Patents Examined by Jonathan M Dager
  • Patent number: 11830372
    Abstract: A collision avoidance system includes an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a UAV controller, and a safety data aggregator. The UAV includes a positional sensor, and is coupled to communicate positional data to the UAV controller, and receive commands from the UAV controller. The safety data aggregator is coupled to communicate with the UAV controller, wherein the safety data aggregator collects positional data from one or more UAV controllers, stores collected positional data in a safety data buffer, and extracts spatially relevant positional data in response to a request from the UAV controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: BOTLINK, LLC
    Inventor: Alexander J. Kube
  • Patent number: 11820364
    Abstract: The invention relates to a motor vehicle and to a method for operating a motor vehicle for carrying out a parking procedure, wherein the motor vehicle comprises at least a first parking assistance function and a second parking assistance function, which may be selected as desired, and wherein the method comprises: detecting a gripping status of a steering handle of the motor vehicle by a driver; and automatically selecting the first or the second parking assistance function depending on the gripping status.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Jana Seeland, Bastian Göricke, Markus Radimirsch, Christian Hopp
  • Patent number: 11823565
    Abstract: A system for determining a vehicle queue length in a connected vehicle infrastructure environment includes a vehicle traffic data evaluation module with a processor configured via executable instructions to receive vehicle traffic data of multiple vehicles, the vehicle traffic data comprising basic safety messages, create a geometric representation of a vehicle queue, the vehicle queue comprising one or more segments, each segment comprising a set length, extract data of speed, location, date and time from the basic safety messages, aggregate extracted data with the geometric representation of the vehicle queue, assign a speed value of a basic safety message of a vehicle to a segment when the vehicle is identified to be located within the segment of the vehicle queue, detect a sequence of segments comprising assigned speed values, and determine a vehicle queue length based on the set length of each segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: YUNEX LLC
    Inventor: Pratik Shivarkar
  • Patent number: 11820356
    Abstract: The present disclosure is generally directed to a system and method of compensating for any forces induced by components of a robotic driving system, the robotic driving system including a turntable defining a steering axis and mounted to a steering wheel of a vehicle including an automated steering system, a robot frame mounted to the vehicle and including a support member, a transmission device coupled to the support member and operatively coupled to the turntable, a steering motor in driving engagement with the transmission device, a load sensor mounted between the support member and the transmission device at a known distance from the steering axis, and a controller in communication with the steering motor and the load sensor, the controller configured to adjust a steering torque generated by the steering motor to compensate for any forces induced by said robotic driving system to prevent overriding the automated steering system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: Humanetics Austria GmbH
    Inventors: Jürgen Gugler, Patrick Hofmanninger
  • Patent number: 11816996
    Abstract: A system for predicting pressure waves in a sonic boom footprint calculates alternative footprints and pressure waves along a flight path based on speed and altitude modifiers. The available, adjustable parameters are bounded within a flight envelope and along an approved flight corridor. The system receives and incorporates data from external sources, such as weather data, that impacts sonic boom pressure wave predictions and aircraft performance characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Laura M. Smith-Velazquez, Erik Theunissen
  • Patent number: 11801866
    Abstract: A method includes identifying a desired path for an ego vehicle. The method also includes determining how to apply steering control and torque vectoring control to cause the ego vehicle to follow the desired path. The determination is based on actuator delays associated with the steering control and the torque vectoring control and one or more limits of the ego vehicle. The method further includes applying at least one of the steering control and the torque vectoring control to create lateral movement of the ego vehicle during travel. Determining how to apply the steering control and the torque vectoring control may include using a state-space model that incorporates first-order time delays associated with the steering control and the torque vectoring control and using a linear quadratic regulator to determine how to control the ego vehicle based on the state-space model and the one or more limits of the ego vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Canoo Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Kilsoo Kim, Paolo E. Pucci
  • Patent number: 11804141
    Abstract: Aerial vehicles are assigned to routes within a transportation network based on a state of charge, state of power, and/or state of health for the aerial vehicle. Such aspects can be modeled based on one or more statistical models and/or machine-learned models, among other examples. As another example, an energy budget is used to ensure that the state of charge, state of power, and/or state of health of the aerial vehicle during and/or after traveling the route remains within the energy budget. A payload is assigned to a route and an associated aerial vehicle, thereby generating an itinerary. In examples, the itinerary is validated by the aerial vehicle to ensure that the aerial vehicle is capable of traveling the route with the payload. In examples where the aerial vehicle rejects the itinerary, the itinerary is assigned to another aerial vehicle and a new itinerary is identified for the aerial vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: JOBY AERO, INC.
    Inventors: Adam Thomas Chase, Ian Andreas Villa, Luke Asher Wilhelm, Jon Petersen, Robert Alan McDonald, Mark Douglass Moore, Celina Mikolajczak
  • Patent number: 11794725
    Abstract: The present invention provides a travel support system of a vehicle, including a detection unit configured to detect information of a periphery of the vehicle, a control unit configured to perform travel support control based on the information detected by the detection unit, and a stationary state control unit configured to cause the vehicle to be stationary at one of completion and suspension of the travel support control by the control unit, wherein the stationary state control unit performs steering control to maintain a steering angle at one of the completion and suspension of the travel support control while the vehicle is stationary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuki Hara, Miki Tsujino
  • Patent number: 11794775
    Abstract: The subject matter described in this specification is generally directed control architectures for an autonomous vehicle. In one example, a reference trajectory, a set of lateral constraints, and a set of speed constraints are received using a control circuit. The control circuit determines a set of steering commands based at least in part on the reference trajectory and the set of lateral constraints and a set of speed commands based at least in part on the set of speed constraints. The vehicle is navigated, using the control circuit, according to the set of steering commands and the set of speed commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Motional AD LLC
    Inventors: Juraj Kabzan, Hans Andersen, Lixun Lin, Ning Wu, Yiming Zhao, Xiyuan Liu, Qian Wang, Zachary Batts, Jesse Adam Miller, Boaz Cornelis Floor, Marc Dominik Heim
  • Patent number: 11797011
    Abstract: Provided are a traveling control system for a transport vehicle and a traveling control method for a transport vehicle capable of preventing unstable traveling when the transport vehicle travels while pulling a bogie. The traveling control system for a transport vehicle includes an imaging unit (3) provided corresponding to an operation region of a bogie (2) that travels together with a transport vehicle (1), a mode acquisition unit (14) configured to acquire a mode of the bogie based on an image including the bogie imaged by the imaging unit, and a mode determination unit (14) configured to determine a mode of the bogie based on the mode of the bogie acquired by the mode acquisition unit. Traveling of the transport vehicle is controlled based on a determination of the mode determination unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ikuma Furihata, Hiroyuki Kanai, Kento Okumura, Katsunori Ono
  • Patent number: 11794742
    Abstract: A location of an occupant within a vehicle and/or an activity engaged in by the occupant may be determined. Based on the location and/or the activity, a point of interest associated with the occupant and/or the vehicle may be determined. One or more systems of the vehicle, such as the steering and/or suspension, may be controlled to minimize acceleration associated with the point of interest, thereby increasing a comfort of the occupant. In instances where the vehicle includes more than one occupant, the vehicle may be adjusted to accommodate the multiple occupants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: David Martins Belo, Johannes Edren, Johannes Andreas Huennekens, Ella Strack
  • Patent number: 11787412
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for adjusting noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) limits for a vehicle based on an occupancy level of the vehicle. The occupancy level is inferred based on a number of occupants and their position within a vehicle, and further based on a degree of interaction of a primary occupant with vehicle controls. As the occupancy level decreases, NVH constraints for operating the vehicle are reduced and one or more vehicle operating parameters nay be based on the reduced NVH constraints.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Stuart N. Ford, Adam Nathan Banker
  • Patent number: 11787398
    Abstract: A driving assist system executes driving assist control for avoiding a collision with a target ahead of a vehicle. The driving assist control operates when the target exists within an assist area. First and second roadway boundaries of a roadway area are located on first and second sides as viewed from the vehicle, respectively. A crossing target is the target crossing the roadway area ahead of the vehicle from the first side toward the second side. The assist area for the crossing target is an area between an assist start boundary located on the first side as viewed from the vehicle and an assist end boundary located on the second side as viewed from the vehicle. The driving assist system sets the assist end boundary at a position between the vehicle and the second roadway boundary of the roadway area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoshi Nakamura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Minami Sato, Takahisa Awata
  • Patent number: 11790786
    Abstract: Systems, methods and non-transitory computer readable storage media for airspace management within an airspace region at a node of a peer to peer network having a plurality of nodes and maintaining a blockchain containing a current deconflicted flight schedule for the airspace region. One method includes receiving requests for airspace reservations, each including flight plan data, from other nodes over the peer to peer network, compiling the flight plan data to identify conflicts between the requests and the current deconflicted flight schedule, validating the flight plan data of the requests that do not conflict with the current deconflicted flight schedule to generate validated airspace reservations, creating a block containing the validated airspace reservations and interlinking the block with the blockchain such that the blockchain contains a new deconflicted flight schedule for the airspace region for broadcast to the other nodes over the peer to peer network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Textron Innovations Inc.
    Inventor: Jeffrey Bosworth
  • Patent number: 11787446
    Abstract: A vehicle is a vehicle on which an autonomous driving kit (ADK) is mountable. The vehicle includes: a vehicle platform (VP) that controls the vehicle in accordance with an instruction from the ADK; and a vehicle control interface that serves as an interface between the ADK and the VP. The VP receives a driver deceleration request in accordance with an amount of depression of a brake pedal by a driver, and receives a system deceleration request from the ADK through the vehicle control interface. During an autonomous mode, the VP specifies the sum of the driver deceleration request and the system deceleration request as a target deceleration of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Ikuma Suzuki, Yuta Ohashi
  • Patent number: 11790787
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to providing pilots with timely information to allow for better decision making and improved safety during the piloting of a flight. The systems and methods described herein can employ a collection of algorithms that can take disparate information, process it, and synthesize it into meaningful information for a pilot, flight crew, other flight systems, and/or other algorithms to consume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: The MITRE Corporation
    Inventors: Steven L. Estes, John R. Helleberg, Kevin M. Long, Matthew E. Pollack, Marco Quezada, Jeffrey Stein
  • Patent number: 11780453
    Abstract: A method for assignment of vehicle control includes receiving route data indicating a route between a starting location of a vehicle and a destination location, and determining an optimal vehicle configuration for the route based on a target vehicle speed and a hybrid torque split. The method further includes receiving a driver requested torque value and determining a passive pedal torque value based on the route data and vehicle powertrain data. The method further includes selectively assigning control of the vehicle to a vehicle system or to a driver of the vehicle based on the driver requested torque value and the passive pedal torque value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: DELPHI TECHNOLOGIES IP LIMITED
    Inventors: Karim Aggoune, Frans M. Theunissen
  • Patent number: 11772633
    Abstract: A vehicle control method is applied to a vehicle 1 in which a front wheel 2 is driven by an engine 4, and the method includes a basic torque setting step of setting basic torque to be generated by the engine 4, based on an operational state of the vehicle 1; an acceleration torque setting step of setting acceleration torque, based on a reduction in steering angle of a steering apparatus 5 mounted on the vehicle 1; a torque generation step of controlling the engine 4 so that torque based on the basic torque and the acceleration torque is generated; and an acceleration torque changing step of changing the acceleration torque, based on a vehicle-width-direction mounting position of a steering wheel 6 and an operation direction of the steering wheel 6 when the steering angle is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignees: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION, IKUTOKU GAKUEN
    Inventors: Takatoshi Tsukano, Shohei Yamada, Daisuke Umetsu, Fuminori Kato, Osamu Sunahara, Masato Abe, Makoto Yamakado, Yoshio Kano, Kazuki Sato
  • Patent number: 11772637
    Abstract: An embodiment vehicle includes a collecting device for collecting environment information, a user input for automatic parking of the vehicle, an automatic parking controller for performing the automatic parking based on the environment information and the user input, and a behavior controller for controlling a behavior of the vehicle in response to control of the automatic parking controller. The automatic parking controller calculates a first progress corresponding to determination of whether the user input is a wake-up request, a second progress corresponding to acquisition of a control right for the behavior controller, a third progress corresponding to whether the user input is an execution request for the automatic parking, a fourth progress corresponding to generation of control information for the behavior controller, and a fifth progress corresponding to control of the vehicle's behavior.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventors: In Mook Kim, Sun Woo Jeong
  • Patent number: 11772665
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for operating a vehicle that includes a piezoelectric device. The piezoelectric device may harvest energy that may be transferred between two masses, such as a chassis and a vehicle suspension, to power electrical components of a vehicle. In addition, output of the piezoelectric device may be monitored to identify degradation of electrical connectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Pallavi Gattu, Kristian Ulyses Flores Aviña, Miguel Angel Leon Guerrero