Patents Examined by Kenneth M Dunne
  • Patent number: 11372455
    Abstract: An example method for determining a mobile device position and orientation is provided. The method may include capturing a two-dimensional image of a surface including at least four markers, and determining a unit direction vector for each of the at least four markers based on an association between a pixel location of each of the at least four markers in the two-dimensional image. The method may further include determining apex angles between each pair of the unit direction vectors, and determining marker distances from the imaging sensor to each of the at least four markers via a first iterative process based on the apex angles. Additionally, the method may include determining the mobile device position with respect to the coordinate frame via a second iterative process based on the marker distances, the apex angles, and the coordinates of each of the at least four markers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: The Johns Hopkins University
    Inventor: Leo R. Gauthier, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11345342
    Abstract: An apparatus comprising a memory to store an observed trajectory of a pedestrian, the observed trajectory comprising a plurality of observed locations of the pedestrian over a first plurality of timesteps; and a processor to generate a predicted trajectory of the pedestrian, the predicted trajectory comprising a plurality of predicted locations of the pedestrian over the first plurality of timesteps and over a second plurality of timesteps occurring after the first plurality of timesteps; determine a likelihood of the predicted trajectory based on a comparison of the plurality of predicted locations of the pedestrian over the first plurality of timesteps and the plurality of observed locations of the pedestrian over the first plurality of timesteps; and responsive to the determined likelihood of the predicted trajectory, provide information associated with the predicted trajectory to a vehicle to warn the vehicle of a potential collision with the pedestrian.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: David Gomez Gutierrez, Javier Felip Leon, Kshitij A. Doshi, Leobardo E. Campos Macias, Nilesh Amar Ahuja, Omesh Tickoo
  • Patent number: 11347243
    Abstract: In one implementation, a method activates an unmanned aircraft inside a vehicle to capture images of the vehicle interior. The method accesses a flight path for the unmanned aircraft and receives data associated with the vehicle's current movement. The method adjusts the flight path of the unmanned aircraft to compensate for the vehicle's current movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Oleg Yurievitch Gusikhin, Bruno Sielly Jales Costa, Madeline J. Goh
  • Patent number: 11334076
    Abstract: A system for controlling at least two unmanned aerial vehicles in a flight formation, wherein each aerial vehicle has a flight control unit for controlling the flight path of the aerial vehicle and a camera that may be rotated by an orientation means about one axis, wherein in the system there is provided a flight formation control unit for the wireless communication with the aerial vehicles. The flight formation control unit is configured to control the flight control units and the orientation means during a recording of a moving object that will be filmed so that a spatial arrangement of the aerial vehicles in relation to the object and the orientation of the optical axis of each camera in relation to the object and/or in relation to the orientation(s) of the optical axis/axes of the other camera(s) is substantially maintained and optionally adjusted substantially in real time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: ARS ELECTRONICA LINZ GMBH & CO KG
    Inventor: Horst Hortner
  • Patent number: 11332163
    Abstract: An in-vehicle device is mounted on a vehicle capable of automated driving, and comprises an incident detection processing unit which acquires vehicle information representing a control state of the vehicle, and detects an incident that occurred in the vehicle based on the vehicle information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: CLARION CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takashi Kawauchi, Yasushi Nagai, Nobuyoshi Morita, Makoto Kayashima
  • Patent number: 11320818
    Abstract: A method for controlling an unmanned vehicle includes: acquiring unmanned vehicle monitoring information of the unmanned vehicle when it is determined that a course of the unmanned vehicle will be out of control; determining a safety level corresponding to the unmanned monitoring information according to a predefined correspondence between unmanned vehicle monitoring information and a safety level; and controlling, according to the safety level corresponding to the unmanned monitoring information, the unmanned vehicle to drive. Thus, upon determining that the unmanned vehicle has gone beyond a boundary of the autopilot, the problem is identified that the unmanned vehicle will encounter a danger in driving. Then, the autopilot process of the unmanned vehicle is demoted according to the severity of the danger, e.g., decelerated or adjusted in its direction, to avoid safety hazards.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Apollo Intelligent Driving Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Lei Zhang, Hongda Zhang, Qijuan Yin, Wuzhao Zhang, Xiaoyan Wang, Baisheng Wang
  • Patent number: 11319067
    Abstract: The present invention provides a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle) capable of photographing a base part of the stem and a side of the leaf of the field crops for evaluating their growth status. A camera is positioned on the unmanned aerial vehicle such that the camera's field of view is directed backward with respect to the direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The camera captures an image of the crop temporarily knocked down by the downdraft created by the rotor of the drone, which exposes the base part of the stem and the side of the leaf to the sky. Optionally, the depression angle of the camera is automatically adjusted depending on the flight speed, wind force, and wind direction. Optionally, the camera body is automatically rotated to be directed to backward when the drone changes flying directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Nileworks
    Inventor: Hiroshi Yanagishita
  • Patent number: 11314257
    Abstract: A control apparatus for an automatic-driving vehicle includes a load state detecting unit and a collision preventing unit. The load state detecting unit detects a load state of the other vehicle that is present in a periphery of the automatic-driving vehicle. The collision preventing unit performs a collision prevention process based on the load state detected by the load state detecting unit. The collision prevention process is a process for preventing, in advance, collision of an automatic-driving vehicle with a load that may fall onto a road from the other vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomomi Hase, Noriaki Ikemoto, Mitsuharu Higashitani
  • Patent number: 11310423
    Abstract: An image capturing method and an image capturing apparatus are provided. An inspection region image of an inspection region is captured by a first image capturing device at a first time point. A control signal is received at a second time point after the first time point. A relative translation relationship and/or a relative rotation relationship of the first image capturing device at the first time point and a second image capturing device at a second time point are calculated. A first three-dimensional coordinate value of the local region relative to the first image capturing device is calculated and the first three-dimensional coordinate value is transformed to a second three-dimensional coordinate value relative to the second image capturing device according to the relative translation relationship and the relative rotation relationship. The second image capturing device is driven to rotate. A local region image of the local region is captured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
    Inventors: Hui-Ping Kuo, Guo-Ruei Chen
  • Patent number: 11292493
    Abstract: A computer includes a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to determine, for a host vehicle operating in a first operation mode, a first operation mode transition location based on a time to transition the host vehicle from the first operation mode to a second operation mode, a current speed of the host vehicle, and a distance from the host vehicle to an operation mode transition boundary location, to determine a second operation mode transition location that is a specified distance from the first operation mode transition location, the specified distance based on the current host vehicle speed, to transition from the first operation mode to the second operation mode upon reaching the first operation mode transition location, and to transition from the second operation mode to the first operation mode when the second operation mode transition location is between a current location of the host vehicle and the operation mode transition boundary location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Ryan Jones, Alexander Jaeckel
  • Patent number: 11292480
    Abstract: Disclosed are devices, systems and methods for remote safe driving. One exemplary method includes detecting an emergency situation, and in response to the detecting the emergency situation, switching operation of the vehicle to a low-power operation mode that comprises shutting down a subset of vehicular components, and periodically transmitting a location of the vehicle to a remote monitoring center. Another exemplary method includes selecting at least one of a set of vehicular driving actions, and transmitting, over a secure connection, the at least one of the set of vehicular driving actions to the vehicle, wherein the set of vehicular driving actions is generated based on a classification of driver behavior.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: TUSIMPLE, INC.
    Inventors: Yi Wang, Lindong Sun, Liu Liu, Xiaoling Han, Ruiliang Zhang
  • Patent number: 11285971
    Abstract: An in-vehicle device is mounted on a vehicle capable of automated driving, and comprises an incident detection processing unit which acquires vehicle information representing a control state of the vehicle, and detects an incident that occurred in the vehicle based on the vehicle information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: CLARION CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takashi Kawauchi, Yasushi Nagai, Nobuyoshi Morita, Makoto Kayashima
  • Patent number: 11285988
    Abstract: A passenger vehicle includes a vehicle body, drive and steering systems, and manual and autonomous control systems. The vehicle body defines a passenger compartment. The drive system propels the passenger vehicle. The steering system steers the passenger vehicle. The manual control system includes input devices to receive user inputs is configured to control the drive and steering system according to the user inputs when the passenger vehicle is operated in a manual drive mode. The autonomous control system includes a sensor for sensing an external condition and a controller that autonomously controls the drive and steering systems according to the external condition when the passenger vehicle is operated in an autonomous drive mode. The user input devices are movable between a first configuration to receive the user input by being physically manipulated by the user, and a second configuration in which the user input is not receivable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Alexander Hitzinger
  • Patent number: 11287829
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a supervisory service of a parking area may send a light fidelity (Li-Fi) based advertisement indicative of an offer to send video streams of the parking area to an autonomous vehicle. The supervisory service may receive an acceptance of the offer by the autonomous vehicle that includes an identifier for the autonomous vehicle. The supervisory service may identify one or more video streams of the parking area as associated with the autonomous vehicle based in part on a location of the autonomous vehicle in the parking area. The supervisory service may annotate the one or more identified video streams with metadata regarding a feature of the parking area. The supervisory service may send the annotated one or more video streams to the autonomous vehicle, wherein the autonomous vehicle uses the metadata of the annotated one or more video streams to avoid the feature of the parking area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Jay Kemper Johnston, Magnus Mortensen, Kevin Klous, David C. White, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11273837
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method of generating a path for an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) is disclosed. The method includes obtaining vehicle configuration of the ADV. The vehicle configuration includes a longitudinal state of the ADV and a lateral state of the ADV relative to a discretized point along a reference line. The method further includes estimating one or more boundaries for the lateral state of the ADV with respect to the longitudinal state of the ADV. The estimation of the boundaries includes obtaining vehicle parameters and sensor data of the ADV, using a vehicle kinematic model to estimate the boundaries based on the vehicle parameters and the sensor data, and outputting the estimated boundaries. The method further includes generating an optimal path to control the ADV based on the vehicle configuration and the estimated boundaries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: BAIDU USA LLC
    Inventor: Yajia Zhang
  • Patent number: 11274487
    Abstract: A roof opening/closing system of a convertible vehicle includes an opening/closing device for opening/closing the roof of the convertible vehicle; and a controller for determining, with respect to at least one of the opening and closing operations by the opening/closing device, whether to enable or disable the operation; and a notifying device for notifying a user whether the operation is enabled or disabled as determined by the controller. For example, in the case where the burning protection is turned off, following the determination based on the condition relevant to burning protection, lift of prohibition of the roof operation is notified when other permitting conditions for the roof operation are fulfilled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masaya Hattori
  • Patent number: 11267484
    Abstract: A vehicle control system includes an automated driving control unit that automatically controls at least one of acceleration/deceleration and steering of a subject vehicle, the automated driving control unit performing automated driving control in any one of a plurality of modes with different degrees of automated driving, and an interface control unit that receives an operation of an occupant of the subject vehicle and restricts an operation with respect to an interface device on which predetermined information is output, according to the mode of automated driving performed by the automated driving control unit, and when the change to the mode of the automated driving in which the degree of automated driving decreases is performed in a state in which the restriction is relaxed or released, the interface control unit causes a state of the interface device to return to a state before the restriction is relaxed or released or performs a predetermined notification before a predetermined time at which the change
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshitaka Mimura, Naotaka Kumakiri
  • Patent number: 11267461
    Abstract: A driving assistance apparatus includes processing circuit, and a communicator that communicates with the outside. The processing circuitry executes the following processes: identifying a driving state of a driver in a following vehicle behind a subject vehicle on the basis of a rear image containing the back of the subject vehicle; determining circumstances around the subject vehicle on the basis of images around the subject vehicle including the rear image; and controlling the autonomous driving of the subject vehicle on the basis of the driving state of the driver in the following vehicle, identified in the identifying process, and the circumstances, determined in the determining process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Kenta Onishi
  • Patent number: 11254272
    Abstract: A vehicle with a pod separable from a chassis therein, and when a collision detection system detects a collision or an imminent collision, the system will issue a signal to cause an electro-mechanical locking system to detach the pod, and further, to inflate airbags surrounding the pod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Inventor: Ho Keung Tse
  • Patent number: 11247677
    Abstract: A vehicle control device controls a vehicle on the basis of inter-vehicle spacing information with respect to a preceding vehicle and a trailing vehicle. The vehicle control device is equipped with: a target inter-vehicle spacing calculation unit which calculates target inter-vehicle spacing information on the basis of inter-vehicle spacing information with respect to the preceding vehicle and inter-vehicle spacing information with respect to a trailing vehicle. The vehicle control device is configured to control the speed of the vehicle such that the calculated target inter-vehicle spacing information is maintained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventors: Masato Imai, Takao Kojima, Kiyoshi Yorozuya, Jun Kezuka