switch is turned off. The second electronic control unit is configured to output a second driving control signal to the fan driving apparatus when determination is made that the first driving control signal has not been output to the fan driving apparatus from the first electronic control unit, the ignition switch is turned off, and the predetermined condition is established.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takehiro Inagaki, Makoto Kuze
  • Patent number: 11270583
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and computer system for traffic control. A computer determines an uncommitted demand and receives a supply pattern from an adjacent downstream node. The computer aggregates the supply pattern with its own supply pattern before propagating the supply pattern to an adjacent upstream node. Moreover, the computer receives a committed demand and demand weight pattern from an upstream node and aggregates the committed demand and demand weight patterns with its own before propagating the aggregated committed demand and demand weight patterns to an adjacent downstream node. The computer further allocates a remaining downstream supply to the uncommitted demand based on weight and detects pending slot position conflicts. Based on detecting a pending slot position conflict, the computer configures a pattern shift and commits the available downstream supply as upstream committed demand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Keeranoor G. Kumar
  • Patent number: 11267316
    Abstract: An air conditioning control device acquires environmental measurement information, acquires an action schedule of a user of a host vehicle on the basis of past or future schedule table information of the user, and estimates a boarding time at which the user gets on the host vehicle, a destination, and a route based on the action schedule. The control device then derives an instruction value pattern that includes a first instruction value for the air conditioning device at the boarding time, a second instruction value for the air conditioning device in a travel route toward the destination, and a third instruction value for the air conditioning device in a case that the user gets on after getting off the vehicle, based on the environmental measurement information. An air conditioning controller controls an air conditioning device of the host vehicle based on the instruction value pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Seki, Subaru Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 11269352
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a system monitors states of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) using a number of sensors mounted on the ADV. The system perceives a driving environment surrounding the ADV using at least a portion of the sensors. The system analyzes the states in view of the driving environment to determine a real-time traffic condition at a point in time. The system determines whether the real-time traffic condition of the driving environment matches at least a predetermined traffic condition. The system transmits data concerning the real-time traffic condition to a remote server over a network to allow the remote server to generate an updated map having real-time traffic information, in response to determining the real-time traffic condition is unknown. In response to receiving the updated map, the system plans and controls the ADV based on the updated map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: BAIDU USA LLC
    Inventors: Jiaming Tao, Dong Li, Yifei Jiang, Liangliang Zhang, Jiangtao Hu
  • Patent number: 11260849
    Abstract: In one embodiment, during a planning stage of autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), it is determined that the ADV needs to change lanes from a source lane to a target lane. A first trajectory is generated from a current location of the ADV in the source lane to the target lane such as a center line of the target lane. A lane shifting correction is then calculated based on the lane configuration of at least the source lane and/or target lane, as well as the current state of the ADV. Based on the lane shifting correction, at least the starting point of the first trajectory is modified, which in turn generates a second trajectory. In one embodiment, the starting point of the first trajectory is shifted laterally with respect to a heading direction of the source lane based on the lane shifting correction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: BAIDU USA LLC
    Inventors: Fan Zhu, Qi Kong
  • Patent number: 11256258
    Abstract: A system is described for determining the position of a vehicle on a site and for calculating a trajectory, including at least one vehicle, at least one auxiliary device and at least one reflector element, the at least one reflector element being mounted in the surroundings of the vehicle along a designated route section and the auxiliary device being suitable for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic beams. A method is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Nils Tietze, Simon Weissenmayer
  • Patent number: 11248916
    Abstract: A computer is programmed to divide respective data of a first high-resolution map of a first geographic area and a second high-resolution map of a second geographic area into a plurality of respective subsets, assign one of the subsets of each of the first high-resolution map and the second high-resolution map to a first vehicle and a second vehicle, identify respective locations of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and the one of the first high-resolution map or the second high-resolution map that includes the locations of the first and second vehicles, and send, to the first and second vehicles, a map dataset that is a result of applying an XOR function to (1) the subset of the identified high-resolution map including the location of the first vehicle and (2) the subset of the identified high-resolution map including the location of the second vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Mohsen Bahrami, Navid Tafaghodi Khajavi, Amin Ariannezhad, Hamed Asadi
  • Patent number: 11252534
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure provide a method of determining types of user geographical locations. A target geographical location corresponding to a plurality of uploading times can be obtained. At least one time-location type mapping relationship table can be obtained. Based on the obtained at least one time-location type mapping relationship table, for each of location types in the at least one time-relation type mapping relationship table, a sum of probability values of the respective location type can be calculated to obtain a degree that the target geographical location belongs to each of the location types. Each of the probability values corresponds to one of the uploading times of the target geographical location. Which of the location types corresponds to the target geographical location can be determined according to the degrees that the target geographical location belongs to each of the location types.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Zhibin Liu, Pei Duan, Bo Zheng
  • Patent number: 11240959
    Abstract: An agricultural harvester includes a plurality of controllable subsystems and a forward-looking crop sensor that detects a characteristic of the crop in front of the harvester. The forward-looking sensor generates a first sensor signal indicative of the detected characteristic. The harvester further includes a component sensor that detects a characteristic of a component of the agricultural harvesting machine and generates a second sensor signal indicative of the detected characteristic. Adaptation logic receives the first and second sensor signals and determines a sensor conversion factor intermittently during operation of the agricultural harvester. Recommendation logic receives the conversion factor and generates a recommendation to change operation of a controllable subsystem, based in part on the calculated conversion factor and a value received from the forward-looking crop sensor. A control system controls the controllable subsystem based on the generated recommendation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventor: Justin Borgstadt
  • Patent number: 11243529
    Abstract: A motor vehicle self-driving method comprises obtaining a first positioning mode and a first driving route; obtaining second vehicle information of a second motor vehicle, where the second vehicle information includes a second positioning mode and a second driving route; determining whether the first driving route overlaps with the second driving route; when the first driving route overlaps with the second driving route, comparing positioning precision of the first positioning mode with positioning precision of the second positioning mode; determining a positioning mode with higher positioning precision in the first positioning mode and the second positioning mode as a target positioning mode; determining a target driving parameter based on the target positioning mode; and controlling the first motor vehicle and the second motor vehicle to drive based on the target driving parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jiali Fu, Huimin Zhang, Maosheng Huang
  • Patent number: 11235772
    Abstract: A slip control system for an off-road vehicle includes a control system configured to output a signal indicative of a first action if a magnitude of slippage of the off-road vehicle relative to a soil surface is greater than a first threshold value and less than or equal to a second threshold value. Furthermore, the control system is configured to output a signal indicative of a second action, different than the first action, if the magnitude of slippage is greater than the second threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignees: CNH Industrial America LLC, Autonomous Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher A. Foster, John H. Posselius, Eric Emerson Veikle, Michael G. Hornberger, Bret Todd Turpin, Daniel John Morwood
  • Patent number: 11238676
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a method includes receiving, from a computing device, (i) a user identifier, (ii) a vehicle identifier for a vehicle, and (iii) contextual information related to vehicle service content currently displayed on the computing device. Based on the contextual information, the method includes determining a vehicle scan tool function to perform on the vehicle. The method further includes identifying a vehicle scan tool associated with the user identifier. The method also includes causing a selectable vehicle scan tool initialization option to be displayed on the computing device. The method further includes receiving, from the computing device, a selection of the selectable vehicle scan tool initialization option. In response to receiving the selection, the method additionally providing instructions to initialize the vehicle scan tool to perform the vehicle scan tool function on the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Snap-on Incorporated
    Inventors: Patrick S. Merg, Roy S. Brozovich, Jacob G. Foreman, Brett A. Kelley
  • Patent number: 11232391
    Abstract: Customized navigation maps of an area are generated for autonomous vehicles based on a baseline map of the area, transportation systems within the area, and attributes of the autonomous vehicles. The customized navigation maps include a plurality of paths, and two or more of the paths may form an optimal route for performing a task by an autonomous vehicle. Customized navigation maps may be generated for outdoor spaces or indoor spaces, and include specific infrastructure or features on which a specific autonomous vehicle may be configured for travel. Routes may be determined based on access points at destinations such as buildings, and the access points may be manually selected by a user or automatically selected on any basis. The autonomous vehicles may be guided by GPS systems when traveling outdoors, and by imaging devices or other systems when traveling indoors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Uriah John Baalke, Stav Braun, Sonia Jin, Jia Hao Lim
  • Patent number: 11193785
    Abstract: A relationship between a relative position with respect to a section where a progressing direction changes on a route and an arrangement height is set such that the arrangement height gradually increases from zero to MaxH. Then, the arrangement height gradually decreases from MaxH to zero along the route from a point on the near side of the section where the progressing direction changes (FIGS. 3B and 3G and FIGS. 4B and 4C). When traveling in the section where the progressing direction changes, a direction mark representing the progressing direction at each point on a road surface is displayed using a heads-up display so as to overlap with a position on an upper side, by an arrangement height set based on a relative position of the point with respect to the section and a set relationship, from the point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: ALPINE ELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 11180136
    Abstract: An autonomous parking apparatus incorporated into a vehicle including an internal combustion engine, a torque converter, a transmission, a detector detecting a creep torque acting on an axle, and a microprocessor. The microprocessor is configured to perform instructing a self-parking of the vehicle, determining whether it is necessary to perform a creep torque reduction control based on a creep torque detected when the self-parking is instructed, and controlling the transmission in accordance with a determination result in the determining. When it is determined that it is necessary to perform the creep torque reduction control, the microprocessor is configured to control the transmission so as to increase engaging force of engagement elements of the transmission or change speed stage of the transmission to high speed side than when it is determined that it is unnecessary to perform the creep torque reduction control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masayuki Sadakiyo, Hisashi Ishikawa, Tomoyuki Noguchi, Takashi Adachi
  • Patent number: 11164015
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for estimating a shape of an object based on sensor data and determining a presence of a fault or a failure in a perception system. A method of the disclosure includes receiving sensor data from a range sensor and calculating a current shape reconstruction of an object based on the sensor data. The method includes retrieving from memory a prior shape reconstruction of the object based on prior sensor data. The method includes calculating a quality score for the current shape reconstruction by balancing a function of resulted variances of the current shape reconstruction and a similarity between the current shape reconstruction and the prior shape reconstruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Marcos Paul Gerardo Castro, Jinesh Jain, Bruno Sielly Jales Costa
  • Patent number: 11149614
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for controlling a vehicle engine to adjust exhaust warm-up strategy based on a vehicle network information. In one example, in response to an expected decrease in temperature of a catalyst of a vehicle below a threshold and an estimated duration thereof based on communications external from the vehicle, a method may include delaying catalyst heating actions, when the catalyst heating actions are determined to be unable to heat up the catalyst to threshold temperatures. However, the catalyst heating actions may be enabled when the catalyst heating actions are determined to be able to achieve the threshold temperature within the duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jason Ronald Smith, Michael Brendan Hopka, Devesh Upadhyay
  • Patent number: 11149408
    Abstract: A motor grader is disclosed. The motor grader may include an articulated implement. The motor grader may include an articulation control device. The articulation control device may be configured to determine that articulation motion of the articulated implement is occurring, for a threshold amount of time, in a second direction that is different from a first direction indicated by an articulation control command. The articulation control device may be configured to perform a response action based on determining that articulation motion of the articulated implement is occurring, for the threshold amount of time, in the second direction that is different from the first direction indicated by the articulation control command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventor: Amit Sharma
  • Patent number: 11142182
    Abstract: The control device of hybrid vehicle 1 comprises an output control part 41 configured to control outputs of the internal combustion engine 10 and the motor 16, a target SOC setting part 42 configured to set a target state of charge, and an arrival rate calculating part 43 configured to calculate a probability of the hybrid vehicle reaching the charging station. When the hybrid vehicle is being driven outside the charging station, the output control part is configured to control outputs of the internal combustion engine and the motor so that a state of charge of the battery when the hybrid vehicle reaches the charging station becomes the target state of charge. The target SOC setting part is configured to lower the target state of charge when the probability is relatively high compared to when the probability is relatively low.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomoya Takahashi, Mitsuhiro Tabata