Patents Examined by Nadeem Odeh
  • Patent number: 11230366
    Abstract: Aviation method comprising performing a single-pilot flight of inter-continental duration T>tp=predetermined single-pilot maximal single pilot flight duration; including using pilot-in-command logic empower a single airborne pilot to pilot via an airborne man-machine interface (MMI), only for a time window W<tp, where W includes at least an initial climbing phase of duration t1 and a final descent phase of duration t3; and using pilot-in-command logic to pilot the aircraft during an intermediate cruising phase occurring between the initial climbing and final descent phases, without recourse to the airborne pilot except during an emergency, thereby to accomplish a single-pilot inter-continental flight of duration T>tp, while utilizing the human airborne pilot only for a time period W<tp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: ISRAEL AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES LTD.
    Inventor: David Shavit
  • Patent number: 11215997
    Abstract: Techniques are discussed for evaluating trajectories based on risk associated with the trajectories with respect to predicted locations of objects in an environment. A vehicle can capture sensor data of an environment, which may include object(s) separate from the vehicle, such as another vehicle or a pedestrian. A prediction system can output a discretized probability distribution comprising prediction probabilities associated with possible locations of the object in the future. Heat maps, as an example discretized probability distribution, can represent one or more objects. Trajectories can be generated for the vehicle to follow in the environment. An overlap between a region of the vehicle along a trajectory and the heat map can be determined, and a probability associated with the overlap can represent a risk associated with a trajectory navigating through the environment. The vehicle can be controlled based on risks associated with the various trajectories.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Van Heukelom, Jefferson Bradfield Packer
  • Patent number: 11207935
    Abstract: An air suspension system of a commercial vehicle comprises an electronic control device with a level control valve device. A valve element is coupled to a drive element mechanically coupled to a vehicle wheel or axle. In a first relative position of the valve element and a counter valve element, a port for an air suspension bellow is blocked. In a second relative position, the port for the air suspension bellow is connected to a port for an aeration device. In a third relative position, the port for the air suspension bellow is connected to a port for a deaeration device. Control logic generates a control signal for an actuator which, when a level change is set by an operator, correspondingly changes the relative position of the valve element and the counter valve element or the relative position of the counter valve element and a valve housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: HALDEX BRAKE PRODUCTS AKTIEBOLAG
    Inventors: Dudley Harrison, Carl Mellings, Georg Sulzyc, Christian Schering, Siegfried Heer, Stefan Becke, Joachim Noecker, Tobias Tschoeke, Arne Busch
  • Patent number: 11208096
    Abstract: Techniques for generating trajectories and drivable areas for navigating a vehicle in an environment are discussed herein. The techniques can include receiving a reference trajectory representing an initial trajectory for a vehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle, to traverse the environment. Portions of the reference trajectory can be identified as corresponding to actions to navigate around a double-parked vehicle or to change lanes, for example. In some cases, a portion of the reference trajectory can be identified based on a proximity to an object in the environment. A weight can be associated with the portions of the reference trajectory, and the techniques can include evaluating a reference cost function at points of the reference trajectory based on the associated weights to generate a target trajectory. Further, the techniques can include controlling the autonomous vehicle to traverse the environment based at least in part on the target trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Abishek Krishna Akella, Janek Hudecek
  • Patent number: 11209819
    Abstract: A driving control system includes an automatic driving control device and a driver monitoring device. The automatic driving control device includes a driver state determining unit, an override detector, a retreat mode controller, and a retreat mode canceler. During traveling under an automatic driving mode, when the driver state determining unit determines from a driver state detected by the driver monitoring device that the driver is not in a state capable of driving normally, the retreat mode controller sets a retreat mode in which an override operation is disabled and an own vehicle is caused to travel for retreat. When the driver state determining unit determines, during traveling for retreat, that the driver has returned to the state capable of driving normally, the retreat mode canceler cancels the retreat mode, and enables detection of the override operation of the driver by the override detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Keisuke Kuwahara
  • Patent number: 11195420
    Abstract: A method for assisting in a flight management of an aircraft calculates a local cost function CF(xi, hj) at various altitudes hj along a planned vertical reference flight trajectory over a discrete set of points P(xi, hj) which forms a two-dimensional grid in which the planned vertical reference flight trajectory varies, the local cost function CF(xi, hj) being calculated locally at each point P(xi, hj) according to aircraft data and environmental data predicted at said local point P(xi, hj). Then, for each point P(xi, hj) of the grid, the method determines a neighbourhood including the point P(xi, hj), and associates a colour K(xi, hj) therewith that is dependent on the value of the local cost function CF(xi, hj) using a predetermined bijective lookup transformation. Next, the method displays the coloured grid formed by the coloured neighbourhoods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Xavier Blanchon, Guillaume Boyer, Guillaume Meulle, Sonia Vautier
  • Patent number: 11186292
    Abstract: Methods and systems described in this disclosure identify a driver of a vehicle. The driver may have a profile indicating vehicle settings, and at least one of the vehicle settings may not be overridden by the driver. The vehicle may be configured according to the vehicle settings in the profile, such that the vehicle may not operate outside of at least one of the vehicle settings that cannot be overridden. An insurance rate for insuring the vehicle may be generated based at least in part on the vehicle settings associated with the profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION (USAA)
    Inventors: Florian Braun, Andre Rene Buentello
  • Patent number: 11173906
    Abstract: A vehicle control system includes a vehicle selector configured to select, from among other vehicles present near an own vehicle, another vehicle that the own vehicle is to follow when traveling in front of a gate as a following target vehicle, and a gate passage controller configured to cause the own vehicle to travel following the following target vehicle selected by the vehicle selector when passing through the gate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akira Mizutani, Atsushi Ishioka, Akihiko Otsu, Daichi Kato, Kazuyuki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11161499
    Abstract: During vehicle turning, during which a behavior stabilization control is not carried out, a vehicle driving assistance device carries out a turning assist control including: yaw moment control for increasing the amount of drive torque distributed to a drive wheel that, among two left and right drive wheels of the vehicle, is on the outer side of the turn by imparting braking torque to the drive wheel that is on the inner side of the turn; and a deceleration control for decelerating the vehicle. At this time, the driving assistance device calculates a control moment amount and calculates a control deceleration amount on the basis of a travel mode selected by operation of an operation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: ADVICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yosuke Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 11151814
    Abstract: A system and method for defeating a Relay Station Attack on a hands-free anti-theft system of a vehicle. The hands-free anti-theft system includes a vehicle-mounted transceiver which transmits an authentication request and a hands-free key transceiver paired therewith which receives the authentication request and responds thereto by transmitting a reply signal causing the vehicle to unlock and/or start. A detector is provided having a receiver operating on the frequency at which the authentication request is transmitted, and a memory in which a known characteristic of the authentication request signal is stored. The key transceiver and the detector are located beyond an activation range of the authentication request. When the detector receives a signal, it compares a characteristic of a received signal with the known characteristic, and triggers an alarm signal if there is a match.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Marcus Leonhardt
  • Patent number: 11144052
    Abstract: A vehicle control handoff system includes a controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory, one or more environment sensors and an imaging device communicatively coupled to the controller, and a machine-readable instruction set stored in the non-transitory computer readable memory of the controller. The machine-readable instruction set causes the system to: receive image data from at least one imaging device, receive one or more signals corresponding to an environment of a vehicle from the one or more environment sensors, define a gaze pattern comprising a first gaze direction corresponding to a first location within the environment of the vehicle, determine a first gaze based on the image data of the driver, determine whether the first gaze corresponds to at least one gaze direction of the gaze pattern, and transfer control of a vehicle operation from control by the controller to the driver in response to determining that the first gaze corresponds to the gaze pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.
    Inventor: Simon A. I. Stent
  • Patent number: 11136018
    Abstract: A speed planning device is disclosed. The speed planning device may perform a method including obtaining elevation information associated with a route for a vehicle; identifying a section of the route based on the elevation information, wherein the section is associated with a change in elevation; determining subsections of the section; determining respective slopes of the subsections and respective lengths of the subsections; obtaining information identifying a mass associated with the vehicle; generating a speed plan for the vehicle to traverse the section, wherein the speed plan indicates one or more speeds at which the vehicle is to correspondingly traverse the subsections based on the respective slopes of the subsections, the respective lengths of the subsections, and the mass associated with the vehicle; and providing the speed plan to permit the vehicle to be controlled to traverse the section according to the one or more speeds of the speed plan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Philip Wallstedt, Emily Morris, Joshua Struble, Matthew D. Johnson
  • Patent number: 11132005
    Abstract: To avoid interfering with a participant when information on a venue of a competition or an event is provided by using an unmanned aerial vehicle, participant position information acquisition means of an unmanned aerial vehicle escape system acquires participant position information on a position of the participant in the venue of the competition or the event. Movement instruction means instructs an unmanned aerial vehicle for providing information on the venue to move to a position defined based on the participant position information. Layout information acquisition means acquires layout information on a layout of the venue. Escape destination determination means determines an escape destination of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the participant position information and the layout information. Escape means causes the unmanned aerial vehicle to escape to the escape destination determined by the escape destination determination means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: RAKUTEN GROUP, INC.
    Inventors: Takayuki Kageyama, Hideaki Mukai
  • Patent number: 11117475
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can determine a trajectory for a vehicle, the trajectory associated with a predicted path to be traveled by the vehicle. A power optimization plan is generated for the vehicle based on the trajectory. One or more power management settings are modified based on the power optimization plan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Woven Planet North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Bence Cserna, Carlos Alberto De Magalhaes Massera Filho, Di Sun
  • Patent number: 11118453
    Abstract: A system for moving material from a first work area to a second work includes a material moving machine, a machine position sensor and a controller system. The controller system performs first material moving operations including determining a premature termination of a material stacking operation. The controller system performs additional material moving operations including instructing a material moving machine in response to the premature termination of a material stacking operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventor: Mo Wei
  • Patent number: 11119493
    Abstract: Disclosed is a feature for a vehicle that enables taking precautionary actions in response to conditions on the road network around or ahead of the vehicle, in particular, an unusually narrow road width or lane width. A database that represents the road network is used to determine locations where an unusually narrow road width or lane width exists along roads. Then, precautionary action data is added to the database to indicate a location at which a precautionary action is to be taken about the location where the unusually narrow road width or lane width exists. A precautionary action system installed in a vehicle uses this database, or a database derived therefrom, in combination with a positioning system to determine when the vehicle is at a location that corresponds to the location of a precautionary action. When the vehicle is at such a location, a precautionary action is taken by a vehicle system as the vehicle is approaching a location where the unusually narrow road width or lane width exists.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: HERE Global B.V.
    Inventor: Robert Denaro
  • Patent number: 11104378
    Abstract: A steering control system for operating a steering system for a transportation vehicle according to a steering intervention specification by making available a steering intervention variable, the system having computing units to redundantly calculate a manipulated variable according to a specified calculation algorithm as a function of the steering intervention specification and one or more operating state variables; a switching device for always making available one of the manipulated variables of the computing units as the steering intervention variable to the steering system; and a monitoring device to check the functional capability of the computing units, wherein the switching device is actuated as a function of the result of the check.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Inventors: Timo Dobberphul, Reno Davids
  • Patent number: 11084498
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for controlling a driving mode of a vehicle are provided. The apparatus includes a mode converter that converts the driving mode of the vehicle based on an operation of a mode conversion input. When the driving mode is converted into a custom mode, a mode setting screen for adjusting a setting value of a driving characteristic preset is configured and the configured mode setting screen is displayed on a display of the vehicle. A tuning device then tunes a driving characteristic of the custom mode based on a setting value adjusted on the mode setting screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Gi Young Kwon, Soo Bang Lee, Kyoung Cheol Oh, Hong Chul Shin, Hye Kil Hwang, Jong Bum Oh, Seul Gi Lee, Jae Myoung Pi, Sang Don Lee, Woo Suk Choi, Seong Ik Park
  • Patent number: 11077848
    Abstract: A vehicle includes: a sensor for measuring a relative position and a relative speed between an obstacle and the vehicle; an injector for injecting a deforming material which is solidified during injection to absorb an impact and enhance coupling strength at a portion to which the deforming material is attached; and a controller configured to determine a collision probability with the obstacle based on the measured relative position and the measured relative speed, to determine a predicted collision position when the collision probability reaches a reference collision probability, to determine an injection direction of the injector based on the predicted collision position, and to control the injector to inject the deforming material in the determined injection direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Kye Yoon Kim, Jimin Han, Jia Lee, Seok-young Youn, Seunghyun Woo
  • Patent number: 11069159
    Abstract: A driving analysis server may be configured to receive vehicle location data and/or operation data from one or more vehicle systems, identify driving trips and/or driving patterns based on the vehicle data, determine risk assessment values corresponding to the driving trips and driving patterns, and calculate driver scores based on the analyzed driving trip and driving pattern data. Destination locations may be identified for a vehicle's driving trips, and information relating to the destination locations may be retrieved and analyzed to determine risk factors and risk assessment values associated with driving to and from the destination, as well as parking at the destination. Specific driving trip types or purposes may be identified, and driving scores may be calculated based on the vehicle location and time data, including the risk factors, risk assessment values, and the determined trip types or purposes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: Arity International Limited
    Inventors: Margaret A. Brinkmann, Daniel Kraft, Nathan M. Bryer, Eric D. Huls, Thomas Michael Warden