Patents Examined by Kenneth J Malkowski
  • Patent number: 11731647
    Abstract: A road shape recognizer includes a peripheral information recognizer that recognizes at least two items of peripheral information based on an output of a periphery detector. A reliability assigner assigns a reliability level to each of the peripheral information. A point sequence generator generates and places a point sequence representing a shape of a road on which the own vehicle travels, based on at least two items of peripheral information and the reliability level. The point sequence generator generates and places a point sequence by generating and placing points one by one toward a distant place from a point located at a prescribed relative position to the own vehicle. The point sequence generator generates and places the next point corresponding to an amount of change in shape and a position of a point generated and placed at the end of the point sequence. The amount of change in shape is represented by the peripheral information and determined per section having a prescribed distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masaya Okada, Takumi Uematsu, Tatsuya Namikiri, Naru Sugimoto
  • Patent number: 11733706
    Abstract: A method and a system for traversing a planned path in a marked facility are provided. A transport vehicle transits from a first location to a second location in the marked facility for traversing the planned path. The first and second locations are indicated by first and second location markers, respectively. The transport vehicle records a movement pattern of the transport vehicle, while transiting from the first location to the second location. The transport vehicle halts at an intermediate location when the transport vehicle fails to detect the second location marker at the second location. A first path traversed to reach the intermediate location from the first location is retraced by the transport vehicle based on the recorded movement pattern. On reaching the first location, the transport vehicle re-attempts to transit from the first location to the second location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: GREY ORANGE PTE. LTD.
    Inventor: Venkadesh M
  • Patent number: 11731626
    Abstract: Provided is an in-vehicle system in which an own vehicle does not decelerate according to a preceding vehicle even if the preceding vehicle changes lanes to the right turn lane or the left turn lane and decelerates after own vehicle entering an intersection area. A CPU 107 (first control unit) controls the own vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle. An image processing circuit 106 (detection unit) detects a lane marking of the traveling lane. The CPU 107 (determination unit) determines whether an own vehicle 201 has entered the intersection area. When the detection of one of the right and left lane markings of the traveling lane is interrupted (S20: YES) after the own vehicle 201 has entered the intersection area (S15: YES), the CPU 107 (second control unit) releases ACC that causes the own vehicle 201 to follow the preceding vehicle 202.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventor: Hiroaki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11726485
    Abstract: This autonomous work vehicle travel system is provided with: a satellite positioning module 80 that outputs positioning data indicating a vehicle position of a work vehicle 1; an area setting unit that sets an area CA to be worked in a work site; a route managing unit that calculates a travel route element set, which is an aggregate of multiple travel route elements constituting a travel route that covers the area CA to be worked, and storing the travel route element set so as to be readable; a route element selecting unit that selects a next travel route element to be traveled in sequence from the travel route element set; and an autonomous travel controlling unit that causes the work vehicle 1 to travel autonomously on the basis of the next travel route element and the vehicle position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Kubota Corporation
    Inventors: Sakura Tomita, Tomohiko Sano, Kazuo Sakaguchi, Tetsuya Nakajima, Makoto Oshitani, Kenichi Iwami, Osamu Yoshida
  • Patent number: 11724565
    Abstract: A method for controlling a comfort component of a vehicle is presented. The method includes determining that the vehicle has arrived at a destination. The method also includes determining that the comfort component is activated. The method further includes deactivating the comfort component in response to determining that the comfort component is activated and the vehicle has arrived at the destination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.
    Inventors: Hiromitsu Urano, Kentaro Ichikawa, Junya Ueno
  • Patent number: 11724673
    Abstract: Techniques and systems are described that enable automatic emergency braking (AEB) using a time-to-collision (TTC) threshold that is based on target acceleration. The TTC may be a combination of a first TTC sub-threshold and a second TTC sub-threshold. The first TTC threshold may be based on a vehicle velocity of a host vehicle and a relative velocity between the host vehicle and a target object. The second TTC sub-threshold may be based on a target acceleration of the target object and a distance between the host vehicle and the target object. By utilizing the target acceleration in the TTC threshold determination, the techniques and systems described herein enable AEB to work as planned to prevent a collision between a vehicle and a target, in a wider variety of environments and situations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventor: Mingda Yang
  • Patent number: 11725960
    Abstract: In some example embodiments, a computer system performs operations comprising: receiving a request for a transportation service associated with a place; determining a type of the transportation service from among a plurality of types of transportation services based on the request; retrieving an entrance geographic location for the place from a database based on the type of the transportation service, the entrance geographic location being stored in association with the place in the database, and the entrance geographic location representing an entrance for accessing the place; generating route information based on the retrieved entrance geographic location, the route information indicating a route from an origin geographic location of a computing device of a user to the entrance geographic location of the place; and causing the generated route information to be displayed within a user interface on a computing device of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Satyendra Kumar Nainwal, Daniel Wolf, Kaivalya Bachubhai Parikh, Shivendra Pratap Singh, Dineshkumar Karuppanna Gounder Ramasamy
  • Patent number: 11720117
    Abstract: An autonomous mobile device (AMD) uses sensors to explore a physical space and determine the locations of obstacles. Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) techniques are used to process images from cameras to determine location and trajectory of the device. As the AMD moves and explores to generate an occupancy map, errors in the localization accrue. The occupancy map is processed to determine a graph that is based on, for a given point in physical space, a distance, relative direction, and a characteristic of a closest obstacle. A first graph based on a global occupancy map may be compared to a second graph based on a local occupancy map to determine a displacement between the local occupancy map and the global occupancy map. To facilitate loop closure, the AMD may navigate to a point along the first graph, where a loop closure process may be performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Chang Young Kim, Shashikanth Sreenivasaiah, Stephen Phillips
  • Patent number: 11719555
    Abstract: A map information system includes a database management device configured to manage a map database used for vehicle driving support control. The map database includes road marking map information that indicates a position of a specific road marking including at least one of a stop line and a pedestrian crossing. The database management device is further configured to: detect a road marking candidate being a candidate for the specific road marking around a vehicle; recognize vehicle behavior of at least one of the vehicle and another vehicle in a period when passing the road marking candidate; determine, based on the vehicle behavior, an evaluation value that indicates certainty of the road marking candidate being the specific road marking; and register the road marking candidate having the evaluation value equal to or higher than a threshold, as the specific road marking, in the road marking map information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keisuke Hokai, Yusuke Hayashi, Nobuhide Kamata
  • Patent number: 11704827
    Abstract: An electronic apparatus and method for assisting with driving of a vehicle are provided. The electronic apparatus includes: a processor configured to execute one or more instructions stored in a memory, to: obtain a surrounding image of the vehicle via at least one sensor, recognize an object from the obtained surrounding image, obtain three-dimensional (3D) coordinate information for the object by using the at least one sensor, determine a number of planar regions constituting the object, based on the 3D coordinate information corresponding to the object, determine whether the object is a real object, based on the number of planar regions constituting the object, and control a driving operation of the vehicle based on a result of the determining whether the object is the real object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kibeom Lee, Gyu-tae Park, Boseok Moon
  • Patent number: 11703332
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present application disclose a vehicle positioning method, an apparatus, an electronic device, a vehicle and a storage medium, and relate to the field of automatic driving technology. A specific implementation includes: obtaining perceptual information of a lane where a vehicle is located, and obtaining high-precision information of the lane from a preset high-precision map, where the perceptual information and the high-precision information both include lane line information, and both include curb information and/or guardrail information; determining matching information of the perceptual information and the high-precision information; generating position information of the vehicle according to the matching information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: BEIJING BAIDU NETCOM SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Dayun Shen
  • Patent number: 11698459
    Abstract: Embodiments of this application provide a method and an apparatus for determining drivable region information. The method includes obtaining first information, where the first information includes information about an initial drivable region determined based on at least one image, and the at least one image is from at least one camera module. The method also includes obtaining second information, where the second information includes radar detection information. The method further includes determining first drivable region information based on the first information and the second information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Qinghua Chi, Kexing Lyu
  • Patent number: 11699347
    Abstract: According to one example there is provided a method comprising selecting a first location from a set of locations and analysing, by a processor, data collected from a first vehicle located within a first distance of the first location. A first value representative of a first performance parameter of the first vehicle is generated. A second value representative of a second performance parameter of the first vehicle is generated. At least one of the first and second values is compared with a first threshold and, when one of the first and second values is greater than the first threshold, a safety alert is issued greater than (in some examples, less than).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Yu Chen, Arnold Babila, Jonathan Scott, Junheung Park
  • Patent number: 11698264
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to generating and utilizing three-dimensional terrain maps for vehicular control. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: AGJUNCTION LLC
    Inventors: Tommy Ertbolle Madsen, Tri M. Dang, Joshua M. Gattis, Andreas F. Ramm, Eran D. B. Medagoda, Steven J. Dumble, Bilal Arain
  • Patent number: 11698262
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for generating a route planning model and a storage medium are provided. The method for generating a route planning model includes: obtaining a target route data set associated with a target site; and determining a target route planning model of the target site with a site optimization object corresponding to the target site, based on the target route data set and a first route planning model; wherein the first route planning model is determined based on a set of historical route data through at least a first training, the set of historical route data being associated with a plurality of sites different from the target site and a first training optimization object for the first training corresponding to the plurality of sites.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: BEIJING BAIDU NETCOM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Teng Zhang
  • Patent number: 11691622
    Abstract: An adaptive lane-keeping system for a commercial vehicle, including: an input module for entering sensor data from at least one sensor which is configured to detect the surroundings of the commercial vehicle; an evaluation module for evaluating the sensor data to determine a relative position of the commercial vehicle on a road; a lane-keeping module for controlling a steering system of the commercial vehicle based on a lane-keeping profile that defines a torque to be applied to a steering wheel of the commercial vehicle to support keeping in a lane; and a change module for changing the lane-keeping profile in response to a change in the detected environment. Also described is a related commercial vehicle, method, and computer readable medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: KNORR-BREMSE SYSTEME FUER NUTZFAHRZEUGE GMBH
    Inventors: Hagen Layer, Thomas Hackl
  • Patent number: 11685371
    Abstract: Various systems and methods for controlling a vehicle using driving policies are described herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Mobileye Vision Technologies Ltd.
    Inventors: Cornelius Buerkle, Bernd Gassmann, Fabian Oboril
  • Patent number: 11685359
    Abstract: A vehicle system includes: a reprogramming slave device that is an electronic control unit (hereinafter, referred to as ECU) to be a target of updating an update file of a program stored among a plurality of the ECUs; a reprogramming master device that transmits the update file to the reprogramming slave device in response to a request from a terminal operable by a vehicle user to control updating of the program stored in the reprogramming slave device; and a determination unit that determines traveling propriety of a vehicle when the update file is rewritten in the reprogramming slave device. The vehicle device functions as the reprogramming master device, and includes: an obtaining unit that obtains the traveling propriety determined by the determination unit; and a notification command unit that commands a notification medium to notify information of the traveling propriety obtained by the obtaining unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuzo Harata, Sho Nakamura, Kazuhiro Uehara
  • Patent number: 11689886
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described to provide navigational guidance to persons within crowded and unfamiliar environments such as aircraft cabins, stadiums, and theaters. An “activation arrangement” may be created to dynamically activate various lighting devices, personal electronic devices, and/or other devices to usher the person from a current location to a destination, such as a seat, entranceway, or lavatory. These techniques may be customized based upon existing conditions within the environment and/or based upon user-personalized settings to improve the comfort of persons in these environments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: GOGO BUSINESS AVIATION LLC
    Inventor: Francis Forest
  • Patent number: 11679766
    Abstract: Lane level localization techniques for a vehicle utilize a plurality of perception sensor systems each configured to perceive a position of the vehicle relative to its environment, a map system configured to maintain map data that includes lane lines, and a controller configured to detect a position of the vehicle and a first set of lane lines using the plurality of perception sensors, detect a second set of lane lines using the position of the vehicle and the map data, obtain an aligned set of lane lines based on the first and second sets of lane lines, and use the aligned set of lane lines for an autonomous driving feature of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: FCA US LLC
    Inventors: Zijian Wang, Peter Isho, Mohammad Huq, Stephen W Horton