Patents Examined by Shelley A Chen
  • Patent number: 11947356
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to evaluating pullovers for autonomous vehicles. In one instance, a set of potential pullover locations within a predetermined distance of a destination may be identified. Whether any of the potential pullover locations of the set include one or more of a plurality of predetermined types of regions of interest where a vehicle should not park for an extended period of time may be determined. A pullover location is identified based on the determination. The identified pullover location may be compared to a pullover location identified by autonomous vehicle control software in order to evaluate the pullover location identified by the autonomous vehicle control software.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Daniella Gutlansky, Mishika Vora, Tiffany Washburn, Yu Zheng, Sandra Lennie
  • Patent number: 11945447
    Abstract: An example operation includes one or more of operating, by a transport, within a boundary and determining, by the transport, that the operating of the transport within the boundary is desired to be exceeded. In response to a consensus based on one or more operations of the transport and one or more occupant characteristics of the transport, the method includes operating, by the transport, within the exceeded boundary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventor: Stephen Paul McFarland, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11932246
    Abstract: A driving assist apparatus for a manual transmission vehicle includes a traveling environment information acquisition unit, a power transmission detector and a controller. The traveling environment information acquisition unit is configured to acquire traveling environment information ahead of the vehicle. The power transmission detector is configured to detect engagement or disengagement of power transmission between a drive source and a drive wheel. The controller is configured to, when recognizing a target object ahead of the vehicle based on the traveling environment information acquired by the traveling environment information acquisition unit, control a vehicle speed of the vehicle in accordance with a distance between the vehicle and the target object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yasushi Takaso
  • Patent number: 11925132
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to generate acquisition paths are disclosed. An example apparatus includes input interface circuitry to obtain input data associated with a vehicle, threshold calculation circuitry to calculate, based on the input data, a threshold curvature and a threshold curvature rate of the vehicle, and acquisition path generation circuitry to select a point on a target path of the vehicle, generate an acquisition path from a current position of the vehicle to the point, the acquisition path including at least two curves, and cause storage of the acquisition path in response to the at least two curves satisfying the threshold curvature and the threshold curvature rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventor: Simon W. Schaefer
  • Patent number: 11917934
    Abstract: An agricultural machine includes one or more tires, a detector to detect a low pressure state in which a pressure of one of the tires is lower than a reference range or a high pressure state in which the tire pressure is higher than the reference range, and a controller to control an operation of at least one of the agricultural machine and an additional agricultural machine to be linked to the agricultural machine. One of the agricultural machine and the additional agricultural machine is a work vehicle that is capable of self-driving, and the other one is an implement to be linked to the work vehicle. The controller causes, in response to detection of the low or high pressure state, at least one of the agricultural machines to perform a specific operation that is different from an operation to be performed when the pressure is in the reference range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: KUBOTA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ryo Kurata, Junichi Yuasa
  • Patent number: 11908336
    Abstract: Systems and methods for autonomous taxi route planning for an aircraft. Clearance communication is received from a ground control station. A planning problem is generated from the clearance communication and sent to a route planner. The route planner receives the planning problem and plans an executable taxi route. Planning the executable taxi route can include generating a complete breadth first search graph from a start pose to a destination, pruning the graph, minimizing the graph, refining the graph, and extracting the shortest path from the graph.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventor: Charles A. Erignac
  • Patent number: 11904871
    Abstract: A policy map is obtained that includes a first set of machine settings values for controlling a machine to perform an operation at a site, at different locations in the field. An adjustment component receives sensor signals indicating conditions that will be encountered by the machine in the future, as it moves through the site. A cost determination component determines whether an adjustment is to be made to the first set of settings values, based upon the sensor signals. A predictive vehicle model provides an expected vehicle response, based upon the adjusted settings values that are selected. Control signals are generated based upon adjusted setting values that are generated from the policy map, the expected vehicle response, and the future condition sensor signals. The control signal generator generates the control signals to control a set of controllable subsystems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Andy B. Appleton, Nohoon Kl, Wissam H. El-Ratal, Rui Zhang, Justin T. Roth
  • Patent number: 11889780
    Abstract: A method for automating an agricultural work task includes specifying one or more site-specific target values or weighting factors with respect to process-related or agronomic quality criteria via an interface module according to which the work task is to be executed by the soil cultivation implement. The method includes converting the target values or weighting factors in an optimization module into process control variables representing working or operating parameters of the soil cultivation implement, and adjusting the process control variables in a stabilization module by activating positioning or operating units of the soil cultivation implement or the agricultural tractor. In the converting step, feedback data is included with respect to a status of a field surface before or after the cultivation by the implement and with respect to an operating status of the implement or the tractor in order to modify the process control variables.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventor: Martin Schmidt
  • Patent number: 11892548
    Abstract: A pay television satellite broadcast includes validation data that can be used to validate authenticity of live global positioning system (GPS) data. The validation data may be included within entitlement messages and encrypted for security and selective reception by authorized receivers. A navigation system may compute checksums of received live GPS data and compare with the validation data for a match. A decision about whether or not to use the live GPS data may be taken based on whether or not the computed checksums match the validation data received via the pay television satellite broadcast signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: OPENTV, INC.
    Inventors: Scott Jantz, Nir Livay
  • Patent number: 11885097
    Abstract: A controller 20 mounted on a hydraulic excavator 1 that is able to perform machine control transmits work situation parameters (machine body position, hydraulic working fluid temperature, bucket weight, and target surface gradient) to a management server 71, receives, from the management server, control command correction values that are calculated by the management server on the basis of the work situation parameters and that represent correction values for correcting control commands, and controls hydraulic actuators 5, 6, and 7 with corrected control commands that represent the control commands corrected on the basis of the control command correction values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shuuichi Meguriya, Shiho Izumi
  • Patent number: 11874665
    Abstract: A method of area coverage planning with replenishment planning includes receiving information of a boundary of the work area, location information of one or more refill stations, and information of a current amount of the material left in the autonomous vehicle, laying a plurality of tracks within the boundary of the work area so as to minimize a total distance of the plurality of tracks, generating a coverage trajectory, and based on (i) the coverage trajectory, (ii) the location information of the one or more refill stations, (iii) the current amount of the material left in the autonomous vehicle, and (iv) a nominal full amount and a nominal consumption rate of the material by the autonomous vehicle, determining one or more logistic points along the coverage trajectory at which a remaining amount of the material reaches a threshold, for each logistic point, generating a replenishment trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Trimble Inc.
    Inventors: Kapil Tahiliani, Juan Carlos Santamaria, Shantnu Kakkar, Eric Paul Boehlke
  • Patent number: 11858628
    Abstract: An autonomous vehicle that is equipped with image capture devices can use information gathered from the image capture devices to plan a future three-dimensional (3D) trajectory through a physical environment. To this end, a technique is described for image-space based motion planning. In an embodiment, a planned 3D trajectory is projected into an image-space of an image captured by the autonomous vehicle. The planned 3D trajectory is then optimized according to a cost function derived from information (e.g., depth estimates) in the captured image. The cost function associates higher cost values with identified regions of the captured image that are associated with areas of the physical environment into which travel is risky or otherwise undesirable. The autonomous vehicle is thereby encouraged to avoid these areas while satisfying other motion planning objectives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Skydio, Inc.
    Inventors: Ryan David Kennedy, Peter Benjamin Henry, Hayk Martirosyan, Jack Louis Zhu, Abraham Galton Bachrach, Adam Parker Bry
  • Patent number: 11861458
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a computing system accesses contextual data associated with a vehicle operated by a human driver. The contextual data is captured using one or more sensors associated with the vehicle. The system determines one or more predicted vehicle operations by processing the contextual data based at least on information associated with pre-recorded contextual data associated with a number of vehicles. The system detects one or more vehicle operations made by the human driver. The system determines that an event of interest is associated with the contextual data based on a comparison of the one or more vehicle operations made by the human driver and the one or more predicted vehicle operations. The system causes high-resolution contextual data associated with the event of interest to be stored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Lyft, Inc.
    Inventors: Romain Clément, Helen Ruth Lurie, Sammy Omari
  • Patent number: 11849661
    Abstract: An autonomous agricultural system comprising a mobile power unit including a frame and a power supply. A position of the power supply is shiftable with respect to the frame of the mobile power unit. The autonomous agricultural system additionally includes an implement releasably secured to the mobile power unit. The mobile power unit is configured to transport the implement. The mobile power unit is further configured to provide power from the power supply to the implement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc.
    Inventors: David Disberger, Benjamin M Smith, Rye DeGarmo, Gregory W. Arnett, Craig A Reed, Chris Coleman
  • Patent number: 11846512
    Abstract: A system and method for monitoring driving conditions and reacting to the driving conditions is disclosed. The system includes a risk monitoring system that can detect adverse road conditions. The method includes performing rerouting when hazardous road conditions are detected. The vehicle may be routed along a different route that lacks the hazardous road condition. The method also includes providing feedback to the driver when adverse driver behavior, such as a drowsy driver, is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
    Inventors: Gregory Brian Meyer, Will Kerns Maney, Jr., Sean Carl Mitchem, Ruthie D. Lyle, Deborah Janette Schulz, Bryan J. Osterkamp, Timothy Blair Chalmers
  • Patent number: 11845423
    Abstract: A turning control system of a vehicle includes: a database storing road information; a sensor part to detect a steering angle of a vehicle, a wheel speed of the vehicle, whether the vehicle is accelerated, whether the vehicle is braking, and whether a speed gear of the vehicle is shifted; and a controller that determines whether the vehicle enters a turning section based on one or more pieces of the information detected by the sensor part and the road information stored in the database. In particular, when the vehicle is entering the turning section, the controller sets a target speed of the vehicle and controls a speed of the vehicle to be decelerated to the set target speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Sang Joon Kim, Jea Mun Lee, Jae Young Park, Hui Un Son, Young Eun Kim, Joon Young Park, Sung Hoon Yu
  • Patent number: 11835355
    Abstract: A method for optimizing a parking spot database is provided including determining a utility score of a candidate route to a candidate parking spot of a plurality of parking spots of a parking spot database based on an availability status of a non-candidate parking spot along the candidate route, and selecting the candidate route from a plurality of candidate routes based on the utility score.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Takamasa Higuchi, Kentaro Oguchi
  • Patent number: 11838836
    Abstract: Vehicle map service data, which includes information associated with a geographic area and sensor observations of a vehicle, can be used to perform various operations. The vehicle map service data is based on a vehicle map service protocol specifying layers associated with portions of the vehicle map service data to which each client system is subscribed. Further, the layers to which the client systems are subscribed can be determined and access to the plurality of layers to which each of the vehicle client systems is subscribed can be provided to each of the client systems. Access to the layers can include authorization to send or receive one or more portions of the vehicle map service data associated with a corresponding layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
    Inventors: Christine McGavran, Richard William Bukowski, Asaf Rosenfeld
  • Patent number: 11831868
    Abstract: A vehicle may receive one or more images of an environment of the vehicle. The vehicle may also receive a map of the environment. The vehicle may also match at least one feature in the one or more images with corresponding one or more features in the map. The vehicle may also identify a given area in the one or more images that corresponds to a a portion of the map that is within a threshold distance to the one or more features. The vehicle may also compress the one or more images to include a lower amount of details in areas of the one or more images other than the given area. The vehicle may also provide the compressed images to a remote system, and responsively receive operation instructions from the remote system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Vadim Furman, Andrew Hughes Chatham, Abhijit Ogale, Dmitri Dolgov
  • Patent number: 11829159
    Abstract: A method of organizing a trajectory of at least one self-driving vehicle including providing the vehicle having a first localization sensor and a second localization sensor, wherein the functionality of the sensors are different; driving the vehicle in a self-driving mode in a lane; determining the localization of the vehicle, using at least one of the first localization sensor and the second localization sensor, with an accuracy of at least 25 cm in order to obtain a first data set; providing a smart infrastructure in proximity to the lane comprising one or more status sensors arranged along the lane; determining a status information of the vehicle by the smart infrastructure, using the one or more status sensors, in order to obtain a second data set, and coordinating the first data set and the second data set to derive a cooperative strategy for organizing the trajectory of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Inventor: Thomas Kuehbeck