Patents Examined by Michael D Lang
  • Patent number: 11198979
    Abstract: A line marking device (1) comprising a cart (2) with at least one steerable wheel (3) and at least two moving elements (4, 5). The steerable wheel (3) is rotatable around its axle (13) and pivotable such that the cart (2) is steered in a desired direction. The line marking device (1) comprises a GNSS receiver (7) or a robotic total station mounted on the cart (2). The line marking device (1) also comprises at least one spray nozzle (8), for marking a line, which is mounted on the cart and directed towards the ground below the line marking device (1). The device (1) comprises an interface mounted on the cart for a comparator to compare a detected location by the GNSS receiver (7) to a predetermined pattern. The cart (2) may comprise a motor (14) which is adapted to pivot the steerable wheel (3) towards an intended movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: SWOZI AG
    Inventors: Mario Hutter, Peter James Roberts, Aleksander Valdis Velde, Mathias Wäckerlin, Patrick Specker
  • Patent number: 11195346
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an articulated self-propelled robotic tool 1 with first and second platforms 3, 7, each comprising a wheel set 5, 9 driven by motors. A link arrangement connects the first platform to the second platform at a turning axis 11. A driving error is determined by recording a driving input to the motors and a resulting movement parameter, comparing the resulting movement with an estimated resulting movement which is based on the driving input. Slip is detected using the driving error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Husqvarna AB
    Inventors: Magnus Bergenholm, Johan Rogö, Lars Ederfors
  • Patent number: 11183073
    Abstract: In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, a computer implemented method includes receiving imaging data from an imaging system of an aircraft, and creating a new flight plan or a modified flight plan of the aircraft based on the imaging data. The method can include transmitting the new flight plan or the modified flight plan to a control system of the aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: American Robotics
    Inventor: Reese Alexander Mozer
  • Patent number: 11183069
    Abstract: A display control device includes a display that is configured to display information and a display controller that is configured to cause the display to display a plurality of partition lines for partitioning a host lane in which a vehicle is present and an adjacent lane adjacent to the host lane, and the display controller is configured to cause the display to display a partition line of the adjacent lane in a case where the adjacent lane is a lane in which a lane change from the host lane is possible, and restrict causing the display to display the partition line of the adjacent lane in a case where the adjacent lane is not a lane in which a lane change from the host lane is possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masaya Ikeda, Yasuharu Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 11173914
    Abstract: Vehicle control apparatus and method are disclosed. A method for controlling a vehicle control apparatus includes: measuring a vehicle speed to measure a first vehicle speed and a second vehicle speed of a vehicle, calculating an error rate to calculate an error rate of a vehicle speed using the first vehicle speed and the second vehicle speed measured in the measuring of the vehicle speed, and correcting a vehicle speed to correct a speed of the vehicle by calculating a third vehicle speed of the vehicle based on the error rate calculated in the calculating of the error rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: MANDO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Deok-Ju Kim
  • Patent number: 11169541
    Abstract: A distance from an aerial vehicle to a terrain feature located forward and lower with respect to the aerial vehicle is measured. An orientation of the aerial vehicle with respect to a reference orientation is detected. At least the measured distance and the orientation of the aerial vehicle is utilized to determine a relative vertical difference between a vertical location of the aerial vehicle and a vertical location of the terrain feature. The determined relative vertical difference is utilized to automatically adjust a flight altitude of the aerial vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Inventors: Han-Shue Tan, Jihua Huang
  • Patent number: 11162805
    Abstract: A route-biased search in a mobile navigation system locates points of interest (POI) on or convenient to a mobile user's current travel. The route-biased search operates in two modes, navigation and non-navigation. The navigation mode identifies the most convenient POIs that honor the mobile user's route to their destination. The non-navigation mode identifies the most convenient POIs that are located ahead of the user based on the user's inferred direction of travel. The route-biased search determines the best possible routes to the identified POIs taking into account the impact of the detour costs of traveling to the POI along with other ranking factors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Philomena F. Lobo, Saurabh V. Pendse, Dennis Schieferdecker, Daniel R. Delling
  • Patent number: 11155167
    Abstract: A plurality of virtual individual sequences that can be reproduced by use of a display device in a motor vehicle are provided. At least some of the provided individual sequences are reproduced by use of the display device while traveling a route with the motor vehicle. A selection and determination of a reproduction order of the individual sequences are effected so as to match a characteristic of the route and such that the individual sequences connect a specified entry sequence and end sequence to form a coherent experience.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventor: Marcus Kuehne
  • Patent number: 11157010
    Abstract: A system for deterministic trajectory selection based on uncertainty estimation includes a set of one or more computing systems. A method for deterministic trajectory selection includes receiving a set of inputs; determining a set of outputs; determining uncertainty parameters associated with any or all of the set of inputs and/or any or all of the set of outputs; and evaluating the uncertainty parameters and optionally triggering a process and/or action in response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Gatik AI Inc.
    Inventors: Gautam Narang, Apeksha Kumavat, Arjun Narang, Kinh Tieu, Michael Smart, Marko Ilievski
  • Patent number: 11150098
    Abstract: A network system dynamically determines a route, including start and end points, for vehicles in a transportation network. The transportation network receives a service request from a user of the transportation network including an origin location for the trip and a destination location for the trip. The transportation network then generates a waypoint plan for one or more vehicles, which includes the requested origin and destination in addition to any previously requested origins and destinations included in the vehicles current route. The network system then determines a directionality for each of the waypoints in the waypoint plan and retrieves candidate start and end points that have an associated directionality within a threshold angle of the directionality of each waypoint and are proximate to the waypoint. The network system evaluates each combination of retrieved candidate points to select a route for the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Qi Chen, Casey Lawler, Linfeng Shi, Qing Xu, Miao Yu
  • Patent number: 11148664
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for navigating a host vehicle. In one implementation, at least one processor may be programmed to obtain images representative of an environment of a host vehicle; identify, from the images, a feature of a roadway used to navigate the host vehicle on a path, the identified feature of the roadway having an ambiguity along the path; obtain map data associated with the environment to resolve the ambiguity of the identified feature; and generate a trajectory to navigate the host vehicle on the roadway, using the map data associated with the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: MOBILEYE VISION TECHNOLOGIES LTD.
    Inventors: Ofer Finelt, Tomer Baba
  • Patent number: 11150660
    Abstract: A vehicle can capture data for use in a simulator. Objects represented in the vehicle data can be instantiated in simulation and move according to object models/controllers. A user can tune how closely simulated motion of the object corresponds to the previously recorded data based on simulation costs. The scenarios can be used for testing and validating interactions and responses of a vehicle controller within a simulated environment. The scenarios can include simulated objects that traverse the simulated environment and perform actions based on the captured data and/or interactions within the simulated environment. Objects observed by the vehicle can be disregarded from simulation based on one or more filters. A user can override, augment, or otherwise modify simulations instantiated based on the one or more filters and captured data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Rasoul Kabirzadeh, Bryan Matthew O'Malley
  • Patent number: 11136025
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to controlling a vehicle having an autonomous driving mode or an autonomous vehicle. For instance, a polygon representative of the shape and location of a first object may be received. A polyline contour representation of a portion of a polygon representative of the shape and location of a second object may be received. The polyline contour representation may be in half-plane coordinates and including a plurality of vertices and line segments. Coordinates of the polygon representative of the first object may be converted to the half-plane coordinate system. A collision location between the polyline contour representation and the polygon representative of the first object may be determined using the converted coordinates. The autonomous vehicle may be controlled in the autonomous driving mode to avoid a collision based on the collision location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Dong Li, Ioan-Alexandru Sucan
  • Patent number: 11126180
    Abstract: Techniques are discussed for predicting occluded regions along a trajectory in an environment, a probability of occupancy associated with the predicted occluded regions, and controlling a vehicle to minimize occlusions and/or probabilities of occupancy. A vehicle may capture sensor data. Portions of an environment may be occluded by an object and may not be represented in the sensor data, and may be referred to as occluded regions. A candidate trajectory can be received and vehicle motion can be simulated to determine predicted occluded regions associated with the candidate trajectory. Data representing a predicted environment can be input to a machine learned model that can output information associated with the predicted occluded regions, such as a probability that the region is occupied by a vehicle or a pedestrian, for example. The candidate trajectory can be evaluated based on such probabilities, and the vehicle can be controlled based on the candidate trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventor: Marin Kobilarov
  • Patent number: 11126177
    Abstract: Among other things, a system provides speed behavior planning for vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Motional AD LLC
    Inventors: Dmytro S. Yershov, Jeong hwan Jeon, Tichakorn Wongpiromsarn, Eric Wolff
  • Patent number: 11116126
    Abstract: A row unit has a frame with an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion has a parallel linkage and the lower portion is coupled to plural gauge wheels. A first sensor is configured to provide an output signal and a controllable device is coupled to the upper portion and configured to provide an adjustable down force. A dampening device is coupled to the upper portion and configured to provide adjustable dampening of the row unit based on the output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: AGCO Corporation
    Inventor: Kevin J Hamilton
  • Patent number: 11104334
    Abstract: A system and method for proximate vehicle intention prediction for autonomous vehicles are disclosed. A particular embodiment is configured to: receive perception data associated with a host vehicle; extract features from the perception data to detect a proximate vehicle in the vicinity of the host vehicle; generate a trajectory of the detected proximate vehicle based on the perception data; use a trained intention prediction model to generate a predicted intention of the detected proximate vehicle based on the perception data and the trajectory of the detected proximate vehicle; use the predicted intention of the detected proximate vehicle to generate a predicted trajectory of the detected proximate vehicle; and output the predicted intention and predicted trajectory for the detected proximate vehicle to another subsystem.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: TUSIMPLE, INC.
    Inventors: Zhipeng Yan, Mingdong Wang, Siyuan Liu, Xiaodi Hou
  • Patent number: 11099024
    Abstract: Predicting the future location of a user based on predicting the route that the user might take is disclosed. The routes used by the user in the past are indexed to generate a dictionary of routes which can be further augmented with contextual data. The prior routes are encoded within the dictionary such that each term representing a respective one of the prior routes comprises a collection of unique identifiers wherein each of the unique identifiers represents a segment of the respective one of the prior routes. Techniques of text prediction, term frequency for dictionary scores and other language processing techniques are used to predict the further route of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: Visa International Service Association
    Inventors: Joseph Spears, Mark Carlson, Patrick Stan
  • Patent number: 11091246
    Abstract: Aerial vehicles may include propulsion units having motors with drive shafts that may be aligned at a variety of orientations, propellers with variable pitch blades, and common operators for aligning the drive shafts at one or more orientations and for varying the pitch angles of the blades. The common operators may include plate elements to which a propeller hub is rotatably joined, and which may be supported by one or more linear actuators that may extend or retract to vary both the orientations of the drive shafts and the pitch angles of the blades. Operating the motors and propellers at varying speeds, gimbal angles or pitch angles enables the motors to generate forces in any number of directions and at any magnitudes. Attributes of the propulsion units may be selected in order to shape or control the noise generated thereby.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Dominic Timothy Shiosaki, Ricky Dean Welsh
  • Patent number: 11076737
    Abstract: A cleaning robot includes a detector configured to detect an obstacle; a determining portion configured to determine whether the cleaning robot is in an obstacle obstruction state; and a controller configured to control the first drive wheel to cross an obstacle and control the second drive wheel to cross the obstacle according to a detection result when the cleaning robot is in the obstacle obstruction state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignees: BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD., BEIJING ROCKROBO TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yang He, Yongfeng Xia